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UPDATED 2:16 p.m.
Hackathon madness continues! And this time, it’s a civic duty. The mayor’s office is hosting a two-day hackathon the last weekend in July at General Assembly to redesign NYC.gov (or as it may soon be called, NYC.nyc), inviting developers and designers “to create imaginative, new prototypes of NYC.gov, the City of New York’s primary web presence.”
The hackathon is just a first step in the process to redesign the struggling website, which has bloated to almost a million pages, Chief Digital Officer Rachel Sterne said.
The goal is to rethink what a city website should be, she said, which is why Facebook, Foursquare, Google, Twitter, YouTube, and Donors Choose will be there encouraging developers to use their APIs. The designs will be judged by GA’s designer Mimi O Chun, TechStars director Dave Tisch, and Meetup co-founder Scott Heiferman; prizes will be announced next week.
Going the hackathon route does more than save money for the underfunded Digital City effort. Hackathons tend to supercharge innovation, and they’re in vogue; a manic hacker sleepover at Silicon Alley’s swanky start-up clubhouse gins up way more attention and excitement than a press release announcing the city’s hired someone to redo its website.
A hackathon also has the potential to produce a better end product–if it attracts enough talent, that is.
Betabeat pinged a few developers on Gchat to ask them if they’d be participating in the hackathon.
The first hacker we asked responded by linking us to the Wired article, “Is Crowdsourcing Evil,” about how the design contest has become a well-known gimmick to trick artists (or in this case, programmers) into doing work “on spec,” i.e. creating a full design for free.
“Why don’t they just hire a designer?” said the second developer we asked.
“What do YOU think?” we fired back.
“Ha,” he said. “I’m not going, that’s what I think. Sounds like they want me to do free work for them.”
The third person we asked is a designer. “That’s certainly an interesting approach,” he said diplomatically. “The site certainly needs to be redone. It’s ugly.”
“My initial reaction was ‘no way!'” said another hacker, but he quickly reversed himself. “I might,” he said. “There’s a certain city pride there.”
Unfortunately for the mayor’s office, he lives in New Jersey–“so I feel more allegiance here,” he said. “But if there’s room to do cool stuff, then maybe.”
UPDATE: Local developer Mike Caprio was reading through the rather lengthy rules of the hackathon and noticed something odd in the criteria for submissions: “Experience – Has the Contestant designed at least one website that serves over 1 million visitors a month? Does the Contestant have the needed technology expertise? Is the Contestant affiliated with a recognized design firm?”
This criterion is weighted equally with other criteria that evaluate a participant’s portfolio, which makes the “hackathon” sound like more of a traditional government request for proposals, or RFP, just without the bid. “This ‘hackathon’ is basically already designed to only benefit certain companies (‘recognized design firms’) and allow certain people to compete. They’re not really tapping the talent of the city at all or really being open in any way; if anything, they’re creating a no bid process for giant design firms in the city to compete with each other to create designs for no pay,” Mr. Caprio said in his email.
Lame. We sent Ms. Sterne an email and
will update with her response she responded here.


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BANGKOK, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Thailand’s annual exports are expected to grow no more than 5 percent in the fourth quarter as a strong baht has affected trade competitiveness, a group of shipping firms said on Monday, as the currency hovered at 28-month highs against the dollar.
The group predicts exports will rise 5 percent for the whole of 2017, Visit Limluecha, vice-chairman of the Thai National Shippers’ Council, told a news conference.
In January-July, exports, a key driver of Thailand’s growth, increased 8.2 percent from a year earlier.
Exports have just recovered in 2017 after years of weakness.
The baht has appreciated 7.9 percent against the dollar so far this year, becoming Asia’s best performing currency. (Reporting by Kitiphong Thaichareon; Writing by Orathai Sriring; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

domain: news


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The National Party leader Christopher Luxon says the Cost of Living payment is a shambles.
The first of three payments was made to people this week, including to some New Zealanders living overseas.
The Prime Minister has said it isn't worth chasing those people to get it back.
But Christopher Luxon told Morning Report the payment roll-out was an 'absolute joke'.
National is proposing tax cuts to increase household income.


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HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines announced on Thursday their next steps to help transform Waco, Tex., into a tourist destination: the 2021 opening of their own boutique hotel. The couple, best known for their home design and renovation show “Fixer Upper,” shared the news through Joanna’s blog and the couple’s various social media accounts.
The Gaineses’ “dream” for the hotel, Joanna wrote in a blog post, is for it to serve as “an extension of the way we feel about our own home and all it represents to us, and that every guest who comes to stay would experience that same sense of belonging and community."
The hotel will be located in downtown Waco, near the couple’s other projects, such as the Magnolia Market shopping complex. Housed in a historical building that sprawls nearly 53,000 square feet, it will be a collaboration between the Gaineses and Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners, the private real estate company from Chicago behind such notable properties as the Soho House Chicago and the Chicago Athletic Association.
The hotel will be the first of its kind in the Central Texas city, although offerings are growing there. The couple already offers accommodation options dubbed “Magnolia Stays” for fans. The vacation rentals include the Carriage House, a three-bedroom fixer-upper that sleeps six with a weekday rate of $545; the Hillcrest Estate, a historical renovation that sleeps 12 with a weekday rate of $995; and the Magnolia House, a property in the town of McGregor that sleeps eight with a weekday rate of $795.
Waco’s rise in popularity can at least partly be attributed to the Gaineses’ influence. After the Waco-based “Fixer Upper” started airing, in 2013, and after the couple opened Magnolia Market in 2015, the city noticed upticks in tourism.
“In the last couple years, we get 20,000 to 30,000 people a week simply to discover the ‘Fixer Upper’ effect on Waco,” said Todd A. Bertka, the director of the Waco Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It’s sparked its own cottage industry. We’ve had small businesses open and blossom in that period that have benefited from folks coming to visit Magnolia.”
In addition to developing the hotel, the Gaineses are busy expanding Magnolia Market and building a coffee shop and furniture showroom while maintaining their other businesses. Despite that hectic schedule, the couple can be spotted around town from time to time.
“They’re around and not invisible, but their schedule has them very busy, as you can imagine,” Bertka said. “They recently attended a city council meeting in support of a project they’re passionate about."
Bertka hopes that the Gaineses’ projects, as well as the city’s own independent developments, will keep stoking Waco’s tourism momentum.
“Their continued efforts here in Waco to show passion and interest in the town that they’re from is a continual boost in the tourism world,” Bertka said. “These things will continue to keep us on the map and in the minds of folks who want to travel and discover Waco as a destination.”


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KUALA LUMPUR – EMS provider Aurelius Technologies (ATech) launched its prospectus for its initial public offering, involving up to 103.87 million ordinary shares comprising public issue of 77.01 million shares and an offer for sale of up to 26.86 million shares.
SUNRISE, FL -- Nano Dimension today announced third quarter revenues of $1.34 million, up from $438,000 a year ago.
BANNOCKBURN, IL — The 90-day moving average sales at North American electronics manufacturing services companies fell 4.4% year-over-year in October, according to a new report from IPC.
FONTENAY-AUX-ROSES, FRANCE -- ICAPE Group made a strategic move on the European market with the acquisition of JAPCC, giving the EMS company a "local window" in the Netherlands.
WOKING, SURREY, ENGLAND -- TT Electronics said revenue in the four months ended Oct. 31 rose 11% from a year ago on a constant currency basis.


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According to Forbes, Electronic Arts has increased its stake in rival publisher Ubisoft to 25%. Here's a recap from IGN.
Electronic Arts has raised its holding of voting shares in Ubisoft to nearly 25 percent, according to reports from French stock market regulator AMF.
First reported on Forbes.com Wednesday morning, the increase gives EA 24.86 percent of Ubisoft's voting shares.
In December 2004, EA bought a 20-percent block of the French game maker, a move considered hostile by Ubisoft at the time.
EA's previously held 18.4 % of the voting rights against 22.8 % held by Ubisoft's founders.
So, does this make EA the new overlords of Ubisoft?


