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The COVID-19 crisis can have a paradoxical effect on the world’s mobility. The limitations imposed on mobility during lockdowns and increasing concerns about the need to keep some physical distancing thereafter have reduced ridership to historical lows, and this has had a tremendous impact on public transport finances (see here). But that same reduction in traffic, which has translated into cleaner skies, reduced CO2 emissions, fewer crashes, and less noise, has reinforced the case – among public authorities and public opinion alike – for much more sustainable mobility in our cities and hence for public transport.
On the other hand, shared mobility schemes were also impacted by COVID-19. Indeed, during the first months of the pandemic, all the sharing models suffered a strong reduction in operations due to general lockdowns. Interestingly, we can consider some mobility services (like micromobility) as one of the winners, after all.
The desired social distancing and the evolution of electric vehicles’ features (e-scooters and e-bikes) allowed us to see more micromobility users on the streets. These options have emerged as a crucial factor (aligned with the urge to foster sustainable mobility) to drive users to public transport in cities, increasing ridership, and boosting multimodality.
Thus, it is required to integrate them with public transport and understand how micro-incentives – more targeted and flexible incentives – can encourage citizens to use these services as part of the global mobility offer that is, at the same time, aligned with the cities’ policy objectives as regards sustainable mobility.
In urban and suburban areas, the most abundant common trips are those made back and forth from home to the working or studying place. In some European countries, it is already part of the national agenda to implement strategies for institutional (or corporate) mobility. It is also the case at a local level, where SUMPs have an enormous focus on this trip category. Mobility Managers become more popular and sometimes mandatory. Such is the case in Italy since 2021, where companies with more than 100 employees and in municipalities with over 50,000 inhabitants must have a Mobility Manager.
The Global Future Council on Mobility (at the World Economic Forum) in its Corporate Mobility Transport Challenge report has explained how the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies will accelerate the typical employee commute and decarbonisation. The report also explains the difficulties of companies in investing in digital platforms that enable more equitable and sustainable opportunities to commute from home to work or school. It is relevant to think that third-party companies and organisations will design and develop innovative business models to tackle the challenge of allowing employees to go to work, and students going to school, in a more sustainable manner.
The rise of e-commerce has been accelerated in recent times. For instance, in Spain, e-commerce exceeded 13,600M€ in the second quarter of 2021, 13,7% growth compared to the previous year.
The new technology era has eased this growing trend, allowing citizens to buy the goods and services they need by using online channels. The way logistics have rapidly evolved, where consumers are now used to buying almost anything and getting it delivered at their doorstep in a few hours, needs a profound reflection from a sustainability perspective. A great percentage of cities’ traffic jams are caused or worsened by last-mile logistics, which generate more traffic and more polluting emissions.
Analysing how micro-incentives can be optimised to boost sustainable logistics (clean energy, multimodal logistics, etc.) stands as a key factor to tackle the associated challenges to improving last-mile logistics.
Plenty of challenges are ahead of us to make mobility more sustainable and accessible for all. This requires focusing on more efficient use of public transport; shared mobility becomes part of the integrated offer of public transport; corporate mobility (commuting) is better understood and better planned, and logistics are optimised through the use of more efficient and holistic strategies.
Are micro-incentives a real game-changer idea to nudge mobility behaviour to leverage the current use of mobility services, such as public transport, and future mobility (and not so future) like shared mobility? The expected efficiency gain behind the multi-criteria, highly targeted micro-incentive strategy is that it could help reduce the cost to achieve similar indicator levels in terms of sustainability and equity, with significantly lower budgets. The introduction of micro-incentives (economic, fiscal, or in-kind) to foster journeys using zero-emission vehicles, encourage intermodality or increase the use of public transport outside peak hours is an innovative formula with increasing numbers of supporters internationally, which may be key in changing habits towards more sustainable mobility.
Factual is proposing a thought leadership study to analyse the prospects for reform to allow for the micro-incentives concept to help nudge user behaviour towards more sustainable mobility, and the required conditions for this to happen in 5 European cities.
The study will be divided into 3 parts:
- Key indicators based on primary and secondary research.
- Analysis of the impact of public subsidies and the potential of micro-incentives.
- Analysis of technical and regulatory constraints.
For more information about this study, dates, and special sponsorship options for IRF members, download this document.


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From left, business students Austen Hildebrand, Nick Shelly, Lindsey Meyer, Abigail Norman, John Hoskins and Matt Chambers represented UIndy last weekend at the APICS Great Lakes District 2015 Student Case Competition.
A UIndy student team placed fifth among 25 collegiate teams in last weekend’s APICS Great Lakes District 2015 Student Case Competition in Chicago, topping such competitors as the University of Illinois, University of Wisconsin, Ball State University and Purdue’s Krannert School of Management.
APICS is the leading professional association for the supply chain and operations management industry. The competition gave each team 12 hours to develop and present an inventory strategy for a fashion apparel company facing long lead times for product amid uncertain customer demand.
Representing UIndy, and placing first in the presentation part of the competition, were students Austen Hildebrand, Nick Shelly, Lindsey Meyer, Abigail Norman, John Hoskins and Matt Chambers. The team is mentored by Assistant Professor Tom Parker and Associate Professor Chris Harris, who lead the Supply Chain Management program in UIndy’s School of Business.

domain: news


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RUSSIA: Mazda Sollers JV to assemble CX-5 from October
Mazda Sollers Manufacturing Rus, the new 50-50 assembly joint venture between the Japanese and Russian vehicle makers, has held a ceremony to mark the establishment of their accord.
The CX-5 will be the plant's first Mazda model, with cars due to start rolling off the line at the Vladivostok factory in Russia's Far East Federal District from October.
At first, this will be an SKD assembly operation but Mazda says it hopes to eventually double the initial 50,000 annual capacity and add a paint shop and body shop. The Mazda6 is to be added "in the future", the partners have previously announced.
Author: Glenn Brooks


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The explosion of Fintech companies and startups isn’t surprising. As the tech savvy millennial generation has aged, banking became standard, forcing brick & mortar institutions to become tech~enabled.
DeFi challenges this centralized financial system by disempowering middlemen and gatekeepers, and empowering everyday people via peer-to-peer exchanges.
“DeFi takes the key elements of the work done by banks, exchanges and insurers today—like lending, borrowing and trading—and puts it in the hands of regular people.”
What our strategic partners have in common: they’re private companies with operations or customers in the U.S., and these innovative companies are revolutionizing the digital financial services.
Entire markets ~ from digital loans & mobile stock services to e-commerce payment platforms & digital currency exchanges ~ are rooted in digital financial access.


