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Charity donations have been banned by Apple on its iPhone applications, drawing the ire of nonprofit organizations that rely on monetary gifts, according to a recent New York Times report.
According to the newspaper, users of iPhone apps created by charities or organizations aren’t allowed to donate money directly through the application, but instead are directed to the organization’s website.
“When you’re popped out of an app, you then have to go through a whole bunch of clicks to make a donation,” Beth Kanter, CEO of consulting firm for nonprofits Zoetica, told the Times. “It’s cumbersome and it doesn’t have to be.”
Kanter, who also co-authored “The Networked Nonprofit,” has started a campaign to get the attention of Apple to convince them to change their policies.
On online petition website ThePetitionSite.com, Kanter appealed to Apple CEO Steve Jobs to allow for nonprofit and charity donations through iPhone apps. As of Thursday evening, the petition had garnered more than 2,000 signatures.
Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple has yet to disclose its specific reasons for this ban.
Instead, Apple spokesperson Trudy Miller simply told the Times: “We are proud to have many applications on our App Store which accept charitable donations via their Web sites.”
Donations as a whole have remained steady during the holiday season, according to the Red Cross, despite high unemployment nationwide.
Six in ten respondents said that they would donate to a charity, according to a survey from the organization.
Another survey commissioned by Convio found that 74 percent of US residents would give to charity.


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When Chevrolet launched the Trail Boss trim level for its Silverado 1500, the brand probably didn’t expect too much. Fast-forward to the second half of 2019, sales of the off-road version of the well-loved Silverado truck has reached levels that are a surprise to many, possibly including GM.
As response to the growing demand for the trim level, GM Authority said that the automaker will be doubling production of the Silverado. But aside from the original Trail Boss trim, General Motors will also start offering the Custom Trail Boss and LT Trail Boss levels to consumers.
While the base model 4.3-liter V6 LV3 EcoTec3 and 5.3-liter V8 L82 EcoTec3 will continue to be available, the brand will also offer the 6.2-liter L87 V8 engine for the new trim levels. This top-of-the-line engine makes 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque, giving more power to the off-road-oriented Silverado 1500.
With the inclusion of a larger engine, Chevrolet could take advantage of the success of the Trail Boss in the market as it goes up against the Nissan Titan Pro-4X, Ram 1500 Rebel, and Jeep Gladiator.
And although it seems like the truck industry is becoming more and more expensive with all the luxurious trims and add-ons being introduced by manufacturers, sales are not likely to slow down as consumers still prefer a bigger cargo capacity that recreational vehicles do not offer.
The Silverado Trail Boss is the first Chevrolet pickup truck to get the full off-road treatment with a factory lift on the specialty shock absorbers fitted to the model. It also comes with a locking rear differential, skid plates, and 18-inch wheels wrapped in off-road tires.

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Offering aims to help retailers win dinner
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CSP’s annual list of the largest chains in the convenience-store industry.
Category sales performance in Beverages, Candy, General Merchandise, Packaged Food/Foodservice and Snacks.
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Marketers believe marketing is poorly understood in today’s society
A majority of marketers (54%) believe marketing is poorly understood in today’s society. This represents a very slight increase (1%) from the last time marketers were surveyed on this topic in 2019.
Around four in 10 say they struggle to explain the role of marketers to others, perhaps surprising in an industry that focuses on communication and persuasion. This also represents an increase from 38% in 2019, suggesting there may have been an increase in the siloing of marketing teams.
The concern that marketers are undervalued in their organisations has also grown, one in 10 of those surveyed believe colleagues have no understanding of the value of marketing to an organisation. This represents a 5% increase from the previous survey.
The data comes from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) which surveyed 500 UK in-house and agency marketing professionals.
Post-pandemic, most marketers (59%) are also finding it more difficult to predict consumers’ priorities. While the vast majority (91%) say they will need to evolve their brand and business model to keep pace with these new priorities.
Almost a fifth (18%) of marketers say traditional marketing and advertising is unfit for purpose. When asked why they feel this way, 55% say the rise of social media influencers who market themselves is the key cause, while an equal number cite the rise of customer experience technology.
Advertising industry sees drop in creative skills
The advertising industry is seeing a decline in the share of creative skills, and an increase in the share of technical skills.
The data from LinkedIn suggests creative skills like design, creative strategy, branding and art direction has dropped by 17% over the past five years. Meanwhile, the share of technical skills has increased by 47% over the same period.
The data suggests this trend is exacerbated when looking specifically at companies that regularly attend the Cannes Festival of Creativity. At these companies, the share of tech skills has increased 67% over the past five years, while the share of creative skills has decreased by 32%
The data also suggests talent is leaving the ad industry. Advertising has lost 5.5% more people than it gained over the past five years. By comparison, the tech industry has gained 23% more people than it has lost in the same period.
Majority of consumers feeling impact of inflation
More than six in 10 (62%) of consumers in the UK are feeling a moderate or dramatic impact from inflation. The vast majority (90%) also feel the cost of living is more expensive than six months ago.
A significant proportion of UK consumers are making spending cuts, according to data from GWI. More than four in 10 (44%) people in the UK report spending less compared to 2020.
These cutbacks are taking place across both lower and higher earners. Almost half (47%) of lower earners say they are making cuts to their spending, while around one-third (34%) of higher earners say the same thing.
Consumers report making lifestyle changes to adjust to the cost of living crisis. More than half (52%) say they are cutting down on the energy used in the home, while around four in 10 say they are walking or cycling more (44%) or preparing meals at home (41%).
Three in 10 UK consumers report their personal or household financial situation isn’t secure.
“Even though many may feel that they are not yet at a crunch point regarding finances, the consumer dilemma is starting to make itself known and there are choices being made throughout the purchase cycle, even for those who are feeling relatively comfortable,” says GWI’s chief research officer Jason Mander.
Coca-Cola ‘most chosen’ brand of the decade
Coca-Cola is the world’s “most chosen” FMCG brand of the past 10 years, according to analysis of shopping behaviour since 2012. As part of the study Kantar has identified 11 FMCG brands, each of which saw the biggest growth within their respective category.
Overall, these brands accounted for 25.1 billion (6.6%) of purchases in 2021, up from 19.2 billion (5.8%) in 2012. These brands saw growth of 31% over the decade, almost double the total branded market’s growth rate.
Of the 11 brands identified, Coca-Cola actually had the lowest growth rate, although it started from the highest level. Cleaning brand Vim was identified as the world’s fastest growing FMCG brand over the past decade (265%), followed by Dettol (142%) and Sunsilk (64%).
In the 10 years to 2021 the number of households globally has increased by 17% to 1.2 billion. Across the 11 brands identified as part of the study, growth in penetration accounted for an average of 87% of their growth. This means it’s crucial for brands to ensure children establishing their own homes make the same shopping choices as their parents as this is key to long-term success, Kantar suggests.
For example, the number of households buying Coca-Cola has increased by 17% over the decade, which is in line with household growth.
The average number of FMCG brands households choose per year has remained consistent at 55 over the past 10 years, while the average spend on branded groceries has increased from $730 per year in 2012 to $862 in 2021.
Consumer confidence drops even lower
Consumer confidence dropped to a record low in June, with the overall index score reaching -41, according to GfK’s latest Consumer Confidence Barometer, a one point drop from last month.
The index measures consumers’ views of their personal financial situation, as well as the wider economic outlook, with all four measures remaining in negative territory. Consumers’ view of their own financial situation over the next 12 months has dropped three points to -28, while their view of their personal finances over the past 12 months has fallen by one point to -23.
People’s opinion of the general economy has also taken a further hit. Looking back over the past 12 months, the score drops two points to -65, with people’s expectations for the economy over the coming year slipping one point to -57.
The major purchase index, which indicates people’s likelihood to buy big ticket items, remains flat at -35.
“Can it get any worse? The answer is probably yes,” Joe Staton, client strategy director at GfK tells Marketing Week. “With prices rising faster than wages, and the prospect of strikes and spiralling inflation causing a summer of discontent, many will be surprised that the index has not dropped further.”
He added that the consumer mood is currently “darker” than in the early stages of the pandemic and the 2008 global financial crisis.


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San Francisco: Apple is expected to launch four new iPhones next month and a new report has claimed that one model with a 5.4-inch display may be called the iPhone 12 Mini.
According to a photo depicting alleged stickers from unreleased Silicone iPhone cases originating from Apple’s international distribution centre in Ireland, one of the iPhone is likely to be called iPhone 12 Mini.
The photo shows three expected sizes of iPhone 12, with the 5.4-inch model being the “iPhone 12 mini,” the 6.7-inch model being the “iPhone 12 Pro Max,” and the two 6.1-inch models being the “iPhone 12 / iPhone 12 Pro,” reports MacRumors.
According to the report, the iPhone 12 mini would be the first iPhone with the “mini” moniker, which has been seen on the iPad mini, Mac mini, and iPod mini.
At 5.4-inches, the iPhone 12 mini would be smaller than the iPhone 11 Pro, which is a 5.8-inch device.
The Cupertino-based tech giant is reportedly gearing up to hold a special event on October 13 to launch the much-awaited iPhone 12 series.
All four iPhone models are expected to feature OLED displays and 5G support.
The upcoming iPhone 12 could cost somewhere between $699 to $749 while the iPhone 12 Max could be priced around $799-849.
The Pro and Pro Max models are expected to be priced between $1,100 to $1,200.


