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Beyond Meat will see its plant-based Beyond Burgers in meat cases at 280 Safeway locations across California, Nevada and Hawaii. The pea protein-based burgers are said to match the flavor and sizzle of traditional beef-based burgers and have proven sales at Whole Foods Markets, said CEO Ethan Brown.
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated will invest $4 million in an expansion project that will add 20 jobs in Greensboro, N.C. The plan calls for the construction of a 135,300-square-foot facility and comes as the company is growing its territory into parts of five states.
Ferrero will bring its Kinder brand to the US next year when it launches the egg-shaped Kinder Joy, which will open to include a toy and a spoonable chocolate treat. The company is also expanding its Tic Tac brand into the gum category, launching Tic Tac Gum in three flavors next January.
David Ciesinski has been named CEO of Lancaster Colony, replacing Jay Gerlach Jr., who will continue on as the firm's executive chairman. Before joining Lancaster Colony, parent company of brands such as Marzetti and Sister Schubert, Ciesinski served as a vice president at both Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz.
Part of deciphering the next generation of snack flavors involves getting into the taste buds of the core sweets and snacks consumer, said Jessica Jones-Dille of MANE Inc. Sweet and hot combinations that excite the palate and fermentation innovations are some of the flavor trends that resonate with these core-market snackers, she said.
Candy and snack products must offer some sort of prevention, personalization or pizzazz to succeed in today's marketplace, according to Larry Levin, executive vice president of consumer and shopper marketing and thought leadership at Information Resources. At the same time, it's paramount that manufacturers are very clear about the ideas behind their products, Levin said during a presentation at NCA's 2017 Sweets & Snacks Expo.
SmashMallow, founded by Jon Sebastiani who also founded the now Hershey-owned Krave Jerky, debuted its new SmashCrispy lineup of crisp rice products at the 2017 Sweets & Snacks Expo with three flavors on display. Meanwhile, Sebastiani hinted at a potential future marriage between SmashMallow and Hershey during the show.
Barry Callebaut has launched four varieties of Bensdorp premium cocoa powders, including the Mullica brown cocoa powder and the Montgomery red cocoa powder. Also introduced were the new Kennett medium red and Oxford dark red cocoa powders.
Avocado oil, broccoli and beets are some of the premium ingredients showing up in next-generation snack foods from companies like Utz Quality Foods. Utz is using its Snikiddy line to present new purple corn puffs and baked fries, and its Good Health brand showcases avocado oil kettle chips and gluten-free pretzels.
Chef Dan Barber's Blue Hill restaurant is now selling its Bone Char Pearl cheese at Saxelby Cheesemongers in New York City. The distinctive, charcoal-rind cheese is the first that Blue Hill has made available for retail sale.
- Page 1


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February 17, 2017 By Catalin Cimpanu
After testing seven Android apps from seven popular car makers, security experts from Kaspersky Lab concluded that many of these mobile applications contain basic security flaws that could facilitate the theft of modern, connected cars.
Their research shows that despite cars being a very expensive product, car makers don’t value the security of their apps the same way banks put a primer on the safety for a customer’s bank account.
This lack of attention from car makers has now led to a situation where car thieves can simply hire a coder with experience in developing Android applications, and ask him to analyze a car maker’s Android app for security holes.
According to Kaspersky Lab experts, thieves won’t be disappointed, as all of the apps they’ve analyzed contained gaping security flaws, which even if they didn’t result in the car’s immediate theft, it made breaking into the car a lot easier.
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Apple will face bigger challenges as 'China bites even more,' HSBC says (AAPL)
- Analysts at HSBC have taken down their Apple price target a week after the company reduced its quarterly revenue estimates.
- The challenges facing Apple include a mix of both China- and iPhone-specific concerns, HSBC told clients in a report Wednesday.
- Watch Apple trade live.
Analysts who turned negative on Apple in December — before the company's sales warning but long after Wall Street and suppliers began cautioning investors — are doubling down on their cautious view of the iPhone giant.
"Although we had expected challenges for Apple in China and other economies, the intensity has surprised us to the downside," HSBC analysts led by Erwan Rambourg told clients Wednesday in a report called, "China bites even more."
As a result of both China-specific concerns and consumers shifting views of the iPhone, Rambourg and his team slashed their price target on the stock for a second time in two months, from $200 to $160 per share. They also cut both their revenue estimates for 2019 to 2021 by 5-7% and their net income estimates by 8-9%.
Rambourg thinks it will be difficult for Apple to "dramatically" raise its iPhone average selling price (ASP) in the coming years. The iPhone's ASP has long been cited as an issue for Apple, especially since it's climbed as interest in the product has begun to wane.
"Over the past 10 years, Apple’s iPhone ASP has increased a dramatic +$220, or 40%, reflecting its growing value to both consumer and business markets, but nearly HALF of all that just came in FY18 alone, making a period of digestion now likely," Robert Cihra, an analyst at Guggenheim, said in November.
The firm had previously taken its recommendation on the stock from "buy" to "hold," calling for lackluster growth in emerging markets, a saturated smartphone market, and what it called peak iPhone growth.
Apple last week said that its quarterly revenue would come in more than 7% below expectations. The announcement sent Apple shares plummeting, drew dozens of stock price target reductions across Wall Street, caused a ripple effect across global markets, and inspired renewed calls for a more widespread economic slowdown.
"China situation remains complex; patents disputes adds to the headwinds: China – which accounted for 20% of total Apple’s revenue (hardware + services) in FY18 – remains important for Apple," HSBC said. "The US-China trade tensions appear to have not just impacted the Chinese economy, but also consumers’ attitude towards Apple products."
Separately, the Nikkei Asian Review reported Wednesday that Apple was cutting iPhone production by 10% for the next three months. The reported development is a sign Apple was expecting to take a bigger hit this year, according to the publication.
Apple shares have plunged 34% since hitting a record high of $233.47 in October.
- Apple forever changed the biggest tech event of the year by not showing up
- A Wall Street chief strategist explains why we've dodged a recession for now — and lays out 5 trades for an explosive stock rebound


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Toronto’s getting another exotic snack shop, and it’s coming to the Ossington strip later this month.
Lucky’s Exotic Bodega is opening its fifth location in Canada and has chosen Toronto as its newest home.
The snack shop shared the announcement on Instagram earlier this week.
View this post on Instagram
“Thank you to each and every one of you who have supported us and watched us grow. None of this is possible without our amazing community and it’s something we don’t take lightly as we hold the overwhelming love very close to our hearts,” read the post.
Although a set date and location have yet to be publicized, Lucky’s gave Daily Hive the inside scoop as to where it will open its doors.
Lucky’s Exotic Bodega will welcome customers to 213 Ossington Avenue, just a few steps south of Dundas Street West.
Toronto, get ready to get your snack on!
Lucky’s Exotic Bodega
Address: 213 Ossington Avenue


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“Customer complaints over Apple’s butterfly keyboard have again turned into legal action, with a class action lawsuit filed in California court on Tuesday claiming the company sold, and continues to sell, a product known to be defective,” Mikey Campbell reports for AppleInsider.
“Filed in the Northern District Court of California, the complaint echoes many of the claims made in a first class action lawsuit regarding the same issue earlier this month,” Campbell reports. “In the immediate action, three named plaintiffs allege the butterfly mechanism introduced with the 2015 MacBook, and later applied to the MacBook Pro line in 2016, is prone to failure.”
“Aside from plaintiff testimonials, the suit cites numerous online forum posts, blog accounts and reports detailing consumer complaints with Apple’s butterfly key mechanism. Beyond sticking keys, users describe troubles relating to the design including broken key caps, among other flaws,” Campbell reports. “Plaintiffs assert breach of express warranty, violation of the Magnuson-Moss and Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Acts, violation of the California Unfair Competition Law and violation of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act. The suit seeks class certification, restitution, damages and legal fees.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Form over function.
Apple hit with class action suit over MacBook, MacBook Pro butterfly switch keyboard failures – May 12, 2018
Report: Butterfly MacBook Pro keyboards require more frequent, more expensive repairs – May 8, 2018
MacBook Pro users petition Apple to recall and replace defective butterfly keyboards – May 3, 2018
Apple’s MacBook Pro keyboards said to be failing twice as frequently as older design – May 1, 2018
MacBook Pro: The butterfly keyboard effect – April 26, 2018
Where Apple’s reinvention of the keyboard may go next: Full touchscreen – March 14, 2018
Apple’s design decisions and iPhone batteries – January 8, 2018
Hey Apple, it’s time to give up thinness for bigger, longer-lasting batteries – January 6, 2017
Apple in talks to acquire Australian startup Sonder for dynamic key-morphing Magic Keyboard – October 13, 2016
At this point, why make iPhone any thinner? – January 8, 2016
Open thread: What’d be wrong with slightly thicker iPhone with more battery life and a flush camera assembly? – December 21, 2015


