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This finding does represent a major breakthrough for four reasons:
1. The vitamin E acetate oil was detected in the actual lung tissue of the case patients.
2. The vitamin E acetate oil was detected in every single one of the lung tissue samples from these 29 case patients.
3. The samples came from 10 different states, confirming that the outbreak seems to have a common cause, rather than geographic variation.
4. Three of the patients whose lung samples revealed vitamin E acetate had reported using only nicotine-containing products, thus confirming that there is significant under-reporting which may explain why about 11% of the patients do not report vaping THC.
This is significant because although not all of the case patients admitted to using THC vapes, the finding of vitamin E acetate in their lungs essentially proves that they were indeed vaping THC oils. This does not mean that they were lying; they may simply not have known what was in the product they were vaping, especially since most of these products are purchased off the black market or obtained from friends or dealers.
The finding is also significant because it provides a marker for vaping products that should not be used and makes it easier for state cannabis regulators to identify those legal THC cartridges that should be immediately pulled from the shelves. Fortunately, many cannabis testing laboratories have developed methodologies for detecting vitamin E acetate.
Every state should immediately require the testing of every legal, THC vaping liquid for vitamin E acetate before it goes on the shelves (or remains on the shelves), unless there is some other definitive mechanism for ensuring that the product does not contain vitamin E acetate oil.
At this point, it is time for state policy makers and politicians to immediately discontinue their conflation of this outbreak with the problem of youth e-cigarette use. It is time for all policy makers, health agencies, and health professionals to immediately stop stating or implying that legal, nicotine-containing e-liquids have anything to do with the outbreak.
At this point, it is also clear that states which have issued emergency regulations to ban e-cigarettes or flavored e-cigarettes are not justified in using their emergency powers for this purpose since it is almost assuredly the case that those store-bought products have nothing to do with the outbreak. While health department officials could argue that flavored e-cigarette bans are designed to address the problem of youth vaping, that problem is not in any sense an "emergency" so the executive branch in those states is abusing its power (and violating the separation of powers clause of the Constitution). Essentially, those states used the outbreak as an excuse to implement vape product bans while bypassing the legislative process. These bans should now all be struck down.
Finally, it is time for every state to issue clear and unequivocal statements that the outbreak is due to the use of THC vape carts and that the public, especially youth, should immediately stop vaping THC products, unless they are obtained legally from a dispensary which can verify that there is no vitamin E acetate oil in the product.
Note that this still does not demonstrate that it is the vitamin E acetate oil itself that is causing the illness, although that remains a possibility. It could also be the case that there is a contaminant contained in the vitamin E acetate oil that is causing chemical respiratory toxicity. It also remains possible that counterfeit and adulterated "nicotine" e-liquids are involved, as illicit manufacturers or dealers may be adding vitamin E acetate oil to otherwise legitimate products or hiding the tainted products in what appears to be legitimate packaging, but is actually counterfeit.
The Rest of the Story
I checked back through my posts and found that on September 5 (more than two months ago), I had reported the same conclusion as was reached today by the CDC in a post entitled:
"ALERT: Major Breakthrough in Investigation of "Mysterious" Lung Disease Outbreak"
In that post, I noted that every single patient who used THC vape cartridges in New York State and provided product samples had at least one cart that contained vitamin E acetate oil.
I wrote: "On my blog, I first issued a warning about the use of black market THC oils on August 25, and then on August 28 I blogged and tweeted an unequivocal warning, since the CDC had failed to do so.. .. It will be interesting to see how long it takes the CDC to issue an unequivocal warning to the public that they should absolutely not vape marijuana using THC vape carts obtained off the street."
"This emerging story shows the dangers of bias in public health. The long-standing bias of the CDC against vaping has resulted in the agency failing to warn the public in clear and specific terms about the risks associated with the use of bootleg THC vape carts and instead, issuing warnings against "vaping" and "e-cigarettes" generally and making meaningless statements like "e-cigarette aerosol is not harmless water vapor."
"The CDC and other health agencies and some anti-tobacco groups have gone to great lengths to protect the illicit cannabis industry. But they have no problem with attacking the e-cigarette companies and telling ex-smokers to return to smoking rather than continuing to vape."
Today's announcement confirms that in fact, the CDC's failure to appropriately warn the public about the role of THC vape carts in this outbreak, and the same failure among many state health departments, has almost certainly led to additional cases of the illness that would not have occurred if they had not used the outbreak as an excuse to demonize e-cigarettes. How many lives could have been saved and how many severe illnesses averted if they had simply told the truth from the beginning?
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Skoda has announced the “Edition” version of the Fabia, Rapid, Octavia and Yeti, which will be officially presented to the public at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, next week.
After pulling the wraps off the new generation of its flagship model, the Superb, Skoda has decided to bring the rest of the lineup together by creating an “Edition” version of the Fabia, Rapid, Octavia and Yeti. All vehicles are coming with the body colored side mirrors, with the front fog lights, with the bi-color alloy wheels, with the SunSet package with tinted rear side windows and rear window and with several other tweaks to help them stand out from their regular brothers.
“In addition, ŠKODA will be presenting the special ‘Edition’ models of the ŠKODA Fabia, Rapid, Octavia and Yeti series for the first time in Geneva. The occasion is the 2015 double-anniversary – at the end of December, the company will be celebrating its 120th birthday, and 110 years ago the first L&K automobiles were leaving the production halls in Mladá Boleslav”, says the carmaker in its official press release.
Besides the exterior modifications, the “Edition” version of the Fabia, Rapid, Octavia and Yeti are also getting the leather wrapped 3-spoke steering wheel, the textile floor mats with grey stitching, the leather wrapped gearstick lever and handbrake lever and that’s about all. Skoda didn’t release any specifications on the engine lineup so chances are these will most likely be offered with the entire range. More details on them will be announced at the Swiss automotive event.

domain: news


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Apple iPhone and iPad users may soon be able to pay for items using their devices, thanks to near field communications (NFC) technology reported to be included by Apple in the next generation of each.
That's according to Richard Doherty, director of consultancy Envisioneering Group, who was quoted by Bloomberg as saying Apple is working on NFC as a way to let iPhone and iPad users make payments directly from their mobile devices instead of using cash or credit cards. Doherty told Bloomberg his information comes from engineers at work on the devices.
NFC technology allows information to be "beamed" between devices at a distance up to 4 inches. The addition of NFC technology would make sense for Apple given the technology's growing popularity and because Apple last summer hired Benjamin Vigier, an NFC technology expert, to be its new product manager for mobile commerce.
Doherty's comments are the latest in a spate of rumors related to what Apple is planning for its next-generation iPhone, the iPhone 5, and next-generation iPad, or iPad 2. He told Bloomberg that both products are likely to be introduced this year. Many of Apple's competitors, including Nokia and Samsung, have pushed NFC technology and offer phones that can read NFC tags.


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Originally published on Thu December 19, 2013 12:25 pm
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. Coming up, it is the season of giving - along with really corny ads reminding you about that. In a few minutes, we'll talk about the best and worst of charity video campaigns according to one advocacy group. That's coming up.
Originally published on Thu December 19, 2013 2:19 pm
Texas Republicans can't get hold of enough guns.
Greg Abbott, the party's front-runner for governor, posed for a recent cover of Texas Monthly with a rifle over his shoulder. Nearly every other GOP statewide candidate has put out pictures or videos proudly displaying firearms.
NPR's business news begins with Target customers who are being targeted.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
GREENE: OK. If you did any holiday shopping at Target recently, you might want to take a careful look at your credit and debit card statements. The company has confirmed that up to 40 million customers could be affected by a major credit card data breach. NPR's Elise Hu has been following the story, and joins us in the studio. And, Elise, who's affected by this?
A case that put race relations in the spotlight once again — the shooting death of a 19-year-old African-American girl from Detroit on the porch of a white man's home in suburban Dearborn Heights — will be going to court.
Originally published on Fri December 20, 2013 11:48 am
I feel a little defensive about choosing "selfie" as my Word of the Year for 2013. I've usually been partial to words that encapsulate one of the year's major stories, such as "occupy" or "big data." Or "privacy," which is the word Dictionary.com chose this year. But others go with what I think of as mayfly words — the ones that bubble briefly to the surface in the wake of some fad or fashion.
Originally published on Thu December 19, 2013 1:24 pm
Time and again, business leaders say the one thing they want out of Washington is more certainty.
But rarely do they get their wish.
In recent years, business owners have found themselves wondering whether their government would default on its debts, shut down national parks, change tax rules, cancel supplier contracts, confirm key leaders at federal agencies or hike interest rates.
Finally on Wednesday, they saw policymakers take two big steps toward a more certain future.


