text:
Nike shares are surging after reporting earnings that beat expectations.
On Friday, shares of Nike were up more than 10% after its earnings report on Thursday afternoon.
Nike shares gained 5% on Thursday afternoon after Nike reported first quarter earnings per share of $US1.09 against expectations for $US0.88, according to data from Bloomberg.
Revenue in the quarter totaled $US8 billion against expectations for $US7.83 billion.
Nike also reported gross margins of 46.6%, beating expectations, and worldwide future orders — excluding the impact from currencies — that were up 14% against expectations for a 10% increase. Inventories were up 14% to $US4 billion at the end of the quarter when compared to the prior year period.
The company also reported that market expenses rose 23% during the quarter, which it said was mostly related to the World Cup.
During the first quarter, Nike repurchased 10.6 million shares for about $US819 million.
Business Insider Emails & Alerts
Site highlights each day to your inbox.


text:
Can Rubi Save Coinstar?
Sam is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
Coinstar (NASDAQ: OUTR) remains one of the most heavily shorted stocks on the Nasdaq, owing to the belief held by many bears that the company’s Redbox subsidiary is doomed. But recently, in association with Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), the company has started rolling out coffee dispensing machines known as Rubi. Can these machines save Coinstar?
Wait, does Coinstar even need saving?
The title of this piece makes an assumption: the company is in danger and in need of being saved. I freely admit that could be a faulty assumption, but it’s one many market participants have made.
Currently, over half of Coinstar’s shares have been sold short. The short interest is so high that investors might actually consider going long the stock in the hopes that any positive news could trigger a violent short squeeze.
The bear case against the company is as follows: Coinstar is heavily reliant on its subsidiary Redbox -- a system of vending machines that offer DVD rentals. As consumers increasingly switch from physical discs to digital streaming, the need for Redbox’s kiosks will vanish.
As Redbox makes for most of Coinstar’s business -- and virtually all of its growth -- technological changes could doom Coinstar.
That said, perhaps the bears are getting ahead of themselves. On the company’s last earnings call, its CFO remarked that the physical rental business is still “sitting around $5.5 billion, and is expected to grow to $6 billion over the next couple of years.”
Coinstar’s competition in the space is literally vanishing. Dish Network announced in January that it was closing another 300 Blockbuster stores, meaning that there are just 500 left in the entire country.
Digital rentals may be fine for some, but for many consumers -- those who lack cable and those without Internet-connected TVs -- disc rentals remain the preferred method for watching movies, and could for many years.
Coinstar doesn’t see itself as just Redbox
But although Redbox is such a big part of Coinstar, the company doesn't see itself exclusively as Redbox. Rather, Coinstar views itself as a leader in “automated retail.”
“I believe Coinstar will continue to lead in this growing space,” remarked Coinstar’s CEO Paul Davis on the company’s earnings call. “Consumers love it because it makes their lives easier and they’re in control. Retailers love it because it increases traffic and revenue and helps them stay competitive, and shareholders love it because it’s an enduring business that has ongoing growth potential.”
Coinstar appears to understand the bear case, and is taking steps to address it, rolling out automated coffee machines known as Rubi.
“The primary focus in 2013 will be on the Rubi business,” Davis stated. “This business continues to be a major area of focus, given its growth potential and we plan to begin the rollout in [the second quarter].”
Can Coinstar repeat its Redbox success with Rubi?
But will Rubi be successful? While consumers have flocked to Coinstar’s Redbox, perhaps they won’t take as kindly to its Rubi coffee machines.
Evidently, Starbucks doesn't see it as much of a threat. The coffee giant is partnering with Coinstar on the venture, as Rubi machines will sell “Seattle’s Best Coffee” -- a division of Starbucks.
Of course, Starbucks has a history of partnering with coffee-upstarts. Starbucks has been one of Green Mountain Coffee Roaster’s biggest partners, even though the Keurig machine might be thought of as a potential competitor. In May 2011, Starbucks inked a deal with Green Mountain to sell Starbucks Coffee and Tazo tea K-cups. If Starbucks had viewed the Keurig as a challenger to its cafes, it likely wouldn't have signed such a deal.
However, the Keurig seems to occupy a different market niche altogether: people making coffee at home or office workers who can't afford to make a Starbucks run. The Rubi machine would be somewhat in-between, as no consumer and few offices would have one.
Perhaps Starbucks is using its deal with Coinstar to test the waters. Just over a year after it agreed to terms with Green Mountain, Starbucks began making its own single-serve machine, the Verismo. Green Mountain bears have argued that competition from the Verismo could contribute to Green Mountain's undoing. Likewise, if the Rubi is successful, could Starbucks enter the market as a competitor?
Further, coffee vending machines are not new -- I walked by one every day on my college campus years ago. Readers may have seen them in the lobbies of hospitals or airports. Global Vending Machine Group lists nearly a dozen different models.
No single company has managed to make a solid business out of coffee vending, even though it has been tried. Those who argue in favor of Rubi must have faith that Coinstar’s vending know-how will allow it to succeed where others have failed.
Rubi isn’t Coinstar’s only hope
Although Coinstar is focusing its efforts on rolling out Rubi, the company has other concepts waiting in the wings: Orango will let consumers purchase refurbished electronics, such as tablets and video game consoles, from a vending machine.
Is there a market for such a machine? If Coinstar decides to push Orango, it would find itself competing with GameStop (NYSE: GME).
GameStop, perhaps realizing that its own business is threatened by technological shifts, has begun buying old electronics, refurbishing them and then selling them. On the company’s November earnings call, GameStop’s president noted that, in the stores where the refurbished electronics business has been emphasized, sales have “lifted 7%.” Evidently, that’s good enough, as the company intends to expand the initiative to other stores.
Buy or sell Coinstar?
Because of its high short interest, Coinstar could be an attractive buy in the short run. But in the longer term, things are a bit more complicated.
Someone looking to hold Coinstar shares for a long period of time should be confident that either: the company’s bears are wrong, and Redbox will not be going anywhere anytime soon; or that the company is not just Redbox, but a play on the growing trend of vending machine retail.
Both Coinstar bulls and bears should watch the company’s Rubi rollout. Success or failure in the venture could determine the company’s longer-term viability.
Joe Kurtz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Starbucks. The Motley Fool owns shares of GameStop and Starbucks. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is this post wrong? Click here. Think you can do better? Join us and write your own!

domain: news


text:
Go ahead, give your kids pizza. Just maybe not so much of it.
A recent study found that American children take in more calories, fat and salt on days that they eat pizza. That's not necessarily because it's worse than a burger or a side of fries. It has a lot to do with the way pizza lends itself to snacking — and overindulging.
When pizza was on the menu, kids ages 2 to 11 years consumed 84 more calories and 134 more milligrams of sodium than on days they didn't eat the food, while teens took in an extra 230 calories and 484 milligrams of sodium, according to research published earlier this year in the journal Pediatrics. They all also consumed more saturated fat.


text:
BUSINESSES are being encouraged to apply for a slice of a regional grant of almost £25 million to get people out of their cars and onto greener travel options.
St Helens Council hopes companies will grab the chance to obtain funding from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund to help new fund electric bikes, create electric vehicle facilities and the promotion shared transport methods that meet low carbon travel targets.
Cllr Richard McCauley, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Housing, Planning and Community Safety, said: “The funding recognises that businesses and organisations often have transport related issues for staff getting to and from work, and issues relating to the vehicle fleets.
“But instead of telling companies what measures they need to take, the funding seeks to provide support through the provision of a grant for them to help address concerns themselves.”
Those applying for grants will need to show their proposed schemes will give a boost in economic terms – and bring about lower carbon transport which would need to be monitored.
Funding runs until the end of March 2015, with proposals expected to be completed by this date.
Applicants must be a business, housing developer, public organisation or third sector body (voluntary organisation or community group) based in St Helens. They will need to show commitment to providing sustainable transport measures.
The grant can be used for schemes including cycle parking, pool bikes or cars, electric vehicle charging points, economy driving tuition and minibus travel.
More details from 01744 676512 or email email@example.com


text:
Cryptocurrency: Where Is It Headed?
Bitcoin has practically become synonymous with the term cryptocurrency for being the largest blockchain network. And as the public struggles to wrap their minds around whether this global phenomenon is just the latest trend or the future of currency as it is now being hailed, we wonder where it is all headed.
Why are cryptocurrencies making so many waves? First of all, it’s anonymous and decentralized, neither controlled nor regulated by a single authority in the way that conventional currency is. To create counterfeit currency is virtually impossible, unlike conventional currency.
Although the concept of cryptocurrency was first widely released in 2008 and Bitcoin was introduced to the public in 2009, followed by countless startups, it would take nearly a decade for cryptocurrencies to be the most-talked about subject in the financial world.
While so many cryptocurrencies have gone on to fail with many of us never even learning their names, Bitcoin and Litecoin’s recent rise has gotten people talking. And because of it, other cryptocurrencies such as Ripple and Litecoin are suddenly soaring.
At its record high, Bitcoin price reached above $19,700. However, when this was reported on December 17, 2017, 96% of economists that were surveyed by the Wall Street Journal the week before believed that Bitcoin’s price surge was driven because of the speculation that there would be an advancement in the blockchain’s technology which allowed secure value transfer over the internet.
Still, people like Jordan Hiscott, chief trader at Ayondo, tells Express.co.uk, “We are in an age where technology is changing the dynamic of the business world. Older, traditional organisations are seeing their long-held dominance challenged by ‘disrupter’ companies. For me, it’s no surprise that another disrupter, this time in the form of an asset or currency, is picking up speed.”
However, just 5 days on the 22nd of December, Fortune would report that digital markets were in turmoil with the price of bitcoin dropping dramatically to below $12,000. But by mid-morning bitcoin prices began to tick upwards again. And as of writing, bitcoin price is at $13,602.73.
What is the future of cryptocurrencies? Between its meteoric rise and extreme plunges, it’s hard to tell where it’s all headed. Because market demand determines their flow, how can it be a reliable form of currency when you take into consideration just how fickle the market is?
By January 2018, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, Ripple, has picked up speed and quickly gaining on Bitcoin thanks to their promise to proactively work with financial institutions, banks, and payment providers.
Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse told Fox News: “We are going to keep working with the system because I think the early days of bitcoin are all about down with government and down with banks.
Government isn’t going away. Banks aren’t going away. Let’s work with the system to dramatically improve the way and reduce the friction for how money moves globally.”
And perhaps this is where we will see the most apparent divide amongst those who invest in cryptocurrency. Will the cryptocurrency that refuses to be controlled continue to rise because it promises freedom the big banks and government? Or will cryptocurrencies that bow down and integrate themselves into conventional systems be the cryptocurrency of choice for the masses who seek safety and security in innovative yet decidedly traditional practices?
I let you be the judge


