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Ripple’s cross-border payments product offers an alternative to SWIFT for moving payments between banks & payment providers in different countries. SWIFT cross-border payments via the correspondent banking system are regarded as slow, often taking days to complete. It is also hard to track progress & determine whether the money has been received, payments often require manual intervention by banks
SWIFT has been settling cross-border payments for 40 years but change is desperately needed as banks say the system is slow, too expensive and dated.
The payments company who settles up to $5 trillion daily know their main competitor is Ripple and that their time is coming to an end.
Mike Faden continued to say with SWIFT, costs can be high and unpredictable because higher power banks on the chain can add charges.
Sometimes the payer of such fees and deductions may not even be informed and will not find out until long after the payments have completed.
In response to these pressures, banks are adopting new approaches designed to accelerate cross-border payments while reducing cost and increasing transparency. Today, experts say there are two primary competing initiatives Ripple cross-border payments and SWIFT GPI
SWIFT’s GPI system sounds perfect on the face of it but as Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse points out, it still only works for the few at the top.
The elite banks take the cream from the top while payments complete if lower-class banks are not in the ‘banking club’ transactions can cost them millions.
Relic of the Past
As THE central banking payments system for 40 years, SWIFT won’t go down without a fight and have been fixing the issues Ripple has made so public.
Caught with pants down wouldn’t be too unfair, in the days of horse and cart people said, it works why do we need cars? We all know how that went down.
RippleTech completes inter-bank cross-border payment transfers in seconds. At the same time, SWIFT is working to accelerate payments over its own network with SWIFT GPI, which promises same-day cross-border transfers, transparent fees, & payment tracking.
Mike Faden - AMEX
In today’s world SWIFT are finding customer expectations are getting increasingly higher due to factors like the increase in real-time domestic payments.
You could say the growth of E-commerce demands a faster, more reliable system, five days completion compared to seconds makes Ripple a no brainer.
Ripple’s Into Waves
SWIFT GPI launched in 2017 to speed up payments between banks but costs are rising with anti-money laundering rules and KYC regulations.
As Brad Garlinghouse puts it beautifully, why speed up a horse and cart when you can build a Ferarri.
How can banks like Santander compete effectively with say Paypal, Amazon, and Facebook, it will not be from settlement times measured in days or costs measured in $15 plus dollars, it will be in seconds & pennies per transaction (like Ripple’s XRP)
In an interview at the start of 2019, Brad Garlinghouse actually met SWIFT’s CEO on stage in Paris where they shared their opinions candidly. Shown below.
The Ripple CEO has been involved in tech companies like Yahoo, even predicting Yahoo’s demise with his ‘peanut butter manifesto’.
Back in 2009, Garlinghouse was head of AOL Silicon Valley where he had disagreements with his superiors about coming changes in the internet.
Changes that eventually happened and Brad was right yet again, now at the helm of something truly transformative, is he right again? Its fairly likely I’d say.
Presenter: “You have in the past said Ripple will take over SWIFT can you elaborate”
B. Garlinghouse, smiling: “Well I have also said there are ways we can possibly work with SWIFT too…”
B Garlinghouse, Looks to SWIFT CEO Smiling - “Ripple are hiring…”


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At Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate, Carly Fiorina defended her record as C.E.O. of Hewlett-Packard. She was fired in 2005, and Donald Trump, among others, has criticized her performance.
The early 2000s were a tough time for the tech industry, she said, and yet, “despite those difficult times, we doubled the size of the company, we quadrupled its topline growth rate, we quadrupled its cash flow, we tripled its rate of innovation.”
The key undermining word in that statement is “topline.”
A company’s top line is its revenue — how much money it takes in, before expenses. What shareholders really care about is the bottom line, or profit. As Mr. Trump correctly pointed out on Wednesday, Mrs. Fiorina’s strategy to quickly grow H.P.’s top line was to buy another large company, Compaq Computer. That deal was widely criticized at the time because it got H.P. a big increase in sales but little profit. Revenue from personal computers barely exceeded the company’s cost to make and sell them.
H.P.’s best-known division, and by far its largest before the 2002 Compaq acquisition, is its printer business. H.P. had both the largest piece of the printer market and the most respected printer brand. This business made huge profits, especially off ink and toner. But printers were a mature business in the early 2000s and are even more so now as people print less: You can still make a profit on printer sales, but it’s hard to get the total size of the printer market to grow. If H.P. wanted to get bigger, it was going to have to grow in other areas.
Before the merger, H.P. was also in the business of manufacturing personal computers. This business wasn’t profitable like the printer business; Windows P.C.s were essentially commodity products. It was hard to convince consumers to pay more for a computer from H.P. than one from I.B.M. or Toshiba. Vicious competition on price drove profit margins down almost to zero.
At the time, H.P. struggled to compete with Dell, which had an advantage because it could sell computers directly to consumers instead of through stores and because it had lower manufacturing and distribution costs. (Dell’s fortunes have waned in the years since Fiorina’s tenure.)
The idea behind H.P.’s purchase of Compaq was that, by getting a bigger slice of the P.C. market, the company could find economies of scale, get better prices on parts and raise its profit margins. Mrs. Fiorina pushed the acquisition through over objections from many shareholders, most notably the family foundations of the founders that held a large chunk of the shares. Ultimately, the deal was approved with 51.4 percent of shareholder votes.
But the merger did not produce the expected improvements in profits. In 2004, the combined company had $24.6 billion in revenue from selling computers, slightly more than the $24.2 billion it took in from printers. But it made just $200 million in profit from its computer business, a profit margin of less than 1 percent, compared with $3.8 billion in profits from printers.
As Carol Loomis wrote for Fortune Magazine in 2005, the Compaq merger brought a lot of growth to H.P. but not the sort that H.P.’s board or its shareholders found attractive. Hewlett-Packard’s profits in 2005 were $2.4 billion, a billion less than in the year Mrs. Fiorina started as C.E.O. That is a key reason she was fired.
That said, profits rebounded under the next C.E.O.

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Crescent Moon Games, developers of numerous hit RPG games, have recently released a teaser trailer for their upcoming title Aralon: Forge and Flame. After covering the new Aralon game earlier last year, we’re back with some new and exciting news.
Based upon an email we recently received from the developer, Aralon: Forge and Flame will be available sometime in December on the App Store and is set to be submitted here in the coming days. The popular RPG franchise is back with an all-new adventure as players journey across three continents and diverse landscapes seeking people once thought forever lost. Here’s the trailer:
To the say the least, we’re pretty excited to see the progress of the game over the last year and a half. As of now this is all the information we were given, so we’ll keep you updated as more is announced.


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Brian Athearn and Gary Barlett, partners in 11-year old MV Tech, knew most companies were hunkering down for a recession last winter when they decided to add staff, more brands, and inventory, and become a full-service retail computer store. The pair moved from a cramped second floor office into a new larger space just across the road, next to SBS, The Grain Store on State Road in Tisbury.
“We have an organic approach to our business,” Mr. Athearn said recently while organizing new displays of electronic products and peripherals in MV Tech’s new location. “We just knew it was time. We’ve had the busiest winter since we began.”
The two men, Island friends since the fifth grade, are not contrarians in the sense, say, of Warren Buffett or Ned Johnson of Fidelity Investments. They just read their own tea leaves and make their own decisions. “It seemed right to go to the next step. We’d been over there long enough Yeah, it’s an organic move — everything that’s happened has been completely natural. We’ve either been smart or lucky,” Mr. Athearn said.
Or perhaps it is because, they say, they rely on service and timeliness to build their business. Certified Mac service technicians Matt Rodenbaugh and Mr. Barlett, access, diagnose, and fix customer networks and computers locally and remotely.
“We can conduct tutorials on the fly in real-time for clients with tasking issues,” Mr. Athearn said. “The world works remotely, particularly here on the Island, where residents and visitors need to be connected to the off-Island world.”
The company supports client networks from L.A. to Wales as well as networking all the Black Dog locations and providing the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) with a hookup to its Nantucket office, he said.
They office atmosphere is whimsical. For example, a fully functional computer, submerged in a fish tank filled with mineral oil, blinks away near the front door of the new digs. “Kids love it. Now if we can figure out how to put a few battery-powered goldfish in there…” Mr. Barlett joked.
The fish tank computer is funny; it works, and it makes you believe that if MV Tech can do that, probably they can debug your notebook. So far, the approach has allowed the company to build a database of 1,500 client names.
“Our goal is to be the go-to resource for computer networking and computer support. The way the world works today, we are not limited by the geography of being on an Island,” Mr. Barlett said, noting that the company’s entrance into retailing provides consistent 9-5 presence in the store.
“We have windows, display space, even a grill out back,” Mr. Barlett said. “We sell affordable laptops, stuff we use as individuals and as technicians. Products we like and trust.” he said.
Over 11 years, the men have discovered a seasonal rhythm to their business.
“It’s cyclical. In summer, routers and peripherals for iPhones and iPads are in demand. Summer residents looking to expand wireless throughout the house, for example. In September, local businesses, who’ve been busy all summer, come in for service and upgrades. Desktop and laptop sales pick up in winter for some reason,” Mr. Barlett said.
The Island has its own electronic quirks, according to the techies. “Connectivity is a more difficult problem here because we experience a much higher incidence of power surges on the Island than in any other place I’ve been, so battery backup is more important,” Mr. Rodenbaugh said.
And the Island creates other kinds of urgent demand than mainland retailing, the “For want of a nail …” syndrome. “Cables and adapters, for instance, are critical — if you need one. So we carry a wide, deep inventory,” Mr, Barlett said, adding that seemingly pedestrian products like insurance for iPhones and iPads have appeal here.
The technology business is one of few here that is not fettered by Island geography and provides growth opportunity, the partners believe.
“Down the road? We think we’ll be expanding retail and, depending where the technology is going, that could include integrated entertainment technology. If it beeps, buzzes, lights up or clicks, we handle it,” Mr. Athearn said.


