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Staff retention and turnover are significant issues for the engineering sector given the skills shortages that exist in many fields. Even employers with excellent reputations, great employee benefits, and well-established workplace wellbeing initiatives expect a certain amount of turnover over the course of any 12-month period.
This makes the achievement of Arrotek over the past year significant as it has had zero turnover of staff.
Arrotek specialises in the design and manufacture of new medical device products. It works with health professionals, MedTech companies, and entrepreneurs to take ideas and concepts and turn them into regulatory approved, market-ready products.
Mark Pugh, Co-Founder and Director at Arrotek, says the 100 percent retention rate achievement is a testament to the commitment and dedication of the entire Arrotek team.
“We have a strapline at Arrotek: Our People Make the Difference,” said Mark. “This is more than a snappy marketing phrase, though. Instead, it’s the reality of our company.
“Our team is committed to the success of Arrotek and to delivering for our customers. We continually strive for improvement, we are innovators, and we are all excited about the next 12 months of our development.”


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Luxury Travel Advisor is on site at ILTM in Cannes, France this week and had yet another very busy day Tuesday, meeting with luxury travel executives and advisors. Here's what you need to know:
Day 2 started early, with a cheerful, pink-hued Langham-sponsored breakfast on the beach. CEO Bob Van den Oord was introduced by Afar Editor-in-Chief Julia Cosgrove, who spoke about “authentic” being the word of the year by Merriam-Webster dictionary and how applicable this was for travel at the moment. It was also a theme that Van den Oord stressed in his description of Langham, which “celebrates the everyday.” He has been with the company for 25 years—though is just about 100 days into his tenure as CEO—and is proud to see how the company has grown to 32 hotels on four continents, also noting it has 12 hotels in the pipeline. Most exciting: The Murano property outside of Venice, which is costing €1.2 million per room to build and will bring added luxury to Venice.
Over breakfast, Van den Oord shared the stage with Michele Grosso, MD, Langham Boston, and Shelly Tso, VP, marketing and communications, in a panel moderated by Cosgrove about the brand. Topics of note: A hard press into sustainability using Earthcheck; engaging guests through storytelling; and partnerships. Examples of new partnerships include working with Netflix on "Five Star Chefs," which resulted in a pop-up for the winner that sold out for months, and a master class Afternoon Tea collab with legendary shoe designer Jimmy Choo at The Langham Gold Coast in Australia. Other exciting culinary news: Celebrated French chef Jean-François Piège will bring his Mimosa restaurant to London for the first time.
Press conferences this year highlighted achievements across the board; here are some highlights:
From Qatar, His Excellency Saad Ali Al Kharji, minister of tourism, noted the country was named “2023 Arab Tourism Capital of the Year” thanks to the success of the FIFA World Cup. The country is now building on this tourism momentum; it saw 3.7 million visitors this year and is aiming for 4 million in 2024. He stressed that Qatar is the safest country in the Middle East and it is benefiting from increased air access. New attractions include the world’s tallest water slide and an outpost of Le Printemps, now the biggest luxury department store in the Middle East. The country is positioning itself as “the ultimate stopover.”
The Peninsula: Openings in London, Istanbul; Renovation in New York
At a cost of over £1 billion and 30 years in the making, the 190-room London property has certainly made a splash, according to The Peninsula Hotels' Carson Glover, VP of communications. Same in Istanbul, where the 177-room property is four distinct buildings (three historic towers plus a glossy new-build) offering amazing views of the city from across the Bosphorus. These openings bring the total number of Peninsula hotels to 12. Big news is the planned renovation in New York will begin in January and finish by September. Expect a completely refreshed room product, very modern with lots of new tech, plus an overhaul of all the public spaces and a new Pen Top cocktail bar on the top floor. In terms of exciting activities, look to Paris where Peninsula’s Pen Academy will offer an exclusive package with the famed Le Mans race. The Pen Academy is proving very popular with guests in cities around the world with ultimate experiences, ranging from art to sports.
COMO Opens in the Dolomites, Singapore
COMO Hotels and Resorts, another small luxury brand that is currently in the midst of a growth spurt, will open the Como Alpina Dolomites this week in Val Gardena on the Alpe di Siusi, one of Europe’s largest high-altitude plateaus and the largest ski area on the continent. The resort is ski-in/out with 60 rooms and suites and a COMO Shambhala Retreat with an expansive wellness program and facilities that includes a 72-foot indoor pool, a 23-foot outdoor pool, sauna, relaxation zones, a fitness center and a beauty sanctuary. Plus, there are four restaurants and lots of outdoor spaces to enjoy the views.
