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Humans are worrying that robots are out to get their jobs but they may have failed to imagine that said robots could also be fired. OK, it’s not exactly that dramatic but when a hotel that made a name for itself for employing more than 200 robots “retires” half of them, you can be something’s amiss. As it turns out, Japan’s and the world’s first robot hotel may have bitten a bit more than they could chew and may now have to rely on hopefully non-robotic humans to keep things running smoothly.
It was the hotel of the future but perhaps it was far too ahead of its time. Even the biggest companies in consumer robots aren’t so ambitious to immediately staff hotel operations with 243 robots. LG’s robots, for example, are rare and few in between and aid rather than supplant their human equivalents.
But Henn na Hotal, literally “strange”, was going for records and now it might have a new one: most number of terminated robot staff in one go. The velociraptor at the check-in desk wasn’t exactly what you’d call “hospitable” and robots that carried your luggage broke down even before they reached your room.
Perhaps the most glaring example of robots gone wrong is Churi. Yes, it sounds like Suri and the association now will be almost comical. Churi, which was the voice assistant installed in every room and replaced every phone, had difficulty understanding the room’s occupants. Even worse, it would wake up guests in the middle of the night with “Sorry, I couldn’t catch that”, mistaking snoring for normal speech.
Henn na, however, isn’t giving up but it’s dialing down its fantasies. Rather than forcing robots of the future that don’t work, the hotel will be switching to less flashy technologies that do. Face recognition on door locks may not be as dramatic but it’s still uncommon enough to have a wow factor. Plus, it won’t be so in your face, at least not figuratively.
Image courtesy of the New York Post.


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Latest News on Tesla Model S
Showing of 0 - 10 from 63 results
Tesla Model S - Total results - 63
May 17, 2018
Tesla Model S crash in Utah involving a red fire truck is now being investigated by US safety regulatorsBut despite several high-profile autopilot crashes, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has insisted that his technology is safer than traditional cars, the report added.
May 15, 2018
Tesla boss Elon Musk is reorganising $50 bn firm to remedy production woes, attrition, car crashesTesla is at a critical juncture as it tries to fix an inauspicious launch of the Model 3 sedan, a mid-market car crucial to its success and future profitability that has been plagued by early production problems.
May 03, 2018
Tesla aims to roll out 5,000 cars a week; will add more factory jobs as Musk admits 'excessive automation' was a mistakeElon Musk has also admitted that Tesla, his electric vehicle-making company has been too reliant on robots for production and the human workforce is underrated.
Mar 12, 2018
Tesla temporarily suspends Model 3 production for a planned upgrade aimed to increase outputLast month, Tesla said in a shareholder note that it continues to target weekly Model 3 production rates of 2,500 by the end of the first quarter.
Jan 26, 2018
How could a semi-autonomous Tesla Model S not see a massive, red fire truck that was just sitting across the road?Most radar implementations take advantage of the doppler shift to only detect objects that are moving. Stationary objects — like a fire-engine — are ignored
Nov 17, 2017
Tesla Semi and Roadster launch reassure investors concerned about production issuesTesla’s ambitious plans would need a steady flow of cash and Tesla would need to raise $2.5 billion to $3 billion to keep production running smoothly.
Nov 05, 2017
Tesla releases software update to soften acceleration on Model X and S vehiclesSince Tesla rolls out new updates to its fleet gradually, it may take some time for every owner to receive it.
Nov 02, 2017
Tesla reports $619 million loss in Q3 to clear up bottlenecks in Model 3 productionThe loss, of $3.70 per share, compared to a profit of 15 cents per share in the July-September period a year ago said Tesla.
Oct 27, 2017
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak believes that Elon Musk's Tesla is surrounded by 'way too much hype'Wozniak owns a Tesla Model S himself and claims that he never misses out on any of the software updates but he is not always impressed.
Oct 22, 2017
Tesla misunderstood the reliability rating assigned by magazines to its Model 3 car, says Consumer ReportsConsumer Reports said its rating was based on 2,000 consumer survey responses about the Tesla models.

domain: news


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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CEO Mike Duke said he sees no conflict between paying low prices to suppliers that source merchandise from overseas and being able to maintain safe conditions at garment factories.
“We will not buy from an unsafe factory,” Duke said in an interview yesterday (Dec. 11) with Bloomberg LP President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Doctoroff at the New York offices of the Council on Foreign Relations. Bloomberg LP is the parent company of Bloomberg News.
“This is not a price discussion,” Duke said. “This is just a case if a factory is not going to operate with high standards then we will not purchase from that factory, and there’s no discussion about price.”
A fire at a Bangladesh factory that made clothes for Wal-Mart killed more than 100 people last month, prompting labor- rights groups to call for the world’s largest retailer and other Western companies to do more to make garment factories safer. Wal-Mart said the factory was not authorized to make its clothes and fired a supplier that was using it.
In a wide-ranging conversation that covered everything from wages paid to workers in U.S. stores to questions about the retailer’s e-commerce, Duke said his company faces high expectations from the public because of its size. Duke also took questions from the audience at the event. Click here to read the full story from our partners at TheCityWire.com.


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MOST money these days is electronic—a series of ones and zeros on a computer. So it is rather neat that bitcoin, a privately created electronic currency, has lurched from $1,000 to above $10,000 this year (see chart), an epic journey to add an extra zero.
On the way, the currency has been controversial. Jamie Dimon, the boss of JPMorgan Chase, has called it a fraud. Nouriel Roubini, an economist, plumped for “gigantic speculative bubble”. Ordinary investors are being tempted into bitcoin by its rapid rise—a phenomenon dubbed FOMO (fear of missing out). Both the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, America’s largest futures market, and the NASDAQ stock exchange have seemingly added their imprimaturs by planning to offer bitcoin-futures contracts.
It is easy to muddle two separate issues. One is whether the “blockchain” technology that underpins bitcoin becomes more widely adopted. Blockchains, distributed ledgers that record transactions securely, may prove very useful in…Continue reading


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Millennials rank their 10 favorite brands
For millennial shoppers, Victoria’s Secret is tops, followed by Sephora and Nike.
That’s according to a report from Conde Nast Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which surveyed the popularity of brands among millennial shoppers, reported Bloomberg.
Rounding out the top 10 brands were Coach, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Ulta Beauty, Lululemon, DSW, and Nordstrom. A key element in the companies’ success with these younger shoppers is their online presence, according to the report.
Click here for more.
British retailer buys bankrupt U.S. chain
Britain's largest sporting goods retailer is extending its presence in the United States.
Sports Direct International Plc has bought Eastern Outfitters, parent company of Bob’s Stores and Eastern Mountain Outfitters. Sports Direct, which operates some 700 stores in the U.K. and continental Europe, has been wanting to expand in the United States. Last year, it bid for the intellectual property of Sports Authority, but lost out to Dick's Sporting Goods.
Eastern Outfitters, which operates about 90 stores, filed for bankruptcy protection in February
In addition to its namesake retail stores, Sports Direct has a portfolio of fitness, fashion and sports brands that include Everlast, No Fear and LA Gear. In February, it took an 11% stake in apparel brand French Connection. The company is under pressure to make acquisitions to boost profits to meet its growth targets, according to a report by The Guardian.
Two menswear brands step up digital personalization
Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank are not just enhancing customer experiences across their websites — they are personalizing them.
Tailored Brands is partnering with Certona to provide online shoppers across its Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank divisions with a highly personalized digital experience — one very similar to those they are used to during in-store visits. This is a strategic move as digital shoppers expect a seamless and cohesive individualized shopping experience — even as they move across multiple channels and touchpoints.
Using Certona’s personalization solutions, Tailored Brands can leverage deep shopper insights, real-time context and predictive analytics to deliver more relevant experiences to each individual shopper as they engage with the brand online and via mobile. Major aspects of the shopper experience journey, from the homepage to checkout, will be dynamically personalized. Shoppers will also have access to new capabilities, including visual search and navigation and product finder capabilities.
“At Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank, our customers receive a one-of-a-kind shopping experience that prioritizes convenience and personal style preferences,” said Samantha Lee, VP of site management and customer experience of Tailored Brands. “We see omnichannel personalization as a strategy for evolving the way our customers engage with our brands.”


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Microsoft has announced that ZTE, Fujitsu, and Acer will be joining the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 party later in the year.
The companies will be joining HTC, LG, and Samsung who’ve already got handsets on the market, and of course Nokia who announced in February that it would be making Windows Phone 7 it’s lead operating system going forward.
Achim Berg, the corporate vice president of Windows Phone marketing confirmed the new partners at the company’s London VIP event on Tuesday suggesting that all the companies listed would be releasing new smartphones in the near future and presumably before the year is out.
Berg also confirmed that Nokia would be expected to announce it’s Windows Phone 7 plans over the summer, rather than Autumn - the scheduled launch date of Windows Phone 7 Mango.
While Acer, and Fujitsu will be welcomed additions to the stable, it’s ZTE that will be the one to watch with the Chinese company aggressively trying to emulate HTC’s rise to success over the last couple of years.
The move is also likely to mean, combined with Nokia, the launch of more entry level Windows Phone 7 phones to appeal to the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, otherwise know as the BRIC nations.
By the way, the confirmation from Microsoft officially confirms the news Pocket-lint broke in February that Acer would be launching a Windows Phone 7 smartphone in this autumn.


