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This article was initially published on April 14, 2021. Not financial advice.
Coinbase stock has finally gone public. Its IPO (Initial Public Offering) happened today. This comes after months of talking and preparation for this momentous event.
On January 28, 2021, Fortune announced that leading United States cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase wanted to allow the public to buy shares in itself through a ‘direct listing’ on the stock market. A direct listing is when a company does not issue any new shares of stock. They just allow those shares to be traded by anyone. So, for it to work, current investors need to be willing to sell some of their shares and in that way start trading.
Trading did not begin until 1:25 PM EDT. Most likely, that is not because trading was enabled at that exact time. The Nasdaq probably started to allow trading at market open. The unconventional start time was more likely because a random investor decided to sell stock that they already owned at 1:25, which jump-started trading.
The listing company that Coinbase went with was the US company Nasdaq. Nasdaq runs a giant stock exchange and lists companies whose combined valuation is over ten trillion dollars. The Nasdaq-100, an index made up of all of the biggest companies listed by Nasdaq is worth 7.5 trillion alone. This choice by Coinbase makes sense, as Nasdaq tends to deal with tech companies like Apple and Tesla. On April first, Nasdaq announced the day that Coinbase was going to go public: Wednesday, April 14. That just happens to be today.
What is Coinbase?
Coinbase is America’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. It is worth a little under 100 billion dollars now at the current price of 334 dollars per share. This is pretty high, considering that just in March, estimates by Reuters placed the valuation at 68 billion US dollars. But, it makes some sense since The Guardian says that the upper bound of analyst valuations is around 100 billion dollars.
Coinbase users have trusted the company with the equivalent of 223 billion dollars in assets! That is the value of all user holdings on the platform. Coinbase has 56 million verified users in a hundred countries. Millions of those are in the US.
In 2016, gross revenue (how much the company made not accounting for any sort of expenses) was just sixteen million USD. By 2020, this figure was 1.1 billion dollars with 320 million in profit! Then, in the first quarter of 2021 – just three months – Coinbase brought in 1.8 billion of gross revenue and 765 million dollars in profit (Business of Apps). The growth that can be seen in these figures, filed by Coinbase with the SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission), is staggering. The crypto market is booming, and so is Coinbase’s business.
Coinbase tweeted today about its mission and the IPO:
This IPO is significant because Coinbase is the first major cryptocurrency company in the US to allow any investor to own stock in it. It marks bitcoin and crypto’s entrance into the mainstream and legitimate world.
We spoke to stock investor and recent bitcoin buyer William Attenhouse. He decided to buy Coinbase stock today, just twenty minutes after it became available for purchase. He told GoldPundit Media the following when asked why he bought the stock:
I think it was because it’s clear that crypto will continue to grow in the future. I’m a little bit worried about a federal crackdown on trading and the introduction of new regulations, but I think it’s worth it to get your foot in the door while things are still new. There’s no reward without risk!— Will Attenhouse
Coinbase is a unique investment because it allows normal people to put some money into the growing cryptocurrency space with the ease of buying a stock and without some of the risk of crypto. Currencies like bitcoin are extremely volatile, speculative, and unstable. But companies have physical assets, customers, and the stability that comes with a big blue-chip corporation. This makes Coinbase a less risky and more appealing investment for the average person. And the cryptocurrency market is growing fast. Bitcoin has gone up around 900 percent since this time last year. And other cryptocurrencies have gone up thousands of percentage points, like ether, the native currency of the Ethereum ecosystem. This shows that crypto has lots of room to grow. Bitcoin’s market cap is currently 1.2 trillion dollars, and all of crypto is worth a staggering 2.27 trillion! It seems like it was just last week when bitcoin was worth less than a billion dollars. Times have changed.
There is incredible growth potential in crypto. Legendary investor Cathie Wood of Ark Invest bought a quarter billion dollars worth of Coinbase stock today, according to CNN. She looks for innovation, so her purchase shows her support for the digital money space. In addition, Crypto could revolutionize the global economy in the future. Some investors have predicted that it could become bigger than gold; so more than a ten trillion-dollar market capitalization. That is amazing.
If you are looking to get into the bitcoin and crypto space without the volatility and risk of buying the company straight-up, Coinbase might be a good option. Companies are a lot more stable and enduring, and stock market regulations prevent giant swings in price. There is the possibility for large profit if crypto goes even more mainstream, albeit less than buying bitcoin or ether directly. If you are more risk-averse, or just prefer the easy process of buying shares in the stock market, Coinbase will help you get in on the action.
Remember, this is not financial advice. You should probably consult a professional financial advisor before you take action and buy stock or crypto. And, always do your own research.
All in all, this is an exciting development and is hopefully a marker of things to come. Now, all we need is fair regulation and a bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund.


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When the average person thinks of buying athletic wear, they think of Nike. Nike is one of the largest suppliers of athletic shoes and apparel in the world. Along with that, Nike has been known for its huge campaigns. Usually, these eye catching, thought provoking campaigns focus on already accomplished athletes such as LeBron James and Michael Jordon. This year, Nike has yet again launched another successful campaign with a twist. They decided to focus on women this time, making the #BetterForIt campaign their biggest advertising push yet.
Nike’s #BetterForIt campaign debuted with a 60-second ad created by Wieden+Kennedy and it was revealed during the MTV Music Awards on a Sunday night. The advertisement showed every day women at a gym and let the audience hear what they were thinking during their various workouts. Along with the TV commercials, Nike also encouraged women to share their experiences on social media, using the #BetterForIt hashtag following their “90-day better for it challenge”, which combines workouts from Nike’s various apps.
The reason why Nike put this campaign on is simple. They see women as a major and important part of their customer base. They already have the majority of athletic men’s support and trust. By targeting women, according to Business Insider, Nike believes they could add $2 billion of additional sales by 2017.
The #BetterForIt movement includes insights from top athletes, including four-time gold medalist and track and field star, Allyson Felix. Having top athletes’ insights and support gives Nike’s campaign more credibility, which engages fans and those interested in fitness even more. Another reason why this campaign attracts women is because Nike has a 40+ year history of serving and innovating for female athletes. Over the years, they have developed many products and services tailored for what women want and need. This campaign also had so many participants, partly because Nike is the most recognizable athletic clothing and shoe brand manufacturer and supplier in the world. When a well known company puts on a campaign, their buyers want to engage with it because it is part of the “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” theory.
This campaign let women not feel intimidated when they work out. #BetterForIt is more than just a hashtag. This campaign is a call to action to share, promote and embrace women’s fitness and sports. Nike invited their global community of athletes to push themselves further, whether it’s a personal best or the latest marathon. #BetterForIt was targeted toward women, but offered all athletes collective inspiration to reach new heights while sharing their experiences.
I believe that Nike’s Better For It campaign was an extremely successful social media campaign, making it a social win. Not only did the kick off, “Inner Thoughts” video have over 8 million views, but it also reached out to millions of women. In their press release, Nike spoke out in regards to the campaign saying that they now have a “digital community of 70 million women who look to the brand when it comes to fitness”. Also, the #BetterForIt hashtag was seen in over 800,000 tweets across the world, ranging from major Olympic champions to every day people.
“Nike Turns Can’t Into Can in Its Largest Women’s Campaign Ever.” AdWeek. Web. 08 Feb. 2016. http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/nike-turns-cant-can-its-largest-womens-campaign-ever-164059
“Nike Turns Can’t Into Can in Its Largest Women’s Campaign Ever.” AdWeek. Web. 08 Feb. 2016. http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/women
“Better For It â Inner Thoughts.” YouTube. YouTube. Web. 08 Feb. 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzbjEMaDjrk
Why I’m A Fan of Nike’s New Campaign- http://fashionista.com/2015/04/nike-better-for-it-campaign
O’Reilly, Lara. “Nike Is Making Its Biggest Ever Women’s Push.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 2015. Web. 08 Feb. 2016. http://www.businessinsider.com/nike-betterforit-women-campaign-2015-4

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To find out what is and isn't popular, Promo Marketing spoke with several supplier experts in the apparel field about promotional fashion in several categories.
Word of the hate crime in which a female student was called a "faggot" and physically assaulted because of the pro-gay t-shirt she was wearing has been brought to the clothing company that manufactured the shirt.
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater freshman Lauren Meyer was shocked last month when she got slugged and slurred for wearing a gay rights T-shirt on campus. American Apparell, which makes the "Legalize Gay" T-shirt, was also stunned. So it fought back with a little free-market public relations.
Los Angeles-based American Apparel Inc., a vertically integrated manufacturer, distributor, and retailer of branded fashion basic apparel, announced today that it has appointed Tom Casey as acting president of the company. Following the amendment to American Apparel's credit agreement with Lion Capital announced
Los Angeles-based American Apparel Inc., a vertically integrated manufacturer, distributor, and retailer of branded fashion basic apparel, announced that on September 30, 2010 it entered into an amendment to its credit agreement with Lion Capital which, among other things, eliminates the minimum Consolidated EBITDA covenant for the dates through and including December 31, 2010, and provides for the minimum Consolidated EBITDA covenant to be tested monthly during 2011.
Hipster brand American Apparel Inc. is in talks to bring in an outside restructuring firm as the manufacturer and retailer struggles to fix its flagging operations, sources told Reuters on Friday.
Lender Bank of America pressed American Apparel to hire the firm, a specialist in corporate turnarounds, according to people familiar with the matter.
American Apparel, the Los Angeles-based apparel manufacturer and cult status retailer needed to replenish items on the sales floor the instant they are sold in order to reinvent its inventory management process.
Los Angeles-based apparel manufacturer Bella announced it has made additions to its technical design team, including the recent addition of Tanner Elza as technical package developer from American Apparel. Elza has been tasked with bringing a sense of fit and focus to the Bella and Canvas brands.
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Los Angeles-based American Apparel by one of its shareholders for the company's alleged violations of anti-fraud securities laws.


