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UK manufacturing 2
The expectations of the UK plastics industry for the coming year have shown an improvement according to the latest British Plastics Federation’s Business Conditions Survey.
The latest survey, conducted over June and early July, attracted 101 member responses and revealed further progress for the industry, as well as a positive outlook in terms of investment and recruiting.
‘There are improvements in expectations for both revenue growth and profitability over the next twelve months,” said BPF Director-General, Philip Law. “Seventy-two percent of respondents forecasted an increase in UK sales turnover compared to 66 percent revealed by the last survey in January.”
Export sales expectations were also up, with 39 percent expecting increases compared to 37 percent earlier in the year. There was also a marginal rise in firms expecting an increase in profitability with 39 percent expecting an increase, again up from 37 percent earlier in the year.
Law added: “A key feature is that investment in plant and equipment is being maintained at a high level. 81 percent of companies responding have declared investment intentions over the next 12 months with 44 percent also expecting to increase staff levels over the same period.”
For the full report, click here.


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Equipment sales up
Farm equipment manufacturers continue to experience an increase in sales. A member survey from the Equipment Manufacturers Institute reports that sales in all tractor sectors and self-propelled combines grew. The number of 4-wd tractors sold through July this year (2,254 tractors) increased 17.4% from last year (1,920 tractors). Total number of farm tractors sold from January to July 2001 was 102,291, up from 95,676 tractors sold for the same period in 2000.
Seed financing deals
Finance your DeKalb and Asgrow seed purchases through a new program. The FarmFlex program offers 0% financing for growers who enroll by January 10, 2002, on a minimum of $7,500 in seed purchases. The financing rate increases to 2.9% for growers enrolling by February 28, 2002.
Livestock receipts boost farm incomes
A recent report on farm income from USDA’s Economic Research Service states that farm net income is up to an estimated $50.4 billion, an increase of 9% from 2000. This marks the first time farm income will reach $50 billion since 1996. The government payments this year total $20 billion, accounting for a substantial portion of farm income. The report noted a performance disparity between livestock producers, who are experiencing higher markets, and crop producers with moderate grain prices. Market receipts for livestock are forecast at $205 billion, which is just 1.5% lower than the 1997 record level. Dairy takes credit for much of the increase with receipts increasing 23% over last year. Crop receipts increased only slightly this year, by 1 to 2%.

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As the seasons finally turn in Colorado, AC Golden Brewing Company is giving one last nod to summer as it rolls out Colorado Native Peche, a sour beer made with world famous Colorado peaches from Palisade.
Hitting shelves now in limited quantity, Peche is brewed with 100 percent Colorado ingredients, including pale, caramel, and Munich malts. The resulting beer is relaxed in used, neutral, wine barrels for nearly a year with the brewer’s house culture of microorganisms. It is then fermented on fresh Colorado peaches at a rate of two pounds per gallon of beer.
Peche is the second of AC Golden’s award-winning sour beers to be released under the Colorado Native banner. It was formerly part of AC Golden’s Hidden Barrel Collection as it didn’t have all Colorado ingredients.
Colorado Native Peche is crisp and dry, and alive with peach flavor. The ABV is 7 percent.
According to AC Golden head brewer, Jeff Nickel, “Peche pairs well with sweet, fruity desserts such as caramel apple pie. It also works with fatty meats, including short ribs and tuna filets.”
AC Golden Brewing Company brews beers with 100 percent Colorado ingredients, making it the natural choice for beer drinkers who want to stay local with their choices. AC Golden also brews Colorado Native Amber Lager, which was the first year-round beer ever to be brewed with solely Colorado ingredients. Colorado Native IPL, and several specialty beers under the Colorado Native label, including: Olathe, Pilsner, Peche, Plum, and Winterfest.


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Apple's Antenna Issues: Them's the Breaks
Apple put out an open letter to iPhone 4 users on Friday stating that the iPhone 4’s wireless performance is "the best we have ever shipped" but claiming that the formula the company uses to calculate 3G signal strength often shows better reception than is actually the case. Thus, the signal can drop "by one or more bars" when users grip the new iPhone "a certain way." The company's solution to this is to reformulate and update its signal strength software for the iPhone. (See Apple Explains iPhone 4 Troubles.)
Light Reading Mobile asked the tear-down specialists at our sister company, UBM TechInsights, what they thought might be the actual cause of the signal strength issues with the new phone. Jeffrey Brown, VP of business intelligence at UBM TechInsights, says the problem is a hardware "design issue" and that the software stuff is, in fact, "a smokescreen."
"It looks like it is more a result of where they have created breaks in the frame to create antennas," Brown said in an email reply to questions.
See below for a shot of the iPhone 4 casing that illustrates where the breaks are:
"By holding the phone in the left hand, one could effectively create a different length antenna by shorting across a break created by the black plastic insert," Brown continues. "The other side is already shorted so holding the phone in your right hand would not change the dynamics of the frame."
The following shot from UBM TechInsights shows the detail of the functional antenna on the left-hand side and the decorative break in the casing on the right:
No quick fix So, Apple's proposed software tweak will do little more than than "show how soft" the connection is when holding the phone in your left hand, Brown says. (See Apple Blames Your Grip.)
"This is still a design issue -- and a fundamentally wrong design nonetheless -- that Apple is scrambling to fix, as made evident for their recent job postings for antennae engineering experts," he notes.
Apple Insider reported last week that Apple started advertising positions for antenna experts just before the iPhone launched in June.
— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile


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Discover more from Asia Sentinel
Ripples in Hong Kong's Luxury Goods Market
Hong Kong's luxury goods market got a shock when rumors started earlier this year that LVMH - the ne plus ultra of European luxury brands - was backing away from taking up a big space formerly occupied by an entire movie theatre in the city's upscale Times Square shopping mall in Causeway Bay.
Apple Daily, the Chinese-language broadsheet, earlier reported that LVMH, the parent company of the Louis Vuitton luxury brand, had taken the space at a price of HK$20 million (US$2.58 million) a month.
It is unclear exactly what happened. The luxury jewellery brand Tiffany & Co. opened its doors to customers in the space earlier this month, taking 3,800 square feet of the rumored Louis Vuitton shopfront. Chanel is expected to take another portion of the retail space. Whether Louis Vuitton will sweep up the remaining store front is unknown.
The developments have led to speculation that luxury brands may be losing their footing among the hordes of Chinese tourists pouring into the territory - 27 million in a city of 7.5 million in 2012 - and whether Hong Kong will remain China's go-to shopping haven. When the rumors surfaced about Louis Vuitton's bid to rent the entire ground-level area formerly occupied by the movie theatre in one of Hong Kong's leading shopping hubs, it came as no surprise. Soaring rents have continue to push out smaller, local businesses, paving the way for luxury brands and irritating the city's residents, who have seen their favourite restaurants and shops fall to the wrecker's ball.
For industry analysts though, this was not unanticipated.
"What we have seen is very high rent that's not necessarily supported by retail sales, and instead comes out of a marketing budget," said Andrew Lawrence, head of Hong Kong and China property research for CIMB Securities. "[Luxury brands] want to be in prime locations, so clearly they are clearly going to be paying relatively high rents," he added.
This retail property move has led to speculation that luxury brands are fading in the Chinese market and, coupled with the mainland's anti-luxury measures, could affect Hong Kong as China's shopping haven. The installation of Chinese President Xi Jinping has led to a harsh crackdown on partying and purchases by mid-level Communist Party satraps, so severe in fact that it has affected the stock price of such longtime standards as Maotai liquor and other luxury items in China.
The Communist Party has disciplined 2,290 officials so far this year, according to state media, causing the luxury items to disappear from around necks, wrists and waists, among other places. But while trends may be changing and could affect individual businesses, Hong Kong remains an important market for mainland consumers. The concerns over the Louis Vuitton property notwithstanding, it appears they continue to regard the territory as a shopping mecca.
The fact is that actually mainlander values of luxury are evolving, perhaps away from ostentatious demonstrations of flashy wealth. According to research conducted by the Digital Luxury Group on China's luxury market, Chanel has overtaken Louis Vuitton as the most sought-after high fashion brand. This seemingly trivial fact speaks volumes about consumer trends in China.
While Chanel is celebrated for bringing simple sophistication to its designs, Louis Vuitton is famous for plastering its iconic monogram logo on fashion and leather goods alike. The key difference in the two brands suggests that Chinese consumers are beginning to develop more sophisticated tastes and are opting for more subdued looks.
This is predominately driven by "tenured shoppers." According to The McKinsey Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey, published in December 2012, Chinese shoppers who began purchasing luxury goods more than 10 years ago are more inclined to look for simpler designs.
"Chinese luxury consumers are increasingly looking for less flashy and more understated products," the report said. Sixty-six percent of respondents said that they preferred "low-key" products and 51 percent said that they "feel that showing off luxury goods is in bad taste."
However, due consideration must be given to the newly emerged luxury consumers. A report by Fung Business Intelligence Center, the research branch of the Hong Kong-based Fung Group, agreed luxury values have changed in China. However, they are quick to argue that this doesn't mean that the allure of flashy luxury brands is faltering.
China is developing. With that comes the rising middle class, in particular in smaller cities. "Some consumers in lower-tier cities may still prefer brands with conspicuous and easily recognized logos. These consumers may have just reached the income level where they can afford luxury goods and would like show off their newly found social status," the Fung Group report said.
For those who do crave luxury goods, Hong Kong remains an ideal market for conspicuous and inconspicuous products alike. According to a report by KPMG, "Hong Kong plays a vital role as a window to the world and a sophisticated market for the Chinese consumers from the Mainland."
Europe is a growing luxury goods market for mainland consumers, ranking second as the choice for luxury shopping, but it is unlikely that Hong Kong will be pushed off its perch any time soon. Alongside the geographical perks making it a prime shopping destination, the city is also abundant in both choice and quantity.
Major fashion houses have shops scattered across the city. Louis Vuitton already has seven of its own stores in Hong Kong. Chanel has eight. Opening one less shop is unlikely to affect Louis Vuitton's business dramatically, especially when a steady flow of customers flock to the city for its goods. It is also not an unprecedented move.
"There seems to be a period of consolidation rather than expansion among luxury retailers," Lawrence told Asia Sentinel. "What we have seen is something of a slowdown in retail sales, particularly in the luxury end of the market - I suspect that may have weighed on [LVMH's] decision to expand."
Lawrence's analysis reflects other recent moves by LVMH. At the group's annual results presentation earlier this year, CEO of LVMH Bernard Arnault said: "The group's strategy now is to limit store openings." The focus will shift from opening new boutiques to expanding existing ones and offering customers a more personal relationship and service, Reuters reported. This move is to prevent Louis Vuitton from becoming too "commonplace" in China.
"Fashion can dictate which brands are likely to expand," Lawrence said. "If we are seeing some shifting amongst brands, the up and coming brands are more likely to be the ones that expand."
That said, whether big fashion houses choose to expand or consolidate and regardless of the changing values towards luxury, Hong Kong will remain the shopping hub for mainlanders. The point remains that Hong Kong offers not only a variety of products but also a variety of brands tailored to fit the desires of these wealthy customers.