In September, COMO opened its first hotel in Singapore, where the company is headquartered. The property sits within COMO Orchard, the brand’s new concept combining hospitality, lifestyle and fashion under one roof and spread across 19 floors on Singapore’s Bideford Road. The hotel portion has 156 rooms and suites over 11 floors, a rooftop pool bar for guests, as well as full floors for dining, including a patisserie from celebrated French pastry chef Cedric Grolet, which saw lines around the block on opening day. A 9,000-square-foot Shambhala spa facility is on the fourth floor, offering comprehensive wellness.
Preferred Reveals New Hotels, Beyond Green Survey
Preferred Hotels & Resorts CEO Lindsey Ueberroth had lots of exciting new openings to announce. The brand added 38 new hotels in 2023 in exciting destinations from Croatia to Singapore, with more coming. Look for a further 14 new luxury openings from December 2023 and throughout 2024. Some highlights:
- MOLLIE Aspen, opening in time for ski season, is a 68-room boutique hotel with a rooftop spa pool and terrace bar with mountain views, plus a fitness room, boutique shop, and a vibrant food and beverage scene with indoor and outdoor seating in the restaurant and lobby cafe.
- Grand Velas Boutique Los Cabos is launching January 2024 as "an adults-only coastal sanctuary" with 79 suites, many with private terraces and plunge pools.
- Ara Maris Sorrento, launching March 2024, will have 49 rooms with balconies, offering views of the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. Top digs: The Meraviglia Suite, situated on the rooftop of the hotel, boasting an expansive private terrace complete with a Jacuzzi and 180-degree views.
Ueberroth, however, was most excited about the progress of Beyond Green, its collection of eco-conscious properties that undergo a rigorous sustainability check. There are now 38 properties in Beyond Green, and it have just released its first-ever Global Impact Report underscoring the brand’s commitment to sustainability and the effect of its member portfolio’s worldwide ESG initiatives. The report, available online at www.staybeyondgreen.com.
Highlights from the report include:
- Over 90 percent of Beyond Green members have a dedicated Sustainability Manager or equivalent position or team, steering the evolution and on-site implementation of member’s sustainability programs.
- 100 percent of Beyond Green members have eliminated single-use plastic water bottles from their operations.
- Nearly 70 percent of Beyond Green members utilize renewable energy sources, including solar panels, wind turbines and other sources such as biomass derived from certified wood pellets.
Lindblad Expeditions: You Can Now Fly to Antarctica
Lindblad Expeditions CEO Sven Lindblad explained that while expedition travel is trendy right now, his company has been doing it since 1969—as the pioneers of travel to Antarctica and many other places. The cruise line has 17 ships, more than 120 itineraries and over 550 annual departures. He is most proud of the fact that the company has partnered with National Geographic for the last 17 years to provide science-rich programming on its cruises, and has just extended this to 2040.
Big news is that you no longer need to cruise through the Drake Passage to get to Antarctica. Thanks to improvements in flying technology, 88 percent flights currently fly on the scheduled day. Perfect “for people that don’t have the time for long voyages or are afraid of rough seas crossing the Drake Passage,” he noted.
The company is quite eco-conscious, as well, and Linblad expressed his own concern: “We have been carbon neutral since 2019, we invest $4 million a year in education on climate change, but tourism is a double-edged sword. While it brings economic prosperity, it does impact the environment.”
Virtuoso: Booking Trends for 2024
Virtuoso CEO Matthew Upchurch shared research and trends showing that the luxury travel agency network, which did more than $30 billion in annual sales last year, is seeing. Overall, he noted that the pandemic has been “the biggest slingshot for travel. And this has been helped by the aging population, where two-thirds of people over 65 are not only still alive, but in good health and have the time and money to travel.”
According to Virtuoso data, holiday bookings are up 19.7 percent vs 2022 and sales are up 16.8 percent, which means the rate has been a bit sticky, and we may see a leveling off this year. Despite geopolitical instability, bookings for 2024 are looking robust. He noted the most popular destinations for U.S. travelers are Italy, Greece, France, Croatia and England.