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The only other company he is associated with in India seems to be Sunshine Teahouse Private Limited, where he has been director. The company runs the popular tea-service cafes under the brand-name Chaayos, in which Tiger Global also invested. He was appointed on May 15, 2015. Chaayos has also been on a growth path. He resigned with effect from December 13, 2016, to take over as chief executive officer of Flipkart
in January 2017.
He replaced Binny Bansal, who was elevated to the position of group chief executive officer. A year earlier, co-founder Sachin Bansal had been elevated from the CEO’s post to that of the chairman.
It was not just the founders who had to take a step back at the company. A number of senior executives exited the company soon after Krishnamurthy came on board. Rumours were soon doing the rounds that there could more exits, including those of Surojit Chatterjee, senior vice-president of product management; Saikiran Krishnamurthy, the head of Ekart; and Samardeep Subandh, chief marketing officer.
It is said that this was part of Krishnamurthy’s mandate, to cut losses and realign operations for better growth. Investors seemed to have backed the moves, with Flipkart
raising more money in a year than in the previous nine – as Business Standard noted in an interview with Krishnamurthy last month.
This was not his first hands-on stint at Flipkart. He was the interim chief financial officer for the company during a previous stint from 2013 to 2014. He has worked at e-commerce company eBay and consumer goods company Procter & Gamble earlier.
He has two MBA degrees, one from the Philippines’ Asian Institute of Management and another in finance from the US-based UIUC College of Business.
Krishnamurthy is also said to have led Flipkart fashion portal Myntra’s acquisition of Jabong in July 2016, reportedly pushing to close the deal in a matter of three days. The $70-million deal opened doors for a significant rise in new customers, with Flipkart discovering that only a third of Jabong’s customers were also on Myntra.
He reportedly often deals with juniors directly, and communicates with vendors directly as well.
Many wondered if he was running too tight a ship, with not enough senior executives to handle the load. Walmart’s endorsement seems to show otherwise.


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The French Vivarte group, which has already sold Merkal, André and other retail chains, has entered exclusive negotiations for the sale of Besson Chaussures, a profitable chain of 133 suburban low-priced shoe stores that sold nearly 13 million pairs in 2017, generating revenues of €264 million.
The future owners of Besson are Weinberg Capital Partners, an investment firm founded by two former executives of PPR (the predecessor of Kering), and a French entrepreneur, Philippe Ginestet. The latter runs a mini-conglomerate, GPG, that last year bought Tati, a French chain of 109 low-priced apparel stores, from the Eram group.
GPG, which is set to take a minority stake of 49 percent in Besson, reached a turnover of €1.3 billion last year. It currently owns a total of 727 stores under three banners – Tati, Gifi and Trafic – and is now targeting a network of 1,000 stores by 2027, with a major development for Besson and common customer loyalty programs. Gifi is a large chain of low-priced stores for gifts and home furnishings. Trafic is a small Belgian chain of 83 discount stores.
Vivarte, which has owned Besson since 1998, has not been able to expand the shoe retail chain because it is in direct competition with a much larger chain, La Halle, which it has decided to keep and develop further. The current management of Vivarte has decided to sell Besson to avoid any further cannibalization.
As previously reported, Vivarte has divested other operations in the last two years to help reduce its debt, concentrating on five retail chains - La Halle, Caroll, Minelli, San Marina and Cosmoparis – as compared to 16 chains and a shoe manufacturing company before. All five chains are in different segments of the footwear sector except for Caroll, which sells clothing.
The group recently sold the well-known André chain of shoe shops to Spartoo and Naf Naf, a brand of women's wear, to a Chinese company. It still hasn't found a buyer for a sportswear brand in its portfolio, Chevignon, but is in talks with potential investors.


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The Garmin-owned marine navigation company Navionics’ security has sprung a leak with more than 260,000 customer records being found exposed on a misconfigured MongoDB server.
The records were found by Bob Diachenko, director of cyber risk researcher at Hacken, who came across the records after they were indexed by the Shodan search engine on September 10. Altogether more than 19GB of data containing 261,259 records were included with information such as email addresses, names in some cases, purchased products IDs, and user IDs being left in the open.
Other data left in the open was “application version and platform used, device ID, longitude and latitude, boat speed, a navigation device, horizontal accuracy, and other navigation details,” Diachenko said.
Diachenko informed Navionics of the issue on September 11 and was told in a statement the company was informing the affected customers and blocked the vulnerability. The database did not appear to have been tampered with leading Diachenko to believe no data Altogether.


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Credit card debt drops to eight-year low
Published: August 26,2010
NEW YORK — The amount consumers owed on their credit cards dropped to its lowest level in eight years, as cardholders continued to pay off balances in the uncertain economy.
The average combined debt for bank-issued credit cards — those with a MasterCard or Visa logo — fell to $4,951 in the second quarter, down 13 percent from $5,719 last year, according to TransUnion.
The credit reporting agency said it was the first time card debt fell below $5,000 since the first quarter of 2002.
More borrowers also made payments on time. The number of cardholders past due by 90 days or more fell to 0.92 percent in the second quarter, from 1.17 percent last year.
The improvements are more evidence that consumers are working to keep their credit cards in good standing.
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The HTC M7 will reportedly come with an Ultrapixel camera, in a bold bid to pull the tide in its favor regarding the war raging over smartphone snappers. The device itself has been at the center of intense speculation over the past few months with almost every aspect being ‘outed’ and subsequently debated.
That the device will feature something of a humungous Ultrapixel camera is not anything new. We’ve seen larger snappers like the one packed into the Nokia PureView 808. But this one, according to the rumor, will be made from an array of tinier sensors. These will allegedly work in conjunction to give a composite image of higher quality.
As PocketLint is reporting, this might not mean that the resulting image will necessarily be larger in dimensions. The website says that there will be three individual sensors of 4.3MP resolution each, but they won’t combine in the standard way to give an approximate output of 13 megapixels.
Instead, the speculated technique to be used is one that combines three separate bundles of data to constitute a single pixel. This would allow for crisper images, possibly with a more accurate color representation for each pixel.
The website further points out that the snapper’s naming system is not just for outrageous effect, but to remind people that what might look like a 4MP sensor on the surface, is something completely different, effectively. That’s all good, but what would this technique need in terms of a processing heart? The rumor doesn’t specify anything in particular, but it might need a new stepped up imaging chip.
Just recently we reported that the device could be launched in early March, and the same piece of gossip also brought an exact release date along. Before that, we saw a few pictures of the purported handset surface, some even detailing what was thought to be a new upgraded version of the company’s Sense UI.
Even with the real name of the HTC M7 still to be confirmed, a possible Ultrapixel camera which would open up new kinds of experiences seems like a nice option to have. And since the company plans to hold an event on February 19, we’ll only have to wait about two weeks to find out the truth behind all the speculation.


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Sprint Gets Lowest Marks in Consumer Reports Survey
If Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) hopes to effectively compete with its largest rivals AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), and its new controlling shareholder — SoftBank — ever plans to get its money back, consumers need to warm to Sprint’s service. So far, Sprint has been unable to turn that corner, and its problems actually have worsened. A new Consumer Reports study shows Sprint’s position among consumers actually has weakened.
According to the report on cell phone service ratings:
Sprint is now the lowest-Rated carrier in Consumer Reports’ latest annual cell-phone service Ratings, based on a survey of 58,399 subscribers by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. While it trailed only Verizon in overall customer satisfaction among the major carriers in last year’s ratings, Sprint received dismal marks this year for value, voice, text and 4G reliability.
AT&T and Verizon did well enough that they likely will hold almost all of their customers with ease. Even fourth place cellular provider T-Mobile US Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) had reasonably good grades, a particular insult to Sprint, which is much larger:
Verizon Wireless was once again the top major carrier, receiving high marks for data service and some aspects of customer support. AT&T and T-Mobile got mostly ho-hum marks, though AT&T was the lone carrier to receive the top rating for the reliability of its 4G service.
Sprint favors the use of nontraditional accounting standards like “adjusted EBITDA” to mask its deep financial problems. Based on standard accounting, it lost $398 million last quarter on revenue of $8.7 billion. For the same period, Sprint lost a net 313,000 customers.
Sprint’s new outside investor looks foolish so far, based on the deal completed in July:
Sprint Nextel Corporation and SoftBank Corp. today announced the completion of their merger whereby SoftBank has invested approximately $21.6 billion in Sprint, consisting of approximately $16.6 billion to be distributed to Sprint stockholders and an aggregate $5 billion of new capital ($1.9 billion at closing) to strengthen Sprint’s balance sheet.
At the rate Sprint’s results are deteriorating, Softbank will take a huge loss on its investment.
Sprint finished dead last in the Consumer Reports survey, which matched its financial results to its three major competitors.


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The U.S. music industry just reached a milestone that really should have been true all along: Americans are now more likely to listen to music than watch it on YouTube—but that doesn't necessarily mean that musicians will make more money this year.
According to mid-year reports from leading media analytics firms
Why is audio in particular doing so well? The answer is not simply because there are more users. Spotify did manage to grow its paying subscriber base from 10 million in May 2014 to 35 million as of this month, but the total number of audio streams grew at a much faster rate over the same time period. While
The more appropriate answer is that existing users are now listening to even more music. In spite of their struggles to turn a profit, audio streaming services excel at designing incentives to keep users returning to their platforms. Apple Music and Tidal focus on securing high-profile content exclusives and unconventional curators such as Alexander Wang; Spotify rolls out new automated recommendation experiences such as Discover Weekly and Fresh Finds on a regular basis. Moreover, audio is fundamentally more portable and versatile than video—it is much easier to stream audio while jogging or cooking than it is to watch a video at the same time—and features such as Spotify Running are responding to this trend and expanding the number of mobile touch points for engaging with music.
Some have interpreted this news as a sign of video’s declining influence in the music industry, but that sector is still seeing impressive growth—dominated by YouTube and Vevo, and now joined even by Spotify, Tidal and Apple Music themselves as they venture into original video content. The launch of platforms like YouTube Red also points to this inevitable convergence between audio and video online. As a result, BuzzAngle CEO Jim Lidestri told Forbes that “the audio streaming sector most likely will not be able to replicate such impressive year-over-year growth in the future."
The reports from Nielsen and BuzzAngle also reveal our increasingly bite-sized digital consumption habits, which both feed and derive fuel from streaming's rise. While sales across all digital formats continue to decline, digital album sales are actually decreasing at a faster rate with each calendar half-year (9.2% decline in the second half of 2015 and a 9.4% decline in the first half of 2016, according to BuzzAngle). Furthermore, revenue from digital song sales so far in 2016 still outnumbers digital album sales by nearly a 9-to-1 margin ($410.5 million versus $45.9 million, respectively).
As these music sales are plummeting, an even more pressing question looms ahead: what does the surge in streaming activity really mean for the financial future of the music business? The answer is unclear in part because neither Nielsen nor BuzzAngle provides a breakdown of streaming activity from paying subscribers versus from ad-supported free users. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) usually provides this breakdown in its mid-year report, which has yet to come out for 2016.
According to the RIAA, 2015 was the first year ever when streaming singlehandedly drove overall revenue up by 0.9%, bringing the music business to its first growth state in over a decade. Any claim that this growth will continue into the future rests on several assumptions: that paid streams will outpace ad-supported streams, and that the volume of video streams and SoundExchange distributions (payouts of royalties from non-interactive digital services like Pandora and SiriusXM) will continue to rise, which is ambiguous amidst increasingly heavy competition from the on-demand streaming world.


