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The number of people shopping in stores is predicted to drop as the cost of living continues to rise. Challenges may lie ahead for businesses both big and small across the UK, with recent research finding that 71% of SMEs view inflation as their biggest cause for concern this year.
New data from Square has also revealed a trend of “lunchflation” in the UK. Lunch item prices are rapidly increasing, with rates jumping by 3% year on year with soups leading the way, with an average mark-up of 36% as of March 2022. This is a clear indicator of recent setbacks for businesses from the past two years.
The upcoming months are likely to look as tumultuous as the start of the year, however, there are actions business owners and leaders can take to safeguard themselves against unprecedented challenges and enable continued recovery as businesses navigate the post-pandemic world. Implementing tech to streamline operations is a strong starting point and also acts as a foundation to grow and pivot a business.
Making operations more efficient should be at the top of every business owner’s to-do list, enabling employees to spend time on what really matters – building strong customer relationships, perfecting their product or service, building out their offering and creating an engaging brand story to ultimately drive sales.
By integrating technology into operations, businesses can easily boost efficiency and standardise processes across locations. We’ve purposely designed solutions such as the Square Dashboard so that businesses can track sales by employee, monitor inventory, manage timecards, accept payments and more. This way a business’s entire team only needs to use and be trained on one system (and control access to certain features via employee passcodes), so everyone across multiple locations is using the same POS, which is all linked to the Dashboard.
Hospitality businesses can create seamless communication between multiple ordering channels from front to back of house. The benefits of investing in automation aren’t just felt by the restaurants, they trickle down to consumers, too. For 400 Degrees Pizzeria, a pop-up pizzeria in Cambourne, that meant giving customers the choice of how they were served, whether that be online, or in-person.
Flexibility for maximum customer reach
The pandemic accelerated e-commerce and it’s clear this shift online is here to stay. In the UK, the share of classic lunch items that were ordered in-person hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, as consumers have had to pivot to placing orders online for delivery and pick-up. Despite this, a number of orders are still being placed in-person – highlighting the need for businesses to offer customers flexibility in how they order across platforms.
Going back to our previous seller example, 400 Degrees Pizzeria, is using technology to maximise orders from each end. The owner Sam Corbin told us; “I’ve been using the Square KDS, it brings together all the orders in one place no matter if they were face-to-face or online everything is just there at a glance. There are two KDS screens in the van with one at the prep side & an ‘expeditor station’ at the hatch. We mark off on our screens when it’s made and that in turn shows at the hatch – then I tap it away when it’s been collected. As we’re all able to see what’s going on clearly we can accurately predict timings for walk-ups and get orders out faster than ever.”
Whatever the next year throws at businesses, one thing is clear; those who embrace change and adopt technology will have what they need to thrive. The human-interaction element of dining and shopping will always be a huge part of the holistic brand experience, but businesses need to use the right tools to meet customers where they are, whether that’s online, in-person, or a mix of the two.
Recovery is still on the horizon
In recent years, it’s been encouraging to witness small businesses adapt and innovate not just to survive but continue growing. Many have embraced an omnichannel approach by enabling their customers to shop through their own sites, or on social media. Recent research shows that 73% of consumers are now actively shopping through social channels, showing the demand for this approach.
Staying agile and aware of the changing customer habits will enable businesses to bend and pivot. Employing the right technology early will help them to adapt fast and keep multiple revenue streams open.


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Veggies for Vets provides fresh produce to hundreds of veterans
PHOENIX (FOX 10) - "I'm picking everything," William Mick said.
Retired U.S. Marine William Mick had his pick of delicious fresh fruits and vegetables today.
"I think this is great, really great," he said.
The Vets for Veggies program allowed $10 vouchers to be handed out to 500 heroes.
"Oh good, it's good, really good," one veteran said.
"First of all, they cannot believe how fresh the produce is -- everybody who sees it... 'oh it's so fresh,'" Diana Gregory said.
Diana Gregory started Gregory's Fresh Market 10 years ago by providing fresh produce to seniors and veterans. The concept is simple -- she takes the market to them.
She started setting up at the VA three times a year, thanks to sponsors like Wellcare Health Plan.
"We've learned that there are over four million veterans across the United States that are needing food, there's a lot of food insecurity or they don't have access to fresh produce," said Veronica De La O of Wellcare Health Plan.
"After you pay rent, utilities, and you know, I have a cellphone and you know very important things, there's not much left after that check goes," Remon Ortiz said.
According to Isabel Kozak, assistant chief of staff for community medicine at the VA, studies show that 25 percent of our veterans have diabetes, hypertension and/or heart disease.
"What we really want to do is reinforce good eating habits, cause that's what we need," she said. "We need to reinforce that in their daily routine. We need to make sure that when they shop, they shop for these vegetables."
Eating healthy will help ensure these veterans are doing great, feeling better and making healthier choices.

domain: news


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24th Feb 2022
Tentoma, Denmark’s leader in sealed nonwoven roll packaging, has launched an XL Power packaging machine that enables sealed packaging of up to 19-meter-long nonwoven rolls. For the packaging of shorter rolls, XL Power can stretch film for even more products per packaging cycle, which increases the packaging speed. The XL Power replaces an orbital...
22nd Feb 2022
Gov. John Bel Edwards and Origin Materials, a carbon-negative materials company committed to leading the global transition to sustainable materials, have announced that the company plans an investment of at least $750 million to develop a biomass manufacturing facility in Ascension Parish that will result in 1,057 new direct and indirect jobs.
28th Jan 2022
Sappi North America, a leading producer and supplier of diversified paper, packaging products and pulp based in the US, has been named a 2021 SEAL sustainable product award winner for its Ultracast Viva casting and release paper. Ultracast Viva was also selected by the International Design Awards Jury for an honourable mention for textile design.
24th Jan 2022
Borealis, a leading provider of advanced and circular polyolefin solutions based in Austria, and the Reclay group, international experts in environmental and material recovery management, have announced that they have joined forces to satisfy increasing market demand for the supply of recyclate material for use in high-end plastic applications.
12th Jan 2022
US’ Madi Solutions has joined hands with KE Enterprises for manufacturing of biodegradable and compostable packaging fabric. Within the eco-friendly packaging landscape, compostable or biodegradable packaging has been increasing in prominence. Madi has custom designed green-friendly packaging solutions in beverage, food, grocery, and other industries.
3rd Jan 2022
Glatfelter, US-based supplier of engineered materials, and joint venture (JV) partner ALPLA Group, the packaging solutions and recycling specialist, have announced their partnership with Blue Ocean Closures (BOC), a startup based in Sweden, to develop innovative natural fibre-based closures and other moulded packaging products using dry-forming...
3rd Dec 2021
Aptar has announced that the company has joined the Nextloopp project. Nextloopp is a multimember project made up of a diverse group of companies with the common goal of creating a circular pathway for post-consumer Polypropylene (PP) packaging. Aptar is a United States-based global manufacturer of consumer dispensing packaging and drug delivery...
25th Nov 2021
US’ Berry has unveiled its most ambitious sustainable packaging goal to date of around 30 per cent of circular plastics use across its consumer goods packaging by 2030. Circular plastics include recycled and renewable resins like bioplastics. Berry’s global footprint and purchasing scale offer access to the supply of recycled material.
23rd Nov 2021
US’ packaging and engineering products firm, Berry Global, has announced an agreement with PureCycle that will provide Berry with PureCycle’s Ultra-Pure Recycled (UPR) advanced recycled resin. The agreement is the latest in a growing list of advanced recycling material sourcing announcements from Berry and is the company’s second one based in North...


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Consumer prices remained stable in September
Neuchâtel, 07.11.2016 (FSO) - The Swiss Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.1% in October 2016 compared with the previous month, reaching 100.3 points (December 2015=100). Inflation was -0.2% in comparison with the same month in the previous year. These are the findings from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
Download press release


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SAN DIEGO - A near-record crowd is expected at Sunday’s Chargers-Cowboys game at Qualcomm Stadium and the the demand for tickets is incredibly high. The Chargers and San Diego Police Department are warning fans to be mindful of the existence of an increased dispersal of fraudulent tickets.
The SDPD will have additional officers, both uniformed and undercover, monitoring ticket sales around Qualcomm Stadium.
The Chargers stress that the only way to assure ticket authenticity is to purchase tickets directly through the team, Chargers.com, Ticketmaster or NFL Ticket Exchange at Chargers.com/TicketExchange. Tickets obtained from other sources run the risk of being counterfeit.
At this time, only a very limited number of scattered single Club seats and suites remain available for purchase for Sunday’s game. To purchase tickets, fans can go to Chargers.com, call 1-877-CHARGERS or visit the Chargers Ticket Office at Gate C at Qualcomm Stadium. The ticket office is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 10-4 p.m. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:25 p.m.


