text:
An array of vegetable booths, apple vendors and baked goods appeared across Bloomington last Saturday as multiple local farmers markets set up shop.
Local markets had to adapt to meet an increased need for healthy, locally grown food during the pandemic while also facing new restrictions on market operations. As vaccination rates rise, farmers markets are seeing increased attendance as COVID-19 restrictions lessen and produce reaches peak growing season.
Lee Jones, a longtime vendor at the Bloomington Community Farmers Market, sold out of okra and zucchini by 10 a.m. on Saturday. Jones said she has seen a recent boost in business in the past few weeks.
“It’s really picking up,” Jones said. “It has been throughout the summer and it keeps picking up more and more each weekend.”
Across the aisle from Jones, vendor Becky Vadas sold honey products from her Hoosier Honey booth. Vedas said she is glad to see increased attendees, including an influx of IU students, after sales dipped last year.
“Last year was very hard,” she said. “It was very challenging and really hurt business”
Bloomington Community Farmers Market Coordinator Clarence Boone said the market went through stages of online-only ordering, mask mandates, one-way entrances and exits, no live music and restrictions on prepared food.
Many Monroe County Health Department restrictions are lifted, but vendors remain distanced at six feet. Masks are highly encouraged but not required. The lessened restrictions helped revitalize vendors’ revenue and also improved the market’s social aspect.
“People are happier and more relaxed,” Vadas said. “Initially during COVID, you couldn’t socialize. You just had to buy your produce and keep going, but now people love to get a coffee and a pastry and then sit and socialize at the market.”
The People’s Market, a non-profit organization located at 909 East Second St., had to adapt its operations during the pandemic. The market launched in early 2020 after community members unhappy with the city’s handling of an alleged white supremacist vendor at the Bloomington Community Farmers Market in 2019. Branching off to form a new market, People’s Market vendor and volunteer Brandi Williams said they focus on food justice and anti-racism.
The group pivoted its original plans for operations to address inequitable food access when COVID-19 struck in March of 2020, Williams said.
“Providing the community with local nutrient-dense foods is really important in a pandemic, and that has an equitable stance to it because who is the pandemic predominantly affecting? Black and brown bodies,” Williams said. “Historically Black and brown bodies have not had access to fresh, local nutrient-dense food and, therefore, you have preexisting conditions.”
The People’s Market provides free sponsored food boxes each week upon request, has an open food pantry and partners with Black Lives Matter Bloomington to give food specifically to local Black families. Williams said the group gave away over $55,000 of food in 2020 through its sponsored box program.
The group is seeing a rising need for food boxes in recent weeks, Williams said.
“As unemployment and other programs have ended, we've seen an increase in our requested food,” Williams said. “It just corresponds with what's going on in our community as we continue through this pandemic.”
Woolery Farmers Market, located on West Sunstone Drive, is run by the Bloomington Winter Farmers Market and focused on healthy food access during the pandemic.
Rosie Sill, Bloomington Winter Farmer Market Board president, said Woolery Farmers Market is seeing more visitors as restrictions ease and customers become more comfortable returning to the market.
“Local food is more important now than ever,” Sill said. “I hope people are realizing the importance of healthy food, growing a connection with local food sources and keeping bodies healthy.”
A complete list of Bloomington area farmers markets with more information and shopping times is available here.


text:
FORD has filed a patent in the US for an intriguing new light-emitting innovation that hides vehicle markings within the bodywork of a car, but then flashes them into sight at the flick of a switch.
The patent drawings discovered by carscoops.com show the system applied to Ford US law enforcement vehicles, allowing a Police Interceptor to masquerade as a standard Taurus full of civilians, until someone breaks the law, at which point the vehicle transforms into a fully illuminated cop car, ready to bust some asses.
Read next: Car colours to expect in 2018
It works by having a printed light-emitting layer in the shape of the police signwriting concealed beneath an etched silicon layer, which both matches the vehicle paint as well as the original body panel shape.
When the LED layer is energised, light passes through the top layer, displaying the shape beneath – in this case the police banner, but there’s nothing to suggest other designs can’t be accommodated.
Unlike electroluminescent panels that sit on top of the panel and paint, and can be seen when not illuminated, the Ford concealed light emitting idea is apparently invisible and that has obvious advantages for law enforcement agencies.
Vehicles can remain inconspicuous until it’s time to bang on the blues and twos, after which there is no mistaking the car that’s pulling you in for jumping a red.
Read next: How to choose the best new car colour
Its likely Ford is pitching the idea as an advantage over arch rival GM, which also supplies vehicles to various law-enforcement agencies in the US.
At this stage it appears from the patent drawings that only the police application is under consideration, but depending on the lighting effect, Ford could choose to apply the unique technology to its road cars in the future and even advance enough to turn racing cars into scrolling electronic billboards.
While many manufacturers pump development cash into organic LED and laser technology, Ford’s latest innovation could one day spawn tail lights and indicators that are completely invisible until illuminated. That’s a pretty cool future Ford we’re imagining.

domain: news


text:
“The successful closing of this joint venture strengthens our core portfolio and makes Clariant one of the leaders in green ethylene oxide derivatives. As part of our strategy, we are committed to adding value through sustainability. Our partnership with India Glycols will make us one of the leading surfactant suppliers in India, with a focus on renewable solutions for home and personal care”, said Conrad Keijzer, CEO of Clariant.
“I am very pleased with the swift manner in which both parties were able to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals. This allows us to now move ahead and leverage IGL’s position as the largest manufacturer of green EO in the world in a value-generating combination with Clariant”, commented U.S. Bhartia, Chairman of India Glycols Limited.
Christian Vang, Global Head of Clariant’s Business Unit Industrial & Consumer Specialties, added: “We experience a growing demand among our customers for home and personal care applications based on renewables. With the joint venture officially established, we will press ahead to fulfill this with innovative, sustainable and high-quality solutions based on the unique capabilities of both partners.”
The joint venture will be led by Nitin Sharma, currently Head of Clariant’s Industrial and Consumer Specialties business in South Asia, who added: “Profitable growth through sustainability is the key target for all of us in this newly formed company. The entire team will work together to leverage the contributions made by both partners to the joint venture into innovative solutions that serve the growing markets around us.” Mr. U.S. Bhartia acts as the joint venture’s Chairman.
DSM Engineering Materials at K 2022 shaping the future through innovation in circularity sustainable mobility and digitalization
sensXPERT Enables Plastics Manufacturers to Increase their Production Efficiency by up to 30 percentage
Clariant highlights its full range of natural ingredients, from active ingredients to oils & butters, for sustainable beauty at in-cosmetics Latin America
Airnov to exhibit range of healthcare packaging solutions at upcoming Connect in Pharma event in Geneva
India s leading trade shows for the laboratory technology and pharma machinery segments are back again
Turkchem Eurasia, which has been the meeting point of domestic and foreign industry professionals with the motto of "Everything About Chemistry", will host industry professionals at Istanbul Expo Center on 24-26 November 2022. Read More
The 5thInternational Dyestuffs, Pigments, Textile Chemicals, Digital Textile Printing, Dyeing and Technologies Exhibition: Interdye & Textile Printing Eurasia will be organized with the cooperation of Turkish Textile Finishing Manufacturers Association (TTTSD) and Artkim Exhibition Organization, between 24-26 November 2022, at Istanbul ExhibitionCenter. Read More
Access the full potential of Clariant’s additives to develop high lubricity, fully synthetic metalworking fluids. Launched online today, the uniquely comprehensive set of low-foaming, multifunctional additives is now available alongside formulation guidance to support mineral oil-free, more bio-resistant water soluble fluids that boost machining efficiency, productivity and protection with fewer ingredients. Read More
DSM Engineering Materials today announces that it will attend the K 2022 in Düsseldorf, Germany. Between October 19–26, the company will showcase its recent innovations in circularity, sustainable mobility, and digitalization that are driving transformation and empowering customers across automotive, electric, electronics, and consumer goods. To explore the full range of products and technologies on display, visitors can find DSM Engineering Materials at Hall 6, Booth B11. Read More
NETZSCH Process Intelligence, a corporate venture of NETZSCH Group (Germany), has announced the launch of sensXPERT, a technology business designed to deliver significant productivity and quality benefits to processors in the plastics industry through data-driven manufacturing solutions. The integrated approach builds on the Group’s 50+ years of know-how in the fields of material science and sensor technology. Read More


text:
Finland is far from the minds of most iPhone users. However, the frigid, Nordic country is huge on carriers’ radar because it is there that text messaging was born and where it could very well die. The number of Christmas Eve texts in Finland fell off a cliff, plummeting to 8.9 million from 10.9 million in 2010. With text messages accounting for 20 percent of carrier revenue, its enough to give companies nightmares — but this bad dream is far from over.
Fortune reports on a troubling trend as countries first to adopt texting become the first to depart for the likes of iMessage, Twitter or email. In Hong Kong, Christmas Day texts fell 14 percent. Similar declines were experienced in the Netherlands and the Phillipines – all nations that quickly adopted SMS in the 1990s. But this is just the first wave of slowing use of lucrative cellular texting. U.S. carriers are expected to be slammed either this year or in 2013 as iMessage becomes a real alternative to texts.
U.S. carriers know they have a cash cow in texting, but appear to be taking a whistling-past-the-graveyard attitude toward the threat posed by iMessage. Texts piggyback along the same signal carriers use to deliver voice messaging. In the U.S. alone, texting is a $20 billion income source, Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett said. By charging 20 cents for each of the 2 trillion texts sent annually in the U.S., carriers enjoy a 4,096 percent markup, according to a University of Waterloo professor.
But providers such as Verizon take a “what, me worry?” stance toward iMessage, a service Apple introduced with iOS 5 allowing iPhone, iPod touch and iPad owners to send free texts, pictures and data to other iOS users. After all, “customers still need a data plan to connect to a device. They are only making a choice on how they are using the data,” a Verizon spokesman recently told the New York Times.
While that may hold true for iPhone owners requiring a 3G connection, the carrier apparently did not read our piece on most tablet owners opting for Wi-Fi connections, rather than costly cellular network links. Indeed, a study found 95 percent of iPads and other tablets use Wi-Fi instead of cellular providers — and there’s no sign of going back.
Then there is talk of iMessage moving to Macs, opening millions more devices to the option to desert texting. Along the way, why not throw iChat into the mix? The application once limited to Macs could cross-pollinate all devices, becoming part of Apple’s iOS mobile software. The haven of “they have to buy a data plan” to text quickly crumbles.
And while we love Apple, the Cupertino, Calif. company is not alone in noticing consumers are avoiding SMS like the plague. Google is also working on an iMessage alternative, as well as Facebook, clearly in an attempt to further engage its mammoth user base.
First carriers tried charging for voice calls, then consumers found VoIP. Then carriers began giving voice calling away, but charging for texts. Now that texts are nearing the end of their shelf life, carriers have a death grip on data plans.
Carriers? Meet Slippery Slope.