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Bauer Custom Media, in partnership with Weight Watchers, has relaunched its Weight Watchers magazine.
Weight Watchers is evolving from weight-loss to address the more holistic benefits of a healthy lifestyle. The new-look magazine will spearhead the global transformation of the iconic brand, unveiling a modern, fresh and authentic lifestyle brand targeting women 30+.
On the relaunch of Weight Watchers, Paul Schiffner, managing director Weight Watchers said, “Our research shows that the consumer’s focus is shifting from weight-loss goals towards healthy life transformations; consequently the changes we are making to our products and services better reflect the consumer’s mindset and promotes our new holistic approach to a healthy lifestyle.
“We know that more than 80 per cent of Australians have health goals they want to tackle at the moment, but time, budget and knowledge are inhibiting them from achieving these goals. Our aim for the relaunch of Weight Watchers is to transform the way consumers approach their health by providing an innovative range of products and services that will help members achieve a better level of health and a better quality of life.”
The new-look Weight Watchers magazine delivers an inspiring, motivational take on building
a healthier you ‑ physically and mentally ‑ with the latest seasonal recipes, fashion and beauty features, real-life success stories, along with easy-to-follow fitness programs. The magazine will also carry the new-look Weight Watchers logo which will be rolled out across program material, cookbooks, products and digital content.
“We’re really excited to be relaunching Weight Watchers magazine. Whether it’s in-magazine or online, the content has been beautifully curated to provide Weight Watchers with a marketing vehicle that speaks to the next generation of consumers in a relevant, engaging and inspiring format,” added Niall Murphy, executive general manager Bauer Custom Media.
The new-look Weight Watchers magazine goes on sale Thursday, 13 August.
Medallia has appointed Heather Paterson as its new ANZ country manager to drive further growth across Australia and New Zealand. With a strong sales performance and leadership background, Paterson joins Medallia as ANZ country manager following more than seven years with leading SaaS financial technology provider, Intralinks, where she was most recently director for Asia […]
Spikes Asia today announces that the 2021 awards will take place in February, bringing them forward to the first quarter of the year. Judging for the Spikes Asia Awards, the region’s most prestigious creative branded communications accolade, as well as the Tangrams Awards and Young Spikes competitions will all take place in February 2021. In […]
Following a rigorous round of online judging by 133 industry experts, The Communications Council today announced that 88 finalists from 24 agencies on behalf of 36 clients have made it into Round Two of the Australian Effie Awards. Finalists will now compete for Effies, Australia’s only awards based on proven advertising effectiveness – across 26 […]
Integral Ad Science (IAS) today announced the launch of “Channel Science”, an industry-leading partnership between Channel Factory and IAS. The Channel Science solution helps advertisers to leverage both companies’ technologies through a single product to ensure their YouTube campaigns are brand-safe, brand-suitable, and performance-optimized. More than ever before, advertisers are searching for ways to streamline their media buying and improve […]
WPP AUNZ has launched its inaugural podcast series, led by WPP AUNZ Chief Strategy Officer, Rose Herceg (pictured). The podcast series will focus on the company’s recent thought leadership study: Secrets & Lies Chapter 4, Humanity & the Machine. Aired over the next few weeks, each discussion will take a deep dive into exploring the role […]
Westpac Group today announced it has partnered with Verizon Media’s Omnichannel DSP across its entire brand portfolio including Westpac Bank, St George Bank, Bank of Melbourne and Bank of South Australia. The new partnership gives Westpac Group access to Verizon Media’s end-to-end strategic marketing and planning capabilities including: first-party data based audience insights; full-service omnichannel […]
Network 10 is set to undergo a massive restructure, leaving a number of high-profile journalists out of a job, including Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Natarsha Belling and Tim Bailey, B&T understands. As first reported on The Sydney Morning Herald, the restructure was announced to staff on Tuesday. As part of the restructuring, the presentation of the weekday […]


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Concerned that Banning is being selective and picking “winners and losers” between potential successful companies, Banning’s Mayor, Pro Tem David Happe, insisted on his pro-business stance in a continuation of a Tuesday evening hearing.
“We have the option to strike here while the iron is hot,” Happe said, referring to a change in community law that would allow cannabis micro-businesses to set up businesses and attract some of the businesses that Desert is instead monopolizing Hot springs and cathedral city.
His only concern was making sure a 200-foot buffer is effective when a micro-business has a retail front, which many of them usually do.
A micro cannabis business, according to the city, is a commercial cannabis company that operates at least three out of four cannabis businesses: retail sales, growing less than 10,000 square feet of roofing (anything larger is a commercial cannabis growing company), distribution, and the Production in the same premises.
“What we learned is that cannabis is not the boogieman,” said Happe. “This is going to be a long process” of trial and error for the city as it turns to industry support, suggesting micro-businesses are sure to be flawless outfits that add extra pairs of eyes to the community.
Councilor Alberto Sanchez did not buy it, stating that micro-businesses are simply “a workaround for retailers,” of which three pharmacies are currently allowed in the city, although only two have opened with permission. “It’s just a way of getting more retailers into town and that doesn’t suit me well,” said Sanchez. “When it comes to growing, you can grow your own thing, but you can only grow seven plants” legally, noting that small businesses with retail components don’t necessarily have to sell home-made products.
“The restrictions imposed by the city are there to protect the residents of Banning,” said Sanchez.
He recommended a joint meeting with the planning commission, which had to give recommendations to the council for approval.
Sanchez was the only one who voted against approving the measure (Councilor Kyle Pingree was absent during that part of the meeting), which passed 3-1.
The city lifted a proposed limit on the number of micro-businesses allowed and let the market determine the sustainability of success; will impose a buffer preventing retail operations from taking place within 60 feet of residential areas; and removed a restriction that would have made retail stores “delivery only”.
Staff Writer David James Heiss can be reached at email@example.com, and messages can be left at (951) 849-4586 x114.


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Nice’n Easy Increases Awareness Using 4C TV Sync on Facebook
Feb 28, 2017
Nice’n Easy, Clairol’s leading hair colour brand, needed a scalable solution to create awareness and increase reach across the UK. Their media agency Performics wanted to find a way to cut through the noise and stand out to engage with a female 30+ audience.
By using 4C’s self-serve platform, Performics took advantage of additional Facebook targeting and campaign management features, enabling them to blunt the impact of the main competitor’s TV messaging and drive consideration amongst Nice’n Easy’s core female audience in the UK. This campaign was run alongside Nice’n Easy’s standard Facebook activity.
Through 4C TV Sync, Nice’n Easy enhanced their Facebook campaign performance and saw strong results compared to standard (non-synced) ads.
• £0.02 Cost per Engagement
• £0.06 Cost per View
• 40% Higher Video Views
4C’s extensive TV Sync capabilities allowed us to maximise performance by activating Facebook ads only upon our competitors’ advertising their equivalent product line. The initiative performed above expectations, driving 40% more views than standard targeting. Campaign set-up and management was intuitive with training and support provided to ensure a seamless activation.
Head of Biddable International, Performics