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|'We're not Amsterdam': Is Colorado pot tourism a myth?|
"So that's our question: Where is this marijuana tourism?" Park added. "In Denver, you can't smoke in public. You can't smoke in a hotel. You can't smoke in parks. We don't have cafes. So there's just not a location for anyone who's coming in for that ...
'We're Not Amsterdam': Is Pot Tourism a Myth? NBCNews.com
Marijuana tourism booms in Colorado, though officials remain skeptical The Denver Post
If There Was Ever a Day for Pot Tourism, It's Today Condé Nast Traveler
all 217 news articles »
|Sharm el-Sheikh hotels empty as tourists fear violence|
On top of this, Sharm has also been hit with a number of reports of assaults of female tourists visiting the conservative Muslim resort. In March, a five-star hotel lost its licence after a British businesswoman in her 40s claimed she was raped by a ...
|Pot-friendly Denver has seen tourism increase since making weed legal|
CBS reports that Denver hotel searches on Hotels.com have increased by 73 per cent nationwide when compared to the same time frame in 2013. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO. Joe Rey, a grower at 3D Cannabis Center, waters marijuana plants at the ...
Marijuana Tourism Bringing Big Bucks To Colorado, Or Is It? Forbes
Travelers Head to Colorado to Celebrate 4/20 Mashable
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|140 new hotels to open in Dubai by 2016|
Dubai currently has a stock of 612 hotels with 85,000 rooms, according to data by the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing. By the end of 2016, the emirate is expected to see an additional 140 hotels and 30,000 rooms. Hotels that opened ...
and more »
|Tourism ministry monitoring hotels, travel agencies|
Azerbaijan's Culture and Tourism Ministry is monitoring the activities of hotels and travel agencies in Baku and Absheron Peninsula. The monitoring is conducted to make sure that their activities comply with the state's standards in terms of services ...
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Applications are now open for the maiden edition of Meet The Farmer Conference (MTFC) Innov8Agric Challenge.
The challenge presents farmers with an opportunity to walk home with Ksh500,000 and an all expense paid trip to Dubai for the Grand Finale, access to follow-on funding among other business opportunities.
The challenge/conference is open for young farmers, agropreneurs, and innovators in the agricultural value chain who are currently applying innovative methods to their enterprise.
According to organisers, the innovation competition is aimed at promoting innovative ideas for early stage agricultural entrepreneurs from all sectors of the agriculture ecosystem.
“The challenge aims to promote innovative ideas and enterprises that focus on agriculture leveraging technology and help them scale up and increase the drive for innovation in agriculture entrepreneurship,” says Babatunde Adenuga the head of digital media for Crenov8 Consulting.
Applicants must be in an early stage innovative agribusiness that is original and currently running, have an entrepreneurial spirit and be committed to the business. They must also have an eye for social impact.
Applications can be madeon or before August 30, 2018. Finalists will be selected based on innovativeness, originality, viability and the personality of the founders. Selected Ideas will be announced and invited for the pitch challenge.
Selected businesses will have the opportunity to exhibit and participate in the regional satellite conferences. Winners will emerge from each region and then go on an all-expense paid to the United Arab Emirates to participate in the MTFC grand finale and pitch for the top prize in Dubai, UAE.
Winners from each regional conference in Accra, Nairobi, Kigali, and Abuja will battle for the chance to win $5000 (Ksh500,000) and access to other business opportunities.
Do you have a story you want told? Do you know of a sensitive story you would like us to get our hands on? Email your News tips to firstname.lastname@example.org


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Vodafone cries foul at Oftel
MOBILE phones group Vodafone is on collision course with the telecoms regulator over the cost of calls from fixed-line phones to mobiles. It has taken the unusual step of asking the Competition Commission to rule on Oftel's plan for a price cap on calls by next April. Oftel, led by David Edmonds, has to accept Vodafone's request or come up with another plan.
Edmonds believes mobile operators can unfairly exploit the fact that people have no choice between networks when they make a call to a mobile.
At present Vodafone and BT Cellnet have their prices capped at the rate of inflation less nine percentage points. Edmonds now wants to increase the cap, to inflation less 12 percentage points, and include One2One and Orange. This could save callers £800m over four years.
Vodafone believes already fierce competition will get tougher when Hutchison launches a fifth mobile network next year. Orange, owned by France Telecom, and One2One, part of Deutsche Telekom, have stopped short of calling in the Competition Commission, but want the regulator to reconsider his position.
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Former Louisiana State University Tiger Shaquille O’Neal has a new clothing line, and he is searching for the right person to model it.
O’Neal has teamed up with JCPenney and modeling agency Wilhelmina to give big and tall men the style credibility they deserve, according to the casting call.
Shaq’s line is called Shaquille O’Neal XLG, and is exclusively at JCPenney.
The modeling agency is searching for big and tall guys to join the agency and suit up in Shaq’s new clothes.
The clothing line’s campaign launches in the fall.
Casting calls are being held in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Dallas.
For more information on the casting calls, click here.


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More than 350 billion data fingerprints are used to automatically detect breaches in minutes
MapR Technologies, Inc., provider of the top-ranked distribution for Apache™ Hadoop®, today announced that Terbium Labs, a security software company that proactively searches for stolen data on the Dark Web using a patented, privacy-protected, data fingerprinting technique, is using the MapR Distribution as the big data platform for Matchlight, a first-of-its-kind data intelligence system. The data-centric solution closes the breach detection gap and minimises the damage, loss and risk caused by a data breach, which costs corporations and consumers billions of dollars annually.
Terbium Labs developed the highly scalable, cloud-based Matchlight system to continuously crawl the Internet, including the Dark Web, where veiled criminal activity often takes place. The average data breach takes more than 200 days to discover, giving adversaries months or even years to exploit a security incident. With Matchlight, identification of stolen data takes just minutes.
Relying on the MapR Distribution, the new Matchlight system registers digital fingerprints of data, which range from valuable source code to corporate documents, and searches for stolen data by comparing them to data gathered across the Internet. This one-way fingerprinting ensures total privacy and means that clients don’t have to reveal their information in order for Terbium Labs to search on their behalf. There are currently more than 350 billion data fingerprints in its database, which continues to grow by ten to fifteen billion every day. Operating on all types of digital assets, the Matchlight system is able to discover unexpected appearances of sensitive information, alerting companies immediately and automatically to potential data breaches. For example, the system was able to identify as many as 30,000 newly stolen credit cards and 6,000 newly compromised email addresses for sale on the Dark Web in a single day.
“We want to shut down the market for stolen data by reducing the time to detect a breach and thereby minimise the damage,” said Danny Rogers, CEO and Co-founder of Terbium Labs. “Because the data fingerprints we collect from companies are extremely complex, we require a data platform that is more stable and efficient than the Java-heavy Hadoop distributions. MapR shines as the only Hadoop distribution that can reliably exceed our demanding volume, scale and speed requirements.”
The MapR Distribution is uniquely architected to be more resource efficient than other Hadoop distributions, which results in a significantly lower per-fingerprint storage and processing cost for Terbium. MapR provides enterprise-grade features such as high availability, recovery, security and full data protection and also enables Terbium Labs to dramatically scale the Matchlight system. “We can easily get into trillions of fingerprints,” said Michael Moore, CTO and Co-Founder of Terbium Labs. “The only way we can get into that scale is with MapR. We are only as good as the data we collect and our ability to collect more data depends on this key piece of technology.”
“Customers continue to select MapR for addressing security and risk management requirements,” said Jack Norris, CMO, MapR Technologies. “We are very pleased that Terbium Labs relies on our platform as the foundation for their sophisticated analytics system to identify data theft. This further reinforces our leadership position in technical innovation, and our software’s proven advantages and ability to positively impact our customers’ business operations.”[su_box title=”About Terbium Labs” style=”noise” box_color=”#336588″]Terbium Labs protects organizations from relentless attempts to steal data for personal, monetary or political gain. Offering continuous, proactive monitoring of critical data and rapid theft detection, Terbium Labs enables companies to better manage risk in a dynamic business environment and keep high-value data safe. Matchlight, Terbium Labs’ data intelligence system, automatically alerts companies when elements of its data appear in unexpected places on the Internet, the Dark Web or in competing products. With Matchlight, companies avoid the uncertainty and incident response delays common to targeted attacks and industrial espionage campaigns, helping to dramatically reduce the cost of a data breach while keeping customer trust and loyalty intact.[/su_box][su_box title=”About MapR Technologies” style=”noise” box_color=”#336588″]MapR delivers on the promise of Hadoop with a proven, enterprise-grade platform that supports a broad set of mission-critical and real-time production uses. MapR brings unprecedented dependability, ease-of-use and world-record speed to Hadoop, NoSQL, database and streaming applications in one unified distribution for Hadoop. MapR is used by more than 700 customers across ad media, consumer products, financial services, government, healthcare, manufacturing, market research, networking and computers, retail/online and telecommunications as well as by leading Global 2000 and Web 2.0 companies. Amazon, Cisco, Google, Teradata and HP are part of the broad MapR partner ecosystem. Investors include Google Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, NEA, Qualcomm Ventures and Redpoint Ventures. MapR is based in San Jose, CA.[/su_box]


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The coronavirus lockdown has spurred the Modi Government to undertake a comprehensive, all-embracing reform of the economy.
Fintech innovations have touched upon several areas including – cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, smart contracts,
InsurTech promise for microinsurance – rising to the regulatory challenge – Africa. Digital technologies are rapidly changing the insurance landscape worldwide.
Carnival has added $6.4 billion of extra cash to the books since late February. But this week the company announced new.
The Promise and Challenges of Bank Capital.
regulation was the 1988 Basel Accord, commonly.
tors measure assets for capital regulation below. The most.
O2 and Virgin Media has officially confirmed intentions to merge UK operations and create a new connectivity giant to tackle.
Incumbent freshman Ben Sasse coasted to victory in Tuesday’s Nebraska GOP Senate primary with 75 percent of the vote.Sasse.
Virgin Media and O2 want to merge and create a company with 40m customers worth over £31 billion and finally provide a real.
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ITU Secretary-General: How regulation can deliver on the promise of the digital economy. By Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary-General.
1 Dec 2017.
Physical bitcoins that can be exchanged like cash have been discussed for years . In 2010, Gavin Andresen himself started a Bitcoin Forum.
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12/02/2020 · The promise and challenge of therapeutic genome editing | Nature Genome editing, which involves the precise manipulation of cellular DNA.
01/12/2017 · The Promise and Regulatory Challenge of “Physical” Bitcoins This article was originally posted on The Bitcoin Magazine - the oldest and most established source of news, information and expert commentary on Bitcoin, blockchain technology and the digital currency industry.
01/12/2017 · The Promise and Regulatory Challenge of "Physical" Bitcoins. Contributor.
Physical bitcoins have been often implemented, but there are several challenges. Many physical bitcoin operators.