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By Kate Jackman-Atkinson, Neepawa Banner & Press
NEEPAWA, Man. — From farm to fork, a lot of food is lost along the journey. A recently released study found that close to 60 percent of food produced in Canada is wasted. Not only was the sheer amount surprising, so too was the source of that waste. Previously, consumers were believed to be the major contributors to food waste, but that might not be the case.
While previous research has looked into food waste in Canada, it hasn’t been able to examine the problem throughout the production chain, instead, relying on estimates. This report, called the Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste, was able to work with companies along the value chain to get accurate measures of food waste, in weight. They were also able to interview more than 700 food industry experts to better understand why food never makes it to consumers’ plates. The study’s lead author was Martin Gooch, the chief executive of Value Chain Management International, who has authored other studies on this topic, including those that previously found consumers to be responsible for most food waste. Second Harvest, a food charity, partnered with Gooch on the study.
The study found that food processing was the largest contributor to waste, being responsible for about 34 percent of the 35.5 million metric tonnes wasted each year. It was followed by production (24 percent), manufacturing (13 percent), retail (4 percent) and distribution (2 percent). Institutions, restaurants and hotels were responsible for 9 percent of waste and households, previously believed to account for about 51 percent food waste, were only responsible for 14 percent.
Food loss can be unavoidable, such as bones from meat processing, or avoidable, such as a bruised apple not being purchased at a grocery store. We’re mostly concerned with avoidable food loss, which amounts to about 32 percent, or 11.2 million metric tonnes annually.
There are lots of reasons why food never reaches consumers: farmers will discard fruit or vegetables that don’t look perfect; products are discarded because of overly conservative best before dates and processors are worried about the potential liability of food donations. However, there are multiple ways to divert food from the landfill, including reduction at the source, redistribution to address hunger, reuse (such as feeding to animals) or recycling (such as bio-fuel). Despite this, most lost food ends up in landfills.
Tackling this problem is important on a number of fronts. The first of which is that while many Canadians have little experience with food insecurity, that’s not the case for the four million Canadians who have insufficient access to food. It’s estimated that less than 20 percent of food waste is redirected to help feed these Canadians. Despite challenges of distance and logistics, we aren’t diverting nearly enough food that could be consumed.
Curbing this avoidable food loss is also important from an economic point of view. The annual value of avoidable food loss is $49.5 billion. To put this number in perspective, the report points out that this is 51.8 percent of the money Canadians spent on food at retail stores in Canada in 2016. That value of food would feed almost every person in Canada for close to five months. Along the value chain, huge amounts of value are just disappearing. Surely companies and individuals would benefit from improved efficiency.
There’s also the issue of opportunity costs. There’s only so much capacity to grow, harvest, transport, process and sell food, yet we are using about half of that capacity to produce food for the landfill. What could that capacity otherwise be used to produce?
Food waste can never be completely eliminated, but surely we can do better. Now that we know what the problem is, there’s no excuse to do otherwise.


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Department store JCPenney is set to close stores in Midland, Sault Ste. Marie and Holland among 130 others nationwide.
JCPenney has announced seven stores in Michigan, and over 130 nationwide will be shut down.
The company says it’s an effort to improve sustainable growth and long-term profitability.
According to a press release, 5-thousand jobs nationwide will be impacted by the closures.
The liquidation process is expected to begin next month.


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Air Charter Service is to spend about £10 million ($15 million ) over the next five years advancing the company’s booking technologies and online presence.
The charter company is revamping and redeveloping its websites with more functionality, and with a planned release date sometime in the second quarter.
ACS is developing real time customer information portals and has plans for other features for its websites over the next few years. To cover its three divisions in each of ACS’ eighteen offices, the firm already has websites in multiple languages, each tailored to a local marketplace and culture.
“We are adapting the traditional brokerage model,” ACS chairman and founder, Chris Leach, says. “It is an exciting time at ACS following an outstanding 2014 which showed strong growth and around £300 million in sales. We have always been a highly ambitious company and the board is hoping that this investment will keep us leading the technology race in the charter marketplace.”


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How Does Twitter Make Money?
The basic question of How Does Twitter Makes Money? can be answered by considering its revenue streams.
Besides on-site advertising and data licensing, Twitter earns from Partnerships with other companies and promoted products.
For more information, read this article! It also includes the answer to the question “How does Twitter make money?”
If you’re wondering how Twitter makes money by data licensing, you’re not alone.
Many other social networking services are also finding ways to monetize their users’ data. In fact, Twitter makes 13.5% of its revenue through data licensing.
But it isn’t all roses. Twitter has experienced a dip in advertising revenue and a drop in user engagement, which is bad news for its data licensing business.
Developers would rather license data from engaged users, so Twitter may overlook spam, bot, and fake accounts.
The company sells subscriptions to public data, including 500 million tweets a day. These companies then use this data to understand trends, relevant news, and trading purposes.
The company can charge as little as $10 per month for access to Twitter’s data. But it must keep in mind that data licensing is still a relatively small portion of its total revenue.
For this reason, Twitter has been working on ways to make more money from data licensing.
While the core advertising business has been slowing down over the past five quarters, the company’s Data Licensing & Other unit has been seeing impressive growth and sales growth.
Twitter is also leveraging its data to make significant partnerships in analytics.
One of the most promising deals is with IBM, which integrated Twitter feeds into its enterprise analytics platform.
Twitter also trained 10,000 IT consultants in tweet-based analytics. If all these moves pay off, Twitter has a strong future.
Revenue from advertising is Twitter’s primary source of revenue, but it also has a second revenue stream: data licensing.
Twitter sells subscriptions to its public API and data and collects service fees from users of its mobile ad exchange.
Using this data, advertisers can analyze consumer trends and sell that insight to other businesses.
It is also an important revenue stream for Twitter, and the company hopes that it will continue to grow in the near future.
How Twitter makes money through on-site advertising is a mystery to many users.
Founded in 2008, Twitter monetizes its platform through a variety of revenue streams. It earns a majority of its revenue from advertising, which comprises more than 85% of its revenue.
Users spend countless hours on Twitter each day, mostly viewing creator-generated content. Consequently, Twitter must find ways to make money from its ad inventory.
One way to do this is to sell ads to people. Twitter offers advertising spaces on its website and in the mobile app, and it allows users to purchase ads on its site.
This process involves a pre-determined advertising budget, and advertisers pay based on how successful their campaigns are.
Twitter advertisers can choose to run streaming video ads to reach a target audience.
Depending on the content, advertisers can tailor ads to specific target groups and improve their reach and engagement globally.
Twitter makes money through on-site advertising through promoted tweets. These promoted tweets appear on users’ timelines and are targeted toward those who are most likely to be interested.
Companies use data from Twitter’s user database to target the best audiences. For example, users who are looking for gym memberships are likely to be interested in sportswear.
As the audience for these ads is so diverse, they can use data to determine which campaigns work best.
Depending on the products and services being offered, Twitter could use a variety of other revenue streams.
It could offer one-click purchasing, which would allow people to purchase products directly on Twitter. It could also partner with companies like Etsy, Amazon, or eBay.
This is an intriguing way to make money off of Twitter. It’s important to note that Twitter needs to build trust before it can begin to sell things on the service.
Partnerships With Other Companies
For example, Twitter earns profit by licensing its data, providing data insights, and providing mobile advertising exchange services to advertisers.
The data that Twitter sells is provided to premium API subscribers. In turn, these companies license this data to other companies.
These companies then make money by selling data products such as Historical PowerTrack, which allows customers to analyze historical tweets. Interestingly, Twitter hasn’t always made this revenue model very clear.
In fact, its revenue model has changed over the years. The company has struggled to monetize its services in the past.
Its founder, Jack Dorsey, has been trying to make money through partnerships with other companies since its launch in 2006.
However, the president’s recent ban on Donald Trump has caused quite a stir. As Twitter continues to grow in size, it will continue to rely on advertising to pay for its services.
This makes the company more prone to censorship. Another way to monetize your Twitter account is by participating in Twitter contests.
Many companies and brands work with Twitter users to run limited-time promotions and deals.
By promoting these deals on Twitter, you earn a percentage of the sales you generate. Of course, in order to maximize your earnings, you must have a large following.
Businesses prefer to work with people who actively build their following and have high engagement rates.
As Twitter has a value network similar to Facebook, advertisers pay Twitter for access to their audience’s data.
In exchange for access to this data, Twitter partners with these companies to sell advertising space to users.
These partnerships allow Twitter to increase their revenue. The revenue generated by these partnerships reaches millions of users each day.
These partnerships are essential to Twitter’s business model. If you’re interested in monetizing Twitter, be sure to read on.
The revenue streams from promoted products on Twitter are numerous.
Promoted tweets can be marketed to reach new followers, follower ads suggest new accounts to follow, and trend takeovers place advertising alongside popular trends.
Promoted tweets typically cost between $0.50 and $2 per new follower. Promoted trends can cost as much as $200,000 per day.
About 14% of Twitter’s revenue comes from data licensing agreements. Data licensing agreements help Twitter understand platform trends and user demographics.
Tweets are grouped into trending topics and may not include hashtags. Companies can pay to promote a hashtag, such as #SuperBowl, during the big game.
These products help companies cater to consumer needs more personally. Twitter also offers data licenses and data products to marketers.
MoPub, for example, is an exchange for mobile ads. Tweets about a hashtag are collected from the site and used by advertisers.
One of the most popular promoted products on Twitter is the Ocean Galaxy Light. This $50 light is sold online, and the company works with fulfillment centers in the U.S.
and Japan. The company earns from the promotion of its tweets and pays between $20 and $60 for a single tweet.
As an example, Parsa Khademi, the founder of the Ocean Galaxy Light website, says, “Twitter users can earn anywhere from $20 to $60 just for tweeting about this product.”
The revenue streams from promoted products on Twitter depend on the amount of clicks. The promoted products are shown above trending topics on the platform.
These hashtags are displayed in the topmost part of a timeline. If the topic is mentioned often enough, it will appear as trending.
Promoted products are an essential part of Twitter’s revenue model. If you are a brand looking to make money with Twitter, promoted products are a must-try.
While there are other sources of revenue for Twitter, its biggest revenue source comes from mobile advertising.
Twitter only started offering mobile ads in April. According to the Wall Street Journal, mobile Twitter users are more likely to interact with ads.
The company earns 65 percent of its revenue from mobile advertising. Its revenue is expected to increase because of the growing number of mobile users.
In fact, mobile users account for more than 70 percent of its total users. In addition to mobile advertising, Twitter also makes money from licensing data.
The company generates more than 330 million public data points about its users, and companies pay for the right to analyze this data and create brand strategies.
The company also uses its mobile publishing platform, MoPub, to sell advertising inventory. It receives a service fee for each transaction.
It has also partnered with other companies to make its data pool larger, which allows advertisers to sell it to them.
Unlike other social networks, Twitter allows creators to set the price for their subscriptions. Its subscription price is $2.99 or $4.99, depending on the platform.
After they reach $50,000, Twitter will share 80 percent of the revenue generated by the subscription.
Super Followers are rewarded with badges and can send private messages to the creators. Although the company is just getting started, it’s worth considering.
This is a great way to start making money on mobile devices. The company earns most of its revenue through advertising, with $4.5 billion in revenue in FY 2021.
It also generates revenue through data licensing, which accounts for only eleven percent of Twitter’s total revenue.
As more people consume online media than offline, businesses are trying to get in front of them. For this, Twitter offers several advertising options.
Among these are promoted accounts, promoted tweets, and promoted trends. The revenue for Twitter from these services amounts to more than $3 billion per year.
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Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday, said that at least four cities of Odisha will get access to 5G services by March 2023 while 80 percent area of the state will get 5G by the end of next year. While he didn’t specify as to which cities will get 5G, Bhubaneswar, the Capital of Odisha is highly expected to be part of the list.
“In the first phase, four-five cities of Odisha will get 5G services by March 2023, and by the end of next year, around 80 per cent area of the state will be covered,” said Vaishnaw, the Union minister for railways, communications, electronics and information technology at the sidelines of a railways event in Odisha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the launch of 5G services in India on October 1. Currently, private telecom operator Bharti Airtel have already begun the rollout of services in the country. On the other hand, Reliance Jio is yet to begin the rollout of its 5G services in Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi and Kolkata. Airtel has so far offered the service across eight cities — Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Nagpur, Siliguri and Varanasi.
We reported a while back that Jio’s 5G tariffs will remain the same as 4G ones until the rollout is complete. The same goes for Airtel as well. Apart from that, Vodafone Idea is also one of the operators who participated in the 5G spectrum auction and is yet to announce its rollout plans for the service.
For Jio users, Jio True 5G Welcome Offer is being launched in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Varanasi for Jio users, by invitation. Jio has also made a bold claim, saying that these customers will get unlimited 5G data with up to 1 Gbps+ speeds. Further, the Beta trial service for other cities will be announced progressively as 5G gets ready for these cities.