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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is rumoured to have many camera enhancements as well as fixes over 66 privacy and security vulnerabilities with the latest June 2022 Android security patch. Samsung has begun pushing out the June 2022 Android security patch for the Galaxy Z Fold 3, according to a report from Sammobile. Let’s take a look at how you can receive the update for your device.
More information on the new feature and upgrade
The newest Android security patch for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 should arrive automatically in June 2022. Eligible users can manually update their smartphones by going to Settings > Software update > Download and install if it hasn’t already done so.
Samsung has started pushing out the June 2022 Android security patch for the Galaxy Z Fold 3. With the firmware version F926BXX1CVEE, the update is believed to be available in Europe right now. It will begin rolling out in more markets in the coming days.
The update is believed to provide solutions for a number of privacy and security flaws. The most essential aspect of the update is that it is believed to improve camera performance. According to the source, the Night Portrait feature has been improved, and support for the telephoto camera has been added to the stock camera application’s Pro mode. The device now features the Auto Framing feature in supported video conferencing programmes, according to the changelog.
The visual quality of photos taken with social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat could increase. The smartphone was released in India in August 2021. To recall, a 7.6-inch primary Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity Flex display with QXGA+ resolution (2,208x1,768 pixels) and 120Hz refresh rate is included on the foldable smartphone. The device has a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with HD+ resolution (832x2,268 pixels) and 120Hz refresh rate on the outside. The foldable phone comes equipped with a 5nm octa-core SoC and 12GB of RAM. It also has UFS 3.1 storage options of 256GB and 512GB. The smartphone has a 4,400mAh dual-cell battery that supports 25W rapid charging.


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Read our latest news and learn about upcoming events at Brook & Collier.
Annual Tent Sale
Come by Brooks & Collier today to capitalize on some deep discounts on our outdoor furniture in our annual tent sale. Hurry, cause while our furniture will last a long time, this tent sale won't. Don't miss out on your opportunity to take home some great furniture at incredible prices.


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NEW YORK - (MarketWatch) - The dollar was weaker against the euro Wednesday, after a stronger-than-expected headline durable goods figure reignited a debate over whether the soft patch in U.S. economy has ended.
The euro was up 0.3% at $1.2605, further supported by market rumors of major purchases of the single currency by a large Asian market player, according to Refco currency analyst Mike Malpede.
The dollar was up 0.2% at 107.68 yen, below an intraday high of 107.88 yen.
Orders for durable goods rose 1.9% in April, contrasting with a MarketWatch forecast, based on a poll of economists, for a 1.5% increase. However, other surveys set much lower estimates for the pace of increase.
The durable goods report was viewed by Bank of New York currencies analyst Michael Woolfolk as an indication that the soft phase in the economy is over, although he added that some regional weakness persists in manufacturing, particularly in the Detroit auto industry.
"We're very encouraged and find that the report falls in line with other recent strong economic reports," Woolkfolk said, pointing to recent strong housing, jobs creation and retail sales figures.
On the other hand, High Frequency Economics chief U.S. Economist Ian Shepherdson found signs of economic weakness in the new durable goods report, including the fact that, subtracting transportation orders, there was a 0.2% decline in orders and slowing inventory gains.
"We expect no near-term improvement; the soft patch is not over," Shepherdson said.
Brian Dolan, head of currency research at Gain Capital, pointed out that transportation is an extremely volatile factor that includes such factors as train orders and other big ticket items.
"Orders, big items, they can come off the assembly line and unduly influence the monthly number," Dolan said. "So the market really looks more at the core excluding the transportation number and that disappoints expectations."
The argument that the economy is strengthening was supported by news that sales of new U.S. houses were essentially unchanged in April, rising 0.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.316 million, the highest sales rate ever.
Overnight trade data released by Japan's Finance Ministry was yen-negative on its face, but strategists noted that the details had a neutral implication.
Japan's customs-cleared trade surplus fell 10.4% on year in April to 962.8 billion yen, as exports rose 7.8% and imports rose 12.7%.
"The declining trade surplus is not a particularly useful indicator of the state of the economic cycle, as it largely reflects the rise in import prices," wrote Richard Jerram, chief Japan economist for Macquarie Securities.
According to ministry's figures, all of the 12.7% on-year import growth in April came from higher prices, rather than increased volumes, he saids, so "in real terms, the trade surplus is roughly flat."
The Bank of Japan released minutes of its April 5-6 policy board meeting Wednesday, which showed that board member Toshikatsu Fukuma was the lone voice calling for a monetary policy change.
Fukuma wanted the central bank to lower its account balance target to a range of 27 trillion yen to 32 trillion yen from the current 30 trillion yen to 35 trillion yen, arguing that the liquidity risks of the nation's banks were fewer and the financial system was more stable. But the other eight board members voted against his proposal.
Last Friday, the BOJ said it would maintain the liquidity target, but also said it would allow liquidity to fall below the target level. See full story.


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fears have hit a fever pitch. From Wall Street’s sell-side research houses to regular American households, worries that the economy is about to go into a slump. According to Google Trends, “recession” for searches are spiking. In the US, the phrase “how to prepare for a recession” has almost tripled in search interest over the past week. These household recession concerns go hand in hand with inflation concerns, as well as surging prices around search interest.
But my sense is that recession and inflation around the fever is about to break. When sell-side analysts are competing to see who can make the most dire recession prediction and ordinary people are going through these topics, we’ve likely hit peak freak-out. And given the recent, sharp decline in the stock market, you can be sure investors have already priced in these recession concerns. This high level of worry is likely to have three things on the horizon: cooler inflation, a declining risk of recession, and the potential for the stock market to head higher.
Things look pretty good, actually
The latest economic data from WhatsApp is about the recession discussion. The doom-and-gloom chatter has picked up at a time when the US economy is expanding to a healthy clip, and recent economic data are beating economists’ estimates.
Take the jobs report: Nonfarm payrolls averaged a monthly growth of 552,000 in the first quarter, compared to 627,000 in the fourth quarter of 2021 and 515,000 in the third quarter of 2019 – before the pandemic. That’s a slowdown with hardly consistent, let alone a recession. Americans are also consistent with strong economic growth.
And what about manufacturing? The ISM Manufacturing PMI, a gauge of manufacturing purchasing managers’ outlook for their business and the economy, peaked 13 months ago. But a slowdown of the actual manufacturing of the measures. Manufacturing has advanced an annualized rate of 9.1% over the past three months. Averaging the three-month ending March, factory output grew at a 5.4% annual rate in the first quarter, compared to a 5.6% growth in the fourth quarter of 2019.
All of this data is consistent
Growth of about 4% to 5% – stronger than many years since the 2008 financial crisis. Not surprisingly, the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow tracking estimate also shows that the Gross Domestic Product of Components is based on the underlying demand from American households and businesses at about that level. Overall GDP projections come down to net exports and inventory investment, the two most volatile components. But when those elements fluctuate, the private domestic demand pieces of GDP are more indicative when it comes to forecasting real GDP and employment growth in the quarter.
Moreover, both Europe and China have struggled so far in 2022 that the war on Ukraine and COVID-related shutdowns, respectively. I have a difficult time finding out how Europe and China can get worse in 2023 – and where there is a good chance both regions are strong next year. If growth outside the US picks up, it’s hard to see the US slipping into recession. The US can deal with weak growth overseas, but other regions find it hard to manage when the US is slowing down.
Bottom line: Recession risks are poised to drop meaningfully
Inflation has surged, and it’s no wonder that people are concerned. Over the past three months, the headline consumer price index has climbed 2.7%. That’s more than just three months in any single year going back to 2009. While I’m not ready to lay aside my concern about the inflation outlook, the situation is likely to get worse in the coming months. Inflation rates may remain elevated, but they likely won’t continue to go up to three key reasons.
First, a significant source of inflation pressure – used-car prices – is now fading. Prices for used cars and trucks are down 4% over the past two months, and the prices of the measures suggest recent wholesale auctions that continue to decline. Importantly, as supply-chain pressures ease, motor-vehicle production appears to have picked up: In March, motor-vehicle assemblies hit their highest levels since January 2021. There’s plenty of catching up, but we’re clearly heading in the right direction. This may be the reason why new cars have been moderated in recent months, too.
Second, the US dollar is getting stronger. When the dollar gets stronger, it becomes cheaper for Americans to buy products from abroad. One-fourth of US imports come from the euro area, the UK, and Japan. Since these currencies, the importers’ cash will go up and buy goods from these countries. This should also be the case, with a standard rule of thumb that every 10 percentage-point increase in broad dollar index shaves is 0.2 percentage points off core inflation one year later. The broad dollar is up about 7.5% over the past year, which implies a downward pressure on inflation.
Third, expect inflation to be unmoored. These expectations are important because they can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If Americans expect prices to go up over the next few years, they will be more willing to take the stomach up and down the road, and so on. While short-run inflation expectations have surged on the back of rising food and energy prices, medium and long-term inflation expectations (which are much more predictive of inflation in the long run) are higher. As an example, in the New York Fed’s Survey of Consumer Expectations, the median one-year-ahead expected inflation rate is now at a new high, but the expectation is that the inflation over the next three years will be five months ago.
These factors don’t mean the US is going to get back to the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target anytime soon, but it’s clear the situation is getting worse.
Stocks for good news
So in the face of the seemingly unrelenting negativity, there are clearly some upsides: Stronger nominal economic growth and the likelihood that future price hikes won’t be as steep. And since the stock market has been largely over the past few weeks, there have been good fears that investors have fully digested these fears. As the outlook starts to improve, that should be a positive catalyst for equity markets. Moreover, the market has already had a lot of Fed interest-rate hikes over the course of the year, so any further increases in rates will not shock the market or send it into a downward spiral.
There are, of course, some risks. For one thing, labor markets may continue to tighten, putting upward pressure on wages. Eventually, this could put the Fed’s longer-run objective above a fair bit of price growth. It’s almost like getting a person in shape: “I’ve dropped 30 pounds over the past 12 months, but my cholesterol is still over 250!” Much like this theoretical dieter of the journey, The Fed’s journey is not yet complete. If these inflation pressures keep the overall rate higher than the Fed wants, even as prices for some goods come down, this could force the Fed to get even more aggressive down the road – which would be a surprise for investors and possibly drive-in stocks.
But for now, it seems like things are getting better – what you may have heard. Inflation is not surging away from the Fed. Underlying demand is accelerating. Put differently, the composition of the US’s nominal economic growth is: instead of rising from just rising prices, we are also seeing a bit more growth moving from a larger quantity of goods. That’s welcome news for the stock market and for the anxious of everyday Americans.
Neil Dutta is Head of Economics at Renaissance Macro Research.