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Earlier today, Microsoft accidentally pushed Windows 10 Build 18947 to Windows Insiders in the Fast, Slow and Release Preview Rings. The accidental update includes a completely revamped Start menu design that ditches metro-era live tiles for a more standard grid of icons.
The new Start menu could be what Microsoft plans to ship with Windows Lite or Windows Core OS, a modular version of Windows that would power dual-screen and Chromebook-like devices.
The updated Start menu appears to be in the initial days of development and it’s very basic at the moment. For instance, it doesn’t have any option to change the size of the icons or alphabetically list the apps. The other customization options, including a proper right-click menu is unavailable.
It’s still unclear if Microsoft will ship this new Start menu experience on both Windows 10 desktop and long-rumoured Windows Lite Lite. Or it’s entirely possible that new Start menu changes won’t make it into the final Windows 10 20H1 update.
Live titles first debuted on the desktop with Windows 8. Live Tiles were designed to provide a better experience with Windows on phones and tablets.
Live Tile feature in Windows 10 hasn’t been updated for a while and the most recent updates to live tile added a few customization options. Earlier this year, a few reports stated that Windows Lite could offer a redesigned Start Menu that drops the Live Tiles for a more minimalist look.


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As the UK starts to gradually lift its lockdown, Ikea is set to reopen 19 stores across England and Northern Ireland from the beginning of next month.
However social distancing wardens will be on patrol to ensure shoppers keep their distance and families will be banned. The homewares giant says it will allow one adult and one child per household inside at any one time.
Play areas and restaurants will stay shut, but Ikea insists its meatballs will be available in food courts to cook at home. On reopening to the public, bosses said they aim to limit customer numbers via a staggered entry system and are asking shoppers to ‘come prepared with ready-made lists and own bags’.
Extra hand sanitiser and more deep cleans of bags, trolleys, bathrooms, equipment and touchscreens will take place. Click & Collect facilities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland opening in a phased approach and in line with Government guidelines.
Cash will not be accepted, meaning all payments must be made by card or contactless devices. Customers should avoid travelling to stores just to process refunds. Ikea has pointed out it has a 365-day returns policy.
Visit our live blog for the latest updates: Coronavirus news live
The 19 stores reopening are Croydon, Greenwich, Lakeside, Wembley, Tottenham, Norwich collection point, Birmingham, Nottingham, Belfast, Manchester, Warrington, Gateshead, Leeds, Sheffield, Milton Keynes, Reading, Southampton, Bristol and Exeter.
Outlets in Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland will remain closed for the foreseeable future, the company added.
Ikea also revealed its Coventry store, which was already facing the axe, will remain closed permanently. Since the pandemic and subsequent closure, the chain’s car parks in Gateshead and Wembley have been turned into drive-through coronavirus testing sites.
Key workers were also allowed to shop in the Swedish Food Markets after being tested.
Ikea’s announcement follows pub giant JD Wetherspoon unveiling an £11 million plan to reopen 875 of its boozers from July at the earliest.
Meanwhile plans were announced for Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct and House of Fraser could reopen from June 1.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.


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The 12 Smartest Media Agency Execs in the Business TodayAdweek's 2013 Media All-Stars
Scott Hagedorn CEO, Annalect
Three years ago, Annalect was just a scribbled idea on a cocktail napkin. These days, it's an 850-person global organization that Omnicom chief John Wren praises on Wall Street earnings calls, describing it as a transformational force in how agencies leverage information.
When Omnicom Media Group CEO Daryl Simm approached Scott Hagedorn to create the new digital, data and analytics platform, the then-CEO of PHD might have thought twice. He'd just helped land the $950 million GSK business.
Simm's new remit would also require Hagedorn to relearn hard-core data, marketing technology and software development, the kind of digital skills Hagedorn moved away from as he climbed OMG’s management ranks. Was Hagedorn ready to tackle Big Data and wrestle into suitable form for Omnicom?
The answer became clear. Hagedorn has never been one to shy from challenges. After he started and sold his own digital agency, he was recruited to head up digital advertising at Rapp Collins, where OMD outsourced data analytics. Hagedorn moved to OMD and built out platforms measuring digital.
Annalect pitches against the likes of Adobe, McKinsey and Nielsen, giving Hagedorn a view of the future. "Our industry stands to have some significant disruption," he says. "We have to learn how to deal with the artisanal side of how we do our craft in an increasingly automated world."
Annalect also dovetails with Wren and Co.'s mission to "build, don’t buy" when it comes to generating growth in the digital arena, even as other holding companies engineer much of their digital growth through acquisitions. —Noreen O’Leary
- Account Executive-Multi Platform Sales Macfadden Communications Group New York City
- Public Communications Coordinator City of Chesapeake Chesapeake, Virginia
- Public Relations Beauty Account Executive DeVries Global 10022, New York City
- Social Media Manager Pipedrive New York City, New York (US)
- Managing Editor The Penny Hoarder (Taylor Media) Saint Petersburg, Florida
- Airbnb Is Winning a Ton of Lions at Cannes for a Slew of Campaigns. Here's Why
- Bayer Disowns Controversial Lion-Winning Ad, Saying BBDO Made It Just to Win Awards
- These Twisted Ice Cream Ads Are Among the Sweetest Print Work at Cannes
- Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel Showed Up at Cannes to Meet With Advertisers After All
- Cindy Gallop Calls Out 'Male-Dominated Ad Industry' for Giving This Ad a Bronze Lion at Cannes


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Here's The Real Secret To Those Delicious-Looking Burgers In McDonald's Ads (Video)
Jun 21, 2012 11:24
It's no secret that store-bought burgers look almost nothing like the "dressed-up" burgers you see in marketing campaigns. But thanks to McDonald's Canada, here's a behind the scenes look at all the effort that goes into creating those tasty-looking burgers:
Though the company claims the hamburgers used in ad campaigns are entirely composed of the same ingredients used to prepare the ones found in their restaurants, its likely that only carefully selected samples are chosen for the model burger. We doubt the same can be said for the store-bought ones.


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Staybridge Suites and Fastenal coming to Oconomowoc area project.
Pabst Farms, the 1,500-acre mixed-use development at Interstate 94 and Highway 67 in Oconomowoc and the Town of Summit, announced today that a 128-room Staybridge Suites hotel will be built just west of the Aurora hospital that is under construction. Staybridge Suites, an extended-stay hotel brand of Windsor, U.K.-based InterContinental Hotels Group, will anchor the Hospitality Campus of Pabst Farms, which will include another planned hotel, office building and restaurant.
The Staybridge Suites’ amenities will include 24-hour business services and free high-speed internet services, complimentary breakfast, sundown evening receptions, a 24-hour fitness center, swimming pool, sport court, barbeque pavilion and a convenience store. Construction is expected to break ground this month and the hotel is expected to open in early spring, 2009. "By opening this hotel in the spring of next year, we saw an opportunity to capture hospitality business during Aurora hospital’s active construction phase, since many workers and vendors need an extended place to stay nearby," said Peter Bell, president of Pabst Farms Development Inc. "We expect ongoing business from patients and families once the hospital opens in early 2010." A total of four to five hotels are planned at Pabst Farms. A Hilton Garden Inn opened last year in Pabst Farms. Fitchburg-based S&L Hospitality, which developed the Hilton Garden Inn, will also develop the Staybridge Suites at Pabst Farms.
Also this month, construction is expected to begin on the first of three speculative industrial buildings at Pabst Farms. The first spec building will have 30,000 square feet of space and about 25 percent will be occupied by Winona, Minn.-based Fastenal Corp., which plans to move in during mid-October. Fastenal is a distributor of threaded fasteners and accessories for use in industrial and commercial applications. Leasing for the building is being handled by Sam Dickman Sr. of The Dickman Company. "Fastenal wanted to be in a new, convenient and recognizable location and therefore chose Pabst Farms," Dickman said. "With all the activity going on with the retail center, hospital and hotels, Pabst Farms is becoming the center of commercial business west of Milwaukee."
The construction of the 110-bed, 792,000-square-foot Aurora hospital in Pabst Farms continues to progress. A topping off ceremony was held earlier this month. The hospital is expected to create 650 permanent jobs. Construction is expected to start in the next week at Village Crossing, the 144-unit luxury condominium development in Pabst Farms. The general contractor for the condominium homes is Wired Construction LLC, a division of Wired Properties, a Milwaukee boutique real estate development, consulting and construction firm with expertise in full-service multi-family consulting. Condominium prices begin at $275,900. The first units are expected to open in late 2008.
Pabst Farms executives are still working on the Pabst Farms Town Centre, a 1-million square-foot retail center. Last fall, it was announced that Beachwood, Ohio-based Developers Diversified Realty Corporation (DDR) had partnered with Pabst Farms to develop the project, which is scheduled to open in 2010. Pabst Farms Town Centre was recently showcased at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Conference in Las Vegas.
Despite high gas prices and the slumping economy, which have hurt the retail sector, the Pabst Farms Town Centre project is progressing, Pabst Farms spokesman Thad Nation said. "We’re not looking at today," he said. "We’re looking at two years down the road. Everything is moving forward. We were just at ICSC and had a great response." Pabst Farms and DDR are currently in the process of signing up tenants and hope to have news of the first announced stores later this year.