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With Black Friday rapidly approaching, scores of Southern California shoppers are formulating their strategy for snagging the best deals in the fastest way possible.
For the most fervent consumers, that means getting out early on Thanksgiving Day and grabbing those doorbuster deals on flat-screen TVs, video games, smart phones, clothes and other items before they disappear. It’s all part of the “Black Friday creep” that has emerged in recent years as retailers open their doors earlier and earlier to maximize profits.
Many shoppers are more than happy to cut short — and in some cases forego — their Thanksgiving traditions in the pursuit of a 60 percent-off bargain.
Preserving Thanksgiving Day
Still, there remains a deep swath of other consumers who want to keep their Thanksgiving Day festivities intact — while they might still crave those bargain-basement discounts, they’re not willing to disrupt their time with family and friends to do it.
For these consumers, there’s a growing number of retailers who are opting to remain closed on Thanksgiving Day.
TheBlackFriday.com website lists nearly 60 major companies that have announced they won’t be open Thanksgiving Day, and the list is growing. It now includes T.J. Maxx, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, The Home Depot, PetSmart, IKEA, Lowe’s, Marshalls, Staples, Costco, Bed Bath & Beyond and Pier 1 Imports, among others.
“We have been closed for Thanksgiving since the 90s,” said Mona Astra Liss, a spokeswoman for IKEA. “We want our co-workers to be at home with their families for the holidays. This is one of our core values — that they have an enjoyable holiday. It speaks to the culture of our company.”
Sarah Lively, a spokeswoman for the Lowe’s, expressed a similar sentiment.
“We want our employees to be able to have time with their families,” she said. “But we open at 6 a.m. on Black Friday. Although our stores will be closed Thanksgiving Day, our customers can get a head start on their gift lists by shopping online at Lowes.com.”
That plan suits Joanna Garcia just fine. Garcia stopped in Thursday at the Target store on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena to buy some clothes.
“It think it’s kind of ironic that many of the sales start on Thanksgiving Day,” the 21-year-old Los Angeles resident said. “That’s a day when you need to be thankful. I never really get up and go because it’s too many people really rushing to get things — materialistic things that they probably don’t need.”
Courtney Randick of San Gabriel offered a more holistic view.
“It’s unfortunate that these workers don’t get to spend time with their families and have to come in for their shifts,” she said. “But on the opposite side … I understand that it’s a big rush for the stores.”
“Big” doesn’t begin to capture it. Black Friday — which officially does fall on a Friday — is often touted as the busiest shopping day of year. It’s the official kick-off of the holiday shopping season, and last year it attracted nearly 102 million shoppers.
Losing its luster?
But it may be losing some of its luster. Anthony Dukes, an expert in retail pricing strategies and big-box stores at the USC Marshall School of Business, said the day doesn’t carry the same cachet it once did among in-store shoppers.
“More and more people are shopping online for their gifts through Amazon and other sites, so some of the hype around Black Friday has diminished,” he said. “Data suggests that in-store sales on Black Friday have declined over the past two years. That could be partly from the Black Friday creep that starts earlier each year, but also from the fact that people want to avoid the mad rush of going to the stores.”
Some major retailers will be open
Those looking to be part of that mad rush will find plenty of deals, however.
Kmart will kick off its in-store Black Friday deals at 6 a.m. Thanksgiving Day and Bass Pro Shops will join the fray at 8 a.m. J.C.Penney will hold its early Black Friday in-store sales from 2 to 10 p.m. and Kohl’s, Best Buy, Toys R Us and Macy’s will open at 5 p.m.
Most of the retailers are already promoting the in-store deals shoppers will find on Thanksgiving Day. Walmart will be selling the iPhone 6 on Straight Talk Wireless for $129 and Target will be offering an Xbox One S 500GB console for $189.99, a $90 discount off the regular price.
A survey from the National Retail Federation predicts that consumers will spend an average of $967.13 this year on holiday shopping. That represents a 3.4 percent increase from the $935.58 consumers said they would spend when surveyed at the same time last year.


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PARIS (Reuters) - French luxury goods maker Hermes, known for $10,000-plus leather handbags such as the Birkin, rewarded shareholders on Wednesday with a higher dividend and a one-off payout after a bumper year for sales and profits.
The company, originally a saddle and harness maker founded in 1837, joined luxury rivals such as Louis Vuitton-owner LVMH and Gucci-parent Kering in benefiting from a rebound in demand from Asian shoppers in 2017.
Hermes shares were up 3.2 percent at 1225 GMT, after the firm proposed a dividend of 4.10 euros ($5.03) per share, up 9 percent on a year earlier, and said it also planned a special dividend of 5 euros per share.
It last made a one-off payout in 2015.
Hermes also reported a record operating margin for last year, reaching 34.6 percent of sales and helped by high productivity at its workshops and the positive impact of currency hedges in the first half of 2017.
“We had an exceptional year in 2017,” Chief Executive Axel Dumas told a briefing with analysts.
Dumas said that hedging against foreign exchange swings would have a slightly negative effect on margins this year, adding these would likely “normalise”. European-based luxury goods firms are grappling with the effects of a stronger euro.
Stocks of Hermes products ran very low at the end of 2017 as items sold out, a situation that was also atypical and which boosted margins, the company said, without detailing a forecast for 2018.
Hermes’ operating margin was 32.6 percent in 2016.
Sales trends in early 2018 had continued the positive momentum of last year, Dumas added.
Hermes, which has long waiting lists for some of its most coveted handbags, is expanding production to keep up with demand, and plans two more leather goods workshops by 2020 in France.
Like peers, it is looking to boost online sales, though it declined to detail how much revenue came from the web. Hermes is rolling out a revamped version of its website, due shortly in Europe after launching in the United States and Canada.
By the end of the year, it also plans to set up its first e-commerce site in China, the biggest market for luxury players. Italy’s Gucci and France’s Louis Vuitton launched web sales platforms in China last year.
Hermes’ 2017 operating income was 1.92 billion euros ($2.36 billion), up 13 percent from a year earlier and in line with analyst forecasts, while net profit rose 11 percent to 1.22 billion euros.
($1 = 0.8149 euros)
Reporting by Sarah White and Pascale Denis; Editing by GV De Clercq and Mark Potter


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City Study: Sunnyside Yards Would Make Fiscal Sense
The city has released a study purporting to show that an entire neighborhood composed mostly of affordable housing units built over Sunnyside Yards in western Queens would be economically feasible, despite a complicated construction process and high costs, according to Crain's New York.
The study, released by the city’s Economic Development Corp. on Monday, shows that building over as much as 85% of the 180-acre rail yard would make economic sense, even though it would come at a price tag of between $16B and $19B.
The study included three possibilities for how the site might be developed: one totaling 24,000 apartments; another having residential, commercial and retail space; and a third that would primarily feature cultural or retail destination along with housing.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has previously opposed the plan citing concerns over pending expansion plans by MTA, Amtrak and New Jersey Transit, all of which have claims to the yard.


