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Amazon has completed its recovery efforts from the extended crash of its popular cloud-computing services, but there will be lasting damage, both to customer data and to Amazon's reputation.
Amazon has reported on the AWS Service Health Dashboard that it has succeeded in recovering nearly all of the stuck volumes of data in its US-East Region facility, but 0.07 percent of those volumes will not be fully recoverable. The company has not specified how many customers will be impacted, but those whose data can't be retrieved will be frustrated, to say the least. It may also prove further cause for AWS users to reassess their use of the service.
Notably, that 0.07 percent of irrecoverable data represents just a portion of losses that Amazon's customers suffered from the outage. A venture-backed startup called Springpad, for example, saw the Web-based portion of its service go down for hours due to the AWS outage. Springpad offers a free service through which users can store and access all types of information via Web or mobile devices, from appointments and events to product codes and notes, while receiving targeted offers from businesses, such as a discount at a nearby restaurant.
The company's CEO, Jeff Janer, said that AWS stores all of Springpad users' critical data; when the AWS services went down, users were effectively cut off from their daily planners. While users were left frustrated, Springpad itself missed out on signing up new users for nearly two days, not to mention losing lead-driven revenue from its existing ones.
The severity of the outage caught Springpad off guard for a couple of reasons: First, Janer said AWS had been very reliable; previous outages had been few and far between and hadn't lasted longer than 30 minutes. Second, he said that he didn't anticipate that Amazon would have a single point of failure, "even in one zone that is sitting on multiple clusters."
During the outage, Janer said the company did have the option of transferring older snapshots of user data to another AWS facility, but it would have been a time-consuming endeavor. The company opted to wait and see when Amazon would be able to restore service.
The ordeal has not soured Janer from the cloud; in fact, he attributes the availability of a service such as AWS for Springpad's success: "We're a fast-growing venture-backed company. [The cloud] gives us the ability to scale in real time, to add servers and add capacity. It's been key to our business."
Springpad is, however, is reassessing alternatives to its current relationship with Amazon. Janer said the company could double down and pay extra to have its service hosted simultaneously in Amazon's East Coast and West Coast facilities. It could invest in its own IT gear and collocate in a third-party data center. Another option: It could sign on with an alternative provider like Rackspace. First and foremost, though, Janer said Springpad wants answers from Amazon as to what caused the outage -- which is still being investigated -- and what it will do to prevent it from happening down the road.
This story, "Some data irrecoverable after Amazon Web Services crash," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.


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At this point, we all probably know the electoral map by heart: which parts are red, which parts are blue, and which parts have cute little stripes. But there are other issues that are dividing Americans this fall besides politics. Namely, Halloween candy.
The job hunting firm Zippia has used data culled from Google Trends to determine the favorite Halloween candy in every state and then created a map color-coded to identify the states that favor chocolate candy and the states that favor non-chocolate candy. The results were surprising, and even a little disturbing. For instance: Airheads are the favorite candy in three states, while one prefers circus peanuts. (New Hampshire, what the hell?) And when it comes to chocolate versus non-chocolate, the nation is at a complete deadlock.
What impressed us most about this survey, though, was the note about what qualified as real Halloween candy:
We, being sane reasonable humans, excluded gum from our candy list. Gum isn’t a candy. Similarly, we excluded raisins, fruit snacks, and other things people try and pass off as candy to unfortunate trick-or-treaters. There is a reason some houses get egged on Halloween and it’s because they aren’t giving out treats.
No matter where we live, we can all get behind this. Right?

domain: news


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If you are looking to buy a new phone, then you should consider a Nothing Phone 1. The name is quite a mouthful, and you might be wondering what this device will look like. It is expected to have a transparent back, a hole-punch selfie camera, and a glyph interface, but you will need something special to make this device stand out. Read on to discover more about this upcoming phone. The No.1 project is a phone designed by a startup called Nothing.
Nothing is working on a phone
Something is working on a smartphone, and it’s not Apple. Pei’s startup has been working on a phone for over a year but has yet to unveil it. Pei has recently met with Qualcomm’s chief executive and plans to announce it next month. He also says he wants the phone to be a “walled garden,” like Apple. He also cites the iOS operating system, which allows users to drag and drop photos wirelessly.
During a 30-minute online event, Nothing announced its plans for a phone. During the event, the company teased a transparent back, confirmed by Nothing CEO Carl Pei. The phone is expected to sport a fingerprint scanner. Other details were not immediately released, but the company’s CEO said, “we are working on the phone now.”
It will have a transparent back
According to reports, the Nothing phone will have a transparent back panel. This design reveals the hardware inside, including the camera and wireless charging coil. The frame will be made of recycled aluminum. Carl Pei, the founder of Nothing, revealed his design philosophy for future products. It aims to create products that don’t cause harm to the environment. Despite the rumors, the phone is still a long way off.
The front and rear designs of the Nothing phone are almost identical to those of the iPhone. Its transparent back also shows off the wireless charging coil, while the front panel is identical to the iPhone’s. Unlike the iPhone, the Nothing phone will not use Face ID or place the selfie camera under the screen. However, if the company delivers on its promises, it will be a top-of-the-line handset.
It will have a hole-punch selfie camera
Unlike Apple’s iPhone, the Nothing Phone 1 will not feature a rear-facing camera, but it will have a hole-punch front-facing camera, which will be visible from both sides. It is still unclear what the underlying technology behind this feature will be, but Pei has said that the device is an “iPhone killer” and will be “an industry shake-up”.
The front panel of the Nothing Phone has flat sides with no chin underneath the display. The bezels are uniform, and the punch-hole selfie camera is in the upper-left corner. In a YouTube video, the company revealed that the Nothing Phone has 900 LEDs around the camera island that indicate incoming notifications, a flash, and an unread notification. These LEDs can also light up when the phone is recording a video, as the device has a “glyph interface” feature.
It will have a glyph interface
The Nothing Phone 1 will launch with a Glyph Interface. This will allow the phone’s LED lights on the rear to be used for various functions, including notifications and calls. The LED patterns will change according to the sounds that have been configured and will let customers know who’s calling them by looking at the device. The device also allows users to create ringtones for each contact and lets them associate a specific Glyph pattern with that contact.
Aside from the Glyph Interface, the Nothing Phone will also include an optional light strip. The strips are composed of over 900 individual LEDs, and their purpose might be to serve as a modernized version of the classic smartphone notification LED. Nothing CEO Carl Pei explained the Glyph Interface in a recent interview with The Verge. Pei explained the idea in more detail and hinted that the phone would have a glyph interface.
It will have a limited supply
The release date of the Nothing Phone 1 is unknown, but it is expected to be this summer. The company has announced that they will hold a reveal event on July 12. Those who want to purchase a unit are encouraged to sign up for a waitlist. The supply is limited so it will sell out quickly. Pre-ordering the phone will ensure you get one in time for the launch, but it is essential to understand that the phone will only be sold to people who signed up for a waitlist.
While the availability of the phone will be limited at first, the company plans to expand the number of units available to a wider audience based on customer feedback. The company uses an invitation-only system to distribute the phone, similar to how the OnePlus One was released in June 2014. The One was free to buy, but as the demand is high, it is unclear how long this system will continue. It is possible, however, that the number of units made will grow in the future if the company manages to maintain its limited supply.
It will be available with an invite system
The first Nothing phone, the Phone 1, has been in the news lately. The company has released a film describing the design and manufacturing process. But this new phone will only be sold by invitation. Nothing’s founder, Carl Pei, has a good reason for this. The company’s limited production capacity might make it difficult to sell its first batch at launch. To combat this, the company is considering an invite system, which could allow it to distribute the product quickly to those who would most benefit from it.
If the phone is available via invitation only, that’s great news for consumers. It will keep the phone in the news for longer, allowing Nothing to expand capacity more effectively. The company’s success may also help attract more attention. With a phone this unique, Nothing can’t help but make headlines. However, it’s unclear when the phone will become available for purchase.


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Published every weekday, the Switchboard highlights five tech policy stories you need to read.
Obama to announce overhaul to controversial NSA program. "President Barack Obama will announce on Friday a major overhaul of a controversial National Security Agency program that collects vast amounts of basic telephone call data on foreigners and Americans," according to Reuters. "In a nod to privacy advocates, Obama will say he has decided that the government should not hold the bulk telephone metadata, a decision that could frustrate some intelligence officials."
Breach at Neiman Marcus went undetected from July to December. As the New York Times reports, "The computer network at Neiman Marcus was penetrated by hackers as far back as July, and the breach was not fully contained until Sunday, according to people briefed on the investigation."
IBM pumps $1.2 billion into global cloud data centers. "Dispelling any lingering doubt that IBM sees cloud computing as the way of the future, the company announced that it will invest US$1.2 billion this year in expanding its global cloud infrastructure," reports Computerworld.
China Mobile starts selling Apple’s iPhones today, but subsidies don’t seem that attractive. "It’s time to judge whether the world’s largest carrier with more than 740 million subscribers can compete with the two other major Chinese carriers when it comes to iPhone subsidies," reports The Next Web.
Google unveils smart contact lens. "The company says it is currently testing prototypes of this contact lens that use a tiny wireless chip and a miniaturized glucose sensor," according to TechCrunch. "These chips are embedded in between two soft layers of lens material."


