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The investment firm Skandia has commissioned Clive Anderson to record its terms and conditions in a novel attempt to bring them to customers’ attention.
New research, commissioned by the investment platform and fund manager, shows that only 7% of consumers read full online terms and conditions online, with 43% of those not reading saying they are boring or contain jargon they don’t understand. Of more concern, though, is the fact that 21% of consumers surveyed said that they had suffered as a result of ticking the terms and conditions box without having done their homework.
Skandia’s initiative highlights a wider point about how infrequently people read online terms and conditions before accepting them. A company spokeswoman said:
‘We know people find terms and conditions boring but they’re a necessary part of any contract and they’re particularly important where money is concerned. Our initiative with Clive marks the start of work to completely overhaul all our terms and conditions to make them easy to understand.
‘It’s a major job but it’s worth it because it will give our customers a greater understanding of what they’re signing up for.’
Failing to read the terms and conditions before making an online purchase can have serious consequences. One fifth of those surveyed had suffered as a result: 10% were locked into a longer contract than they expected and 5% lost money by not being able to cancel or amend hotels or holidays. With online shopping and online sales ever increasing, more and more consumers continue to be affected by this.
Joanne Lezemore, senior lawyer at Which? Legal Service, said:
‘The advice is simple: always read the terms and conditions of any contract before you sign it. It is really important you understand everything before you sign on the dotted line, as you could find yourself landed with extra fees or charges. While all consumer contracts are subject to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations, this doesn’t mean you can challenge a clause just because you didn’t know it was there, or you think it’s unfair – because it’s clearly written, you’re bound by it.
‘Terms and conditions are different on every website, so make sure you know what you’re agreeing to. People are often surprised to find out they’re obliged to pay to return unwanted items purchased online, as it is commonly stated in the terms and conditions – and these fees can be expensive.’
While online shopping and travel are obvious areas where T&Cs matter, energy companies and mobile phone companies can have important details buried in their smallprint too.
Listen to Clive Anderson
You can hear Clive Anderson explain why terms and conditions matter in Skandia’s YouTube video.
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KFC is giving away 3,000 more bottles of fried-chicken scented sunscreen.
On Monday, the chicken chain first gave away 3,000 free bottles of Col. Sanders’ Extra Crispy Sunscreen and according to the company, the bottles were all claimed within three hours.
As a result, KFC decided to give away another batch of the sunscreen at ExtraCrispySunscreen.com. On Friday, the company will again be giving away the sunscreen on a first-come, first-serve basis while supplies last. There’s a limit of one bottle per household.
“Suntan lotion always smells like lotion,” KFC CMO Kevin Hochman told Business Insider last week. “So we thought — why not make it smell like fried chicken?”
KFC is following up the sunscreen stunt with a new sponsored Snapchat filter, which will be available this Saturday. The filter is Colonel Sanders themed, allowing users to morph their faces into a version of the Colonel, complete with glasses, bowtie, goatee, and age spots.
The Snapchat filter and the sunscreen come on the heels of the June launch of an ad campaign starring George Hamilton as the “Extra Crispy Colonel,” promoting the chain’s Extra Crispy Chicken.
According to Hochman, response to the Extra Crispy Colonel’s ads “blew away [KFC’s] expectations,” prompting the company to look into new ways to extend the summer campaign. Then, someone suggested KFC sunscreen.
In addition to trying to evoke childhood memories of KFC’s distinctive scent, the chicken chain is taking notes from international marketing campaigns.
In May, KFC debuted edible nail polish in Hong Kong, as a play on the chain’s “finger lickin’ good” slogan. The promotion quickly went viral, providing an example of the marketing power that the limited run of a weird product mashup can have in the connected world of social media.
The fried-chicken sunscreen went similarly viral. KFC’s original tweet about the product has been retweeted more than 2,000 times, and the sunscreen has been featured in articles at publications including Business Insider, Fortune, USA Today, and even The Weather Channel.
But the real question is, how does the sunscreen actually smell?
Sniff-testers described the sunscreen as smelling like everything from maple syrup, to savoury spices, to Milk Bar’s cereal milk. One person said it smelled just as intended — like fried chicken’s crispy outer coating. Others had less positive things to say.
“I hate you, KFC. I hate you, Col. Sanders. And, I hate you, Uppercut Marketing of Addison, Texas, for creating this promotional campaign,” James Grebey wrote in his Insider review of what he calls the ‘putrid’ sunscreen. “I now associate the smell of Kentucky Fried Chicken with an inedible gloopy paste that I once put on my face in the name of #content, rather than food.”
In May 2015, KFC kicked off a new era in marketing with the reintroduction of Colonel Sanders. Since then, the brand has debuted a number of variations on the Colonel, a “Re-Colonelization” program, and new menu items including a take on the regional classic, Nashville Hot Chicken. Now, the brand has a sunscreen.
This may not be the end of KFC’s venture into creating mashups between fried chicken and everyday products. While Hochman says the chicken chain is “probably not” going to release an entire line of male grooming products, he hints the chicken chain may be releasing similar products in the future.
“Why wouldn’t you want to smell like fried chicken?” he asks.
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The Colony Meadery, which makes alcohol from fermented honey, plans to open the satellite location in time for Musikfest in August.
"We are extremely excited about this partnership," Colony CEO and co-Founder Greg Heller-LaBelle said in a news release. "Being able to locate in the world's oldest book store, with all of the Main Street Bethlehem attractions and customers, is going to be an incredible opportunity for us."
Moravian Book Shop Board of Trustees President Richard Santee said the partnership with Colony is historically appropriate.
"Mead was very likely produced and served in many homes of colonial Bethlehem and the greater Lehigh Valley during the 18th and 19th centuries," he said in the release.
The book shop, at 428 Main St., dates to 1745.
The Colony Meadery at the book shop will feature many of the same amenities as the current tasting room at the manufacturing facility on Harrison Street in Allentown, including mead tasting flights, mead on draft, bottles for on-premise and to-go consumption and light food for attendants. Seasonal outdoor seating also will be available and the business plans to sell mead during Musikfest, as well.
"Let's be honest: it's time for mead in a mug," Heller-LaBelle said.
The Colony Meadery opened with the Allentown Economic Development Corp.'s Bridgeworks Enterprise Center in December 2013.


