text:
AT THE MARKET – Industry veteran Doug Townsend has been named chief operating officer at case goods and upholstery resource Parker House, a role previously held by co-owner Victor Zonni, who is moving into an advisory role with the company.
Zonni, who retains his ownership stake in the company along with President and CEO Chris Lupo, also remains secretary of the Board of Directors.
Townsend has more than 25 years of industry experience and comes to Parker House from The Living Company, a resource for student housing and hospitality furniture where he served as chief transformation officer.
Before that, he was co-president of Home Meridian International, a division of Hooker Furnishings. He also previously served as HMI’s chief financial officer, executive vice president of U.S. and Asia operations and also was chief operating officer of the company’s eCommerce, club, mass merchant and hospitality divisions.
In his new position, he will oversee the company’s corporate operations, product manufacturing, supply chain management as well as domestic and international logistics. He also will direct the company’s warehousing and eCommerce initiatives, the company said.
He reports to Chris Lupo, who told Home News Now at the Las Vegas Market that “Given our recent growth, it’s important for us to expand with our infrastructure. So Doug’s experience on the operations side is well needed.”
“With a wealth of home furnishings knowledge and leadership experience, Doug makes a fantastic addition to our executive team,” Lupo added in a separate statement. “His vision and talents will be instrumental in our continued growth and success.”
Townsend said he is pleased to be joining a company he described as one of the fastest growing furniture companies in the marketplace.
“Chris and Victor have built a great company that truly serves its customers with a winning formula of great upholstery and case goods that retail, and ship quickly. I look forward to helping the team get to the next level,” he said.


text:
The iPhone’s success in the United States has been undeniable, but it’s proving to be more difficult for Apple to make this happen internationally. Despite Apple’s iPhone sales in China more than doubling in the last quarter, iPhone growth in the international market appears to be slowing down, according to Travis McCourt, a Raymond James analyst. It seems that international sell-through growth for the iPhone fell to about 35% in the fourth quarter of 2012 from 40% in the third quarter. McCourt estimates that iPhone sales outside of the U.S. were 29.2 million for the period. Thirty-five percent is still a good number, but it was easily achieved due to some shifts in the iPhone launch cycle.
McCourt explains, “This would be a strong result, except for the fact that the comp was easy internationally for Apple, as the iPhone 5 launches occurred far earlier this year in most countries than last year’s 4S launch. March will be a tougher comp internationally.”
McCourt foresees international sell-through growth slipping to 15% year over year; however, there are a couple of factors that could make a difference. The launch of a new iPhone early in the year could increase selling growth, as well as a deal with a major iPhone carrier abroad. The first seems a little unlikely, but Apple CEO Tim Cook was in China a few weeks ago talking with executives at China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless carrier, with around 707 million subscribers, so a deal could definitely be on the horizon.

domain: news


text:
Tablets, glasses-free 3D TVs and smart products: top trends at IFA
Monday 15 August 2011
Next generation smartphones, smart and glasses-free 3D TVs, connected appliances, Ultrabooks and tablets galore will feature prominently at the world's largest consumer electronics and electrical home appliances fair, IFA.
IFA is a technology lover's paradise. Alongside CES, CeBIT and Computex it is the place to see the next big consumer electronics product trends.
In the spotlight this year will be a large line up of "smart products" - internet connectivity in everything from the latest range of 3DTVs to 4G smartphones and fridges that will go online to shop for your groceries.
The latest products arriving on the market suggest that TVs and the internet have already become synonymous with one another, but the trend will be taken one step further as smartphones and tablets gain the ability to control our largest screens and as cloud-based solutions enable users to store and stream their media in the cloud.
LG will for the first time show its "crown jewel of TVs," the LW980S, a 3D TV it proclaims sets "a new benchmark in connectivity, picture quality and sheer viewing enjoyment."
TVs are not the only thing our smartphones and tablets will be controlling as we move into 2012. Refrigerators, vacuum cleaners and lighting systems will connect to the internet, allowing users to remotely switch on the lights or to send their vacuum on a collision-free course around their house.
Oh, and while the vacuum is sucking up dust, it will also keep an eye on your house via a built-in camera that can be linked to your smartphone.
Computers - especially laptops - will be faster, more portable and above all, more stylish.
The first big wave of Ultrabooks is expected to be unveiled during IFA. These thin, light, fast and (relatively) inexpensive laptops will be the industry's answer to Apple's MacBook Air.
The onslaught of Android phones and tablets will continue. Expect to see both high-end devices with 4G connectivity and the latest high-tech features plus entry-level products at affordable prices line IFA's stands.
Samsung is reportedly creating a tablet/smartphone hybrid called the Samsung Galaxy Q for the event and Archos is working on a series of high-end tablets. Acer, Samsung and HP are also rumored to be putting the final touches on their newest tablets, which should be ready just in time for the event.
Last year's notable IFA announcements included Samsung's first tablet the Galaxy tab, the world's slimmest LED 3D TV, and the ViewSonic ViewPad 100, the world's first dual-boot tablet.
IFA attracted 1,423 exhibitors and 235,000 visitors in 2010, generating 3.5 billion euros worth of orders.
The 51st edition of IFA will take place from September 2 to 7 at the Messe Berlin GmbH exhibition center in Berlin, Germany.
Life & Style blogs
Of course, teenage girls need role models – but not like beauty vlogger Zoella
Support for EU membership 'at highest level since 1991' with most Brits wanting to stay 'in'
Tony Blair 'says Ed Miliband will lose 2015 general election'
Thousands with degenerative conditions classified as 'fit to work in future' – despite no possibility of improvement
Putin: The US is to blame for almost all the world's major conflicts
Attacks on 'Ukip Calypso' show how skewed people’s priorities are
- 1 Russell Brand says he will 'probably' give up acting to focus on his revolution
- 2 Watch what happened when food critics were unknowingly served McDonald's
- 3 David Beckham's Haig Club whisky is exactly what’s wrong with the Highlands
- 4 Queen's first tweet: Reply telling Her Majesty to 'f*** off' broadcast on BBC News
- 5 #AskNigelFarage: Twitter starts hilarious Q&A for Ukip leader
iJobs Gadgets & Tech
£40000 - £50000 Per Annum Excellent benefits: Clearwater People Solutions Ltd:...
£30000 - £35000 Per Annum Excellent benefits: Clearwater People Solutions Ltd:...
£35000 - £40000 Per Annum Excellent benefits: Clearwater People Solutions Ltd:...
£50000 - £60000 per annum: Ashdown Group: Senior Software Engineer - C#, VB.N...


text:
India’s largest carmaker has lost as much as 2.6 per cent in its market share during the ongoing domestic industry slowdown.
Even though Maruti Suzuki continues to take the lead in the sales chart in the first several months of FY2019, the Indo-Japanese company has misplaced 2.6% of its market share in H1 2019, down from 52.8% in H1 of the fiscal year 2018-2019. Interestingly, this number is the exact the per cent of market share that Hyundai Motor India managed to gain in the same period.
Maruti Suzuki is losing out to Hyundai in its total market share during the current market slowndown.
Earlier, Hyundai captured a market share of 15.9 per cent during the first half of FY 18-19 which has gone up to 18.5 percent in the same period of FY 19-20. Not only achieved the highest market share among the automakers, Hyundai has also witnessed the smallest drop in terms of sales in recent months.
While various carmakers are facing sigfinicant drop in terms of sale, Hyundai managed to keep it lowest at 11 percent only.
The South Korean carmaker has been going aggressively in the competition with a range of new cars launched in India, including a highly-acclaimed Hyundai Venue or the all-new Hyundai Grand i10 Nios. With a surging demand, the new Venue even beats the Vitara Brezza – Maruti Suzuki’s great successor in the sales performance since its launch. Although Maruti Suzuki has made some responses, like the premium version of the Ertiga, the Maruti XL6 MPV or the recently-launched Maruti S-Presso. However, we know that the premium MPV segment is going quite slowly in terms of popularity while the buyers’ response to the new micro-SUV by Maruti is yet to be known.
By introducing new attractive models, Hyundai has succesfully gained as much as 2.6% market share in H1 2019.
It is also worth noting that Kia Motors, which is essentially Hyundai’s sister brand, has already started its innings in India with the introduction of the handsome-looking Kia Seltos. Since it’s launched, the all-new Seltos has taken the crown in the SUV segment for two consecutive months.
Nissan Motors has undergone the highest sales decline in the first half of the current fiscal year as compared to the same year-ago period. On the other hand, along with Hyundai, Mahindra also faced the lowest drop in terms of sales in the country and at the same time, increases its total market share by 1 percent thanks to the Mahindra XUV300 and Marazzo.


text:
Air-conditioner maker Blue Star has said its managing director Satish Jamdar will retire from the company by the end of 2015-16.
Tatas and at Unilever’s India veteran R Gopalakrishnan, prepares to hang up his boots at Bombay House. The mentor who helped Gopalakrishnan in his early days was Jamshed J Irani.
"As I said, people are reminding me that I am turning 60. Normally, when you turn 60 you think of retirement," he added.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc said Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley would retire on Dec. 31, and named Walmart International CFO Brett Biggs as his successor.
Subscribe to our Newsletters
275000+ Industry Leaders read it everyday
Tweets About ETRetail
Harsha Razdan Partner and Head, Consumer Markets, KPMG India
Nitin Chhabra CEO and Cofounder, Ace Turtle
- 5h Shoppers Stop MD Rajiv Suri quits
- 7h Banks sanctions about Rs 1.20 lakh crore loans to MSMEs under credit guarantee scheme
- 7h South Delhi Municipal Corporation paves way for dining out on terrace
- 8h Liquor prices slashed by 35% in Odisha
- 9h Take action in textile markets, say traders
- 10h India's ambitious plan to help small businesses does little to save them
- 11h Flipkart signs MoU with Karnataka govt to promote local art, craft and handlooms
- 12h Garment manufacturers stuck with unsold stock as multi-brand firms seek discount
- 13h Ruchi Soya appoints Sanjeev Asthana as CEO
- 13h UK shoppers make tentative return to high street in June, retailers say


text:
Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Environment Lesley Griffiths has outlined the route Wales will take in its transition to become a circular economy country.
Taking this circular approach will keep resources in circulation instead of ending their life in landfill, which is the result of the linear economy currently.
The Cabinet Secretary has announced the creation of a Plastic Route Map, which will plan Wales’ approach to generating a better market for recycling plastic products and reduce its reliance on overseas markets for waste plastic.
Research has found that adopting a circular economy could save the Welsh economy up to £2 billion and could even create up to 30,000 new jobs.
Lesley Griffiths had announced previously a £6.5 million budget for 2019-20 to enable Wales to move forward in becoming a circular economy nation.
She said: “Wales is fully signed up to the benefits of the circular economy. The £6.5m fund I announced earlier this year will develop a significant number of small-scale capital projects to assist SMEs in making the transformation towards a ‘circular economy’ approach. We need to see more circular economy business models developed in Wales.”
Wales’ dedication to becoming a circular economy country is emphasised by its participation in “Circular Economy for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises” (CESME) project.
The Welsh Government is also considering to follow measures that will reduce waste and tackle pollution created by plastic.
The Plastics Route Map will be published by WRAP by Spring 2018.