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Friday, Aug. 20, 2004 | 11:08 a.m.
General Growth Properties Inc., a large owner of shopping malls in Las Vegas and nationwide, said today it agreed to buy The Rouse Co., owner and developer of the planned community Summerlin and the Las Vegas Strip's Fashion Show mall, for $12.6 billion in cash and debt.
The sale would put General Growth Properties in charge of more than half of all mall space in the Las Vegas Valley.
Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by each company's board of directors, shareholders of Rouse will receive $7.2 billion or $67.50 per share, a 33 percent premium over Thursday's closing price, Chicago-based General Growth said in a statement. The company also will assume about $5.4 billion of existing debt.
General Growth will issue $500 million in common stock to fund the purchase.
Rouse stock rose $16.03 per share, or 31 percent, to $66.64 this morning. General Growth stock fell 3.5 percent to $30.43.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
Wally Brewster, senior vice president of marketing at General Growth, said the companies would continue normal operations.
"We will keep moving forward with the great things Rouse has done," Brewster said.
Exactly what would happen, if anything, to the 22,500-acre Summerlin community in the western Las Vegas Valley and the Howard Hughes Corp., a division of Rouse, was unclear.
"We are still in the stages of really getting to understand the properties and the different aspects of Rouse's holdings," Brewster said.
Officials with Rouse and Howard Hughes could not be reached for comment.
While the acquisition of Summerlin and Rouse's other planned communities would deviate from General Growth's core mall assets, General Growth said it expects to build on Rouse's success in developing planned communities.
"This is an area we don't have much experience in, but with the help of the extremely talented group at The Rouse Co., we expect to build on the success they have achieved over the years," John Bucksbaum, chief executive of General Growth, said during this morning's conference call about the acquisition of Rouse and its planned communities, including Summerlin.
Summerlin accounted for $30.5 million of $39.4 million of Rouse's community development division's net operating income in the second quarter that ended June 30.
Bernard Freidbaum, chief financial officer of General Growth, said in the conference call that the company planned to "continue generating very high returns" through the community development work at Rouse.
"We will ... consider any and all alternatives depending on the markets and other events as they occur over time. We wouldn't do any bulk sales but we might accelerate slightly the pace at certain of the developments," Freidbaum said. "They have done an excellent job of maximizing the value of their land by dolling it out and controlling the supply, especially in Summerlin in Las Vegas."
"We believe that still is the best way to maximize the long-term value. ... Because of the large size of this transaction we will consider all of the options and at least initially continue along the path that they have utilized -- but always consider other options as well," he said.
Average land prices for the first half of the year in Summerlin averaged $900,000 an acre, Anthony Deering, Rouse chairman and chief executive, said during the company's second-quarter conference call in July.
The high price tag was because of the type of land sold -- land for high-density and multi-use parcels. Deering said during the July conference call that he expects the average price for land in Summerlin to level off at $600,000 an acre by the end of the year.
That's up from an average of $454,000 an acre in 2003, he said.
At that time, Rouse announced a new land-sale program, being rolled out in Summerlin, that involves multi-year purchase agreements with major home builders in an attempt to stabilize revenue and generate a continuous, and increasing, cash flow.
Observers said the prime real estate asset -- Summerlin -- would have no trouble finding a buyer if General Growth sells it off.
Phillip Peckman, chief executive officer of The Greenspun Corporation, parent company of American Nevada Company, one of the Las Vegas valley's largest developers of retail space and planned communities, said it's possible General Growth may sell off the communities, including Summerlin.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they spin off some of their non core assets," he said.
As to whether American Nevada would be interested in buying Summerlin or its commercial properties, Peckman said pricing would be a big issue.
"We would be interested in looking at any solid real estate assets to buy," he said. "They have some great assets, including their office (portfolio) and we're in that business."
The Greenspun family owns The Greenspun Corporation and the Las Vegas Sun.
When the purchase is finalized, General Growth Properties will have control and ownership of four malls in the Las Vegas Valley, including the Fashion Show, Boulevard, Meadows and Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian for a total of more than 4.5 million square feet of local mall retail space.
There is more 8.5 million square feet of mall space in the valley.
Rouse has announced plans for a large regional mall at Sahara Avenue and the Las Vegas Beltway in Summerlin, to open in 2006 or 2007. General Growth Properties has said it will open an extension to the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian.
General Growth Properties purchased the Grand Canal Shoppes in May for $766 million.
Michael Kammerling, senior vice president, retail advisory services at Grubb & Ellis, Las Vegas, said the acquisition is a positive development for General Growth and Las Vegas.
"General Growth has demonstrated with other properties, such as the Boulevard mall, that they are prepared to spend large sums of money to bring them into the mainstream," he said. "That bodes well for Rouse because they have been so delayed in getting (the Summerlin mall) going."
General Growth properties announced this spring that it would give its 36-year-old Boulevard mall a face lift, similar to a renovation completed at Meadows in 2003.
Kammerling also said General Growth ownership might put the Summerlin mall on the fast track for development.
"General Growth is so aggressive in doing things, if there is any chance of the mall happening, it will happen faster with them than Rouse doing it themselves," he said.
The amount of land and retail holdings that General Growth will own was not of much concern to Tim Hay, chief deputy attorney general and Nevada consumer advocate who has the authority to review mergers.
"It is probably something we would take a look at, but I would doubt that it is something that would cause enough market concentration to be of much concern."
Hay said it would probably be difficult to amass enough of a holding to create antitrust concerns "in a market like Las Vegas where you've got a number of big players."
Officials with the Federal Trade Commission said they could not comment as to whether they would investigate the acquisition or General Growth's Las Vegas dominance.
Nationwide, Rouse has ownership interests in 37 regional malls, four community centers, and six mixed-use projects totaling about 40 million square feet. Rouse also is the developer of planned communities Summerlin, the Bridgelands and The Woodlands in Houston and a community in Columbia, Md., where Rouse is based.
Rouse has more than 9 million square feet of office, industrial and other commercial properties in the Baltimore area and in Las Vegas, the company said.
"In the past, I have explained why our principal focus is to acquire, develop and manage regional shopping centers," Bucksbaum said in a statement. "We want to continue to build and enhance our existing national platform."
General Growth owns 178 regional shopping malls in 41 states.
Deering said in a statement the transaction "will create the most powerful portfolio of retail assets in the United States."
Rouse acquired the Howard Hughes Corp. in 1996 and has sold off many of its Las Vegas office and warehouse assets in recent years while aggressively developing Summerlin and Fashion Show.
Most recently, Rouse sold the Hughes Center office park, a 1.1 million-square-foot high-end office complex just east of the Las Vegas Strip, for $233 million including $137.5 million of debt to Houston-based Crescent Real Estate Equities.
In 2000, the Hughes Airport and Cheyenne centers -- complexes of office, industrial and "flex" buildings -- were sold to Stoltz Bros Ltd. for $85 million, narrowing Rouse's exposure in the Las Vegas market.


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Russell Wilson Clarifies Water Comments Brands Activating Around U.S. Open Across N.Y. Sprinter Prandini Signs First Pro Deal With Puma Subway Reducing Reliance On Spokespeople NFLPA Unveils T-Shirt Line Honoring FDNY Flacco Stars In Humorous Pepsi, Tostitos Ad Topps Signs Astros SS Carlos Correa Skechers To Title Sponsor L.A. Marathon College Football Players Snag Trademarks Nike Dragged Into Armstrong-Gov't Dispute
SBD/October 14, 2011/Marketing and Sponsorship
Published October 14, 2011
FEELING SQUIRRELY: In St. Louis, Matthew Hathaway noted there is “money to be had in peddling squirrel gear" to MLB Cardinals fans "thanks to the Rally Squirrel frenzy.” Missouri-based grocer Dierbergs reported that the “first batches of ‘squirrel shirts’ at its stores sold out within hours on Saturday.” Cardinal Glennon Children's Foundation is “selling its own Rally Squirrel trading cards, shirts and hats that come with or without an attached squirrel tail.” The charity saw its merchandise “sell out at various businesses around town." At least “11 other T-shirt styles inspired by the bushy-tailed Busch beastie were listed on eBay Tuesday afternoon” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/12).
ROUNDUP: Burton Snowboards and MINI announced a partnership for the ’11-12 season with the car manufacturer serving as the presenting sponsor of the Burton Global Open Series. The two companies will also collaborate on more snowboard events throughout the upcoming season (Burton)….The Ravens announced ThompsonGas will serve as the team’s official propane gas partner to benefit the Ravens All Community Team Foundation (Ravens)….Phiten announced an endorsement deal with T'Wolves F Derrick Williams to serve as a brand ambassador for the company. Williams joins Knicks F Carmelo Anthony, Heat F Chris Bosh and Clippers G Eric Gordon as Phiten endorsers (Phiten).