text:
The Postal Service is always on the move, and so are other posts around the world.
The United Kingdom Post Office recently deployed a fleet of 40 new “mobile post offices” to serve rural customers in 250 locations. The vans will provide letter and parcel postage, bill payment and personal banking services, including cash withdrawals.
The previous fleet traveled 3 million miles during the past six years.
The U.K. Post Office, now independent of the recently privatized Royal Mail, is the United Kingdom’s largest retail network, with 11,500 branches. More than 99 percent of people in the United Kingdom live within 3 miles of postal services.
In rural areas, the need is greater. “You have to ask how people in these remote communities would be able to pay their utility bills and access cash easily without us,” said mobile post operator Colin Lisgo.
In the United States, rural carriers often function as mobile post offices, performing most of the same services offered at Post Office counters. USPS also offers mobile retail services at special events and to restore service in areas hit by natural disasters. Also, the first mobile Village Post Office (VPO) recently rolled into Dallas District.


text:
The Link Hotel and Court Conference Centre and Hotel, owned by hotel and conference centres operator Imago Venues, in Loughborough, Leicestershire, have both received a Tripadvisor ‘Hall of Fame’ award.
The award recognises “consistently excellent” businesses and those which have earned great traveller reviews on TripAdvisor over the past year.
To be entered the ‘Hall of Fame’, businesses must have received a ‘Certificate of Excellence’ for five consecutive years, which accounts for the quality, quantity and recency of reviews submitted by travellers on TripAdvisor over a 12-month period.
Emma Boynton, head of sales and marketing at Imago Venues, said: “We are delighted to receive this recognition. No feedback is better than customer feedback and to receive such consistently fabulous reviews from our guests reflects our commitment to customer service excellence.”
Neela Pal, vice president of brand, TripAdvisor, added: “TripAdvisor is excited to announce the recipients of the 2019 ‘Certificate of Excellence’, which for nearly a decade has celebrated businesses that have consistently received positive ratings from travellers and diners on the world’s largest travel platform.
“This recognition allows us to publicly recognise businesses that are actively taking into account customer feedback to help travellers confidently experience the most highly reviewed places to eat, stay and explore.”


text:
Cryptocurrency Daily News Bulletin: November 5, 2018November 5, 2018 1:03 pm
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is looking to clamp down on airdrops. The PBoC said “disguised” ICOs including airdrops continue to grow in number, despite its efforts at cracking down on sales of tokens. These firms try to use speculation in the secondary market to jack up token prices.
Reliance Industries, the oil & gas conglomerate owned by India’s richest person – Mukesh Ambani – has usedblockchain to conduct its first trade finance transaction in collaboration with US-based global chemical distributor Tricon Energy.
Taiwan’s highest legislature has approved amendments to existing laws, enabling the country’s regulator to combat anonymous crypto transactions. Specifically, the regulator “now demands that operators of virtual currency platforms implement “real-name systems.”
Basic Attention Token is the latest coin to gain support from Coinbase’s professional trading platform, announced over the weekend.
Bitcoin has fallen from 13th place all the way down to 19th since the publication of the China’s official crypto rankings in May.
Bitcoin Cash continued surging over the weekend ahead of its hard fork on Nov. 15. Coinbase and Binance have announced support for the fork which may have contributed to its large gains. Nonetheless, it appears most investors are building up holdings in BCH as original holders will be provided with an equivalent amount of the newly created Bitcoin Cash chain led by Nchain and the controversial Craig Wright.
Dash has announced the launch of Dash Text, an SMS-based cryptocurrency transaction service for Venezuelan users, which eliminates the need for Venezuelan users to possess smartphones and internet access to carry out crypto transactions – historically a significant barrier to adoption in the country suffering from hyperinflation.
Ethereum start-up, Lition, a licensed energy supplier in Germany built on top of the ethereum blockchain, is now powering more than 700 households across Germany after launching earlier this year.
IOTA have announced compatibility with popular hardware wallet Ledger today.
Ripple is now being supported by consumer payments platform, SendFriend, backed by MIT Media Lab, Mastercard and Ripple. SendFriend is integrating Ripple’s XRP-powered xRapid, targeting the Philippines to give expatriates a cost-effective way to send money back home.
Tether once again divorced itself from the 1:1 US dollar ratio it promises investors over the weekend.
– WN.com, Jamie Saarloos


text:
Android 13 is now available for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3.
UPDATE: Stable Android 13 is now available in Europe for the Galaxy Z Fold 3.
Welcome to the update portal for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 series! This page contains the most recent information about software upgrades for Samsung's latest flagship foldable phone. We'll inform you of the device's current software versions and notify you when new updates are available.
The Galaxy Z Fold 3 will receive four major Android updates: Android 12, Android 13, Android 14, and Android 15. Samsung also assures that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 will get security upgrades for at least five years.
- Android 13 is the most recent stable version.
- When will Android 14 be available for the Galaxy Z Fold 3? January 2024/December 2023 (estimated)
The most recent Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 update
November 24, 2022: According to SamMobile, Galaxy Z Fold 3 customers in Europe are now receiving the stable Android 13 update. The firmware version of the One UI 5 upgrade appears to be F926BXXU2DVK3.
More locations are expected to receive the update in the following days. You may check for updates manually by going to Settings > Software update > Download and install.
November 8, 2022: On the Galaxy Z Fold 3, the November security patch was released. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 will receive firmware version F926U1TBS2DVJ1, according to SamMobile. All carrier networks in the US can presently get the update.
October 17, 2022: According to SamMobile, Samsung is releasing its October security patch for the Galaxy Z Fold 3. The T-Mobile network will receive the patch first, and then it will spread to devices on other network providers. The firmware version F926USQS2DVI5 for the Fold 3 will include a lot of security vulnerability updates.
September 6, 2022: In South Korea, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is starting to receive the latest Android 12L update. Samsung has previously stated that the update would be available in all markets shortly, so you may not have to wait long. According to SamMobile, the firmware is F926NKSU1DVH9 and runs One UI version 4.1.1.
August 3, 2022: Customers who own a Galaxy Z Fold 3 have received an update with firmware version F926BXXU1CVG8. According to SamMobile, the update was around 440MB in size and includes the August 2022 security patch.
July 7, 2022: The Android security patch for July 2022 was applied to the Galaxy Z Fold 3. (via SamMobile). The firmware upgrade is known as F926U1UES1DVEG. The update does not provide any new features.
June 17, 2022: The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 has received a new update (via XDA-Developers). It's a significant update that includes (finally) eSIM support as well as a few new camera functions.
April 11, 2022: The April 2022 Android security patch is now available for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. Update's a significant one, according to SamMobile, since it includes a remedy for the "Dirty Pipe" vulnerability. However, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 shouldn't have been vulnerable to this attack in the first place, so it's wonderful to know everything is safe.
January 31, 2022: Samsung is releasing another another update for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 on the eve of the new month. According to SamMobile, it's also a large one, weighing in at over 1.1GB. In addition to "overall stability" enhancements, firmware version F926BXXU1BVA9 offers a slew of stock app upgrades, ranging from Penup to Samsung Internet.
January 14, 2022: With firmware F926BXXS1BUL8, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 received the January 2022 security update. The update addressed more than 60 security flaws reported by Samsung and Google.
December 7, 2021: Samsung updated the foldable with the Android 12-based One UI 4. The patch's distribution has begun in South Korea.
November 4, 2021: Samsung has released the November 2021 update for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 in South Korea and several worldwide regions. According to SamMobile, the upgrade included firmware version F926BXXS1AUJB in Europe and F926NKSU1AUJ7 in South Korea. Despite the firmware nomenclature differences, all versions contained Google's November security patch as well as a slew of other Samsung security changes.
October 21, 2021: The Galaxy Z Fold 3 received an upgrade in Europe, with software version F926BXXU1AUJ7. The October 2021 Android security patch, a list of Samsung-specific security fixes, and a new portrait mode for pets functionality were all included in the update.
Let us know in the comments which Galaxy Z Fold 3 update you're using. Also, if you see a recent change that we have missed, please tip us!
Author, Youssef Shnino.


text:
A day ahead of its expected launch in India, the Mi 10T Pro pricing in the country has seemingly been revealed by Xiaomi’s India website. According to a now-deleted listing on Mi.com, the device will apparently sport a price-tag of Rs. 44,990, which would be a full Rs 5,000 lower than the Rs. 49,999 that the Mi 10 5G was launched earlier this year.
If the leaked pricing does hold up, it will be a tad cheaper in India than it is in Europe, where it is priced starting at €599 (~Rs. 51,000). As for the standard Mi 10T, it starts at €499 (~Rs. 43,000) in the Eurozone. Do note that the supposedly-leaked pricing on Mi.com could just be a placeholder, so we’ll still have to wait until tomorrow to get the exact details.
Having unveiled its latest flagship smartphones, the Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro, earlier this month, Xiaomi is all set to launch them in India tomorrow. The two devices come with pretty much the same hardware as the original Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro, but with a few minor changes that are largely restricted to the cameras and the display.
They both ship with very similar hardware, including the Snapdragon 865 chipset, up to 8GB of RAM and the 6.67-inch Full HD+ (2340 × 1080 pixels) 144Hz IPS display. Both devices also offer triple-cameras at the back, but while the setup on the Mi 10T is led by the 64MP Sony IMX682 sensor, the one of the 10T Pro incorporates the 108MP HMX image sensor from Samsung.
So, are you looking forward to the Mi 10T and Mi 10T Pro launch tomorrow? Let us know in the comments down below.