text:
If EVs are the future, perhaps it was inevitable the notorious DeLorean would be reimagined yet again, this time with an all-electric powertrain.
The gull-winged time-traveling machine that essentially shared marquee billing with “Back to the Future” stars Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd is being resurrected in Texas by a group known for its work with China-backed luxury EV startup Karma Automotive.
They’ve teamed with Stephen Wynne, who acquired the DeLorean branding rights in the 1990s and has made a few attempts at a revival before now.
DeLorean launched teasers around Super Bowl LVI, inviting viewers to sign up for more news on the car’s all-electric relaunch coming sometime this year.
The promo indicated the name, or at least some branding, will be DeLorean EVolved. Expected pricing was not revealed.
Production is slated for San Antonio, according to a promotional release from an economic development association for the city, which says it expects 450 new jobs.
“San Antonio boasts a growing component and vehicle manufacturing sector as well as a wide array of global advanced manufacturing operations. A deep talent pool and a strong local academic ecosystem will foster further innovation,” said Joost de Vries, CEO of DeLorean Motor Company, in the release.
Fame has historically helped and hurt the brand. The original gained notoriety in the early 1980s for its spotty, highly-publicized quality issues and for the legal woes of its creator, the late John DeLorean. But then the “Back to the Future” film franchise turned it into a pop-culture icon.
Autoweek, assessing the EV design revealed in glimpses in the promo, wonders if the distinct sharp angles of the original are preserved in this reboot. Those telltale gull-wing doors? They remain.
Already, after-market EV conversions of the vintage model are out there for the right price, Autoweek added.
“Like any EV startup, we view DeLorean’s efforts with healthy skepticism. But what better choice for a futuristic EV than a car whose powertrain was replaced by a highly efficient fusion generator?” jokes Byron Hurd, writing for AutoBlog.
“Too bad Marty McFly traveled forward to 2015 and ruined the timeline for the rest of us, eh?” wrote Hurd. “Or maybe Marty was just here stealing Tesla’s
“falcon door” design, since Tesla fans are already coming out of the woodwork to declare the design a ripoff. It’s OK; most of them weren’t even alive in ’85.”
No doubt, EVs were a dominant theme of this year’s Super Bowl ad blitz.
Seven different auto brands aired eight commercials, with six focused solely on their electric offerings, leading up to and during Sunday’s game. One make and model topped all others in luring would-be EV buyers to the Cars.com shopping marketplace, and it’s certainly more mainstream than the DeLorean: Kia’s
EV6 crossover SUV.
Unique offerings made their mark, too. The Volvo-linked Polestar 2 had a “massive spike” in traffic, propelling this lesser-known offering at one point to the No. 1 spot on Cars.com’s most-visited list during the Super Bowl after its commercial aired. The vehicle’s blend of “high tech and modern Swedish styling” is meant to position the Polestar 2 as an answer to the Tesla Model 3, Car and Driver says.
More Sustainable Investing: There’s a smart way to invest in the clean-energy transition right now (and not just EVs, solar and wind)
Market tracker LMC Automotive expects EVs to make up 34.2% of new U.S. vehicle sales by 2030, with all-electric at 30.1% and plug-in gas/electric hybrids at 4.1%. Sales of EVs, including plug-in hybrids, were only about 4% of total U.S. vehicle sales in 2021. Still, that marked a doubling of growth from just a year earlier.


text:
A Florida congressman wants to have “Petfax” reports in place for new pet buyers.
On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., introduced the “Petfax Act” which U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Penn., is cosponsoring.
According to Crist’s office, the proposal would have pet purchasers have access to a “‘Petfax’ report detailing the conditions in which the animal was bred, raised, and cared for” and “sellers of dogs and cats would have to divulge any violations of the Animal Welfare Act by the breeder, and the health history of the animal.” Crist’s proposal would also penalize sellers and breeders who engage in animal abuse.
“Welcoming a new pet into your home is a decision rooted in love. Pet owners deserve the peace of mind that their new family member wasn’t abused or mistreated by breeder or seller,” Crist said on Thursday. “Requiring a Petfax increases transparency, decreasing the potential for animal abuse, a win-win for all parties involved.”
“Too many animals suffer from inhumane conditions in our nation,” said Reschenthaler. “The Petfax Act of 2020, bipartisan legislation I’m introducing with Rep. Crist, will better protect dogs and cats from neglect and abuse. By improving transparency and providing consumers with more information, including the source of their pet and its record on animal welfare inspections, we can hold irresponsible sellers of dogs and cats accountable. Given the proven ties between cruelty to animals and child and senior abuse, I will continue fighting to strengthen protections for our nation’s pets.”
“Most dogs sold in pet stores come from puppy mills, where the dogs are treated like a cash crop,” stated Holly Gann, the director of federal affairs for the Animal Wellness Foundation. “If you buy a car, you can get a full history from Carfax; but when it comes to purchasing a puppy, sellers generally won’t provide information about where the dog came from or the dog’s medical history. We applaud U.S Reps. Charlie Crist and Guy Reschenthaler for their leadership to protect animals and consumers.”
With the pet industry generating $75 billion annually, Crist’s office noted there are little safeguards for buying new pets.
“Under current law, there is no requirement for the store or seller to provide reliable information to customers about the pet they are purchasing. The pet seller controls what – if any – information is disclosed to buyers regarding the health and well-being of their new four-legged friend. This lack of transparency makes it easier for bad actors to neglect or abuse animals,” Crist’s office noted. “The Petfax Act empowers consumers by giving them the information they need to make informed decisions about their future pet while promoting honest breeders and sellers. The bill creates a digital database that includes information about violations of the Animal Welfare Act or Horse Protection Act. Combined with public records, this legislation will reduce the likelihood of repeat offenders by enacting serious penalties, such as a 10-year suspension of their license to sell animals for those found to be abusing animals or using deceptive sales practices.
“Included in the reporting requirements, sellers must provide information about: the breeder: including contact information, their Department of Agriculture license or registration number, and any previous violations of the Animal Welfare Act; the animal: including their immunization history, previous veterinary visits, test results for infectious diseases, and congenital conditions,” Crist’s office added. “These requirements do not impact public animal shelters or nonprofit shelters, except in instances where the organization paid for the animal in question and the seller made a profit.”
Crist’s bill was sent to the U.S. House Agriculture and the Energy and Commerce Committees on Thursday. So far, there is no counterpart over in the U.S. Senate.
Reach Kevin Derby at firstname.lastname@example.org.
- Aaron Bean Announces Transportation and Infrastructure Assignments - February 7, 2023, 2:00 pm
- Florida Congresswoman Will Lead House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee - February 7, 2023, 10:00 am
- AAA: Gas Prices in Florida Dropped in First Week of February - February 6, 2023, 8:00 pm


text:
Councils among those agreeing to charge less for paying by credit or debit card.
2degrees is the latest company to say it’ll be bringing down the cost of paying by credit or debit card.
The Commerce Commission has today detailed the response it’s had to letters sent to a group of councils and companies about the surcharge customers pay when using a credit card or contactless debit card.
Businesses have been paying lower fees for accepting these payment types since the introduction of the Retail Payment System Act in November 2022.
While 2degrees replied to the commission letting it know it’d be reducing its surcharge from 1.75% to 1%, fellow telecommunications company One New Zealand said it was “comfortable” with its 2% surcharge.
Some of the councils contacted said they’d be reducing their fee:
Auckland City Council was reducing its in-person weighted average fee
from 1.75% to 0.67%.
Dunedin City Council said it had reduced its fee from 1.8% to 1.35%.
New Plymouth District Council and Hutt City Council both said they
would be absorbing the fee.
Air New Zealand was on the list of businesses contacted but had said its fee, which hadn’t changed since 2020, was “a reasonable estimate of the bank costs incurred”. PayMyPark also said it was just passing on the cost of the merchant service. The Commerce Commission is continuing to engage with both businesses.
Commission Chair John Small said: “We are particularly pleased to see those who have reviewed and are reducing their surcharges – including 2degrees who intends to reduce its surcharge from 1.75% to 1% later this year, as well as some councils who are reviewing and reducing surcharges for rates bills and other services. This is a win for consumers.”
You shouldn’t be charged for inserting or swiping a debit or Eftpos card when you’re paying in person. Online, there are sometimes options you can use instead of putting in your card details and paying the fee.
We’ve been collecting examples of high surcharges and are passing those on to the Commerce Commission. If you see a surcharge higher than 2.5% for a credit card payment or higher than 1% for a contactless debt card payment, we’d still like to hear from you. You can email [email protected].