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“While Amazon and Flipkart (ex-Myntra and Jabong) were neck-and-neck in terms of GMV in FY17, Amazon has taken the clear lead in FY18 with GMV of $7.5 billion as compared to $6.2 billion for Flipkart on a standalone basis,” says the report released on November 26.
But the report also adds that in terms of revenues, Flipkart continues to be ahead of Amazon, even though the company is growing much faster. Amazon’s US rival Walmart acquired 77% in Flipkart earlier this year paying $16 billion, valuing it at $22 billion.
“Flipkart continues to be bigger than Amazon in terms of revenue ($3.8 billion vs $3.2billion), although Amazon is catching up quickly and continues to grow much faster (82% vs 47%),” said the report by Barclays US analysts Ross Sandler, Deepak Mathivanan and Karen Short.
Amazon India spokesperson said: “We do not offer comment on industry reports.” Flipkart spokesperson also did not offer a direct comment on the report saying, “Flipkart remains an unquestioned leader… cornered a disproportionate 70% market share over the five day TBBD (The Big Billion Days) period this year as highlighted by independent researchers.”
The report comes as Flipkart has seen a top-level churn earlier this month, with exit of group CEO Binny Bansal after what Walmart termed as “personal misconduct” and “lack of transparency”. The report adds that both the companies are aggressively investing to grow India’s online retail market. “Investment is increasing rapidly at Amazon (India represents ~7% of international retail opex in calendar 2018), and Flipkart operating losses could be in the ~$1.5-billion range for the year ending January 2020,” it added.
Amazon has invested a little over a $1 billion in its main India unit, Amazon Seller Services, so far this year. It has infused about Rs 7,250 crore in this unit across three tranches in 2018. Amazon’s total infusion into its marketplace business now stands close to Rs 25,090 crore or over $3.6 billion.
Barclays also said that it expects India’s online retail business to reach $40-45 billion by end of 2020. “With rising internet penetration, payment options, and delivery infrastructure, ecommerce users are expected to more than double, from 80-90 million in 2017 to 180-200 million in 2020, and the market is expected to increase from $18-20 billion in 2017 to $40-45 billion in 2020, with apparel and consumer electronics driving bulk of the growth,” the report said.
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- Concor Suitors Seek Clarity Over Shareholder Rights
Potential suitors for Container Corporation of India (Concor) have sought clarity over shareholder rights after the sale of a partial stake in the logistics major by the government.E-auction for RCap Later this Month; Base Bid at ₹5,231 Cr
Lenders of Reliance Capital will hold an e-auction later this month for Anil Ambani’s insolvent financial services company to identify the highest bidder, two people aware of the development told ET.Premium Models Drive Car, TV, Smartphone Sales in Diwali Season
Indian consumers have purchased more premium cars, smartphones, televisions and appliances than ever before during the week leading up to Diwali this year.
ETPrime stories of the day
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A company has won a multi-million pound contract with Woolworths.
Bridgend-based Dekor has signed a £2m deal to provide picture and photo frames for 800 stores.
The majority of the order will be produced at Dekor's new factory in China. But owner Leighton Samuel said the Bridgend base was crucial in the deal.
He said the factory, which employs 95 people, would step in should the facility in China not be able to keep up with demand.


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AeroPay Opens Stand-Alone Office
Posted on November 16, 2018
AeroPay is taking a giant leap forward and relocating to a new stand-alone ofﬁce space on Chicago’s north side in the Historic Deegan Building (1770 W. Berteau).
“AeroPay is a growing technology company committed to supporting community growth by providing a payment option that is low cost to businesses and easy for customers to use. This is what drives our company and sets us apart,” said Daniel Muller, founder and CEO of AeroPay. “Now that we are moving, I think this is a positive sign of what is to come. We will be able to focus more on what matters – building partnerships in the community and expanding our outreach.”
Click here for more Lincoln Park news or sign up for LPCC Member and Neighborhood e-mails to stay up to date on all the latest Lincoln Park news and events.


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(Adds details from conference call, updates share price)
By Sruthi Ramakrishnan
Feb 27 (Reuters) - Salesforce.com Inc raised its full-year revenue forecast and said it aims to improve its adjusted operating margin, after quarterly revenue grew more than expected on strong sales at ExactTarget, an email marketing firm it acquired in June.
The world’s biggest maker of online sales software on Thursday estimated revenue of $5.25 billion to $5.3 billion for the year ending January 2015, compared with its previous forecast of $5.15 billion to $5.2 billion.
Salesforce forecast adjusted earnings of 48-50 cents per share for the full year.
That was largely below analysts’ average estimate of 50 cents per share for the full year, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The full-year adjusted profit forecast implies adjusted operating margin growth of 125 to 150 basis points, and assumes no significant mergers and acquisitions by Salesforce for the year ending January 2015.
Adjusted profit for the year ended January was 35 cents per share.
“We are committed to improving non-GAAP profitability by 125 to 150 basis points, which is a huge goal of mine for this year and increasing cash flow growth this,” Chief Executive Marc Benioff said on a conference call with analysts. Salesforce aims to keep delivering topline growth at an “outstanding” pace, he added.
Benioff said in November that he would seek to balance “growth and profitability” without jeopardizing his company’s “outrageous” pace of revenue expansion.
Benioff, who founded Salesforce in 1999, has for years shrugged off calls from Wall Street to turn a bigger profit by arguing that it was more important to re-invest earnings to increase its market share.
The San Francisco-based company also said its chief financial officer of six years, Graham Smith, would retire in 2015.
Salesforce shares, which had closed at $66.20 on the New York Stock Exchange, dropped 3 percent to $64 after hours but later pared losses to trade at $65.98.
The company’s net loss widened to $116.6 million, or 19 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31, from $20.8 million, or 4 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company earned 7 cents per share, one cent higher than analysts’ expectations.
Revenue rose 37 percent to $1.15 billion and beat analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion.
Salesforce’s unbilled deferred revenue, a critical measure of contracts that have been closed with business customers but remain off-balance sheet, rose to $4.5 billion, up 29 percent from a year earlier. (Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Savio D’Souza and Richard Chang)


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Res Q’s Seaham Contact Centre Set for Further Growth in 2017 with new ‘South Wing’
Following the successful launch of their Seaham site in summer last year, ResQ, a leading UK outsourced call centre, are launching the next phase of their plan to develop a 1,200 person contact centre in the North-East.
The opening of ResQ’s Seaham site proved to be a necessity, as the original Hull site reached full capacity last year with over 670 employees.
Less than a year old, the new venture already employs 250 people and is on track to double in size with the launch of the new South Wing.
ResQ’s contact centre at Spectrum Business Park in Seaham is one of the county’s largest ever inward investments, meaning that County Durham will benefit economically, as hundreds of jobs are created in Seaham over the next three years. It will also enable ResQ to support its latest contract wins and kick-start plans for further growth this year.
Nic Marshall, the CEO of ResQ comments:
“We’re very proud to be further expanding our operations in the North East. Initially, we were looking to open a second site close to Hull but we just fell in love with Seaham, and Spectrum Business Park and County Durham as a whole. The region offered everything we needed, including access to a high-quality workforce.”
“The most exciting thing about developing this second site is that it means our customers can grow with us, and it allows for the re-shoring of contracts which are currently being undertaken overseas with new customers in the digital, energy, retail and insurance sectors.”
The successful opening of ResQ’s Seaham site has been followed by the launch of their ‘Why Not Zero’ campaign in February. The campaign supported Ofcom’s latest ruling to clamp down on abandoned calls and nuisance rates; making waves across the telemarketing industry and receiving lots of attention in the press.
Nic Marshall said “We knew the campaign would be big news; many contact centres follow Ofcom’s regulations begrudgingly whereas we fully embrace them. Our Responsible Telemarketing solution means that we’ve been ahead of the game for years, and it’s about time the rest of the telemarketing world followed suit. We’re confident that the ‘Why Not Zero’ campaign will continue to encourage positive changes.”
Founded in 2006, ResQ are based in Seaham and are looking at employing on a further 1,000 employees. ResQ also have a second branch in Hull, which is East Yorkshire’s largest contact centre. ResQ work with some of the UK’s biggest brands including FTSE 100 and 250 companies, and are dedicated to providing sales focused, professional and client-centric inbound and outbound calling services.
For additional information on ResQ visit their Website
For additional information on ResQ’s ‘Why Not Zero’ Campaign visit their Website
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This week I read a piece of news that came out on ZDNet that talked about Steam Linux's presence and how it influenced Microsoft to improve Windows 10 for games, showing how much competition only makes the entire consumer win.
This week I read a story that came out in ZDNet that talked about Steam Linux's presence and how it influenced Microsoft to improve Windows 10 for games, showing how much competition only makes the entire consumer audience win.
As a result, Valve began calling on its partners, such as Alienware, to bring Steam Machines to market, even though it has invested a lot in marketing so far. This maneuver caught Microsoft's eye, according to the former Valve employee, the "Redmond giant" has focused much of its efforts on Windows 10 to improve the system for gamers, and compared to Windows 8.1, seems to have really succeeded. .
This is proof that encouraging growth in Linux as a computer gaming platform helps everyone, even those who do not use the "penguin system" on a daily basis.
See you next time!
_____________________________________________________________________________ See any errors or would you like to add any suggestions to this article? Collaborate, click here. Founder of blog and channel Diolinux, passionate about technology and games.


