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It’s perhaps Santa Barbara’s most importance piece of real estate — and its future, through 2093 at least, is up in the air.
The City of Santa Barbara is in the final stages of inking a development agreement with the owners of the Paseo Nuevo mall, an elaborate, complex and multimillion-dollar deal that will shape downtown for decades to come.
The Planning Commission has met for nearly 10 hours over two meetings to discuss the plan.
“We are committed to Santa Barbara,” said Steve Plenge, managing principal of Pacific Retail Capital Partners, the investment firm that owns the mall. “We believe in this community. We think that this is a single point within the downtown core on State Street that can be the nucleus and catalyst for revitalization throughout the state and throughout the downtown Santa Barbara core.”
It’s a high-level conversation because it comes at a time when Santa Barbara is looking to dramatically overhaul downtown in hopes of infusing a new energy and vitality into the retail and restaurant scene. As retail slumps, national retailers such as Nordstrom, Macy’s and Forever 21, for example, have fled the American Riviera, leaving massive vacant holes at some of the most visible spots in Santa Barbara.
There’s both a philosophical and economical debate over whether the mall, 739 State St., should continue in its current form as an open-air mall with occasional outdoor entertainment activities, or whether the city should require the mall’s owners to take bold and dramatic steps to reinvent the area to create a contemporary mashup of housing, experiential activities, small retail, art and vendors.
While malls are dying across the nation as corporations scale back, file for bankruptcy or close altogether, questions remain about whether Paseo Nuevo has jumped the shark in its effectiveness as a destination for tourists and locals.
“These are long years out, and whether or not the mall is still going to be functioning as a retail center in 2095 is anyone’s crystal ball,” Assistant City Attorney Sarah Knecht said.
Further complicating matters is the fact that the proposed development agreement does not include the Ortega Building, which formerly housed Macy’s and The Broadway, or Nordstrom. The deal includes only the open air portion of the mall.
So while city and business leaders are working to figure out what Paseo Nuevo should look like, the two anchor tenants and crown jewels of the mall aren’t even part of the formal discussion.
The mall owners have acknowledged during the two Planning Commission meetings, however, that they do have ideas for both locations. Those decisions, however, are likely to come years down the road. Paseo Nuevo Owners LLC does not own the Nordstrom building, but is in talks with Nordstrom to take over the ground lease.
“Having Nordstrom close was a blow,” Plenge said. “It was unfortunate that Nordstrom decided to leave. We do not control that building. We are in conversations right now to try and get control of that leasehold.”
Plenge said it’s possible that the building could see a grocer on the ground floor and apartments on top.
“We do think that building could be conducive to housing,” Plenge said.
He noted that the mall owners had envisioned a high-end movie theater with dining inside the Macy’s building, but that excitement has tamped down since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted.
“We don’t want high-end retailers,” Plenge said. “We want the appropriate retailers into this marketplace that are a quality mix of local, regional and some national. We want more restaurants and other entertainment. We think the era of the department store is deteriorating quickly, and there are other uses that could anchor an open-air plaza.”
The mall’s lease with the city began in 1990 and extends through 2065. As part of the development agreement, Paseo Nuevo Owners LLC wants the ability to extend the lease through 2093.
The deal is intended to provide Paseo Nuevo Owners LLC long-term lease security in the heart of downtown, while providing the city with a greater financial investment from the mall owners.
According to the proposal, Paseo Nuevo Owners would invest at least $20 million to renovate the mall. About $18 million would go to infrastructure improvements and $2 million to tenant improvements.
The mall, which runs a private parking garage, would pay up to $300,000 annually to the city, adjusted according to the consumer price index in the fifth year.
In addition, Paseo Nuevo Owners must make a one-time contribution of $200,000 to the city for the purpose of assisting with homelessness solutions. The owners would also have the one-time right to a 28-year lease term extension when the current lease runs out.
Paseo Nuevo’s owners have agreed to “maintain the mall as a first-class retail center consistent with specified retail centers in Southern California.”
If Paseo Nuevo Owners were to sell the mall during the lease period, the city would have to give its consent, unless the purchaser has a net worth of at least one-half of the purchase price or at least $50 million.
The mall owners would also agree to pay the city $60,000 in recycling annually.
If the Paseo Nuevo Owners LLC sells or assigns the ground lease to a third party, the city would receive 10 percent of the net sale. Knecht said such a scenario is not likely.
“With the declining sales and with the loss of the two anchor tenants, we think it is probably highly unlikely that the city will see any benefit from this clause,” Knecht said.
Also, according to the terms of the ground lease with the city, the mall would pay no rent, which has been the case since the mall was built in 1990.
“There’s something very suspicious about the fact that the citizens of Santa Barbara receive not a penny in rent from this prime, prime real estate,” developer Ed St. George said. “I bet all the stores on the harbor, the wharf would like the same deal.”
He said that it was “criminal” for City Administrator Paul Casey to be pushing a one-sided deal.
“Paseo Nuevo is by all means a miserable failure,” St. George said. “It’s been living proof long before COVID.”
He said the mall is dying a slow and painful death, and approving the development agreement — and adding another 28 years — “is only going to extend the cancer to the rest of our downtown.”
But Scott Shuman, an attorney for Paseo Nuevo, said it’s not correct that the mall is getting anything free.
“The development agreement is not a deal for free rent for the next 60 years,” he said. “It’s the equivalent of rent in a different name.”
He said there’s the equivalent of a $400,000 cost shifting from the city to Paseo Nuevo.
“It may not be called rent, but the idea that this is a free deal or that there is no rent going back to the city is simply not true,” Shuman said.
The Planning Commission, after two hearings and hours of comments, questions and clarifications from the city, the mall and the public, is set to deliberate about the lease at its Sept. 17 meeting.


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Italian bike major MV Agusta
known for the world’s most premium high-performance superbikes announced its official
entry into India via an exclusive partnership with Pune’s automobile major, the
Kinetic Group. The company unveiled its first range of superbikes - the F4, F3
and Brutale 1090 -which will now be available at its first ‘Motoroyale’
dealership in Pune. The company will operate as MV Agusta India Pvt. Ltd.
Commenting on the
launch,.Ajinkya Firodia, Managing Director of MV Agusta India Pvt. Ltd., said,
“We are excited to partner with an illustrious brand like MV Agusta to bring
their iconic bikes into the country. For any biking enthusiast, MV Agusta
motorcycles are the stuff dreams are made of, as they offer an unparalleled
blend of power, performance and handling. The iconic styling and peerless
riding dynamics of these machines underline MV Agusta's tagline of Passion
“We will be marketing these
superbikes through our exclusive ‘Motoroyale’ showrooms. It is a new chain of
superbike showrooms, which will make some of the best bikes in the world
accessible to motorcycle enthusiasts in India,” he added.
Judah Immanuel Sangaran, FarEast Country Manager,
MV Agusta Motor S.p.A, said, “This is the perfect time for us to enter India,
as we are witnessing a surge in demand for premium motorcycles. We offer biking
aficionados best-in-class superbikes that boast exquisite designs by the
renowned Massimo Tamburini as well as superior cutting-edge technology. MV
Agusta motorcycles guarantee a riding experience that’s second to none.”
Following Pune, Motoroyale
dealerships will soon be inaugurated in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi
and Mumbai. Motoroyale showrooms will focus on sales, service, spares and after
sales support for MV Agusta customers in India. MV Agusta India Pvt. Ltd. has
the exclusive distribution rights for all MV Agusta motorcycles in India,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Source: MV Agusta / Kinetic Group
Together with its partners BMW – in the context of the Car Connectivity Consortium – is continuing to press ahead with the development and distribution of the BMW Digital Key. Now the BMW digital key ...
TVS Srichakra Limited, India’s leading manufacturer & exporter of two and three wheelers tyres, participated in the 2021 edition of the EICMA International Exhibition, held from 23rd to 28th of Novemb...
Finally it's that time of the year when we look forward to enjoying the holidays at our favourite destinations and what better way to travel, than on your favourite motorcycle, the all-new Classic 350...