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Jell-O has launched a new animated series, The Jell-O Wobz, on YouTube and Amazon Prime Video.
Created in partnership with DreamWorksTV, the six x four-minute show follows a group of Jell-O characters cast from basic kitchen objects as they explore the world. It is available on DreamWorksTV’s YouTube channel and through Prime Video for Amazon Prime members. The first episode launched today and additional episodes will be released every Monday for the next five weeks.
DreamWorksTV is owned by digital network Awesomeness, which was previously run by NBCUniversal but was acquired by Viacom earlier this week to bolster its new Viacom Digital Studios portfolio. However the deal did not include DreamWorksTV.
The series is part of the gelatin brand’s new Jell-O Play initiative, which includes a line of gelatin-based toys that kids can design themselves. The playthings were Jell-O’s first foray into the toy aisle in its more than 100-year history.


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The US government just made it that much easier for its agencies to purchase 3D printing services. As you probably know, government agencies can’t just run out and pick things up at the corner store. Instead, they are bound to make their purchases through the General Services Administration‘s (GSA) Schedules program. The Schedules program offers a series of catalogs of goods and services that are offered at special pricing for direct sale to government.
3D Systems is the lucky company to have made the grade for inclusion in this catalog. And it’s no small pickings either. The GSA Schedules program accounts for nearly $50 billion a year in spending, a whopping 10% of all federal procurement spending. 3D printing has been on the radar for quite some time now, but the government can’t just turn on a dime every time there is a new innovation. So, although it may seem a bit slow on the uptake, it’s certainly better late than never.
“GSA is focused on being the standard bearer for 3D Printing/Additive Manufacturing by developing a total solution approach for all federal agencies requiring this technology. The total solution approach GSA is designing will provide a wide range of 3D printing technology, consumable materials, ancillary equipment, imaging devices, software, and rapid prototyping services. We are excited to have Phillips bring 3D Systems and their expansive portfolio to this program.”
It will now be easier than ever for government agencies to purchase any of 3D Systems’ broad range of products, from 3D printers and software to scanners to cloud-based manufacturing services. Ron Schulze, President of Phillips Federal, the partner agency for 3D System, is not the least bit doubtful of the positive benefits to be had with this addition when he brought this proposal to the GSA.
“From the United States Congress’ Architect of the Capitol to the National Institutes of Health, and from NASA to the Armed Forces, our customers receive outstanding service. But this new GSA listing offers something even more – access to the most cutting edge 3D design and fabrication tools,” Schulze said. “We are truly proud to offer 3D Systems’ suite of products to America’s public servants.”
On top of the offering of equipment and software, the GSA is hosting a portal for 3D printing and manufacturing that will allow government customers easy access to the cloud-based manufacturing services offered by 3D Systems. The portal, named Quickparts, lets them upload CAD files and receive instant price quotes for a variety of services from rapid prototyping to investment casting.
3D Systems’ Vice President of Alliances & Partnerships, Neal Orringer, hails this newest addition to the Schedules program as a firm step into the heart of the 21st century:
“The GSA has incomparable reach across the country. Since its founding 66 years ago, the GSA has been pivotal to ensuring the government customer receives critical products at the best taxpayer value. Today, we are proud to support this legacy in a uniquely 21st century fashion – extending our digital thread to every federal agency and in every state in the nation.”
The GSA schedule through Phillips Federal will now make available the entire line of 3D Systems’ products and services for a 20-year contract period through a GSA contract with Phillips (Contract GS-03F-080CA) in a 3D Design-to-Print product lineup. Among the notable offerings are the Industrial ProX 3D printers featuring SLS, SLA, and DMP technologies; ProJet printers featuring ColorJet and MultiJet fechnologies; desktop 3D printers Cube and Cube Pro; Geomagic scanners and software; and QuickParts GSA Portal for on-demand design, functional prototyping, and production-ready parts. What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know in the US Government 3D Printing forum thread on 3DPB.com.
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BOTHELL, Wash., April 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- BioLife Solutions, Inc. (OTCBB: BLFS), a leading developer and manufacturer of clinical grade biopreservation media products for cells and tissues, today announced preliminary revenue of $611,000 for its first quarter ended March 31, 2011. This represents 6% sequential growth over the fourth quarter of 2010 and 19 percent growth from the first quarter of 2010.
Mike Rice, Chairman and CEO, commented on the Company's revenue by stating, "We're pleased with the progress we made last year and in the first quarter of 2011 in generating revenue growth to reduce our operating loss as we strive to reach profitability. First quarter revenue was a mix of orders shipped to new accounts, including a new contract manufacturing customer, and strong orders from our numerous existing customers in the developing regenerative medicine market, where our proprietary biopreservation media products are used to extend stability and increase viability of biologics used in cell therapy and tissue-engineering applications. We also realized strong growth in our indirect distribution channel, with year-to-date revenue already more than 50% of our full year 2010 total. Our partners continue to build awareness of the value of our best-in-class biopreservation media products, and their efforts are resulting in increasing orders from their end customers."
MedMarket Diligence, LLC, estimates that the current worldwide market for regenerative medicine products and services is growing at 20 percent annually. Rice commented, "We expect pre-formulated biopreservation media products such as our HypoThermosol® and CryoStor® to continue to displace 'home-brew' cocktails, creating demand for clinical grade preservation reagents that will grow at greater than the


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There are 1,600 fewer people receiving Pandemic Unemployment payments in Galway this week as the number of people receiving the payment has fallen to less than half the peak level in May.
The latest figures from the Department for Social Protection show that Pandemic Unemployment payments have been made to 15,400 people in Galway today, down from 17,000 on July 21.
Nationally there has been a weekly decrease of 26,900 people on the special COVID-19 unemployment scheme, with €88.9 million being paid to 286,900 people this week.
In the past week, 19,200 people have closed their claim for pandemic unemployment, of which 900 were in Galway.
“I am particularly pleased to see that numbers of people who lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 health crisis are continuing fall as people are going back to work,” Minister Heather Humphreys said.
The number of people availing of the COVID-19 unemployment scheme has fallen by 52% since the peak demand on May 5 the Minister said.
This is roughly in line with the drop in Galway, which saw 32,300 people on the scheme in early May.
“I am confident that many more businesses will reopen in the weeks and months ahead as they avail of the most recent Government supports announced in the July Stimulus package.”
The government announced in the July stimulus package that the Pandemic Unemployment scheme will continue until April 2021, but with changes to the rates of payment.
The current system has people on either a payment of €203 a week, the same as the standard jobseeker rate, or €350 a week.
From September 17 until January 31 of next year, there will be three bands of payment based on your prior earnings, at €200, €250, and €300 a week.
This will be reduced again on February 1 of 2021, and from next April onwards the COVID-19 payments will be discontinued.
Minister Humphreys said that the Pandemic Unemployment scheme is for people who are “genuinely seeking work” and staying in the state.
Commenting on the news that 104 people had their payments stopped after screening at the airport determined they were travelling for non-essential reasons, the Minister said the scheme is “not paid to people who are leaving the country to reside elsewhere or who go on holidays abroad. Neither is the payment paid to individuals during a 14 day quarantine period.”
The decision to halt payments to people travelling abroad has been criticised for being brought in with little notice, and also for confusion surrounding travel guidelines between advice against non-essential travel, and a green list of countries it is deemed safe to go to.
However the government has said that the majority of people who had their PUP cut off were planning to leave the country permanently.


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The RBI has enhanced the limit on the amount an Indian can spend and invest overseas to Rs 1.5 crore a year. Find out how you can best utilise this limit.
The whole temple is thrived with rich and intricate carvings that are exclusive to Chola style of artistry in granite stone.
Four other executives of the company that sells the Panama and Chancellor brands of cigarettes were also arrested in July 2014.
Midcap stocks have outperformed the large caps by 20% over the past year and the P/E multiple is at a 25% premium, the highest in 10 yrs.
Given the fact that most infra companies have fractured balance sheets, Man Infra looks pretty good with no major debt, Irani says.
The National Restaurant Association of India predicts the country’s food services industry will grow at over 11% in the next four years.
Midcap stocks have been on a tear in India supported by pro-growth policy reforms by govt & cheap valuations.
Cargill India today said its Rs 600-crore corn milling plant in Karnataka would become operational by October this year and is open to acquire popular edible oil brands.


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Just in time for the busy Thanksgiving travel period, T.F. Green Airport has been named the third best airport in the country – and the best in New England – in the Conde Nast Traveler 2015 Readers’ Choice awards.
Tiffany & Co. posted third-quarter profit that trailed analysts’ estimates and cut its forecast for earnings this year as the strong dollar and choppy economic conditions weigh on sales of luxury jewelry.
Updated 2:30 p.m.
Despite recent signs of an improved economy, one in eight Rhode Island households lacks adequate food, according to the 2015 Status Report on Hunger in Rhode Island from the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.


