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United States seaports are expanding their services and enhancing their cargo-handling capabilities, creating jobs and assisting businesses looking to tap into the increasing overseas demand for both raw materials and manufactured U.S. products. While a rebounding domestic economy and the much-heralded expansion of the Panama Canal in 2015 may serve as the motivator for some of the more than $9 billion that port authorities and their private-sector partners are investing annually into seaport facilities, this is only part of the story.
There are several other factors propelling this huge investment of private-sector capital into America’s ports. The biggest driver may be the rapidly growing middle class throughout parts of Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, among others. According to a 2013 Ernst & Young report, the middle class in these “rapidly growing markets,” or RGMs, is expected to create a burgeoning demand in the coming years as they rise out of poverty, with their spending increasing from today’s $21 trillion to $56 trillion in 2030. The expectation is that an increasingly interconnected world will benefit from the trading opportunities of this anticipated growth and the phenomenal new demand for goods and services.
Another, still emerging, consideration for America’s port expansion is that manufacturing operations are incrementally transitioning or relocating to North America, a development known as “near-sourcing.” With rising labor costs overseas, a narrowing labor differential at home and long transit times to market, a 2012 Michigan-based AlixPartners survey found that nine percent of manufacturing executives in the U.S. have already taken steps to near-source their operations, and 33 percent plan to do so within the next three years.
Niche Markets May Generate Most Exports
Some of the biggest gains in U.S. exports may be seen in chemicals, machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum and coal products, computer and electronic components, electrical equipment and appliances, and primary metals, according to a new report by The Boston Consulting Group. The report, “Behind the American Export Surge: The U.S. as One of the Developed World’s Lowest Cost Manufacturers,” updates and elaborates on research released last fall which predicted that higher exports and near-shoring from China and elsewhere could add two and a half million to five million domestic manufacturing and related service jobs by 2020. In turn, that could reduce the unemployment rate by up to three percentage points.
These seven categories account for about three-quarters of total global exports, with job gains derived directly through added factory work and indirectly through supporting services such as construction, transportation and retail.
Seaports are Crucial Near-Sourcing Determinants
John LaRue, CEO for Port Corpus Christi, provides convincing arguments that have attracted several major plants recently to utilize this southwestern Texas port. One of those is China-based Tianjin Pipe Company, the world’s fifth-largest manufacturer of pipe. It will build a $1.3 billion, 600,000-ton-per-year seamless oil and gas pipe plant alongside Port Corpus Christi that will begin operating in 2015. Importing iron ore, pig iron and other raw materials through the port, it will then sell the finished product in the U.S. and Canada, with about 20 percent going further afield.
Also for the Corpus Christi port, Austrian specialty steelmaker voestalpine Group announced in March 2013 it plans to build a $700 million plant that will annually make two million tons of hot briquetted and direct-reduced iron for the company’s Austrian steel production sites. A third firm, the privately held Italian conglomerate M&G Group, plans to build a $900 million PET resin and purified terephthalic acid plant in Corpus Christi that is described as the world’s largest.
Determinants typically cited for these reshoring decisions start with access to a deep-water port and include good road and rail logistics, ample and economical energy supplies, a well-educated workforce and a stable political climate.
Alabama and its port received a big boost last year when Airbus, a European airplane manufacturer, said it would open a new factory in the state. Fabrice Brégier, the firm’s chief executive, said that for skilled workers, “China is no longer a low-cost country.” This announcement followed the July 2010 opening of Germany’s ThyssenKrupp AG carbon steel processing facility in Calvert, Alabama, and the opening of the Alabama State Port Authority’s new $115 million marine terminal to serve the ThyssenKrupp operation.
Jim MacLellan, the Port of Los Angeles’ director of trade development, said his port has noticed an increase in near-shoring in the past year or so, specifically in the former Maquiladora area in North Baja, adjacent to the California border. “Tijuana already relies upon the U.S. for $11 billion in supplies for this [manufacturing] sector, including $6.5 billion in electronics, $1.5 billion in medical devices and $1.2 billion in aerospace parts,” he said. “The Port of Los Angeles benefits from handling the imports to supply these growing plants.”
However, MacLellan said his port is also prepared for the export side of near-shoring. “Companies such as American Apparel, for example, have expressed the advantages of manufacturing in the U.S. and the growing demand for their products abroad. This trend could lead to more exports from the U.S. through the Port of Los Angeles.”
The Infrastructure Factor
Earlier this year, the Aspen Institute and the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation released an econometric forecast model showing potential for a U.S. manufacturing resurgence that by 2025 would help create the first trade surplus since 1975. The study found that, with adjustment of some key drivers, such as regulatory and tax policy, U.S. manufacturing could grow dramatically. These are the key drivers currently holding back infrastructure development and restraining manufacturing growth.
Many seaport-related infrastructure projects that could help jump-start near-shoring business opportunities are snarled by lengthy and inefficient study requirements and the low priority at the federal level to fund transportation projects that move cargo instead of people.
For the U.S. to remain a significant competitor for international trade, more of its commercial ports need to be able to accommodate larger ships, while improving existing and building new land-side connecting infrastructure is imperative to accommodate more loaded trucks and trains heading to or from these facilities. This was borne out in ASCE’s “2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure,” where the nation’s roads received a “D” grade, its bridges a “C+” and its ports a “C.”
While adequate port-connecting infrastructure funding remains elusive, reducing regulatory policy red tape is making progress. Provisions included in the 2012 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) federal transportation bill would streamline land-side projects. To help move projects more quickly and reduce the infrastructure project backlog, the bill provides penalties to federal agencies if certain deadlines aren’t met. Under MAP-21, the U.S. DOT (Department of Transportation) also established a National Freight Advisory Council and an Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness, both of which will seek input from shippers and transportation advisers to reshape America’s transportation priorities and tax policies.
Another regulatory side “bright spot” is the progress being made in Congress on passing a new water resources bill that would help streamline water-side projects and address other issues related to America’s navigation channels.
The Potential Near-Shoring Harvest
As near-shoring builds momentum, America’s seaports will be vying to attract new manufacturing operations to port regions that will increase cargo volumes of inbound raw materials and outbound finished products. They will also look to grow trade from new production near-shored to the Americas and to garner a larger share of the U.S. export pie.
Global supply chains are shifting, but the impacts will take time to be felt. The multitude of variables that affect trade flows will make it challenging to predict which commodities, industries, trade routes and countries will be most affected; but therein lies the opportunity for ports.


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Posted: 06 May 2014 | 6:00 am
I have just returned from Bali and ran into a few hoteliers from Phuket looking to expand their footprints into South East Asia's largest economy - Indonesia.
Clearly there are a growing number of synergies between Asia's to big resort destinations.
Coming up on June 6th is the second Indonesia Hotel Investment Conference at the Grand Nikko Bali.
For those in the Thai hotel sector, this will be a great opportunity to learn more about Indonesia's booming hospitality trade.
The conference will have leading panelists and cover a broad range of subjects and segment.
C9's Bill Barnett will be leading a session on Hotel Branded Residences.
For more details about the event
A column featuring environmental issues and conservation around the island. Click here for more Green Reports check out the latest story from the leading experts:
National airline carrier Thai Airways International has banned shark fin products for its air cargo network.
Local opposition to the planned Dolphinarium in Chalong is mounting both locally and abroad.
Library of published hospitality, tourism and property market intelligence.
Riding the rails in Phuket
PHUKET GAZETTEHeinecke Backs Japan Tech Offering
PROPERTY REPORT SOUTH EAST ASIAConcrete Bloc

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The latest report from Experian Automotive shows a rise in new car loans to consumers with less than perfect credit
Poor Credit Car Buyers
Here at Auto Credit Express we believe that the latest quarterly report from Experian Automotive contains some good news for applicants in the market for a bad credit auto loan.
State of the Automotive Finance Market
Experian Automotive's latest State of the Automotive Finance Market report, issued earlier this month, analyzes automotive lending during the first quarter of 2014.
In a previous article covering the report, we noted the growing trend of stretching auto loan terms to help lower monthly payments and how this is something consumers with credit issues should avoid.
Today, we'll be taking a look at a section of the report that dealt specifically with credit-challenged car buyers.
News for Subprime Finance
Under a heading titled "Subprime financing rises for new vehicles and drops for used vehicles," the report had this to say about vehicle financing for buyers whose credit has experienced some bumps in the road:
Market share for nonprime, subprime and deep subprime new vehicle loans rose slightly in Q1 2014 to 34.34 percent from 33.68 percent in Q1 2013. For used vehicles, nonprime, subprime and deep subprime loans accounted for 64.2 percent of all loans, down 2.6 percent from 65.91 percent in Q1 2013.
The report also noted that in comparing the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014, the average credit score for a used vehicle loan as well as the average monthly payment for a used vehicle both rose.
In addition, the interest rates for both new and used car loans also increased.
What This Means
Looking at the overall picture, we see both good and a bit of not-so-good news.
The good news is that taken as a whole, it looks as if subprime lenders are financing more new cars – a sign of increased confidence in the automotive lending market. On the other hand, interest rates are rising and, as a rule, subprime rates generally follow these types of market trends and will affect people looking to buy, or lease a car with bad credit.
Our recommendations to buyers with iffy credit profiles are what we've always stressed, including:
- Know your credit scores and be familiar with the information in your credit reports before visiting a car dealer that accepts bad credit
- Choose an affordable small or mid-sized car and with a payment of no more than 10% to 15% of your gross monthly income (the lower the better)
- Keep the loan term as short as possible
- The higher the down payment, the better a deal will score. Not including new car rebates or dealer cash, a down payment of 15% or more will increase the chances of an approval
The Bottom Line
The good news for car buyers with bad credit is that subprime lenders are increasing looking at new cars as a finance option. On the other hand, both new and used car interest rates are climbing which means buyers who are putting off a decision may end up paying more in interest charges.
At this point delaying that buying decision may not be in your best interests, so we have a suggestion: at Auto Credit Express our mission is to help buyers with damaged credit find those dealers for their best chances of an auto loan approval. So if you believe now is the time, you can begin the process by filling out our online auto loan application.