domain: news


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On 27 and 28 of November, London hosted the Sustainable Brands Conference. As the name suggests, brand and sustainability professionals were gathered in the Mermaid Theatre to discuss how brands can change the future towards a more sustainable one. The response? Through unified vision, collaboration and simplicity.
It's long gone the time when companies had a sustainability strategy in parallel to a business strategy. In the eyes of businesses such as Unilever, Sainsbury's, Nestlé, Kingfisher, M&S and others, a company should consider its citizenship "duties" from the start and have it embedded in its business strategy. Similarly, for consumer facing businesses, one cannot isolate the importance of the corporate and product brands, as each play an essential role: a corporate brand engages with employees, experts, policy makers, supply chain, competitors and, in times of social media, consumers; the product brand unlocks behavioural change. "This is the power of ‘AND,'’’ says Lori Zoppel, Global Director of Marketing, Unilever.
Modern companies recognise the interdependencies of the world in which they operate, such as the need for natural or human resources to develop their products and services, and an empowered and healthy community to consume them. For that, they assume the responsibility for helping to solve some of the world's most serious problems. Not only because they are sensitive to those issues and want some easy PR, but because they understand that if they don't do it, there won't be a market for them anymore. Without water, Nestlé cannot produce food – hence water is ones the pillars of its shared value vision. Without consumers educated on principles of health and hygiene, Unilever cannot sell their soaps – hence campaigns such as "Global hand washing day" that have been engaging employees and communities around the world for 5 years.
Collaboration and sharing
Words such as collaboration, sharing, community and together were almost overused by the speakers. All of them defended the idea that designing and making a more sustainable future cannot be done by a single constituency. Governments, companies, charities and communities should work together. "We need to move from isolated business approaches to systems; from individualism to communities," said one of the event organisers.
Dialogue should be transparent; ideas and solutions shared; successful examples expanded into new industries and geographies: "many sustainability leaders don't speak about what they do, claiming humbleness. It's time for organisations to be braver," says Tom Zara, Global Head of Corporate Citizenship at Interbrand.
This thinking has been at the heart of organisations such as Zipcar, a car sharing business, The People Who Share, a movement that is making sharing mainstream and DoNation, an online sponsorship tools in which no money is involved and people donate by doing something good. Traditional businesses are making fundamental cultural and operational changes, such as B&Q, a home improvement retailer that "rent" some tools less frequently used such as carpets & upholstery machines; and M&S, a UK retailer, that pioneered ideas such as "bag for life" and is changing consumer habits.
Here is where marketers and brand professionals can make the biggest difference. We need to eliminate the jargon and be straighter. We also need to stop seeing the consumer as a "foreign entity" and recognise that a consumer is us, our families, our friends and communicate accordingly.
Different segmentations presented during the two days showed that only around 11% of consumers are attracted to propositions linked to sustainability. The vast majority wants high quality products and services, at a fair price. They (or we) are too busy, worried about their own issues, such as mortgages, rising fuel and utilities prices, health and nutrition of their own families. If small steps do matter, we need to remove the burden of saving the world from their shoulders and making their decisions easier for them. Through vision, collaboration and simplicity, we can really help consumers and ourselves to actually change the world.
Paula Oliveira is a Director, Valuation and Analytics, at Interbrand London.


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Last week’s Argentine inflation figures were released. The interannual Consumer Price Index, or CPI, reached 78.5% and set new records. This makes Argentina second to Venezuela in Latam when it comes to high inflation. In August prices rose by almost 8%, which impacted the pockets and savings of Argentines. AAccording to Bitso’s survey, these are the results.Argentines are now exploring cryptocurrencies to maintain their purchasing power with stablecoins.
Argentine inflation continues to grow, expected to reach 100% this year
Some countries in Latam are facing inflation as a problem due to the economic crisis. Argentina is one of the largest economies of the region and its inflation levels are now affecting citizens’ pockets. The most recent CPI report revealed that prices rose by 7% MoM (month-over-month), with these numbers being second only to Venezuela’s inflation, which has reached well over 100% YoY (year-over-year).
Prices for food and drinks rose 7.1% in August. Other items, such as clothing and appliances, saw a more dramatic increase. The country has had three economic ministers within three months, making the accumulated inflation number 78.5%. The Argentine peso is one of the fiat currencies that has suffered the most in Latam, losing more than 25% against the dollar when considering the official rate, and almost 50% of its value taking the unofficial “blue” exchange rates as reference.
Crypto thrives in Emerging Markets
The economy of Argentina is in poor shape, which has led its citizens to look for other ways to protect their purchasing power from inflation. They have also begun to research stablecoins and cryptocurrencies to help them even with the negative trend in cryptocurrency prices. Chainalysis reports that Argentina is not among the 10 top countries where cryptocurrency adoption has increased, but local research confirms this.
Bitso, an exchange for cryptocurrency based in Mexico, conducted a survey that revealed there was a lot of knowledge about cryptocurrency assets in Argentina. Nearly 34% of the respondents had specific knowledge on cryptocurrency. 83% knew about it.
Out of 83% of those who are aware of cryptocurrency, 10 percent already have or have crypto assets in their portfolios, and almost 23% would like to acquire them. This is why crypto investors want to be able to use the currency as they would fiat currencies and keep their savings intact even when inflation increases.
Let us know your thoughts on the latest inflation statistics in Argentina, and about crypto. Leave a comment below.
Images CreditsShutterstock. Pixabay. Wiki Commons
DisclaimerThis article serves informational purposes. This article is not intended to be a solicitation or offer to sell or buy any product, service, or company. Bitcoin.com is not a provider of investment, tax, legal or accounting advice. This article does not contain any information, products, or advice that can be used to cause or alleged result in any kind of damage.


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The Daily Moot: Cyber MondayNews Picks
1. Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday is officially here, bringing some of the year’s biggest deals in gaming. Essentially every major retailer is having massive sales on gaming-related items today including GameStop, Best Buy, Amazon, and Target. Some of the most notable deals include all-time low prices for games such as Watch Dogs Legion ($30 at Amazon and Best Buy), DOOM Eternal ($20 at GameStop), and Star Wars Squadrons ($17 at Amazon and GameStop). While there is certainly no shortage of sales to be found, it’s worth noting that many of these deals will only be available today and “while supplies last,” so if you’re after something in particular, you might want to hurry before stock runs out.
2. Cyberpunk Post-Launch Secrecy CD Projekt Red has finally explained the studio’s recent silence regarding the post-launch plans for Cyberpunk 2077. Similar to their approach with The Witcher 3, CD Projekt has long said that Cyberpunk will have robust post-launch support and content, with many fans keying in on the game’s upcoming DLC and multiplayer mode. Unfortunately however, it appears that details will remain sparse for the foreseeable future. CD Projekt CEO Adam Kiciński said that although the “initial plan” was to unveil major post-launch plans during the buildup to Cyberpunk 2077’s release, the most recent delay of the game convinced the team to wait until after launch instead. Cyberpunk 2077 is set to launch on December 10; you can watch the official gameplay trailer below.
3. Super Nintendo World Opening The grand opening of Super Nintendo World is finally on the horizon. The highly-anticipated Mario-themed expansion to Universal Studios Japan, Super Nintendo World was originally slated to open in July of this year but plans were derailed by the pandemic. Universal Studios Japan announced that the expansion would be delayed indefinitely back in June, but now it seems that the company is finally ready to let eager fans patronize the park. Super Nintendo World is set to open at limited capacity on February 4 of next year; you can check out the trailer for the theme park below.
4. Epic Freebies Another week of freebies from Epic Games is here. This week’s free game is MudRunner, “the ultimate off-road experience.” You can grab your free copy of MudRunner directly from the Epic Games Store from now until December 3. As long as you claim the game by December 3, it will stay in your library forever.
5. TinyBuild Secret Neighbor TinyBuild has officially purchased Secret Neighbor developer Hologryph Studios. Secret Neighbor is the multiplayer spinoff of the Hello Neighbor franchise, which has sold a whopping 60 million copies across all platforms. Considering TinyBuild purchased Hello Neighbor developer Eerie Guest earlier this year, it isn’t particularly surprising that the company also sought to acquire Hologryph in order to get the entire franchise under one roof. A sequel to the cult hit, Hello Neighbor 2, is still under development but the alpha version is currently playable for free on Steam. Although no concrete release date has been announced yet, Hello Neighbor 2 is expected to see its official launch sometime next year.


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With interest in Formula One racing at an historic high on the heels of the Netflix series Drive to Survive, Samsung Electronics Canada recently unveiled a one-of-a-kind racing simulator built with Samsung Neo QLED 8K TVs.
Developed in partnership with digital motorsport retailer Advanced SimRacing, the Samsung Neo QLED 8K Racing Simulator takes virtual racing to the next level with three 65” 8K resolution screens, about four times that of a standard simulator.
“As a motorsports fan, it’s been a huge thrill to develop this simulator, which has raised the game for racing simulation technology,” said Pat Bugos, Senior Vice President of Consumer Electronics at Samsung Canada. “Sim racing is only as effective as the technology used to simulate reality, and our new Samsung Neo QLED 8K screens deliver the incredible lifelike picture quality required for a truly immersive gaming experience.”
To ensure the simulator meets the needs of motorsports industry professionals, Samsung partnered with Advanced SimRacing and Canadian professional race car driver and tech enthusiast Daniel Morad.
“Simulators have been an essential tool for my race training regimen over the years, and it’s exciting to see Samsung technology elevate the experience even more,” said Morad. “Beyond training for my next race, the Samsung Neo QLED 8K Racing Simulator is also an awesome gaming experience that feels remarkably close to the real thing.”
The Samsung Neo QLED 8K Racing Simulator was developed in response to the growing popularity of gaming, and racing video games in particular. In 2020, video game sales surpassed global movie and North American sports industries combined according to a study by Marketwatch, with one quarter of gamers calling race car driving their game genre of choice.
Built with premium-grade materials, the simulator features professional-level pedals and a steering wheel that vibrates with simulated feedback. Plus, with the addition of a Samsung Q990B Soundbar, the simulator delivers multi-dimensional sound as part of the audio experience.
Visually, with the Quantum Matrix Technology Pro, Samsung Neo QLED 8K renders gaming details in both dark and bright areas in even sharper quality than 4K monitor screens, which are typically used in professional simulators. Plus, the Neo Quantum Processor 8K features 8K artificial intelligence (AI) upscaling, completed by 20 multi-model neural networks.
Consumers, gamers, and race car aficionados can have an opportunity to experience the Samsung Neo QLED 8K Racing Simulator located at the Samsung Experience Store in Toronto, ON.
No mention on whether this Samsung 8K combo will go on sale but expect to pay upwards of $50,000 for a professional race simulator which is nothing compared to the millions needed to race a real car.