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This story really took me by surprise on Wednesday when I read it. To think that a city the size of San Francisco would make this kind of sweeping ban in the name of “nutrition” almost seemed unfair to the fast food chains like McDonalds and Burger King and Wendys…almost.
Turns out that the reason they were “banning” the Happy Meal was primarily because the city has now set-up nutritional standards for any meals that come with a toy and it turns out McDonalds failed to live-up to these standards.
The measure will make San Francisco the first major city in the United States to forbid restaurants from offering a free toy with meals that contain more than set levels of calories, sugar and fat. Under the ordinance, scheduled to take effect in December 2011, restaurants may include a toy with a meal if the food and drink combined contain fewer than 600 calories, and if less than 35 percent of the calories come from fat.
I gotta be honest here…I’m a little on the fence with this one (and not for the reasons you may think).
It’s not because I want all children scarfing down burgers and fries on a daily basis because that’s simply not the case. I guess my concern is about where they decided to make this health food “stand” of theirs.
Are all elementary schools and high schools in the San Francisco area serving ONLY food that meets these exact same standards? Probably not…and I would think the government would be better off trying to fix what’s wrong from within their own system than going after an outside source in some kind of “good food crusade”.
My son is a fussy eater, but after watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution with Sunshine earlier this year, there’s nothing I’d rather see in my child’s school (when he ends up going) than salads and chicken breasts instead of greasy pizza, burgers, and fries every day.
This is where the battle should begin.
Having said that, I’m certainly not opposed to this ban. Any of the fast food chains that include toys with their child portions can be “un-banned” by doing whatever they can to ensure the meals end up meeting San Francisco’s nutritional standards, which is something McDonalds is already trying to do with the city.
My fear, though, is that these restaurants will find a way around the ban…maybe by selling the toys separately so they don’t end up falling under the nutritional requirements. It would be a pretty crummy way to get around it, but I can see it happening if an agreement isn’t reached by December 2011.
Either way, kudos to San Francisco for at least taking a stand like this. I just hope that other cities look at them as being an example and start following suit…but look at their own school system instead of trying to govern what restaurants offer on their kids’ menu, which at the end of the day is a choice that REALLY needs to be handled by the parents.


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Mopria Alliance Announces App Challenge for Android App Developers
Friday, July 29, 2016
The Mopria Alliance is reaching out to Android app developers with a new app competition. Co-sponsored by BeMyApp, the Mopria PRINTanomics Android App Challenge offers an online challenge designed to recognize the most innovative Android apps with mobile printing capabilities. You can register or learn more about the contest at http://appsthatprint.bemyapp.com
PRINTanomics Android App Challenge
The PRINTanomics Android App Challenge offers Android app developers the opportunity to win a series of bi-weekly prizes, including an Oculus Rift, by using the latest Android 4.4 or later Print API to enable mobile printing within their apps.
The Mopria Alliance will choose three winners, announced bi-weekly beginning on August 8, 2016, and name three grand prize winners on September 6, 2016, in three subcategories: business and finance, media and entertainment, health and education. Each grand prize winner will be awarded $2,000.
All apps will be evaluated equally based on the overall user-experience, creativity, functionality, app performance, and total number of user downloads during the challenge. To be eligible, developers must submit their app via the Google Play store and show their mobile printing capabilities via a social media platform of their choice, including Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
“We are sponsoring the online challenge to give Android developers the opportunity to enhance the user experience of their app through mobile printing capabilities,” said Steve Kim, Marketing Chair at Mopria Alliance. “The Mopria Alliance is excited to be a part of this event because it encourages creativity among the developer community and lets them showcase their app in a new way.”
The Mopria Print Service is available for download from Google Play or via direct download at Mopria.org. Mopria technology also is currently preloaded and available for immediate use on select Huawei and Amazon devices.
For more information, please visit the PRINTanomics Android App Challenge by Mopria homepage and follow the contest on social media via the hashtag #AppsThatPrint.
Android App Print Adoption Survey
In conjunction with the PRINTanomics Android App Challenge, the Mopria Alliance is also conducting research into app publishers’ adoption and integration of print capabilities within Android apps. Included as part of the research is a short survey on developer interest and actual integration of print into Android apps.
The survey is available here. Also, if you prefer, you can take the survey below. At the end of the survey, the Alliance is hosting a drawing to win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Read more: http://appsthatprint.bemyapp.com/
Become a subscriber of App Developer Magazine for just $5.99 a month and take advantage of all these perks.
MEMBERS GET ACCESS TO
- - Exclusive content from leaders in the industry
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Billy Joel, Kings of Leon
and Ken Block
, of rally car and motocross fame, all have a similar problem—managing and driving traffic to their merchandise stores online.
While it’s easier than ever to launch an e-commerce store using software like Shopify, PrestaShop and Magento, even the most recognizable celebrities struggle to market and drive sales to their brands. And that’s where SpotTrot
, a Charlottesville, Va. and Raleigh-based startup, has finally found its niche.
I say finally because SpotTrot's execs—co-founders Fenton Williams
and Ryan Gall
and Gall's brother Patrick Gall
(of Raleigh)—have been at it for several years
and with backing from Charlottesville native and chart-topping musician and singer-songwriter Dave Matthews
(Ryan Gall and Williams previously worked for Matthews' production company).
They initially launched a platform that allowed musicians to create branded mobile apps to engage with fans during concerts. While that was slow to take off, fans were using the apps to buy merchandise, so SpotTrot instead partnered with Live Nation
and its musician, celebrity and athlete customers to build and host their mobile e-commerce stores. But soon after that iteration launched, many professional sports teams began building out their own mobile stores and locking up licensing rights and the major e-commerce software companies built out mobile platforms, making it difficult for SpotTrot to grow as fast as it hoped.
There were some tough moments around that time, Patrick says. Though SpotTrot never lost customers in droves and maintained Live Nation as a partner, the more conversations the team had, the more they realized they'd lost the first mover's advantage in mobile e-commerce.
But it wasn't long before they found the niche—an opportunity to help athletes or celebrities launch or build their personal brands, and the apparel and products associated with them.
First up was action sports athlete and DC Shoes co-founder Block, who began using SpotTrot early last year to launch his new apparel brand Hoonigan
to his five million Facebook and the millions of YouTube viewers (An average Block video gets 20 million views). Sales have grown nearly 70 percent over the last year, and are expected to double again this year. According to Patrick, SpotTrot serves as Block's online marketing team, integrating his various technology platforms, managing the online store (SpotTrot syncs with e-commerce software platforms like Magento) and website and creating ads and marketing materials to drive traffic and purchases.
"People like that they can go to one vendor rather than piece together development and marketing," Patrick says. "Our ideal client is really blowing out their brand—has a site but is having an issue like scaling. So we can get through those issues but help grow the brand after we stabilize the site."
SpotTrot got a $500,000 cash infusion late last year from existing investors like Dave Matthews and a key new one, private jet industry mogul Kenny Dichter, whose latest company Wheels Up has clients like Erin Andrews, Kirk Herbstreit, Russell Wilson and golfer Rickie Fowler. Funding now totals just over $2 million. There’s a new president at the company—the former head of Live Nation’s merchandise division. Employees now total 10 in offices in both Charlottesville and Raleigh (in American Underground), and the team will soon add sales and marketing staff. SpotTrot has about 20 customers, but is just now ready to ramp up. Big targets are sports marketing companies that represent athletes and top talent agencies like IMG, WME and CAA (Creative Artists Agency). SpotTrot hopes to become a preferred vendor of those groups. The team will also attend The Agenda Show, a trade show where new brands and clothing lines are launched. And Dichter's connections will probably help too.
Here's Patrick's wish: "As these celebrities and athletes create apparel or fashion lines, we're hoping to use him as a linkage between us and them."


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Sony Settles Piracy Lawsuit With Russia’s Facebook
Sony Music Entertainment has settled its lawsuit against Russian social networking site Vkontakte, which it accused of facilitating mass-piracy. No further details of the agreement were revealed, but according to sources the social network will soon start to monetize its own music service. […] The case is still ongoing, but as of this week Sony Music has dropped out. According to a local report Sony and VK signed a confidential settlement agreement to resolve the dispute. – Ernesto, TorrentFreak
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LONGVIEW, Wash. (AP) — It took jurors only about an hour to convict a 31-year-old Longview, Wash., man of assault for slicing off most of a store security guard’s ear with a hatchet.
A Cowlitz County deputy prosecutor said Adrian Kramer faces between 26 and 33 years in prison at sentencing scheduled next Wednesday.
The Daily News of Longview reports (http://is.gd/s3Tfrl) that Kramer began to cry when jurors left the courtroom Thursday.
David Morrison is chief of security for the Fred Meyer retail store in Longview. He testified that Kramer swung a hatchet at him last Dec. 11 when Morrison and a guard trainee confronted the man, who was wheeling a shopping cart full of stolen goods through the parking lot.
In court for the verdict, Morrison said he was “totally happy with it.”
Doctors were unable to reattach the severed piece of Morrison’s left ear.
Kramer was also convicted of burglary counts.
Information from: The Daily News, http://www.tdn.com