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Brain differences may be due to different historical roles, say scientist
A new study into differences in the way men and women appreciate art lends scientific weight to the cliché that women can't read maps, and men are more likely to lose things.
Researchers showed men and women "beautiful" pictures and discovered that when someone appreciates an image, a region of the brain called the parietal lobe is activated.
However the research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that only the right hemisphere of men's brains were activated. Both hemispheres became active in women.
The left side of the brain deals with detailed, close-range observation, while the right is better at co-ordinates. This backs up the idea that men are better at orientation, while women are more aware of the objects around them, reports the Daily Telegraph.
The scientists, led by Dr Francisco Ayala from the University of California, speculate that these brain differences developed early in human evolution. Hunting, traditionally man's work, required co-ordinating abilities in order to track animals, while a woman's traditional work of gathering fruits required closer spatial awareness.
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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decided that everyone else should drink less soda.
The city has launched a multi-pronged effort to get New Yorkers, especially low-income New Yorkers, to drink fewer sugar-sweetened beverages. The mayor, who is the tenth richest person in the country according to Forbes, initially suggested using economic pressure to change New Yorkers’ buying habits by imposing a statewide tax on sugar-saturated beverages. The proposal failed. Now Bloomberg is seeking federal permission to bar New York City residents from using food stamps to purchase soda. The ban would affect 1.7 million people, around 20 percent of the city’s population.
To reach the other 80 percent, the city’s health department has launched an aggressive media campaign including YouTube videos and posters on subway trains. One of the videos shows a man drinking a glass of fat and concludes with the message, “Drinking 1 can of soda a day can make you 10 pounds fatter a year. Don’t drink yourself FAT.”
Pay attention to that weasily-worded phrase, “can make you 10 pounds fatter.” According to nutritionists, it’s not at all clear that drinking a can of soda a day would cause you, or me, to gain 10 pounds over the course of a year. “As we get into this exacting science, the idea of a sugary drink becoming fat is absurd,” Cathy Nonas, the chief nutritionist for New York City’s health department, wrote in a memorandum to her colleagues on Aug. 20, 2009.
Of course drinking soda can potentially make someone 10 pounds heavier. Life is unpredictable; anything can happen. Nonas decided this was enough to assuage her conscience. She recently told The New York Times she was satisfied with the video’s final message that “Drinking 1 can of soda a day can make you 10 pounds fatter a year.” She said, “It’s totally supportable to say ‘can.’”
Instead of beginning with facts and research, New York City started with the conclusion it wanted to support and then found and bent the facts to fit. The entire strategy of the media campaign rested on using fear and disgust to prompt people to change their behavior. Dr. Thomas A. Farley, the city’s health commissioner, wrote in an e-mail, “I think what people fear is getting fat.” So he focused the ad campaign around the message that drinking soda leads to weight gain, without regard to whether weight gain really is the primary problem associated with excess sugar consumption.
For research to be useful to society, it needs to be independent. Facts must not be interpreted through the lens of a predetermined conclusion. I have made that point here in connection with the BP oil spill, clinical drug trials and climate change.
Once people have the relevant facts, it is their responsibility, and their right, to decide how to apply those facts to their own actions. I am hardly a paragon of dietary virtue, but because I know about the amount of sugar that goes into regular sodas, I opt for diet versions. I like to save my empty calories for something meaningful to me, namely chocolate or its key derivative, the chocolate chip cookie. You might prefer to skip the chocolate and indulge in a regular Coke or Pepsi.
If New York City wants to educate residents about the risks of drinking soda, it ought to do so without scaremongering, and without economic coercion, for that matter. The Bloomberg administration’s attempt to single out soft drinks as a health threat akin to tobacco is based on junk science. It leaves a bad aftertaste.


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In recent years, we’ve witnessed the emergence of a number of high-growth companies with valuations of more than $1 billion. These companies all originated from the desire to not only revolutionize their industries by reducing friction and innovating on customer experience, but also by making their names synonymous with what a strong brand can and should be.
In this episode of Brand Matters, Zouheir Zoueihed, Client Relations Director, ME shares four points on how Middle Eastern brands can become more global.
What makes a memorable #logo #design? Our latest study via @Adweek http://bit.ly/1GoLDZd
Recently, we spoke with Nancy Hansell, strategy director, about how the media landscape is changing and how media brands must now reconfigure themselves to take on these new challenges of changing audiences, morphing category distinctions, and the war on for attention and time.
Howard Belk, co-chief executive and chief creative officer, Siegel+Gale, and Sally Henderson, founder of Pello, discuss how the advertising industry can become more inclusive in the latest of a series of gender diversity interviews conducted by prominent women from across the marketing industries.


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Rubber Band Bracelets My Tahoe has served me effectively, but it will get an abysmal 12 miles per gallon. Do I require such a big motor vehicle? No. But acquiring a new car can be pricey, allow alone a new green auto. Although I am, in truth, saving up for a hybrid or a clean-burning diesel, I"m possibly a year away from this kind of a purchase. The whole point received started out due to the fact of Lance Armstrong and the bright yellow band. Considering that then the trend has caught on and all of the triggers are getting on the bandwagon. The amazing thing is that now that the reputation has grown the firms that make these issues have commenced to cater to the basic public and began creating extremely cost powerful custom silicone wristbands in each colour under the rainbow with any customized brand or phrase embossed on it.
The penalties for companies that produce or sell fake or substandard pharmaceuticals in China are to be increased, according to a draft amendment to the country"s Drug Management Law.
Manufacturers that operate without the required permit will face fines up to 30 times the value of their products, the draft states. Under current law, the maximum fine is five times the value.
The proposed amendment, now under review by the National People"s Congress Standing Committee, the top legislature, states that violations such as making or selling fake drugs could see companies lose their business license.
Business executives and drug supervision officials will also face heavier punishment in cases involving pharmaceuticals, while supervision of certain drugs, such as vaccines, will be intensified to ensure safety and quality, it adds.
Jiao Hong, head of the National Medical Products Administration, said on Monday that the draft aims to improve supervision of drugs following the vaccine scandal at Changchun Changsheng Biotech, a major vaccine producer in Jilin province.
The administration fined the company 9.1 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) last week for fabricating production records and using expired materials to manufacture a human rabies vaccine.


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They may not have the big recognizable names but generic brand products deliver big savings.
Yet, a study by economists from the University of Chicago and Tilburg University in the Netherlands points out that many Americans are still forking over their money for name brands and wasting $44 billion annually in the process.
The study says that millions are duped by misleading ads even when they can buy generic products for far less.
But not everybody is fooled.
According to the researchers, the smarter the consumer -- that is, those who are more educated -- the greater the chance they'll pick the generic version of a product rather than the name brand.
For instance, only nine percent of pharmacists buy Bayer, Advil and Tylenol with the rest opting for generic brands. Meanwhile, the average consumer will select the name brands 26 percent of the time.
Meanwhile, just one in five professional chefs will pay full price for name brand salt, sugar and baking powder, as compared to 40 of average households.
The researchers used Nielsen tracking data based on 77 million shopping trips by about 125,000 households.


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Greg Bryant doesn’t usually take part in Black Friday shopping. In fact, his wife Vanessa was shopping on her own until about 2 a.m. to take advantage of deals at Carolina Pottery, but the duo woke up bright and early to get a deal on a new dryer for their daughter.
They didn’t realize that an in-store holiday promotion would bring the cost of that dryer under $100.
A Lowe’s Home Improvement employee told early morning shoppers to text a code to a special number for a chance at a gift card ranging from $5 to $500. When Vanessa Bryant sent the promotional text, she won the minimal amount and urged her husband to take a chance and enter.
“She was jumping up and down when she saw it,” said Greg Bryant. “Everybody heard.”
The win meant their budget stretched further when shopping for their three daughters and five granddaughters.
“Usually on Black Friday, I look for appliances, electronics and household stuff,” Vanessa Bryant said. “For the grandkids, we look at the big-box toys, too.”
Greg Bryant said if he has the chance to win big next Black Friday, “I’m going to be here.”
Kenly resident Tiffany Snody had a similar mentality when she was the first to line up at Belk around 2:30 a.m. Friday.
“I usually go to Target or Walmart, but I saw the ad for the gift card and I thought they had some really good deals, so I’d start here,” Snody said. “I thought there was going to be a big line, so I thought I needed to get here early so I could get the gift card.”
Because the second person in line, Anthony Kelly, didn’t arrive until about 4:30 a.m., Snody enjoyed the heat of her car before starting the queue about 90 minutes before the store on Raleigh Road Parkway opened.
“I love the thrill of Black Friday shopping,” Snody said with a smile. “I like getting up early, seeing all these people and freezing. It is all part of it, including not being able to feel my toes.”
Belk store manager Ashley Rhame and her staff handed out 250 gift cards on Thanksgiving night before shuttering at 1 a.m. and resetting the store to reopen at 6 a.m. Friday. There were another 150 gift cards valued at between $5 and $500 handed out Friday, but with fewer than 150 people in line when the store opened, Rhame handed out the rest of the cards as customers continued to trickle in.
“There certainly are people that come out for one thing in particular, but you’ll also see people in here for hours,” Rhame said. “They’ll fill carts full or they’ll make multiple trips. They’ll go to home goods first and drop off a load at their car, then go to apparel. The average transaction is definitely over $100.”
Kelly said he anticipated spending several hundred dollars Friday at six or so stores as he shopped for his wife, son and grandbaby.
The Wilson father said he probably would continue shopping throughout the weekend and participate in Small Business Saturday, which started in 2010 to spread the holiday sales to locally owned businesses instead of just national retailers. Vaughan’s Jewelers was just one of the many shops in Brentwood that had sales for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday customers.
“I think the key is building the customer base on offering fair prices and good service year-round, so when people realize we’re offering 20 percent off that this weekend, they’re motivated to come in,” said Tripp Vaughan. “I really believe good customer service is what separates us from chain stores. That and if you spend money with us, it will stay in Wilson.”
The American Express small business economic impact study shows about 67 cents of every dollar spent at a small business stays in the local community.
Vaughan said the store has been stocking up on merchandise since summer.
“We’ve spent the better part of two months getting ready to go for Christmas,” he said. “When you do a large percentage of your yearly business in two months — November and December — you have to be ready to go by the first of November.
“We probably have more merchandise this year than any year in the past.”
Name-brand jewelry like Tacori and Vahan is popular, but Vaughan said Hook + Gaff is new to the shelves and has been a hit as folks appreciate the men’s watches that are Swiss-made and assembled in Greensboro.
“They are made for golfers and fishermen, so the crown is on the other side, so when you swing, it doesn’t hit your wrist,” he said. “It is practical but with style and it is more traditional than flashy.”
Having merchandise at all price points also has been essential to bolstering sales for Vaughan’s Jewelers.
“We try to have a broad range because not everyone has a $1,000 budget,” said Tripp Vaughan. “I had two people this morning who wanted to spend $100 or less and both walked out with a package.”