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After a brief period of “opening up”, China is once again withdrawing from the global economy, says Michael Schuman in The Atlantic. In the 1970s and 1980s, the then “paramount leader” Deng Xiaoping transformed his country’s insular economy by allowing in a “torrent” of foreign money and ideas. But now Xi Jinping is closing the gates. He wants to make the economy “self-sufficient” to protect it from US sanctions – by spending hundreds of billions of dollars on homegrown semiconductor companies, for example. And it’s not just the economy. Xi has also vowed to curtail foreign cultural influences in a bid to “infuse more ‘socialist’ values into Chinese society”.
Dramatic as this all sounds, China has always gone through “periods of openness and isolationism”. The height of the Tang dynasty (618–907) was one of the country’s most “internationally minded” eras: central Asian fashion was all the rage, and the empire’s capital, Chang’an, imported delicacies from around the world. Foreigners were assimilated into Tang society – one poet even wrote about the charms of a “Western” bar girl who “laughs with the breath of spring”. By contrast, the emperors of the later Ming dynasty (1368-1644) built the Great Wall and tried (unsuccessfully) to ban all private maritime trade in order to stop citizens mixing with foreigners. When Portuguese traders began settling in Macau, the Ming built another wall to keep “newcomers bottled up and, if necessary, deprived of food supplies”. Once again, this “historical cycle” seems to be repeating itself.
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WASHINGTON — Richard Smith came to Capitol Hill this week to speak about the massive breach at Equifax, where he was until last week the CEO. But it was clear Tuesday that he will have to defend the entire credit bureau industry, not just his former company.
In his first of four hearings this week, Smith took bruising questions and criticism from members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on security lapses leading up to the hack, the company’s response, suspicion about stock sales by Equifax managers and who may have perpetrated the breach.
But some lawmakers also appeared to cast the breach, now estimated to have affected over 145 million consumers, as a symptom of more systematic concerns: the credit bureaus’ hold on consumer data, the security risks inherent in that data collection and the agencies’ powerful influence in credit decisions.
“The Equifax data breach was massive in scale. I would call it shocking, but, is it really?” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D.-Ill., in her opening remarks for the hearing. “We have these under-regulated, private, for-profit credit reporting agencies collecting detailed personal and financial information about American consumers. It’s a treasure trove for hackers. Consumers don’t have a choice.”
Smith, appearing contrite, sought to offer a detailed timeline of the company’s response to the breach while explaining steps Equifax was taking to give consumers the ability to defend themselves against fraud. This includes a new free lifetime service to let customers lock their credit file.
“It's time to change the paradigm and give the power to consumers to control who accesses their data,” said Smith. He added that he “would encourage” Transunion and Experian to offer similar free services.
Such steps may become increasingly less voluntary as the Equifax breach highlights concerns that officials have about all of the credit bureaus and several lawmakers push legislative solutions.
Before the hearing, held before the subcommittee on digital commerce and consumer protection, Schakowsky reintroduced a bill requiring better data security as well as notification measures following a breach. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has also introduced two bills in the aftermath of the hack: one that would require credit bureaus to offer free credit freezes to customers, and another that would prohibit employers from the credit reports of prospective employees.
At the hearing Tuesday, lawmakers laid into Smith not just for Equifax’s data security procedures, but also how the information collection process and administration of credit reports can generally harm consumers.
“The credit reporting industry is famously unforgiving, and it is an industry that helps perpetuate the cycle of poverty,” said Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas. “Agencies like Equifax force those with lower credit scores to pay more money for loans and mortgages. Less than perfect credit scores can even result in higher rates for products that don’t require credit, like auto insurance premiums.
“Those people will have a harder time paying back higher interest rates, making it more likely that they won’t be able to pay their debt back on time and will hurt their credit further. And yet, Equifax and the rest of the credit reporting industry expect forgiveness for breach after breach, lobbying Congress for even less liability.”
To be sure, Equifax has now become the biggest target in light of its breach. The company has been strongly criticized for flaws in the credit freeze it implemented right after the hack, as well as what was thought to be a forced-arbitration clause for consumers affected by the breach.
“It was a standard boilerplate clause,” said Smith, who added that it was a “mistake” that was rectified “within 24 hours” of being revealed.
Smith also faced tough questions on security oversights that are now being blamed for having made the company more vulnerable to hackers. He acknowledged that the company had failed, starting as early as March, to apply a patch to software called Apache Struts, which the company uses for its online disputes portal.
“The breach occurred because of both human error and technology failures,” said Smith. “It was not until late August that we concluded that we had experienced a major breach.”
But lawmakers asked repeated questions about why the breach, which Smith found out about on July 31, took weeks to be disclosed to the company’s board of directors and more than a month to be made public.
Initially, Smith said he learned of the hack in a face-to-face meeting with his chief information officer. “The incident was described as an incident, not a breach,” he said. “At that time I did not know if data had been compromised, exfiltrated or what the data was.”
But lawmakers were not satisfied by that explanation.
“The difference between a breach and a suspicious activity is not one that I find particularly relevant,” said Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J.
Asked if reports of suspicious activity were a routine occurrence, Smith said it was “not uncommon” for him to be notified of such incidents by his staff.
“We do have a lot of data, and our primary goal is to protect that data,” he said. “We have experienced millions of suspicious activity against our database.”
Smith was also put on the defensive over questions about Equifax's chief legal officer, John Kelley, who is still with the company and reportedly approved the sale of company stock by three top managers in August, just weeks before the breach was revealed.
“He did not know it was a breach,” said Smith, defending Kelley. “It was deemed suspicious activity with no indication that personally identifiable information was in fact compromised at that time.”
Smith was also asked multiple times about whether he had seen indications that the attack may have been carried out by a nation-state.
Asked by Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich. if he had seen signs that “the attackers were backed by a nation-state,” Smith responded that the company was collaborating with the FBI. “At this point, it’s all I’ll say,” he said.
Yet lawmakers repeatedly came back to credit bureaus’ massive hold on consumers’ own financial data, pointing out how, for example, many Americans do not even realize how much of their information is included in their credit file.
“Most people had no idea that Equifax was even holding their data,” said Dingell. “Do you think that consumers can take steps to control their information, if they don’t even know who has it?”
Smith responded that offering “the ability to lock and unlock your credit file for life for free” would be “one step in doing that.”
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., asked Smith whether consumers affected by the hack actually own their financial data.
"In the context of this breach, if the data that you hold is about me, do I own it?," said Matsui. "Can you explain what makes data about me mine?"
Smith referred again to the company's free credit lock, which he said would give consumers "the ability to control who accesses [their] personal information and who does not."
But Dingell suggested those steps would not be sufficient. “I think we need a longer debate about who owns this data and how we educate the American people,” she said.
There were also questions raised about the level of regulatory oversight for credit bureaus. The primary regulator in charge of enforcing cybersecurity standards for the credit reporting agencies is the Federal Trade Commission.
“Do you believe that the FTC has an important role in protecting consumers from future data breaches?” said Jerry McNerney, D-N.M. “The Federal Trade Commission is an enforcement body, but it doesn’t have any rulemaking authority.”
In response, Smith said, “I think there’s a role for the ... industry to do more.”
“If there’s particular legislation that arises out of this horrific breach, I’m sure you would find … Equifax and the industry willing to work and cooperate with the regulators,” he said.
Even some Republicans appeared ready to implement sweeping reforms to protect consumer data form further theft.
“It would seem to me that you may pay a little bit more attention to security if you had to pay everybody whose account got hacked a couple hundred bucks or something,” said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, who recounted how a member of his staff had been a victim of the breach. “We're going to have this meeting every year from now on if we don't do something to change the system.”
Others expressed exasperation at what they viewed as a preventable catastrophe.
“With so much at risk, how does this happen?” said Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., who is chairman of the full Energy and Commerce Committee. “I don't think we can pass a law that fixes stupid.”