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- Kroger was recognized as one of the top corporations in the U.S. for women’s business enterprises by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), according to a press release.
- This is Kroger’s sixth year on the annual list, which highlights corporations that show commitment to including women-owned businesses in their supply chains.
- Last year, Kroger invested an additional $163 million with women-owned businesses in its supply chains in 2019. It also established 234 new partnerships with women’s business enterprises, an increase of 57% from 2018.
Kroger's actions in 2019 that helped it land on the WBENC's list shows that some food retailers are beginning to prioritize diversity and inclusion in an industry that still sees a lot of gender and racial disparity in its top ranks.
Angel Colon, Kroger’s senior director of diversity and inclusion, said in a statement that women make up more than half of Kroger’s workforce and 31% of its senior management, and the company is committed to seeing more women represented in its supply chain. In comparison, women fill less than 30% of senior leadership positions in the retail and consumer goods segment, according to 2017 research from Accenture, in partnership with the Network for Executive Women.
Kroger also held a Supplier Inclusion Innovation Summit last May that brought together more than 80 diverse suppliers to pitch products and services. The company hasn’t announced whether the summit will take place in 2020. The move for a larger event appears to be a natural extension of its supplier diversity program that it's had in place for over 30 years per its website.
Walmart and Target, which both have their own supply chain inclusion initiatives, were the only other major food retailers that made the list. CPG companies included Kellogg, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.
This nod by the WBENC is one of several for Kroger recently, which has repeatedly landed on the Omni50, highlighting corporations for their diverse supply chains. Last month, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation honored Kroger for the second year in a row as one of the best places to work for LGBTQ equality.
In addition to inclusivity initiatives within companies, organizations such as the Food Marketing Institute and the Network of Executive Women support companies’ efforts to better implement diversity in the workplace and the supply chain.


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In the absence of physical conventions, videogame publishers are continuing to announce online events as a way of revealing and demonstrating future products. The latest is Slitherine, publisher of strategy and tactics games like War in the East 2, Shadow Empire, Panzer Corps 2, and Battlestar Galactica Deadlock.
Slitherine's Home of Wargamers 2021 Live+ will be "a full day of presentations, insights, announcements, and gameplay sessions" streaming on May 11 over its Twitch channel. The publisher, which apparently has 15 unannounced games currently in development, will announce four new games on the day.
It'll also showcase games scheduled for a release this year including Starship Troopers: Terran Command, Distant Worlds 2, Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector, and others. I got to play Battlesector recently, and found a promising turn-based tactics game that does justice to the setting, especially its goth space marines the Blood Angels.


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JAPAN: McDonald's appeals to healthy eaters with launch of Tofu burger
In a bid to prop its sagging business in Japan and appeal to the boom here in all things native and healthy, McDonald's has announced it will launch a Tofu burger later this month. Plagued by youth savvy competition and a BSE crisis the company had seen profits dive recently for the first time in its 29 years in Japan.
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- Weetabix takeover talk gathers pace
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- Update - Pladis not bidding for Weetabix


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Arent Fox's fashion law blog highlights critical issues for designers, retailers, and manufacturers.
Covers IP/IT law, with a strong focus on copyright and internet law. By Barry Sookman.
Covers advertising, ambush marketing, appellations of origin, branding, replacement parts, famous marks, grey goods and Madrid Protocol. By Marty Schwimmer.
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Covers trade dress, trademark, design patent and counterfeiting issues in the fashion industry. By New York Law School.
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Covers copyrights, creative commons, DRM, open source and more. By Andres Guadamuz.
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Provides insights into business and intellectual property issues.
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Covers IP business strategies. By Jackie Hutter.
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Yes, this was an April Fool’s prank. We’re not actually going to produce a Mary Rose Sauce. Sorry!
Obviously, this was inspired by the existence of the popular seafood dressing, Marie Rose Sauce, which is sometimes claimed to have been invented by the Mary Rose dive team. It was actually created long before the rediscovery of the Mary Rose, and is nothing to do with the ship. The spelling should have given that away, though…
The award winning Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is home to Henry VIII’s favourite warship, Mary Rose. The Museum, which opened in 2013 to great acclaim, has announced that it will release a new condiment, Mary Rose Sauce. Its release will coincide with its second anniversary in May 2015.
The inspiration for the recipe has been taken from evidence of food fragments discovered in some of the artefacts, including one of the large cauldrons retrieved from the wreck. The kitchen ware on display shows the importance of the ship’s cook in Tudor times and has been a cause of scientific interest.
By using a touch of creative licence and flavours from some popular classics such as Tomato Catsup, barbecue sauce and various other favourites, the Museum has created a modern day equivalent of the sauce, which they hope will bring history to life for a 21st‐century consumer.
Christopher Dobbs, a Maritime Archaeologist at the Mary Rose Trust and a member of the original excavation and recovery team enthused:
“We found some of the ingredients on board during the dives to the shipwreck. One large basket I raised from the wreck contained over 80 plum stones ‐ Prunus domestica to give the Latin name. As evidence of plums were found these have been added to the Mary Rose Sauce which gives a wonderful sweet and fruity taste to the recipe. The fruitstones and basket can be seen in our museum.
We’ve been working with food technologists to come up with the recipe. Safe to say it will contain plenty of sea salt!”


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Rumor: Future GeForce GTX 780 will be based on GK110
Since the launch of its geforce GTX 400 Series GPUs (codenamed Fermi), Nvidia has adopted a scheme very similar to the known releases Tick Tock Intel, in which first launched a new architecture, the next year will release a version refined based on the same architecture, and so forth.
This year made their appearance the new GeForce GTX 600 Series GPUs, which were the first GPUs based on architecture Kepler (GK10x Series), and next year we expect the launch of the GeForce GTX 700 Series GPUs (GK11x Series) which will be based on the refined version of architecture kepler (Kepler Kepler second generation or 2), which could bring some new features such as support to the recent DirectX 11.1.
The GeForce 700 Series GPUs will not be the first GPUs based on Kepler 2, this honor belongs to the future cGPU Tesla K20 , which is based on the core GK110, but according Xtreview have discovered that Nvidia is also preparing its new GeForce GPUs 700 Series, epitomized be the GeForce GTX 780, which will be based on the core GK110.
The GeForce GTX 780 will arrive during the first three months of next year, but its specifications are still unknown, could reach 2880 shader processors with its assets, or with some shaders disabled, so you might have to possess the GTX 780: 2880, 2688 , 2496, 2304, 2112, 1920, or 1728 shaders.
Link: GEFORCE GTX 780 ANNOUNCEME NT PREPARATIONS HAVE BEGUN (Xtreview)Tags: 2013, card, geforce, gk110, gpu, GTX 780, kepler, Nvidia, Rumor, video


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|Bid||0.00 x 0|
|Ask||0.00 x 0|
|Day's range||8,888.00 - 9,024.75|
|52-week range||6,536.55 - 9,769.00|
|Beta (5Y monthly)||0.75|
|PE ratio (TTM)||45.21|
|Earnings date||23 Jan 2023 - 27 Jan 2023|
|Forward dividend & yield||60.00 (0.67%)|
|Ex-dividend date||03 Aug 2022|
|1y target est||10,254.40|
Indian car makers have proposed cutting to 30% the tax rate on imported cars as part of a trade deal with Britain, sources told Reuters, an unprecedented move that could ease access to one of the world's most protected automobile markets. It is the first time Indian car makers have backed such cuts, caving to pressure from a government that wants them to give up their protectionist position and lower entry barriers, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Lobby group the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has written to the government backing phased cuts to 30% over five years, following a grace period of five years with none, three sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Maruti Suzuki is open to forming partnerships with auto part makers to secure its future supply chain and maintain its leadership position, the chairman of India's top-selling carmaker said in an interview. Partnering with suppliers in its early years contributed significantly to Maruti's success in India, where it has 43% share of the car market, and also helped establish a supply chain for combustion engine cars, R C Bhargava told Reuters. With growing demand for more technology in cars and a shift to 'greener' powertrains like electric and hybrid, automotive supply chains globally are changing and need large investments to keep pace.
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country's top carmaker, said on Wednesday rising raw material costs had eaten into its margins despite more sales at higher prices, hurting quarterly profit which came in below analyst estimates. Maruti recorded a profit of 10.13 billion rupees ($126.79 million) for the quarter that ended on June 30, compared with 4.41 billion rupees a year ago when production was hampered by COVID-19-related disruptions. "The increase in prices of commodities adversely impacted the operating profit ... the company was forced to increase prices of vehicles to partially offset this impact," Maruti said in a statement.