text:
An ongoing, open dialogue between food manufacturers and the FDA is vital as FSMA regulations are forged, a vice president of the International Dairy Foods Association said at the Food Safety Summit Tuesday. Key points are the FSVP, auditing and records.
Service is often a company's bread and butter. If your company is not open to letting suppliers into its plant, your competition may be. Skipping these kinds of service offerings can escalate from a missed opportunity to a threat to your competitive advantage.
Sam Adams' Brewing The American Dream initiative provides loans and advice to small businesses. Sam Adams Co-founder and Chairman Jim Kock discusses the program, the company's fundraising efforts and the surging popularity of craft beer.
Cargill said Tuesday its net income dropped 28 percent in the fiscal third quarter because of increased electricity prices and other problems. The Minneapolis company said its net income fell to $319 million and revenue held steady at $32 billion.
Airline passengers might notice something missing these days from their vodka tonics or Diet Cokes: the lime. A recent shortage and spike in price has caused some airlines to temporarily stop offering the fruit in their beverage service.
The Food and Drug Administration is taking steps to ensure shoppers who buy honey are getting the real deal. New guidance issued Tuesday would prevent food companies from adding sugar or other sweeteners to pure honey and still calling it "honey."
King's Hawaiian Bread plans to expand its production facilities in northeast Georgia. The bakery opened its local production line in the Oakwood community in 2010 as part of its East Coast operations designed to meet growing customer demand.
As KFC struggles in the U.S., parent company Yum Brands is testing a new chicken restaurant called Super Chix. The restaurant's menu seems positioned as a more premium offering than KFC, catering to people looking for higher quality food.
A study based on more than 65,000 randomly selected adults who were participating in the Health Survey for England reports that the higher a person’s intake of fruit and vegetables, the lower their risk of death from diseases like cardiovascular disease and cancer.
The effort required to improve the health of your business can be compared to the commitment necessary to change your personal health. It is important to understand what drives successful business improvement change instead of failed efforts.
Michigan State University is joining food and drink makers and sellers to create the Center for Research on Ingredient Safety. The ingredients safety center will look at the safety of foods, drinks, cosmetics and household consumer products.
Attorneys for Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter are asking a federal judge to toss a lawsuit challenging a new law that makes it illegal to secretly film animal abuse at agricultural facilities. A coalition sued Idaho last month, asking that the so-called "ag gag" law be stricken down.
Taco Bell will begin airing a TV spot set to the tune of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" that shows a man who has been eating Egg McMuffins since 1984. After trying Taco Bell's breakfast, the man trims his mullet, switches to tighter pants, gets a smartphone and takes down his "Loverboy" poster.
Jeffrey Dahmer's childhood home in Akron, Ohio, is for sale, and PETA is interested in opening a vegan restaurant called Eat for Life: Home Cooking on the site. PETA says that opening a vegan restaurant at Dahmer's former home is "one way to turn evil into good."
The European Union is looking to restrict the use of common meat names, such as "bologna," "bratwurst" and "black forest ham." U.S. senators sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, asking them to defend these names.
According to this infographic provided by The Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, climate change in the 2030s will affect food and farming more strongly, especially small producers located in poor countries.
Representatives from the research community, civil society, farmers organizations, donor agencies and the private sector gathered last week to identify actions the world must take to help farmers adapt to climate change and help deliver a more food-secure world.
Megan Miller spoke at TEDxManhattan about her food startup Bitty, which seeks to remove the cultural taboos around eating insects in order to popularize them as a sustainable ingredient that can help alleviate food scarcity around the world.
The opportunities accompanying the possibilities of mobile's big data are not limitless. Government policies and privacy laws create very real exposures that food industry members must keep in mind as they seek to leverage mobile big data.


text:
Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno today joined Amazon.com, Inc. in celebrating its more than a million-square-foot fulfillment center in Robbinsville.
The Amazon fulfillment center has more than doubled in size since it opened and currently employs more than 2,500 full-time employees. Amazon has continued to hire for full-time roles since opening. Amazon also has plans for a new fulfillment center in Carteret that will create hundreds of new full-time positions when it opens.
“We’re not just here to celebrate the sheer number of jobs Amazon has brought to this region but also to recognize the impact this facility and those jobs will have on the community,” said Lt. Governor Guadagno. “These employees form the fabric of our neighborhoods, schools, religious institutions and volunteer groups, to name a few. As Amazon shows its continued commitment to joining the Robbinsville community, we are here today to show our commitment to helping that community grow.”
The New Jersey Business Action Center (BAC) has worked with Amazon on this new facility since 2011, including during its site selection process. Among other resources, the BAC worked with NJ Transit to address employee transportation concerns and helped the company access training and recruitment programs through the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
“We are pleased that Amazon has expanded here in New Jersey, offering great jobs and investment in the state,” said New Jersey Labor Commissioner Harold J. Wirths. “This fulfillment center offers great employment opportunities for New Jersey job-seekers and will help to grow our economy. We look forward to continuing a positive relationship with Amazon.”
New job numbers released yesterday from the Department of Labor marked 11 consecutive months of employment growth for New Jersey. The Garden State has added 198,000 private sector jobs since February 2010, the recessionary low point for private sector employment in New Jersey. Data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics also showed that more people in New Jersey reported to be employed in May than at any time since April 2008.
“We have found great talent in abundance in Robbinsville and we are proud to be creating full-time jobs that offer full benefits starting on day one,” said Tim Hall, general manager of Amazon’s Robbinsville fulfillment center. “We are grateful for the state and local elected officials who have helped us open our building.”Related Articles:


text:
Congratulations to Julie Houston whose SING ME A SECRET, published in paperback in February, won this year’s Romantic Novelists’ Association Sapere Books Popular Romantic Fiction award. A VILLAGE VACANCY, published in October 2020, was in the UK Kindle top 100 bestseller two months. It will be available in paperback in November. Her new novel, A FAMILY AFFAIR, was published in eBook on June 3rd by Aria. The paperback will be published in February 2022.
“Warm, funny and well written, with a page-turning plot, this book has everything! I loved it!” Katie Fforde (of SING ME A SECRET)


text:
20 likes | 385 Vues
(1888PressRelease) Corcentric to exhibit at AAIA's Virtual eForum, the must-attend event for those seeking to understand and conduct e-business in the automotive aftermarket industry.
E N D
Corcentric To Exhibit at the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association's 10th Annual Aftermarket eForum (1888PressRelease) Corcentric to exhibit at AAIA's Virtual eForum, the must-attend event for those seeking to understand and conduct e-business in the automotive aftermarket industry. Corcentric, a leading provider of accounts payable and receivable automation solutions for the automotive aftermarket sector, today announced they will host a booth at the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association's (AAIA) 10th annual Aftermarket eForum. This virtual conference will take place on Wednesday, February 2, 2011 from 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM EST. Corcentric specializes in providing companies in the automotive aftermarket industry with payables automation and internet parts ordering solutions. Corcentric's virtual tradeshow booth will feature the latest in payables and receivables automation technology for the automotive aftermarket industry and will have several experts on staff to speak with attendees. The AAIA Aftermarket eForum is the only conference dedicated to e-commerce and supply chain technology in the automotive aftermarket, and will provide professionals in the industry with an opportunity to increase their awareness and understanding of the latest technology solutions through keynote presentations, speaker Q&As, networking, and online discussion boards. Additionally, registrants will have on-demand access to the entire show and exhibiting company representative information for 90 days after the live date. Senior-level executives who want to understand the leading e-commerce and supply chain issues facing the vehicle aftermarket are encouraged to attend. To learn more and register for the AAIA Annual Aftermarket eForum, visit: http://www.aftermarket.org/eforum
About Corcentric Corcentric is a leading provider of financial process automation solutions, specializing in Accounts Receivable automation and helping companies reduce the costs associated with processing business-to-business transactions in the automotive aftermarket. By creating a paperless conduit between Procurement, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and suppliers, Corcentric allows companies to immediately manage 100% of their invoices electronically. Our cloud-based (SaaS) architecture allows for solutions to be configured in days rather than months for rapid return on investment. Corcentric was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia with offices in Cherry Hill, NJ; Oakbrook Terrace, IL; Coral Springs, FL; and Saddlebrook, NJ. More than 3,000 companies rely on Corcentric solutions to automate their business commerce needs. For more information on Corcentric, call 630.925.7677 or visit www.corcentric.com. Source: http://www.1888pressrelease.com/automotive-aftermarket/ar-automation/corcentric-to-exhibit-at-the-automotive-aftermarket-industry-pr-275070.html


text:
Design for life
The Design Museum reopens its doors at its new Kensington Cultural Quarter home
The Design Museum has finally reopened its doors to the public at its new Kensington location. The new site is housed within the former 1960s Commonwealth Institute building and has been extensively refurbished by minimalist architectural designer John Pawson. Situated in West London’s cultural epicentre, alongside the Royal College of Art, Science Museum and Serpentine Gallery, the new venue provides three times more space than its previous Shad Thames location; and will offer a brand new Swarovski Foundation Centre for learning, a 202-seat auditorium and a dedicated gallery space to house its free permanent display across the 10,000 square metre space.
The new Design Museum also provides a platform for international designers to promote their work. The opening exhibition, curated by the museum’s Chief Curator Justin McGuirk, is titled Fear and Love: Reactions to a Complex World and delves into humans’ hopes and doubts and the pace and impact of change. Eleven newly-commissioned installations will form the exhibition, with works from a wealth of talent, including fashion designer Hussein Chalayan who will focus on wearable technology and artistic director of Muji, Kenya Hara, who has created a graphic display on staple diets.
In addition the museum’s Designs of the Year show is also set to return for its ninth edition, presenting digital, architecture, fashion and product design.
The Design Museum is open daily from 10.00am - 5.45pm. 224-238 Kensington High Street, W8 6AG.