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Our own VP of Innovation, Kelley Heider, shares her predictions for the future of social media in this EContent piece. Read about the state of social media in 2017:
In an increasingly challenging climate for electronic publishers, content providers, and digital marketers—where the gray clouds of ad blocking, content competition, short-attention-span consumerism, and monetization pressure loom over the horizon—social media is the silver lining. Far from being a fad or gimmick, social media today offers incalculable value for brands to keep users engaged with targeted messages, offers and content—all with an efficiency and expediency that levels the playing field for Davids and Goliaths alike. And the prospects for engagement are tantalizing: Consider that the average user logs 1.72 hours per day on social platforms, comprising 28% of total online activity, according to GlobalWebIndex’s “GWI Social” report.
But optimizing your current opportunities on social media requires keeping tabs on the latest trends, tools, and technologies. This is why looking back at what transpired in this space in 2016, and calculating the possibilities abundant in 2017, can be constructive.


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A Closer Look at Native Advertising [Feb. 27, 2015]
By Tom Wentworth
Native advertising hit its stride last year. “Paid posts,” which gained popularity on new media platforms like Buzzfeed and Business Insider, started popping up in venerable publishers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. And big brands have jumped on these sponsored content opportunities, including Dell and Shell, who have both invested in the creation of native advertising units within The New York Times.
While some brands find that native advertising “works,” as measured by clicks, it doesn’t always prove to be a valuable way to build and develop an audience. Many consumers question the credibility of sponsored posts, and will navigate away from pages that contain the dreaded “sponsored by” message.
In order to prevent this negative reaction from consumers, brands need to integrate native advertising efforts into a larger content marketing strategy. Brands today have essentially become publishers — from beefing up their corporate blog, to integrating content into product marketing campaigns. By creating a more comprehensive content strategy among all of their branded platforms, brands will find more success with third-party content campaigns like native advertising.
Some tips to get started:
1. Create Regular Content
Brands need to become a source of content that educates, entertains and inspires audiences, not “advertises” to them. In order to shift consumer perception from brand to publisher, brands need to establish a steady cadence of content creation on their own website’s blog or in other marketing materials before embarking on a native advertising campaign.
Once a brand builds a fan following for their internally generated content, consumers will be more open to seeing them post content on third-party publishers, like news sites. Chipotle is a prime example of a publisher-brand who has created a stream of valuable, interesting content that fans have come to know and love. They’ve experimented with content in a variety of places — from their tumblr page full of beautiful visuals, to a four-part satirical TV series on Hulu about the agricultural industry and how food is raised. The Hulu series was a way to shed light on the importance of eating food with integrity — selections with ingredients like those served at Chipotle.
The series, and other content streams hosted on their own site, established Chipotle as a source of information about agriculture and let customers know about the ingredients used in all meals. This in turn provided an opportunity for Chipotle to create well-received native advertising campaigns about those same topics on third-party news sites, like the “Food for Thought” series on The Huffington Post.


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The cooperation will help EPS-Connect create more systematic solutions to meet various market needs.
DÜSSELDORF—Mar. 29, 2021—Tuya Smart (NYSE: TUYA), a leading global IoT cloud platform, and EPS-Connect, a leading smart home solution provider in Hungary, today announced a new partnership to fully leverage their respective advantages in technology, marketing and channel, developing a variety of systematic solutions to meet the needs of different business scenarios.
SMARTZILLA, EPS-Connect sub-brand built upon Tuya technology, has set up online-and-offline marketing channels including online stores, has launched many types of smart products into the market, and has received encouraging feedback from consumers. SMARTZILLA is already on the smart home map.
Under the partnership, Tuya will continue to support EPS-Connect with its IoT development platform and other technologies, and help in the development of more smart products catering to local consumers. Tuya Hotel, Tuya Community, and other diversified PaaS capabilities will enable EPS-Connect to accomplish upgrading and transformation from smart home appliances to integrated smart home, smart hotel, and smart office.
Meanwhile, EPS-Connect and local producers will join Tuya’s ecosystem for interconnection with more than 252,000 ‘Powered by Tuya’ smart devices, and for the creation of more smart interaction systems.
Also, EPS-Connect’s market position and channel resources in Hungary will accelerate Tuya’s entry into the Hungarian market, and raise Tuya’s brand awareness. Working together, the companies will open the Tuya Competence Center in Hungary within the next two years.
“For us it is important to work with leading IoT companies and Tuya has developed into one of the most important global players in IoT,” said Péter Ecsedi, Chief Executive Officer of EPS-Connect.
Erika Hackenberger, Chief Operating Officer of EPS-Connect, added, “we believe that, thanks to our cooperation, we can increase the use of quality smart appliances and applications in Hungary and in Europe.”
“Through the cooperation, the two sides will focus on the security and protection of customer data privacy, developing more solutions in line with GDPR, and exploring more opportunities for cross-segment applications,” said Tina Yu, General Manager of Eurasia Region from Tuya Smart.
Tuya welcomes you to join the AI+IoT Business Conference TED-styled Tour Events in Europe. Themed “Joint Efforts & Prosperous Growth,” the events will be held online in 10 countries and languages with industry leaders sharing best practices in smart business scenarios. For more information and to register for free: https://www.tuya.com/event/abc/eur
As a leading Hungarian company, EPS Connect International Zrt is a significant player in the new generation of IoT and cloud market for home and professional use. Since its establishment four years ago, the company has achieved remarkable growth in business volume and resources every year. Headquartered in Budapest, it also has offices in Debrecen and Shenzhen (China), and has approximately 50 employees. Its sub-brand, SMARTZILLA, was created to provide the best solutions and specialized application support to meet various needs of smart home, smart hotel, and smart office.
About Tuya Smart
Tuya Smart (NYSE: TUYA) is a leading global IoT Cloud Platform with a unique, all-in-one offering of cloud + connectivity + app that makes it easy and affordable for brands, retailers, and OEMs to make their products smart. Tuya’s platform has smart-enabled more than 252,000 device SKUs in hundreds of categories worldwide, serving over 262,000 developers globally. Tuya is internationally operated with headquarters in the U.S., Germany, India, Japan, Colombia, and China.


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The Exodus 1, designed as a native blockchain mobile and to work securely with cryptocurrency and decentralized applications is HTC’s cryptocurrency and blockchain oriented phone. Co-founder Brendan Eich revealed that Brave will be HTC’s default browser . The HTC Exodus 1 is built to deliver the decentralized feature of blockchain. It, like Brave, hopes to reinstate the ownership of private data back to individuals. On a phone called Zion, private keys for cryptocurrency owners will be stored in a secure enclave.
Brave which is described as “semi-centralized” due to the need to manage how the BAT tokens are distributed to reward Brave publishers will eventually decentralize its Ethereum-based BAT.
Eich told TNW recently:
“We will decentralize much of the BAT platform over time, but as our roadmap describes, not all at once and up front. That is neither scalable nor anonymous on today’s main blockchains.”
Challenging the present web scenario
Brave browser offers its users the facility to block all adverts and cookies, potentially delivering faster search, load and navigation. Through this Brave might sway away some of the search market dominated by the likes of likes of Google and Microsoft, which collect massive amounts of user data.
Till September 2018, Brave had already achieved ten million downloads and four million active users, a growing figure likely to have inclined HTC’s choice. Brave also plans to incentivize users who opt-in to viewing adverts with BAT tokens, which advertisers must pay, potentially handing back the reward from the monetization of data to the data owner.
HTC’s decentralized chief officer Phil Chen, according to CNET reports, said of Brave:
“It is challenging the incumbent web…advertisement-trade-for-attention model that has crippled the internet browsing experience. We’re at a crisis of giving that away for cheap endorphins and surrendering all that power to the big-data monolithic cloud companies that mine that data.”
The detail about the partnership has yet not been revealed either by Brave or HTC. Although the HTC mobiles are popular but the blockchain based mobile market is an unexplored region. It is expected that the sales of the Exodus 1 may fare well due to Brave’s user base. SIRIN Labs also unveiled its crypto-native smartphone, the FINNEY, earlier this month which means that the new phone is certainly not without competition.


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PUBG Mobile’s Chinese version gets called out for failing to protect user privacy
Players of Peacekeeper Elite, a sanitised version of PUBG Mobile in China, have so far spent US$1.9 billion on the game
/NOVOSTIVL/ A number of popular mobile games in China have been called out for not properly protecting user privacy, including one of the biggest mobile games in the world: Tencent’s Peacekeeper Elite, the Chinese version of PUBG Mobile.
Peacekeeper Elite, also known as Game for Peace, is an incredibly lucrative title for game developer Tencent. But China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Centre (CVERC) says the game doesn’t clearly state all the permissions it accesses on a user’s phone, state-owned media outlet Xinhua reported. The organisation says the app also doesn’t offer an effective way for users to change or remove personal information or delete their accounts.
Other mobile games called out by CVERC include Talking Tom Gold Run, My Talking Tom and My Talking Angela, three games from Slovenian developer Outfit7. Two Chinese games similar to Candy Crush were also named, along with Temple Run 2 and Plants vs. Zombies 2.
Tencent, Outfit 7, Temple Run 2 maker Imangi Studios and Plants vs. Zombies 2 publisher Electronic Arts did not respond to our requests for comment.
CVERC is warning users to be cautious about these apps that are “against laws and regulations”, in reference to China’s 2017 cybersecurity law, according to Xinhua.
The results are part of a broader internet clean-up campaign, a regular occurrence in China when internet regulators purge “harmful” material online, such as pornographic content. The campaigns have also been used to single out and punish some people who use VPNs to hop the country’s Great Firewall, the mechanism China uses to block international websites.
Regulators announced an ongoing clean-up campaign for 2020 earlier this year. In July, authorities said that they had shut down more than 12,000 websites in the first half of the year.
PUBG Mobile continues to be the world’s highest grossing mobile game, raking in US$3.5 billion to date, according to Sensor Tower. More than half of that revenue comes from the Chinese version. PUBG Mobile was changed to Peacekeeper Elite in China last year to offer gamers a censored version without blood and other content deemed objectionable in the country. The move finally allowed Tencent to monetise the game in its home market.