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Superfoods for Flu Season
What to eat or drink to build a stronger defense this winter
The saying “you are what you eat” applies to your entire body, but it’s especially important when it comes to your immune system during flu season. “As we get older, our immunity starts to decline, but if we get the right nutrients, we can help our immune systems do their jobs to protect us against viruses like the flu,” says Samantha Heller, a New York City nutritionist.
You can keep it in tip-top shape during this flu season — which may be a doozy — if you focus on a plant-based diet rich in whole unprocessed foods, Heller says. One of the best eating patterns to illustrate this is the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, beans, and healthy fats such as fatty fish and olive oil. A study published in March in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition found that people who followed this diet were less likely to become infected by or die from COVID-19, suggesting it may provide an immune system boost that could protect you from other viral infections, too.
Here, more immunity-boosting foods that research, and nutritionists, recommend for right now.
1. Green tea
Whether these particular tea leaves can really fend off the flu has been a source of debate among health researchers for years. But a new meta-analysis published in July in the journal Molecules looked at more than eight studies involving more than 5,000 participants to conclude there really is ample evidence to believe the beverage — and specifically, the catechins that provide its antioxidant power — can help your immune system fend off influenza.
2. Sweet potatoes
They’re a great source of beta-carotene, a phytonutrient that helps your body make vitamin A. “It supports respiratory health by increasing the number of immune cells in the body,” explains Anna Taylor, lead outpatient clinical dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Human Nutrition. This is especially important for older adults, as our bodies make fewer immune cells as we age, she adds. Instead of cooking them with butter or brown sugar, Taylor recommends that you roast them with olive oil, oregano, and black pepper. “You’ll get additional benefits from the spices, but you’re not loading up on sugar and saturated fat, both of which suppress your immune system,” she says.
They’re a rich source of vitamin C, which stimulates the production of infection-fighting white blood cells, Taylor says. A 2018 review of studies found that berries increased levels of disease-fighting cells in older adults, such as natural killer cells and T-cells. They also contain flavonoids, substances that have antioxidant properties and protect all your cells — including your immune system cells — from damage, she adds. It’s so easy to incorporate them into your diet: "Add them to your morning yogurt or oatmeal, or even cook them and throw them on your French toast instead of maple syrup,” Taylor recommends.
Chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans, they’re all rich in vitamin B12, a nutrient many older adults are low in, Heller says. “People over the age of 50 don’t absorb vitamin B12 as well in their body, but your immune system needs it to fight disease and repair damaged cells to keep you healthy,” she explains. They’re also high in zinc, which helps boost your body’s production of white blood cells, Taylor says. “Zinc deficiency has been linked to immune system dysfunction,” she says. Taylor recommends at least half a cup of cooked beans three times a week. You can throw them into soups, chili, salads, or even rice dishes. For a healthy crunchy snack, roast chickpeas in some olive oil.
5. Nuts and seeds
These foods are rich in vitamin E, which plays a key role in your immune system by supporting the growth of T-cells, says Lauri Wright, chair of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of North Florida. They’re also a good source of omega-6 fatty acids. Walnuts are an especially good choice, as research shows they have a very positive effect on your gut microbiome, says Kate Cohen, a registered dietitian nutritionist with the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. They also have more alpha-linolenic acid — an essential fatty acid important for immune function — than any other type of nut.
It’s not plant-based, but it is one of the few foods that provide vitamin D, which plays a huge role in regulating your immune system, says Jennifer McDaniel, owner of McDaniel Nutrition Therapy in Clayton, Missouri. A 2020 study published in the journal JAMA Network Open found that people who had untreated vitamin D deficiency were almost twice as likely to test positive for COVID-19 as patients who had sufficient levels of the vitamin. A 6-ounce salmon filet has about 600 IU of vitamin D, which is close to the 800 IU that is recommended for people 70 and older. Another bonus: It’s rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which have also been shown to strengthen your immune system.
If you’re not a fan of fish, McDaniel suggests marinating it in brown sugar and Dijon mustard for 45 minutes, then throwing it on the grill. “It mellows out that fishy taste, and it gives it a smoky flavor,” she explains. Canned salmon counts, too: Throw it over a salad for a quick meal, she says.
It’s rich in a compound called alliin, which may be the source of its immune-boosting properties, notes Libby Mills, a Philadelphia nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. A 2020 review published in the journal Medical Hypotheses found that garlic itself seems to stimulate cells related to immune system function. Another study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that people given about 2½ grams of aged garlic extract for 90 days not only had higher levels of immune system cells, but they also had fewer symptoms of cold and flu, and missed fewer workdays due to these respiratory illnesses, than a control group. At the very least, if you eat enough of it, you’ll probably keep people away from you, Mills jokes.
Although there’s probably not enough research to support taking a garlic supplement, Mills recommends that you cook with it in the colder winter months. You can make your own pasta sauce with tomatoes and garlic since vitamin C (found in tomatoes) is itself an antioxidant that helps the immune system she says.
Recent research, including a 2021 study published in Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, suggests that certain compounds found in fermented dairy such as kefir (which is like a thin yogurt) have anti-inflammatory properties that can help the immune system fight viral infections. The probiotics found in kefir and other fermented foods also help to calm chronic inflammation, according to Harvard Health.
“Fermented dairy is rich in probiotics, which seem to have a positive effect on the immune system,” Mills explains.
Source: Hallie Levine , AARP-October, 2022
Have questions about your financial health for 2023? Call me at 480-513-183, or schedule a time via my calendar, Chat With Charles.


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General Motors plans to reveal nine all-new or freshened Buick and GMC models by the end of 2013.
The automaker separately said that it would soon introduce a new version of the GMC Canyon midsize truck.
The all-new or freshened models include the already introduced 2013 Buick Encore crossover, which will be priced at $24,950 with combined average fuel economy of 28 m.p.g. The other Buick models are Enclave, Regal and Lacrosse. The new GMCs will be Acadia, Sierra, Sierra HD, Yukon and Yukon XL.
"Our dealers have a lot of momentum in the marketplace right now," Tony DiSalle, Buick-GMC vice president of marketing, said in a conference call. "During the next 12 months we'll continue to give them new reasons for customers to visit their showrooms."
GM's decision to produce a new version of the GMC Canyon reflects its belief that there is still demand for midsize pickups, a segment which some analysts believe is losing ground to the full-size pickup segment.
"We know there's a group of customers that want the functionality of a truck but may not need a full-size" pickup, DiSalle said.
DiSalle declined to provide timing or other details on the Canyon, but he said it would be produced at GM's assembly plant in Wentzville, Mo.
After 2013, the GMC Terrain and recently introduced Buick Verano will be the oldest models in the showroom, reflecting an increased pace of new product introductions, the automaker said.
GMC attracts the youngest average buyer of GM's four brands, and its larger vehicles deliver big profits for the automaker in the U.S. For both brands, 40% of sales are so-called conquest purchases, industry jargon for vehicle buyers who previously owned a different brand.
GM is also investing in showroom renovations to attract customers. The two brands are often sold under the same roof.
Brian Sweeney, Buick-GMC sales and service vice president, said the brands would finish 600 showroom renovations by the end of 2012 and 1,100 by the end of 2013.
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This summer, after a typically naff Monday night at one particular Watford nightclub that anyone in south-east England will be familiar with, we took an Uber back to a friend’s house.
The quickest route back (via the A41 from Watford to Berkhamsted) was closed for roadworks, so our driver had to find an alternative route. With most of us borderline comatose in the back, he turned to the trusty smartphone satnav upon which all Uber drivers rely, largely because none of them really know the roads upon which they drive. Safe to say, we circled two separate roundabouts twice and got lost another three times before we made it home.
Now I’ve had entirely uneventful trips using Uber, but this was the one that was fresh in my mind when the news trickled through that Transport For London would not renew Uber’s operating licence for the capital after September 30. The decision supposedly stems from criticism over its apparent lack of corporate responsibility over reporting criminal offences and other public safety matters.
But, much in the same way that most of the reaction to this decision hasn’t really touched upon TFL’s decision itself, this post isn’t really about that. What I want to discuss is the wider impact of Uber on a city with a well-known, established taxi system.
Uber, like many of these start-ups from the parallel universe of Silicon Valley, likes to think of itself as a positively disruptive influence, forcing out redundant business models and reinventing the world around it.
This is especially evident in the petition posted by Uber London in the aftermath of the ruling that has already garnered over 600,000 signatures. Some of the body of the petition reads:
“The 3.5 million Londoners who rely on Uber to get a safe, reliable and affordable ride around the best city in the world will be astounded by the decision to ban Uber from the capital.
“This ban shows the world that London is far from being open and is closed to innovative companies, who bring choice to consumers and work opportunities to those who need them.”
The language of consumer choice, innovation and a cheaper alternative is a start-up staple. They are breaking down established industries in order to erect newer, better ones.
The online reaction to this decision echoes the language above. People seemed concerned with two factors. One; that Uber is new and innovative and that banning it sends a message that London is protectionist rather than progressive, and two; that it is cheap.
These two points are really both sides of the same coin: the idea that black cabs are now outdated and that Uber is a newer, cheaper alternative. But where do those cheap fares come from? One report from December 2016 explains that Uber subsidises almost 60% of the cost of each fare.
What’s more is that Uber, like Twitter or Snapchat, is a product of Silicon Valley - a strange place where the rules of financial gravity don’t seem to apply. In 2016, Uber lost $2.8b. In the first three months of 2017 it lost $708m. There is nothing innovative about an unprofitable start-up propped up by hedge funds and venture capital. And for those praising the cheapness of its fares, price gouging is not a business model. Black cab and Hackney carriage drivers don’t have the luxury of being able to make their fares artificially cheap because they don’t have billions of dollars being pumped into their bank accounts.
Finally, and most implausibly, Uber tries to win your sympathy by pleading the case of its forty thousand drivers based in the capital. Uber wants you to sign its petition to “defend the livelihoods of 40,000 drivers” whom the TFL decision would put “out of work”. This is of course in spite of the fact that it took an employment tribunal to force Uber to no longer treat its drivers as self-employed, provide them with holiday pay, pensions and workers’ rights. So please forgive me if your crocodile tears seem hollow.
Uber could just as easily become the next Amazon as it could go under. It might well reforge the transportation and private hire sector entirely. But the fact of the matter is that right now in the UK it isn’t as smart or as innovative as it likes to thinks. It’s not rendering Black Cabs obsolete, it’s simply a business losing money by subsidising its fare to undercut its competitors. Innovation should of course be applauded and encouraged, but this isn’t it.