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Jermaine Dupri is taking his veganism to another level and has formed a partnership with a media company to assist those interested in embarking on a vegan journey.
The rap mogul has joined forces with plant-based media platform The Beet to serve as an informative source that will disseminate information on the vegan lifestyle. The partnership, announced today (July 22), will "focus around creating content that’s accessible and inclusive, newsworthy and supportive of anyone who wants to eat a more plant-based diet for the sake of their health."
The Beet, which launched back in January, appeals to those interested in immersing themselves in a plant-based diet, but "might not identify as strictly vegan but is purchasing more plant-based products and interested in learning more about plant-based diets."
"When I went vegan nearly 15 years ago, there were no Beyond Meats or Impossible Foods, and it was a commitment," JD said in a statement. "The struggle was real and you had to be committed to find vegan food to eat, especially in the South and a city like Atlanta. Now people know that they should eat vegan or plant-based for their health. The reason I chose to do this collaboration with The Beet is to help people who want to eat plant-based but are not as far along as I am have access to plenty of informative information."
The Beet was created by New York-based startup studio 25madison in collaboration with plant-based venture firm Gather Ventures and Lucy Danziger, former editor-in-chief of Self magazine.
"Jermaine Dupri is such a thought leader in the vegan world, and of course the music world," Danziger says. "We have been in discussions with him to work with The Beet since our launch, and it’s such an honor to collaborate with Jermaine to promote how to live a healthy plant-based lifestyle. At The Beet, we are dedicated to covering healthy plant-based living in an inclusive way, welcoming anyone who wants to eat healthier and achieve their personal well-being goals by adding more plant-based foods to their diet."
Fittingly, two years ago, Jermaine Dupri starred in PETA's campaign titled "Feel the Beets and Lose the Meats," partnering with the animals rights organization to promote the health and ethical benefits of eating vegan—a diet which abstains from any animal byproducts whatsoever.
See Rappers Weigh In on Why Physical and Mental Fitness Matters During Quarantine


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Stocks fall in third day of downturn; Bitcoin drops 10.5%
Published 4:15 pm Wednesday, May 19, 2021
By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writers
Stocks fell broadly in afternoon trading Wednesday as the market’s downturn entered a third day. Meanwhile the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies dropped sharply.
The S&P 500 index was down 1% as of 2:19 p.m. Eastern. The benchmark index is on track for its worst weekly loss in over two months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 392 points, or 1.2%, to 33,675 points and the Nasdaq fell 0.8%.
Bank stocks were among the biggest decliners. Goldman Sachs fell 2.5% and Wells Fargo fell 2.2%. A range of retailers and other companies that rely directly on consumer spending were also posting sharp drops. Home Depot slid 1.3%, Gap fell 3.7% and L Brands dropped 4.5%.
Energy sector stocks, the biggest gainers so far this year, bore the heaviest losses as the price of U.S. crude oil skidded 3.5%.
Digital currencies were in freefall after China’s banking association issued a warning over the risks associated with digital currencies. A statement posted on the industry association’s website said all members should “resolutely refrain from conducting or participating in any business activities related to virtual currencies.”
Bitcoin’s price was down 10.5% to around $38,561, according to the crypto news site Coindesk, well below the recent high of over $63,000 it reached in mid-April. This comes after longtime Bitcoin advocate Tesla recently said it would no longer accept Bitcoin as payment for its cars, reversing its earlier position.
The selling was so intense that the website of Coinbase, an online brokerage for digital currencies, was temporarily down in the morning. Coinbase’s stock dropped 6.8%, and is now down about 35% from the peak it reached on April 16, just two days after its IPO.
Investors also continue to be focused on whether rising inflation will be temporary or whether it will endure. Prices are rising for everything from gasoline to food as the economy recovers from its more than year-long malaise.
The Federal Reserve expects that rising inflation will be temporary and related to the recovering economy, but investors are still uncertain and have been more cautious.
“That’s one of the things people are struggling with,” said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist with TD Ameritrade. “They go to get gas and get in line at a grocery store and they see higher prices; there’s this mixed message for the average investor.”
The fear is that the Federal Reserve will have to dial back its extensive support if inflation persists. That includes record-low interest rates and the monthly purchase of $120 billion in bonds meant to goose the job market and economy. For all the worries about inflation, however, many professional investors are echoing the Federal Reserve in saying that they expect rising prices to be “transitory.”
Higher interest rates drag on most of the stock market, but they are particularly painful for stocks, especially technology shares, considered the most expensive and those bid up for profits expected far into the future.
Treasury yields were mostly higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.68% from 1.64% late Tuesday.
Target gained 5.5% after reporting strong results as consumers, some flush with U.S. stimulus payments, were eager to spend as the pandemic eases.


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Following its initial public offering, online mortgage lender loanDepot (NYSE:LDI) is out with Q4 earnings. According to a company statement, loanDepot generated record revenue, as well as earnings as top-line numbers, came in at $4.3 billion generating $2 billion of net income. Shares in loanDepot rose in pre-market trading.
loanDepot founder and CEO Anthony Hsieh, stated:
“I’m incredibly proud of and humbled by our record-breaking 2020 performance and thank our team members for their passionate commitment to our customers during an unprecedented year. Customers gravitate to the loanDepot brand because we think and do differently. We are able to efficiently and effectively serve homeowners and future homeowners through our Retail and Partner channels, with the best proprietary data science, AI, machine learning and technology available, which ensures we are serving customers the way they wish to be served through the most important financial transaction of their lives. As we continue our growth trajectory and expand our product and service offerings, we will do so in a way that delivers satisfaction and value for our customers, partners, team members and shareholders for decades to come.”
For the quarter ending on December 31st, loanDepot reported $1.298 billion in revenue and net income of $547 million. This compares to the same period year prior of $415 million and $16 million respectively.
Net income for Q4 of 2020 decreased to $547.2 million as compared to $728.3 million in the prior quarter. Adjusted net income for the fourth quarter of 2020 decreased to $375.7 million as compared to $524.8 million for the third quarter of 2020.
loanDepot said that the quarter-over-quarter decreases were driven by the decline in gain on sale margin and increased expenses from higher loan origination volume.
loanDepot completed its initial public offering last week. The offering was priced significantly lower than anticipated. At one point, expectations were for shares to float at $21/share. loanDepot priced the IPO at $14 a share. Since the public offering, shares in loanDepot have traded as high as almost $40 a share.


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PARIS: Starting next month, Bugatti's technical head Stephan Ellrott will be re-assigned to develop VW's compact vehicles.
The empty spot at Bugatti would be filled by the company's head of powertrain development, Gregor Gries, for the time being.
Ellrott would be posted to Volkswagen as its chief technology officer for compact vehicles.
At Bugatti, he has been instrumental in pushing hyper car limits with the Divo, Chiron Pur Sport and Bolide.
He started his professional career at Volkswagen AG in 1996, and occupied various positions there. The qualified engineer joined VW-owned Bugatti in October 2016 and was made its technical development director three months later.
On his four years at Bugatti, Ellrott said he had pushed the boundaries of what was technically feasible.
He said each one of the hyper sports cars he had worked on had unique challenges.
“With the Divo, we re-interpreted modern coachbuilding. With the Chiron Super Sport 300+, we became the first series manufacturer to exceed the 300mph (482kph) mark. We gave the Chiron Pur Sport maximum lateral dynamics. And the Bolide is the most extreme Bugatti of modern times with its weight-to-power ratio of 0.67 kg/PS.”
Ellrott said working for Bugatti has been a dream come true for him.
"Bugatti stands for technological superlatives, and is therefore a particularly special automotive brand for an engineer.
“However, I am looking forward to the new and completely different challenges that await me at Volkswagen... I will always be a Bugatti enthusiast at heart.”


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Adia Sowho has been appointed as new Interim CEO of Thrive Agric as Uka Eje stepped down, midst several allegations from its subscribers about its defaulting of payments.
Eje, who founded the agro-crowdfunding platform with Ayodeji Arikawe in 2017, will now become its chief operating officer (COO).
An Important Note from Uka Eje to our Dear Thrive Agric Subscribers and Stakeholders. 💚💚 pic.twitter.com/Uv7KnEwmpP
— Thrive Agric #StaySafe 💚💚 (@thriveagric) October 8, 2020
Brief profile of Adia Sowho
Before now, she was the VP Growth at Migos, formerly Mines.io. a cloud-based platform that enables companies to offer credit to their customers, augmenting traditional bank and payment card infrastructure. She has worked as a consultant for Deloitte Consulting and director, Digitial Business for Etisalat Nigeria becomes the startup’s interim CEO.
She moved into the startup scene in 2018 when she became the Managing Director, Nigeria, and VP, Growth of fintech startup, Migo before leaving in May 2020.
As the interim CEO, she’ll guide the company through “a turnaround exercise so that we survive the effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the business, according to a Twitter post by Eje.
He also said the company has appointed a chief financial officer (CFO) who comes with significant experience in finance but remains unidentified yet. Also, the company got a new head of Risk Management and Compliance.
Dear Thrive Agric subscribers and partners:
By now, you may be aware that payouts for some farm subscriptions are delayed. This is an unfortunate outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequent restrictions on physical access to farms and farming markets.
— Thrive Agric #StaySafe 💚💚 (@thriveagric) October 2, 2020
While Eje will no longer run the company’s day-to-day operations, he is said to learn under Sowho for now.
“I sincerely express my apologies to all Thrive Agric subscribers, partners, and investors for the lapses in communication in the past months. We are committing to maintaining effective communication on the state of things with Thrive Agric to all stakeholders in order to regain confidence as we ensure all subscribers get paid fully.
“This delay in payouts is not what we intended in our mission to create a food-secure Nigeria. We hope for your continued patience as we continue to engage with you in the next few days as we roll out the changes to get us back on track.”


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VALRICO, Fla. — A Riverview woman is $1 million richer after buying a winning scratch-off lottery ticket from a local gas station.
The Florida Lottery announced Tuesday that 47-year-old Karelia Martinez claimed a $1 million top prize from the "Mystery Multiplier" scratch-off game at the agency's lottery headquarters in Tallahassee.
Martinez decided to receive the money in a one-time, lump-sum payment of $798,985.
The winning ticket was purchased from Bell Shoals Citgo, located at 3501 Bell Shoals Road in Valrico. The retailer will now get a $2,000 bonus commission for selling the winning ticket.
The $10 scratch-off game launched back in May of this year and "features more than $148.1 million in total cash prizes," the Florida Lottery said in a statement. The game's overall odds of winning are 1-in-3.31.