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NIA South Korea Picks DBI for Information Access Centre’s Grant… as Ajiya Promotes FG Digital Ecosystem Policies
The 9th Global ICT Leadership Forum in Seoul Republic of Korea has come and gone but not without its benefits as the Digital Bridge Institute, DBI has been given the right to host the Information Access Centre (IAC) by the National Information Society Agency (NIA) under the Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea.
Recall that NIA, Republic of Korea has been to DBI for a facility assessment tour and found DBI worthy of using it as an Information Access Centre. After a painstaking and rigorous selection process which was supported by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, and Ministry of Finance, and further participation of the DBI Team led by Prof Mohammed Ajiya at the 9th Global ICT Leadership Forum, the DBI has now been approved to be as an Information Access Centre (IAC).
IAC aims to create multi-functional facilities which include an ICT Training Lab, Internet Lounge, Video Conference Room, and Administrative Office to offer a wide range of opportunities for ICT enablement and to bring them into the Information Society. In this regard, NIA is to equip DBI training facilities and make it a global Information Access Centre.
At the 2-day 9th Global ICT Leadership Forum started from Wednesday, 1st to Thursday, 2nd November, 2023, Prof. Ajiya extensively discussed policies of the Nigerian government to promote digital innovation and co-prosperity.
The forum tagged: Global Cooperation for the Digital Co-prosperity Society was held at Sofitel Ambassador Hotel, Seoul, Republic of Korea and hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT(MSIT) and organized by the National Information Society Agency (NIA), Republic of Korea.
Prof Ajiya, who was among the panelists discussed the topic: Digital Ecosystem for Innovation and Co-prosperity. He elaborated on Nigeria government’s digital policies which according to him included: National Digital Economic Policy and Strategies 2020 – 2030, Nigeria Payment Systems Vision 2025 among others
He added that “these policies and frameworks have helped to ramp up the adoption and implementation of ICT services in Nigeria. Presently major success has been recorded in the Financial Technology (FinTech) sector. The Nigeria Fintech Industry has birthed key innovations, and strategic partnerships that have improved Nigeria’s financial inclusion ratings and major ecosystem transformations, building indigenous solutions to tech challenges. The FinTech sub-sector is committed to accelerating innovation in the Nigerian technology landscape.
“Nigeria is among the top three leading technology hubs in Africa. Nigeria has witnessed the launch of successful FinTech and has produced fintech unicorns that have delivered viable technology services within and across borders. Such tech startup includes brands like Interswitch, Jumia, Flutterwave, Opay, and Andela who have joined the club more recently. Development in the FinTech sector has also seen the emergence of Digital Banking Companies and several mobile payment solution providers and tech service providers. The fintech sector is the most visible and evident testament to Nigeria’s tech transformation”
On digital ecosystem policy initiatives taken by the Nigeria government to promote innovations and co-prosperity, Ajiya stated that “presently, the Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy Dr. Bosun Tijani in October 2023 has rolled out a roadmap titled “Accelerating our Collective Prosperity through Technical Efficiency -A Strategic Plan for the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy”.
“The vision of the Honourable Minister was to facilitate universal, ubiquitous, and cost-effective access to communications infrastructure throughout the country, Promote the utilization of ICT in all spheres of life to optimize the communications infrastructure – digital content creation, domestic software applications, and the delivery of private and public services over the Internet, Promote and facilitate the development of the ICT industry and increase the contribution of the ICT industry to GDP and Utilise ICT to drive transparency in governance and improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of public service delivery in Nigeria.”
Major Nations at the forum were: Nigeria, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Korea, Lao PDR, Panama, Serbia, Uganda, Vietnam, and the World Bank Group.
Prof Mohammed Ajiya and the Group Head, of Corporate Services, Ms. Viola Usoro-Askia were the DBI team who represented Nigeria at the forum.


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The largest coupon website Groupon has been launched on Tuesday in UAE. Groupon is a US-based deal-sharing service providing website. It provides its users instant offers from local business at Dubai and Abu Dhabi. A specific numbers of people have to sign up for this website.
After signing up for the website, the users may get benefits of several other offers as well.
Groupon is providing services for restaurant meals, spa and gym membership as well. Founder and Managing Director of Groupon, Middle East, Mr. Faisal Haq has said that UAE is a very prospective market for the company. High disposable incomes and huge number of youth is main advantage of this country. UAE is an ideal market for the business partners and end consumers as well.
Haq has also started that the business is just two months old in UAE. It started with only one member and now it has team of 15 people. It’s also looking to expand its workforce. The website has received 210,000 daily visits before its launch in the country. Groupon is serving over 500 markets in 43 countries. It was started just two years ago in Chicago. However, the concept has already been copied by local players such as GoNabit and Cobone.
- Scientists discover Oldest Stone Tool in Turkey
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- Xiaomi to Invests 1.27 billion Yuan in Midea, a Home Appliance Manufacturing Company
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- Former Atlantic City Showboat Casino Bought by Richard Stockton College


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“Tesla’s earnings are due out on Wednesday, July 22 after the market closes. It will be must-see TV for Wall Street denizens.” – barrons
Analysts that have been propping up their price target on the electric car-making giant for weeks, and those that have been betting strongly that Tesla doesn’t deserve the massive price hike, will be judged next week Wednesday accordingly, once Tesla reports earnings next week Wednesday, July 22 after market closes.
Yesterday, Credit Suisse analyst Dan Levy raised his Tesla price target to $1,400, or twice the $700 target he’d given previously, on the heels of a monster rally that sent shares as high as $1,794.99 on July 13.
According to Levy, Tesla stock is priced for perfection, and any material hiccup could drive a correction.
“Tesla is now the world’s most valuable automaker even though it will only sell ~450-500k units this year (<1% global volume,” Levy said. “To justify the current stock price, we believe one must assume that by 2025 Tesla will set 2.2mn units (making it as large as German luxury brands, while trading at an elevated 30x+ PE [price/earnings] multiple.”
Levy’s new price target of $1,400 on shares of Tesla is well above the $881 average price target on the stock among more than 30 analysts on Wall Street, according to Bloomberg data.
Just 3 days ago, Piper Sandler analyst, Alexander Potter, raised his Tesla price target to $2322 because of the “faster-than-expected share gains” and big opportunities in software.
“While deliveries are a key driver of our increased near-term estimates, software is the biggest driver of our increased DCF-based price target,” – Potter added.
Zacks Consensus Estimate
According to Zacks consensus estimate, Tesla is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.63 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +43.8%.
Revenues are expected to be $4.98 billion, down 21.6% from the year-ago quarter.
We all gonna need a huge popcorn box, come next week Wednesday!. Are you a buyer or a seller at this $1500 price level?.


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The lenders also warned the public not to open an account with Future Retail except under applicable law and where permitted by the lenders.
Lenders to poor retailer Future Retail (FRL) moved on Tuesday to protect their loans in the event of a transfer of the company’s assets. Led by Bank of India, they issued a notice to safeguard their interests, warning that such transactions may also be subject to chargebacks available under the law, including those for preferential transactions and fraud.
According to sources, the banks are investigating the DRT (Debt Recovery Tribunal) route, which they believe could be a better option than the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP).
“… the lenders hereby inform anyone that all movable fixed assets and current assets including receivables, inventories, spare parts, inventories, cash flows as at date are subject to a fixed fee in favor of the lenders, and any person they will at all times transact in such assets, subject to the charge of the lenders, which may be sued and enforced against any such person dealing in such assets, unless such transactions have taken place in the ordinary course of business in retail by FRL,” the banks said in the note.
The lenders also warned the public against opening any account – deposit accounts, current accounts, safe deposit boxes or lockers – for Future Retail, except under applicable law and where permitted by the lenders.
Future Retail missed the December 31, 2021 deadline to repay its lenders Rs 3,494.56 crore under the terms of a one-time restructuring plan (OTR) approved by the Kamath Commission. In January 2022, a consortium of 27 banks informed the Supreme Court that they had begun classifying Future Retail’s accounts as non-performing assets.
Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures, has moved to end the sublease of 947 Future Group stores after they were acquired last month. The stores had been sublet by Reliance to Future, which defaulted on rent payments.
Meanwhile, the legal battle between Amazon and Reliance over Future Group’s assets continues. While hearings are underway in the Supreme Court, Amazon said in a statement Tuesday that any attempt by Future Retail and its promoters to sell or transfer its retail assets would result in civil and criminal penalties.
Future Retail’s business had come under pressure during the pandemic and banks had responded by providing an OTR deal to the company under the terms of the Kamath commission report. Lenders had expected Reliance Retail to have completed the acquisition of Future Group’s retail assets by the time the repayment schedule went into effect. That plan failed amid pending legal proceedings and Future Retail missed the December 2021 deadline to repay its lenders.
This post Banks move to protect their interests as future retail assets change hands
was original published at “https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/banks-move-to-secure-their-interests-as-future-retail-assets-change-hands/2462152/”


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Does the new iOS 7 make Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) “best friends forever?” Although Yahoo has been an integral part of Apple’s mobile operating system since the iPhone’s debut in 2007, it seems that the latest version of iOS has even further cemented the two tech companies’ bonds.
The new built-in Weather app for iOS 7 is a good example of the deepening bonds between these two companies. Although Apple already used Yahoo’s weather forecast updates for iOS 6, it was visually apparent that iOS 7’s new native Weather application was essentially a retooled version of Yahoo’s own weather app for iOS.
Apple Insider notes that Yahoo’s recently updated weather app for Apple’s iOS includes many of the same design elements that are found in Apple’s new built-in Weather app. This would seem to indicate that Yahoo was not only supplying weather updates for Apple’s Weather app, but it was also helping to design its appearance and functionalities.
Perhaps it was no coincidence that Yahoo’s Weather application was the recipient of an Apple Design Award at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference. Apple noted the app’s “simple, uncluttered, and beautiful visual design” – adjectives that have often been used to describe Apple’s own design ethos.