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By Joe Belfiore
Three years ago I was lucky to join the Windows Phone team at a time when we were “resetting” our approach to mobile operating system software. We made big changes to our design, our approach to partners, and our platform. The result was Windows Phone 7.
Now it’s time to start telling you about the next exciting chapter of our story: Windows Phone 8. Officially announced this morning in San Francisco, it’s the most advanced mobile OS Microsoft has ever made and will arrive on new phones later this year.
Many of Windows Phone 8’s new capabilities come from a surprising source: Windows, the most successful and powerful operating system on the planet, and one used by more than a billion people. Yes, you read that right: Windows Phone 8 is based on the same core technologies that power Windows 8. As a result, Windows Phone 8 will unleash a new wave of features for consumers, developers, and businesses.
Today I’ll give you a high-level sneak peek at the Windows Phone 8 platform and tell you just some of what it’s going to make possible. I’ll also share some exciting news about apps and updates for current Windows Phone customers. This isn’t a full disclosure of everything in Windows Phone 8—look for a more complete tour of new features later.
If you’ve seen Windows 8, Microsoft’s groundbreaking new release for PCs and tablets, you’ve probably noticed it bears more than a passing resemblance to the look of Windows Phone. Here’s how the Windows 8 Start screen looks in the latest preview release.
With Windows Phone 8, the similarity is more than skin deep. We’ve based the next release of Windows Phone on the rock-solid technology core of Windows 8. It means Windows Phone and its bigger sibling will share common networking, security, media and web browser technology, and a common file system. That translates into better performance, more features, and new opportunities for app developers and hardware makers to innovate faster.
This new shared core—along with all the extra work we’ve done on top of it—opens up a new world of capabilities, which you don’t have to be a techie to appreciate. Here’s a taste:
We’re putting the finishing touches on Windows Phone 8 as I write this. It has a ton of great new consumer features that I can’t wait to tell you about in the months ahead. Today, however, I’m going to show off just one: the beautiful, flexible new Start screen.
As you can see, we’re making Windows Phone 8 even more personal, with a new palette of theme colors and three sizes of Live Tiles, all of which are under your control. We know Live Tiles are one of the things current owners really love about their Windows Phones, and we wanted to make them even more flexible and unique. This short video shows the new Start screen in action.
The new Start screen is so useful and emblematic of what Windows Phone is about that we want everybody to enjoy it. So we’ll be delivering it to existing phones as a software update sometime after Window Phone 8 is released. Let me repeat: If you currently own a Windows Phone 7.5 handset, Microsoft is planning to release an update with the new Windows Phone 8 Start screen. We’re calling it “Windows Phone 7.8.”
Some of you have been wondering, “Will we also get Windows Phone 8 as an update?” The answer, unfortunately, is no.
Windows Phone 8 is a generation shift in technology, which means that it will not run on existing hardware. BUT we care deeply about our existing customers and want to keep their phones fresh, so we’re providing the new Start screen in this new update.
Today we announced that the Windows Phone Marketplace officially hit 100,000 apps and games—a milestone we reached faster than Android, and a testament to the thousands of talented developers around the world who’ve supported us since launch. Together they deliver more than 200 new titles, on average, each day.
On behalf of everybody at Windows Phone, THANK YOU! We appreciate your effort and creativity and the value you bring to Windows Phone users.
To mark the milestone, today we’re announcing a new batch of marquee titles. The official Audible app for audiobooks arrives in Marketplace today. Official apps from Chase and PayPal are in the works. Gameloft has Windows Phone versions of Asphalt 7: Heat and N.O.V.A. 3 Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance on the way.
And Nokia is helping deliver the much-requested Zynga games Words with Friends and Draw Something to Windows Phone later this year. Check out Nokia Conversations today for more details about this and other new Windows Phone-related announcements today. (And don’t miss the fun new “100,000 Apps and Counting” mugs and other goodies in the official Windows Phone Gear Store!)
Since we’re talking about apps, I want to tell developers a little bit about what they can expect in Windows Phone 8. Some of the exciting changes on the way include:
This is just a taste. Later this summer, we’ll have much more for developers on the Windows Phone 8 Software Development Kit (SDK) and the new Visual Studio 11-based development tools. So stay tuned.
In Windows Phone 8, we’re also moving into the workplace in a big way, introducing a number of features and capabilities that companies and their IT departments demand. This is just one more benefit of sharing a common core with Windows 8. Some of the new business-friendly features include:
I get a lot of tweets asking, “When will my phone get Arabic? Farsi? Turkish?” They’re also the top feature requests on the Windows Phone Suggestion Box site.
I’m happy to tell you these languages are coming! In fact, Windows Phone 8 will support a total of 50 languages, or double the current geographic coverage. We’re also expanding Marketplace, our store for apps and games, to support app downloads in over 180 countries—nearly triple its current footprint.
Another area I know many of you care deeply about is Windows Phone software updates and how they’re delivered—something we’ve gotten a lot of feedback on over the last year. Today I’m excited to tell you that we’ve been working closely with our many partners to improve the update process for Windows Phone 8, and help get you our latest software more quickly and easily.
How? First, Windows Phone 8 updates will be delivered wirelessly over-the-air, so you don’t have to bother plugging your phone into your PC to update anymore. Second, we will support devices with updates for at least 18 months from device launch.
Finally, we’re working to create a program that gives registered enthusiasts early access to updates prior to broad availability—a little gift to our biggest fans and supporters. We think these three initiatives will help keep your phone fresher than ever before.
I know that’s a lot to digest—and look forward to. And I didn’t even mention actual phones yet!
We’re really excited about the strong line-up of hardware partners who are putting their support behind Windows Phone 8. The first wave of devices for Windows Phone 8 will come from Nokia, Huawei, Samsung, and HTC, all built on next-generation chips from Qualcomm.


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A Du Quoin business is among the latest to join the ranks of the Illinois Made program -- an effort to highlight the small businesses that "make Illinois thrive," according to the Illinois Office of Tourism.
St. Nicholas Brewing Company is among the latest businesses to join the tourism program, which now includes 42 small businesses from around the state. Also recently included from southern Illinois were Dinger Bats in Ridgway and Alto Vineyards in Alto Pass.
Launched last summer, Illinois Made spotlights the people, products and experiences unique to Illinois and inspires travelers to explore off the beaten path destinations around the state.
After taking over the vacant St. Nicholas Hotel in downtown Du Quoin, Abby Ancell shifted the building's focus from beds to beers.
From the early 1800s, the hotel served as a long-standing refuge for travelers. The building's doors closed in 2005, destined to be abandoned, but rather than see the historic site demolished, Ancell was inspired by the hotel's history as a gathering place for both travelers and residents, and she turned the storied structure into Du Quoin's new watering hole, eatery and meet-up spot.
Combining her passions for beer, bikes and food, Ancell got in touch with James McCoy, who also shared an affinity for bikes and brews. In 2014, the duo's shared interests formed the pillars that uphold St. Nicholas Brewery's unique place in craft beer culture.
As the brewmaster, McCoy calls on the flavors of his region to produce weekly beer variants. Along with the beers, St. Nicholas Brewing also serves food such as artisinal pizza. (Though McCoy will often pop his hand-selected hops into the oven to imbue them with a toasted flavor.)
While the St. Nicholas Hotel was once a hub for travelers passing through southern Illinois, St. Nicholas Brewery has become a center of Illinois' craft brewery scene.
"Today's travelers crave authentic experiences they can't find anywhere else, and that is what Illinois Made is all about," Carol Hoffman of Southernmost Illinois Tourism said in a news release announcing the latest inclusions to the Illinois Made program. "This latest group of artisans, creators and small businesses will only add to the success of Illinois Made and will continue highlighting southern Illinois."
Content from the site EnjoyIllinois.com contributed to this report.


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LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s Sky and BT have agreed to supply their most popular channels to each other’s platforms in a deal that eases the rivalry between two pay-TV giants facing new threats from the likes of Netflix and Amazon.
In a joint statement the two companies said BT customers would be able to sign up for Sky’s NOW TV service which includes the biggest package of English Premier League matches and shows like “Game of Thrones”.
In return, BT will make its sports channels, which show Champions League soccer, 42 Premier League games a season and the current Ashes cricket series, available to Sky satellite customers.
The companies said the reciprocal deal was expected to be available from early 2019.
The two companies paid a combined 5.14 billion pounds for the last three-year Premier League rights deal, a 70 percent jump on the previous round.
The deal comes before the next set of rights, for 2019-2022, is up for grabs early next year, and the Premier League has indicated it wants companies like Amazon and Facebook to bid, saying the live packages will be available on a “technology neutral basis”.
Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch said the agreement would benefit its customers who would be able to watch all soccer matches from the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and Europa League with a single Sky TV subscription.
“UK consumers will have more ways to watch great Sky entertainment content with our leading portfolio of channels - Sky Atlantic, Sky one and Sky Living - available on all major pay-TV platforms for the first time,” he said.
BT, which launched its rival Sport TV product on the back of winning some Premier League rights for the 2013-14 season, said its customers would be able to watch Sky’s sport and entertainment programing on BT TV boxes.
“Having built up an outstanding portfolio of exclusive sports rights and a loyal base of customers, we feel that now is the right time to broaden the ways in which we distribute BT Sport,” chief executive Gavin Patterson said.
Ampere Analysis research director Richard Broughton said the BT-Sky deal was a win-win because it reduced the pressure on both to bid ever higher sums for exclusive rights.
“If you imagine a worst case scenario where Sky for instance loses access to the majority of Premier League rights and BT takes them, their subscribers would still have full access through BT Sport included in the Sky Sports bundle,” he said.
“For the upcoming Premier League rights auction there is actually a little bit of downward pressure rather than the ongoing upward inflation pressure that led to the 5 billion pounds price tag last time around.”
BT consumer brands chief executive Marc Allera said owning exclusive sports rights would remain a core part of its strategy because as well as attracting customers, it strengthened its hand when negotiating content deals with rivals.
“I believe in this marketplace it is still important to have rights,” he said in an interview, adding he wanted to win a good portfolio of games in the upcoming auction.
“It’s great content and a core part of our strategy but I’m really clear what it’s worth to us and I won’t bid above that,” he said.
Shares in BT were up 1.3 percent and Sky rose 1.7 percent.
Reporting by Kate Holton and Paul Sandle; Editing by Adrian Croft and Elaine Hardcastle


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Snapplify, a digital publishing solutions provider, is proud to be selected to demonstrate some of their innovative apps at the official launch of BlackBerry® 10 in South Africa on 30 January 2013. Snapplify provides a platform to publishers and content producers to sell their content via apps,
South Africa is one of 6 countries globally selected for the official launch of the new BlackBerry® 10 platform and the unveiling of the first two BlackBerry® 10 smartphones.
“We are excited about fostering a relationship with BlackBerry® that will help us to promote mobile growth and innovation in Africa via mobile apps,” said Wesley Lynch, CEO of Snapplify. “The inclusion of our client’s apps in the BlackBerry® World™ storefront will benefit our customers immediately and immensely.”
Details about BlackBerry 10 can be found at: www.blackberry.com/blackberry10.