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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) chose Valentine's Day (February 14) to release their redesigned logo and their new jersey for the upcoming IPL 2020 season.
RCB had been building up for the changes since few days, after they removed their profile picture from all social media accounts with several of their players including captain Virat Kohli quering the franchise on what is happening.
The club said the new logo design which has a lion in it "embodies the bold and fearless attitude" of the side.
Addressing the media on the launch of new visual identity, Sanjeev Churiwala, RCB chairman, said: “The elements in the logo is a commitment to continuously entertain and engage with fans who are the force behind Royal Challengers Bangalore.”
"We believe a change in identity for the club was necessary to effectively live and breathe this vision and celebrate the passion for cricket and playing bold," he added.
Later in the day, the franchise also revealed their new jersey and also welcomed Muthoot group as their new title sponsor. They wrote, "Presenting to you, the RCB Jersey design for Vivo IPL 2020. We are excited to welcome @MuthootIndia as our title sponsor. #PlayBold #NewDecadeNewRCB"


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Egypt’s printing and packaging sector targets investments worth US$1 billion until the end of 2020, Ahmed Taha – executive director of Industrial Modernisation Centre (IMC)- stated Wednesday.
Taha made these remarks during a conference held Wednesday to announce the strategy of printing sector and organised by the chamber of printing and packaging.
The official said that the total investments in the Egyptian printing sector -whether official or unofficial- are estimated at around 8 billion Egyptian pounds, including 8,000 workers.
About the strategy, Taha pointed out that it has been developed by IMC in cooperation with printing chamber to upgrade printing sector’s competitiveness in addition to attracting new investments as well as boosting production and labour volume by 10 percent.
Moreover, The exports of Egypt’s printing and packaging sector are estimated at around US$133 million annually, i.e. 86 million tonnes while the imports are worth US$250 million, i.e. 96 million tonnes, Taha added.


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TO STAND out from the rest of the herd, offset press manufacturers, both web and sheetfed, have ramped up their service offerings. This trend toward extended service plans, preventive maintenance programs and beefed up parts and labor options is allowing press manufacturers to expand what is offered to their customers while also becoming more of a partner with the printer. Here is a look at some service plans that are available, in no particular order. At PRINT 05, Heidelberg unveiled an extended service package to the U.S. market called systemservice 36plus. Heidelberg’s systemservice 36plus service package extends service coverage for a period of 36
MUCH LIKE the historic city it calls home, Pearl Pressman Liberty Communications Group (PPLCG) has numerous tales to tell from a 100-year-old past steeped in printing tradition. Following in the fabled footsteps of Ben Franklin, this Philadelphia-based company has endured the tests of time, disaster and radical change in the industry. It all started in 1906, when two teenagers, working in a Philadelphia print shop, decided to go out on their own. The sons of Russian and Latvian immigrants, Manuel Pearl and Charles Pressman scraped together $60 and purchased a foot-powered press, assorted type and some paper. They worked out of Pressman’s bedroom in the
Brown Opts for Sundays WASECA, MN—Magazine and catalog specialist Brown Printing has ordered two new gapless web presses and three finishing systems from Goss International. A pair of 2x8 Sunday 3000/32 presses will be joined here by two Universal adhesive binders. A third Universal binder is slated for installation at Brown’s East Greenville, PA, facility. Quadracci Honored by WOA SEWICKLEY, PA—Thomas Quadracci, chairman and CEO of Quad/Graphics, has been named the recipient of the Web Offset Association’s (WOA) eighth annual VISION Award, named in honor of his late brother, Harry, who founded the Sussex, WI-based printer. He will be presented with the award during the WOA’s 54th
The sheetfed offset printing market continues to feel pressure—be it from rival markets or outside forces such as pricing battles and shrinking run lengths. As more economical digital print runs extend, and affordable web press runs shorten, manufacturers involved in the small- and medium-format (29˝ and smaller) sheetfed space are equipping their wares with the capabilities needed to compete—and win. “The competition from the web market is becoming more noticeable, but when it comes to the short-run color market, web presses have a number of things going against them,” contends Michael Iburg, product manager, KBA North America. “On a sheetfed press, makeready time is much
Award Winners Honored in China SHANGHAI, CHINA—Jonathan Leslie, CEO of Sappi Limited, and Ronee Hagen, CEO of Sappi Fine Paper North America, presented Bob Coppinger of Kirkwood Printing, Wilmington, MA, with an International Printer of the Year award. Sappi Limited presented awards to nine printers out of 6,000 entries at a gala event held here recently to recognize excellence in print craftsmanship. The only winner from the U.S., Kirkwood Printing took top honors in the annual reports category. Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses (MLP U.S.A.) has joined The Print Council, an industry coalition dedicated to building the market for print. Jeff Pieper has been promoted to senior vice president
By Erik Cagle Senior Editor It wasn't long ago that large and extra-large format sheetfed offset presses were considered primary tools for the package printing market. In Europe, notes Ken Kodama, vice president of sheetfed sales for Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses (MLP U.S.A.), these oversized machines were not used just by folding carton producers, but also by publication and commercial printers. But the productivity of the super-sized press and its ease of use is winning over favor among U.S. printers in the commercial sector. "The manning for a large-format is similar to a 40˝ press, so the makereadies are very similar," Kodama says.
Milestone Printing Unit Celebrated Radebeul, Germany—KBA North America reports that the 100th Rapida printing unit of the super large-format series was put through its final print testing at the KBA plant here recently. The unit is part of the five-color Rapida 205 purchased by Integra-Color in Mesquite, TX. The 80˝ sheetfed press has been configured with a special board-handling package and is also to be equipped with UV facilities for printing on plastics. It also incorporates an ICS slitter system and non-stop pile changing for the feeder and delivery. Reseller Agreement Inked at Trade Show CHICAGO—During PRINT 05, Muller Martini and Kodak signed a reseller
California CARLSBAD—The Iris Group is now running a new six-color Komori Lithrone S40 perfector with coater. NORTH HOLLYWOOD—New in the prepress area at G2 Graphic Systems is a Fujifilm Quattro scanner, PictroProof II contone proofer and FinalProof GxT digital contract proofer, along with a Rampage workflow. The company also added a Xerox DocuColor iGen3 digital production press, as well as Fujifilm plates, in the pressroom. SANTA CLARA—PrintPapa has acquired KirkPrint, a commercial printing company based in Sunnyvale, CA. The new owners, Paul and Shawn Nag, report the recent addition of a two-color Ryobi 3302 press. PrintPapa also has digital and large-format printing capabilities.
BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor This time of year, even the most dedicated printer is far more likely to be pondering a trip to the beach than the Windy City in the fall. Nonetheless, planning for PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05 is well under way. Billed as this year's largest industry expo for the international graphic arts community, the event is scheduled to run September 9-15 at the McCormick Place Complex in Chicago. The Graphic Arts Show Co. (GASC), which puts on the exposition, and a group of industry vendors recently took part in a pre-show media event that highlighted coming attractions. MediaDays
by chris bauer Managing Editor The demand for technology that allows web printers to efficiently produce shorter, versioned runs continues to increase. Print becomes a more attractive option for media buyers when they can combine the impact of highly targeted pieces with the advantages of the web offset process, including faster turnaround times and lower costs. As a result, web press manufacturers are designing machines able to satisfy the ever-changing needs of web printers. "The playing field for web offset is expanding," assesses Greg Norris, manager of marketing communications for Goss International. "Innovations in areas like automation, waste reduction and makeready speed are pushing