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The Chattogram Port is perhaps all set in order to become a completely automatic slot, along with it currently offering a Computerised Container Terminal control program (CTMS), which ushered when you look at the digital age when it comes to center.
Speaking at a views change ending up in reporters in the Shaheed Fazlur Rahman Munshi Auditorium of Chittagong Port on Sunday mid-day, Chairman regarding the Chattogram Port Authority back Admiral M Shahjahan stated the slot has grown to become a completely automatic slot utilizing the CTMS, that has been enhanced to a Terminal working System (TOS), and an information centre equal to Tier-2 put up.
By setting up the info center, the slot should be able to make sure continuous working automation solutions like contemporary harbors around the globe, he stated.
Shahjahan stated that on 30 March, the Cox’s Bazar area management paid 283.27 miles of land beneath the Matarbari Port developing venture. Technicians is employed quickly when it comes to port construction work. Aided by the utilization of the Matarbari Port, commercial vessels with a depth of 18 metres should be able to move across, which is a milestone for the country’s economy. This slot will end up a regional hub for trade and business along with other harbors may also act as solution harbors.
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He additionally stated that an innovative new milestones ended up being achieved by giving items right through the slot to European countries.
“These days [April 24] we authorized a ship to use from Chattogram slot to a European slot. Talks will also be underway on direct delivery to Slovenia, Portugal and Dubai. Shipping on these channels will begin soon.”
With the building regarding the 580,000 square metre garden to improve the capability regarding the slot, the container ability is risen up to 55,000. Port limitation is increased from 7 nautical kilometers to 50 nautical kilometers. During the last ten years, 390 several types of cargo and container managing machines being gathered.
In 2021, container managing have been 32 lakh 14 thousand TEUs (twenty-foot comparable products), an improvement of 13.19per cent, and basic cargo managed ended up being 116 million tonnes.
The president regarding the slot stated container vessels are reaching the jetty within one or two times of anchorage, in which particular case on-arrival berthing has been offered. Throughout the coronavirus period, many created ports around the globe saw obstruction for some time but no obstruction was made in Chattogram slot.
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He stated the slot is within the means of gathering two contemporary scanners for checking export containers. Within the last a year, no burglary has had invest Chattogram slot, he included, stating that the slot was stated a zero-piracy port.
Source: Company Standard


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New Scolla. Off his debut independent album “Seconds Away” which will be released in August.
“From the very beginning this project has been one by the people for the people. We reach out to our fans to support us with the kickstarter funding campaign and they reached back. We want to continue that fashion of involving the fans and supporters with project by allowing them to vote on the cover for the album, contests, and more until “Seconds Away” is released August 30th” – Young Scolla


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Treasury blocks duty-free shopping for Northern Ireland
The Treasury has blocked a multi-million pound Brexit benefit for Northern Ireland by refusing to allow duty-free shopping on flights to Great Britain and the EU.
Travellers leaving the province are not allowed to take advantage of tax-free offers when heading to either Great Britain or European countries.
Ports and airports there have repeatedly warned the Government that this means they are losing out on vital custom to competitors, especially those in Ireland.
But the Treasury is resisting pressure and has told them it can’t allow duty-free shopping for travellers heading to Great Britain because Northern Ireland is part of the UK’s tax area.
The Commission has given the same reason for visitors to the EU, arguing the Province is following its tax rules under the Brexit border deal.
One industry source told The Telegraph that as a result, the travel industry in Ulster has “the worst of both worlds from the Protocol”.
Northern Ireland follows hundreds of EU rules, including on tax rates, under the deal that was struck to avoid a hard border with the Republic.
The return of duty-free shopping between the UK and the continent was one of the big selling points of Brexit for consumers and businesses.
Brussels banned tax-free allowances for travellers moving between EU states in 1999.
They were reinstated for holidaymakers heading from Great Britain to European countries in 2021, but not for those coming from Northern Ireland.
‘It doesn’t make sense’
Airports and ports in the province have appealed to both London and Brussels to allow duty-free shopping for travel to either GB or the EU.
They have privately warned customers are choosing to travel from Dublin instead, where the port and airport are both owned by the Irish state.
Baroness Hoey of Lylehill and Rathlin, a Northern Irish peer, has written to the Government demanding that it acts to fix the problem.
She said the current situation was “a joke” and that neither side wanted to publicly admit that it was the Protocol that was at fault.
“If Northern Ireland remains an integral part of the UK as does the rest of Great Britain, why can I get duty-free flying to EU countries from anywhere in Great Britain but not from airports in Northern Ireland? It doesn't make sense,” she said.
David Jones, a former Brexit minister, said the fact that both sides were claiming Northern Ireland as part of their tax jurisdiction was “an outrageous situation”.
“Almost every week we find a new example of the idiocies of the Protocol that are making life less pleasant for people and businesses in Northern Ireland,” he said.
“The sooner we get rid of the Protocol the better.”
A spokesman for the Treasury said: “Duty-free shopping is based on a relief from excise duty because the goods were purchased outside the UK.
“Northern Ireland is an integral part of the United Kingdom’s tax territory, and as such applying duty-free arrangements would risk undermining business in both Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”


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Wednesday, August 04, 2021 8:07 AM EDT
Market Crash Indicators Up 0.38% for the Week
For years we published our Market Crash Indicators Model. It is back. Currently, we are 75% invested in stocks and 25% in cash. The model going forward will be a combination of stocks, bonds or cash. The model rose 0.38% for the week while the S&P 500 rose 0.49%. More...
Stocks Futures On The S&P 500 -6.50
S&P 500 is lower -6.50 this morning. More...
Today's Superstock Investor Stock Scorecard:
Kraft Heinz Company (KHC)
Kraft Heinz (KFT) beat estimates by 6 cents. Demand continues to be strong. The current price is $38.94 from a recent high of $44.52. More...


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Retail inflation cooled to a four-month low of 5.3 per cent in August from 5.59 per cent in the previous month, led by subdued prices of food articles and a high base effect. Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) remained within the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s tolerance band for the second consecutive month, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, on Monday.
While economists estimate inflation to ease further in the coming months, they believe that the RBI will continue with its accommodative monetary policy stance and begin interest rate hikes only in the next fiscal year, amid risks to the growth outlook.
Food inflation declined to a seven-month low of 3.11 per cent compared to 3.96 per cent in July. Fuel inflation remained elevated and increased to 12.98 per cent in August compared with 12.38 per cent in the previous month. The inflation rate for petrol increased to 24.01 per cent in August from 23.70 per cent in July, while for diesel, it eased marginally to 22.06 per cent from 22.71 per cent in July.
The core-CPI inflation, which is non-food and non-fuel, eased to 5.5 per cent in August from 5.7 per cent in the previous month.
The six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) had raised the inflation projection for the current fiscal year by 60 basis points (bps) to 5.7 per cent in the August meeting. The MPC resolution had also put the onus of bringing down petrol and diesel prices on the Union and state governments through tax reduction.
Retail inflation had breached the RBI’s target of 2-6 per cent in April as the Covid-induced lockdown impacted supply. Retail inflation has now remained over 5 per cent for the seventh straight month and over the RBI’s target rate of 4 per cent for the 23rd straight month.
Aditi Nayar, chief economist, ICRA, said the sequential downtick in the headline and the core August CPI print was likely to allay the discomfort in the tone of the upcoming policy review. “Moreover, fears of immediate policy normalisation have been doused with the Q1 FY2022 GDP (gross domestic product) growth being mildly lower than the MPC’s own forecast of 21.4 per cent. The stance and policy rate are likely to be left unchanged until strengthening domestic demand replaces supply-side constraints as the key driver of inflationary pressures,” said Nayar.
ALSO READ: Inflation tax over and above the oil tax
Sunil Kumar Sinha, principal economist, India Ratings and Research, said that although monsoon rainfall was lower in August 2021, it did not impact the cereals inflation adversely. “On the contrary, cereals witnessed the seventh consecutive month of deflation. Low agriculture productivity and deflation in cereals prices may impact the rural income and in turn the rural demand. In fact, it is also finding a reflection in the low rural wage growth,” said Sinha.
The deflation in vegetables rose to 11.68 per cent from 7.75 per cent in July and 0.70 per cent in June. Cereals also saw deflation, but moderated to 1.42 per cent in August from 1.75 per cent in the previous month and 1.94 per cent in June. Sugar and confectionery remained in the deflationary zone at 0.62 per cent from 0.52 per cent in the previous month.
However, certain other items in the food basket saw an elevated rate of price rise. While the inflation rate in eggs eased compared to the previous month, it remained high at 16.33 per cent.
Madhavi Arora, lead economist, Emkay Global Financial Services, said that lower food inflation led by comfortable sowing activity despite sub-par monsoons and policymaker’s tax tweaks on edible oils and the imposition of stocking limits on pulses will continue to reflect positively ahead for food inflation.
“The headline CPI may average almost 60 bps lower than the RBI’s forecast of 5.7 per cent. With the monetary reaction function currently hinging more on growth revival becoming sustainable, the RBI is unlikely to change key policy rates this year and the focus will be more on surplus liquidity management,” said Arora.
Nikhil Gupta, chief economist at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said that inflation will ease further towards 4.2-4.3 per cent in October-November 2021. “Cut in fuel taxes around Diwali (we consider it as a highly likely scenario) may support lower inflation. Therefore, we don't expect RBI to hike rates in FY22,” said Gupta.


