Bloomberg rips Trump with brutal DNC speech: 'The richest thing about Donald Trump is his hypocrisy'

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg stung Donald Trump on Wednesday night with a brutal critique in front of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, during which he repeatedly skewered the Republican presidential nominee's business practices.

The former New York City mayor, ranked by Forbes as the eighth-richest man in the world, began his address by acknowledging he was an "outsider" who would be delivering an "unconventional convention speech."

"I've been a Democrat. I've been a Republican. And I eventually became an independent because I don't believe either party has a monopoly on good ideas or good leadership," he said at the start of his speech, earning some boos shortly after for offering minor critiques of Democrats.

Bloomberg quickly, however, focused his attention on Trump, whom he called a "dangerous demagogue."

"I built a business and I didn't start it with a million dollar check from my father," the billionaire said, in reference to the money Trump's father loaned him to start his first business.

Bloomberg, the fellow New York businessman who almost threw his hat in the ring for the presidency in 2016, slammed Trump's business practices and argued they would be dangerous to the US economy.

"Trump says he wants to run our nation like he runs his business? God help us," Bloomberg said to thunderous agreement from the crowd. "I'm a New Yorker and I know a con when I see one."

He added: "The richest thing about Donald Trump is his hypocrisy."

Bloomberg said he understood the "appeal of a businessman" as president, but contended Trump would "make it harder for small businesses to compete" and would "do damage to our economy."

"Trump is a risky, reckless and radical choice and we can't afford to make that choice," he said.

Bloomberg didn't quite offer Clinton a ringing endorsement, openly admitting he disagreed with her on a number of issues, but said she was the "responsible choice in this election" and a "sane," "competent" candidate.

"Hillary Clinton understands this isn't reality television. This is reality," he said. "She understands the job of president. It involves finding solutions, not pointing fingers."

Resource: http://www.businessinsider.in/
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Mark Zuckerberg just put Google on notice that it's going after its cash cow

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg provided a blueprint on Wednesday for what could turn into a major new business: search advertising.

Facebook has had search capabilities on its social network for years, but the company has never really tried to turn it into money-maker in the vein of Google's lucrative search advertising business.

During Facebook's Q2 earnings call on Wednesday though, Zuckerberg made it clear that search advertising is in the cards, although he didn't provide any specific time frame.

Zuckerberg said he saw search, like all Facebook's products, as going through a three-stage process. Stage 1 is introducing the product to users. Stage 2 involves making search "organically" useful to businesses. Stage 3 is when Facebook charges businesses for search features.

Right now, he said, search is in Stage 2.

Zuckerberg didn't elaborate on what exactly the company would charge businesses for when it begins Stage 3, though it's likely to involve some sort of promotion within Facebook search results.

"At some point we will probably work on that," Zuckerberg said, addressing the potential for commercial and monetizable search features.

That's sure to increase competition with Google, the world's No.1 internet search engine, which generates the majority of its revenue from search ads.

Resource: http://www.businessinsider.in
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German ministry denies investigating Tesla over software updates

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Transport Ministry denied a report on Friday that it was investigating Tesla Motors Inc for updating driving assistance software without informing authorities, but said it was "clarifying technical issues" on the matter.

German magazine Der Spiegel reported, without citing a source, that there were indications that Tesla uploaded new software features to a driving assistance system which had not been examined for security during regular approval proceedings.

It added the ministry therefore launched an investigation.

"The report is incorrect," a ministry spokesman said. "There are no investigation proceedings against Tesla.

"We are clarifying the technical issues," the ministry spokesman added. "At the moment, it is a normal gathering of information on the status quo between the car watchdog and the ministry."

The Der Spiegel report, released on Friday ahead of the magazine's publication on Saturday, said the driving assistance system in question was a device designed for regulating car overtaking maneuvers.

If the suspicions were confirmed, Tesla could lose type approval for its Model S vehicles, meaning they would be banned from the roads, the report said.

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said last year during a visit in Berlin that he viewed Germany as the next most important market for his company after the United States.

In 2015, Tesla sold 1,582 Model S cars in Germany, Europe's largest car market.

The magazine added that Tesla had applied for type approval in the Netherlands and therefore only the Dutch authorities could withdraw the approval for the European market again.

A spokeswoman for Tesla Germany was not immediately available to comment.

The magazine said it had put the allegations to Tesla but did not get a comment from the U.S. company before its editorial deadline on Thursday evening.

Resource: http://www.businessinsider.com
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ADM updates progress on energy, water and emissions goals

CHICAGO — Archer Daniels Midland Co. said it has made progress toward goals the company set five years ago to reduce its use of energy, water, emissions and waste per unit of production, known as intensity. The company’s progress is detailed in the 2015 Corporate Sustainability report issued on July 6.

ADM said it has reduced energy intensity 22% since 2010, and water intensity has declined 18% since 2008. Both of those figures put the company ahead of its goal of achieving a 15% reduction in each area by the years 2020 and 2018, respectively, ADM said.

Meanwhile, carbon emissions have been cut 11% per unit of production since 2010, putting the company on track to reach its goal of a 15% intensity reduction by 2020. ADM also has implemented pilot projects to capitalize on waste reduction and recycling opportunities.