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CLEVELAND - Is KFC's most prized secret out?
According to the folks at KFC, beginning Monday, the popular chicken fast food chain is letting social media fans in on "more secrets than the 11 herbs and spices that make up its famed Original Recipe."
In fact, from Feb. 13 through Feb. 29, KFC said it plans to issue 20 social media posts at randomly selected times via @ kfc_colonel and their facebook page —each post containing a link to a "secret" page on KFC.com.
The first 50 people to follow the links to the secret KFC.com pages will be able to sign up for a $5 gift check.
No word yet on whether they plan to let the cat out of the bag on the famous Original Recipe from Colonel Sanders.
KFC said the program is simply to celebrate their world-famous chicken.


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80 Percent of American Adults Go Online
November 6, 2007 1:15 PM
comment(s) - last by
More and more Americans hop on the web to get a little bit of Internet fix
A new Harris Poll reveals that
four out of five American adults are Internet connected
The poll was conducted between July and October of 2007 and surveyed 2,062 adults. Its findings were that 79 percent of these adults go online making estimates of America's total online body count at around 179 million adult users. In addition, the poll found that adults spend an average of 11 hours a week on the Internet -- some
regulars spend particularly more.
Regina Corso, director of the Harris Poll, sees the usage figure as a significant milestone. "We're up to almost 80 percent of adults who now are online, or are somehow gaining access to the Internet. That's a pretty impressive figure," she said.
Surprisingly, elderly are flocking online in increasing numbers. People over the age of 65 years old accounted for 9 percent of Internet usage in the poll, while they account for 16 percent of the population at large. It looks like the elderly
use more technology than just Wiis
Some groups stayed level between the percentage of Internet users in the particular group and the total percentage of the population in that particular group. For example, 13 percent of Internet users are Hispanic, while 13 percent of America's population is Hispanic.
Young adults, between 18 to 29 years old account for 22 percent of the U.S. population and 25 percent of the estimated Internet use.
Harris Poll started collecting information on Internet usage in 1995 – at that time; only 9 percent of adults went online. Since then usage has grown more than eight fold.
The new poll showed that in 2006 that 72 percent of adults went online at home, 37 percent went online at work and 31 percent went online elsewhere. "They are finding however possible to get online ... A third of the people who are online, that's how they're getting there – some alternate way," Poll director Corso said.
Corso hopes to begin analyzing what devices the population uses to get online and America approaches a fully Internet connected adult population.
Corso feels that we will soon reach nearly 100 percent usage noting the recent gains. She says, "We're getting closer. Every year it's getting more and more like the general population picture."
While the poll indicates overwhelming usage, it does not investigate what exactly people do online; from browsing news sites like
the Internet’s less savory backstreets
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
11/6/2007 8:52:02 PM
Although online, not that many are doing it over broadband. A list just came out recently and Americans are far down the list for broadband (I forget the ranking, something a lot lower than tenth) with a fraction under 20%. Surprisingly Japan and France were down right next to us with just a fraction over 20%. Top country was around 34% that I recall.
RE: but slowly
11/6/2007 10:31:24 PM
i definately agree at how slow the north american market is internet-wise. simply try downloading something like a linux build from a north american server... even though i live in north america, it took me 1/8th of the time to download the file than it wouldve via the north american server...
"If they're going to pirate somebody, we want it to be us rather than somebody else." -- Microsoft Business Group President Jeff Raikes
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Dig into Sugarfire Smoke House, by the numbers
There’s a reason Sugarfire Smoke House has become synonymous with St. Louis barbecue. It won Favorite Barbecue and Favorite Restaurant, and Sugarfire 44 catering and events chef Matt Glickert was voted Chef of the Year. Here’s what it takes to keep the smoke rolling, by the numbers.
850 miles between the Olivette flagship and the Westminster, Colorado franchise location
6 years in business
40,000 gallons barbecue sauce sold last year
6 to 10 napkins required per plate
110 tons wood used per year
Meat smoked daily: 5,000 lbs. brisket, 2,400 lbs. pork, 1,600 lbs. ribs, 1,200 lbs. turkey, 250 lbs. sausage
60,000+ shakes sold last year
51,389 people follow all Sugarfire locations on Instagram
3,000 sandwiches served daily
Lauren Healey is associate editor at Sauce Magazine.
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The Directorate of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence that investigates indirect tax evasions has accused power and automation technology company ABB India of evading GST by misclassifying equipment, reported BloombergQuint. ABB allegedly misclassified turbochargers it supplied to the Railways and used to boost engine efficiency to make it eligible for a lower GST rate of 5 percent instead of the actual applicable 28 percent. Moneycontrol has not independently verified the claims made in the report. The investigating agency found a total evasion of around Rs 7.53 crore between July 1, 2017, and December 31, 2018. ABB has paid Rs 1.94 crore under the 5 percent slab, and as per the probe body’s calculations, the company has pending tax liability of Rs 5.58 crore with an added penalty of an equal amount under Section 74(1) of the CGST Act. The turbochargers that are used in railways, were to be classified under Chapter 84 of the act which would have levied a 28 percent from July 1, 2017, to November 14, 2017, and 18 percent GST tariff on the equipment after that. Instead, its inclusion in Chapter 86 when it was sold to A.P. Earth Movers and Indian railways attracted a lower rate, the report pointed out.
The Directorate found this was a deliberate misclassification “with a mala fide intention” to evade tax. The company was also allegedly suppressing facts about taxable supply between July 2017 to December 2018 to evade levy on inter-state transactions under Integrated Goods and Service Tax (IGST). Responding to a query by BQ, the company called the matter ‘routine and not unusual for corporates in India’. The company will contest the claims with legal advice, it said, adding, “ABB is a law-abiding company and would respond to demands of authorities appropriately fully protecting the company’s interest.” In its response to the tax authorities, the company noted that turbochargers are only used in locomotives and Chapter 86 covers “parts of locomotives” that are charged at 5 percent. However, the probe finds ABB in violation of several sections of the act that includes the wrong classification of goods, furnishing incorrect details of supplies, incorrect tax assessment, and payment. Some experts believe there is some bit of ambiguity on the equipment classification as it is used in both industrial pieces of machinery. Some others though call this a clear case of evasion.