text:
Not McStrudels but McNoodles! McDonald's to start serving up popular Asian dish in Austria
First there was the McAloo Tikki burger and now the world's second biggest fast food chain is launching McNoodles.
McDonald's has announced that from Thursday it will be serving up noodles to customers at restaurants across Austria in a bid to meet the country's growing appetite for the foodstuff.
Noodles are already served in other parts of the world, but this will be the first time the dish has been branded as McNoodles.
A McDonald's advert for the new chicken flavour McNoodles which are going on sale at restaurants across Austria on Thursday. It says 'Crazy!'
A promotional poster for the chicken curry flavoured noodle dish which is being served up to Austrian's who developed a taste for the Asian food
The meals will come with vegetables and salad, chicken pieces and either sweet and sour or curry sauce and be available for a limited time.
The company says it has spent more than a year developing the product for the thriving Austrian market.
In a statement the company said: 'This has been for McDonald's a complete new challenge.'
Iconic: The golden arches of McDonald's will soon be welcoming vegetarians at their first ever completely meat-free restaurant
McDonald's is the world's second most popular fast food chain behind Subway with more than 33,000 restaurants around the world.
The Oak Brook, Illinois-based company became popular serving up the famous Big Mac and French fries, but in recent years it has branched out to offers localized menu options in various regions.
In India, the company offers McAloo Tikki burgers made with a spicy breaded potato patty, red onions, tomatoes and a 'special vegetable sauce.'
Earlier this month, the company announced plans to open its first vegetarian-only restaurants in the country.
The decision was taken in order to cater for Hindus who hold the cow sacred and Muslims who do not eat pork
The first vegetarian outlet will open its doors mid-next year near the Golden Temple in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in northern India
The first vegetarian outlet will open its doors mid-next year near the Golden Temple in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in northern India, where religious authorities forbid consumption of meat at the shrine.
Rajesh Kumar Maini, a spokesman for McDonald's in northern India, said: 'There is a big opportunity for vegetarian restaurants (in India) as many Indians are vegetarian.'
After the opening in Amritsar, the U.S. chain has plans to open another vegetarian outlet near the Vaishno Devi cave shrine in northwestern Indian Kashmir - a revered Hindu pilgrimage site that draws hundreds of thousands of worshippers year.
Most watched News videos
- Moment police break up mass brawl involving dozens of school children
- 'We stopped for something to eat': Starmer explains beer picture
- Israeli PM thanks law enforcement for saving Texas synagogue hostages
- Prince Andrew was allegedly 'verbally abusive' over teddy bears
- Andrew leaves Windsor as his lawyers fight back in civil sex case
- 'There was no emotion': Juror describes Ghislaine Maxwell in court
- Frank Lampard caught on camera with coffee and phone at wheel
- Wife is covered in pink dust after birthday cannon goes very wrong
- Protection officer fears govt will become subcontractor for Harry
- Woman reveals horrific details of what happened on Epstein's island
- Father transforms old rotting cellar into underground cinema
- Journalist leaves voicemail for number thought to be Prince Andrew's
No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
We are no longer accepting comments on this article.


text:
By ED SILVERMAN @Pharmalot
FEBRUARY 28, 2017
A group of lawmakers is introducing yet another bill that would allow Americans to import prescription medicines from Canada. And in a bid to quell long-standing criticism of the notion, the latest effort includes several provisions designed to address concerns that medicines bought from online pharmacies in other countries may not be safe.
Known as the Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act, the bill would instruct the US Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue regulations allowing wholesalers, licensed US pharmacies, and individuals to import prescription drugs from licensed Canadian sellers. And the drugs would have to be made at facilities inspected by the US Food and Drug Administration.
After two years, however, the HHS secretary would have authority to permit importation from countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that “meet specified statutory or regulatory standards that are comparable to US standards,” according to the bill. Nearly three dozen countries are members of the OECD.
“In 2014, the US spent about 40 percent more on prescriptions per person than Canada, twice as much as the average major industrialized country,” according to talking points that were distributed with the bill. “… In order to get the medicine they need, millions of people are buying their prescription drugs from other countries.”
The legislation — which is being spearheaded by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representative Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who have conducted various probes into drug pricing — comes amid escalating national angst over the cost of prescription medicines. Poll after poll finds Americans want the federal government to take action, although there has been little movement on the national level.
As many as 77 percent of Americans reported last fall that drug costs are unreasonable, up from 72 percent a year earlier, according to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation. At the time, 71 percent favored allowing Americans to buy prescription drugs imported from Canada, among other measures they would like the federal government to pursue to lower their bills.
Although President Trump recently complained about “astronomical” prices,” he has not released any plan. But his remarks have placed drug makers on the defensive. A few pledged to limit annual price hikes to single-digit increases, while others have released data to argue their price increases have been reduced by rebates to middlemen that act on behalf of insurers.
Meanwhile, a bill introduced in the House is gaining support because it would presumably address some price gouging by providing incentives to drug makers to develop generics when there is a lack of competition or a shortage exists. A somewhat similar piece of legislation was recently introduced in the Senate, but it would also temporarily permit prescriptions drugs to be imported in order to mitigate shortages.
Importation is hardly a new idea. In fact, this is only the latest attempt by various lawmakers to find a way for Americans to import medicines from Canada. But given that President Trump has previously voiced support for the idea — and also accused drug makers of “getting away with murder” — they apparently see an opening to renew the call.
Whether the effort can succeed, however, is unclear. Under a 2003 law, the FDA can issue waivers for individuals to import medicines for personal use. But importation is not otherwise permitted until the HHS secretary certifies that importation would not pose a health risk and could lower consumer costs. And ensuring safety of imported drugs has been cited by both drug makers and regulators as a concern. Nearly all Republicans have also dismissed the idea and this latest bill is being pushed by a mix of Democrats and Independents.
“I’ve seen this bill in various iterations many different times and they never really address two major concerns — safety and pricing,” said Peter Pitts, a former FDA associate commissioner who heads the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, a think tank that is funded, in part, by the pharmaceutical industry.
“We exist in a closed regulatory system and when you bring in drugs from outside FDA control, I don’t care how you phrase it, it’s still caveat emptor. The products can’t be guaranteed, because there are holes [in the legislation], such as not being able to guarantee that product labeling is correct,” he told us.
And no drug from Canada is going to cost less than a co-pay, which is $20 or $30 for many people, so it’s highly unlikely that it will do anything for the majority of Americans with health insurance. So it offers a largely useless alternative. I think this is a good political talking point, but won’t deliver what it promises. Importation is a vampire issue — you can drive a stake through its heart, but it won’t die.”
To assuage safety concerns, the bill states that legally imported drugs must be purchased from an FDA-certified foreign seller and have the same active ingredient, route of administration, and strength as drugs approved in the US. And certain types of drugs, such as certain biologics, could be imported only by wholesalers or pharmacies.
In order to be a so-called certified foreign seller, the bill states that the operation must be a wholesale distributor or licensed foreign pharmacy that is current with applicable registration fees and sells only qualifying prescription drugs. There is a list of criteria to be met, which you can read here.
Americans can buy medicines only from pharmacies licensed in Canada, and only for personal use in quantities that do not exceed a 90-day supply. They must also have a valid prescription issued by a health care practitioner licensed to practice in the US. Any pharmacy selling a counterfeit drug is subject to a $250,000 penalty and 10 years imprisonment. And the HHS is required to ask the US Government Accountability Office to run a report after 18 months to assess the impact.
But the Pew Charitable Trusts raised concerns and argued that it may be difficult to enforce the requirement that medicines must be purchased from an FDA-certified foreign seller and there is no mechanism to make it possible for medicines to have the same electronic security and tracking system, which is used in the US to weed out counterfeits.
“This poses a safety risk with respect to imported product, but also undermines the entire system,” wrote Allan Coukell, who is senior director of the Pew health programs, in a letter to Sanders. And while he acknowledged that competition from imports could prompt drug makers to lower prices in the US, he also speculated that foreign governments might eventually limit imports to the US if domestic supplies become strained.
One backer of importation called it a “step in the right direction.” Gabriel Levitt, who is the president of PharmacyChecker.com, which vets online pharmacies, wrote us that “if passed, the new bill … simply instructs the FDA to finally help Americans do what they already do, purchase lower cost medication from safe, international online pharmacies.”
We should note that one of the lawmakers who is co-sponsoring the bill is Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who last month was one of 13 Democratic Senators who voted against an amendment to a budget procedure that would have allowed imports from Canada. His vote angered progressive Democrats. New Jersey is home to a few large drug makers and numerous smaller ones. The amendment was introduced by Sanders and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn).


text:
SAP AG has seen its share of executive upheaval and customer discontent in recent months, but a newly inked agreement with global conglomerate 3M is giving it reason to celebrate.
The project, which will see SAP’s Business Suite 7 rolled out companywide, is going to be conducted in phases, said Rob Enslin, president of SAP’s North American division.
Over the next several years, the project will replace many of 3M’s legacy applications, according to a statement. Some of those are almost certainly Oracle, as 3M is a long-time PeopleSoft shop.
A 3M spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to requests for additional comment. In a prepared statement, 3M CIO Ernie Park said the project will help the company unify its core business processes around the world.
SAP would not reveal the price tag on the pact, but it is likely worth up to US$35 million in license revenue alone, with that figure assuming a substantial discount off list price, said Altimeter Group analyst Ray Wang, a veteran software contract negotiator. Annual maintenance fees paid as a percentage of license costs will add millions more each year.
To that end, the deal also serves as a litmus test for SAP’s newly restored tiered pricing model for support. According to Enslin, 3M is going with SAP’s Enterprise Support option, which has more features than Standard Support but also costs more money. SAP went back to a tiered model after outcry from users over its 2008 move to transition customers to Enterprise Support.
Global ERP (enterprise resource planning) roll-outs like this have become rare, said Bob Parker, an analyst with IDC Manufacturing Insights. “It’s a pretty saturated market at the enterprise level. Most people have picked an ERP team to play on.”
3M has been a key account for Oracle, Parker said. “PeopleSoft didn’t have a lot of lighthouse customers in manufacturing. But 3M was the big deal they won,” he said.
The SAP-3M deal has interest for reasons apart from vendor rivalry, Parker added.
There has been much talk in recent months about enterprises deploying ERP and other applications via an private cloud computing platform, serving up virtual instances to various business units.
The SAP project at 3M presents an opportunity to test that scenario out, and “could be a peek at the future of a lighthouse implementation,” he said.
An Oracle spokeswoman declined to comment Monday on SAP’s announcement.
However, Oracle is already poised to patch the holes left by 3M’s decision. It announced Monday that food manufacturer Land O’Lakes recently completed a large PeopleSoft project.


