text:
Home Tags Toys
Marquette, Michigan - September 20, 2018 - "Kids these days are so entitled!" This, a phrase we all hear relentlessly on a frequent basis....
Marquette – A Huge Rummage Sale to benefit the homeless pets at the Upper Peninsula Animal Welfare Shelter will be held Friday, August 5 through Sunday, August 7 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at 803 Kaye Avenue in Marquette. Find everything you need and want at great prices. There will be beautiful clothes [...]
Marquette – The MOMS Club Multi-Family Rummage Sale to Benefit Bay Cliff Health Camp will be held on Saturday, July 9 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Father Marquette Middle School Gym, 414 West College Avenue. Admission is a donation of $1. There will be clothing of all sizes, toys, children’s furniture, strollers, [...]
Marquette – A rummage sale, bake sale and bazaar will be held on Saturday, June 11 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 1318 Presque Isle Avenue in Marquette. There will be many household items, furniture, linens, books, clo...
Marquette – The North Star Academy seventh-grade students will sponsor a rummage, baked goods and Lia Sophia jewelry sale on Wednesday, June 8 from 8:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at North Star, 3030 Wright Street, Marquette. Donated items will be accepted until 2 p.m. Tuesday, June 7. Donated baked goods will be accepted Wednesday morning. [...]
Negaunee – A Pampered For Pink sale will be held on Sunday, May 1 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Negaunee Senior Center, 410 Jackson Street. There will be cosmetics, jewelry, toys, food, tupperware and much more. Admission is only $1, which includes a door prize ticket. Proceeds from the event will go to [...]


text:
Cue Health, which makes Covid-19 test children at home, made its public market debut on Friday.
In April, Google began sending Covid-19 tests to its U.S. employees at home from a little-known San Diego startup called Cue Health.
Most of Cue Health’s business to that point had emerged from a contract with the US Department of Defense to provide rapid tests to the federal government. Google immediately became the healthcare technology company’s largest private customer.
Cue Health has used this relationship to develop a story that is attractive enough to public market investors. On Friday, the company debuted on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “HLTH” and the stock climbed 25% to $ 20 at close of trading. Cue Health estimates that at $ 2.9 billion.
Founded in 2010, Cue Health had low sales prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. It spent most of a decade as a diagnostic testing company in research mode.
Everything changed in 2020 when the worst pandemic in a century suddenly made access to immediate testing essential. In June 2020, the company received its first emergency approval for Covid-19 testing from the Food and Drug Administration.
The Cue Health test kit includes a wand, cartridge, and reader. Users take a nasal swab with the wand and insert it into the small box, where a reader sends the results to a smartphone app in around 20 minutes. Processing in a laboratory is not required.
In July 2020, a month after emergency clearance, the National Basketball Association began using cue health testing on their “NBA bubble” in Orlando, which resumed fan-free games. Three months later, the company signed a $ 480.9 million contract with the DoD to “meet the unprecedented demand for rapid, accurate molecular diagnostic testing,” the prospectus said.
Cue Health Covid-19 test
The company is still operating under an emergency clearance as the products have not been fully cleared or approved by the FDA.
“We worked really hard through the pandemic,” said Ayub Khatak, CEO of Cue Health, in an interview with CNBC on Friday after the IPO. The team “showed great determination to scale up amid the pandemic, which was quite a challenge”.
Khattak originally founded the company with product manager Clint Sever under the name Ruubix. Before last year, they mainly focused on research and development.
The most recent boon to the business came from Google, a deal that was not publicly announced and was first published in one sentence in Cue Health’s IPO prospectus earlier this month.
“In April 2021, the company and Google LLC reached an agreement to provide Google’s US-based employees with Cue Health Reader and Cue COVID-19 test kits by the end of the year,” the filing said.
Cue said sales reached $ 201.9 million for the first half, up from $ 5 million for the same period last year. Around 84% of sales come from sales to the public sector. Of the remaining $ 34.8 million in revenue, $ 28.9 million was from a “sole proprietorship customer,” said Cue Health.
Khatak declined to name this customer, but people familiar with the matter confirmed to CNBC that it was Google. People asked not to be identified as the information is confidential.
Google did not respond to requests for comment.
Scale up production
By August, Cue had sold 5 million test kits and said it was manufacturing cartridges at a rate of more than 15 million a year.
“We assume that we will increase our production capacity to a rate of tens of millions of cue cartridges per year by the end of 2021,” the submission states.
Cue Health had to discontinue to meet the scaling requirements. The company had fewer than 100 employees in 2020 and now has more than 1,250. In April, Glenn Wada, Senior Vice President at Salesforce, was named Chief Commercial Officer. Khatak said that despite being competitive for technical talent, Cue Health has been able to recruit new employees because it addresses such a tangible global problem.
In addition to Covid-19, Cue Health is working on a range of tests that can be done on saliva, urine and blood samples, as well as nasal swabs. These diagnostic tests will cover things like respiratory health, sexual health, and determining your risk for chronic diseases like heart disease.
Khattak said the company hopes to offer consumers virtual care and testing for common diseases like strep.
For Google, the agreement with Cue Health enabled employees to order additional test strips through the company’s internal resource portal. Without the availability of office perks like free food or other amenities, the company has tried other ways to engage employees and offer resources for mental and physical health.
Google had planned for employees to return to the office in September, but that date has been postponed to January 10, 2022.
Khatak said the Google partnership began because his company took advantage of the Google Cloud platform, which competes with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Google reached out to Cue Health when it realized its employees needed the kind of test product that Khattak’s team was developing.
“At that point it kind of converged,” said Khatak. “We did everything we could to scale and meet our customers’ needs, so we weren’t necessarily in outreach mode. But given the connection we had, we picked them and they chose us. “
Their work together goes deeper.
In August of this year, Cue and Google Cloud partnered to develop real-time variant tracking and sequencing of Covid-19, the prospectus says.
They aim to create “an advanced respiratory bio-threat detection system that spans from the company’s diagnostic testing at home to full real-time virus sequencing, as well as analytical and predictive capabilities with Google Cloud-based solutions,” according to the filing.
Another testing company in court
Cue’s public debut comes when Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the defunct blood testing company Theranos, is on trial for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She pleaded not guilty.
Khatak said that given the timing of the two events, Theranos naturally appears in the conversation.
“As a company that is growing and has something like that in your backyard, this is essentially something that is essentially a much higher hurdle,” said Khattak. “But we are fortunate to have a product that is widely available. There is no black box that you cannot understand.”
Cue Health also has independent clinical studies from the Mayo Clinic and has been thoroughly reviewed through health validations.
“We are happy to overcome many of these hurdles,” said Khatak.
SEE: Cue Health CEO on FDA Emergency Approval for Covid Testing at Home

domain: news


text:
What you need to know: Florida's hurricane sales-tax holiday starts Friday
With a sales-tax "holiday" starting Friday, retailers are expecting big spending on disaster-preparedness supplies by Floridians who have fresh memories of Hurricane Irma.
The six-month hurricane season arrives Friday, along with a weeklong period in which state and local sales taxes will be lifted on a list of disaster supplies. The discount period — which will run from June 1 to June 7 — means about 90 cents to $1.05 in sales taxes will not be applied to a $15 package of batteries or $45 to $52 is left off the purchase of a generator that costs $750.
"Now after being hit by Irma and everything that happened last year, people are well aware of what they need and what they didn’t have last year," said James Miller of the Florida Retail Federation. "They’re going to load up this year. We expect it to be very fruitful for retailers, and consumers are going to be able to save a lot of money on their end as well."
What can you buy?
Here are some of the items Floridians can buy without paying sales taxes during the holiday period:
- Portable self-powered light sources that cost $20 or less.
- Portable self-powered radios, two-way radios, or weather band radios that cost $50 or less.
- Tarps or other waterproof sheeting the cost $50 or less.
- Ground anchor systems or tie-down kits that cost $50 or less.
- Gas or diesel fuel tanks that cost $25 or less.
- Packages of batteries, excluding automobile and boat batteries, that cost $30 or less.
- Coolers that cost $30 or less.
- Portable generators that cost $750 or less.
- Reusable ice that costs $10 or less.
For a complete list of qualifying items, visit the Florida Department of Revenue's website.
Busy hurricane season?
Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released what it considered an outlook for a slightly above-average hurricane season, which means 10 to 16 named storms, of which five to nine are expected to reach hurricane status.
The busy 2017 season saw 17 named storms, of which 10 became hurricanes, with six reaching the major storm status.
Mark Wool, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Tallahassee office, said the pre-season outlook is intended to serve as reminder that people need to do storm planning.
"You want to be self-sufficient for up to 72 hours. You want to have non-perishable food items. Batteries. Battery-operated flashlights and radios. You want to make sure you’ve got a first-aid kit. Enough prescription medications to get through the event," Wool said. "Some of the most likely outcomes in these things, especially around here, is a power outage that can last a substantial amount of time."