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Play Store May Soon Have Dedicated Audiobook Section
- Author: Delia Davidson Jan 23, 2018,
Jan 23, 2018, 1:32
Google now offers apps, games, movies, TV shows, music, e-books, and magazines via the Google Play Store. However the banner link was not working (still isn't working) indicating that it was an accident and the banner was prematurely made live by someone in the Google Play team. A banner is shown to have appeared on Google Play Store about "Audiobooks now on Google Play", with a small subheading saying, "Get 50% off your first title".
According to a report by 9to5Google, a banner has appeared on the Google Play Store, for both desktop and mobile users, that says audiobooks are now available on the online store. For the initial audiobook buyers, Google may also offer some major discounts. Creating a single hub for it could mean that Google is committed to making the Google Play Store as accessible as possible to all types of fans. The banner seems to be appearing for not only the web but also the Google Play app from within the Android smartphone.
When a tech blog spotted a banner ad for audiobooks directly through Google's online store, Google Play, everyone jumped on their seemingly imminent arrival. Thanks to some eagled-eyed work from 9to5Google, it looks like the Big G may soon be getting in the digital tome game.
Then again, things will get a bit more cluttered with the addition of an audiobooks section.
France would 'probably' have voted to leave the European Union says Emmanuel Macron
Speaking to Marr, he warned that the United Kingdom could not "cherry-pick" the elements it wanted. But our context was very different so I don't want to take any bets".
Meanwhile, several companies have recently been improving support for audiobooks.
As of now, there is no information of when this specific section will be introduced, and how they will be accessed.
Amazon now dominates the market, however, with its ownership of Audible, but it appears Google is about to make a big push back. Android Police found references to audiobooks in an APK teardown of the Google Play Books app and found code for several new features, including audiobooks.


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More and more, the rumors surrounding the next wave of Apple products become truer and truer. Or, at least, we hope they are, because there are too many rumors to speak of and not enough truth oozing out from the seams. Allegedly, Apple is set to launch an upgraded 9.7-inch iPad with an ARM Cortex-A9 processor--an upgrade to the current processor contained in the recent iterations of the tablet device. Additionally, it is speculated that the device will have a 1024x768 IPS display panel.
If you frequently use iTunes or even an Apple TV, you’re probably familiar with Apple’s free Remote app for the iPhone and iPod touch, which lets you control those devices. If you’re wondering why the App Store favorite hasn’t been updated in eight months, it turns out the reason is that it’s developed by one lone dude -- and he’s busy with another project for the company.
NewTeeVee is reporting that the next generation Apple TV will have 99-cent episode streaming for your favorite television shows. The site's sources say that Apple is attempting to sway TV programmers into offering their popular shows for less than a buck each. The program would work in the same way that iTunes works now; every episode will have a 30 day expiration date, and once the episode begins the user will have 24 hours to finish it up before it expires.
The Apple TV was once revered as the device that could potentially change television for the better. Today, many people say the Apple TV is a product that is on its death bed. Often called a "hobby" product by it's maker (until the Google TV was announced), the Apple TV could be making a comeback if a new New York Times article is correct.
Apple TV is coming back and it will most definitely be the best it has ever been. Engadget has received a tip that the new Apple TV will tie in greatly with Apple's mobile offerings--think iPad and iPhone. Additionally, rumors are circulating that the innards of the device will greatly emulate that of the iPhone 4, meaning it might come equipped with an A4 processor and a smaller amount of flash storage--like a limited 16GB. The device will also be capable of a full 1080p, and the size of it is actually quite small with only a power socket and a video out.
Google has announced its intentions to invade the living room with an Android-powered media box and partners Intel, Sony and Logitech. Will Google TV finally be a wake-up call for Apple to do something real with Apple TV at long last?


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By Hadia Chaudhry
Feminine products are essentials for women across the globe. However, in California and the United States as a whole, the luxury tax on feminine hygiene products has made those items unaffordable to women who are below the poverty line or homeless. Taxing feminine products as a luxury is a disservice to women in need. In order to help these women, Granada Hills Charter High School (GHC) seniors Constance Chiang and Melissa Cerna have been working on developing an environmentally friendly and affordable pad.
Women not only in America, but across the globe have limited access to hygiene projects due to financial circumstances. Chiang and Cerna thus began a community service group called Empowered Period to help women in need. Their mission statement is to provide hygiene products for the 14,000 women who live under the poverty line in the San Fernando Valley.
They aim to provide these women with affordable and environmentally friendly sanitary napkins, along with other feminine hygiene products such as towels and soap so that adequate sanitation and health needs are fulfilled.
“We want to break the taboo about menstruation so women can speak freely about their periods without fear or embarrassment,” Chiang said.
The project has grown from its initial starting point. The group received the Archer Research Grant to prototype a menstrual pad and earlier this year, they were awarded the Pollination Project Grant to host women empowerment workshops. However, the expansion came after struggling with a shortage in the amount of people involved, as only Chiang and Cerna were present during the beginning stages.
“There were so many great ideas we wanted to pursue, but we were limited in our supplies and man power,” Chiang said.
In addition to the limited number of people involved, Cerna and Chiang faced great difficulty balancing the demands of the project with their academic and personal life.
“It’s difficult to run an entire research project on your own without much guidance from others. But it was important for us to persevere through challenges, especially when you are trying to accomplish something very meaningful,” Cerna said.
The weight of the project lessened once they were able to reach out community leaders such as professors from California State University, Northridge (CSUN), directors of homeless shelters and DV shelters for extra support and extending the reach of their project. The extra support also meant they could begin developing a prototype and putting their grant money to good use.
After conducting research for their project under the guidance of biochemistry professor Karin Crowhurst at CSUN , Chiang and Cerna developed a prototype using only eco-friendly materials and presented it at the 2018 STEM Symposium, which is an annual event in which students K-12 are able to showcase their inventions.
Chiang and Cerna have changed the expectations for feminine hygiene products. Their work has shown that these products are necessary for women and can be affordable. Presently, Cerna is no longer involved with the project, however Chiang hopes to continue work on the prototype and empower women through her workshops.
The future of the biodegradable pads is economical. If more researchers take the opportunity to work on developing affordable and biodegradable pads, the quality of hygiene products available to women in need would be greatly improved. Pads are essentials and it is time for science to bring these essentials to those who cannot afford them.


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The days of carting around a jumble of keys are coming to a close, thanks to new technology for home access controls in the form of keyless, cellphone-enabled locks for residences. Millions of people, all over the world, use the key-and-lock solution for safeguarding their homes every day. But today’s keys have gone electric, thanks to the evolution of smartphone.
The keyless lock is a trend that shows no sign of letting up. Industry analysts at Strategy Analytics predict that smart lock unit sales will more than triple from 1 million in 2014 to 2019, growing at a CAGR of 27 percent, reports ADT, who provided SDM with this information.
These numbers may mean more security companies are integrating door locks with their security panels/systems, and this integration steps outside of the traditional “security only” concept. It certainly has an appealing “wow” factor: who doesn’t want to ditch the late-night key fumble? Experts say consumers are driving this trend as they hunt for ways to integrate technology in their homes.
“One of the largest changes that is happening is end-consumer awareness of connected door locks, and along with it, higher expectations that it’s available in dealer offerings,” says Keith Brandon, director of residential access for Kwikset, Lake Forest, Calif. This awareness equals more opportunities for providers of home access technology, he adds.
Modern Day Convenience
“With some estimates saying that over 160 million people in the United States own a smartphone, wireless technologies like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are more ubiquitous than ever,” says Donnie Beene, Schlage, Carmel, Ind., product manager, residential security electronics. And what’s a smartphone without an app to go with it?
Beene told SDMhe has found reports showing that app marketplaces have sold more than 125 billion phone apps, so “it’s easy to observe how consumers are becoming savvy about the apps and people are definitely looking closely at what they are buying,” he adds. “There was a time when phone apps let users make their digital life easier to manage. In the last couple of years, users have begun looking to phone apps to make their physical life easier to manage — and that includes their home security,” Beene notes.
Consumers Want It All
As the price of phone-operated locks decreases, the demand for this new class of locks will surely follow the upward increase in smartphone usage, making keyless, cell-phone enabled locks something worth examining in the industry, say multiple industry experts.
“More and more large-scale, connected platform providers are emerging and entering the connected home space, creating intense competition; along with that comes mass consumer access, marketing efforts, and advertising,” Brandon explains, adding that there are multiple studies that highlight the fact that security is, in many cases, the primary purchasing criterion in a smart home installation.
“It’s becoming the norm for consumers to have a broad array of connected devices to choose from, with the core security, convenience, and peace-of-mind benefits that door locks provide being at or near the top of the list,” Brandon says. “Door locks are an interesting connected device because they can seamlessly blend and serve both the security and the connected/automated home interests.”
According to Ryan Petty, vice president of product development & innovation for ADT, Boca Raton, Fla., there are multiple reasons impacting this trend. Among them, electronic locks are now connected more seamlessly to smartphones (allowing permissions to others, for example); the form factor is getting more high-design; prices are decreasing; the installation process is increasingly accessible to the average person; and the general awareness of home automation is rising with the entrance of big players such as AT&T, Google, Apple and Samsung.
The installation of these services can be found in new construction and residential retrofit. Guardian Protection Services Inc., Warrendale, Pa., has been offering these types of solutions since 2011, but even though there is success, there are challenges, warns John Piroli, Guardian’s northern region director.
“One of the primary challenges to growth in new construction — and it is the same for a few other home automation (Z-Wave) products — is the warranty that the builder offers on the new home,” Piroli says. “The builder already contracts with trusted vendors to perform this work. There is hesitancy, due to the implications of the builder’s warranty, for the builder to allow a security systems company to take over these installations.”
3 Fears Versus Reality; Questions Answered by the Experts
Question: I’m nervous about using technology to open my front door. What if the cell tower is down? There is a power outage (no electricity)? Your phone battery dies?
Question:Aren’t these hard to install?
Question: How do dealers find success?
He adds, for Guardian, “our most successful and profitable means of offering this type of residential access control is when the builder requires that his locksmith or lock vendor specify a Z-Wave-based lock as a standard or as an option.”
For retrofits, Guardian offers keyless cellphone-enabled locks as extensions of other automation systems such as thermostats and lighting. “We offer the product and service solely in conjunction with our monitored home security system, and with the increasing level of consumer awareness surrounding home automation, we are doing fairly well with it,” Piroli says.
Guardian sells and installs Kwikset keyless locks and then enables the service through Alarm.com or Honeywell Total Connect in conjunction with the newly released VAM (Vista Automated Module).
Yale Locks & Hardware, Berlin, Conn., announced this past summer its next generation of key-free Z-Wave® deadbolts with the introduction of new pushbutton and touchscreen models. These deadbolts, like others of its kind, can be accessed remotely with a smartphone.
“Since we introduced our first key-free products we’ve seen strong consumer demand for that product,” Jason Williams, general manager, Yale Residential, states in a company news release. “That strong acceptance is driven by two forces: consumer recognition of the enhanced security that comes with the absence of a cylinder and dealer support because of the ease of installation.”
At the end of the day, the convenience of keyless, cellphone-enabled locks is something most consumers are willing to pay for, says Brandon. “It’s becoming the norm for consumers to have a broad array of connected devices to choose from, with the core security, convenience, and peace-of-mind benefits that door locks provide being at or near the top of the list,” he adds.
Petty agrees that consumers shopping for a home security system want to see keyless locks in the package. “In a recent product development survey, respondents ranked the ability to control door locks remotely from a smartphone so as to open the door for others when they are away as the most important ‘smart’ add-on to a home security system [ORC 2014],” he says. “There is a clear value proposition and compelling use case for this capability, especially for busy people on the go, versus other smart home devices.”