text:
Lighting Answers' 2016 Home Automation Predictions
After spending recent years readying new products and systems, players both new and old in the home automation arena are ready to battle it out for consumers’ attention. But who will be left standing?
As rapidly as the home automation, Internet of Things or connected-device space has evolved—whatever you wish to call it—the industry and its market are still relatively small. Aside from geeks or those with disposable incomes, home automation has continued to remain a bit of a luxury purchase. But with new players coming into the market, both makers of home automation devices, like SmartThings, and companies like Apple and Google who have developed connected-device platforms, that may finally be changing.
On that note, one of the first home automation announcements for 2016 is from Samsung. They recently said that all of their smart TVs this year will have built-in connections to SmartThings, the home automation platform that Samsung acquired in 2014. The announcement did not specify whether this was a specific hardware or software upgrade, or whether Samsung’s existing smart TVs could be updated to work with SmartThings. Samsung will show off their new smart TVs with IoT integration at CES 2016. [Read the press release]
Three general strategies in the home automation or “Internet of Things” industry are going to continue in 2016: Enable communication to legacy devices and/or other platforms via new frameworks such as HomeKit and Thread, integrate home automation technology into common devices such as TVs and streaming devices like Apple TV, and build platform-specific hubs that can speak multiple technologies via the above-mentioned frameworks.
But overall, the "killer app" of home automation that needs to debut in 2016 is a combination of ease-of-use without sacrificing power-user features, wide device compatibility and a price drop. This is what we want to see it. But who will deliver it?
Here’s a few of our specific predictions for 2016, listed by technology/company:
We here at Lighting Answers use and love Insteon products, but we’re worried. The Insteon Hub Pro that debuted in 2015 was met with bad reviews and a buggy app experience, not to mention having less features than the standard Insteon Hub—heck, we haven’t even reviewed it yet! Insteon is one of the older home automation technologies, but their own consumer-friendly hubs don’t even allow you to do everything that Insteon devices can do, especially with their sharp-looking KeypadLinc multi-button in-wall controllers. We’re worried that, even with their Microsoft partnership, that Insteon is going to slowly lose market share if they don’t launch a new hub device soon that easily integrates with other platforms, and yet offers an easy-to-use, feature-rich user experience. The Revolv hub, purchased by Nest and ultimately shut down, was a beacon of hope for Insteon, since it integrates with the platform and nearly every other home automation technology.
The bottom line: Insteon continues to be the “Apple” of the home automation world, and if it continues down that path it may become irrelevant in the market. But it’s still awesome, and we recommend it.
Now that SmartThings has been assimilated by Samsung (no longer just called SmartThings, ouch!), look for more rapid integrations with Samsung’s own products, just like the story above abou their 2016 smart TV line-up. Assume also that somehow they will work to integrate ST into the Galaxy and Note phones and tablets, along with Samsung microwaves, refrigerators, dust-mops and the unannounced Samsung hydrogen car (alright, forget that one!).
The bottom line: In all seriousness, SmartThings is going to far this year and expand everything and anything that its ecosystem integrates with, but probably not including HomeKit. The currently-disabled Bluetooth radio in their 2nd-generation hub is expected to be turned on this year, for greater device compatibility. Get started with a SmartThings Home Monitoring Kit.
While HomeKit is now fully deployed into several of Apple’s products and operating systems, its lack of adoption in home automation products, specifically products using the full HomeKit feature set, has limited the uptake by consumers. 2016 will see more product roll-outs, ultimately generating more chatter and interest among consumers about home automation via Apple’s devices. If Apple Watch 2 debuts in the spring as rumored, it may bring more HomeKit tricks and better Siri integration, along with hopefully better battery life. Siri, in general, needs to improve a bit more for HomeKit to be more widely used. It’s hard to know specifically what to say to Siri to accomplish basic automation tasks right now. Also, Apple can make 2016 "The Year of HomeKit" by introducing a slick, centralized "Home" app, similar to their "Health" app for HealthKit, and really, really pushing out with an aggressive HomeKit marketing campaign once more HomeKit products hit the market. Perhaps this will surround an Apple Watch 2 event, or iOS 10 in at WWDC. We'll keep you updated.
The bottom line: Do you love Siri? Then it’s safe to start buying HomeKit-compatible stuff right now. Here’s some of our reviews on HomeKit products, and information.
Google (and Nest):
At Google I/O 2015, they announced Brillo and Weave, two Internet of Things projects designed to help standardize how connected devices talk to each other. The plan was to roll-out the full specification by the end of 2015, which would mean that companies are probably just now starting to work on integrating these technologies, with Weave most likely being integrated first. Speaking of that, we believe that devices that have been released that are HomeKit compatible may also be Weave-compatible, as both systems use similar, if not the same chipsets.
And then there’s Nest, which has been shuffled around from Google to Google’s new parent company, Alphabet. Nest is actually who is behind Weave, and is still trying to figure out how to integrate with Brillo, which is Google’s stripped-down version of Android for smart devices.
Oh yes, and don’t forget about Thread, for whom Nest is a major sponsor. Thread runs over the same 802.15.4 radios that Zigbee does, which now begs the question: Why is Nest involved in both Weave and Thread? They are similar yet seemingly competing technologies running on different physical chips and radios. The (most likely) answer, it’s the Googley thing to do, come up with zillions of different things, launch them and see what sticks. Thread has a the leg-up right now on Weave in that it has already started product certification, but Thread is more about "behind-the-scenes" compatibility rather than a "consumer" standard like Zigbee or Z-Wave.. Oh yeah, and the OnHub router? It has Bluetooth, Weave and 802.15.4 built-in…so there’s that. We’re really not sure how this mess is going to develop in 2016, but we’ll know more in May at the next I/O event. Nest, however, now separate from Google, is the wildcard here. We expect, at the least, many more product integrations this year via the Works with Nest program, and hopefully, a killer new product (think: Amazon Echo competitor) at a lower price point to draw in more consumers to the Nest ecosystem.
The bottom line: For now, Google and Nest are trying for connected-device world domination, but they’re making a big mess of it right now. We’ll find out more at this year’s CES (maybe) and Google I/O (more likely.) Itching to buy something right now? Pick up the OnHub, for starters.
Amazon is truly the “dark horse” in this entire world of home automation and connected devices. Amazon hasn’t yet invented a home automation protocol, but yet the Echo now integrates with an ever-expanding line-up of home automation devices and systems like Philips Hue, Insteon and more. The Amazon Echo has both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on-board, but no 802.15.4 or other home automation radios. As many reviews have already stated, Echo’s voice recognition is top-notch. Here at Lighting Answers, we think that always-listening voice recognition that you can talk to from virtually anywhere, while slightly creepy, is going to be the way forward. In this regard, Amazon has definitely nailed it.
The bottom line: The Amazon Echo is compatible with a lot of home automation gear, today, and is software-upgradeable. It’s only going to get better in 2016, and it’s a safe bet to add to your smart home.
We can’t really call Philips Hue a real “home automation platform” because it is limited to only lighting (for now), and generally works with only Philpis Hue products. Philips expanded their line-up of products in 2015 and also introduced HomeKit compatibility with their new Hue Bridge 2.0. We expect to hear in 2016 that the new bridge will be Weave and Thread compatible, and we should see some new Hue lighting products, too. Philips needs to update their original A19 and BR30 products to introduce better saturated colors and improved low-end dimming, as seen on their new Lightstrip Plus. We also believe that the overall pricing for Philips Hue needs to decrease for them to increase their market share and consumer interest. Additional competition from companies like LIFX and crowdfunded products like the Qube Wi-Fi Smart Bulb may put pressure on Philips to reduce its prices.
The bottom line: The Philips Hue line of products is still compelling and impressive, along with its level of integration with other systems. It can only get better in 2016. Give the Philips Hue starter kit a try!
Not many other companies make a lot of noise or press these days since the ones we’ve mentioned seem to have most of the money and marketing prowess. But there are still other home automation solutions, like Vera, HomeSeer, Logitech, X10 (no, not really), and dealer-installed, pricey systems like Control4. Each of these systems (except X10), is going to continue to evolve and adapt during 2016 to ensure it can connect with your other favorite home automation devices, those that don’t will continue to lose overall market- and mind share.
The bottom line: There are other solutions out there, and while they’re lesser known, they’re not necessarily less able to be an effective home automation system. Time will tell in 2016 how they will fare. Check out home automation products on Amazon.
What should you buy as a home automation consumer in 2016?
Ask us for our opinion in 2017! OK, that’s not the answer you were looking for. But right now, the answer is based on your preferences, especially if you’re just getting started:
Are you “all-in” on Apple and Siri? Then you’ll want to purchase home automation products that are HomeKit-compatible.
Are you a Google fanboy or fangirl? A fair bet to start is the OnHub and some products from Nest, which work currently (and future) with probably just about everything in the home automation universe.
What about Samsung? SmartThings is definitely a sure bet there.
If high-style and rock-solid reliability are important to you, then Insteon is a great choice.
What if you have no preference, you just want cool home automation stuff that works well and you can choose from a wide range of products from various companies? SmartThings.
We’ll have more recommendations as the first part of the year progresses, stay tuned!