text:
3 Billion Yahoo! Accounts Breached In 2013Yahoo! has tripled down on what was already the largest data breach in history, saying that it affected all 3 billion of the accounts on its service, and not only the 1 billion accounts that it revealed late last year.
Verizon Takes Over Yahoo To Complete $4.5 Billion DealVerizon has taken over Yahoo, completing a $4.5 billion deal that will usher in a new management team to attempt to wring more advertising revenue from one of the internet's best-known brands.
Major Layoffs Loom For AOL and Yahoo, Report SaysCiting anonymous sources, Recode has reported that AOL and Yahoo are about to make over 1,000 layoffs.
Verizon Wanted $925 Million Discount For Yahoo!Verizon demanded a $925 million discount on its acquisition of Yahoo!'s online services to help offset the damage from the biggest data breaches in internet history. It ultimately settled on a $350 million concession.
Yahoo! Punishes CEO After Latest Security BreakdownYahoo! is punishing CEO Marissa Mayer and parting ways with its top lawyer for the mishandling of two security breaches that exposed the personal information of more than 1 billion users.
Yahoo Salvages Verizon Deal With $350 Million DiscountYahoo is taking a $350 million hit on its previously announced $4.8 billion sale to Verizon in a concession for security lapses that exposed personal information stored in more than 1 billion Yahoo user accounts.
Yahoo! To Change Name If Verizon Deal Gets DoneYahoo! will adopt a new corporate identity and slash the size of its board if the proposed $4.8 billion sale of its digital services to Verizon goes through. The company's new name would be Altaba.
Yahoo! Deletes Tweet That Included Racial SlurYahoo! Finance said that it accidentally tweeted out a racial epithet on Thursday when promoting a story about the cost of Donald Trump's plans to increase the size of the U.S. Navy.
Yahoo Suffers World's Biggest Hack Affecting 1 Billion UsersYahoo has discovered a security breach that enabled a hacker to compromise more than 1 billion user accounts, breaking the company's own humiliating record for the biggest security breach in history.
Yahoo! Took Its Time Investigating Security BreachYahoo! detected evidence that a hacker had broken into its computer network at least 18 months before launching an investigation that discovered personal information had been stolen from about 500 million user accounts.
Verizon Says Yahoo! Data Breach Had "Material" ImpactVerizon's top lawyer said that the company now has reason to believe that the recently disclosed Yahoo! data breach has a "material" impact on Verizon's pending $4.8 billion acquisition deal.
Some Yahoo! Users Find It Hard To Leave After BreachYahoo! Mail's automatic email forwarding was disabled at the beginning of the month, leaving those who want to ditch the service after recent hacking and surveillance revelations struggling to switch.
Yahoo! Adds Social Features To Its Renamed Mobile AppYahoo! has overhauled its newly renamed primary app for smartphones and tablets by emphasizing social features aimed at people who like to share and chat about news topics online.
Yahoo Confirms Huge Data Breach Affecting 500 Million AccountsYahoo confirms huge data breach affecting 500 million accounts. Yahoo is recommending that users change their passwords if they haven't done so since 2014.
Hulu Dropping Free Video, Prepares Cable TV AlternativeHulu is dropping the free TV episodes that it was initially known for as it works on an online television service to rival cable TV.


text:
“[T]here is considerable experience with allowing users to grow their own marijuana, and overall, the effects of doing so seem not to be very dramatic.”
— “Considering Marijuana Legalization: Insights for Vermont and Other Jurisdictions,” Rand Corporation
It’s only consistent.
Cannabis is far safer than alcohol. It is less toxic than alcohol, less addictive, less harmful to the body, and less likely to contribute to violent or reckless behavior. Given that home brewing is allowed in all 50 states, it’s only consistent that adults also be allowed to cultivate limited amounts of cannabis at home.
Secure home cultivation isn’t causing problems.
Nineteen of the 23 states that have legalized adult-use cannabis and about half of the medical cannabis states allow for personal cultivation.1 In the states that have reasonable safeguards — such as limiting the number of plants per household and requiring plants to be secure and out of the public view — home cultivation of cannabis simply hasn’t been a problem. No state has repealed home cultivation, and there has never been a serious push to do so.
Home cultivation is important for patients.
About six percent of all Americans use cannabis for medical purposes according to Pew Research, but insurance does not cover cannabis. For many people with serious medical conditions, medical expenses. and a reduced ability to work combine to make the price of store-bought cannabis out of reach. Securely cultivating cannabis at home is the only way for some people who can benefit from cannabis to access it. Meanwhile, allowing home cultivation only for state-registered patients is not sufficient, because most people who use cannabis medicinally do not register as patients. Those who have the lowest incomes have the most barriers to participating in medical cannabis programs.
Secure home cultivation doesn’t have a serious impact on states’ tax receipts.
Limited home cultivation, like the home brewing of beer and home gardening, is a hobby rather than a serious competitor for regulated sales. In 2022, Colorado stores sold more than $1.7 billion in cannabis, and the state brought in over $325 million in cannabis taxes.
Home cultivation helps displace the illicit market.
Most adult-use states allow localities to ban marijuana stores. In rural areas with bans, home cultivation may be the only source of cannabis other than illicit dealers.
It’s consistent with our commitment to freedom and equality.
In a free society, adults should not be jailed for growing a handful of cannabis plants. And during this time of reckoning about racial justice and policing, we should be reducing unnecessary police-civilian interactions and police intrusions into private homes.
1In Connecticut and Maryland, home culivation began begins on July 1, 2023. In New York, it will begin after rules are drafted, which must happen by July 2024.


text:
How Did Bitcoin’s Price Fare Yesterday?
At the time of this writing, Bitcoin’s price is $9,233.35 US dollars, up approximately 0.52% from the day prior. Yesterday’s up day is a reversal of the day before it. In terms of trend, though, note that the current price is now 6.14% above its 20-day moving average, and is currently in an up trend over the past 14 days. Alternatively, for those interested in trading ranges that Bitcoin bounces between, its current two-week trading range in US dollars is between $7,200.57 and $10,197.73. In terms of its overall importance in the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin’s current market capitalization is $169.1 billion US dollars, which is about 66.43% of the market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s dominance level has been without a clear trend over the past two weeks, fluctuating between 65.36% and 68.13%. Without a clear trend in dominance, the jury is still up for grabs as to whether or not Bitcoin will be the only cryptocurrency that succeeds.
Straight Off the Chain
332,839 transactions were added to the Bitcoin blockchain in the previous day. Regarding growth in actual usage of the blockchain for transactions, observe that over the past 7 days daily transactions have dropped by about 0.67%, though it should be noted this past week the trend should be described as not clear — at least on a two-week basis. Bitcoin may end up functioning as a store of wealth if it does not increase the number of daily transactions occurring on its chain. As for Bitcoin’s transaction fees, the average transaction fee yesterday was $1.44 US dollars.


text:
Clive Black, Shore Capital
Tesco's results made "very disappointing reading for its shareholders".
"The business, once a shoppers' champion and source of commendation for the UK's business community is, under the stewardship of chairman Sir Richard Broadbent, in a cycle of what seems to be structural decline involving a sustained period of downgrades to earnings."
Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers
"Whether today marks the nadir of Tesco's fortunes remains to be seen, as the beleaguered behemoth remains under pressure.
"There are some glimmers of hope, with progress in the online offering worthy of note, the increasingly important convenience store offering gaining traction and the overall turnaround plan edging ahead. Despite the despair surrounding the shares, Tesco remains the UK's largest supermarket by some considerable margin, the actual profit number is significant and, from an investment perspective, the dividend yield of 5% is attractive.
"However, these factors have not been enough to arrest a share price decline of 26% over the last year, during which time the wider FTSE 100 has added 4%. The encroachment of the discounters in the grocery space, cut-throat margins and difficult trading conditions both home and abroad have conspired to put Tesco in the full glare of the bears and the accompanying management outlook comments seem to echo that the recovery is a long-term plan.
"The current market consensus of the supermarkets as a whole remains noncommittal and, within the sector, Tesco continues to take the brunt of investor exasperation, with the shares coming in at a sell.
City analyst Louise Cooper
"Tesco is clearly in a stronger position than Morrison's or the Co-Op, it is bigger and better capitalised. But these results suggest that the CEO Philip Clarke has still not grasped the nettle. Like Marc Bolland tinkering with adverts rather than focusing on getting the product and price right, Clarke is tinkering at international expansion and not focusing on the core UK business. It is a classic mistake to make. Don't know what to do at to turn it around, not brave enough to make radical decisions, so tinker elsewhere.
Bryan Roberts, retail insights director at market research firm Kantar Retail EMEA
"While the decline in profitability and like-for-like UK sales comes as no surprise, it marks the end of a disappointing year for Tesco. Philip Clarke is coming in for a lot of harsh criticism from assorted commentators and ex-colleagues, but we hope that this is the end of the beginning rather than the beginning of the end for his tenure. He has made some tough but necessary decisions on international, in particular, but there is still much to be done, in Ireland and central and eastern Europe in particular.
"In the UK, the two missing ingredients are clarity and consistency. The proposition, particularly in pricing, is muddled and confused. Tesco doesn't necessarily need to have the lowest prices to recover – instead its pricing needs more clarity, predictability and transparency.
"In-store standards and execution are incredibly haphazard. Some Tesco stores, in and around London especially, are in the finest shape we've seen, while others around the UK are mediocre at best. While there is a lot of great work being completed by Tesco in areas such as online, convenience, digital and London, we are still awaiting some genuinely transformative efforts to regain momentum in Tesco's mainstream supermarkets across the UK as a whole. Putting shoppers, rather than shareholders, back at the heart of the business would be a good starting point.
Phil Dorrell, director of retail consultancy Retail Remedy
"The Tesco juggernaut is juddering to a halt. Tesco has got real problems and its grand turnaround strategy, as yet, has failed to address them.
"For the first time ever, you could say that Tesco has come unstuck. It's blaming tough trading conditions and increased competition but other grocers are managing to perform in the same environment.
"While Tesco dithers, the discounters are drawing in new customers with great prices, surprising ranges and super quality. Their proposition is simple and delivered almost effortlessly. They have an energy and a drive that Tesco has lost.


text:
Already, the U.S.D.A. has racked up a $2 million bill developing and promoting the plate logo, according to the New York Times. That cost covered research, focus groups and the creation of a Web site — and it will likely transfer to publicity efforts in the first year of the healthy-eating campaign.[Read More]
Monroe was wearing the garment, often called “the subway dress,” during a scene when she stood over a grate to catch an up-skirt breeze. Up went the skirt, solidifying Monroe’s image as one of the most celebrated bombshells of the 20th century.
The dress is part of an extensive collection owned by actress Debbie Reynolds. It’s one part of a high-profile lineup from Reynolds that will be sold on June 18 at the Profiles in History auction in Los Angeles.[Read More]


text:
Cannabis companies from Canada are expanding their business beyond their country’s borders.
LGC Capital, a famous Canadian investment company, has recently become partners with AfriAg to grow and distribute weed for medicinal and recreational purposes across Southern Africa.
According to John McMullen, the company’s CEO, LGC is likely to become the first company from Canada that would be licensed to both cultivate and export medical and recreational cannabis globally.
AfriAg is one of the biggest produce cultivators in the southern region of Africa. The company owns several greenhouses and some other agricultural facilities throughout the region.
Apparently, going global is a trend in the Canadian weed industry these days. Currently, Canada's largest marijuana businesses are expanding their presence in the world cannabis market. One firm has recently struck a deal to export weed oil to Australia, while another company plans to distribute pot to Chile, New Zealand, and some European countries.