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Electric cars are being lauded. Twice in two years, the Chevy Volt has edged out the Porsche 911 for highest customer satisfaction in Consumer Reports magazine; in 2011 the all-electric Nissan LEAF was named European Car of the Year; and in November 2012 the Tesla Model S was unanimously awarded Motor Trend’s “Car of the Year”. Sales, too, are on an upward climb. EVs, including both plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and all electric vehicles (AEVs) are, in some respects, already equipped to compete with the ICE.
All this portends a fundamental shift in the energy landscape. After a century, transportation is decoupling from its complete reliance on oil.
But there are still considerable challenges to deploying EVs, especially AEVs. Cars are one of the most regulated and technology-intensive industries in the world. Today’s vehicles are packed with dozens of computers, intricate emissions systems, even explosives (for air bags). They are constructed with thousands of components – many as complicated as a modern smart phone, iPad or solar cell – that must blend together seamlessly (with complete dependability) over the course of hundreds of thousands of miles and decades of consumer abuse. Building the supply chains, regulatory institutions and competing infrastructure to support a new “EV ecosystem” is an ongoing challenge. After all, almost 100 years have been invested in ecosystems that support the ICE. Still, the underlying drivers of energy security and environmental protection that support electrification are strong.
One of the major focuses at the US Department of Energy (DOE) is overcoming the barriers to widespread EV adoption. The DOE’s “EV Everywhere” initiative brings together stakeholders ranging from research labs, to automakers, to EV deployment communities to tip the scales in favour of electrification.
The market in comparative perspective
How are EVs performing in the market today? In a month-to-month comparison, the Chevy Volt is selling almost twice as many cars as the original hybrid Prius did upon its US introduction. Part of the Volt’s early success likely stems from the fact that, like the Prius, it uses an ICE to surmount the range limitations of batteries and current lack of charging infrastructure. But the Volt’s success also demonstrates consumer demand for electrification.
AEVs, with no supplemental ICE, are a bigger challenge. They have shorter range and batteries that are still expensive and slow to charge. Still, the benefits to full electrification are considerable. Sunlight, coal, biomass, trash and natural gas can all be readily converted into electricity and thus fuel an AEV – not so for an ICE. They have the potential to be cheaper and easier to maintain than either ICEs or PHEVs. But to compete, AEVs need sustained commitment from government, automakers, electric utilities and other stakeholders and a willingness to take risks (and occasionally fail) in pursuit of these ends.
Federal EV policy post-stimulus
The Obama Administration’s EV Everywhere initiative builds on programmes that have already invested several billion dollars in grants and loans for new battery and electric drive research, deployment and component manufacturing plants. These enabled the success of EVs like the Tesla and the Volt – as has a federal tax credit of up to US$ 7,500 for EV buyers.
The batteries in today’s hybrids and other EVs are the fruits of decades of research – much of that DOE supported. To continue the progress, the DOE is launching a new “innovation hub” for batteries that will fund up to US$ 120 million over five years for energy storage research.
DOE is also promoting a “no regrets” policy of EV infrastructure deployment – encouraging companies to install the ducting and electrical systems in new buildings that will facilitate rapid installation of EV charging stations as the electrified fleet expands. Incorporating these capabilities can lead to substantial benefits and savings for businesses in the long term and improve the experience of future patrons of apartment buildings, shopping malls and garages.
A global challenge
But realizing the vision of EV Everywhere will require collective action by a host of stakeholders around the world. Cities and states have the power to promote deployment in their own communities. California’s Air Resources Board leads the nation’s most aggressive state-level EV deployment effort with its Zero Emission Vehicle mandate and will be a key player in the global market. Local and state governments can provide EVs with access to high-occupancy vehicle lanes or institute congestion pricing schemes that would allow EVs preferential entry into city centres – as London does today. This can reduce noise, improve local air quality and further incentivize EV deployment.
However, it is important to remember that an EV is not a cell phone or an iPad. The technology hurdles are higher and the scale of the challenge bigger. But a tipping point may have already been reached – uptake of EVs is accelerating. The pace of deployment will likely be heavily dependent on policy, and the DOE goal is to work with American industry, cities and states to put in place the incentives that will support a flourishing US EV market by 2025. By then, millions of EVs could be deployed in the United States – and eventually, everywhere.


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Results for - Holiday Shopping Will Be Different This Year Due To Coronavirus
3,236 voters participated in this survey
It’s safe to say the 2020 holiday season will be a completely different experience. Many Americans will skip their annual trip home to visit family as a precaution against COVID-19, while others will be hoping for the Christmas miracle of a full-time job.
There will be big changes to the retail landscape, too. Whether you’re planning a scaled-back holiday or expect to celebrate the same as always, here’s what you should know about shopping and saving money through the end of the year.
1. Three-quarters of Americans plan to shop online this year, according to the RetailMeNot survey. More than 88% said they will not shop the traditional in-store doorbuster deals on Thanksgiving. Are you planning on doing most of your holiday shopping online?
2. Though clothing and shoes will be popular buys, people will spend less than usual on these categories when it comes to gifts for others, according to analysis by cash-back company Rakuten. Rather than traditional gifts this year, "shoppers will look for items or experiences that bring them closer to family and friends," said Dana Marineau, chief marketing officer and consumer and money-saving expert at Rakuten Rewards. She predicts that items such as tablets for video chatting, gaming consoles and games, streaming subscriptions and future trips will be most popular.Are you planning on buying any of these as gifts?
3. Unlike previous years, Marineau said, you can expect to find heavy discounts on nearly every product category, not just electronics and housewares. "There is a ton of excess apparel inventory that retailers need to move through, as well as shoes and accessories," she explained. "It's a great opportunity to pick up some 'for me' items while shopping for gifts for others." Have you noticed more discounts on clothing/shoes recently?
4. According to Pastorek, there's already been an upward trend this year in the use of "buy now, pay later" financing options such as Affirm, Afterpay and Klarna. These services allow shoppers to break down purchases into weekly or monthly installments, often with no interest, rather than pay for their carts in full. Are you planning on using a buy now pay later option when holiday shopping?


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BBDO’s chairman and CEO of the Americas, Troy Ruhanen has been promoted to the agency’s corporate parent Omnicom as an executive VP. In the new role m Ruhanen will be driving cross-agency collaboration across Omnicom’s largest clients.
Ruhanen will report to Omnicom CEO John Wren. Ruhanen was also the lead on BBDO’s billion-dollar AT&T account.
Currently there is no replacement for Ruhanens role. He first joined BBDO in December 2004. He took on the role of CEO of Americas in August 2011. Prior to that, he was deputy chairman of North America. Prior to BBDO, the Australian was managing director of Leo Burnett in Sydney.
According to Wren, Ruhanen’s “global experience in multiple categories including consumer packaged goods, auto, telecom, beverage and technology is perfect for the role” of strengthening relationships with big clients.
(Photo courtesy: Ad Week)


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In 22 years Bob's Discount Furniture has grown from one 8,000 square foot store in Newington, Connecticut to forty-two locations along the east coast.
With two new locations joining the three already in the greater-D.C. area, residents have ample opportunity to furnish their homes with the same great deals and the same great styles that their favorite team furnishes their stadium with.
As the Official Furniture Store of the Washington Redskins, Bob's outfitted FedExField's Joe Gibbs Club Level with brand new burgundy chairs and high top tables for the 2012 season.
But they didn't stop there; the set of the Mike Shanahan Coaches Show was in need of a face lift and what better way to update it than with furniture from Bob's.
"We were looking for new set pieces for a more comfortable and relaxed look," said Larry Michael, senior vice president and executive producer of media, as well as one of the hosts of The Mike Shanahan Coach's Show.
Walking into the Falls Church location was comparable to entering a home furnishing palace, complete with snacks to nibble on while shopping for the perfect addition to your home.
"They treated us like royalty, despite the manager being a Dallas fan," Michael said with a smile. "There were a lot of options, so it took a while to pick out new pieces."
A helpful staff member rearranged floor samples to create the new look and feel for the studio, until the Redskins.comTV staff found the perfect combination.
Previously, *The Mike Shanahan Coach's Show *used director's chairs which made the set look stiff and rigid. Now it is outfitted with three black "Jessica" chairs and a "Matinee" cocktail and end table set.
"It gives more of a comfortable look and feel to the show," Michael explained, also noting that the show's ratings were up with the new set.
Whether that was thanks to an NFC East title or how much the fans loved the new furniture, the furniture looks great.
Check out Bob’s Discount Furniture to put assemble your own winning combination today!
You can also check out the new set of the Mike Shanahan Coaches Show online at www.redskins.com, or during the season when it airs at 7:30 PM on Saturday nights.