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Danes invest $4.4M in eye-control system for tablets, smartphones
First commercial products expected to arrive within a year
IDG News Service - Danish company The Eye Tribe is leading a new project that will make it possible to control smartphones and tablets using eye movements.
The three-year project is called "Eye Tracking for mobile devices" and toy maker Lego Systems is taking part, along with game developer Serious Games Interactive, the IT University of Copenhagen and the Technical University of Denmark.
The Eye Tribe was founded last year by four former PhD students from the IT University of Copenhagen, all of which had previously been working on various forms of eye tracking research and applications.
"We are coming from a desktop environment, using it on PCs and we have a laptop version, as well. What we want to do now is go for the mobile space, because the potential is huge," company CEO Sune Alstrup Johansen said.
Users will be able to scroll down Web pages, zoom in to view a location on a map more closely or play games without having to touch the screen. The Eye Tribe has implemented a version of the game Fruit Ninja where fruits are sliced when a player looks at them.
"These are some of the very basic things we can do, but, of course, we are aiming to do much more in the future and that is what the project will help us achieve," Alstrup Johansen said.
The technology uses an infrared light source and a camera to register eye movements.
Implementing eye tracking on tablets and smartphones is much more challenging compared to PCs, because users are outside and on the move, according to Alstrup Johansen. Tablets will be the first step because of the bigger form factor and smartphones will come next, he said.
The growing size of high-end smartphones should work to its advantage.
Even if there are challenges, Alstrup Johansen expects to see the first commercial products within a year, potentially both smartphones and tablets.
"We have already done experiments on tablets and have a prototype to demonstrate that it works. Now we need to make the technology even more robust, and more tolerant to different scenarios including outdoor use," Alstrup Johansen said.
The project will also work on a smart glasses implementation, which will allow users to look at an object and get more information.
The "Eye Tracking for mobile devices" project's $4.4 million comes from the participants and the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation, which uses government money to "offer private companies and universities the funds and the framework for developing new and important technologies," according to its website.
The Eye Tribe's current technology is a promising beginning and the foundation now hopes its funds will be used to accelerate the development of it, according to Thomas Bjerre, communications manager and head of analysis.
The project is expected to start in about 60 days, Bjerre said.
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Trade and investment have witnessed robust growth in Thailand over the past 30 years, as rapid industrial development led manufacturing to overtake agriculture as a primary economic engine. This has had a dramatic impact on exports, with the country rising to become a major regional exporter of electronics, automotive parts and food products. Trade relations have also expanded in recent years on the back of improved bilateral relations with China and the US: Thailand is poised to enter into a major global free trade agreement with each – respectively, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
However, trade growth faces a subdued near-term outlook. Although Thailand’s trade balance swung into the black in 2015 on the back of low fuel prices, exporters also witnessed a concurrent drop in revenue, as commodity prices fell. Simultaneously, foreign direct investment (FDI) plummeted after the government moved to reform existing investment policy, although these reforms will ultimately support the development of high-tech industries, mitigating an anticipated labour shortage and helping it avoid the middle-income trap.
The second-largest economy in ASEAN after Indonesia, Thailand has developed a positive international reputation on the back of its pro-investment policies and well-developed infrastructure, standing as one of the most liberalised and business-friendly markets in the region.
Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) acts as the country’s central investment promotion authority, offering investment incentives applied uniformly to both domestic and foreign investments. The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) also oversees new business development in Thailand, setting policy and approving applications for foreign investment across a host of restricted industries. The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT), established under the Ministry of Industry (MoI) in 1972, is responsible for managing the country’s network of industrial estates and Map Ta Phut Industrial Port. It is also supporting the development of a network of proposed super-clusters and special economic zones (SEZs), both of which aim to spur investment across a host of critical production bases. At present, IEAT’s portfolio comprises BT2.85trn ($85.79bn) of investment and 4242 factories employing 562,000 people.
The primary piece of legislation governing foreign investment in Thailand is the Foreign Business Act (FBA) of 1999, which stipulates which industries are open to foreign investment. Although there is no general prohibition against foreigners doing business in Thailand, foreign investment in most service sectors is limited to 49%, and the FBA contains specific restrictions on foreign ownership in certain sectors, including banking, insurance and telecommunications.
Industries where foreign investment is prohibited or restricted are listed in three annexes. Annex 1 prohibits foreign investment in print, radio, and television media; rice, arable, and orchard farming; livestock, forestry, timber activities, fisheries, antiques trading and manufacturing or casting of Buddha images in a commercial capacity.
Annexes 2 and 3 list industries in which investment is restricted, but still permitted under certain circumstances, usually if the project receives cabinet approval and a licence from the MoC. However, projects which have obtained promotional privileges from the BOI or IEAT can engage in these industries without obtaining a license from the MoC.
Annex 2 industries include businesses concerning national safety and security, and those which have an impact on arts, culture, customs, local handicrafts and natural resources. This includes firearms, aircraft and military vehicles manufacturing activities. Any company engaging in an Annex 2 business must be at least 40% owned by Thai nationals, and two-fifths of its directors must be Thai nationals, although the MoC and cabinet can grant permission to reduce these requirements to 25%.
Annex 3 industries are open to foreign investment provided they receive a license from the MoC’s director-general, and approval from the Foreign Business Committee. Annex 3 industries include rice milling, forestry plantations, plywood and lime manufacturing, accounting, legal, architectural and engineering services, construction (outside of critical public projects such as public utilities or transportation), brokerage, retail businesses with a total minimum capital of less than BT100m ($3.01m), advertising, hotels (apart from hotel management services), tourism, and food and beverage sales.
Nationals of countries that have signed bilateral treaties are granted the same status as Thais under the FBA in respect of restricted industries, including the US, Japan, Australia and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The government may also, as a temporary measure, permit a foreigner to carry out any restricted businesses, for example in a government-sponsored infrastructure project.
The government has also moved to relax restrictions in certain industries recently, with the Ministry of Commerce announcing in February 2016 that commercial banking, representative offices of foreign banks, and insurance activities had been removed from Annex 3 of the FBA, effective February 19, 2016.
After months of street protests in 2013 and 2014, the country’s government was overthrown in a bloodless military coup in May 2014. This has had a negative impact on investor sentiment and foreign diplomacy, although the military government, led by Prime Minister Prayuth Chanocha, has since moved to appoint an interim government and legislature, enacting a host of sweeping reforms already under way under the previous administration, and moving to improve growth and investor sentiment through a number of stimulus packages, rising spending and infrastructure investment.
Although it fell three places in the World Bank’s “Doing Business 2016” survey, Thailand retained its position within the world’s top 50 economies in terms of ease of doing business, ranking 49th of 189 countries. It rose by eight spots in the “dealing with construction permits” category to 39th place globally, and remained in 11th place in the “getting electricity” category, although it fell by five spots in the “starting a business” category, to 96th place, and by seven spots in the “getting credit” category, to 97th place.
Indeed, Thailand continues to welcome investment from all countries, and has seen trade with many of its key partners expand significantly over the previous decades, with trade expected to expand further over the longer term on the back of investment policy reforms, ASEAN integration and potential membership in TPP and RCEP.
FDI: Thailand’s economic development has been significantly aided by FDI, and the country is an important ASEAN destination for new investment, benefitting from an array of attractive incentives on offers, accommodative government policies, and a well-diversified economy, which boasts upper middle-income status as of 2011.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Thailand has been among eight priority destinations for foreign investment since 2012. UNCTAD reports that FDI inflows rose by 52.8% between 2012 and 2013 to hit $14.01bn, while the country’s total FDI stock rose by 3.3% and 11.8% in 2013 and 2014, respectively, to reach $199.31bn. In 2013, 30.6% of FDI inflows went to the metallurgy and machinery sector, followed by electronics (25.3%), services (18.9%), and paper and chemical goods (15%).
In 2014 Thailand was the seventh-largest FDI recipient in East and Southeast Asia, with the government reporting that in the same year, FDI in the country rose by 95% to hit a record BT1.02trn ($30.7bn). However, much of this growth can be attributed to the BOI’s changes to the Investment Promotion Law of 1977, which codifies investment incentives.
Thailand has seen international trade surge in recent years, both within the ASEAN region and with China, the US and India. Bank of Thailand (BOT) data shows export revenues rose by 93.2% between 2005 and 2015 to reach $214.38bn, peaking at $229.11bn in 2012, before moderating to $228.5bn in 2013, $227.52 in 2014, and $214.38 in 2015, largely as a result of falling commodities prices.
Imports rose by 71.4% over the same 10-year period, peaking at $250.41bn in 2013 and ending 2015 at $202.65bn. The 19.1% decline in total imports between 2013 and 2015 can be attributed to falling global oil prices, as fuel imports comprised BT1.59trn ($47.86bn), or 19.5% of total imports, in 2013. As a result of falling oil prices, the country ended 2015 with an $11.72bn trade surplus, its first in five years.
Manufacturing exports stood at $190.42bn, or 88.8% of total exports, while the BOT reports that export receipts for agriculture, of which rice and rubber comprise 60.2%, totalled $16.06bn in 2015. Thailand’s top five exports by value in 2015 were electronics ($32.08bn), agro-manufacturing products ($25.61bn), machinery and equipment ($19.25bn), food ($14.88bn) and electrical appliances ($12.05bn). In 2015 export revenues in these five categories reached $119.96bn, or 56% of total revenues.
Main Trading Partners
The US, China, Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia were Thailand’s top five export markets in 2015, as the US edged ahead of China for the first time to become its largest trading partner by exports. Exports to the US hit $24.06bn in 2015, with $23.74bn going to China, $20.08bn to Japan, $11.83bn to Hong Kong and $10.19bn to Malaysia, according to BOT data. The EU is another major trading partner, with Thai exports to the EU rising by 45.3% between 2005 and 2015 to hit $21.97bn, despite contracting by 6% in 2015. Although trade with India remains comparatively low, it has also surged in recent years: imports rose by 105.5% between 2005 and 2015, while Thailand’s exports to India jumped by nearly 250%, from $1.53bn to $5.3bn.
China & Japan
With $64.81bn in total bilateral trade in 2015, China remains Thailand’s dominant trade partner and leading import market. Thailand imported $41.1bn of Chinese goods in 2015, according to BOT data, compared to $13.86bn in imports from the US. Japan, Thailand’s third-largest export market, has also expanded its trade with Thailand considerably in recent years. Thai exports to Japan rose by 33% between 2005 and 2015, while Japanese imports to Thailand concurrently rose by 20% to hit $31.24bn. However, exports to both nations contracted in 2015 – by 5.35% to China and 7.66% to Japan – largely as a result of ongoing economic slowdowns in both nations (see Economy chapter).
FDI inflows from Japan and China have also fallen. Japan retained its spot as the leading investor in the country during the first nine months of 2015, with Japanese FDI making up roughly 60% of total inflows, although amendments to existing investment promotion regulations had an impact on both Japanese and Chinese investment in 2015; the amount of Japanese FDI in Thailand dropped by 81% to BT28.3bn ($851.83bn) between January and November, while funds from China slid by 21%, to BT13.3bn ($400.33m).
Some of the recent declines in FDI can be attributed to ongoing investment policy reforms. On January 1, 2015, the BOI enacted a new seven-year investment promotion policy offering preferential benefits to investments based on the level of technology involved in the proposed activities.
Companies that employ a high level of advanced technology qualify for an array of generous incentives from the state, including an eight-year exemption on corporate income tax, which was permanently reduced from 23% to 20% in 2016.
The new strategy – in effect from 2015 to 2021 – envisions a transformation of current economic activities into value-added production: for example, developing a base of hybrid and electric automobile manufacturers in place of traditional combustion engine producers, eco-friendly polymers in place of current plastics production, and biomedical products in place of raw agricultural exports.
Avoid The Trap
In theory, the reasoning is sound: if Thailand is seeking to make a smooth transition to upper-income status, it will need higher-paying jobs and diversification away from labour-intensive industries. National unemployment rates stood at less than 1% in 2014, and Thailand’s population is currently one of the oldest in the AEC.
UN data shows that Thailand’s working-age population – those between 15 and 64 years old – will peak in 2017. Its population of citizens aged 65 and older, which stood at 8.9% in 2010, is also predicted to rise to 19.5% by 2030. Furthermore, the new policy is expected to have a positive long-term impact on wage growth, another crucial priority in middle-income trap avoidance (see Economy analysis).
However, the new policy also reduced the number of industries that are eligible for incentives from 243 to 190, with industries including sewing, basic metal production, and certain types of paper production now ineligible. This led to a surge of investment applications at the end of 2014, before the changes were enacted, and a sharp fall in new investment applications once they took effect.
Indeed, FDI inflows plummeted in 2015, with the total amount of investment listed in direct applications to the BOI falling by 78% to BT93.8bn ($2.82bn) during the first nine months of the year, while the number of applications fell by 37% to 513 (see analysis). These drops also raised fears about Thailand’s regional competitiveness: the country’s share of regional investment has fallen from a high of 40% in 2004 to 20% in 2014, according to a June 2015 statement from ratings agency Moody’s.
In addition to the seven-year investment plan, Thailand is also pushing the development of nine super cluster areas, decentralised industrial zones catering to targeted investment industries. Somkid Jatusripitak, Thailand’s former deputy prime minister, was appointed deputy prime minister in charge of the economy in August 2015. In September 2015 Somkid launched Thailand’s Super Cluster Strategy, which is part of an ongoing programme of targeted stimulus and support programmes aiming to stabilise and decentralise economic growth in the country.
The strategy envisions establishing manufacturing bases for targeted industries, including those benefitting from new investment promotion incentives and active in high-tech, value-added production.
The clusters will be located in nine provinces: Nakorn, Ayutthya, Patumthaini, Prachinburi, Chacheongsao, Chonburi, Rayong, Chiang Mai and Phuket. On unveiling the strategy, which falls under the management of the MoI, the government announced it will encourage investment in six industries under the Super Cluster Strategy, including automotive and parts, eco-friendly petrochemicals, digital industries, processed food, medical and biomedical products, electronics, electrical appliances and telecommunications equipment.
Under the strategy, qualifying industries will be exempt from corporate taxes for eight years, and receive a 50% corporate tax exemption for the next five years afterwards. Additional benefits are on offer for businesses whose investments reach 70% or more of the applied-for amounts by the end of June. Under the “Investment Policy Special Measures” policy, these businesses will receive an additional four years of corporate tax exemptions.
In addition to nine super clusters, Thailand is also in the process of developing its portfolio of SEZs. The government launched an initial pilot of five in 2015, with another five to follow in 2016. The zones include two along the border of Myanmar, one on the Thailand-Laos-Myanmar border, three on the Thailand-Laos border, two on the Thailand-Cambodia border, and two along the southern Thailand-Malaysia border, enabling investors to take advantage of ample labour supply from surrounding countries.
Each zone has a target business activity determined by regional business conditions. For example, the southern Songkhla SEZ, located near the ocean and densely forested areas, targets agricultural and fisheries investments, as well as garments, textiles, leather products and furniture. A total of 13 labour-intensive and non-labour-intensive industries are targeted under SEZ development, including agriculture, textiles, furniture, gems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals, logistics, industrial estates and tourism.
Investor incentives are considerable – the Customs and Excise Department, through the BOI, will offer qualifying SEZ investors corporate tax reductions and exemptions, in addition to import duty exemption for the machines and raw materials needed for export production, exclusive rights to use foreign labour and stimulus measures including soft loans, land occupation rights and double tax deductions for transportation, electricity and water supply costs for up to 10 years. Furthermore, target activities will be entitled to fiscal incentives under the BOI and measures under the Ministry of Finance.
SEZs also offer one-stop service centres with Customs checkpoints, as well as enhanced services for licensing and permission applications. The zones are expected to offer significant economic benefits to the country, with the MoC reporting that they could boost cross-border trade by as much as 50%, to reach BT1.5trn ($45.15bn) annually.
With cross-border trade set to surge in the wake of ASEAN integration, Thailand is also looking further abroad to boost trade and is currently negotiating the TPP and the RCEP, which will have significant long-term ramifications. As the world’s largest FTA, the TPP will cover roughly 40% of global trade, and counts Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US, and Vietnam as signatories. The government is also planning to join RCEP, with signatories including the 10 member states of ASEAN, and six countries with which ASEAN has individual FTAs, including China, India, Japan and South Korea.
Back & Forth
Both FTAs offer potential benefits and drawbacks to Thailand. Membership in the TPP could result in Thailand recording the second-largest income gains of any signatory, for example, although provisions regarding the pharmaceutical industry and intellectual property rights would likely be deeply unpopular. RCEP, for its part, could offer more favourable tariffs for Thailand’s well-established industrial base, in addition to supporting trade growth with rising global powers, China and India.
Many stakeholders expect the country will eventually sign on to both (see analysis), although other important negotiations have taken a hit in light of recent political events – negotiations for an FTA with the EU, for example, were suspended in November 2014, with EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom telling press an agreement will “never be ratified” as long as a military government is in power in Thailand.
Despite uncertainty regarding the country’s political future, as well as rising concern about falling regional competitiveness, cautious optimism prevails in Thailand. The government’s investment promotion agenda, while perhaps more complicated than in previous years, also addresses the dual challenge of labour shortages and the middle-income trap through promotion of both labour-intensive and high-tech industries, while potential membership in two major trade blocs could see regional and international exports soar in the coming years.
Though the near-term forecast is dampened by global volatility, weakening demand and the impact of China’s slowdown, trade in Thailand will remain on an upwards trajectory in 2016, and investment, though unlikely to meet government targets, is nonetheless expected to bounce back from a challenging 2015.