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One of the nice surprises from Apple’s “Spring Loaded” event on Tuesday — which showcased a slew of new products like a refreshed iPad Pro and updates to existing Apple offerings like Podcasts and the Apple Card — was the reveal of a purple iPhone 12 that no one was expecting.
The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini now come in the all-new purple finish, with Apple raving that both handset models are perfectly color-matched to the phones’ precision-milled back glass. Many of the people watching the virtual Apple event at which these phones were unveiled, however, were probably unaware of the deeper significance of the phone’s color. It certainly wasn’t mentioned alongside the usual rundown of the phones’ myriad bells and whistles, like both models sporting an advanced dual-camera system that delivers powerful computational photography features as well as boasting expansive, edge-to-edge Super Retina XDR displays with OLED. Indeed, unless you really know your Apple history, you might not know that Project Purple was the code name that Apple chose back when the iPhone was first being developed ahead of its era-defining 2007 reveal.
Not only that, but purple was also reportedly Steve Jobs’ favorite color. That’s according to a 1996 Vanity Fair article, which almost makes you wonder whether this new model of Apple’s signature product, launching 10 years after the death of Jobs, is a tribute of sorts to the company’s iconic co-founder.
Cult of Mac editor Leander Kahney’s book, Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products, has some additional details along these same lines — about how “Purple,” for example, was the secret code name for the original iPhone project, back when Apple was making the extraordinarily risky jump into the world of mobile phones. A new endeavor for the company, at least to the outside world, might have seemed far removed from Apple’s core competencies.
The Project Purple codename was eventually shortened, and attached to two phone projects being developed in parallel that would compete against each other for supremacy. P1 for a project based on the iPod nano, according to Kahney’s book, and the other, led by Ive, was based around multitouch technology and codenamed P2.
A separate book about the history of the iPhone — The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone, by Brian Merchant — plows similar ground, adding additional color (no pun intended) around the significance of purple to the history of the iPhone. As it turns out, the lab where Apple was secretly working on the device that would come to be known as the iPhone was also called the “Purple Dorm.”
When you add together all these nuggets from Apple’s history, including Steve Jobs’ own affinity for the color, it’s hard not to feel like this new edition of Apple’s most important product isn’t at least a little bit of a nod to the chief executive who made this thing possible in the first place. I doubt Apple will ever admit as much, and there were no doubt plenty of additional motivations for this color choice that made sense, but it sure does feel like this one would have been a particularly special device for and loved by Jobs, if he was still with us today.
By the way, for those of you who want to get your hands on one of these models: Pre-orders for the purple iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini have now begun for customers in the US, UK, Japan, China, and more than 30 other countries and regions. The phones themselves will be available starting Friday, April 30.


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Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hinted face coverings, which are already compulsory on public transport, could be made mandatory in shops in England to slow the spread of COVID-19. Face coverings are already compulsory in Scottish shops.
However, cabinet office minister Michael Gove said that, while face coverings are “basic good manners” inside shops, they would not become mandatory. The sector is calling for clarity on face coverings in shops across England. In Scotland face masks are mandatory for all shops.
“The UK is an outlier among much of Western Europe in terms of its approach to face coverings, with the ‘good faith’ approach contrasting with the enforced mandatory wearing of masks whilst in shops and other businesses in Germany, Spain and Italy. We will not debate the science behind the wearing of masks but it is clear some clarity needs to be given, particularly as concern levels among UK consumers remains high.
Indeed looking across Mintel’s latest European COVID-19 tracker data (1-9 July 2020), what is notable is that over half (55%) of UK consumers say they would be currently uncomfortable about visiting a restaurant/bar indoors. This is the highest level within Europe, slightly ahead of Spain (51%) and significantly ahead of Italy (39%), France (36%), and Germany (34%). Of course this higher level of concern is natural given the UK has lagged behind the timelines of these other nations, with such businesses only just re-opening in the UK but have been open close to two months in the likes of Germany.
However what it demonstrates is that whilst the Government is moving towards opening the economy up and encouraging consumers to spend, the concern levels among UK shoppers at present pose a barrier to achieving this. Any information or policy that can then be implemented, masks included, that can reduce barriers to visitation must be looked into if the aim is to get consumers back onto the high street. What is crucial is that retailers and other businesses are given enough advance warning of these changes, allowing them the time to themselves gain stocks of single use masks, to ensure footfall is not further impeded by any rule change.”


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Ranbaxy, Pfizer bury Lipitor row
Ranbaxy and US drug major Pfizer have agreed to extend the latter’s market monopoly of its blockbuster anti-cholesterol medicine Lipitor in the US by 20 months. Lipitor is the world’s largest selling drug with worldwide annual sales of USD 12.7 billion.
Pfizer’s patent on Lipitor expires in March 2010. Under the settlement, Ranbaxy can sell generic versions of Lipitor in the US only from November 30, 2011. The agreement will, however, allow Ranbaxy to sell its generics in Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Australia when patents expire in these countries.
“This comprehensively settles outstanding issues between Ranbaxy and Pfizer bringing to closure a number of patent disputes,” said Ranbaxy chief executive Malvinder Singh in a statement.
Lipitor (generic name atorvastatin) belongs to the class of drugs called statins used to lower blood-vessel blocking cholesterol levels. The generic market for the drug in India is Rs 300 crore, with an annual growth of 30 per cent.
Lipitor costs almost USD 3 (Rs 120) for a day’s dosage in the US, where the market is worth USD 7 billion. In India, almost 20 drug companies sell generic Lipitor priced between Rs 4 and Rs 10 for a day’s dosage.
“Most patients are very price sensitive and the price makes it possible for millions to take it safely every day for the rest of their lives. In fact, the low price in India has made drug compliance to statins a high 90 per cent in India as compared to 30 per cent in the US,” says Dr Ashok Seth, chief cardiologist and chairman, Max Heart & Vascular Institute.
Once Pfizer’s patent expires, prices are expected to fall in the US by mid 2012. “Prices fall by at least 20 per cent in the US once the first generic hits the market. The fall becomes sharper once other generics follow,” says Dr C.M. Gulati, editor, Monthly Index of Medical Specialities.


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Lauden Chocolate is a premium chocolate company based in Leeds, UK, set up by husband and wife team Stephen and Sun Trigg.
The company started to export in 2010 and now sells products to high-end retailers in markets including Germany, Russia, Japan, China and the US through logistics provider FedEx.
Picking a partner
Co-owner Stephen Trigg offered advice for smaller confectioners entering export markets.
“Choosing your distributor is extremely important. You have to make sure they have clients on their books,” he told ConfectioneryNews.
He recommended independently obtaining references from distributors’ clients before entering a deal.
“We had some experience with distributors that couldn’t deliver from Leeds to Manchester overnight,” he said.
It’s important the distributor also understands the product and the target audience, he added.
Lauden previously worked with a distributor that placed one of the company’s premium products next to Kit Kat in a Saudi Arabian supermarket and the product flopped as a result.
Lauden Chocolate manufactures from its 3,000 sq ft facility in Leeds. FedEx, the firm’s logistics provider, collects products for Lauden’s factory to transport to international retailers. The firm can export products within 48 hours from Leeds to Japan.
Trigg advised smaller companies to carefully scrutinize local regulations in the markets they hope to reach.
“They have got to consider the import laws into the country. Really do your homework with your supplier.”
He recommended sending samples to retailers in export markets first to ensure they are happy to proceed.
“Take it slowly and test it first. We’ve seen it happen with friends of ours who sent a large palette to a different country and it was refused entry because they didn’t declare E172 for Japan,” said Trigg.
He continued: “These things change all the time too and that’s something to keep on top of.”
Trigg said it was fundamental to work with somebody able to speak the local language to avoid confusion with ingredients declarations and technical specifications for an order.
He said that his company once had products stuck in customs in Asia for a month due to issues with paperwork. “We sent everything we thought they needed, but a translation led to a misunderstanding.”
Trigg continued: “The products that we do have a good shelf life. The problem we have is the temperature.”
He said his company had previously sent an order to California and the chocolates had melted on arrival.
Now products passing hotter regions are packed in sealed polystyrene boxes with ice packs and larger orders will have temperature trackers.
Lauden Chocolates is about to move into everyday confections by launching premium chocolate bars and are looking for more distributors in Singapore, America, China and Europe.
The company has seven staff. “As a small producer it’s hard – it’s 12-14 hour days. You’ve just got to put the extra work in,” said the Lauden Chocolate co-owner.