Corinthia Hotels to Nearly Double in Size
The Corinthia luxury hotel brand has been based in Malta for the last 61 years, slowly growing to nine properties—but that’s about to change. At the final ILTM press conference of the day, CEO Simon Naudi announced plans for eight new hotels in major markets, with three openings planned for 2024. First up is Corinthia Rome, a conversion of a seven-story building that was built in 1914 as the Bank of Italy. The restoration has maintained the original façade overlooking the Parliament of Italy, while the interiors are being converted into 60 guestrooms, including 21 themed luxury suites, a lobby lounge, bar and restaurant, as well as a spa, gym, open-air central courtyard and a rooftop lounge with city views. Acclaimed Chef Carlo Cracco will conceive and develop the food and beverage.
Across the pond, Corinthia is planning to enter the New York City market with a complete revamp of The Surrey Hotel on the Upper East Side. The 16-story building will have 70 guestrooms, 30 suites and 14 residences, which draw inspiration from the hotel's history and surroundings. Four Signature suites will be inspired by the bridges of Central Park and the restaurant will be an outpost of Miami favorite, Casa Tua.
The final opening for the year is Corinthia Brussels, a conversion of the Grand Hotel Astoria, originally built in 1909 at the behest of King Leopold II. This landmark building served as a grand meeting place for kings, dignitaries and world personalities. Acquired by Corinthia Hotels in 2016, the property is currently undergoing extensive redevelopment but, once completed, will comprise 125 bedrooms and suites and will open by the fall.
Also in the pipeline for Corinthia: Bucharest, Qatar, Gewan Island, Qatar, Oasis, Malta, Riyadh and the Maldives.
Evening Parties for Four Seasons, Regent and Kempinski
There were too many evening parties to attend, so we hit the Four Seasons event with CEO Alejandro Reynal. He addressed the group, sharing that he has been in the CEO role for about a year, and has spent his time visiting 55 properties and meeting the teams. “Four Seasons is going from strength to strength [and] I am here to develop the vision to keep the company on that path.” He noted 2023 is the best year on record, surpassing 2022, and that the company has top ratings for brand and guest satisfaction, and it is focusing on investing in its employees and technology—particularly tech that can drive the culture of service through artificial intelligence. In 2024, look for six to eight openings in places like China, Osaka, Cabo, Morocco, Mallorca and Cartagena.
Regent Hotels & Resorts and IHG Hotels & Resorts won the "fun award," with a winter-themed fete at the Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel, complete with an ice rink and Olympic medalist Brian Boitano doing an impressive routine. Guests were invited to join him—and several did! The event was the idea of SVP, luxury, lifestyle and leisure brands for IHG, Jane Mackie. The even was super festive with holiday music, wintery drinks and food, and followed by more revelry in the penthouse suite. We chatted with area VP Patrick Both, who shared that IHG has 38 hotels in the pipeline for Thailand, mostly luxury.
Kempinski had a more intimate gathering, where we learned the company is revamping its Dresden, Germany, property for the first time in 28 years, according to Clemens Degenhardt, director of sales and marketing. The iconic hotel, which is located next to the Castle of Dresden, will reopen on February 16, 2024, with 211 rooms including 31 suites. He suggests booking now for next December, to enjoy the hotel and the most famous oldest Christmas market in Germany.
Stay tuned for more from ILTM.

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In April 2021, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) released a video showing a young child getting pulled by his arms under a Peloton treadmill machine. Luckily, he managed to get untangled from the machine, but footage showed how hazardous the machine is for small children. In another incident, the Peloton treadmill killed another small child after being pulled under it. These incidents and approximately 70 more caused Peloton to issue a recall on its Peloton Tread+ in May of this year. What more should you know about this product? Also, if you live in California and you have sustained injuries from this product, how can a California products liability attorney help?
Brief History of the Peloton
John Foley, the CEO of Peloton, established his company in 2012. Its initial product was its bike which the company founder and CEO created to get fit at home around his demanding schedule. In 2020, with the rise of lockdowns across the country due to the pandemic, more people became interested in Peloton products. As a result, they reported a 172 percent increase in monthly subscriptions and increased profits in September 2020. Unfortunately, Peloton’s success started to run out earlier this year when CPSC issued its recall on one of its popular products: the Peloton Tread+.
The CPSC Warns the Public About the Dangers of the Product
The CPSC issued a warning in April that up until then, there had been 39 incidents reported and one death. After its initial warning, Peloton representatives did not recall the treadmill, stating that CPSC’s warning was inaccurate and misleading and that its products are only for use by individuals over 16 years of age. Unfortunately, the death of a 6-year-old child earlier this year caused Peloton to change its mind about its product. By May 5, the company finally issued its recall after learning that a child died after being sucked under one of its machines.