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Uber Imploding: Chief Business Officer Resigns As Kalanick Plans “Leave Of Absence”
The uber implosion at Uber continues.
Two days after it emerged that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick had fired off a bizarre email in 2013 to hundreds of employees where he listed the conditions under which they could have sex with each other at a company outing in Miami, the WSJ reports that not only is Uber Chief Business Officer Emil Michael said to resign on Monday, just two days after it was reported that Uber’s head of finance Gautam Gupta was departing to take a position at OpenDoor, but that embattled Chief Executive Travis Kalanick “will discuss taking a possible leave of absence when the board of directors of the embattled ride-hailing company meets Sunday morning.”
From the WSJ:
Uber Technologies Inc. executive Emil Michael, one of Chief Executive Travis Kalanick’s closest confidants, is planning to resign as soon as Monday amid an ongoing investigation into the company’s workplace culture, according to people familiar with matter.
Mr. Michael, as chief business officer, helped oversee broad strategy initiatives including mergers and acquisitions and fundraising. He joined Uber in 2013 from Klout Inc., which rates users’ online reputation, and had worked as an adviser to technology companies.
Also on the agenda of today’s meeting of the seven-person board is a vote on a series of recommendations from a report prepared by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder regarding its workplace.
It was uncertain whether Mr. Kalanick would ultimately take the leave or whether the board would approve of such a measure, which would require finding a temporary replacement in short order.?
Following a wave of “setbacks and scandals” that have besieged the ride-hailing service earlier this year, many executives have left the company. Uber has been trying to hire a deputy for Mr. Kalanick after a leaked video in February showed Mr. Kalanick berating an Uber driver. Uber is also seeking a CFO.
As noted recently, here is a snapshot of some of the most notable scandals that have emerged, involving the world’s most valuable private company:
- Another tale of sexism and unacceptable workplace behavior in Silicon Valley company has emerged. This time it’s at Uber, according to an explosive blog post published on Sunday by a former company engineer named Susan Fowler Riggetti.
- Uber’s newly-hired VP of engineering Amit Singhal was asked to, and did, resign on Monday after the company learned from Recode that he was accused of sexual harassment shortly before leaving Google a year ago. Here’s more on the difficult position of former employers in this case.
- A video showing Uber CEO Travis Kalanick rudely arguing with a long-time driver at the end of his ride was published by Bloomberg. “I need leadership help,” Kalanick said in an apology he issued shortly after.
- Susan Fowler Rigetti, the former Uber engineer who wrote of discrimination, said she’s hired attorneys after a new law firm began to investigate her claims. Uber confirmed it has hired Perkins Coie, which reports to former A.G. Eric Holder, who’s leading the investigation.
- Uber said on Thursday that it will finally apply for a DMV permit to test self-driving cars in California after its cars’ registrations were revoked in December because it refused to get the permit.
- Charlie Miller, one of the two famous car hackers who joined Uber’s Advanced Technology Center in August 2015, announced he’s leaving the company.
- The New York Times uncovered a secret Uber program called Greyball, through which the company uses software and data to evade law enforcement in cities.
- Keala Lusk, a former Uber engineer, published a blog post detailing how her female manager mistreated her, signaling that the company’s problematic culture isn’t limited to the men who work there.
- Ed Baker, Uber’s head of product and growth, resigned. Though the reason is unclear, he was allegedly seen kissing another employee three years ago, which was anonymously communicated to board member Arianna Huffington, according to Recode.
- A report outlines a trip by a group of Uber employees to a Seoul karaoke-escort bar in 2014, which included company CEO Travis Kalanick and his girlfriend, Gabi Holzwarth. After arriving, several male employees picked escorts to sit with, and went to sing karaoke. Uncomfortable, a female marketing manager, who was part of the group, left after a couple of minutes, while Holzwarth and Kalanick left after an hour.
- California regulators have recommended that Uber be fined $1.13 million for failing to investigate and/or suspend drivers who are reported by a passenger to be intoxicated. The state requires ride-hailing companies to have a zero-tolerance policy for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
- A new report says Uber used a secret program dubbed “Hell’ to track Lyft drivers to see if they were driving for both ride-hailing services and otherwise stifle competition. Only a small group of Uber employees, including CEO Travis Kalanick, knew about the program, according to a story in The Information, which was based on an anonymous source who was not authorized to speak publicly.
- Waymo sued Uber in civil court, claiming that Uber was using trade secrets stolen from Google to develop Uber’s self-driving vehicles.
- Uber fires Anthony Levandowski, a star engineer brought in to lead the company’s self-driving automobile efforts who was accused of stealing trade secrets when he left a job at Google.
- Uber said Tuesday that it had made a mistake in the way it calculated its commissions, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars to its New York drivers, and the company vowed to correct the practice and make the drivers whole for the lost earnings.
- Uber fires over 20 staff following the release of a report about sexual harrassment in the workplace.
- Reports emerge that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick fired off a bizarre email in 2013 to hundreds of employees where he listed the conditions under which they could have sex with each other at a company outing in Miami
This list is by no means comprehensive.
According to the WSJ, if the board approves Mr. Kalanick’s leave, “it will mark a huge shift for the embattled CEO who developed a reputation for sharp elbows, a relentless work ethic and a willingness to push the limits of legality to achieve success. Chief of the ride-hailing firm since 2010, Mr. Kalanick has been the face of Uber amid its ascent to the world’s most valuable private company, pegged by investors at $68 billion.”
The seven-member board includes private-equity billionaire David Bonderman ; media mogul Arianna Huffington ; venture capitalist Bill Gurley of Benchmark; an official from a Saudi Arabian government investment fund; co-founder Garrett Camp, who is chairman; early employee Ryan Graves ; and Mr. Kalanick himself.
Uber has been conducting its own workplace investigation, including so-called listening sessions and focus groups led by human-resources chief Liane Hornsey and Ms. Huffington. Employees have also been summoned to the law firms’ offices for interviews.
The ride-hailing company had planned to release an executive summary for Mr. Holder’s findings to employees and the media, though some investors have called for a full version of the report to be made public.
And then there is the biggest problem of all: Uber’s chronic cash burn.
Uber lost $708 million in the first quarter, despite another rise in revenues. Last year, Uber managed to burn through almost as much cash as NASA’s $4.8 billion budget last quarter. Previously, Bloomberg reported that Uber has burned through at least $8 billion in its lifetime through the end of 2016. While the company had $7 billion of cash on hand as of March 31, along with an untapped $2.3 billion credit facility, inevitably questions will emerge if and when the world’s most previous “unicorn” will ever turn a profit. The company was most recently valued at $68 billion, although in light of the recent turmoil in the C-suite that number will likely be revised significantlly lower.


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43% of Indian enterprises to adopt hybrid cloud by 2020
Bangalore, December 7, 2018:India is set to lead the world in hybrid cloud usage and adoption over the next two years according to a new global study by enterprise cloud computing leader, Nutanix.
The report, “The Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Index” compiled by Vanson Bourne, and commissioned by Nutanix found the adoption of hybrid cloud workloads in India will more than triple from 13% today to 43% in the coming twenty-four months.
This rapid adoption is likely to help boost India’s economic muscle as the economy reaps the benefits from enhanced productivity and efficiency, while the nation’s enterprises become more flexible and resilient. As Asia redefines its landscape in the light of the rapid onslaught of digital transformation – those nations equipped to maximise the potential from a fully connected economy will have a considerable advantage.
“This is great news for India’s enterprises and even greater news for India” said Sankalp Saxena, Managing Director – Operations, India, Nutanix. “Digital transformation is rapidly re-defining the regional and global landscape. As billions more people, places and things become connected to the internet, and more and more enterprises move their systems, software and processes to cloud providers, the need to connect, communicate, manage and align these varying components take on a new perspective. Hybrid infrastructure does all of these things and provides the key to truly unlock the full potential of cloud. By driving hybrid adoption, India’s enterprises look set to keep the country at the centre of the global economy.”
As enterprises pivot towards a hyper connected, always on, and digital environment, it’s becoming increasingly accepted that the promises of public cloud services will only be fully realized in a hybrid model – where public and private cloud environments of any type and size are fully integrated and interoperable.This is where hybrid can add true value, providing enterprises with benefits such as greater workload flexibility, simplicity in processing big data, broader use of cross platform IT services, enhanced data security and compliance, dramatic cost reduction and greater business growth and RoI.
The report is Nutanix’s first annual index aimed at measuring the global state and adoption of traditional and next generation private, public and hybrid cloud*, including Indian enterprises.