text:
About 9.0% of the S&P 500 companies have reported their quarterly results so far and roughly 70% of them have positively surprised.
But that’s not a catalyst enough for the market to pull out of the ongoing downtrend, says Thomas Peterffy – Chairman of Interactive Brokers Group Inc.
Sticky inflation and aggressive rate hikes, he noted, will eventually push the U.S. economy into a stagflation, creating more pain for the equities market. On CNBC’s “Squawk Box”, he said:
Rates will continue to go higher and inflation won’t come down as much as expected. I think both interest rates and inflation will settle down between 4.0% and 5.0%, and we’re going to go into a stagflationary economy.
Last week, consumer prices were reported up 0.4% in September, reiterating once again why the Fed needs to remain hawkish.
S&P 500 has lost about 15% over the past two months. Still, Peterffy warns the bottom is not in yet.
He sees possibility of a further descent to around 3,000 level. That suggests another 20% down from here. Explaining how to play such a market, the IBKR Chairman added:
Buy and hold strategy is not going to be very rewarding. People better begin to research and identify companies with great business prospects and good management. It’s not going to be so simple.
Also on Wednesday, Interactive Brokers reported market-beating results for its fiscal third quarter even though continued market volatility had trading volume slip 11% on a year-over-year basis.
The post S&P 500 will bottom around the 3,000 level: Thomas Peterffy appeared first on Invezz.


text:
It is the declared policy of the Obama administration that the United States should talk to enemies as well as friends. So why not talk to al Qaeda?
It's not as if al Qaeda isn't willing to deal. "Whether America escalates or de-escalates this conflict, we will reply in kind," Osama bin Laden said in 2002. Bin Laden renewed his offer in 2006, and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri made it again in a videotaped message released earlier this month: "The mujahadeen have opened the door for the West to turn a new leaf," he said. "But the [Westerners] insist on relations that are based on oppressing us."
Walmart coupon: $20 off your $50+ order
Up to 50% off + extra 20% off sitewide - JCPenney promo code
Up to 15% off + free shipping at Wayfair
60% off running shoes and apparel at Nike
- The Home Depot:
$50 discount sitewide - Home Depot Coupon
Hotels.com September Deals - Save 20% or more


text:
Today, the European Commission has announced that they have fined Valve and five publishers € 7.8 million for breaching EU antitrust rules. The five publishers are Bandi Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media, and ZeniMax. The reason for the fines is because Valve and the publishers restricted cross-border sales of certain PC video games on the basis of the geographical location of users within the European Economic Area (‘EEA’). Because of this, they entered into, the so-called “geo-blocking” practices.
The “geo-blocking” practices that Valve and the other five publishers engaged include bilateral agreements and/or concerted practices between Valve and each of the five PC video game publisher implemented by means of geo-blocked Steam activation keys which prevented the activation of certain of these publishers’ PC video games. This happened outside of Czechia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. These lasted between one and five years and were implemented between September 2010 and October 2015. Four out of the five publishers restricted cross-border sales of the affected PC video games within the EEA. This includes Bandi Namco, Focus Home, Koch Media, and ZeniMax. These lasted longer between three and eleven years and were implemented between March 2007 and November 2018 depending on each bilateral relationship.
The five publishers cooperated with the Commission by providing evidence of added value to the investigation and expressly acknowledged the facts and infringements they committed. Because of this, they were granted reductions depending on the extent of their cooperation ranging from 10% for Bandi Namco, Focus Home, Koch Media, and Zenimax, and 15% for Capcom. Valve chose not to cooperate and the Commission adopted a prohibition decision against Valve under the ordinary antitrust procedure. Bandi Namco was fined € 340,000, Capcom € 396,000, Focus Home € 2, 888, 000, Koch Media € 977,000, ZeniMax € 1,664,000, and Valve € 1,624,000.
“More than 50% of all Europeans play video games. The video game industry in Europe is thriving and it is now worth over € 17 billion. Today’s sanctions against the “geo-blocking” practices of Valve and five PC video game publishers serve as a reminder that under EU competition law, companies are prohibited from contractually restricting cross-border sales,” Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said. “Such practices deprive European consumers of the benefits of the EU Digital Single Market and of the opportunity to shop around for the most suitable offer in the EU.”


text:
Ivanka Trump Rewears a Dress from the Republican National Convention
On Monday morning, Ivanka Trump made a television appearance wearing a summery pale, blue dress. The pastel frock might look familiar because she wore the same exact outfit last summer to the Republican National Convention. We can see why Trump is a fan of the mini dress, which has a pleated skirt. It's a classic design that will never go out of style, and it makes a professional yet chic statement.
The fit-and-flare number wasn’t the only part of Trump’s look that was recycled. The fashion designer and assistant to the President also brought back the same white earrings, which are an older piece from her jewelry collection. Even her hair and makeup were very similar—middle part and a natural, nude lip.
[tiImage img-pos="1" image_style="684xflex" align="left"]
Her shoes were the only major difference in her look. During her first sighting in the blue dress, Trump stepped out in white lace-up sandals. But for her recent television appearance, she went for a more understated look with nude pumps.
If you want to channel Trump's style, shop the similar pieces below.


text:
FieldAware has announced the general availability of its FieldAware API which allows third party apps to interact and share data with FieldAware mobile applications. The Consumer Electronics Association has formed a new working group to develop industry standards for home automation devices. Plus, how APIs are changing the face of enterprise computing.
Twilio today announced that it has added support to its API for LINE, a popular free communication app that allows its more than 168 million users to make calls and send messages. LINE support is part of Twilio Channels, a feature of Twilio's API designed to build messaging experiences.


text:
This puts the forecast just above the mid-point of Fonterra’s latest milk price guidance of $8.90-$9.50/kgMS.
ANZ agriculture analyst Susan Kilsby says farmgate milk prices have benefitted from both the sharp lift in global dairy commodity prices and the softer New Zealand dollar.
“Dairy prices lifted much faster than anticipated in January as the impact of tight global supplies for milk started to have a material impact,” she says.
“Milk supplies in all of the major milk producing countries are either tracking behind last season or growing only modestly.
“This lack of additional supply is now being felt in the global markets.”
Kilsby notes that the recent milk production data from New Zealand, supported by dairy company announcements, means buyers are now well aware that there will not be a lot of additional product available from New Zealand during the latter part of the milk production season.
New Zealand’s milk supply is tracking 3.2% behind for the season to December, with production for the month of December down 5.5% on the same month last season.
Dry conditions throughout January mean milk supplies are likely to be curtailed for much of the remainder of the season, says Kilsby.


text:
By Daniel Hunter
In a major advancement in new technology customers who use Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) or NatWest mobile banking apps will now be able to withdraw money from ATMs without a card.
The technology will allow customers to use their smartphone, instead of bank card, to withdraw money. They will be given a six-digit code to enter into an ATM to release the cash, up to £100.
It has long been predicted that the smartphone would become a digital wallet, and coupled with a similar system developed by cash machine operator NCR, which requires a barcode scan, it seems that is becoming the case.
RBS were quick to stress that their new system would help customers who had forgotten their bank cards, rather than being unsafe.
"It is a really simple and secure way to help our customers get cash whenever and wherever they need it," said Ben Green, head of mobile at RBS and NatWest.
Join us on


text:
Well, the FON network has $22-million or so from Google, Skype and Index Ventures, but it might have a bit of a credibility problem as well, after reports from one U.S. Internet service provider that contradicted what founder Martin Varsavsky said when he announced the deal. He said the company has the support of Speakeasy, a large ISP — but Glenn Fleishman of Wi-Fi Networking News says that he got a message from the ISP saying that isn’t the case.
Looking at what Mr. Varsavsky said on his blog, he referred to being “pleased to announce today that we have obtained the support of two significant ISPs for FON. In America, Speakeasy has said that they welcome FON and in Europe, Glocalnet and FON have signed an agreement.” While he doesn’t specifically say that FON has a deal or has signed anything with Speakeasy, he makes it sound as though the company has pledged its support in some fashion.
According to Glenn, Speakeasy said that it supports sharing of Wi-Fi (one of the few ISPs that does) but that doesn’t mean it supports FON. In fact, the company says that FON’s plan sounds like something Speakeasy came up with in 2003 called NetShare, which also involved revenue sharing with those who allowed others to use their wireless connection. Although Speakeasy says it has reconsidered its initial plan to take legal action against FON for the statements, it is obviously less than pleased.
Needless to say, this kind of thing doesn’t bode well for the success of FON. It’s possible that Mr. Varsavsky misspoke, or that he was over-eager, and wanted to show more support than his company actually had. Whatever the case may be, it doesn’t look good to be claiming relationships you don’t have when you are trying to get something as ambitious as FON off the ground – and I would argue that it’s not likely to help other ISPs feel particularly comfortable about negotiating deals with the company either.