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Ticket prices rise as game attendance slumps
San Francisco, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/28/2012 -- With the cost of the average ticket to an NFL game rising every year, one way to save is to buy tickets at the last minute. According to SeatGeek.com, the best way to save on the cost of attending an NFL game is to wait until a day or two before kickoff to buy tickets.
“Ticket prices in the 24 to 48 hours prior to the game are about 30% lower on average than the price of tickets purchased two or three weeks in advance,” SeatGeek stated after an analysis of ticket sale data for the past three football seasons. “Even when compared to prices seen one week prior to gametime, tickets purchased near kickoff will net fans an average savings of 18 to 20%.”
Any way you measure it, the cost of attending an NFL game is going up. A look at the face-value cost of tickets shows that prices are rising. A ticket in 2006 sold for an average of $62, and that had increased 5.6% from the previous year. Last year, the average had risen to $77.34, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
On the secondary market, often it’s even more expensive – the average price so far this year is about $190, according to ticket specialist TiqIQ. Numbers from secondary ticket sellers differ, however. RazorGator this past spring put the average price for a regular-season ticket at $167.75. Although ticket costs on the resale market change frequently, they almost always are higher than tickets purchased at face value – unless it’s gameday, and a secondary seller is looking to unload his goods as quickly as possible.
Along with rising ticket prices, the cost of parking, food, drinks and other items purchased at stadiums also has gone up. And attendance of NFL games over the past five years has declined by 4.5%.
One report linked the rising game costs to lower attendance. Americans are less willing to spend hundreds of dollars on entertainment, “When the 50-inch flat screen in the family room lets you see the game at no additional expense.” This according to a CovergEx analysis reported in the Los Angeles Times.
NFLTickets.me (http://nfltickets.me/atlanta-falcons-tickets) is an online source of information about tickets for Atlanta Falcons games. Fans can get Falcons tickets and check out the game schedule. The site offers low prices and guaranteed delivery for Atlanta Falcons tickets. Falcon fans can learn more about tickets to see their team at NFLtickets.me.
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Bandai Namco confirm that One Piece World Seeker will now be released in 2019.
Based on the globally popular manga, One Piece World Seeker follows Luffy and the Straw Hat Crew on a typically uneventful adventure to the mysterious Jail Island.
The game is being developed by Fukuoka-based studio, Ganbarion, and also includes Toei Animation’s Hiroki Koyama and Shueisha’s Suguru Sugita on its creative team. It’s fair to say that fan expectations are pretty high as a result.
In a press statement explaining the delay, Bandai Namco’s Koji Nakajima said:
“One Piece World Seeker is the most ambitious One Piece game ever. We’re aware of the huge potential for the game and want to ensure we match fans’ expectations. As such, we took the difficult decision to move the release date and use additional development time to create the best game possible”.
Despite the delay, the good news is that One Piece World Seeker is shaping up rather nicely. We went hands-on with the PlayStation 4 build at a recent Bandai Namco event, and came away impressed with the game’s joyful combat, and overall polish. The game’s character animations, and soundtrack – by Kohei Tanaka – are particularly noteworthy.
One Piece World Seeker will now be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC as part of 2019’s One-Piece Big Projects 20th anniversary celebration.


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For the past year, the generally accepted sentiment has been two consoles from Microsoft under the Xbox Project Scarlett branding. It’s the story industry sources have touted to journalists, and what division head Phil Spencer told fans at E3 2018.
It now appears Microsoft is shifting its strategy somewhat. Speaking to Business Insider, he said:
“Last year we said consoles, and we’ve shipped a console and we’ve now detailed another console. I think that’s plural,” he said, in reference to the disc-less Xbox and Scarlett. “Technically that is plural. Right now, we’re focused on Project Scarlett and what we put on stage.”
All of this seems to indicate that the company won’t be launching another, more affordable Xbox alongside Scarlett as was initially assumed. The devices were reportedly codenamed Anaconda and Lockhart, with Lockhart acting as a more affordable replacement to the Xbox One S, and Anaconda an Xbox One X upgrade.
According to Thurrott’s Brad Sams, Lockhart has been scrubbed from the roadmap. The assumption, with reference to inside sources, is that devs were struggling to craft games that spanned two systems simultaneously. Digital Foundry has previously agreed with this sentiment, making it a good bet this is the case.
Of course, the big question is that if Microsoft can’t offer a lower spec device, will the price of its next-gen console be competitive with the PS5? The device it described at E3 this year sounded very expensive, and we all saw what happened when the PS4 under-priced Xbox One.
It’s possible Microsoft is planning to lean more on its game streaming service, xCloud, for affordability (which would cut out developing countries) or announce a lower-cost console alongside an Anaconda’s launch in 2019. All we know for sure right now is that fans shouldn’t expect a dual console release.


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Following the successful launch of the TX Electric Taxi two years ago, which saw over 2500 units delivered to cabbies across the UK, the London Electric Vehicle Company unveiled it’s sized-up model for delivery van drivers. The company continued its creative naming scheme by dubbing this the LEVC Electric Van. And it’s got more range than Emma Stone. There’s only one problem; it can only go 377 miles when it is topped up with petrol for its gasoline-powered range extender.
The Electric Van can be used as a pure BEV with a range of 80 miles. This is more than likely the same exact drivetrain as found in the TX Electric Taxi, which includes a 147-horsepower electric motor and 31 kWh of floor-mounted batteries.
If you want to hit that 377 mile range for your delivery van, you’ll have to hit the pumps for a tank full of dino juice for the Volvo-sourced 1.5-liter 3-cylinder turbo gasoline-powered range extender. That engine—known as the B3154T—is plucked straight out of the XC40. It doesn’t power the wheels, but acts to charge the battery pack. It’s not quite enough range to get you from Land’s End to John o’ Groats, but it’s a godsend if you’re an on-call repair person or delivery driver making a dozen or more stops per day without time to recharge.
While this delivery van does still use gasoline to alleviate range anxiety, this hybrid system emits significantly less than the traditional diesel white vans the UK has become accustomed to. By running at a steady state RPM, the engine is far more efficient. This also allows for the versatility of being zero emissions on a short route, but can still pick up a longer route without switching to a different vehicle.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, was on hand for the unveiling of the new LEVC van. He applauded the efforts, saying “I am delighted that LEVC is applying the lessons learnt from designing and building London’s electric black cabs to this new van. Developing clean, sustainable, electric vehicles is essential in order to tackle our air quality emergency and the climate change crisis. London’s commitment to clean air policies is driving our pursuit of a positive electric future for all.”
London Electric Vehicle Company expects the delivery van to be a larger volume project than its cabs, hoping to sell as much as 60% of its volume in overseas markets. It has a factory in Coventry which is capable of assembling as many as 20,000 vehicles per year.
Delivery vans are no small market, as nearly half a million are sold in the U.S. market alone. LEVC faces competition in the UK market from Ford’s Transit Custom PHEV, which has an electric range of 35 miles and a combined range of just 310 miles. Those extra miles are crucial for the delivery business.
Geely took over the London cab maker in 2014, and has spawned a massive turnaround in recent years, renaming it LEVC and focusing on electrified tech. This is the first time the company has built anything with a focus outside of the city of London. Geely also owns controlling interest in Lynk & Co., Volvo, Polestar, and Lotus, as well as 49.9 percent of Proton.
From a design standpoint, I rather like the old-school charm of the delivery van. It looks like a London cab that has been inflated 15 percent or so. It seems like a practical application of electrified tech in a sector that desperately needs it. Vans tend to be stored in the same place every night, like a depot or a company headquarters, so slapping a charger in the nose every night means a potentially significant long-term fuel cost savings for these companies.
The van is planned for an on-sale date of October. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but the TX cab starts at 59,000 pounds, and the company has said the Electric Van will be significantly less expensive as it aims for a larger volume of sales.
[Edited 02/19/20 at 8:20 PM : This article has been updated to clarify that the van comes as standard with a range extender.]