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Mom getting more this year, but maybe not a card
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Spending on Mother's Day gifts is expected to grow a bit above the $17.1 billion spent last year. But there won't be as much going toward cards or electronic goods.
IBISWorld, a market research company, said spending on Mother's Day shot up 6.5 percent last year as the economy improved. This year, the bump is expected to be 0.2 percent, the company said in a news release.
Flower sales are projected to increase 3.9 percent from 2012, while gift certificates will be up by 2.2 percent, IBIS projects.
But fewer moms will be getting paper greeting cards. Sales of those are expected to drop by 5.1 percent as more people turn to the electronic version.
IBIS said sales of electronics goods will fall by 5.3 percent. The company believes that decline is coming because there haven't been any big advances in devices within the past year.
The classic gifts, like jewelry and dinners out, continue to each count for about 18 percent of Mother's Day purchases, according to IBIS.
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Facebook’s master plan revealed…
Last month, I wrote about Facebook’s plan to launch FacebookCoin… and its motivation for doing so. I predicted that it wanted to use a digital currency to share advertising-based revenue with users to deflect regulatory scrutiny.
Well, Facebook has since confirmed it is looking into enabling such a platform, and the method of payment will be its newly formed cryptocurrency. But the company is thinking about a lot more than just payments…
Facebook just established a financial technology (fintech) company in Switzerland called Libra Networks. Libra Networks will drive Facebook’s cryptocurrency plans…
Libra Networks will focus on “investing, payments, financing, identity management, analytics, big data, blockchain, and other technologies.”
Facebook clearly intends to expand beyond its existing business. I am actually surprised it hasn’t done this already. But then again, it has been so successful with social media and messaging that it hasn’t had much incentive to do anything else.
Looking at Libra Networks, there are many layers to Facebook’s expansion strategy.
It could launch a digital brokerage, like Robinhood’s popular commission-free platform…
It could get into financing by issuing small loans on its platform…
Or it could get into identity management, which is one of the biggest issues facing the blockchain industry.
Think about it. When dealing with cryptocurrency, how do you know that the other person is who they say they are?
Well, since Facebook already has 2.3 billion users, it is in prime position to become an identity management network. Any company needing blockchain verification could do so through Libra.
And that would also mean that Facebook would likely gain access to your most personal identity details. The company could scan your face on a daily basis to confirm your identity. It could keep your fingerprints on file. It could even maintain recordings of your voice.
And given Facebook’s history of mishandling user data, that alone should have us worried about the company’s ambitions.
If successfully launched, it could also mean the creation of the largest economic network connecting more than 2.3 billion consumers capable of transacting with one another with a brand-new digital currency.
The Financial Action Task Force takes a shot at crypto…
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an international regulatory body whose stated purpose is to combat money laundering. And it just took a shot at the budding blockchain industry…
FATF wants to apply the “travel rule” to all cryptocurrency transactions. The rule says that anytime you send money to someone, you must also send your identifying information: full name… address… banking information… that type of thing.
Of course, this would make cryptocurrency transfers just like a wire transfer: slow, expensive, and cumbersome. Which almost entirely defeats the purpose of blockchain technology.
Now, FATF will tell you this move is for “safety.” But here’s the thing… The blockchain industry has been proactive in complying with Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering regulations.
While there have certainly been some scams in the industry, the majority of projects have been professional and proactive in their efforts to maintain compliance with these regulations.
Major cryptocurrency exchanges, trading platforms, and financial institutions that provide the on-ramps to the world of digital assets all confirm the identities of their customers.
Industry trade organizations like the Chamber of Digital Commerce in Washington, D.C., of which I am a member, have been proactive in supporting policy makers in understanding the complexity of blockchain technology and collaborating on policy that’s good for the industry.
What’s ironic is that the majority of blockchain technology is a transparent transaction ledger. You can see the details of every transaction that’s ever happened. Every transaction is visible on the blockchain, and can be traced back to the exchange, and thus the individual, that sent the cryptocurrency.
So why push this new rule at all? I think I know…
The beauty of cryptocurrency is that funds can be rapidly transferred across borders at any time, for almost no cost, in a matter of seconds. There is no such thing as a bank holiday. No humans in the loop. Just an immutable ledger (a blockchain) that is cryptographically secure. Far better than any bank can provide.
Compare that to sending a wire. You have to go through a bank during business hours… provide documentation… fill out paperwork… and pay $20 or more in fees… just for the bank to basically rubber stamp your wire. International wire transfers typically take days to settle as well.
In other words, transferring funds over blockchain is far superior. And the incumbent financial institutions (the big banks) know this. They’ll spend whatever it takes to lobby government agencies and slow down the progress of blockchain adoption.
I suspect the new FATF rule might have the backing of some very powerful financial entities…
Google Glass returns…
Google launched an early augmented reality (AR) headset prototype called Google Glass back in May 2014. But the headset cost over $1,500 and its functionality was limited. And it looked really awkward.
As a result, Google Glass never caught on. And Google folded the project in January 2015.
Well, the big news this week is that Google is launching Google Glass 2.0, also called Glass Enterprise Edition 2. The new version will cost less than $1,000 and it looks a lot more like a normal pair of glasses.
Google’s Glass Enterprise Edition 2
As you can see, the only difference is that one side houses the camera, a small battery, the clear block for the display, and the semiconductors that make the headset work.
Right now, Google Glass 2.0 will focus only on enterprise applications. It will help companies help their employees do their jobs more efficiently.
This could be things like overlaying a repair diagram over a car engine… overlaying a maintenance manual over industrial parts… loading a safety checklist for a quality control worker to follow… verifying products on a loading dock… and many other commercial applications.
But that’s just step one…
From there, I expect Google to gather data and improve the product. The company will continue to work on miniaturization and then it will launch a consumer-facing AR headset… hoping to compete with Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, and Magic Leap for AR supremacy.
That’s because Google knows that this is the new battleground. AR eyewear will ultimately replace the smartphone… And that means there will be winners and losers.
Of course, Google wants to win. And we already know why.
If Google can become the dominant supplier of AR headsets, it’d have a front row seat to your daily life. After all, the AR glasses are designed to be worn all day.
Imagine the behavioral data Google could collect on its users with a Google Glass camera observing every action you take. It’s a pure gold mine, with even more exploitation of consumer information resulting in even more profits for Google.
P.S. Remember, I want to hear from you.
Would you trust Facebook to confirm your identity? Would you ever drop your smartphone for a pair of AR glasses?
Send me your questions. I’ll answer them in an upcoming mailbag edition of The Bleeding Edge. Write me here.


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Dubai is certainly a city for food enthusiasts. With a wide variety of restaurants and cuisines for all budgets and lifestyles, the Emirate certainly keeps all of its residents and visitors full and asking for more. However, no restaurant has caused more buzz than the world’s first MasterChef restaurant, set to open later this year in the city.
MasterChef has proven itself to be the most popular cooking TV show in the world, being aired in over 52 countries and bringing together aspiring chefs for a chance to win and become a world-renowned chef. Now, the chefs the public have come to know and love will make their way to Dubai in order to cook in its MasterChef restaurant.
The restaurant is expected to open in the Wyndham West Bay Dubai Marina Hotel later this year and promises to stay true to the TV show. The interior will be inspired by the actual set of MasterChef, allowing diners to immerse themselves in the full experience the contestants had while fighting for the win. This in itself is reason enough to get people excited about booking a table as soon as possible, however, the main selling point of ‘MasterChef the TV Experience’ will be its food.
Unlike most restaurants, the menu here will be ever changing. It will bring together some of the most popular MasterChef dishes, as seen on the TV show. Additionally, taking into consideration that Dubai is an expat and tourism-heavy city, people dining in the restaurant will have the chance to try the dishes of the contestants from their favourite country. Cooks will be invited from over 52 countries where MasterChef has been aired, therefore pleasing all fans.
Although the opening date has not yet been set, people are already enthusiastic. After all, nothing is better than international world-class cuisine, combined with the amazing aspiring chefs that everyone has caught up with on TV for the past eight years since the show aired in 2010. So get ready – you’ll soon be able to judge these world-famous dishes.