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This September 9, 2015 was suppose to be one of the biggest Apple Event, with bigger venue and bigger promise. And it was a disappointment, people are kind of over joyed. Take a look at our quick coverage on all updates of today.
The CDN market is quite diverse, encompassing dozens of players serving a wide variety of industries and geographies. As the market evolves, it is constantly churning out new CDN approaches and business models to meet diverse client needs.
When SanDisk introduced 200GB MicroSD card, it was priced at $400 USD per piece. That price just slashed down to a hell lot reasonable one. Keep reading for details and direct link for buying without any shipping cost.
Things You Need To Know Before Updating To iOS 9
5 Best Racing Games For Android And IOS
Apple Released 12.9-inch iPad Pro, Powerful iPhone 6S, Brand New Apple TV and Updated Apple Watch
Top 5 VPN Apps To Surf Anonymously From Apple Device
Download Official Windows 10 ISO File Without Reserve
[Poll] People Like UnSmartWatch More – Our Survey Result & Market Analysis
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God Bless Pluto: New Horizons To Resume Regular Operations On July 7!
200GB SanDisk MicroSD Card Just Became Relatively Cheaper In Amazon
So you are planning on getting a new handset and are worried how to make the switch? No need to worry. The tips given below will help you make a smooth transition without having any headaches about your data, its backup and other usual issues.
Nokia’s first 6-inch Lumia 1520 Phablet is going to be launched in India very soon. It is a pretty device, having a slim and beautiful body and comes with in 4 flavours: red, black, yellow and white. The device will cost $760 (Rs 46,999).
Microsoft is currently readying a significant update for its mobile platform. Windows Phone 8.1 is still in the test phase but leaked screenshots now suggest that the company may include new on-screen buttons in the update.
Cellphones have become an essential part of our lives today. However, depending on technology so much has its side-effects. A new study suggests that people who use cellphones more frequently suffer from greater degrees of anxiety.
Although Sony has called it quits on the US smartphone market, the company’s Sony Z Ultra handset has landed on the Play store. Unlocked and contract-free, the handset packs a massive 6.4-inch display.
Electronics which have a knack of bursting into flames are not good marketing for their vendors. That may explain why Samsung recently tried to cover up an incident where Galaxy S4 caught fire while being recharged.
We have reported in the past how Motorola is planning to create a customizable modular phone under Project Ara. The company has now revealed that it will soon be unveiling a functional prototype of the first Ara handset.
Google has astonished the smartphone industry with its $199 offering, the 4.5-inch Moto G. TechInsights has now calculated that Moto G components cost nearly $123, leaving Google a tiny margin of less than 5%.
Back in the time of feature phones, it was pretty common to send out a nefarious piece of software wrapped as a text message. Apparently, the trick works on Nexus phones now which may reboot when hit with a barrage of Class 0 text messages.
When it comes to mobile devices, teenagers are probably one of the most ardent users. According to the study, text messaging is the most popular activity among American teens, with 87% sending SMS each month.
Premium text messages have long been used by third-party vendors to trick customers into signing up, leading to piling mobile bills. This has finally resulted in action from wireless carriers, with the likes of AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile agreeing to stop charging customers for most premium SMS (PSMS).
With increasingly higher-resolution displays arriving in latest smartphones, it is only a matter of time before Ultra HD 4K video could be seen on mobile devices. To that end, Qualcomm has now created Snapdragon 805, a new processor which can enable a smartphone to play, record and stream truly Ultra HD videos.
AT&T is offering 50% price cut on all smartphones including the iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C and Galaxy S4 for this coming new year. With this deal price the iPhone 5s 16GB is now for $100, Samsung Galaxy S4 $100 with 2-yr wireless contract.
Medic Mobile is a company which endeavors to bring heath care to the remote regions of Africa and Southeast Asia, where health care is not available. The company recently launched $10 cellphones for its workers, a move which has been immensely beneficial in taking health care benefits to millions more.
The Tech Journal is a technology news website that covers consumer technology news. We aim to provide you with latest information about what's going in the consumer technology industry. Over time, we want to grow in a technology news portal providing you with news, information and tools to help make your way through the tech clutter.


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Cryptocurrency Exchange Giant Coinbase Valuing Itself At $8 Billion
Since its inception in 2012, San Francisco based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, has always been a differentiator in the crypto space.
Since its inception in 2012, San Francisco based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, has always been a differentiator in the crypto space. As digital currencies strove to normalize their adoption and foster deeper integration, Coinbase was on the front lines of the movement providing an easy-to-use app for buying cryptocurrencies. It’s undoubtedly the most mainstream entity, and, last year, it briefly topped the charts in Apple’s iOS App Store.
This week Recode is reporting that Coinbase is self-valuing its company at $8 billion, an astonishing amount for a digital currency exchange. The valuation was disclosed as part of a common stock offering to investors of Earn.com, a startup focused on providing a blockchain-based paid email service.
In April, Coinbase purchased Earn.com for an estimated $120 million, and they installed Earn.com CEO, Balaji Srinivasan, as their first chief technology officer.
— Balaji S. Srinivasan (@balajis) April 16, 2018
As Theodore Schleifer writes:
“Coinbase offered its stock at the approximate price when pitching an equity package to Earn.com investors, according to people familiar with the negotiations.”
Although it’s unclear at what level Earn.com investors received their common stock, it’s believed that Coinbase floated this $8 billion valuation based on their end of the year earnings and the growing interest in their platform.
The Most Popular Platform
According to their own metrics, Coinbase has more than ten million active users, and they’ve surpassed $50 billion in trades on their platform.
Coinbase’s user base has steadily increased over the past year, and, at times, their popularity has surged as crypto mania became increasingly prolific. This raging popularity led Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, to tell The New York Times:
“we can’t guarantee the website’s going to be up exactly when you need it.”
Last August, Coinbase was valued at $1.6 billion as part of the company’s series D funding round that brought it more than $100 million in new investment. This valuation made the company the first crypto unicorn – a designation for privately held companies with an estimated net worth of more than $1 billion.
However, their revenues ballooned at the end of 2017. As crypto mania hit a fever pitch and investors poured into crypto markets, Coinbase greatly benefited. In a separate account, Recode estimates that a strong November and December boosted Coinbase’s revenue well above $1 billion for the first time.
These strong numbers may have contributed to rumors earlier this month that Coinbase is pursuing a brokerage license and an official designation as an electronic-trading platform. This designation would provide the company with regulatory cover should U.S. officials impose restrictions on digital currencies in general or crypto trading platforms in particular.
Positioned For The Future
Although Coinbase only exchanges four cryptocurrencies, its app and digital exchange are extremely popular. What’s more, the company has voided many of the scandals or thefts that plagued other exchanges. Its ease-of-use, availability, and reliability make it a fan favorite among investors.
Recently, the company was named one of the best places to work in the Bay Area, and they are continually publishing new additions to their team.
We’re proud to be named one of the best places to work in the Bay Area.
“While most companies will focus on building up themselves, it’s not always the case that a company also has to focus on building up an entire industry along with it.” https://t.co/PKFwbwnySt
— Coinbase (@coinbase) April 20, 2018
Although its $8 billion valuation is an internal metric, it could represent a harbinger of things to come. Its popularity, brand recognition, and relatively spotless record make Coinbase well-positioned to be the first mainstream investment entity to arise from the crypto economy.


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Shreveport Farmers’ Market has placed 1st in Louisiana in the 2022 America’s Farmers Market Celebration, an annual celebration of farmers markets coordinated by the Farmers Market Coalition and American Farmland Trust. Since 2008, the America’s Farmers Market Celebration (AFMC) has highlighted the important role farmers markets play in communities across the nation while celebrating the vendors, staff, and volunteers that make markets happen week in and week out. In 2022, supporters visited markes.farmland.org more than 1.25 million times from June 20 – September 19, 2022 and more than 125,000 votes were cast in the AFMC. In the end, the Shreveport Farmers’ Market came out on top as one of America’s favorite farmers markets and the number one farmers’ market in the state of Louisiana.
“We are honored to be named the number one farmers’ market in the great state of Louisiana. Our vendors, staff, and volunteers work year-round to ensure that we provide a quality market to our community with access to fresh, nutritious food and goods produced by local farmers and artisans. This designation is something we can all be proud of.” said Emerie Eck Gentry, Market Manager.
The Shreveport Farmers’ Market, currently gearing up for their 37th season in 2023, hosts over 75 vendors that have variety of homegrown and homemade items such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, plants, honey, breads, jams, jellies, pastries, candies, pickles, cheeses, shrimp, various canned goods, seasonings, sauces, and meats. In addition to the variety of foods, there are local artisans that have handcrafted items such as art, jewelry, crafts, candles, soaps, and dog treats. Prepared breakfast and lunch meals are available for purchase and consumption.
The Shreveport Farmers’ Market is the only market in our community that accepts SNAP/EBT and offers a match program from Louisiana Healthcare Connections. SNAP users receive up to $20.00 in matching benefits, which they can shop with at the market. This puts more fresh and homemade goods in SNAP users’ hands and pantries, along with making a bigger financial impact with the farmers and vendors.
The Shreveport Farmers’ Market will open every Saturday from June 3 – August 26, 2023 from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more information about Shreveport Farmers’ Market, contact Manager Emerie Eck Gentry at email@example.com, 318-455-5788, or www.shreveportfarmersmarket.com. The market is a project of Red River Revel, Inc. and is supported by the Downtown Development Authority, Slow Food North Louisiana and the City of Shreveport.


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Activision Blizzard's CEO Bobby Kotick Speaks!
Former New Yorker and now Los Angeleno Bobby Kotick is a very funny guy, always cracking wise about everything from politicians to art to his skills as a parent.
During an interview yesterday, he even got a few good ones off about the funny foibles of Activision, the gaming company he runs, even though it has suddenly become a much more serious business after a recent merger with Vivendi Universal’s gaming division.
Here’s a video chat with Kotick, who also serves on the board of Yahoo, which I made after we had lunch at–like I said, he’s funny–Google’s cafeteria (and, of course, he also gets a good one in about Electronic Arts’ competitive Rock Band game at the end):
Activision, which makes the popular Guitar Hero video game series (its Guitar Hero III is expected to be one of the best-selling this holiday season), has vaunted itself to be about equal in size to EA, the longtime dominant video game company.
Perhaps most importantly for Activision, the move puts the business squarely into the Web space. Vivendi’s Blizzard Entertainment unit makes the hugely popular World of Warcraft multiplayer game, where users compete on the Internet.
Kotick will be CEO of the merged company, even though Vivendi will get a 52% stake. It will be called Activision Blizzard with combined revenues of $3.7 billion.
But even together, the pair face the challenge of churning out more hits and keeping their franchises fresh.