text:
Connecting Founders Co., Ltd. wins UN WEPs Thailand’s Award (SME Champions) for the second year in a row
We are honored and humbled to receive the top award for the UN WEPs Thailand’s Award (SME Champions) for the second year in a row.
PRESS RELEASE: Connecting Founders Co., Ltd. wins UN Women Award for Advancing a Gender-Responsive Marketplace
PRESS RELEASE: Connecting Founders Co., Ltd. wins UN Women Award for Advancing a Gender-Responsive Marketplace Date: November 1st, 2021 BANGKOK, Thailand— Connecting Founders Co., Ltd. was recognized in the first ever stand-alone UN Women 2021 Thailand WEPs Awards, winning the top prize in the Gender-Responsive Marketplace Category during a virtual ceremony held on October 21. […]
We discussed with Minnie Kanwra Tanachotevorapong, founder and CEO of #MoreMeat how to navigate this highly competitive industry, where to start the research and development, how she secured an investor, and what it’s like being a #firsttimefounder #raisingcapital.
On our #FemaleFoundersRaisingCapital series, Jenn Weidman, founder and CEO of Space Bangkok shared her unique experience, as a female and #foreign entrepreneur, raising fund in #connection-based Thailand.
Vietnam-based EQUO Co. (Techstars ‘21) started off as a pandemic baby, as the global lockdown drove sales off the cliff leaving the business nearly out of money before it even kickstarted. But within 18 months, EQUO managed to go from 15,000 USD to 1.3 million USD in its #capitalraise The secret push is #Resilience
From starting the business in a family garage to making it to the #Forbes30Under30 list, Suthasiny (Moh) Sudprasert is reinventing Thailand’s food supply chain by setting out Happy Grocers to be the country’s first sustainable and joyful grocery store.
When the company’s mission is viewed by investors as “not sexy enough”, Varangtip (Rung) Satchatippavarn, CEO and Founder of Ira Concept, chose her #passion and pushed forward with her mission to end #periodstigma nonetheless.
Net Supatravanij, co-founder of ila Generation shared how to tailor a pitch to #investors on #gender-specific issues, her experience as a female founder, and how entrepreneurs can benefit from #connections and #networking since #womenled companies in Thailand still find accessing capital challenging.
From our special series “#FemaleFounders Raising Capital in Thailand” Weerada S. — founder and CEO of FilmDoo — shared her takes on #implicitbias and how female founders can turn it into an opportunity.


text:
Why SMEs are Twittering away!
00:00 on Mon, 23 Mar 2009 | Social Media | 0 Comments
Love it? Hate it? Don’t understand what all the fuss is about?
No matter what you think about the new social media phenomenon,Twitter, it is a fact that smaller businesses are quickly adopting this online medium according to new research carried out by mobile operator O2.
The study showed that of the 500 SMEs interviewed, 17% are actively using Twitter – no less than a quarter of them joining in the past few weeks.
Why? Good question indeed. Well it would appear that the recent economic situation has pushed smaller businesses towards looking for more cost-effective marketing, customer service and recruitment channels – and Twitter seems to be starting to work for them.
Digging into the detail, some surprising stats emerge. 28% of those surveyed said that staying touch with similar smaller businesses also helped boost their confidence and the research also highlighted that nearly a third of the responding companies estimated they have saved around £1,000, with one in ten claiming to have saved up to £5,000 in marketing and/or recruitment costs.??What the results are from that activity we do not know, but they seem confident enough that the medium can work for them to be continuing with it.??Interestingly, around 40% of respondents say that they are using it more than LinkedIn or Facebook, which is testament to both the simplicity and power of Twitter.
A further data breakdown shows that nearly three quarters of the companies surveyed recognised Twitter’s cost-saving and marketing advantages, 42% saw the medium to be useful as a means of staying in contact with customers and suppliers, and 34% felt they could use it monitor their competitors.
Amazingly, even the Federation of Small Businesses itself has started to tweet. ??Simon Devonshire, Head of Small Business Marketing at O2 officially commented: The way small businesses are using Twitter is a great example of how the community is embracing new technologies in order to adapt and survive in the current economic climate. The increase in small businesses using converged devices such as the iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones combined with the simplicity of Twitter represents a fantastic opportunity for businesses to further raise their profiles and increase efficiency.
Further’s view of this news and of Twitter in general? We asked Rob Welsby, Senior Search Consultant at Further for his view.
“Twitter is a great communication tool for both personal and business use. It allows companies to present an approachable and human point of contact, which can be invaluable for generating new business and networking within your niche.”
“Twitter (and other online social platforms), he continues “ can be used by businesses in a huge variety of beneficial ways. From spreading latest product news to answering customer queries, increasing brand awareness by appearing as an authority in your area, monitoring your brand online or even interacting with like minded business to achieve common goals. No matter what your company does, there will be a beneficial use of Twitter if approached in the right way. Although the exact implementation will be different in each case, the common foundation is that Twitter can be a valuable and exceptionally low cost addition to your marketing activity.”


text:
At NewStar Fresh Foods, employees arent only trained on food safety, theyre encouraged to experience it.
In addition... continue reading »
When the Zappalas entered the onion business in 1927, history was on their side. Onions, after all, have been a key part of good eating, worldwide, fo... continue reading »
After only two years in the retail market, A.M.S. Exotic has seen its fresh-cut Earth Exotics vegetables grow to about 60 percent of its business.
continue reading »


text:
Elon Musk Thinks 0-100km/h in 1.9 Seconds Is Slow
He has plans to make the Roadster go faster!
The all new Tesla Roadster 2.0 is the talk of the town right now. Not just the automotive sector but everyone has been left astonished by its performance figures. The acceleration timing of 0-100km/h in 1.9 seconds makes it the quickest production ever. However there is a new twist to this tale.
As you can read from the above tweets, Elon Musk, the founder of the company has plans to make the Tesla Roadster go even faster. There has been no information about what this special option package is going to be and how significantly it will improve the performance figures. But going by his tweets, it seems he wants to implement rocket technology to this supercar.
Image credits : Tesla
No one had ever thought that the acceleration timing of less than 2 seconds for 0-100km/h would be possible but now it has! Do you think the world will see cars reaching 100 km/h in less than 1 second?


text:
Valve recently announced that its Steam Link PC game streaming service is coming to Android and iOS through a dedicated free app.
Now, the company has released the Steam Link beta app on Android, allowing users to test out the platform on their phones or tablets.
With Steam Link, users will be able to stream their entire library of Steam games on their Android phone or tablet while connected to the same 5Ghz network or wired Ethernet as their Steam gaming computer (PC, Mac or Linux).
It’s important to note that computers running Steam Link cannot be used for any other activity.
The Steam Link app supports Android 5.0 and the Steam Controller or other Bluetooth input devices.
Valve says it aims to offer 1080p/60fps gameplay experiences through Steam Link at 5Ghz connections, while an advanced settings menu in the app will also let users adjust performance quality depending on how powerful their rigs and networks are.
The Steam Link beta app can be downloaded on Google Play here.
Steam says an iOS release date is “pending further review with Apple.”


text:
After a long protracted bidding war, the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall was sold in 2021 to the Beverly Hills-based, Harridge Development Group and in the time since, residents have been anxious to see just what the next chapter of the mall—considered a historical cultural landmark for most Blacks— would look like.
The announced closure of the Baldwin Hills’ Macy’s will not help to allay those concerns. The 75-year old store has been one of the mall’s flagship retailers.
Activist/journalist Jazmyne Cannick dubbed the closing as “The End of An Era” in a recent op-ed.
“For quite some time now, I have watched the life slowly squeezed out of that mall. I think it started with the exodus of Walmart in 2016, followed by Sears just three years later,” Cannick wrote.
“There’s a lot of history and memories at that intersection that spans generations. Santa Barbara Plaza and the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza have been tied together from their beginnings. And now, with the departure of Macy’s, it’s only a matter of time before the mall completely flatlines.”
Macy’s announced in 2020 that they were going to close the store as part of a three-year plan to stabilize profitability, including the relocation of its headquarters from San Francisco to New York. The plan included the closures of its “least productive stores”.
Just last week, shots were fired inside the store as two suspects robbed the stores jewelry counter and gunfire rang out as they fled.
“We are taking the organization through significant structural change to lower costs, bring teams closer together and reduce duplicative work,” said Jeff Gennette, chairman and chief executive officer of Macy’s, Inc. “The changes we are making are deep and impact every area of the business, but they are necessary.
“Based on current macro-economic indicators and our proprietary credit card data, we believe the consumer will continue to be pressured in 2023.”
As part of the strategy, Macy’s announced that it would open new off-mall, small-format stores, but none have been scheduled to open in the L.A. area.
“We are grateful to have served our customers in the Baldwin Hills and Crenshaw communities during the past 75 years and look forward to continuing to do so at nearby Macy’s stores,” noted a Macy’s Spokesperson in a statement regarding the closure.
For those without cars, it is a matter of proximity, but for most community residents, the issue is a lot larger than convenience.
“I’m very saddened for the closure of a part of my growing up history in L.A,” said Sandi Hamilton, who grew up in the community and is a longtime resident. “It’s the first place my Mom took me to shop, so I have a lot of joyful memories. And it’s about more than convenience. I’m concerned about what happens next. We need to be clear on what’s happening. Is this a sign of another level of gentrification to come?”
Hamilton’s concern has been echoed throughout the community as word of the closing spread, particularly as there has been little to no communication from the mall owners of just what plans are in play for the community landmark.
A website featuring project updates was said to have been in the works when the Harridge Development Group purchased the mall nearly two years ago, but has not materialized.
Macy’s is set to close by March 31, 2023.