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Fashion to benefit as UK Halloween growth is all about clothing
British shoppers are set to spend 1.3% more on fancy dress and Halloween-themed clothing this year than in 2016, as an increased number of retailers expand their seasonal offering to benefit from the shopping frenzy.
According to a new report from GlobalData, clothing will be the sector with the strongest year-on-year growth, boosting the overall £481m UK consumers are expected to spend on Halloween this year.
The report paints a less rosy picture for the retail sector as a whole, however. Halloween sales are forecasted to grow by just 1.7% this year, achieving slower growth than on previous years as consumers cut back on discretionary items and turn to discounters for cheap Halloween decorations.
“There has been an increase in retailers that do not traditionally sell Halloween goods entering the market, in an attempt to drive spend, as trading conditions for retailers become increasingly challenging,” says Eleanor Parr, retail analyst at GlobalData.
“One third of Halloween shoppers bought Halloween clothing in 2016, presenting a huge sales opportunity for struggling clothing retailers. This year fashion retailers are increasingly buying into Halloween, selling fancy dress for parties and trick or treating, and are also expanding their Halloween collection to include everyday Halloween-themed clothing that can be worn in the run-up to Halloween, such as humorous Halloween slogan T-shirts. Furthermore, the current 90s gothic trend, which includes lace, velvet and black clothing, fits with this theme, meaning some retailers have barely needed to adapt their AW17 offer to appeal to Halloween shoppers.”
While retailers such as New Look, Asos, Boohoo, Missguided and H&M have launched Halloween clothing, Topshop stepped up its strategy by teaming up with popular Netflix TV show Stranger Things. To capitalise on the hype surrounding the show’s series two, Topshop launched an exclusive Stranger Things clothing collection and created an experiential installation at is Oxford Street store where fans can win tickets to watch the premier of the series in store.
Copyright © 2022 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.


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Anger as Sunshine Plaza brings back parking fines
THE reintroduction of parking fines at Maroochydore's Sunshine Plaza has raised the ire of some shoppers.
Shoppers who overstay time limits at the shopping centre are being hit with $55 fines.
The regulated parking has come in for criticism on social media.
A member of the Sunshine Coast Community Board Facebook page posted that she had noticed half a dozen cars with tickets on the ground floor of one of the Plaza's multi-deck car parks.
"Robbing bastards,” wrote Linda Tonkin Parker while Mark Wallace wrote it was "a good reason never to go there.”
Some wrote that signage about the regulate parking was inadequate and there was confusion among people about whether the Sunshine Coast Council, Sunshine Plaza or a private parking firm was to blame for collecting the fines.
Sunshine Plaza car parks used to have time restrictions that were enforced by the Sunshine Coast Council in an arrangement between the two organisations but this ceased some time ago.
A Sunshine Plaza spokesman confirmed regulated parking had been reintroduced at the centre.
"At present, regulated parking has been reintroduced to ensure the most convenient parking is available for our genuine customers during development works,” the spokesman said.
"The centre has introduced a number of designated and clearly signed three-hour and six-hour parking zones to ensure there is regular turnover of car spaces for shoppers.”
The centre's website says a private parking firm, Point Parking, has been appointed to manage the parking restrictions on behalf of Sunshine Plaza.
The website says that time limits will be enforced even in seniors parking areas but not in disabled parking bays as long as appropriate stickers are displayed.
The six hour carparks at the Plaza include level two and the top level of the Coles multideck car park, the open air carpark behind it, and the open air car park behind the Myer multi-deck. Other areas, including the open air quick shop car park near Coles and the open air KMart and Woolworths car parks, are restricted to three hours.
The Plaza spokesman did not address a question from the Daily about whether parking restrictions would continue to be enforced once expansion works at the shopping centre were complete.


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Disney+ for free? Verizon ups the ante against AT&T in streaming wars
Media companies like Disney and Apple have promised their own streaming services by 2020, kicking off what will be known as the 'streaming wars.' So what does that mean for consumers?
Disney boss says Scorsese and Coppola can ‘bitch’ about Marvel if they want
BREAKING: Spider-Man is reportedly out of the MCU as Sony and Disney fail to reach new terms to co-produce the franchise.
If Jake Paul gets kicked from his disney show I'll give everyone who retweets this $200.
I'm not that little girl from Disney anymore. I'm a full grown woman now.