text:
Volkswagen says the 261-mpg diesel-electric XL1 concept could see limited -- very limited -- production within two years.
The Germans unveiled the super-efficient Volkswagen XL1 at the Qatar auto show today, showcasing some of its most forward-thinking technology with a promise to offer the car in small numbers.
"We want to go into series production with this car starting in 2013," VW Chairman Ferdinand Piëch told Automotive News Europe.
VW boss Martin Winterkorn said the car will be offered in Germany first, then throughout Europe. The United States and China "will follow at a later date," he said.
We've heard this before, of course.
The XL1 is the most practical and refined of the company's 1-liter cars, so named because the goal was to develop a car capable of traveling 100 kilometers on a liter of fuel (roughly 235 mpg). It is the third iteration of a project launched in 2002.
It features a 48-horsepower two-cylinder diesel engine displacing just 800 cc. It's bolted to a seven-speed DSG gearbox and mated to a 27-horsepower electric motor drawing power from a lithium-ion battery of undisclosed size. The plug-in hybrid has an electric range of 21 miles and fuel consumption of just 0.9 liters per 100 kilometers, which comes to 261 mpg by our math. It emits 24 grams of CO2 per kilometer -- compared to the 89 grams emitted by the Toyota Prius.
All that hardware is wrapped in carbon-fiber polymer bodywork attached to a carbon-fiber monocoque. Extensive use of aluminum, magnesium and other exotic materials keeps the weight to just 1,700 pounds.
When VW unveiled 1-liter cars in the past, it said the car could be built by 2012 or so. But cost has always been the limiting factor -- these cars are chock-full of expensive technology and even more expensive materials.
But Piëch tells Automotive News that costs have come down significantly, making production feasible. For example, the carbon fiber body of the first-gen 1L car cost 35,000 euros (about $47,000). The body for the XL1 cost 5,000 euros (about $6,800). VW expects the lithium-ion battery to cost 250 to 300 euros ($410) by 2013.
That said, no one at VW would say what the XL1 will cost if and when it sees production. Ulrich Hackenberg, director of development for VW, said production could be limited to 100 vehicles to start.
It's safe to say the car won't be cheap, especially at volumes that low. But then this car almost certainly isn't meant for the mass market. It will be a halo car, intended to show what is possible and showcase some of VW's most advanced technologies and materials.
In that regard, it will be much like the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf (and the amazing Porsche 918 plug-in hybrid, if it's built) -- cars with a small initial market but the potential to influence many subsequent models.
For example, the XL1's drivetrain is a natural for the VW Polo since the two vehicles are roughly the same size. And it isn't hard to imagine the XL1's carbon polymer bodywork being used on the Audi eTron electric vehicle, or the R8 for that matter.
Although Winterkorn said the XL1's initial production run will be "small," Piech said the cars definitely will be offered for sale and not limited to test fleets or demonstration programs.