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Johnson Controls Inc. has agreed to sell its automotive electronics business for $265 million to Visteon Corp., bringing to nearly $1 billion the proceeds from the company’s recent divestitures. Read the full Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story here.
- CapTimes: One more campaign: Tommy Thompson leads the UW System at a critical timeJanuary 27, 2021
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- CB Insights: The United States Of Venture Capital: The Most Active VC In Each StateJanuary 27, 2021
- WisconsinINNO: Northwestern Mutual joins NBA stars as investor in Black-owned mobile banking app GoalsetterJanuary 26, 2021
- Diverse group of judges, investors to screen entries for 2021 Governor’s Business Plan ContestJanuary 26, 2021


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Webcast to offer free advice on money management and saving for retirement The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration will host its first Spanish-language “Guide to Retirement Saving” webcast on June 22.
Tagged: Hispanic Retirement Savings
— Hispanic marketing content consultancy releases video recapping how its Latinx influencers are helping their audiences survive quarantine with meaningful content —
— Hispanic news distribution service hopes to bridge language and information gaps in pandemic news impacting the Latinx community —
— Now in its 14th Year, the Coors Light Líderes Program Will Award $25,000 to a Latino Leader —
brand marketing CEO Diversity education event Events Hispanic Hispanic Advertising Hispanic Business Hispanic community Hispanic culture Hispanic education Hispanic entertainment Hispanic Health Hispanic Heritage Month Hispanicize 2012 Hispanic Market Hispanic Marketing Hispanic Market Research Hispanic Media Hispanic PR Hispanic Public Relations Hispanics Hispanic social media Hispanic Television HPRA latino Latino community Latino market Latino Marketing Latino Media Latino PR Latino Public Relations latinos Latino Television marketing media Miami Multicultural multicultural marketing multicultural PR PR public relations Social Media television


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Noble metals such as platinum and palladium are becoming increasingly important because of growth in environmentally friendly applications such as fuel cells and pollution control catalysts. Because the world has limited quantities of these materials, manufacturers will have to rely on efficient recycling processes to help meet the demand.
Existing recycling processes use a combination of two inorganic acids known as “aqua regia” to dissolve noble metals, a class of materials that includes platinum, palladium, gold and silver. But because the metals are often dissolved together, impurities introduced in the recycling process may harm the efficiency of catalysts produced from the recycled materials.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new organic solvent process that may help address the problem – and open up new possibilities for using these metals in cancer therapeutics, microelectronics, and other applications.
The new solvent system uses a combination of two chemicals – thionyl chloride and a variety of organic reagents such as pyridine, N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), pyrimidine, or imidazole. The concentrations can be adjusted to preferentially dissolve gold or palladium, and more importantly, no combination of the organic chemicals dissolves platinum. This ability to preferentially dissolve noble metals creates a customized system that provides a high level of control over the process.
“We need to be able to selectively dissolve these noble metals to ensure their purity in a variety of important applications,” said C.P. Wong, a Regents professor in the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering. “Though we don’t fully understand how it works yet, we believe this system opens a lot of new possibilities for using these metals.”
Catalyst systems that make use of more than one metal, such as palladium with a gold core, are becoming more widely used in industrial processes. To recycle those, the new solvent system – dubbed “organic aqua regia” – could first use a combination of thionyl chloride and DMF to dissolve out the gold, leaving hollow palladium spheres. Then the palladium spheres could be dissolved using a different combination.
So far, the researchers have demonstrated that the solvent system can selectively dissolve gold and palladium from a mixture of gold, palladium and platinum. They have also used it to remove gold from a mixture of gold and palladium.
Beyond recycling, the new solvent system could also provide new ways of producing nanometer-scale cancer chemotherapy agents that involve these metals. And the new solvent approach could have important implications for the electronics industry, which uses noble metals that must often be removed after specific processing steps. Beyond selectivity, the new approach also offers other advantages for electronics manufacturing – no potentially harmful contamination is left behind and processing is done under mild conditions.
“In semiconductor production, people want to avoid having a metal catalyst remaining in devices, but in many cases, they cannot use existing water-based processes because these can damage the semiconductor oxides and introduce contamination with free ions in the aqueous solution,” explained Wei Lin, a graduate research assistant in Wong’s laboratory. “Use of this organic system avoids the problem of moisture.”
Use of the selective process could also facilitate recycling of noble metals used in electronics manufacturing. Wire-bonding, metallization, and interconnect processes currently use noble metals.
Noble metals are also the foundation for widely-used chemotherapy agents, but the chemistry of synthesizing them involves a complex process of surfactants and precursors. Wong believes the new Georgia Tech solvent process may allow creation of novel compounds that could offer improved therapeutic effects.


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But why is there so much buzz for this not-so-new digital trend? Arguably, the barrier to entry is lower than it ever has been, being a smartphone and a Google Cardboard. And the reasons to get involved? Rob Marks, studio manager at Raw Productions, says it’s about the experience you can create for supporters:
Virtual reality is an empathy machine. It’s an opportunity to put the viewer in someone else’s shoes and create an active experience for them that offers a fresh take on traditional messaging.
It’s immersive, creating an experience for supporters.
Here are four charities innovating with 360 video.
1. Fostering empathy with The National Autistic Society
Supported by viral video agency Don’t Panic, The National Autistic Society created this compelling 360 video for its Too Much Information campaign to raise understanding of autism. The video emphasises the distress caused by bright lights and sounds to mimic the sensory overload experience by an autistic child.
Think: could VR help supporters better understand your charity’s cause and issue?
2. Raw and real with the RNLI
The RNLI has been experimenting with VR in lots of forms and was one of the first charities to publish a 360 video. The charity uses immersive content to create an emotional connection and tap into the what supporters want to do when they visit them Luke Williams told us at our content marketing conference in 2016.
Think: do you work visually compelling environments?
3. Bringing supporters closer to Cancer Research
Cancer Research took the opportunity to showcase its 360 video of a research lab at a series of events, such as charity runs and open days, giving supporters a chance see up close what their donations go to.
Think: have you got content you could showcase at a face-to-face event?
4. An immersive experience with Samaritans
As part of the #welisten campaign, Samaritans created a 360 video to get people thinking about the difference between listening to and hearing peoples’ problems.
“We chose to shoot in 360 because it represents the real experience of engaging with someone one-to-one much more closely than a static video,” Kimberley Anderson, the former head of digital communications at Samaritans, told Digiday.
Think: would a VR video enhance the experience soon?
Getting started with 360 video and VR
360 video vs VR – Rob says people often use 360 video and VR interchangeably.
If we’re being formal then virtual reality allows users to interact with the content (active VR) and 360 video allows users to view a video in 360 but not interact with it (passive VR). The language is still evolving.
Check out this starter guide on VR, 360 video and augmented reality, the tech involved and who’s already using it.
Special thanks to Rob Marks from Raw Productions for contributing to this article.


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Here's what's happening today: Lenovo refused to resell Microsoft Surface, Google won its book scanning court case, and new free games from Games with Gold.
Recent Xbox Stories
Here's what's happening today: Yet another trip to New York, this time for Xbox One, JetBlue is adding free Wi-Fi to all of its flights, and more.
Here’s what’s happening today: No delay for Xbox One's new dashboard, thoughts on the new iMacs, Apple's expiring antitrust oversight, and Twitter layoffs.
Here's what's happening today: Further proof that Android is the new Windows, and news of potential Xbox 360 game capability with Windows 10 PCs.
Here's what's happening today: Skype apologizes (poorly), someone underestimates what Microsoft has just accomplished, and PS4 heads to the bargain bin.
Here’s what’s happening today: How the relevance of Windows has changed since 2007, remapping Xbox One controller buttons, Apple headings to religion, more.
Here's a quick peek at what's happening today around the web: Cortana on Xbox One, Xbox One Fallout bundle, Skype for iOS and Office Delve updates, and more.
It's October 1, and you know what that means: It's time for another month of free Xbox One and Xbox 360 games for Xbox Live Gold subscribers.
Microsoft will open its first flagship retail store on 5th Avenue in New York City on October 26. And a second flagship will open in Sydney, Australia.
Microsoft has announced that the "new Xbox One experience"--i.e. the update that includes Windows 10--has begun rolling out to the Xbox Preview Program.
Microsoft has announced a new system update for Xbox 360 that adds support for more cloud storage plus some other previously-announced features.
In November, Xbox One will be updated to include Xbox 360 game compatibility, a new Guide, a redesigned Dashboard, and a new Store. Oh, and Windows 10.
Microsoft's online store is now offering the Xbox One Elite Bundle for preorder. This new version of its console offers better storage and a new controller.
Believe it or not, September is almost upon us. But that means another month of free Xbox One and Xbox 360 games for Xbox Live Gold subscribers.