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Bracing for Whole Foods
|By Andy McGlashen|
If history is any indication, small-scale natural-foods grocer and co-op can expect a hit from Whole FoodsDave Finet is a really nice guy.
His laid-back style and demeanor make him a natural fit as general manager of the East Lansing Food Co-op, or ELFCO. When a City Pulse reporter visited on a recent Friday, Finet — ponytailed, bearded and bespectacled — was dressed in faded jeans and a Victory Motorcycles t-shirt.
“We’re not solely selling food,” he explained, as the scent of fresh-made peanut butter wafted into his cramped office. “We’re trying to build community.”
Finet is pretty much Mr. Co-op. He’s been involved in other cooperative groceries, along with a cooperative vegetarian restaurant, a cooperative taxi company and a cooperative bakery. (“Best job I ever had,” he said.)
He’s going to need that experience, and maybe a little luck. Contrary as it may be to his easygoing nature, it’s time for Finet to get tough. Whole Foods is coming to town.
Over the summer, the world’s largest retailer of natural and organic foods announced plans to open its seventh Michigan location in 2015, a 35,000-square-foot store in Meridian Township, near Grand River Avenue and Park Lake Road. Assuming the plans go forward — they still need township approval — ELFCO and the nearby natural grocer Foods For Living are in for some real pain. But experts say the local shops’ strong community roots and loyal customers should be enough to keep them afloat.
“There’s no reason East Lansing’s co-op shouldn’t survive this,” said C.E. Pugh, chief operating officer for the National Cooperative Grocers Association.
“That said, it’ll be tough,” he added. “We’ve always seen a little bit of an impact on our members. That could range from a 5 percent decline in sales to, in the most egregious cases, a 30 percent decline. So there’s no question there’s going to be a decline in sales. But in every case, those sales come back within a year of the Whole Foods opening. You take that hit, you’re down a year and you’re back. They don’t kill you, they just take away your growth for a while.”
Pugh, who has visited ELFCO before, said the store’s modest size and lack of visibility from Grand River Avenue make it particularly vulnerable. The co-op should be preparing for at least a 20 percent dip in sales, he said. A similar scenario played out in Ann Arbor two decades ago.
Unlike a typical grocery store, ELFCO is consumer-owned and does not seek to make a profit. Instead, its purpose is to serve its members and their community. Anyone can own a share in the co-op for $60. The roughly 3,500 shareholders get occasional discounts, a vote in major decisions about the store and, in a good year, a rebate check based on how much they spend at ELFCO.
The co-op, which has 14 employees, recently added rooftop solar panels and created a meeting space where local groups can gather for free. ELFCO also helps manage a community garden beside its store, along with other efforts to expand access to nutritious food.
Foods For Living, on the other hand, is a for-profit operation. But it’s also a longstanding, local and employeeowned business that, according to store owner John Snyder, contributes to more than 100 charities.
“My belief is when you build a company and you have dedicated people who help you do that, they should get a piece of the pie,” Snyder said. “Our idea of how to do business is we want to be as human as possible. We want to share profits with the people who are actually doing the work, and with the community.”
Whole Foods also is committed to supporting the communities where it does business, said spokesman Keith Stewart. The company gives 5 percent of its revenue to charity and each store holds community support days on which 5 percent of sales go to local organizations. There’s also a program allowing shoppers to donate their 10- cent refund for having a reusable bag.
Finet said that’s a different brand of community involvement than ELFCO practices.
“We and other co-ops exist to serve the needs of our customers, our owners and our community, and to do that in an ethically sound, environmentally sound manner,” Finet said. “That is an expense against the bottom line to chain stores that is, as far as I can tell, only necessary inasmuch as it provides marketing. I think they have a very different goal overall than ELFCO and other food coops have. I think that when you’re a corporation that has investors, you exist largely to provide a monetary return on investment.
“I don’t know how many local folks are heavily invested in Whole Foods, but a lot of money is going to go from our community down to Austin, Texas,” he said.
‘A jerk move’
Whole Foods has come a long way since its first shop opened in 1980 with a staff of 19 in a former Austin nightclub. It’s now a Fortune 500 company with plans to open 1,000 locations nationwide. An October opening in Port Chester, N.Y. marked store No. 365.
The Whole Foods planned for Meridian Township will be directly across the road from ELFCO’s Northwind Drive store — the former site of Velocipede Peddler, which has a new location in Brookfield Plaza near Grand River and Hagadorn Road — and just a gluten-free scone’s throw from the corner of Grand River and Park Lake Road, where Foods For Living sits.
“I am amazed by the number of people who have already come in, folks who aren’t super co-op shoppers sometimes, and say they think that moving that close to us was — well the term somebody used was, it’s a jerk move,” Finet said.
Stewart said Whole Foods didn’t choose the building site to siphon customers from the other stores.
“A lot goes into the actual site selection,” he said. “That’s around population, ingress and egress and the ability to not throw off traffic patterns. We firmly believe there’s enough grocery business in the East Lansing market and the success of the Whole Foods market does not come to the detriment of any other food stores. The opportunity that we get in opening in a community is bringing a lot more attention to the natural foods category, so we hope that has a benefit for everybody. A local grocer probably doesn’t have much to worry about with Whole Foods coming to town.”
The plans Whole Foods submitted to the
township call for turning the three-way traffic light at Grand River and Northwind into a four-way signal. That could help make the area surrounding the intersection into a destination for shoppers seeking organic foods from arrowroot to zucchini, Pugh, from the co-op association, said.
For some shoppers, Whole Foods might even act as a gateway drug to a full-blown natural foods habit.
“If I’ve grown up shopping at Kroger, going to a co-op might be a bit of a stretch,” Pugh said. “What’s easier for me is to make that step into Whole Foods. In most cases, adding Whole Foods to the market is good for business, long-term.”
That’s what Foods For Living is counting on.
“The draw that they have is going to expose people who maybe don’t know we’re here,” said store manager Chris Faulkner. “Competition always sharpens everyone’s game. We’re pretty confident. We’ve been here for many, many years, and we’re the local guy in town. We’re just going to keep doing what we do best. Our strength is customer service, and I feel like that’s going to carry us.”
Finet likewise said he thinks ELFCO’s values will continue to resonate with customers.
“Those shoppers who shop various locations including a co-op will tend to go and check out the new place,” he said. “They’ll get to see the difference and will largely come back to the co-op because there’s a reason they were shopping here in the first place.”
Of course, the entire discussion would be moot if Whole Foods doesn’t get the necessary approval from Meridian Township.
The township planning commission met on Monday to gather public comment and begin discussing the plans Whole Foods submitted. The Planning Commission is scheduled to vote Monday on a recommendation to the Board of Trustees. The earliest the board will decide on the plans is Dec. 10.
Township Supervisor Elizabeth LeGoff said that as an ELFCO member she has concerns about the store, but she thinks the township board will approve it.
Trustee Milton Scales said he thinks the store will be good for the community, and he’s heard the same from residents.
“What I’m hearing from constituents is they can’t wait until Whole Foods gets here,” he said.
Learning from others
They might not come all the way back, if shoppers at the People’s Food Coop in Ann Arbor are any indication.
When Whole Foods first arrived in Ann Arbor in 1993, the co-op took a 25 percent sales hit. Another Whole Foods opened in 2008, adding to the strain on the co-op.
The co-op is in strong financial health, its latest annual report says, but its shoppers clearly split their spending between the co-op and the corporation.
“They bring their Whole Foods bags in,” said cashier manager Alyssa Hughes.
Hughes said Whole Foods seems to have influenced co-op customers’ ideas about the shopping experience.
“We get a lot of people who want to price compete, and we’ve never even advertised that we offer that,” she said. “It’s kind of complicated because we have downtown rent to pay, and we can’t just be the cheapest store in town.”
The co-op recently gave its employee training a makeover to focus on customer service, and made design updates to the store’s interior.
“I’m not saying that’s directly related to Whole Foods, but it’s definitely influenced by the fact that people have other options,” she said.
In Detroit, the widely publicized June opening of a Whole Foods has been hard on Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe, an upscale grocery store that opened just around the block in 2012.
Michael Solaka, who owns the store with his brother Peter, declined to share sales figures but said in an email, “The impact on our sales has been significant.”


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Enter the Gungeon Supply Drop Update Coming to PC January 26
Dodge Roll and Devolver Digital announced today that Enter the Gungeon will be receiving the Supply Drop Update on PC January 26.
The Supply Drop Update, which was announced last year, adds over 100 new rooms to the game alongside new weapons, enemies, companions, bosses, and shrines. Some highlights include a new companion named Ser Junkan who gains strength and power as he carries more and more items through the Gungeon, and a new boss – the Mine Flayer.
While the update will release for PC on the aforementioned date, it won’t be coming to PS4 until next week. You can look at some screenshots of the update below. Enter the Gungeon is currently available on PC, Mac, Linux, and PS4.