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The competition watchdog has launched an investigation into drug companies suspected of charging the NHS excessive prices. Any company found to have broken the law could face fines of up to 10% of its global turnover.
While the Competition and Markets Authority would not reveal how many companies were involved in the investigation into suspected unfair pricing, pharmaceutical company Concordia International has revealed that it is part of the inquiry.
A Concordia statement says it is “working cooperatively to better understand the CMA’s position and we will continue to work constructively to resolve the matter”.
“There has been speculation in the press about these issues and this affords us the opportunity to have an objective discussion about our products and their contribution to the healthcare system,” the statement adds.
The CMA investigation into suspected breaches of competition law was launched on 25 October 2016 and will gather initial evidence before a decision is made as to whether or not to proceed further by February 2017.
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt called for the CMA to investigate in June 2016 after an investigation by The Times claimed companies were ripping off the NHS by buying the rights to old drugs and dropping existing brand names
The newspaper alleged that by “exploiting a loophole”, the companies were able to avoid a cap on profits and raise prices by thousands of per cent without competition from rivals.
Information about the case, set out on the CMA website, states: “The investigation is under Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998 (CA98) and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
“The investigation relates to suspected unfair pricing by way of charging excessive prices in the supply of certain pharmaceutical products, including to the National Health Service.”
 Kenber B. Extortionate prices add £260m to NHS drug bill. The Times. 3 June 2016.


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Experts want MSMEs to leverage technology for growth, expansion
·Abiru organises capacity development for 1000 small business owners
Tokunbo Abiru Constituency Team Foundation (TACT), Fate Foundation and Bank of Industry (BoI) among others have harped on the need for efficient technology to boost the nation’s economy.
They stressed that with technology, millions of SMEs in Nigeria can expand their reach.
This was disclosed at a capacity development training for 1000 Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises, (MSMEs) in the Lagos East Senatorial district.
The one-day MSME Clinic/Workshop, which was organised in conjunction with The Fate Foundation, had notable people in the MSMEs ecosystem in attendance, which include Managing Director, BoI, Olukayode Pitan; Executive Chairman, Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS), Ayodele Subair; Executive Secretary and Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, Mrs. Tejumola Abisoye, among others.
Specifically, Abiru who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on industries stressed the importance of embracing the new normal occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that this would enable businesses to thrive beyond the shore of the country.
He added that beyond the basic academic education, there was a need for the people to skill themselves in innovation, Internet of Things, automation, among others.
“This is the age of digital transformation, and Nigeria cannot afford to be behind. There are various campuses where these things are taught. It is important because this is the new world we live in, so for you to survive and be competitive, you have to be part of them. We just have to embrace it,” Abiru said.
“It’s very important that they have to embrace the new normal properly and thankfully part of what is shaping the new normal is the android and IOS phones that we use and are quite conversant with,” he stated.
Highlighting the critical roles MSMEs play in the nation’s economic development, the Senator said MSMEs account for the majority of businesses worldwide and are important contributors to job creation and global economic development, adding that they represent about 90 per cent of businesses and more than 70 per cent of employment worldwide.
“Formal SMEs contribute up to 40 per cent of national income (GDP) in emerging economies. These numbers are significantly higher when informal SMEs are included. The latest SMEDAN/NBS MSME Survey indicates Nigeria’s SMEs contribute nearly 50 per cent of the country’s GDP and account for over 80 per cent of employment in the country.
“It has been projected by the World Bank that about 600 million jobs will be needed by 2030 to absorb the growing global workforce, which makes SME development a high priority for many governments around the world. In emerging markets, most formal jobs are generated by SMEs, which create 7 out of 10 jobs”, Abiru told the participants.
On his part, Executive Director, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), BoI, Omar Shekarau stated that technology was important in the skimming of things in the country.
He added that today’s world has moved from analogue to digital, so technology is what will drive businesses, they can stay in their room and deliver goods both far and near in the world.
Managing Director, TDX, Segun Abodunrin explained how the use of technology can be leveraged to boost the country’s economy.
He added that technically, the Internet has helped every business to have access to the market and there are lots of benefits as it provides easy access to customers.
“When the benefits of technology are utilized, it will result in more people being engaged and this is good news for the economy.
“This is why it’s important for small businesses to understand how to leverage technology so that they can have access to customers. Every small business regardless of the budget that you have, the same way a multinational will advertise on the Internet is the same way a small business will advertise.
“When you hear the word digital a lot of people think it’s mainly advertising online. But there is more, digital is about leveraging technology across the entire business value chain.
“There are several digital tools today to help small businesses become more efficient and effective in delivering value to customers and most of these digital tools are completely free or you pay a token. A small business that has access to those tools can effectively position itself to compete with multinationals and grow.”


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The National Restaurant Association of India has revealed a baffling increase in usage of food delivery apps in India these days. The modern Indian houses prefer ordering food rather than cooking food at home. Another damning statistic is that Indian families are having 7 meals outside the home per month.
The survey held in 24 cities, revealed that on average, each household spends approximately 2500 rupees per month on food. 3% Indians have food in restaurants on a daily basis. The increased reliance on food delivering apps has also led to an increase in the result of this survey.
In the same report, 44% people revealed that they go out once or twice in a month to restaurants or cafes. Furthermore, 27% people go out every week to have food outside.
There are various reasons that could lead to an increase in unhealthy eating habits. Firstly, being easy availability through food delivery apps such as Zomato, Swiggy, Uber eats, etc.
Elsewhere, increasing income for working-class people in metro cities has directly led them to contribute to this increasing trend. At such an alarming rate, the health levels could be affected due to unhealthy eating habits and sedentary lifestyle. Ever since the advent of food delivery apps, people have stopped going out.
Zomato, a food delivery giant claimed that they raise up to 2 crores 10 lakh orders per month in the nation. Whereas, Swiggy claims that they are generating up to 2 crore orders per month. Each of these orders is of 300 rs on average. 90% people prefer to pay in cash while the rest 10% use coupons, mobile wallets, credit cards or debit cards.
The survey that included more than 130 restaurant CEO's and 3500 customers further revealed that 75% people still prefer going out for having food, while 11% prefer ordering food online. A further 14% prefer to carry away their orders. The report also claimed that 9% people have outside food on Mondays while the percentage rises up to 42% on Sundays.