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Concord, ON, April 06th, 2016 (PVBuzz Media) – Sentinel Solar, a leading Canadian distributor and provider of innovative solutions for commercial, residential, industrial and off-grid solar photovoltaic (“PV”) energy applications, today, announced the official launch of operations at its new distribution facility in Calgary, Alberta.
The Company also announced the introduction of the first ever and only certified Cradle-To-CradleTM Aquion Batteries with the salt water technology to Canada. This is a broader move to better service the growing solar industry in high demand for energy storage for off-grid applications.
The distribution facility, located at 111-1440 Aviation Park NE, Calgary, Alberta, started operations earlier this year with a complete, and highly knowledgeable sales, engineering and support team the industry has come to expect from Sentinel Solar. The facility`s location–close to Highway 2–provides an excellent ease of access for delivery and shipping. Thus far, the facility has met and is on par with all internal business processes and performance metrics (benchmarks) on schedule.
One of the many impediments to renewable energy adoption is intermittency. Understanding that the main solution to this issue is clean, safe, reliable and affordable storage; Sentinel Solar now distributes the Aquion Batteries made with the salt water technology, all nontoxic materials which—unlike Lithium-based batteries—won’t overheat. Aquion’s batteries are durable and have demonstrated an impressive storage capacity. The Aquion batteries are Cradle-To-CradleTM certified for environmental sustainability. This certification means the batteries meet required standards for maximum use of available recycled materials and an optimization of the amount of product that can be recycled.
“We explored many battery solutions alongside the lithium ion batteries in the past, to determine the best product for our portfolio” said Adam Webb, CEO of Sentinel Solar. “Once we got the performance characteristics out of the way—we had to answer these questions—what are we dealing with as a battery, what is the market for that battery, and what is the market going to look for in a battery?”
“It all came back to clean, safe, healthy, environmentally sustainable and affordable. Answering these questions made it evident that the Aquion Battery was the best product to carry.” Added Adam.
Sentinel Solar’s facilities in Canada are strategically located and at capacity to support the industry`s demand across the country. Driven by its zeal to provide the best products, solutions and support—backed by decades of experienced staff—the company has positioned itself as an industry leader to support the changing tide towards future growth of renewable energy applications.
The global solar energy sector is experiencing unprecedented growth, and the recent shift in Canadian policy with regards to climate change mitigation will boost Canada’s solar adoption. A recent growth projection report for Alberta indicates that the province is on path to install 2,000 megawatts of solar by spring 2025. This capacity, coupled with a safe and durable energy storage system like the Aquion, will ensure sustainable and reliable energy availability across the province.
“When we consider how dependent we are on the grid for our daily activities, it becomes difficult to make the switch to a completely off-grid and truly sustainable lifestyle—the Aquion Battery is the solution.” concluded Adam.
Mr. Jason Cohen, Sales Account Manager at Sentinel Solar added, “We are fully committed to supporting our dealers and we are honored to work with the industry`s best. We trust the Aquion battery technology and believe it is the best product for energy storage solutions across Canada. The battery delivers everything we need in terms of performance, environmental attributes and comes with a lower price tag than most batteries in the market today.”


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Fisker isn’t only focusing on high-class electric cars. The auto-manufacturer has planned to team up with Hakim Unique Group of China on the Orbit. The company has planned to present a self-driving electric shuttle tailor-made for smart cities. The company hasn’t yet announced more details, but it will clearly get a benefit of its self-governing feature. It will be a boxy design with maximize space for passengers. There is also a huge digital display in order to inform travelers when the shuttle departs and about its next upcoming stop. You should need to interfere using your thumbs guessing whether or not you will make it on specific time.
Dissimilar to the most current projects of Fisker, you shouldn’t wait for a long time to experience an Orbit on the road. The company is expecting to offer its first shuttles by the end of 2018. It will initially be used as part of a unique-implemented smart city of Hakim. But, it hasn’t yet mentioned about the location of the proposed smart city, let alone when it will extend elsewhere. Moreover, there has been a global reach for Hakim, so it’s safer to assume that Fisker doesn’t need to constrain its self-driving tech to one country. The major challenge is seemingly to be discovering more cities and feasible transportation outfits eager to integrate self-driving shuttles. It also needs both the right legal framework and efficient companies that are cheerful in getting a chance on a robotic fleet of vehicles.


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Poultry meat production reached 1.73 kt in 2018 in Tajikistan, according to Faostat. This is 3.72 % less than in the previous year.
Historically, poultry meat production in Tajikistan reached an all time high of 7.50 kt in 2012 and an all time low of 0.100 kt in 1997. When compared to Tajikistan's main peers, poultry meat production in Afghanistan amounted to 28.9 kt, 19,395 kt in China, 8.32 kt in Kyrgyzstan and 64.7 kt in Uzbekistan in 2018.
Tajikistan has been ranked 159th within the group of 169 countries we follow in terms of poultry meat production, 5 places above the position seen 10 years ago.


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With the ring of a bell, Petaluma networking equipment maker Cyan completed its journey to Wall Street on Thursday, selling $88 million in stock in its initial public offering.
"It's a big day for the whole company, it really is," said CEO Mark Floyd, who rang the opening bell Thursday at the New York Stock Exchange with Cyan President Mike Hatfield and other executives from the 7-year-old Petaluma company.
"We're extremely positive. The idea of how Cyan has morphed — being in Petaluma, becoming a global networking company out of Petaluma, and really driving the global market changes — it's pretty cool to have your local company do well," Floyd said.
The company sold 8 million shares of stock priced at $11 a share. Its stock opened at $10.05 a share Thursday but bounced back to $11 within the first hour of trading and closed at $11.14. Its shares trade under the symbol CYNI.
The company, which has 44.5 million shares outstanding, was valued at $496 million at the end of the day.


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In May 2019, the US Commerce Department added Huawei into Entity-List, which prohibits all US firms including Google from doing business with Huawei.
Google says, because of these restrictions, it cannot certify new Huawei devices with Google Mobile Services (GMS) or provide Google apps including Gmail, Maps, Youtube, Play Store and other to pre-install or sideload online.
Which devices are currently receiving Google support?
Google is continuously working with Huawei to provide security updates and updates to Google’s apps and services on existing devices launched before US Entity List (May 16, 2019), and Google will continue to do so as long as it is permitted.
There’s one thing to note that Huawei has also launched a few new devices after the US Entity List that supports GMS due to the “rebranding” of existing devices.
Why new devices doesn’t support Google applications?
Google said new Huawei devices will not support Google app due to Play Protect certificate, which is required to install the Google Play Store, Google Play Protect, and Google’s core apps (including Gmail, YouTube, Maps, and others).
New Huawei device models made available to the public after May 16, 2019, have not been able to go through a security process nor will they have Play Protect preloaded.
What about sideloading Google apps?
Sideloading Google’s apps also carry a high risk of installing an app that has been altered or tampered with in ways that can compromise user security.
What’s next for Huawei’s new smartphones?
As Huawei mentioned before, it’s preparing Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) to replace GMS on the global markets and new devices, launched post-U.S. Entity List, will come pre-installed with HMS and HMS applications.
HMS incorporates Huawei’s chip, device and cloud capabilities, including a full portfolio of HMS Core services and related IDE tools platforms for development and testing, along with key applications for Huawei devices.
The absence of GMS means that Huawei phones equip apps such as Huawei AppGallery, Huawei Assistant and Huawei Browser, Huawei Cloud, Huawei Wallet, and Huawei Video, Huawei Music and Huawei Reader.


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The UK retail impact investment universe was worth some £87bn at the end of last year, and there are concerted efforts to make this grow.
There has been a government-backed advisory group looking at how to catalyse the market, the Investment Association’s CEO Chris Cummings recently met Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen on the issue, and UK banks and fund managers are developing products to meet demand.
Triodos Bank has launched a crowdfunding platform allowing people to make social impact investments, while Aberdeen Standard Investments and social fund Big Issue Invest have launched a UK equity impact investment fund focused on ‘good employment’ – one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Allianz Global Investors Vice-Chair Elizabeth Corley, who led the social impact investment advisory group, said: “It is very encouraging to see the financial services industry addressing the need to provide a broader range of social impact investment options. Innovative, new products will help make it easier for people to invest in products that allow them to do social good as well as achieving a financial return, and will help ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of the global social impact investing movement.”
Ethical-focused Triodos says it is the first bank to launch a UK crowd-funding platform for retail investors. Whitni Thomas, Senior Relationship Manager at Triodos, says the online platform has allowed it to make the product much more accessible to ordinary savers. “The minimum is about £500. I’d love it to be even lower, say £100 and that is something we can possibly do because of the online element. If we’re doing things by pen and paper with the investment team the minimum would be about £2000. Now the investor journey is all online it is easier to lower that.”
The platform currently has three social bonds with interest rates ranging from 4% to 7%. The investments can also be wrapped in an Innovative Finance Individual Savings Account (ISA) and benefit from tax-breaks.
ISAs are a UK financial product allowing people to save or invest in stocks and shares up to £20,000 tax-free annually. In 2016, the government introduced the Innovative Finance ISA allowing for investment on peer-to-peer lending platforms with unlisted assets.
Thomas says that with social investment, some people get it straight away, but some don’t understand it. “The great thing now that it can be held as an ISA a lot of retail investors understand what that is and we are making it really straightforward for them.”
Thomas was part of the UK social impact investment advisory group alongside other Triodos executives. Aberdeen Standard Investments and Big Issue Invest were also members.Nigel Kershaw, chair of Big Issue Invest the social investment arm of homelessness charity The Big Issue, calls it “democratisation of capital”.
“It’s the ability of ordinary people to make a decision about where they put their savings, where they put their ISA and where they put their pensions. That was a real driver for us.”
Lesley Duncan, Fund Manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments, says: “By investing in quoted UK companies, the fund seeks to harness equity-market returns while also helping to direct significant capital in support of SDG 8 – full and productive employment. A special job assessment framework underpins the investment process, guiding portfolio selection and helping the Fund meet its impact objectives, thereby helping address inequalities in the UK.”
It uses metrics such as 50% or more of the company workforce has to be in the UK, as well as elements such as job creation, living wage employers, workforce development, young people’s employment and career development. There is also a metric looking at economic deprivation and employment areas.
It is Aberdeen Standard Investment’s second impact product following the launch of a global equity fund aligned with the SDGs last year.
The fund is around £97m and returned 6.3%, after fees
Aberdeen Standard Investments will manage the fund while Big Issue Invest will do impact assessment using a framework designed by social advisory firm The Good Economy Partnership.
It’s the latest in a series of impact products launched by Big Issue Invest, including notably a social bond fund with Columbia Threadneedle four years ago, with an investment minimum of £100. The fund is around £97m and as of last April has delivered 6.3% after fees to investors.
“We are trying to create a marketplace where it becomes the norm,” says Kershaw. “When we started, we always said it wasn’t about bringing impact investment to the mainstream it’s about impacting the mainstream so that everything in the mainstream has impact. That’s why it is so interesting working with ASI on an impact product with listed companies and saying every company can be impactful and we are going to try and help and engage those companies to become more impactful and for people to share in that impact.”