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Dmitry Grishin, founder of Grishin Robotics, believes that robots – personal robots, not boring ones like the Mars Rover – are the future.
“It has been very difficult to do something really big in robotics for the last 20 years. So much technology innovation has been web-based and with computers. It’s been very expensive and hard to do to build a prototype, never mind bringing it to market.”
“We can advance robots quickly and in a big way,” he said.
Girshin is the CEO of Mail.ru but studied robotics in college. His goal is to fund new research and products in the personal robotics space meaning home helper bots, cleaning systems, and drones. He believes the industrial robotics space is already saturated. What’s needed is for some of that technology to roll into the home.
“We’re hoping to invest in 10-20 projects,” he said. “Investment could be anywhere from $1 million to $5 million per project; it all depends.”
The company, Grishin Robotics, will be headquartered in New York because. Grishin, who announced the fund at F.ounders today, is excited about the central location and international community. The level of investment in this sort of venture is low, a fact that Grishin chalks up to VC nervousness. “Someone needs to take the risk. Without money there are no companies, but without companies there is no money. The technology is there, we just need to figure out how we can use it, put it all together,” he said.
“The goal is to increase awareness of robotics industry, build robots cheaper and easier than before, and to make robotics more affordable for the mass consumer market.”
You can apply at the Grishin Robotics website and the company is currently taking funding applications for the next Rosie, Robbie, or HAL 2000.


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Walgreens stores now offers disposal kiosks for unused medication.
The pharmacy installed these kiosks inside 45 stores across Illinois so people can toss their old prescriptions.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said the kiosks will keep medications out of the hands of people who abuse them.
Once filled, a waste company will empty the kiosks and the medications will be destroyed.
Walgreens offers disposal of unused medication


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TORONTO — Shippers are willing to make the leap on freight visibility products if the return on investment is apparent, software vendors said this week on a panel about advancements in predictive visibility at the 2019 JOC Canada Trade conference in Toronto.
While those investments are tied to value, the value must be shared in such a way that carriers and third-party logistics providers (3PLs), which shippers depend on, also see benefits from participating.
Larger carriers and intermodal operators are better equipped than their smaller peers to absorb the cost of providing visibility to their customers, Hilary Garner, president of Toronto-based 3PL and logistics consultant Garner Enterprises, said at the conference.
“When you’re talking about a smaller over-the-road operation, they’re having a real struggle passing on the cost of visibility,” she said. “I’ve got one company that’s playing with more than 40 portals that they’re entering information in, so their rates have to go up 5 to 10 percent to handle the administration piece of that. And for them to pass that on to their clients is next to impossible.”
Carriers seek reciprocity
Garner said shippers are using these portals to enable their own predictive visibility, but the carriers get frustrated “because they’re doing all the work, they’re doing all the updates, they’re uploading all the information and staying in constant contact.”
“There needs to be more sharing here because these drivers are coming to the receiver, and maybe they’re a half hour early for that appointment,” she added. “They’re uploading that information right away. And that may cost them 5 to 10 percent more in admin costs, and then the driver sits there for three-and-a-half hours wondering, ‘Wait a minute, we’re being transparent, we used your portal, we’ve done our job. Where is the reciprocity on this?’”
Garner said asymmetry in benefits is tied to the “amazing products out there,” but that service providers need to share in the value or invest in their own software.
“[Investing in its own visibility solution] opened up hundreds of millions of dollars of capital for one of my intermodal clients, because it started to identify so many uncharacteristic behaviors that it allowed them to reconfigure how their fleet was being managed and not reinvest in any more assets,” she said. “So for them, the opportunity the software provided was exponential compared to what they thought the investment was at the initiation point.”
The ideal situation, however, is where one platform benefits multiple parties, not where each party invests in its own optimal solution. “Without that mutual transparency, it’s extraordinarily difficult for this to be something that people really want to invest in,” Garner said.
Barry Conlon, CEO of the Austin, Texas-based visibility provider Overhaul, said shippers, in owning supply chains, are ultimately the party driving investment in visibility.
“The shipper is the sole decider,” he said. “Cost is obviously a big concern, but they’re willing to invest when they can see a return on investment. And visibility is opening up doors for them. We have five different user groups in any company, from customer service reps to logistics to risk. They want to know, ‘Can I know of a problem? How can I fix it?’ and then be notified of it being resolved, and in real time. And that to them, is worth investing in.”
Jacques Delort, general manager of Traxens, a Marseille-based provider of container sensors and associated analytics, said there will be a point in the near future when the assumption is that all logistics assets will be trackable.
“When this becomes a commodity, the discussion of cost will disappear,” Delort said. “That doesn’t mean it will come for free, but the value generated for the entire business will be such that there will be no question for anybody to equip — until BCOs get used to the service and it becomes a commodity. That’s the second phase, where everyone sees it as a prerequisite, same as in the reefer world. Those that are not equipped will be out of the game. And the value generated will be shared across the parties. But that’s a few years down the road.”
Traxens has landed three of the big European liner carriers — Maersk, CMA CGM, and Mediterranean Shipping Co. — as customers in the last nine months, with MSC and CMA CGM also investing in the company. He said Traxens operates under a “triangular business model,” which involves Traxens, the shipping lines, and the beneficial cargo owner (BCO). The carriers order the devices to outfit their containers with tracking capability, then Traxens trains carrier staff to equip the containers on demand and provides the data from the device to the BCO or some other third party that’s getting the value.
“Today, you equip on demand, because the cost to equip the entire fleet is too high,” Delort said. “For the BCO, booking a smart container is the same process as booking a normal container. And then we charge the BCO a specific fee and we share the fee with the shipping line.
“The idea is over three years, we offset the cost of this logistics subscription,” he added. “We work with the shipping company’s marketing people to make sure we make reasonable assumptions around the cost, the price, the asset utilization. What is the probability the container will be reused [thus avoiding the need to equip on demand another container]? This is very low today, but it will increase over time as you get more critical mass.”
Hard ROI leads to soft ROI
Similar providers on the domestic and intermodal side believe it will soon be impossible for carriers to ignore the need to track every asset. Some of that tracking is accomplished through the federally mandated deployment of electronic logging devices (ELD) on every truck in the United States (a mandate due to come to Canadian drivers in the coming year). But sensors can give more specificity around non-location data, such as the condition of assets or cargo.
“There are still a lot of carriers out there that have not invested in visibility and asset tracking, and part of that is there has to be ROI,” said Christopher Plaat, senior vice president and general manager of Toronto-based Blackberry Radar, which provides asset utilization hardware and software. “The other part of that is, you don’t know what you don’t know until you get some visibility into your fleet. You don’t know that a third party is taking your chassis and using it for their personal use, or your truck’s now outside of your service area, or your trailer is being used by a third party. And you don’t know that until you have some visibility into your fleet. But to get to that point of what you don’t know, you have to have a hard ROI. There’s very strong hard ROI for asset tracking — from utilization to customer service. And there’s a lot more that isn’t on the surface.”
Plaat said company size will dictate the way this data is ingested. “A smaller fleet can use a portal to get visibility to their assets, a 500-truck fleet has a sophisticated [transportation management system] and they just want [application programming interface] data integrated into their TMS, while an enterprise carrier will have a legacy system where they’re going to need to have sophisticated IT service projects around, bringing in data from disparate sources to get visibility to the right user at the right time,” he said. “So there’s a very different use case based on the size of the fleet.”
Overhaul’s platform uses a data- and device-agnostic approach to give shippers real-time insights into the location and condition of their goods. So, theoretically, his system might pull data from the Blackberry Radar and Traxens devices, among other sources of data, and feed it to a shipper. In 2005, Conlon supplied the industry with tracking hardware via a previous venture but found the obsolescence rate of devices to be untenable, and so began developing a platform that would pull in data from various sources.
“When you’re a shipper, you’re trying to get this full, unified view, and there’s four common points: tractor, trailer, driver, and cargo. And they’re all trackable. But the constant change in the technology is your problem,” he said. “Our technology sits along an [enterprise resource planning system], so it goes in and out of the network. It basically brings all the parts of the supply chain together alongside the rules you as a shipper have put together. So it’s about what you want that data to tell you.”
Traxens has focused on merging the hardware and software because, as Delort puts it, “all these visibility platforms, they only give what they are fed with. Some of it may be erroneous or missing because it was manually keyed in. For me, it’s important to engage the asset owners, the shipping lines, to the point where the entire fleet, it becomes a standing process, that anytime, anywhere, [the cargo owner knows] what’s happening and whether there’s an issue.”