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Here’s why Lonzo Ball hasn’t been wearing his own shoes during summer league.
Lonzo Ball is the only rookie in the NBA who already has his own signature shoe. He hasn’t really been wearing it, though.
The Lakers’ rookie rocked his Big Baller Brand ZO2s for his first summer league game, but stopped wearing them after that.
Ball has since worn the signature shoes of Kobe Bryant (Nike), James Harden (Adidas), Steph Curry (Under Armour) and Michael Jordan (Jordan).
Why is he doing this?
Ball admitted last night that he’s basically trying to start a bidding war among the major brands.
Lonzo Ball is wearing the Air Jordan 31 tonight. When asked if he’s trying to start a bidding war, his answer was, “Something like that.”
— SoleCollector.com (@SoleCollector) July 16, 2017
Big Baller Brand’s ZO2s reportedly haven’t sold a ton of pairs, and it’s really tough to make your own shoes with no help from a major company, so Ball getting signed by Nike or adidas or Under Armour or someone like that makes sense.


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Google has said it isn’t looking to build on its partnership with Fiat Chrysler, Reuters reports.
FCA teamed up with Google to deliver 100 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivans to the tech company in order to test its self-driving car software. Google is still looking to team up with automakers as its self-driving car vision begins to take form, but it might not be FCA.
“This is just FCA and Google building 100 cars together,” Google self-driving car Chief Executive John Krafcik told Reuters. “We’re still talking to a lot of different automakers. We’ve been very open about what the technology is and the problem we want to solve together. Solving this problem is going to require a lot of partnership.”
Earlier this week, Google showed media a Maserati Ghibli it had equipped with prototype Android N and Android Auto software. It’s not entirely clear if the Ghibli was acquired as part of FCA’s partnership with Google, however the luxury sedan would otherwise seem like an oddly expensive choice to test new infotainment tech.
Google will first test its fleet of Pacifica hybrids later this year and will work alongside FCA engineers to ensure the prototypes operate as intended. FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne has said in the past the current partnership with Google is limited, but remains open to further talks with the company.


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This past December we posted about a new "old" release called Green Day: On The Radio. After the initial January release of the live album, it is now coming out on green vinyl and is limited to 1000 copies.
This album is a recording of a broadcast done on WFMU FM Radio back in 1992, when Green Day was on tour in support of their second album, Kerplunk.
You can pick up a copy of the vinyl over on Stage Sound Direct for $29.99 or a copy on CD from Amazon.com for $9.48.
Just a quick note, this isn't a new recording, this bootleg has been around for years under the name of Radio Daze, but only now it is coming to vinyl.
Thanks to our friends at Modern Vinyl for sending this news.


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The idea that we’re in the midst of a dramatic shift away from traditional print and broadcast news media and toward online news media has become a commonplace, particularly in web circles. Newspapers, it’s widely assumed, are doomed to fade away because the young prefer getting their news from the Internet. Our Resident Philistine rehearsed this theme over the weekend, when he argued that the audience for newspapers, like the audience for Woody Allen movies, “is dying off.”
But there’s a little problem with this idea: It’s not true. Yesterday, the Pew Center for the People and the Press released its latest study of “news consumption” in the United States. It makes for fascinating reading. The picture it paints of the role of online news media is not at all like it’s been made out to be by web pundits.
First of all, after a short burst of explosive growth, demand for online news media has flattened. “The growth of the online news audience has slowed considerably since 2000,” Pew reports. Currently, 31% of Americans are going online for news three or more times a week. That’s up only slightly from 29% two years ago. By contrast, 40% of Americans report reading a newspaper daily, a number that’s down sharply from where it was ten years ago, but that’s been stable for the past four years (it was 41% in 2002).
The slowdown in the growth of online news media has been most pronounced, moreover, “among the very young, who are now somewhat less likely to go online for news than are people in their 40s.” Demographically, in other words, online news consumers tend to look a lot like offline news consumers:
As internet news has gone more mainstream, its audience has aged. Since 2000, nearly all of the growth among regular internet news users has occurred among those ages 25-64. By contrast, virtually the same percentage of 18-24 year-olds say they get news online at least three days a week as did so six years ago (30% now, 29% then). Currently, about as many people ages 50 to 64 regularly get news on the internet as do those in their late teens and early 20s.
If the audience for newspapers is dying off, so is the audience for online news.
The study also reveals that “the audience for online news is fairly broad, but not particularly deep”:
People who say they logged on for news yesterday spent 32 minutes, on average, getting the news online. That is significantly less than the average number of minutes that newspaper readers, radio news listeners, and TV news viewers spend with those sources. And while nearly half of all Americans (48%) spend at least 30 minutes getting news on television, just 9% spend that long getting news online.
The upshot is that online news appears to be not a replacement for traditional media but a supplement to it. The people who tend to use online sources are the same people who read newspapers and watch news shows on TV. They take a quick look at headlines online, but they continue to rely on traditional news sources for the details:
The web serves mostly as a supplement to other sources rather than a primary source of news. Those who use the web for news still spend more time getting news from other sources than they do getting news online. In addition, web news consumers emphasize speed and convenience over detail. Of the 23% who got news on the internet yesterday, only a minority visited newspaper websites. Instead, websites that include quick updates of major headlines, such as MSNBC, Yahoo, and CNN, dominate the web-news landscape.
The report is not good news for newspapers, but it does show that the reports of their imminent death have been exaggerated. The real division is not between the audience for online news and the audience for traditional news – they are the same audience. The real division is between the people who are interested in the news and the people who couldn’t care less. In fact, it looks very much like online news media are now merging with traditional news media, as the two come together in a symbiotic relationship to serve the same set of customers. They are not competing with each other so much as they are competing together against nonconsumption.


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Tangible® Science, LLC, an innovator creating a dramatically better contact lens experience for patients and eye care practices, today announced that a new study presented at the Global Specialty Lens Symposium on Saturday showed that dry eye sufferers wearing scleral lenses coated with Tangible® Hydra-PEG® improved across almost every measure when compared to their habitual scleral lenses worn uncoated.
The multicenter, randomized, double-masked study encompassed 19 moderate to severe dry eye patients who wore their habitual scleral lenses and scleral lenses with the same parameters coated with Tangible® Hydra-PEG® for 30 days each, with a one week wash out period in between.
Statistically significant improvements (p<0.05) were seen with Tangible® Hydra-PEG® coated lenses in contact lens comfort (CLDEQ-8), dry eye symptoms (OSDI) and dry eye signs (tear film break-up time, ocular surface staining, lid wiper epitheliopathy) and conjunctival papillae.
Patient-reported improvements in comfortable lens wearing time and frequency of foggy vision (p<0.002 in both cases) were greater when wearing the coated lenses. Patients wearing coated lenses experienced foggy vision at almost half the rate they did when the lenses were uncoated.
“Dry eye patients can struggle with lens discomfort and poor quality vision with scleral lenses. We wanted to examine a potential solution for these frustrations,” said Dr. Chandra Mickles of Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry, a principal investigator of the multicenter study. “We found that the Tangible® Hydra-PEG® coating is an effective technology that can provide superior comfort, improved dry eye symptoms, and reduced subjective fogging than untreated scleral lenses. This coating has the potential to improve outcomes for dry eye patients.”
Tangible® Hydra-PEG® is a unique polymer coating permanently bonded to custom contact lenses that minimizes deposits and lens fogging, and improves wettability, lens surface water retention, lubricity and patient comfort. As a result, eye care practices can benefit from fewer refits, higher patient satisfaction and more available staff time.
The company is introducing companion products this year – Tangible® Clean and Tangible® Boost – designed to protect coated lenses and restore the coating and its benefits, enabling an improved lens wearing experience for the prescribed life of custom contact lenses.
The data was presented on Saturday, January 26 by Dr. Mickles in the General Session at the GSLS symposium.
ABOUT TANGIBLE® SCIENCE
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Following the imposition of US sanctions this Sunday, the United Kingdom announced new export sanctions with an increase in tariffs.
The British government on Sunday announced a new round of trade sanctions against Russia and Belarus in connection with the invasion of Ukraine, including export sanctions on Russian industry and higher tariffs on palladium.
⁇These massive sanctions will do even more damage to the Russian war machineInternational Trade Minister Ann-Marie Travelian said in a statement.
Tariffs will increase by 35 percentage points, especially when platinum and palladium – used in the automotive industry – are banned from exporting to Russia, targeting goods intended for the manufacturing and heavy machinery sectors, such as plastic, rubber or machinery. “Russia is a major producer of platinum and palladium, and is heavily dependent on the UK for exports.These products underscore the government.
The sanctions deal with goods worth 1. 1.7 billion (approximately 2 2 billion), bringing the value of goods targeted by trade sanctions to more than ில்லியன் 4 billion since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the official said. The UK has allowed 1,000 individuals and more than 100 companies since the invasion.
The previous day, in a statement from the White House, the United States had announced new sanctions against Russia, with two main axes: access to media and consulting and accounting services by companies and large fortunes. , In which the Americans and the British are the leading experts in the world.
“Award-winning internet enthusiast. Food geek. Social media maven. Subtly charming bacon buff. Organizer. Student.”