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Earlier this week, Microsoft revealed their augmented reality headset, the Hololens. I instantly dismissed it, as some sort of future tech that will never be properly realised. I got suckered by Kinect, and I’m not going down that road again. And then I started reading the hands-on previews, which seem to suggest that it actually works as intended.
“Rarely have I tried something that looked so bad and worked so well,” said the folks at Mashable after a hands-on preview of the prototype. “HoloLens belied its development state, delivering a truly blended virtual and reality experience. Unlike Google Glass, which also uses augmented reality, the initial use cases for HoloLens are indoors.”
“It may be a little early to pass judgment, but my dev-stage experience has convinced me of one thing: there has never been anything quite like HoloLens and that is most definitely a good thing.”
It is, of course, early prototype stuff, and still has a long way to go – but it sounds rather exciting.
“What you do in the headset is impressive. Repeatedly. Sharing a Skype call with another human being overlaid on the real world, and that person being able to literally draw and highlight pieces of my world, is incredibly impressive. Uncomfortable as it is in its current form, HoloLens delivers an experience full of potential,” says Engadget.
It comes up against more established, though still not available for public consumption Virtual Reality headsets like the Oculus Rift and Sony’s Project Morpheus. While I’ve not used Hololens, I have used both of those. They’re both impressive and exciting – but I don’t believe either will be quite as mass market as its creators would like.
I don’t think Hololens will either.
Specifically in gaming, I think VR will pave the way to more exciting, immersive experiences. AR, I think, will have more real world application. VR and AR won’t be a hit with the general consumer until bulky headsets go away – but the question here is this. Which do you see yourself using more? A virtual reality that replaces life, or an Augmented one that adds to what you can already see?
Last Updated: January 23, 2015


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Online retailers are sprinting towards the day when they can offer consumers products at their convenience – anytime, anywhere and as quickly and affordable as possible. In 2014, we will see many big names, including Google, eBay and Amazon, continue to pour funding into delivery projects to bring this instant gratification to fruition.
Here are some of the projects they might be looking into and a sampling of the top trends we can expect to see for package shipping in 2014.
Same-day Shipping Ramping Up
Like the California Gold Rush in the mid-1800s, companies far and wide are scrambling to San Francisco, among other large metropolitan areas, such as Manhattan and Queens, to test out same-day shipping programs. Services such as Metro Post, eBay Now, and Walmart To Go are capitalizing on San Francisco’s existing infrastructure to turn products around to local consumers the day they are ordered.
In 2014, plan to see more companies join the same-day shipping race by offering these services in more cities. These programs will likely find fans among errand-runners. Need to pick up groceries or a prescription, but don’t have time? That’s where same-day shipping will come in handy.
Receive All Packages Faster
While same-day shipping may not be required in all situations, expedited shipping requests are becoming increasingly common. Consumers want their packages to arrive before the excitement and novelty of their purchase wears off. Expect to see the standard delivery cycle shrink, enabling packages to arrive at their destination the very next day.
This shortened delivery cycle will result from an increase in product warehouses in metropolitan areas. Ecommerce companies will be looking to expand their physical presence so that they can run quicker delivery cycles efficiently.
Steering Away From Free Shipping
In 2013, we saw Amazon increase its free shipping minimum from $25 to $35. This move may, in part, aim to encourage Amazon Prime memberships, but it’s also a telltale sign of the costliness of free shipping.
It’s no secret that consumers love free shipping – in a survey conducted this past year by Endicia, consumers listed free shipping as the number one influencer behind an online purchase. But no matter how you slice it, moving things from one place to another costs money.
Up until now, companies have been willing to “take the hit,” covering shipping costs to ensure customers complete their online checkouts. But this year, we’ll see more companies following Amazon’s lead, opting for increased free shipping minimums or cost-effective creative strategies to entice customers.
Mobile Gets Better
We will see tablets and iPhones play a larger role in the shipping experience this year than last year.
Customers want to be able to track their packages at their convenience – in line at the grocery store or in the car picking up their kids from practice. Mobile sites will become increasingly easier-to-use to accommodate the vast majority of consumers tracking packages this way.
Lowering International Borders
Currently, few US merchants attempt international shipping due to complicated customs forms and regulations. We’re working with the US Postal Service and international post offices on new technology to lower the barriers of entry into the international shipping market.
With the advent of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and other cross-border trade regulations, shippers will find it easier to bring their online business to new markets. Expect to see new international shipping options, improved shipping software and better package tracking.


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The breach impacted online profiles of customers of Macy's and Bloomingdale's.
Some Macy's online customers became victims of data theft, including their credit card numbers, following a breach in the retailer's security.
The breach took place between April 26 and June 12, during which time an "unauthorized third party" managed to obtain usernames and passwords and then log onto Macy's and Bloomingdale's shoppers' online profiles, the company said in a letter sent July 2 to the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office and first reported by DataBreaches. Macy's owns Bloomingdale's.
The leaked info may include customers' names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays, and credit and debit card numbers with expiration dates. However, the company noted that neither Credit Verification Values (CVV) nor Social Security numbers are stored on its online customer profiles. Macy's said it reported the exposed card numbers to Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover.
Profiles with suspicious login activity were blocked until the customers changed their passwords, Macy's said.
"We have investigated the matter thoroughly, addressed the cause and, as a precaution, have implemented additional security measures," the company said in a statement. "Macy's, Inc. will provide consumer protection services at no cost to those customers. We have contacted potentially impacted customers with more information about these services."
The total number of accounts accessed wasn't released, but the letter noted that 753 New Hampshire residents were affected. Macy's attached to the letter a document dated June 27 that was apparently sent to affected customers.
Last month, Adidas' US site fell victim to a similar breach. Its initial investigation suggested that some people's contact information, usernames and encrypted passwords were stolen.


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The City of Spruce Grove is being careful to follow Alberta Health Services guidelines as they adjust to life under the Alberta Relaunch Strategy.
With Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer, slightly easing COVID-19 restrictions as part of phase one of the provincial government’s official relaunch plan, businesses and facilities in Spruce Grove have started to open up.
“This is it. Stage 1 of the Alberta Relaunch Planv was announced by Alberta Health Services last night. I know we’re very excited about seeing some businesses opening back up in the community, so we wanted to give an update on what that might mean in the City,” said Houston during a Facebook live event last Thursday.
Hair Salons, farmers’ markets, retail businesses such as clothing, book or furniture stores, museums and art galleries, and daycares are all able to begin operating again. Cafés, restaurants, pubs and bars can reopen their dining rooms, and museums and art galleries can open again.
Provincially, dog parks and playgrounds have also had restrictions, however, Spruce Grove has made the decision municipally to keep their playgrounds closed. Tennis courts, hard court surfaces, and the Spruce Grove Skate Park will be open, but play structures will remain closed until further notice.
“At this point, I regret to inform residents we will not be opening playgrounds to the public. There are many strict guidelines required by AHS to open playgrounds and we need to better understand as a City what those safeguards are going to be. We have to be patient, I know parents want to get their kids on playgrounds,” Houston said.
Canada Day Celebrations have been cancelled, but the City said they are exploring possibilities for alternatives to commemorate the day. As a preface, the City has made a limited number of large Canadian flags available for purchase. Houston himself has been taking care of the installation.
The City will continue with its annual large item pickup, however, they have made the decision to cancel the popular free-cycle event, in which community members leave unwanted items for pickup by other residents. Both the garage sale advertising and block party programs have been temporarily suspended.
“We are not going to be doing the Free Cycle event this year. Due to the nature of this event, it would be very difficult for the City to ensure proper sanitization and disinfecting protocols would be in place, which could put the community at unnecessary risk,” said Houston. “The good news is we will be having our large item pickup from June 8 to 12.”
Though restrictions are starting to lift, Houston stressed residents must follow social distancing guidelines when using any of the newly opened facilities or businesses. While understanding the phased relaunch will have a significant impact on certain small businesses throughout the community, the mayor was clear the city intends to follow all guidelines set by AHS.
“We just need to be patient as we take on the relaunch put forward by AHS. It’s really important for us to ensure we’re doing well in our area in regards to protecting the safety of our citizens,” Houston said.


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BOARDMAN, Ohio (WYTV) – Every 8 minutes, a child is taken to the emergency room for medicine poisoning, according to a new report from Safe Kids Worldwide.
Andrea Neuman-Taddei with Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley said toddlers and teens are most at risk for medicine poisoning and a trip to the ER.
She said part of the problem is that a lot of medicines look like candy. For example, a stomach relief pill resembles a piece of Sweetheart candy.
“To a young child, to a toddler, it all looks tasty,” Neuman-Taddei said.
But it is not just the medicine cabinet that poses risks. There is also open bags, like a purse.
Neuman-Taddei said it is easy for a child to reach in and grab products like creams, cough drops or eye drops and parents should try to keep those things out of reach.
“Definitely that hand sanitizer. It is easy open. They are not child resistant and that can go into little hands and mouths,” she said.
Many household cleaning products can be dangerous to little ones, too. Neuman-Taddei advises parents to keep those items up high and in locked cabinets.
“You might walk in on your child and see them just kind of playing with a lid and not knowing if they ingested any of this,” she said.
She said when in doubt, parents should call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.
According to the Drug and Poison Information Center in this area, Mahoning County had nearly 2,500 calls last year, Trumbull had almost 2,300 calls and Columbiana had just over 1,000.