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Well, Skillsmart Retail and the National Skills Academy for Retail are teaming up with local retailers across the country on 4th July to celebrate Independents’ Day, championed by the formidable Mary Portas. Shoppers are going to be encouraged to buy at least one item from their local independent reatailers and celebrate diversity on the high street.
They are championing the skills great independent retailers have and they want to show the public that their local shopkeeper is not only a vital service, but someone who wears many hats; they are the accountant, sales assistant, buyer and often everything in-between. Well, amen to that ! From all of us who are getting dizzy with the multiple chameleonic roles we play in a single day this will be welcome news. This is all part of the campaign to back the high street and maintain diversity, while getting rid of the ugly eyesore empty shops.
Firstly the government appointed a retail adviser to bring back the bustle to our high streets, which was contraversial enough. It proved that there was a problem with our city centres and high streets (which we’ve all known for ages), finally, it seems that even the government noticed that.
When this new retail adviser, as her first initiative, launches a “declaration of independents” its time to sit up and pay attention. When you learn that its Mary Portas of “Mary Queen of Shops” fame, its time to take out a notebook and start taking notes !
Mary Portas is known for no-nonsense plain speaking and innovative ideas. Her ideas boost retailers enthusiasm, knowledge, skill base and earnings. With a successful retail background and a commercially savvy consultancy agency, she marries the two areas in her own unique way.
It is tough on the High Street and has been for some time. With town centre vacancy rates doubling over the last two years, the need to take action to save our high streets has never been more obvious. Consumers have seen their discretionary income fall as the cost of just about everything has risen. So in real terms this means less money to spend on anything that isn’t a necessity.
Some retailers have fared better than others and there have been some well publicised casalties in the bigger chains. But the real story in the change of the high street has been that of the independent. Over the past 40 years Britain has changed from being a “nation of shopkeepers” with vibrant high streets, buoyant with diverse retailers, to one where the chain stores are represented everywhere, leading to charges of “Clone town”
Clone towns are not a good idea for many reasons, primarily that Independent businesses are vital to our local economies. They ensure the unique character of an area. They are more accountable to customers and the local community, more likely to support local charities and have greater direct control over the environmental impact of their businesses.
Furthermore, money spent at locally owned independent businesses goes around longer in the local economy. It yields two to four times the economic benefit to the local residents compared with non-local businesses. This means more local income, wealth, and jobs and of course the intangible aspect of community.
Supporting independent businesses creates local jobs, preserves economic diversity and safeguards the environment and that has to be a good thing. Whilst the larger stores are the anchors in our cities and towns, its the independent businesses who offer the diversity thats lacking and the mix that keeps it all interesting, as well as being a valued link in the community, which seems to be so sadly underrated and under reported.


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BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 16
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
A total of 562,000 tons of goods worth more than 61 trillion rials (about $1.45 billion) were sold at the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) in the last Iranian week (January 9 through January 14), Trend reports citing the IME’s official website.
This is an increase of 17 percent in terms of value and 27 percent in terms of volume compared to the same period preceding Iranian week (January 2 through January 7).
So, 441,000 tons of goods worth more than 52 trillion rials (about $1.24 billion) were sold at the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) in the preceding Iranian week.
According to the report, about 162,000 tons of goods worth about 22.1 trillion rials (about $527 million) were sold in the industrial and mining products section of IME in the last week.
"Thus, 103,000 tons of steel, 1,900 tons of aluminum, 2,160 tons of copper, 120 tons of molybdenum sulfur, 20 kg of gold bars and 20,500 tons of zinc soil were sold in this section," the report said.
In addition, more than 398,000 tons of various oil and petrochemical products worth about 39.1 trillion rials (about $932 million) were sold in the oil and petrochemical products section of IME in the last Iranian week, the report said.
According to the report, 67,500 tons of vacuum bottom, 185,000 tons of bitumen, 57,900 tons of polymeric substances, 33,300 tons of chemicals, 33,000 tons of lube cut, 1,980 tons base oil, 50 tons of argon, and 20,200 tons of sulfur were sold in this section.
Furthermore, 1,580 tons of various products were sold in the submarket section of the exchange.


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notes that Google is working with some of the most prominent education tech companies, including Adobe, to help create the site.
Google has also launched a new version of its YouTube app for Android devices, which was announced last month.
It was a huge success for the company, but YouTube is a platform for content creators, not for paying customers.
The new portal will make it easier for companies to offer free online courses to their users.
Google had originally planned to launch its own video-sharing site for mobile devices in 2016, but that project was scrapped in 2018.
The app will be accessible to all Android devices and will be free for anyone who pays $99 per year for a Google Plus account.
The Wall Street Review reports that the new portal is part of a broader plan to get users to use its other apps and services.
The Journal says Google is also launching an educational video service that will be called “Videos” and will offer a curated list of videos for those who pay for a membership.


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On 12 October 2017, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) published a blog on the impact of the GDPR on innovation in insurance.
The ABI discusses a recent study on “Harnessing Innovation in European Insurance” undertaken by an independent research company, PAC, and BAE Systems. The study reports that “only one third of European insurers believe themselves to be highly innovative, however 70% believe that a failure to innovate will restrict growth or see them fall behind the competition”. In addition insurers believe that despite the clear drivers for innovation, regulation as well as ageing technology and infrastructure are seen as the biggest barriers to harnessing innovation.
Insurers view the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is due to come into force in May 2018, as having a potentially large and detrimental impact for the industry which may restrict data collection and processing activities, and/or create an additional compliance burden. The high cost of GDPR non-compliance, as well as the new obligations relating to the new consent model, restriction and objection to automated decision making and profiling; and fair processing notices is perceived as having a high impact to insurers.
On a more positive note, the ABI notes that it is reasonable to assume that an organisation operating with confidence and complying with reasonable, clear obligations can continue to develop new and innovative services as the GDPR aims to provide a level playing field in terms of data protection, within and outside the EU, both to protect EU citizens but also to explicitly support economic growth in the digital era.
The study also suggests that 60% of insurers see improving customer engagement as the primary focus of their innovation strategy and are looking for new ways to drive customer loyalty and acquisition. The GDPR, and the level of transparency it introduces, can therefore be the right vehicle to establish consumer trust and enable growth.


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Recent research proves and demonstrates the efficacy of Primedia Unlimited’s Golf Unlimited advertising platform to deliver brands and products to a high-end consumer.
In a recent study involving face-to-face interviews at two premier golf courses in Gauteng, 77% of the interviewees were able to recall prompted advertising that appeared on the golf cart GPS screens, while 50% were able to spontaneously recall specific advertising.
“The clean and uncluttered environment, linked to the long dwell time of 14 minutes that we provide for advertisers allows for exceptionally high recall rates and spontaneous brand awareness,” says MD Pieter Groenewald.
The research found that the average golfer on these 5 star golf courses is close to 40 years old, earns a gross annual income of over R 750 000 and flies on business at least once a month. He reads financial publications and is a senior manager who decides and authorises major business expenditures. In fact, 64% authorise or influence major business expenses within the company or division.
Groenewald adds; “These research results clearly prove that the Golf Unlimited advertising platform makes an invaluable contribution to the Inform and Persuade steps in the consumers ‘Path to Persuasion’. It’s also highly-effective in giving consumers information about products and brands and completes the circle by persuading the audience to use them.”
Golf Unlimited is a unique and innovative way for companies to communicate their message on GPS screens fitted to +/-1 400 golf carts on 34 of South Africa’s premier five star golf courses. Advertisers receive exposure from tee to green, reaching top LSM golfers who spend an average of 4.5 hours per round on the course.


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Yesterday, our nation’s most cheugy senator, Kyrsten Sinema, gave a sassy thumbs up to the idea of wearing a denim vest on the senate floor. Like many of Sinema’s outfits, which may gently be described as “wacky,” the vest has caused an uproar.
It’s difficult to pin down exactly what is so deeply offensive about this fashion choice. A few journalists have pointed out that there is a sign forbidding denim from entering the Senate chamber. Honestly, I couldn’t care less about the dress code, but it is nice to know that higher powers than the Arizona Democrat are also vehemently opposed to her wearing this garment.
But back to the vest itself. It is, on the surface, not criminally bad. It’s not bedazzled, which is a low bar, but still. It does have some kind of heart-shaped, vine-y embroidery going on, which isn’t working in its favor.
You know what? I feel bad for this vest. It’s not the vest’s fault that Sinema threw it over her Ironman-sculpted shoulders (with a cap-sleeve tee) and strode boldly into the Senate chamber in flagrant defiance of the universe’s codes of conduct. Is the vest set on denying Americans health care and a minimum wage? I don’t think so. I bet it even supports Biden’s spending bill.
No, this vest was just sitting in a rockabilly Etsy collection, minding its own business, when Sinema scooped it up with the fervor of one thousand pastel wigs. I want a better future for this vest. Too bad Sinema will probably vote no on that one, too.