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The US labor market remains strong. In the second quarter of 2023, employment growth held steady and wage growth remained high, especially for production and nonsupervisory workers. Hiring remained above and layoffs remained below pre-pandemic levels, and there are now around 2.5 million more open jobs than before the pandemic.
However, anxiety persists about the possibility of a looming recession despite these strong indicators. We address two key questions:
We then discuss the implications for workers compensation.
The labor market remains strong
Employment growth was stable in the second quarter
Employment increased by a monthly average of 200,000 private jobs in April through June of 2023. This represents a pause to the cooling employment growth throughout 2022 and into early 2023, which we highlighted last quarter. This employment growth is strongly positive and exceeded pre-pandemic average growth, which was closer to 150,000.
Private Education and Health Services contributed over one-third of all private employment growth in the second quarter, adding an average of more than 75,000 jobs per month. Most other growth was in service sectors as well. Office sectors were the next largest contributor, with Professional and Business Services and Financial Activities combining to contribute about 60,000 jobs per month. Leisure and Hospitality is growing more slowly than in prior quarters but still added about 20,000 jobs per month.
Employment stagnated in Transportation and Warehousing and in Information. Transportation and Warehousing employment has plateaued in 2023 after extraordinary growth in 2021 and 2022. The lack of growth in Information in part reflects recent layoffs at tech companies, which are a high-profile industry but not a major driver of overall employment change. The unemployment rate for Information workers is only 3%, suggesting that most of these laid off workers quickly found new jobs at other technology companies or in other sectors.
Wage growth is still high
Wage growth continues to be moderate but remains above the pre-pandemic rate. Overall average hourly earnings are now 4.4% higher than a year ago. Two important composition effects continue to affect wage data:
Lower-wage workers continue to receive the largest pay increases. The chart above shows that production and nonsupervisory workers’ wages have risen 4.7% in the last 12 months and have been higher than overall wage increases since early 2021.
As in Q1 2023, composition effects are putting downward pressure on wage growth. This is in part because most new jobs across sectors have pay that is below the overall average. The composition of employment growth in low-paying service sectors plays a role, but this impact is diminishing as employment growth slows in Leisure and Hospitality. For a matched sample of workers employed both 12 months ago and today, as reported in the Atlanta Fed Wage Tracker, wages increased by 6.0%.
Job turnover data also indicates a tight labor market
We also see evidence for strong labor market conditions in job turnover data. In recent months, rates of new hires, separations, and job openings have held roughly steady. Job openings ticked up in April and back down in May, and the level of 8.7 million private job openings continues to be much higher than pre-pandemic. Hiring and separation rates are close to pre-pandemic rates, but a higher share of separations are worker quits rather than layoffs. Like employment and wage growth, these indicators show a strong labor market and not much evidence of cooling in the most recent quarter.
Are We Nearing a Downturn?
Despite a favorable labor market and other strong economic indicators such as robust consumer spending, some observers continue to insist that the United States is on the verge of a recession. As recently as April, forecaster surveys put a recession probability at 65% in the next 12 months.US Economy Headed for Downturn in Second Half of 2023, Forecasters Say, Reade Pickert and Kyungjin Yoo, Bloomberg.com, May 19, 2023. With labor market data remaining so strong, what is the reasoning that leads many to this conclusion? We raise two major questions. If the United States were to enter a recession, what would be the drivers? And do we see any evidence of these drivers so far?
If a slowdown or recession occurs, what is likely to drive it?
One proposed driver of a potential future recession is tightening credit conditions brought on by Federal Reserve interest hikes and, to some extent, through the bank failures that occurred this spring. When credit is more difficult or expensive to attain, businesses become more cautious in investment and hiring decisions, slowing economic growth.
A related driver is a potential reduction in consumer spending. This can arise directly from softening labor market conditions. As employment and wage growth slow, households have less income and tend to consume less. It can also occur before any slowdown in the labor market if households anticipate a negative shock to future income. Currently, there is another important reason consumer spending may slow down. Despite the economic disruptions, households built up substantial excess savings at the onset of the pandemic through mid-2021. People spent less during lockdowns and quarantine, and many households benefited from stimulus payments. But the personal savings rate has been low since mid-2021. If households are close to drawing down the balance of these excess savings, they may cut back their spending in the near future.
These issues would contribute to slowing economic growth or even a contraction—in other words, a recession. But do we see evidence to date to support those stories?
What kinds of businesses are affected by credit tightening?
In a recession, construction and manufacturing businesses often suffer earlier and larger employment effects than businesses in other sectors. The pandemic recession was an exception due to its impact on in-person services and demand for housing and home goods, but the Great Recession and most prior recessions follow this pattern. These are investment-heavy industries that can be very sensitive to lending conditions, both in terms of their own costs and in terms of customer demand. Households and businesses that are tightening budgets are less likely to demand new homes, buildings and big-ticket items like new cars or other durable goods.
More generally, tighter conditions affect small businesses across all industries. Many small businesses are reliant on loans and face higher costs or reduced access to borrowing when banks tighten credit standards.See, for example, Banks Raise Roadblocks to Small-Business Loans, Ruth Simon, The Wall Street Journal, June 1, 2023. This could lead to larger effects of credit restrictions on small businesses than larger businesses.
Are we seeing any negative effects in these businesses?
There is currently no clear evidence of a decline in economic activity or employment in the construction and manufacturing industries. Both sectors have shown moderate employment growth and are not showing warning signs of falling customer demand.
Residential construction demand is not as high as in 2022, but it is still strong. January to May 2023 averaged about 1.4 million new privately owned housing units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, 9% less than in 2022 but still 10% more than the pre-pandemic monthly average. And there are potential signs of a rebound as the May average jumped to 1.56 million units, as high as it had been at any point in the last year.
Nonresidential construction spending is on the rise, with a 20% increase in the past 12 months. The growth in private nonresidential construction spending is mostly in manufacturing construction, which accounted for three quarters of the increase. Computer, electronic, and electrical manufacturing drives a large share of this increase, because of semiconductor and related manufacturing investments.Unpacking the Boom in U.S. Construction of Manufacturing Facilities, Eric Van Nostrand, Tara Sinclair, Samarth Gupta, US Department of the Treasury, June 27, 2023.
Manufacturing production is holding steady as well. As of May 2023, new manufacturing orders have remained fairly stable over the past year, with a current value of new orders approximately 25% higher in nominal terms than the level observed in 2019. Growth in manufacturing construction is a good sign as well, reflecting industry investment in future production.
Small business growth has slowed considerably, but this reflects the gradual cooling of employment growth since 2021 rather than a sudden recent drop due to a credit crunch. In fact, small business net growth has rebounded a bit in early 2023. The chart below shows a three-month moving average of difference between hires and separations by business size. In 2021, a huge amount of employment growth came from establishments with fewer than 50 employees. Net employment growth in these businesses slowed throughout 2022 but has stabilized in 2023 at almost 100,000 net jobs per month.
While medium and large establishments are now roughly equal contributors to overall employment growth, there is no evidence to date of a contraction in small business. These establishments continue to add more workers than they subtract each month, not cutting back as we might expect if credit concerns were front of mind.
What is the outlook for consumer spending?
Personal consumption expenditure accounts for about 68% of US Gross Domestic Product. A decline in consumer expenditure could result in an economic slowdown or even a recession. Over the last year, consumer expenditure has been very strong. But will this trend continue in the future?
The figure below plots real disposable personal income and real personal consumption expenditure since the beginning of the pandemic recession in February 2020, along with pre-pandemic trend lines for each measure. The terms “real income” and “real expenditure” mean these figures are adjusted for inflation.
At the onset of the pandemic, COVID-related financial support raised income significantly above its pre-pandemic trend. Spikes in the chart in April 2020 as well as January and March 2021 mostly reflect government stimulus payments. At the same time, spending was low because of shutdowns. Consumers accumulated real savings of about $1.89 trillion above trend from the start of the pandemic through August 2021.The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) defines personal savings as: personal savings = disposable personal income – personal expenditure – other personal outlays where the other personal outlays variable includes personal interest payments and current transfer payments.
From around the middle of 2021 until May 2023, real expenditures returned roughly to the pre-pandemic trend, but real disposable income fell below trend. This means that consumers have been able to maintain their spending by digging into their real savings. Overall, real accumulated savings from August 2021 until May 2023 were about $1.64 trillion below trend, leaving consumers with about $250 billion remaining above-trend real savings from the beginning of the pandemic to the present. If current trends in real consumer spending and disposable income continue, we estimate that consumers will run out of “excess” real savings in September or October of 2023.
Does this mean that we should expect a decrease in consumer spending (and an associated slowdown or recession) to begin the fourth quarter of 2023? Not necessarily, for a few different reasons:
In other words, the decline in real savings shown above is likely to contribute to some cutting back and thus slowing economic growth late in the year and into 2024, but it does not indicate consumers will suddenly stop spending in the fourth quarter of 2023.We follow BEA convention by reporting real-valued data in 2012 dollars. Alternatively, translating to current dollars, accumulated real savings above trend through August 2021 were about $2.40 trillion and drawdowns below trend since have been about $2.09 trillion, leaving about $310 billion in above-trend savings from the start of the pandemic to the present. Our economic analysis is not affected by the choice of base.
What Does This Mean for Workers Compensation?
Strong employment and wage growth continue to drive premium growth for workers compensation. After cooling throughout 2022 and into early 2023, employment growth held steady in the second quarter of 2023, and wage growth remained high. Still, many observers predict a looming recession. A downturn would likely affect businesses that are particularly impactful to workers compensation, including the construction and manufacturing sectors, as well as small businesses across all economic sectors.
However, several key signs do not suggest that a recession or major slowdown is imminent. Construction employment and spending are currently strong for both residential and nonresidential subsectors. Manufacturing indicators are holding steady. These industries are usually the first to be affected by falling economic demand, and they have large effects on workers compensation premium and losses compared to their share of employment.
Small businesses played an outsized role in catch-up employment recovery. Small businesses are still growing, not showing signs of a contraction due to credit conditions. But they are comprising a smaller share of employment growth now than in the early phase of the pandemic recovery compared to larger businesses. It is possible this could lead to some mix change in payroll growth between self-insured and market-insured businesses, but any such effects are speculative.
One warning sign comes from household income and consumption. While growth in consumer spending has remained remarkably stable over the last couple of years, real-valued income has not kept up. Households are spending down surplus savings accumulated early in the pandemic, and consumption will likely dip below the trend as this surplus is likely to run out late in the year.
Slowing consumer spending is likely to contribute to slowing economic growth late in 2023 or in 2024. However, slowing growth is not the same as a recession. As we have discussed in this and prior issues of the QEB, employment growth and wage growth remain above their pre-pandemic averages. While a contraction is possible, we also see gradual moderation of employment and wage growth as a plausible scenario, without any employment or payroll declines. We will continue to monitor the health of the labor market and other important economic indicators in future issues of the QEB.