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Weston Foods, a division of George Weston Ltd., recently announced key appointments to its sales leadership team.
Guy Burton has been appointed vice president of food services. Burton has been with Weston Foods for nine years. Before that, Burton was a key account manager for PepsiCo and an independent distributor.
Denis Michaud has been appointed vice president of retail sales, Canada. Michaud has been with Weston for over five years. Before that, Michaud spent 12 years as a director of sales and strategy at McCain Foods.


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Walmart has been criticised for offering a paltry amount to victims of the RanaPlaza factory collapse in Bangladesh after joining other US-owned retailers including Asda, Gap and The Children’s Place to donate $2.2m (£1.32m) to a compensation fund.
Of 28 retailers linked to the building in Dhaka, where more than 1,100 people died and at least a further 1,000 were injured nearly a year ago, just 16 have been confirmed as donors to a formal compensation fund co-ordinated by the UN agency the International Labour Organisation (ILO). So far there is just $7m in the pot, well short of its $40m target.
“The paltry amount of compensation money paid by the clothing giants can only be a start,” said Jyrki Raina, general secretary of the international trade union IndustriALL. “Between them, Gap and Walmart, together with The Children’s Place and Walmart’s UK division Asda, will contribute £1,330,000. That equals around £300 per family. This is pathetic.
“These dead and injured workers contributed to huge profits of the companies, created in dangerous conditions that finally proved fatal for these young women and men.”
Retailers, including Benetton and Matalan, that had used suppliers within RanaPlaza either at the time of its collapse or in the recent past are also under pressure to pay into the compensation fund. So far they have chosen to donate money to other schemes to assist victims, but these efforts have been criticised for falling short of full compensation.
Asda and Gap have not been linked to RanaPlaza, but have chosen to make donations alongside Walmart and The Children’s Place. The four retailers and other unnamed companies have paid more than $5m to a humanitarian fund operated by BRAC, a Bangladeshi anti-poverty organisation. It, in turn, is paying $2.2m to the ILO-backed compensation fund and using the rest of the money for counselling and rehabilitation for garment workers involved in the RanaPlaza incident and for a “social safety net” for those affected by other workplace disasters such as the Tazreen factory fire of 2012.
Sam Maher, a campaigner at workers’ rights group Labour Behind the Label said: “This is the first time that Walmart has contributed to compensation for the survivors and the families of those killed in a garment industry accident. As such we welcome the decision of both The Children’s Place and Walmart to finally pay contributions for compensation into the Rana Plaza Trust Fund. However their contributions are grossly inadequate. As one of the largest retailers in the world Walmart can and should be contributing a significant amount to the Fund.”
Maher added that The Children’s Place has been called upon to pay $8m into the fund, a figure that represents less than half the annual salary of its chief executive.
The sums put forward by the US retailers are dwarfed by the efforts of the British retailer Primark, which has paid $1m into the ILO-backed fund and is handing out a further $9m in formal compensation approved by the ILO to 580 people working for its supplier New Wave Bottoms, which was on the second floor of RanaPlaza.
The disaster has increased pressure on retailers to improve conditions in Bangladeshi clothing factories, where thousands have been injured or killed in building collapses, fires and other catastrophes.
There has also been pressure on the Bangladeshi government to increase the minimum wage for garment workers, which last year led to a 77% increase to 5,300 taka a month – about £41 – after several years of stagnation.
The Swedish retailer H&M admitted on Thursday that increased wages in Bangladesh, Cambodia and China could put pressure on profits. “Wage increases in Bangladesh, Cambodia and China have a negative effect because we are not charging our customers higher prices,” said Karl-Johan Persson, the chief executive. “That will affect gross margins negatively, all else equal, ahead.”
The company said it had been pushing governments to increase minimum salaries for “sustainable reasons” and was happy to see this happening.
However, this week Danish research group DanWatch reported that workers at WellTex, a Bangladeshi factory that supplied H&M, had suffered violence and discrimination if pregnant or in a union.
H&M said it had terminated its contract with WellTex in January this year. It said: “H&M does not accept disciplinary or discriminatory actions from the employer against employees. We have therefore terminated our relationship with WellTex.”
Shares in H&M dropped 4% on the Swedish stock exchange yesterday, with analysts disappointed at the company’s performance in the three months to the end of February. Sales rose 12% in local currencies to 32.14bn Swedish kronor (£3bn), while gross profits rose nearly 9% to 3.48bn kronor as the company opened nearly 50 H&M stores around the world and continued to expand its Cos and Monki labels.


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The financial woes of the U.S. auto industry are not just a Detroit problem but could impact the economies of states across the nation, according to a new study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in Washington, D.C.
Pennsylvania ranked ninth among the 50 states in potential job loss as a result of one or all of the Big Three automakers shutting down, the study estimated. Up to 120,100 jobs would disappear in Pennsylvania within a year, if General Motors, Ford and Chrysler were allowed to fall into bankruptcy. The loss of General Motors, the company most at risk of entering bankruptcy, would jeopardize up to 33,200 jobs in Pennsylvania.
Even if only motor vehicles and parts jobs are counted, Pennsylvania would lose up to 8,400 jobs from a total industry shutdown and up to 2,300 from the shutdown of General Motors alone, the study estimated.
Mark Price, Ph.D., labor economist for the Keystone Research Center in Harrisburg, noted that the EPI study should concern manufacturers and other industries in Pennsylvania.
“Anyone who thinks an auto industry collapse has little impact on Pennsylvania should think again,” Price said. “As the EPI study shows, the 120,000 Pennsylvania jobs threatened by an auto industry failure account for 2.1 percent of total state employment.”
The EPI paper, titled When Giants Fall, estimates that a total collapse of all three U.S. auto makers would result in the loss of up to 2.1 million American jobs within the next year. Tax revenue losses and additional governmental costs would top $150 billion within three years if the three companies enter bankruptcy.
Without cars to export, the U.S. trade deficit would rise by $109.3 billion, the study also found.


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Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) much anticipated AR/VR headset could be delayed until 2023.
According to a recent report, the headset is now expected to be launched next year due to delays caused by continuing development issues.
The product is facing challenges related to overheating, cameras, and software, which have made it difficult to stay on track with the initial production plan.
Investors have high hopes for the Apple VR/AR headset product because it would mark Apple’s entry into an entirely new product category.
Also See: Apple Continues To Bleed Talent As Microsoft Snags Up Key Chip Architect
It was reported in March that Apple’s AR/VR headset could be launched in 2022, followed by augmented reality glasses by 2025.
According to the report, the tech giant hasn’t discussed the headset publicly, but the product has been years in the making and has already been previously delayed.
A recent Benzinga report explained why the rumored AR-focused Apple Glasses have not yet been released to consumers.


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Feb. 17, 2016
Washington, D.C. - Yesterday, at the request of the US Department of Justice, a federal magistrate judge ordered Apple to build new software to help the FBI access the locked iPhone used by one of attackers in the San Bernardino shootings. The Open Technology Institute strongly supports Apple’s decision to oppose that order, the precedent of which threatens to undermine not only the integrity of iPhone security but the security of the entire digital ecosystem.
The following statement can be attributed to Kevin Bankston, Director of the Open Technology Institute:
"This court order demanding that Apple custom-build malware to undermine its own product’s security features, and then digitally sign that software so the iPhone will trust it as coming from Apple, doesn’t just set us down a slippery slope--it drops us off a cliff. This case isn’t about about just one backdoor into just one iPhone. If Apple builds this backdoor software, our government--and less savory governments around the world--will demand to use this new software every time they encounter an encrypted iPhone. But this isn’t just about iPhones, either: if a court can legally compel Apple to build this backdoor, then it also likely could also compel any other software provider to do the same, including compelling the secret installation of surveillance software via automatic updates to your phone or laptop. Such a broad precedent would spell digital disaster for the trustworthiness of any and every computer and mobile device."
In response to previous pushes by the FBI for legislation to mandate that encrypted devices be redesigned to ensure that the government can access their contents, OTI last summer organized a letter to the White House from an unprecedented coalition of privacy and human rights advocates, the technology industry, and security experts, pressing the President to support strong encryption and oppose backdoors. The White House has since decided not to pursue legislation, nor has there been any meaningful action in Congress.
"The FBI has already spent the last year arguing for backdoors in front of Congress and at the White House, and now that’s it’s come up empty it’s trying to get a lower court judge to convert a vague, centuries-old catch-all statute into a powerful government hacking statute. That’s not how we make policy in this country, and Apple is right to fight this—a loss would not only undermine its product but its entire industry and the security of every user of digital technology. A line must be drawn here, and we at OTI are eager to continue to fight to ensure that we can continue to trust the security and integrity of the devices we use every day."