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Resistance: Burning Skies releasing May 29th on PS Vita
By Kevin Douglas Femmel
(Feb. 13, 2012) — It has been revealed that Resistance: Burning Skies, a somewhat anticipated FPS for the PS Vita, will be making it into retail stores on May 29th. That is the same date that retailers are saying another PS Vita game, Gravity Rush, will be coming out.
We don’t know a whole lot about the Resistance title for PS Vita, other than it is coming out only eight months after Resistance 3 met good critical reviews but little consumer interest.


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Google is introducing two new versions of the Google Nexus 7 tablet: one with 32GB of storage, and another with integrated 3G. And as expected, the company is killing of the 8GB model and adjusting prices.
Starting today you can pick up a 16GB Nexus 7 tablet for $199 and a 32GB model for $249 in the US, UK, Australia, Japan, and other countries in Europe. The 4G model will go on sale November 13th for $299.
That’s the price for an unlocked tablet which can be used on any HSPA+ mobile network. Google says that includes 200 GSM providers including AT&T in the US.
The basic specs for Google’s 7 inch tablet haven’t changed. The Asus-built device features an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 1280 x 800 pixel display. Right now the tablets ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, but they should be updated to Android 4.2 soon.


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Psychedelia roisters at Dior Men’s Autumn 2020 show
Reviving psychedelia of '70s surfer style, Dior Men collaborates with Shawn Stussy for an exuberant Autumn 2020 collection.
Daniel Lee is the biggest winner at British Fashion Awards 2019
Creative director at Bottega Veneta, Daniel Lee bags three awards for himself and one for the Italian fashion house.
“Dark Shadows” shrouds Saint Laurent’s Rive Droite
Titled "Dark Shadows", Anthony Vaccarello unites a series of photographs and artworks that reflect Saint Laurent’s aesthetic.


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Looking to enhance the presence of regional products at its 2,800 stores across the country, The Kroger Co. has launched a new website, Kroger.com/WeAreLocal, to encourage local and emerging brands to partner with the company.
“Kroger has always had a commitment to supporting small-business owners and local vendors,” said Mike Donnelly, Kroger’s EVP of merchandising and procurement. “Our business has a track record of successfully blending centralized and decentralized decision making to promote local products while also enjoying economies of scale. Since Kroger’s day one, we have had a longstanding, 365-day-a-year commitment to support and source from local farmers, ranchers, food producers, wineries, breweries and product makers. There are tastes and products that are unique to every region.”
The move demonstrates that Kroger recognizes the importance of carrying local and regional brands that are meaningful to the nearly 9 million customers served in its family of stores daily. Kroger already sources products from thousands of local suppliers.
Local = Sustainable
Kroger’s team of buyers continuously look for opportunities to purchase regionally that allow the company to expand its product portfolio for customers, stimulate the local economy and enhance product freshness. Sourcing locally also supports the company’s sustainability commitments, including Kroger’s Zero Hunger | Zero Waste initiative launched last week.
“Kroger has led the way for over a decade in making local, natural and organic products more affordable and accessible to America -- especially for shoppers on a budget,” Donnelly said. “We’ve always believed that our customers shouldn’t have to pay higher prices just because a product is local, natural or organic. There are a lot of headlines about making local, natural and organic foods more affordable. The truth is, we’ve always been affordable. That’s why we developed our Simple Truth brand, which today is the biggest natural and organic brand in the country by volume.”
Cincinnati-based Kroger operates 2,793 retail food stores under a variety of local banner names in 35 states and Washington, D.C.


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Oracle Increases Offer for PeopleSoft
Published 8:00 pm, Tuesday, June 17, 2003
AP Business Writer
Oracle Corp. increased its offer Wednesday for rival PeopleSoft Inc. by nearly 22 percent to about $6.3 billion, an aggressive effort to push investors to approve a deal that PeopleSoft executives have tried to thwart.
Oracle's sweetened offer is the latest salvo in increasingly bitter competition in the business software niche, which builds computer programs to run giant databases so corporate clients can store customers' credit card and other personal information, process transactions online or compile personnel data on internal Web sites.
Germany's SAP AG dominates the market, followed by Oracle, PeopleSoft and about 3,000 smaller vendors.
Oracle chief financial officer Jeff Henley said management decided to increase its cash offer to $19.50 a share from $16 a share after meetings this week with PeopleSoft's largest shareholders.
"We've received input from a broad range of investors," Henley said in a telephone conference call with analysts and reporters on Wednesday. "Our revised price represents a great value for PeopleSoft shareholders."
Oracle's new offer represents a 13.7 percent premium on PeopleSoft's closing share price Tuesday. Oracle's original offer represented a premium of about 6 percent.
Shares in PeopleSoft rose 78 cents Wednesday, or 4.5 percent, to close at $17.93 each on the Nasdaq Stock Market, while Oracle shares rose 7 cents to close at $13.42.
PeopleSoft issued a statement saying its board of directors would discuss the new offer and make a recommendation "in due course," but urged shareholders to "take no action at this time."
"The board concluded that the original offer dramatically undervalues the company based on its financial performance, continued market leadership and significant future opportunities," the terse statement read.
As PeopleSoft shareholders prepare to vote on the Oracle bid July 7, the company is turning to some of its largest customers for help, running newspaper ads Wednesday in which Toyota Motor and Nextel Communications praise PeopleSoft. Chicago-based Distributors and Manufacturers' User Group, which represents 300 manufacturing companies, urged PeopleSoft's board of directors to reject Oracle's bid.
The biggest impediment to a takeover is a "poison pill" provision PeopleSoft's management could activate. Considered an extreme measure, the anti-takeover defense typically fends off unwelcome suitors by issuing new shares that boost the cost of the deal.
"We've urged shareholders to get the (PeopleSoft) board to face up to the reality that they need to get rid of this pill," Henley said.
Ken Marlin, managing director at New York-based media and technology investment bank Marlin & Associates, said Oracle's latest offer is "quite fair."
"This reaffirms what (Oracle chairman) Larry Ellison has been saying for quite some time _ that his offer is serious," Marlin said. "This offer absolutely makes sense. He had to start his bidding someplace, and from the beginning he was willing to negotiate. The PeopleSoft board of directors now needs to negotiate in good faith."
Pleasanton-based PeopleSoft announced a plan June 2 to acquire Denver-based J.D. Edwards & Co. in a stock swap valued at $1.7 billion. Oracle, based in Redwood Shores, launched its takeover bid four days later, offering $5.1 billion to buy PeopleSoft without J.D. Edwards.
PeopleSoft executives said joining with Oracle would be difficult, if not impossible, because regulators would raise too many questions about how the deal would affect competition in the $20 billion market for business software.
Industry analysts say PeopleSoft executives _ many of whom defected from Oracle _ would bristle under Ellison. Oracle and PeopleSoft have long had an acrimonious relationship, marked by sniping between Ellison and PeopleSoft chief executive Craig Conway, who worked under Ellison from 1985 to 1993.
PeopleSoft filed a lawsuit in state court alleging the bid is a "sham" offer designed to destroy the company. J.D. Edwards also sued Oracle, seeking $1.7 billion, plus unspecified punitive damages, for trying to interfere with its PeopleSoft deal. Oracle said the suit is "frivolous."
Oracle said Wednesday it plans to sue PeopleSoft, its board of directors and J.D. Edwards in Delaware in response to "their collective efforts to eliminate PeopleSoft shareholders' ability to accept Oracle's tender offer."
It's unclear how 5,100 PeopleSoft customers would fare in a takeover. Big clients such as government agencies and Fortune 500 corporations spend hundreds of millions of dollars to install proprietary business software; switching is often a costly morass that consumes organizations' information technology departments for months.
Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland and state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal filed a lawsuit against Oracle on Wednesday to scuttle the takeover. The Republican governor said Connecticut has spent $80 million to upgrade its human resources and payroll systems using PeopleSoft software. If Oracle takes over and discontinues the PeopleSoft product line, it would cost the state tens of millions of dollars.
Henley emphasized that Oracle would not eliminate the PeopleSoft brand but would not offer PeopleSoft products to new clients.
"We intend to support these products for a long time," Henley said. He also noted that PeopleSoft's consulting projects would "naturally wind down" over the next nine to 12 months but that Oracle would "support existing projects."


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NEW YORK -- Shares of Vringo, which buys and licenses patents, jumped more than 16 percent in heavy trading Monday, after the company said it filed a patent infringement lawsuit against ZTE Corp.'s U.K. subsidiary.
THE SPARK: Vringo claims in the lawsuit that ZTE, a Chinese telecommunications equipment maker, infringed on patents used in mobile phones and other devices. The company is asking the U.K. Patents Court to use its powers to stop ZTE's activities as deemed appropriate.
BACKGROUND: On Thursday, a judge for the U.S. federal district court for Norfolk, Va. declined Google Inc.'s request to throw out a separate patent suit that Vringo brought against Google Inc., AOL Inc., IAC/InteractiveCorp, Target Corp. and Gannett Co.
The suit deals with two patents originally belonging to search engine Lycos. Vringo acquired them by buying I/P Engine in July. The patents describe basic search engine functions. Google wanted Vringo's suit thrown out because other, earlier patents cover the same invention.
The trial in that case is set to start Oct. 16.
That ruling sent Vringo's shares to their highest point since the stock's debut two years ago in Thursday trading. The stock retreated on Friday following a new stock offering by the company.
SHARE ACTION: Vringo Inc.'s shares climbed 76 cents, or 016.8 percent, to $5.30 in afternoon trading. The volatile stock has traded in a 52-week range of 68 cents to $5.55. Vringo went public in July 2010.