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Britain has become a 'cash-second' economy as contactless payments rise by 250% in a year, according to Visa Europe
The UK has turned into a 'cash-second' economy as the number of contactless payments rose by 250 per cent year-on-year in 2015, according to the annual report from Visa Europe released today.
One in seven transactions using Visa cards in 2015 were completed using contactless payment technology, compared to one in 25 a year earlier, Visa Europe said.
With ever-increasing numbers using cards, mobiles and wearable technology to pay for goods and services, Visa Europe saw its 2015 revenues soar by 25 per cent to €2.31billion last year.
One touch: One in seven transactions using Visa cards in 2015 were completed using contactless payment technology, compared to one in 25 a year earlier, Visa Europe said
The Transport for London network is Visa's biggest contactless outlet, but 60 per cent of contactless payments occurred outside the British capital last year, the company said.
Across the UK, the amount being spent on cards increased by 9.6 per cent in 2015, while the number of transactions completed using non-cash methods grew by 11.5 per cent.
Over £1 in every £3 spent in the UK is now on a Visa card, but fraud remains below 5p in every £100 spent, according to the group.
Nicolas Huss, chief executive of Visa Europe, said: 'Our new Annual Report shows that, financially, this was our most successful year ever – and by quite some distance.
'We’ve done that while maintaining always on delivery with 100 per cent availability of our systems for more than 100 months in a row and maintaining trust in the system by keeping fraud at record low levels and investing in multiple layers of cyber and data security.'
Kevin Jenkins, Visa Europe's managing director for the UK and Ireland, said: 'In the UK, contactless has become the “new normal”.
Mr Jenkins added: 'At this rate, cash will be seen as a peculiar way of paying for things in as little as five years’ time.'
While figures produced exposing the sidelining of cash invariably come from firms or bodies with a vested interest in the cause, Visa Europe is not alone in its findings.
Scope: The Transport for London network is Visa's biggest contactless outlet, but 60 per cent of contactless payments occurred outside the capital last year, the data reveals
Last month, separate data from the UK Cards Association revealed that three-quarters of all retail sales in 2014 were paid for by card, compared with 54 per cent in 2005.
In 2005, Brits spent £1billion on plastic at the pub and £8.6billion at restaurants, whereas in 2014 those figures had risen to £5billion and £22.2billion respectively.
Card payments in supermarkets have also increased significantly. In 2005, we spent £51.2billion using cards in supermarkets. By 2014 this had risen to £99.5billion, the UK Cards Association said.
Falling fast: Last month, data from the UK Cards Association revealed that three-quarters of all retail sales in 2014 were paid for by card, compared with 54 per cent in 2005
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Chevrolet Volt Has Best-Ever Sales Month in October
November 2, 2011 9:42 AM
comment(s) - last by
The Volt even surpassed the Nissan Leaf in October sales, but the Leaf is ahead for the year overall
General Motors Co. has announced October as the best-ever sales month for its extended-range electric
, which has been struggling to beat 2011 sales targets as well as Nissan Leaf sales.
The extended-range electric Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in electric hybrid vehicle that has an EPA-rated electric range of 35 miles. It then switches to a gasoline engine. The 2011 Volt started at $41,000 and the 2012 base model price is set for $39,995. The Nissan Leaf, on the other hand, is all-electric with an EPA-rated 73 miles per charge. The 2011 base model sold for $32,780 while the 2012 is set for $35,200.
According to GM, it sold 1,108 Volts in October. This is a hefty increase from September, where GM only reported 723 Volt sales. This also brings GM closer to its 2011 sales goal, which is 10,000 Volts sold for the whole year. It also plans to export 6,000 Volts.
In addition, this is the first time the Volt outsold the Nissan Leaf since April, which only had 849 sales in October. The
Nissan Leaf is still ahead
overall for the year though, with 8,048 Leafs sold from January through October while GM has sold 5,003 Volts during the same period of time.
While October was looking good for GM's Volt, it still has a long, hard road ahead in order to meet its 2011 goals. According to
The Detroit News,
GM must sell 2,500 Volts per month for the last two months of 2011 in order to meet the 10,000 mark.
GM, however, remains confident that it can meet this goal. It said it has added 200 additional
, totaling to 2,200 nationwide in 27 states. By the end of 2011, GM hopes to have 2,400 dealers in all 50 states.
"I'm going to keep pushing," said Don Johnson, GM vice president for sales.
Nissan predicts that it will meet 10,000 Leaf sales in the U.S. by the first week of 2012.
The Detroit News
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
I would rather have the Leaf
11/2/2011 9:30:09 PM
Leaf looks a lot more promising. 100 miles on a charge will get my my daily commutes and errands. It still isn't enough range to be my only vehicle but if I was looking into a second car the Leaf would be way above the Volt. If Nissan could double or triple the range it could easily by the only vehicle I owned.
RE: I would rather have the Leaf
11/3/2011 1:23:29 PM
Chevrolet thanks you for proving them right...
It still isn't enough range to be my only vehicle but
The entire point of the Volt is that you don't need a second car. You drive the Volt ALL ELECTRIC for typical daily usage then when you want to go on a longer trip the gas generator kicks in. The Volt is a REAL car - not a golf cart like the Nissan (and American made and engineered by the way).
Your Nissan Leaf with a 300 mile range would weigh 5,000 pounds, take 24 hours to charge and cost about $60,000+.
"Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be." -- Steve Ballmer
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Many analysts are currently taking a step back from predicting where Bitcoin is headed next. This is because it is nearly impossible with many almost always getting it wrong. One tech entrepreneur and security expert is not shying away from making a Bitcoin prediction. The highly controversial and prominent John McAfee has in a recent interview updated his earlier prediction. In the latest prediction, McAfee has doubled his earlier number. Previously he stated that Bitcoin would reach a $1 million price tag by the end of 2020. Now, the expert has adjusted this to $2 million.
His view has been based on what he terms as the “f***ing numbers”. In an interview with AIBCSummit, McAfee was certain that unless mathematics is flawed, Bitcoin would reach $2 million by 2020.
“Run the f***ing numbers. If Bitcoin is less than $2 million by the end of 2020, then mathematics itself is a flawed disappointment,” he stated.
He further explained that his prediction was mainly based on scarcity and demand. This is a simple principle that states, with scarcity come high demand which drives prices up. McAfee explained:
“Let’s get real, there are only 21 million bitcoins. Seven million of which have been lost forever, and then, if Satoshi [bitcoin’s anonymous creator] is dead, add a few more million.”
This prediction and the previous one for that matter sounds too optimistic with very few analysts backing it. If Bitcoin is to reach these numbers, it means that the return in 2020, which is just around the corner will be astronomical. Even with Bitcoin halving taking place which is expected to boost Bitcoin, the numbers are still too big. But are they impossible?
Is The Bitcoin Prediction Nuts?
Bytetree, a BTC analytics firm, has recently noted that Bitcoin has recently set a profit return of 115% per annum. This means that Bitcoin will reach McAffe’s prediction in 2029. Engineer Harold Burger has also been looking into the possibility. He believes that Bitcoin fits into a natural “power law” price corridor which estimates that Bitcoin will not reach $1 million until 2028.
What is clear is that this number will most likely be reached, the only question is, how soon? Next year, or in 10 years.
Thanks for reading! Please subscribe to my profile if you want to get more news and let us catch up on the next piece.


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A Little Boost for Joost: Mobile Ads on the iPhone
Web video publishers are still trying to get their heads around their existing sites, which attract plenty of eyeballs but not much in the way of ad dollars. But at some point, they’re going to have to figure out what will happen as video moves from the PC to the phone.
Here’s one small step in that evolution: Joost, the once-hyped video site, is going to start selling ads for clips it shows via its Apple (AAPL) iPhone app. Doing the heavy lifting will be FreeWheel, a well-regarded start-up that already handles ad-serving for some of the Web’s biggest video players.
As with video, everyone knows the mobile ad market will be worth something–maybe a lot–one day. But right now, there’s no there there. The Internet Advertising Bureau, for instance, doesn’t even bother to break out mobile ads in its annual breakdown of digital marketing spend.
Still, Joost needs any boost it can get: Like a lot of other video start-ups in the past few years, the company has raised an awful lot of money but hasn’t made much of a dent in the market. Maybe it can get some traction by staking an early claim to mobile video. Last week, Veoh, another well-funded video site chasing after the same eyeballs, made drastic cuts to its staff and announced that it would put its resources into a new browser-based app.
Separately, the Joost announcement is a nice get for FreeWheel, which is staffed by veterans of Google’s (GOOG) DoubleClick, and which last I heard, was looking for a significant funding round.