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BlackBerry has laid off 120 employees in its product development and wireless technology divisions as part of an ongoing cost-cutting plan, the company said Monday.
The reductions were centred at its headquarters in Waterloo, Ont., where most of its staff are based.
The move is part of a plan announced last year to lower expenses, partly through the elimination of about 40 per cent of the company’s workforce.
“BlackBerry is working hard to return to profitability and we continue to optimize our resources to meet our mandatory operational targets,” the company said in a statement.
“We recognize our local employees’ hard work on behalf of our company and the difficulty of this news.”
BlackBerry has also been looking for other ways to lower costs and squeeze more money from assets as the smartphone maker tries to reposition itself with business customers.
In December, the company sold a handful of buildings to the University of Waterloo for $41 million under an agreement that would allow the company to lease back some of them for up to five years.
Earlier this month, BlackBerry sold its U.S. headquarters in Irving, Texas, to Brookfield Property Group for an undisclosed amount. The company plans to lease back at least part of the six-building location.
Blackberry is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter and full-year results March 28.
The company’s shares closed down 19 cents at $10.13 Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.


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Demi Rose technically showed off two bikinis in one go last night – nothing new for the 25-year-old model whose stunning hourglass curves have now earned her a following of 14.8 million on her Instagram. Demi, currently in the news for having jetted off on an ultra-luxurious Maldives break, updated her stories on Sunday evening with idyllic and crystal-clear waters, big exotic energy, and a big cleavage flash from some seriously tiny swimwear. Check out Demi’s latest look and her best photos below.
Scroll for the bikini action. Demi, who ditched her London lockdown for a permanent Ibiza move in July, has now once again jetted off – her trip to the Maldives is a temporary one, though.
Demi’s videos last night took in blissful stilts hut panoramas and crystalline waters, but they also took in the Fashion Nova partner’s eye-popping curves. Demi filmed herself in selfie mode with the first bikini coming as a rectangular panel cut-out in orange sunglow fabrics. That was just round one, though.
Click here for the beaded and super-tiny orange bikini – scroll for more photos. Demi’s travels come amid headlines she’s made for opening up on just about everything, including her decision to quit the U.K. Demi, who called her Ibiza move the “best decision” she ever made, was body-shamed in lock-down as a troll told her she’d gained “weight” in quarantine. Demi once weighed only 80 pounds as she suffered from an eating disorder.
Food-wise, fans got an update in-flight as Demi headed to the Maldives and was treated to sushi, plus a Pret-A-Manger yogurt granola pot. Scroll for more hot shots.
Demi has yet to post a permanent update from the Maldives. The last one, taking in Ibiza’s sunsets and seeing Demi seemingly floating her curvy rear from a pool, shouted out Italian designer Fendi – the high-end looks have been ramping up on Rose’s Instagram this summer, with her Dior stripper boots making headlines. Demi earns her cash from influencing for largely affordable brands including Fashion Nova and Pretty Little Thing.
Demi’s followers have, in the past 24 hours, also seen her cozying up to a girlfriend during a late-night bikini selfie. Scroll for more photos.
Demi doesn’t just offer the curves and the flawless beauty. The Birmingham, U.K. native has been proving that she can nail a caption, too. Rose recently posed in a skintight, high-cut, and stretched-to-the-max bodysuit and matching hat, writing: “Some vitamin me ✨ @fashionnova FashionNovaPartner.”
Demi has also been revealing that life isn’t as easy at it seems. The model lost both parents in the space of eight months last year. Mom Christine passed in 2019, less than a year after dad Barrie died from cancer.


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It seems that Daily Mobile has got its hands on pictures of the Samsung Wave S8500, due to be announced at next week’s Mobile World Congress event. According to Daily Mobile, the wave boasts a 3.3-inch glass screen, an aluminium body, a 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, HSDPA, a 3.5mm headphone jack and it runs Samsung’s new Bada operating system.
From what we can see it looks good and we’re impressed that it only measures 11mm thin but it doesn’t stretch any design boundaries. We’re looking forward to seeing how Samsung’s Bada operating system works and if it lives up to the hype. We’ll have more info for you next week when we should get to spend some quality time with the Wave.


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BabySwap MetaFi Bursts to Life
The ambitious upgrades to BabySwap will see incubation arms and sectors of the project focusing on development. This is their most ambitious move to date and a lot will be riding on its success.
BabySwap Takes Important Steps
Baby MetaFi has officially arrived with a series of updates in place for the Binance Smart Chain project.
With MetaFi the key term in the recent BSC New Year Kick-Off event, BabySwap has set about utilizing the concept in their most recent updates. In a Medium post on January 13, the project team confirmed a series of updates ranging from their webpage, Baby GamePad, and Baby MetaLabs. The team even expanded on the formula they see as key to progression.
“From the very beginning, our team has had the gut feeling of how the DeFi would evolve. We came up with the idea of AMM+NFT+GameFi = Foundation + Connector + Ultimate Goal, and that was the same time Baby MetaFi popped up in our heads,” the team explained of utilizing the term. “The future of DeFi must be complicated and diverse so that different kinds of assets can realize their real values in a world where everything is priced, yet everything is priceless and has an unimaginable future value.”
The display has been altered to better coordinate with the recent Baby MetaFi initiative the team has explained. More features have been adapted as opposed to the original page functioning solely as a DEX.
An initial post the day before the MetaFi announcement already detailed features of the Baby Gamepad. But the concept as a whole will be in lieu of GameFi projects that are incubated by and collaborated with BabySwap. Initial Game Offerings (IGOs) will be available to offer the governance tokens of games and NFT items in games.
The project constructed a separate department for private investment. Baby MetaLabs will look to invest in Web3 infrastructure, DeFi Protocols, GameFi, and SocialFi. This will be to aid with initial offerings, marketing, liquidity, and a host of other factors. The emphasis is to allow users to invest in earlier rounds.
The entire MetaFi swing by BabySwap registers their most ambitious move to date. The success the move will prove depends on the kind of projects they help ignite and how they inspire users. BSC News will be paying close attention to see how this ambitious move plays out.
What is BabySwap?
BabySwap is the top Automated Market Maker and Non-Fungible Token decentralized exchange on Binance Smart Chain. It brings a fun and friendly trading experience with great project support.
BabySwap’s token, BABY, trades around $0.07 USD and has a 24-hour trading volume of over $30,000 USD. The NFB initiative is one of BabySwap's core NFT products that focuses on DeFi staking. The platform has also recently incorporated yield farming and liquidity mining to help boost the gains of its users.
Find BabySwap at the following links:
This is a paid press release, BSC.News does not endorse and is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy, quality, advertising, products, or other materials on this page. The project team has purchased this advertisement article for $1500. Readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company. BSC.News is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods, or services mentioned in the press release.
This is a paid press release, BSC.News does not endorse and is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy, quality, advertising, products, or other materials on this page. The project team has purchased this advertisement article for $2500. Readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company. BSC.News is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods, or services mentioned in the press release.
- Bitcoin CashLT£432.469£15.46+2.84%
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Lindsay Lohan stars in ANOTHER advertising campaign (and this time it's a brand we've actually heard of)
With an acting career in the doldrums since her release from jail, Lindsay Lohan's attempt to restore her image by posing for fashion campaigns have so far continued to underwhelm.
Determined to prove that she is still a sought after celebrity endorsement, Hollywood's most notorious young actress has appeared recently in ads for little-known brands Philipp Plein and Jag Jeans.
But now the 25-year-old has been given a much-needed boost by popular British fashion label French Connection, which has used a photograph of Miss Lohan in an ad for its new fragrance, FCUK Friction.
Career boost? Popular British fashion label French Connection has used a steamy photograph of Lindsay Lohan in an ad for its latest fragrance, FCUK Friction
The steamy shot, which sees the actress frolic in bed with model Petey Wright, was taken by Yu Tsai, the photographer behind her famous Playboy cover at the end of last year.
But the picture was not originally taken with the FCUK Friction fragrance campaign in mind. The label bought the rights to the black-and-white shot after it ran as part of a photo story in Muse magazine in 2010.
The original editorial, inspired by the dramatic and debauched relationship between Kate Moss and Johnny Depp in the Nineties, featured Miss Lohan with Mr Wright and another model in a hotel room.
Speaking to the New York Post about the original shoot, Mr Tsai recalled: 'The three of them were very sensual and provocative, but Lindsay understands this piece was created not for any sensational value other than artistic integrity.
Image-building: The last campaign Miss Lohan appeared in was for Philipp Plein, which few, including the actress, had heard of before she posed for the shoot
'There was never a discussion about pushing the boundaries. She was totally comfortable with the nudity as long as it had artistic integrity.'
It seems Mr Tsai was so impressed with Miss Lohan in the shoots for Muse and Playboy that he secured the Jag Jeans campaign on her behalf.
Despite the fact that the photograph is old news, the sizzling new FCUK Friction campaign will no doubt keep Miss Lohan in the press if nothing else does.
Loyal fan: Miss Lohan starred in a campaign for Jag Jeans after working with photographer Yu Tsai
For many in the industry it is simply a matter of time before the Tinseltown troublemaker all but completely disappears from the headlines.
Us Weekly's Noah Levy told Philly.com: 'The dream that [Miss Lohan] can be an A-list star like Amanda Seyfried is officially gone.'
Regardless, rumours have been circulating that the Mean Girls actress is a possible candidate to play Elizabeth Taylor in a biopic about her relationship with Richard Burton for Lifetime.
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NEW DEHLI, INDIA — India is expecting a record wheat harvest in the 2021-22 marketing year, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The USDA is forecasting a record of 107.6 million tonnes in the 2020-21 marketing year based on increased planting and favorable weather conditions. Wheat exports are expected to be 1.75 million tonnes, consumption to 103.6 million tonnes and lowers ending stocks to 27 million tonnes for the 2020-21 marketing year.
The USDA’s estimate for India’s rice production is forecast to remain at 120 million tonnes for the 2020-21 marketing year due to higher yields. Based on sufficient domestic supplies, India’s rice exports are expected to total 14 million tonnes in the 2020-21 marketing year. The USDA noted a record amount of rice exports for the 2020 calendar year is projected to total 14.7 million tonnes.