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First-person games are going more towards online-focused multiplayer, and featuring less and less of singleplayer campaigns and story.
The designer of upcoming free-to-play first-person multiplayer shooter Lawbreakers Cliff Bleszinski tells us why. In an interview with PC Gamer during the PAX South, the developer shared his thoughts on the matter of lack of singleplayer campaigns in the shooter genre.
According to Cliff Bleszinski, the reason is fairly simple: it costs the most money. Bleszinski suggests that a singleplayer campaign can cost up to 75% of the entire game’s budget.
“They usually cost 75% of the budget. And you burn through the campaign in a weekend, and then [players] go to multiplayer.”
The Lawbreaker lead designer suggested that most first-person shooter singeplayer campaigns either follow the Call of Duty inspired scripted 2-day experiences, or massive open-worlds like Fallout 4.
It seems like Bleszinski hasn’t played the likes of Half-Life, Doom, Deus Ex, and other famous FPS that made their name solely through immersive singleplayer campaigns.
Bleszinski also discussed a bit about Lawbreakers, and how their relatively small team was learning as the game’s development progresses.
Following the presentation of the sci-fi shooter at PAX Prime, Bleszinski suggests the newer multiplayer maps are ‘so much better’ than the ones demoed during that event because of how the dev team has learned to work together, and also use technical development tools more in a more advanced manner.
You can watch the full interview in the video above.
Lawbreakers is expected to be released sometime this year exclusively for PC.


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Thu 22 Apr 2021 | 08:15 am GMT
Samantha Loveday | Products of Change Writer
Kermit the Frog trainer from Stan Smith, Forever
Collection for women and children is made using sustainable materials and includes apparel and accessories.
Wed 28 Apr 2021 | 10:12 pm GMTFASHION
LEGO will be hosting a series of events around the local area throughout the duration of COP26 in Glasgow this month, and handing specific instructions to world leaders on behalf…
Mon 01 Nov 2021 | 09:56 am GMTTOYS
The exclusive findings of new research from Kids Industries CEO and co-founder Gary Pope into the relationship children and parents have with sustainability will be revealed at the Sustainability Activation.
Tue 16 Nov 2021 | 07:26 am GMTEDUCATION
Fresh off the bat from its COP26 activity only a matter of days ago, Sky Kids’ newly launched animated series, Obki is making its BLE debut this week to officially…
Tue 16 Nov 2021 | 09:46 pm GMTCONTENT


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In an ongoing row between Quebec's culture police and residents who dare to speak, read or write languages other than French, a new battlefield has emerged.
A young woman says she was told she couldn't speak English while working at a local grocery store, not even to her co-workers and not even at lunch.
The incident follows on the heels of much-publicized attacks against Italian restaurant menus and big retail store signs. It begs the question: Should the state stay out of the break rooms of the province?
CTV News reports that 17-year-old Meaghan Moran was forbidden to speak English by supervisors at an IGA grocery store in Saint-Lambert, Que. The part-time worker was even told she had to speak French during her breaks.
Moran, who plans to file a human rights complaint, recorded a conversation between herself and two supervisors, during which a person later identified as the store's human resource manager said,Read More »from Quebec’s French language battle descends on IGA break room


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Vail Resorts announces CEO succession plan
The ski resort behemoth has named current CMO Kirsten Lynch to the company’s chief executive post, replacing Rob Katz just before the next ski season begins.
Get access to everything we publish when you sign up for Outside+.
The world’s largest ski resort owner and operator will begin the 2021/22 ski season with a new chief executive.
Broomfield, Colo.-based Vail Resorts Inc. on Tuesday announced that Kirsten Lynch, currently the company’s CMO, will be appointed CEO and elected to Vail’s board of directors on Nov. 1.
She replaces Rob Katz, who will be appointed executive chairperson of the board and remain involved in Vail’s key strategic decisions. Ryan Bennett, currently vice president of marketing, lift revenue, will be promoted to CMO.
Lynch’s promotion coincides with her 10-year anniversary at the company. She joined Vail Resorts in 2011 as CMO after holding senior leadership positions at PepsiCo and Kraft Foods. She grew up in Chicago, first skiing when she was 6 at Wilmot Mountain—a resort now owned by Vail Resorts. She lives in Boulder with her husband and two children.
Read more: Vail Resorts bumps up its wages
“Over her 10 years with the company, Kirsten has been responsible for the transformation and success of Vail Resorts’ data-driven marketing efforts and a primary driver of the company’s growth, stability and value creation,” said Katz. “In addition to having an incredible business acumen, Kirsten is one of the most passionate, driven leaders I have ever worked with. Her tremendous enthusiasm for the long-term vitality of our sport and a very high commitment to leadership development within our Company will make her an outstanding leader of Vail Resorts. Kirsten will also be surrounded by an extremely strong and tenured executive team.”
Said Lynch: “It is an honor to lead Vail Resorts as CEO and build upon Rob’s legacy of reimagining the mountain experience. I am passionate about this company, the leadership culture we have built and our 55,000 employees who make Vail Resorts the industry leader. Looking forward, I am excited about the incredible growth opportunities for Vail Resorts and committed to making our sport and our Company more diverse, inclusive, and accessible. Together, we will grow our business, innovate and continue to work toward our mission of creating an ‘Experience of a Lifetime’ for our guests and employees.”
Katz leaves after a lengthy tenure with the company. He was appointed to the Vail Resorts board of directors in 1996 and named CEO in 2006.
“After more than 15 years in the role, one of my top priorities has been to identify and prepare a CEO for the next chapter in the company’s growth and success and I am fully confident that Kirsten is that person,” said Katz. “And with our company having just navigated the most challenging period in its history and coming out stronger than when it began, this is the right time for me to take a step back and play a different role at Vail Resorts. I am incredibly proud of where our company is today and passionate about supporting Kirsten, our board, and our executive team in continuing to reimagine the mountain resort experience. While I am grateful to have been a part of so many of our company’s incredible accomplishments over the past decades, I’m most proud of our unique leadership culture and the amazing leaders we have at every level of Vail Resorts—who have been the primary driver of all the innovation, growth and success we have created together.”
Vail Resorts’ new CMO, Bennett, joined the company in 2018 as vice president of marketing analytics before he was promoted to his current role as VP of marketing, lift revenue.


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Illustrated Assassin’s Apprentice launch event
Official launch of the new illustrated 25th anniversary edition of Assassin’s Apprentice will be held at the University Book Store in Seattle on October the 1st at 7pm. Robin will be attending and signing copies of the book.
If you can’t get to the event, you can order a signed copy through their event page, just remember to request a signed copy in the comment! They ship internationally.
This new special hardcover edition features 10 full-colour illustrations by Magali Villeneuve and a new foreword from the author. The publisher plans to follow it up with illustrated editions of Royal Assassin and Assassin’s Quest.


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Orient Overseas : To Further Hike Freight Rates For North Europe To Asia Route
04/19/2012| 04:07am US/Eastern
HONG KONG --(Dow Jones)- Orient Overseas (International) Ltd. (0316.HK) plans to further raise rates for container shipments for the North Europe to Asia route from May 15, the Hong Kong-based shipper said Thursday, as part of plans to boost profitability after its net profit plunged last year.
The shipper's container freight unit Orient Overseas Container Line, or OOCL, said in a statement it plans to increase freight rates by US$200 per 20-foot-equivalent unit, or 40-foot-equivalent unit, for all shipments through the trade route.
The latest rate hike comes after OOCL raised its freight rate for the same route by US$200 per 20-foot-equivalent unit and by US$300 per 40-foot-equivalent unit, starting last Sunday.
The container shipper didn't disclose its existing freight rate on its North Europe to Asia route, but it noted the current freight rate is below the required level to cover its operating and transportation costs.
The company--controlled by the family of former Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa--in March posted a 90% fall in 2011 net profit, as high fuel costs and capacity oversupply continued to weigh on its bottom line.
-By Joanne Chiu, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; email@example.com


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Been thinking of testing out Verizon’s 5G Home Internet service? Right now, you can get fast 5G home internet from Verizon starting at just $25 a month, but if you wait until later this week, that price is going up to $50 a month. Today Verizon started to notify customers that after August 23rd, 2023, the current 50% off for Verizon Wireless customer’s offer will be ending, and they will need to pay full price. Verizon also posted a message on its site notifying customers of the upcoming change.
Update: Verizon has reached out to Cord Cutters News to confirm that Verizon Wireless customers on qualifying plans will still be able to get a discount on 5G Home Internet. The plans will now cost $35 a month for the Unlimited Welcome plan and $45 for the Unlimited Plus plan.
To get the $25 a month pricing, you need to have a qualifying 5G Mobile plan from Verizon and be signed up for auto pay along with paperless billing. With that, you can, for now, lock in your $25 a month home internet and a free year of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV.
Here is everything you need to know about Verizon’s 5G Home Internet:
The Two Plans
With Verizon’s 5G Home Internet, you get to pick from two options. Both plans offer the same speeds, but there are some differences in the bonus you can get.
Verizon’s 5G Home starts at $25, offers a Wi-Fi 6 router, and comes with a 2-year price guarantee. After August 23rd, 2023, the price will start at $35 a month.
Verizon’s 5G Home Plus starts at $35 and offers a Wi-Fi 6 router, and comes with a 3-year price guarantee along with Verizon’s unlimited cloud backup. Plus, you can get 12 months of Walmart+ for free, along with $300 off a Verizon Stream TV Soundbar or Pro. After August 23rd, 2023, the price will go up to $70 a month.
Verizon’s 5G home internet starts at just $25 a month for the basic plan and $35 a month. The catch is you need a Verizon Wireless 5G Do More, 5G Play More, 5G Get More, and One Unlimited plan to get that price. After August 23rd, 2023 the prices start at $35 and $45 a month with autopsy and qualifying unlimited 5G plans.
There is no equipment fee, and depending on if you pick the 5G Home or 5G Home Plus plans, your price is guaranteed for 2 to 3 years.
You can find out if Verizon 5G Home Internet is available in your area on Verizon’s website HERE.
Contracts, Fees, Etc?
Verizon says their 5G Home Internet has “no annual contracts, data caps, or extra fees.”
Verizon says their 5G home internet service comes with unlimited Wi-Fi data usage. This means no data caps, data limits, or data usage caps.
How to Sign Up?
You can signup for Verizon 5G Home Internet by visiting Verizon’s website HERE.