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We reveal a selection of recent appointments and partnerships from across the industry.
Crestron has announced the expansion of its commercial sales team with three new appointments.
Joining the business development team is Nick Evans (pictured left), who has been running his own ICT consultancy for the past three years.
Philip Waterhouse joins in a newly created role as commercial account manager for the Midlands and the North. Previously at Midwich, Waterhouse has over 20 years of sales experience under his belt and will have specific responsibility for business development and growth within the education sector.
The third addition is Fiona Johnstone who is the new commercial account manager for the south. Johnstone has previously worked for companies including Sony and Barco and most recently Ingram Micro.
“Crestron continues to focus on growing its commercial sales team in order to develop and nurture its relationships with end users and partners,” said Matthew Buck regional sales manager – UK and Ireland.
Following the news that Steljes had gone into administration, its founder Nigel Steljes has set up a new company called Avocor, which manufacturers interactive whiteboards.
Avocor has also announced a new partnership agreement with Nureva, which will see Avocor distribute its exclusive product range to UK resellers.
Alongside its own product portfolio, Avocor will offer Nureva’s Span ideation system and Span classroom collaboration system into education, corporate and public sector markets across the UK.
Nigel Steljes, MD of Avocor commented: “We are delighted to have been selected as Nureva’s authorised distributor for the UK, our core company values focus heavily on delivering innovative, market-changing products so the Nureva Span ideation and classroom collaboration system were a natural fit for our business. We are extremely excited to support the growth of Nureva within this market, concentrating heavily on delivering excellent customer service and support.”
Polar Audio has promoted from within to fill the new role of integrated solutions director with current head of installation Stuart Leader taking the position.
Leader takes on wider responsibility across the whole installation sector, including coordinating system design and heading up the sales management.
His team has also been expanded to manage the growth of the business, with new installed business development manager Adam Brown taking direct responsibility for key accounts in London and the South East. In turn, Jason Spooner and Matthew Farrugia have been appointed to expand Polar Audio’s technical support team.
Polar Audio MD John Midgley commented: “During Stuart’s time at Polar Audio, he has established himself as an integral part of our business and this was a very straightforward decision.”
Stuart Leader added: “I have enjoyed more than four years at Polar Audio, during which time I feel that I’ve made great strides both personally and in terms of helping to develop and grow the business.”
Also at Polar Audio, Tim Riley has been appointed to the newly created positions of brand development director. Riley joins the company from Audio-Technica where he managed UK professional markets as well as working to develop relationships with international online retailers in the UK and Europe.
“I’ve known Tim for more than 20 years, having worked with him in the 1990s and his track record is impressive. The role of brand development director is a perfect fit and will enable us to utilise his skills and experience to best effect,” added Midgley.
d&b audiotechnik has strengthened its partner network naming SFL Group as an official UK sales partner.
Founded in 1990 SFL specialises in sales support, permanent installations and corporate hire, as well as offering an in-house training program for live production engineers. As AV partner for the Royal Albert Hall, SFL has a leading reputation throughout the UK and international markets, where the company’s commitment to forging productive relationships results in long term added value for customers.
Gianni Abruzzese, Commercial Manager at d&b GB commented: “d&b and SFL have shared a rich twenty-year history. As a key user of d&b products, the expertise and experience the team brings can only be a benefit to d&b and our end users. SFL have an impressive infrastructure, with their dedicated sales, install and corporate rental divisions, fronted by specialist staff who know exactly how to support their customers. SFL shares the d&b education ethos, we see this partnership going from strength to strenght.”
“We are excited about this developing partnership,” confirmed Tom Jeffery, managing director at SFL, “and we look forward to supporting d&b users through supply, installation, and training – and being a centre of excellence for d&b. Purchasing a d&b system isn’t just a one off transaction, it’s an investment into a relationship with a brand and with a supplier that will last the lifetime of your equipment and beyond.”
AVC has been confirmed as the distributor for Community loudspeakers in Russia, to operate in parallel with its long-time distributor Arsenal Music.
“With their core focus being on the installation channel in Russia, AVC is an excellent partner for Community. Their strong infrastructure and excellent technical support ensures that dealers and integrators have full backup and, most importantly, the value added service required from commercial sound through to large engineered projects and specialist outdoor system design,” said Community’s EMEA sales manager Jamie Ward.
Also at Community, Kim Muurholm Juergensen has become APAC sales manager.
Juergensen has worked with Jebsen & Jessen Marketing in Thailand, E-way in China and Danish Interpretation Systems A/S over a 15 year career in pro audio and AV.
He joins Community from Shure Asia, where he held management roles in business and market development.
Michael Peveler has joined wePresent from AMX becoming VP of global sales, an appointment designed to capitalise on the growing demand for wireless collaboration solutions.
Michael brings 17 years of executive level experience at AMX to wePresent, most recently as VP of global education sales.
Shure Distribution UK has announced the appointment of Kevin Beazley to the role of conferencing systems manager.
Beazley joins the Shure Systems Group from an established AV integrator specialising in the design and installation of conferencing systems, where he greatly expanded the company’s business in both the public and private sectors. Prior to this he managed conferencing and CCTV divisions for Bosch.
The appointment has been made to address the increased demand for Shure conferencing microphone technology following the introduction of Microflex Advance and additions to the DIS conferencing range at ISE 2016.
Adamson Systems Engineering has announced the expansion of its APAC team with the addition of James Ritter, who will serve as sales manager for the region. Ritter is tasked with continuing to build relationships and brand perception in the APAC region.
QSC has promoted Frank West to senior director of systems sales, Americas, having joined the company in 2014 following 15 years at Biamp. Elsewhere at QSC, staff engineer Luis Esparza has been named to the board of directors of ALMA International.
Renkus-Heinz has appointed New Delhi-based Acoustic Arts as its new Indian distributor. Founded in 1999, Acoustic Arts is one of the country’s leading AV solutions providers, offering turnkey solutions, design, and project management to AV professionals throughout the Indian subcontinent.
VUE Audiotechnik has added Frank Loyko to the position of VP global sales to oversee the manufacturer’s global sales and distribution activities and initiatives.


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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A new retail store opened in downtown Sioux Falls Friday, giving people a new style option when they shop locally owned boutiques.
“It is awesome, I’ve never seen a store like this in Sioux Falls before,” Sioux Falls shopper Olivia Baymiller said.
It’s boutique shopping for people who have a more urban style.
“Most of the stores down here are more feminine based, so it’s nice to get some sneakers, and some hype clothing in here,” Baymiller said.
“We love shoes and we love street wear and fashion,” Preach-es Owner Jonathon Vazquez said.
The founders of Preach-es are excited to bring the fashion passion to Sioux Falls.
“People are starting to get interested more in fashion and street wear, you can find brands that are a little higher end, a little more sought after and a little harder to get,” Vazquez said.
“These usually go out on retail and then they sell out. So there’s people that really want them in Sioux Falls and it’s hard to find them,” Baymiller said.
“We traveled from Bentonville, Arkansas,” shopper Louie Cortese said.
One couple drove eight hours to be in Sioux Falls for Preach-es opening day.
“I’ve been wanting to buy my first pair of Jordans for a long time, so why not just drive up and support our friends that are like family to us,” Cortese said.
While Preach-es owners believe a lot of people will come in just to see their unique merchandise options, they also hope people will come in to build a community in Sioux Falls.
“We’re big on relationships, everyone here knows that’s one of our big things,” Vazquez said.
Vazquez is originally from California but has worked in ministry in Sioux Falls for the past few years and says he hopes this new store is a platform for the deeper soul of their business.
“Our slogan is practice what you preach. We really believe that in everything you do in life, live it out,” Vazquez said. “The clothing and the shoes, everything is cool, at the end of the day our heart is to give back to the community and make an impact in the community.”
Vazquez hopes to do some youth outreach with sneaker design classes and other group gatherings inside their store.
“We set up our store in a way where we can easily move our racks and clear stuff, do forums, workshops, mental health forums and workshops, different fashion workshops to give back to the community,” Vazquez said.
Along with high end sneakers, preaches also carries designer clothes, handbags and wallets. Their store is in the newly renovated Johnson Building on the corner of 11th street and 2nd avenue in downtown Sioux Falls.


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The federal government has given $2.1 million to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to track spending from domestic and overseas online retailers, as well as 'multi-channel' retailers that sell online and from traditional bricks and mortar outlets.
In its 2010 report into retailing, the Productivity Commission found that while the proportion of retail spending undertaken online remains relatively small, at around six per cent of total retail spending, it is expected to continue to grow over time as consumers and retailers become increasingly comfortable doing business in an e-commerce environment.
Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said this data would help inform public policy and followed on from the inaugural meeting of the Retail Council of Australia, which he chairs.
"This funding will allow the ABS to track trends in online sales growth and provide better data to the Government and industry," he said.
"The retail sector is a major employer and contributor to the Australian economy. While it faces a number of significant challenges, online retailing presents enormous opportunities for traditional bricks and mortar retailers to expand and innovate.
"It also provides Australian consumers with access to greater choice and competitive pricing."
Domestic online shopping figures will be reported on a monthly basis, as these will be collected as part of the existing ABS monthly retail trade survey, while it is expected that figures for online purchases of imported goods will be reported annually, based on data provided by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, and Australia Post.
It is anticipated that an information paper will be published in early 2013 to provide a snapshot of some preliminary survey results on online retail spending, while the first full data set is expected to be published in November 2013.


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US government agencies in charge of security, copyrights, and customs are on the warpath this week with an unparalleled number of raids on potentially infringing internet businesses. Unfortunately, some of the DNS seizures performed don’t seem to have any sufficient legal reason for the action.
In addition to RapGodfathers.com, a site which the owners claim is DMCA compliant, the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration & Customs Enforcement agency have seized over 75 other domains. And some of the domains owners have been caught completely off guard by the government’s actions.
“My domain has been seized without any previous complaint or notice from any court!” the exasperated owner of Torrent-Finder.com told TorrentFreak. “I firstly had DNS downtime. While I was contacting GoDaddy I noticed the DNS had changed. Godaddy had no idea what was going on and until now they do not understand the situation and they say it was totally from ICANN.”
The basis for the seizure of Torrent-Finder.com is on shaky ground because the site is actually a search engine that has no tracker, carries no torrents, and lists no copyright works unless someone searches for them. All of the actual illegal activity would be occurring on other domains.
Unlike RapGodfathers.com, however, Torrent-Finder.com at least had an alternate .info URL to fall back on for now.
A quick glance through the list of the rest of the seized domains shows that the majority were likely retail fronts for the sale of counterfeit products, a clear copyright infringement issue, so these two were hopefully only notable exceptions.
Exception or not, these government agencies shouldn’t be shutting down sites unless there is clearly probable cause for the domain seizure or blatant infringement taking place. These actions make it appear like some kind of DNS witch-hunt is in progress. If you own a domain that could be questionable in any way, consider yourself warned.


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South Korea-based pizza startup GoPizza closed its Series C funding round at $45 million, while Australian sports tech company Vald and semiconductor maker Morse Micro pocketed $25 million and $30 million, respectively.
CJ Investment leads GoPizza’s Series C round
South-Korea based pizza brand GoPizza has closed its Series C funding round at $45 million, according to Tech in Asia.
The round was led by CJ Investment and partcipated by Mirae Asset Securities, Big Basin Capital, Woori Bank, GS Venture, Pureun Partners, DS Asset Management, Capstone Partners Korea, Ncore Ventures, and DSC Investment.
Founded in 2016, the AI-operated pizza maker had earlier raised $25 million inSeries C funding in October reported DealStreetAsia.
The company plans to foray into new markets of Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the United States. It currently has 60 outlets across South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, India, and Hong Kong.
Vald secures $25m after shelving IPO plans
Australian sports technology company Vald has raised $25 million to expand into the US healthcare market, reported Australian Financial Review.
Queensland Investment Corporation and Canadian investment firm Vistara Growth led the company’s latest capital raise, after Vald indefinitely pushed a planned IPO last year.
The Brisbane-based startup plans to fund acquisitions, nearly double its local headcount, and expand into the US healthcare market.
Founded in 2015, Vald makes hardware and software that monitor athletes’ performance, injury, and recovery. Its devices are used by more than 1,200 professional sporting organisations, including NRL, English Premier League, NBA, and major league baseball teams.
Chipmaker Morse Micro raises $3om
Australia’s largest semiconductor maker, Morse Micro, has pocketed $30 million to top up its $140-million Series B funding, reported Australian Financial Review.
TelstraSuper, HESTA, Hostplus, NGS (managed by Blackbird Ventures), and UniSuper (managed by Uniseed) participated in the round, which will allow the chipmaker to accelerate its growth, with the goal of getting its chips into as many new devices as possible.
Japanese chipmaker MegaChips had contributed $100 million of the Series B round two months ago, including backing from Blackbird Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, the government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Skip Capital, Uniseed, SpringCapital Investment, and Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull.
Founded in 2016, Morse Micro designs chips typically used in smart home devices, such as surveillance cameras, motion sensors, and lighting controls in homes.