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Lamborghini planning fully electric grand tourer?
Lamborghini is reportedly considering introducing a fourth model to its portfolio, which could take the form of an electric grand tourer.
The grand tourer will, according to Autocar UK, use the J1 platform underpinning the Porsche Taycan, ditching the V8, V10 and V12s currently powering the rest of the line-up in favour of a set of electric motors. The publication says Lamborghini won’t settle for a car that needs more than three seconds to hit 100km/h. Styling will apparently be inspired by the Estoque concept with a “more mature design,” closer to the Urus rather than the Huracan or Aventador.
According to Lamborghini R&D boss, Maurizio Reggiani, the car could hit markets in 2025.
Meanwhile, Lamborghini is currently building the limited Sian, which combines supercapacitors with the Aventador’s V12 to create the brand’s first electrified model. For those wanting a more practical Lambo hybrid, the Urus is scheduled to go plug-in at some point soon as well.


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updated 11:00 am EST, Wed February 15, 2012
Korean government urges Samsung, KT to deal
KT, the largest ISP in Korea, has now agreed to bring back web service for Samsung's Smart TVs, encouraged by government officials. KT refused service for the allegedly data-hungry TVs because Samsung wouldn't want to contribute to the costs associated with upgrading its network due to the added burden the TVs impose on it. Samsung filed a lawsuit against KT earlier this week, but the Korea Communications Commission negotiated a resolution between the two on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The agreement will have KT resume providing data to the TVs, and Samsung will in turn drop its lawsuit and agree to negotiate with KT. A KT spokesperson said Samsung created a platform without paying for using the network. Other data-delivery services already do so, he continued.
Other companies have also been approached by KT, including LG. It cites Apple as an example, for making a revenue-sharing deal with phone carriers when it launched the iPhone. However, it consciously sidestepped the reasons behind Apple's deal, where it only agreed to a revenue split as an alternative to subsidies. Apple later opted for the subsidized model and doesn't split revenue anymore.
The Korean government mandates ISPs to offer ultrahigh speed and unlimited-use Internet at a set price. Usage-based pricing therefore doesn't exist and thus limits the company's revenue and profits. Attempting to collect from device makers, however, has raised net neutrality concerns that certain companies might be "punished" for offering services the Internet provider doesn't like.


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Local travelers have a new option for getting to Chicago.
Lakeshore Express, flying out of Oakland County International Airport, will start offering a Chicago flight in June for $218 roundtrip on a 30-seat turboprop plane, The Detroit News reports.
There will be no baggage fee, but passengers are limited to a carry-on bag and a bag less than 35 pounds. Seats will have as much legroom as first class, according to Lakeshore Express' website, and flights will offer free snacks and cocktails. The company estimates a check-in time of 3 minutes.
Flights will run out of Oakland County Thursday, Friday and Sunday, with two flights to Chicago on Thursday. One flight will return from Chicago's Midway Airport daily.
The Oakland County flight marks an expansion for Lakeshore Express. The company now offers a flight between northern Michigan and Chicago.
Jason Ribits, director of sales and marketing for the company, told the Oakland Press that Lakeshore Express is putting luxury back into flying.
"We’re kind of bringing back the way flying used to be when people looked forward to flying," he said. "We hope our private terminals and service make for a more welcome experience.”


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by Christopher Freeburn | May 23, 2012 10:38 am
Dennis Woodside is the new CEO of Motorola Mobility. His appointment, announced on Tuesday, comes after Google‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) $12.5 billion acquisition of the mobile device manufacturer cleared the last international regulatory hurdle.
While Woodside isn’t well known with the public, he’s a hot commodity in Silicon Valley. So hot that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) tried to lure him away from Google to become head of sales, according to the TheVerge.
With a degree in industrial relations from Cornell University and a law degree from Stanford University, Woodside clerked with a U.S. Court of Appeals judge in New York before heading to Los Angeles as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer.
After joining Google in 2003, Woodside managed the newly public company’s overseas operations. He spearheaded the launch of Google’s first international offices before being promoted to managing director of emerging markets.
After working abroad for years, Woodside returned to the U.S. in 2009, as vice president of American operations, where he worked to boost advertising sales (ad revenue rose from $10.8 billion in 2009 to $17.5 billion in 2011). Last year, he was promoted again to senior vice president, and directed the restructuring of Motorola Mobility in the wake of the acquisition.
For a Google executive, Woodside keeps a low online profile. He doesn’t have a public Google+ account, and his LinkedIn (NASDAQ:LNKD) page was recently withdrawn, TheVerge noted.
As Motorola’s new CEO, Woodside replaces Sanjay Jha, who was recently ranked as one of the country’s highest paid CEOs.
Turning Motorola Mobility around won’t be easy. The company lost $249 million last year. Woodside has indicated that Motorola will remain a player in the mobile device market. That could worry other Android device manufacturers, which might conclude that Google will favor its in-house manufacturing arm, possibly fracturing its current partnerships.
Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/05/motorola-mobility-gets-new-ceo-from-google/
Short URL: http://invstplc.com/1nxbs1W
Copyright ©2018 InvestorPlace Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 700 Indian Springs Drive, Lancaster, PA 17601.


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Probably the first twin-turbocharged Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG in the world is sadly going away along with the soon to be defunct modern Gullwing.
As you know, Mercedes-Benz has decided to end the S... Continue Reading→
The folks from Loewenstein Manufaktur don't yet have the cachet of much more known tuners like Brabus or Carlsson when it comes to bonkers Mercedes-Benz models, but we suspect that situation wi... Continue Reading→
The world's largest Mercedes-Benz tuner has arrived at the 2013 edition of the Essen Motor Show packed with its latest products, some of which were already shown at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Sho... Continue Reading→
When it was launched at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, the new Brabus iBusiness package was put into the most powerful Brabus S-Class to date.
With a 5.9-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 that has an... Continue Reading→
The AMG version of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class has become a tuner favorite in recent years, with tens of tuning companies jumping at the chance to transform the niche vehicle into an even more obscure... Continue Reading→


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November 19, 2013 9:25 AM
A software engineer at Nintendo of America shares details about an educational tablet under development.
November 19, 2013 7:54 AM
A minor firmware update is now available for the Wii U, bringing small improvements.
November 19, 2013 7:48 AM
Check out this commercial from Nintendo that helps explain the differences between Wii and Wii U this holiday season.
November 18, 2013 12:41 PM
Here's the final winner for the Wii U Daily MEGA Contest, with these four in the running for the Wii U console gift card!
November 18, 2013 12:22 PM
Nintendo's new Christmas commercial for the Nintendo 3DS trots out popular games and tons of systems.
November 18, 2013 11:41 AM
The Wii U celebrates its 1st birthday just as Sony and Microsoft are ushering in their new consoles. What's your favorite Wii U experience so far?
November 18, 2013 10:49 AM
Here's the full list of locations that will have the Nintendo Holiday Mall Experience visiting from November 25th to December 23rd.
November 18, 2013 10:00 AM
New screenshot from Super Smash Bros. development shows off Starship Mario from Super Mario Galaxy.
November 18, 2013 9:15 AM
Rayman Legends received a permanent price cut in the European eShop this week.
November 18, 2013 7:30 AM
Skylanders Swap Force bundle is now available for purchase in North America.


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Introducing the new iPad Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini. Video source: Apple
New iPad Pro,MacBook Air & Mac Mini 2018 - Massive Updates
#pixel3 #google #Google_Pixel3 #TechCrazy Google Pixel 3 Google Pixel 3 official Trailer Google Pixel 3 teaser Google Pixel 3 official TVS Google Pixel 3 stands Google Pixel 3 leaks Google Pixel 3 l...
Google has officially took the veils off Pixel 3 and a bigger Pixel 3 XL smartphone to take on the likes of flagship devices by Apple and Samsung. The premium Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL were introduced al...
Watch this now OFFICIALLY BY GOOGLE STAY TUNED SUBSCRIBE NOW!
Red Dead Redemption 2 is the latest release from Rockstar Games, the creators of Grand Theft Auto. It is being touted as one of the greatest games of the modern age. The ‘open-world' game allows pla...Sharefave 359 Ansichten
Alleged gunman Robert Bowers posted anti-Semitic rants on social media before the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue; David Lee Miller reports from the crime scene.Sharefave 329 Ansichten
Apple's cheapest new iPhone - featuring premium glass design, 6.1-inch display, and super-fast A12 Bionic chip with neural engine - will be available for purchase in India starting at Rs 76,900. iPhon...Sharefave 326 Ansichten