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Square is piloting a feature that lets users of its Cash App P2P payments service get small, short-term loans.
According to TechCrunch, Jack Dorsey's firm is carrying out a test with about 1000 Cash App users, offering loans of between $20 and $200 that have to be paid back within four weeks and come with a flat five per cent fee.
Separately, Coinbase is set to let customers borrow cash against their Bitcoin holdings. The firm has opened a waitlist for interested customers in some US states.
Users will be able to borrow up to 30% - or $20,000 - of their Bitcoin holdings at an eight per cent APR, with no application or credit check.
The service is aimed at customers who may need or want cash for expenses like home renovations or car repairs but do not want to prematurely sell their crypto, says Coinbase.


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Download our latest podcast here.
Google to close doors in China
Google has decided to stop censoring its results in China and could end up closing its operations and shutting down its search engine there, the company said Tuesday. The decision follows an attack on Google’s servers in December that targeted the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, Google said in a blog post. “These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered — combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web — have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China,” David Drummond, Google’s chief legal officer, wrote in the post. In mid-December the company detected a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack” coming from China on its infrastructure that resulted in some of its intellectual property being stolen, Drummond wrote. He didn’t disclose exactly what had been stolen.
Tech spending set to rebound
The worst is over for technology spending and the sector is set to rebound this year, according to a new report from Forrester Research. The analyst firm expects U.S. IT spending to grow by 6.6 percent in 2010 after plummeting 8.2 percent in 2009. On a global basis, IT expenditures will jump 8.1 percent in U.S. dollars and 5.6 percent based on local currencies. Forrester is making its predictions even though final data for the fourth quarter of 2009 isn’t in yet. It’s basing that confidence on recent signs of economic recovery around the world, including strong earning reports from vendors such as Oracle and the increased availability of credit.
Cisco to open up doors in China
Cisco Systems is adding a China business unit to its Asia division, the company said late Monday, highlighting the strength of the Chinese market and Cisco’s efforts to grow in the country. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan will fall under the company’s new Greater China unit starting next month, Cisco said. Japan will retain its own unit and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region will remain a joint unit. Cisco’s market share is lower in China than in almost any other country, and the company is likely looking to change that, said Naresh Singh, a principal analyst at Gartner. Investment in IT by the government and by state-owned enterprises is set to continue fueling China’s market for networking equipment, making the country an attractive market.
Store anything on Google Docs
Google is opening up its Docs hosted office productivity suite so that users can store any type of file in it, giving the popular software-as-a-service product an important online storage component. The functionality will be rolled out over the coming weeks to all Docs users, both the ones who use the stand-alone suite as well as those who use it as part of the broader communication and collaboration Apps suite for organizations. Now, Docs users will be able to store all their important files in a single place online, where they can access them from anywhere and share them with other people.


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Atlantis Marine World has announced plans to build a 97,498-square-foot, $24 million expansion that will take visitors beneath the waves and beyond the ocean.
At the aquarium’s inception in June 2000, Jim Bissett and Joe Petrocelli promised that it would make an important impact on downtown Riverhead and continually reinvent itself to attract and maintain visitors each year. This year is no exception.
“This year, our Aquarium is celebrating its 10th Anniversary, and in what seems to be a wave o f new investment in downtown Riverhead, we are finally kicking off our long‐awaited phase two of our original construction plans, thanks in part to the financing by TD Bank,” announced Aquarium co‐owner and co‐founder, Jim Bissett. “This has been a long road, we have spent more than five years in design development – working with the town, the state, and the county to make sure that the best project possible would come to our downtown’s Main Street.”
The plans are set to encompass an area located on the east side of the present building in front of Treasure Cove Resort Marina. The new structure will include a 28,000-square-foot exhibition, banquet and conference center. Atlantis Marine World is also in the process of building a 70,000-square-foot Hyatt Place Hotel. The contemporary, 100-room Hyatt Place Hotel will include an indoor and outdoor pool, an intimate coffee and wine cafe, and an expansive dining area.
“Riverhead is growing into family‐friendly destination where you can experience several attractions, as well as experience its natural beauty along the scenic Peconic River. The Aquarium’s expansion is one piece of a larger plan – a plan that is still being created to help improve downtown Riverhead as a true tourist destination,” said the aquarium’s General Manager, Bryan DeLuca.
The Atlantis Marine World’s new project will help create local jobs, build tourism, and grow the family entertainment industry on Long Island. “There sure are a lot of winners with this project,” said Bissett.
The site is set to open this summer.


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US: Deckers opens first Ugg for Men store
Footwear company Deckers Outdoor Corp will open its first Ugg for Men flagship store in New York today (6 June).
The 800 sq ft store on Madison Avenue will offer footwear, outerwear, accessories and small leather goods.
"Ugg for Men has grown into a stand-alone line that deserves its own storefront," said Connie Rishwain, president of Ugg Australia. "Men requested their own dedicated space and we're excited to give them just that."
Deckers Outdoor Corporation, the maker of Ugg boots and Teva sandals, has slashed its full-year forecasts after the introduction of higher ticket prices for its products led to a drop in third-quarter...
Deckers-owned sheepskin boots brand Ugg is set to open its first French store in Paris this week. ...
Footwear specialist Crocs has appointed Dale Bathum as chief product officer responsible for design and development, as well as expanding the brand internationally....
- New scenarios driving sustainability in textiles
- New wage ladder lifts workers towards living wages
- US retailers to face logistics issues into 2015
- Cambodia employers and unions unhappy at wage rise
- M&S continuing to drive sustainability agenda
- Coats launches new services business in Vietnam
- Bangladesh worker dies as factory boiler ruptures
- Eight footwear factories lead on social compliance
- Global unions join forces on apparel wage poverty
- J Crew embarks on new expansion phase


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BEACH BLANKET BURBERRY: Burberry will launch its first “evolving” ad campaign today on burberry.com. The color campaign has been shot on the beach in Brighton, England, by Mario Testino, and features models Cara Delevingne and Jacob Young showcasing the Burberry Prorsum, London, Brit and accessories collections. From now on, each month Burberry will feature new images and models from its seasonal campaign on burberry.com. The refreshed campaign images will coincide with the monthly flow of fresh merchandise into Burberry’s stores. Over the past 15 months, burberry.com has been undergoing an overhaul, and its new format and concept will be unveiled in the coming days, according to a Burberry spokesman. The new site will offer multimedia content and be built around the three brand pillars of content, commerce and community, according to a spokesman. It will also be used for live-streaming Burberry’s runway shows, starting with the men’s Prorsum show on January 15 in Milan.
— SAMANTHA CONTI
JOHN AND DAVE: By now, everyone knows John Varvatos’ first love is rock ’n’ roll — so he’s reached into the music world yet again and tapped Dave Matthews as the new face of the brand.
Matthews, lead vocalist and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band, one of the most successful touring acts in the country, was shot by Danny Clinch on the streets of New York City as well as in the studio portraying a one-man band. It’s the second go-round for Matthews with the brand — he appeared in the fall “Sgt. Pepper”-like campaign featuring a slew of musicians.
“Dave has reached a milestone in his musical career and is taking a well-deserved year off in 2011,” Varvatos said. “We feel honored that he has chosen to collaborate with us to create such timeless imagery for this season’s campaign.”
The still ads, as well as a short art film created by Clinch and design agency Yard, draw their inspiration from Matthews’ love for vintage instruments and curiosity about carnivals, carnies and street performers. He is shot with a one-man-band gadget built from scratch using a variety of historical instruments. The shoot also includes the requisite monkey — in this case, Coco.
See the short film here
“Dave was perfectly suited for the one-man-band idea,” said Stephen Niedzweicki, creative director of Yard, adding that Coco the monkey and Matthews “created a special long-term friendship” at the shoot.
The ads will run in L’uomo Vogue; GQ in the U.S., U.K. and France; Vanity Fair, and others. The film will be available on the John Varvatos Web site.
— JEAN E. PALMIERI


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The Blue Oval recently revealed the all-new 2023 Ford Super Duty, and the lineup will launch with some impressive new tech, like Pro Power OnBoard and Power-Up software updated capability. It also ditches the old Ford 6.2L V8 for a new 6.8L V8 engine as the standard powerplant going forward. In anticipation for the change, the Ford Windsor Engine Plant is adding a third shift to its operations, per Automotive News Canada.
The addition of a third shift is expected to add 150 jobs to the facility and production of the new 6.8L V8 will launch in January 2023. The third shift production will be devoted to providing the Ford Kentucky Truck plant with engines, which will stop manufacturing the 6.2L V8 by the end of the year. In addition to the 6.8L V8, the Windsor plant is also responsible for production of the Ford 7.3L Godzilla V8. As Ford Authority previously reported, the 6.8 and 7.3 are so closely related that the 2023 Ford Super Duty team opted against naming it. The redesigned Super Duty will also offer an updated version of the Ford Power Stroke 6.7L V8 turbodiesel as the optional powerplant, although the diesel will boast a high output variant for 2023 in addition to its standard output.
This latest news comes soon after the company announced a $700 million investment into the Kentucky Truck plant to accommodate 2023 Super Duty production. That cash infusion is expected to add 500 new hourly manufacturing jobs and help the company towards producing the trucks, which are currently slated to roll off the assembly line in late 2022. As Ford Authority reported back in June, these recent investments follow a substantial $3.7 billion investment for assembly plants in the American Midwest to support next-generation Ford Mustang and Ford Ranger production, in addition to providing funds to expand Ford F-150 Lightning capacity at the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center.