text:
The concept of ‘Big Tech’ is one that fascinates me – especially given the propensity to which we have come to rely on digital. We’re almost one year into this pandemic and the virus is still rife. As countries around the world bounce in and out of lockdown, there’s no doubt that our devices and their accompanying network connections remain a huge part of what has kept us sane.
But as the UK fast approaches the anniversary of its first national lockdown (please, hold your fanfare…), the moral ‘elephant in the room’ surrounding the growing dominance of Big Tech (a term which generally refers to the likes of Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft – but more on that later on) is almost impossible to ignore.
While the general population have been confined to their homes, tech’s industry juggernauts have been cashing in. It’s no secret that Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO and founder, raked in a hefty US$70bn in 2020 alone, swelling his net worth to a staggering US$185bn. The global economy may be in tatters, but as of Q3 last year, Amazon’s total profits rose almost 200% on figures from 2019. Given that Bezos now owns more money than any one man could spend in his life, it’s surprising that his company still struggles to uphold safe and fair working conditions for employees – but alas, I digress…
Amazon is by no means the only corporation profiting from the pandemic; Google’s value has surged by 60%, and Facebook’s has grown by 30%. Even Apple, which actually experienced a slight downturn last year, came out the other side with a hearty profit of US$12.7bn.
While we were aware of Big Tech’s industry dominance pre-COVID-19, now the lingering question is whether this oligopoly will come to define the world’s digital future.
One man who has conducted an extensive exploration of the subject is Jean-Philippe Vergne (otherwise known as JP), an associate professor at UCL School of Management who has studied the rise of Big Tech. His recent report, titled Decentralized vs. Distributed Organization: Blockchain, Machine Learning, and the Future of the Digital Platform, deep dives into the impact of these mammoth AI-driven business structures, laying out a series of recommendations to end the supreme authority of technology’s industry heavyweights.
Examining the intersection of technology and organisation, JP aims to provide some perspective for the evolution of capitalist societies. Strangely enough, his interest in tech began with a history of piracy exhibition he visited at the Maritime Museum in ‘old’ Amsterdam around 15 years ago. He’d been reading about pirates in cyberspace just a few days before, and, while at first, he thought that same term – ‘piracy’ – being used in two entirely different contexts was merely a coincidence, he soon began to realise this simply wasn’t the case. Here, he was witnessing evidence of a much deeper pattern at play, involving the development of technology and the intricate ways in which societies form around it.
And thus began his expedition into the influence of Big Tech…
Q.‘Big Tech’ – otherwise known as the ‘Tech Giants’ or the ‘Big Five’ – is a term used to define the most dominant companies in the technology industry, commonly referring to the likes of Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft. As someone who has extensively researched the topic, how would you define ‘Big Tech’ in your own words and why is the term so significant to society today?
I like your question a lot as it implies that it’s not obvious at all what the term ‘Big Tech’ actually means –and I agree with you. I find the term misleading and I wish we would stop using it. First, it’s unclear why we should consider Amazon to be part of Big Tech but not Alibaba or JD.com. Or why Netflix is sometimes part of the club, but not Tesla. This is not only arbitrary but also reflective of a US-centric view that does not address the big picture issues, which are global.
Second, there are many firms out there that use cutting-edge technology and I don’t see why Silicon Valley should have a monopoly on the use of the ‘tech’ descriptor. For instance, aren’t the firms that came up with the COVID vaccines ‘Tech’ firms? Some of them, such as Pfizer, also happen to be quite ‘Big’!
I’m afraid that the ‘tech firm’ label came about as part of a PR effort by a few digital platform corporations aimed at eschewing regulation. See, if Uber is not a ‘taxi company’ but a ‘tech firm’ instead, it can justify bypassing taxi and limousine regulations.
“I’m afraid that the ‘tech firm’ label came about as part of a PR effort by a few digital platform corporations aimed at eschewing regulation”
Q. How is AI contributing to, or even powering, the industry domination of these corporations?
What do firms misleadingly described as Big Tech have in common? On the one hand, they operate proprietary digital platforms under a centralised corporate structure. For instance, the Facebook Inc. corporation operates, among other digital platforms, Facebook.com, WhatsApp, and Instagram. On the other hand, the ‘tech’ used by these firms is not very diversified; for the most part, we’re talking about software revolving around the implementation of machine learning. Instead of ‘Big Tech’ firms, we should be speaking of ‘machine learning platforms’.
Today, a car manufacturer has to orchestrate a more diverse range of technologies than, say, facebook.com, yet no one on the job market sees working at a car company as ‘tech-y’ enough to be the dream job. Of course, there’s one exception – and that’s Tesla. Its CEO-founder is irreverent, smokes pot on camera, and wants to spend billions building a base on planet Mars…so we might need to update the ‘FAANG’ acronym (referring to the stocks of the five most popular and best-performing American technology companies: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet – which was formerly known as Google) to welcome Tesla as a new member of the Big Tech club. I’m making propositions – what about FATANG? I heard it means ‘burning hot’ in Mandarin. Perhaps that would be an appropriate name given these firms’ ubiquitous presence in the media and skyrocketing market valuations.
Q. Your research tackles the concept of Decentralised vs Distributed organisations – can you tell us about these business structures and how they have shaped the digital industry?
We fundamentally misunderstood the notion of decentralisation and conflated it with ‘distribution’. Distribution is about dispersing decision-making, whereas decentralisation is about dispersing data, information and knowledge. Something can be distributed without being decentralised. This is in fact how the machine learning platforms mentioned above are organised at the corporate level. Yet, because they have millions of users, they can give the illusion that they promote decentralisation. Ultimately though, they control all the data and aggregate them to derive behavioural predictions then sold to advertisers. It’s a clever business model – and very profitable, too. As users, we don’t control any of the data but we can still make minor decisions online, such as deciding on which ad to click. But this is not decentralisation – a decision-maker without data is just a puppet.
I believe that there is a future for a decentralised Facebook or a decentralised Twitter. In fact, Twitter’s founder has launched a project called Bluesky to build such an alternative. There are also other initiatives out there, such as Mastodon or Steemit.
Q. What makes it so hard for smaller companies in the field to compete with these industry juggernauts?
A digital platform like google.com is a privatised marketplace where users meet advertisers, app developers, merchants and other third parties. Google LLC owns the marketplace and collects data about everyone’s behaviour on the platform. There’s nothing wrong with that – shopping malls are private marketplaces too, after all, and we’re fine with that.
So, where do things become problematic? First, when Google LLC starts collecting data on its platform users’ behaviour when they’re not using the platform. We have a term for this: ‘police work’. I believe that it should remain a prerogative of the sovereign state.
The second issue is having Google LLC use the data collected from their paying customers (say, firms wishing to advertise for new smartphones) to launch and promote competing products (say, a Google smartphone). Imagine a fashion retailer leasing space at a shopping mall only to find out, a few months down the road, that the better retail location just across the food court is now a store for a new fashion brand launched by the shopping mall corporation itself…and not only that, but to optimise their product mix and sales revenue, they’re using data on your customers; for example, data on their browsing behaviour when they visit your store, collected via CCTV with facial recognition and microphones embedded within the walls of the mall. Uh-oh – no wonder the small retailers keep losing and the shopping mall keeps winning.
Q. What does the dominance of Big Tech mean for the education technology sector, specifically?
Corporations that operate digital platforms and control large datasets on web users are in a very good position to offer educational products. Google Classroom’s user base doubled to over 100 million users during the pandemic. Interestingly, Google also started targeting young adults with new online education products that compete with university offerings. The timing was perfect – they launched just when the perceived value of paying university tuition was at its lowest because campuses were in lockdown.
With education now taking place online, who’s best positioned to deliver it? A university with huge legacy costs that has been reluctant to use digital technology or a platform with digital design and machine learning capabilities? Unlike the former, the latter cannot deliver degrees, but it can deliver credible credentials that will help students get jobs. From this perspective, digital platforms represent a growing threat to universities which, for too long, assumed that tuition fees could keep increasing endlessly.
“Corporations that operate digital platforms and control large datasets on web users are in a very good position to offer educational products. Google Classroom’s user base doubled to over 100 million users during the pandemic”
We are now at a crossroads. One of the world’s oldest higher education technologies, the ‘tenure’ system, is under attack at universities that do not have a global reach. The unbundling of research and teaching into decomposable components that can be digitised will put increasing pressure on universities. Many will be tempted to partner with technology companies to improve content delivery. This is appealing and represents a great opportunity. At the same time, universities should be very careful not to give access to student data to their technology partners or they risk ending up like the fashion retailer in the shopping mall with spying walls!
“The unbundling of research and teaching into decomposable components that can be digitised will put increasing pressure on universities. Many will be tempted to partner with technology companies to improve content delivery”
Q. Why have government policies failed to address the Big Tech oligopoly?
Machine learning platforms are an instrument of political power and geopolitical influence. The revelations of Edward Snowden in 2013 and others since then, including in places like China, India, Myanmar and Brazil all point to the mutual interests existing between these firms and politicians in power. To threaten a firm with new regulation can be very valuable for a politician, as long as the firm agrees to share data on citizens with the government and circulate biased political views, propaganda for the ruling party, fake news, and conspiracy theories (from bad to worse). There is no need, in this context, to act upon that threat. The regulatory status quo can go on and on.
“To threaten a firm with new regulation can be very valuable for a politician, as long as the firm agrees to share data on citizens with the government and circulate biased political views…”
Q. In your research, you state the case for the business applications of blockchain and AI as a potential solution to the sovereignty of these organisations. How exactly do you think these tools should be harnessed to benefit the industry at large?
Blockchain technology has the potential to remedy the excessive centralisation of data by making every user in a digital network a ‘root’ user with equal access rights to information as everyone else. The promise of this idea has been demonstrated by the tremendous success of such decentralised platforms as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
However, blockchain technology is not yet ripe. Recently, a prominent Ethereum community contributor emailed me a question about my recent research, pushing me to clarify how one could measure the extent of decentralisation within digital platforms. This is crucial because regulatory doctrine is potentially evolving toward having more flexible rules for decentralised platforms, relative to centralised ones. That’s why we need to find a reliable way to measure decentralisation. But it’s tough. I haven’t replied yet to that email because I’m still thinking about my answer…we need more work on this if it’s ever going to be leverage-able by a regulator.
“Blockchain technology has the potential to remedy the excessive centralisation of data by making every user in a digital network a ‘root’ user with equal access rights to information as everyone else”
Q. You believe that disbanding these companies would do more harm to the sector than good – can you explain the reasoning behind this?
Deciding to disband Google in 2025 at the end of a lengthy court case would be about as arbitrary as the decision to suspend Donald Trump’s Twitter account earlier this month (January 2021). Can such a decision serve as the foundation for consistent and sustainable public policy going forward? I don’t believe so.
The core resource for digital platforms is data. Regulation should thus take place at the data level (e.g. Who can collect data and how? Where is it stored? Who has access and what for?). Breaking up a corporation to make an example is no substitute for a much-needed regulatory overhaul. The idea that the 1890 Sherman Act at the heart of US antitrust policy should be our guide for regulating machine learning platforms in 2021 is simply uncanny.
“The core resource for digital platforms is data. Regulation should thus take place at the data level”
More generally, thinking about global digital platform regulation in the 21st century through the sole lens of US law (1st Amendment, section 230, Sherman Act) is narrow-minded. More than 95% of web users are not based in the US. Most platforms are not US platforms. Perhaps more importantly, we no longer live under the illusion that the standards that shape the exercise of democracy in the US provide a universal template that everyone else should wish to copy-paste.
When I hear experts genuinely interested in balancing free speech with privacy referring to US law at the start of every sentence, I wonder: “Are they here to have a scholarly face-off with their US friends from law school or are they here to think about the future of democracy?”. These are two different goals requiring two different conversational frames. Digital platforms are global so we must think beyond the peculiarities of national legal systems. This is what EU countries and China have started doing.
Q. In your report, you pen four key recommendations to ‘level the playing field’ across the tech industry, which are:
Regulate data from the bottom up
Establishing a platform utility regulation
Education must keep pace with technology
Homing in on your fourth recommendation, why is this so important and how do you advise businesses and educators alike to action this process?
New technology is scary and learning about it is a lot of work. It’s easy to act grumpy and complain about it or to find excuses for oneself (“I’m too old for this”). But technologies like blockchain and AI are not going away – technology is never going away (except for commercial supersonic air travel apparently, which went away in 2003 with the retirement of the Concorde aircraft)! Therefore, it’s safe to assume that we will all have to learn. Education is fundamental.
There are two sides to the education ‘coin’: ‘Edech’ and ‘Tech in Ed’. The former means leveraging digital technology to create and deliver educational content in more engaging ways. The latter means exposing students to new technology as part of their curriculum.
One of the most exciting classes I ever taught was back in early 2014, when I first delivered a new module about cryptocurrency at Ivey Business School. I recall asking every student to pull out their smartphone and download a free crypto wallet app. Then I showed students, using my own phone with the screen on display, how to generate a public-private key pair to receive bitcoin. I then transferred a couple of dollars to the student closest to me and asked them to “pass it on” by transferring most of the balance to the next student, and so on. At the end of the class, every student had used a cryptocurrency wallet, received bitcoin or litecoin inside it, and transferred some to someone else. To this day, I still get emails from former students who recall this experience. Some of them went on to work in the nascent blockchain industry and might have felt a bit more comfortable doing so because of that prior educational experience. That’s why I value bringing new technology to the classroom.
A fantastic initiative that brings ‘Tech in Ed’ and ‘Edtech’ together is UNICEF’s Crypto Fund school connectivity project. On the one hand, they use donations in cryptocurrency to fund digital connectivity in the classroom in such countries as Sierra Leone and Kazakhstan. On the other hand, they use blockchain technology to create accountability and transparency in the donation’s lifecycle, with the hope that it will make future donations more likely.
One thing to keep in mind when it comes to ‘Edtech’ and ‘Tech in Ed’ is neutrality. As an instructor, my role is not to promote this or that technology. My role is to promote knowledge. I don’t tell students “buy bitcoin”. I ask them “how might blockchain technology be used and how could that change the world as we know it?”. That’s a very different process from “instructor activism”, whereby a professor shows up, tells students “this is good and that is bad” based on some value judgment. It’s an important distinction.
“As an instructor, my role is not to promote this or that technology. My role is to promote knowledge”
Q. In an ideal world, and given everything uncovered in your research, where would you like the tech industry to be in 5–10 years’ time?
I would like for tech to be allowed to remain ‘small’ and swarm-like, for those of us who need or want it to be this way. One of my new year’s resolutions going into 2021 was to curb drastically my dependence on digital platform businesses where ‘you are the product’, as the stereotype goes. I’ve managed to live happily without relying on facebook.com, Google Search, or Gmail, but it hasn’t been an easy transition! I use Signal and I still use WhatsApp (may the Lord forgive me) – because it’s end-to-end encrypted, and since I don’t have a Facebook account the metadata can be shared with, I don’t feel so trapped.
In an ideal world, we’d want WhatsApp to interoperate with other messaging systems, such as Signal. With appropriate regulation aimed at enhancing human welfare, we would create the conditions to have more platforms à la Signal, powered by open source and fewer billion-dollar machine learning models à la Facebook ads…
Today, the regulator is the most important person in the room to help us get there.
You might also like: ‘Technology cannot replace great teaching but it can amplify it’


text:
Stefan of RingNokia pointed us to this 13-minute video walkthrough of the Nokia 8600 Luna. One caveat: expect to shell out a hefty $941USD for the phone when it’s released later this year. Video — courtesy of GenerationPhone — after the break.
Nokia 8600 is a quad-band GSM cellphone running on Symbian S40 platform. It weight in 143g, provides stand-by and talk time of 10 days and 3h 40 mins respectively. The display is a 240×320 pixel offering 16-million colors. A 2-Megapixel camera which is also capable of recording videos is QCIF(176×144) & SQCIF(128×96) has been packed in


text:
Pizza Hut Restaurants has changed. It has a new menu, new layouts and new cocktail bars – all to draw back the evening crowds who had drifted away from the brand over the years. The vibe is very much American inspired – and its success with consumers has been astounding. It was our job to make their Employer Brand equally as enticing and engaging.
- In the 12 months since we launched Pizza Hut Restaurants UK’s Employer Brand they received a staggering 290,000 applications via the careers website. 23,000 in the one month alone.
- Some restaurants have seen attrition improve by 90% over a 12-month period.
- Applications increased by 55% compared to the previous year.