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Lisa Bonet grew up in the spotlight, landing the iconic role of Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show at the age of 16. From her teenage years through turning 55 in November 2022, the actress has maintained an ageless appearance, but has she ever undergone plastic surgery?
While Lisa has never gone on the record about having cosmetic work done, the Angel Heart star has opened up about her beauty routine.
“I use a scrub by my facialist Dayle Breault a couple times a week, or I’ll use Derma Peel by Rhonda Allison. I alternate between the two,” Lisa told The New York Times in June 2016. “For cleansing, especially in the morning when I’m looking to sweep the dead cells away, I use Dayle’s face soap or Rhonda Allison Pumpkin Cleanser,” she continued.
Lisa said she maintained a very makeup-free look thanks to using tinted moisturizer as a “glowy highlighter” and SPF to protect from sun damage.
The High Fidelity star also revealed that she likes to use natural products to keep her hair and skin healthy. “I use organic coconut oil, which is what I use on my body as well. I was using coconut oil before the current craze. It’s simple and pure,” she told the publication, adding, “Why put a lotion on your body that has 10 ingredients when you can put on one that is from nature and smells divine and does the job?”
While Lisa hasn’t addressed plastic surgery rumors, her daughter Zoë Kravitz, whom she shares with ex-husband Lenny Kravitz, has defended herself against accusations of using lip fillers.
After posting a stunning February 2020 Instagram photo ahead of a YSL fashion show, one fan asked, “Babe, what have u done to your beautiful natural lips?” Zoë calmly responded, “Um … put some lip gloss on them.” But when other followers kept asking if she added fillers, the Big Little Lies star clapped back, “These are my lips. All pure … the equivalent as they always been.”
Zoë explained her reason for defending herself in a March 2022 interview with Elle. “The fact that people don’t think what they say affects a celebrity because you’re not a person to them is crazy. I’m a human being. I want to f–king defend myself,” she revealed.
Scroll down for photos of Lisa’s incredible transformation over the years.


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This Textile news page includes news headlines, summaries, and article citations about textiles from diverse, English-language news sources around the world.
News articles are ordered by publication date, with the newest article listed first and the oldest article listed last.
- Sri Lanka June exports boosted by garment growth
Sri Lanka's earnings from industrial exports rose in June, lifted by greater demand for garment and textile
Just Style. Thursday, 22 Aug 2019.
- US textile executives push for passage of USMCA
executives have today (21 August) pushed for passage of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) during a roundtable meeting with Congressman Tom Rice.
Just Style. Wednesday, 21 Aug 2019.
- Report finds sexual violence at Levi's, Wrangler factories
The Worker Rights Consortium details sexual harassment and abuse at textile
factories in Africa making popular brand-name clothing
CBS News. Friday, 16 Aug 2019.
- Remains of 'earliest-ever' Iberian textiles factory that was burned to the ground 2,500 years ago
The site, located in south-western Spain, was a former textiles
factory that was destroyed in ritual sacrifice, which involved the slaughter of various animals - including 52 horses.
Daily Mail. Monday, 12 Aug 2019.
- The Textile Brand Allowing Consumers To Make Informed Fabric Choices For Their Homes
Stitched, a UK-based textile
start-up, uses 3D Augmented reality to help customers visualise fabrics in their home prior to purchase. Alongside a sustainable and circular mindset, the brand are offering a new vision for the industry.
Forbes. Sunday, 11 Aug 2019.
- Textile - Apparel Industry Outlook: Prospects Seem Promising
- Apparel Industry Outlook: Prospects Seem Promising
Zacks. Monday, 5 Aug 2019.
- Tricots-Liesse names Hallett VP of sales
supplier Tricots-Liesse has named Mason Hallett vice president of sales for North America. The post Tricots-Liesse names Hallett VP of sales appeared first on Furniture Today.
Furniture Today. Tuesday, 23 Jul 2019.
- Bentley rolls out electric, eco-friendly EXP 100 concept car for 100th anniversary
The Bentley EXP 100 introduces "leather-like" textiles, sustainable woods and paint made from recycled rice husks.
CNBC. Wednesday, 10 Jul 2019.
- How espionage and ambition built the first factory
Completed in 1721, the Lombe brothers' five-storey textile
mill was quickly copied around the world.
BBC News. Tuesday, 9 Jul 2019.
- How To Suit Up For The Hill: Menswear Ski Apparel Brand Colmar Shows You How
Beginning roughly in 1923 , COLMAR devoted to the study of alternative textiles
and has grown exponentially ever since.
Forbes. Tuesday, 9 Jul 2019.
- Near-Term Outlook for Textile-Home Furnishing Looks Grim
Near-Term Outlook for Textile-Home Furnishing Looks Grim
Zacks. Monday, 24 Jun 2019.
- Milliken acquires Polartec
manufacturer Milliken & Co. has signed an agreement to acquire Polartec from Versa Capital Management. Terms of the deal, expected to be completed this month, were not disclosed. ...
Furniture Today. Tuesday, 11 Jun 2019.
- VP visits North Carolina for convention, trade, fundraiser
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Vice President Mike Pence is traveling to North Carolina to celebrate the approach of next year's Republican National Convention, to visit a textile
plant and to attend a political fundraiser. ...
Washington Times. Wednesday, 22 May 2019.
- Researchers create washable sensor that can be woven into materials
Researchers have developed a low-cost sensor that can be interlaced into textiles
and composite materials. While the research is still new, the sensor may pave the way for smart clothing that can monitor human movement.
Science Daily. Thursday, 16 May 2019.
- Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms
Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms on display at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile
Voice of America. Thursday, 16 May 2019.
Textiles News Headlines and News Summaries


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£150m Government manufacturing boost
A £150m package of 'new measures' has been launched by the Government today in a bid to help manufacturers take advantage of new technologies.
Benefiting: Rolls-Royce will receive £45m in Government assistance
The aim of the investment is to increase access to information and support, as well as boost workers' skills, said business secretary Lord Mandelson.
Businesses across the country will also benefit from a manufacturing advisory service giving information on low-carbon approaches.
The announcement is part of the Government's drive to support the development of new industries and new jobs.
Meanwhile, air engine designer and manufacturer Rolls-Royce today announced plans to invest £300m in four new UK manufacturing sites.
Rolls-Royce will receive £45m in Government support towards the new plants, which will see the creation or securing of 800 jobs.
The expansion will allow for growth in the aerospace sector and nuclear power supply chain.
An additional facility will be opened at Barnoldswick in Lancashire but the locations for the other sites have not yet been disclosed.
Rolls, which employs 23,000 people in the UK, also announced two research programmes which will focus on technologies to reduce CO2 emissions of future aircraft programmes and accelerate new manufacturing methods.
The Government's package of measures also covers investments in plastic electronics and silicon design.
Projects include a £12m expansion of the Printable Electronics Centre in Sedgefield, County Durham, a centre which focuses on display technology. The move could create up to 1,500 jobs by 2014.
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Capstone Turbine, the world’s leading producer of low-emission microturbine systems, announced April 3, 2008 that the Company received a follow-on $2.6 million C200 turbine order from Verdesis Suisse SA, its Switzerland-based distributor.
Verdesis Suisse SA ordered the systems, which will be sent out to multiple biogas sites throughout Austria, Germany and Spain. Verdesis’s previously ordered microturbines have been deployed in an array of applications at sites throughout France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland.
Jim Crouse, Capstone’s Executive VP, Sales and Marketing said, “Europe continues to be a strong market for Capstone, and we continue to receive repeat business for our products from our distributors in Europe. Verdesis, in conjunction with its Micropower partners, Wels Strom, VTA Technologie GmbH and AESA SpA, provide expertise in deploying a number of multiple unit biogas applications as well as others that offer customers effective and reliable solutions.”
Darren Jamison, President and Chief Executive Officer of Capstone said, “I continue to be pleased with the preproduction orders that we have received for our C200 product.”
Tony Hynes, VP Sales, Europe, the Middle East and Africa commented, “Headquartered in Switzerland, Verdesis and its Micropower partners have developed marketing, application, sales and servicing expertise in the power generation industry and in the supply and service of energy for a variety of customers. We are very pleased to be working with the Verdesis team and are looking forward to continued business opportunities in the future.”
Let us hear your thoughts below:


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Surge in internet crowdfunding sees City floats lose their appeal: Now small firms turn to web for investors
A plunge in small firms joining the City’s junior stock market could be down to thriving public investment through crowdfunding websites, analysts claim.
Just one business joined the AIM market in January – cement maker SigmaRoc, which raised £46.5m. Nine companies left.
While AIM has been a key source of cash for growing firms – as it allows them to sell shares to the public – experts put the slump in listings down to the rise of crowdfunders which let the public invest directly in private companies.
Change of direction: Just one business joined the AIM market in January, while nine companies left
Crowdfunders often promise huge returns for backers when small firms grow big enough to be sold or go public. But the industry has been criticised for a lack of transparency and there are fears that naive investors are unaware of the risks, with many businesses likely to fail.
Chris Boxall of Fundamental Asset Management said: ‘The large number of crowdfunding possibilities means that earlier stage businesses can obtain funding through the crowd route far quicker and cheaper than venturing on to AIM, often at valuations bordering on the ridiculous that wouldn’t be achieved through an AIM listing.
‘Public markets can also prove tricky for earlier stage businesses as shareholders often lose patience quickly, causing increased share price volatility. The London Stock Exchange may have missed a trick by not developing its own separate crowdfunding venture, which would also have served as a potential feeder for AIM.’
Crowdfunding is growing rapidly and is believed to be outperforming private equity for investment into new businesses.
Leading crowdfunder Seedrs, which is backed by star fund manager Neil Woodford, was last week named as the top investor in private companies in the UK.
Seedrs and its nearest rival Crowdcube together accounted for 21 per cent of non-listed, high-growth investment in the UK, according to research by data analysts Beauhurst. The companies were only founded in 2012 and 2011 but funded more than 250 companies last year.
The potential threat to AIM comes as the City is keen to keep its place as a global financial centre in the wake of the Brexit vote.
Launched in 1995 as a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange, an AIM listing means small companies can raise money by selling shares to the public. As the only one of its kind in the world, it has drawn hundreds of companies to London and is seen as a major feather in the City’s cap.
Businesses that have used it to raise cash include fashion retailer Joules, the Hotel Chocolat chain and publisher Time Out Group. Yet it also has critics who say it is under-regulated. At the end of January, 973 firms were listed on AIM with a total market value of £84.7bn. Thirty-eight firms floated on AIM last year, raising £1.1bn and ending the year with share prices up an average 39 per cent.
Oil and gas firm Eco-Atlantic listed on AIM last Wednesday, saying London investors could help fund its work in Guyana.
Last month the City had a major vote of confidence as Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company, said it was considering listing on the London Stock Exchange. Rare Earth Minerals also floated in January.
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With the countless snacking options available to consumers in this day and age, how does a new, small brand stand out?
Halfpops, maker of “curiously crunchy” half-popped popcorn, rose to the challenge in the form of a satirical, over-the-top ad campaign. The company released a video last month featuring a panicked narrator who was convinced that robots were going to take over the world. He called upon “code ninjas” that apparently speak the language of these robots for help. In return, Halfpops would be bringing the snacks.
The company delivered 500 limited-edition “Halfpocalypse” boxes to those who successfully completed its coding challenge and promised to “protect Halfpops' peeps in the event of catastrophe,” Adweek detailed.
“Since the brand itself is irreverent and playful, we wanted to do something that would be bold and a little bit ridiculous,” said Mike Watts, VP of marketing for Halfpops. “We're a small brand trying to make a big splash.”
Coders can still complete the challenge to receive a coupon for a free large bag of Halfpops, and non-coders can receive a 20 percent off coupon on the same site.


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Big News of the Week
World of Warcraft Subscriptions Dropping. “World of Warcraft’s subscriber base seems to be slowly dropping off, as revealed in today’s Activision Blizzard investor call. The number of current World of Warcraft subscribers as reported by Blizzard President Mike Morhaime stands at 11.4 million, notably less than the 12 million subscriber milestone achieved by the game last October.
Morehaime says that Blizzard Entertainment’s focus is on speeding up the development of new content for existing players, assumedly in an effort to retain them for longer. Blizzard has famously taken their time with development, often waiting until only a month or two before launch to announce a release date. “ Some good bits on this over at Curse. “During today’s Activision Blizzard earnings call, World of Warcraft and its expansion Cataclysm were two very hot topics. Listeners asked a number of questions related to the game, more than any other title or franchise in the publisher’s stable.
Of note, World of Warcraft’s subscriber base has reached pre-Cataclysm levels, according to Mike Morhaime, CEO of Blizzard Entertainment. He then later stated an actual number, with subscriptions at the end of March clocking in at right around 11.4 million.
That’s down by about 5% from the announced 12 million mark late last year. Interestingly enough, that was right before Cataclysm released. In fact, it’s actually lower than the milestone reached in 2008 with the release of Wrath of the Lich King.
But one important thing to point out, and Mr. Morhaime touched on this as well, is that World of Warcraft’s subscriber base does not change linearly. It fluctuates based on content consumption, which players seem to be doing a whole lot of — at a more rapid pace — with Cataclysm. “”Subscriber levels have decreased faster than previous expansions,”" he said.
Surprising? Not really. We have to remember that when these numbers were pulled, Cataclysm was in a bit of a lull. The expansion had been out for close to four months, and most of its content had been consumed by a large percentage of the player base — aside from heroic raids.”
Druid, Warlock, and Shaman T12 show up. Oh My!!
Rumors & Scuttlebut
Black Temple Raid Instance Map. Diablo III beta coming soon, game possible for end of 2011
While not entirely wow related, this is good news for any long time Blizzard games fan. This 3rd installment of the Diablo series can’t get on my hard drive fast enough.
Drop of the Week
Are video games a form of art? “Whatever your views are, the Smithsonian American Art Museum has released a list of titles to be showcased in its exhibition “”The Art of Video Games”"–and the choices are bound to fuel debate.
The retrospective show is set to run from March 16 through September 30, 2012, and will feature blockbuster games such as Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers, SimCity, The Legend of Zelda, Metal Gear Solid 2, and Halo 2, as well as lesser-known titles.”
Special thanks to our sponsors this week: Squarespace, Audible.com, Doghouse Systems, and Typefrag.com.
Huffduffed from http://theinstance.net/2011/05/229-the-instance-the-epic-stash/


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Sheryl Krok often drives from Irvine to Los Angeles on business for her cleaning products line. But before the South African immigrant returns home, Krok makes a kosher pit stop, buying a month's supply of chicken to feed her carnivorous family of five.
"Because, hello! Irvine doesn't know there are kosher Jews down here," said Krok, who would be happy to give up bulk buying.
Awareness about the county's Jewish population is improving at a time when many in the community are moving toward greater religious observance, including dietary restrictions often scorned by previous generations. Up until now, though, the community has supported just a single retailer with rabbinic supervision, Tustin's O.C. Kosher Market.
Weekly grocery shopping and Pesach planning last month got a little easier for kosher consumers in Southern California, with the Albertsons supermarket chain rolling out a kosher line of packaged meat, poultry and salmon in 16 stores in the weeks before the holiday. They include Orange County locations in Mission Viejo, Seal Beach and two Irvine stores, as well as selected stores from Calabasas to Carlsbad.
"It's no great feat to have fresh meat in Fairfax or Borough Park," said Bill Pinkerson, owner of Nevada-based S'Better Farms, Albertsons' kosher meat distributor in Southern California and Las Vegas. A larger Jewish population can support a supermarket with in-house supervision of kashrut for the baker and butcher preparing fresh products. "What about the whole rest of the world?" he asked.
"Nobody has been successful delivering fresh meat, chicken and fish to modest-sized communities," said Pinkerson, who is gambling S'Better Farms can succeed after a two-year trial.
Making timely deliveries has proved a challenge to several national kosher meat distributors trying to gain footholds in suburban markets, said Menach Lubinsky, editor of Kosher Today, an industry trade publication. Even so, he said, supermarkets eager to keep customers in the store are catering to niche buyers with specialty foods, such as products for the lactose-intolerant, Muslims or organic consumers.
"They have made it possible for the kosher market," he said, which now proliferates with packaged dry goods and frozen items far beyond the mainstay Manischevitz brand.
S'Better Farms spent a longer-than-expected two years figuring out how to regionally distribute feather-free Chai brand chicken and its own glatt-certified beef and still maintain high standards. Ice-cooled trucks, lower temperatures in its Inglewood processing plant and specially sealed packaging are necessary for cuts delivered weekly to retain a 10-day shelf life in stores' refrigerated meat sections.
After scaling back testing to a single store in Rancho Bernardo, Pinkerson put off delivery to Albertsons until a full year elapsed without spoilage.
"Without all those steps, we can't get that 10 days," said Pinkerson, who also owns Royal Palate Foods, which prepares kosher food for hotels.
The Southern California grocery strike further delayed his strategy for a gradual rollout, but Albertsons' management was insistent on a pre-Passover introduction, he said.
Moe Boucher, the chain's ethnic meat merchandising manager, said "Albertsons wants to be known for neighborhood marketing."
After the holiday and depending on customer acceptance, he is considering stepping up deliveries to twice a week and expanding the kosher meat line from 12 items to 40.
About 60 of the chain's 300 Southern California stores are candidates for the line, he said. Pinkerson anticipates expanding to five new stores a month.
"I'm happy when kosher consumption is made easy and inexpensive," said Rabbi Joel Landau of Irvine's Beth Jacob Congregation, which urged its congregants by e-mail to support Albertsons' initiative.
"I'll go to whatever end it takes," added Zalman Marcus, rabbi of Mission Viejo's Chabad, "but to others, convenience plays a role." The Marcus household relies on cooperative bulk buying of glatt products in Los Angeles through an informal Chabad network. Glatt is a higher standard of kosher slaughter preferred by Orthodox Jews.
"A community this size, it's hard to demand that people shlep that far," Marcus said, referring to O.C. Kosher and its owner, Moshe Zelig. "There is no doubt he'll be harmed. It's obviously easier when you have no competition. Moshe needs to offer something different."
Zelig is worried about losing customers.
"If they find it 10 cents cheaper they go there," said Zelig, adding that his competitors' prepackaged meats are likely to cost more. O.C. Kosher's whole Chai chickens sell for $2.19 per pound; at Albertsons, Chai cut quarters were priced at $1.79 per pound.
Zelig predicted Albertsons' kosher push would last but a few weeks and fizzle after Passover. A previous introduction of fresh kosher products at Albertsons' Mission Viejo store also failed to catch on.
To accelerate customer acceptance and lessen reliance on Albertsons' marketing, Pinkerson hired David Niasoff to promote the S'Better line. Relocated recently from Brooklyn, he has ties to the Chabad community and is personally calling on clergy. His initial contacts elicited enthusiasm.
"It gave me the confidence we were on the right track," Niasoff said.