text:
Chef Mihoko Obunai and Concentrics Restaurants have teamed up on a new Poncey-Highland spot. Located right along the BeltLine’s Eastside Trail, Nexto is the neighborhood’s newest representative in Atlanta’s ramen wars.
The restaurant opened earlier this week, offering diners grilled dishes, cold small plates, and a late-night ramen burger in addition to the noodle soups. The space is a repurposed industrial shed with modern, minimalist design, and it’s surrounded by a bamboo hedge. Considering the attractive glow that comes after dark, it’s no wonder Nexto doesn’t open until 6 p.m.
Obunai’s ramen shop is now serving Monday through Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Take a look at Nexto in action on its second day of business, and get an idea of what to expect via the photos below.
• All Nexto Coverage [EATL]
• All Eater Scenes [EATL]


text:
PHILADELPHIA & CHICAGO - Dec. 11, 2017 - PRLog -- Chain.io and Nousot, two cloud technology providers that use artificial intelligence to help their customers tackle big data challenges, announce a partnership to deliver predictive analytics to the logistics industry.
By integrating their platforms, Chain.io and Nousot together serve logistics customers by enabling seamless, rapid delivery of intelligence that encompasses all internal and external systems and partners—with little human effort and no lengthy project engagement. Now these customers can quickly and accurately forecast elements of supply, demand, pricing, performance, operations, or any other aspect of their business, without prohibitive investments of capital or time.
While organizations in other industries have implemented digitization strategies in recent years, the logistics industry faces the unique challenge of inconsistent data spread across a worldwide multitude of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, customers, and other players. Each year the shipping sector alone moves 90% of the world's trade, valued at more than $19 trillion, in nearly 21 million containers on 100,000 vessels. The companies working together in this vast global network rely on point solutions, localized data, and legacy relationships to make decisions. This leads to inefficiencies, risks, extra costs, and missed opportunities throughout the supply chain.
"Chain.io solves our customers' longstanding problem of connecting the disparate systems and technologies in their own organizations and across a labyrinth of partnerships, agreements, and regulations," says Chain.io founder and CEO Brian Glick. "Once our customers have reliable and agile integrations, they can focus on innovation and speed. With Nousot, they also gain huge opportunities to use these new data streams to differentiate themselves."
Nousot incorporates the new data streams into highly precise forecasts that customers can use to compete on factors well beyond price. The fully automated forecasts, generated in days and even hours, allow customers to better plan and prioritize routes, negotiate partnerships, determine capacity needs, allocate human resources, and anticipate customers' needs.
Nousot's ability to deliver such actionable predictive models is based on proprietary technology: GlobalPulse, a massive data ingestion engine that continuously collects more than 72,000 external data sets, including economic, industrial, environmental, social, and search data; and deep learning algorithms that build models autonomously, refresh them constantly with new data, and reveal their most influential drivers.
Automatic data updates for models are especially relevant for the logistics industry as it upgrades its transportation and navigation systems, meets new compliance standards, and leverages sensor and other IoT data.
"The supply chain is a natural fit for Nousot because we already capture the macroeconomic and other external data that impact this industry," said John Papadia, one of Nousot's founders. "Chain.io brings deep domain expertise, integrating the logistics-specific systems and readying them for automated modeling. So a combined offering helps our shared customers finally create value with the technology and data that's available to them."
Glick notes that this value is what sets apart the Chain.io-Nousot partnership in the supply chain technology space. "Customers want to keep pace with innovation, but what they really care about is solving problems and getting answers," he said. "That's what we're delivering. Not technology, but value through technology."
Papadia agrees. "The global supply chain is arguably the largest driver of the world's economy, but what is driving the supply chain?" he asks. "The players in this industry have not had a reliable way to answer that. Now they do, and they can develop business strategies with those answers in mind."
Chain.io delivers fully managed software integration services, as well as its state-of-the-art Supply Chain Connectivity Platform. Their consulting services and interfaces bring service and software providers together under one umbrella. Chain.io makes connecting and coordinating systems and people easier than ever before. Chain.io is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. For more information, contact email@example.com.
Nousot is a new breed of business analytic solution: a modeler-as-a-service that autonomously builds and maintains predictive models. Our cloud-based platform handles all the steps of end-to-end data science work, allowing organizations of any size and type to advance their analytic capabilities and allocate scarce resources to more creative tasks. Our comprehensive data ingestion engine, GlobalPulse, harnesses more than 72,000 external data sets and factors them into each model, ensuring that Nousot predictions are the most aware, precise, and current available today. Nousot is not a tool for modelers—it is the modeler. The company is headquartered in Chicago, IL. For more information, contact firstname.lastname@example.org.
Photos: (Click photo to enlarge)
Read Full Story - Chain.io and Nousot partner to deliver predictive logistics analytics | More news from this source
Press release distribution by PRLog
Chain.io and Nousot partner to deliver predictive logistics analytics
December 11, 2017 at 15:56 PM EST


text:
CP reintroduces freight services to the Atlantic coast
CN adjusts operations amid strike at Port of Montreal
Canadian Pacific celebrates expanded intermodal offerings in Eastern Canada
Canadian railways expect steady grain carload volumes in 2020-2021
VIA Rail Canada announces temporary job cuts due to COVID-19
Canadian National ‘pleased’ as rail blockade ends
CN to invest $US 520m in US rail infrastructure
CN invests $520 million in its US assets
CN to invest in rail infrastructure in Mississippi and Louisiana
Tractor driver facing charges for train crash
Canadian Pacific Railway (TSX:CP) (NYSE:CP) has joined the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA). In joining the Alliance, CP is supporting BiTA’s mission of producing blockchain standards that allow for interoperability between participants in the global supply chain.
Blockchain is an open, extensible platform capable of sharing shipping events, messages and documents across all the actors and systems in the supply chain ecosystem. It uses cryptography to ensure that network participants see only the parts of the ledger that are relevant to them, and that transactions are secure, authenticated and verifiable.
“We are excited to be on this journey,” said CP Vice President of Information Services and Chief Information Officer Mike Redeker. “As part of BiTA, we look forward to creating opportunities and innovative solutions that benefit our customers and the broader supply chain.”
With nearly 500 members from freight, transportation, logistics and affiliated industries, BiTA is focused on education, advocacy, networking and commercial outcomes around blockchain and other emerging technologies. It is committed to overcoming geographic, language and cultural hurdles to enable seamless commerce.
“The Alliance is pleased to have CP’s expertise and support as our organization navigates this exciting new digital frontier,” said BiTA President Patrick Duffy. “Blockchain has the potential to smooth the transactions that occur between shippers and carriers, but it requires the active participation of transportation leaders like Canadian Pacific Railway.”
(Photo credIt: Canadian Pacific Railway)
About Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific is a transcontinental railway in Canada and the United States with direct links to major ports on the west and east coasts. CP provides North American customers a competitive rail service with access to key markets in every corner of the globe. CP is growing with its customers, offering a suite of freight transportation services, logistics solutions and supply chain expertise.
BiTA is a member-driven organization; members are primarily from the freight, transportation, logistics and affiliated industries. Alliance members share a common mission of driving the adoption of emerging technology. BiTA accomplishes this by developing industry standards; educating members and others on blockchain applications/solutions and distributed ledger technology (DLT); and encouraging the use and adoption of new solutions.
This article first appeared on www.freightwaves.com
About this website
Railpage version 3.10.0.0037
All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner. The comments are property of their posters, all the rest is © 2003-2020 Interactive Omnimedia Pty Ltd.
You can syndicate our news using one of the RSS feeds.


text:
Back in March Samsung officially confirmed plans to re-release made-safe versions of the Galaxy Note7 smartphone to consumers. At that time we heard that it had a stockpile of 2.5 million phones that were new or as-new. These were to be modified with a new battery and back cover, we heard – as the batteries were confirmed as the source of the danger in the original versions of the Note7 that reached consumers.
On Sunday Samsung said that it would soon commence sales of its refurbished Galaxy Note7 handsets. The refurb is to be dubbed the Samsung Galaxy Note Fan Edition, or Galaxy Note FE for short. Samsung boasted that its “eco-friendly project” would offer an upgraded UX like the Galaxy S8 and S8+ while retaining the design and innovative features, largely S Pen based, of the Note7.
Samsung has been extremely careful with the testing and commissioning of the new battery. The lower capacity battery (3,200mAh rather than 3,500mAh) has been “further enhanced with multiple safety designs and a rigorous and rigorous 8 – point battery safety test,” says Samsung.
To start with Samsung has said that it has 400,000 Galaxy Note FE smartphones which it will release to its home market of South Korea. Made from stock of unopened Galaxy Note7 handsets, these will be sold at an RRP of 699,600 won ($611), said to be about 30 per cent cheaper than the launch price of the Note7.
The price cut isn’t that attractive compared to the usual price fall of Samsung handsets over time. For example the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge was about £499 at launch in the UK and had fallen to £399 about 6 months after launch, according to PriceSpy data. That’s 25 per cent off this flagship in half a year – without any reduced specs.
Samsung will decide whether to sell the Galaxy Note FE in other markets at a later date but it has already decided it won’t be on the way to the US or India, reports Reuters. Those who find the Galaxy Note range appealing might be more interested in the Note8, due to launch next month.