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By Jenny Wagner
Beaver County Times, Pa.
It might be hard for some people to think of red beets as a treat, but by combining them with organic cacao, sweet strawberries and other ingredients in a cold-pressed juice, Meg Grimes is hoping she can change their minds.
That particular juice, a deep reddish pink one, is known as “Bloody Valentine,” and is one of Grimes’ favorite recipes.
“I think it tastes like a chocolate-covered strawberry,” she said.
The 26-year-old owner and operator of Herban Touch Juice Lab has been making and selling juices at a few local businesses since May. But on Tuesday, she will open the doors to the new home of Herban Touch at 439 Third St. in Beaver, located on the second floor of the rear entrance.
Grimes, a Beaver County native, started juicing fruits and vegetables for herself at home about five years ago to get more nutrient density in her diet. About three years ago, she got a better cold-press juicer as a Christmas gift and immediately noticed benefits such as clearer skin and more energy, she said.
“I feel like a lot of our farming techniques in the U.S. now just suck all of the nutrients out of our food,” Grimes said. “I truly believe that we can get everything we need from our food if we know how to process it, which is why I think juicing is such a great thing because you can get all of the nutrients that you should be able to get from lesser produce, from say, another country, or without pesticides.”
While juicing has become increasingly popular in recent years, Grimes said it’s much easier to have someone do it for you.
“It’s kind of my whole business model. I started it because I was juicing for myself and I was like, it’s kind of a pain in the butt to do it for one person, and it’s not much more of a pain in the butt to do it for 300,” she said. “It takes more time but it’s pretty much the same amount of mess.”
Still, one of Grimes’ biggest challenges in business so far — aside from getting people to take her seriously as a young entrepreneur — is getting people to try juices.
“People definitely have an aversion to it,” she said.
Grimes tries to balance the juices that contain vegetables with fruits and natural sweeteners such as honey and agave.
“You can do something good for your body and still feel like you’re getting a treat. It doesn’t have to be a brownie, but you don’t have to feel like you’re drinking a salad either.”
Another juice staple for Herban Touch, “Chlorophyll,” contains about a quarter pound of spinach in each bottle. But four to five apples and lemongrass essential oil mask the spinach taste, Grimes explained.
Coming up with recipes is always a trial-and-error process, but Grimes said she plans to change up the menu every few months to keep up with seasonal produce. All the greens used in the juices are organic, Grimes said, and they buy local as much as possible.
“A lot of the time it’s the (recipes) that I think are going to be amazing that are disgusting,” she said of some recipe ideas.
Herban Touch will offer more than just juice, though, including a variety of fresh salads and homemade dressings, smoothies, immunity shots and hummus made by employee and “hummus master” Jade Cageao.
“She makes the best hummus in the world,” Grimes said.
Grimes also works at Free Spirit Acupuncture and Wellness Center, which is located next door to Herban Touch. She wasn’t planning to open a brick-and-mortar business just yet, she said, but when the space came available she couldn’t pass it up. About half of the space will be shared with a new studio for Alyssa Florentine Photography.
The building, together with Sangha Center for Yoga and Wellness on the third floor, has become a wellness center in town, Grimes said.
Grimes said her goal is to bring health to the community in a fun and creative way.
“I want people to know that healthy food doesn’t have to be disgusting, it can actually taste good, too,” she said.
It’s also fast, she noted.
“The thing that we’re kind of trying to establish is that health doesn’t have to be inconvenient,” Grimes said. “Fast food can be raw food.”


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Hundred vape shops invaded by Police in Malaysia and many E-Liquid confiscated
Hundreds of vape shops in Malaysia invaded by the police. It was on Monday. They confiscate all the e-liquid with nicotine. Not only the e-liquid with nicotine been confiscated, but they also confiscate the wholesale purchases records. The assault was conducted simultaneously. They begin their operation at 3:00 am.
Even though, the story not clear, it is said that the raid operation was carried out by the Southeast Asian country’s Pharmaceutical Services and free from the Ministry of Health Malaysia. All these info and details were from MOVE Malaysia which is an advocacy group. One of the members that gave the detail is a member of the International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organizations (INNCO), Judy Gibson. Referring to Gibson, the operation was well implemented by the Pharmaceutical Services because they have done the raid together with police officers and seize the entire single vape shop.
The authorities also forced worker of the vape shop to give all the receipts of products and information about wholesale suppliers to them. MOVE has contacted the vape shop members and reported that they were invaded. Then, they believe next the government will raid the wholesaler.
There will be three agencies that will be responsible for regulating the vaping products. The e-liquid that contains nicotine will be under The Sale of Drugs Act and the Poisons Act, which is regulated by the Ministry of Health. This operation is not the first time for the Malaysian authorities done the mass invade on vape shops.


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In a makeshift classroom with a red banner reading “University for Seniors” hanging from the ceiling, Ban Ruping tapped on her iPhone and carefully followed the teacher’s instructions. “Now, choose the express service and put Tiananmen in the destination slot,” a woman’s soft voice filled the classroom. “But don’t press the ‘request a ride’ button yet,” the teacher added. The class was learning how to use Didi, China’s most popular ride-hailing app.
Using her right index finger, the 71-year-old Beijing pensioner slowly typed in the name of the capital’s famous landmark. Occasionally, when the teacher spoke, she put down her smartphone and jotted down a few lines in a notebook. She was taking notes of how to access and use various functions of the apps on her phone—ride-hailing, food delivery, instant messaging, and mobile payments, among others.
People in Ban’s generation are sometimes referred to as “digital refugees,” a term that describes elderly people who find it hard to adapt to rapid technological changes that may seem like afterthoughts for younger people. But as many pensioners are adopting smartphones, tech companies are increasingly targeting them as a new source for revenue.
Ban is a student of a free smartphone training class provided by Kuaile Bama (Happy Mom and Dad), a Beijing-based NGO dedicated to promoting smartphone usage among senior citizens. She and roughly three dozen retired colleagues from her work unit meet up every Wednesday morning for a two-hour session that she described as “fun” and “practical.”
She knows firsthand how difficult life can be without basic digital skills nowadays. In this case, being left out is not merely an inconvenience; there can be serious consequences. Last year, she had trouble getting a taxi to drive her ill mother-in-law to the hospital. “It’s frustrating sometimes, when you are in a rush, and you see vacant taxis driving by without stopping. It’s not because they refuse to take you—it’s because they are all booked by others on their ride-hailing apps,” she said.
“We can’t live without them [smartphones] in the future . . . many places selling breakfast now post QR codes and they prefer mobile payments like WeChat Pay, so we have to learn about it,” Ban said.
Another pensioner, Wang Youhua, also acknowledges the importance of smartphones and why he needs to know how to use his. He regularly chats with his family and friends, and checks on updates about his grandchildren with Tencent’s ubiquitous instant messaging app WeChat. Beyond the practical aspects, his smartphone also gives him a sense of empowerment and independence: “After learning how to use smartphones, booking taxis became much easier for us old people, and we don’t need to ask others for help anymore,” said the 70-year-old retired scientist.
But for most retirees, they aren’t equipped to enjoy the convenience that can be available at their fingertips. Only 6.9% of China’s 854 million internet users—less than 60 million—are over 60 years old, according to a report released by the China Internet Network Information Center. That means more than three-quarters of people in China who are over 60 years old are not online. By comparison, a recent Pew survey found that 73% of the US’s pensioners are internet users.
Technical barriers, high price tags for gadgets and internet access, and poor eyesight are often cited to explain why Chinese pensioners are reluctant to go online. But the lack of learning opportunities and social support also makes connecting to the internet a distant goal, according to Gao Wenjun, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. That was one of the findings from a nationwide survey she conducted with her colleagues in 2017.
“Many old people are willing to learn about how to use the internet, but there’s no one around to teach them. Their children are busy and usually don’t have the time or patience,” she said.
Scary tales of internet scams or security risks further deter elderly individuals from adopting smartphones, Kuaile Bama founder Li Xuehua told KrASIA. “All they see are risks, and hence they don’t dare to try it,” he said.
But insufficient tech skills prevent seniors from enjoying retired life, Li said. “If you take a bus and go all the way to a different district to buy notebooks for your grandchildren, or spend a lot of time waiting in the bank just to check the balance, of course, you would feel busy and exhausted all day,” he added.
Determined to help the older generation adapt to the changes in consumer technology, Li began to offer free classes to his elderly neighbors in 2015, teaching them how to use various functions on their smartphones to save time when running simple errands. His classes were warmly received. A few months later, he established an NGO dedicated to helping pensioners with using the internet and smartphones.
Li’s classes are free, but he sees them as more than just charity work—he is building the basis for a new market. “Somebody has to do something to educate the silver-haired market,” he said. Once elders learn how to use smartphones and mobile payments, it is easier to introduce them to e-commerce and other online services. Li sees smartphone literacy as important abstract infrastructure for an emerging silver economy against the backdrop of a rapidly aging population.
A demographic time bomb is ticking in the world’s second-largest economy. The relaxation of the rigid one-child policy four years ago has failed to buoy birth rates yet, and the population is aging quickly. China now has 249 million senior citizens aged 60 or above, and this age group represents 17.9% of the country’s total population. By 2050, China is expected to have 587 million people over 60 years of age—or about one-third of the people living in the country.
Growing along with the aging population is the country’s silver economy, which covers services for those over 60 years old. The transaction volume in China’s silver economy exceeded RMB 3.7 trillion last year—that’s roughly RMB 15,000 per head—and will reach RMB 5.7 trillion by 2021, according to iiMedia Research.
“For many big companies, this is a market that they cannot afford to lose,” said Duan Mingjie, founder of the Beijing-based consultancy AgeClub.
Old Money, New Revenues
In the past few years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of internet users who are over the age of 60. Penguin Intelligence, a think tank affiliated with Tencent, listed the growth of senior internet users as one of the most notable trends in the next few years in a report published last December. Senior internet users, according to the think tank, could be “the biggest source of dividends” in the future.
Consequently, big tech and startups are waking up to the trend and starting to provide services that are tailored to the demands of this age group, Duan said. AgeClub does consultancy work for businesses that wish to break into the silver market, and since the beginning of this year, he has seen a surge of interest in their services from prospective entrepreneurs.
Tencent, whose instant messaging app WeChat is indispensable in China, has quietly been building its portfolio to meet the needs of elderly users. In April, Tencent participated in the Series C funding round of Tangdou, a square dance community app that hosts dance tutorial videos hugely popular among dancing grannies, becoming one of the firm’s new investors. It is also understood that the tech behemoth has also invested in Xiaoniangao, a popular app that many elderly users use to transform their photos into photo books and videos.
Other companies are also making moves to tap the silver market.
Take e-commerce as an example. Statistics from QuestMobile show that the time older users spend on online shopping has increased by 27.4% from 314 minutes in December 2017 to 400 minutes in December 2018. And while the majority, 63.6% of these older users, are still spending less than RMB 200 on online purchases each year, more than 10% of elderly online shoppers are spending more than RMB 1,000 annually. JD.com, one of China’s largest e-commerce platforms, found that in the first three quarters of 2017, individual older users were spending more than twice as much as an average user on their platform.
Alibaba’s Taobao, the top dog of China’s consumer e-commerce industry, found that roughly 50 million phone numbers listed as delivery recipients appeared on their transaction records in January 2018 had not yet registered on their platform. In order to pursue these potential new users, many of whom are over 60 years old, Alibaba launched a special version of its Taobao with a simpler interface design and bigger fonts last February.
Perhaps most unexpectedly of all, Douyin, the domestic version of ByteDance’s short-video app TikTok that is mega-popular with millennials and Generation Z, is also experiencing explosive growth among older users. Its number of elderly daily active users has grown nearly sevenfold from around 3 million last September to more than 21 million this year, AgeClub’s Duan told KrASIA. Responding to the influx of older users, Douyin and its rival Kuaishou are both enticing older online celebrities to set up channels on their platforms.
“It’s the choice of the market,” Duan said, explaining why big tech is now eager to woo pensioners, a demographic group they have long overlooked. “It’s a big cake.”