text:
US Secret Service laptop with Trump Tower floor plans and other sensitive material has been stolen from an agent’s vehicle in New York. Nigel Tozer, Solutions Marketing Director EMEA at Commvault commented below.
Nigel Tozer, Solutions Marketing Director EMEA at Commvault:
“In the data economy that we’re increasingly a part of, this sort of thing is likely to happen more often, and the number of people with the skills necessary to gain access to ordinary laptops is rising dramatically.
While a normal business clearly can’t take the steps that presidential staff can, having a backup with location and remote wipe functionality is a very sensible step, maybe even the minimum you should take action on in the light of GDPR regulations that come into force early next year. Your data may not be something that compromises the security of the leader of the free world, but the fines and bad press from a breach – that you must declare by law – certainly won’t do your business any favours”
Most Commented Posts
2020 Cybersecurity Landscape: 100+ Experts’ Predictions
Cyber Security Predictions 2021: Experts’ Responses
Experts’ Responses: Cyber Security Predictions 2023
Celebrating Data Privacy Day – 28th January 2023
Data Privacy Protection Day (Thursday 28th) – Experts Comments
Most Active Commenters
Meta’s fine over data privacy breaches underscores the critical challenges…
Hi, Thanks, that is really useful information. I do have…
“This is a very worrying attack that hit T-Mobile and…
“This latest cyberattack against T-Mobile may be smaller than previous…
“Genesis Market is a complex global criminal access marketplace. Buyers…


text:
H Weatherhead & Sons Butchers featured on a Conservative Party political broadcast on small businesses last week.
The Pateley Bridge company was nominated by MP for Ripon and Skipton Julian Smith to be one of five included in the broadcast focusing on government policies to promote small businesses.
After winning the Yorkshire Countryside Alliance for butchers, Mr Smith said they were an example of a successful North Yorkshire business.
Andrew Weatherhead said: “Julian phoned up one day and said the cameras would be coming to film us for the broadcast, and you can’t turn something like that down.
“It is in the government’s interest to support small businesses, because if they expand and take on more people it is good for the economy getting back on its feet.
“It is good for Yorkshire too, which seems to be doing well.”
Mr Smith agreed that Yorkshire is an area of importance to the government.
He said: “I want to make sure we get Yorkshire businesses on our national radar, and I want these businesses and the men and women who run them to get as much publicity as possible.
“Nearly half of the businesses featured in the broadcast were from the north, and that is a tribute to the fact that northern businesses are a focus in Parliament.
“Yorkshire is one of the biggest areas outside London increasing private sector jobs, and it is really leading the way.
“We have very effective policies helping these businesses, which is something we will continue to do.”
As the Conservative Party’s small business ambassador for Yorkshire, Mr Smith takes feedback from his constituents to Parliament.
“I have been very keen to see the views of small businesses put across and the government has shown how they have got small businesses in mind,” he said.
“I have visited Weatherhead Butchers and seen for myself the hard work and dedication of the owners and their staff to grow their business despite the challenging economic times we have faced.
“They are hugely successful and they have a great team in Pateley Bridge, and I was delighted to see that businesses included in the broadcast were from Yorkshire.”


text:
Former MP Sir Frank Field, who led the BHS pensioners’ campaign for justice, warned that the tycoon must not be allowed to shortchange the 13,000 company workers whose jobs are under threat. He said of Green: “His golden touch has turned to ashes for workers and pensioners.” Lord Field – now a Baron after being elevated to the Lords last month – spoke after it emerged that Green’s 550-store operation needs £30million to survive Christmas. Green, 68, has a personal fortune of £950million, including a £100m superyacht.
Last night, as Arcadia workers feared for their future, he was reported to be planning on spending Christmas at a luxury hotel in the Maldives, frequented by David Beckham, Tom Cruise and other A-list stars.
A beach-side villa for two costs almost £50,000 a week at the paradise destination of One & Only Reethi Rah.
Meanwhile Arcadia – which includes Topshop, Burton and Dorothy Perkins – said it had become the latest victim of the slump spurred by the pandemic.
Its statement added: “As a result, the Arcadia boards have been working on a number of contingency options to secure the future of the group’s brands.”
City analysts said the crisis could lead to the group being broken up.
Sports Direct chief Mike Ashley is said to be interested in taking over parts of it.
Lord Field said he would be working in the Lords to ensure Arcadia workers didn’t have to go through a similar ordeal to the 11,000 BHS workers. In 2015 Green sold the retailer for £1 to Dominic Chappell in an apparent bid to avoid responsibility for its insolvent pension schemes.
The company went bust a year later with the loss of 11,000 jobs.
MPs forced Green to part with some of his money to plug the £571million pensions black hole. It led to him being dubbed the “unacceptable face of capitalism”. Meanwhile, Chappell was jailed for six years earlier this month after being found guilty of failing to pay tax of £584,000.
Last night Lord Field called Green “a flash boy who didn’t do good” and pointed out that Lady Green, 70 – Arcadia’s registered owner – was once paid a record dividend of £1.2billion by the firm.
Lord Field said: “When he was before the House of Commons, Sir Philip Green said he regarded his workers as part of his family. Clearly now the family, ie, the workers, would like some of that money back to ensure they get full pensions.
“I will now from the Lords try to do what I can to ease the wheels.
“None of the workers think they should have a standard of living of extreme luxury like the Green family.
“But they would be grateful for what they have earned – which is their pensions.”
Dave Gill, national officer of shopworkers’ union Usdaw, said: “This is a devastating blow for workers at Arcadia and could not have come at a worse time, just before Christmas.
“We are seeking urgent meetings with management and we urge them to end their anti-union stance and engage with us.”
Susannah Streeter, senior analyst at Hargreaves Landsdown, said: “Arcadia would be the biggest British corporate collapse of the pandemic if it does enter voluntary liquidation.
“It would hollow out huge swathes of the high street if its huge footprint of stores were forced to close.”


text:
By: John McClung
Data privacy is one of the most important business and cultural issues of the 21st century. Universal access to all kinds of personal information is now at unprecedented levels due to the instant communication provided by smartphones and the internet. As a result, identity theft, fraudulent credit card charges, and solicitation from businesses based on consumer spending habits have risen dramatically. Technology and cybersecurity entrepreneurs have scrambled to find ways to make online accounts and transactions more secure, and lawmakers are now following suit. So what does this mean for your business?
In May 2018, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect. Created to protect an individual’s online information and simplify the rules for international business, the GDPR imposes tough rules for securing personal data of private individuals, enforces strict penalties for non-compliance, and redefined the way many U.S. companies operating overseas conducted business. This past January, California’s own data privacy law, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), took effect, borrowing some elements from the GDPR and bringing the U.S. closer to its EU counterparts. It is also the nation’s first statewide data privacy law.
Even if your New York business doesn’t interact with California residents, the CCPA will still affect you. Due to California’s population size as well as their economic and political importance, the CCPA will effectively become the nationwide standard for all U.S. businesses, at least until a federal law for data privacy is passed. Washington lawmakers are looking at California’s new legislation as they consider such a proposal, as setting a single legal standard for data privacy would be more efficient and cheaper for businesses and cybersecurity firms to implement in the long run.
And for those New York businesses that do business with California residents, the impact is more immediate. Those businesses must now, among other requirements, disclose what personal data has been collected and delete the data or stop selling it to outside sources if the customer requests. The CCPA, and the GDPR before it, have also legally broadened the definition of “personal information” to include any information which can “directly or indirectly” identify a person. This includes such things as biometric data, browsing history, employment and education data, consumer preferences, psychological trends, preferences, aptitudes, and other data which can be used to create a profile of the individual.
The CCPA applies to all companies that supply or serve California residents and: (1) have at least $25 million in annual revenue, or (2) have personal data on at least 50,000 people, or (3) collect more than half their revenue through the sale of personal data. Companies don’t have to be based in California or the U.S., or even have a physical presence in California, to be subject to CCPA regulations under the law.
Many New York businesses that operate in California also operate in Europe and have already had to make changes to comply with the GDPR. However, many New York firms, especially smaller firms that don’t operate overseas, have not. To comply with both the GDPR and CCPA, New York businesses should make sure their entire executive team is on board with new data privacy regulations. Businesses should designate one person within the company to ensure that all obligations under the law are being met. Operational implementation is key, and third-party vendors should be thoroughly researched before they are hired. Additionally, annual data protection training should be mandatory for all employees and be built into new-hire training.
An additional suggestion is to use encrypted emails and email accounts. Emails with end-to-end encryption meet the GDPR data protection-by-design standards and implementing zero-access encryption through your email provider means that the provider doesn’t have access to your email content while also limiting vulnerability and liability from any potential data breaches.
When examining your firm’s data collection policy, it is important to keep in mind your client obligations under the GDPR and CCPA, while at the same time understanding that not all businesses operate the same way and may not require the same level of restructuring. Here at Sasserath & Zoraian, LLP for instance, we have always taken client privacy and security very seriously, and unless required by a court-ordered subpoena, all client information remains confidential.
Please contact our team with any questions you may have.