text:
The recent political and trade spat between the US and China has apparently escalated with the US now targeting China's big solar industry.
The world's largest economy is planning to impose higher tariffs on solar imports from China. The Department of Commerce is proposing duties between 18.56% and 35.21%, much higher than that announced in 2012, on solar panels and cells.
The department noted that the higher import duties are to offset the subsidies given by the Chinese government to solar panel makers. It is expected to make a final decision in the coming months, after a review by the US International Trade Commission (ITC).
Solar companies in the US have been saying that their Chinese counterparts could substantially reduce prices and flood solar products in the US market due to the subsidies.
The higher duties would increase the prices of solar products from China. The country is the world's largest maker of solar panels, and has always denied the allegations of government subsidies.
China and the US have been in a war of words after the latter indicted five Chinese military officials on charges of spying and hacking network systems of US companies.
The US warned China over its territorial disputes with Japan and Taiwan. The proposed higher duties on solar imports are expected to weaken the trade relations between the countries further.
In counter measures, China is expected to increase tariffs on US imports of polysilicon, the material used to make solar cells.
China faced the same situation in its trade relations with the European Union, which also tried to increase import duties on Chinese solar products. In order to counter the move, China increased duties on European chemicals, wine and luxury cars.
Subsequently, the parties settled the dispute in 2013 after the EU set quotas and minimum prices to solar imports.


text:
Newion has led a €2m investment in marketing software developer Objective Platform.
Also participating in the round were Robbert Visser, former CFO of Dept, and existing investor The Hatch Firm.
Newion III was announced in July 2017 with a target of €85m. It reportedly had a size of €60m as of September 2017, but has not yet announced a formal close. The fund's objective is to invest in companies in the business technology and software sectors in Benelux. The fund plans to make 15-25 investments.
The funding will be used to further expand Objective Platform's team and product.
Objective Platform was founded in 2014 by Willem van der Weide and André Merkus to help companies track and optimise their omnichannel media investments and marketing spend. Based in Amsterdam, the company also has offices in London and Singapore.
Newion – Mathijs de Wit (partner).
Tom Alzin and Jannick Hunnecke will join, while Rolf Scheffels is to leave when his term ends
Fund focuses on investment opportunities in the lower-mid-market across North America and Europe
Frank Bretag joins from Georgieff Capital Advisors and focuses on the industrial goods sector
Enterprise Investors acquired a minority stake in the oncology company in 2013


text:
Following choppy trading throughout the Tuesday morning session, Chinese internet and technology firm Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) is managing to swing into the green this afternoon. Earlier, the company posted encouraging results from its third-quarter earnings report, suggesting a broader tech recovery in China. However, the country’s Covid-19 policies and other macroeconomic pressures are clouding wider enthusiasm for BIDU stock.
By pure numbers, Baidu’s performance provides hope for market optimists that the worst of China’s downturn is fading. First, the company posted revenue of $4.57 billion, up 2% from the prior-year period according to Barron’s. That tally beat Wall Street’s consensus sales target of $4.46 billion.
Notably, online marketing revenue did slip 4% from the prior year to $2.63 billion, mostly due to Covid-19 restrictions. Nevertheless, Baidu mentioned that the unit’s revenue improved sequentially from Q2 because of gradual improvements in the economic environment.
On the bottom line, Baidu posted non-GAAP earnings per American depositary share (beat the consensus target of $2.15. According to Bloomberg, Baidu’s cutting costs efforts also helped prop up profitability metrics.) of $2.37. This figure
Nevertheless, Baidu remains committed to diversifying its product portfolio. As Bloomberg notes, overreliance on digital marketing could leave BIDU stock vulnerable to future economic shocks. In Q3, Baidu’s non-online marketing revenue — which included contributions from its artificial intelligence () and cloud computing units — gained 25% year-over-year (YOY).
Macro Worries Still Stymie BIDU Stock
Although BIDU stock has enjoyed significantly positive momentum in recent sessions — gaining more than 19% in the trailing month — investors largely feel skeptical about the underlying business. Since the start of the year, Baidu’s equity value has plunged more than 35%.
At the heart of the anxieties toward BIDU stock is China’s attitude toward Covid-19. Contrasting sharply to many other nations that have fully reopened, the Chinese government insists on its notorious zero Covid policy.
Recently, rumors did circulate that Beijing would relax its pandemic-related mitigation protocols, thus possibly paving the way for a full reopening in China in 2023. Unfortunately, though, the latest news suggests that the country could resume its stringent policy. Additionally, ABC News reports that Chinese authorities announced China’s first Covid-19 death in nearly six months. Naturally, this dynamic bodes poorly for the nation’s economic recovery efforts, which in turn hurts BIDU stock.
Another factor to consider here is international competition. In October, neighboring Japan reopened to foreign tourism. A key catalyst for rising demand for travel to Japan is the weak Japanese yen. Unlike other central banks, the Bank of Japan has kept interest rates low.
However, by the time China reopens, global economic circumstances may have changed. Given legitimate fears of a worldwide slowdown, it’s possible that Japan and other popular tourist destinations will have soaked up the low-hanging fruit of consumer discretionary funds. This could also apply pressure on BIDU stock down the line.
On the date of publication, Josh Enomoto did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.


text:
In 2021, ebook sales by Spanish publishers in Spain represented 55% of the total. Unlike previous years, for the first time, ebook sales by Spanish publishers in Latin America account for 30% of the total, which is shared by 16% among countries in the region (Argentina, Colombia, Chile, etc.) , followed by Mexico, which represents 14% of global revenues.
The Hispanic market in the United States shrank by two percentage points, and has gone from 10% to 8% of market share, in the same way that the European market represents 4.73% of total digital exports.
With the data for the first quarter of 2022, it is confirmed that the ebook market continues to grow, but at a slower rate, specifically 9% compared to the same period of the previous year. This is mainly due, the report points out, to the growth of the subscription model, which has increased the number of readers in Spain and, at the same time, the rise in consumption of this model in Mexico.
The global income that publishers have received through ebook subscription platforms has tripled compared to 2019, and its share has increased seven points: from 15% in 2019 to 22% in 2021.
The trend in the ebook consumption model is showing adjustments; the unit sale (where the psychological barrier of the pvp of 9.99 euros remains in force) drops six points compared to the subscription, which multiplies by three the income from before the pandemic and goes from having a share of 15% (2019) to 22% in 2021. On the other hand, digital exports already represent 45% of the digital income of Spanish publishers.
Digital consumption habits are already very normalized due to confinement and the maturity of the digital reader. Although the unitary sale of ebooks on platforms such as Amazon, Apple, Google and Kobo, among others, continues to be the main income channel for Spanish and Latin American publishers, since it represents 70% of total sales, in 2019 it reached 83%, so we see a clear reorientation of consumption towards subscription.
For their part, audiobooks and podcasts continue to boom, even more so than in previous years. Subscription and streaming platforms such as Storytel, Audible, Scribd, Podimo, etc., have become the main channel for audiobooks in Spanish, representing 80% of audiobook sales, followed by individual sales channels such as Google Play or iTunes.
If in 2020 the latest Dosdoce study indicated that the estimated turnover of the audiobook market in Spanish stood at thirteen million, most of the publishers that currently sell audiobooks forecast that in 2022 there will be a growth of between 25% and 30% on audiobook sales, up to sixteen million euros.
The study concludes again with several opinion articles by various experts and with an analysis of the new NFT world.
It can be downloaded from this link.


text:
This week we are focusing more on the retail sector. Stories cover everything from software designed to improve customers’ shopping experience, how the sector can improve internally and how all of these issues intersect with technology and the environment.
Enjoy a bit of end-of-week reading in this news round-up.
Will 2019 be the year of the ‘Smart Store’?
Daniel Martinho-Corbishley, CEO and Co-founder of Aura Vision appears to think so. In an article for The Business Reporter, he writes of large investments to be made by retail companies around the world for technological solutions that will help the sector compete in an industry that is otherwise more online-focused. His company uses video analytics that he describes “piggy-back off existing camera infrastructure to minimise installation cost, and provide retailers with the data-edge they need to compete”.
In an interview with TechWire Asia, Unilever’s global startup collaboration platform, Unilever Foundry’s Asia Director, Barbara Guerpillon spoke about the scope of AI-powered technology in the retail sector beyond customer-facing systems. She said: “There are actually many innovations in the smart retail ecosystem, including last-mile delivery and inventory management, smart vending machines, consumer retail experience, product discovery and reviews, smart packaging as well as shopper attribution and analysis.”
More focus needed on customer experience
AmazeRealise customer experience officer, Chris Barnes explains why companies should be investing more in CX, after a study showed that “36 per cent of CMOs admit their brand hasn’t invested in CX at all, even though 88 per cent expect a focused CX programme to yield long-term customer loyalty and increasing sales over time”.
In the interview with Management Weekly, he emphasised that, although there are multiple ways to monitor productivity and customer experience using AI-powered tools, the need for a human component would still be required by saying that technology was only “part of the solution”.
Major conference leaves AI’s role to help the environment off of the agenda
Forbes reported on the lack of attention paid to environmental impacts technology can have at this year’s Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado. Despite major companies like Google already having implemented AI and machine learning to reduce emissions, cut costs and consume less energy, the ‘key issue’ of how technology can be used to both “improve a company’s environmental performance as well as the bottom line” was missing from the agenda, according to contributor Tom Murray.
Research for major study shows leading retailers believe an increase in diversity on boards will lead to economic growth
Gap’s senior director for talent management, Kisha Modica told Retail Weekly that they believe “diversity increases creativity and innovation, promotes high-quality decisions and enhances economic growth.
The interview was part of an in-depth diversity study being carried out in association with Google by Retail Weekly and aims to explore “the links between diverse boards and inclusive teams and employee productivity, revenue and profit growth”.