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Holler, described by founder and CEO Travis Montac as “a conversational media company”, simply announced that it had raised $ 36 million in Series B funding.
You may not know what conversational media is, but there is a good chance you have used Holler’s technique. For example, if you added a sticker or GIF to your Venmo payments, the holder actually manages the app’s search and suggestion experience around this media. (You can see the “Slightly powered holder” by the identifier at the bottom of the window.)
Montac told me that the company initially started in 2016 as a news and video content app before focusing on messaging. Messaging, he argued, is “the most important experience for people online”, because it is “where we communicate with those who are closest to us.”
He continued, “It seemed odd that we hadn’t seen much innovation in the text messaging experience since the first text message was sent in 1992.”
So Holler works with partners like PayPal-owned Venmo and Meat Group to bring more compelling content to the messaging side of their apps – or as Montac puts it, the startup aims to “enrich conversations everywhere” .
He is both an art and a science. The art involves creating and curating the best stickers and GIFs, while Science Holler’s suggestion takes the form of AI technology, which will recommend the right content based on user interactions and contexts – those stickers and GIFs you send to the dating app Want is probably different from what you do in a work-related chat. Montac said that this context-focused approach allows the company to provide smart recommendations in a way that also respects user privacy.
He said, “I believe that the future is the reference, not the identity.” “Because I don’t really need to know about Anthony, I just want to know that someone needs lunch. If I know you’re in the mood for Mexican food, then you should know the last 10 times you’ve been If you go to a Mexican restaurant, you don’t have to know every aspect.
Holler monetizes this content by partnering with brands such as HBO Max, Ikea and Starbucks to create branded stickers and GIFs that form part of the company’s content library. Montac said the startup has also worked with brands to measure the impact of these campaigns across a variety of metrics.
He said that Holler’s content now reaches 75 million users every month, compared to 19 million users a year ago, while revenue has grown by 226%. (Apparently, the company saw significant revenue growth for the first time last year.)
The startup has now raised more than $ 51 million in total funding. Series B was led by CityRock Venture Partners and New General Market Partners, with participation from Gingles, Interplay Ventures, Relevance Ventures, Torvue Ventures and WorldQuant Ventures.
“Holler is more than a groundbreaking technology company,” CityRock’s managing partner Oliver Libby said in a statement. “Under the visionary leadership of Travis Montac, Holler boldly stands for a new era of ethics in social media, and also deeply embodies the values of diversity, inclusion and belonging.”
Montac (who, as a black tech CEO, wrote a post for ClearTips last year about bringing more diversity to the industry) said Holler would use the funds to develop its products and advertising model. For one thing, he said that although stickers and GIFs were an obvious starting point, the company is now looking to explore and create new media formats.
“We want to invent a new type of content consumption paradigm,” he said.


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Awareness about the harm easily-accessible, plastic-based sanitary napkins have been causing to both health and the environment is spreading — but slowly. And helping the cause of better menstrual hygiene, many sanitary pad makers, NGOs and indigenous brands are turning towards natural products to produce sustainable pads.
Organic cotton, banana or jute fibre — and even old clothes — are now among the alternatives on offer to the sanitary pads sold by the MNCs in India.
But why do we need these alternatives?
According to reports, every plastic-based sanitary pad has non-biodegradable content which takes around 500-800 years to decompose. Apart from the threat to the environment, medical experts have also voiced concern over possible pelvic infection due to repeated use of these easily-available plastic pads.
One of the companies providing an alternative is Ahmedabad-based Saathi, which was started in 2015 by graduates from MIT, Harvard and Nirma.
“We realised that there was a need for an alternative, and urban women were looking for different products because they were becoming aware of the consequences of plastic-based pads. The idea of using banana fibre came up and we decided to make sanitary pads based on it,” Saathi co-founder Kristin Kagetsu told IANS. Banana fibre comes from the stem of the banana tree, which, after harvesting, is normally discarded. Saathi buys the stems from collectives of local farmers.
“After being disposed, Saathi’s pads degrade within six months, which is 1,200 times faster than the MNC pads. Since our products are made of natural materials, Saathi pads provide an experience free of rashes and irritation,” Kagetsu added.
It was not an easy ride for the founders of Saathi. Tarun Bothra, another co-founder, said apart from breaking the taboos associated with menstruation, another major challenge for them was to convince banana farmers to sell them the fibre for making pads. “Periods are something that farmers associate with being ‘impure’. So convincing them that it was better to use the banana fibre for the pads than letting it go as a waste was difficult, but we succeeded,” he noted.
Another sanitary pad maker, EcoFemme, based in Auroville, is also in the business of making eco-friendly menstrual products — they make cloth-based pads using organic cotton.
“Our target is women aged 18-35. Our products are sold in rural areas through our ‘Pads for Sisters’ programme which offers women the opportunity to buy the pads at a reduced price. The response is good, once there has been a conversation around the benefits,” said Laura O’Connell from EcoFemme.
It’s not just producing the pads; the makers have also taken up the responsibility of creating awareness about menstrual hygiene amongst women, especially in rural areas.
Anshu Gupta’s Not Just Piece of Cloth (NJPC) was among the first to turn clothes into pads. For over a decade now, ‘MyPad’ has been selling its products in rural areas where there is little access to sanitary pads, and even in cities.
“In earlier times, clothes were used. But it was portrayed that clothes were unhygienic. Yes, they are, if not cleaned properly. We at Goonj first thoroughly clean the clothes, make them hygienic, make the pads and the distribute them among women, especially in rural areas,” Meenakshi Gupta from NJPC told IANS.
She revealed that the idea of making cloth pads came when Goonj, an NGO, found that in rural areas, or even slums of urban cities, women use clothes during menstruation. “It is better to use hygienic clothes than nothing. Women in rural areas lack the knowledge that if used in a hygienic way then clothes are equally good. We don’t aim to make profits, rather make women aware about periods. We have observed quite a change (in attitudes),” she added.
When will such products make it to every household?
Although Saathi has collaborated with local NGOs to reach out to rural women, its co-founder Bothra — also the company’s CTO — believes that the wider use of alternative sanitary pads is going to take some time in India.
“Frankly speaking, in rural areas women don’t even have an idea about sanitary pads; so knowing about the existence of biodegradable sanitary napkins or organic pads or even hygienic clothes is very rare,” Bothra, whose products are available on e-commerce platforms, explained. He further noted that since the MNC-produced pads are easily available at low cost, women don’t show much interest in investing money on the alternatives.
“Price is often a factor for women when it comes to the purchase of biodegradable or organic pads. When one is getting the plastic-based sanitary pads at a lower rate, they don’t like to shell out extra ,” Bothra noted. O’Connell said that though their products have a higher up-front cost, the pads can be used for three to four months — which saves money over time.
“Our ‘Pads for Sister’ programme aims to make our pads affordable to women who would otherwise not be able to afford them; and our ‘Pad for Pad’ programme provides our pads to school girls for free,” she added. The alternatives are slowly treading the path to being accessible to all, and their makers are optimistic about the future.
“There is a growing awareness, but there is a lot of work to do to make reusable options more widely known. We believe in informed choices; so we hope that more people in all areas of India, not just rural, will become aware of sustainable options and make a decision based on the fact that reusable products are better for health, the planet and our wallets,” O’Connell commented. IANS
By- Tejas Maheta
Free VPNs tend to get a bad rap (and often for good reasons, which we'll discuss in a second). Still, there are some safe and free VPN services recommended by expats - just click the link for some solid options. Next, scroll on to see how you can put them to good use while you're abroad.
Privacy and Security (to a Certain Degree)
One of the main purposes of a VPN is to encrypt your network traffic – garble it, basically – to keep it safe from:
- ISPs that want to sell your browsing and location data for a profit
- Hackers and script kiddies lurking at every corner public hotspot
- Government surveillance agencies spying on their own citizens
Even free VPNs can do as much, as long as you go with a trustworthy provider such as those linked at the start.
On top of that, VPNs hide your real life location by masking your IP address and assigning a new one based on the server you connect to. Useful in case some cyberstalkers or trolls lure you into clicking on IP-grabbing links or scripts to determine your location. Unfortunately, it's not as effective against GPS tracking (though there are some paid VPNs out there that can spoof GPS).
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Unblock Some Websites While Abroad
While not as versatile as a subscription-based VPN, free VPNs still have some unblocking ability that can be useful to an expat. For instance, you can access your home banking or investment accounts, which in most cases block foreign traffic. Understandably so, since a lot of cyber attacks tend to be linked to international hacker networks.
Using a VPN also allows you to access small news sites from back home, who simply don't find it worth it to comply with GDPR regulations in the EU. Alternatively, you can set your virtual location outside the EU to get around all those annoying cookie consent pop-ups. Funny little side effect, but it can definitely save you some grey hairs while browsing.
Finally, free VPNs can unblock some content such as region-locked music videos, or age-restricted YouTube videos in the EU without having to give up your ID or credit card information to Google. You won't have much luck using free VPNs on content platforms like Netflix, though. Those of you looking to bypass geo-restrictions on streaming sites are better off using a sub-based VPN.
One of the main purposes of a VPN is to encrypt your network traffic.Wikipedia
Bypass Firewalls and Censorship
VPNs sure seem like a master thief's skeleton key, don't they? So many Internet barriers out there, all of them nullified with the help of a single tool. And yes, they can easily get around firewalls as well.
For the most part, you'll be using a VPN to unblock social media and other "distractions" at work or at school. Believe it or not, airport and hotel Wi-Fi can be pretty restrictive too. Thankfully, VPNs make short work of their firewall rules.
And while not as effective as a paid option, free VPNs can also help during Internet blackouts caused by government censorship. Look no further than the recent Hong Kong protests, the frequent social media shutdowns in Turkey, and similar cases worldwide. All of these have one thing in common: free VPN usage shot up immensely as people sought ways to contact their loved ones or post their outrage online.
Why the Negative View of Free VPNs?
You've seen all the great things you can accomplish with a free VPN. So why all the bad press about them? Well, here are some fairly valid concerns that apply to a decent chunk of free providers:
- They sell user data – after all, they need to pay for operational costs somehow. It just so happens that advertisers find your browsing habits highly valuable.
- Several free VPNs based in Hong Kong breached their "no-logs" policies and ended up leaking 1.2 TB of user data online. This isn't an uncommon occurrence, considering the data harvesting practices of most free VPNs.
- They can infect your device with malware that can extract sensitive info or otherwise cause damage. In one major case, user devices were hijacked into a botnet and used in a large scale denial-of-service attack.
Other criticisms are directed at their data caps, slow performance, the small number of overcrowded servers, and the bandwidth throttling. Add to that the fact that they don't unblock region-specific Netflix libraries or other streaming sites, and you can see why people aren't too thrilled about them.
Still, if you're not looking for anything fancy, a free VPN should tide you over until you can fit an actual subscription into your budget. Just stick to the trusty VPNs we've linked to in the beginning.
Disclaimer: (This article is sponsored and include some commercial links)
The Cupertino-based tech giant Apple has started rolling out iOS 12.5.5 to older models of the iPhone and iPad. "This update provides important security updates and is recommended for all users," Apple said in the release notes for iOS 12.5.5.
The update is available for the iPad Air, the iPad mini 2, and iPad mini 3, as well as the 6th gen iPod touch, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus. All of these devices were dropped from support with iOS 13. The iOS 12.5.5 update addresses issues related to maliciously crafted PDFs, web content, and apps.
ALSO READ: The September Event Of Apple Inc.
Apple had previously rolled out iOS 12.5.4 in June with security fixes for WebKit vulnerabilities and other issues. Apple has also started seeded the first betas of iOS 15.1 as well as iPadOS 15.1. After removing SharePlay in iOS 15 beta 2, Apple has re-enabled the feature in the iOS 15.1, iPadOS 15.1, and tvOS 15.1 betas. Apple decided to pull SharePlay from the iOS 15 launch because it was not properly functioning and was still riddled with issues.
It adds features to the Health app like support for storing health-related data for Covid-19 immunisations and test results. With the latest iOS 15.1 Beta, one can now add vaccination cards to the Apple Wallet application. (IANS/ MBI)
Keywords: Apple, iPhone, iPad, iOS, update
The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Lakme Fashion Week, announced a collaboration to celebrate "NBA 75" the leagues landmark 75th Anniversary Season in 2021-22. As part of the collaboration, the NBA and Lakme Fashion Week will offer fashion designers from across India the opportunity to submit designs for an "NBA 75" collection. Select designs will be evaluated by a panel comprised of fashion designers, industry experts and local influencers, with the winning designer announced at the upcoming October edition of Lakme Fashion Week.
The winner will then be mentored by a leading fashion expert and will work alongside the NBA on a capsule collection to commemorate NBA 75. The NBA 75 range, which will include jerseys, t-shirts, headwear, sweatpants, hoodies, jackets and other apparel, will be unveiled at Lakme Fashion Week in March 2022.
"We are excited to collaborate with Lakme Fashion Week and offer Indian designers the chance to express their vision in celebration of NBA 75," said NBA Asia Executive Vice President & Managing Director Scott Levy. "The NBA and its players are synonymous with fashion and culture, and this friendly competition will showcase the talent and passion that Indian designers have for basketball and the NBA during our landmark 75th Anniversary Season." The collection will be available for purchase after the event on the NBAStore.in and at select retail destinations. (IANS/ MBI)
Keywords: NBA, Lakme, beauty, basketball, Lakme fashion week