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Blizzard is testing a new version of World of Warcraft on its Public Test Realm, and with it comes the first evidence of an in-game store where players can buy enhancements to their gear and weapons, reports Blue's News.
Blizzard took to its own Battle.net forums to explain the change.
For players who are already interested in the in-game items we offer, such as Pet Store pets and mounts, the benefits of an in-game store are pretty clear. We think everyone would appreciate the convenience of being able to make such purchases without having to leave the game, and ultimately that’s our long-term goal for the system, though there’s quite a bit of work involved in retrofitting those existing items into the new system.
Blizzard says that they'll be testing the new in-game store with new items they're introducing (to Asian players first). Players have already asked for other purchasable things like pets, mounts, and more.
Blizzard remains cagey about the in-game store, adding that it's still too early to known what they're going to do, but they're letting players interested in kicking the tires in the Public Test Realm get their hands on the new technology first.
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- Fork N’Film is an immersive movie-theater experience with a multi-course meal catered to some of the most iconic films of all time
- The business currently has a location in Los Angeles and is set to host its first screenings in New York City in October
- TikToks showcasing the experience have already gone viral, racking up millions of views and thousands of comments
If you’ve ever watched ‘Harry Potter’ and been eager to try magic dishes including Butterbeer or Harry’s ‘birthdae’ cake from Hagrid, a new immersive theater experience may be just the ticket for you.
Fork n’ Film is a dinner-movie event where guests are served a multi-course meal catered specially to the film they’re watching.
The Los Angeles based business is expanding to New York and while tickets can cost up to $300 a person, eight screenings in October sold out within a matter of hours.
During the event, perfectly timed dishes are delivered to your table as they appear on screen – along with nods to the film like bubbling potions and golden snitches.
Owners Francesca Duncan and Nick Houston said they are shocked by the sensation their business has become but understand why it has appealed to so many people.
‘Some of our food moments are connected to home, and family, and love,’ Houston told DailyMail.com. ‘Every single person has had an experience where they are watching a TV show or movie and they want to eat what they see on screen.’
Viewers are treated individual ‘Happy Birthdae Harry’ cakes during ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ at Fork n’ Film in Los Angeles
During ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,’ you can mix your own drink potion
Ratatouille anyone? The popular French vegetable dish is served at a ‘Ratatouille’ showing
Fork n’ Film co-founders Francesca Duncan (left) and Nick Houston (right)
According to Duncan, the idea for the business came to them while they were watching ‘Matilda’ and the chocolate cake scene began playing.
In the scene, the character Bruce is forced by the school principal Miss. Trunchbull to eat an enormous cake by himself after stealing a single slice.
‘That looks really really good, I wish that I could eat or -or at least try it,’ she said of her thoughts while watching Bruce eat the now iconic chocolate cake.
From there, the couple brainstormed what they could do with their idea and how they could bring their vision to life for other hungry movie lovers.
‘What if we made a restaurant or an experience that people could try their favorite dishes from movies,’ Duncan said, describing their process getting to Fork n’ Film.
After test runs in the early summer, the business officially opened in June on the West Coast with ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.’
While watching ‘Harry Potter’ viewers are treated to a multi-course meal where they can mix their own potions and dig into Hogwarts’ famous feast.
Following success there, Fork n’ Film pulled off Disney’s ‘Ratatouille’ in LA.
During the screening of ‘Ratatouille,’ a side salad was served in a small trash can and ticketholders got the chance to make Remy’s soup as the rat makes it in the film.
They plan to screen ‘Hocus Pocus’ and ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ next.
Both Halloween films sold out in just minutes, according to TikTok users.
‘It’s unreal,’ said Duncan, adding that they still cannot believe the demand.
Bone marrow and toasted baguette rounds are served alongside edible paper at the beginning of ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’
Butterbeer is served at a Fork n’ Film screening of ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’
The grand feast served when Harry first arrives at Hogwarts includes chicken drumsticks, mashed potatoes, and corn cobs
The idea came while the couple was watching the chocolate cake scene from ‘Matilda’
Tables are set out in front of a screen on top of a Los Angeles rooftop for Fork n’ Film
Remy from ‘Ratatouille’ greets a guest at Fork n’ Film Los Angeles. The menu includes Crème brûlée, Potage Paris (potato and leak soup), and of course, ratatouille
During the screening of ‘Ratatouille,’ a side salad was served in a small trash can and ticketholders got the chance to make Remy’s soup as the rat makes it in the film
Champignon farci is served towards the middle of the film during the ‘Ratatouille’ showing
Duncan and Houston credited an influencer who posted about the business with their widespread and quick success among film fans.
A TikTok video posted in early June by influencer @JenZLosAngeles went mega-viral, amassing more than 6.6 million views and 900,000 likes.
The video received some 5,000 comments from TikTok viewers sharing their own need for tickets along with requests for future movies.
‘I wanna go so bad but with a studio Ghibli film,’ wrote one person.
‘I want the burger from the menu movie,’ another person shared.
According to Houston, plans are in the works to fulfill both of the aforementioned requests within the next couple of months.
Fork n’ Film is currently working to schedule screenings of ‘Spirited Away’ in January and ‘The Menu’ at some point down the line, he said.
Additionally, Duncan and Houston said they hope to put on ‘White Chicks,’ ‘Matilda,’ ‘The Princess and the Frog,’ and more foodie fan favorites.
In the nearer future, the business is launching tickets to their Christmas movie showings in Los Angeles, which will begin in November and run through January.
The couple said they carefully chose ‘Elf’ and ‘Polar Express’ and are eager for fans to try some of the interesting dishes they are charting out for the movies.
In Will Ferrell’s Christmas comedy, his character Buddy at one point eats a bowl of spaghetti with maple syrup, chocolate syrup, M&M’s, marshmallows, and a Pop Tart.
Tickets for those screenings go on sale on September 8 at 5pm.
The business will screen ‘Elf’ in November and December. In the movie, Will Ferrell’s character eats pasta with maple syrup, M&M’s, Pop Tarts, marshmallows, and chocolate sauce
The main character from ‘The Polar Express’ drinks the hot chocolate from the film
‘I want the burger from the menu movie,’ one TikTok user shared
Aside from the chocolate cake in ‘Matilda,’ Duncan said she has always wanted to try the cake from ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and the pink custard from ‘Teletubbies.’
She said dishes like those inspire them to keep going with their business and their dream of one day opening a restaurant that serves food from film and TV daily.
In the meantime, they are staying focused on opening Fork n’ Film’s New York City location, which opens in October.
If you are hoping to score tickets to a show in the Big Apple sometime soon, you will have remain on standby as all showings are currently sold out.
However, the venue where the ‘immersive culinary experience’ will be held in NYC is inside and should be able to accommodate guests year-round, they said.
Duncan and Houston said they hope to launch additional showings soon, as well as in more cities including Las Vegas, Miami, and San Francisco.
Aside from the chocolate cake in ‘Matilda,’ Duncan said she has always wanted to try the cake from ‘Sleeping Beauty
Fork n’ Film is also planning to host screenings of ‘Spirited Away’ in January
To keep the screenings intimate, each showing seats no more than 50 people
As they work to add more showtimes for excited fans, the couple said they are still focused on keeping the shows small to give each guest an unforgettable experience.
‘The goal is to keep it under 50 people,’ Houston said. ‘To keep that boutique feel, very intimate. Adding too many people dilutes it.’
For Los Angeles, about 32 tickets are released per event while New York City is currently selling 45 tickets per showing.
As long as they continue to see a high demand, Duncan and Houston plan to keep the movies – and the dishes – coming.
‘There’s something humans love about eating and watching a movie at the same time,’ Duncan told DailyMail.com. ‘It’s just something people love to do.’
#dine #Harry #Potter #viral #cinema #experience #serves #10course #grand #feast #complete #bubbling #potions #Harry039s #039birthdae039 #cake


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As a result of ongoing feedback that prices are too high, new drinks deals have been introduced in The Corbett Cafe Bar. The initial deal is across a range of drinks on a Friday night, with more/different deals planned for other nights of the week.
Change doesn't just happen. These wonderful people made it:
Students who wanted to see change
East15 President 16-7
SU Loughton staff
Election promises were stated.
Drinks deals were discussed.
Proposals for drinks deals were introduced and initial Friday night drinks deals launched.
New drinks deals for other nights of the week started being planned and prepared, with a view to roll out at the end of 2nd term, and throughout the 3rd term.


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Impact of Demonetization: Improving India’s Services PMI
India’s services PMI
According to Markit Economics, India’s services PMI stood at 51.5 in March 2017, compared to 50.3 in February 2017, meeting market expectations. It was the second consecutive month of expansion after the government’s demonetization step.
Since November 2016, when the demonetization occurred, until January 2016, India’s economy has been in the contraction zone. A level below 50 indicates a contraction zone.
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Compared to February 2017, March’s PMI number indicated an improvement in the business activity in the country (INDA) after the government’s demonetization move. New orders and production volume growth improved in March.
Most of the developed nations (EFA) such as the US (QQQ) (SPY) and Europe (VGK) (IEV) showed a contraction in manufacturing and services PMIs in the last year. However, India’s PMI figures haven’t been in the contraction zone in the past year.
The demonetization step by India’s government created a great shortage of money supply in the economy. The fall in manufacturing and services PMI in November and December 2016 occurred mostly due to the fall in domestic demand because of a shortage of money supply in the economy.
Passage of GST bill
The Indian parliament recently passed the GST (goods and service tax) constitutional amendment bill. The GST is a crucial change to the Indian economy (INDA) because it would bring a centralized, uniform tax structure in every state in the country.
Many developed countries have been following this tax structure for years, and many fund managers expect that this step could bring more investment into the economy.
In the final part of this series, we’ll see which indicators investors should look at this week.


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Uber is determined to offer grocery delivery.
Rideshare service Uber is looking to enter the grocery delivery game, following a failed test with mega-retailer Walmart earlier this year, Yahoo Finance has reported.
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of the technology company, said during a presentation earlier this week that given its success with the Uber Eats service ― which delivers food from local restaurants ― the "next logical step" in its food delivery business is to move into grocery. Technology news website Recode reported in May that Uber Eats reached $6 billion in bookings earlier this year, "growing over 200%," citing a presentation from Khosrowshahi that month.
In May, Walmart severed partnerships with Uber and competing rideshare service Lyft for its grocery delivery test, Reuters reported at the time. The problem was that delivering "people and packages together" requires two separate business models. Walmart began partnerships with the two rideshare services the previous summer, with pilots taking place in Denver and Phoenix.
Some industry experts remain skeptical of Uber's ability to find success in grocery delivery. David Bishop, partner with retail consultancy Brick Meets Click, noted that although Uber is a delivery provider of people and products from restaurants, "grocery presents different challenges, as the Walmart pilot proved. Uber may be able to fill in pockets of the market related mainly to grocers who have an established e-commerce platform for pickup that are interested in expanding into home delivery. However, these opportunities may exist in less-dense markets, along with lower consumer demand for the service, making the logistics more challenging and the profit pool less attractive."
To hear more from the industry’s experts and learn more about Uber’s grocery delivery expansion plans check out the full article from RIS’ sister publication Progressive Grocer.