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Schmitz Cargobull to open Manchester manufacturing site
Global trailer maker Schmitz Cargobull is opening a factory in Manchester to manufacture units to serve the UK and Ireland, creating up to 50 jobs.
The deal was sealed after Knight Frank and South Street Capital let the first phase of refurbished space at Southmoor Park, Wythenshawe to the German-based firm.
The global trailer company has taken the whole of Block A – a high bay facility offering 95,040 sq ft – on a 10-year lease with a five-year break.
Paul Avery, from Schmitz Cargobull, said: “After many weeks of searching for the right property, Knight Frank introduced us to Southmoor and it ticked all of our boxes, size, access, location etc, and I am really pleased that we able to complete our tenancy agreement in good time.
Production at the 7,500 sq m facility is scheduled to start this summer with a capacity of 50 units per week including freepost curtainsiders and box van semi-trailers.
The site will also contain a 1,000 sq m spare parts warehouse for local supply and by the end of this year will become the main base for the complete Schmitz Cargobull UK team.
Read full article here:


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By Andrew Harig // Food Marketing Institute
We’re in the midst of one of the longest periods of food price deflation in more than 50 years. USDA reports that the consumer price index has been negative on a year-over-year basis since December 2015, causing severe pressure on same-store sales growth. Retail beef prices have declined in some areas by nearly 8%, with pork and poultry on a similar (but slightly less steep) downward trend. USDA predicts we could see up to a 19% decline in the CPI for eggs in 2016, and the dairy sector is in dire enough straits that USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has authorized two rounds of government purchases of surplus cheese. It doesn’t look like this trend is likely to let up in the near future.
This certainly is not the first time that the industry has had to face declining food prices, but an interesting plot twist this time around is that this deflationary period is taking place during an economic recovery, not during a recession. This is creating some unique winners and losers across the supply chain.
WINNER – CONSUMERS
The biggest winners are consumers, who are experiencing lower prices on a host of products. There have been stories around the country of eggs selling for a dollar a dozen and other deals that seem too good to be true.
WINNER – RETAILERS THAT CAN WORK WITH CONSUMERS TO TELL A “SAVINGS STORY”
Retailers are finding that they need to be aggressive in working with consumers to help them take advantage of price savings. Retailers who can tell a strong savings story with their customers will clearly emerge from this deflationary period stronger.
LOSER – RETAIL MARGINS
This round of deflation has its roots in farm country, but farm production only accounts for about 15.9% of the average food dollar, and this number decreases as the role of food processing in a finished food increases (see infographic).
Operating a grocery business is vastly different than it was a decade ago with an onslaught of new competitive channels, a cantankerous regulatory environment and the fact that food shopping has become a team sport among households, making it more difficult to pinpoint your customers. Some retailers are pushing prices even lower as a means to drive traffic into their stores. The end result is that already tight margins are being decimated.
LOSER – FARM COUNTRY
Even as retailers struggle to address the impact of deflation on their margins and the industry as a whole, they cannot afford to ignore the longer term effects on farm country. Whenever this period of deflation comes to an end, the supply chain is likely to look different than when it started.
Learn more about the impact of food price deflation on the grocery industry by watching this recent webinar hosted by FMI and The Food Institute with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, John Dunham and Associates, and SpartanNash. Access this members-only webinar at www.fmi.org/MemberOnlyWebinars.


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Learn about SAP.iO Foundry Tel Aviv & meet our amazing new Consumer Products cohort! Hear from Aiola, Hexa, Pecan, Sampler, SRP, TrenDemon, & TVPage.
SAP) kicked off the SAP.iO Foundry San Francisco business-to-business (B2B) travel technology accelerator, with eight early-stage enterprise startups.
This program is geared to improving the travel and expense management experience for SAP’s customers, and includes the SAP Concur portfolio. Startups in the program will have access to curated mentorship, exposure to SAP technology and application programmable interfaces (APIs), and opportunities to collaborate with SAP customers.
“Collaboration with SAP.iO will help foster an open innovation ecosystem and will help us deliver new emerging technologies that bring value to our customers,” SAP Concur President Jim Lucier said. ” We look forward to working with the rising stars in the travel technology industry and helping them scale.”
The following startups are participating in the SAP.iO Foundry San Francisco Spring 2020 program:
- Bacarai is launching the world’s first group airfare marketplace — providing travelers the ability to shop, purchase and manage group trips online.
- Hotailors is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that provides enterprises with full visibility over contingent worker travel, ensuring that bookings meet travel policies, expense limits and safety standards.
- Jet-Set Offset provides technology that enables companies to offset their carbon footprint generated from flying with an automatic one-cent-per-mile donation to an environmental nonprofit organization chosen by the individual or company.
- Jojonomic is the first mobile expense management system in Southeast Asia connected to the region’s financial and tech ecosystem, serving tens of thousands of users across hundreds of enterprises.
- Lumo is a platform that uses machine learning to predict flight delays. Lumo’s APIs and SaaS products are used by travelers, travel management companies, airlines, travel insurance and travel technology companies to help proactively manage disruptions hours to weeks in advance.
- RoadGoat is a location-technology platform that enables businesses to integrate critical data consisting of about 4.3 million travel destinations, driving rich user experiences that translate to higher engagement and increased bookings.
- Tripgrid is a flexible project-based workspace that helps businesses automate and streamline travel workflows, such as travel documents and reports, data normalization and cost reconciliation.
- 30SecondsToFly produces software employing artificial intelligence for the travel management industry to help automate call centers, providing greater service at lower operational costs.
The accelerator program will conclude with an SAP.iO Demo Day presentation at the beginning of June.
SAP has chosen two new employee-created businesses to join the SAP.iO Venture Studio. GreenToken and OwnID won funding with the goal of scaling to impact SAP and its customers.
In-house innovation has been one of SAP’s recipes for success since its founding days nearly half a century ago. Driving transformative innovation inside the company demands going beyond innovating upon existing products by actively scouting for new ideas. Once identified, these innovative ideas can build and grow upon SAP’s unique strength and assets such as the company’s technologies, data and customer relationships.
‘It’s our job to keep our eyes on the future,’ Max Wessel, chief innovation officer of SAP, said. ‘But it’s more than just having the ideas. We have to put an operating model in place to facilitate innovation for our customers.’
Venturing inside of SAP – also known as intrapreneurship – is one of the ways SAP accomplishes the task by reimagining how products and services can be delivered from the ground up.