“ADM believes that successfully feeding the world while minimizing our impact on the planet is essential to our goal of setting the competitive standard in the agribusiness and food ingredient industries,” said Juan Luciano, chairman and chief executive officer.

Also in the report, ADM offered insight into its supply chain and operations, and also provided its stance on bioengineered ingredients.
“ADM supports a wide variety of technologies that can help farmers do more with less,” the company said. “This issue is a critical goal for agriculture; new technologies and products are key in the effort to feed a growing global population while limiting increased use of farmland and water. We also recognize and respect our customers’ desire for options. We work to meet our customers’ need for identity-preserved crops and products. Because of our vertical integration, we have developed — for certain product lines — systems that track and preserve crop identity from seed to factory to finished product to make such options available for our customers.”

Resource: http://www.foodbusinessnews.net
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AIB updates inspection standards

MANHATTAN, KAS. — More focused, current and easier for food companies to use — that’s how AIB International described the upgraded versions of its Consolidated Standards for Inspection of prerequisite and food safety programs, released June 28.

“Our Consolidated Standards for Inspection allow your food safety programs to reach their highest potential,” said Stephanie Lopez, vice-president for food safety services. “This update incorporates important trends and needs for today’s global food chain to help food plants minimize their risk of food safety contamination and exceed a customer’s expectations for providing wholesome and safe products.”

AIB International’s standards for inspection describe key requirements that food facilities must meet to prove their food safety standards conform to Food Safety Modernization Act (F.S.M.A.) regulations. The updated standards will also guide AIB’s own GMP Inspection, FS 360 and Inspection Only services. The 10 standards are tailored to specific industry segments. Among the new aspects are concepts such as food fraud and supply chain control.

The group announced a two-year plan to update its standards. Those dealing with inspection prerequisites and food safety programs were the first to be released in 2016 for implementation in 2017. The others will concern beverage facilities, food distribution centers, food contact packaging manufacturing facilities and nonfood contact packaging manufacturing facilities.

The five to be updated in 2017 and implemented in 2018 are inspection standards for agricultural crops, fresh-cut produce, fresh produce and fruit packing houses, grain handling facilities and retail facilities.
“We have prepared a free webinar and change document to explain the changes our clients will need to implement as they prepare for their next inspection,” said Elina Zerva, global innovation manager.

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OED updates include internet slang acronyms

 A number of internet slang acronyms such as FWIW and ICYMI and have made it into the Oxford English Dictionary along with eye-catching new entries like budgie smugglers, glamping and listicles.

The latest update also includes the likes of "bovver", made famous by comedian Catherine Tate.
Significantly, the latest update to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) acknowledges the "inescapable factor of modern life is our increasing reliance on computers and digital communications".

It has included acronyms such as FWIW, short for "for what it's worth", and ICYMI, "in case you missed it", which are used frequently on social media and in text messaging.

They are some of the more than 1,000 new words and senses, and nearly 2,000 fully revised or expanded entries, the BBC reported.

"Budgie smugglers" is an Australian term used since the 1990s that refers to a pair of tight men's swimming trunks.

"Glamping" is a shortened form of the phrase "glamorous camping", used to describe a camping with luxuries and accommodation more associated with hotel stays.

"Listicles" are a recent invention of the internet age, describing online newspaper or magazine articles presented in the form of a list.

"Bovver" makes the list thanks to Tate's teenage character Lauren's much-repeated catch-phrase "Am I bovvered?".

"Dudettes", meanwhile, has been in use since 1883, five years after the more commonly used male equivalent "dude" came into use.

The next update to the OED is due in September, the report said.

Resource: http://www.business-standard.com/
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Microsoft Updates Skype for Business Mac Preview

A new version of the Skype for Business for Mac Preview is now available, adding new contacts and presence, IM, peer-to-peer calling, group video calling, and conversation history capabilities.

Microsoft released the first preview of Skype for Business for Mac back in April, first to a limited set of invite-only testers and then later to a broader audience. It included basic capabilities like access to upcoming scheduled meetings and the ability to join those meetings.

Now, with the second preview of this client, Microsoft is expanding the capabilities of Skype for Business Mac fairly dramatically. Here’s what’s new:

Contacts and presence. Now you can see whether contacts are offline or online. And if they’re online, you can see whether they’re busy, in a meeting or available.

IM conversations. You can now start IM (text chat) conversations with your online contacts.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) calling. You can now call other Skype for Business users directly using Voice over IP (VoIP).

Group video calling. Skype for Business for Mac now supports group video calls with up to four meeting participants.

Conversation history. You can view a list of previous conversations and restart them as needed.

Unfortunately, the second Skype for Business for Mac Preview is only available to those who already registered for the pre-release program. Microsoft says there are over 7,000 organizations and 22,000 individuals participating in the program currently, and that it is “at capacity.” Those who are in the program will automatically be updated to the new version.

That said, there will be one more preview release before the final, shipping version of the product. Skype for Business for Mac Preview 3 is due later this summer, Microsoft says, and will include telephony and voice features like the ability to dial out to a traditional phone number.

And then the final release is expected in the third quarter of 2016. (Or “this fall.”) Microsoft says it will also release release minor updates between the preview releases and final release to resolve any issues and address customer feedback.

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