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Wine sales in the U.S. surpassed 300 million cases last year for the first time and continue to grow, according to Jon Fredrikson, respected wine analyst. And vineyard removal companies had another busy season pushing, piling and burning San Joaquin Valley vineyards, according to Nat DiBuduo, president of the largest wine grape marketing cooperative in California.
One of the most prominent bulk wine marketers in the world, Bill Turrentine of Turrentine Brokerage, Novato, Calif., says there are positive signs the huge 2005 California crop that produced an excess 1 million tons of wine grapes is disappearing, and a wine shortage is not far off.
And DiBuduo continues to warn: don't plant a vineyard unless you have an equitable winery contract.
DiBuduo says he continues to be “bullish” on the California wine grape business, yet he grows less convincing each year as he presents his grape market analysis at the annual Unified Wine and Grape Symposium in January in Sacramento, Calif.
With less than 5 percent of the state's 477,000 acres of wine grapes below full production because they are not fully mature, DiBuduo implies anyone who plants a new vineyard on speculation today has smelled too many plastic roses.
“Grapes were left hanging on the vine in '05 because of a huge crop and people asked me what grapes to plant; winery tanks were full in '06 and grapes were left hanging and people asked me what grapes to plant,” said a bewildered DiBuduo.
Rather than answer that stupid question, he points to the belching smoke of the bulldozers pushing out vineyards in Fresno and Madera counties this fall before the leaves were off the vines because the crop was not sold or sold at less than cost of production prices.
DiBuduo estimates 10,000 acres were added this fall and winter to the 100,000 acres of San Joaquin Valley vines taken out over the past five years.
“Crops other than grapes replaced many of those vines,” added DiBuduo.
DiBuduo, member of pioneering California wine grape growing family and himself a former grower, has in the past few years offered “light at the end of the tunnel and better times are ahead” scenarios at Unified's state of the industry session where more than 1,000 people pack a hotel ballroom to hear industry leaders predict the future.
However, one unexpected issue after another has beaten down DiBuduo to the point any more rosy or even semi-enthusiastic outlooks would make him look like the cruise director for the Titanic.
Last year it was California's major wineries buying large quantities of cheap, surplus wine from Australia rather than buying California grapes. It is legal for wineries to mix 25 percent foreign wine with California wine and give it an “American Appellation.”
The large '05 California crop did not foretell a good '06 grape price year, but the “American Appellation” issue was like heaping insult atop injury for growers.
Another issue that surfaced last season was inequality grading at the winery scales. This is an old issue, one that often surfaces when wineries want to reduce the tonnage purchased.
These two issues were in addition to the “hang time” controversy where wineries three years ago began demanding growers let grapes hang on the longer past normal harvest sugars ostensibly to improve quality. However, this also reduces the weight of the crops and the subsequent final grape price, and researcher are still debating whether it adds to wine quality. Growers know for sure it reduced tonnage and their final check. DiBuduo believes growers should be compensated for “hang time” losses.
DiBuduo also believes grape growers are not provided detailed information about grape sales, price point market information and varieties and vintages to make good production decisions or long range plans.
Despite the pullouts and the low percentage of nonbearing vines, DiBuduo says there remains an ever present potential of a big crop. This is largely due to the fact that over half of the wine grape vineyards are no more than 12-years-old with considerable upside yield potential in the future.
Plus, these vines are often planted closer and trellised differently than older vineyards to get more yield per acre without sacrificing quality. The eight-year average yield through '06 is 6.5 tons per acre. The potential, according to DiBuduo, is an average of 7 tons per year.
“Total California wine grape production will increase beyond past levels due to fully maturing vineyards and improved viticulture.
“If we have average yielding crops in the next two years, they would be two of the four largest wine grape crushes in history,” said DiBuduo.
Wine grape growers will be walking a tight rope over at least the next two seasons and maybe longer, looking over their shoulder to see if wineries continue to buy cheap imports rather than California grapes.
If demand increases significantly, the tight rope will be wider rather than narrower. However, growers cannot count on that.
Fickle Mother Nature may be more reliable than California wineries.
No one would mistake DiBuduo for Clint Eastwood, but it was Eastwood he imitated in painting a scenario for the 2007 California wine grape crop:
“Short Crop: Good
Average Crop: Bad
Long Crop: Ugly”
California wineries spend millions promoting their brands; however, these dollars would amount to little more than cork floating in a 5,000 gallon tank of Chardonnay compared to the free advertising they are now getting.
Respected wine market analyst Jon Fredrikson of Gomberg, Fredrikson and Associates, San Francisco, is the Pied Piper of the wine industry. Growers and vintners followed his every word and statistic as he detailed at the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium how wine sales reached the 300-million case sales plateau in 2006 in the U.S.
Total U.S. wine sales have soared by 129 million cases since the famous French Paradox television broadcast 15 years ago when the world learned the French are healthier because they drink wine.
And the media keeps on giving with:
Wine winning a positive image with the mainstream media.
Wine drinking visuals becoming commonplace on television.
Radio, Internet and television wine tasting shows.
Print and television advertising for other consumer products using a positive image like advertisements for Dr. Scholls and Fidelity Investments.
Media-run wine clubs.
Repeated stories of the health benefits of wine as detailed in health studies.
Fredrikson said this kind of publicity is worth “far in excess” of what is spent on wine advertising.
Total California wine shipments totaled 228.2 million cases in 2006, up 2 percent. Revenues climbed 8 percent to 8.2 billion. Per capita consumption in the U.S. remains meager, 2.4 gallons, compared with Italy, France and Germany where it ranges from 15 to almost 30 gallons per capita.
Although there are about 2,000 wineries in California, three wineries, Gallo, The Wine Group and Constellation control 60 percent of the business. The top 10 companies control 82 percent of the shipments, according to Fredrikson.
As was pointed out repeatedly during the symposium, it is a growing global market with imported wines capturing 29.4 per cent of the '06 U.S. wine volume, up 10 percent from '04 compared to an overall market increase for wine sales of 3 percent. Much of this wine is being imported by California-based wineries.
This global consolidation is hurting the economics of California grape growers who are finding their grapes replaced by imported, cheap bulk wine. Fredrikson offered no indication that globalization and consolidation will slow down.
However, Fredrikson said if U.S. wine demand remains robust in 2007 and with relatively little new plantings in California, these consumption gains will eventually lift California grape prices.
Wine marketer Bill Turrentine offered a positive turnaround scenario for wine grape prices as he detailed the world supply of bulk wine at Unified.
Turrentine of Turrentine Brokerage of Novato, Calif., said the combination of flat California bearing acres and growing case sales will eventually result in California wine shortages.
Already, he is seeing price strengthening in some varieties, as the huge '05 California crush inventory is depleted. “We are working our way back and making progress,” he said.
However, Turrentine told growers and vintners not to expect a quick turnaround compared to the last glut/shortage cycle of about 12 years ago.
When prices strengthen for California grapes and wine, it will not be as crazy this time because:
It is easier to buy and sell wine on a global basis than it was a dozen or so years ago.
Worldwide wines are much better than they were in the mid-1990s. “Global wines are a better fit in the U.S. now.”
Wine shortages could last longer this time because more modest price increases stimulate less planting, and higher development costs make it more costly to develop new vineyards.
The recovery may have started, but it will be slower than before, he concluded.


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Apple, at their annual World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) last night, gave the world its first official look at iOS 7, the updated mobile operating system due to roll out later this year. Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that iOS 7 is the biggest change to Apple’s mobile platform since the introduction of the iPhone, looking at what will be different this time around, it’s not hard to see why he’d claim such a thing.
The redesign is immediately obvious; everything has been tweaked and, in some cases, redone completely. Icons have changed, standard apps have gone under the knife, a new colour palette is making an appearance and Apple has also added a long-awaited new control panel that can be swiped up from the bottom of the phone.
The new control panel, called Control Center, lets users jump immediately to the most-used functions on the iPhone. Everything from setting Airplane Mode to navigating music, selecting connectivity options and adjusting common phone settings is just an upward swipe away.
All of the stock iOS apps have got new gesture-based navigation coming and folders have had their app limit lifted to support hundreds of apps. The Notification Center has been expanded as well, allowing users to set how many notifications are displayed and also permitting viewing of notifications from the lock screen. The Safari browser for iOS has been tweaked, being one of the apps that will utilise gesture-based navigation, and includes support for iCloud Keychain, a new feature that synchronises passwords and credit card information across Apple devices.
Another new feature in iOS 7 is AirDrop, which works through the Control Center and allows users to share content with other nearby iOS users. Supported on the iPhone 5, iPad mini, fourth gen iPad and fifth gen iPod, The Verge compares this feature to Samsung’s group sharing feature or NFC sharing as see on most Xperia handsets.
Other changes include: iOS cameras will be getting a new user interface, along with some new filters. The Photos app is getting a Moments feature, which adds in a new crop of organisation options for images based on the time the image was taken as well as the location. Siri is getting new voice and language options, with English, French and German being available initially, and a smoothed-over interface. Siri will also be able to control certain phone settings like Bluetooth and screen brightness. Apple’s iOS App Store will be able to recommend apps based on the user’s location and apps will also automatically update. Lastly, 2014 will see improved iOS support in some car models and iTunes is getting a new Radio feature.
Source: The Verge


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Intel could start producing in-demand semiconductors for car companies within six to nine months, CEO Pat Gelsinger said in an interview with Reuters, commenting that the chipmaking is already being discussed with companies that design chips for cars.
“We’re hoping that some of these things can be alleviated, not requiring a three- or four-year factory build, but maybe six months of new products being certified on some of our existing processes,” Gelsinger told Reuters. “We’ve begun those engagements already with some of the key components suppliers.”
Even if Intel is unable to meet that six to nine month goal, the news highlights the importance that Intel is placing on its new business as a producer of chips for other companies.
Go to Source
Author: Chaim Gartenberg


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FORT WORTH, Texas, March 4 (UPI) -- RadioShack announced Tuesday that it will shutter close to 1,100 stores, on the back of dropping profits and lackluster sales that dropped 19 percent in the last quarter.
The closures will be in the U.S., and come as the company struggles to reinvent itself in a changing consumer electronics market. RadioShack reported a loss of $191.4 million for the fourth quarter, down from a loss of $63.3 million during the same period last year. This takes its annual loss to $400 million as compared to a loss of $139 million in 2012.
"Our fourth quarter financial results were driven by a holiday season characterized by lower store traffic, intense promotional activity particularly in consumer electronics, a very soft mobility marketplace and a few operational issues," said Joseph Magnacca, chief executive officer of RadioShack.
Revenues dropped below a $1 billion to $935.4 million in the fourth quarter as a result of weak holiday sales. The proposed store closures will cut the number of stores by a fifth, leaving around 4,000 stores and franchises.
The company has tried to revive its fortunes by hiring Magnacca, from Walgreens, in February 2013. Magnacca was tasked with turning around the company but that doesn't seemed to have worked as the company's financial health continues to deteriorate.