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By The Tally Wire staff
TALLAHASSEE, Fla — On Nov. 3, Tallahassee’s newest Mediterranean restaurant, Yasou Cafe, celebrated their grand opening at at 3551 Blairstone Rd. Suite 101. The new cafe offers “a new adventure coming from the Mediterranean,” and “the real taste of the most famous dishes from the Mediterranean countries in Tallahassee,” according to restaurant owners.
Cafe Yasou’s food menu features classic Mediterranean dishes, such as classic tzatziki, dolmades, avgolemono soup, gyros, Greek salad, falafel, spanakopita, shawarmas, and more. Their dessert menu offers baklava, om ali, rice pudding, baklava ice cream, and more. You can view their entire menu online, here.
Yasou Cafe currently offers dine-in, pick-up, and curbside pick-up options. Reservations, while not required, can be made by calling (850) 692-3415.
You can keep up-to-date with restaurant specials by liking Yasou Cafe on Facebook, here.


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JEC Group have brought together the international community of composites leaders and executives in our Composites Circle as an unique networking opportunity to meet with both peers and future partners.
Professor and Architect Mark Goulthorpe, of the MIT Department of Architecture, confirmed as guest keynote speaker for the Future of Composites in Construction.
JEC Asia 2012 - SP-High Modulus, the marine business of Gurit, is to exhibit at JEC Asia 2012 from 26th – 28th June at the Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Singapore.
The exhibition is the only event in Asia that brings all global composite industry companies and representatives from the region together. The 2012 show is expected to attract over 7,000 visitors from 52 countries during the three day event.
SP-High Modulus will be located on booth number H10 and staff will be on hand to showcase a range of composite materials and engineering expertise. Products to be exhibited at JEC Asia include SP-High Modulus’ extended core range which includes Corecell™, PVCell®, G-PET and Balsaflex®. Promoted alongside the core materials will be SP-High Modulus’ range of adhesive and infusion products. Also highlighted will be SP-High Modulus’ composite engineering experience.
Sean Jeffery, New Zealand and Southeast Asia Sales Manager commented “Having a booth at JEC Asia means that SP-High Modulus can showcase its advanced composite materials and engineering expertise to the important Asia market and we look forward to welcoming visitors to our booth to find out more about our products and services”.
More information: www.gurit.com


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The following has been contributed by Steffani Cameron, who is in the middle of a 5-year worldwide adventure that she is chronicling at FullNomad.com. A photo posted by Steffani Cameron (@snarkysteff) on Apr 20, 2015 at 6:45pm PDT Where to Eat and Drink in Victoria, BC There are people who will tell you that Victoria […]
Archive for the category "food"
It’s been six years since the City of Vancouver began its expanded food cart program and there are now over 100 food trucks, carts, and vendors selling convenient, diverse, and delicious food on Vancouver streets. Whether you have a favourite lunchtime truck or one dish you’ve been eyeing on Instagram for months, you can check […]
The Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival returns for the sixth year, offering up creative takes on the comforting, indulgent drink at participating restaurants and cafes around Vancouver from January 16 to February 14, 2016. Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival Participants and their menus for the festival will be added to the event’s website within the next week […]
At 5.3 million square feet, and with approximately 30.8 million visitors each year, West Edmonton Mall has been Alberta’s top tourist attraction for the past three decades. However, as John and I discovered on our recent tour of wild rose country, there’s much more to Alberta’s capital city than its epic shopping mecca. Where to […]
Brix is one of those restaurants that creates lasting memories, and not only because of its dreamy cobblestone courtyard, with draping ivy, chandeliers and candles that ooze romance. The first time I was at the restaurant was for a work Christmas dinner 14 years ago, the type of event that Brix is well-known for hosting […]
I was recently at a wellness retreat in Whistler that had a schedule packed with yoga, seminars, workshops, and a very natural brunch each morning. My biggest take-away from the weekend was learning to slow down and find balance, especially when it comes to food. Take your time to let your body enjoy a meal, […]


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Until recently, it wasn’t uncommon for HVAC contractors to assume homeowners in high-end markets don’t need customer financing. Now, it seems many contractors are aware of how this kind of thinking eats into profit margins. Instead of asking, “Which customers need financing?” contractors have found it better to ask, “Which customers want financing?”
Shifting to this mentality can help contractors of any size yield more sales — and higher tickets. But how should contractors navigate the financing options available to them and their customers?
Barbara Cox, senior director of marketing at Nortek, talks about the impact that partnering with customer financing companies like FTL Finance has had on Nortek’s business.


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Retail sales saw a revised 8.3 percent drop in March amid COVID-19 shutdowns, followed by a revised record 14.7-percent plunge in April. As businesses gradually reopened across the nation, retail sales increased by a revised 18.2 percent in May, followed by a revised 8.4 percent growth in June. … [Read more...] about U.S. retail sales edge up 1.2 pct in July amid resurgence of COVID-19 cases
Retail online store
Mouhammad says police were just a block away when his landlord and several workers called 911 to report that people were trying to break into the store. He says Chicago police officers arrived about a half hour after the store had already been emptied. … [Read more...] about Chicago convenience store ransacked twice since May
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger … [Read more...] about Which shops in the UK are reopening and when as Covid-19 lockdown eases?
A member of staff, who did not want to be named, told the Guardian there was a “barrier to get in, a barrier to overcome the underestimation of one’s talents, and once one’s talents are recognised there is a barrier of cronyism which becomes a barrier for progression”. … [Read more...] about John Lewis criticised for lack of diversity in top ranks
Prime Minister Hassan Diab vowed those responsible will 'pay the price' as he declared a two-week state of emergency to deal with the crisis, urging all world leaders and 'friends of Lebanon' to donate aid to the country, adding: 'We are witnessing a real catastrophe.' … [Read more...] about Poignant video of Lebanese woman playing the piano in her destroyed Beirut home is shared by supermodel Bella Hadid


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How can convenience retailers get customers to zero in on impulse purchases at the checkout, on a shelf or anywhere else in the store? One way is to know the psychology of impulse. “We aren’t rational beings … especially with money,” said Brad Klontz, associate professor of economics and finance at Creighton University, Omaha, […]
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The Halal Guys franchising in Northern Virginia
The Halal Guys has announced the signing of a five-unit franchise deal for territories in Northern Virginia, which comes after its recent signing of a 10-unit deal for Washington, D.C., according to a company press release
Since announcing the launch of a franchise program in 2014, The Halal Guys has opened two corporate brick-and-mortar restaurants in Manhattan, and has more than 200 franchise units in development in territories, including Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago, New Jersey, Connecticut, the entire state of California and international locations for the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. The brand will focus on top real estate markets, seeking sites in mass gathering areas like airports, train stations, malls, and neighborhoods with a significant late night demand, according to the company.
Topics: Franchising & Growth


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If, as they say, the enemy of your enemy is your friend, Donald Trump is Seattle lefties’ besty.
Just as many Seattle progressives cast Amazon as a bogeyman during debates over affordability and the city’s “character,” Trump routinely directs his Twitter ire at Amazon and the company’s CEO Jeff Bezos.
Here’s a typical Trump tweet trashing Amazon from this spring:
I have stated my concerns with Amazon long before the Election. Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the U.S.), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2018
Of course, like most of Trump’s Twitter testimony, these claims strain credulity.
But the crux of Trump’s sentiments are in sync with Seattle’s own animosity toward the the South Lake Union tech magnate. As the recent head tax debate showed, Seattle’s left—like Trump—doesn’t think Amazon pays enough in taxes. Seattle’s leftist City Council member Kshama Sawant has personally used Trumpian language to demonize Bezos, saying “Jeff Bezos is our enemy” at a city council meeting in June. (That’s right—the Washington Post owner is an enemy of the people.) Activists in Seattle have taken up the anti-Amazon crusade. In fact ,the coffee shop where I’m writing this very column is currently selling anti-Bezos postcards that say “Rich Uncle Bezos” featuring a picture of the Amazon leader in a “Monopoly” top hat.
Echoing Trump’s line that the company is killing mom and pop businesses, conventional wisdom here in Seattle holds that Amazon, the engine of our hyper growth, is destroying Seattle’s homegrown culture and authenticity. For both Trump and Seattleites who believe the company is ruining the city, Amazon represents an existential threat. The fact that council member Sawant is now organizing rallies to save the Showbox from being replaced by a new housing and retail development is unmistakably part of the same reactionary sentiment that demonizes change, and Amazon transplants, as corrosive forces—these new Seattle residents aren’t neighbors but “Amazombies,” as I overheard someone quip at a bar last week.
I agree that Amazon should be a better corporate citizen; their resistance to paying higher taxes to help address the homelessness crisis displayed a callous lack of concern for a city that has invested heavily in their success. And their crass bad faith at the negotiating table during the head tax debate (turning around and making a $25,000 contribution to the campaign to kill the tax after apparently agreeing to a deal) was shameful. For the record, I supported the head tax. Without an income tax (something else I support), it’s our only option to mark the clear nexus that exists between Amazon’s growth and the housing crisis.
On the flip side: A report that Amazon pays an estimated $250 million in local and state taxes highlights the real benefit of having a Top 10 Fortune 500 company (#8) based in downtown Seattle, with its 45,000 current Seattle employees, 50,000 new hires planned, and all the secondary and tertiary jobs they create.
The similarity between Seattle progressives who scapegoat Amazon as a corrupting influence and Trump’s populist tweet tantrums that accuse Amazon of cuckolding the feds (turning the Post Office into a mere “delivery boy” for the all-powerful Bezos) is worth calling out because it’s part a consistent, ugly defect we also see in Seattle populism.
As insightful Seattle City Council member Rob Johnson once pointed out: The intransigence of Seattle’s largely white, single-family homeowners who oppose allowing more access to their neighborhoods is similar to the heated provincialism of Trump’s pro-wall base. Johnson, an even-keeled mass transit and density advocate, is now on his heels against an onslaught from angry single-family neighborhood constituents. And so it goes in Seattle, where the current strain of parochial leftism isn’t out of place in Trump’s America.