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Sherilynn "Cheri" Macale is based in San Francisco, CA. You'll probably find her tucked away in her apartment blogging, playing video games, Sherilynn "Cheri" Macale is based in San Francisco, CA. You'll probably find her tucked away in her apartment blogging, playing video games, or immersing herself in geek culture. You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Google+
10 million iPhone users later and China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile carrier by subscribers, has reached a new milestone. This comes as a surprise as China Mobile has yet to become an official iPhone carrier, although this clearly hasn’t deterred iPhone users of the company.
Reported, however, is Apple’s promise to provide new technology to the unofficial carrier. According to Chairman of China Mobile, Wang Jianzhou:
“Apple promised to provide, when they develop the iPhone for LTE, that it will include TD-LTE. We are discussing the details.”
Commercial trials of the new technology will reportedly arrive next year in some Chinese cities, Wang says, though he is unable to reveal when this will occur.
A bit of backstory on the partnership
The recently passed Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple, was reportedly in talks to partner with China Mobile, though that did not come through in the end. At the time, China Mobile only had around 7.44 million iPhones running on its service, again all without being an official iPhone carrier.
As it stands, the only other iPhone carrier in China is China Unicorn, though this hasn’t stopped China Mobile from reaping the benefits of Apple’s network of stores and the swarms of Apple fans in the area. Also, China Unicorn’s user base is much smaller than China Mobile, so it makes sense that Apple is discussing the delivery of new products to the unofficial-but-much-larger iPhone carrying company.
Apple’s success in China is, of course, only the beginning.
“One of the areas that is most likely to garner a lot of Apple’s focus in the coming months is the Asia-Pacific region, and more specifically, China.
No other region on the planet is more primed for huge growth in the coming months and Apple is taking advantage in several ways. There are some barriers to growth in China, but some trends in recent months have shown this to be a prime area for customer adoption of Apple products and massive growth for the company in the near future.”
Apple’s newest CEO, Tim Cook, did visit China Mobile back in June for what I can only assume was to begin talks about future affiliation. Then to grow from 9.5 million users to 10 million in only 10 days? That number is no laughing matter — it’s time to get down to business, Apple.
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DARPA is making a next-gen GPS, Valve's Vive VR headset will be free for devs, and Windows 10 arrives for more phones. All the news and rumors you missed while lazing the weekend away, all on BitStream.
We already knew that Apple was completely redesigning all its retail stores to prepare for the Apple Watch, including specially designed safes to keep their $350-$17,000 wrist wearables protected. But 9to5Mac's Mark Gurman details exactly how the Apple Watch Edition, that golden
waste of money piece of tech jewelry, will be sold. From 9to5Mac:
When a customer interested in the Apple Watch Edition enters the store, he or she will be given no-wait access to a dedicated Expert, who will provide a personalized "journey" from the beginning of the appointment until the end, as much as one hour later.
Apple also has special instructions on handling gold Apple Watches, and customers can even video conference from home rather than coming in at all. At what point does "elegant" turn into over doing it? [9to5Mac]
- DARPA is working on the next generation of GPS that will be more reliable in combat zones and poorly covered areas. [PCWorld]
- GitHub spent a majority of its Sunday defending against a massive DDoS attack. WSJ says all signs point to China. [WSJ]
- Good Guy Tim Cook is going to donate his many millions to charity. [Fortune]
- Coming a few days late from its official release, AMC also joins up with PlayStation Vue, so now you can watch all The Walking Dead madness on Vue and Sling TV. [PlayStation]
- HTC and Valve will offer its wonderfully awesome Vive VR headset for free for all developers. I think I may have developed a thing or two in my time. [Ars Technica]
- OxygenOS, OnePlus' new ROM after ditching Cyanogen, hits another delay. Won't be available until April. [The Next Web]
- Windows 10 preview for phones has been out and in the wild nearly two months. But the amount of Lumia phones that could actually download it was pretty limited. Now that's all changing. [Windows Blog]
- Here's kind of a neat-o deal. If you're looking at getting Samsung's new S6 on T-Mobile, you'll get a whole year of Netflix for free. [T-Mobile]
- Sony finally ditched its half-baked Music Unlimited service for a Spotify-powered music app. And the feature goes live today. [Engadget]
- Rumors start detailing the architecture of Qualcomm's upcoming 815 chipset but may be delayed so the 810 has some room to breath. [Trusted Reviews]
- What the Galaxy S6 gained in design, it gave up in utility. But the all-but-confirmed S6 Active may see the return of one much-missed feature—a microSD slot. [Android Community]
- For some reason, I feel like this drone concept is in our future (including a $50,000 Apple Drone Edition).
via Eric Huismann
Contact the author at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Hey Apex Legends lovers, get ready for its most awaited Nintendo Switch. The avid gamers flooded the internet with the questions like when will the most anticipated Apex Legends will switch to Nintendo as it was announced a long time ago. But after that many rumors surfaced regarding its upcoming launch but nothing came officially but now cheer up guys !!
There is a piece of good news for you. As Apex Legends is all set for its Nintendo Switch in March of 2021 itself. There is no denying in saying that finally some good things are happening. As 2020 was a big trauma for everyone globally and the pandemic had become worst for all worldwide. but no more bad news in this year especially for all avid gamers, right?
Apex Legends is a free-to-play first-person hero shooter battle Royale game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts.
When Apex Legends is coming to the Nintendo Switch?
Game director Chad Grenier unveiled in a new Apex Legends blogpost that the Switch versions of the game will be released on on March 9.
The game got immense love and popularity from players all over the world since its release. It was released early 2019 and in June its switch was announced. But after that, nothing came out officially. It is developed by Respawn, the famous studio behind games like Titanfall and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
The Switch version of the game was first announced for a 2020 release, but was delayed to 2021 to give the team more time to “do justice to the game and make it into the great experience Switch players deserve”.
Apex Legends Season 8
In a subsequent tweet, Nintendo confirmed that Switch players will earn double XP between March 9th and 23rd. They’ll also receive the first 30 levels and rewards linked to Apex‘s Season 8 battle pass.
On Which Platforms this Switch will be compatible?
Apex Switch players will be able to play against players on Xbox, PlayStation and PC through cross-play.
Nintendo’s gadget is steadily changing into an incredible transportable choice for a few of the greatest free-to-play multiplayer video games round, with Apex becoming a member of titles like Fortnite, Rocket League, and Spellbreak.
Apex Legends is a free-to-play first-person hero shooter battle royale game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It is released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on February 4, 2019, without any prior announcement or marketing.
Today, EA announced that the portable version of its sci-fi battle royale will debut on Nintendo’s tablet on March 9th. Great News, right? So get set ready for its official switch.


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A newly announced export deal with China is expected to provide the UK’s food industry with a £200 million boost.
The deal was unveiled by Food Minister George Eustice who claimed it would support 1,500 jobs.
It follows ongoing work by government officials and ministers in the UK and China.
Seven new business in England and Northern Ireland have will now export pork to China, capitalising on the growing hunger for UK produce.
This also includes the export of pig trotters in a UK first.
Demand for British food and drink is growing in China, with the total value of exports rising by a third to £438 million in 2016.
Demand for UK pork has doubled in terms of value over the last three years. Nine producers already export to China and generated £43 million last year.
“China is a hugely important market for our world-class food industry and by opening up access even further, more UK businesses can take advantage of the growing appetite for our food and drink,” said Mr Eustice.
He added: “British food is produced to the very best standards of welfare, quality and safety and this growth in exports to China is creating more jobs and opportunities for our premium pork producers who can guarantee quality from farm to fork.”
By Dominic Cuthbert
Source: Food and Drink International
Cargill will appoint Brian Sikes as its president and chief executive officer on 1 January 2023. The soon-to-be CEO, currently holding the chief operating officer title, has worked at Cargill for 31 years. Dave MacLennan, who has served as Cargill’s CEO since 2013, will assume the role of executive chair of the company’s board of directors.
Comforting colors, feel-good flavors, and unique food and beverage experiences will resonate most with consumers in the new year, according to ADM’s latest Flavor and Color Outlook. ADM anticipates that 2023 will be the year of self-expression, and the company identified four trends that are sure to stand out.
Nestlé’s Nespresso brand will pilot home-compostable coffee capsules on the Nespresso Original system in France and Switzerland from spring 2023 before further launches in several other European countries within a year. The paper-based capsules are touted as a breakthrough in packaging technology after three years of R&D.


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Virtual Reality: a buzzword that has been floating around for the better part of the last three decades. Its roots actually extend farther back (to... ...http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-google-cardboard-cheap-virtual-reality-in-a-box-2037444
Don't you hate it when someone claims to have a magical new technology, but won't tell you how it works? When I saw that a super stealthy startup... ...http://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/corporate-news/how-magic-leap-is-secretly-creating-a-new-alternate-reality/45225554?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=ETRSS
Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC (Samsung) today announced Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition will be available in the U.S. early December.... ...http://www.efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=152664
There are a lot of smartphones out there now. You know this. To add to the confusion, many companies are now parading out multiple top-drawer... ...http://www.indiavision.com/national/lg-g2-review/485041/
Diwali festival is already upon us; prospective consumers who are looking to upgrade their smartphone with high-end international branded devices,... ...http://www.ibtimes.co.in/moto-x-gen-2-vs-galaxy-s5-vs-htc-one-m8-vs-xperia-z3-vs-iphone-5s-specification-comparison-612089
Ultra high-tech VR headset Around 2.2...