text:
They decided the land was best for Cabernet Sauvignon, so they designed the vineyard and cleared the land. The first release wasn’t until 2001, but the company has regularly garnered scores in the high 80s and low 90s for its signature Cabernet ever since.
Ward was in Oklahoma City in September pouring the winery’s new 2007 Cabernet at Opus Prime Steakhouse, 800 W. Memorial.
“We put it on the list immediately,” said Opus’ Bill Wilson said. “We like the Oklahoma connection, but more than that, this is just a good wine.”
On Opus’ list is the 2006, which Wine Spectator called “intense, chewy and full-bodied … flavors that are powerful and focused.” Wilson said the 2007 will be in-state soon, and Opus will have both vintages available.
“Hidden Ridge goes well with our menu,” he said. “It’s perfect with a ribeye, but it’s also silky enough that it doesn’t overpower pork or lamb. It’s a quality wine at the price point, which is right in line with local favorites like Rombauer and Silverado.”
Stan Stack of Beau’s Wine Bin, 2810 W. Country Club, said he started carrying Hidden Ridge as soon as it was available in the state.
“Casidy does a great job with the wine,” Stack said. “She doesn’t make much, and the only reason we get any is that she’s from here.”
Stack said he believes the wine’s quality is partly related to being on the Sonoma side of Spring Mountain where cooler air and mountain fruit combine to make a wine that is balanced between fruit and acidity.“She also keeps the price reasonable,” he said. “Most people on that side of the mountain want $100 a bottle.”
Hidden Ridge is also available at Edmond Wine Shop, 1520 S. Boulevard in Edmond, and Spirit Shop, 1117 Garver in Norman. It’s a middle-tier Cabernet Sauvignon, so expect to pay $40-$50 retail, and $85 and up on a restaurant menu.
Photo by Mark Hancock


text:
Shweta Singh joins as Principal to head Consumer investments
Shweta has recently come on-board to lead our B2C investments. She has several years of India investing experience, having worked with Gurgaon based investment firm, Lumis Partners, and founding an early-stage focussed investment firm, Sol Primero. She has done International Operations for Zomato, in the nascent stages of the company’s foray in to overseas markets and also been an Investment Banker with UBS, London, across Equity Capital Markets and M&A. She holds an MBA in Operations & Entrepreneurial Management from Wharton, a Masters in Economics from University of Cambridge and a Bachelor’s in Mathematics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.
Saoud Khalifah, Founder and CEO, FakeSpot
SRI Capital invests $1 million in FakeSpot
New York City based, online data authentication company, FakeSpot, is on a mission to make online information trustworthy by applying advanced data analytics and AI to detect fake reviews on Amazon, TripAdvisor, Yelp, and the Apple App Store. With e-commerce projected to comprise 17% of all U.S. retail sales by 2022, a number of sellers have resorted to posting fake and biased reviews to increase their sales. Fakespot’s platform works in real-time to warn consumers on inauthentic trends within reviews. Fakespot has analyzed over 2 billion reviews to date.
ShubhLoans has raised $4.2 million in an investment led by venture capital firm Saama Capital, with participation from existing investors SRI Capital, Beenext and Pravega Ventures. The company disbursed $5m in 2017-18 and is targeting to cross $21m in the current financial year. The company lends largely to blue-collar employees with annual incomes of INR 1.5 lakh to INR 4.5 lakh and plans to expand in to the self employed segment soon.
SportsFlashes acquires audio broadcast rights for the English Premier League
SportsFlashes has signed a four year deal with TalkSPORTS to broadcast all 380 matches of the English Premier League (EPL) for Indian fans. The company will dedicate a special radio channel to football, which is the second most consumed sport in India, with 150 million+ fans consuming the EPL alone. SportsFlashes is on a mission to deliver World Class Sports content and Sports Entertainment to fans.
Sashi P. Reddi, Founder and Managing Partner,
SRI Capital aims to help Indian entrepreneurs conquer the US enterprise market
In his Economic Times article, our Founder & Managing Partner, Sashi, talks about why just giving money is not enough to create scalable Enterprise startups in India. Given the low appetite from Indian companies to pay for enterprise solutions, Indian entrepreneurs building enterprise companies need to inevitably target the US market. This require quality early stage capital that understands India, but has the reach and network in the US to help startups enter and dominate the US market.
Warren Buffet invests $360 Million in Indian mobile payments platform PayTM. This marks the first investment by Berkshire Hathaway in an Indian company, and serves as an endorsement of the Indian startup ecosystem, by the world's most respected investor.
India is at a digital tipping point, with almost 50% of the country's internet users expected to be from small towns by 2021. This trend is forcing firms to think about how they can cater to such an audience by adjusting their products and services accordingly.
Udaan, a B2B E-commerce portal, that caters to small and medium businesses has raised $225 million from DST Global and Lightspeed Venture Partners, to become the fastest unicorn from India. The startup connects traders, retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers on a single platform via a mobile app wherein manufacturers can sell directly to shop owners and merchants with secure payments and logistics.


text:
Dress Barn gives discounts for donating
Sun, 04 Mar 2012 01:51:16 GMT —
For those looking for an updated wardrobe, Dress Barn in Quincy is offering a discount just for bringing in old clothes.
Dress Barn's S.O.S or Send One Suit program helps provide gently used professional clothing to women who cannot afford it.
This is the 10th year that Dress Barn has partnered with the organization Dress for Success and the 4th year that Quincy's location has participated.
Last year Quincy's Dress Barn collected about 25 pieces of clothing. Nationally the campaign collected about 52,000 pieces.
Teresa Harness, Dress Barn's Store Manager is a supporter of the S.O.S. campaign.
"I think it's important because there are so many women out there who need to raise families and just be in the job force and sometimes we all need that second chance. It's nice to have people give us the opportunity to give women and everybody out there a second chance," said Harness.
Those who donate lightly worn work wear will receive 15 percent off a total purchase.
In order to help reach their national goal of 60,000 pieces of clothing, the deal will continue through the end of next week.


text:
As many as 600 jobs are expected to go and after US restaurant chain Sizzler announced it will officially close its doors after 35 years in Australia, the famous cheesy bread will be no more.
The owner of the brand in Australia has agreed not to renew the leases on any of its remaining nine restaurants across the nation following the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
That includes the three shops in Morley, Innaloo and Kelmscott in Perth.
Collins Food Limited today said in a statement that, after making the difficult decision, it will provide redundancies and alternative placements at sister companies for its employees.
“After more than 35 years in Australia, Sizzler will permanently close the doors of its nine remaining restaurants in Australia by 15 November 2020,” the statement read.
“Collins Foods Limited, the owner of the Sizzler brand in Australia, made the difficult decision to not renew the leases of its remaining Australian restaurants … after sales have been slow to recover from peak COVID-19 impacts.
“Of the three restaurant brands which Collins Foods operates, Sizzler has been hardest hit during the COVID-19 pandemic as it is based around a casual dining concept, unlike Collins Foods’ KFC and Taco Bell brands.
“Sizzler’s dedicated staff have been informed of this decision and offered appropriate redundancy packages and access to outplacement support, though Collins Foods is looking to redeploy as many affected Sizzler employees as possible to its KFC and Taco Bell network which continue to grow.”


text:
Kenya’s exports to African countries surge amid push for continental integration
NAIROBI, July 17 (Xinhua) —
Kenya’s exports to other African countries hit a record high of 167 billion shillings (about 1.18 billion U.S. dollars) in the first five months of 2023, compared with 960 million dollars in the same period of 2022, according to new economic data released by the Central Bank Monday.
The bank attributed the export increase to the government’s efforts to enhance bilateral ties and trade among nations in the continent.
During the January-May period this year, Kenya exported goods worth 367 million dollars to Uganda, 169 million dollars to Tanzania, and 120 million dollars to Rwanda, according to the bank.
Kenya also shipped goods worth 78 million dollars to Egypt, and 64 million dollars to Somalia during the period, it said.
In the last month, Kenyan President William Ruto has held talks with leaders from other African countries to strengthen bilateral ties, including the Comoros, Djibouti, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central Africa Republic, Egypt, Eritrea and Tanzania.
During a meeting in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, in May, Ruto announced the removal of visa requirements for Africans traveling to Kenya for business as a step to boost intra-Africa trade.
In 2022, Kenya’s exports to African nations stood at 2.6 billion dollars, up from 2.2 billion dollars in 2021, according to the bank.
Kenya mainly exports coffee, fuel, tea, animals, cooking oil, and manufactured goods to other African countries.