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China's major economic indicators weakened slightly in July, but analysts said the trend of stable growth remains and will carry into the second half of the year.
Year-on-year growth of industrial output, investment and retail sales all dropped slightly last month, but employment and exports held up, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday.
Industrial output growth stood at 6.4 percent year-on-year, compared with 7.6 percent in June. Fixed-asset investment growth rose by 8.3 percent in the first seven months, easing from 8.6 percent in the January-June period. And retail sales grew by 10.4 percent in July, down from 11 percent in June.
The NBS said extreme weather, including high temperatures and flooding, has reduced economic activity and led to slower growth of industrial output and investments. The average temperature in July was the highest since 1961, causing increased factory equipment repairs, it said.
"The weakening of economic indicators in July is only a short-term fluctuation and will not change the overall stable and improving trend of the economy," said Zhang Liqun, an economist at the State Council's Development Research Center.
Zhang said that industrial output growth has been above 6 percent for more than a year, which, together with rising corporate profits, indicates improving conditions.
Hu Yuexiao, an analyst at Shanghai Securities, agreed the declines are an anomaly. "The slower growth of those economic indicators is mainly affected by temporary factors, such as weather, and it does not reflect the longer-term trend."
Zhang Yiping, an analyst at China Merchants Securities, said that those indicators have grown at higher rates than a year ago, but that growth is slowing down, indicating that growth momentum has remained uninterrupted.
Looking ahead, the economy is set to maintain its stable growth in the second half of the year, NBS spokesman Mao Shengyong said at a news conference.
Real estate investment was brisk in the January-July period, increasing by 7.9 percent year-on-year. Commercial housing sales rose by 14 percent and 18.9 percent in terms of area and value, respectively.
The unemployment rate, meanwhile, stood at about 5.1 percent in urban areas in July, lower than a year ago, according to surveys conducted by the NBS. Mao said 8.55 million jobs were created in the first seven months, 200,000 more than a year ago.
Export growth also was strong and consumer inflation was mild in July, Mao said.


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In early 2017, shortly after acquiring Microsoft announced that it would expand its presence in Montreal following its acquisition of local dee-learning research startup Maluuba. A year later, the tech giant is announcing plans to further expand its operations in the Canadian city, hiring a new research director in the process.
Perhaps the biggest move is Microsoft's hiring of Geoffrey Gordon, currently a Carnegie Mellon University professor and prominent artificial intelligence expert, to be the Montreal lab's new research director.
"We want to be doing the research that will be infusing AI into Microsoft products today and tomorrow, and Geoff's research really spans that," said Jennifer Chayes, a technical fellow and managing director of Microsoft Research New England, New York City and Montreal. "He'll be able to help us improve our products and he'll also be laying the foundation for AI to do much more than is possible today."
Additionally, Microsoft says that it plans to double the size of Microsoft Research Montreal over the next two years, increasing to upwards of 75 technical experts.
Chayes calls Montreal "one of the most exciting places in AI right now," and Microsoft has already seen some major advances come out of its local team. Those advances include bolstering machine reading comprehension and even teaching AI to handle complex tasks with none other than Ms. Pac-Man. This research may lead to potentially important discoveries as Microsoft looks to continue its all-out AI push in the coming years. For now, we're already seeing the fruits of early AI experiments in services like Office and Cortana.
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Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is a demanding game and it needs quite the PC to run it comfortably. If you don't have a PC yet dedicated to gaming, you'll want to pick from one of these to really bring the cockpit to life.


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HTC to reveal 3D Evo phone?
That’s the hot rumor going around this morning. The buzz is that HTC will debut the phone next week and that it will have a 3D screen with no glasses required (presumably, holding your head in juuuuust the right position will be required). The technology is not, in itself, all that stunning seeing as how we’ve been waiting on a 3D Nintendo DS for over a year now, but this would be the first application for a phone. What can you do with a 3D phone, you ask? Apparently HTC would be launching the phone (which would be on Android) with some specialized 3D apps. From there, owners of the phone would just have to hope that it catches on so more stuff could go on there as well.
(from our meeting this morning)
LARISSA: Why would someone want a 3D phone?
JOHN: So they can tell their friends they have a 3D phone.
LARISSA: But what would it do?
JOHN: Not be a 2D phone.
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Mr Fox will tell the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and representatives from the agriculture sector that recent market access agreements secured by the Department for International Trade were secured “because, and not in spite of, the UK’s world-class agricultural standards”.
The senior minister is expected to say: “We must ensure that the agricultural producers of this country can remain profitable. The same is true of the farming industry.
“Last week, alongside the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove, I chaired a roundtable discussion at Downing Street with some of the UK’s leading agri-tech companies.
“We want our companies to be able to tap into the opportunities of the wider world – accessing those high-growth markets whose demand will drive our own prosperity over the next generation.
“Most of you will, I’m sure, be familiar with the headline population forecasts: by 2050, there will be another three billion mouths to feed. This represents an unprecedented challenge, but also a vast opportunity.
“I have no need to tell you that expanding populations in the developing world also means a vastly increased demand for agricultural products, not least meat, dairy and crops.”
Focusing on trade with China, Mr Fox will highlight examples of where the UK’s agriculture and food standards have helped the UK open markets around the world.
During his speech, he is expected to go on to say: “In June, the Chinese Government agreed to lift a 20-year ban on the import of British beef… (this) could be worth Â£250m to British beef producers in the first five years alone.
“In August, I travelled to China to sign two other landmark agreements for agricultural produce.
“The first opens up the Chinese market to British dairy products made with milk from third countries – a significant step that could be worth Â£240m to the wider dairy industry.
“The second allows for the export of British seed potatoes to China. This is particularly beneficial for Scotland. Scottish farms provide around 70 per cent of our seed potato exports.
“And in July last year we announced a Â£200m deal for seven businesses across Britain and Northern Ireland to sell their produce into China in a major boost to the UK pork industry.”
He will add: “A final, and very important, point that I wish to make, is that these agreements were reached because, and not in spite of, the UK’s world-class agricultural standards.
"There have been a lot of reports lately, mostly on social media, that my Department has been planning to lower food and farming standards when negotiating Free Trade Agreements post-Brexit. Well, today I am here in person, and let me tell you categorically that these reports are untrue.
“It is your hard work over the past three decades that has made our standards among the highest in the world.”


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, the upcoming avian-themed skateboarding
game developed and published by Glass Bottom Games, has been hit with another delay and will now arrive this coming September -- one month later than previously expected.
A new trailer
shows a feathered friend skating and rolling around on a keyboard, wreaking all kinds of technical havoc as it does so. The video concludes by revealing that Skatebird
is no longer scheduled for release on Aug. 12, and will instead arrive on Thursday, Sept. 16. This announcement is followed by the message, "Sorry. Shipping games is hard."
Partially inspired by the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, Skatebird places players into the tiny shoes of skateboarding birds. Skatebird was originally announced as a PC game back in late 2018, with an early alpha build demo arriving in mid-2019 alongside a Kickstarter campaign to fund the full version of the game. The Kickstarter raised a total of $67,220 -- more than three times its initial goal.
Xbox One and Nintendo Switch versions of Skatebird were announced in late 2019, with the game getting a 2020 release window. Come July of 2020, however, the game was delayed to 2021. Just last month, Skatebird received an official release date of Aug. 12. In light of this new trailer, however, players will now have to wait an extra month for the game to release.
Developed and published by Glass Bottom Games, Skatebird launches Sept. 16 for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PC.


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For all that its products are (arguably unfairly) associated with elitism, Apple as a company has a pretty good track record when it comes to apologizing for screw-ups.
For example: When people complained about the iPhone 4's poor reception, back in 2010, Steve Jobs took reporters on a tour of Apple's antenna testing center, and gave everyone who bought an iPhone 4 a free case if they wanted one. More recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly apologized for "the frustration [iOS 6's maps have] caused our customers," and suggested they use Google's app instead. The Wall Street Journal even reported that Scott Forstall -- formerly Apple's exec in charge of iOS -- was asked to leave the company for refusing to be the one to apologize.
But when the British courts ordered Apple to apologize to Samsung for accusing the Korean tech giant of copying Apple's designs? Cue the snark and passive-aggressiveness.
Apple filed suit against Samsung in numerous courts worldwide, claiming its designs infringed on Apple's and seeking injunctions to ban them. (Pseudonymous Redditor MarsSpaceship published a graphic which ironically points out the uncanny similarities.) Courts in Australia and the United States ruled in Apple's favor, and Samsung was ordered to pay more than $1 billion to Apple in damages.
Except in the United Kingdom
The courts in the UK not only found that Samsung's designs don't infringe, they ordered Apple to publicly apologize to Samsung on its website and in newspapers, in words big enough to be read. Apple faux-pologized by stating the facts -- that the court found Samsung's designs don't infringe -- then going on to point out how every other court in the world said otherwise, and quoting the judge when he said that the reason people wouldn't mistake Samsung's products for Apple's is because "They are not as cool."
Try again, Apple
The British courts were not amused, and told Apple to try it again. You can read Apple's new "apology" on its UK website, assuming you can translate the legalese which calls an iPad a "Community registered design No. 0000181607-0001" ... and assuming you can find it.
Say what, now?
Another anonymous Redditor, Dismiss, discovered that Apple had reprogrammed its UK website to hide the apology to Samsung. Not only did it redesign the site's front page, making graphics larger and pushing the legal text out of view, it used custom code to make it so that you have to scroll to see the apology, no matter how big your screen is. This effectively hides it from view for most people, unless they go out of their way to look for it.
Round three, coming up?
The UK courts haven't responded to Apple's second faux-pology, which may be partly because they aren't aware of what Apple did yet. Either way, Apple seems to have come out the winner worldwide, and Samsung's latest designs -- like the Galaxy S III smartphone -- are much less derivative of Apple's.
Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.
- Technology & Electronics


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Taxpayers could soon use digital modes of payment such as United Payments Interface (UPI), mobile wallets and credit cards to pay their income tax returns, according to a Business Standard report. Currently, income tax can be done be paid only through debit cards (of 6 banks) or via net banking.
Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said that “we would definitely like to use UPI” and that this might be allowed “as soon as possible”, according to the report. The report also cited an unnamed government official who said that for small tax amounts, mobile wallets could be used, and the government would define “electronic payments” which could include a mobile wallet, a credit card or UPI.
It is also possible that the government is looking for ways to encourage use of UPI, which is run by the National Payments Corporation of India. UPI, originally launched in April 2016, has been a massive success in the country. FY2017 saw 17.8 million transactions made via UPI whereas in April 2019 alone, 781.7 million transactions were made using UPI; in October 2019, that number reached 1.14 billion, according to data released by NPCI. There are also plans to take BHIM UPI international, with a launch in Singapore expected in February 2020.