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THE GOVERNMENT should upgrade its tax system and consider offering incentives to improve the collection of taxes from online sellers, experts said.
Froilyn P. Doyaoen-Pagayatan, tax counsel of Gorriceta Africa Cauton & Saavedra law offices, said tax agencies are already equipped with the statutory basis for collecting taxes from online sellers.
“However, there is a need for the taxing authorities to improve their enforcement of the tax rules on online sellers. Our taxing authorities need to upgrade technological facilities and train their people on how to use technology in the collection of taxes,” she said in an e-mail.
The popularity of online businesses, as well as e-commerce platforms like Shopee and Lazada, grew during the pandemic as lockdowns forced people to stay home. As of 2022, the Trade department estimated there are around two million entities doing business as online sellers.
However, not all online sellers pay proper taxes. This has prompted the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to look for better ways to collect taxes from online sellers.
“Because taxes are the lifeblood of the government and that most business activities are undertaken online these days, it is a matter of government survival that the digital economy is taxed through an efficient tax system,” Ms. Doyaoen-Pagayatan said.
Richard R. Ibarra, tax director at P&A Grant Thornton, said the government should offer incentives in order to encourage online sellers to register and pay taxes.
“If online sellers register, they can be given a deduction, so they are encouraged to comply. Instead of giving out penalties, let’s find a suitable model,” he said in a phone interview.
Mr. Ibarra said that online platforms should also work as agents of the BIR, noting that the withholding tax system would work best to monitor online sellers.
“That way, the government can identify if the online seller is declaring properly. (The platform) can report on transactions. The online sellers would then be scared if they didn’t properly declare taxes,” he said.
The BIR currently has a number of measures and regulations to monitor collections from online platforms and sellers.
Under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law, taxpayers engaged in e-commerce are required to use the BIR’s Electronic Invoicing/Receipting System. The system allows taxpayers to issue electronic receipts and invoices, which are then transmitted to the BIR.
As early as 2013, the BIR also issued Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 55, which reiterates that those involved in online businesses, including online shopping and online retailing, must still file and pay for taxes.
Under the same circular, persons who conduct business through online transactions must register their business with the BIR, issue registered invoice and receipts for every sale, and withhold required creditable or expanded withholding tax and remit these to the BIR.
Ms. Doyaoen-Pagayatan also said it is important that the Philippines is aligned with the worldwide efforts to improve taxation of online sellers, “otherwise, other countries could limit trade transactions with the country.”
She cited the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project led by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It aims to promote tax planning strategies used by multinational enterprises that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to avoid paying tax.
Under the project, the OECD also launched a framework that aims to address tax challenges arising from the digitalization economies worldwide.
“With some countries lacking the capability or system to tax online sellers, such as the Philippines, online sellers could shift the revenue for such online sales to such countries, like the Philippines, in order to avoid or minimize taxes. In the process, the efforts of other countries to tax online sellers are undermined,” Ms. Doyaoen-Pagayatan said.
She said the BIR should make tax registration and other processes easier for taxpayers.
“Currently, tax registration and compliance, especially, are still difficult and time consuming that it discourages online businesses from registering and complying for tax purposes,” she said.
The BIR has been ramping up its digitalization efforts after it adopted a 10-year digitalization roadmap in 2019. In December, the agency launched its Online Registration and Update System, which allows taxpayers to fully register with the BIR online.
“The tax system needs to be relaxed, especially in filing tax returns. A quarterly or semi-annual system would help boost compliance,” Mr. Ibarra added.
In 2021, the digital economy contributed PHP 1.87 trillion or 9.6% to the Philippines’ gross domestic product. — By Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson, Reporter


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More support for industry to diversify trade beyond China is what the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), one of Germany’s main industry lobby groups, called for on Monday, as the government works out new policies designed to reduce the economy's dependence on Beijing.
Businesses faced an administrative burden from planned measures such as stress tests and greater scrutiny on investments in China, outlined in a draft document seen by Reuters, the DIHK said.
“Everything we have heard so far about the German government's China strategy is extremely defensive,” said Volker Treier, head of foreign trade at DIHK. “There is a lack of an encouragement strategy for building out sustainable economic relations, particularly in the wider Asia-Pacific realm, to avoid one-sided dependencies.”
The Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing referred to the draft document telling Reuters its hopes that Germany would develop its relations in an “objective and rational manner”, adopting a policy benefiting the people of both nations.
Germany decided to revisit its close ties with Beijing, especially in the field of manufacturing, after Russia initiated its invasion of Ukraine, which in turn put Germany’s economy in the spotlight as being too dependent on Russian energy.
Carmakers Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen and the chemicals giant BASF, all being German, accounted for a third of all European investment in China in 2018-2021, according to a study by research company Rhodium Group.
The foreign ministry document, which still has to be agreed upon by other ministries, said key industries including cars and chemicals must steer clear of the risk to companies and the country of investing too heavily in China.
Although a spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz refused to comment on the specific policies presented in the document, he did, however, say the company sought it as its “task to work on greater diversification of our supply chains”.
“We need an active and resilient industrial policy and strategy in Europe with regards to raw materials, batteries or semiconductors,” he said.
Much in the same vein, a BMW spokesperson declined to comment on the document's details, albeit admitted the group was as heavily invested in Europe and the Americas as in China, and carry on with continuing “to pursue the goal of opening up new sales markets in the future”.
No comment came from Volkswagen and BASF.
Diversified group Merck KGaA, whose investments in the region include a production site for lab equipment in Wuxi near the commercial hub of Shanghai, said facilities in China would mainly serve customers in the country.
“We need constructive dialogue with the goal to enhance multi-nationalism in the face of international bloc building,” it said, when asked to comment on Germany's plans.


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For better or worse, researchers forecast ‘a year to remember’ in payments and banking
A free 2015 Payments Outlook from Mercator Advisory Group says that 2015 will be a year to remember, thanks to the convergence of three trends in payments:
- the deployment of EMV in the U.S. in the target year of 2015;
- the diversity of prepaid cards and services card malls — despite their common perception as “gift card” malls; and
- a discussion of continued growth for the card mall business, which provides an anchor point for digital services delivered via PIN on receipt.
“Payments stakeholders have a lot to worry about strategically,” Ken Paterson, vice president of research at Mercator and author of the report, said in a press release. “These three trends, which have been building for several years, all become serious business concerns in 2015 that will demand decisions and actions. And that is on top of ongoing security, regulatory, and operations concerns.”
According to the release, the outlook document also introduces five macro themes that will be key elements of Mercator research in 2015 and beyond:
- how evolving peer-to-peer payment and lending services threaten to disintermediate traditional financial institutions;
- how card network tokenization and EMV will drive new challenges and opportunities for stakeholders;
- how new analytics can drive real results in specific applications, including optimization, lean data decisioning, and offer management;
- how competing business and technology models in mobile will position themselves with merchants, issuers, and consumers; and
- how POS and mobile technology will drive merchant demand for integrated data, marketing, and payment applications.
The 2015 Payments Outlook Viewpoint is the last in a free series of seven viewpoints documents from each of the Mercator advisory services — debit, credit, prepaid, commercial and enterprise payments, emerging technologies, banking channels, and global payments — that provide insights into trends and themes that will affect the payments and banking industries and consumers, the release said.
Download the free series of 2015 payments and banking outlooks.


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Dec 27, 2019
Both Apple and Disney announced new streaming video services this year and they couldn’t have been more different.
Apple promised a few old favorites, like Peanuts and Oprah, but mostly all-new originals with huge names like Jennifer Aniston and Jason Mamoa attached, budgets the would take us into the future and, through alternate timelines, the moon again, and with some astronomical, aspirations attached, because there was absolutely no catalog content to fall back on.
Disney was all about the franchises, including new Star Wars and Marvel shows, and returns to High School musicals, but also less-expected originals like Imagineers and Jeff Goldblum, and with a back catalog that conservatively includes, when you add in Disney proper, Pixar, Muppets, Fox, and National Geographic, about 85% of all of our childhoods.
Now, both of them have launched and are just finishing up the first 8-episode seasons of their first originals and, no spoilers, but it’s enough to figure out where they are and where they’re likely going.


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Tesla Inc. (TSLA.O) shares fell more than 6.8% on Thursday as CEO Elon Musk indicated the electric-vehicle maker would keep cutting prices to boost demand even after incurring a huge margin blow.
At least 15 analysts cut Tesla price targets, sending the stock to $168.25. Losses could cost the corporation $50 billion in market value.
“Facing a volatile macroeconomic backdrop and weakening demand, Tesla continues to prioritize units over near-term profits,” said Canaccord Genuity analysts.
After starting a price battle in January to maintain its U.S. dominance and expand into China, its second-largest market, Tesla’s first-quarter gross margins fell to a more than two-year low and missed market projections.
Musk indicated additional such moves, saying the company, which has lowered prices six times this year, will prioritize sales growth over profit in a sluggish economy.
Investors dumped automakers from Europe to the U.S. out of fear that margins would be lost to maintain dominance in a market slowing this year due to economic uncertainties.
Long-term, Tesla’s price decreases are the appropriate plan and leverage its cost leadership position. However, “This is not without pain as we now believe margins will get worse before they get better,” RBC analyst Tom Narayan said.
Ford Motor Co (F.N.) and Lucid Group Inc (LCID.O) declined from 3.3% to 4.4%.
Renault SA (RENA.PA), whose finance director warned the business will not substantially decrease E.V. costs amid Tesla’s “spiral,” slumped 7.6%, while Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) dropped 3.5%.