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Code of conduct calls to protect vital industry
THE apiary industry is calling for a boost to biosecurity efforts through a code of practice to protect Australia’s hives.
Developed by the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) and Plant Health Australia (PHA) in consultation with the Australian Government, the Biosecurity Code of Practice provides commercial and hobby beekeepers across Australia with a framework to engage in best-practice biosecurity.
With the industry worth over $100 million annually in honey production, pest invasion presents a threat not only to commercial production but to the agricultural industry that relies heavily on bee pollination.
“Established pests and diseases like American foulbrood, small hive beetle and chalkbrood are causing significant economic and social harm to the bee industry and this would be exacerbated by an incursion of an exotic pest like the varroa mite,” says AHBIC Chair Peter McDonald.
The code details a set of measures for both hobby and commercial beekeepers — those with 50 or more hives — to follow in order to be compliant. These include instructions to:
- register as a beekeeper
- regularly inspect hives for significant pests and diseases
- report notifiable diseases
- control or eradicate pests and diseases, and manage weak hives
- maintain records of biosecurity related actions and observations
- appropriately construct and brand (label) hives
- protect hives from neglect or exposure
- allow their operation to be assessed by bee biosecurity officers.
Thinking about keeping bees?
— ABC Science (@ABCscience) August 15, 2018
Also in Australian Food News
Mat Lumalasi of beekeepers Melbourne City Rooftop Honey says additional biosecurity measures are crucial for maintaining Australia’s high standards of hive health.
“We have the healthiest bees in the world — we’re one of the only countries to not have varroa mite — so biosecurity plays a major role in protecting our honey and pollination industry,” says Mr Lumalasi.
“I think any beekeeper in Australia would definitely embrace these biosecurity practices.”
Melbourne City Rooftop Honey manages hives in Melbourne’s CBD and fringe suburbs that individuals and corporations are encouraged to sponsor.
It’s a way for people to join the bee community, says Mr Lumalasi, while increasing awareness of the importance of bees for the agriculture industry.
“Bees play a major role in our food supply chain. The honey industry is valued at over $100 million but pollination is in the billions,” says Mr Lumalasi.
“It’s often the less-thought-about service that bees actually provide.”
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A REPORT detailing the impact of last month’s controversial grand final eve public holiday across Gippsland’s tourism industry has come to light.
Conducted by tourism board Destination Gippsland, the report found local tourism businesses were divided on the additional 2 October holiday.
“We surveyed our tourism industry to see if it had a positive or negative impact and we found it was pretty much half and half (for and against),” Destination Gippsland chief executive Terry Robinson said.
Survey respondents were asked whether they considered the long weekend holiday had a positive or negative affect on their business and to describe the impact on their business.
Mr Robinson said half of those surveyed felt the public holiday added visitors and boosted business, namely the accommodation industry.
The other half, mostly comprising of retailers and small hospitality businesses including caf , said the holiday had a negative effect.
“It may have been a combination of the (public) holiday, school holidays and the weather,” Mr Robinson said.
“However because of the issue of penalty rates, small businesses felt it was a negative.”
Mr Robinson believed the public holiday was likely to continue, but was subject to a State Government decision.
“As a region and tourism industry we need to plan and prepare (for its continuation) to maximise benefits where we can,” Mr Robinson said.
“It doesn’t sound like it’s going anywhere.”
Caf 3847 & Co. owner Cathy Theodore, who previously spoke out against the holiday, said she closed on the day.
“Like a lot of hospitality businesses we couldn’t justify it (opening),” Ms Theodore said.
“We lost income and Friday is typically a busy day for us, so it hurt.”
Ms Theodore said while city businesses may strive, smaller regional businesses felt the impact.
“We’re not metropolitan, it’s like apples and oranges, you can’t compare the two,” she said.
Small Business Minister Philip Dalidakis said the holiday was an election promise the government delivered on and it was up to the individual business owner if they opened on the holiday.


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After the success Hupfer received at the Commercial Kitchen Show back in June, we are delighted to announce that we will be exhibiting at our next trade show which will take us further afield to none other than Dubai!
GulfHost, the complete hospitality equipment sourcing Expo for the Middle East, Africa and Asia, will take place between 30 October – 1 November at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
Launched last year in 2017, this year’s show will cover zones for Front and Back of House, Gelato and Bakery, Tableware, Cafe and Bar and HORECA (hotel, restaurant and cafe foodservice sectors).
With over 2,500 brands exhibiting at this year’s event showcasing up to 8,000 products across 6 different sectors, the show is set to be even more successful than last year.
Hupfer is the parent company of Trak, and since our recent rebrand from TrakHupfer, we are still continuing to work alongside the Hupfer Group based in Germany.
Philipp Schumacher, Director at Trak, said: “We are delighted to be exhibiting at GulfHost, the number one equipment sourcing trade show in Dubai, which will be a great opportunity for Hupfer to showcase our products on an international level.
“Hupfer achieved great success at the Commercial Kitchen Show back in June, so we are looking forward to exhibiting at an even bigger event in Dubai. We can’t wait to travel over there and meet lots of new faces, and hopefully expand our list of contacts across the globe.”
To find out more about GulfHost, visit www.gulfhost.ae where you can register for free to visit the show. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for more info from us!