text:
Published Friday, March 24, 2023 in The Washington Post
By Lauren Kaori Gurley
Scores of union Starbucks baristas from across the Pacific Northwest descended on a hotel in Seattle on Wednesday to unveil to Starbucks lawyers a set of proposals that they had been researching and debating for more than six months.
A $20 an hour starting wage nationwide. A 32-hour week guarantee for full-time employees. A 100 percent employer-covered health-care plan for full- and part-time workers. Credit card tipping at all stores.
The session lasted close to four hours — much longer than any of the roughly 90 previous bargaining sessions held since last October — though workers did not get a chance to share all of their demands with management before Starbucks’ lawyers packed up to leave.
The demands from Starbucks Workers United come at a moment of heightened attention to working conditions at the coffee mega-chain. Starbucks held its annual shareholder meeting Thursday, where investors voted on whether to order a third-party assessment of the company’s commitment to international labor standards. (The results will be released in the coming days.) Workers at about 100 stores in 40 cities nationwide went on strike on Wednesday to make a point to the company’s new chief executive, Laxman Narasimhan, who started this week. Founder Howard Schultz stepped down as leader of the company on Monday, two weeks earlier than expected, though he still plans to testify before Congress next week about its labor practices.
Many organizers believe winning major concessions from Starbucks would not only transform thousands of Starbucks workers’ lives, but also raise standards for fast food and other low-wage workers around the country. But as the union and Starbucks continue to quarrel over the terms for negotiations, and the company fights unionization at its stores, it’s not clear whether a contract is within reach.
“We know that the entire world is watching,” said Jasmine Leli, 38, a Starbucks barista in Buffalo, and a member of the national bargaining committee. “It’s bigger than, ‘Oh, we want a contract.’ This could change the game for the entire labor movement.”
Andrew Trull, a spokesman for the company, said Starbucks has not attempted to delay bargaining and that the company has come to the table as legally obligated at stores that have voted to unionize.
“Rather than publicizing rallies and protests, we encourage [the union] to live up to their obligations by responding to our proposed sessions and meeting us in-person to move the good faith bargaining process forward,” Trull said in response to the strikes on Wednesday.
Historic union victories at high-profile companies such as Starbucks, Amazon and Apple have won attention since the height of the pandemic. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Over the past 16 months, Starbucks baristas have voted to unionize at 288 of the company’s 9,000 corporate-owned stores, making for one of the most high-profile labor battles in decades, despite a full-blown effort by the company to stamp out the campaign.
The union says Starbucks has insisted on bargaining store-by-store rather than with the union as a single unit. Starbucks says the union requested store-by-store organizing at the start of its campaign.
Winning a union election is often only just the first step for workers trying to secure the wage increases and benefits that can come with organizing. Research from Cornell University found that roughly a third of all unions reach a contract within a year of winning an election. But some never do — and Starbucks workers have yet to come close to signing a single collective-bargaining agreement. Several judges have ordered Starbucks to bargain immediately with multiple stores, but litigation is pending.
“The contract is what can demonstrate to workers everywhere the real, tangible wins that unionized workers can achieve,” said Rebecca Givan, a labor studies professor at Rutgers University. “If there is a strong first contract in even one [Starbucks] store, that will likely inspire a new burst of organizing, and that is why the company is fighting so hard not to have to agree to a contract.”
The demands workers presented to Starbucks management in Seattle on Wednesday will be the same ones Starbucks workers present in cafes across the United States in the coming months.
To arrive at the proposals, union organizers debated how much to ask Starbucks to raise their wages, studying federal statistics on the cost of living and inflation. They decided to ask for $20 an hour as a minimum nationwide. In the most expensive regions, the union is asking for a starting hourly wage of $25.
Low-wage workers have rallied behind $15 an hour for more than a decade, but Starbucks organizers say that’s not enough to make ends meet with inflation. The company raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2022, with its average worker now making $17.50 an hour.
“Fifteen dollars an hour would have been good maybe 10 or 15 years ago, but it’s not anymore,” said Jacob Welsh, 31, a shift supervisor at a Starbucks in Pittsburgh who has worked for the company for seven years and is a member of the union’s national bargaining committee. “Everyone wants more money.”
But the main priority for the union is guaranteed hours and predictable schedules. Workers want a guarantee of 32 hours a week for full-time staff and 20 hours for part-timers, plus the right to have the same schedule every week or for a month at a time.
Starbucks workers often assume the company is offering a full-time job, only to be scheduled as little as one shift a week, union leaders said. Some workers who aren’t scheduled at least 20 hours a week on average have lost access to company health insurance and full tuition reimbursement for an online undergraduate degree from Arizona State University, benefits that have long attracted people to the company.
Scheduling, which is at the discretion of store managers, can vary widely, which disrupts baristas’ sleep schedules, personal lives and ability to hold additional jobs, union leaders said. Trull, the Starbucks spokesperson, said the company publishes schedules every three weeks based on worker availability and the operational needs of each store. He said the company adjusts hours based on seasonal demand.
Organizers on Wednesday also requested benefits that have been withheld from unionized stores since last year, including credit card tips, additional training, a wider range of apron sizes and more flexibility on tattoos and piercings in the dress code.
Trull said federal labor law prevented Starbucks from raising wages and expanding benefits to unionized workers without a bargaining agreement. But federal labor officials said in August that Starbucks broke the law by not extending these benefits to workers who had joined the union.
After the first two Starbucks locations in Buffalo voted to unionize in December 2021, the company agreed to bargain. But between June and October last year, not a single bargaining session was held. Finally, in late October, the parties returned to the bargaining table. The union and company have since met for roughly 85 bargaining sessions. Still, the meetings have often stalled over a disagreement about whether to allow union members who cannot attend for Covid safety or logistical reasons to observe remotely by Zoom, which the company opposes. The union relented on Wednesday, agreeing to turn off Zoom cameras.
“Starbucks has made repeated efforts to schedule single-store bargaining sessions for more than 200 represented locations and are hopeful that yesterday’s development means that [the union] is ready to meet in-person and in good faith to move the single-store contract bargaining process forward, as required by law,” Trull said.
In November, baristas at more than 100 stores went on strike in protest of the company’s approach. So far, only the first two stores to unionize, both in Buffalo, have received responses from Starbucks to their contract proposals, the union said.
Ruth Milkman, a sociologist of labor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, said delaying bargaining sessions and setting strict terms for negotiations are tactics commonly used by employers trying to fend off unions. Under federal labor law, companies can often begin campaigns to decertify unions with a separate election a year after workers vote to unionize, though Starbucks cannot yet do so because of pending federal investigations. Companies with high turnover, such as Starbucks, can prolong the bargaining process and wait for union supporters to leave the company and other workers to lose faith in the union, Milkman said: “If it just drags on and on and ends without any results, that may discourage people.”
The National Labor Relations Board and federal courts have repeatedly found that Starbucks has violated its workers’ union rights, including by firing 22 union activists, closing unionizing stores and withholding pay increases and benefits from union members. This month a federal administrative law judge accused Starbucks of committing “egregious and widespread” labor violations in Buffalo.
Next week, Schultz will testify before the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), an outspoken union advocate. Union members are giddy to watch.
“I want [Schultz] to take responsibility for all of the things that have happened to people that just want a union at their workplace,” Leli, the barista from Buffalo, said. “A lot of partners have lost their jobs when they didn’t have to. And I want him to tell us why. Why? Why don’t you want the union?”


text:
The Misery of Cyber Recovery
In a recent article by news.com.au June 24, 2019 “Artificial Intelligence and Biometric scans will help stop future fraud” new research has found the cost of cybercrime is surging, with businesses often losing more than $100,000 from each incident.
On June 11 an article posted in acs Information Age June 11, 2019 “Australian cybercrime surge costs millions” reported Cybercrime cost Australian companies $US6.9 million in 2018 – a rise of 26 per cent since 2017.
The above figure of $276,323 quoted as the average cost to a small business in Australia by StaySmartOnline.gov.au was posted in the image above as a 2014 average!!!
So, you might be wondering how on earth a cyber attack on your small business could be that large?
Let’s breakdown the costs of misery of what happens when you suffer a cyber attack as there are the obvious direct costs, then there are the indirect costs:
DIRECT COSTS OF CYBER RECOVERY
1. CYBER SECURITY SPECIALISTS ENGAGEMENT COSTS
Engaging A Cyber Security Specialist has been reported as 53% of the total cost of the average $276,323.
This cost is spent on having a cyber security specialist to first detect the problem and secondly recover from it.
That is a BIG price to pay for not adequately being protected in the first place.
2. RANSOMWARE COSTS
We have had many cases of this and the average price we have encountered over the past 12 months has ben $2000.
Whilst I as your Cyber Security Specialist, advocate you DO NOT pay as you are just training the dragon to bite you again, on one occasion we had to negotiate with a hacker the amount down with little success.
Add this to your direct bill.
3. DOWNTIME THAT REDUCES YOUR BILLABLE HOURS
You MUST pay any staff wages whether they are able to work or not on a contract that was not their fault but yours.
Every hour you are down, trying to retrieve, access files, unencrypt files, put a cyber defence plan in place, deal with the report for cyber insurance payout is a direct cost to your bottom line.
Hours wasted that could have been billable.
4. FINES FOR DATA BREACH
I am sorry to break the news, but our Government is getting real.
Don’t protect yourself and end up on the end of a cyber attack and not have protection in place?
Breach Australian Data breach Laws introduced into 2018 which demand mandatory reporting and your risk a fine of up to a penalty of 10% of your business turnover.
If this is not enough to wake you up to get protection, there are the indirect costs.
None of the following can you put a price on including damage to your health (mental and physical), reputation (both business and personal), business brand that causes staff, customers and suppliers to leave and the time to re-establish and hire , financial loss, family breakdown, loss of contracts must I continue?
Now you tell me.
How expensive does $199 to get started on a health check sound to get started which is fully tax deductible.