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By DAVID MANTEY, Editor, Product Design & Development (PD&D)
It was recently reported that Apple found more than a dozen serious labor law violations that needed quick fixing — keep in mind that this includes Apple’s own labor policies to which its suppliers need adhere.
Similar to Wal-Mart’s green supplier push after a history of eco-PR terrorism, Apple took the initiative when an employee from a Chinese iPhone factory leapt off of the 12th floor of his apartment building after a prototype went missing.
Apple responded by saying that all of its suppliers must treat their workers with “dignity and respect,” and yesterday, the company backed up that policy by releasing its findings from a 2009 audit of 102 supplier facilities — and Apple was not shy with the findings.
Social responsibility from a major corporation? Odd, I know.
As a public, we’ve grown into monstrous cynics, rightfully so in some cases (Monsanto, Shell, any car company since the Model T, Lehmann Brothers, Goldman Sachs, I’ll quit now before I overrun our servers with a list of loathsome representatives), regarding anything with Corp., LLC or Inc. following the name.
Even though the iPad has everyone but the rare breed of gadget freak questioning Apple’s recent vision, the company earned some respect by discussing the 17 serious "core violations" that it uncovered during the audit. According to Apple, "A core violation is the most serious class of violation. It refers to any practice or situation that [Apple] considers to be contrary to the core principles underlying Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct — and to require immediate corrective actions."
A rundown of serious violations discovered:
- Three cases of underage workers at facilities (11 workers who had been hired at 15 years of age, where 16 is the legal minimum age).
- Eight workers paid illegal recruitment fees. Nothing serious if you follow any NCAA sport.
- Three suppliers using non-certified vendors to dispose of hazardous waste. Soon to be found in a swimming pool near you.
- Three companies who deliberately falsified records during the audit. Lying to the tech giant is like fibbing while you pray, bad manners and a waste of time. You might as well tell your boss that you’re late because you were pulled over — it’s certainly not because you reek like tequila and have a margarita-stained shirt.
Apple is responding to pressure, but it’s encouraging to see results. It’s important to remember that Apple execs seemed just as angry as anyone when they found out that workers at Foxconn Technology, the late Sun Danyong’s employer, were paying $50 a month to work 15-hour shifts.
I don’t know how Foxconn skated mutiny — or at least a bossnapping or two. I find it hard to comment when I have no understanding of the pressure, anxiety or working conditions in other parts of the world, but I like to think that if I was working 75-hour workweeks for $600 a year, I’d attempt to remedy the situation.
Violence is certainly not the answer, but after you read past the headlines and into the meat of the article where writers typically hide the infractions (see paragraph seven), you begin to understand how employees can be driven to violence. I’m not condoning it, and I rarely understand it; better ways certainly exist when it comes to mediating through a poor situation.
Thank you Apple for looking out for overlooked employees abroad. It’s a rare and inspiring concept. The 2010 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report, which becomes interesting around page 13, can be found here.
So, is Apple doing good work or should the company hinder its nose from future business sticking? Let me know at email@example.com.


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Langbar investors may never see missing £365m
INVESTORS in scandal-hit Langbar were today warned by the shell company's new boss that they were unlikely to recover even a third of its missing £365m.
Langbar is at the centre of a Serious Fraud Office probe into the disappearance of the money, which was supposed to have been held in a Brazilian bank account.
New executive chairman David Buchler said funds recovered to compensate shareholders 'might not be as high as £100m, it might be quite a bit less'.
He provoked furious outbursts when he revealed that Stuart Pearson, the former chief executive on whose watch the money was found to have gone missing, would be retained on a £30,000 consultancy to aid the investigation.
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The Baltimore region is so tight on industrial real estate, developers have started eyeing sites in Prince George’s County for new warehouses.
Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc. and Colliers International Baltimore both have identified Prince George’s as a likely target for industrial growth given what Colliers called “an alarming lack of space” in the Baltimore market.
Prince George’s “remains an important and strategic location” for Baltimore,” Colliers wrote, with more than 21.4 million square feet of industrial space, 14.7 percent of which is vacant.
Seeing new industrial development in that region would mark a break from the trend of building “megawarehouses” in land-rich Harford and Cecil counties, but JLL market director Mark Levy said it’s possible given the emergence in 2013 of Baltimore as a top second-tier industrial market.
“You still have a very strong consumer in this region — it’s the most affluent in the country with lots of consumer buying power,” Levy said.
That means e-commerce companies and third-party logistics firms calculate savings in locating near the Baltimore-Washington region because it can get its goods to those affluent customers faster.
Cassidy Turley’s industrial market report released on Wednesday found every area in and around Baltimore had positive absorption in the fourth quarter of 2013, with 984,553 square feet of absorption in the Interstate 95 North industrial market and 365,000 square feet absorbed in Baltimore. All told, the region experienced 2.4 million square feet of positive absorption in 2014.
“As occupancy rates continue to tighten and very little bulk product remains available in the Harford and Cecil County submarkets, rental rates continued to increase to close out the year,” Cassidy Turley reported.
The report also found that tenants are increasingly less likely to gain lease concessions during negotiations as the landscape tilts toward a landlord-friendly market.
The region overall ended the year with a 9.7 percent vacancy rate in the industrial sector, Colliers reported, and Harford County dropped to a record-low 3.1 percent vacancy rate.
Vacancy rates in the region are likely to rise as the new Clorox Co. and Sephora and warehouses open, but Colliers said it still expects rental rates to increase from the $4.50 per square foot average.


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Click on image or HERE to watch a 2:17 minute video interview on Yahoo Finance.
Famed investor Jim Rogers is “quite sure gold will go over $2000 per ounce during this bull market.”
Rogers’ confidence gold will continue to rally stems from a view the U.S. dollar is on its way to losing status as the world’s reserve currency.
“Is it going to happen? Yes,” Rogers says. “I don’t like saying it [and] I’m extremely worried about it but we have to deal with the facts. America is not getting better [and] the dollar is going to be replaced just like pound sterling [was].”
Rogers didn’t offer a timetable, and it’s likely gold would exceed $2000 per ounce if the dollar were to lose its reserve status.
Still, “I wouldn’t buy gold today,” Rogers says. “I think I’ll make more money in other commodities, which are cheaper,” as discussed in more detail here.
Among many others, Rogers is “worried about the fact the U.S. government is printing huge amounts, spending gigantic amounts of money it doesn’t have,” the investor and author says. “People are very worried [and] skeptical about paper money [and] looking for places to protect themselves. The best way is to buy real assets. [That] has always protected one during currency turmoil, and it will again.”


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Don't-Miss Phone Stories
Or is it a fingerprint reader? Either way, it'd be a first for HTC phones. That, plus the superthin bezels also leaked, could bring the phones into parity with the iPhone 6 product line.
The company's new Mangement Suite also includes a secure browser and an enterprise app store
Instead the newest flagship may wait until summer, an effort by Sony to dial back its accelerated release cycle.
New flagship smartphones are getting 1440x2560-pixel screens
The new phone could have a nearly edge-to-edge display with just enough room for those BoomSound speakers and a front-facing camera.
The company is positioning itself as a design-centric brand rather than a cost-effective one.
Motorola’s former CEO says after the buyout nobody else was capable of producing a good enough sensor to use in Google's giant phone.
Circular Devices is already thinking beyond just its Puzzlephone concept
Motorola is back in China after a two year hiatus and it's hoping that smartphone customization is the way to win over customers in a crowded marketplace.
This could be the end of the line for Google Play Edition devices, which brought stock Android to non-Nexus smartphones.
Samsung and Apple, however, remained the two leading brands
HTC’s flagship phone may have thinner bezels while keeping its trademark ‘BoomSound’ front-facing speakers.
It's been almost a year since HTC introduced the well-received One M8. The company's flagship phone is due for a refresh, which is just what we might get at MWC in March--along with HTC's long-expected smartwatch debut.
The purported deal may cost Google less than $100 million, according to TechCrunch.


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Maharashtra: Fitness freaks, ready to hit the gym?
Gyms, fitness centres in Maharashtra to reopen from Dussehra amid strict COVID-19 measures
Pune: After months of being cooped up at home, it’s time to hit the gym as Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has made clear that gymnasiums and fitness centres in the state will be permitted to restart operations after Dussehra.
While declaring the order, the state government has made clear that gyms will be reopened only if people strictly follow the Standard Operation Procedures (SOP). Going by this, the gyms which are closed for seven months when the lockdown in India was announced to curtail the spread of Covid-19 are set to open from October 25. Though the central government had allowed gyms and fitness centres to reopen across the nation in the last phase of Unlock, the state didn’t permit gyms to recommence amid the rising cases in the state.
This has been a relief for all the dedicated gym-owners as well. Balkrishna Nidhalkar, owner of BM Fitness said, “Its almost seven months, the gyms were closed amid the surge in COVID-19 cases. It was a hard survival as the COVID-19 affected the business completely. We thank the government by deciding to reopen the gyms. We also assure that the specified SOPs will be strictly followed.”
Shivraj Pujari, a regular gym-goer said, “Gym freaks will gear up now. It’s been long now that I have not even looked at my gym bag but its good news as gyms will be reopened. The rewards of exercising in the gym include increased self-esteem and improved moods. I will prefer hitting the gym when it is less crowded.”
Though gyms will resume its business, activities like sauna, steam bath, Zumba and Yoga, which either involve group activities or water which can increase the possibility of contagion, will remain closed. Also, as per reports, the gym equipment needs to be sanitised every hour and the gym premises need to be sanitised before closing. Proper social distancing and norms have to be strictly followed.
In its Unlock, the state government on October 14 permitted metro train services to restart from October 15 and also permitted shops to function from 9 am to 9 pm.