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Tuesday’s Apple shares closed above 100$. This beats the company’s last record high, which was almost two years ago. Investors are eagerly expecting the launch of Apple’s new products, including the wearable watch and iPhone 6 models.
The company touched 100.68$ in mid-afternoon trading, but it closed at 100.53$. The previous record high, from June’s seven-for-one stock split in September 2012 only reached 100.30$.
According to Analysts, this growth marks an endorsement for Tim Cook, Apple’s chief as well as his growing team of executives (example: Angela Ahrendts, former Burberry boss and new retail head). Others believe that the momentum was fueled by opportunist traders who are expecting Apple’s new slate of products (which, according to Eddie Cue, is the best in 2012).
While the new record high is reason for celebration for the company it is also known that stocks usually rise before a new product is on sale, and fall after it was released. In 2012, investors were concerned over whether or not the company had what it takes to repeat the success of its tablet, smartphone and music players after the passing of co-founder Steve Jobs.
Even if the US and Western Europe markets have almost reached smartphone saturation, Apple can work with fast-growing markets such as China.
“A big push by US operators for the new iPhone next month and the anticipation of new products should further propel Apple’s stock.” – Walter Piecyk, analyst at BTIG Research
Carl Icahn, who has also bought a stake in Apple in October, bragged about his profits on Tuesday:
“Belueved &AAPL to be one of my no-brainers (…) Anyone that invested at that time would be up 53% (including dividents).” – Carl Icahn
Cark Icahn was also forced to scale back his demands for a larger share buyback after he tried to pressure Mr. Cook and the board. It seems that Tuesday’s rally was fueled by an aggressive note from Morgan Stanley, who set a price target of 110$.
“Low institutional ownership, increased cash return, stronger/broader management team, increased M&A and R&D stabilizing margins, and higher contribution from services all provide a better set-up than in 2012.” – Morgan Stanley analyst: Katy Huberty
According to the analyst, Apple’s forthcoming wearable device may see 60 million shipments only in its first year. It may also have gross margins of 40 per cent, which is better than other devices like the iPad mini.
“Even after the recent move in the stock, the top 100 institutional owners of shares hold a 2.3 per cent position in their portfolios on average, as compared to 4.5 per cent at the prior peak in 2012”
Although estimates vary widely, most believe that the new iPhone wearable accessory, which will be offering some type of fitness-tracking capabilities, will be made available by the end of the year. Two new iPhones (with a larger screen, thinner casings and hopefully sapphire screens will also be unveiled later this September.


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NEVS has signed a strategic framework agreement with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) to secure the battery supply for NEVS 9-3 EV in the Chinese market.
CATL is a Chinese leading energy storage solution provider and one of the largest lithium-ion battery manufacturers for plug-in vehicles headquartered in Ningde, Fujian. The company was one of the first nine battery suppliers that fulfills the domestic industrial standards and the government’s requirement for EV subsidies.
“CATL’s supply capacity and proven technology will allow us to shorten the lead time to the market, fulfilling both our demand in quantity and quality. Their local experience and network will eventually benefit NEVS’ own customers in the Chinese market. ” says Kai Johan Jiang, Chairman of NEVS.
NEVS received a total order of 250,000 EVs from Panda New Energy, an EV leasing company based in Beijing.
Through NEVS 50% owned factory in Fujian, the first patch of 100,000 electric commercial vehicles have started to be delivered. The rest of 150,000 9-3 EV are scheduled to roll out from NEVS JV plant in Tianjin in 2018.


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Famed actor Mark Wahlberg is known for his many roles, one of which is playing as Cade Yeager in the fourth and fifth installment Transformers film series. In the film, Wahlberg gets to ride Bumblebee, a Chevrolet Camaro. In real life, Wahlberg gets to sell not just a Camaro, but other Chevrolet vehicles in his new car dealership business.
According to a report by The Detroit News, Wahlberg has announced that he is opening a car dealership – his very first -- Columbus, Ohio. Wahlberg’s car dealership is a result of partnership inked with seasoned car dealer, Jay Feldman. A businessman in his own right, Feldman is an owner of not just one, but eight Chevrolet dealerships across southeast and mid-Michigan. The report says that Wahlberg and Feldman have been friends for years now, and are partners in Wahlburgers restaurants in Cleveland and Georgia.
It is easy pretty much easy to locate Wahlberg’s new car dealership in Columbus. After all, the dealership bears his name -- Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet, and it is located in a former Chevrolet dealership the duo has bought in 3900 W. Broad St., Columbus. Interestingly, the Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet dealership will feature the same “W” logo that has come to distinguish his Wahlburger chains. These burger chains are found in a number of locations in the United States, like in Palo Alto, California and in Orlando, Florida. A Wahlburger can also be farther north, in Toronto Canada.
As for the reason why Wahlberg entered the business of dealing cars, he said in a statement that he is continuously seeking ways to innovate his brand as well as engage in businesses he is passionate about. He confessed that he is a car-lover, adding that representing an iconic brand like Chevrolet has inspired him to open his own car dealership.
Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet is the result a recent purchase by Wahlberg and Feldman of the Bobby Layman Chevrolet in Columbus. Nonetheless, this won’t be the only car dealership bearing Wahlberg’s name. According to Feldman, he and Wahlberg are already looking for second location for Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet. However, it remains unclear whether the duo would stay in Ohio or expand in other locations in the US.
Aside from dealing cars (Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet) and selling burgers (Wahlburgers), Wahlberg also has equity interest in a cricket sports team (Barbados Tridents); has a health and wellness business (Performance Inspired); and is partner with Sean “Diddy” Combs on a beverage line (AquaHydrate). He also produces films, aside from acting in them.