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After nearly eight years of negotiations, the United States and 11 other countries have finally reached consensus on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, one of the largest trade deals in a generation that’ll involve nearly half the world’s GDP.
The sprawling deal would affect a variety of issues, including tariffs, labor rights, and international investment. But the deal’s most controversial provisions are the ones limiting competition in the pharmaceutical industry. According to Doctors Without Borders, “The TPP will still go down in history as the worst trade agreement for access to medicines in developing countries.”
Though the final text of the agreement won’t be available for at least another month, here’s what we know so far.
The TPP will drive up costs for some of the most expensive drugs on the market in the poorest countries
One of the biggest sticking points in the negotiations had to do with data protection for biologic drugs.
Biologics are treatments made from biological sources, including vaccines, anti-toxins, proteins, and monoclonal antibodies for everything from Ebola to cancer. As the Brookings Institution explains, biologics are much more structurally complex than regular “small-molecule drugs” and are therefore more difficult and expensive to make, costing on average 22 times more than nonbiologic drugs.
Because of the high prices of these drugs, companies are very interested in developing “biosimilars” – cheaper copies of the original drugs, similar to generic versions of pharmaceuticals. The reason these biosimilars are so cheap is that manufacturers can usually just rely on data from clinical trials submitted by the maker of the original biologic. But, of course, the maker of the original drug doesn’t want everyone using its data and making cheap knockoffs.
So in the United States, there are really protective rules around this: Any maker of a biologic gets 12 years of data exclusivity. The FDA can’t approve a similar drug that relies on the original data during this time. (Theoretically, other companies could conduct their own trials to create a biosimilar, but because this is so expensive, it defeats the point.) By contrast, in other countries, there are looser rules – or no rules – around such data exclusivity. Japan offers eight years, for instance. Brunei offers zero.
As part of the TPP, the United States (and the pharmaceutical lobby) had been pushing to get every country to agree on 12 years of data protection for biologics.The final agreement falls somewhere in between, with a period of data exclusivity from at least five to eight years, according to the New York Times.
This means the agreement will prevent more affordable biosimilars from entering the market for a longer period of time in places that previously had no bar to entry. And the burden of this provision will be felt by the world’s poorest countries, according to Judit Rius Sanjuan, the legal policy adviser for Doctors Without Borders.
“Peru, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Mexico – they had zero monopoly protection on data for biologics,” she said. Now they’ll have to wait at least five years before allowing cheaper biosimilars onto the market. “It’s a loss for people in developing countries. They’ll face higher prices for longer periods of time, and there are many products we need that are biologics.”
The TPP could also delay cheaper, generic versions of drugs
Meanwhile, every country has systems for granting patents and legal privileges to the first company to invent a drug – a reward for innovation. After these expire, other companies can apply to get their cheaper “generic” copies of these drugs on the market.
At the moment, it’s up to countries to decide whether things like a small change in a drug molecule should warrant a patent extension. But the final TPP creates patent-related obligations in countries that never had them before, explained Rius Sanjuan. To put it simply, this would directly target a country’s ability to define its own patent law and put a higher standard on when generics can become available.
Critics believe these provisions will likely to limit the availability of cheaper generics. “We know from experience that more expansive patent laws end up reducing the availability of generic medicines,” said Yale law professor and global health researcher Amy Kapczynski, who wrote about the deal’s health impact in the New England Journal of Medicine. “When you start mucking around in the precise ways countries can define your patent laws,” she said, “you limit everyone’s policy flexibility.”
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American Airlines is looking toward the future, but the "new American" that was rolled out in January might soon be a thing of the past.
The Fort Worth-based airline debuted its new livery in January, holding a big rollout for its new look.
Some even speculated that the livery -- which was unveiled before American and US Airways voted to combine -- was a combination of the two airlines' looks and a hint at the merger.
The latest news from around North Texas.
But there's a chance the livery could change again.
Incoming American Airlines CEO and current US Airways CEO Doug Parker made remarks to flight attendants and pilots on Tuesday that suggested the airline's future look is uncertain.
"Maybe we need to do something slightly different than that," he said when asked directly. "It may be something dramatically different than that. I really don't know the answer."
"The only reason this is an issue now is because they just did it right in the middle, which kind of makes it confusing, so that gives us an opportunity, actually, to decide if we are going to do something different because we have so many airplanes to paint," Parker went on to say.
His comments sparked a number of questions about the future of will be the world's largest airline.
"A merger is a work in progress," said Mike Davis, and economist at Southern Methodist University. "It's going to take a long time to work out all of the details. This rebranding thing is a small detail. Symbolically, it's important, but there are many more things that need to be worked out before they're effectively merged."
American Airlines spokeswoman Stacey Frantz released the following statement Thursday:
"We remain committed to building the new American -- one fully reflective of the new, combined company. So, while we will be painting new aircraft as they come into the fleet this year and beginning to update signage and other environments throughout the system with our new look, we are mindful that we are now creating an even better brand through our merger. In other words, our new brand will be about far more than our new look. It will be about providing our customers with a robust and significantly expanded network, the best alliance partners, an upgraded fleet that will be one of the most modern in the industry, continued investment in products and services our customers value most, and a brand new American attitude reflective of our combined cultures. So a long way of saying stay tuned because there's a lot more great brand work in store. Doug Parker and the US Airways team have reviewed the extensive work that has gone into developing our brand strategy -- which goes well beyond logo and livery -- and are very interested to learn more as we work together to determine the best go-forward strategy as we move towards the proposed merger."
In an email, a US Airways representative referenced Frantz's statement, saying, "We concur with every word it contains."


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Lexus Australia has just confirmed we will get the new six, or seven-seat version of the Lexus RX SUV.
Revealed just days ago at the LA Auto Show, the three-row version of the popular Lexus SUV will land in Australian dealerships in February.
Related: Lexus to offer five-seat LX 570
We now also have some better shots of the slightly stretched version, like in the U.S., the six/seven seat Lexus RX will be offered in both V6 (RX 350L) and hybrid (RX 450hL) variants.
Lexus Australia confirmed the local arrival on Facebook and referred to the new variant as a seven-seat SUV, this means we might not see the six-seat variant with ‘captains chairs’ in the middle-row.
There is no word either on whether the four-cylinder turbo (RX 200t) will eventually be built (we’ll keep you updated).
And we will bring you Australian pricing and specification details as that info comes to hand.
Lexus has stretched the RX to allow for up to seven-seats.
Related: Lexus premieres LS+ Concept
Stay up to date with the latest Lexus News at behindthewheel.com.au.
The post Australia to get three-row Lexus RX SUV appeared first on Behind the Wheel.


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» Auto updated continuously
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It’s official, folks: Amazon is returning to Middle Earth with a Lord of the Rings television adaptation.
Amazon announced today that it has acquired global TV rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved fantasy novels, making a multi-season commitment to their new series. The adaptation “will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring,” per a press release, and the deal also includes a potential additional spin-off series, because of course it does. Deadline reports that the acquisition cost Amazon a cool $250 million.
“The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen,” said Sharon Tal Yguado, Head of Scripted Series, Amazon Studios, in a statement. “We are honored to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking The Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth.”
“We are delighted that Amazon, with its longstanding commitment to literature, is the home of the first-ever multi-season television series for The Lord of the Rings,” added Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins. “Sharon and the team at Amazon Studios have exceptional ideas to bring to the screen previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings.”
Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy earned nearly $6 billion worldwide, garnering a combined 17 (!) Oscars, including a Best Picture win for 2003’s The Return of the King. Safe to say the films are an impossible act for Amazon to follow—wise of them to opt instead for entirely new storylines, rather than attempting to retrace Jackson’s steps.
After initial reports revealed that Amazon was in talks to adapt Lord of the Rings, Sean Astin, who starred as Samwise Gamgee in Jackson’s films, offered his thoughts on the project, saying, “I think it’s an intriguing idea [but] the devil’s in the details. How would they do it? How? Who?” Hopefully, we’ll find out the answers to those questions and more soon.