text:
A new Pentagon investigation into whether a former employee’s connections to Amazon corrupted a $10 billion cloud contract is likely to delay the agency’s decision to choose a winner for the massive deal. A Pentagon is investigating into whether a former employee’s connections to Amazon corrupted a $10 billion cloud contract.
Matt Prinn does not claim authorship, ownership or copyright for content found on this post. The content was produced by the author/website referenced in this post which is reproduced in part as a public service.
Please see the original article/post by clicking the original post link below:
Original Author: Ad Age
Link to Original Post: https://www.facebook.com/194053120879_10155920365765880


text:
According to the The Register:
Nokia has bought up the bits of Symbian it didn't already own and is chucking the OS into an open-source foundation along with the S60 UI layer, accompanied by Sony Ericsson and DoCoMo, who are throwing in UIQ and MOAP(S) respectively.
The BBC adds
Nokia, which already owns 48% of the UK-based firm, intends to develop its software to compete with Google's planned Android operating system.
The Symbian foundation will bring together Nokia, AT&T, LG, Motorola, NTT Docomo, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone in collaboration on a new, royalty-free open software platform for mobile phones.
Here on MobLearn we have always been Android fans, as much for the open ethos as for the technology itself, and this news certainly adds an exciting new chapter, especially given the Android delays, and the very solid userbase that Symbian already has in the market.
small "ps": although technically "open", access to the Symbian source code is not free. You need to pay $1500 to be in the foundation. But relative to the costs of having your own OS, this must seem minor.
Geoff (with thanks to James for spotting this)


text:
The fresh new alleged conman got in earlier times threatened to release suit against their accusers, claiming that things are “fundamentally a lay.”
Evaluations and you may pointers are objective and you may products are separately chosen. Postmedia may earn an affiliate marketer commission off orders produced as a result of backlinks in this article.
Simon Leviev: ‘I was not the latest ‘Tinder Swindler’ Back into video
The fresh 31-year-old convict – who had been allegedly conned multiple lady he found towards the relationships app Tinder off an estimated $ten billion – has just became the main topic of a knock Netflix documentary according to their circumstances in and has insisted which is “not a scam rather than an artificial.”
In the a trailer for which have ‘To the Edition’, the guy said: “I am not saying this new ‘Tinder Swindler. I’m not a fraud and I am not an artificial. People do not understand me personally – so they really cannot court myself. I became merely one boy that wished to see certain females on Tinder. I am not saying so it beast.”
The Israeli native – whoever real name is Shimon Yehuda Hayut however, manage significantly less than a amount of aliases when making users toward dating app – conned women the guy met towards Tinder on the assuming he was the son of a millionaire diamond provider however, features rubbished brand new Netflix documentary as actually more like a great “made-right up movie.”
The fresh so-called conman got previously keeps in earlier times threatened in order to discharge court action facing his accusers, saying you to definitely things are “generally a lay.”
In response to the Netflix documentary: “I can proceed with the suit against your having discrimination and you can lies and, you realize, everything is dependent generally on the a lay. Which is it, this is how it is gonna be.”
Hayut – who before supported time in Finland for defrauding multiple lady – as well as recently guaranteed to discuss his or her own “region of the story”, before he vanished regarding social media platforms.
This new thus-named Tinder Swindler authored: “I could display my personal area of the facts in the next week once i provides fixed a knowledgeable and most respectful treatment for give they, each other for the with it people and myself.”
For the 2019, Hayut are detained inside Greece to possess traveling with a phony passport and you can deported to Israel, where he had been sentenced in order to prison to own 15 days for theft and you will forgery before released immediately after simply five weeks on account of new COVID-19 pandemic.
Brand new alleged conman had previously threatened in order to release legal action facing his accusers, claiming one things are “generally a lie.”
Critiques and you will suggestions was unbiased and you can goods are on their own selected. Postmedia can get earn an affiliate marketer commission away from sales generated as a result of hyperlinks in this article.
Simon Leviev: ‘I was maybe not the fresh ‘Tinder Swindler’ Back again to video clips
The 31-year-old convict – who was presumably fooled several females the guy fulfilled toward dating software Tinder away from a projected $10 billion – has just turned the subject of a hit Netflix documentary based on their situation in the and has insisted that is “perhaps not a scam and never a phony.”
Inside the a trailer to have having ‘Into the Edition’, he said: “I’m not brand new ‘Tinder Swindler. I am not saying a scam and you can I’m not a phony. People do not know myself – so they don’t court me personally. I found myself simply an individual child that wanted to see specific people on the Tinder. I am not that it beast.”
The latest Israeli local – whoever actual name is Shimon Yehuda Hayut however, operated under good quantity of aliases when designing pages to the matchmaking software – fooled lady he met to your Tinder on assuming he had been the fresh new boy from a millionaire diamond supplier however, has actually rubbished the fresh Netflix documentary as actually more like a beneficial “made-up motion picture.”


text:
The solar panel industry consumes massive amounts of physical silver, and now President Trump may have just thrown a wrench into the whole industry…
Editor’s Note: Analysts are only now just looking into how this may affect the silver market. For now, here’s the latest on what is being called “the first shot” in President Trump’s Trade War against China.
Here’s an explanation of silver used in the solar panel industry (from the Silver Institute) for anybody who needs to get up to speed on silver used in industry.
From Zero Hedge
President Donald Trump is once again burnishing his protectionist bona fides by slapping imported solar cells and washing machines with 30% tariffs – his most significant action taking aim at the world’s second-largest economy since he ordered an investigation into Chinese IP practices that could result in tariffs.
Acting on recommendations from US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Trump imposed the sliding tariffs. Solar imports will face a 30% tariff for the first year, then the tariff will decline to 15% by the fourth year. It also exempts the first 2.5 gigawatts of imported cells and modules, according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, washing machine tariffs will fluctuate on a quota-basis.
The news sent shares of First Solar, Sunpower and Canadian solar – all solar cell manufacturers – rocketing higher.
As the Associated Press explains, solar energy is booming in the US, but installers of solar-power systems have been worried that Trump would undercut them by ordering the tariffs, which will raise the cost of their inventory. These companies previously benefited from the global solar-panel glut, while manufacturers of solar panels outside of China suffered.
One green-technology research firm estimated that tariffs could cost up to 88,000 US jobs related to installing solar-power systems.
However, two US-based subsidiaries of foreign companies have argued that the glut, engineered by China, has harmed manufacturers in other parts of the world.
The decision to impose the tariffs is essentially the first shot in a brewing trade war with China, one expert suggested.
“It’s the first opportunity the president has had to impose tariffs or any sort of trade restriction,” Clark Packard, a trade policy expert at the R Street Institute in Washington, said ahead of the decision. “He’s kind of pining for an opportunity.”
“Trump wants to show he’s tough on trade, so whatever duties or quotas he imposes will stick, whatever individual senators or congressmen might say,” Gary Hufbauer, a Washington-based senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said by email before the decision.
But by raising the cost of solar panels, Trump could deliver a huge setback to the solar energy industry, which has been gaining on oil, natural gas and coal in recent years. As Bloomberg noted, the move could handicap a $28 billion industry that relies on foreign solar panels for 80% of its supply. Fears that Trump would soon impose the tariffs inspired some companies to hoard inventory.
The duties are lower than the 35% rate the US International Trade Commission recommended in October after finding that imported panels were harming American manufacturers. The idea behind the tariffs is to raise the costs of cheap imports, particularly from Asia, and level the playing field for those who manufacture the parts domestically.
Late last year, Trump also slapped a massive 300% tariff on the C-Series jets produced by Canadian aerospace company Bombardier. That tariff was imposed following a complaint from Boeing to the trade commission.
* * *
We await China’s (or Malaysia’s) response…


text:
Malaysian Advertisers Association plans to expand its membership base
IN line with Malaysia’s move to become a high income nation by 2020, Malaysian Advertisers Association (MAA) is stepping up its initiatives to diversify its membership base to include small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which currently form the backbone of the country’s economy.
This has resulted in the recent entry of Business Network International (BNI) and the Malaysian Retail Chain Association (MRCA) as its affiliate members and the total membership of MAA hitting the 1,000 mark.
MAA president Margaret Au-Yong says the decision to include SMEs like the MRCA and BNI is to diversify its membership, which primarily consists of multinational corporations (MNCs).
“We are meeting the Government’s call in the next four years to be a developed nation and at the same time try to raise the bar in the advertising industry.
“MAA together with some its partners are constantly looking at ways to promote Malaysian brands and other marketing initiatives by local companies in the global market.
“By bringing in SMEs, for example, we can assist them in their branding and marketing efforts as we via our MNC members have the expertise to assist them in promoting their products and brands locally and abroad,’’ she tells StarBizWeek in an interview.
At the same time, Au-Yong adds the entry of BNI and MRCA and other SMEs will help its members, namely the MNCs to better understand the local business culture and entrepreneurship spirit as well as survival skills from SMEs as this group makes up more than 90% of business establishments in Malaysia.
One of the ways the association is looking at strengthening the advertising and marketing industry and enable more companies to gain global knowledge is by collaborating with the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA).
To this end, a global marketing conference will be held in Kuala Lumpur, the first of such event in South-East Asia.
The four-day event will be held from March 15 to 18 will show an impressive global line-up of marketers and thought-leaders that will aid the industry to greater success, she notes.
The conference also aims to highlight new ways to successfully engage the people within and externally, notably, employees as well as consumers to be advocates, content creators and distributors.
There will be host of renowned global speakers at the event.
The speakers, according Au-Yong will provide inspirational examples of innovation, new marketing platforms and initiatives from some of the world’s most exciting brands,
Among the speakers are AIRASIA Group CEO and founder Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, TATA Communications director, regional marketing, Asia Pacific Smita Gupta, HSBC regional head of marketing (Asia-Pacific) Suresh Balaji, Starcom MediaVest Group SE Asia, Chair, Asia Digital Leadership Team Jeff Siah and Mondelez regional marketing director (Latin America) Maria Mujica.
Every year the global marketer conference attracts over 500 delegates, which comprised of mainly local marketers and about 100 foreign delegates.
On another note, she says more seminars are being planned by MAA to highlight the various issues in the marketing and ad space and how best can one address these issues as well as the latest developments in the industry.
The recent forum organised by the association entitled Keeping It Legit! Self Regulation In Malaysian Advertising was well received by participants as the message echoed from the forum is for everyone, from product to media owner, to shoulder responsibility to protect the interest of the public interest as well as advertisers.
In a nutshell, ethical advertising is a collective effort.
MAA was also responsible in bringing some changes in the last Malaysia Effie Awards 2015 which saw introduction of the Global Effie Effectiveness Index, preliminary online judging and the introduction of the Brand of the Year award in a move to further boost the effectiveness of the awards, which is now in its eighth year running.
The Effie Awards is organised on a rotational basis every two years between MAA and the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As).
For this year, the awards will be organised by 4As.
Did you find this article insightful?