text:
New York Times
April 19, 2019
Link to Full Article
In South Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a 23-story tower is rising beside the landmark 1908 Dime Savings Bank. The developers, Tavros Development and Charney Construction & Development, bought the adjacent lot as well as the bank’s air rights for $80 million, in 2016. The purchase allowed the developers to add 20,000 square feet of floor space to the new tower, making it one of the tallest in the neighborhood. There will be retail and office space on the lower floors, topped by 177 rental apartments, 30 percent rented below market rate. The tower, called the Dime, is expected to open in late 2019.
In 2017, the developers convinced the branch owner to sell the neo-Classical bank hall outright for $12.3 million, allowing them to incorporate the building into their design. The 40-foot-tall interior space, with mullioned windows and decorative columns, will either become an office or retail space, a beer garden or restaurant. (Only the facade has landmark protection.) The roof will become part of an outdoor amenity for residents and office workers, with views of the Williamsburg Bridge. Amenities in the adjoining tower will include an indoor basketball court, yoga room and outdoor “misting stations” to cool down sunbathers.
“When you’re viewed as the big, bad developer, how do you get the authenticity that people moving into neighborhoods like this crave?” asked Sam Charney, the principal of Charney Construction & Development. Monumental architecture isn’t a bad start. Being a block from the JMZ subway lines also helps.
Those perks will be vital to the marketing pitch. About 80 percent of the units will be studios or one-bedrooms, with the average one-bedroom measuring about 560 square feet, said Nicholas Silvers, a partner at Tavros. The average size of one-bedroom rentals in the borough was 727 square feet in March, said Mr. Miller, the real estate appraiser.
Prices haven’t been announced, but the developers’ strategy is to market units for less than those of nearby competitors, like 325 Kent, part of the redesigned Domino Sugar Refinery site, where the luxury rentals list for an average of $3,436 a month for one-bedroom apartments, according to StreetEasy.
“We think this will be leased up in three to five months, at the most,” Mr. Charney said.


text:
Marks & Spencer predicts online sales will beat its High Street performance within three years
Marks & Spencer has predicted online sales will exceed those from its chain of 800 stores within three years, as its recently launched website gains traction.
The retailer believes its state-of-the-art web platform, which started trading five weeks ago, will boost sales. It moved from a computer system hosted by Amazon to its own platform and also built a brand new warehouse in Castle Donnington in Leicestershire.
Chief executive Marc Bolland also shared a raft of early data that showed shoppers who use both the store and the revamped M&S website tend to spend £55 more each year than those who just walk through the doors.
It has seen 70 per cent more shoppers use the new website than the old one but considers it a shop window that forms part of the mix used by customers.
Industry statistics show just 14.4 per cent of the site’s 250million visitors use it to make purchases with many using it as a research tool.
M&S has introduced editorial pieces on its website to guide customers. Bolland said items featured have seen sales rise by 24 per cent as shoppers appreciate advice.
M&S is in the middle of a turnaround plan and has been struggling to lift sales in crucial women’s fashions. Bolland is under pressure as a number of initiatives have yet to bear fruit.
The new online push is a key part of the transformation and it is now able to boost its stock levels in just 15 minutes to ensure it does not run out of popular items.
Laura Wade-Gery, head of IT, said more than 50 per cent of everything ordered online is collected from the shops, and a third of customers go on to buy other items when they visit a store.
M&S is spending 20 per cent of its marketing budget on digital platforms.
Most watched Money videos
- Kia introduces new electric van that can be converted to a camper
- MG unveils new MG3 - Britain's cheapest full-hybrid car
- Honda launches 'Honda 0 Series' and presents Saloon concept model
- Will bitcoin ETFs send the price even higher?
- German sports car brand Porsche unveils new Macan EV
- Will buy-to-let see a revival as mortgage rates fall?
- Space-Hub concept model for Honda as it launches new 'Honda 0 Series'
- Pair of rare 1980s Ford Sierra RS500 Coswotths head to auction
- Donald Trump's 1997 Lamborghini Diablo sells at auction for $1.1m
- Aston Martin unveils new Vantage sports car capable of 202mph
- Dacia unveils Spring crossover - Britain's cheapest EV
- Would you retire abroad for cheaper living costs?


text:
Indoor vertical farming is often derided as a pipe dream and completely infeasible on a commercial scale, but Shigeharu Shimamura's farm proves that indoor farming is not only possible, but profitable. Shimamura started Mirai, an indoor farming company in 2004. When the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan, sparking the Fukushima nuclear disaster and causing food shortages, Shimamura seized the opportunity to turn an abandoned, semiconductor factory into what is now the world's biggest indoor farm.
Mirai's indoor farm in Japan produces up to 10,000 heads of lettuce a day.
At 25,000 square feet, the farm can yield up to 10,000 heads of lettuce a day. That's 100 times more per square foot than traditional methods. One of the major obstacles to making indoor farming cost-effective was lighting. General Electric (GE) who partnered with Mirai, reports, "plant factories have typically used fluorescent lamps for artificial illumination, which has low initial costs." But these fluorescent lights didn't increase yields enough to cover the energy costs.
Then, GE and Mirai developed LEDs that "generate light in wavelengths adapted to plant growth. While reducing electric power consumption by 40 percent compared to fluorescent lighting, the facility has succeeded in increasing harvest yields by 50 percent." Since the plants grow twice as fast with 40 percent less power, 80 percent less food waste and 99 percent less water usage than outdoor fields, Mirai has been able to recover the initial cost of the LED lights and make the cost of artificial lighting worth it.
For now, it is only half automated because various tasks including harvesting the lettuce are done by hand. Shimamura, however, predicts the emergence of harvest robots, who can seed, transplant, harvest and package the products.
Indoor agriculture takes out many of the risks inherent in outdoor crop production. By controlling light exposure, temperature, humidity and watering levels, you can grow food very efficiently. Indoor farming has the potential to produce food with less energy, less water, less waste and in less space than traditional methods. Because agriculture has such a significant impact on the environment, indoor farming offers solutions to many of the current problems. It could eliminate land conversion and habitat loss, wasteful water consumption and soil erosion and degradation, just to name a few.
Mirai has two smaller factories in Mongolia, where long, harsh winters stunt the growing season and leave Mongolians without fresh vegetables for many months. Instead of importing them thousands of miles from Europe, they are now able to grow them domestically. Shimamura is looking to expand to Hong Kong and Russia in the near future and eventually all over the world.
As for crops besides lettuce, Shimamura says, "I believe that, at least technically, we can produce almost any kind of plant in a factory. But what makes most economic sense is to produce fast-growing vegetables that can be sent to the market quickly. That means leaf vegetables for us now. In the future, though, we would like to expand to a wider variety of produce."
In a world facing more and more extreme weather events from climate change, there will likely be more devastating impacts on agriculture, such as those from the Fukushima disaster and Typhoon Haiyan. The GE team in Japan believes that indoor farms could be a key to solving food shortages in the world. Indoor farming takes what factories do best, which is harnessing technology to efficiently produce a good, and what nature does best, which is producing biomass from light, water and nutrients, and combining the two.
If done correctly, indoor farming has the potential to be the best of both worlds. Mirai is by no means the only indoor farming operation in the world. There are more like this one in Chicago. Says Shimamura: “Finally, we are about to start the real agricultural industrialization.”
Watch how it works:


text:
Thirteen of television’s most memorable and talented designers make their way back to the workroom to try to sew up a win on Project Runway All Stars season five ! Tune in to Lifetime every Thursday at 9pm Eastern / 8pm Central. The designers will have a new twist to contend with this season as Alyssa Milano, Isaac Mizrahi and Georgina Chapman will be judging an “anonymous runway” for the very first time and won’t know which designer created each garment.
Check back here each week for your chance to bid on these exclusive designs and take home your very own piece of the runway. All items available for auction will be posted after that week’s episode airs.
All items are sold “as-is” straight off the runway. Bidding starts at $50 with a $25 shipping fee per auction. The winning bidder will receive their outfit 8-10 weeks after the auction concludes and payment has been processed.
There's ALWAYS time for a selfie with @CarolynAMurphy! #FW17 #ZacPosen https://t.co/FNPgf1UhntFebruary 21, 2017, 11:31 am EST
Serpentine picks Francis Kéré for 2017 pavilion | News | Building Design https://t.co/6rZ2TeJBmeFebruary 21, 2017, 9:28 am EST
Renaissance man: Olivier Theyskens on the relaunch of his label https://t.co/8jSAyv2QJPFebruary 21, 2017, 9:12 am EST
Shout out to @wearcommando for supporting our team during #NYFW! #NYFWgoescommando. https://t.co/euHLDxJt8dFebruary 21, 2017, 9:01 am EST
What is late style?: Why so many artists do their most interesting work in their final years | The Economist https://t.co/dILWoDFfPOFebruary 20, 2017, 8:45 pm EST
Time to fly back #sundone https://t.co/IPGpocEIGA https://t.co/iDgM4KAyhFFebruary 20, 2017, 7:01 pm EST
Love you my dear @Zac_Posen ❤ https://t.co/UtsrBasnjfFebruary 20, 2017, 6:51 pm EST
LOVE having my friend @ninagarcia at my #FW17 exhibition! I'm so lucky to have you as a friend! #ProjectRunway https://t.co/LO2J7LimfRFebruary 20, 2017, 6:00 pm EST
The #Eloyse Sunglasses will brighten your day! Available from the #ZacPosen @KenmarkEyewear collection!… https://t.co/F9qLbQkX5JFebruary 20, 2017, 4:15 pm EST
#beachbum #sundone ✌🏻🤘🏻🌞 https://t.co/PLMrkHHJcI https://t.co/8L12x0kTDkFebruary 20, 2017, 3:52 pm EST
So proud to have such amazing support at my #NYFW exhibition for the #FW17 collection! @marieclaireuk… https://t.co/L0N0EC2qsFFebruary 20, 2017, 1:45 pm EST
One of these four #ProjectRunwayJunior designers will be named the winner, Thursday at 9/8c! https://t.co/sDhnbMSAMgFebruary 20, 2017, 12:45 pm EST
Zac Posen On His Fall/Winter 2017 Video Collaboration with Vanina Sorrenti @DailyFrontRow #ZacPosen… https://t.co/j4nEqdIyMyFebruary 20, 2017, 11:30 am EST
Sunrise 🙏🏻🙌🏻 https://t.co/vD7ZMFu6Hr https://t.co/GZBJw2WrQjFebruary 20, 2017, 9:50 am EST