text:
The snow is at last falling in the Alps after weeks of warm weather and hoteliers, resort managers, instructors and just about everyone else in the ski industry are holding their collective breath, daring to hope for a great start to the season. They need it after last winter, which really was, to borrow Dickens's over-used phrase, the best of times and the worst of times.
From a snow point of view, Europe had a sensational year, with the best December conditions for more than a decade in many resorts. In Verbier, at the start of December, I skied deep powder all the way down to the village of Le Chable, at 820m, something that is normally only possible for a few days in February after the snow has been building up for months.
But the financial storm was also hitting the Alps. The global recession, combined with the collapsing value of sterling against the euro, meant the numbers of Brits going skiing fell sharply for the first time in 10 years. The Ski Club of Britain put the slump at 6%, Crystal, Britain's biggest ski operator, at 13%. The French Ski Lift operators organisation (SNTF) reported that the proportion of Brits using its lifts fell by 3% to 21%.
"Nobody in the ski business made money last year. At the very best, they might have broken even," the managing director of a chalet company told me this summer.
The result has been a big shake-up in the industry. Some firms went bust, many others have slashed back the number of chalets and hotel beds they are offering, hoping that reducing demand would help buoy prices this winter – Crystal alone has cut back the number of chalets on offer by 40%. With the big boys pulling out of many properties, smaller independent companies have had a chance to expand.
Meanwhile, the large French resorts are being forced to rein in crazy prices in a bid to win back the Brits they rely on so heavily and small resorts, which offer lower prices, not to mention fewer crowds and prettier village centres, are enjoying increased interest (for a good selection, see Peak Retreats, voted best ski company in this years Guardian/Observer Travel Awards).
Some might argue that a shake-up was exactly what the ski industry needed, after years of offering the same chalets and hotels, the same stodgy meals, the same bored ski instructors. The same, that is, except for adding 10% to the price each year.
Similar sentiments are being aired across the pond. Resorts and real estate developers were hit hard by the recession, but many skiers welcomed what they saw as an end to the profiteering surrounding the sport. The cover of this month's issue of Powder, the leading ski magazine in the US, shouts: "Repossessed: How the crash gave us our sport back."
The big questions now are whether the snow will keep falling and whether the Brits will return en masse to the slopes this winter. Already some reports say package holiday bookings are down 20% compared with the same time last year, and the big firms' plans to keep prices high seems to be faltering – a rash of excellent last-minute deals are being offered for December.
But the business side of skiing aside, here's more of what's new on the slopes this season:
St Anton's new lift
On the opposite side of the valley from St Anton's main slopes, Rendl used to be a bit of a hassle to reach. Not only did you need to take a shuttle bus to the bottom lift station, but the lift was so slow it had become renowned as a venue to join the "pylon high club". A new high-speed lift is due to open in time for the start of the season, with the base station moved right into the village centre. The St Anton ski area will feel far more unified, and it could pave the way for more new lifts on the Rendl, including the long-talked about link to the resort of Kappl.
Shane McConkey's skis
Perhaps the leading professional skier of his generation, Shane McConkey died in a ski base-jumping accident on March 26 but his influence is continuing to transform the ski world. McConkey was an early proponent of the revolutionary idea of "reverse-camber, inverse sidecut" skis – bent upwards at front and rear like a banana, and growing fatter in the middle, like a waterski. Before anyone was making such skis, McConkey realised the potential of the shape and so drilled a pair of bindings into some waterskis, and took them up the mountain. They worked brilliantly, making skiing in deep powder far easier and allowing a new fast, fluid style. Slowly manufacturers such as Volant and then K2 followed his lead, bringing weird-looking shaped skis to the market, but this year they have gone mainstream. All the big ski makers are incorporating reverse cambers into some of their skis, and the whole technique of off-piste skiing is evolving as a result. My picks of this year's crop are the Armada JJ (£434 including delivery from freezeproshop.com) and the Atomic Bent Chetler (£489 from skibartlett.com).
Ski films go upmarket
It seems clips of people jumping off cliffs are no longer enough. This winter's crop of ski films are bringing storyline, documentary techniques and arty direction to the genre. Titles such as Signatures boast production values not seen before in ski flicks, while Swift, Silent Deep blends action with the story of the legendary group of renegade extreme skiers known as the Jackson Hole Airforce. "Those guys were like Zeppelin or the Who," says one commentator in the film, "everything that happens now relates to them in a certain way, whether people are aware of it or not."
Skiing embraces metal
Ski resort music used to mean yodelling or naff euro-pop, but there seems to be an improbable love-in developing between snowsports and heavy metal. Dalikfodda, the supercool snowboarding brand, is heavily influenced by hard rock, and hosts performances by metallers Jett Black at its promotional events. Meanwhile, at last month's Freeze event at Battersea Power Station, ski and snowboard competitions were followed by a headlining performance from the Eagles of Death Metal. And back in March, the Brits festival in Laax, Switzerland, brought retro-rockers the Gentleman's Pistols from the streets of Leeds to the alpine slopes. What next – golf goes rave?
New flights...and charges
Swiss has announced that it will put on six flights a day from Heathrow to Geneva from January, while Baboo is introducing flights from both London City and Oxford airport (where parking costs just £25 a week). Snowjet is also pioneering little-used routes – as well as flying from five British airports to Chambery (much closer to resorts like Tignes and Meribel than Geneva), this winter it is introducing flights from Stansted to tiny Sion airport (which is brilliant for Verbier, Zermatt and other resorts in the Swiss Valais region). Both Swiss and Baboo offer free ski or snowboard carriage, while other airlines are ramping up the fees. British Airways has abandoned its policy of free ski carriage and now charges £56 in advance (£70 if you pay at the airport), Easyjet charges £37 (£52). Snowjet has a relatively reasonable £30 (£50), but unsurprisingly, Ryanair takes the biscuit. It charges £80 per pair of skis or board if you prepay, £100 if you pay at the airport.
Credit crunch buster
The ultimate ski destination this winter is Antacartica. Adventure Network International is offering two-week "adventure skiing" trips to the region's Ellsworth Mountains, with the promise of adventure and possible first descents. There's a luxurious base camp from which you can do day tours, or else you can head out on multi-day forays with a guide. There are two departures, on 16 December and 10 January, and the price? Well, how does $22,450 sound? Flights to the kicking-off point, Punta Arenas in Chile, are extra...


text:
The Woz says he doesn't like being in the Apple Ecosystem & Prefers the Flexibility of a MacBook over an iPad
This week there was a lot feathers flying in the tech sector when Apple's CEO decided to kick Microsoft's Surface Book by saying it was deluded. It wasn't Cook's first time kicking the idea a hybrid product. Back in 2012 Apple's CEO knocked the idea of a hybrid notebook-tablet with an absurd example. Cook stated that "You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not going be pleasing to the user." Apple has one way of seeing things, and that's their prerogative of course, but not all agree with that assessment or that the iPad could replace your Mac. The Woz came out earlier today and said he's not a big fan of the Apple Watch and that he's still a laptop guy more than an iPad user.
Fortune notes in a new report that "Although it's been decades since Wozniak has been directly involved with Apple, he still has plenty of thoughts about its current products. About the iPad, Wozniak said he's still 'more of a laptop-based guy.' But in general, he said he prefers the flexibility of laptops, contradicting Apple CEO Tim Cook's recent comments about PC's no longer being as popular as they once were."
The "tablet has been limited for me," Wozniak said. Of course, Wozniak acknowledged that he may be in the minority about personal computers, and Apple's decision to concentrate on tablets may be better financially for Apple than focusing on PCs." The Woz added that "It could be the right direction even if I'm the one who gets hurt."
Wozniak also explained that Steve Jobs' influence on Apple's corporate decisions continues to live on as exemplified by the continued closed nature of Apple products. Unlike some competitors, they generally lack interoperability with other company's products. The Woz added that "I don't like being in the Apple ecosystem. I don't like being trapped. I like being independent."


text:
This article is more than 1 year old
Apple gives MobileMe a makeover
But still $99 a year
MobileMe didn't go free, despite the rumours, but it has got a new look and some improved features.
Apple has renovated its cloud-based service with better email and faster performance, as well as a new iPhone application you can use to find your lost iPad.
The layout improvements are mainly tweaks, but there is some meat in the addition of SSL when using a web browser, mail consolidation (so MobileMe will collect email from other addresses) as well as better junk handling and task switching.
MobileMe users can already track their lost iPhone using the web site, but these days your Apple fan might have more than one piece of Cupertino hardware so Apple has provided a new application that uses your iPhone to track your iPad, or vice versa. You can also borrow someone else's iOS device if you can't get to a web browser for some reason.
But all this functionality still costs $99 a year, despite rumours to the contrary. The idea of Apple providing some sort of free version of MobileMe has been mooted over the last few months, given Microsoft and Google are falling over themselves to provide comparable functionality for nothing.
Cupertino has decided that punters will pay for a quality service, and despite early hiccups (well, more of a coughing fit) MobileMe does appear to be stable these days and rewarding those who didn't jump ship to cheaper alternatives. ®


text:
GKN bucks the economic gloom with strategy for continuing growth, but ‘TV wars’ hit Japanese manufacturers.
The Olympics afforded pundits an opportunity to celebrate not only high-profile British sporting stars, but also lesser-known unsung heroes. Amid the media hubbub surrounding the London Games, one relatively low-profile company released its half-year figures - and confirmed its status as an under-celebrated home-grown manufacturer.
At the end of July, GKN, the Worcestershire-based maker of vehicle driveshafts and aircraft wing components (among other things), reported that profits for the first half of 2012 grew by a third to £266m, compared with same period last year.
In the past six months the £3.4bn-turnover company has benefited from a relatively stable premium-car market in certain global regions - notably China - which has shielded it from the downturns faced by auto makers in parts of Europe and the US.
GKN’s automotive arm saw sales increase by a quarter in the first half of this year. Its biggest automotive customer is Volkswagen, maker of premium Audi Cars. “The premium end of the market is the area that is doing better, especially in China and Europe, though in south Europe small cars are still not doing so well,” commented GKN group chief executive Nigel Stein.
And so analysts seem prepared to buy Stein’s cautiously optimistic assessment that the company can continue to grow amid the economic turmoil in parts of Europe. “We sense that sentiment towards GKN is still being heavily swayed by caution about global light-vehicle production, but GKN is likely to be able to generate at worst a robust performance in the second half of 2012 and 2013, in our view,” said the analyst Jefferies.
The company’s aerospace strategy is also seen by analysts as very much on the right track: last month’s acquisition of the aircraft business of Swedish vehicle giant Volvo expanded GKN’s presence in the growing civil aviation sector, which will help to shift the balance of work from the financially hard-pressed military aviation sector.
Analyst Oriel Securities described the acquisition of Volvo Aero as “a defining moment for GKN, with aerospace now set to account for 40 per cent of earnings”.
Stein said of the purchase: “We are already a market leader in aero structures: this makes us a leader in engine components too, a large and growing segment of the aerospace industry.”
GKN’s manufacturing success does not go wholly unrecognised in Britain, of course. Business Secretary Vince Cable made a point of opening GKN Aerospace’s new £150m manufacturing centre in Bristol in April, declaring: “Manufacturing lies right at the heart of the government’s strategy for economic recovery and growth”.
Unveiling GKN’s half-year figures, Stein claimed that the company’s two main activities - aerospace and automotive - would help to boost Britain’s manufacturing exports. And he lauded the government’s recent announcement of plans for a new ‘centre of excellence’ for aerodynamics. “The UK has begun to realise that these two sectors are winners and it is feeling confident enough to back them,” Stein said.
But GKN is also doing well in its other operations. GKN Powder Metallurgy won £80m of new business in the half-year period, while GKN Land Systems “should continue to show improvement”, according to the company.
The group is backing this optimism by investing over £12m in upgrades at its Birmingham Driveline and Telford Land Systems facilities. Perhaps Vince Cable should propose a special gold medal for one British company that seems able to buck the trend of continuing economic woe. *