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General Motors stock is trading higher today despite an analyst downgrade. This is the second downgrade for the stock in two days. Why is Wall Street getting bearish on the stock?
Apart from General Motors stock, analysts have also been apprehensive about Ford. Both these companies saw a rerating last year but now analysts are apprehensive about them.
General Motors earnings
General Motors released its fourth-quarter earnings earlier this month. It reported revenues of $33.58 billion during the period, as compared to the $37.5 billion that it reported in the fourth quarter of 2020. The company’s sales in 2021 were hit by the chip shortage situation and its lost the crown as America’s largest carmaker to Toyota. While Toyota does not believe that its position as the largest automaker in the US is sustainable, it nonetheless expects a strong year in 2022.
General Motors expects the chip shortage situation to ease towards the end of 2022. It has forecast adjusted pre-tax profits between $13-$15 billion, which would be another record year for the company. “With an improving outlook for semiconductors in the U.S. and China, we expect our 2022 results will remain strong. In fact, we expect our EBIT-adjusted earnings to remain at or near record levels in the range of $13 billion—$15 billion, all while investing more year over year in our growth businesses like Cruise, BrightDrop and our rapidly accelerating portfolio of electric vehicles,” said the company’s CEO Mary Barra.
General Motors has been pivoting towards electric cars and said that it expects to sell 400,000 electric cars between 2022 and 2023. By 2025, it expects to have a capacity to produce 1 million electric cars every year. The company has set itself a target of selling only zero-emission cars by 2035.
Analysts are apprehensive about the electric vehicle transition
While Wall Street analysts were optimistic about General Motors’ EV (electric vehicle) transition, some of them have now turned cautious. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas downgraded the stock earlier this week on what he said was a weak 2022 guidance from the company. “This marks the most significant estimate reduction we have made for GM since the start of Covid in early FY20,” said Jonas in his note.
Jonas added, “We now expect GM to remain one holistic company for at least the next 12 to 18 months as management builds out its EV, AV and connected-car capabilities.” Notably, General Motors has said that it would spend $35 billion on electric cars by 2025. It has also kept its dividend suspended amid higher capital expenditure.
Adam Jonas downgraded General Motors stock
Jonas believes that General Motors might be a much smaller company going forward as it competes with new entrants in the automotive industry. However, he remains bullish on the company’s long-term outlook. According to Jonas, “GM enjoys a rather strong financial position today and we believe has many ingredients of a compelling equity story over time. We’d wait for (a) a more attractive entry price and/or (b) more upside to expectations.”
Jonas is among the most prominent Tesla bulls. He is also bullish on Rivian Motors, whose stock has plunged below the IPO price. However, he is not too optimistic about Lucid Motors, which is led by a former Tesla employee Peter Rawlinson.
Nomura also downgraded General Motors stock
Today, Nomura also downgraded General Motors from a buy to neutral and lowered its target price by $10 to $56. Nomura analyst Anindya Das expects the chip shortage situation and pivots towards electric cars to be a drag on GM’s profitability. Das said, “Based on GM’s commentary at the 4Q21 results briefing, we now expect it to reinvest cash into building its EV and AV (Cruise) businesses, while dialing back on shareholder returns.” Das added, “We think this is a prudent strategy, although it caps the outlook for near-term shareholder returns.”
Notably, while Ford has reinstated its dividends, GM has taken a more cautious stance. While most of the companies that suspended their dividends in 2020 have since restored them, General Motors and Disney are two notable exceptions.
Meanwhile, like Jonas, Das is also bullish on General Motors stock for the long term and said, it is a good long-term story as “the company builds on the extensive restructuring of its North American operations and works to vertically integrate its EV business.”
GM stock forecast
Of the 15 analysts covering General Motors stock, 10 have a buy rating while five have a hold rating. Wall Street analysts are not as bullish on the stock as they were in 2021. However, the stock has an average target price of $74.27 which is a 45% premium over current prices.
Should you buy General Motors stock?
From a valuation perspective, General Motors’ stock looks quite attractive. Its valuations are also below that of Ford. Incidentally, several Wall Street analysts have been turning bearish on Ford due to its valuation premium.
At these prices, GM stock looks like a good buy. The stock has shrugged off the pessimism from the Nomura downgrade today and is in the green. The stock could see better days ahead if its transition towards EVs is executed well.


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Spirit Airlines Reveals New Enhanced and Wider Seats
Spirit Airlines released this week its latest design features for its aircraft seats. The new Vector Light seats and the Vector Premium product for the Big Front Seats®, manufactured by HAECO Cabin Solutions, were officially unveiled at an event in Long Beach, Calif. Each Vector Light seat will be wider, include extra cushion and new, more comfortable features to continue enhancing the guest experience.
In 2019, Spirit announced a completely new-look interior with roomier & ergonomic seats, a larger tray table, and additional pre-recline on every row. Spirit continues to build on that milestone with key seat changes. The redesigned interior will be installed on Spirit’s new aircraft deliveries starting in late January 2023. In total, 33 new A320 Family aircraft are planned for delivery throughout 2023.
- Each seat will gain a half-inch of width. The new seat technology unlocks previously unused space with a design that fits closer to the wall of the aircraft, creating an opportunity to increase seat width. This innovation also supports the optimization of cabin operations by adding the extra room without removing space from the aisle to ensure fast boarding and deplaning for Guests. Spirit’s middle seats will continue to be an inch wider than aisle and window seats.
- Spirit continues to champion innovative curved seatback designs that unlock space at the knee level. This additional space amounts to about two more inches of knee space compared to flatback seats on legacy airlines with the same pitch. These extra pockets of space are omitted in the standard industry “pitch” metric, which is focused on flatback seats. So, Guests have more personal space than what the “pitch” measurement indicates.
- All seats will now have more cushion and newly added headrests. Big Front Seats® are seeing changes in design to include more cushion, nearly an inch more pre-recline, easier to reach tray tables and a wider seatback.
- The new seats come with an incremental environmental benefit as well. Even with the new features, the weight of each new Vector Light seat will amount to a decrease of nearly 11 ounces per seat thanks to advances in seat frame technology. These small changes have outsized effects in a large-scale operation, resulting in sizable reductions of fuel burn across the fleet.


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After changing terms of service, YouTube will be able to show ads on small channels that are not in the Partner Program
YouTube found a way to show even more ads on its platform without having to pay channel owners. This happened through a change in terms of service, which opened the possibility of showing advertisements on smaller channels, which are not part of the Partnership Program and, therefore, will not be entitled to any part of the revenue.
With the change, YouTube’s terms of service will indicate that the channel owner grants the platform the right to monetize the content, but that the agreement “does not entitle you to any payment”. The text will also indicate that payments are made under agreements of the Partnership Program and other sources of revenue, such as channel members and Super Chat.
According to the platform, a limited number of videos from small channels already have advertising. “This means that as a creator who is not in the YouTube Partner Program, you can see ads on some of your videos,” he said. To become a partner and receive some of the value, the channel needs to have more than 4,000 hours of viewing in the last 12 months and more than 1,000 subscribers.
On Twitter, YouTube said that even on the smallest channels, videos must follow content guidelines to display ads. As a result, there will be no advertising on videos with inappropriate language or violence; with content related to firearms and illegal products; that promote violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on race, sexual orientation or nationality, among others.
YouTube bans collection of profile pictures
YouTube has also updated the terms of service section that deals with information that cannot be collected on the platform. The text already forbade the collection of any data that could be used to identify someone, such as a username, unless there was the person’s permission. Now, the platform also explained that it does not allow the collection of images of the face, as in profile photos.
In explaining the change, YouTube recalled that it never allowed the collection of this information, but decided to “specifically include the language around facial data to be even clearer”. The company does not explain what led to the change, but in early 2020, Clearview AI became known for collecting billions of photos from Facebook and YouTube for facial recognition tools.
Changes to the platform’s terms of service take effect in the United States on Friday (20) and are expected to be rolled out to other countries in late 2021.


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Gone are the days when you had to pull a card out of your wallet, walk around with cash, or make payments to the store using your smartphone? MasterCard credit card providers seem to believe so. The agency is now relying on biometric technology, which uses a person’s unique physical features – such as their fingerprints or the shape of their face – to identify them. Its biometric checkout program, unveiled at the end of May 2022, will allow you to pay by showing your face to the camera, if the first tests are good.
To be able to do this, you must first register using a mobile application, specifying which businesses you plan to pay this way, then take a picture of your face.
“The photo is then destroyed, it’s just encrypted biometric data that is recorded by a company that specializes in biometrics,” explained Matt Prazer, global vice president of product development at MasterCard. Phones with biometric features like Apple’s Face ID follow the same policy; In this case, however, the mathematical representation of the face is stored on a chip of the device, not in the data center.
Once in the store, the user of the MasterCard system must smile at a camera (which may be integrated into a self-service checkout, for example). The photo taken is converted into biometric data, which is compared to the identity stored in the cloud to link the customer to their credit card number.
During a demonstration at MasterCard’s new technology center in Vancouver, where News Invited, the operation could be imagined as easy and fast as it seemed.
Note that biometrics is already well established in the payment industry. For example, both MasterCard and Visa offer banks the option to issue cards with a fingerprint reader. Payment with his mouth only, for the moment, is kind of unique.
Confirming identity in the internet age
The use of biometrics represents a way back to another era, when a merchant could recognize his customers as they walked through the door. Proof of his identity or password is not required to make purchases on their account.
“It’s a bit like the basic problem we’re trying to solve: how to trust someone when you don’t know them and, when it comes to Internet transactions, when you can’t even see them,” explains Matt Prazer.
Typically, payment companies like MasterCard, but also banks, analyze hundreds of pieces of data to assess its level of security during a transaction.
“MasterCard has a list of over 7 billion identity-related parameters, such as email addresses. If a thief creates an address for a fraudulent transaction, the system will notify us that it appears to be new and that there is a risk, “said Nima Sepasi, Vice President, MasterCard, Innovation and Product Development.
The company uses artificial intelligence to assess the risks associated with the transaction using a variety of criteria. Thus, a business or a transaction site will be considered safe if the person has already made a purchase there. The same policy applies to the device used in an online purchase, if the person has already used it to make a transaction with the same credit card account, then it will be considered more secure.
Other factors are considered, both personally and online, such as the number of transactions in the last hour and the speed at which a form is filled out (if it is too fast, it indicates that the automated software is working; if it is too slow, it indicates personal information). Cannot be known by heart). After about 50 milliseconds of analysis, a score out of 1000 is sent to the bank, which decides whether to accept the transaction.
Biometrics help identify a person, but it also adds an extra layer of assurance about the legitimacy of the transaction.
Several outstanding questions
This facial recognition payment program is only being tested in Brazil for the moment and there are several questions left.
For example, we do not know how effective the system will be. Even the best smart phone sometimes does not recognize its owner. Which beacon will be installed to prevent the system from making a mistake between two people looking the same?
Rita Matulionite, a researcher at Macquarie University School of Law in Australia, noted that most facial recognition algorithms are less accurate with ethnic and racial minorities. “Technology has improved over the last few years, but it’s not without its flaws,” he said in an analysis of MasterCard’s system published in the online media The Conversation.
It remains to be seen whether the people are ready to resort to this method of payment. According to MasterCard, 74% of customers will be interested in this type of technology. But in a survey published last month by Captra, a division of the American research firm Gartner, only 25% of Quebecers said they felt comfortable with the idea of sharing their biometric data with private companies.
Fortunately, the program was presented as optional. When it arrives in the country one day (no launch date has been confirmed), it is up to everyone to decide whether they would like to pay with their mouths.