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With sales of basic and value-driven intimates leading small gains at retail in December and January, manufacturers anticipate the momentum will continue to grow over the next several months as they book the fall and holiday seasons.
Bestsellers at stores have included incentives such as pajama sets with a third piece like boxers, whimsical packaging, a broader range of fashion colors and prints and soft, feel-good fabrics such as Modal, jersey knits, lightweight brushed cotton flannel and Lycra spandex-blend microfibers.
Merchandise that conveys an enhanced perceived value that helps entice the consumer to buy will be key to this week’s market, vendors said.
Among the items that could meet that goal are:
• Dual-purpose shapewear with a ready-to-wear flavor, such as lingerie-looking briefs and full slips with built-in control.
• Upscale heritage brand bras that now offer embellished styles below $50.
• A gift-with-purchase like garters or stockings.
• Programs that mix and match five pairs of basic and fashion undies for $25, $26 or $27.
Bob Nolan, president of Jockey International’s North America wholesale and licensing operations, said a need for replenishment is starting to energize business activity.
“We actually had a pretty good December, it continued into January, and our shipments are looking good because retailers’ inventories are down,” he said. “This is an interesting market for us because we showed new product in November, and this week will be a combination of business and fashion meetings. We’ll be showing new colors for the fourth quarter. The businesses that retailers feel very comfortable with are those they’ve already laid out the money for. But retailers are most likely to leave some money for discretionary spending.”
Lida Orzeck, chief executive officer of Hanky Panky, said she expects sales of intimates to pick up.
“While the economy has been challenging, we have been experiencing an upswing in sales since the beginning of the holiday season,” Orzeck said. “There has been a very good response to our fashion prints and colors, as well as new business to be found with our camisoles, tops and soft bras. We fully expect buyers to come into the market pleased with how we finished the season, ready to see new fashion for fall and open to last-minute opportunities for immediate shipments. We expect the upswing we experienced at holiday in sales of fashion and basics to continue.”
Orzeck said retailers want to keep their basic business strong and are looking for value and key fashion trends that can be translated into intimate apparel.
“Our holiday ’09 packaging was a success so they’re eager to see what we have for this year,” she said.
Hanky Panky’s holiday packaging featured whimsical mini gift boxes for undies and related items.
“Retailers want a compelling reason to buy,” said Jon E. Lewis, president of the D2 Brands division of Delta Galil Ltd. “As always, it’s about product first and price and value second. For new introductions, both factors are essential. With current programs, retailers are pushing hard for innovation and challenging brands to stay relevant.”
Lewis said this is an important market for the company, which will show holiday deliveries for its Lucky Lounge and Tommy Hilfiger lines.
“Lucky Lounge continues to receive strong feedback on our new introductions,” he said. “There is also opportunity to expand doors at Macy’s with Tommy Hilfiger.”
Bob Vitale, executive vice president of marketing and sales at Wacoal America, said, “We are expecting an upbeat mood as business of late has been pretty good. Business certainly is improving with each month [at retail] being better than the last. We broke even in December and have had single-digit increases in January.”
Wacoal will present new product for late fall for department stores, as well as a review of the “entire fall season” for specialty boutiques, Vital said.
“For late fall, Wacoal will be introducing three new bra collections, which will center on beautiful laces and lots of trims that build more value into the product,” he said. “We’ll also have a new contour bra with a lace back called Classic Charms, which will retail for $48 and goes up to 36DDD.”
Vitale added that Wacoal will present two new full-figure styles that will be sized up to a 40G cup: a lace number retailing for $58 and a jacquard style priced at $55. He added the younger, more contemporary b.Tempted line will feature two new styles, an allover floral-printed mesh bra called New Romance that will sell for $34, and The Vamp, a cut-and-sew lace bra, for $37.
“This is one of our biggest markets because we do a huge business for holiday with our red Santa baby dolls with white marabou trim and gift sets by Cinema Etoile,” said Mark Ryan, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Movie Star Inc.
Ryan said the company will offer a gwp with a red velvet group of sleepwear items: candy cane-printed thigh-highs or garters attached to the garments.
“We’ll also be showing packaged, three-piece pajama sets in seven different colors, such as a rib-knit top, a jersey bottom and shorts,” Ryan said. “Even though retail was tough for the holidays, the pajama set retails well.”
Greg Holland, vice president of sales at the Komar Co. and president of its licensed Donna Karan and DKNY sleepwear collections, said retail results “turned out as planned for the fall-holiday season.”
“Sales were planned down slightly and most stores made their numbers,” Holland said. “We are optimistic about this market and feel we have strong, innovative product. All of our major customers will be in…but specialty store appointments seem to be divided between market week and the [Feb. 21 to 23] Curve show in New York.”
My character, Dinah Madani, is just the coolest, [most] badass woman imaginable," says @amberroserevah. The actress stars in @marvel's newest series on @netflix, @thepunisher. To prepare for her role, Revah sat down with Homeland agents to get a real sense of with Dinah's day-to-day life is really like. Read our full interview on WWD.com. #wwdeye (📷: @jilliansollazzo)
A scene from the 91st annual @macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade, which boasts 50 million TV viewers and 3.5 million on-site spectators, is considered one of the largest and most watched parades in the world. (📷: Jason Szenes/EPA-REX)
The circus came to @bloomingdales 59th Street on Tuesday night and lit up Lexington Avenue with acrobatic dancers, death-defying knife throwing, sword swallowing and aerial acts with no net. The 45 minutes of theatrics built up to unveiling the holiday windows depicting @swarovski crystal-encrusted circus pieces and scenes from “The Greatest Showman” – songs from the soundtrack included. See the rest of the photos on WWD.com #wwdfashion (📷: Joshua Scott)
The psychedelic fashion that pervaded the ’60s is back with an exhibit at the @museumofcityny. “Mode New York: Fashion Takes a Trip” chronicles the changing styles from 1960 through 1973 and features designers such as @ysl, @oscardelarenta and more. The exhibition, which is on display through April 1, is organized into four periods: First Lady Fasion, Youthquake, New Bohemia and New Nonchalance. Pictured here is model Pat Bardonella during the Garvey Day Parade in 1968. (📷: @kwamebphoto) #wwdeye #wwdfashion
“People should be a lot more honest in expressing both the dark and light of themselves. We need to give each other the space to do that because it’s the only way we can grow and evolve,” says @noelwells of her new film “Mr. Roosevelt,” which is largely based on her own struggles. Unexpectedly leaving @nbcsnl in 2014 after just one season, Wells felt set back in her self-esteem and career trajectory. She quickly refocused her energy to more personal projects, which led to the completion of “Mr. Roosevelt.” Read the rest of WWD’s interview with the “Master of None” actress on WWD.com #wwdeye (📷: @jilliansollazzo)
@barbrastreisand is giving fans a chance to see her perform up close in a new concert series, which makes its debut on @Netflix today. From behind-the-scenes takes to her concert performance in Miami last December, the two-hour streaming special captures Streisand in her element. Pictured here is the singer/actress photographed for WWD in 1963. (📷: Palmieri Tony) #wwdeye #wwdarchive
@chanel and @pharrell dropped what’s being dubbed as the world’s most exclusive sneakers yesterday. The Adidas Originals NMD Hu, which Williams designed in collaboration with Chanel and @adidasoriginals, has a waiting list of over 120K people who pre-registered online at chanelatcolette.fr –– and only 500 pairs are on sale. The singer predicted the resale value of the shoes could reach $40K. Read the full interview on WWD.com. Link in bio. #wwdfashion (📷: Dominique Maître)
@imanshumpert is diving deeper into his creative endeavors and relaunching his clothing line, Post 90s, and is helping to raise money for the hurricane victims in St. Maarten with a jersey he’s designed with his brother. The Cleveland Cavaliers player talked to WWD about kneeling during the national anthem, working with fashion brands and how he wants to be more than an @nba player. Read the interview on WWD.com #wwdfashion (📷: George Chinese)


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NEW YORK (TheStreet) – Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT) has a lot going for it. Car sales are expected to rise to new highs this year and a record number of vehicles are hitting U.S. roads, in part aided by low gasoline prices that is making travel more affordable.
Wall Street is taking notice, issuing a "buy" rating on the leading U.S. tire manufacturer. And investors are feeling bullish too, pushing the stock to a new 52-week high at $28.77 on Tuesday. Yet, Goodyear's share price is far from recovering all that it lost in the Great Recession, unlike the stock market in general.
Goodyear's sluggish recovery is rooted in two problems that continue to linger.
One is China's persistence in flooding the U.S. tire market with cheap government-subsidized exports, which cuts into Goodyear's main market. Although U.S. tariffs are meant to alleviate that problem, these particular tire tariffs won't kick in until mid-year.
Europe, where Goodyear is the second largest tire maker, is another big problem for the company. With the region still suffering from a lackluster economy, Goodyear's sales have plummeted nearly 20% in two years to 60 million tires sold in 2013 from 74 million in 2011.
Still, there is reason to think this is not your tired tire company. Goodyear can work past these adversities. For starters, it closed a plant in France at the beginning of the year, which should help improve operating margins. Another factor that is helping Goodyear's operating margins is lower manufacturing costs, as the price for oil and rubber plummets.
Additionally, on the sales side, the company's recent effort to market premium tires with stronger walls and better handling, along with higher prices, is paying off.
Goodyear's operating earnings are expected to clear $1 billion at the end of this year, marking four consecutive years of such a performance.
The tire giant, in a move to show it has its operations in order, announced this year a $450 million share repurchase program, starting with $150 million shares this quarter. It also raised its dividend in July, marking the first time in nearly 17 years.