text:
Micro Scooters, distributors of one of the UK’s most popular scooters ranges, has confirmed it has extended its partnership with Spark eCommerce Group just one year after appointing Spark as it’s order fulfilment partner.
In 2012 Spark was contracted by Micro Scooters to provide order fulfilment and contact centre support for a period of two years.
However, after being so impressed with the level of service given by the team at Gateshead-based Spark eCommerce group, Micro Scooters has extended the contract by a further two years to run until 2016.
Micro Scooters’ Business Development Director Ben Gibson, who is originally from the North East and now lives in Hexham with wife Anna, co-founder of Micro Scooters Ltd. said: ““Moving our order fulfilment and contact centre support to the North East was a big move for us and we feel the team at Spark has really welcomed us and taken our product to their hearts. And above all else the level of service we’ve received from the team has exceeded our expectations so we were keen to put in place a long term contract which reflects our commitment to Spark, and Spark to Micro Scooters.”
One of the key factors which drove the contract extension was the scalability offered to Micro Scooters by Spark. With ambitious growth plans, Micro Scooters had reached capacity in their current facility. Spark has been able to offer flexible warehousing and storage space, along with the resources to allow Micro Scooters to grow at an exceptional rate. When Micro Scooters decided to launch a ‘build your own scooter’ product range, Spark were more than capable of providing the service, which has gone on to drive further sales growth at Micro Scooters.
The extension of the Micro Scooters contract rounds off what has been a good year for Spark eCommerce Group. As well as seeing turnover and employee numbers increase, the company has also won major contracts with BT and The Pen Shop.
Peter Slee, Managing Director of Spark eCommerce Group, said: “I’m delighted that Micro Scooters have made the decision to extend their partnership with us. While as a growing company it’s important for us to win new business, it’s equally important that we retain the business we have. So for Micro Scooters to say that they’ve been so pleased with the support they’ve had from our team that they’ve decided to extend their contract through to 2016 is testament to us as a business and the team we have in place here.”


text:
Uber has rolled out its second India-specific feature in a week – the ability to Request a Ride for Others, specifically meant for regular users to help those who don’t have the app installed or an account registered.
To recall, earlier this week, Uber had rolled out the Dial an Uber feature that allowed users in India to access the company’s ride-hailing services in select cities without requiring the app – instead, they can use a mobile site for the purpose. Besides the fact it was first launched in India, the feature is evidently aimed at emerging markets where a large percentage of users are expected to sport budget smartphones with low amounts of inbuilt storage, expensive data plans, and lack of widespread mobile data connectivity.
Explaining the need for the Request a Ride for Others feature, Uber in a press statement said, “Often people who need reliable rides the most, such as the elderly, don’t have smartphones or have never downloaded an app. ‘Request a Ride for Others’ empowers current Uber users across all cities in India to book a ride on behalf of their family and friends, so more people can get access to reliable transportation.”
To use the Request a Ride for Others feature, users will need to have the latest version of the Uber app installed on their smartphones. They can then set a pin, or manually enter the pickup location of the person they are requesting the ride for. They will then be prompted to choose who the ride is for, and can either select a contact from their phonebook, or enter a phone number. Users can then choose payment method, enabling the rider to pay with cash at the destination or pay for the rider themselves electronically.
The rider will then receive two SMS messages, one with the driver and car information, and the other with a link to track the ride. The driver will be given the rider’s phone number to coordinate the pickup. Uber users will be able to track the ride from within the app.
What do you think of Uber’s new India-specific features? Will they indeed help, or are they just publicity gimmicks? Share your views in the comments section below.


text:
For the first time since 1997, the BMW brand may beat Lexus and Mercedes-Benz in overall U.S.
Read This Article
Mercedes-Benz first rolled out the G-Wagen, known now as the G-Class, back in 1979 after the Shah of Iran, a shareholder of the German automaker at the time, recommended it.
A wise man once said "if you ain't first, you're last." Apparently Daimler is taking that advice to heart as it plans to double its output of Mercedes-Benz vehicles by 2020.
The Nanny State is at it again.


text:
Condominium sales increase in Montreal
According to QFREB’s latest report, floor ownership sales increased in Montreal. The condominium sales were sold much more in Montreal than in other real estate types.
According to the reports released by QFREB, 50 percent of the types of real estate purchased in Montreal are condominiums. This figure was announced as 24 percent in the province of Quebec. Experts said that the shift in demand due to the increase of single houses is a natural process.
Why are apartments popular in Montreal?
The aging population wants to live in smaller houses and often prefer apartments. However, young adults usually want to live alone in the apartment is going to rent.
In addition, the apartments are sold and rented to individual houses at a more affordable price.
QFREB stated that the census in Montreal has big differences between metropolitan areas. For example, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, the single-family home market accounts for 78% of all home sales.
In the first quarter of 2019, the prices of flats on the Montreal Island accounted for 56 percent of all home sales.
In 2019, home sales fell significantly.
In some parts of the Montreal market, there are significant differences in terms of property values. For example, apartments in the Northern District of Montreal accounted for 18 percent of real estate sales. Ultimately, 90 percent of sales in the Ville-Marie district were condominium.
Sevdenur Demir / email@example.com


text:
Kohl's to carry Apple Watch in select stores just in time for the holidays.
In mid-November, Kohl’s will begin carrying Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2, along with a variety of bands and accessories, at more than 400 stores across the country and on Kohls.com. The launch is part of Kohl’s latest efforts in delivering amazing, must-have products to our customers.
Located within our active and wellness space, Apple will join the expansive list of national and notable brands found at Kohl’s like Nike, Columbia, Fitbit, Under Armour and more. The best part? You can earn and redeem Kohl’s Cash and Yes2You Rewards on all of your Apple purchases, making Kohl’s the best place to shop this holiday!
Check out the entire assortment on Kohls.com/Apple.


text:
GP Flair is ramping up its character visits in the run-up to Christmas, starting with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle event at Hamleys.
This weekend will see the team of testudines drop in on the toy retailer’s flagship London store and its Manchester branch.
Michaelangelo and Donatello will be offering young fans the chance for a photo with hourly visits to the store, while Leonardo and Raphael will demonstrate their ninja abilities at Manchester’s Trafford Centre.
Each store will also be handing out competition cards and TMNT squidgems to a limited number of fans that arrive.
The event will be the first in a series of retailer character visits organised by the toy firm, GP Flair in the coming weeks and run-up to Christmas.
“As the number one action figure in the UK, the four brothers already have a huge fan base and we are therefore delighted to be able to afford them the opportunity to meet and greet with their favourite heroes,” said Mercedes Perez Munoz, brand manager, GP Flair.
“This is just one part of the major marketing activity we have to support the brand pre-Christmas. Our heavy weight TV schedule and online activity will help to keep TMNT at the top of the boys market.”


text:
>> Target missing the mark on sales for the first quarter, the latest in a string of retailers struggling so far in 2016. CEO Brian Cornell citing quote, an increasingly volatile consumer environment, with shoppers spending more on big ticket items and not on apparel. Target's stock taking a beating on the news, plunging nearly 9% Wednesday as the company warned the immediate future is not much brighter.
Thompson Reuters retail expert, Jeranne Martisse.>> Target's results are very telling of how more and more retailers are facing significant competition of online retailers, especially by the likes of Amazon. Target also saw a decrease in visitors. Shoppers are coming less to the stores and are buying less.>> Other brick and mortar retailers like Macy's, Nordstrom, JC Penney and Kohl's also recently reporting disappointing results.
But there is one bright spot in retail.>> The biggest question on everybody's mind is where's consumers spending their money. And when looking at who have been the top performers and top in terms of earnings, it's very evident that there's a nesting thing going on. Consumers are buying houses.
They're buying cars, recreational boats and are installing pools in their houses, suggesting that they're definitely investing in the stay at home experience. On top of that, when they do hit a brick and mortar store, they're going to the Home Depots, the Lowe's.>> Target's results dragging down the larger retail sector Wednesday with shares of rivals Walmart, Costco and Best Buy all lower on the day.