text:
Advocates for 3-D printing have called the technology revolutionary, the wave of the future and the next big thing. Now they can add "delicious" to that list.
Using new digital technology, a printer designed by researchers in England allows you to create your own designs on a computer and reproduce them physically in three dimensional form in chocolate. Building the chocolates up layer by layer, the 3-D printer uses special software that navigates the precise heating and cooling cycles needed to produce intricate cocoa sculptures.
"What makes this technology special is that users will be able to design and make their own products. In the long term it could be developed to help consumers custom- design many products from different materials but we've started with chocolate as it is readily available, low cost and non-hazardous. There is also no wastage as any unused or spoiled material can be eaten of course! From reproducing the shape of a child's favourite toy to a friend's face, the possibilities are endless and only limited by our creativity," said Liang Hao, a researcher at the University of Exeter, England, who lead the team that designed the chocolate printer.
3-D printing, also known as 3-D fabrication, began as a rare process used to make industrial models. However, in recent years, as the technology has become cheaper and available to the general public, people have 3-D printed clothing, toys and other objects. The printers expanded the materials they can process to include 3-D fabricated glass, metal and even scallop meat.
The research has presented many challenges. Chocolate is not an easy material to work with because it requires accurate heating and cooling cycles. These variables then have to be integrated with the correct flow rates for the 3-D printing process. Researchers overcame these difficulties with the development of new temperature and heating control systems.
A consumer-friendly interface to design the chocolate objects is also in development. Researchers hope that an online retail business will host a website for users to upload their chocolate designs for 3-D printing and delivery.
Designs need not start from scratch, and a web-based utility will also allow users to see designs created by others to modify for their own use.
This research has applications far beyond sweets, the precise temperature control developed for Hao's chocolate printer will open up many other materials for use in the 3-D fabrication revolution.


text:
You can e-mail Sainsbury's (see item 2) via www.sainsburys.co.uk/contatus or give them a ring on their Customer Careline 0800 636 262 or text: 07730 80 5000
1.GM actions worldwide
2.Protestors dump a thousand pints of GM milk on supermarket bosses
1.GM actions worldwide
Monsanto Drops GE Canola in Austalia http://weblog.greenpeace.org/ge/archives/001302.html#more http://www.greenpeace.org.au/truefood/news2.html
Italy Marathon Blockade Ends in Italy Our marathon action in Chioggia Italy came to an end after three days of protest when Italian police intervened to end our blockade of the Panama-registered bulk carrier, Keoyang Majesty, which is carrying 40,000 thousands tons of Argentinean GE Soya. http://weblog.greenpeace.org/ge/archives/001303.html#more
No way out for Bunge soya Soya processors Cereol/Bunge visited for the second time by our campaginers, this time 30 international activists have occupied the international company's soya processing facility in Ancona, Italy. http://www.greenpeace.it
UK Jamie Oliver and sixty cows invade Sainsbury's Our UK celebrity chef look alike 'Jamie Oliver' and a herd of cows invade Sainsbury's London HQ, the supermarket giant has agreed to meet with us to discuss how it can remove GE from its milk supply. http://weblog.greenpeace.org/ge/archives/001319.html#more http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/contentlookup.cfm?ucidparam=20040517102528&Menu Point=D-I
UK Dairy industry could ditch GE overnight Greenpeace report was produced in collaboration FARM a campaigning organisation for independent and family farms. It explains how the UK dairy industry can ditch its reliance on imported GE feed by a simple switch to a feed regime based on crops grown on-farm and regionally in the UK. While this transition is being made, the industry can immediately go independent of imported GE feed by switching to GE-free imports. http://weblog.greenpeace.org/ge/archives/001304.html#more
Germany Activists in Germany were forced to stop a blockade against the GE soya freighter 'Perast' which is carrying 26,000 tons of GE soya from Argentina this afternoon as two of our inflatables were destroyed, and the activists' lives endangered. The ship has docked in the port of Brake/Niedersachsen despite the valiant attempts of our volunteers and activists, who had to stop their protest when one of the inflatables sank.
http://weblog.greenpeace.org/ge/archives/001306.html#more http://www.greenpeace.org/deutschland/ New Zealand Ronald arrested and RW returns! Ronald McDonald has been arrested after locking himself to the gates of McDonalds' South Auckland distribution centre. http://weblog.greenpeace.org/ge/archives/001298.html#more http://www.greenpeace.org.nz/
2.'Jamie Oliver and 60 cows invade Sainsburys London HQ
Protestors dump a thousand pints of GM milk on supermarket bosses
Monday May 17th 2004
'Jamie Oliver' [famous TV chef who advertises for Sainsbury's] took a herd of cows to Sainsbury's London HQ this morning and told the supermarket giant - "GM milk ain't pukka."
The Greenpeace pantomime cows invaded the building while the Jamie lookalike dumped a thousand pints of Sainsbury's own-brand milk onto the pavement outside the HQ. The supermarket chain produces milk from cows fed on GM. The policy results in thousands of tonnes of GM feed being imported into Britain each year.
Greenpeace campaigners are now walking around the Holborn offices passing out DVDs to the company's senior management. The video includes messages from Sainsbury's customers demanding that the company stops supporting the GM industry by producing milk from cows fed on a diet of American GM.
Sarah North, a GM campaigner at Greenpeace, said: "Sainsbury's has ignored its customers, but it won't be able to ignore 'Jamie Oliver', a herd of cows and half a tonne of GM milk on its doorstep. The company says it leads the pack in producing quality foods, but it still supports the GM industry. Every year it sells millions of pints of own-brand milk that comes from cows fed on GM. Huge shipments of GM are coming into the country every month because retailers like Sainsbury's refuse to go completely GM-free."
The dumped milk was given to Greenpeace by Sainsbury's customers angry at the company's policy. On May 8th Greenpeace conducted milk exchanges outside 20 Sainsbury's stores where customers were given the chance to exchange GM milk for the organic alternative free of charge. Cities across the country have seen the Greenpeace herd protesting outside Sainsbury's under the banner: 'THERE'S SOMETHING SCARY IN THE DAIRY.'
A new report released last week showed that milk producers could go GM-free at no cost to consumers or dairy farmers. The added cost of less than 1p per litre could be easily absorbed by retailers, whose huge mark-ups on dairy lines could comfortably accommodate the switch. Marks & Spencer has already ensured its milk is sourced from cows fed on a non-GM diet.
Sarah North added: "Growing GM threatens the environment with irreversible contamination. Sainsbury's shouldn't be supporting this business. We're telling their staff that the company could go GM-free cheaply and easily. We'll stay in their HQ for as long as we can or until they agree to a meeting with us so we can explain why GM is bad news for the countryside, for customers and for their company."
For more information / pictures / footage contact Greenpeace on 0207 865 8255
New Greenpeace report - 'GM and Dairy Cow Feed' - available from www.greenpeace.org.uk
Go to a Print friendly Page
Email this Article to a Friend
Back to the Archive


text:
South Street Seaport
Originally published 08/08/2013
NEW YORK — The city has become an archaeological site, with thousands of artifacts such as an 18th-century bone toothbrush with animal hair bristles and wine and champagne bottles corked centuries ago unearthed to prove it.A copper half-penny and a pair of children’s shoes are some of the other remnants of early New York life workers discovered in lower Manhattan while digging to install new utilities for the growing residential and business South Street Seaport area....
- Dr. Saad Eskander's forced departure from Iraq's National Library and Archives deplored
- Nancy Cott selected as the next President-Elect of the Organization of American Historians
- Scholar calls ISIS destruction of antiquities an example of ethnic cleansing
- Historian Qingjia Edward Wang never thought he would one day write a book about chopsticks.
- Bernard Bailyn’s influence on the profession is hailed in the WSJ


text:
PM Narendra Modi's several received gifts are currently for sale at an online auction of mementos gifted to the Prime Minister. From Modi’s NCC alumni card, multiple models of the upcoming Ram temple in Ayodhya and a statue of the mascot of the recently-held Chess Olympiad in Chennai, there are over 1,200 items that you can have with the right bid.
The Javelin used by Neeraj Chopra at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games has been sold for a whopping Rs 1,50,00,000!
The online auction of over 1,200 such items, including a model statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and sporting memorabilia of the Commonwealth Games, started on Saturday and will go on till October 2.
The auction is being conducted through the web portal pmmementos.gov.in and it has one section that lists items under the head ‘Most Participated Auction’.
Highest bidding items
Many items on the website have thousands of bidders, and the bidding prices are up the roof!
Here are some items with high bidding quoted prices.
The T-shirt autographed by Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games Gold medallist Manish Narwal, last seen on Thursday (September 22) is being bidded for Rs 13,20,000.
The Black Marble sculpture of Subhash Chandra Bose is up for Rs 6,15,000.
Steps to register for the PM Mementos e-Auction to begin bidding:
- Step 1: Open https://pmmementos.gov.in
- Step 2: Click Signup tab
- Step 3: Accept the terms and conditions
- Step 4: Follow procedure to create account
- Step 5: Go ahead and start bidding!


text:
One of World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth’s key features won’t go live when the expansion launches this coming week. Blizzard announced players are going to have to wait a while to experience Battle for Stromgarde.
“Similar to other types of endgame content such as raids and rated PvP, the Battle for Stromgarde will not be immediately available at launch,” the studio said. “Instead, it’ll open a few weeks later.”
Blizzard went on to explain how the Horde and Alliance will take turns controlling the keep and assaulting it, offering players on both sides a rotation for the PvE scenario. Warfronts remain one of the lesser understood new systems in this expansion despite Blizzard hyping them strongly during last year’s Battle for Azeroth reveal.


text:
Built on a rectangular plot of 2,370 square meters, the Polish boxed building is the 2015 Expo’s fourth biggest pavilion. Its humble but evocative patterned exterior is a good magnet for visit
The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox.
Teamsters Local 25 and the Massachusetts Military Support Foundation are bringing some much-needed help to tornado vict
Since March this year, two new crate washing lines at Hessing Supervers in Zwaagdijk have been processing 40,000 crates every day. These are serious numbers for the vegetable processor that has
Haith's materials handling division has reported a record-breaking 2021....
The company, which currently has five mobile baggers in production for some of the UK's leading aggregate suppli
by Nicholas Upton | Dec 29, 2021 | Finance, Meal Kits, News
Food delivery has a packaging problem, and it’s not just sad fries. For nearly every single order, there is at least one si
CHINA - 2021/12/09: In this photo illustration the American electronic commerce and cloud computing company Amazon logo seen displayed on a smartphone with an economic stock exchange index graph
Animal Rescue Corps — a national animal protection nonprofit — rescued 10 dogs and more than 27 cats today from desperate conditions at a Tennessee property after the owner died and the fami
In August 2020, Tosca, a specialist in reusable packaging and supply chain solutions, acquired Contraload NV, a company in plastic pallet pooling in the United Kingdom and European Union.