text:
Galaxy S10 5G exploded in Korea
The scene of the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G exploded overseas. The Samsung side argued Exploded because of external forces
Samsung launched and released the new flagship Galaxy S10 smartphone of the year, which includes Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10 + and the special version is Galaxy S10 5G that comes with 4 rear cameras and 2 front cameras.
Recently, foreign media reports found that Galaxy S10 5G exploded in Korea, which Samsung had already examined. And provide information to CNET that the cause of such explosion was caused by external concussion Not caused by the production process in any way Which the company refused to pay damages to the owner
However, the user named “Lee” revealed that he had not made a smart phone crash or something Just put it on the table. Caused a burning smell and smoke


text:
Which country gets the most out of international commerce?
| WASHINGTON, DC
“CHINA is now No 1 in trade”, proclaimed the front-page headline of China Daily USA, the American edition of an official Chinese newspaper, which is showcased in vending machines across America’s capital. The paper, published around the world, is one of the $2.21 trillion-worth of Chinese exports that helped make the headline true—or mostly true.
China’s international trade in goods did indeed lead the world in 2013. Its combined imports and exports amounted to almost $4.2 trillion, exceeding America’s for the first time (the exact size of its lead will not be known until America reports its full-year figures next month).
But goods are not the only things that countries trade. Alongside China Daily’s triumphant front-page story was an article about “PANDA!”, a Las Vegas show performed by the China National Acrobatic Troupe, which chronicles the quest of a heroic panda to liberate a peacock princess from a demon vulture. Such cultural exports are part of the international trade in services, which is of growing significance to global commerce. If trade in services is added to trade in physical goods, China remains number two (see chart).
China’s exports and imports are voluminous partly because its economy is so big. Relative to the size of its GDP, China’s trade is below the world average. Its exports and imports were equivalent to almost 53% of GDP in 2012, whereas the ratio of global trade to world GDP was over 63%.
Relative to the size of its population, China’s trade is also modest. It amounted to just $3,200 per inhabitant in 2012, ranking only 99th in the world. But China has over 1.34 billion people. Any economic magnitude, when divided by a number that size, looks rather less impressive. Populous, spacious economies are often quite closed: America’s ratio of trade to GDP is, for example, only a little above 30%. Brazil’s is about 26%. Indeed, Arvind Subramanian of the Peterson Institute reckons that China’s trade is almost 70% greater than one would expect given the modesty of its income and the vastness of its territory and population.
By the same token, measures of trade per person flatter small countries, like Luxembourg or Singapore. Some of the countries that rank highest by this measure are tiny emirates blessed with oil or gas. Their exports are lucrative, but not terribly sophisticated.
Ricardo Hausmann of Harvard University and his colleagues have devised an alternative measure of the sophistication of a country’s exports. To score highly, a country’s exports have to be both varied and esoteric (meaning sold by only a few countries). Using Mr Hausmann’s method, Saurabh Mishra and Nikola Spatafora of the World Bank have ranked countries according to the sophistication of their exports in 2012. Out of 181 countries, China ranks 39th. But that is a higher ranking than one would expect given its modest level of development. Controlling for its income per person, China ranks 10th.
Some sceptics of China’s trade point out that many of its seemingly sophisticated exports include valuable imported components. According to the World Trade Organisation and the OECD, China itself adds only 67% of the value of its exports; America adds 89%. Indeed, if you count only the value that a country adds to its exports, then America’s export figures are about the same as China’s.
But such a calculation would miss the point. Measures of international trade are not trying to capture the value a country adds to its economy through its international dealings. They are instead trying to capture a country’s integration with the rest of the world. The benefits of this integration mostly lie not with exports, but with imports. Countries export what they must to import what they want.
Which economy gets the most out of its imports? The biggest importer is America; the biggest per person, Hong Kong. But the country that gets the most bang for its import buck is possibly Norway. According to the IMF’s calculations, its currency, the krone, is now 83% overvalued—more than any other currency. As a consequence Norway’s money has far more purchasing power when spent on internationally traded goods, selling at world prices, than it does when spent on its own goods at home. Contrary to what China Daily declared this week, it is arguable that Norway is “now No 1 in trade”.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline "Trading up"


text:
Respiratory equipment maker ResMed Inc. said Thursday its profit rose 17 percent in the fiscal fourth quarter as its sales climbed.
The company also said it approved a two-for-one stock split scheduled to take place around Aug. 30.
ResMed said it earned $53.2 million, or 68 cents per share, in the three months ended June 30. That's up from $45.4 million, or 59 cents per share, one year earlier. Revenue climbed 16 percent, to $291.6 million from $252 million.
Analysts were forecasting a profit of 66 cents per share and $293.8 million in revenue, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.
ResMed said revenue in the Americas rose 20 percent to $160.9 million, and revenue from other regions increased 11 percent to $130.7 million. It credited the results to sales of new products, and improved mask sales.
The company said shareholders at the close of trading on Aug. 17 will receive one additional share for each share they own. ResMed had about 76 million shares as of July 30, and the stock closed at $68.03 Thursday.
ResMed said its annual profit rose 30 percent, to $190.1 million, or $2.45 per share, from $146.4 million, or $1.90 per share. Its revenue grew 19 percent, to $1.09 billion from $920.7 million.


text:
Great news to all users of the HTC Droid Incredible, Verizon has announced that it will be releasing the update to Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread. Considering that this phone isn’t exactly new (it already has a successor released), loyal Incredible users will be pleased to know that their phone is getting an extension to its lifespan with this sweet update.
In addition to upgrading the phone to Gingerbread, the update also fixes a number of bugs on the HTC Incredible – it lets it send MMS messages correctly, properly save audio files from MMS messages, successfully play audio files from a message, send Vcards through SMS messages, enables Internet connection via Bluetooth, enables VZ Navigator to operate over WiFi, and more.
And if reports are right, we’ll start seeing the update being pushed OTA tomorrow, with 10,000 users first, then 50,000 on Wednesday, and everybody else on Friday.
Next Story: Saygus VPhone is back


text:
MINNEAPOLIS — General Mills has committed to removing artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources from all of its fruit-flavored snacks, including Fruit Roll-Ups, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, and such shapes products as Scooby-Doo!
Already, more than 20% of the company’s fruit snacks, including Mott’s and Fiber One products, contain no artificial flavors or colors from artificial sources, General Mills said. The company plans to revamp the rest of its lineup by the end of 2017, with several reformulated products set to appear on shelves as early as January.
General Mills said it found in a survey that more than 50% of consumers who eat fruit-flavored snacks said they were more likely to buy them if artificial flavors and colors were removed. The company said it will use flavors and colors from fruits and vegetables juices and other natural sources.
|Jacquie Klein, senior marketing manager of fruit flavored snacks.|
“We believe in the products that we have today and see this as an opportunity to make them even better,” said Jacquie Klein, senior marketing manager of fruit flavored snacks. “This is all about continuing to deliver what families want and meet the changing needs of consumers over time.”
Earlier this year, General Mills pledged to remove all flavors and colors perceived as artificial from its cereal line during the next two to three years. The company said it had been researching the effort for several months and that it will affect approximately 40% of its cereals.“All of the changes will continue to allow us to deliver the products that families love today,” Ms. Klein said. “We’re going to make changes that delight them and will taste great.”


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Sustainable Business: Fueling the Northwest’s clean tech industry in tough times
Send this story to a friend
(Page 2 of 4)
The Flux Drive system works well in harsh environments, which is why the company is working closely with the Navy on contracts for the saltwater cooling systems used in ship engines.
Meanwhile, many Northwest clean tech companies are adjusting to the demise of dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the stimulus.
“There was a big peak, everyone was trying to invest ahead of 2010,” said Kim Zentz, executive director of clean-tech-focused nonprofit Innovate Washington. “(Investment) started falling precipitously after that, and fell by more than half in the last quarter of 2010.”
In what could be considered a response to the twin challenges of dwindling stimulus money and low demand for alternative energy, many Northwest clean tech startups — and the investors who support them — are focusing instead on products they can sell to bigger companies and utilities that have more experience in the market.
Northwest Energy Angels has invested $5.5 million in companies throughout the Northwest since it started in 2006. But the group does more than invest. Johansson said many members have experience in clean tech and, even if they don’t want to invest in a company, they frequently provide young companies with connections and assistance in fleshing out their business plans.
“It’s a shared level of understanding,” said Johansson. “The whole idea is, entrepreneurs in clean tech look to us.”
For some companies, the cheap American energy market, combined with a complex regulatory environment, is even sending them to other countries to develop their products.
Emily Parkhurst oversees all digital content for the Puget Sound Business Journal.
- Most popular
- One of the world's largest private yachts arrives in Seattle
- Weyerhaeuser moving HQ from Federal Way to Pioneer Square
- Medina philanthropic couple to open Bellevue's first marijuana shop
- For sale: Weyerhaeuser's wooded campus in Federal Way
- Seattle mayor: 'Major company' moving to Pioneer Square
- Who’ll buy Weyerhaeuser’s campus? This man has some ideas
- Why Washington’s marijuana law will be better than Colorado's
- Super yacht dwarfs other boats as it docks at Pier 90 in Seattle
- Costco leases former Microsoft building in Issaquah
- 'We were each others' soulmates:' Wife, friends remember Bob Gogerty
Commercial Furniture Sales Workpointe | Seattle, WA
President and Chief Executive Officer The Urban League of Portland | Portland, OR
Work For: ChannelAdvisor ChannelAdvisor | Seattle, WA
Vice President of Strategy & Programs Solid Ground | Seattle, WA
NW Online Manager USTravel | Seattle, WA


text:
The 2014 Busan International Seafood and Fisheries Expo will be held from the 2nd to the 4th of next month in BEXCO in Haeundae. 354 companies from 30 countries including Korea, U.S, Indonesia and Italy participate in this Expo.
This year’s Expo will increase the convenience for participants and visitors by operating each hall by item and theme.
Busan forecasted that this event will help to activate the withered domestic fishing market and to find a new market.
Source: Busan eFM News