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APA to present new digital innovation award at ABIAs
12 April 2012 @booksandpublishing
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced that it will present a new award for digital innovation as part of this year’s Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs), the finalists for which were announced this week. The Book Industry Digital Innovation Award will be sponsored by Publishing Technology and aims...
Category: Local news


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Given the beating that sales suffered at most U.S. companies during 2009, it’s no surprise our annual ranking of the state’s top private companies showed strains. Revenue fell an average of 5% but many companies reported dips exceeding 30%. This was a year when companies with 20% revenue declines could still find themselves rise in the rankings.
Last year, with the recession in full swing, five companies topped $1 billion in revenue. In this year’s list, Roseburg Forest Products, Hoffman Corp. and EPIC Aviation fell below that mark, leaving just two in the billion-dollar club: Jeld-Wen and Les Schwab.
North Pacific Group was another casualty from the top. The building products distributor, No. 6 last year, was no longer able to keep creditors at bay and went into receivership in May to liquidate assets. Other prominent companies on last year’s list — including ESCO Corp., Columbia Distributing and Platt Electric Supply — declined or did not respond to requests for their latest annual revenue. Given the choice of many private companies to keep a low profile, there may well be a billion-dollar business out there under our radar, but it’s still discouraging to see the top echelons of the list shrink.
On the encouraging side are the recent IPO announcements by Erickson Air-Crane (which did not respond to our survey) and Tripwire (No. 93), both of Portland. Look for them next year in our August 2011 Public Companies list.
Some retailers and wholesalers had a decent year. Western Family Foods, a Portland grocery distributor, saw an 11% jump in revenue, moving the company from 12 last year, to No. 6. Bi-Mart, Reser’s Fine Foods, Harry & David Holdings, C&K Market, Sherm’s Thunderbird Market and Plaid Pantries all advanced ranks with flat or modest sales declines.
Financial services powerhouse M Financial Group wasn’t so lucky. The Portland firm, which focuses on the ultra-affluent and Fortune 1000 companies, dropped from No. 7 to No. 10. In a dismal year for contracting and construction, Portland’s S.D. Deacon Corp. fell from No. 18 to No. 30. Yet Portland’s Harder Mechanical Contractors managed to grow sales 38%, leaping 20 ranks in the list to this year’s No. 18.
Wood products and building materials also were hit hard. Lumber Products of Tualatin, Swanson Group in Glendale, and Portland-based Tumac Lumber all stumbled in the rankings.
Last year, R2C Group was ranked No. 133 based on net revenue. This year, the Portland advertising agency correctly provided its gross revenue, moving it to No. 25 on the list. The company is thriving by targeting infomercials and other low-budget media on the secondary advertising market.
On average, this year’s Private 150 had $198.1 million in revenue. In total they had $29.7 billion. Just two years ago, these figures were $265.2 million and $39.8 billion. Now that the national economy is slowly growing again, perhaps next year’s numbers will be stronger. THE EDITORS


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Professional displays specialist BenQ has announced that it has partnered with Zoom Video Communications “to deliver certified interactive display solutions that encompass the platform’s video conferencing and chat services, remote screen sharing, content collaboration and whiteboarding functionality”.
The company says the move will bring more flexibility and connectivity to collaboration environments such as corporate meeting rooms, home office spaces and education facilities. Functionality supports touch free working environments in digital signage spaces, with the hardware and software solution “reflecting the dynamic nature of modern communications and enabling interactions in a Covid safe way”.
“Partnerships with technology leaders such as BenQ are key to our mission of delivering high-quality visual communications for the world,” said Jeff Smith, head of Zoom Rooms, Zoom Video Communications. “Together, we can help businesses and individuals overcome today’s challenges to build toward tomorrow’s success.”
The partnership will see Zoom become a standard feature across BenQ’s portfolio of flat panels, digital signage and interactive displays. In addition, BenQ has further strengthened its software partnerships to include Microsoft, TeamViewer, Meeting Room 365, Blizz, Amazon Web Service (AWS) and VMware.
“The BenQ interactive flat panel and digital signage portfolio now has full interoperability with the premium brands forging our new normal to take collaboration to the next level, support hybrid working structures and ensure full connectivity with existing business infrastructures,” explained Royce Lye, BenQ UK managing director for UK&I.
“Our certified status with this range of companies makes the BenQ platform agnostic, allowing us to support our customers through whichever platform their organisation is utilising.”


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PUC gives go-ahead to large-user electric competition
The state Public Utilities Commission has approved a proposal designed to encourage large commercial and industrial customers to switch from PSNH’s energy service to electricity purchased from competitive suppliers.
In its Nov. 21 order, the PUC approved the Retail Energy Service, or RES, program, noting that competition thus far “is not meaningfully existent within the PSNH service territory.”
The new program, however, will “allow non-utility suppliers to market energy successfully to the eligible PSNH customers” and will result in “little or no harm to customers remaining on transition service,” the PUC said.
The program will provide what the PUC referred to as a “shopping credit,” intended to provide an incentive to large customers to shop for a better price. The program, scheduled to begin on Feb. 1, 2004, will last for two years.
Although PSNH filed the proposal, PUC staff, the Business & Industry Association of New Hampshire, the Office of Consumer Advocate, Freedom Energy Partners LLC, Select Energy, Constellation NewEnergy Inc. and Competitive Energy Services LLC all signed on in support of it.
The program will allow large PSNH customers — those whose billing demand is one megawatt or greater or those multiple-location customers whose total load is at least one megawatt — to select a competitive supplier and receive a per-kilowatt-hour credit against the energy portion of their electric bills. This credit is likely to provide the incentive for a customer to switch to a competitive supplier because it would allow the customer to obtain a price that is better than the transition service price. Because the transition service price, which is based on an estimate of PSNH’s costs of providing the electricity, is lower than the market price for electricity there has been no incentive for PSNH’s customers to purchase power from a competitive supplier.
The thinking is that the credit will create the incentive to shop around for a competitive supplier instead of purchasing the transition service price.
The program will total 100 megawatts, which amounts to somewhere between a third and a quarter of PSNH’s large commercial and industrial load and about 6 to 7 percent of PSNH’s transition service load. PSNH may increase the program by another 25 megawatts if it wants.
Customers that elect to participate in the program will have to be in the program for a minimum of six months; if they leave they will have to wait another 6 months before being able to return.
Once signed up for the program, a customer would shop for a supplier to provide the electricity required. The amount of the per-kWh “shopping credit” will be established by determining the difference between the forecasted market price, or the marginal cost to PSNH of buying more power to serve the load, and the transition service price, which is an estimate of PSNH’s average costs of generating the power approved by the PUC, less 0.1 cents per kWh.
The customer and the supplier would enter into an agreement for the customer to purchase its electricity from the supplier. (Participating in the program and reaching agreement with a supplier are two different things, which means that an agreement with a supplier could be for a different length of time than the period a customer’s participation agreement requires. While a customer could have an agreement with and purchase power from a supplier without being in the program, in order to receive the credit the customer would have to be eligible and participating in the program. The program will be available on a first-come first-served basis.
This program takes advantage of the fact that the average cost of providing transition service is lower than the average cost of such energy on the regional wholesale market. PSNH is not required to divest itself of its non-nuclear generating assets until at least April 2006, and its retained generating assets operate at a relatively low cost, thus producing electricity that is lower in cost than the regional wholesale market.
Some BIA members have discussed forming an aggregation pool to utilize the program.
According to a recent news report, Gaz Metro Limited Partnership will pay $21.6 million to increase its stake in New England’s Portland Natural Gas Transmission System from 26.9 percent to 38.3 percent.
The 471-kilometer pipeline transports gas from Canada to Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
On Oct. 20, El Paso Corp. announced it had reached an agreement to sell its entire 29.64 per cent interest in the pipeline to TransCanada Corp. for $137.2 million. But Gaz Metro says it notified El Paso that it would exercise its right to match TransCanada’s offer and acquire the units to which it was entitled through a partnership agreement. TransCanada now will own 61.7 per cent of the Portland pipeline and Gaz Metro will own 38.3 per cent.
Doug Patch, former chairman of the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission, is with the Concord law firm of Orr & Reno.


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Hallmark has apologized for dropping a commercial featuring a same-sex couple and pledged to work.
Zola’s chief marketing.
The Hallmark Channel backtracks: Same-sex marriage ads to return – After pulling a same-sex marriage ad, the Hallmark Channel said Sunday it will reinstate the commercials. "We celebrate.
Hallmark Channel reverses course, will reinstate same-sex wedding ads – The earlier decision by Crown Media, Hallmark’s parent company, to pull several ads for the wedding planning site Zola.
Zola, the wedding planning site that made the ads.
After Hallmark pulled those ads, but not two featuring only.
Decision to pull several ads for the wedding planning site Zola launched a storm of protest and calls to.
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The singer, 34, and the actor, 44, sparked speculation they’re engaged again as the singer wore a ring on her wedding finger.
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The chief executive officer of Hallmark Cards apologized on Sunday night and said the company would reverse an earlier.
Hallmark responded by continuing to air Zola commercials, but not the four that included a same-sex wedding. That led to Zola.