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2019 sales: $7.12 billion
Projected 2026 sales: $1.7 billion
Projected CAGR: -19%
Used for: ovarian cancer; epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer; cervical cancer; kidney cancer; glioblastoma; non-small cell lung cancer; colorectal cancer
Roche is in the midst of an biosimilar onslaught to its trio of oncology blockbusters, including its biggest-selling cancer drug, Avastin. With copycats hitting the U.S. in 2019, Avastin's days in the highest ranks of pharma's bestsellers is now almost certainly at a close.
Avastin picked up $7.12 billion in sales in 2019 but faces a steep decline in the coming years. Evaluate tabulated the oncology med's 2026 sales at just $1.7 billion—still a blockbuster but not much to look at anymore.
The back half of 2019 was marked by the launch of the first Avastin biosim in the U.S.
Amgen and Allergan were the only drugmakers that chose not to settle with Roche for a delayed launch date. The group of drugmakers that chose to hold off on a biosimilar launch included Mylan, Pfizer, Samsung Bioepis and the Teva Pharmaceutical-Celltrion team.
In fact, the launch of two biosims (so far) hasn't deterred Roche from working to fend off more contenders. In June, the Swiss drugmaker's Genentech unit sued Samsung Bioepis for patent infringement, aiming to keep the Samsung Biologics-Biogen joint venture's version off the market.


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Responding to the continuously slumping sales in all major markets including the US, McDonald’s CEO and President Steve Easterbrook announced May 4 the company’s restructuring plan.
In the live webcast yesterday, he named the three new priorities of the McDonald’s management, such as: driving operational growth, returning excitement to the brand and unlocking financial value.
First off, all international markets will be split into four categories, listed from the most to least important in descending order:
- The US—the company’s largest market that accounts for over 40% of annual operationa income.
- International lead markets—these are the established markets that account for another 40% of all company’s income collectively: Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the U.K.
- High-growth markets—the ones with higher restaurant expansion and franchising potential, such as China, Italy, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands. They account for 10% of annual income collectively.
- Foundational markets—all the rest.
The new operating units will be led by newly promoted top managers. Mike Andres will continue to serve as President McDonald’s U.S.; Doug Goare, currently President McDonald’s Europe, will become President International Lead Markets; Dave Hoffmann, currently President McDonald’s Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA), will become President High-Growth Markets; Ian Borden, currently the Chief Financial Officer McDonald’s APMEA, will become President Foundational Markets.
Mr. Easterbrook also announced the plan to open 3,500 new units by the end of 2018 under the franchising scheme to increase its percentage from 81% to 90% globally.
McDonald’s now operates more than 36,000 restaurants around the world. In 2014, McDonald’s sales were the worst in the past 12 years—in the U.S., specifically. The company’s rating by Standard & Poor’s was recently down from ‘A’ to ‘A-‘.
On the brighter side of things, McDonald’s Hungary in collaboration with their creative agency DDB Budapest have designed a bag that transforms into a cardboard tray easily by tearing off a perforated slip of paper at the bottom. At this time, there is no information whether this concept will be implemented in other international markets.


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22 min agoBy Joseph KellerIn a recent interview, Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue discussed why the company created its new Apple News app, and how it could benefit smaller news organizations.
50 min agoBy iMore.comThis professional grade holster is made of a fine grain leather and features a soft interior that keeps your iPhone 6/6s Plus safe from scratches. On the back is a fixed belt clip for securing to your side. Grab one on sale today for only $36.95!
1 hour agoBy Jared DiPaneIn honor of World AIDS Day, Apple has once again turned its logo red at retail locations. To continue to raise awareness for AIDS relief, Apple changes its logo once a year from white to red.
30 November 2015 18By Rene RitchieAs much as Apple made the MacBook as close as possible to a tablet, they've now made a tablet that's even closer to laptop, but at the same time, something more—they've made the iPad Pro. Tim Cook called it the clearest expression yet of Apple's vision for the future of computing, so the question becomes, how close does the iPad Pro get to fulfilling on that vision?


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Making online learning a little more festive
It was the day before online classes were to begin, and the staff at the Block Island School were ready on a Sunday morning to hand out the technology and other learning materials for the students who would be attending class at home.
But the presence of Super Mario Brothers, Spider-Man, Batman and Elsa made the day festive.
Their presence was a gift from homeowner Mike Nolan, who works for a company that owns the licensing for these and many other famous characters.
“I owned a company, Nolan Glove Company, and donated gloves and hats to the Block Island School every winter,” Nolan said, who makes his year-round home in Chappaqua, N.Y. “In 2014, I sold my company to Bioworld Merchandising, which is based in Dallas. We’re a division of BioWorld. We acquired a couple of other companies and one is a backpack company and we make kids’ backpacks for Disney, Walmart, Target — everybody. We make samples and prototypes and end up with a large amount of bags and I thought it would be a nice idea to donate them to the Block Island School. I thought it would be a nice touch for the kids out there. We’ll probably continue to do this every year.” (He said it was his daughter Molly’s idea.)
Nolan said the company donated about 300 backpacks to the school. “It’s just a nice thing to be able to do,” he said.
As an aside, Nolan said the best selling tee shirt in their catalogue is a Golden Girls pink tee shirt sold at Walmart. “We sell like 50,000 a week.”


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This is the MC20, a 470kW return to form for Maserati.
The new Maserati MC20 supercar that made its global debut last month has made a flying visit “down under’’ and pricing has now been confirmed ahead of its New Zealand launch.
Maserati air-freighted an MC20 – in striking Giallo Genio bright yellow – to Sydney this week for a media preview event.
It also announced New Zealand pricing will be $390,000 with the first cars expected to land in the second half of 2021.
This is one MC20 that has made it as far as Sydney. It’s gorgeous and we want one.
However, it seems price wasn’t a big consideration for enthusiasts as the entire allocation for Australia and New Zealand has already sold out.
The mid-engine MC20 – MC for Maserati Corse and 20 for 2020, the year of its world première – is Maserati’s first supercar in 15 years. It is powered by the newly developed Nettuno turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine producing 470kW and 730Nm of torque.
An eight-speed dual clutch transmission, adjustable suspension and five driving modes – Wet, GT, Sport, Corsa and ESC off – are available to fine tune the driving experience.
It seems price wasn’t much of a deterrent for those wanting a taste of Maserati’s first supercar in 15 years. New Zealand’s allocation has already sold out.
The MC20 can accelerate from 0-100km/h in under 2.9seconds and achieve a top speed of 325km/h. In its first iteration the MC20 is a closed-cockpit sports car but the range will expand to include open-top Spyder models and an EV powertrain.
With assistance from Italian racing chassis builder Dallara, the MC20 is built around a carbon fibre monocoque to achieve high torsional rigidity and light weight for performance.
The design features dramatic “butterfly’’ doors which Maserati says offer best in class ingress/egress ergonomics.
The MC20 is also equipped with an E-Latch electronic side door opening system. This innovative feature not only gives the MC20 a technological feel, but further contributes to the sleek design.
At its reveal, Maserati said its MC20 super sports car marks the start of a new era.
Features of the minimalist cockpit include a carbon fibre central tunnel and milled metallic bezels.
The new MC20 supercar is produced in Modena, at the historic Viale Ciro Menotti plant.
The Italian marque has billed the MC20 as the beginning of a new era as it has 13 future models in development, including the open-top Spyder and electric variants of the MC20 and replacements for the GranTurismo and GranCabrio models.
Also, on the 2021 launch schedule is Maserati’s second performance SUV model that will be called Grecale. It’s smaller than the Levante offering dimension and performance to rival the Porsche Macan.


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Tag Archives: Huntington Surf and Sport
By hsssurf.com | Published: July 24, 2013
We couldn’t be more stoked to announce that world champ and Surfers’ Hall of Fame alumn Shaun Tomson will be visiting us this Saturday, July 27th at 1pm in our brand new wetsuit room (300 PCH Location). Shaun will be talking about his new book, “The Code” and signing copies for those who purchase the [...]
By hsssurf.com | Published: June 14, 2013
Let loose…it’s Friday! Enjoy your weekend, Monday will be here before you know it.
By hsssurf.com | Published: June 5, 2013
The biggest evolution in fin design in over 20 years? That is what FCS is claiming with their new FCS II fin system. Check it out. Bottom line…we can wait to get these in the shop to put them through their paces. Stay tuned to find out when we get them in.
By hsssurf.com | Published: March 15, 2013
We have been going through some pretty amazing changes the past few months down here at our Pierside store. The old, brown carpet is gone and has given way to some rad concrete. Our Vans store was recently completed and looks amazing and now Reef and Oakley have some pretty sweet sections on the main [...]