text:
Click here to read the previous top cannabis stocks year-to-date list.
As the door closes on 2020, the Investing News Network is looking back on the operating year to see which cannabis stocks performed the best.
Investors looking for an edge with cannabis this year had a turbulent ride as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic affected virtually every market. However, the cannabis arena did have a few key wins.
As the industry moved forward, some companies in the marijuana space secured positive returns for the year as they continued to make progress at their businesses.
Data for this top cannabis stocks year-to-date article was collected on December 15, 2020, and the companies included had to meet a minimum market cap requirement of C$10 million. Cannabis companies on the NYSE, NASDAQ, TSX, TSXV and CSE were considered.
1. Vibe Growth (CSE:VIBE,OTC Pink:VBSCF)
Year-to-date gain: 544.44 percent; current market cap: C$41.58 million; current share price: C$0.55
Vibe Growth is a cannabis company based in the expansive California state market. This retailer and operator offers consumers its extensive line of products at the three stores it manages in the state.
This year, the company has focused predominantly on its operations in California by acquiring a second facility and confirming expansion plans for existing facilities. Vibe Growth did also expand beyond California in 2020 by securing a deal for a dispensary based in Portland, Oregon.
2. TerrAscend (CSE:TER,OTCQX:TRSSF)
Year-to-date gain: 321.59 percent; current market cap: C$971.02 million; current share price: C$12.95
TerrAscend is a cannabis operator predominantly focused on opportunities in the US marketplace. The company had a straightforward growth path on the open market this year, seeing its share price increase as the firm kept advancing its expansion plans.
“We’re driving strong revenue growth and continued margin expansion by focusing on operational excellence, controlled SG&A spending, and strategically allocating our capital,” Jason Ackerman, CEO and executive chairman of TerrAscend, said as part of a Q3 financial statement from the company.
3. Next Green Wave Holdings (CSE:NGW,OTCQX:NXGWF)
Year-to-date gain: 250 percent; current market cap: C$56.22 million; current share price: C$0.33
Despite seeing a dip in value earlier in the year, Next Green Wave Holdings picked up steam in the second half of 2020 and delivered a solid end-of-year performance for its investors.
The established seed-to-sale operator in the California state cannabis market recently confirmed plans for a new cultivation facility in Coalinga as it seeks to up its production numbers by about 150 percent per year.
Next Green Wave has shown steady operating performance this year; it confirmed that in July, August and September it saw positive cash flow and profitability. By November, the company had reached over US$1 million in revenues for each month of Q3.
4. Icanic Brands (CSE:ICAN,OTCQB:ICNAF)
Year-to-date gain: 204.55 percent; current market cap: C$127.90 million; current share price: C$0.65
Icanic Brands is a cannabis company with operations in California and Nevada that exclusively sells branded products. The company mainly highlights its brand Ganja Gold, and has indicated that it plans to introduce additional SKUs for this brand.
“For our Company, 2020 was always meant to be a year to solidify our company’s foundation in preparation for our future while trying to meet the increasing demand for our products,” Brandon Kou, CEO of Icanic, said as part of the company’s report for the 2020 fiscal year.
5. Jushi Holdings (CSE:JUSH,OTCQB:JUSHF)
Year-to-date gain: 190 percent; current market cap: C$669.22 million; current share price: C$6
Jushi Holdings is a multi-state operator focused on the US cannabis space. The company runs a vertically integrated business overseeing cannabis cultivation, brand curation and retail management.
As part of its Q3 financial results, Jim Cacioppo, CEO, chairman and founder of Jushi, said the company was raising the floor on its Q4 revenue guidance to an increased margin of US$28 million to US$30 million.
“We continued to see strong momentum in the business as we exited the third quarter, and as a result, we expect to see further expansion in revenue and profitability through the balance of the year,” Cacioppo said.
Despite the challenging nature of 2020 and its impact on the financial markets, some cannabis companies were able to pull through. Beyond these top five stocks, the industry saw substantial growth from companies in the US sector, a marketplace that is expected to only go up from now on.
Want more details? Check out these articles for more INNdepth coverage:
- Cannabis Investment: Canadian Cannabis Stocks
- Invest in Cannabis: TSX Cannabis Stocks
- Cannabis Companies: Stocks on the TSXV
- 10 Small-cap Cannabis Stocks
- 10 Big-cap Canadian Cannabis Stocks
- CSE Marijuana Stocks
- Cannabis Stocks on the CSE25 Index
- Are Canadian Marijuana Stocks a Good Investment?
Want an overview of investing in cannabis stocks? Check out Investing in the Cannabis Industry.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Cannabis for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Bryan Mc Govern, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Meanwhile, two longstanding cannabis partners ended their relationship.
Trulieve to donate $20,000 in scholarship funding and $15,000 to support leadership development
Trulieve Cannabis Corp . (CSE: TRUL) (OTC: TCNNF), a leading and top-performing cannabis company in the United States today announced a new partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), the nation’s largest organization exclusively representing the Black College Community. Trulieve will donate $20,000 to help fund several college scholarships awarded to students who are attending one of the organization’s member-schools as part of Trulieve’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The $15,000 in talent funding is earmarked to support TMCF’s internship program, reaching a diverse talent pool of students and alumni from their 47 member-schools to provide immersive experiences at Trulieve.
The new dispensary expands patient access to Florida’s largest inventory of medical cannabis products
Trulieve Cannabis Corp. (CSE: TRUL) (OTCQX: TCNNF) (“Trulieve” or “the Company”), a leading and top-performing cannabis company based in the United States announced today the opening of a brand-new Florida dispensary, the Company’s 80th nationwide. The new location marks the Company’s first in Tamarac and third in Broward County expanding patient access to Florida’s largest and broadest assortment of high-quality medical cannabis products.
Revive Therapeutics Provides Update on FDA Phase 3 Clinical Trial for Bucillamine in COVID-19 with Planned Completion and Emergency Use Authorization Request
Revive Therapeutics Ltd. (“Revive” or the “Company”) (CSE: RVV, USA: RVVTF), a specialty life sciences company focused on the research and development of therapeutics for medical needs and rare disorders, is pleased to announce an update on the Company’s U.S. Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”) Phase 3 clinical trial (the “Study”) to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Bucillamine in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19.
With its recent $23 million dollar financing, the Company plans to aggressively expand from 14 clinical sites to up to 50 clinical sites to meet the next enrollment goals for the Study in Q2-2020. The Study is a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial and the safety and efficacy data analyzed at each interim analysis timepoint of 210, 400, 600 and 800 completed patients are only made available to the Independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (“DSMB”) for review and recommendations on continuation, stopping or changes to the conduct of the Study. In the event of any serious safety concerns, the DSMB would be notified to determine any risks and provide its recommendations. To date, in this initial 210 interim point there have been no serious safety concerns that required the DSMB to be notified.
HempFusion Wellness Inc. (TSX:CBD.U) (OTCQX:CBDHF) (FWB:8OO) (“HempFusion” or the “Company”), a leading health and wellness CBD company utilizing the power of whole-food hemp nutrition, is pleased to announce that its common shares have been approved for DTC full-service eligibility in the United States by the Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) and can now be both traded and serviced through DTC’s electronic book-entry system.
DTC is a subsidiary of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (“DTCC”) that provides clearing and settlement services for the financial markets and settles the majority of securities transactions in the United States. This electronic method of clearing securities speeds up the receipt of stock and cash and thus accelerates the settlement process for investors and brokers, enabling the stock to be traded over a much wider selection of brokerage firms.


text:
School children and grown-up gamers are invited to get creative and imagine what Shakespeare’s final home may have looked like in a brand new competition using popular online block building game, Minecraft.
From press release:
Shakescraft is free to enter, and available in three different age categories; under 11’s, 12 – 16 year olds, and over 16’s. Judges are looking for Minecraft fans to design their very own version of Shakespeare’s home based on the footprint of New Place, with the most imaginative creations in with a chance to win some fantastic Minecraft and Shakespeare goodies worth £100.
The competition coincides with work starting on the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s project to transform the site of Shakespeare’s New Place into a contemporary heritage landmark in celebration of 400 years of Shakespeare’s legacy.
For details on how to enter, visit www.shakescraft.com. The competition closes on 31 August 2015, with winners announced in September.
***Please note students are to enter the competition independently, entries will not be submitted via school***


text:
Apple has once again made the “Apple events” channel available on the Apple TV. In addition, Apple will be streaming today’s media event live on its website. You will need to running the Safari web browser on a Mac or iOS device in order to view the stream.
Apple is expected to unveil a 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 today, alongside their much-anticipated “iWatch” wearable device.
The Apple event kicks off at 10:00AM Pacific / 1:00PM Eastern Time. MacTrast will cover the event, and will tweet the goings on live for those of you who can’t watch the event, followed up by full coverage of the big announcements immediately following.


text:
The increase in fuel prices globally has sent ripples through the supply chain. With an increase in the Bunker Adjustment Factor or BAF, the cost for shippers has also risen. However, most Xeneta customers say they have accepted this increase for Q3 while staying in the same contracts.
In the latest 2022 edition of our customer-exclusive Ocean Freight Pulse webinar, Xeneta VP of Strategic Alliance Thorsten Diephaus and Chief Analyst Peter Sand asked Xeneta customers about their bunker formulas and expected volumes for the remainder of 2022.
Here are the key results from this interesting conversation:
Key Highlights | Xeneta Customers Say
- 38% of customers expect ocean freight volume to decrease by approximately 5%
- 78% of customers stayed with the original bunker formula, accepting the increase for Q3
- 52% of customers re-negotiated prices, although their contracts are still valid
In response to the mainstream media's narrative of significantly decreasing volumes (by up to 15%), Chief Analyst Peter Sand debunked the myth for the rest of 2022 as these headlines are usually not based on data or a real set of assumptions.
When asked if customers renegotiated their prices while their contracts are still valid:
When asked about their confidence in ocean freight volume stability:
- 38% of Xeneta customers expected ocean freight volumes to decrease by approximately 5%
- 32% said they expect ocean freight volumes to be stable for the remainder of 2022
- 18% of customers said they expect ocean freight volumes to increase by approximately 5%
- 10% expect volumes to decrease by approximately 15 %.
In the June 2022 webinar, 54% of customers anticipated a decrease in volume in the coming months, consistent with recession predictions. Comparing the past customer consensus to these results – the market is in line with these predictions, showing signs of stability and with any decline leveling off.
When asked how customers are handling the bunker increase for Q3:
- 78% of Xeneta customers said they stuck to their original Bunker formula, accepting the increase for Q3
- 17% were able to renegotiate successfully
- The remaining 5% of customers said they attempted renegotiation without success.
This sentiment gives better insight into how Xeneta customers are handling not just the bunker increase and rising fuel costs but also their strategy for the rest of the year.
With the overwhelming majority (78%) staying consistent with previously negotiated rates, could this be another hint at stabilization for the market?
Impact on bunker pricing and rising cost for shippers to continue due to US/EU port congestion, trucker strikes and Covid outbreaks within China. While crude oil prices seem to stabilize, for now, will bunker prices soon be taking back their place as one of the most disruptive issues for the remainder of the year?
Want To Learn More?
Xeneta customers get access to monthly market commentary during the Ocean Freight Market Pulse Webinars. Learn more about the Xeneta platform and how to become a customer now.