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But oh, what a difference 12 months can make. According to Detroit News, used car prices have been in free fall for the past year, and there's no sign of that changing anytime soon.
WHY THE RISE?
There are many reasons for the rise in used car prices, but the biggest by far is the Great Recession. In 2008, auto sales plummeted, hitting rock bottom in 2009. (The notable exception: July/August of 2009, when the Cash-for-Clunkers program caused a surge in new-car purchases -- weirdly, without hurting future sales.)
That, in turn, had a couple of foreseeable effects. First and foremost, automakers dramatically scaled back production, laying the groundwork for a shortage of used cars in subsequent years.
Second, even after the U.S. economy began to improve, consumers remained nervous. Unemployment was still high, wages were stagnant, stock portfolios had been annihilated. Shoppers were understandably wary about shelling out big bucks for a new car or taking on an auto loan they might not be able to repay.
Many of those shoppers looked instead for used cars, but the auto sales slump and production cutbacks meant that there were fewer used cars to choose from. Demand was up, supply was down, and the free-market economy did the rest.
Climbing gas prices aggravated the problem. We still haven't returned to the record highs seen in 2008, but fuel costs remain high to this day, and in most places, prices haven't fallen below $3 per gallon since 2011. That's forced many auto shoppers to prioritize fuel economy, which has caused the prices of hybrids and other gas-sippers like the Toyota Prius to climb even higher.
WHY THE FALL?
Not surprisingly, the biggest reasons for the drop in used car prices are the end of the Great Recession and upticks in consumer confidence. (FYI, the latter is now poised at levels not seen since 2007, before the recession.)
Employment and consumer sentiment stats are on the rise, meaning that shoppers are more comfortable taking out auto loans on new cars. That has resulted in strong U.S. auto sales, which has, in turn, caused increased auto production and put more used cars on the market.
As the supply of used cars has grown, prices have fallen. As of June, the average used car in the U.S. cost $11,031 -- a full six percent lower than the high seen in May 2011.
And as our friends at Green Car Reports point out, the most dramatic price drops have been among small and fuel-efficient rides. With customers feeling confident about their ability to pay for gas, the price of a used Toyota Prius has sunk a whopping 15 percent in the past three months alone.
If you're an especially frugal shopper, this is all great news, but you might score an even better deal by waiting a few more months. Used car prices tend to fall over the course of the calendar year, and although it's difficult to time things like this, prices often bottom out in the fourth quarter, when next year's models flood dealer lots and winter puts a chill on auto sales.


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Ride hailing company Uber is planning to spend $500 million on a global mapping project in an effort to reduce its reliance on Google Maps, according to The Financial Times.
The San Fransisco-based company already has mapping vehicles recording geographical data around the U.S. and Mexico. With Uber's presence in over 60 countries, the significant expansion reflects its continuing growth and adds to its existing investment in original research like driverless cars.
Last year, it hired world-leading digital mapping expert Brian McClendon, who previously ran Google Maps and was one of the creators of Google Earth.
McClendon will be responsible for the mapping project, and recently commented on the plans in a blog post without mentioning the $500 million figure:
The ongoing need for maps tailored to the Uber experience is why we're doubling down on our investment in mapping. Our efforts are similar to what other companies including Apple and TomTom are already doing around the world.
The street imagery captured by our mapping cars will help us improve core elements of the Uber experience, like ideal pick-up and drop-off points and the best routes for riders and drivers.
Address data in Google Maps is typically less accurate in developing countries, resulting in some Uber drivers having to call passengers to ask for their location before a pick-up. Uber hopes to nix these problems and feed the traffic pattern and location data already gathered by its cars into its own mapping system, thereby also avoiding charges for using Google Maps.
News of Uber's multi-million-dollar mapping investment was partially eclipsed by reports over the weekend that Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing is to acquire its Chinese operations in a $35 billion deal.
Apple's own $1 billion investment in Didi Chuxing back in May gave the Cupertino company access to data and expertise on electric and autonomous car technology, which is likely to help with its own car-related project, dubbed Project Titan, now led by veteran Apple executive Bob Mansfield.


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Despite the travel turmoil over the holidays, US hotel occupancy reached an all-time high on Christmas, according to the latest data from hotel industry analysts STR. At 47.2 percent, hotel occupancy on Christmas Day was just above the previous high of 47 percent set in 2015.
While omicron-related service disruptions made headlines because of flight cancelations and delays, overall US hotel occupancy levels during Christmas week were less impacted. Still, for the entire week ending Dec. 25, occupancy levels dropped from the week prior.
Compared with the same week in 2019, nationwide occupancy was down 8.7 percent coming in a 44.3 percent. A steeper decline from 2019 levels was due more to a calendar shift, according to STR, since Christmas in 2019 fell on a Wednesday and allowed for an earlier return to non-holiday weekend levels that year.
While none of the Top 25 Markets saw occupancy levels increase over STR’s benchmark year of 2019, Dallas came closest to its 2019 levels (down 2.8 percent to 43.6 percent).
With the spike in COVID-19 cases closing restaurants, Broadway shows and other attractions, New York City was harder hit than the rest of the country, a disappointing result given the rebound Big Apple hotels had been enjoying in the weeks leading up to the holidays.


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Taiwanese electronics giant Acer on Tuesday expanded its Nitro gaming series by introducing a new convertible gaming laptop Nitro 5 Spin in India, starting at Rs 79,990.
"We are excited to launch the first convertible gaming Notebook 'Nitro 5 SpinWhere to buy 81500 77999' in India," said Chandrahas Panigrahi, Chief Marketing officer and Consumer Business Head, in a statement. "Its convertible design and 8th Gen Intel Core processor with NVIDIA 10 series graphics card makes it a versatile gaming device that opens up new usage scenarios for enthusiast gamers and creative professionals on the go," Panigrahi added.
The Nitro 5 SpinWhere to buy 81500 77999 also includes dual front-facing speakers and one subwoofer. It is paired with audio technologies like Dolby Audio Premium, Acer TrueHarmony and Acer Smart Amplifier. "These audio technologies fine-tune and improve the frequency balance to deepen the impact of movies, games and music with improved bass and multi-dimensional sound," the company said.
The products is currently available on Flipkart, leading retail and Acer exclusive stores.
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"Bacardi USA commends the Appellate Court's decision which reaffirms that Bacardi has accurately portrayed both the geographic origin and the Cuban heritage of our Havana Club rum. The Bacardi Havana Club rum is based on the original Cuban recipe from the creators of the brand, which was legally purchased by Bacardi and is now produced in Puerto Rico," says Robert Furniss-Roe, regional president, Bacardi North America. "This is yet another Court decision supporting Bacardi's legitimate right to use the name Havana Club for Puerto Rican rum with a prominent statement of origin on the packaging."
Specifically, the Appellate Court stated that "no reasonable interpretation of the Havana Club label as a whole could lead to the conclusion that it is false or misleading."
Accordingly, the Court upheld that there was no need to even consider Pernod's flawed survey evidence.
To date, Bacardi has won all U.S. court cases relating to Bacardi's marketing of Havana Club rum and its legitimate rights to use the Havana Club trademark and brand.
On Apr. 6, 2010, the Wilmington, DE, District Court ruled that the origin of Bacardi's Havana Club rum is geographically accurate as the bottle clearly states Puerto Rican Rum and that it is based on the original Cuban recipe as created by the family of Jose Arechabala. The Court also reconfirmed that "the Cuban government expropriated the Arechabalas' business without compensation." The appeal of that decision was argued in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Feb. 9, 2011.
The August 2011 ruling affirmed the District Court's "carefully reasoned" decision, saying "the Court found that the Havana Club brand name reflected the Cuban heritage of the rum's recipe." The Appellate Court also stated that the packaging is "factually accurate" and "unambiguous" concerning the geographic origin of Havana Club rum. The Court added "no reasonable consumer could be misled by those statements and the rest of the label does not put those statements in doubt."
"Discerning consumers want premium spirits with authenticity and are very savvy when it comes to products they enjoy. They are not easily misled or confused," adds Furniss-Roe.
Bacardi purchased the rights to the Havana Club trademark from the creators and original owners, the Arechabala family, who made their rum in Cuba from the 1930s until 1960 and exported it to the United States and other countries until their rum-making facilities and personal assets were seized without compensation during the Cuban revolution.
About Havana Club rum
Havana Club rum was re-launched by Bacardi USA in the United States on August 8, 2006, and is based on the original recipe created in Cuba in the 1930's. Available in Florida in limited quantities, and appealing to astute and adventurous palates, Havana Club rum is an ultra-smooth, clear, premium spirit, distilled and finely crafted in Puerto Rico following the original recipe given to Bacardi by the Arechabalas. With stunning packaging that combines elegant 1930's details with a contemporary silhouette, the Havana Club bottle artfully brings together the past and the present. The acid-etched bottle—which clearly states in bold, black lettering that the rum is Puerto Rican rum—is encircled by art-deco fluting and a retro typeface that recalls Havana in its heyday. www.havanaclubus.com
Source: Bacardi U.S.A. Inc.