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Scotland revealed its proposals for a new model of green ports focused on inclusive growth, fair work practices and delivering a net zero economy.
Specifically, the Scottish Government is developing plans to establish fair, sustainable, green ports. These would adapt the UK government’s freeport proposals, offering streamlined planning processes and a package of tax and customs reliefs.
The Scottish Government’s green ports would make it necessary for operators and businesses benefitting from the package of incentives to:
- Pay the real Living Wage;
- Adopt the Scottish Business Pledge;
- Commit to supporting sustainable and inclusive growth in local communities;
- Contribute to Scotland’s just transition to net zero.
The plans were announced by Trade Minister Ivan McKee, who said:
The reputation of freeports across the world is mixed, with concerns about deregulation and risks of criminality, tax evasion and reductions in workers’ rights raised. That is not a model nor an approach that this Scottish Government will sign up to or allow here in Scotland
He added that it is clear that freeports cannot and will not undo the damage being caused to Scotland’s economy by Brexit.
Instead, we propose to take the freeport model and apply Scotland’s priorities to it, so that it meets our ambition to deliver a net zero, wellbeing economy that upholds the highest standards of environmental protections and fair work practices and supports our strategy of building clusters of high productivity businesses across Scotland’s regions
The Scottish green port model aims to adopt best practice, in order to deliver the net-zero emissions and fair work principles, alongside supporting regeneration and innovation ambitions.


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The world’s cheapest tablet has met with a resounding success so far going by the volume of pre-orders notched up till now. In fact, pre-order booking figure of 3 lacs for the tablet costing Rs. 3000 has already gone past the total size of the tablet market in India which stands at just 2,50,000 as of now, including those from Apple and Samsung. That the Aakash helped with a price tag of Rs. 2,999 would be able to scale even higher sales figure perhaps goes beyond all speculations and study graphs. However, while deliveries are slated to begin next month, Datawind — the maker of the tablet has already started distributing the same at some schools and colleges free of charge.
“The bookings for Aakash have been done without any money received in advance. We have identified an operator for a data plan at Rs 99 a month, ” said Datawind CEO, Suneet Singh Tuli. Low price for internet access has been achieved by the Datawind team by using data streaming technology.
“We hope to make internet free on our devices with that technology,” said Tuli.
The choice of network operator is being kept under wraps as of now though chances of it being Aircel is high.
Reliance 3G Tab was the first one to start the trend of a low cost tablet followed by Beetel and mTab. Akash has however added a fresh rush into the price riot amongst tablet makers with all of them rumored to be looking for technology that would allow them to come out with lower priced tablets. Reliance has been active and announced a 4G capable tablet which would be priced at Rs. 5,000. Datawind is not going to stop with the present version of Akash and are plans are on the drawing board for a faster tablet which would come with capacitive touch screen technology as the next version. The tablet would also have the facility to connect a keyboard and the total price would be Rs. 3,400. There is talk of a next gen Akash as well that will have a faster processor but with no change in the price tag.
“The governments of Mexico, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Thailand, Brazil, Bangladesh have requested us to participate in programs similar to India. None, though have come out with tenders for supply of low cost devices as of now,” Tuli said as a sign of the Akash tablet’s growing international reputation.
Sovan Mandal is the senior tablet and tech corespondent for goodereader.com. He brings a international approach to news that is not just applicable to the North American market, but also Asia, India, Europe and others. Sovy brings his own writing flavor to the website and is interested in Science Fiction, Technology and Writing. Any questions, send an email


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Pear Bureau Northwest announced in a news release the promotion of Bob Catinella to director of merchandising.
Catinella joined the pear bureau in 2012 as one of the organization’s five regional marketing managers and was named lead regional marketing manager in 2019.
“I am really excited to have the opportunity to work even more closely with our team of regional managers and to continue developing and implementing innovative and compelling initiatives,” Catinella said in the release.
As more consumers have shifted to online shopping, the pear bureau has shifted to more digital promotions, and Catinella has played a key role in the development and execution of these programs.
Kevin Moffitt, pear bureau president and CEO, said Catinella brings energy and ideas to the team. “I look forward to working with him in his new role as we continue to bring creative ideas and effective solutions to help retailers build their pear categories,” Moffitt said in the release.
Catinella earned a bachelor’s degree in business management and computer science from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
—by Jonelle Mejica


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July 18, 2008
Salmonella Warnings Lifted on Tomatoes
By Elaine Walker, The Miami Herald
Jul. 18--Consumers can start eating all types of tomatoes again without worries about getting sick.The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday lifted its salmonella warnings on tomatoes, while advising at risk consumers to limit their consumption of fresh jalapeno and serrano peppers. The warning applies to infants, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.
The FDA's decision is a step in the right direction for Florida tomato growers, who have been lobbying the federal government to lift the consumer warning. Florida growers, who produce more fresh-market tomatoes than any state, estimate the salmonella outbreak may have cost them as much as $100 million.
"Lifting the warning on tomatoes is about as good as you're going to get from the FDA," said Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, a cooperative representing more than 90 percent of the state's growers. "That's the first step in rebuilding public confidence and rebuilding the market."
But the federal government still doesn't have any answers about what caused the salmonella outbreak that, at the most recent count, has sickened 1,220 people and hospitalized at least 224 people. The outbreak started in April and the latest illness was reported on July 4.
Dr. David Acheson, the FDA's associate commissioner for foods, cautioned that the lifting of the warning does not mean that tomatoes -- including those from Florida -- have been cleared in connection with the outbreak.
"This is not saying that anybody was absolved," Acheson said.
Early evidence still shows a strong connection between people who got sick and eating tomatoes. But after collecting nearly 2,000 samples in South Florida and Mexico the FDA was unable to find any traces of the rare strain of Salmonella Saintpaul.
The FDA decided to lift the tomato warning because any tomatoes grown on farms under suspicion during April and May are gone from the supply chain.
The newest evidence has the federal government focusing its attention on peppers. FDA inspectors were dispatched this week to a packing house in Mexico, which has handled peppers from several farms, but not tomatoes.
"We still do not know where the original contamination point was," Acheson said. "It's not beyond the bounds of possibility that the contamination has moved from one type of produce to another."
While the outbreak is continuing, there are signs that it has "decreased in intensity," said Dr. Robert Tauxe of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Between May 20 and June 10, the outbreak hit a plateau, with about 33 people a day becoming ill, according to the CDC. From June 11 to June 20, that number dropped to 19 people a day.
Those are the latest available statistics, because it can take two weeks or longer for the CDC to receive confirmation that someone who is sick actually has the implicated salmonella strain.
In the end, it could easily be two products that caused the illness, federal officials said.
"It's clear to us that tomatoes do not explain all of the cases; jalapenos do not explain all of the cases," Tauxe said. "We are seriously considering a hypothesis that might involve more than one produce type."
But some Florida tomato growers say they will not be able to breathe easy until their tomatoes are completely cleared.
"This is a baby step forward, but there is still a lot more to accomplish," said Jim Grainger of Grainger Farms. "If Florida tomatoes don't get cleared that leaves doubt in the minds of consumers when we come back to start shipping again in October."
To see more of The Miami Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.herald.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Miami Herald
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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Once a king, always a king! This phrase cannot be more true for Shah Rukh Khan, who will return to the big screen after a gap of more than four years. 'Pathaan' starring SRK, John Abraham and Deepika Padukone is slated to release on the big screen on January 25 and the advance booking for the movie opened in India on Friday. However, there were some centres who opened advanced booking in select theatres and the response was beyond amazing.
It has now come to light that 'Pathaan' managed to sell more than 1 lakh tickets in just three major cinema chains -- PVR, INOX and Cinepolis -- till Thursday, 11:30 PM.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh confirmed the development on Twitter, saying: "#Pathaan advance booking status at national chains… Update till Thursday, 11.30 pm…#PVR: 51,000, #INOX: 38,500, #Cinepolis: 27,500. Total tickets sold: 1,17,000. #BO Tsunami loading."
Director Siddharth Anand had earlier revealed that SRK, John and Deepika would not promote 'Pathaan' before it releases in theatres.
“SRK. Just these 3 letters spell so much stardom, so much love and are just so iconic. The entire nation has loved him for so long and we are hopeful that our film will deliver on the promise to give a never seen before SRK to audiences. We want the euphoria around his return to reach a crescendo by Jan 25, the release date of Pathaan. Thus, we will start all our promotional activities only post the release of the film. We are all humbled to be receiving the unanimous love that we are getting for Pathaan so far and we can’t thank people enough," said Anand.
Click here for full story…