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Hacker culture is part of video games since the beginning of time. But today hackers make developers lose millions of dollars and years of work, to the point of ruining the games. Even so, in 2018 in South Korea, an Overwatch hacker was sentenced to spend a year in jail for hacking Overwatch, and now another case has been filed, that of the pirate who entered Nintendo’s servers in 2016 has recently been sentenced to prison for repeated hacking the company. Should a video game hacker go to jail?
Hacking a Video Game is Considered a Crime?
It is not about debating laws, but about discovering if we are prepared to accept that hacking a video game can be as dangerous crime as robbing a bank, especially if you get a benefit.
Hacking videogames is well seen in the gamer culture, because it fits the need for youth rebellion, and is a way to break more and more the significant limitations that video game companies impose on players. But one thing is to hack a video game to play with another person or create your levels, even to hack it, and quite another to cheat in an online game until it is completely ruined, making its creators lose hundreds of million dollars and years of job.
Every day thousands of cheaters are expelled in games like Fortnite, PUGB, Overwatch, and many other successful online titles. These players use some hacking tools to get better weapons, be faster, get infinite money, etc. It seems an innocent activity, but something is wrong in video games, and in society in general, if millions of players cheat to play a video game, with the sole objective of climbing in the fastest ranking, or showing off.
At the moment, justice does not pursue this form of hacking. Its users, who use a hack devised by others, as the only punishment are expelled from the game. But it is not very difficult to return with another IP and another username.
At a different level, there are video game hackers who make money with these hacks. In South Korea, an Overwatch hacker must spend a year in jail after proving that he earned $ 180,000 selling his game hack. When there is enrichment, the laws are more stringent. But what about those people who pay for a hack to cheat on Overwatch? Nothing for the moment.
Nintendo and Its War Against Hackers
Nintendo is also spending its war with hackers. They have managed to run pirated games on Nintendo Switch, and even introduce pornographic images in the online balloon search mode of Super Mario Odyssey. For a family company like Nintendo, that an 8-year-old boy finds a pornographic image playing a Mario game, which is much more severe damage than the hacking of games. It is a hack with evil, and the desire to hurt.
This action was the task of 21-year-old Ryan S. Hernandez, a California resident, who managed to enter the servers of the American Nintendo division. Today he faces a considerable fine and also years in jail. And not only has he pleaded guilty to joining the company’s servers in 2016, but also for possession of child pornography.
This hacker has also been sentenced for filtering company information, including unannounced products. Therefore, he will have to pay a fine of $ 259,323, which is already firm. However, that will be the least of his problems.
Hernández got access to the company’s servers through a phishing system, i. e., he managed to deceive some employees to get the access data to confidential information of the company concerning products not yet announced during 2016, including the Nintendo Switch console itself.
However, the investigation that led to Hernández’s arrest for this crime revealed that he had more than 1000 videos and images of explicit pornography with minors on his personal computer.
Hernández has pleaded guilty to the court, and the fine has been accepted. Still, the two charges that are charged to him (that is, the attack on Nintendo and the possession of child pornography) could lead to 20 years in jail, registration as a sex offender in databases in the US, and other consequences.
However, prosecutors have advised the judge as part of their agreement for pleading guilty to being sentenced to just three years in prison.
As the prosecution explained, the defendant was a minor when he committed the crimes: he was 16 when, at the end of 2017, he was finally identified. On the other hand, although then he assured that he would stop carrying out this type of activity, between 2018 and 2019, the police authorities detected new hacking attempts on his part: he went back into the company’s servers to extract and filter confidential information. The researchers found that he also boasted about it on Discord and social networks.
The sentence will be made public on April 21, 2020. It is expected that, as usual, the judge will consider the prosecutor’s recommendation so that he accepts a reduced penalty for the violation of business secrets in the case of Nintendo and also, for being a minor, in the case of possession of child pornography.
Nintendo has implemented reliable hacker and pirate tracking measures on Nintendo Switch, to the point that each game, both cartridge and digital, has a unique certification code, which lets you know if that game is a pirate copy. In which case it is a copy, ejects the console from its online service. Today all games have patches and updates from day one of launch, and some online game mode, so it’s a severe problem. If you see a very cheap second-hand Switch console, be suspicious, it could be a banned console.
Should a video game hacker go to jail? This is something that just the laws of each country can decide, but if it is up to us to answer that question, we should think twice before cheating in an online video game, or introduce inappropriate content in video games for all audiences, who play children. Not only are we hurting someone, but we can ruin forever the games we love.


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💊 Twitter Is Expected to Employ Poison Pill, to Counter Musk Takeover. The company appears intent on trying to fend off the billionaire’s bid to buy it in a deal that could be worth more than $40 billion.
💵 TikTok ad revenue now more than twitter and Snapchat combined. Chinese-owned video platform is set to overtake the advertising scale of Twitter and Snapchat combined.
🛍 Introducing the new Pinterest for WooCommerce extension. Big news for e-commerce folks. Pinterest just announced their partnership with WooCommerce.
🛒 Shopify’s latest acquisition dovetails into its ambitions in the creator economy. The e-commerce platform, has acquired Dovetale, which helps brands manage influencer marketing campaigns.


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by Dimitris Agrafiotis
This week, Tennessee lawmakers will be considering legislation to increase the purchase age of vapor products to 21. But if we are really concerned about improving Tennessee’s health, we need our policy makers to create laws that recognize the significant difference between traditional cigarettes and vaping products.
The scientific community has overwhelmingly determined that vapor products are less harmful than traditional combustible tobacco. First and most importantly, e-cigarettes and other vapor products contain no tobacco. So they should not be legislated the same way.
What causes lung cancer, COPD, heart disease and stroke in smokers is lighting tobacco on fire and breathing in the products of combustion – thousands of different chemical compounds – over many years that kills smokers.
Vaping, on the other hand, does not involve burning – which means no smoke. And because there is no smoke, vaping doesn’t produce the harmful elements cigarettes do, like carbon monoxide or tar.
You don’t have to take my word for it.
Here’s what Dr. Scott Gottlieb, Director of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), tweeted out: “E-cigs can help currently addicted adult smokers quit; and improve their health.” The American Heart Association in a statement to adult smokers, said e-cigarette use “presents an opportunity for harm reduction if smokers use them as substitutes for cigarettes.”
Vaping products can help smokers quit for good. A recent landmark study, published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, found vape products were twice as successful than traditional quit methods (like the patch) in helping smokers quit.
This is why the Tennessee Smoke Free Association is speaking up. We represent almost 100 small businesses that sell vapor products aimed to help adult smokers switch.
Much of the concern stems from attempts to prevent youth from accessing these products. We need to be smart about how we approach this. The FDA’s own data presents a picture that majority of underage purchases come from straw sales, convenience stores, gas station and drug stores.
In 2018, FDA inspections for underage sales yielded some interesting results. There were 104 violations for a selling to a minor, for vape products. Of those, 96 were issued a warning letter and 8 were issued a civil money penalty. Of the 104 violations, only 3 of the violations were by a vape shop. These 3 shops received a warning letter. None of the members of our association were cited in any of these violations.
So rather than punishing adult smokers looking for help or raising the age limit on a legal product, let’s focus on an actual solution— improving enforcement. We believe our legislators should be talking about how to control the point of sale of sale with tighter enforcement, which would have a real impact on curbing the usage of products by youth.
If our end goal is to improve public health, why would you deny an 18-year-old the option of switching to a less harmful alternative like vaping— particularly when the average age a person starts smoking can be as early as 13? How can we possibly tell a five-year addicted combustible tobacco user at age 18 to wait another three years till they reach the legal age in order to transition away from the most deadly product on the market?
Vapor products are technology products, a consumer-born solution to the tobacco addiction problem. Raising the age of vapor products will only harm public health and continue to burden an already heavily stressed health care system in our state.
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Dimitris Agrafiotis serves as Executive Director of the Tennessee Smoke Free Association, a consumer advocacy and trade organization focused on Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) through the use of vapor products (electronic cigarettes). Find him on Twitter as @VapinGreek.
Photo “Smoking v. Vaping” by Vaping360 CC2.0.


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If you are casting about for ways to earn extra income, perhaps a party is in order. Home parties, launched in the late 1930s, now account for nearly a third of direct sales in the U.S. Two area women tell how they’ve pumped up their family income by selling wine and jewelry at parties.
In the 60 years since Tupperware launched its home parties, the concept has expanded to vitamins, baskets, lingerie, candles, cookware, art, food and much more.
Like many others, Elaine Stroia of North Canton turned to home party sales as a way to supplement her family’s income. She sells jewelry for Silpada.
“For people who may be out of work, it can give them a little extra boost — it helps to know you have something coming in. For us, thankfully, my husband is still employed, so it’s for extra things around the house, and activities for the kids,” said Stroia, a former teacher staying home to raise three children. “It’s perfect for stay-at-home moms. They can work it around their kids’ schedules.”
By day, Bev Skivolocki works in the business office at Mount Union College in Alliance. But out in the college parking lot, the license plate on her car hints at her second job.
“It says Wine Fun,” Skivolocki said, smiling. She’s been selling boutique wine at home parties for two years. “It has supplemented my income, and I’m still building.”
Skivolocki hosts three or four parties a month for Wine Shop At Home, which is considered part time. Hosting one or two parties is “hobby level,” and five or more is full time.
Both Skivolocki and Stroia have recruited others to sell, and earn a percentage of their recruits’ sales — a typical reward system for home party sales.
“I have a team of five now,” Stroia said. “It’s great, to go to that bank account and see an extra couple hundred in there. A nice bonus.”
What’s the party format? For Stroia, it’s an open house, with jewelry on display. For Skivolocki, it’s a presentation and tasting.
“Let’s all pretend we’re in a tasting room in Napa,” Skivolocki told 10 women gathered in her living room for a recent party. “But no wine snobs, nothing too technical.”
She passes out generous samples of six wines as well as crackers, cheese and chocolates handmade by her daughter, Jhen Skivolocki, to complement the wines. (Jhen, who apparently has inherited her mother’s entrepreneurial spirit, is not selling her Choco-A-Go-Go dark chocolates at home parties — yet — but she is selling them online.)
Start up fees and commissions for home party sales vary wildly. Some companies require the salesperson to buy inventory (usually at a big discount), others operate on mail order. According to the Home Party Plan Network site, the startup kit for Discovery Toys is $125; for Southern Living at Home, it’s $199; for Tealightful Treasures, it’s $99; and for Northern Lights Candles, it’s $99.
Skivolocki paid $99 for a kit that included eight bottles of wine, corkscrew, manuals, tasting notes, books and a bag to carry it all in.
Page 2 of 2 - Stroia’s start-up kit was $199.
“But it includes $100 of free jewelry so it’s really $99 to start. Then you can buy as much jewelry as you want for half off.”
No matter if you are selling perfume, purses or puzzles, the key to remember is time spent equals money earned.
“Direct marketing can be really lucrative,” Stroia said. “It just depends on how much time you want to invest in it.”
GET THIS PARTY STARTED
Although Tupperware became practically synonymous with home parties in the 60s and 70s, the concept was pioneered by Stanley Home Products, a company founded in 1931 in the midst of the Great Depression.
Stanley founders wanted to give people a chance to start their own businesses by selling every day products door-to-door. Then, in the late 1930s, they started selling at home parties, a practice that continues today.
Stanley launched some well-known executives of direct sales companies. Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, Brownie Wise of Tupperware, and Mary Crowley, founder of Home Interiors, all received training as Stanley Home Products dealers.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOME PARTY SALES
Bev Skivolocki, Wine Shop at Home
Elaine Stroia, Silpada
www.mysilpada.com (Information has been corrected to fix an error. See correction at end of story. 5 p.m. Oct. 21)
- For a list of companies selling through home parties, visit the Home Party Plan Network at www.homepartyplannetwork.com
Correction: The e-mail address for Elaine Stroia is www.mysilpada. An incorrect e-mail address was first published at 4:32 p.m. Oct. 8.