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Street View photos are often amazing to behold because of the beautiful landscape they capture in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, it is usually difficult to share your Street View photos on the internet even when such photos are captured using a 360-degree camera.
Google has come out with a solution that might make it easy to upload Street View images on the internet by launching a Street View-ready program. The tech giant says it is working with hardware partners on "Street View Ready" standards that will certify 360-degree cameras based on how easy it is to post shots captured on the cameras. The Street View ready devices are categorised into four different types depending on their capabilities.
With Street View mobile-ready devices, owners can post directly from an app on their mobiles without the need for a PC. On the other hand, auto-ready cameras are designed to capture high-accuracy snapshots from the car. VR-ready cameras collect the layout needed for virtual reality and connected 360-degree shots. There is also the Workflow-ready camera which comes with publishing tools that upload directly to Street View. In some cases, it is easy to record some footage even while on the move and loading an app then the images are uploaded.
There will be 20 certified camera brands arriving in 2017, all having different certification levels. The four different certification levels (listed) varies from brand to brand. From the list, if you're looking for a mobile ready camera then you'll have to look at the YI technology camera while a company such as Matterport offers VR -ready camera. Samsung has got its Tizen-powered Gear 360 lineup, the latest being the Gear 360 (2017) and it is certified as workflow ready. Co-travellers GoPro also receives a workflow ready certification.
The move is seen as one which would likely kickstart demand for 360-degree cameras since it gives you a reason to buy one. It doesn't have to be for VR, as you can always use it for different purpose apart from that. For instance, you could show friends what it really looks like on the beach, or during a driving trip to the countryside. The new development by Google could also help the tech giant in other aspects of its business like getting more persons post 360-degree videos on YouTube. Sales of VR headset like Google's Daydream View may also be impacted due to the need to increase immersion. The move may not lead to a rapid participation in 360-degree camera tech but in the long run, such a small step today may lead to a giant leap for the company in the future.


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Warby Parker stormed the retail glasses industry in 2010 with a novel way to sell its affordable, stylish specs: online. Hundreds of thousands of sold pairs later, the boutique glasses purveyor is today opening the doors to its brick-and-mortar flagship store, at 121 Greene Street in NYC’s SoHo neighborhood.
Warby Parker rapidly built a thriving e-commerce business through an innovative model that eschewed costly expenses, such as brand licensing fees, and sold product directly to consumers, allowing the company to sell glasses for as low as $95 a pair.
“We literally would invite people to come to the apartment and we’d lay the glasses on the dining room table,” Blumenthal says. “We thought it was going to be this sub-optimal experience, and it ended up being something really special.”
They eventually opened up a showroom in New York City and set up displays within several smaller boutique retailers across the country, including The Standard hotel chain’s Los Angeles and Miami locations, where guests can visit Warby’s kitschy, ’60s-themed “Readery” kiosks.
But Blumenthal and Gilboa have sprinkled the flagship store with an extra dusting of retail magic, taking a few cues from their neighbor across Greene Street: the Apple Store.
“What I think Apple did tremendously well when they launched retail was not to focus on how to shove as many products into the footprint as possible,” Gilboa says. “It was really focused around creating a magical experience.” That’s what we’ve tried to create here.”
When you walk into 121 Greene, you’ll find rolling library ladders, a photo booth, reading materials from Warby-approved independent presses, and mirrors upon mirrors, so you’ll never have to travel far to peep a glance at your bespectacled self.
Blumenthal and Gilboa say the store is an early testament to where the retail industry is headed.
“The future of our business and all retail is going to have some online and some offline component,” Gilboa says. “The world doesn’t have to be black and white.”
[Photos by Joel Arbaje]


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DURHAM — Small Business Saturday was founded by American Express in 2010 and is a day dedicated to supporting small businesses. Held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, it is billed as the perfect opportunity to shop at the many unique local businesses and take advantage of the deals they will be offering. Businesses in Durham will be participating in Small Business Saturday on Nov. 30, and they encourage residents to join in on the shopping festivities.
Shoppers are advised to be sure to grab one of the bags that are available at the participating shops as they are filled with coupons and gift cards. Stores will be opening at 9 a.m. For more information on this event, visit celebratedurhamnh.com.


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Google purchased Bump back in September of 2013. Bump is an application made for use on smartphones and other devices that might feature NFC tech or not. Bump allowed users to share data between two devices by making a bump motion.
Google promised when it purchased Bump that the service would continue to operate. The catch was that Google never said exactly how long Bump would continue. Google has now announced that Bump will cease to operate on January 31.
Google has offered instructions on how to remove data from Bump before it is closed down. Google will also be closing down the Flock service as well. Both the Bump and Flock apps will be pulled from the Apple App Store and Google Play.
The people behind Bump are apparently very focused on internal Google projects. This is said to be the reason that Bump is being ended. All user data will be deleted from both apps on January 31. If you need data stored in these apps, you need to get it soon.
SOURCE: Android Community


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It's excellent news for picky eaters and all those who are just fed up of dealing with the typical grumpy Parisian waiter.
The first successful demonstration of the delivery took place in Auckland, New Zealand on Thursday, and the drones will be launched there first, but the American pizza company has set its sights on France next, if the tests go to plan.
The news will be welcomed by many French people; despite their reputation as culinary snobs, they scoff more pizza than any other nationality.
Domino's New Zealand drones – which will be the first ever commercial drone delivery service in the world, despite tech giants Google and Amazon investing massive resources into drones – will launch fully later this year.
The drones, created by startup Flirtey, carry your pizza in “state-of-the-art packaging that retained the temperature and taste” of the meal, and once it arrives, you'd be alerted by a smartphone notification.
They will be used alongside the company's other delivery methods, wherever they would be faster than a scooter or bike delivery.
“We've always said that it doesn't make sense to have a two-tonne machine delivering a two-kilo object,” said Domino's CEO Don Meij.
France is one of six countries where Domino's hopes to bring its pizza drones if the initial trial in New Zealand is successful. The others are Germany, Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Japan. The project has been in the works since 2013.
However, before pizzas take to the sky here in France, Domino's will first face administrative battles. Delivery by drone is not currently allowed in well-populated areas of France; drones are subject to heavy regulation and are generally only allowed in rural spaces. One tourist even ended up behind bars for a drone flight around Notre Dame cathedral.
Meanwhile, across the border in Switzerland, the national post office began testing delivery drones last week, but they said it would take around five years before customers would get their parcels from a drone.


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Over 10 Years in Business Since 2001, Collective Point of Sale Solutions has been Canada’s Choice for payment processing services and secure point of sale solutions. We have served more than 11,000 businesses across Canada and processed more than $1 billion in debit and credit card transactions.
To find out more about us, check out our timeline of press releases to see how we've grown over the years.
Experian reports considerable uptick in online identity fraud
July 19, 2012 - 4:33pm
While numerous efforts have been undertaken in both the public and private sector to combat identity theft and increase transaction processing security for businesses and individuals, fraud still remains a significant issue. This is highlighted in a recent report issued by major credit card bureau Experian, which features some statistics that may prove discomfiting to those conducting business online.
According to Finextra, the study points out that over 12 million pieces of personal financial information were disseminated and traded by criminals in the first third of 2012 - the months from January through April. About 90 percent of this data consisted of passwords and other information used by countless individuals to log in and access their online financial platforms.
The news source reports that the total amount of fraud from January to April 2012 is a sizable increase from figures collected as recently as 2010. In that entire year, 9.5 million pieces of the same kind of information were exchanged for fraudulent means.
Experian's study identifies the tendency of some users to use insufficient means of financial protection as one reason for the surge. As evidence, it states that 24 per cent of study participants within a sample base of 2,000 United Kingdom citizens used five passwords, on average, for all personal logins, and 4 per cent used only one.
Conversely, in Canada, initiatives to suppress credit and debit card fraud - a fairly frequent result of identity theft for numerous individuals - have shown positive results. Between 2010 and 2011, Interac reported the total amount lost to debit card fraud as having dropped from $119 million to $70 million.