text:
Canada union approves Fiat Chrysler contract; Ford next
- Donald Trump Sworn in as 45th U.S. President
- Wall Street ends higher as Trump becomes president
- Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Said to Face Antitrust Concern for Rite Aid (RAD) Fix - Bloomberg
- Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) Says It Won't Pursue Accelerated U.S. Regulatory Pathway for Opdivo Plus Yervoy in Lung Cancer
- Apple (AAPL) Sues Qualcomm (QCOM) Over Patent Royalties in Antitrust Case - Bloomberg
Fiat Chrysler assembly workers work on a partially assembled minivan at the Windsor Assembly Plant in Windsor, Ontario, February 9, 2015. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
Get access to the best calls on Wall Street with StreetInsider.com's Ratings Insider Elite. Get your Free Trial here.
By Allison Martell
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian manufacturing workers at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
The Unifor union said 70.1 percent voted to ratify the four-year deal, which covers 9,750 manufacturing workers. A rejection would have triggered a strike at Fiat Chrysler, shutting down assembly plants in Windsor and Brampton, Ontario.
In a brochure distributed to members, the union said Fiat Chrysler had committed to building a new vehicle at the Brampton assembly plant if the automaker secures adequate government assistance and market conditions warrant the investment.
"In the event a positive business case is confirmed, it is possible an alternative product, which could include an existing platform or entirely new vehicle architecture, could occur during the term of this Collective Agreement," the union said.
The union previously said Fiat Chrysler agreed to invest C$325 million ($245 million) in Brampton to rebuild a paint shop.
With contracts ratified at both General Motors Co (NYSE: GM) and Fiat Chrysler, Unifor will turn its attention to negotiating a tentative contract with Ford, where the union faces dissent from its own members.
Unifor uses a pattern bargaining strategy to negotiate with the automakers, selecting one company to negotiate with first and then holding the other two to the broad terms of that deal. Some Ford workers have already criticized the template, and it is not clear how union leaders can address their concerns without deviating from the pattern.
The GM and Fiat Chrysler contracts maintained a 10-year earn-in period during which new workers are paid less than more experienced employees, which is unpopular with some Ford workers.
The president of Local 707, which represents workers at Ford's Oakville, Ontario, assembly plant, said in early October his members would likely reject any deal with a 10-year earn-in. About 2,200 of Oakville's 5,000 unionized workers were hired under the earn-in. [L2N1C90TH]
In talks with Ford, the union has said it will push for investment in engine plants in the Windsor area that employ about 1,700 workers. But if it secures investment in Windsor without winning over Oakville's new hires, those workers have the numbers to reject a deal on their own, triggering a strike.
(Reporting by Allison Martell; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!
You May Also Be Interested In
- Powerful quake strikes off Papua New Guinea, initial tsunami alert wound back
- White House accuses media of playing down inauguration crowds
- Families of MH370 victims to lobby Malaysian minister in Australia
Create E-mail Alert Related CategoriesReuters
Related EntitiesChrysler LLC
Sign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!


text:
Italy's governing Democratic Party (PD) proposed the new legislation on Monday as an amendment to the wide-ranging fiscal reforms introduced with the so-called 'Stability Law' in June 2014.
“It's a question of freedom, citizens should be able to choose how they want to pay in any given situation,” Sergio Boccadutri, the PD candidate who presented the amendment told La Repubblica.
But struggling small business owners fear the move could have a heavy impact on their running costs and profits.
Currently, guidelines state that shopkeepers can refuse card payments on any items below €30. But under the new proposals, they would be forced to accept payments via a debit or credit card for all items, or risk fines.
Current EU laws mean that banks can take a commission of 0.3-0.4 percent on each card transaction, on top of costs of around €180 for installing a card reader.
“We don’t accept card payments and I am aware that the government want to make this mandatory,” Maria, a 52-year-old newspaper stand owner in Rome, told The Local.
“This would be devastating for us because it would mean installing a card machine, which is costly in itself. And we don’t sell high cost items so to have to pay a percentage would mean taking away from the little money we do make.”
The same concerns were echoed by Luca Forza, a 47-year-old tobacconist.
“We don’t accept card payments because we don’t have a telephone line, so this would be a huge expense for us,” he said.
“We’d have to pay for the installation [of the line] first of all and then the running costs so it would be extremely costly.”
Certainly, the changes could be an important milestone as Italy – like the rest of the world – moves towards becoming a cashless society.
“I normally have change with me, but I suppose if one day you’re stuck and want milk or bread then it could be useful,” 68-year-old shopper Roberta Gallo said.
But a greater convenience for consumers only paints half the picture. The move also comes as Italy tries to stamp out fiscal evasion, which occurs on a huge scale across the country.
A significant portion of such evasion happens when shops, bars and other retail outlets don't issue receipts for 'insignificant' items such as newspapers, coffee or a haircut.
Paying with a card makes a receipt inevitable and could help the government get back some of the hundreds of billions it loses in unpaid taxes each year.
But the Italian retail association, Confesercenti, warned that the government needs to be careful not to pass the costs onto businesses.
“These changes could be devastating for businesses which rely on a high volume of low cost transactions such as tobacconists, newsagents and petrol stations,” the association said in a statement.
In total, Confesercenti estimates that card payments cost small businesses €1,800 a year.
By Patrick Browne and Ellie Bennett


text:
Article by Sharon Montgomery-Dupe, Cape Breton Post
The Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. will soon have a pot full of new gift options, some in time for Christmas.
On Oct. 17, amendments under the Cannabis Act will legalize the sale and production of edible cannabis, cannabis extracts and cannabis topicals in Canada.
Beverley Ware, spokeswoman for NSLC, said as of Oct. 17 it will be legal for them to sell edibles, beverages, vaping oils, concentrates and topicals. However, it will be a while before the products can be purchased.
“While our stores will be ready for Oct. 17, we can’t order product until Dec. 16 because of the 60-day new product notification period imposed by Health Canada on licensed producers.”
The new products will be sold at the 12 cannabis NSLC stores and online stores.
Ware said based on ongoing conversations with licensed producers it might take time for some of these products to even get into the store. Some products may be available in late December.
“We anticipate products will trickle into the market.
In the meantime, on Aug. 7 the NSLC issued an expression of interest to licensed producers requesting a listing of edibles, beverages, vaping oils, concentrates and topicals they will have available.
The deadline for the licensed producers to respond was Aug. 21. The NSLC will review their submissions, determine which products they will carry, then ask the licensed producer to make a full listing application for the NSLC to carry their product.
- Some new products in these categories could be available in the NSLC existing 12 cannabis stores and online as of Dec. 16:
- Cannabis topicals include products for applying to skin, hair and nails, allowing 1,000 mg of THC per package. Products cannot make health or cosmetic claims
- Cannabis extracts for ingesting: 10 mg of THC per unit, such as a capsule, and 1,000 mg of THC per package
- Cannabis extracts for inhaling: 1,000 mg of THC per package
- Cannabis edibles: 10 mg of THC per package whether product is for eating or drinking
Currently the NSLC is preparing its stores for the new products. In late July, NSLC issued requests for proposals to carry out the renovations and the tenders have been awarded. The NSLC has begun meeting with the successful proponents and work will begin shortly. Ware said the size of their cannabis stores is not changing.
“These tenders cover basic renovations to the 12 stores, primarily millwork for such items as display cases and new counters and cabinets.”
Further work will need to be done, including adding new technology, equipment and security updates.


text:
City Point Design Released
by Linda Collins (email@example.com), published online 04-08-2010
Groundbreaking Later This Spring
By Linda CollinsBrooklyn Daily Eagle
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — City Point’s Phase IA design received final approval from the NYC Public Design Commission on Wednesday, according to Tom Montvel-Cohen, a consultant and spokesperson for the developer, Albee Development LLC.
Built to be eligible for LEED-Silver certification, the 50,000-square-foot retail building is the first phase of a multi-phased mixed-use development on the site of the former Albee Square Mall. Designed by Rick Cook of Cook + Fox, it will be the first new building built on the Fulton Mall in over three decades, according to Montvel-Cohen.
Groundbreaking is expected later this spring.


text:
October 13, 2008
Yes, we did say fish pedicures. Fish pedicures, all the rage for people with too much money and too much time on their hands, have been banned in Texas and Washington state. A fish pedicure consists of “doctor fish,” or Garra rufa, nibbling dead skin off of one’s feet, as they dangle in a pool along with the feet of other customers. The cost of such a pedicure typically runs $35 for 15 minutes or $50 for 30 minutes.
Garra rufa, also known as “reddish log suckers,” are native to Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, Wouldn’t you like flesh-eating “log suckers” nibbling dead skin off of your feet? One wonders if tiny cuts on feet would be a means of disease transmission. Apparently, Texas state health officials have the same concern — last week, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) announced that fish pedicures are now banned in Texas. According to The Dallas Morning News, Susan Stafford, a TDLR spokeswoman, said that the agency is “concerned that using the same fish to clean the skin of multiple customers could transmit infections. It is in the realm of possibilities,” Stafford commented. “We are erring on the side of safety.” Good call.
Read about another nonsensical fashion trend — eye jewelry.
Photo credit: eastday.com
Copyright ©2008 pajamadeen.com