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Retailers on both sides of the Atlantic will continue to be battered by high costs, competition from e-commerce, and the debt burden many of them carry as the legacy of past leveraged buyouts. Cushman & Wakefield’s head of retail research for the Americas, Garrick Brown, reckons there were some 7,500 closure announcements by major chains by the beginning of June in the US and expects the year-end figure to come in at around 12,000. “Unfortunately, I don’t think the retail apocalypse story is going away any time soon.”
Meyer Bergman’s CEO Marcus Meijer adds: “We will continue to see middle-of-the-road retailers like Jamie Oliver’s restaurants and Topshop going into administration. Brexit means the challenging environment for sales in the UK will continue and will accelerate the retail retrenchment.”
Bargain-hunters on alert
Few owners want to sell shopping centers under current market conditions, but the prospect of distressed sales is growing. “The probability is increasing that that higher-quality retail property will come to the market, which we haven’t seen for almost a decade. For example, we may see that traded out of the portfolios of the listed players,” says Rik Eertink, manager of CBRE Global Investors’ European Shopping Centre Fund series. Moreover, managers of funds facing net outflows from mom-and-pop investors may be forced to sell to increase their cash buffers.
To date, the expectations of sellers have outstripped what buyers are willing to pay. That could soon change, says Ludovic Charpentier, head of separate accounts at AEW: “We’re getting to a point where some value-add investors are waiting to call a trough in the market. The Arcadia company voluntary arrangement could be the first sign where investors say that has arrived, but everyone is afraid of catching a falling knife a bit too early.”
Retail REITs under siege
With no let-up in negative sentiment, shares in North American and European retail REITs will continue to trade at a big discount to NAV. Better-capitalized public companies may embark on share buybacks, while others will seek to secure external capital through joint ventures to improve earnings per share.
“For REITs it is very difficult,” says Meijer. “As their valuations get lower, leverage levels will creep up so then they have two choices: asset sales or secondary rights offerings at big discounts. Neither one is very attractive. The best assets are still saleable but then you get left with highly levered bad assets.” Many analysts tip an increase in M&A activity through consolidation and buyouts by private capital.
In July 2018, US retail REIT Macerich formed a partnership with Industrious for the co-working operator to provide serviced office space across a number of its malls. Many mall operators will look to hedge their bets and reduce excess store space by turning to other uses, predicts Brown: “The future of retail is mixed use. That is the sort of thing Brookfield has been up to since they acquired GGP last year.”
CBRE’s head of European retail investment Chris Gardener foresees a similar trend taking hold in Europe’s big department stores. “They are often in super-prime locations because many high streets were built around them. There is a huge opportunity to unlock that real estate in the coming years.”


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Looking back at one of the opening tractor shows of the summer, the Southern Indiana Antique & Machinery Club (SIAM) had its June 8-10 event at the Vanderburgh 4-H Center just north of Evansville. SIAM formed in 1978.
This year’s Classic Iron Show featured John Deere and was hosted by Lawn and Garden Tractor Collector magazine. The goal of the magazine is “to educate, promote, share stories, videos and great pictures about the best Antique Garden Tractors on the planet.”
G&W lawn and garden tractors offered an amazing lineup at the show. The G stands for Lyle Gray and the W, for the Weidners – Nathan and Jeremy. They hail from Noble, Ill.
Their lineup included rare Deere Patio lawn tractors, with a special yellow-hooded JD 110, a red-hooded JD 112 and blue-hooded JD 120. The only missing piece, Nathan shared, was the 140 orange-hooded JD!
The Weidners also had an original Cub and a 1964 three-speed JD 110, along with a sickle bar. “We began collecting about a year ago,” Nathan said. The number of tractors he collected in a short amount of time is an amazing feat.
The 1969 Wheel Horse Lawn Ranger on which Lisa Weidner posed was featured in an issue of Lawn and Garden Tractor Collector.
One hard-to-find garden tractor on display was a Dale Austin’s 1963 Lennox Kitty Track 600, which had a cool wooden roller attached.
While JD was the chosen brand at this year’s show, there were a few breathtaking IH tractors as well. Joe Melton had his 560 that has a unique history: “It was in a dealership called Major Motor Company in Sebree, Kentucky. It was delivered on September of 1959 and the owner, Ted Majors, who is now deceased, had it in the back of the dealership.”
The story continues that before Ted could place the tractor on display he ended up needing a few parts for another tractor. The new 560 then literally sat there for 30 years, until Joe’s dad purchased the tractor in 1989.
After retiring, Joe found the missing parts and the tractor, which had only one hour on it while at the dealership. It now has a whopping 16 hours.
Besides tractors, toys were also part of the SIAM show. One vendor selling toys was not actually part of the show; however, Don Swing brought a new creation that he exhibited for the first time, his cypress wood wagon beds. “These wagon beds fit on wagon gears,” he explained. “They are made from cypress wood and sealed with a clear sealer.”
The wagon gears consist of a four-wheel chassis that serves as the base of the wagon bed. The wooden wagons fit neatly together. Besides the cypress, the other component Don used was copper wire for support.
“I started making them last winter,” he said. The cypress, which is the base of the wagon beds, came from an old water treatment plant.
Carter Doyel represented the younger generation in the toy modeling hobby. He is a 14-year-old custom toy-maker from Bowling Green, Ky., who just started his freshman year of high school. At the toy show, Carter brought several samples of his work.
One example at the Classic Iron Show was a Dodge 3500 he had on display. Carter said, “I lifted it, added duals, mud flaps, a headache rack, fuel tank and added a custom exhaust.”
With summer shows wrapping up, next on the agenda will be the toy shows and outlining what tractor shows to go to in 2013 – and the SIAM show will be on the top of that list for this columnist!
Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.


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Before Feb. 3’s Super Bowl game, if anyone asked what we would be talking about after the game that happened during the game, corn would not have made the list.
In its Super Bowl ads on national TV, Bud Light beer attacked rival brands, and it was corn growers who felt the sting. The Bud Light commercials took a whack at Miller Lite and Coors Lite. The ads emphasized that Anheuser Busch isn’t using corn syrup in making Bud Light, and questioned why Miller and Coors do use corn syrup.
Farmers are angry that Anheuser Busch took a cheap shot at an important U.S. crop, as the brewer decided to use a very expensive Super Bowl ad to attack corn farming and corn syrup. Corn syrup is a sugar, just like any other sugar.
“As a family farmer, I’m disappointed Bud Light chose to denigrate corn in their Super Bowl ad as part of a marketing scheme to attack their competition in the beer business,” says Mark Recker, past president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association.
Leave farmers out of beer wars
Recker, a northeast Iowa farmer, saw the commercial on TV. He was watching the game along with millions of other people. “I was shocked by what I saw and heard in that ad,” he says.
In a statement issued by ICGA the day after the game, Recker said: “I’m proud of the generations of farmers who grow corn that’s used in over 4,000 everyday products from corn-fed beef to bourbon to makeup. Iowa is the No. 1 corn-producing state, and corn is the top crop grown in our country. This attack especially hits home at a time when farmers are hurting due to the challenging economic conditions. Corn is a homegrown renewable crop that feeds and fuels my family and yours.”
He added, “Please leave us out of the beer wars. Support your local corn farmers by standing with us and choosing products that include corn!”
Anheuser Busch officials say they have nothing against corn syrup; the company just doesn’t use it in Bud Light. “Consumers want transparency, and we’re providing. It’s up to them to decide what beer is right for them,” the company said in a news release.
Corn syrup unjustly targeted
Recker says the ad is another mischaracterization of a corn product. In recent years, some groups and companies have questioned whether the human body can digest and use high fructose corn syrup differently than other sweeteners. Critics of corn syrup claim it is contributing to the nation’s obesity problem.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, says it has no evidence corn syrup is different than any other sugar. Nutritionists and medical researchers point out that all sweeteners need to be consumed in limited amounts.
Bud Light began prominently listing its ingredients in February. The label says this beer is made from water, barley, rice and hops. Many brands of beer already list calories and other information on their labels or packaging, but Bud Light says it is the first to list its actual ingredients. Such label information isn’t required for alcohol products.
Anheuser Busch says it bought more than 1 million pounds of corn products last year and uses corn syrup in its other beer recipes, such as Busch Light. But the brewer uses U.S.-grown rice, rather than corn syrup, in the Bud Light fermentation process.
Unfair marketing ploy
“It’s hard to understand why Budweiser is singling out corn growers and giving them a black eye,” Recker says. “It’s frustrating, especially during these tough economic times for farmers.”
Recker was in Colorado in early February, meeting with other growers to discuss ways to increase corn demand and improve prices.
“This isn’t the first time corn syrup has been unfairly singled out,” he notes. “This is an opportunity for us to educate consumers. That’s part of what we do as an organization of growers. We need to continue to help people understand that corn syrup is no different than simple sugar. It’s a safe, nutritious, locally grown food product.”
Another Iowa corn grower, Kevin Ross, tweeted out a video showing him dumping cans of Bud Light down the drain.
Ross says the Bud Light commercial is misleading, implying that corn syrup is bad for consumers. “That’s nonsense,” he says. The video got a lot of views online via social media. Ross, farming in western Iowa, is vice president of the National Corn Growers Association.
Jon Doggett, CEO of NCGA, says Anheuser Busch has responded to NCGA privately in a phone call. He says NCGA has a board meeting scheduled soon, and it is hoped a representative of Anheuser Busch can attend. Stay tuned.