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Four alleged members of an international computer hacking ring face charges in the U.S. of breaking into the computer networks of the U.S. Army and several tech companies and stealing several software packages, including programs used to train Army helicopter pilots.
Cray has added more horsepower to its latest supercomputer, the XC40, and already has scored some big-time customers.
Activist investor and hedge-fund manager Carl Icahn says eBay's decision to spin off PayPal into a separate company is "almost a no brainer."
With features such as offline sync in the new version of its Mobile SDK, Amazon Web Services is hoping to lure developers away from the cloud services offered by Google and Apple.
Oracle has overhauled the way it will build user interfaces in a bid to meet customers' expectations for user-friendly mobile applications -- and also to keep pace with rivals Salesforce.com and Workday.
At Global Partners, IT teaches its vendors how to be strategic partners for the business, not just sell their shiny new boxes.
A number of antivirus products caught all the malware the testing lab threw at it. But only a few were free.
Publicly, CIOs and CMOs say they get along, but in the dark recesses of the enterprise, tensions abound. Here's why.
Lenovo officially acquires IBM's x86 server business Wednesday, promising a seamless transition for its customers, while taking some new security-focused steps.
Is it time for developers to charge users money for open source software? Plus: Is Ubuntu 14.10 going to be a boring release? And the FBI doesn't like encryption that protects user privacy.


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November 30, 2016
Ashley HomeStore has announced plans to relocate from its current location at Parkdale Mall at 6155 Eastex Fwy. in Beaumont, TX to a 30,000-square-foot building at the corner of Dowlen Road and Folsom Drive. The new location, between Howell Furniture and a La-Z-Boy store, will open in spring, according to Bob Bolton, Ashley’s general manager of the Southeast Texas Region.
The furniture retailer, which also has locations in Nederland, Jasper and Hemphill, TX, is relocating because of the expiration of its seven-year lease. Bolton said that Ashley will host a large sale event before its move, though dates have not yet been determined.
For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Amy Sorter
For advertising information, please contact Joni Margotta


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A new malware family known as the Mac.BackDoor.iWorm is taking aim at Apple’s Mac OS X users, and Apple isn’t hesitating in providing its users with a defensive response. The Mac.BackDoor.iWorm malware was first reported by antivirus vendor Dr. Web and may have already infected 17,000 Macs.
Of particular note with the iWorm malware is the command and control (C&C) server infrastructure that is used to transmit instructions to infected Mac hosts. The iWorm malware leverages the popular Reddit (reddit.com) news discussion site to find the C&C servers.
Apple has already taken steps to limit any potential risk from the new iWorm. An Apple spokesperson confirmed to eWEEK that Apple has updated its XProtect anti-malware system to block iWorm. The XProtect anti-malware application has been an integrated part of Mac OS X since the Snow Leopard release in 2009.
As different malware threats against OS X have emerged over the years, Apple has updated XProtect with new detection capabilities. In 2011, Apple used XProtect to limit the risk from the MacDefender malware, which was a fake Mac antivirus (AV) program. In 2012, XProtect was leveraged by Apple to defend against the Mac Flashback Trojan, which may have impacted up to 1 million Apple users.
Overall, the volume of Apple Mac OS X malware is still small in comparison to malware that targets Microsoft Windows.
“It is still relatively small, but it has increased as the market share of Macs has increased,” Ben Johnson, chief evangelist at Bit9, told eWEEK. “The quick win is still Windows, so the majority of malware targets that.”
The iWorm appears to be more sophisticated than past malware that has been seen on OS X, Dmitri Alperovitch, CTO at CrowdStrike, told eWEEK.
“Apple and AV vendors have released signatures for detection of existing binaries, but the malware will almost certainly mutate in the near future to avoid detection,” Alperovitch said.
Greg Wasson, malicious code program manager at ICSA Labs, told eWEEK that he isn’t surprised by the iWorm, noting that there is nothing in OS X that necessarily keeps the operating system virus-free.
While Apple has provided an update for its XProtect system, Johnson noted that an antivirus program alone is never enough, and XProtect is not a particularly advanced product.
“The two main approaches these days are locking a system down so that only trusted software can run, which is what Apple does with the App Store, or to have a higher level of monitoring and auditing so you can see what is occurring and respond to suspicious or malicious behavior,” Johnson said.
For as long as Macs have existed, there has been an active debate on whether or not there is a need for users to install a third-party antivirus tool.
“OS X has some good privilege separation and other hardening built into the OS, but it’s still often in the hands of the user as to whether or not new software can run,” Johnson said.
It’s now getting to point where a stand-alone AV product is necessary on Mac, according to Wasson.
“Users still need to be careful of which sites they go to and which links they click on, as those same best practices apply across the board, regardless of which OS you’re operating on,” he said.
OS X users are increasingly finding that targeted adversaries can get to them if they are an attractive target, Alperovitch added.
“Traditional AV software offers very little protection on OS X, but enterprises are increasingly turning to next-generation endpoint threat detection and response solutions that do exist on Mac,” he said.
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.


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Llaollao comes off the ice in Singapore
Spanish frozen yogurt chain Llaollao, which closed all its Singapore outlets at the end of last year, is returning this month.
While details have not been released about the new master franchisee, the group will herald its return with a store at Changi Airport’s Terminal 2, next to American doughnut chain Krispy Kreme.
All 29 Llaollao outlets were taken over by another frozen yogurt brand, Yole Frozen Yogurt, in December. This was reportedly a unilateral decision made by the previous franchisee.
Yole is run by D+1 Holdings, which also manages such F&B concepts as Italian restaurant chain O Mamma Mia and Spanish restaurant Tapas Club at Orchard Central.
Following its sudden departure, Llaollao said on its Facebook page that it was “far from finished” in Singapore, with founder/CEO Pedro Espinosa describing Singapore as a “key market”.
Queues formed when Llaollao opened its first outlet in Marina Square about four years ago. Its frozen yogurt was served with a choice of toppings ranging from fruit to cereal and sauces.


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Cannabis legalization in Canada has led to an increase in housing prices and home shortages in some regions, according to an October 15 RE/MAX report. The report points to Smiths Falls, Ontario, home of Canopy Growth, a cannabis firm that employs 1,300 people, as an example of how the cannabis industry is affecting home prices and inventory.
In the Rideau-St. Lawrence region — which encompasses Smiths Falls — house prices are up 10.5 percent and home sales rose by 27.1 percent year-over-year, the report says. In Atlantic Canada, home of Breathing Green Solutions and Zenabis Global, “months of inventory” dropped from 45 in 2018 to just nine this year.
In Windsor-Essex, home of Leamington, Ontario’s Aphria — which employs 1,000 people — average prices rose 9.10 percent and increased 7.82 percent year-over-year.
In Western Canada, Calgary and Vancouver have more than 75 retail cannabis dispensaries, due to the provincial government rules that allow private businesses to open shops rather than just government-run shops, which have helped drive business’ real estate prices. Toronto, by comparison, has just six cannabis storefronts.
The report notes that provinces with more cannabusinesses didn’t experience a negative impact on home values despite a survey by the company last year that found 65 percent of Canadians “would not like to live near retail cannabis stores.”
Christopher Alexander, RE/MAX executive vice-president of the Ontario and Atlantic region told CTV News that the “real story is that the cannabis industry is creating jobs and demand in the market.”
“Whenever there’s job creation … it creates more demand in the marketplace and more often than not, (home) prices will start to rise.” — Alexander, to CTV News
In Vancouver, the report says, the 11 commercial stores are in mostly commercial areas and “not on the radar for most homebuyers.” In Winnipeg, “Baby Boomers and Gen X are most likely to ask about cannabis retail when choosing a neighborhood to buy a home.” In London, homebuyers are asking whether more commercial shops will open.
Most surveyed by RE/MAX, 72 percent, said living near a cannabis store was not a deciding factor in their move, while 44 percent said they would like to live near a legal dispensary. Two in 10 Canadians live near a retail dispensary, 25 percent said they would move if a retailer opened up in their neighborhood and 31 percent said a retail dispensary would deter them from buying a home.
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To support its pan-European expansion strategy, Barcelona-based travel portal, eDreams has selected Madrid-based Amadeus to provide air reservations and booking.
EDreams so far operates sites in Spain and Italy. The company recently launched its services in the UK and France.
Amadeus will integrate eDreams` country sites with the Amadeus System, giving eDreams` customers a way to find and buy flights from more than 500 airlines.
“This agreement gives us a seamless air sales infrastructure that supports our aggressive growth into new European markets, and allows us to offer our customers a fast, easy and powerful way to find value-for-money air travel, in addition to our unique vacations,” says eDreams` co-founder and CEO, Javier Pérez-Tenessa.
`Says Julia Sattel, Amadeus vice president for Latin America, “Through this agreement with eDreams, a clear leader in leisure travel sales in Europe, Amadeus is now further enhancing its position in the online arena as a service provider to leisure travelers and holidaymakers. This is a fast growing market, offering rich opportunities and we look forward to strengthening our foothold here.”