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The Effect of Minimum Wage on the American Economy
A sensitive topic for many Americans is their income. Many people’s income relies on minimum wage. In 2012, 3.6 million people received an hourly pay at or below the national minimum wage. There is an ongoing debate in Congress as to what the national minimum wage should be. Currently at $7.25, Obama has suggested raising the national minimum wage to $9.00. Depending on a person’s economic perspective, raising minimum wage could be positive or negative. Minimum wage has the ability to change lives. Small businesses and unemployment, teenage demographics, and the cost of civilian goods would be most affected.
Many areas could be affected by a change in minimum wage, but potentially the most drastic change would be in unemployment. Advocates of a higher minimum wage insist that a raise would significantly decrease the unemployment rate in the United States and improve the quality of living, “…the increases in the minimum wage would generate an additional $25 billion in economic activity and create 1,000 jobs,” says Alison Channon, the program assistant for the National Women’s Law Center. However, there are conflicting opinions on this. Higher minimum wage would mean higher labor costs for business owners, thus making it more difficult for employers to maintain the amount of workers they have, let alone add new employees.
Raising the minimum wage does not increase the value of the worker's labor; it increases the cost. As a general rule the more something costs, the less of it people will buy. This is true of not only consumer goods but also of workers in the labor market. Large corporations provide significant employment opportunities but small businesses owners rely on the American workforce as well.There are 23 million small businesses in America, accounting for 54 percent of sales and 55 percent of jobs. ("Small Business Trends") Raising the minimum wage means that all of these corporations and businesses will have to dig deeper into their checkbooks. Business can’t afford these added expenses, which would result in a decline in an employment positions as companies would need to reduce their overhead costs. The money to pay for an increased minimum wage has to come from somewhere, and there are only a few places that it can come from. The extra money could come from the company’s investors in the form of lower profits; from customers in the form of higher prices; or from workers in the form of fewer jobs. Since the marketplace is very competitive, businesses will resist lowering investors’ profits and raising prices for customers because of the potential risk of losing them. This leaves only cutting workforce as a way to get the money businesses need to afford an increased minimum wage.There are always exceptions, but historically, businesses have financed increases in the minimum wage by laying off minimum wage workers. In 2009, when the most recent minimum wage increase occurred, the...


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With Tom Brady announcing his retirement (again), most will evoke memories of his dramatic comeback win, championship-closing drive, or nearly throwing the Lombardi Trophy over Tampa Bay. .
However, the seven-time Super Bowl champion, three-time NFL MVP, and definitive Football Hall of Famer has had a small footprint in the venture and startup world as well.
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The San Mateo, California native appears to be a cryptocurrency enthusiast despite having invested in a handful of startups, co-founding a couple, and being associated with the infamous FTX platform.
According to Crunchbase data, Brady has made only a small amount of startup investment so far. Some of them even extend to sports and celebrities.
Here are his investments:
- Based in Culver City, California, Omaze is an online fundraising platform that offers once-in-a-lifetime experiences and prizes to support nonprofits. The startup has raised $127 million, according to Crunchbase data.
- New York-based watch retailer HODINKEE has raised $40 million to date, according to Crunchbase.
- Washington, DC-based Class Technologies brings Zoom to the classroom. The startup has raised $164 million, according to Crunchbase.
- San Francisco-based Alt is an alternative asset platform that allows people to buy, sell and even store sports cards. The company has raised $306 million so far, according to Crunchbase.
Former University of Michigan Wolverine also co-founded two VC-backed startups himself.
He is co-chairman and director of Andreessen Horowitz-backed Autograph. Autograph helps athletes and entertainers launch and promote his NFTs. The company has received more than $200 million from him, according to Crunchbase.
He is also co-founder of Religion of Sports, a Santa Monica sports media company that provides videos, podcasts, movies and social content about sports. The startup has raised $63 million to date, according to Crunchbase.
Of course, there’s also FTX — we mentioned it earlier. Brady was one of his nearly a dozen athletes and celebrities who pushed FTX forward.
In November, a class action lawsuit was filed in Miami, alleging that FTX’s yield account was an unregistered security that promoted FTX, including FTX co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman Freed and Brazilian model Brady. Many people are seeking unspecified damages. Gisele Bundchen, tennis star Naomi Osaka, basketball star Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
FTX trading is likely one of the few things Brady can’t beat.
Now that Brady is retired, it will be interesting to see if Brady becomes more involved in ventures and VC-backed startups. There are worse people to relate to than someone commonly referred to as a ‘GOAT’ or ‘the greatest of all time’.
Photo: Alexander Jonesi, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Stay up to date on our latest funding rounds, acquisitions and more on the Crunchbase Daily.


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Scottish football team Ayr United have unveiled their new strip for next season, with the assistance of a couple of body-painted topless models.
Ayr, who are bidding for promotion to the Scottish Premiership, will be sponsored by Bitcoin SV during the new campaign.
CoinGeek.com is the backer behind the deal but the club shirt will be physically branded as Bitcoin SV, the original Bitcoin and the only coin with a blockchain that scales now to allow for thousands of transactions per second.
Professional models Charis Lister and Mikael Angesjo, who are also paid in Bitcoin SV, stripped off for the sponsors’ traditional bodypaint shoot to show off the new kit.
BSV (and Ayr United) supporter, founder and owner of CoinGeek.com, Calvin Ayre said: “There is an education underway explaining to both the media and everyday folk that BSV is, in fact, the original Bitcoin.”
“People have heard of Bitcoin but don’t yet understand that BSV is the only blockchain following Bitcoin’s original design.”
“For retailers of all levels and consumers, BSV allows fast global payments with low transaction fees.”
“And we are educating big businesses that BSV’s blockchain will massively scale to be the world’s data ledger, and enterprises can run their applications on top of this exciting technology backbone.”
“Sponsoring Ayr is a part of this education process but more importantly, as they say in Ayrshire; ‘mon The Honest Men!”


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Apple announces winners of 2013 Design Awards
Apple has just announced its app Design Award Winners at WWDC 2013 and these will definitely become a gold standard in iOS development.
Apple recognizes apps that in this last year showed "technical excellence, innovation and outstanding design."
Nine applications got the prestigious award and an additional two won Apple’s student award.
The awards event took place right after Apple’s big keynote that brought us a brand new iOS 7. Take a look at the 2013 Apple Design Award winners right below.


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Sometimes, people collect the strangest things. Not to rain on anybody's parade, but Cabbage Patch kids, and old cell phones, really?
Jay Leno, famous car collector as well as TV host has a prediction for what may come next: the Toyota Prius.
Wait, don't car collectors love flashy muscle cars? And sports cars?
Leno argues in a Business Insider interview published last Friday, that people collect cars that bring back memories of their youth. Other , experts on collector-car values say much the same thing. "It's as much about the memories as it is about the car," Leno said.
A lot of millennials were raised in Priuses, and will have strong childhood memories of silently creeping along in traffic, sneering at adjacent commuters.
It doesn't hurt that the Prius has been rated one of the most reliable cars over time, so there are plenty of old ones out there.
2004 Toyota Prius
Car collectors also gravitate towards cars that represented turning points in automotive technology or design, and the Prius does that in spades.
In 1998, it was the first hybrid to go on sale in Japan. The first Honda Insight beat it to market in the United States, and that car already has a cult-like following of hypermilers and curmudgeons who like to remind other drivers that no car has beat it yet on pure gas mileage (not mpg-E that counts electrons.) Hardly any kids grew up in the single passenger seat of an early Insight, though.
The Prius was the first full-hybrid car that showed a generation of drivers that an electric motor could power a car down the road and take the load off the engine when the engine was at its least efficient. It inspired a generation of drivers who found that cars didn't have to operate they way they had always expected—and could save them a lot of money in gas if they didn't.
2001 Toyota Prius interior
Leno's focus seems to be on the first generation Prius, a small, barely-remembered sedan, not the glassy hatchback that has become so familiar. He's right in that it was the Prius sedan was the first car that brought the new technology to the road. It's also much rarer than the later hatchbacks, which will likely increase its collectibility.
It gets lower grades for nostalgia, since fewer people were aware of it. Leno could be right that the early sedans will be the first collectible Priuses. The Prius could also follow the model of collectible Corvettes: The first generation wasn't very good, and was pretty rare. Later models with the V8 and two tone paint are much more popular among collectors (though not always as valuable.)
If you're a car nut and a green car fan, consider yourself put on notice—now may be the time to buy the classic Prius of your dreams.


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Cut up to 120 sheets in a single job is now possible with the new digital Cutter from Graphtec GB
In May this year, Wrexham-based flatbed plotter and cutter supplier, Graphtec GB released a new digital die-cutter as an improvement on their original CE6000-40 model. The new sheet fed device utilises the manufacturer’s i-Mark software. Graphtec will also soon be launching a wider version of the model – the CE6000-60.
The new model allows printers to feed and cut up to 120 sheets in a single job, taking between 30 and 40 seconds per sheet. It can handle paper, adhesive materials and boards at a range of weights, up to 350gsm, up to sizes of 330x483mm.
The new Graphtec model is aimed at printers in the short-run label, print and packaging market. Neil Roberts, sales director for Graphtec GB, states how the short-run labelling market can face difficulties as time and money can be wasted without having the proper equipment for cutting. Their new system is designed to quickly and efficiently produce custom shapes on almost any self-adhesive material they want to print on.
The main upgrade to this new model is the addition of an automatic sheet feeder, vastly improving speed and efficiency of the process. Including this new sheet feeder and the collection tray, the new CE6000-40 now has a footprint of 600x670mm.
The new and improved Graphtec GB CE6000-40 die-cutter is available for £3,550. The efficiency and customisation abilities of the new model will really help to make products stand out and lend to more efficient processes, at an affordable price.