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Blue Federal Credit Union was awarded with six Diamond Awards by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Marketing and Business Development Council. The awards were presented at a special ceremony during the Council’s 24th annual conference in San Antonio, Texas on March 31, 2017. CUNA is comprised of over 1,200 marketing and business development professionals across the country.
“We are beyond thrilled to be recognized by the CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council for many of our marketing efforts in 2016,” said Michele Bolkovatz, Vice President of Marketing at Blue.
Blue won awards for four 2016 marketing campaigns; the “Wyoming Proud”, the “Our Town,” “Rewards for Life,”and “Do Gooders Unite.”
“2016 was a year of many changes at Blue, and we wanted to show our members and our Wyoming communities that although our name has changed, we’re still the same local and convenient credit union we’ve always been,” said Bolkovatz. “We are proud of the success of the Wyoming Proud and Our Town campaigns and grateful to be recognized for them at the Diamond Awards.”
Additionally, Blue won in the website category for their 2016 website redesign. Blue teamed up with Click Rain, a marketing technology agency based out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which specializes in website design and user experience. Finally, Blue was also awarded in the Plastic Access Card Designs category for the Credit Union’s loyalty suite of debit card designs featuring the Wyoming Proud buffalo, the CSU Rams, and CSU Aggies cards.


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Toyota has launched its much awaited SUV car HyRyder after a long wait. The company has launched this SUV in 4 variants. The ex-showroom price of this SUV has been fixed at Rs 15 lakh. This car of Toyota will be equipped with hybrid feature. This car of Toyota will be equipped with hybrid feature. This is a mid size SUV car from Toyota. The company has named this car as Urban Cruiser Highrider.
Toyota has started the ex-showroom price of this car from Rs 15.11 lakh, which goes up to Rs 18.99 lakh in the top model. Till now Toyota has announced only four variants of this car. This car will be available in two different options, Strong Hybrid and Mild Hybrid.
25 thousand booking
Toyota has already started booking this mid-size SUV. The company has opened booking for 25 thousand rupees. Along with this, Maruti Suzuki's Grand Vitara is also going to be launched in the coming weeks.
28 km/l mileage
The company claims that the strong hybrid engine of HyRyder will give better mileage. According to the company, customers can get a mileage of 28 kmpl in one liter with this engine and technology. While talking about its all wheel drive option, it will be available to customers only in the top V variant.
which variant cost
The company has released only four variants of its SUV HyRyder. Three of these are Hybrid and one Neo Drive model. The company has fixed the ex-showroom price of V eDrive 2WD Hybrid at Rs 18.99 lakh.
The ex-showroom price of G eDrive 2WD Hybrid has been fixed at Rs 17.49 lakh. The price of S eDrive 2WD Hybrid has been fixed at Rs 15.11 lakh. The ex-showroom price of its fourth variant V AT 2WD NEO DRIVE has been fixed at Rs 17.09 lakh.
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Last updated on July 28th, 2016 at 08:30 am
Natural Grocers will open two new stores in Nevada on Aug. 9–one in North Las Vegas store, at 6305 Simmons Street, and the other in Henderson, at 1660 West Sunset Road.
In celebration of the Aug. 9 grand opening, Natural Grocers will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 7:55 a.m. and pass out mystery gift cards to the first 50 customers in line. Other opening day activities include food tastings and vendor demonstrations.
Monthlong events include:
- Award-winning television host, journalist and director of Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Angela Sun, will present “BYO: How to Go Back to School Sustainably” at the North Las Vegas store from noon-1 p.m. on Aug. 13.
- Two-time bestselling author and TEDx presenter, Stacy Hall, will present a seminar entitled “Overcoming Roadblocks to Wellness ” at both locations on these dates and times:
- Aug. 9 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. (Henderson)
- Aug. 12 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. (North Las Vegas)
- Natural Grocers will also celebrate its 61st anniversary on Aug. 11 and will offer interactive activities, prizes and food samplings throughout the store and a free community ice-cream social from 4-6 p.m.
- Both stores will feature Saturday health fairs from noon-4 p.m. on Aug. 13, 20, 27 and Sept. 3.
The stores will feature a mix of national brands and a selection of locally produced products in a small, neighborhood market environment as well as 100 percent USDA Certified Organic fresh produce. The stores will also feature a nutritional health coach and offer free nutrition education classes to the public. The stores will be open seven days a week.


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Indian car market’s sub-four metre compact sedan segment is fast heating up. What with most car manufacturers fast entering the highly popular segment? The Swift Dzire has been posting stellar sales figures ever since it was launched and the recently launched Honda Amaze looks all set to become the most successful car from the Indian subsidiary of Honda Cars.
As we have been reporting, jumping into the compact sedan bandwagon in near future will be the Indian subsidiary of Korean car maker giant Hyundai. The Accent sedan, from two generations earlier, is currently the cheapest sedan in car maker’s product portfolio and hasn’t really been bringing many lower C segment sedan buyers to the car maker’s dealerships.
It has now emerged that Hyundai might be readying a new compact sedan for our market. This sedan will be based on the HB20S compact sedan that was recently launched in Brazil. The HB20S is a Brazil-exclusive model and is highly based on the i20 hatchback that we have on sale in our country. While Hyundai’s India-spec compact sedan will boast of a styling similar to that of the HB20S, it will come with a smaller boot that will enable it to benefit from reduced excise duty from Govt. of India.
Powering the car will be the same engines that power the India spec i20 hatchback. This means that the car would get an 80 PS 1.2-litre Kappa engine for the petrol variant and the 90 PS 1.4-litre CRDi engine for the diesel variant. The petrol engine will also get the option of an automatic transmission. As for the diesel, it might get the six-speed manual transmission that is no longer available on the i20 diesel.
Safely expect the car to get a price tag that would undercut that of the Honda Amaze.
Via Car India


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DHL announced its sponsorship of the Rugby World Cup today (and to celebrate Grant Fox kicked a rugby ball off the Skytower). And while the rules for the tournament’s official sponsors seem fairly clear, media owners, media buyers and the host of other companies that haven’t forked out but are hoping to jump on the RWC marketing bandwagon are still waiting to find out from the government how the Major Events Management Act (MEMA) could affect marketing activities, particularly when it comes to out-of-home media.
About four months ago, Nigel Keats, managing director at OMD Wellington (which bought a big load of outdoor media space in order to offer clean stadia as part of New Zealand’s bid), said he was playing the role of “meat in the sandwich” between OMD’s client Rugby NZ 2011 (and its sponsors) and the Ministry of Economic Development (MED). Back in May, some were under the impression the exclusion zones reserved for official sponsors could stretch for two kilometres around each stadium. One piece of bread, Rugby NZ 2011, has settled on a distance of 500m. But the other piece, the MED’s legislative side, remains unbuttered and has yet to make its final decision.
Keats has already reported his findings to members of the Outdoor Media Association of New Zealand and says the “complicated process” is slowly making progress. It’s not fast enough for some, however: obviously, with a supposed RWC gold rush on the cards, media owners are very keen to get it sorted and sell their space, while companies (either sponsors or non-sponsors) are keen to book their schedules, so there is still some frustration that decisions on how the clean stadia and transport zones would be enforced, how some of the MEMA terminology would manifest itself and what kind of exceptions were allowed haven’t been cemented yet.
“We have to be careful. We can’t make any presumptions about what [the MED]might do,” Keats says. “…It’s a new process for people to get their heads around. We’re not used to having advertising legislation in this country.”
Keats says the delay from the MED might be because this ruling will set a precedent for other large events in the future, like this year’s Rowing World Cup or maybe America’s Cup events in the future.
Despite concerns from some media owners about draconian MEMA restrictions, MED communications Emilia Mazur said in May the determinations were likely to be “less of a burden to businesses than feared by some”. Ambush marketing will be policed heavily to protect the official sponsor’s interests, of course, but if Rugby NZ 2011 is happy with 500m, there doesn’t seem to be any logical reason for the MED to disagree with it.
Still, Mazur says the MED is working towards having the RWC clean zones declared within this month or by early October. But no determinations have yet been made on the specific areas that will be declared. And, in what could be seen as the addition of even more complications to the mix, she indicated it could be a case of different distances for different stadiums.
“It is unlikely that there will be a standard radius from each venue to which the clean zones will extend,” she says. “Instead the shape and size of clean zones will most likely vary from venue to venue depending on the nature of the environment in which the venue is located.”
When it comes to clean zones around major transport routes (state highways, motorways and railway lines that are likely to be used by a substantial number of people to travel to a game), the legislation says it can extend up to a maximum of what seems to be a rather excessive five kilometres. The MED’s decision on whether that will be enforced or reduced to a more realistic distance is also pending.
Mazur says the clean period for these restrictions can only be the time that a RWC event is taking place and a reasonable period of time before and afterward. So it’s quite possible that some clean periods may be limited to the day of a RWC match, which could possibly create a few headaches for media owners.
When it comes to the exceptions to clean stadia or transport routes, everyone still seems to be waiting for clarification. And it’s still the terms ‘reasonable’ and ‘ordinary’ that are creating the confusion. Exceptions are allowed if, “in accordance with honest practices in industrial or commercial matters, the advertising is done by an existing organisation continuing to carry out its ordinary activities”.
“With regard to ‘ordinary activities’, restrictions that apply in clean zones will not apply to advertising done by an existing organisation continuing to carry out its ordinary activities,” Mazur says. “This means that existing businesses that do not put up new advertising, or alter their existing advertising for RWC, will be able to continue as normal. Whether an organisation’s advertising falls within the exception will ultimately be a question to be determined in the particular circumstances of each case.”
Advertising on buses that usually travel inside the exclusion zones, for example, is likely to be exempt.
Keats says there are two very different areas in this issue: demand within the exclusion zones and demand outside the exclusion zones (of course, sponsors can also buy space outside the exclusion zones). He says it’s still unclear which companies will be using the outdoor media in the exclusion zones. But, not surprisingly, there is high demand for space, and where there is great demand, there is often inflated prices.
The Auckland Airport isn’t included in the RWC exclusion zones and Robbie Dery, general manager of Eye Fly Australia New Zealand, says demand in the lead-up to the cup “far surpasses anything we have seen previously”.
“Following on from renewals of existing airport advertisers, this month EYE has been engaged with key Rugby World Cup sponsors to develop unique consumer experiences for advertisers. The exclusive advertising opportunities being created at Auckland are a reflection of the strong partnership between EYE and Auckland Airport and the commitment from both companies to provide our clients with world class engagement opportunities.”
Aside from the many restrictions around RWC marketing, there’s also the law of diminishing returns to consider. There will almost certainly be a host of generic ‘show your support’ campaigns on the agenda, both from sponsors and other hangers-on, but how many of them can one small nation realistically sustain? And with everyone else trying to make hay while the sun shines, marketing campaigns are going to have to be pretty special to rise above the rabble.