text:
Aegis Capital Corp. has reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating and $8 price target on shares of Intellipharmaceutics International (NASDAQ: IPCI). The pharmaceutical company recently received final approval for its abbreviated new drug application for its generic equivalent of the branded product Glucophage® XR. Specifically, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved metformin hydrochloride extended release tablets in the 500 mg and 750 mg strengths. The drug is indicated for use in the management of type 2 diabetes. The company also has eight other abbreviated new drug application candidates awaiting response from the FDA.
To view the full press release, visit: http://nnw.fm/39GpS
Intellipharmaceutics International Inc. is a pharmaceutical company specializing in the research, development and manufacture of novel and generic controlled-release and targeted-release oral solid dosage drugs. The company’s patented Hypermatrix™ technology is a multidimensional controlled-release drug delivery platform that can be applied to the efficient development of a wide range of existing and new pharmaceuticals. Based on this technology platform, Intellipharmaceutics has developed several drug delivery systems and a pipeline of products and product candidates in various stages of development, including ANDAs filed with the FDA in therapeutic areas that include neurology, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal tract, diabetes and pain. Intellipharmaceutics also has New Drug Application 505(b)(2) specialty drug product candidates in its development pipeline. These include Rexista™ based on its proprietary nPODDDS™ novel Point Of Divergence Drug Delivery System. The company’s current development effort is increasingly directed towards improved difficult-to-develop controlled-release drugs which follow an NDA 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway. The company has increased its research and development emphasis towards new product development, facilitated by the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway, by advancing the product development program for both Rexista™ and Regabatin™. For more information, visit www.intellipharmaceutics.com.
NetworkNewsBreak (NNB) provides a rapid summary of corporate news that caught the attention of NetworkNewsWire (NNW). NNB keeps you up-to-date on active US Public Companies complementary to NNW’s broader scope as a provider of news aggregation and syndication, enhanced press release services and a full array of social communication solutions. As a multifaceted financial news and distribution company with an extensive team of contributing journalists and writers, NNW is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that desire to reach a wide audience of investors, consumers, journalists and the general public. NNW has an ever-growing distribution network of more than 5,000 key syndication outlets across the country. By cutting through the overload of information in today’s market, NNW brings its clients unparalleled visibility, recognition and brand awareness. NNW is where news, content and information converge.
Please see full disclaimers on the NetworkNewsWire website applicable to all content provided by NNW, wherever published or re-published: http://NNW.fm/Disclaimer


text:
Starting today (Thursday, November 28), TOMS Canada is offering $10 off any purchase over $50 + free shipping when you enter the promo code THANKFUL13 at checkout! This is going to be a very popular sale because TOMS Shoes rarely go on sale.
The sale is available online only on TOMS.ca from November 28 to December 2, 2013 during their Black Friday to Cyber Monday sale.
TOMS is committed to match every pair of shoes purchased by donating a new pair given to a child in need. One for One.
Click here to shop TOMS.ca now.
Note: This coming Friday, November 29, 2013 is Black Friday! It’s the day after US Thanksgiving where most retailers drastically drop their prices and offer blow-out sales to kick off the holiday shopping season. It’s the busiest shopping day of the year. Most Canadian retailers are now offering Black Friday sales. Make sure you check the blog on Black Friday (Nov 29) and Cyber Monday (Dec 2) for a comprehensive list of all the best and hottest local and online deals.


text:
Trump says EU bid to end auto tariffs ‘not good enough’: report
President Donald Trump has reportedly rejected as “not good enough” a European Union proposal scrapping tariffs on automobiles, a move which threatens to amplify a simmering trans-Atlantic trade dispute.
Just hours earlier, the EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem had said the bloc was “willing to bring down… our car tariffs to zero” provided that the United States did the same.
“It’s not good enough,” Mr. Trump told Bloomberg News on Thursday in an Oval Office interview, speaking of the Brussels offer.
“Their consumer habits are to buy their cars, not to buy our cars.” The White House in July sought to defuse the trade tiff when Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker met and pledged to work towards a limited trade accord that would eliminate customs duties, but excluded the automobile sector.
Trump also compared the EU to China. He has reportedly threatened to slap import taxes on $200 billion in Chinese goods, as a trade war escalates with Beijing.
“The European Union is almost as bad as China, just smaller,” Mr. Trump said.
He also warned that he could pull the United States out of the World Trade Organization.
“If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO,” Mr. Trump said of one of the key anchors of the post-World War II multilateral trading system that the United States helped construct.
At a time when Mr. Trump’s protectionist policies have sparked a wave of trade wars, the institution best placed to help settle trade differences is facing a deepening crisis.
This week Washington blocked the reappointment of a WTO judge, increasing the risk it could soon find itself unable to fulfil its key role in arbitrating disputes.


text:
Tea output decreases in Assam and West Bengal in first five months of 2021: Industry
Prices of teas at the auctions have already increased by 5-10% in the last one month and these products will be available to consumers by the end of July when they may have to pay more for the cuppa. In 2020, the nationwide lockdown had impacted tea production, pulling it down by 140 million kg from the level in 2019, a normal tea production year.
The Economic Times
NSE:MCLEODRUSS price when posted: 39.9


text:
Bandai Namco has refreshed its US executive team, adding three major hires as it seeks to grow its business across the Americas
The dual role of executive vice president and COO will be filled by Hide Irie, who was previously the CEO of US-based game publisher Agetec, and prior to that was president and COO of Sega of America.
Bandai Namco America's vice president of marketing will be Eric Hartness, whose previous job was as head of marketing at Amazon Game Studios. Hartness also brings executive level marketing experience at Electronic Arts.
Finally, Bandai Namco has appointed a new director of sales for Latin America, one of the major growth markets for the international games business. Gerson Souza joins the company after managing Latin America and its various constituent countries for Sony Computer Entertainment and Vivendi Games. Souza will be part of Bandai Namco's Brazilian office.
"Bandai Namco has entered an exciting period of growth and expansion in the Americas," Irie said in a statement. "I look forward to fostering further success for the company in the western hemisphere."
All three hires are effective immediately.


text:
Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, grandson of Italys last reigning king, will soon serve classics such as seafood fettuccine from his food truck The Prince of Venice
When the heir to the defunct Italian throne has a Los Angeles hipster vibe and wants to make money, the result is perhaps foretold: gourmet pasta food truck.
Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, the grandson of Umberto II, the last reigning king of Italy, will on Friday launch a new catering business on the streets of LA, bringing truffle linguine to the masses.
The best of Italy meets the best of LA, he told the Guardian. It will be delicious.
The prince said the idea came to him during visits to LA where he encountered some of the citys estimated 4,000 food trucks. I started looking at this fashion, saw that so many of them were selling tacos, Korean barbecue and hot dogs, and I thought in my little head: why not create a pasta food truck with fresh pasta?
The truck, called Prince of Venice, will open for business on Friday in downtown LA and trundle to Venice and other spots on the westside over the weekend. It has a large window so customers can see the pasta being made.


text:
PRZOOM - /newswire/ -
Smyrna, GA, United States, 2013/04/29 - Rick Reynolds, CEO of AskForensics, has been invited to speak at the Sales Associationís National Sales Conference in Denver, Colorado, June 6 - AskForensics.com.
Rick Reynolds, CEO of AskForensics, a sales consulting firm that uses a forensic science approach to sales, will be speaking at the Sales Associationís National Sales Conference, held in Denver, Colorado, June 6, 2013. The theme of this yearís conference is,ďIt's About Performance: The Art of Sales." Attendees will learn how to improve sales performance by perfecting the art of sales.
Reynolds is a co-founding partner and CEO of AskForensics, which assists Fortune-ranked companies in winning and retaining multi-million dollar accounts. Reynolds is an expert in business forensics, having led hundreds of investigations over a 24-year period to help clients identify company strengths and weaknesses as it relates to sales growth and account retention.
Reynoldsí presentation, entitled,"How to Fortify and Grow Critical Accounts," will address the often undetected, not-so-obvious cracks in client relationships that put critical client accounts at risk. The presentation will feature data from the AskForensics Knowledgebaseô, which includes sales and account retention data from more than $10.6 billion dollars worth of contracts and proposals, over $3.3 billion of which profiles at-risk accounts.
Fellow speakers include Gary Walker, Bob Vanourek, Marcia Gauger, Bill Stinnett, Kurt Shaver, Mark Hunter, Joe Thurman, John Genell, and Sharyl Davis.
AskForensics (askforensics.com) assists Fortune-ranked companies in winning and retaining multi-million dollar accounts. Using a forensic science approach to sales, AskForensics has been delivering objective insight into what's really happening behind the scenes with prospects and customers for more than 24 years. AskForensics has evaluated more than $10.6 billion worth of prospect and client accounts for world-class Fortune-ranked companies, identifying more than $3.3 billion of vulnerable accounts and generating millions of dollars in ROI for its clients. Clients include FedEx, ARAMARK, Equifax, Marriott, and Coca-Cola.