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buy http://danceexchange.org/wp-includes/feed-rdf.php geneva; color: #222222;”> A list of centre referees to be given FIFA referees’ budges was submitted in mid-September to FIFA but no more shall be accepted.
Uganda had five FIFA centre referees before but due to the submission of over-aged referees after the retirement of Mohamed Sseggonga in 2011, FIFA withdrew the 5th budge from Uganda.
Names that were not revealed by the local Federation to the media are more than eight, according to impeccable sources.
Though some of the centre referees who hold FIFA budges failed the cooper test in September at Namboole, the FUFA Referees Committee went ahead to submit their names to FIFA.
Some of the centre referees who hold FIFA budges are: Ali Kalyango, Ronnie Kalema, Denis Batte and Brian Nsubuga.
FIFA always hand more budges to countries that have competitive leagues in terms of football and also in accordance to the performance of other referees who have been representing the country internationally, the previous year.
However, some of the referees in Uganda are complaining of being ignored yet they perform well in the local league.
“If you don’t have someone who does know you personally regardless of your performance in refereeing, you can’t make it to the list that is being submitted to FIFA annually,” said one of the referees.
On international standards, referees do receive $700 per game officiated in addition accommodation and flight tickets.
Their list of FIFA referees, who will officiate internationally next year, is expected to be released on Wednesday, next week.


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It has long been argued that the working people in the UK would enjoy a better quality of life if they had the option of working from home more often. This thinking is in keeping with a number of current political issues such as being more green, the strengthening of the family unit by the parents spending more time with their children and each other etc. Now, an award has been launched to reward those who earn a living in full or in part from their homes.
Remote Employment has announced the launch of the Remote Worker Awards to highlight how remote and home working benefits the environment, business productivity and employees’ quality of work life.
The Remote Worker Awards comes at a time when companies across the UK are faced with downsizing their work force. The awards aim to raise awareness for remote and home working as an alternate solution to redundancy and the traditional nine to five office routine.
With nine categories including The Home Business Award and Remote Employer Award, winners will enjoy thousands of pounds worth of prizes from a garden office, employment advertising, computer hardware, and business software to essential consultancy advice from PR and marketing experts.
Paula Wynne, organiser of the awards and co-founder of Remote Employment, expects to unearth an abundance of inventive pioneers who champion flexibility with remote working solutions. She stated: “The Remote Worker Awards will feature the winners in a Remote Worker E-Book to help other companies to implement a flexible and remote working program.”
Companies entering this award will receive national recognition as a forward thinking company which in turn will raise their company profile. As well as gaining credibility in their industry, the winning Remote Employer will also receive valuable prizes that will increase the effectiveness of their remote workforce.
The prestigious panel of judges includes successful businesswoman and serial entrepreneur, Karen Darby, founder of Simply Switch and Jeff Zbar, founder of Chief Home Officer in the United States, who will be a remote judge.
To enter your company call 0844 800 8355 or 020 8133 6329 or register at:


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A poll suggests most Canadians will be spending some time over the next few days elbowing their way through crowded stores to buy that last holiday gift.
The Angus Reid survey done for CIBC found that as of Dec 15, 69 per cent of respondents still hadn’t finished their holiday shopping, and 15 per cent of those who answered hadn’t even started.
Canadians between the ages of 18 and 34 were the most behind on their shopping, with three quarters of that age group saying they still had some buying to do.
“While Canadians have done a good job so far of keeping their spending in check, with so many still shopping at the last minute, the risk of overspending increases,” said Steve Webster, Vice-President, Retail and Business Banking, CIBC.
“Although the hustle and bustle of last-minute shopping is part of Canadians’ reality, shopping at the last second often forces you to make heat-of-the-moment decisions and go over budget because of the time crunch.”
Millennials, or Canadians aged 18-34, are the biggest procrastinators, with 75 per cent saying they have not finished their shopping. When it comes to those who haven’t started their shopping, 18 per cent of men and only 11 per cent of women say they had not bought a single gift yet.
Those who had done some shopping had spent an average of $601; last year’s poll found the average was $678.
The survey also found that the British Columbians polled loosened the purse strings the most, spending an average of $871 as of Dec. 15, while Quebecers had spent only $383. Shoppers in Ontario have spent an average of $601.
The poll surveyed 1,519 people Dec. 14-15, and is considered accurate within 2.08 per cent 19 times out of 20.


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Originally published by Daisuke Kikuchi, TechCrunch Tokyo, Friday, 2 November 2018:
"Real voice of users" rather than influencers', U.S. Private Social Media company, Relola to take the stage at TechCrunch Tokyo!
TechCrunch Tokyo 2018, the large-scale startup technology conference will be held at Shibuya Hikarie this November 15 (Thursday) and November 16 (Friday). We have a newly chosen speaker from the U.S. startup Relola — CEO Heather Sittig — to take the stage on November 16.
Established in 2015, Relola provides a private social media platform for companies and organizations, allowing them to use a map-based UI and have fans and supporters post photo and video content.
Users can share on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn as well as other platforms. The posts are automatically embedded with links that drive their followers direct to products featured in the posts, creating new prospects.
As Relola explains, ”1,000 supporters on Relola is like having 1,000 social media managers delivering organic content.” In the U.S., especially the millennial generation commonly doesn’t trust influencers, and demand is growing for organic and unbiased "raw content" that can earn engagement. According to Relola, implementing the Relola platform on a company’s website can boost site engagement by an average of 130%.
At TechCrunch Tokyo, we are looking forward to hearing more about Relola’s platform and its story from Heather Sittig. It will be exciting to see the real use cases and feedback from their clients. About 50,000 Relola maps have been created in over 40 countries to date. It is unknown whether Relola is considering Japan market entry, but we are hoping to hear from Ms. Sittig about this at TechCrunch Japan.
Contact us with any questions or comments at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Intel has finally given us a date for the launch of its discrete Xe GPUs, to be based on the 7nm node- 2021. However, don’t get excited just yet, these graphics cards will be for Data Centers, or General Purpose GPU (GPGPU). Intel has also confirmed that similar to the Lakefield SoC, the Xe lineup will leverage 3D stacking of dies which it calls Foveros.
Basically, this means that the memory chips won’t be connected to the GPU via traditional means, and will be stacked on top of it. The HBM memory will be connected to the GPU using one of Intel’s many interconnect technologies, resulting in a smaller but denser GPU. The 7nm Xe chips will be optimized for the Data Center space aimed at AI-based inference and HPC workloads.
If you are a gamer though, fret not, the Xe graphics cards for the gamers and enthusiasts are expected to land by the third quarter of 2020. However, these will be based on the 10nm process, instead of the above
10nm Intel Icelake CPUs in June for Laptops, Q4 for Desktops, 2020 for Xeon
Intel has finally shown all its cards, and it seems like its 10nm struggles aren’t as bad as we had expected. The mobile Icelake chips are going to ship this June while the desktop class processors will land in Q4. The Xeon server chips based on the new node are planned for an early 2020 launch. Intel is making sure that everyone realizes that the “four long years of work” on the 10nm node has finally paid off and we can expect some serious performance upgrades over the present 14nm++(++) process. The core being:
- 2.7x density scaling vs 14nm
- 3x faster wireless
- 2x faster video transcode
2xfaster graphics processor
- 2.5 to 3x faster AI workloads
- 2nd Gen EMIB
- 1st Gen Foveros 3D Stacking
- Cobalt Interconnect (M0, M1)
As reported multiple times, the 10nm Ice Lake architecture will first be available for the mobile and Lakefield (SoC) platforms. However, by the end of 2019, we should see desktop grade 10nm parts and in the first quarter of 2020 server and Data Center products.
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB Priced at 56K on Flipkart
- Crytek Says Ray Tracing Demo Was Only Partially Ray Traced with Half Resolution Reflections
7nm Intel CPUs in 2021 with EUV, 7nm+ in 2022 & 7nm++ in 2023
It seems like Intel is going to stick to the 7nm node for quite a bit, three years as per their roadmap, but then again we were supposed to see their 10nm chips 4 years back and they’re still not here. Anyway, the 7nm process set to release in 2021 is promising some lofty optimizations:
- 4x reduction in design rule complexity
- 20% increase in performance-per-watt
- 2x scaling
- Use of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography
There was also mention of future iterations of the Foveros and EMIB packaging that might as well be the future of the semiconductor industry as silicon miniaturization has started to hit its limits and Moore’s law is long dead.
- Intel Cascade Lake-SP Xeon CPUs Leaked; Up to 24 Cores/48 Threads
- Is AMD Skipping 3rd Gen Threadripper This Year?