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The new vehicle looks rather unlike your typical farm vehicle, and is designed to straddle six strawberry beds as it moves along. It uses GPS navigation, LiDAR vision and carries 16 robots which will do the actual planting and picking of the strawberries.
Volvo Trucks has developed a new self-steering truck that it says could become a significant productivity booster for Brazilian sugar-cane growers.
The truck, which is used to transport newly harvested sugar-cane, is steered with “great precision” through the fields in order to avoid damaging the young plants that will form the following year’s crop.
In Germany alone, over 10 million tonnes of potatoes are harvested each year. Worldwide, the total even exceeds 341 million tonnes.
More than 80 years ago, Grimme developed the first potato harvesting machine. A great deal has happened since that time, and now Grimme is said to be the world market leader in potato harvesting technology.
Tend says its new in.control platform is the first smart cloud robotics platform for remote control, monitoring and analysis of production lines.
Tend announced it has introduced the first hardware-agnostic, smart cloud robotics software platform that allows manufacturers to remotely control, monitor and analyze the performance of their robots and production equipment from their mobile devices.
Bosch – one of the world’s largest industrial companies, producing a wide variety of engineered products, from automotive components to home appliances – has reported increased sales for the year 2016.
In a press conference last week to launch the German giant’s annual report, Bosch CEO Volkmar Denner listed the key figures:
sales rose from €70.6 billion in 2015 to €73.1 billion last year; and
earnings before tax in 2016 reached a total of €4.3 billion.
Sales in all business segments and geographical regions had increased, added Denner.
The use of robotics technology in industrial systems is quite common, but in the agricultural sector, robotics and automation technology still retains a novelty and fascination, and is still to make a widespread impact on labor-intensive tasks.
The discussion on man versus machine has come too far. Artificial intelligence was the key addition that tipped scales in favor of the latter. Precise and iterative line functions in industrial processes are handled by well-programmed robots.
CNH Industrial, the agricultural technology giant, is showcasing its new autonomous tractor.
The company says the driverless vehicle will boost precision and productivity in the farming sector.
CNH says the autonomous tractor will enable better use of labor, integration into current machinery fleets, and bring the flexibility to work unmanned around the clock with real time data monitoring – and, in the future, the ability to automatically respond to weather events.
Agricultural technology startup company Abundant Robotics to launch a robot with a taste for apples
SRI International, a technology research organisation, is to spin-out and launch Abundant Robotics, an agriculture technology company focused on helping make nutritious foods such as apples and other tree fruits more accessible.
Abundant will commercialize and build on several years of research initiatives in agricultural robotics at SRI.
The technology is mature and ready for the field, say experts
Advanced engineering could be the solution for the sustainable intensification of agriculture, as technology for producing service robots reaches maturity.
Experts in robotics from University of Cambridge, University of Lincoln and Harper Adams University will be discussing the latest developments during Agri-Tech East’s Pollinator event on 11 October 2016.
The UK’s first national agricultural technology business plan competition has been won by a lettuce-picking robot
It is estimated that over 60 per cent of the production cost of a lettuce is in the manual harvesting. Automating this process would allow producers to be more competitive and respond faster to demand.
SoftHarvest, working closely with G’s Growers, one of the UK’s largest vegetable producers, has developed a robotic handler with vision recognition that is set to revolutionise this £300 million market across the UK, France and Spain.


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"The employees want to make sustainable contributions but not if we should return to 100 percent control under GM," Klaus Franz, Opel's senior labor leader, was quoted as saying by the aforementioned source.
Rumors regarding GM's plans to keep Opel and restructure the brand using its own cash surfaced two weeks ago just after the American company delayed a decision on the German unit. At that time, German officials asked for the US officials to intervene and help GM pick a buyer.
A new report issued today by the Wall Street Journal revealed tat GM might be raising funds to keep Opel in its own yard and thus cancel a potential sale to any of the two interested parties, Magna or RHJ.
"It's not enough with just 1.5 billion or 2 billion euros. In order to pay back the bridge loan, GM needs to come up with $2 billion, and then there would not be a single cent left to invest in new products or restructuring the 25 to 30 percent of over capacity," Franz said. "To properly position this company you need 5 to 6 billion euros in the next couple of years."


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Primark CEO said that when non-essential shops will be allowed to reopen, Primark will operate 24 hours a day.
The English fashion retailer chain Primark will be operating 24 hours a day when non-essential shops will be allowed to reopen, on December 2.
Primark to reopen on a 24/7 basis
Hopefully starting from December 2, Primark will open 24 hours a day.
In this way, the Associated British Foods Plc said, customers will easily distance themselves from one another. There won’t neither panic buyers nor gatherings of last-minute purchasers.
This rumors has been confirmed by CEO George Weston. “If we are able to trade in some stores up 24 hours a day, then we can keep people more separate from each other more easily”.
The reasoning behind this decision is simple, Weston explained. “We can keep the stores safer if everyone knows there are plenty of hours and they do not have to rush on a Sunday into a six-hour period“.
Christmastime is a period of hard-shopping in England and people are looking foward to enter it, despite the national lockdown. The company’s main concern is to keep everyone safer while shopping.
This 24/7 reopening “will give consumers the confidence that there will be time for them to do their Christmas shopping”. While on a financial side it “will allow my business to sell a lot of Christmas stock“.


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The Easter bank holiday weekend is an egg-stremely busy time for British Airways, which is flying almost 200,000 customers around the world, reuniting families and loved ones.
As millions of us give and receive chocolate eggs, British Airways is appealing to customers travelling between Friday April 19 and Monday April 22nd to tell us why they’ve been a Good Egg over the weekend, by Tweeting British Airways using the hashtag #BAGoodEgg - to be in with a chance of winning a pair of business class flights to New York.
Across the weekend, Good Egg nominations and stories will be collated and considered by a panel of eggs-perts, with the most heart-warming story winning the luxury flights.
British Airways’ Director of Brand and Customer Experience, Carolina Martinoli said;
“Thoughtful service sits at the heart of British Airways, so we are delighted that we are able to reward a lucky customer with special flights to celebrate everyday acts of kindness.”
Continuing in the spirit of giving, on Easter Sunday British Airways customer service agents will be giving the Easter bunny a helping hand by sharing 20,000 salted caramel Hotel Chocolat eggs with customers flying out of Heathrow Terminal 5.
At the British Airways Family Check-in Zone egg-cited children will be presented with an Easter Activity Pack that will guide them on a treasure hunt through the terminal, before boarding their flight.


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caveseason29 posted an update 12 months ago
There is a innovative rules waiting to be autographed by President Bush that has been presented to Our elected representatives that may be holding the $12 million online gambling industry by a twine.
스포츠방송 It shows up that Tn Senator Costs Frist, launched the costs upon Saturday by joining this to the Free from harm Port Work before The legislature took the election break in Late.
The Banned Internet Gaming Enforcement Function that is likely to be signed by Leader Bush, will practically complete most online gambling sites simply by making it illegal to get any lender, credit cards company or on the web payment system to task virtually any payments being made to help online gambling companies.
Typically the new rules states that Online Gambling web-sites will be now banned from taking any type of test, credit card or perhaps electronic transfer payments to get net gaming in the USA in addition to seriously puts often the industry throughout chaos.
Stunned at the growing involving this new debilitating laws, the leaders in the particular online poker industry had taken drastic steps and started out to advantage stock on the London Stock market which will erased $8 billion by the industry. PartyGaming, often the world’s most significant online poker web site said that that they would cease their ties with the 920, 000 active US customers with which they are dealing only when Bush actually signals the new work.
Although the innovative laws hasn’t yet been recently signed, the industry is presently being drastically affected. PartyGaming’s stocks alone have slipped 60% ending up from a new measly. 81 pennies the share. Other web-sites like SportingBet and 888 Holding were affected by the change and still have considering that lost some sort of lot of cash with their shares. 888 Holding, for example, had the 48% decrease on their very own shares losing them straight down to $1. forty two in the British Market and even announced that it has been going to no longer carry on its online gambling company in the United Claims.
This isn’t the initial Function, however, that has given the federal government power to break down the on the web gaming industry. Under this 1961 Cable Act, often the federal government has the particular to brake down on the web gambling in sports, texas holdem and various casino games that are regarded as being illegal beneath the law.
This is certainly critically debilitating the industrial sectors overall economy because the US consumer market is responsible regarding 50-60% of the online gambling revenue. These kinds of critical legal guidelines against the on the net casino site owners are pushing companies to shut straight down or maybe move out yet what’s distinct is that they are no longer welcome in the usa.
The Madam Chairman of the Interactive Video gaming Council, Sue Schneider, features predicted that will over 500 companies operating all around 2, 300 gambling online sites around the world will turn out to be going through annihilation and will most likely be wiped out of the sector all in all. The small range of companies of which control to live through this amazing crisis will have got to live with a new huge cut back with their profits and physique out new ways involving growing again. The plan of opening up in this Asian market features grow to be a favored idea for most.