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Tata Safari Storme launch postponed by a couple of months
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Tata Motors, the largest auto maker of South Asia, is well-appreciated by the Indian buyers for offering quality Utility Vehicles (UVs) in the market. Its Safari Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) had been a huge success in the market and its latest edition, called the Safari Storme, was expected to arrive by July 2012. However, much to the chagrin of auto enthusiasts, the car maker has postponed the launch of this eagerly anticipated SUV in India. As per the latest plans, the car will sparkle at the Indian showrooms in festive season, which means that auto aficionados will get a chance to try their hand on SUV by the end of 3rd or starting of 4th quarter.
The reason behind the delay is that the in-house preparations for the model are still under process. Reportedly, company officials are making all efforts to ensure that their executives are well-trained to efficiently respond to the queries of customers.
Owing to the overwhelming response gathered by the car maker because of its past hits, the company is waiting for the perfect time to bring forth the car in the country. It is believed that the new offering will be placed between the current version of Tata Safari and Tata Aria. No official declarations have been made regarding the cost of the new car, but analysts believe that the car will be officered with a price tag ranging from Rs. 8 to 11 lacs.
At this price, the car will deliver a stiff competition to currently available Mahindra Scorpioand the yet-to-be launched Renault Duster and Ford EcoSport. Duster will arrive on Indian shores somewhere in July 2012, whereas Ford will break cover of its EcoSport in the initial months of 2013. Although, the car will not square off against Mahindra XUV500, it will definitely reduce the volumes of Mahindra’s best seller.
The new SUV by the auto maker was showcased at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo, held in January this year. When evaluated against its predecessor, it was found that the Safari Storme is slightly longer and weighs a little lesser. Besides, it is anticipated that the car will boast of advanced features which will surely add to the convenience of its passengers. Tata’s engineers and designing personnel have ensured that the car has no room for flaws and have given their best to provide an urbane and appealing look to the car.
Bringing the exterior portion of this gigantic SUV in limelight, the company has worked upon the outer portion of car and has provided it with some moderate changes. It is believed that the new model has re-worked front portion, which now has sleek and smooth curves. In addition, the Safari Storme will feature new headlight cluster, having powerful xenon lights and clear lens projectors. Adding to the appealing nature of the new SUV, the body coloured front bumpers and a pair of fog lamps will further enhance its presence on road. The grille fitted in front portion is expected to be more attractive and will likely help the car to create its dominance over other cars of the same segment.
In order to offer a hassle free drive, the car is anticipated to be bestowed with a pair of new sturdy suspensions, which will flawlessly operate with double wishbones. Owing to these features and a host of other advancements packed in the car as well as a competitive price tag, Safari Storme in India will surely set benchmarks in its segment, but the timing of its launch is still dicey.
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No, that should not happen...I am an owner of Tata Safari ... and i just love that car and actually now I am willing to move to safari Storme. Eagerly waiting to drive the Beast...July 20, 2012 by Neil Mukesh
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The creation of games for the PlayStation is delegated to developers from China
Sony has increased investment in Chinese game developers
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has decided to expand its China Hero Project program to support game developers in China. This is reported by Reuters. The Japanese IT giant intends to invest one million yuan (about $140,000) in each project selected by the jury.
By strengthening the support program, Sony wants to increase the popularity of console gaming in China, as well as find new talent and bring their products to the international market. Reuters believes that another important motive for Sony is to expand its share in the Chinese market. For Sony, this is a crucial moment in the race with Microsoft, which, in addition to buying up large publishers, is also making attempts to expand into Asia.
The China Hero Project was launched back in 2017. The project was put on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the stages of 2017 and 2019, the Sony “incubator” supported the development of 17 games, seven of which eventually made it to release.
“The scope of the third season will be much larger than the previous two,” said Bao Bo, director of development for Sony in China.
As part of the presentation of the third stage of the China Hero Project, it was also announced that Sony itself will act as the publisher of the two games selected earlier. We are talking about the Lost Soul Aside and Convallaria projects.
According to SIE director Jim Ryan, 3.5 million PlayStation 4 consoles have been sold in China for all time. In the case of the PlayStation 5, the Japanese company intends to double the result of the previous generation.


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"Day of Kazakhstan" was held in Turkey
Top managers of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and representatives of 50 Turkish companies learnt about Kazakhstan’s investment potential at the ‘Day of Kazakhstan’. The event was supported by Kazakhstan’s Consulate General in Turkey and the Ministry of Investments and Development. In turn, heads of Turkish industrial enterprises who have been successfully working in Kazakhstan for many years told about privileges available for foreign businessmen.
KAIRAT KARMANOV, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, INVESTMENTS COMMITTEE, KAZAKH MINISTRY OF INVESTMENTS AND DEVELOPMENT:
- Many companies supply their products to the Kazakh market and now they are thinking of lowering their expenses and launching production in Kazakhstan. They found out what sort of advantages Kazakhstan can offer. They enquired about the tax, the Eurasian Economic Union, the single market. Those were very practical questions such as about the delivery cost of one wagon to Russia and so on.
CHENGIZ ZAIM, DIRECTOR, TURKISH COMPANY:
- Algeria and Kazakhstan are second after our Turkish company in terms of the investments made. Turkey has pharmaceutical manufacturing in these two countries. We have invested $60 million in the production that has been operating in Kazakhstan since 2012. We are planning to expand it because Kazakhstan is one of the leading members of the Eurasian Economic Union, and also has a very good demographic potential.
Potential partners in Europe accessed information about Kazakhstan’s development strategy, investment climate and privatization program at London Stock Exchange platform. The event was held with support of the Kazakh Embassy in the UK. Heads of Kazakhstani enterprises have also held meetings with the largest investors and trans-national corporations’ management.


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Come with us to explore Moto X Pure 2015’s Kernel Source Code for Nougat is Now Available
Motorola has just pushed out the source code for the kernel used on the 2015 Moto X Pure for Android 7.0 Nougat. As with the other devices they release the kernel source code for, it can be found on GitHub at the link provided here and at the bottom of this article. A lot of Moto X Pure Edition owners have been waiting for this as it will allow for a boost in custom ROM and custom kernel development when it comes to the Android 7.0 Nougat software.
This is especially good for those who have been waiting for Motorola to roll out the Android 7.0 Nougat via their official OTA update channel. The device shipped with Android 5.1 Lollipop but was then updated fairly quickly to Marshmallow. Motorola has been testing the upcoming Nougat update in multiple regions for a couple of months now, but an official release has yet to start. The company had previously started Q2 of this year as their release target, but we’re already passed that an there still has yet to be anything official announced.
Motorola releasing the kernel source code for the 2015 Moto X Pure Edition (aka Clark) right now is quite unique. Most OEMs (even Motorola in some cases) have a history of releasing this after an update has already started to roll out (or not releasing it). We still aren’t sure exactly what is holding up this official update, but it is interesting to see that the company has decided to release the kernel source code before the stable update rollout has even been announced.
Perhaps this is a sign that Motorola is finalizing the update and is incredibly close to pushing it out to customers in the United States and elsewhere. This remains to be seen though and it’s something that we will be keeping our eye out for as it is likely the last big update that will come from Motorola.
Source : Moto X Pure 2015’s Kernel Source Code for Nougat is Now Available
keyword : Moto X Pure 2015’s Kernel Source Code for Nougat is Now Available, Moto X Pure 2015’s Kernel Source Code for Nougat is Now Available ,Moto X Pure 2015’s Kernel Source Code for Nougat is Now Available


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Latest Verizon Stories
NEW YORK, May 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- After learning about the April 25 earthquake that devastated Nepal, Verizon stepped
NEW YORK, May 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Just as we keep our car ready to roll by periodically checking the air in its tires and getting it tuned up, small-business owners can keep their
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Online job fair connects veterans and military spouses with companies PHILADELPHIA, April 29, 2015 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Verizon and Veteran Recruiting will host the fifth annual
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2015 DBIR lessons on what makes intel valuable OVERLAND PARK, Kan., April 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- RiskAnalytics is a new contributor to Verizon's 2015 Data Breach Investigations Report.
- Stoppage; cessation (of labor).
- A standing still or idling (of mills, factories, etc.).


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“We’re tying to teach them caring for the community and for the world,” said Lisa Heisel, principal of the Triangle Elementary School. “As small as it is, even just putting something in the bag can make a difference.”
Earlier this month, 14 fourth graders from the school shopped for each item at a nearby supermarket with donations and $600 the school raised from a “Support the Troops” T-shirt fundraiser.
Throughout the day on Friday each of the school’s 444 students took turns packaging travel-sized tooth paste, rolls of toilet paper, books and canned pasta into plastic bags that would be mailed to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The packages will be mailed by Operation Jersey Cares, a Raritan Borough-based non-profit.
Sgt. George Broughton, 43, of Pennsylvania, who has been in the Army for 16 years and served in Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan, said the packages are a welcome distraction from the intense conditions of war.
“When you go through a whole lot and see a whole lot, to see something come from home really does your heart good,” he said. “It makes me feel like they gave me a million dollars.”
Giovanni Colalillo, 9, carefully put candy, deodorant and a can of soup into his bag. Giovanni said he chose things that he thought his U.S. Marine brother would like. He said he hoped the packages would lift the soldiers’ spirits.
“It lets them know that we think of them and that we care about them,” he said. “They’re helping us, so we should be able to help them in some way.”
Along with practical items, the packages included a picture of the school’s student body and hand-made cards and crafts.
Leona Walton, 9, said she is used to sending care packages overseas since her father was in the Air Force and served in Iraq. She hopes her bag -- full of hand wipes, canned tuna and a hand warmer -- would give soldiers a little piece of home.
“They don’t have a lot of stores near where they are and it’s hard to get stuff they usually have at home,” she said. “I hope they think they don’t have to worry and feel more comfortable being away from home.”
Specialist Mike Wolf, 21, of Middlesex, joined the Army in 2006 and is being sent to Fort Bragg next week to prepare for deployment. As he placed completed packages into boxes, he said knowing the community cared helped ease soldiers’ minds.
“You don’t see a whole lot of community support, so to see this is actually pretty touching,” he said. “It’ll definitely make you feel appreciated.”