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It seems that Scotland is also having its troubles.
Bank crisis, high street blues and now petrol pumps could run dry
The government’s response to the crisis of 2000, which saw cars queuing at petrol stations, would be the template if the strike at Grangemouth goes ahead.
SCOTLAND is facing its biggest energy crisis since the fuel blockades of 2000 which brought the country to a grinding halt. Then, petrol stations ran dry as truckers and farmers blockaded oil depots in protest at rising fuel duties. Now, as a strike at Scotland's sole oil refinery looks inevitable, filling stations across the country have only three days worth of fuel left.
Contingency plans are believed to have been drawn up to bring fuel up from refineries in England, such as the Stanlow facility in Cheshire, if the strike goes ahead as planned next weekend. But industry insiders believe that widespread and protracted petrol shortages are almost inevitable.
Fears have also been expressed that it could result in domestic power cuts, supermarket food shortages and put the emergency services and hospitals under severe pressure.
Grangemouth distributes more than 200,000 barrels of fuel every day and supplies petrol station across most of Scotland as well as parts of the north of England. Even a brief halt to production and distribution would have considerable knock-on effects.
A spokesman for the UK Petroleum Industry Association, which represents the country's nine major oil body, said filling stations had between three to seven days' fuel supply left, depending on their location.
He said: "Grangemouth is a significant oil refinery for the whole of Scotland. The danger is that people will dash out and stockpile fuel and generate shortages. Filling stations in the main towns and cities are usually resupplied two to three days a week – while in rural areas it is around one a week."
During the fuel blockades of 2000 hundreds of petrol stations across Scotland were forced to close with the severe shortages having a knock-on effect on buses, trains and supermarket supplies.
David Capitanchik, a national security and oil industry expert with Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, said a Grangemouth strike could have an even more severe impact as electricity is generated at the site.
"Any significant stoppage could cause serious fuel shortages in Scotland and beyond for a month or longer. It is does stop functioning then it could also have serious effects for domestic power supplies.
"I have heard it said in the past that any terrorist attack on Grangemouth would mean lights going out in parts of London. If the plant is brought to a halt by strike action then there is no doubt that it would be a very serious matter and peoples' domestic power supplies could be affected.
"It could also potentially impact on the movement of food supplies and the emergency services."
The problem for supermarkets is that they operate a "just in time" delivery system enabling them to cut down warehouse stocks, relying on regular deliveries to keep shelves filled. A day without deliveries would wipe out some stocks of chilled and perishable goods.
Other products would begin to run out within three or four days, although supermarkets say they can last a week without deliveries of most goods.
Supermarket giants Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury's and Morrisons have contingency supplies of fuel in their distribution centres which would be used in the event of shortages.
Fuel shortages would also leave water, gas and electricity companies without supplies to carry out repairs. The Scottish Government last night said it had "initiated appropriate contingency measures" but did not divulge details.
However, the fuel blockades of eight years ago give an insight to the likely UK-wide response to industrial action at Grangemouth.
Then Tony Blair readied the Army, with 80 fully-loaded military tankers and 160 troops moved to secret locations across the country. Business leaders said the crisis cost the country £250m a day.
Shops began rationing food, schools were closed, factories told workers to go home and farmers warned that livestock would starve.
In 2000 several hospitals were forced to cancel all routine operations and many ambulance services were forced to limit how many emergency calls they could respond to.
The stress on services meant the NHS was put on red alert for the first time in more than a decade.
Agreements mean that this time supplies from England will get through to the emergency services and hospitals.
However, it may see non-vital ambulance journeys being temporarily cancelled and other non-emergency incidents being put on hold.
The Federation of Small Business in Scotland believed the impact on strike could have a disastrous effect on the economy.
Spokesman Stuart Mackinnon said: "This has come totally out-of-the-blue and is terrible news for Scotland's small businesses.
"We would encourage both the unions and the management to get around the table and get this sorted."
Even when it is available, the rising price of oil is driving UK fuel prices up to unprecedented levels, writes Marc Horne.
As ever, Scotland's most rural and remote areas are worst affected.
The Welcome Inn filling station at Lower Barvas, on the Isle of Lewis, may well be selling the most expensive petrol in the country.
Last night, unleaded petrol there was £1.20.9 a litre.
Richard Mackay & Sons at Durness, Sutherland, is thought to be selling the dearest diesel, at £1.32 a litre.
However, neither comes close to matching the prices of the Chelsea Cloisters filling station in London. There the cost of a litre of unleaded petrol is £1.34.
If you know of more expensive fuel, contact Scotland on Sunday at email@example.com or phone 0131-620 8430
Consumers cutting back on treats as credit crunch bites
Murdo MacLeod, Jen Lavery and Samantha Novick
SCOTTISH consumers are cutting back on many of life's little luxuries as the credit crunch continues to bite.
Families hit by a wallet-crippling combination of rising food costs, soaring petrol prices and mortgage hikes are increasingly substituting budget options when it comes to shopping and services.
Last month, research by Scotland on Sunday revealed that living costs for many middle-class Scottish families would be between £1,000 and £4,000 more in the coming year, driven in part by an 11% increase in the typical shopping basket.
Many shoppers have been forced to find ways of sparing the pennies. They include:
• Avoiding £25 taxis by taking £2.50 night buses instead;
• Shunning £750 Highland dress outfits outright in favour of a £350 kilt and hiring the rest of the outfit for £65.
• Booking holidays in Scotland rather than flying overseas, with one budget hotel chain saying bookings for May are up by more than 20%.
Across the UK, budget shops are benefiting from the economic downturn as shoppers turn away from the high street where sales have slumped by 1.6%.
Primark, the discount clothes retailer, has seen trade increase by 4%. Aldi, the budget supermarket, has reported a 25% increase in sales.
John Keogh, proprietor of Greenock kilt firm Keogh and Savage, said: "We are noticing a difference because of the credit crunch. And it's in sales of Highland dress. Instead of buying the whole thing, they are instead buying the kilt and maybe hiring the rest. We also notice that, while previously you would see people come in and say that they wanted a complete outfit, just because they wanted it, it's now very much a special thing – say a 21st or a 30th or a 40th."
Taxi firms say the change has been noticeable for just over a month.
Andrew Walker, who runs D&S Cabs in Dunblane, said: "Yes, it is certainly noticeable. Not very many people are out taking taxis any more – and the pubs are quieter and the restaurants are quieter. We are definitely noticing an impact on our income."
Cut-price retailer TK Maxx – where a £130 designer Quiksilver coat can be bought for £50 – is among the winners. It said the economic squeeze would lead to it opening new stores in Scotland.
Spokeswoman Helen Gunter said: "Our value proposition is certainly very likeable during times like these. TK Maxx is very popular with people looking to save. We are currently doing very well in Scotland and will be expanding."
In addition, restaurants north of the Border have been telling suppliers to cut costs.
One wine supplier said: "This is my third recession and it's following a familiar pattern.
"Restaurants are talking to suppliers about how to cut costs – they will be using cheaper cuts of meat, for example. As far as wine is concerned, because of the weakness of the dollar, we are looking to source wine increasingly from dollar-based economies such as Chile and Argentina in order to cut costs.
"Very rich people are less affected by recessions and will continue to eat out. For the rest of us, eating out will return to being something of an occasion, like it used to be."
A spokesman for cut-price hotel chain Travelodge said bookings for Scottish leisure breaks had increased sharply.
"We are already seeing a 22.5% increase in bookings for the May bank holiday and that trend is being reflected at our 23 Scottish hotels, showing that more people are opting to take their holidays here. What we're finding is that travellers who would otherwise go for more expensive hotels are saving money by going for discount hotels."
The increase in discount hotel bookings is in sharp contrast to the overall hotel sector, where occupancy rates fell 1.3% in three months.
Shoppers at the Meadowbank Centre in Edinburgh admitted they were being squeezed.
Support worker Deborah Reilly said: "I've seen reports and I have felt we've had to cut back a bit recently."
Nick Gladding, an analyst at Verdict research, said: "It is clear that people are cutting back on discretionary spending. Electricals, furniture and DIY items are all showing signs of the slowdown.
"There is going to be a cloud over the consumer economy all year. And there are signs that middle-class shoppers are trading down, with discount stores doing very well out of people's belt tightening."
Fiona Moriarty, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: "Things are slightly different in Scotland compared to the rest of the country. We're slightly helped by the fact that council tax is not going up by so much, and we have more people working in the public sector so they are not as much affected by the downturn."