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Parting ways with Google Maps may have been not only a bad business move for Apple, but also a dangerous one.
The Australian police are now warning citizens "to be careful when relying on" Apple Maps out of fear that people may become stranded in the middle of nowhere thanks to a map malfunction.
According to a statement by Victoria police, several motorists who were attempting to reach a town called Mildura using Apple Maps were instead directed to a remote area in Murray-Sunset National Park. The police further noted that several of the lost motorists were stranded without food or water for as long as 24 hours.
“Tests on the mapping system by police confirm the mapping systems lists Mildura in the middle of the Murray Sunset National Park, approximately 70km (about 45 miles) away from the actual location of Mildura,” according to the statement.
This isn't the first time Apple has come under fire for its sub-par mapping system. Apple CEO Tim Cook has even made a public apology for the issues, and Apple has recently fired the head of the Maps team.
The Victoria police said they have contacted Apple over the error.


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In the end, the pretzel bun, pear, and stout-infused sauce made Country Bakery the top cheese in 2020.
The bakery, located inside Askew’s Foods, won the judges’ choice in the annual Armstrong Professional Grilled Cheese Sandwich competition Tuesday, Oct. 20, a build-up to the city’s annual event, Cheese! – It’s a Natural, which will be virtual this year, on Nov. 7.
Country Bakery’s German Kase Pretzel Grilled Cheese edged out The Brown Derby’s Mysterioso and the Wild Oak Café’s O My Gourd/Harvest Apple by a bread crumb.
“This might have been the closest judging we’ve seen,” said veteran grilled cheese sandwich competition judge Cam Luckock of Your Country News.
Ingredients for all of the sandwiches can be found in the video below.
Residents can also have their say for the best grilled cheese. Simply visit the restaurant, order the sandwich given to the judges, and vote for it for the People’s Choice honour.
With the higher number of COVID-19 cases being reported this month and some changes to required COVID-19 safety protocols, Cheese! – It’s a Natural organizers are moving the event - daytime and evening - to a totally virtual experience, starting Nov. 6.
“We know it won’t quite be the same as in years past, but we are doing our best to keep it going and provide some great opportunities for you to meet cheesemakers, slow food producers, dairy farmers and learn something new at the same time,” said Patti Ferguson from the organizing committee.
“We are expanding our daytime event to three days of online content allowing you to connect with some old – and new – favourites. Everything from recipes to demonstrations - maybe even a cheesy joke or two.”
Scheduled for Nov. 6 and 7, the Virtual BC Cheese Experience will feature an opportunity to purchase a ‘Stick with Six’ package filled with amazing cheese and accompaniments carefully chosen by the committee’s favourite cheese guy, Squeaky Cheese, for you to share with six of your friends or family while learning from him during the virtual event.
To register for the evening event from 6-9 p.m. visit https://bit.ly/2HfEJC7.


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In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Joe Keenan and Kristina Stidham discuss Walmart’s announcement that it's going to launch a paid membership program, similar to Amazon Prime. The service will be called Walmart+, and will expand on the retailer’s grocery-delivery subscription service. Walmart is launching a paid membership program to develop a tool to prevent defection of customers to Amazon Prime as well as create a more loyal customer for Walmart. Paid membership generally results in customers feeling more invested in the brand, and thus making more frequent purchases “to get their money’s worth.”
While details are still rather limited, Walmart+ will be launched on the foundation of the company’s existing grocery delivery business. This move makes sense, as Walmart has a clear advantage over Amazon in the grocery sector. The infrastructure exists with Walmart’s Delivery Unlimited service, and Walmart+ will look to build upon it.
To read the full article and more news on Walmart’s membership program, click here.


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O’Dwyer-gate: Waggener Edstrom insists it supports the PR industry
Call this what you will — inside baseball, tempest in a teacup, Battle Royal 2010: Intensity in 10 cities! — but people in the PR industry are talking about industry newsletter publisher Jack O’Dwyer’s decision to charge companies to appear on his ranking of PR firms. Waggener Edstrom has said it won’t pay, and O’Dwyer singled the company out in a blog post . Waggener exec Kent Hollenbeck defended the company. “We at Waggener Edstrom have decided that this ar…
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The project kicks off with Puma collaborating and giving a ‘seat at the table’ to four young environmentalist ‘voices’ from across Europe and the US over a year-long period.
The four Voices of a Re:Generation will work with Puma to translate sustainability in a way that makes sense to and engages with the next generation, in addition to feeding into how the brand can drive greater sustainability practices in line with its 10 for 25 targets. Work will take on a candid consultancy format, with the voices sharing their perspectives and insights and identifying areas where the brand can improve.
Making up Puma’s Voices of a Re:Generation will be:
Puma said the project represents a continuation of the work the company started in September 2022 with its ‘Conference of the People, powered by Puma’ event in London.
The conference, which discussed solutions for some of the fashion industry’s most pressing sustainability challenges with a special focus on GenZ, highlighted the need for brands to improve transparency and conduct greater communication regarding sustainability.
According to the company, the new initiative builds upon its commitment to ensuring Puma’s sustainability initiatives are digestible for everyone, particularly for the next generation, after research conducted by Puma found that 71% of young people felt their voices weren’t being heard when it comes to the environment and would like to see brands making more commitments (49%), communicating their goals better (40%) and being more transparent (34%).
Throughout 2023, Puma’s Voices of a Re:Generation will meet with Anne-Laure Descours, Puma’s chief sourcing officer, and Puma’s sustainability team to collaborate and present their honest views. Working together, the partnership will explore actionable ways that feedback can be implemented within Puma’s business and sustainability strategy, whilst also using the voices’ platforms to communicate Puma’s efforts transparently to the world.
Speaking on the new initiative Anne-Laure Descours, chief sourcing officer at Puma, says: “We’ve always documented our progress in sustainable practices. However, our participation in Conference of the People has shed light on the fact that the information we share isn’t always easily understood by the next generation. We recognise the need for change, and we're committed to making sustainability more accessible and transparent to everyone. Voices of a Re:Generation is our first step in improving this.”
Alice Aedy comments: “Sustainability is highly unglamorous, technical but urgent work with impacts for both people and planet. It’s undeniably a hugely complex topic. It’s deeper than just materials or emissions; it’s about the people and processes that strive behind the scenes to realise a brand’s efforts to be more sustainable and it’s also about how the brand, like Puma, is communicating that with authenticity.”
Jade Roche adds: “It’s great to see a global brand like Puma holding itself more accountable for their sustainability and being willing and open to having these tough conversations when it comes to how they’re doing and how they're planning. It’s also time that we, in general, started discussing what sustainability really means; what does it take for a brand to achieve greater sustainability on all aspects of it while being transparent, and what does it look like for the next generation?”


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HOLIDAY Inn Darlington A1 Scotch Corner today unveils its latest hotel refurbishment, with a contemporary new media lounge and Open Lobby concept, designed to be a modern destination for the local Darlington community.
The Holiday Inn at Scotch Corner, located on the A1 Scotch Corner Junction, aims to revolutionise the way guests and the public use the venue, especially amongst the area’s businesses and professionals, now providing the perfect space for grabbing a coffee, working remotely, or collaborating with others.
The new media lounge houses multiple meeting areas, as well as two semi-private, state-of-the-art media pods from which local businesses can meet, work and present in a quiet and comfortable space. Each pod seats up to five guests, and includes TV screens for projection, free Wi-Fi, complimentary parking, all-day tea and coffee, access to a printer, and lunch –available on a half-day rental package for just £24.95 per person.
The Holiday Inn at Scotch Corner also offers EV charging stations that are accessible to all visitors from the local community.
The new Open Lobby features a large and spacious design taking direct inspiration from the region, with the hotel showcasing artwork and paraphernalia from local artists and all elements of the space being inspired by North Yorkshire. The bright and airy lobby features ample seating and a ‘To Go’ Café with its own Starbucks coffee shop, offering a wide selection of drinks, cakes, sandwiches and snacks for guests.
Speaking about the new Open Lobby, Tim Snowdon, general manager at Holiday Inn Darlington A1 Scotch Corner commented: “The Open Lobby concept is unique to the Holiday Inn brand and we are very proud to be unveiling our new refurbished space to the Darlington community. We are particularly excited about the launch of our new media lounge and pods as this is something brand-new and will bring added value to not only the hotel but the local area as professionals continue to get back out and work collaboratively post-pandemic.
“However, it’s not all about business, as the Open Lobby including our ‘To Go’ Café is open to anyone from the public who would like to come and pay us a visit – we can’t wait to welcome everyone through our doors.”
For more information on Holiday Inn Darlington A1 Scotch Corner and its new Open Lobby and media lounge, visit www.hidarlington.co.uk.