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MINNEAPOLIS, MN--(Marketwired - Apr 3, 2013) - April 22, 2013, is the 43rd anniversary of Earth Day -- a global event that raises awareness about the importance of conserving, respecting and protecting the Earth's natural resources. Play It Again Sports, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, is proud of its ongoing contribution to the principles of Earth Day -- principles that are the driving force behind the sporting goods reseller's business.
In 2012 alone, local Play It Again Sports stores purchased more than 1.55 million items of used sports and fitness gear, clothing and equipment -- items that didn't go into local landfills and didn't contribute to hazardous waste problems or the continued use of valuable raw materials related to the manufacturing of new items. Included in the 1.55 million items purchased were sports gear such as baseball, soccer, hockey, lacrosse and football equipment; exercise equipment such as motorized treadmills, elliptical machines, benches, exercise bikes and free weights; and outdoor activity gear such as golf clubs and accessories, bicycles, snow sports equipment and yard games.
As a result, local Play It Again Sports stores also put more than $30 million into the pockets of families who brought in their quality used sports gear to sell. Many of these families then turned around and spent those dollars to make sports programs more affordable for their children by buying valued-priced new equipment or gently used sporting goods brought in to the store by other families -- with the peace of mind that comes with knowing that everything that Play It Again Sports stores buy and sell must meet current safety regulations.
Pat Quinn, brand director of Play It Again Sports says, "This is recycling at its best. Usable items are returned to the community, rather than being discarded. Families can keep their children involved in sports without breaking the budget. And individuals who want to turn quality used sports and exercise equipment into cash can do that, too. In the end, the environment, the community and the children all benefit from what we do -- and that's a very satisfying business to be in."
For more information about Play It Again Sports, visit www.playitagainsports.com.
Play It Again Sports®
Play It Again Sports® leads the nation in the buying and selling of quality used sports and fitness equipment. There are over 300 franchised stores in the United States and Canada. Play It Again Sports buys, sells, and trades quality used and new brand name sports & fitness equipment. Play It Again Sports is franchised by Winmark Corporation, which also franchises Once Upon A Child®, Plato's Closet®, and Music Go Round®. For more information visit www.playitagainsports.com.
Winmark Corporation, based in Minneapolis, creates, supports and finances business. Specializing in leasing and developing franchises for retail stores that buy, sell, and trade new and used merchandise, it is the parent company of Play It Again Sports®, Once Upon A Child®, Plato's Closet®, Music Go Round®, Style Encore™, Wirth Business Credit®, Winmark Capital® and www.WBSOnline.com. Winmark has more than 965 franchise territories and is publicly traded at (NASDAQ: WINA). For more information visit www.winmarkcorporation.com.


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Austin based Lick Honest Ice Cream has announced plans to open up their second San Antonio location in January 2020. The artisanal ice cream parlor will be located at the historic Smith House (623 Hemisfair Blvd.) in Hemisfair according to the company’s co-founders in the announcement on Tuesday.
Lick’s newest San Antonio location will feature the fresh variety of flavors made with ingredients from all over the Lone Star state.
Lick’s first location opened in 2014 and is located at 312 Pearl Parkway inside the Historic Pearl.


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Steam Deck will launch on February 25, with shipping starting from February 28, Valve Corporation has announced. The US-based company said that it will start sending the first batch of order emails to reservation holders of the portable handheld gaming PC on February 25. Valve co-founder and Managing Director Gabe Newell had teased the device in May last year, and said that the device will be available for purchase in December, but it instead went up for reservations at that time. The handheld gaming device will go against Nintendo Switch and will have the vast game library of Steam.
In a post on the Steam store, Valve announced that it will start sending invites shortly after 10am PST on February 25 (11:30pm IST) in the same order that reservations were made. Those who reserved a device will have 3 days (72 hours) from receipt of their order email to complete the purchase of the Steam Deck. In case they don't do it, the invite will be passed onto the next person in the waiting list.
The company also clarifies that people can only order the Steam Deck model that they originally reserved, and their reservation amount will be adjusted in the final price of the Steam Deck model they reserved. The shipping costs will be included in the total amount. "We plan to release new order email batches on a weekly cadence," the post said. Furthermore, those who wish to reserve the device now, can do it by visiting the Steam Deck website.
The Steam Deck handheld gaming device was unveiled in July last year, and it was supposed to ship in December 2021. However, just like other OEM and conglomerates, Valve was also hit with the global chip shortage issue and had to postpone the shipment for two months.
Steam Deck price, availability
Steam Deck is priced at $399 (roughly Rs. 30,000) for the 64GB eMMC internal storage option, $529 (roughly Rs. 39,700) for the 256GB NVMe SSD internal storage model, and $649 (roughly Rs. 48,700) for the 512GB NVMe SSD model. It will be available for purchase in the US, Canada, European Union, and the UK in Black colour option.
Steam Deck specifications, features
Steam Deck runs on Arch Linux-based SteamOS 3.0 optimised for a handheld experience. It features a 7-inch LCD display with 1,280x800 pixels resolution, a 16:10 aspect ratio, a 60Hz refresh rate, and 400 nits of peak brightness. The Steam Deck is equipped with an AMD APU that includes a Zen 2 based CPU and a GPU with 8 RDNA 2 compute units (CUs).
There is a D-Pad, two analogue sticks, A B X Y buttons, bumpers, triggers, two trackpads, and four assignable buttons on the back. For connectivity, the Steam Deck has dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5, a 3.5mm stereo headphone combo jack, and a USB Type-C port that can be used to output the display on a TV or monitor. It is touch enabled and has an ambient light sensor as well. It is claimed to deliver between two to eight hours of gameplay on a single charge.
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Friends of the Library Holding Book Sale at the Knoxville Public Library
Posted: Friday, April 21st, 2017 at 8:16 am
Author: KNIA/KRLS News - Nathan Sage
The Knoxville Public Library, Friends of the Library are currently holding a book sale at the library.
The sale will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday. On Saturday books will be just $5 a bag with all proceeds benefiting the Knoxville Public Library.


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Scott Taylor for KC Mayor opens campaign headquarters
City Councilman Scott Taylor has been an integral part in getting the Red Bridge Shopping Center redeveloped. After months of watching restaurants and new businesses move into the center, he will now reap the benefits of being a tenant as well.
The Taylor for KC Mayor campaign has opened its campaign headquarters at the Red Bridge Shopping Center (519 E. Red Bridge Road). It is located in the revitalized Red Bridge Shopping Center. The space is located next to Caleb’s breakfast in what was once Young’s Deli.
Councilman Scott Taylor who will be listed first on the ballot for Mayor on April 2nd said, “we worked together as a community to revitalize this neighborhood shopping center and bring a family destination back to life. When we work together in Kansas City and collaborate, great things happen.”
The Red Bridge Shopping Center was in serious decline before Taylor worked with neighborhood leaders and the small business community to revitalize a shopping center that was over 50 percent vacant just a few years ago. Since then, Blue Moose restaurant has opened, Crows Coffee shop, Euston Hardware store, Caleb’s breakfast and Brookside Barrio Mexican restaurant will be open in March. The Mid-Continent library is expanding and doubling its space into a modern library in the old bowling alley. The Wonderscope state of the art Children’s Museum will be built in 2019 also.
1 thought on “Taylor opens campaign headquarters in Red Bridge”
Taxpayers are paying 85% of the purchase, “sprucing up” and maintenance of the Red Bridge Shopping Center. Councilman Taylor also directed $500K in PIAC funds to Lane4, owner of the shopping center, money that wasn’t spent improving our neighborhood streets or sidewalks.
The promotional piece goes on to state that, “The Mid-Continent library is expanding and doubling its space. ” .That is a factually incorrect statement, to put it mildly. At most the sq. ft. Will increase by 20%, the same amount as the intended expansion on the existing site. The only difference is, now the Mid Continent Public Library will pay monthly rent to Lane4, whereas the library owns its current location. The resulting loss of funds means less services and fewer new books.


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Yoga Yoga Everywhere
Big changes coming to local donation-based yoga studio Black Swan
If you're a fan of donation-based Black Swan Yoga, expect to see some changes to the studio over the next few months. Onnit, an Austin-based lifestyle and fitness company, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired the beloved studio with hopes to expand its unique, community-oriented practice.
According to a press release, Onnit does not plan to change the structure of the studio, which offers yoga classes based on a donation model. Instead it will add additional fitness classes, supplements and food, and athletic apparel.
"The goal of this acquisition is not to change Black Swan Yoga," said Onnit CEO Aubrey Marcus in a press release. "The goal is to support it with what we do best at Onnit, and bring it to a bigger stage."
In addition to infusing Black Swan studios with Onnit gear, the yoga shop will also play host to Onnit fitness classes. The method, which was developed by Marcus here in Austin, incorporates "unconventional fitness tools and methodologies, incorporating kettlebells, sandbags, maces, steel clubs and more" into the training. (The studio already has "BSY Fit" which is a boot camp-style class followed by a 15-minute yoga practice.) Black Swan classes will also be taught at Onnit's Academy Gym, which is set to open in South Austin later this month.
Black Swan's founder and president Michael Grey hinted that this partnership could mean even bigger things for the studio, which currently has its own online channel along with four locations in Austin and one in Houston.
"We believe that there is more to life than just yoga and if anything yoga only helps make everything in life that much better," Grey said. "The team at Onnit have built an amazing foundation for the teachers at Black Swan to succeed and share this practice with the people of this amazing planet."