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Balenciaga's firing of Nicolas Ghesquière has really got K-Stew amped up! In an interview with a German magazine, she totally praises Nicolas and even says she'd run away with him. Should Robert Pattinson look out? Keep reading for more details!
Kristen Stewart only has amazingly nice things to say about Nicolas Ghesquiere, the fashion designer who was fired as the head of


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Opel's Meriva compact minivan is taking its next evolutionary step with a makeover for 2014 that includes a new face and an efficient new diesel engine.
Inspired by the latest Insignia sedan, the new frontal design gains extra bling in the form of a new grille with more chrome while the new 'eagle eye' headlights are available with LED daytime running lights. From the side view, a new chrome beltline accentuates the Meriva's 'waved' design while the rear end is freshened up by new LED taillights.
The Meriva's interior gains a new IntelliLink infotainment system, operated through a seven-inch colour monitor. The system also includes a rear-view camera.
The big news under the bonnet is the availability of Opel's new 1.6 CDTI turbodiesel motor that's said to be the quietest in its class. Of course, it has the all-important economy aspect taped too, with a claimed combined consumption figure of just 4.4 litres per 100km, equating to CO2 emissions of 116 g/km.
Replacing the previous 1.7-litre unit, the 1.6 offers 100kW and 320Nm from 2000rpm, allowing it to run from 0-100km/h in 9.1 seconds - 0.8 seconds quicker than before.
Furthermore, the 88kW and 103kW 1.4-litre turbopetrol engines (of which only the latter is available in SA) remain unchanged but are now available with a reworked low-friction six-speed automatic gearbox that's been upgraded to offer a smoother operation.
Expect to see the new Meriva on local shores during the first half of 2014.


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As ‘gig economy’ companies like Uber, Deliveroo and Taskrabbit grow and grow, workers increasingly find themselves answering not to a human manager, but to an app.
Gig workers receive jobs via their smartphones, as well as feedback on their performance and information about how much they’ve earned. Some companies don’t even provide a contact number, meaning workers with a problem can only contact their job provider via the app.
So what, you might think. Everything else is going online and being automated. If you don’t like your manager’s human failings then you might be glad of having an app to deal with instead.
But researchers at Warwick Business School and New York University claim such a system can be bad for business. To demonstrate its impact they looked at the way taxi app Uber’s drivers make use of its ‘surge pricing’ system.
For those unfamiliar with the app, surge pricing kicks in at times of high demand and low supply (such as during a downpour or after a big concert or sports game), pushing up prices. It makes perfect sense, suggests Uber, because it encourages more drivers to pick up from those busy locations, making sure more customers are able to get a ride.
But the research claims some drivers are dishonestly colluding to manipulate this process to bump up their pay – by simultaneously turning the app off until prices have soared and then flicking it back on and cashing in. The report cites a post on the Uberpeople.net forum in which one driver urges his colleagues to ‘stay logged off until surge...Less supply high demand = surge.’
The scale of the issue is unclear. Drivers on that same forum have had a mixed reaction to the report. ‘What do you mean secretly? We do it all the time,’ said one. ‘Drivers "colluding". AS ****ING IF,’ another. Uber says such behaviour is ‘neither widespread, nor permissible,’ but the researchers claim it demonstrates a problem with the company’s approach to management.
‘Uber uses software algorithms for oversight, governance and to control drivers, who are tracked and their performance constantly evaluated,’ says Warwick’s Dr Mareike Möhlmann. ‘In response, drivers have developed practices to regain control, even gaming the system. It shows that "algorithmic management" that Uber uses may not only be ethically questionable but may also hurt the company itself.’
In particular they seem concerned about the emotional distance this form of management puts between workers and their bosses. ‘The drivers have the feeling of working for a system rather than a company, and have little, if any interaction with an actual Uber employee,’ adds NYU’s Dr Lior Zalmanson. ‘This creates tension and resentment, especially when drivers can only email to resolve problems.’
The specific example in question may have more to do with the problem of perverse incentives than the gig economy. You’re probably familiar with the urban legend about the Soviet nail factory that, tasked with producing a tonne of nails, decided the most efficient way of doing so would be to create one, massive, one-tonne nail.
It’s not true of course, but it contains an important parable. Whether it’s revenue targets that encourage staff to cut corners and upset clients to close every possible sale or fiendishly complicated executive long-term incentive plans, rewarding people based on narrow metrics can have seriously adverse effects.
Nonetheless the research touches on a hugely important topic that will demand more attention in the not too distant future. As a greater proportion of the workforce slips into more flexible, mercenary and remote jobs, technology risks becoming a barrier between workers and their bosses/clients.
How important to employee effectiveness is a human sense of belonging and of loyalty to their company? Expect more studies like this attempting to answer that question in the coming years.


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Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN:US), the largest U.S. meat company, may have its credit rating cut by Standard & Poor’s because it will have to take on more debt to finance its proposed $7.7 billion takeover of Hillshire Brands Inc.
Tyson’s BBB rating, two levels above junk, was put on Creditwatch with negative implications, S&P said today in a statement.
Tyson yesterday raised its offer for Hillshire to $63 a share, trumping Pilgrim’s Price Corp., the turkey producer controlled by Brazil’s JBS SA. Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson said yesterday that it’s prepared to sell debt and equity to finance the deal. Tyson also said it expects to use the combined companies’ cash flow to pay down its borrowings “rapidly” while keeping an investment-grade credit rating.
To contact the reporter on this story: Simon Casey in New York at email@example.com
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Casey at firstname.lastname@example.org Carlos Caminada


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Social Media Usership Growing in Iran
EghtesadOnline: The number of Iranians using social media platforms reached 47 million in 2018 indicating an 18% year-on-year increase.
Canadian social media management platform Hootsuite and UK-based marketing and advertising agency We Are Social has released their Global Digital 2019 report, according to which the number of Iranians using social media services has observed a noticeable hike.
Published on wearesocial.com, the report says that there are some 47 million active social media users in Iran or 57% of the population.
Over 7 million Iranians joined a social media network for the first time in 2018. In other words, an estimated 19,178 people started using social media for the first time every day in the past year in Iran — that is more than 13 new users every minute, according to Financial Tribune.
The growth rate had declined compared to 2017 when the number of Iranian social media users observed a 135% YoY jump.
More than 3.4 billion people around the world now use social media platforms, indicating a 288 million (9%) increase compared to January of last year, more than 9 new users every second. The global growth rate has also declined compared to 2017 when social media platforms got more than 11 new users every second.
Despite being banned in Iran, the messaging app Telegram, which through its channels and groups can be employed as a social media network, is the most popular platform in Iran with over 40 million users. Almost half of the population uses the service.
The second most popular social media platform in Iran is the photo-sharing service Instagram. There are 24 million Instagram users in the country or 29% of the population. Close to 45% of Instagram users in Iran are women and 55% men.
Instagram’s parent company Facebook is less popular in Iran partly because it is blocked by the authorities for almost eight years. However, there still are 5.7 million Facebook users (via VPN) of which 35% are women and 65% men.
Moreover, 91% of Facebook users in Iran access the platform via their smart handsets. There are 2.17 billion active Facebook users in the world.
Various local social media platforms have been established with the state’s support over the past year. However, failing to earn Internet users’ trust the platforms have not been able to gain traction. Some of the services are Soroush, Rubika, and iGap.
Iran’s total population is estimated at 82.4 million with almost 75% living in urban areas. The country reportedly has 72.94 million Internet users and Internet penetration is said to be 89%.
The number of Iranian Internet users shot up by 29% in 2018. In other words, 16 million people got connected to the web for the first time during the year.
An estimated 123.7 million SIM cards have been sold in the country. The number of active mobile SIMs has registered a 3 million (2.4%) YoY increase.
The average mobile Internet speed was 30.58 Mbps in 2018, 75% higher than a year earlier while average fixed Internet speed was 12.82 Mbps indicating a 36% YoY increase.
Close to 74% of the mobile subscribers use pre-paid services and 26% post-paid. Over 59% of the mobile SIMs support broadband Internet (3G and/or 4G).