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It's no surprise that R/GA, the digital agency that helped longtime client Nike develop its Nike+ FuelBand fitness tracker, recognizes the connections between real world brands and the abundance of data at their disposal. To Barry Wacksman, the former chief growth officer who was recently promoted to chief strategy officer at R/GA, the impact of data extends far beyond supply chain efficiency or advertising and marketing. It's actually the foundation for an entirely new type of business model Mr. Wacksman, a 16-year veteran at R/GA, is helping to define.
In fact, Mr. Wacksman named it. "Functional integration" is what he calls the approach taken by a new breed of company that has thrived by creating "connected ecosystems of value," or products and services that are intended to work together and are often tied together with data.
"We started to see the rise of a new type of company," he said, calling Apple "by far the most powerful practitioner of this strategy." Functional integration is a modern-day answer to the classic horizontal integration model by which companies create multiple versions of similar products.
But it's not just tech firms that can explore functionally integrated models. Even R/GA client McCormick and Co., the spice maker, has incorporated the concept into things like its FlavorPrint initiative, which entices people to answer questions about flavors they prefer in order to predict which recipes they'd like.
"I would argue that every category has those opportunities," said Mr. Wacksman.
The functional integration concept is reflected in R/GA's own structure, which includes a Business Transformation department overseen by Mr. Wacksman. "We're building out the team in New York first, and ensuring that it's connected to our Planning and Analytics departments, which I now oversee," he said.
Ad Age asked Mr. Wacksman to explain functional integration, cultural data and other ideas R/GA has developed to help clients navigate what the agency calls "the connected age."
Ad Age: To some, the concept of functional integration may not seem much different from the Internet of Things. Is it? How?
Mr. Wacksman: Functional integration, which is a new business model I observed and named, refers to a new class of companies that incentivized their same consumers to buy more things by creating connected ecosystems of value.
The pioneers of this new model are Apple, Google and Amazon. All three have built a mix of interconnected products and services that reward customers for deepening the relationship with the brand. Apple painstakingly built an ecosystem that started with Macs and iTunes and later included iPods, iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and Apple TV -- all synchronized via iTunes and its various media stores. Google and Amazon have similar if not quite as elegant ecosystems.
This is different from IoT, which is a class of individual products that connect to a digital service. When Nest first launched, it was an IoT product. As that company later encompassed fire detectors and security cameras on a single service platform, it became a functionally integrated ecosystem.
Ad Age: Is what R/GA calls "cultural data" distinct from the broader social media data category?
Mr. Wacksman: Cultural data is a new form of data only made possible by social media. Many companies and agencies are already using this information to see what conversational trends can be gleaned about their brands, which is called social listening. But there are broader uses of cultural data to mine insights into what people care about right this minute.
Ad Age: How are brands using cultural data to inform marketing efforts or product development?
Mr. Wacksman: Mining this data [such as trending topics on Twitter] enables work to be created at the speed of culture. By creating ads that are responding to what people are already talking about, it fosters work that is more relevant and authentic. But it means that the work must be created nearly in real time with these conversations, which is a vast departure from the three to six months it typically takes for a television commercial to be produced from initial brief to final cut.
Ad Age: How does the concept of functional integration apply to what the business transformation team does at R/GA?
Mr. Wacksman: We see functional integration as the key business model of the 21st century, what we call the "connected age." All companies and brands must figure out how to create these ecosystems -- or they won't thrive.
This is in stark contrast to how most Fortune 500 companies grew in the past. Historically, they built horizontal portfolios of disconnected products and brands -- many of which were actually competitive with one another, as in the many brands of laundry detergent made by Procter & Gamble or the various models of cars made by Ford. As these mature categories became commoditized, suddenly Apple and Google emerged with a completely new business model that gets the same consumers to buy or use nearly everything they make. And these happen to be two of the most valuable companies in the world.
The reason Apple is so valuable is not just because it designs beautiful, functional products. It's because Apple is the first company in history to make a line of products and services whereby an enormous population of consumers owns and uses all of them, because of their inherent interconnectedness. Our business transformation capability seeks to help companies make the leap from horizontal integration to functional integration. And this requires vast changes, both in product offering as well as internal organization. In essence, the emergence of functional integration enabled us to build a new consulting offering that aligned with where all companies are now headed.


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Statement from KFB President Mark Haney regarding proper labeling of meat productsPosted on Mar 21, 2019
As a cattle producer, I am thankful to the General Assembly for passing House Bill 311 which will ensure lab-grown protein products are properly labeled for consumers. I would also like to thank Representative Michael Meredith for sponsoring this important bill.
As the largest cattle-producing state east of the Mississippi, our farm families provide consumers with high-quality meat products they are accustomed to, and they deserve to know exactly what they are purchasing.
Farm Bureau has long supported science-based facts being used to attain accurate information related to agriculture. We will continue to support proper labeling for any lab-grown protein and want to ensure the labeling accurately informs consumers of the difference between it and the meat products grown conventionally by farm families across our state.


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Back to School: Why Amazon Moves to the Head of the Class Over Target, Wal-Mart
We find ourselves mid-year 2015 with the back-to-school shopping season upon us. The National Retail Federation reports that shoppers plan to spend about $630 overall on clothing, shoes, supplies and electronics for their K-12 students this year, a nearly 6 percent decline from the $669 average planned budget in 2014. Since the recession, consumers’ back-to-school budgets have consistently followed an up/down pattern as parents restocked one year (“up”) and reused backpacks, digital devices, etc., the next (“down”), so this year’s decline in planned spending didn’t exactly come as a surprise. Of course, this doesn’t make marketers’ jobs any easier in what’s already proved to be a challenging year for ringing up retail sales. Digging into our back-to-school insights a bit further, though, can help us uncover which retailers may be better positioned to gain this season vs. those who may end up missing out. And for this installment, we’ll focus on the “Big 3” in back-to-school retailing: Wal-Mart, Target and Amazon.com.


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State air quality officials are offering to drop the mandate for mass production of zero-emission cars until 2003 or 2004 and instead ask auto makers to voluntarily manufacture only a few thousand electric vehicles before then.
The changes, if adopted by the Air Resources Board, would be a big retreat from a landmark state regulation that requires that 2% of all cars for sale in California in 1998--about 20,000--have no tailpipe emissions.
That mandate increases to 5% in 2001 and 10% in 2003.
The Wilson administration has been under intense pressure from the auto and oil industries and Republican legislators to rescind the mandate, which was adopted by the state air board five years ago as a key to the effort to clean up smog.
On Wednesday the ARB staff outlined three proposed revisions they are considering--one from the California Chamber of Commerce, one roughly modeled on auto company proposals and another from environmentalists. Air board officials have not publicly stated a preference.
An internal document obtained by The Times, however, shows that the air board staff has already agreed to grant significant concessions to the auto industry. According to the document, production of electric cars would be mostly voluntary through 2003, perhaps 2004, when the 10% requirement would go into effect.
In the ARB staff’s notes, which were used in negotiations with the auto companies, the staff said it was willing to accept voluntary “commitments” from the companies to produce 750 cars equipped with advanced battery technology in 1998, and 1,500 in each of the following two years. That is a fraction of the about 60,000 zero-emission cars required during the initial three years under the existing mandate.
ARB spokesman Jerry Martin called the figures for voluntary production “in the ballpark, more or less a minimum” that the staff has found acceptable.
James Boyd, the air board’s executive officer, stressed Wednesday that no deal has been struck. He said a specific proposal from the staff is expected to be presented to the board Dec. 14 with a board vote in February or March.
“We have not agreed to anything yet,” Boyd said. “We’ve not finalized numbers. We’re still dancing [with the auto companies]. The dancing is over what kind of numbers they’re offering in total. . . . Their offers to date have not been satisfactory.”
Boyd said, however, that the existing requirements must be overhauled because car makers will not be able to produce adequate numbers of high-quality cars to comply with the regulation between 1998 and 2000.
“You can’t do 20,000 vehicles [per year],” Boyd said. “You’ll kill the program that way. They’ll give us the worst [cars] they’ve got.”
Environmentalists lambasted the board staff and board Chairman John Dunlap for negotiating with the auto makers in secret and refusing to divulge specific numbers offered by both sides.
Ed Maschke, executive director of the California Public Interest Research Group, said the air board’s apparent new stance “stinks. It guts the mandate.”
“Flexibility is one thing,” added Roland Hwang of the Union of Concerned Scientists, “but they are bending over backwards for the auto industry.”
Environmentalists, electric power companies and other proponents of the mandate say a few thousand cars in a state as large as California amounts to nothing more than a demonstration project that will not make cars available in showrooms for mass consumption.
In private talks with the ARB, major auto companies have said they are capable of producing 5,000 cars by 1997 and 14,000 per year beginning in 1998. But under the ARB’s latest stance, those numbers would be voluntary, according to the ARB documents.
Some companies, however, would sign memorandums of understanding promising to reach production capacity of 2,000 cars equipped with advanced battery technology by 2000.
The commitment to advanced batteries--such as those that use nickel metal-hydride instead of traditional lead-acid technology--is a critical step in the advancement of electric cars since they will provide a mileage range equivalent to that of gasoline-powered cars.
Sam Leonard, director of auto emissions control for General Motors, said the companies’ offers to produce a few thousand cars with advanced batteries by 2000 is a major concession.
“Production capacity is not something to be taken lightly,” he said. “That means we certify a vehicle, we enter into contracts for the parts, we have the assembly line ready to go. It’s a very, very big investment.”
The companies have insisted on keeping production numbers voluntary because they contend that the technology is not yet advanced enough or cheap enough to meet consumers’ needs.


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If your Finance or Payroll folks make special arrangements with an employee to repay debts or overpayments, it’s critical to remind them to get the agreement in writing. This is the best way to protect your company in case any legal disputes arise. And it’s ironclad proof that the arrangement is on the up and […]
Each year, 120 trillion dollars are exchanged between businesses around the world. And more and more of those transactions are being made digitally. The Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) reports that paper check usage as a percentage of U.S. B2B transactions has lowered from 81% in 2004 to 42% in 2019. And it will continue […]
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