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Sony Drops Potential PlayStation 4 ClueBy Ajané Celestin-Greer | May 26, 2011 | News | No comments | Share
According to website Venturebeat, Sony dropped a hint that it is working on a PlayStation 4 as it reported game profits for the year.
Sony chief financial officer Masaru Kato spoke on the company’s earnings call:
For the home equipment the PS3 still has a product life, but this is a platform business, so for the future platform – when we’ll be introducing what product I cannot discuss that – but our development work is already under way, so the costs are incurred there.
The important thing to notice here is that Sony’s Research & Development costs are rising. This could mean that Sony is working on developing a new chip and is in the early manufacturing stages. Gamers might remember what a colossal cost making the PlayStation 3 incurred ($1.97 billion USD was lost) and that they only recently started seeing profit on it.
With this in mind, it might not make much sense that they would already begin developing their next console with they themselves believe the PlayStation 3 has so much product life left. But it could be so that PlayStation keeps up with the competition, especially with Nintendo already unveiling the successor to the Wii at E3.
It is not expected that Sony will talk about the PlayStation 4 much, if at all, at E3.


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Dollars For Scholars To Host Holiday Bazaar
The charitable Bainville Dollars for Scholars group is hosting their annual holiday bazaar event at Bainville Public School Dec. 10 from 12:30 to 7 p.m.
Soup and pie will be available.
So far, vendors at the show include Confections by Leona; lefse and baked goods; Alyson’s Pantry; Monat hair, skincare and wellness products; steel buildings; Mary Kay; Placer Peaks rubs and sauces; jewelry, handmade items; and craft kits.
According to organizers president Lindsay Winn and Billie Pippenger, the event will also include Christmas books, Scottie bombs, Breaking Barnwood, Business Professionals of America ornament photos, fudge, Wildcalf Coffee, Tupperware and more.
Pippenger said the Bainville School intro to business class will also be selling homemade items at the bazaar.
Bainville Dollars for Scholars has been giving out scholarships for 24 years.
“Each year, we typically give out 10 to 15 scholarships ranging from $500 to $1,500 per student,” Pippenger said.
For more information, visit the group’s Facebook page.


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The eCommerce market experienced significant growth in 2020 when pandemic-related restrictions made it difficult for consumers to conduct in-person transactions.
“Brazilian Bundle Me is a brand that caters to shoppers globally,” Muhammad told PYMNTS in an interview. “Many consumers were able to spend more time engaging in different social media apps and [doing] more online shopping.”
Customers’ shopping habits continue to evolve amid a worldwide reopening of storefronts, but the global cross-border payments market remains in full swing, with volume expected to reach $156 trillion in 2022. This uptick represents a tremendous opportunity for businesses looking to extend their brands to other geographical markets. Still, organizations must consider consumers’ regional payment preferences to satisfy increasingly diverse buyer demographics.
Preferred Payment Methods Increase Consumer Loyalty
Consumer trust is one of the most critical business assets needed when selling to international markets. An onslaught of cyberattacks since the pandemic began has made consumers more wary online and less likely to provide personal information to sites that seem suspicious. In November 2020, 15% of consumers reported a growing disillusionment with digital payments security during the past year. Offering customers their preferred payment methods increases their likelihood of feeling secure about new platforms.
“Accepting a variety of payments has been a game-changer for Brazilian Bundle Me, making it nearly impossible to miss a sale,” Muhammad explained.
More than half of consumers have made cross-border purchases during the pandemic, and many more plan to do so. Nevertheless, 59% of online shoppers say they are not willing to give a retailer in another country a second chance if they are unsatisfied with their initial purchases. Offering alternative payment methods can be a powerful way to combat consumer wariness of international sellers. If a buy now, pay later (BNPL) option were available, for example, 54% of online shoppers said they would be more willing to make purchases from a company in another country. Muhammad said her experience supports this finding.
“Over time, I received many inquiries for curbside pickup, Afterpay and cashless payments,” she said. “Brazilian Bundle Me is preparing to accept partial payments using an app similar to Afterpay, Klarna [or] Quadpay.”
Customers Demand Contactless Options
Although consumers were eager to adopt online purchasing habits during the pandemic, many still preferred to retrieve their items from local stores rather than having them delivered. Companies implemented curbside pickup to cater to this demand, and these “click-and-collect” purchases garnered $72.5 billion in sales in 2020 — more than twice as much as in 2019.
The feature’s growth trajectory continues to point upward, suggesting that hybrid online and in-person shopping habits have become the norm. Muhammad said she has also observed a persistent demand for contactless pickup.
“In no time, our new ‘pay online and pick up curbside’ [option] became routine in 2020,” she said. “Our curbside pickup is still offered as of today.”
Digital wallet payments are now tied with credit cards as the most preferred payment method worldwide. Businesses that offer numerous payment options can attract a broader customer base than those with just traditional capabilities. This is most relevant to cross-border retailers. Muhammad said she expects that convenience will ultimately keep driving the use of alternative payment methods.
“In addition to any traditional online purchases, Brazilian Bundle Me accepts Apple Pay and PayPal on our site,” she said. “Overall, it is my expectation that consumers will continue to use the most convenient form of payment presented.”
Companies looking to increase their brands’ international appeal should consider the payment preferences of the markets they aim to serve and implement appropriate technologies accordingly.


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US: GM restructure costs partsmaker JPY900m
Auto partsmaker Yorozu has said it will suspend operations at its US plant in Michigan in October in response to the restructuring of major client General Motors.
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Restaurant investors pounce despite sour economy
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- Jackie Noblett
The secret to Abby Park’s success as an upscale eatery launched in the middle of the recession just might be as simple as a liquor license.
The modern American restaurant opened this month in East Milton Square and is one of only a few alcohol-serving establishments in the formerly dry town. Abby Park owner Vance Welch says the combination of location, low prices and libations is driving people to his eatery in droves despite the economy.
“There’s a void in the area. Milton’s never had a restaurant, never had a liquor license. There had been private clubs, but nothing like this,” he said. “We’ve had a great response because it’s just a striking difference to what was here.”
A seasoned restaurateur and owner of Java Jo’s cafe in Jamaica Plain, Welch had been scouring Milton to open a restaurant since 2007. He aggressively went after a 3,500-square-foot former video store at 550 Adams St.
But the environment is brutal.
With clients battered by the economy, sales at U.S. restaurants are expected to slip to $566 billion this year, which adjusted for inflation amounts to a 1 percent decline from 2008, according to the National Restaurant Association.
While everything began coming together on the Milton site, the financing environment was in shambles. Welch could not begin the long and unpredictable process of applying for a liquor license, which was never a sure thing, without a site. The former video store site would not stay on the market for long.
“We realized there was on opportunity to get a liquor license and the best retail space in East Milton and we decided to go forward,” he said. “It’s a special business opportunity, and so we were able to use the investors we had to raise the debt.”
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DStv Premium subscribers cut the cord or downgraded to cheaper packages in 2020 because of the absence of rugby, MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela told investors during a webcast last week.
Mawela said that as rugby returns, so will these DStv Premium subscribers.
Although MultiChoice does not disclose its DStv Premium subscribers, its latest results showed a decline of 8% in its premium segment — Premium and Compact Plus bouquets.
The average revenue per user in the premium segment declined from R588 to R580 per month.
This decrease occurred despite a price increase over the last year and points to a significant decline in DStv Premium subscribers during the previous twelve months.
Commenting on this decline, Mawela said they saw DStv Premium subscribers migrating to lower packages and moving online.
He said that 80% of DStv Premium subscribers who subscribe to streaming video platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video remain on DStv, though they may choose to downgrade for a time.
“This past year has been very difficult rugby. This is why we have seen a significant number of people who have downgraded from DStv Premium,” he said.
“As soon as rugby comes back, they upgrade to DStv Premium”.
Despite its steady bleed of high-value DStv subscribers over the last several years, MultiChoice posted record profits for the 2020/21 financial year.
This was due to increased uptake of its mid-tier and mass-market pay-TV services that helped reduce its reliance on DStv Premium, the company stated.
MultiChoice reported that it saw the second-highest number of new DStv sign-ups in its history in South Africa.
It said that this was driven, in part, by an acceleration in the growth of DStv Compact subscribers thanks to the success of its hit show Gomora.


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Senior Marketing Communications Manager
Hcareers is proud to announce Brendan Potter as the winner of it Excellence in Hospitality Scholarship award.
Potter is a third-year student at the University of South Carolina enrolled in the Hospitality Management program at the College of Hospitality, Retail, & Sport Management. He currently holds a 4.0 GPA in major-related courses and was recently awarded the honor of President’s List for the Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 semesters.
Potter’s goal upon graduation is to obtain a Front Desk Management position. He aspires to be a General Manager with a large hotel chain and eventually incorporate his own brand that caters to a unique marketing segment.
The Hcareers Excellence in Hospitality Scholarship was created to recognize an outstanding student studying to work in the hospitality industry. Hcareers, the leading hospitality job board in North America, has partnered with the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Education to provide this scholarship.
About Hcareers (hcareers.com)
Hcareers is the leading job board for hotel, restaurant, food service, travel and other hospitality industries. In addition to thousands of searchable jobs, Hcareers offers resources to job seekers such as employment tips, industry articles and salary guides.