text:
by Rieva Lesonsky, Small Business Trends
At NextCon17 conference, Brian Solis explained why disruption has given us so many new tech trends and “so many new things to learn.” “The foundation of business is so dated, we need to unlearn [what we know] in order to do things differently.”
The Evolution of Customer Experience
One shift in business behavior has been the swing toward a more customer-centric way of doing business. This change has made “customer experience” (or CE) one of the most popular business buzzwords of the last few years. Solis dubs this transformational change in customer behavior “Digital Darwinism.”
He explained, “As technology evolves, society evolves. And all that evolution impacts social behaviors.”
How do you become more customer-centric? Here’s some of what you need to know.
Change Your Perspective
Solis maintains in order to deliver a great customer experience, you need to shift your perspective. This involves changing how you think about customers in general.
“When we’re talking about CE, we have to get out of the mind of work personas,” Solis said. The things businesses seem to miss, when making decisions [that will affect customers], is that they are not their customers; they’re stakeholders, which is the least empathetic [perspective] possible.”
How to Become More Customer-centric
Here are some tips Solis suggests to become more customer-centric in crafting your customer experience.
- Start by putting yourself “in the mind, body and soul of your customers — in every moment.”
- Companies need to “think about not what’s best for the business, but what’s best for the customers.”
- It’s not about you. “Customers don’t care about your company’s silos or departments,” Solis said. They care about what you can do for them, he said.
- Ask yourself, “What can we do better?”
- Take a “step back and see things differently.”
Everyone’s a Competitor
Businesses today face a myriad of new competitors.
“We all compete against companies like Uber and Airbnb,” he said.
And this is the case even if you’re not in the same industry.
“Those companies set the standard for how people want to be engaged today.” Solis added. And the customer experience they deliver changes how customers perceive they are treated by all businesses.
Essentially all businesses “are competing against every company that’s breaking boundaries,” Solis said. That’s why businesses must “rethink everything” in order to survive, he said.
All innovation starts “with the customer — and with a shift in perspective,” Solis said. Notice a pattern?
Solis has created a “Pyramid of Purposeful Innovation.” The pyramid explains business innovation this way: “Fix what people dislike. Learn what they love. And give them something they didn’t know they wanted and now can’t live without.”
Why Customers Leave
During his presentation, Solis suggested a few important reasons customers leave:
- 63 percent of consumers may leave a brand “due to irrelevant content. Of that group, 41 percent would consider ending that brand relationship due to irrelevance — and 22 percent already have.”
- 71 percent of consumers say inconsistent cross-channel messaging affects their experience, according to Forrester.
- 10 percent of consumers say inconsistencies from device to device would make them leave that brand. (In other words, make sure customer experience is consistently good whether customers reach you via desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone.)
- Only 35 percent of businesses map their customers’ journeys to find problems. You have to navigate your customers’ journeys to understand their perspective.
Customers are emotional. They often feel anxious. How they experience your business is an emotional experience for them. To understand their emotions, you need to have empathy for them.
“Modern companies must be relevant, useful, trustworthy, empathetic and respectful,” Solis added.
All About Apps
Due to the customer experience other companies provide, today’s customers have different expectations of your business.
- If you offer an app, they’re comparing it to apps from Google and Apple. Gen C is looking at their phones 1,500 times a week, or 177 minutes a day. That shapes what they expect to see from your business.
- Apps are designed to be addictive — to get consumers to open them and share.
- Customer experience is not just about a digital experience, but an in-store one as well. However, that doesn’t mean digital doesn’t count. Solis explained, “Customers want to feel like physical spaces are designed for their digital lifestyle.”
- This changes how consumers perceive images as well. “The brain sees things quicker if [they’re] visualized like an app,” Solis added.
Mindset is Everything
Understanding the customer mindset is not about what we think matters. It’s about what the customer cares about. And our businesses must follow this new mindset. Solis explained, “Innovation is all the work you do to conform to expectations and aspirations of people as they evolve instead of making them conform to your legacy perspectives, assumptions, processes and metrics of success.”
Customer experience is obviously complex. Solis calls it “the sum of all engagements” you have with your customers, adding “The only way you can change your business and innovate is to look at things differently. Flip your perspective.”
Solis’ presentation resonated with the audience at NextCon17. Small business expert Barry Moltz added, “I think Brian Solis is right on. This is a customer experience economy.”
But ultimately, we need to remember, that though we’re undergoing a digital transformation, technology is not the only solution.
“We’re talking about how to make human beings feel better. In a world of machines, humanity is the killer app,” Solis added.
Images: Rieva Lesonsky/Small Business Trends


text:
E-cigarette giant JUUL's chief executive is apologising to parents amid worries of an epidemic of vaping among children.
RNZ revealed last week that JUUL plans to launch in New Zealand - to convenience stores, petrol stations, dairies and possibly its own stores - depending on regulation.
JUUL's sleek device - not much bigger than a flash drive, which has been called the iPhone of vaping - has 75 percent of the US vaping market, and is paired with flavoured 5 percent nicotine "pods".
- Read the second part of Guyon Espiner's Smoke and Mirrors investigation, interviewing JUUL vice president of international growth for Asia-Pacific, Ken Bishop
The US's Food and Drug Administration has demanded JUUL, along with four other smaller vaping companies, address the issue of youth uptake. In San Francisco, where JUUL began in 2015, e-cigarettes have been banned.
In a CNBC documentary airing in the US today, the company's chief executive Kevin Burns said he would tell parents he was sorry their child was using the product.
"It's not intended for them, I hope there was nothing that we did that made it appealing to them. As a parent of a 16-year-old, I'm sorry for them and I have empathy for them in terms of the challenges that they're going through.
He said it was not intended for children, and more research was needed into the health impact of vaping.
"Frankly, we don't know today, we have not done the long-term longitudinal testing that we need to do."


text:
Rez and Child of Eden creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi is no longer producing games. Q Entertainment, which Mizuguchi co-founded in 2003, told Eurogamer that he is becoming more of a spokesperson for the company since leaving active production.
Mizuguchi's last game was Child of Eden, a musical shooter which was well-received by critics but sold only 34,000 copies in its release month of June 2011, according to the NPD Group. Q Entertainment director Nobuhiko Shimizu said Mizuguchi has become more involved in academia since its release, though he retains an active role at the company.
Q Entertainment's most recent game, Lumines Electronic Symphony, was led by producer James Mielke who has since left the company. Mizuguchi said the company is looking to continue its musical focus in a new genre.
"We are now thinking about combining music games with card-battle games," Shimizu said. "We now have several productions to develop that kind of game."


text:
Poundland Shares Drop as U.K.’s CMA Weighs Probe of 99p DealAoife White
Poundland Group Plc shares dropped as much as 5.6 percent in London trading after U.K. antitrust regulators said they would start an in-depth probe of its merger with 99p Stores if it didn’t offer any concessions.
Poundland, which is buying 99p Stores for 55 million pounds ($81.6 million), would eliminate its closest competitor with the deal and reduce choice, value and service for shoppers, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority said in a statement on Thursday.
“Given the potential impact on customers, we will now open a detailed investigation into this merger unless the parties offer suitable undertakings,” the CMA said in the statement. “After the transaction they will only face close competition from one other single price retailer with national scale.”
The transaction shows the attraction of discount retailing in the U.K. as a growing number of shoppers switch to bargain stores with fixed prices. Poundland, which serves an average of 5 million customers from more almost 600 outlets, has said it sees potential for more than 1,000 stores in the U.K. The deal would add another 2 million weekly customers and 251 stores.
“Poundland is carefully considering the CMA’s announcement” and “will make a further announcement in due course,” the company said in a statement.
99p Stores didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
Poundland shares were down 0.8 percent to 358.2 pence at 12:37 p.m. in London after falling as low 340.7 pence.


text:
Car Fires Drop As Scrap Prices Rise
The Rise in scrap metal prices over the last 10 years has helped to dramatically reduce the number of cars that have been set on fire by vandals on the streets of the UK, according to new figures.
Figures released from the London Fire Brigade show a huge drop in the number of car fires the service has been called out to in the last ten years. In 2013, the service attended 81 deliberate car fires each week, compared to a massive 644 per week in 2003/04.
One of the main reasons determined for the dramatic decline is the increase of scrap metal prices over the past decade, making scrap cars much more valuable due to their high metal content.
If you have a car, van or motorbike you no longer need- whether it’s scrap or roadworthy, Allstar Breakers can provide the solution to unlocking the most value from your vehicle.
Allstar Breakers is a North West collection service that offers the best prices for unwanted and scrap cars. We don’t just scrap cars though- we will remove any quality, re-sellable parts of the car, and sell them back on the market. All parts that are removed are thoroughly tested before publicising on the used car parts market.