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Apple has introduced what may be the penultimate 27-in. iMac configuration powered by an Intel processor. But with Apple already talkig up plans to transition to its own silicon soon, does the iMac remain a smart buy for your business?
The Apple Silicon transition thing
Enterprise purchasers shouldn’t be put off that Apple intends to migrate its Macs to Apple Silicon because, for now at least, they know what they are getting with Intel-based kit – and have been promised support for Macs using processors for “years to come.” While that’s a slightly opaque commitment, it should cover standard enterprise Mac usage cycles.
In other words, counter-intuitive as it may sound to Mac users focused on the new, bright and the shiny, these iMacs may make a better investment than the first-generation Apple Silicon Macs, because you know what you’re getting. And existing software and services should perform fine on these new Macs for years.


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Ricker's owner: 1930s mentality on beer won out in Indiana
The House killed a bill Thursday that would have allowed Ricker’s to renew its two liquor licenses.
Instead lawmakers will use the Senate’s more restrictive version as a starting point for negotiations on the future of Indiana’s cold beer sales. When Ricker’s liquor license expires in nine months, they likely won’t be allowed to renew it, based on the current language.
A day earlier Ricker’s outlook was more rosy, as Rep. Tony Cook, R-Cicero, amended the existing bill to grandfather Ricker’s and other convenience stores already selling cold beer.
"We should be applauding this entrepreneurial spirit, not trying to stifle it," Cook said before the amendment passed.
The bill died when author Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, refrained from calling the bill for a vote Thursday.
House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said they weren’t able to get enough consensus behind the legislation. One deciding factor for many lawmakers was the large difference in price between the licenses the liquor stores have to obtain to sell cold carryout beer and the significantly cheaper licenses the convenience stores are operating under.
BURRITO PUBLIC RELATIONS: Ricker's burrito truck rolls up to Statehouse
BATTLE OVER NUISANCE LAWSUITS: Bill could block Indianapolis' 'nuclear option' for punishing landlords
The Senate’s more restrictive version passed 40-8 after Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, warned lawmakers it was the only vehicle left to solve the cold beer question this session. The bill will now head to conference committee — and could still evolve further.
Ricker's owner Jay Ricker sent out a statement after the House version died, criticizing lawmakers for ignoring their constituents.
“Despite the overwhelming public outcry for fairness and transparency regarding Ricker’s restaurants and reforming our state's liquor laws, the House inexplicably decided that Indiana should remain in the 1930s," Ricker said. "The will of the people was thwarted today, and it is incumbent upon the leadership of the General Assembly to explain why."
While a few other convenience stores across the state have been selling cold carryout beer for years using restaurant liquor licenses, the Ricker’s drew the attention of lawmakers when it started selling cold beer at two of its Tex-Mex restaurants in Columbus and Sheridan stores recently.
While Gov. Eric Holcomb defended the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, the House and Senate leaders criticized the ATC for giving Ricker’s its license and pledged to fix the issue.
“We’re going to change the law to what the law really is,” Bosma said after finding out about Ricker’s. “I’m not upset with Ricker's at all. They’re creative folks, but I think we’ve had a commission that has ignored a long-standing policy that’s been debated in the legislative body where policy on alcohol matters should be determined.”
But fixing the cold beer dilemma has proven to not be a quick fix, with extensive amendments in both chambers, and people across the industry testifying of “collateral damage.”
The version that passed requires those who want to sell cold carryout beer to prove 60 percent of their sales come from on premises alcohol consumption. Opponents of that language say it could hurt other restaurants and breweries that offer growlers.
"Just remember what we’re doing right now is a knee-jerk reaction to one issue that occurred in Ricker’s in their convenience store," said Sen. Phil Boots, R-Crawfordsville. "What they did is they complied with all the rules and regulations and they got something done that some entities don’t like, so therefore we’re going to fix this problem, and we’re going to catch some other people who are going to get caught up in the unintended consequences."
Whether intentional or not, Ricker’s sale of cold beer prompted legislators to look into the alcohol laws. Bosma has been carrying a book explaining Indiana’s alcohol laws all week to show his devotion to the cause. Many of the alcohol laws have been in place since the 1930s, and every year lawmakers file legislation in an attempt to modernize Indiana code concerning alcohol. Still, little progress has been made in an attempt to expand cold carryout beer sales or allow Sunday alcohol sales.
“My guess is it was kind of an intentional rocket into the whole system saying, ‘You know it’s time we dealt with this and modernize our alcohol world.’ For better or worse, we’re going to have to do that,” said Sen. David Long, R-Fort Wayne.
IndyStar reporter Tony Cook contributed to this story.
Call Evansville Courier & Press reporter Kaitlin Lange at (812) 549-1429. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.


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The Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has partnered with the Solana Foundation to advance distributed ledger technology (DLT) within its regulatory framework, marking a significant step in promoting blockchain innovation in the region.
Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has entered into a strategic partnership with the Solana Foundation aimed at enhancing the development of distributed ledger technology (DLT) within the ADGM regulatory framework. This collaboration is part of ADGM’s broader initiative to become a leading hub for technology-driven financial services. The DLT Foundations Regulations introduced by the ADGM are billed as the world’s first regulatory framework specifically designed for blockchain foundations, Web3 entities and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs).
This partnership is expected to leverage Solana’s innovative blockchain technology and ADGM’s regulatory expertise to further the adoption and development of blockchain and DLT solutions in the region. The Solana Foundation CEO expressed optimism about the partnership’s potential to attract talent and innovation to Abu Dhabi and the wider Middle East, highlighting the region’s attractiveness for fintech, gaming, decentralized finance (DeFi) and the creator economy. The collaboration is also seen as a significant step in ensuring the sustainable development of blockchain technology through regulation and compliance.
ADGM has been proactive in adopting and regulating digital assets and blockchain technology, introducing cryptocurrency regulations in 2018. The financial center has seen rapid growth with significant investments in the blockchain and digital asset sectors, including the launch of the Hub71+ Digital Assets initiative and the Bridgetower crypto platform Middle East. The partnership with Solana is expected to support this growth by contributing to the development of the blockchain ecosystem in Abu Dhabi and beyond.
The MOU between ADGM and the Solana Foundation marks a pivotal moment in the advancement of blockchain technology in the Middle East, promising to open up new opportunities for innovation and growth within ADGM’s regulatory framework.
Image source: Shutterstock


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Lumus Ltd., a Rechovot, Israel-based developer of augmented reality (AR) wearable displays, completed a $45m investment round.
Strategic investors including Quanta Computer, a global notebook computer ODM company based in Taiwan, and HTC committed $30m in funding.
The company plans to use the new funds to expand development, operations, and marketing of its transparent wearable display technology for the AR and smart eyewear industry.
In June 2016, and as part of this round, Lumus received $15m in funding led by Shanda Group and Crystal-Optech.
Founded in 2000 by CEO Ben Weinberger, Lumus develops augmented reality (AR) wearable displays that merge the digital and physical worlds, allowing consumer electronics, smart-eyewear manufacturers health care, military aviation, and manufacturing logistics to implement AR applications.
The Lumus’ solution, based on patented Light-guide Optical Element (LOE) waveguide, which combines small dimension eyewear for any given field of view, enables the production of wearable eyeglass displays. The near-to-eye transparent display technology consists of a unique lens that contains an array of ultra-thin transparent reflectors—the patented Light-Guide Optical Element—and a mini-projector that injects an image into the lens, also patented.
These two elements are combined to offer a wide field of view, true color, daylight brightness, and a crystal clear see-through display.


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LL Bean plans to open a store in the northwest suburbs. This will be the first Midwest store for the retailer. The company is based in Maine and does much of its business through catalogs and on the internet.
The 30,000-square-foot outlet will be located at the Arboretum in South Barrington. It will be LL Bean's seventh "green" store, using recycled materials as well as energy-efficient cooling, heating and lighting systems.
LL Bean plans to open its store in South Barrington in September.


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Dillardâ€™s proxy03 Apr 2008
Dillard's revamps board under Barington pressure
Dillard's agreed to nominate four new directors to avoid a proxy fight with Barington Capital, an activist shareholder group.
Barington and its affiliate, Clinton Group, which own 5.4% of Dillard's shares, demanded a review of Dillard's books and nominated four people to the department-store operator's board, including Barington chief James Mitarotonda.
On Tuesday after the bell, Dillard's issued a statement saying it will nominate one director favoured by Barington and that the sides reached an agreement on the three other seats. The release said the agreement was reached in conjunction with Southeastern Asset Management.
Former Wal-Mart Stores executive Nick White was among Dillard's original nominees. The other nominees are James A. Haslam III, chief executive of Pilot Travel Centers; R. Brad Martin, former chairman and chief executive of Saks; and Frank R. Mori, co-chief executive and President of Takihyo.