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“The milk we buy in stores is heat pasteurized, a process that destroys some vitamins, enzymes and beneficial bacteria. Raw unpasteurized milk contains all of the above. We don’t need to argue about that. The question you really need to consider is: Do the perceived benefits of drinking raw cow’s milk outweigh the potential dangers?
The raw milk debate is raging in newspapers, on the web and in courtrooms across the land. Raw milk advocates don’t want the government telling them what they can and cannot eat. I totally understand that. They have websites full of testimonials from self-appointed experts and apocryphal tales of raw milk curing everything from scurvy to psoriasis and tuberculosis.
A lot of these tales are so outlandish that it tends to undermine their credibility, but I’m willing to overlook that for the moment because there is a grain of truth in what they say. Pasteurization does destroy vitamins C and B12 and it does kill lactobacillus. It probably also harms the natural antibodies in milk.
Like breast milk, cow’s milk contains everything a baby needs to thrive. Well, everything a baby cow needs to thrive. But human babies might benefit from those antibodies, too. In one of the few legitimate peer-reviewed studies on the health benefits of raw milk, scientists at Johns Hopkins University found that an antibody found in raw milk inhibits bovine and human rotavirus that causes diarrhea in small children…..”
Comment from “Raw Milk Canada” about this story on Facebook:
“Randy, no-one is denying that some of the health claims about raw milk could be exaggerated in comparison with published research (of which there is very little). People who have experienced health benefits from any lifestyle change (diet, exercise, medication, etc.) will of course relate their experience.
But tarring all raw milk advocates with the same brush of having “self-proclaimed experts” and “outlandish” websites is unfair to the majority, and stigmatizes all raw milk consumers, farmers, and supporters as being outright fanatical lunatics. Most of us are ordinary consumers who choose to drink raw milk — not because of purported claims — but because we have personally done the research about what raw milk can provide, learned about raw milk safety, read both sides of the debate, found a trusted source, tried it, and now continue to drink it based on the benefits (over pasteurized milk or milk substitutes) that we and our families have personally experienced. This is not wrong or outlandish, and nor should readers be told that we are endangering our children as this article implies.
Please consider talking to the raw milk community, representatives such as the speakers at the recent Fresh Milk Food Politics conference (http://www.freshmilkfoodpolitics.com/), and learning about “the other side” of the story – not the “outlandish websites,” but the other 95% of us.”
Scientific perspectives on raw milk from Nadine Ijaz:
This is a video of her full (nearly one hour) lecture at the recent Fresh Milk Food Politics conference in Vancouver.
Video courtesy of Road Kill Media. See more of their work from the Fresh Milk Food Politics conference here.
Vancouver Sun writer Randy Shore is not unacquainted with the ongoing raw milk story in BC, judging by his previous raw milk articles. Here are a couple of examples culled from the back pages of The Bovine:
“Raw milk activist Gordon Watson has filed a civil lawsuit against the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities and their officers, alleging they exceeded their authority by acting to shut down the Home on the Range dairy in Chilliwack.
“The main thing is to make civil servants accountable,” said Watson, a founder of the dairy now operating as Our Cows.
He alleges in the suit filed this week that the health authorities acted against the dairy with no evidence that it was a threat to public health, destroyed his property (the milk) and acted beyond their authority.
Watson maintains that because the products of the dairy are not offered for sale to the public, public health statutes do not apply.
The raw milk dairy is a cooperative farm that produces unpasteurized milk and dairy products for the families that own shares in the cow herd.
It is legal in B.C. for farmers to produce raw milk for their own use. Watson argues that cow-share members are the owners of the herd and can legally use the products.
No statement of defence has yet been filed, but a Fraser Health spokesman said in an interview Thursday that a health authority inspection of the farm in 2008 found raw milk was being packaged for distribution….”
“Tearing a page from the history books, Our Cows cow-share cooperative now labels raw milk and raw-milk dairy products as Cleopatra’s bathing milk, raw milk skin care lotion and face cream, according to farmer Michael Schmidt.
“Let’s be clear, these are not dairy products, these are cosmetics,” Schmidt told The Sun.
“The contents of these cosmetic products are unpasteurized dairy products.” Not everyone is convinced.
“Fraser Health’s position is that Our Cows continues to violate the March 18, 2010 Supreme Court injunction prohibiting Home on the Range from packaging and/or distributing raw milk and/or raw milk products for human consumption and has issued a formal notice to the new operator demanding that he cease and desist,” Fraser Health spokeswoman Naseem Nuraney wrote in response to a query from The Sun….”


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The success story of Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral appears to be a continuing one.
Much like a manically leg-pumping gamer running on the spot partaking of the 100 metres dash in Kinect Sports, the motion control system has sprinted to global sales of 10 million, according to Microsoft’s own figures.
In fact, we’re told that Guinness World Records has officially named the Kinect the fastest selling consumer electronics device ever, because it shifted 8 million units in its first two months on sale.
Gaz Deaves, Gaming Editor for Guinness World Records, commented: “The sales figures here speak for themselves. According to independent research, no other consumer electronics device sold faster within a 60-day time span, which is an incredible achievement considering the strength of the sector.”
But hang on a moment. iSuppli’s recent figures stated that Microsoft had shipped 8 million Kinects to retailers by the end of 2010. Worldwide sell-through to consumers, according to the analyst firm, was 6.4 million.
So does the record count for units shipped out to retail, then? Or were the iSuppli figures off the mark? We’re slightly confused, we don’t mind admitting.
Even so, there’s no sneezing at sales of 6.4 million anyway, which still easily exceeded Microsoft’s hoped-for 5 million target.
Apparently 10 million standalone Kinect games have also been sold worldwide to date. That would make one for every motion sensor sold, simple maths tell us.
The Kinect has come in for the obligatory price cut now early adopters have been successfully fleeced. It’s up on Amazon currently for £104.


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In a little more than a day, AMD’s launch at CES 2020 will begin, this time with the launch of a new generation of CPU and GPU products, the 7nm Ryzen APU, RX 5600 XT graphics card is almost nailed. But the latest revelations suggest AMD is too aggressive, and will announce the launch of Zen3 processor Q3, supporting the launch of the hardware ray-tracing RDNA2 graphics card Q2.
AMD’s CES presentation theme is still around the promotion of high-performance computing, so only 7nm Ryzen APU is not able to support the field, the latest explosion is perfectly in line with the definition of high-performance computing, as follows:
Ryzen 4000 processor, code name Renior, 7nm Zen2 architecture, desktop and notebook mobile version of APU, available in the first half of 2020.
· The Radeon 5600 XT graphics card, based on the Navi 12 core, is castrated on the Navi 10 core of the RX 5700 series, with 2304 stream processors (36 cells) and 192bit memory width, q1 will be available, mainly in competition with the GTX 1660 Ti/Super.
Ryzen Threadripper 3990X processor, the world’s first 64-core 128-threaded desktop processor, Q1 will be available.
Ryzen Threadripper 3980X processor, 48 core 96 thread processor, Q2 Q2 market.
In addition to the four products above, AMD will officially announce (albeit on paper) the next generation of Zen3 processors and RDNA2 graphics cards.
· Zen3 Desktop Edition (True Ryzen 4000) processor to be available in Q3 q3 this year
The second generation 7nm GPU, RDNA2, supports hardware light chase, supports VRS variable rate rendering, and is said to be officially demonstrating light-chasing Demo at CES, Q2.
The latter two products are AMD this year’s big killer, CES will announce the approximate time to market, but will not specifically mention performance, specifications and other details, but that is enough, AMD at the 2019 CES show also did so, announced the mid-year and second half of the Zen2 processor and RDNA graphics card.


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This morning Fortnite’s servers will go offline to allow Epic Games to publish the 8.40 update, which should introduce interesting news as well as bug fixes and technical glitches.
At the moment Epic has not confirmed the contents of the 8.40 patch , the only certainty is that today we will see the arrival of the Epic and Legendary versions of the Infantry Rifle rifle, in addition, the developers want to fix the main Fortnite bugs and problems reported by community and for this the update ” will be heavier than usual “, as stated by the Community Manager on Reddit. The official changelog will be released late in the morning, it is not excluded that the update can bring even a special Easter event along with skins and themed items …
Fortnite new skins on April 17th
The news certainly does not end here because like every day the Fortnite shop is updated with skins, hang gliders, emotes, picks, backs and cosmetic items for the Battle Royale mode. Here are all the new contents of April 17th, with relative prices:
- Team Leader PANDA (Legendary) 2,000 V-Buck
- Tender Skin Defender (Epic) 1,500 V-Buck
- Flappy Flyer Glider (Rare) 800 V-Buck
- Scrambler Pickaxe (Uncommon) 500 V-Buck
- Volleyball Girl Skin (Rare) 1,200 V-Buck
- Marino Skin (Rare) 1,200 V-Buc
- Electro Shuffle Emote (Epic) 800 V-Buck
- Laugh It Up Emote (Rare) 500 V-Buck
- Piccone Relax (Rare) 800 V-Buck
- Fresh Cut Pickaxe (Uncommon) 500 V-Buck
Worth noting is the return of the Legendary Team Leader of the PANDA Team for sale at 2,000 V-Buck and of the tender Epic Level Defender costume, available at 1,500 V-Buck. Also, present new Emotes like Electro Shuffle and Laugh It Up and picks like Relax and Fresh Cut.
Hit your mark! 🎯
Downtime for the v8.40 update starts tomorrow, April 17 at 5AM ET(0900 UTC).
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) April 16, 2019


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Click here to read the letter from CLLA President Barry Gammons and Executive Vice President Tony Hilvers announcing the news!