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Samsung has been working hard on launching a foldable device and has talked about it on several occasions. It looks like the company might have planned a little more than just a foldable device.
According to a new report from Bloomberg, Samsung is planning to launch a foldable phone with 5G support along with Galaxy S10. The report mentions that Samsung has been in talks with Verizon Communications to launch its Galaxy S10 in the U.S. with a fifth-generation wireless chipset. Not only that, the Galaxy S10 will also come with in-display fingerprint sensor and will have three different variants.
If you think about how Samsung can differentiate itself and compete in this market, it’s with hardware. That’s what their forte is, and their foldable phone is about positioning and branding.
– Cliff Maldonado, analyst, BayStreet Research
Moreover, Samsung is also testing some prototypes without headphone jacks but hasn’t made it’s final decision yet. We already know that S10 will come in three variants and we could see top of the line specs along with the in-display fingerprint scanner in the top model which company might skip in the lower models.
Coming to the foldable device, Samsung is still confused as to if the device should fold horizontally or vertically. Unfortunately, the foldable device (codenamed Winter) wouldn’t include an in-display fingerprint sensor. We don’t have any word on the specifications of the device but rest assured, 2019 will be the make or break year for Samsung.


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Waiting for a holiday gift from your employer? Bah, humbug!
This year, 63 percent of U.S. companies aren’t planning a year-end bonus for the rank and file, according to a new survey by Hewitt Associates.
Not that Corporate America has become a collective Scrooge — at least, not lately. Rather, this year nearly 80 percent of organizations plan to offer variable-pay plans — performance-based bonuses that must be re-earned annually — compared with just 59 percent in 1995, according to Hewitt’s survey of 1,185 companies nationwide.
“With increased pressure to improve business results, more companies are moving to variable-pay programs,” said Hewitt’s Ken Abosch, in a statement. “Variable pay is designed to help employees concentrate on company goals and objectives while eliminating ‘entitlement’ issues that often arise with a holiday bonus.”
Of those companies that are planning a holiday bonus this year, 85 percent have budgeted less than 1 percent of payroll expenses for these awards, while 9 percent have budgeted between 1 and 2 percent, according to Hewitt. Most often, they’ll dole out the goodies in the form of retailer gift certificates (49 percent), as well as cash (37 percent) and food (21 percent).
Organizations with variable-pay programs, on the other hand, are budgeting nearly 10 percent of payroll in 2005 for those incentives. “They’re clearly sending a message to employees that they will be rewarded for high performance,” said Abosch.
The Hewitt survey also suggests that whatever Tiny Tim might believe, “each and every one” of us didn’t always receive a holiday bonus; approximately 46 percent of the surveyed companies said they had never offered one. Another 16 percent discontinued their program — and of those organizations, 54 percent eliminated holiday bonuses during the 1990s.
Why have companies bid farewell to these holiday bonuses? The biggest reasons are cost (65 percent) and entitlement issues (37 percent), and now the development of pay-for-performance programs (28 percent), according to Hewitt.


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Jun 25, · A bitcoin ETF mimics the price of the digital currency, allowing investors to buy into the ETF without trading bitcoin itself. Investing in a bitcoin ETF . Dec 28, · Many bitcoin advocates believe that she could cause the final push that the SEC needs to allow a bitcoin ETF to trade on a U.S. exchange. What Is a Bitcoin ETF? An exchange-traded fund, commonly known as an ETF, is a type of investment fund that tracks the price of an underlying asset, such as gold, oil, an index or a basket of stocks. Nov 05, · The blockchain ETF universe is comprised of about 5 ETFs that trade in the U.S., excluding leveraged and inverse funds. The blockchain sector, as .
Etf bear bitcoinBitcoin ETFs Explained
There is no denying that the demand is there for bitcoin ETFs, meaning that if bitcoin ETFs ever see the light of day, some of the products would likely be successful and the price of the largest digital currency would surge as a result. Until real bitcoin ETFs are approved, U. To be precise, one share of GBTC is equivalent to owning 0. The ARK Web x. Bitcoin was a big reason why, even though ARKW is not a bitcoin. Additionally, in , China filed for more blockchain-related patents than any other country in the world.
The ETF holds 31 stocks, about three-quarters of which are technology or financial services names. This is not a bitcoin ETF, either, but it is relatively close. The thing is the Coinbase Index Fund, which recently debuted, is literally not for everyone. This is not your run-of-the-mill index. The Coinbase Index Fund tracks the assets currently available on Coinbase, one of the largest digital currency exchanges.
Currently, that list includes bitcoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash and litecoin. As of this writing, Todd Shriber did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Log in. Before we look at the potential benefits and risks of a bitcoin ETF, let's back up a step and go over what a bitcoin ETF is and how it works. An ETF is an investment vehicle that tracks the performance of a particular asset or group of assets. ETFs allow investors to diversify their investments without actually owning the assets themselves.
For individuals looking to focus only on gains and losses, ETFs provide a simpler alternative to buying and selling individual assets. And because many traditional ETFs target larger baskets of names with something in common—a focus on sustainability, for instance, or stocks representing the video game industry and related businesses—they allow investors to easily diversify their holdings.
A bitcoin ETF is one that mimics the price of the most popular digital currency in the world. This allows investors to buy into the ETF without going through the complicated process of trading bitcoin itself. Moreover, because holders of the ETF won't be directly invested in bitcoin itself, they will not have to worry about the complex storage and security procedures required of cryptocurrency investors. If a bitcoin ETF merely mirrors the price of the cryptocurrency itself, why bother with the middle man?
Why not just invest in bitcoin directly? There are several reasons for this. First, as indicated above, investors don't have to bother with the security procedures associated with holding bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
There is another crucial benefit to focusing on a bitcoin ETF rather than on bitcoin itself. Because the ETF is an investment vehicle, investors would be able to short sell shares of the ETF if they believe the price of bitcoin will go down in the future. This is not something that can be done in the traditional cryptocurrency market. You can short sell bitcoin ETF shares if you believe the price of the underlying asset will go down—an advantage you won't find by investing in bitcoin itself.
Perhaps most importantly, though, ETFs are much better understood across the investment world than cryptocurrencies, even as digital coins and tokens become increasingly popular. An investor looking to get involved in the digital currency could focus on trading a vehicle they already understand instead of having to learn the ins and outs of something seemingly complicated. Firms looking to launch bitcoin ETFs have run into problems with regulatory agencies.
On June 19, , the U. The Winklevosses are not the only cryptocurrency enthusiasts looking to be the first to successfully launch a bitcoin ETF. XBTC is designed to track an index related to a group of bitcoin trading desks. VanEck CEO Jan van Eck explained to CoinDesk that he "believe[s] that collectively we will build something that may be better than other constructs currently making their way through the regulatory process. A properly constructed physically-backed bitcoin ETF will be designed to provide exposure to the price of bitcoin, and an insurance component will help protect shareholders against the operational risks of sourcing and holding bitcoin.
The SEC also opened up bitcoin ETF applications to public comments, with the vast majority of commenters voicing their approval for the new product. In turn, the rise of bitcoin ETFs could also help to fuel gains in bitcoin as well, and, because many other digital currencies are closely tied to the performance of bitcoin, gains across the cryptocurrency market.
Ultimately, a source at the SEC explained, "U. Securities and Exchange Commission. Accessed April 21,


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PARIS -- French lawmakers have passed a bill that makes incitement of "excessive thinness" a crime.
Does this mean prison pinstripes could be the next big trend in a French fashion industry known for celebrating waif-thin models?
Lawmakers who passed the bill in France's lower house of Parliament Tuesday are touting the toughness of the proposed law. If passed in the Senate as well, it would allow judges to punish offenders with a fine of as much as €45,000, or more than $70,000, and three years of imprisonment.
In a speech before the vote, French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot called on lawmakers to uphold "the prestige of French fashion" by passing the measure.
The fashion industry is hardly quivering in its stilettos, however.
The bill mainly targets Internet sites that explicitly encourage anorexia, offering tips on food deprivation. The bill also doesn't explain how it will determine who is responsible for pushing anorexia.
Since the high-profile death of a Brazilian model two years ago, the fashion industry has been under pressure to tackle anorexia. The National Chamber of Italian Fashion in Milan now requires models to obtain notes from physicians attesting they are healthy. Spain has also taken measures to crack down on ultrathin models on the catwalk.
Yet much of the fashion industry's discourse on the issue can be characterized as finger-pointing. Modeling agencies, fashion brands and magazines have refused to take the lead in cleaning up the catwalks. Many of the same waif-thin models continue to stalk the runways.
Top designers also question whether a link between fashion and eating disorders exists.
"Fashion has never been thought of as inciting anorexia," said Didier Grumbach, president of France's Fashion Federation, which organizes Paris fashion week.
Mr. Grumbach said he supports a law that targets Web sites that promote anorexia. However, he added, "If the law is to regulate fashion, to make everyone fit the same standard of beauty, then we're against it."
Critics of the bill cast it as the latest attempt by the French state to micromanage the affairs of its citizens at the expense of time-honored French customs.
French smokers' hackles have been raised over a smoking ban that took effect in cafés and restaurants this year, barring indoor smoke in a land that coined the word "nicotine."
Being thin, though not excessively so, is also part of being French.
"A law is for when people don't respect self-discipline," said Hervé Brossard, president of France's Association des Agences Conseils en Communication, an communications-industry group, and vice chairman of advertising agency DDB Worldwide, a unit of Omnicom Group Inc.
In recent months, Messrs. Brossard and Grumbach took part in drafting a charter requiring members to ban emaciated-looking models from advertisements. The charter was signed by Ms. Bachelot.
By passing the law Tuesday, however, lawmakers signaled that tougher measures were in order in France, where between 30,000 and 40,000 people suffer from anorexia.
The law does allow for some instances of food deprivation.
Advocates of political hunger strikes, religious fasts and health-related dieting don't risk falling into the cross-hairs of the proposed law, said Valérie Boyer, a member of President Nicolas Sarkozy's center-right Union for a Popular Movement party, who introduced the bill in Parliament.
Instead, the proposed law aims to crack down on "social pressure, notably exerted by the media," she said, adding that the bill targets anyone who "promotes abusive food behavior that can turn pathological."