text:
Opolis received a grant from MakerDAO to integrate its Dai cryptocurrency into its decentralized employer ecosystem for payroll and benefits.
People with little or no knowledge of cryptocurrency are the most likely to be positive on its future, according to research from Dutch bank ING.
U.S.-based financial giant Wells Fargo is developing a digital dollar that will run on the firm’s first blockchain platform.
JPMorgan’s blockchain-based interbank payments initiative, IIN, has added Deutsche Bank as its latest member, bringing the total to 320 banks.
Coinme, which provides kiosks and ATMs for digital currencies, raised $1.5 million in a Series A-1 financing round that included Ripple’s subsidiary Xpring and Blockchain Finance Fund. Proceeds from the funding will be used for additional licensing to expand its U.S. and international coverage. The company is licensed to operate bitcoin ATM’s in 29 states […]
The card giant is to develop a blockchain-powered cross-border payments platform in partnership with enterprise-focused blockchain firm R3.
The company set up to run Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency project is seeking to apply for licensing as a payment system in Switzerland.
Apple is “watching cryptocurrency,” according to an executive at Apple Pay.
Blockchain forensics firm Elliptic has raised $23 million in Series B round led by Tokyo-based financial institution (and XRP holder) SBI.
“Big Four” auditing firm PwC’s Luxembourg branch will accept cryptocurrency payments from clients starting next month.
A large donation to a non-profit working to protect the Amazon rainforest has been blocked by compliance hurdles at crypto payments firm BitPay.
Mobile wallets and other apps will soon be able to plug into Flexa’s payment rails and offer crypto payments to retailers.
The banking company is latest major organization in the country to join the blockchain rush.
Prior to the addition, Brave users could only place BATs in Uphold, a wallet Brave partnered with for BAT.
The music steaming service will join twenty-five partners in a South Korean crypto payments alliance.
The U.K. Department for Work and Pensions is investigating distributed ledger technology as a way to boost its payments systems.
Messaging app giant Kakao – which launched its own blockchain in June – has teased the release of a crypto wallet dubbed “Klip” later this year.
Commerzbank has developed a blockchain-based solution it says allows automated trucks to pay for power charging with no human involvement.
Amazon is looking to hire a software engineer to integrate parts of its advertising business with a blockchain.
Retail giant Walmart has applied for a cryptocurrency patent that bears some similarities to the Libra token proposed by Facebook in mid-June.


text:
China's fiscal revenue dropped 4.8 per cent year on year in the first four months of this year, a new data showed.
The country's fiscal revenue amounted to about 7.43 trillion yuan (about 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars) during the period, according to the Ministry of Finance.
Excluding the impact of value-added tax (VAT) credit refunds, the fiscal revenue, however, grew 5 per cent from a year earlier.
The central government and local governments collected 3.46 trillion yuan and 3.97 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue, down 5.7 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively, as per Xinhua News Agency.
Tax revenue came in at 6.23 trillion yuan in the January-April period, down 7.6 per cent year on year.
Fiscal spending rose 5.9 per cent year on year to 8.09 trillion yuan in the first four months.
China started to issue VAT credit refunds on a large scale in April. The total value of such refunds reached about 800 billion yuan last month, as per the media portal.
In 2022, tax refunds and cuts are expected to be about 2.5 trillion yuan, of which VAT credit refunds will account for some 1.5 trillion yuan and will all go straight to enterprises, according to the country's government work report. (ANI)


text:
Here's a thought experiment: Assume that Iraq's democratic government declared it was nationalizing its oil industry, a la Venezuela or Saudi Arabia, while excluding American companies from the country. How do you think U.S. politicians would react? With angry cries of "ingratitude" and "this is what Americans died for"?
Of course they would, led no doubt by that critic for all reasons, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York. So it is passing strange that Mr. Schumer and other Senators are now assailing Iraq precisely because it is opening up to foreign oil companies, especially to U.S. majors like Exxon Mobil and Chevron. For some American pols, everything that happens in Iraq is bad news, especially when it's good news for the U.S.
Back-to-School Sale: Extra 25% off sitewide - JCPenney coupon code
Walmart coupon: $20 off your $50+ order
- Best Buy:
Save 15% or more on the Best Buy deal of the Day
Up to 15% off + free shipping at Wayfair
Nike Gear Up for Fall Sale: Up to 50% off
- Dick's Sporting Goods:
10% off sitewide - Dick's Sporting Goods coupons


text:
A new campaign to educate the public on all things sports nutrition has been launched by the industry trade association to ensure consumer safety and good health.
Shoppers will know straight away that things are going to be different at Whole Foods Market, when Amazon completes its $14 billion acquisition of the natural food retailer on Monday (18 August).
Researchers at the Harvard Medical School are warning that eating a gluten-free diet could increase a healthy person’s risk of developing coronary heart disease.
Strict criteria for ‘additional fibre material’ and a new category for ‘combined products’ are among the changes in Version 5.0 of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), released on 1 March 2017.
UN experts call for new global treaty to regulate and phase out the use of dangerous pesticides in farming
Report says calcium and vitamin D supplements could save the EU billions
Norway’s lead organic body Oikos (Organic Norway) has criticized Norwegian Government proposals to abandon the country’s goal of making 15% of all food production and consumption organic by 2020.
Specialist marketing intelligence business Organic Monitor is being relaunched this month as Ecovia Intelligence.
Amazon has launched a small range of dietary supplements under its ‘Amazon Elements’ label.
USDA extends deadline on organic check-off program
The organic food and farming sector had another record-breaking year, with global sales topping USD 80 billion and organically farmed land reaching 50.9 million acres.
US natural products retailer Vitamin Shoppe has reported a fall in comparable store sales for the last quarter. But the company says that its ‘reinvention strategy’ remains on track.
People who eat a gluten-free diet may be at risk for dramatically increased exposure to arsenic and mercury – toxic metals that can lead to cardiovascular disease, cancer and neurological effects
From Siberian cedar nuts to turmeric latte, rare variety popcorn to gourmet truffle oil – Biofach has all bases covered when it coms to the latest new organic products.
This year’s Biofach and Vivaness events (Nuremberg, 15-18 February 2017) drew a record-breaking attendance of over 50,000 visitors, reports the organiser NürnbergMesse.
Germany’s minister for food and farming, Christian Schmidt, says that EU law-makers must “acknowledge the special holistic aspects of organic production” as they continue to formulate a revised EU Organic Regulation.
The organic market in Europe continues to maintain double digit growth according to data from Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and the Agricultural Market Information Company (AMI) that was released at last week’s Biofach exhibition.
The German footwear company Birkenstock – famous for its iconic cork sandals – used this week’s Biofach exhibition in Nuremberg to preview a comprehensive range of natural cosmetic products.
India’s ‘organic hub’ – a cluster of fertile, proactively organic states in Northeast India – is helping drive strong market growth in the country and setting it on its way to securing 2% of the world organic food market.
BioCare Limited has been acquired by International Vitamin Corporation (IVC).


text:
As some of you might know, last week, the guys from SamMobile broke the news about Samsung’s intentions of implementing a fingerprint protection system in its future smartphones.
According to SamMobile’s tipster, Samsung begun testing this feature since before Galaxy S3 hit the market. However, as both the S3 and the Galaxy S4 have been released without this technology on board, i think it’s safe to assume that the testing did not go as planned. However, in case you were worried that Samsung has abandoned its plans, fret not, as we recently stumbled on further proof that the Korean manufacturer is bent on bringing fingerprint protection to its future smartphones. Join us after the break for more.
What you see above is a snapshot taken from a patent recently granted to Samsung by the US Patent and Trademark Office (2013/0129163).
As you can see, Samsung intends on placing a fingerprint sensor in the home button of its devices, but the patent claims that “the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto“.
According to the same patent, the fingerprint sensor might be a contact type one (like those used in door-locks) or a swipe sensor with a relatively small width.
In case the latter type is used, Samsung says that it’s possible for the sensor to be located on the side of the device (140 in the above figure).
The patent also claims that Samsung’s technology is capable of detecting if the recognized fingerprint pertains to a living body or if a forged fingerprint is being used (for example a fingerprint formed using silicon).
Those of you technologically inclinded and interested in finding out how exactly this is supposed to work should give the patent a closer look.
So what do you think? Will Samsung manage to beat Apple to it and be the first to release a smarpthone with a fingerprint sensor? Would you be interested in this type of security? Let us know in the comments section.


text:
Fashion Throwback: A Glimpse At The Saint Laurent Fall Campaign Featuring Blackpink's Rosé
Blackpink members are killing it this year with several brand collaboration announcements under their belts. The girl group’s Rosé was the first member to bag a brand ambassador deal that kicked them off.
Months before Lisa landed her global ambassador deal with MAC cosmetics, Rosé shared the news with YSL. The luxury fashion brand welcomed the KPop superstar to their family of ambassadors in June.
Rosé made her front-row debut at a Yves Saint Laurent show last year, which had fans buzzing. She also started dropping hints of a partnership on Instagram with several photos of her in YSL garments.
The Face Of Fall 2020
Yves Saint Laurent revealed that Blackpink’s Rosé is the new face of their fall 2020 campaign. The announcement that happened this summer was no surprise to Blackpink and fashion fans.
Rosé features a series of black and white images and videos by photographer David Sims. One of her looks in the clips is similar to an outfit that fellow YSL ambassador Lenny Kravitz wore in a campaign.
Rosé’s Global Ambassadorship Honor
Rosé shared her excitement about the news with Elle Korea. The Kpop sensation gushed about the honor of being able to work with such a highly esteemed brand.
“I still can’t believe that I’m a global ambassador, representing a brand that I’ve thought was really cool for a long time,”
Her collaboration with YSL allows her to learn from some of fashion’s best creatives. She expressed her gratitude for being able to experience the work of such bright and kind minds.
“It’s an honor. I also got close to creative director Antony Vaccarello, and I’m learning a lot from his creativity, expertise, and humanity. It’s amazing to be able to work with such a wonderful person.”
A Big Win For Blackpink
Rosé’s high fashion ambassador deal news came just a few days after some huge Blackpink information. The band released their first video off of their LP that was released this September.
Blackpink’s ‘How You Like That’ single is hugely successful. The fashion-forward music video has broken records and raked in over a billion views on Youtube since the summer.