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It wasn’t evident right away, because all of the usual symbols of extravagance were easy to spot: Lavish yachts, rowdy beach parties and lots of rosé.
But as the week wore on, it became clear that Cannes Lions, the ad industry’s biggest party of the year along the French Riviera, felt much more subdued than in years past.
Part of that was because there were fewer people. Publicis, one of the world’s largest ad agencies, sent a lot fewer people than prior years. So did other agencies like IPG and Omnicom, another top-five global ad agency. At hotel bars and patios that usually spend the week at full capacity, you could walk up in the middle of the day and get a table without a wait.
A spokesperson for Cannes Lions told Recode that it sold 10 percent fewer passes in 2018 than 2017, but a lot of people who attend don’t formally register for the conference, so it’s possible the overall decline is even greater.
But numbers aside, there was also a general feeling of restraint at Cannes that wasn’t present the past couple years. Unlike the crowds, this feeling was harder to quantify. It felt like there were fewer champagne sparklers and less hoopla for the sake of hoopla — Snap’s giant yellow ferris wheel was exchanged for a more subtle art exhibit this year, for example. Most everyone who had been here before felt that the mood was different.
I repeatedly heard two explanations for the change:
- Things in Cannes have just gotten too damn expensive, even for big-time advertising agencies and brands. Whether it’s tens of thousands of dollars to rent a yacht for meetings (many companies join forces to cover the costs), or a €10 cup of coffee at one of the popular hotel lobbies, Cannes isn’t a cheap place to send a bunch of employees. A king-bed room at The Carlton, one of the main hotels on Le Croisette, Cannes’s main drag, was listed for €879 for Friday night, after most conference goers had left. Those kinds of costs add up, especially with numerous employees, which explains why some budgets have been pulled back. One media exec I spoke with referred to it as “financial sobriety.”
- With all of the drama that Facebook and YouTube have faced over the past six months with regard to user data and ad targeting snafus, it’s a sobering time to work in the advertising industry. “There’s a chill in the industry around a couple different areas,” said Matt Derella, Twitter’s VP of global revenue. “Whether it’s data and privacy or whether it’s brand safety, I think at the heart of it is trust. [Advertisers] are concerned about trust with the partners they work with, with the consumers they want to reach.” Companies are re-evaluating their policies and partnerships, and no one wanted to come across as obnoxious and over-the-top at the industry’s biggest party. It was a “read the room” kind of moment.
The result of all this is that people told me they were more efficient and productive than usual. Fewer people meant fewer wasted meetings.
A media exec described it as the difference between visiting a car show and a car dealership. With a car show, it’s all about presentation and shiny toys you probably won’t buy. You go to a dealership with the hope of driving something off the lot.
YouTube’s brand problems aren’t over
Everyone seemed in agreement this week that YouTube’s brand safety issues are still a problem. The video network has run into trouble this year because some of its videos are inappropriate, which makes running ads before those videos a risk for brands who don’t want to be associated with the video’s content. One ad buyer I spoke to said YouTube has been acknowledging those concerns in meetings with advertisers, and working hard to convince them the company is working on solutions. But it’s clear YouTube isn’t out of the woods yet.
Is anyone capitalizing on Facebook and YouTube’s problems?
Just like last year, every advertiser out there is looking for places to put money besides Facebook and Google, which dominate the digital ad industry. No one has established themselves as a clear third option, though one ad buyer I spoke with suggested both Twitter and Oath (Verizon’s holding company for AOL and Yahoo) have been the best at positioning themselves for ad dollars that might become available.
Twitter implied as much during an interview with Recode. “Blindly chasing reach, for example, has led the industry to some difficult situations,” Derella said. “Now reach is still important, but in addition to reach, what is the quality?”
Derella, of course, thinks Twitter offers a lot “quality” — he used the word a lot during the interview. He says Twitter users are “more receptive” than those on other networks because they come to Twitter to see what’s happening in the moment. “Do you want to go with a passive audience? Or do you want to go with one that’s participating in the conversation?” he asked.
He also mentioned the company’s slate of live video shows as an example of “quality” video inventory to advertise against.
Translation: Our users are more interested than Facebook’s, and our videos are safer than YouTube’s.
Of course, it doesn’t take much searching on Twitter to find stuff that isn’t high quality, though the company is doing a lot to keep inappropriate tweets out of sight.
Reddit doesn’t want to be a social network, either
No one wants the “social network” label anymore. Twitter recategorized its app in the App Store a few years ago to be “news” instead of “social networking.” Pinterest hasn’t been shy about rejecting the “social media” label. Now you can add Reddit to that list as well.
The company’s top executives were in Cannes, including CEO Steve Huffman and new COO Jen Wong, who just joined a few months back after a top job at Time Inc. In an interview, Wong described Reddit as “the world’s biggest network of communities,” and says the difference between that and social media is that people can come to Reddit anonymously to talk about things they’d never attach to their online profile. “Your entry point to Reddit is your passions and your interests,” she said. “Your entry point to social is your friends and family. You, in social, are trying to become popular. You want to amass followers.”
Why is everyone shedding the “social network” label? Well any company that’s considered a social network is compared to Facebook, which is usually an unflattering comparison. But surprisingly, Wong does want people to compare Reddit and Facebook in one area: Ad targeting. Wong’s pitch is that Reddit offers the same kind of interest-based targeting that Facebook does, but without the need to collect everyone’s private information to get it.
“Facebook [advertising] is all interest-based. Go into your ad targeting — they are inferring. Imagine inferring all of that information?” Wong said. “I’m not inferring any of it. I have perfect data because you actually told me [what you like].”
We won’t know for a while if that pitch actually works.
Here’s what GDPR looks like on the ground in Europe
Create a better Instagram story
Instagram offered “Story School” a few times per day this week to show conference attendees how to use all of the app’s creative features for Stories. I took the class, which includes a presentation often used for advertisers and CMOs who want to better understand the app, and walked away with a few tips. Video performs much better than photos, for example, and you should be sure your video has sound — 60 percent of users watch Stories with sound on, said Kay Hsu, global director of Instagram’s creative shop. Multiple shorter clips also tend to work better than fewer longer ones as people often tap past clips that drag on too long.
Surprisingly, though, there’s no real data behind what makes a story great. At least not any data Instagram will share. How long should Stories be? How many posts per week is too many? Instagram wouldn’t say.
“It’s a super new format,” Hsu said. “TV has been around for fifty years. They’ve had enough time to kind of figure out what’s the best, what’s the standard, what’s the behavior. [Stories] is very different.”
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.


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Disney today announced the first ever Disney & Marvel Games Showcase, a live event designed to promote and announce upcoming video games based on Disney-owned franchises.
Disney Dreamlight Valley, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, and LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga are confirmed to make an appearance during the Games Showcase though it’s unclear if each will just get a new trailer or some major news will be dropped.
“The digital showcase will feature incredible new content from Disney & Pixar Games, Marvel Games, Lucasfilm Games, and 20th Century Games,” the official announcement reads. “In addition to all-new announcements, fans can expect new reveals from titles including Disney Dreamlight Valley, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, and LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, as well as a sneak peek at an upcoming Marvel ensemble game from Skydance New Media.”
Given that all of the confirmed DLC packs for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga have been released, it’s likely that more DLC packs could be announced, possibly inspired by recent Disney+ series like The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan or the upcoming Andor and The Mandalorian Season 3.
JUST ANNOUNCED: Watch the Disney & Marvel GAMES SHOWCASE on Friday, September 9 – live from #D23Expo 2022! https://t.co/uZcDYdUZKA pic.twitter.com/RJ67ooTR2F
— Disney D23 (@DisneyD23) August 15, 2022
Marvel’s Midnight Suns was recently delayed so it could get some more content reveals to help keep fans hyped. Disney Dreamlight Valley is set for release on Windows PC and consoles on September 6th, just three days before the Games Showcase on the 9th, so will likely get a major promotional push.
The “upcoming Marvel ensemble game” mentioned in the announcement is rather curious though recent speculation points strongly at it being a new Fantastic Four video game.
Some news on the recently delayed Avatar game is also expected.
The Disney & Marvel Games Showcase will begin on Friday, September 9th at 1 PM PT/4 PM ET during the D23 expo and will be streamed on Disney, D23, and Marvel YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Twitch accounts.


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This article is more than 1 year old
Meg Whitman: HPE software's new owner? Kill a product? Never!
... we can easily kill off products ourselves
Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s chief recently told customers that Micro Focus, the soon-to-be new owner of its Software division, has never closed a product from a firm it acquired. What HPE didn’t tell those clients is that it itself was going to kill off a certain line - Service Anywhere.
The US giant has confirmed in a statement to The Reg that it is doing a bit of housekeeping before sending the business into the welcoming arms of Micro Focus in March.
“To better focus investment, innovation and go forward strategy in our IT Service Management Automation portfolio, HPE will discontinue new sales for our Service Anywhere SaaS offering,” a spokesman told us.
“We will maintain service and support for existing customers to ensure continuity of operations, and refocus our development resources to enable customers to achieve greater efficiency, agility and faster time to value.”
We understand the people working on the product will be shifted to container tech, micro-services and analytics stuff. The death of Services Everywhere contrasts the warmer sentiments HPE CEO Meg Whitman cooked up at the Discover event at the end of last month.
She told an audience of CIO and senior tech buyers that their investments in HPE Software were safe in the hands of Micro Focus.
Whitman claimed HPE would not have sold its Software business had it not been assured of the buyer’s noble intentions.
“In fact, Micro Focus, on the one hand, has never shut down a product that they have acquired or merged with and they also have many growing assets and businesses that we think will be important to all of you going forward.”
She added: “For those of you that have made investments in our software business, please rest assured that we remain fully committed to you, and I want you to make sure you feel very comfortable with what we are doing with these assets."
Of course, this isn’t the first time Whitman has said and done different things; think of her telling people the "One HP" strategy was sound, before she split the PC and print business from the rest of the company; think of the "no conflict" message between resellers and the enterprise services business.
The irony isn’t lost on customers either. One told us he’d heard the comments at Discover and was now scratching his head.
“Micro Focus has apparently never shut down a product, according to Meg Whitman… Looks like HPE is getting that out of the way before the spin merge. First for the chip is pure SaaS management products, sales halted…. more Software products expected to be culled soon,” he claimed. ®