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Every week, we’re sharing the latest news and information for the music industry and technology worldwide.
Get your learn on and stay in the know with Symphonic’s Music Industry News Roundup!
Eventbrite just announced a new Spotify integration that will promote its events to users based on their listening preferences and location. The recommendations will appear in an artist’s “Concerts” tab, and in emails to users when new tour dates are posted.
\\ Via The Verge //
With harsher laws targeting torrent sites, will this finally mean the end of The Pirate Bay? Or will it continue to thrive?
Following Extratorrent’s mysterious closure in May, millions of illegal content infringers turned to The Pirate Bay. However, some feared that with governments worldwide dolling out harsher penalties, authorities would soon shut down popular pirating sites.
Now, a European court has set the stage for the world’s top torrent indexing site to eventually close.
\\ Via Digital Music News //
SiriusXM has agreed to make a $480 million strategic cash investment in Pandora.
The deal is structured by a subsidiary of SiriusXM purchasing an aggregate of $480 million in newly issued Series A convertible preferred stock.
\\ Via Music Business Worldwide //
Who buys music anymore these days? It’s two thousand and seventeen mate! Record labels who previously relied on album sales now have to generate profits from touring and merchandise as a response to pirating of music and streaming services which have cornered the market.
Speaking of, music giant Spotify have just been valued at a cool $8.4 billion after a recent deal for an extra $400 million in funding which means they are valued more highly than the entire American music industry.
\\ Via Esquire //


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AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to millions of articles from top publications available through your library.
Section: Business News - A closely watched index Tuesday (December 30, 2008) shows home prices in 20 major U.S. cities plunged a record 18 percent in October compared to the same time last year.
U.S. home prices have now fallen to levels not seen since March 2004.
Some economists say the troubled U.S. housing market is at the center of the country's economic woes, and warn the U.S. will not be able to pull out of a recession until the market recovers.
Meanwhile, discounted prices on everything from clothes to electronics are doing little to spark sales or boost consumer confidence.
An industry trade group, the International Council of …


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Facebook has introduced a new set of rules for users of its Facebook Live video streaming feature. Users who violate the “most serious policies” on the platform will now be instantly banned from using Facebook Live for a fixed period of time.
“Today we are tightening the rules that apply specifically to Live. We will now apply a ‘one strike’ policy to Live in connection with a broader range of offenses,” writes Guy Rosen, VP of Integrity at Facebook, in an official blog post. “From now on, anyone who violates our most serious policies will be restricted from using Live for set periods of time.”
This “one strike” policy follows the introduction of a “Dangerous Individuals and Organisations” policy to the Facebook’s Community Standards which forbids users involved in organised hate and terrorist activity from having a presence on the site.
Facebook is also battling the spread of “deepfakes,” i.e. video content that has been digitally altered to show events unfolding in a different way, or events that never happened at all. The company is reportedly investing $7.5 million in improving its image and video analysis technology and developing new ways to detect and prevent manipulated media.
Since launching in 2015, Facebook Live has become a valuable resource for brands, a way to promote new products or services, raise awareness and build advocacy. However, with the YouTube programmatic crisis still fresh in the advertising industry’s memory, brands are understandably anxious about consumer trust on Live.
Facebook has demonstrated an understanding of these concerns, giving brands increasing control over where on the site (and alongside which content) their ads will appear. Last month, the company expanded its brand safety toolkit to include an inventory filter, and reaffirmed its commitment to stamping out fake accounts, propaganda and violent content.
This new “one strike” policy for Live should once again reassure brands that Facebook shares their goal of improving user safety, and restoring trust and accountability to the platform. The company’s intent is to strike the balance between minimising the risk of abuse on Live, while still “enabling people to use Live in a positive way every day” — a tall order, but one which will be crucial to ensure continued widespread use of the product, and continued ad spend.
to News Alerts


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Call of Duty Warzone surpasses 30 million players in 10 days
- Call of Duty on the verge of breaking Apex Legends' record.
- Self-quarantine due to Coronavirus one of the reasons behind it.
Activision's newly launched battle royale game, Call of Duty Warzone, has already amassed 30 million players in 10 days. The game was released on 10th March for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Considering these stats, COD Warzone has become on the fastest growing free-to-play game, which also comes with the cross-play feature for its matchmaking.
Growth has been steady ever since the Call of Duty Warzone was launched as it had 3 million players after 24 hours and more than 15 million players within three days. In comparison, Fortnite reached 30 million players after 11 weeks, and Apex Legends drew in 50 million players in its first four weeks, Warzone seems to be on a similar trajectory.
The world is currently dealing with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which had made many people go into self-quarantine, which also accounts for the fact that Call of Duty Warzone was able to reach this milestone.
Warzone has already been featured in many online tournaments, and with this much popularity and with so many people staying home, the game is expected to break more records.
Published 21 Mar 2020, 14:03 IST


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As 30,000 smaller employers prepare to launch workplace pension schemes in next four months, how many are actually ready?
Staging dates: Tens of thousands of firms will have to implement pension schemes in the coming months.
Thousands of small and medium-sized businesses will begin automatically enrolling their staff onto pensions from today - but many are still unprepared to launch their schemes.
Today marks the beginning of a crucial few years for the Government's landmark savings programme, as the UK's smaller companies gradually reach their auto-enrolment staging dates between now and 2018.
It is expected that 30,000 firms will launch workplace schemes over the next four months, starting from tomorrow with firms employing between 160 and 249 employees.
This will be followed by firms with 90 to 159 employees on May 1, and firms with 62 to 89 staff on July 1.
And it seems as though many are leaving it very late to get their schemes in place, with new workplace pension specialists AutoEnrolSME finding that of the firms due to reach their staging dates in the next few months, an alarming 58 per cent haven't selected a scheme while 63 per cent didn't even know when their staging date is.
Rosie Smith, of AutoenrolSME, said: 'It’s clearly a worry that so many UK businesses aren’t ready and are unlikely to meet their legal obligations in providing an pension service for their staff.
'This could provide a windfall for the government in terms of penalties, but a headache for those smaller businesses that aren’t prepared.
'However, despite many panic-mongers saying it takes months to get set up, small businesses can be up and running with an appropriate scheme in a matter of weeks. But I would advise they start looking now to find an appropriate scheme, before their legal staging date kicks in.'
Firms have the option of requesting to postpone the beginning of their auto-enrolment for up to three months after their staging date if they are not ready, but AutoenrolSME found that of the business owners who hadn't implemented a pension scheme yet, 90 per cent haven't even started researching one.
Savers: Around one million workers will be enrolled in the next four months.
Another piece of research by law firm Irwin Mitchell found that a third of UK companies that have already auto-enrolled staff would do things different if they had the chance.
The first 18 months of auto-enrolment has seen the biggest employers reach their staging dates, and a third responding to the survey said they'd had to take on extra staff to deal with the administration.
Nigel Bolton, of Irwin Mitchell, said: 'Two things are clear from our report. Larger businesses that have already staged found and continue to find the process a lot more challenging than they expected, whilst smaller firms are underestimating what the true impact of auto-enrolment will be.
'We conducted an earlier survey last year to see how prepared SMEs were for auto-enrolment and the overall finding was that a number had not considered many of the key issues.
'Many larger organisations say that they regret their approach to auto-enrolment and say they wished they had given themselves more time.
'I have major concerns that the impact will soon be felt by SMEs and because they do not have the back office teams and systems that their larger counterparts have, the impact could be considerable.'
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Good morning! Welcome to The Morning Shift, your roundup of the auto news you crave, all in one place every weekday morning. Here are the important stories to read in your fallout shelter as the whole world melts down.
1st Gear: Well That Was Pointless
There are a bunch of people that hang around Donald Trump’s presidential administration, to varying degrees, hoping for a degree of influence over his addled brain. There’s Ivanka Trump, who stands up for women, the State Department, which is enhancing our global relationships beautifully, and then there’s Elon Musk, who thought he might be steering Trump towards environmental logic and rationality by signing onto his “business council,” instead of acting as a prop.
But he got played like everyone else. Yesterday news emerged that Trump plans to make the United States be the only country ever to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords, leaving 195 other countries behind, and possibly dooming all of humanity to an early demise.
Now Elon’s growing wise, and saying that if Trump does indeed pull America out, he’ll quit the business council.
That’ll show him.
2nd Gear: Mark Fields Tried To Fire His Top Lieutenant
Former Ford CEO Mark Fields tried to fire one his own top executives, days before he was fired himself,Automotive News reports:
Days before his May 19 ouster as CEO of Ford Motor Co., Mark Fields was proposing to fire his top lieutenant, Joe Hinrichs, in an effort to relieve some of the pressure he was facing from a skeptical board of directors, Automotive News has learned.
Fields intended to get approval from the board for his decision to fire Hinrichs during the week of May 14, sources said.
Fields’ plan backfired, however, when the board decided instead to part ways with him and communications chief Ray Day, following a Friday, May 19, meeting. Instead of a pink slip, Hinrichs was given a promotion to the newly created position of president of global operations, in charge of Ford’s global product development; manufacturing and labor affairs, among other things.
That’s not gone well.
3rd Gear: Please Get Your Takata Airbags Fixed
Please, please fix them.
4th Gear: GM Cutting A Shift
General Motors is cutting a shift at its Warren transmission plant, which will affect about half of the 580 workers there, according to the Detroit Free Press:
The move is apparently an effort to adjust to slower passenger car sales as consumer tastes have increasingly switched away from cars to SUVs and crossovers. Automakers, however, are also dealing with plateauing vehicle sales after seven years of growth.
“Recent actions to reduce passenger car production have caused us to adjust transmission production,” GM said in a statement. “This action will help maintain more stable production and provide the smallest impact to plant employment going forward.”
“Job re-training programs are important” is really all you can say at this point.
5th Gear: But Ford Sales Are Up!
Ford sales were up 2.2 percent in May, as the company sold 241,126 vehicles, the Detroit News reports:
The Dearborn automaker said its truck sales rose 9.4 percent in the month, while SUV sales increased 4.3 percent and car sales slid 10 percent. F-Series truck sales totaled 76,027 last month, up 12.8 percent from May 2016. It marked the best May results in 13 years.
“May marked a standout month for Ford brand SUVs, with a May record 74,910 SUVs sold,” Mark LaNeve, Ford vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service, said in a statement. “Plus, we continued to see strong F-Series performance, with sales and share rising this year, along with average transaction pricing. In May, overall F-Series sales were up double digits and transaction prices grew $3,300 per truck.”
The disappointing news is that car sales are down as people shift to SUVs. Don’t get me wrong, SUVs have their purposes, but for 99 percent of applications cars are just better. You may call that “opinion,” but nay, I say FACT. Lotus ain’t never made an SUV, and look how good their cars are, and look how well their business is run.
On second thought, don’t use Lotus as the comparison.
Reverse: Oh Hey, It’s Nissan
On this day in 1934, the Tokyo-based Jidosha-Seizo Kabushiki-Kaisha (Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in English) takes on a new name: Nissan Motor Company.
Neutral: Is The Environment Actually A Thing For You?
It looks like the government might be betting against humanity’s future, but weirdly, corporations are not. Has the environment ever factored into your car buying decisions in any way?