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Holiday sales in the U.S. this year are poised to log a 4% year-over-year increase, according to a forecast from Coresight Research. Total retail sales (excluding automobiles and gasoline) in November and December might even top that, "given favorable economic conditions, such as an extremely low unemployment rate, wage growth and modest inflation," according to the report.
E-commerce growth will be even stronger, expected by Coresight to gain more share of total sales over the holiday season. Online retail sales will rise by almost 16% year over year, will be nearly 16% of all retail sales and some 20% of nonfood retail sales in the final quarter, Coresight said.
Growth will be abetted by the length of the season this year. There's an extra shopping day between Thanksgiving and Christmas compared to last year, making the holiday season "the longest that it can be" with a total of 32 days between the two holidays, according to the report, which was emailed to Retail Dive.
The estimate comes on the heels of strong holiday sales last year, making comparisons difficult, Coresight noted. "Our 4% growth estimate for holiday sales this year compares with 5.5% growth last year and an average increase of 2.8% over the last 10 years," according to the report.
This year could be the biggest online season yet, according to the retail think tank, considering that "e-commerce's share of retail sales routinely jumps over the holiday period as consumers turn to the online channel for functional 'shopping-list' gift purchases," according to the report. Coresight expects that, for the whole year, more than a third of consumer electronics purchases and more than a fifth of apparel purchases will take place online, and that will jump over the holidays.
Such strong holiday sales are likely thanks to the robust U.S. economy, which continues to add some 200,000 jobs each month for an unemployment rate of 3.9%, a 50 basis points improvement from last year, Coresight noted. That's fueling consumer confidence, though that's at a relatively low point as measured by the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index. The index pegs consumer confidence at 96.8, the lowest level since January, but quite an improvement from both the post-recession reading of 70.8 in June 2009 and the 83 average reading from the start of the ensuing recovery, Coresight said.
Several observers have warned that rising fuel prices and impending inflation could dampen that, but overall "the macro landscape looks good for the 2018 holiday season," Coresight said, noting that gas prices remain under $3.00 per-gallon, wage growth is reaching 3%, inflation is otherwise "relatively benign" and many consumers are enjoying lower tax bills.
But that doesn't mean that holiday shoppers won't be careful about their spending. Coresight cited a July Prosper Insights & Analytics survey that indicates a mixed season, in light of the fact that while more people (by 250 basis points) say they'll spend more at the holidays this year, but more (by 70 basis points) also said they plan to spend less.
"These findings further bolster our expectation that the holiday season will be robust even though it may be more mixed than current trajectories imply," Coresight said. "Shoppers stand ready to open their wallets this holiday but we think that retailers should not expect a spectacular end to the year."


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Zoll Medical Corp. (NSDQ:ZOLL) continues to have a rebound year in 2010, posting a 285 percent increase in its bottom line during the three month period ended on July 4.
The Chelmsford, Mass-based resuscitation products maker reported revenues of $111.3 million in its third quarter, compared with $95 million during the same period last year, a 17 percent increase overall. The brisk sales helped the company post a $5.7 million profit, a 285 percent increase from the $1.5 million in net income the company posted for the same period last year.
Company officials said that strong sales of products used by EMT’s, firefighters and other first responders in North Amercia increased dramatically during the quarter to $51.1 million, compared to $40.5 million during the same period last year, a 51 percent increase.
However, a bulk of that increase resulted from a large shipment to Canada, which standardized the EMS system in Newfoundland to Zoll and “helped [the company] achieve growth in the North American EMS market in spite of continued spending constraints in the US,” company CEO Rick Packer said in a prepared release.
Packer said the company remains “cautious” about the EMS market in the U.S.
The strong sales in EMS helped offset some softness in the North American hospital market, where sales dropped 8 percent to $24.5 million, compared to $26.6 million for the same period last year.
Company officials blamed the decrease in its hospital business to lower than expected orders from the U.S. military.
Packer said the company was upbeat about stronger sales of its LifeVest wearable defibrillator and accelerated its hiring of a direct sales for the product during the quarter. Total sales for the LifeVest jumped some 51 percent during the quarter to $18 million.
However, Packer noted that one key initiative, increasing sales of the LifeVest internationally, was still having some trouble getting off the ground.
Zoll announced last April that it was transferring sales of the LifeVest away from distributors and into a direct sales force in Germany, a market Packer called, “the most significant market opportunity in Europe for the LifeVest.”
However, in a conference call with investors Thursday, Packer said that that there has been some difficulty in the transition because of a conflict with the company’s former distribution partners who have objected to the company’s decision to switch up tactics.
In a separate announcement, Zoll said it received approval from Japanese authorities for its AED Plus and AED Pro products and will be announcing a distribution agreement with a partner for the country soon.


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Beyonce Knowles was among a slew of stars to walk the runway for Tom Ford's fashion show earlier this week.
Speaking about the New York Fashion Week event afterwards, Beyonce confessed it had the "energy of a live show".
She told WWD: "It was so much fun. It felt like a performance. It had the energy of a live show. It's great to see people have fun in fashion."
Meanwhile, 70s-style fashion made a big comeback at New York Fashion Week, with Marc Jacobs debuting a collection heavy on dark colours in floaty fabrics, as well as a number of tailored jackets and wide-rimmed hats.
Halston also looked to the decade for inspiration, with bright colours and asymmetrical dresses making a big impact.
Sarah Jessica Parker - president of Halston - attended the event in a red creation from the label.


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North Texas is offering fans several options to pick up their tickets to the Heart of Dallas Bowl after what athletic director Rick Villarreal described as miscommunication about ways tickets would be delivered.
UNT will face UNLV at 11 a.m. on New Year’s Day at the Cotton Bowl, the Mean Green’s first bowl game since 2004.
UNT fans who purchased tickets through the school’s ticket office can pick them up from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today in the lobby of the Omni Hotel in Dallas. Remaining tickets that were purchased through UNT will be available at the Cotton Bowl will-call window at Gate E.
Tickets to the game will continue to be available for purchase through UNT until 3 p.m. today at the ticket office at Apogee Stadium.
Villarreal said that there were a number of fans who expected tickets to be sent through standard mail. UNT also offered a express delivery option. UNT does not send tickets via standard mail because they cannot be replaced if they are lost or stolen.
“As soon as I became aware of the issue, we started to call people, hand delivered tickets and created more times when people could pick them up,” Villarreal said. “Our goal is to make sure that everyone has their tickets.”
Villarreal said he delivered a few tickets personally.
UNT has planned for a high fan turnout at the Cotton Bowl will-call line for people who purchased tickets through the university.
“We already have additional people to come in and divide up the tickets into smaller groups so that we will be able to process people as quickly as possible,” Villarreal said.
BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870 and via Twitter at @brettvito.


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Since launching in August 2016, Instagram Stories has been a major threat to Snapchat's original 'Stories' feature. Instagram itself now has over 700 million monthly active users and its Stories feature has proved popular, reaching 200 million daily actives within eight months, surpassing Snapchat in user adoption. In terms of popularity and interest, Instagram Stories has been two times more popular than Snapchat Stories according to Google Trends, while the growth of Instagram has been attributed to a massive 82% decline in user growth on Snapchat.
And while Instagram Stories' traction with a broader range of users is a key indicator of its success and viability, Mediakix conducted a month-long study evaluating whether top Snapchat influencers were also posting more often to Instagram Stories, and to surface trends and insights among its power users. Top social media influencers post on the platforms and channels providing the best growth and engagement opportunities - if the leading Snapchatters are indeed posting more on Instagram Stories, then these trends could spell trouble for Snap Inc.
Throughout the study, we found that more stories were posted on Instagram than on Snapchat in 25 of 30 days. Of the twelve influencers examined, eight posted more stories on Instagram than on Snapchat. Finally, on average, influencers are posting 25% more on Instagram Stories than on Snapchat Stories, averaging 6.6 stories a day on Instagram and 5.3 on Snapchat.
These results have significant implications for marketing on Snapchat, and influencer marketing as an industry (influencer marketing on Instagram alone is to reach $1 billion in 2017). With content creators and social media influencers favoring Instagram Stories, marketers should expect that even more audiences will follow suit. As Instagram Stories continues to outstrip Snapchat Stories for engagement, views, and discoverability, marketers will need to follow user and creator trends to capitalize on and implement successful social media "stories" campaigns.


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Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker sent a joint letter to Amazon on Thursday, asking them to reconsider Chicago after the online behemoth announced it wouldn’t locate a 25,000-job headquarters in New York City.
The two reached out despite Amazon’s statement that it will not search for a new location. Instead, it plans to grow other tech hubs and offices, one of which is in Chicago.
Emanuel told the Tribune that the city and state are ready to partner with Amazon. “We take care of our business. We make a pledge, we keep our pledges,” he said. “If you’re looking for a partner in the public sector, Chicago can stand and deliver.”
The one-page letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Tribune, touted Chicago’s “robust, diverse and talented workforce,” globally connected business community, transportation system and universities. It mentioned tech hub 1871, and updates to O’Hare International Airport and Chicago’s public transit system.
It also noted the “substantial progress” that has been made toward the launch of Related Midwest’s 62-acre planned development in the South Loop along the river, called The 78. The Tribune reported last year that members of Amazon’s HQ2 site selection team made a return visit to the site, and the letter from Emanuel and Pritzker noted that tax increment financing for the site is expected to be approved this spring.
“You should take another look at Chicago,” the letter said. “We will be happy to bring you back.”
Amazon said Thursday it will continue to build offices in Arlington, Va., and Nashville, Tenn. It also plans to continue growing its 17 tech hubs, one of which is in Chicago. Since announcing plans to locate in New York City, the company has received backlash from some New York politicians, who were unhappy with the tax incentives Amazon was promised and the company’s stance on unions.
The company already employs more than 12,000 people in Illinois. They work at fulfillment centers, campus pick-up locations, the research and development tech hub, and other sites. Of those employees, about 300 work in the Chicago tech hub.
The company doesn’t know yet where the growth that was supposed to happen in New York City will move to, Amazon spokeswoman Jodi Smith said in an email Thursday.
“It will be organic,” she wrote.
Chicago and Illinois officials also reached out to Amazon late last week when news first surfaced that the company might not build its 25,000-job New York campus after all.
The e-commerce giant announced in November that it would split its second headquarters between New York’s Long Island City neighborhood and Northern Virginia. The announcement ended a yearlong, high-stakes competition to win thousands of high-paying tech jobs, in which Chicago was among 20 finalists.
A statement posted on Amazon’s blog reads:
“After much thought and deliberation, we’ve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens. For Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term. While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.
“We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion — we love New York, its incomparable dynamism, people, and culture — and particularly the community of Long Island City, where we have gotten to know so many optimistic, forward-leaning community leaders, small business owners, and residents. There are currently over 5,000 Amazon employees in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island, and we plan to continue growing these teams.
“We are deeply grateful to Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio, and their staffs, who so enthusiastically and graciously invited us to build in New York City and supported us during the process. Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio have worked tirelessly on behalf of New Yorkers to encourage local investment and job creation, and we can’t speak positively enough about all their efforts. The steadfast commitment and dedication that these leaders have demonstrated to the communities they represent inspired us from the very beginning and is one of the big reasons our decision was so difficult.
“We do not intend to re-open the HQ2 search at this time. We will proceed as planned in Northern Virginia and Nashville, and we will continue to hire and grow across our 17 corporate offices and tech hubs in the U.S. and Canada.
“Thank you again to Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio, and the many other community leaders and residents who welcomed our plans and supported us along the way. We hope to have future chances to collaborate as we continue to build our presence in New York over time.”