text:
(CN) - Scotland's plan to curb problem drinking by pricing liquor based on its alcohol content violates the EU's commerce rules if less restrictive measures can be passed, the European Court of Justice ruled Wednesday.
In 2012, the Scottish parliament proposed legislation setting a minimum retail price for all alcoholic beverages in hopes of curbing alcoholism and binge drinking among Scots. Lawmakers codified the law a year later by setting the minimum price at about 76 cents per unit of pure alcohol the beverage contains.
The Scotch Whisky Association and others in the industry challenged the legislation as incompatible with EU law, since it could harm trade between Scottish producers and other member states and distort competition in the industry.
Additionally, the producers argued that EU law already requires that wine be priced by market forces - forces that would be undermined by Scotland's pricing regime. The producers said Scottish lawmakers could achieve their goal of fighting alcoholism by taxing liquor instead of regulating its minimum selling price.
The Scottish Court of Session referred the case to the European Court of Justice for its opinion on whether Scotland's minimum pricing scheme works under EU law.
Following its adviser's opinion from earlier this year, the EU high court on Wednesday found that the scheme would significantly restrict the market - something that might be avoided by adopting a tax measure raising the price of alcohol products rather than a minimum price per unit of alcohol.
While the Luxembourg-based court noted that Scotland's public health objectives were sound, the minimum pricing scheme could close the U.K. market to alcoholic beverages produced in other member states - a violation of the EU's principle of the free movement of goods.
And although the pricing scheme would raise the price of cheap alcohol - potentially curbing binge drinking and chronic alcoholism - other less trade-restrictive methods might do the job too, the court ruled.
Furthermore, the justices said an alcohol tax rather than the minimum pricing scheme would allow retailers the freedom to set their own prices.
Ultimately, the Scottish court that referred the case to the Court of Justice must decide whether an alcohol tax would protect public health and curb problem drinking better than the minimum pricing scheme, the EU high court ruled.
Read the Top 8
Sign up for the Top 8, a roundup of the day's top stories delivered directly to your inbox Monday through Friday.


text:
Shop Qatar is the first major festival in Qatar in 18 months, with discounts of up to 90 percent at 15 locations throughout the country.
Qatar’s annual festival Shop Qatar is a celebration of the Gulf state’s diverse retail,
beauty, and entertainment choices, featuring an array of events in and around
some of the country’s most famous shopping malls.
The annual event aims to promote Qatar’s beauty and leisure sector as well as
showcase its generous hospitality. Shop Qatar also offers a variety of captivating
workshops and masterclasses and promises some intriguing surprises for
Four weekly lottery draws will see hundreds of prizes, including cash and cars
valued more than QAR 4 million awarded to lucky winners in Qatar.
On September 17, the first raffle draw took place at Doha Festival City, with winners
receiving brand new cars, mall gift vouchers, PlayStation 5 consoles, and much
So far, Shop Qatar has also hosted super star pop singers Nancy Ajram and Wael
Kfoury at two concerts on October 1 and October 7 at the Qatar National
Convention Centre (QNCC).
Bollywood celebrity designer Manish Malhotra was also present at a trunk show that
was held at the Mondrian hotel, where fashion enthusiasts were able to get up close
and personal with the luxury items.
Shop Qatar 2021 also hosted celebrity makeup artist Bassam Fattouh for a makeup
master class at the Park Hyatt Doha on 21 September. The live session uncovered
beauty secrets and highlighted some of his signature makeup techniques, allowing
the audience to master the art of makeup application.
Shop Qatar Design Week is set to take place for the first time in Msheireb
Downtown and will feature pop-up shops, workshops, and two international fashion
displays to celebrate the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture.
Pop-up shops will be featured over a one week period from 3-8 October. Workshops
include candle making on 3 October, denim workshops from 4-5 October, perfume
workshops from 6-7 October, and design workshops during the final days of the
week from 8-9 October.
Instagram influencer Ghadeer Alsultan will also be holding a masterclass at the Park
Hyatt on 7 October, while renowned Indian-American fashion designer Naeem Khan
will be hosting a private viewing at the Doha Design District on October 8.


text:
In a lab in Dubai, a Russian entrepreneur and a Ukrainian material scientist are working together on a project that may very well revolutionise how the world will interact with technology. Their mission: develop smart contact lenses that fuse biotechnology and electronics to unlock a realm of possibilities seen only in science fiction.
Roman Axelrod and Valentyn Volkov founded their startup, XPANCEO, back in 2021 in Moscow to develop these smart contact lenses. But the outbreak of the war in Ukraine a year later saw both men pack up with their team and head straight to Dubai where they are continuing their research and development (R&D).
The initial idea for smart contact lenses came from Axelrod, who, after successfully exiting his AI and robotics startup in Russia, wondered what the computer of the future would look like.
“Today, the smartphone is the most popular computer of humanity, but they are insufficient in terms of the goals humanity has set for the next 100 years,” says Axelrod who adds that smartphones are “old, outdated and simply bad. The best device is one that is invisible, weightless, and absolutely private. One infinite screen that connects all devices. So I started looking for people to help with this mission.”
His search led him to Volkov, a world expert in nanophotonics and advanced materials, with over 20-years of experience in the field.
“I initially had the impression that Roman was quite eccentric. However, after engaging in conversation with him, I found it challenging to disengage. It soon became apparent that my initial perception was inaccurate, and I developed a genuine curiosity about his interesting ideas,” he says.
At the time, Volkov was director of the Centre for Photonics and 2D materials at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology exploring the optical properties of van der waals and 2D atomically thin materials. Joining Axelrod was a risk, but one that would allow him to discover and invent a new type of computer and bring Axelrod’s vision to life.
A new computer
Technology typically has 10-year cycles before a revolutionary new device or gadget comes out to disrupt consumer habits. These cycles reflect a continuous search for efficiency, adaptability, and a more natural way to interact with technology. From desktop computers to smartphones and smart watches, devices are getting smaller and more powerful. It would be easy to dismiss smart contact lenses as fantasy but it was not too long ago when many dismissed the need for mobile phones, believing that the landline was sufficient. When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, critics believed its lack of physical buttons would spell its demise. Since then, consumers have become dependent on their phones and now smart watches have become common, interacting with mobile phones to provide real time data on the user’s health and wellbeing.
“The next big thing that will come out is an XR/spatial computing device operated by sight, voice, gestures, and mind,” says Axelrod. “We have two possible options, either anything as a screen or eyes as a screen. From my point of view, it will evolve simultaneously. In five to 15 years from now, we will be able to use any surface as a screen and also deliver content directly to the retina.”
XR, or extended reality, is an umbrella term that encompasses various immersive technologies, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). Virtual reality replaces the real world with a simulated environment, augmented reality overlays digital information onto the real world, and mixed reality merges digital objects with the physical environment in a way that they interact and coexist.
Currently, such experiences are provided through headsets and goggles like Meta’s Oculus range and Apple’s Vision Pro, but these headsets present a physical barrier with the real world and too much of an immersive experience to make them a viable “computer” for daily life.
For Axelrod, such gadgets are a “dead end. The form factor is very important. One shouldn’t look like an idiot with a limited range of view”.
Google’s Glass was intended to offer an AR experience without a bulky headset, but “it was built by techies for techies,” says Axelrod. “The hardware itself for 2011 was decent, but you looked like an idiot, an alien and there was nothing to do with those glasses. It was great hardware, but I couldn’t do anything with it.” For a wearable to succeed, “the product has to offer a use case that is so convenient that the average Joe will consider using this new product instead of cellphones.”
The use cases for smart contact lenses are many, from XR in gaming and education to healthcare and sports, scenarios where real-time feedback and data is important. The concept is not novel. In 2014, Google revealed it was working on smart lenses to measure blood sugar, before cancelling the project four years later, while both Samsung and Sony have filed patents for smart lenses. In the US, InWith Corporation and Innovega are startups developing smart contact lenses. Mojo Vision, which has raised more than $226 million, recently put its plans on hold to develop lenses and instead pivoted to micro-LED technology. Sensimed is currently the only company with the approval to sell its smart contact lenses, which measure eye pressure to determine glaucoma.
XPANCEO’s approach differs from its competitors in that it is working to create a new material for its lenses, one thin enough to fit comfortably on the eye, with enough computing power to enable different use cases like enhancing the user’s vision in lowlight, as well as a battery life to last the whole day.
“The perfect contact lens should be like the normal one we have right now,” says Volkov. “We are building the gadget of tomorrow with the work tools of today. You improve your skills during the process and we are trying to use the best of our skills. Sometimes it works, sometimes we have a problem. The idea is great which makes it a good motivation.”
The first iteration of XPANCEO’s contact lenses will allow for lowlight and enhanced vision. The second will focus on health with the ability to track markers like stress, blood sugar, body temperature and dry eyes. The third iteration will offer full functionality, with the ability to show visual content on the lenses. But there are both technological and biological hurdles to overcome. XPANCEO is essentially trying to shrink a smartphone down into a contact lens that is compatible with the biological environment of the human eye.
Even if Volkov and his team manage to develop a new material to enable this, it may be years before regulatory approvals can allow such a device onto the market, especially if it is classed as a medical device. Concerns over privacy will also need to be addressed since the lenses will have the ability to record video and take pictures, but this issue can be overcome if the lenses turn a different colour when that happens, alerting others that the user is recording.
The company has a few financial backers and will soon start raising investment to fund its research and development and launch its prototype.
“We have a very strong research team. The aim is to not only create this new level gadget, but to produce a quite a lot of knowledge,” says Volkov. “We are going to use new materials. The Stone Age finished not because they ran out of stones, but because new materials were discovered. It is important to put on the table the prototype, because if you have nothing then you have nothing to improve.”
The company is partnering with two universities in the UAE to gain access to their labs and provide an opportunity for their students to work with XPANCEO. Such collaborations are essential if a deeptech ecosystem can thrive in the region. Both founders are keen to contribute to the knowledge economy of the UAE, ranking 8th in the country in the Nature Index which highlights the most prolific institutions in high-quality research publishing. The pair are not alone in this quest. Since the outbreak of the war, thousands of Russians have relocated to the UAE, moving their businesses here, among them are many deeptech companies offering sophisticated solutions.
“When you do something related to new materials, to serious science, to new gadgets, you will be seen on the radars of government and big tech companies. We are not here to create the next delivery of pet food or fintech, we are doing something very serious in material science and if we succeed, we understand we will be a target for big tech companies and armies around the world,” says Volkov. “The UAE is the new Switzerland. Such a company cannot emerge from less developed countries, it has to emerge from one of the top places in the world. Here, we can be sure to have enough time to create and develop a new company, we will not be badly acquired or face unforeseen challenges that may occur in certain regions.”