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It’s the battle of the cloud-streaming gaming services with Gaikai and OnLive staring head-to-head in the marketplace and the exclusive manufacturer effects are coming in. Sony has gotten the jump on the market by buying Gaikai—this came after the cloud gaming outfit went trolling for a buyer—and that likely means that they’re going to snub the competition and as a result, it looks like Sony is dropping OnLive support from future products.
VentureBeat yesterday noticed that there’d initially been a reference to OnLive for a Sony product, but now that’s no more:
OnLive never announced a deal to get its cloud gaming service into Sony products. But we spotted a very interesting reference to OnLive in a new Sony product: an Internet-streaming media player that comes with Google TV.
As you can see in the specifications section below, OnLive’s gaming controller/universal serial bus dongle were listed as an optional accessory for the Sony device. This means that the device was going to come with OnLive preloaded. This was the first sign that Sony and OnLive had a deal in place, and that could be a big boost for cloud gaming. Sony’s new media player is available for preorder now and ships on July 9.
Sony confirmed Tuesday that the media player would no longer have OnLive as an option.
For OnLive, they’ve already made deals with Vizio and LG to launch in Internet-enabled Smart-TVs so losing Sony will likely not be that big of a deal for them.
So far Gaikai has made quite a good name for themselves in OnLive’s shadow. Ealier this year, they began to stream free-to-play MMORPG games through their services to customer TVs including Dungeons & Dragons Online and The Lord of the Rings Online. The highly social market for free-to-play MMO gaming is up-and-coming and a cash cow for many gaming studios tapping into it; with the additional audience available via Smart-TVs and cloud gaming it can only expand their reach.
Also on Gaikai’s front, the cloud gaming outfit inked a deal with Machinima.com to stream their video programming content. This means that not only is Sony receiving a streaming game capability for their Smart-TV devices; but the ability to stream gaming related news, shows, and general wackiness to interested viewers (making best use of the Internet-enabled portion of the streaming TV.)
OnLive has been fighting back by getting their product pre-loaded on Google TVs, pushing new games into their services and better product presentation (as seen at E3 2012), and using their cloud-streaming service to enable streaming of desktops to mobile devices. From this, it’s obvious to see that Gaikai is pushing hard for the pure-gamer route; and OnLive is thrusting themselves boldly into the common-ground enterprise and consumer apps marketplace.
No doubt, with the rise of cloud-usage, set-top-media boxes and products that tap the Internet to the TV such as GoogleTV, the Nexus Q, the Microsoft Xbox, and even mobile devices connecting more-than-ever into media there will be a huge space for cloud streaming outfits to grow into.


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It's an inside and unflattering look at the White House under Donald Trump, with intense details about Trump's habit of eating McDonald's to avoid poisoning, how his trademark hairstyle is created and what what White House insiders and Trump family members say about the president behind closed doors.
In 48 hours, it has become the dominating topic of questions at the daily White House press briefing and a Twitter sensation, causing Trump to respond with a press release saying a major source for the book, his former chief political strategist Steve Bannon, has "lost his mind."
Trump's lawyers also sent cease and desist letters to Bannon and Wolff and are attempting to stop the release of the book, which was scheduled to go on sale on Tues. Jan. 9.
In response, the book's publisher, Henry Holt & Co., has decided to release the book tomorrow, on Friday, four days early.
If you are in Portland, and want to get your hands on an actual physical copy of the book, you just might have a chance.
Will Peters, a book buyer at Annie Bloom's Books, said Thursday that the store is getting a rush delivery and will have "plenty of book available on Friday."
Another wave of books will come Monday, Peters added. Annie Bloom's opens at 9 a.m. on Friday.
Independent bookstore Broadway Books is also expecting to have some copies tomorrow, though Kim Bissell, an owner of the store, said a lot of those have already been spoken for.
"I would call us before you came," Bissell warned. Broadway Books opens at 10 a.m. on Friday.
Powell's Books is expecting have what they are calling "very limited quantities" of the "Fire and Fury" at their store locations on Friday morning, but, said Marketing Manager Renee Peters, they "expect them to sell out immediately."
"We should have more copies available in stores on Saturday morning," she said, and Powell's also expects those to sell out.
"A second printing is under way from the publisher," Peters added, "and we will replenish our stock as soon as possible."
Powell's City of Books in downtown Portland opens at 9 a.m. on Friday.
-- Lizzy Acker


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KUCHING: The transition from goods and services tax (GST) to sales and service tax (SST) will be largely neutral on earnings of the gaming industry, analysts believe.
The Royal Malaysian Customs Department recently announced that gaming services including casino, game of chance, sweepstakes, gaming machines, lottery and betting will be subject to a six per cent service tax charged on collection, based on formula.
The research arm of Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB Research) recalled that gaming companies absorbed the six per cent GST from April 1, 2015 until it was zero-rated on June 1, 2018.
“Crucially, the announcementstates that the six per cent SST will be levied based on a formula rather than levied directly on sales without any deductions.
While further details will be unveiled in the coming weeks, AllianceDBS Research Sdn Bhd (AllianceDBS Research) believed that the authorities will adopt a similar formula for GST computation to calculate service tax liabilities for the gaming operators
“Should the government adopt a similar formula, service tax to be imposed on Genting Malaysia would be (gross gaming revenue – casino tax) X 6/106; for the NFOs, the service tax would be (sales – gaming tax – pool betting duty – expected prize payout) X 6/106,” the research house said.
Maybank IB Research also noted that gaming tax is levied at eight per cent of sales while pool betting duty is levied at eight per cent of sales less gaming tax.
“Effectively, the SST merely replaces the GST.”
While gaming companies may benefit from the ‘tax holiday’ from June 1 to August 31, 2018, the research arm thus estimated that the earnings accretion is immaterial at or less than five per cent and for current year 2018 (CY18) only.
“As a whole, other than a temporary relief arising from the ‘zerorisation’ of GST between June 1 to August 31 (resulting in less than three per cent earnings accretion for the gaming operators based on our calculation), we believe that the transition from GST to service tax will be largely neutral on earnings of the gaming industry,” AllianceDBS Research said.
Source: Borneo Post Online


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Zedge, a personalization app that offers free ringtones and wallpapers, was one of the top five most searched for free Android (s goog) apps in 2011 according to Chomp with some 16 million active users. Now, it’s looking to use all the data it has on user tastes to help recommend free Android gaming apps via a new Mobile Games Channel on its Zedge app. The channel represents another effort to help users wade through their app options on Google Play, which has gotten a recent rebrand and facelift but still presents problems for many users looking to discover apps.
Zedge’s game channel will use machine learning and clustering theory to group users together based on their interests and preferences. It will blend in anonymized data from its ringtone and wallpaper channels to come up with a personalized list of free apps for a users. Over time, the self-learning system will improve as it gets a better sense of what a user wants.
“We have a lot more data and good technology along with recurring usage that helps us refine and home in on better discovery for users,” Jonathan Reich, Zedge’s COO told me.
Users will get a list of 100 or more apps including screen shots, descriptions and ratings. They’ll be able to buy the apps from the Zedge app and launch and manage them from the app as well. Zedge’s users are already avid gamers, compared to average Android users. That audience has helped attract advertisers like Ngmoco, Gameloft and Pocketgems. Zedge hopes to make even more money by inserting some sponsored recommendations within the games channel.
Zedge, which is based in New York City and Trondheim, Norway, has been building up its behavioral platform for the last 20 months. The system takes a look at page views, previews, downloads, geographic and handset information to deliver up the best suggestions. That’s helped it become a major destination for people looking to personalize their phones with 200 million downloads of mobile content a month. Zedge’s Android app has had 31 million installs to date, with 2 million new downloads a month.
Zedge has an interesting take on app recommendations. By weaving in broader data from the way users interact with ringtones, wallpapers and notifications, Zedge has a chance to get a better sense of what a user might be interested in. Many services look at what apps a user already has but that may not give a full picture of their tastes or what apps they may be interested in. And because Zedge has got a lot of users and recurring usage, it can continue to get smarter over time. It’s also another reminder that even with the improvements to Google Play, there’s still plenty of opportunity in trying to help people find good Android apps.


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Top stories this week on just-style include a look at the ten worst countries in the world for worker rights, how apparel firms must move towards “responsible automation”, why knowing who makes up your supply chain is a vital first step to tackling sustainability, and Nike’s appointment of company veteran Noel Kinder as sustainability chief.
An annual survey of violations of human and trade union rights ranks key apparel-producing nations including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Colombia, Egypt, Guatemala, the Philippines and Turkey among the ten worst countries in the world for worker rights.
As digitisation, connectivity, robotics and artificial intelligence start to make inroads into apparel production, now is the time for the industry to move towards “responsible automation” – where workers are trained and supported so they have the skills for the future.
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US sporting goods giant Nike expects to accelerate its efforts to leverage data and analytics to inform design and capabilities during the current fiscal year – and ultimately drive speed and efficiency throughout its supply chain.
With most of the environmental impact of an apparel brand or retailer’s business embedded in its supply chain, knowing and understanding exactly who’s on the list is a vital first step to tackling sustainability.
US sporting goods giant Nike has named company veteran Noel Kinder as its new chief sustainability officer, succeeding Hannah Jones.