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Universities hand students soft toys, puppies and bubble wrap to ease stress
Soft toys and pets have become a staple of university life according to a new book that deplores the infantalisation of students.
The fashion for providing stressed undergraduates with puppies to pet, cats to stroke and Lego to play with has even spread to Oxford, according to Frank Furedi, emeritus professor at the University of Kent and author of What’s Happened to the University: A Sociological Exploration of its Infantilisation to be published next month.
Furedi says Wadham College, Oxford, uses a dog called Maisie as its “welfare cat”. According to the college website, Maisie “proves invaluable, helping students to relax, making them laugh and providing them with unconditional attention”.
Other universities have created a range of rituals for reducing exam stress.
“Such initiatives often


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WASHINGTON — Franchises of Subway, McDonald’s, lodge chains, auto dealerships, and other major companies gained a total of $15.6 billion from the government’s crisis coronavirus loan plan for small enterprises, according to knowledge produced by the Compact Small business Administration in response to a Liberty of Data Act lawsuit.
Franchise house owners of several of America’s major chains took gain of the Paycheck Safety Program. Among speedy-food items chains, 4,278 Subways, 2,445 Dunkin’s, and 2,217 McDonald’s received cash. Between vehicle dealerships, 1,478 General Motors locations and 1,115 Ford spots acquired funds, in accordance to the facts, which the SBA produced adhering to a federal lawsuit submitted by The Washington Post and 10 other news companies following the SBA refused to release the info just after a FOIA request.
In total, the SBA recognized 75,746 franchise organizations that acquired loans, amounting to 1.5 p.c of the 5.2 million financial loans issued between April 3 and Aug. 8. The $15.6 billion they gained was 3 percent of the much more than $522 billion loaned through that time period.
Since franchise house owners run considerably independently of the chains with which they deal, they are suitable to receive PPP cash, income generally reserved for corporations using less than 500 men and women. The SBA info on franchise affiliations, which the company had not earlier produced, reveals that loans to franchises saved just about 2.5 million positions, while experts say the SBA’s estimates of PPP career retention are terribly inflated.
Most financial loans are predicted to be forgiven supplied that the funds are made use of appropriately. SBA associates did not react to requests for remark.
Companies together with Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and Shake Shack sparked uproar in the early times of the software when their running corporations obtained millions of bucks in loans. Dozens of corporations, like these two chains, returned the funds. Potbelly Corp. received cash, returned them, and then utilized yet again when Congress replenished the PPP fund.
But for the most portion, lawmakers and Trump administration officials did not force again on community or regional franchise house owners getting money independently. Chains contacted by the Post reported franchises and sellers produced their possess choices about whether to apply for financial loans.
All 20,000-as well as Subway locations in the United States are impartial franchises. Spokeswoman Maggie Truax reported that all over the pandemic ’’we put an added emphasis on COVID response and preparedness to help Subway franchisees navigate this demanding time.’’
’’This involves offering info from the federal government on PPP funding, which has been critical to our community of tiny-business enterprise proprietors who provide and use people today in their communities,’’ she reported.
Of all McDonald’s places in the United States, 95 percent are owned by franchisees, in accordance to spokesman Jesse Lewin. He mentioned that ’’McDonald’s US company-owned restaurants did not apply for or receive’’ PPP cash. McDonald’s also established aside $1 billion at the start of the pandemic to defer hire and royalty payments for franchise owners until organization returned.
All Ford dealerships in the United States are independently owned and operated. Ford spokesman Said Deep stated that Ford built absolutely sure dealers were being aware of the software but that whether or not to implement was up to them.
’’We knowledgeable them on what was readily available, as we knew it, so they could make their own choices on no matter whether this was correct for their personal firms,’’ he mentioned. Spokespersons for General Motors did not respond to requests for remark.
Some compact-business advocates and associates of Congress nonetheless say the quantity of revenue secured by or on behalf of much larger businesses constituted a major flaw in the method, particularly because chains normally have access to capital that unbiased accommodations and restaurants do not.
One these types of example is Roark Funds. The new SBA facts confirms earlier reporting by the Put up that manufacturers backed by private-equity big Roark, named for a character in Ayn Rand’s novel ’’The Fountainhead,’’ fared significantly perfectly in securing funds, specially in the course of the hugely aggressive initially spherical of financial loans, which ran out in 13 times.
Roark-backed companies franchise a extensive array of retail chains. For instance, Roark is a key trader in Inspire Manufacturers, primarily based in Atlanta, which franchises Dunkin’, Sonic Drive-In, Jimmy John’s, Arby’s, and other chains.
Neither Roark nor Inspire Makes obtained PPP financial loans instantly. But firms franchised by Roark’s Inspire Brands received at minimum 7,439 loans throughout 34 organizations, for a complete of extra than $1 billion, getting larger amounts much more quickly than conventional little firms, in accordance to a Write-up evaluation.
A Roark spokeswoman declined to comment. Inspire Models spokesman Christopher Fuller explained that even though Encourage by itself did not implement for cash, franchise owners have been utilizing it correctly to preserve careers and money for employees.
’’The plan was designed to enable independently owned and operated dining establishments, whether or not they are affiliated with a broader franchise system,’’ Fuller mentioned in a statement. ’’The funds from the software helped eating places remain economically viable and keep men and women employed during an exceptionally complicated time. We guidance initiatives that advantage independently-owned and operated eating places, whether or not they are affiliated with a broader franchise process.’’
PPP is continue to broadly seen as acquiring efficiently supplied billions in funds to employees of modest firms, staving off further financial suffering early in the pandemic. Congress and the Trump administration have produced a collection of variations because the program began last spring in get to make certain that major businesses and Wall Avenue banking institutions really do not get benefit of the method at the price of impartial compact businesses.
A 3rd spherical of PPP money totaling $284 billion commenced Jan. 15, with the system opening at first only to creditors with significantly less than $1 billion in property underneath administration. Debtors who gained money from the method previously may perhaps acquire a further round of resources, but debtors getting a 2nd bank loan have to have no extra than 300 personnel.


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Map of lost Newfoundland towns about to become as hard to find as communities themselves
Cliff Brown's map of abandoned towns is nearly sold out at The Rooms, its exclusive supplier
More than 30 years after he created a bestselling board game, Cliff Brown is dealing with another piece of hit Newfoundland merchandise: Newfoundland's Lost Places, a map highlighting 400 of the island's abandoned towns.
Originally made when he wondered what it would be like to have all the province's department communities visible in one place, Brown — who developed the board game Newfoundlandia in the 1980s — is looking to print more copies of the map after hearing that it's nearly sold out in the gift shop at The Rooms provincial museum and archives.
Brown spends only about three months of the year in the province, but says he's had a long-standing fascination with Newfoundland history.
"I always remember the day I visited my mother's place," he said of St. Jones Without, the now-defunct town on the west side of Trinity Bay where his mother was born.
That place is featured on the map, along with a few hundred others that have emptied out for one reason or another. Some of the abandoned towns weren't connected by road, for example. Others were on the south part of the island, requiring crossing a river.
There are actually many more abandoned towns around the island, Brown said. People have messaged him to ask why their own hometown, or that of their older relatives, was not included. But including every community would mean overlapping some of the others, he said.
The maps are sold exclusively through the gift store at The Rooms, and Brown is working to get some additional copies in stock. Its success is not quite as striking as the one he had with Newfoundlandia in 1986, when he sold 7,000 copies of the game in three weeks instead of his expected three years, but it's notable.
But ultimately, the map isn't meant as the final word on the former Newfoundland communities worth commemorating, Brown said.
"I kind of think of it more as an artistic piece than a scientific document."


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People who have received emails about opportunities to test the ‘iPhone 4G’ are being conned into disclosing their personal information, according an IT security vendor.
The next generation iPhone has been dubbed ‘iPhone 4G’ and its maker, Apple, has been keeping details of the new device under wraps.
Sophos has issued a warning that spammers are sending out emails which offer recipients a chance to test and keep the much anticipated successor to Apple’s iPhone 3G. A link in the email takes users to a website requesting input of personal data.
The vendor has also found a similar scam on social networking site, Twitter, which uses sexy girl images accompanying offers to test and keep the impending iPhone.
Sophos senior technology consultant, Graham Cluley, warns the public to take a “too-good-to-be-true” approach when confronted with these offers.
“Sometimes people’s common sense goes out the window when they’re faced with the possibility of a sexy new gadget and that’s bad news for personal security and privacy,” he said.