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This is how a yoga guru can turn into a Business giant, the man who teaches the art of healthy leaving is turning his simple healthcare tips into healthy and wealthy business by producing varieties of daily products with natural touch, but the interesting point is that the company “Patanjali” founded by Baba Ramdev is posing perfect rivalry to the homegrown companies like Dabur and Marico.
In addition with this the Ayurveda Company is entering into a partnership with the “Future Group”. The two companies announced a pact to sell Patanjali’s FMCG products through Future Group stores with a plan of joint manufacturing in the future. Patanjali’s range of FMCG products including staples, nutrition, health care and toiletries will be sold through Future Group’s BigBazaar, KB’s and Easyday outlets throughout India.
Baba Ramdev stated that Patanjali is also planning to launch products like pasta and oatmeal and targeting to achieve 5000 crore turnover this fiscal year.
Market research analysts say that the company is unlikely to change the dynamics in overall FMCG industry where HUL, ITC, DABUR and GODREJ already have a strong brand retained customers, maybe in particular niche products (healthcare products as niche for Patanjali) the company may gain very promising share of market.


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technews.am is a new community for breaking news across the technology sector. We are still in Alpha, so please bear with us.
Canada’s four wireless players are maneuvering for advantage reports the Globe and Mail. It would represent a failure in the government’s years-long push to create more competition in the wireless business, according to the Globe and Mail. Engadgetreports a fleet of camera-equipped, remote-controlled blimps are live-streaming Google I/O on YouTube, right now, It’s called Google AirShow and it’s taken over the airspace within Moscone Center. Google Play for Education marks an entirely new addition to the Google Play Store. Google Play for Education is like an app store designed especially for teachers with some powerful management tools built-in. New wireless customers are choosing no-contract over contract by 10 to 1, reports Fierce Wireless. The 10 to 1 margin in favor of prepaid in the first quarter is quite significant, says Roger Entner. Today Google announced they’re buying a quantum computer from D-Wave Systems. NASA’s Ames Research Center will host the computer at the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab, which will house the machine. According to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), Google has committed to updating Android with support for Bluetooth Smart (also known as Bluetooth Low Energy) “in the coming months. There were so many new things announced at Google I/O opening keynote yesterday, let’s review the stories from C/Net, Engadget, The Verge, Android Authority, ComputerWorld, GigaOm, and TechCrunch. Google I/O kicks off with a three-hour-long keynote address Wednesday morning. Among the rumored announcements are a new Google Maps interface, Bluetooth 4. The future will see “real-time entertainment” dominate fixed access networks, accounting for two-thirds of total data usage in 2018, driven largely by ubiquitous integration between smart TVs, set-tops, game consoles and streaming services,” according to market researcher Sandvine. Gladstone, Missouri is the next city to get Google Fiber. Google announced Fiber would be coming to the nearby town of Shawnee, Kansas on May 3rd, and now has Sprint’s headquarters in Overland Park virually surrounded.


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Union officials are meeting Tesco management following a decision by the supermarket giant to cut more than 400 jobs at its Dundee distribution depot.
Dundee staff will have the opportunity to work elsewhere
Shop workers union Usdaw said it understood the retailer's decision to open a new facility in West Lothian.
But it said closure of the Dundee site would have "serious implications" for the workers.
Tesco said the move was needed as existing Scottish depots were not large enough to meet customer demand.
The depot will be closed along with another in Livingston before the new £75m facility opens in Livingston in the summer of 2007, employing about 1,400 workers.
A total of 432 staff are employed at the Dundee depot and 768 in Livingston.
Usdaw national officer Pauline Foulkes welcomed Tesco's plans for Livingston, which she said would bring long-term job security as well as new opportunities.
However she added: "We are very mindful that the closure of the Dundee site will have serious implications for our members and this will be a very worrying time for them.
"We welcome Tesco's clear commitment to redeploy staff and we will do everything we can to find these hard working and experienced workers new opportunities within the company or elsewhere in the retail sector.
"If our members are made redundant then we will make sure they will get the very best financial package possible and our continued support to find new jobs."
Staff at Livingston and Dundee will have the opportunity to transfer to the new depot or other jobs elsewhere in the company.
Tesco, which employs more than 22,000 people in Scotland, said the capacity problems at its depots meant many products currently heading for its 90-plus Scottish stores had to be driven over the border.


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Elite Dangerous update 1.50 patch notes released for PS4 and Xbox One players. According to the official Elite Dangerous 1.50 patch notes, the latest hotfix added some minor changes to the game. In addition, Elite Dangerous version 1.50 also includes performance improvements.
Previously, a big update added balancing, gameplay changes, and a long list of bug fixes. Unfortunately, many players are still experiencing a number of issues while playing the game. Today’s Elite Dangerous version 1.50 will fix a few of these issues.
Check out more details below.
Crashes & stability
Download free Elite Dangerous update 1.50 on PS4 and Xbox One.


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Nissan Makes Cars Worthy of a Super Hero
posted on 2014-06-11 19:30 EDT by Lynzee Loveridge
Nissan Motors joined up with special effects studio Tsuburaya Productions to make two cars only Ultraman could drive. The flamboyant orange four-door sedan and matching van appear to have all the gizmos a crimefighter needs for success. Also impressive is the rides' gas mileage. The company converted their 100%-electric Nissan Leaf and eNV200 models for the job. The logo emblazoned on the side reads "Ultra Party Guardians" which sounds like the coolest group of superheroes ever.
The Ultraman show has previously featured a 1961 Chevrolet Corvair and a tricked out Alfa Romeo,
Viewers can check them out at the Tokyo Omocha 2014 Show on June 14 and 15 at Tokyo Big Sight. If you can't make it to Tokyo, fear not, because both cars will also make an appearance in Ultraman Ginga S live-action television show and play an important supporting role in the series. The show will star Kiyotaka Uji and premiere on TV Tokyo on July 15.


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If you haven’t heard about FON lately you definately need to get a fresh look into your feed subscriptions. Reading FON’s founder Martin Varsavsky‘s post on his sale to Swisscom he’s preparing, I was wandering if this move could be the European answer to Google’s Wi-Fi plans?
Quite amazing about FON is that it’s not even launched yet! The official launch date is November 7th in Spain.
Here’s what Martin says on the deal:
“Now why would I team up with Swisscom to launch FON? Because I think that FON is exactly what Swisscom needs to really have wifi coverage in Europe. FON is a piece of software that turns everyone´s wifi access point into a part of the FON network. And to roam with Eurospot will make us grow faster. FON is my answer to the 3G fiasco. FON is free to all of those who contribute access points, the rest pay to use it: a fair deal.” … “FON is the P2P of wifi.”
Good working urban wi-fi networks are gonna be crucial for the rapid deployment of innovative products and services within the new convergence space.
The key for this new wi-fi VNO business is going to be security of course. Google seems to have it. Nokia showed its concerns too about protecting mobile devices and networks. As for now, knowing Martin’s history, I’m leaving the advantage of the doubt to FON on the reliability of its software its gonna release soon.
But what does Google has that the other wi-fi VNO players don’t have? Localized advertising. Just drop Google’s advertising network and system into a wi-fi network and we understand why Google wants to move into this space.
Read August Jackson‘s post why:
“The Wi-Fi user logs in (and pays, if need be) to the Wi-Fi service at the local coffee shop, airport lounge or wherever. The user then fires up the VPN software and is good to go for secure browsing over inherently insecure Wi-Fi. No doubt the security client is going to deliver localized advertising in exchange for the security service. The user gets secure connectivity and Google gets to serve up localized ads. Provided you trust Google as the secure VPN provider for your now-encrypted traffic, that’s not a bad deal.”
FON makes sense because, as an end-user, I don’t have any problem with sharing my wi-fi network at home and while on the move I love to connect wherever I am with whatever device to whatever network… as long as it’s secure!
Enabling Next Generation Mobile Products & Services
Rudy De Waele is CEO & co-founder of Nyota Media - the world's first growth agency for innovative African entrepreneurs, start-ups and international companies that use technology to improve the lives of Africans.
He is a Mobile Strategist, Business Angel and Appreneur with over 18 years of experience in Internet technology, specialising in mobile innovation and start ups since 1999.
Rudy has curated ground-breaking presentations in Mobile Trends 2020 (2010), Mobile Trends 2020 Africa (2011), and most recently Mobile Opportunities in Africa - Engaging the next Billion (2012).
He has consulted for Telefonica, Vodafone, MTN, Orange, Telcel, Millicom, Samsung, Nokia, BlackBerry, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Admob (acquired by Google), Louis Vuitton, Philippe Starck, Young & Rubicam, Cheil Worldwide.
- Mobile Opportunities in Africa – Engaging the next Billion
- Time for an app?
- Mobile World Congress 2013 Networking Events & Parties
- African Innovation Communication Agency Nyota Media Launches
- Moved to London
- Mobile Premier Awards Final Program!
- Apps Selected to Pitch at Mobile Premier Awards 2012
- Mobile World Congress 2012 Networking Events & Parties
- AppCircus coming to London at TechHub
- Announcing Mobile 2.0 Europe 2011 Conference


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- Last Active
Apple needs to enter a new category, as it did with the iPhone. I don't want Apple to become the "The iPhone Company". Maybe it will be the AppleCar, some holographic Device, some Virtual Reality device etc. ... who knows?
The target prices' fever is on!
Very nice article! OT Could you please write something on the Android's and Apple's ecosystems? I think they represent the main difference between the Java ME/Symbian market domination before the iPhone and the current Android's popularity.
Interesting move! I didn't know that Apple allows such things.
More than years since Steve Jobs passed away and still there are people singing the litany of a doomed Apple... sad, very sad
There are two important differences between today and seven years ago: - ecosystems - widespread of smartphones among costumers. “History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” (Mark Twain)
Happy Birthday Steve!
Nice article Daniel! Anyway long story short: Google's earnings are still growing fast, Apple's don't. WallStreet likes growing businesses. That's it.
Wa constable odo wrote: » As far as Wall Street is concerned, Google has already passed Apple in market cap. Apple is seen as a washed up company under Tim Cook's leadership (or lack thereof). Wall Street's trend is to push Apple into irrelevance…
Personally, I don't think that paying dividends was a good idea. Buyback ok, but dividends... The Wall Street's guys seem to be particularly greedy about them, and we all know they are, (almost) all, bad guys. And it's not only that the stock price …