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CybertechLive Latin America 2020
The special edition of CybertechLive Latin America 2020 took place on Tuesday, August 11. The digital event brought together government officials, industry experts, academics, leading companies, and startups.
With a new digital platform built with audience participation in mind, the public was able to connect with key government and industry players, as well as other cybersecurity professionals in Latin America.
To kick off the event, Professor Jorge Arosemena, Executive President of the City of Knowledge Foundation, mentioned that “today we are meeting in a virtual way around issues of great importance with the aim of finding solutions to the pandemic that is attacking us. Today more than ever the world needs the exchange and dialogue that an event like CybertechLive shares”.
As cyber threats continue to grow around the world, more and more companies, governments and individuals are looking for the most advanced security and technology solutions to stay ahead of the game. In an increasingly networked environment, global cooperation and knowledge-sharing is more important than ever. Cybertech is connecting the world of cyber innovation to combat cyber risks with conferences and exhibitions around the world.
Featured topics of the conference included cyber for healthcare, cyber for the financial sector, banking and e-commerce, logistics and transportation, digital transformation and a startup pitch showcase.
Cybertech Latin America event has brought together cyber, business and innovation since 2017. The event is held in conjunction with the Embassy of Israel in Panama, the City of Knowledge, SENACYT, AIG, and other regional partners.


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THE Welsh food flag will be flying in Germany over the next few days at one of the world's biggest food fairs.
Around 30 Welsh food companies will be represented at the Anuga 2001 exhibition in Cologne, which starts its five-day run tomorrow.
Only four Welsh companies attended the last exhibition in 1999, so Wales's presence this time has been seen as a major step forward.
Eleven companies will exhibit under the banner Wales - The True Taste with the Welsh Development Agency, while five will exhibit independently. Twelve companies will also be joining in as part of a new WDA/Wales Trade International trade mission.
Rural Affairs Minister Carwyn Jones will visit the Welsh contingent on Sunday and Monday.
"Attendance at major international exhibitions such as Anuga is vital for our food industry in Wales," said WDA agri-food director Wynfford James.
"We are continually developing our exhibitions programme - we want to get more and more Welsh companies out there to put Wales and its food on the map."


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A recently released Goldman Sachs report says that 80% of global bitcoin trading volume comes out of China, where it is traded against the yuan.
The report listed USD as the second-highest traded currency, followed by yen and euros.
The data is consistent with that on bitcoinity.org which indicates that roughly 78% of all bitcoin trading volume is taking place on either OKCoin, BTC China or Huobi, all China-based exchanges.
Can You Trade Cryptos Like Any Other Currency?Go to article >>
Furthermore, the traded volume in China continues to rise despite bitcoin’s price troubles over the past year and the apparent popping of the China-fueled price bubble in late 2013.
The strength comes despite the continued ban of banks, retailers and third-party payment processors like Alipay and Tencent from dealing in cryptocurrency or with related businesses. Though well short of an outright bitcoin ban, the restrictions should in theory curtail the flow of money to exchanges. Still, exchanges and traders alike have found loopholes to beat the system.
Possibly helping matters have been the combined factors of a strengthening dollar, a weakening yuan and the highest rate of capital outflows in more than a decade. While bitcoin may not be the surest of investments, it does provide an outlet for those looking to skirt capital controls or get in early before the next speculative bubble.


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Fibmold, a sustainable packaging startup, has raised $10 million in a funding round Omnivore and Accel. This investment is Omnivore's second from their $150 million Omnivore Agritech & Climate Sustainability Fund.
What does Fibmold do?
Launched in October 2022 by Param Gandhi and Vaibhav Garg, Fibmold specializes in the production of eco-friendly molded fibre packaging products. These products, made from natural fibres such as bamboo, bagasse, and wheat straw, serve as alternatives to rigid plastics. Notably, The startup said that they are both recyclable and compostable.
The Global plastic dilemma
With a concerning 9% of global plastic waste being recycled and the majority left untreated, the environmental challenges are mounting. Fibmold said that its sustainable packaging solutions present a potential remedy, urging industries to transition from single-use plastics.
While China is a dominant player in the advanced molded fibre packaging sector, India's market is still emerging. Fibmold's entry is anticipated to catalyze this industry's growth in India.
What do founders say about fundraising?
Param Gandhi emphasized the vast "$300 billion opportunity" that the sustainable packaging industry presents. He envisions Fibmold assisting global brands in their shift to eco-friendly alternatives. Vaibhav Garg shared this vision, highlighting molded fibre's potential as a plastic substitute.
“Fibmold's unwavering dedication to environmental responsibility, coupled with its founders' extensive experience and achievements, positions the company as a frontrunner in the sustainable materials industry. This is our second investment from our third fund, and we remain committed to catalysing climate-smart solutions,” said Reihem Roy, Partner at Omnivore.
“By harnessing India's abundance of agricultural by-products in the future, Fibmold presents a tremendous business opportunity. Through advanced technology and scientific innovation, the startup is not only strengthening the Indian economy but also forging India as a global leader in sustainable packaging solutions," said Prashanth Prakash, Partner at Accel.
The broader landscape of sustainability in India
Sustainability is gaining traction in India's business sector. Fibmold faces competition from companies like Cirkla, which recently secured funding to expand its operations. Market studies forecast a 7.24% CAGR growth for the Indian green packaging market by 2028.
Other initiatives, such as Vedanta's support for sustainable startups and Avaana Capital's recent funding round, further underscore the increasing emphasis on sustainability in the Indian business ecosystem.


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In recent years, many of us have become increasingly focused on reducing our environmental impact and boosting conservation efforts. But in trying to reduce our own carbon footprint, we often forget about our pets.
ABC News reported a few years ago that two New Zealand scientists wrote a book alleging "pets have a carbon footprint that is about twice the size of ... gas guzzling [SUVs]."
The Daily Green, however, responded, "If we want to do something to help reverse climate change, we should be worrying much more about the amount of meat that we ourselves are eating -- and the amount of cereals we are growing to feed food animals -- than blaming house pets for a problem that we created."
Several years ago, Christie Keith discussed the environmental impacts of pet ownership. She wrote, "If you're a consumer who is concerned about the impact of factory farming on the environment ... the source of the meat products in your pet's food deserves as much scrutiny as the source in your own."
Below, Heidi Ganahl, CEO and Founder of Camp Bow Wow, presents several tips to help you reduce your pet's environmental impact and waste less when it comes to pet care.
Want to do more? Be sure to check out this selection of green dog products.
All tips courtesy of Heidi Ganahl.


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LG backtracks on "super premium" smartphone statement – expect a high-class LG phablet in Q448
Well, yesterday, at LG's Q3 executive assembly, Mr. Cho Jun-ho spoke of the mistery smartphone and said that the phone has never been described as "super premium". Fair enough, words and meanings could've been distorted through sources. Still, the director of Mobile said that the phone will be a high-class handset and will be coming in the final quarter of 2015.
Speculation and whispers suggest that the phone will be of the "phablet" kind, made to battle Samsung's Galaxy Note5 and the upcoming iPhone 6s Plus. Now, whether LG will be adding a special stylus to the phone is still up in the air. Fingers crossed – the "smart pen" niche could use some competition!


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Microsoft released .NET Core 1.0, a software development platform for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X operating systems, marking the first time that the company has officially supported the two primary competitors to its own operating system. The source code was originally released in 2014, for testing. Linux vendor Red Hat will support it on its Red Hat Enterprise Linux OS. Because .NET Core is open source, developers will be able to configure it to their needs as well as use it for free to develop their own applications.
Wired notes that Microsoft has traditionally only supported software running on its own operating system, but has had to change with the times, especially in supporting Linux, which has been increasingly used by “the world’s tech businesses, from Google and Facebook and Twitter on down… to build their online services and other technologies.”
Microsoft also offered another product for the first time on Linux: its SQL Server database software, which was introduced in a preview version.
Microsoft’s support for Linux comes at a time that Linux has replaced Windows Server in the dominant position in Internet servers. Open source programming languages and frameworks, says Wired, such as Ruby on Rails, Python and Google Go have become increasingly popular among coders.
“If you talk to any developer, they hold Visual Studio in high regard,” said Microsoft executive Julia Liuson. “Despite that, we were not as relevant to developers as we would have liked.”
Microsoft is betting that making .NET Core available on Linux and OS X will encourage developers to consider other Microsoft products such as Visual Studio, Xamarin, and Azure cloud services, edging out competitors Amazon and Google.
The allure of open source coding is that independent developers improve the platform for everyone, including the company issuing the software. For .NET Core 1.0, which Microsoft uses for its Azure cloud service, “about 18,000 developers from more than 1,300 different companies” contributed to its evolution. Microsoft is joining a strategy already pioneered by Facebook, which open-sourced its development framework React, and Google, which open-sourced its AI framework TensorFlow.


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When you think of the birth of the automobile, the name "Ford" may immediately spring to mind.
But another name, the Dodge Brothers, was equally present at the automobile's infancy. John Francis Dodge and Horace Elgin Dodge worked for Ford for years before starting their company in 1914, and built cars known far and wide for their quality.
Dodge Brothers cars will be featured at the 51st annual Das Awkscht Fescht Friday through Sunday in Macungie Memorial Park.
The event, one of the largest antique and classic car shows in the country, will offer food, fun, entertainment and cars, of course, more than 2,500 of them.
On Friday, there will be a...