text:
Cool little indie brand Herbivore Botanicals is growing up.
Five years after launching on Etsy, the Seattle-based natural skin-care and body-care purveyor responsible for the products filling the bathrooms of your chicest, hippest friends has rolled out to Sephora doors and landed on nordstrom.com. The retail push puts Herbivore on track to reach $6 million in wholesale revenues this year, up from $2.2 million last year, according to cofounder Alex Kummerow.
“Our goal initially was just to have a successful online shop via Etsy. I was actually really surprised when retailers started reaching out to us and wanting to carry the products,” said Kummerow, who established Herbivore with his wife Julia Wills. “We didn’t set out reaching out to people and making it into a huge business. It just started happening.”
Herbivore originated with an endearing beauty meet-cute between a woman trying to find her way and a soap-making kit. While Wills was taking a break from counseling work and contemplating what to do next, Kummerow gifted her the kit, and she began crafting soaps in the couple’s kitchen. The soaps relieved skin irritation Kummerow was experiencing, and a brand was born.
You May Also Like
“I had eczema or psoriasis on my skin. The doctor didn’t really know what it was, and Julia’s product cleared up my skin immediately,” recounted Kummerow. “From that moment forward, Julia has been formulating machine. She’s probably made 100 different products,” Wills chimed in, “I went to natural health college [Bastyr University]. Although I majored in psychology, my favorite electives were aromatherapy and Chinese medicine. That’s the background that got me interested.”
Herbivore doesn’t quite have 100 products on the market today. It has about 30 and half that amount has been sold on Sephora’s web site since last September. Four products that have been strong online for the beauty specialty chain — gel mask Blue Tansy, facial oil Lapis, body polish Coco Rose and face mist Rose Hibiscus — and one new exclusive item, night treatment Moon Fruit, are entering the discovery wall sections at Sephora stores. As Herbivore has expanded its product range, it’s increasingly shifted its focus to popular facial skin-care merchandise.
Wills explained inspiration for the products comes from distinctive ingredients and appealing ingredient colors revealed through Herbivore’s glass bottles and jars. Moon Fruit’s formula, for example, contains the anti-inflammatory ingredient indigo powder giving it a lavender hue. In addition, the product, priced at $58, has prickly pear, goji berry, red raspberry seed, kokum and shea butters, alpha hydroxy acids, hyaluronic acid and enzymes derived from papaya, sugar lemon, orange, bilberry and cranberry.
“It’s the most complicated product we’ve made so far,” said Wills of Moon Fruit. Kummerow expounded, “It’s a multitasking product that’s loaded with all of our favorite ingredients. It makes your skin really smooth and hydrated, and it’s a night treatment that can also be used in the day.”
What’s inside of Herbivore’s products is coveted, but the outside of them has perhaps been equally important to the brand’s success. Wills detailed it took roughly a year to fine tune the design that has a straightforward, minimalistic quality. Frequently emulated since Herbivore introduced it, the look helped the brand transcend the hippie-dippy reputation that has often pigeonholed natural beauty brands.
“The aesthetic was a throwback to luxury perfumes from way back. We felt like, when we put a natural product into luxurious packaging, that we had something new, especially in 2011,” said Kummerow, continuing about the brand, “It is our artistic outlet. We don’t aim to develop something from a commerce point of view as much as we aim to develop things that we love and are obsessed with and [reflect] who we are as people.”
Herbivore does seem to be handling commerce proficiently, despite Wills’ admission that she didn’t understand the concept of wholesaling at the dawn of the brand. It’s available in approximately 500 retail doors, including at Urban Outfitters, Credo, Joyus, Goop, ABC Home and Birchbox, but has declined many more. Notably, Wills and Kummerow turned away Target to concentrate on Sephora.
“Because we are a smaller brand, we had to pick and chose. We basically had offers from Sephora and Target within a few weeks of each other, and we couldn’t take on both at the same time. We decided to put Target on hold for now and go with Sephora primarily because we really liked our [Sephora] buyers, and everything they were telling us about the process of working with them,” Kummerow said. He elaborated Sephora’s step-by-step process tested Herbivore online before placing it on discovery walls and possibly building upon its presence in stores later on.
Outside of the U.S., Herbivore is carried by Steven Alan in Japan, and is readying itself to broaden its reach to Europe. But Kummerow and Wills emphasized they aren’t in a rush to explode sales. “We can only grow as fast as we can grow,” Kummerow said. “Julia and I still own 100 percent of the company, and I sleep well at night. Every year, we have tripled our growth. There might be a time where we might not have enough money to get to the next step, and we may want to seek an investor because we won’t have the funds in our back account to do that, so we are open, but we have not taken investment. In fact, we have never taken a loan, and we are proud of that. We have grown the company off of profits alone.”


text:
Originally published on EV Obsession.
A video was recently put together by Tesla enthusiasts from Abu Dhabi and Dubai with the intent of getting CEO Elon Musk to bring the company to the United Arab Emirates (open a storefront and/or service center, etc).
The video pushing for Tesla’s presence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was filmed at Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi, and includes around 30 Teslas.
Thanks to “Ames” on the Tesla Motors Club forum for this.
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.


text:
Waco restaurateur Sammy Citrano found himself at odds with city trademark monitors when a mural on his George’s Bar & Restaurant included the distinctive “flying W” logo created by City Hall.
Rub it out, he was told, or face the consequences.
Being an agreeable sort, Citrano polled the public on how best to replace the big W without sullying his artistic salute to all things George, and mostly Texas — George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, George Foreman, George Lopez, George Strait and George Washington, who was not born in Texas but nevertheless made a name for himself, according to the history books.
Citrano settled for the Interstate 35 access road bridges over Lake Brazos, near McLane Stadium. The bridges’ lights change color and represent the gateway to Waco, in Citrano’s opinion, though admittedly that gate is not at its most pristine as a $341 million I-35 widening project continues to rumble along.
“That’s what we came up with, and I think it ties in pretty well with what else we have up there,” Citrano said of the new image. “There is a Baylor connection, a Waco connection, and the city of Waco is mentioned, though not as it was. Take a picture of it and you know you’re in Waco, Texas. Waco and George’s side-by-side. It’s unbelievable. I was overwhelmed by community support, but I’m not much for arguing with anybody, and I wanted to do the right thing. It was finished a couple of days ago and fits just right.”
It’s tea time at HTeaO, a new shop at South Seventh Street and Cleveland Avenue that opened Friday and was quickly swarmed by thirsty customers.
HTeaO features a custom tea bar with two-dozen flavors of sweet and unsweet tea available for sampling. Little cups are available. Once a favorite is chosen, large-cup purchases can be made at the front counter.
A drive-thru window also is available for those not needing a test swig.
HTeaO has proven a popular concept, growing to 93 locations at last count, company officials said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The Waco store also features a selection of healthy snacks, a line of Yeti products and a “Tea Brewing Station,” which will put the tea brewing process in plain view all day, according to a press release.
Amarillo-based HTeaO last year appeared on Inc. magazine’s list of the top 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the country, coming in at 2,324. It has enjoyed three-year revenue growth of 188%, according to the magazine.
It operates in Waco near fast-food row along South Sixth, South Seventh and South Eighth streets at Interstate 35.
The Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce will devote time to the farm-to-table ideal and other drivers of change among local food ventures during its quarterly Hour Economy program from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday at the chamber headquarters, 101 S. Third St.
Guest speakers will include Gidon Rosing, director of operations at Waco Food Hub under development in East Waco; Chris McGowan, president of Waco Downtown Farmers Market; and Jonathan Garza, an agent with Turner-Behringer Real Estate, who lists space in the soon-to-open Union Hall food hall at Eighth Street and Franklin Avenue, according to a news release.
Limited seating is $15 per person and includes lunch. For more information, call chamber economic development coordinator Debbie McCutchen at 757-5736 or visit wacochamber.com.
White Bluff golf
White Bluff Resort in Whitney has completed work on its two golf courses and is hosting events Aug. 30 through Sept. 2 as it opens to the public.
“The renovation included total turf replacement to Tifeagle Bermuda on all 36 greens, while the bunkers were reworked for improved drainage and filled with all new bunker sand,” according to a press release from the White Bluff Property Owners Association. “Each course also has its own full length driving range, chipping green, and practice bunker and putting green.”
“We welcome our neighbors from the surrounding communities and believe that they are going to be very impressed by this all-new White Bluff experience, including access to Lake Whitney, pools, marina, racquet sports and dining,” the press release states.
Aug. 31 through Labor Day, non-property owners will pay $55 green fees. Starting in September, the new course will open Tuesday through Sunday. Non-property owners will pay $45 weekday and $55 weekend green fees.
The old course, now in a grow-in phase, will open in late September
Bolt storefront closes
Ashley Futris, an ardent supporter of downtown, has closed her shop on South Second Street. Bolt Boutique sold fashions, furniture, Waco-centric T-shirts and homemade accessories about a year. But in a Facebook post, thanking her friends and customers, Futris said “a storefront is just not feasible.” She graciously went on to say the closing is “bittersweet” but vowed to keep her chin up and urged locals to patronize the shops popping up downtown.
She said such shops and small business “are the heartbeat of the city.”


text:
GoT's Peter Dinklage Dubs Chrysler Drivers 'Kings and Queens of America'
W&K Portland's Ad Showcases Accomplished Artists and Entrepreneurs
Apr 09, 2015
This 60-second Chrysler spot, from its "Drive Proud" campaign, celebrates hard-working artists and entrepreneurs. Agency Wieden & Kennedy Portland and director Sam Bayer highlight those who persisted in their pursuit of success here with the help of "Game of Thrones" actor Peter Dinklage, who lends his voice to the ad. Accomplished faces include Becky Hammon, the second female assistant coach in NBA history; Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian; entrepreneur and gambling man Phil Ivey; photographer Kwaku Alston and California restaurateur Caroline Styne. All of whom presumably worked tirelessly to excel in their fields.
In February, we saw rival American luxury brand Cadillac make a similar statement during the Oscars, with an ad celebrating the likes of "Boyhood" Director Richard Linklater, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, fashion designer Jason Wu, personal-genomics trailblazer Anne Wojcicki and African internet pioneer Njeri Rionge -- all of whom "Dared Greatly."
The Chrysler campaign is set to run from April through June. A 30-second spot will be supported by digital and print extensions.


text:
Unbun and Firkin - making awesome burgers together!
October 28, 2019 BY Unbun Foods
We're excited to announce you can now find us at Firkin Pubs across Ontario. Firkin has just unveiled a new menu for Fall 2019 and you can upgrade any Firkin burger to include an Unbun! Hint: Make sure to ask for the gluten free keto bun.