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Bill Ackman Vs. Herbalife: The Saga Continues...
The battle between Bill Ackman and Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF), quite unbelievably, is still as heated as it ever was. For those unfamiliar with the story, Ackman is the hedge fund manager who famously (and publicly) bet $1 billion against the multi-level marketing company back in December 2012, and called it a "pyramid scheme."
In The Beginning...
At the time, Ackman said he wouldn't be covering his short position until the stock went to $0. While this seemed like hyperbole, it clearly wasn't, as his firm, Pershing Square Capital, has maintained its short position for all of these years, despite annual carrying costs of around $100 million and the fact that 10 percent of the fund's capital has been tied up in this position since late 2012.
In what has become typical of Bill Ackman, an investor who is not known for his modesty or for keeping a low profile, the hedge fund manager unveiled his short thesis at an event billed as the "Inaugural Sohn Conference Special Event."
The public way Ackman went about attacking Herbalife certainly helped him in the near term, as the stock cratered for days after the presentation. In the longer term, however, it could be argued it was a mistake driven by Ackman's ego, as other prominent investors such as Dan Loeb and Carl Icahn went long the stock in an effort to squeeze Pershing Square.
In fact, Herbalife hit a multi-year low on record volume in December 2012, in the wake of Ackman's accusations. On December 21, 2012, Herbalife shares closed at $27.27 after trading in the high- to mid-$40 range before Ackman's position became public.
Within weeks, however, the stock had recouped most of its losses and then subsequently soared throughout 2013, hitting a high above $80 by January 2014. At this point, Pershing Square had racked up massive losses on its short position and things looked quite bleak for Ackman. Nevertheless, in the ensuing years, Herbalife has pulled back and the stock has traded between $30 and $60 since the beginning of 2015.
The backstory is interesting to say the least, and things got more interesting last Friday when the FTC announced a resolution to an investigation of the nutritional supplement company that began in March 2014. Although the details of the settlement are quite damaging to Herbalife, or at the very least, the language used by the FTC is damning, it can't be viewed as a victory for Pershing Square, as Herbalife's share price actually jumped more than 20 percent on the news.
According to sources, Ackman is sitting on a $500 million loss and, not surprisingly, he came out firing on Wednesday. First, however, it's important to outline all of the FTC's findings and the company's financial settlement with the agency. In the agency's complaint, which was filed on Friday in Los Angeles Federal Court, the FTC accused Herbalife of misrepresenting the true nature of its business. Rather than being a wholesaler of nutritional supplements, the FTC said Herbalife is really in the business of selling "business opportunities" to distributors.
Furthermore, Herbalife has consistently and grossly exaggerated the financial rewards of this distributorship business opportunity. In so many words, the agency called the Herbalife opportunity a rip-off, stating, "Consumers have suffered and will continue to suffer substantial monetary loss as a result of [Herbalife's] violations of Section 5(a) of the FTC Act" (which refers to "unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce). All of these findings are consistent with Ackman's short thesis.
The FTC also made it very clear it believes the key to the company's business is its ability to expand its distributor base, which drives growth in wholesale sales to these distributors. In order to continue adding distributors, who buy nutritional supplements directly from the company, Herbalife used highly misleading promotional practices that emphasized the potential for huge financial rewards.
For example, the FTC said that the company's marketing materials featured "pictures of big houses, fancy cars, cash, and boats." The reality, however, was much different as most distributors actually lost money while attempting to get their business off the ground. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, of the 680,000 Herbalife distributors in 2014, only 205 or 0.03 percent earned more than $600,000.
The other indictment of the company that the FTC complaint reaffirmed is that the vast majority of its sales are a direct result of its aggressive and misleading "business opportunity" pitch. The agency said that more than 75 percent of the company's products are purchased by people pursuing the distributorship opportunity and not by consumers that are becoming distributors only to get discounted products, as the company has claimed.
So, on the one hand, the FTC settlement clearly establishes that Herbalife is a multi-level marketing company whose financial success is predicated on an ever-expanding distributor base and not retail sales to end consumers. On the other, however, the settlement almost reaffirms the company's business model because it doesn't accuse Herbalife of operating a pyramid scheme and it outlines changes that the company needs to make to avoid further trouble.
Significantly, while the FTC findings more or less affirm Ackman's long-running accusations, the hedge fund manager is still getting crushed on his short position and Herbalife will not be shut down anytime soon. In fact, the sanctions brought against the company could be described as a slap on the wrist. Under the settlement agreement, Herbalife will have to pay a $200 million fine and make changes to its business practices. The $200 million is a pittance to a company with a $6 billion market capitalization and that is expected to record $4.62 billion in sales this year.
Also, the changes outlined in the settlement, while potentially damaging, offer a clear path for Herbalife to avoid further regulatory scrutiny. Furthermore, the FTC agreement only applies to Herbalife's operations in the United States, which account for a mere 20 percent of its sales. Going forward, Herbalife will need to make changes to its compensation plan, track retail sales to end consumers, and change distributor incentives that reward people for recruiting a downline. In addition, promotional activity meant to expand the distributorship base that relies on representations of lucrative financial rewards and a lavish lifestyle will be prohibited.
"Herbalife is going to have to start operating legitimately," FTC Chair Edith Ramirez said Friday, "making only truthful claims about how much money its members are likely to make, and it will have to compensate consumers for the losses they have suffered as a result of what we charge are unfair and deceptive practices." CEO Michael Johnson said the settlement is "an acknowledgement that our business model is sound." Obviously, Ackman had a decidedly different take on the FTC resolution.
While the complaint vindicates many of the Pershing Square chief's accusations, his commentary on Wednesday was a little bizarre. The investor accused Herbalife's largest shareholder, Carl Icahn, along with the company management of stock manipulation. He cited the comments from Johnson about the settlement affirming the company's business model is sound, along with a statement released by Icahn which declared the FTC "concluded that Herbalife is not a pyramid scheme." The FTC later described Icahn's statement as being "inaccurate," saying that "they were not determined not to be a pyramid."
"You have the CEO of a public company and a controlling shareholder misleading the public and you can see the impact—the 22 percent rise in the stock price on the public being misled," Ackman said on Pershing Square's quarterly conference call Wednesday. "They're trying to manipulate the stock price higher."
He also decreed that the SEC would likely investigate Icahn and the company for stock manipulation.
The investor then took things even further by saying, "Herbalife actually has been shut down by the FTC, they just haven't realized it yet." His reasoning? He contends that Herbalife knew it would be shut down if the FTC sued them for being a "pyramid scheme." Rather than have this fate happen, according to Ackman, Herbalife negotiated a settlement with the harshest possible findings, but that didn't include references to the company being a "pyramid scheme."
For its part, Herbalife was quick to respond to this convoluted logic, which seems to suggest that the FTC ruling will eventually drive the company out of business.
"After more than two years of working with the FTC, I think we understand the terms of the settlement agreement very well. We would not have settled unless we had the greatest confidence in our ability to comply with the agreement and grow our business and we believe this will be proven out over time."
Pershing Square remains short Herbalife stock, although it seems as if Ackman has finally backed off of his assertion that the government will come to his rescue any day now and just up and shut the $6 billion company down. He told Pershing Square investors during Wednesday's conference call, "We're short the stock, not for emotion, not for anything else other than we believe this is a massively overvalued company. We believe a fraudulent business will not survive."
Although Ackman may be proven correct some day, the market continues to tell a different story.
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© 2017 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.


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General Motors has announced that Sumito Ishii has been appointed to the position of President, CEO and Managing Director of GM Vietnam. The appointment is effective August 1st, 2016.
Before joining GM in 1996, Ishii worked for Toyota Motor in the role of supporting agencies and launching new products. From 1998 to 2003, he was responsible for new product development programs at GM North America and implementing projects on strategic alliances with other automobile manufacturers.
In 2003, Ishii returned to Japan, where he held senior positions at General Motors including his current post as GM Japan’s managing director. In that post, he is being succeeded by Kaku Wakamatsu.
Stefan Jacoby, GM executive vice president and president of GM International, stated that Ishii’s insights in products and vast experience in the largest international automobile markets will help GM Vietnam grow further.
In his new post, Ishii succeeds Wail Farghaly, who will take over for Marcos Purty as managing director of General Motors Thailand and Chevrolet Sales Thailand, which is headquartered in Bangkok. Meanwhile, Purty is moving on to head GM’s Lansing Delta Township plant in Michigan.


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INDIA: Tata Motors net profit halves
Tata Motors on Friday said its fiscal year net profit dropped by more than half as the global slowdown cut demand for trucks and cars.
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Ginger Deli's Window Closes, Shake Shack on the Horizon
In the Works: May 2019
From the May, 2019 issue
In Marketplace news we missed last fall, Ginger Deli closed its walk-up window at Liberty and Division. Owner Te Phan could not be reached for comment, but a post on the Vietnamese joint's Facebook page cited the difficulty of maintaining an outdoor window year-round. According to the page, they're continuing to search for a local indoor location with seating for customers.
Shake Shack, the popular NYC-based burger chain, is coming to Ann Arbor in the fall. The fast-casual chain is famous for its selection of milkshakes, frozen custards, and "ShackBurgers." Founded by celebrity chef Danny Meyer in 2004, Shake Shack went public in 2014 and has more than 200 locations around the world.
Shake Shack will take up residence near Zola Bistro and Bigalora in the Arbor Hills shopping center on Washtenaw. That news left one east-sider asking, "How does anyone expect to park there on weekends now?"
[Originally published in May, 2019.]
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Liquid Nutrition Group Inc. is pleased to announce the opening of a new location in downtown Toronto. The new store, located at 145 King St. West, marks the first store opening in Toronto.
“The Toronto store opening is an important milestone for everyone involved with Liquid Nutrition,” says Glenn Young, president and CEO of Liquid Nutrition Group. “With over 70 franchises sold in the past year, Liquid Nutrition is poised for rapid growth. This is the first of many new store openings Team Liquid will be celebrating in 2012.”
Young is confident the major markets in Canada will be sold out in the next few weeks and Liquid Nutrition is on schedule to open a minimum of 20 stores across North America by the end of 2012.
Liquid Nutrition stores scheduled to open in the summer of 2012:
Partner Robert Catenacci purchased the master franchisee license for Toronto and plans to open up to 10 locations in Toronto.
“The feedback from consumers during the first couple days of operations has been tremendous. There is a stronger than expected brand awareness among consumers who have seen the brand in Quebec,” says Catenacci from his Liquid Nutrition store in the heart of Canada’s financial district.
“Many of our initial customers work in the financial services industry and maintain demanding work hours. Liquid Nutrition provides a healthy option for people constantly on the go.”
Franchise opportunities are still available in select Canadian, American, and global marketplaces.
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