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Stop the presses, everybody, because the Geezerville-bound Today Show team has uncovered a brand new abomination to plague restaurants everywhere: noise. That's right, the hot topic that is restaurant noise levels has finally caught the attention of Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, and their Today Show brethren, resulting in a piece that seeks to explain, in Guthrie's words, "What is this noise all about?"
Yes, as reporter Mike Taibbi discovers, this "is not your daddy's restaurant business anymore" what with its open kitchens, hard surfaces and uncomfortable chairs — and noise levels that are second only to service in complaints. He visits Roy Choi's noisy Los Angeles restaurant A-Frame to prove his case with a decibel meter that puts the restaurant at an epic LAWNMOWER volume of 90 decibels. As noise-loving cretin Choi explains, "I want you to feel like you almost stumbled into a hug and we wrapped ourselves around you." Here's the report.
Video: Do noisy restaurants get on your nerves?
· Do noisy restaurants get on your nerves? [Bites]
· All Today Show Coverage on Eater [-E-]


text: EUPRPDC conducted the IAS to gather critical data on access to internet throughout the region, and gauge the demand for improved services. EUPRPDC recognizes broadband internet access as a key community and economic development issue in the region. The survey was conducted during the summer and fall of 2016. To ensure all households and businesses in the region had the chance to respond, EUPRPDC directly mailed out 27,934 surveys, provided the survey online, and had hard-copy versions available its office. With a response rate of 8.6% (2,409), EUPRPDC believes the survey, in terms of rate of response, was a resounding success. Now the work begins to show regional internet service providers that there is demand in the region.


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"We're committed to setting the pace in this industry on fuel economy," said John Krafcik, Hyundai America's president and CEO, speaking at the Center for Automotive Research's Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Mich.
Other automakers have made broad fuel economy promises, only to back off them as the final date approached. Most notably, Ford Motor in the early 2000s promised to increase its SUV fuel economy by 25% over five years. Then-CEO Bill Ford had to back off that promise two years before the 2005 deadline, citing financial difficulties.
Krafcik admitted the goal is a stretch:
"We don't know specifically how to get there, but we do have a roadmap," he said. That roadmap will use mostly existing technology that the automaker modifies to get better fuel economy, he said.
About 75% to 80% of its lineup will continue to be standard internal combustion engines, and about 10% to 15% will be hybrids. The other 5% or so will be hydrogen fuel cells or battery electric vehicles.
Hyundai doesn't yet have a hybrid car on the market, yet leads the auto industry in overall corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) numbers. In 2008, it lead the industry with a CAFE figure of 30.9. The final figures aren't in yet for 2009, but Krafcik says Hyundai expects to keep its leadership position.
The new Hyundai Sonata demonstrates the automaker's commitment to fuel economy, Krafcik said. The 2011 model comes only with a four cylinder engine, because that's what most sedan customers want, he said.
When automakers put together a vehicle with a 6-cylinder option, they have to add in extra weight to meet crash standards for the larger engines even on the cars with the smaller engines. So taking out the 6-cylinder option enabled Hyundai to take out 130 pounds of weight in the new Sonata, making it lighter and more fuel efficient.
-- Sharon Silke Carty/Drive On
Chris Woodyard is an auto writer for USA TODAY who covers all aspects of motoring. He revels in the exhaust note of a Maserati and the sharp creases of a Cadillac CTS. Chris strives to live a Porsche life on a Scion budget. More about Chris


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Zalando’s majority shareholder Kinnevik sells shares; stock dives
today Sep 17, 2019
Swedish investor Kinnevik has sold a portion of its shareholding in online retailer Zalando. The e-tailer’s largest shareholder has completed a placement of 13.13 million shares, it announced on Tuesday in Stockholm. The shares were issued at a price of about 42.50 euros per share.
Shares in the company fell by 9.5% to 41.13 euros on Tuesday. Despite the drop, the fashion company has seen its share price increase by 82% in the year to date.
Kinnevik raised 558 million euros in the transaction. The placing represented 5.2% of its shareholding in Zalando. Kinnevik has committed to a lock-up period of six months, which means it will not sell any shares in the business for the next six months. The Swedish firm now holds a 26% stake in Zalando.
Copyright © 2019 Dpa GmbH


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China energy storage net news: according to the Reuters news agency reported on November 27, Germany's largest industry association BDI, warned that the German auto industry will face the risk of shortage of raw materials, battery and it will also affect electric vehicle propulsion plan.
Matthias Wachter, director of safety and raw materials at BDI, said: "as demand has grown faster than capacity, the supply of raw materials has entered a bottleneck phase.The supply of raw materials such as cobalt, graphite, lithium and manganese is not sufficient, and the future of new technologies in Germany will be limited.
Carmakers are investing more in electric vehicles as governments around the world tackle pollution.
Demand for battery materials is expected to increase.
Vw said it was working to secure a long-term supply contract to avoid material shortages.The company plans to invest 34 billion euros (267.6 billion yuan) in electric vehicle operations by 2022 to challenge tesla.Daimler ag's mercedes-benz brand planning to launch its before 2022 the electric version for each model, and rival BMW i3 is the pioneer of electric cars, its target is to achieve 12 2025 mass production of pure electric vehicles.
Recycling companies such as Belgium's Umicore or American group Retriev technologies are preparing to extract metal from old batteries to ease the anticipated shortage of materials.


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- Daily Zen
Budweiser’s Asia is preparing for the largest IPO of 2019, thanks to the increasing beer demand from Chinese drinkers. The Belgian brewer could raise as much as $9.8 billion from share sales, surpassing funds raised by the current biggest IPO of 2019 holder, Uber Technologies, by over a billion dollar.
The global beer market size has gone flat in the past few years, but not in parts of Asia. Demand from Chinese drinkers is chiefly endorsing Anheuser-Busch InBev NV’s preparation for the largest IPO of 2019. The world’s largest brewing company could raise as much as $9.8 billion from share sales in its regional unit.
Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC is expected to set the initial public offering price (IPO) on Thursday, after declaring a valuation of as much as $64 billion. The current largest IPO of 2019 Uber Technologies Inc. in May raised $8.1 billion, an amount Budweiser IPO could surpass.
Anheuser-Busch InBev cemented its global dominance in the beer market after buying SABMiller for $106 billion in 2016, with one-third of the world’s beer coming from its plants. However, that doubled the company’s pile of debt to over 100 billion euros ($112 billion).
In a move to reduce debt, AB InBev in last October cut its dividend in half to save $4 billion. According to S&P Global Ratings in March, the Belgian brewer may cut its credit rating after being downgraded by one level last year by Moody’s Investors Service. AB InBev has saved proceeds of the IPO to even reduce leverage further.
Asians thirst for beer has over the past decade boosted AB InBev’s sales. The growth of brewers in China is in sharp contrast to their struggle elsewhere. Mainstream beer brands like Budweiser struggle to make sales in the US and Europe where craft beer and cocktails have stolen drinkers thirst.
AB InBev is planning to woo local partners by splitting one of its growth motors off. With a separate Asia unit, the foreign brewer could find it easier to form partnerships involving stake swaps and shareholdings in the region where its revenue grew by fivefold this decade.
Budweiser, which trails only Snow brand maker China Resources Beer (Holdings) Co, is the biggest foreign brewer in China with the potential of reaching a market value to rival Heineken NV. However, the Dutch brewer last year acquired a 40-percent stake in China Resources Beer Holdings parent company as a move to challenge its larger Belgian rival in China. The partnership will boost Heineken’s presence in Chinese supermarkets, restaurants and most importantly bars.
AB InBev is heading for a strong valuation, according to some analysts. The company’s estimated 2020 earnings from price range values are above that of Heineken and Carlsberg A/S. Budweiser’s Asia unit is poised for rapid growth as beer consumers in Asian countries, especially China and Thailand trade up accordingly to pricier brews as their income rise. The retail price of Budweiser is over two and a half times the price of Snow beer in China.
An average Chinese beer consumer spends roughly $66.80 yearly on beer, whereas those in Americans and British consumers spend $315.60 and $441 respectively, according to Euromonitor International’s data. Aside from clinching the largest IPO of 2019, AB InBev is placing a bet on winning the largest beer market as Chinese beer consumers near their Western counterparts in beer spending.


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As most of you already know, the current NFL collective bargaining agreement runs out on March 4th. If the owners and the players union do not agree on a new deal, there will be a lockout causing all football operations to stop. Electronic Arts has negotiated a deal with the NFL to reduce the licensing fees for madden 12 by $30 million dollars, ensuring that Madden 12 will be released as normal. However, in order to use the NFL players names and likeness, EA will have to come to terms with the players association in order to use the players’ names and likenesses in the game.
We will keep you updated with any news regarding the release of madden 12 and any developing stories.
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