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Sean Leland poses for a photo taken by his wife Christine Leland as he takes out the rubbish bins.
Staying at home all day is rubbish, so people around the world are dressing up to take the bins out and sharing photos of their outfits online to cheer up others in lockdown.
Wearing evening gowns, a teddy-bear costume or full cosplay, thousands are using the garden path as a catwalk to show off the fruits of ample time spent in isolation.
"As crazy as I feel dressing up at home, it's the only thing keeping me sane during isolation. Wheeling my bin out in style helps me feel happy again," said Victoria Anthony, 30, a DJ who lives in Sydney.
Anthony, who posted a photo of herself in a cocktail dress on Instagram under the hashtag #BinIsolationOuting, said all her gigs had been cancelled because of the pandemic, which has sparked enforced stay-at-home orders affecting billions across the world.
The trend began in Australia but has inspired jokey posts from as far as Texas, the UK and the Netherlands.
Bus driver Stuart Cunningham, from Glasgow in Scotland, posted a picture of himself taking out the bins in a kilt with a bottle of whisky.
And Christine Leland shared a photo of her husband wheeling a bin through the Canadian snow in a superman T-shirt, wig and red towel for a cape.
Others have gone all-out with horror clown outfits or whole-body suits made to look like characters from sci-fi series, from Star Wars to Gundam.
For Simon Wait, an Australian superhero fanatic who has built "dozens of costumes and props" over the last decade, bin night was the perfect occasion to don his huge, eight-foot (2.5-metre) tall Hulkbuster outfit.
It all began when Danielle Askew, a kindergarten teacher from Hervey Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, started a dedicated Facebook group that has now grown to 470,000 members.
"A friend put a post up on her Facebook page saying that she was excited it was garbage night and she gets to go out," the 47-year-old told a section of the media.
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"I dared her to dress up to take it out and she said she would take that challenge. I said I would too, and I'd make a Facebook group for us to laugh at, to have a giggle at each other."
Askew said she was happy to have "cheered so many people up" and had received messages from users saying they were feeling depressed or scared about the virus, but that looking at her page had made them smile.
"There are just so many wonderful, creative people out there," she said.
Lip-reading suddenly got tricky when everyone covered their face during the coronavirus pandemic, but Indonesian tailors have hit upon the perfect solution -- see-through masks.
An art gallery in Paris has sought inspiration in ancient China to help it enforce social distancing, by providing hats with winged extensions for visitors.
A colourful cast of characters appears day after day on a porch in the US state of Virginia, urging people to stay upbeat and stay home during the coronavirus shutdowns.
One day Parvin was toiling to meet the fast-fashion demands of European capitals, the next she was among hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi clothes workers made instantly jobless as the coronavirus pandemic struck.
Located in the heart of Reem Mall, Abu Dhabi’s signature retail, leisure, dining and entertainment destination, Snow Abu Dhabi covers a sprawling area of 9,732 sqm. Snow Abu Dhabi offers a wide range of different packages and passes with prices starting from Dhs215 for the Snow Park Pass
Pat the chicken dry with paper towel and arrange in a bowl. Season lightly with salt and coat in half the marinade.
The boutique workshop in Port Moresby hosts a group of women who specialise in intricately lacing plant fibres together to make the roomy pouches known as bilums, a symbol of Indigenous pride.


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Tailored Brands said on Tuesday it has emerged from bankruptcy protection following a financial restructuring process that helped the U.S. men’s fashion retailer eliminate $686 million of debt from its balance sheet.
The company, which owns Men’s Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank, Moores Clothing for Men, and K&G Fashion Superstore, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August, joining a list of brick-and-mortar retailers succumbing to the hit from the COVID-19 pandemic.
It confirmed a restructuring plan last month that consisted of a $430 million lending facility. Tailored Brands also said on Tuesday it now operates with a capital structure that includes an exit term loan of $365 million, which it expects will support its ongoing operations and strategic initiatives.
“We are thrilled to emerge from Chapter 11, having gained the financial and operational flexibility we need to support each of our brands in this rapidly evolving retail environment, continue to show up strong for our customers, and remain an attractive employer,” said Dinesh Lathi, president and CEO of Tailored Brands. “I want to thank all of the lenders, employees, customers, landlords, vendors, and other partners who helped us get to this point.”
Lathi added, “Be assured that, while addressing our underlying financial challenges precipitated by the unprecedented impact of COVID-19, we continued to strengthen our business and brands with efforts focused on expanding our omnichannel capabilities to provide even greater convenience for our customers, curating our merchandise assortments to align with today’s needs and trends, and launching exciting new partnerships that appeal to existing and new customers. As a result, we are confident we are well-positioned for the future and look forward to building upon this momentum as we enter this next chapter.”


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City considering contracts for online auction services
City considering pair of contracts for buy-sell online auction services
The city of Houston is about to buy and sell itself online.
City Council is to consider two contracts for online auction services Wednesday. One contract would help the city sell its surplus property over the Internet, while the second would allow it to solicit low bids from vendors the same way.
Surplus items likely to be auctioned online include office supplies, chemicals and auto parts, according to city purchasing agent Calvin Wells.
"It's another tool in the tool box," Wells said. "It's not a proven item yet. We'll walk our way through this fog."
The city hopes to lower its contract costs by using a "reverse auction," essentially having suppliers and other businesses submit their lowest bids online. Unlike the traditional process, in which the city solicits sealed bids, the online process would allow companies to see their competitors' bids.
Texas Procurement Center, the online auction company with which the city wants to contract, would get 3 percent of each accepted bid, to be paid by the bidder.
Reverse auctions were approved by the Texas Legislature in 2001.
"My experience in the purchasing profession suggests to me that you don't use this all the time," said Wells, who said the best bid is not always the lowest.
Councilman Mark Ellis has been encouraging the city to consider reverse auctions for two years. He said the process could save the city about 10 percent of its procurement cost.
City Council also will consider hiring RFP Depot to produce a Web site to sell surplus property. The company would get 8 percent of each accepted bid.
The city currently advertises such property and holds live auctions three times a year, selling about $150,000 worth of abandoned, confiscated, salvaged or surplus property.
Harris County has run its own online auction site for about four years, and county officials reject the idea of hiring outside companies to do the work.
"Why put a middle man in there and pay the middle man?" asked Tony Riddle, the manager of Harris County's purchasing department. "It is a simple matter of adding it to your computer system. It was really a no-brainer. And we don't have the expense of having a third party sell it."
But Wells said it's more cost-effective for the city to contract with a private company because it requires no city investment.


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2021 Porsche Panamera Turbo spied at Nurburgring
Is the Porsche Panamera at the Nordschleife to reclaim its status as the fastest four-door to lap the famous circuit?
An updated Porsche Panamera Turbo has been caught on camera at the Nurburgring undergoing some hot laps.
In 2016 a Panamera Turbo broke the Nurburgring lap-record for a production four-door sedan (with a time of 07 minutes, 38 seconds).
However, Porsche lost the bragging rights just three months later when an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio shaved off six seconds (with a time of 07 minutes, 32 seconds).
According to our photographer at the Nurburgring, unofficial reports suggest Porsche was there to reclaim its lap record.
“A rumour hit our ears that Porsche was up to something with the updated Porsche Panamera Turbo,” our spy agency wrote to us in an email.
“There were some quick laps before we got there and after that the Porsche Panamera was doing a slow lap together with a photo car in order to shoot some on-track photos, and that’s where we shot our photos.”
It is unknown how quickly the Porsche lapped the Nordschleife, or if it broke any records.
Reports in 2019 claimed Porsche was working on a lightweight update of the Panamera dubbed “Lion".
It is unclear if these new photographs show that version of the car, although the image below reveals it is still wearing some form of mild disguise in the upper grille, behind the number plate.
The showroom standard Panamera Turbo has a 4.0-litre twin turbo V8 that produces 404kW and 770Nm.
Australian pricing starts from $391,700 plus on road costs.
Watch the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio's 2016 sedan lap record below.
MORE: Everything Porsche


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A panel of community advocates will come together for the second P.R.E.P Talk at 6 p.m. Feb. 25 in the University of Kentucky’s Seay Auditorium. P.R.E.P. stands for Prevent, Reduce and Eliminate Poverty.
Most of us view a trip to the grocery store as a chore, but for one University of Kentucky professor, it’s all in a day’s work.
Alison Gustafson, an assistant professor in UK’s Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, has always been interested in people, what they eat and why they make the choices they make when it comes to food.
Stephenson is one of six UK educators to receive the award.
UKAg's Rebecca Blair, a human nutrition major from Louisville, is one of the recipients.
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3D Cloud™ by Marxent is a proud sponsor of the VRARA Retail Forum on September 21, 2022. The event, hosted by the Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Association (VRARA) will give attendees the chance to hear directly from retailers, brands, and solution providers from around the world.
We have some familiar faces attending the VRARA Retail Forum. 3D Cloud™ by Marxent client, Jerome’s Furniture with Scott Perry, EVP of Digital Marketing will be doing a segment called, “Using AR to Reinvent the Retail Customer Experience.” He will be sharing his take on the future of augmented reality in retail and the challenges he faced being an early innovator. It’s a can’t-miss presentation for brands looking to pursue a 3D content strategy.
To attend, register here today!
VRARA Retail Forum 2022
Wednesday, Sep. 21, 2022