What You Should do if You Own This Product
If you happen to own one of these products, it is best that you stop using it right away, especially if you have young children and pets in the home. If you continue to use the product, ensure that there are no children or small pets near it when you are using the machine. Keep in mind that adults have also been injured while using the machine. This warning isn’t only effective for small children and pets. One woman shared her frightening experience in an online video when a yoga ball that was near her machine got sucked under it and caused her to lose her balance. There have also been reports of leg injuries and burns. The machine’s touchscreen also is known to loosen and fall off the machine randomly.
Peloton is offering a full refund on the product until November 6, 2022, if you wish to return the defective product. Also, if you or your loved ones were injured while using this product in the state of California, you should contact a California products liability lawyer to discuss the matter. A California products liability lawyer will review the facts of your injury and determine if you have a viable claim against the makers of Peloton’s Tread+ and will help you file a lawsuit. Get in touch with our office today for a free consultation.


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ASI President views central bank digital currencies as a satanic ploy
According to the president of the ASI, the digital currencies of the central bank come from Satan. And Bitcoin is not an alternative to money but a speculative financial asset.
ASI is a company that started in 1982 to deal with various alternative assets such as foreign currencies, precious metals and pre-1933 US gold coins. The company also has a trading platform for metals.
Related reading | Yahoo Japan to present NFT trading in partnership with Line
Rich Checkan recently described the fashionable CBDCs that many countries pursue as a “seed of Satan.” In his opinion, Satan himself directly brings the money from hell.
CBDCs are a threat to privacy
Checkan had an interview, the president of the ASI denounced the central bank digital currency because he sees them as a threat to people’s privacy. In his view, these digital currencies will allow the state to monitor all the transactions people make and track them throughout their lives.
In his speech, Checkan mentioned that the CBDCs would give governments excessive control over each other’s bank accounts. With such power, there will be no more privacy for citizens.
When the ASI President was asked to voice his opinion on Bitcoin and its threats to CBDCs and fiat currencies, he mentioned that it was still early days to make such contributions.
According to Checkan, Bitcoin’s usage and performance has remained within the limits of the speculative asset class. So far, it has not been valued as a currency to the point of threatening the United States dollar.
In its response, Checkan argued that bitcoin is not a threat because there has not yet been widespread adoption. Thus, financial operators have not yet tested it as a currency. Unless there is a deeper penetration into the financial system before anyone can see it as a threat.
The ASI president also surprisingly mentioned that crypto and precious metals could coexist in financial markets.
Related reading | Nuggets CEO Alex Saunders faces severe criticism for delaying Bitcoin payments
However, Checkan believes they play different functions in an investor’s portfolio. As a result, its position is quite different from other players in the precious metals market.
Instead, the president sees gold as a âstore of valueâ. He argues that investors should devote at least 10% of their portfolio to it.
As for Bitcoin, Checkan said it was a speculative asset, although it could become a future store of value. Thus, an investor can allocate 1 to 2%.
Central bank adoption of digital currencies in the United States
Notably, the United States government appears to be slower than other countries in deploying CBDCs. For now, China is leading the pack.
They have already started a widespread trial with his Digital Yuan and extended it to the whole system. But the US Federal Reserve has been interested in the idea since this year and has started researching it. The research team identifies the benefits and risks that such adoption will present.
Featured image from Pixabay


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Interest has again been reignited in the future of Dutch express, mail and logistics company TNT following comments by UPS’ CFO, Scott Davis. At a conference call to discuss the company’s first quarter results, he hinted that UPS could be about to embark on a more aggressive acquisition strategy. At the top of its shopping list would be international freight forwarding and package delivery companies. Contract logistics companies could also be in its sights, and this had the effect of fuelling speculation that TNT was a possible target.
Moreover, the chances of TNT being acquired were greatly enhanced following a judgement by the European Court of Justice. It ruled that the ‘Golden Share’ which the Dutch government holds in TNT was illegal. The move is seen as significant in the European Commission’s wider efforts to prevent protectionism of key national companies by individual European states.
The so-called ‘Golden Share’ allows the Dutch government to block any fundamental changes to the company structure. The European Commission took the Netherlands to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in December 2003 over this provision, alleging it infringed the free movement of capital within the EU.
Even though the majority of the company is now in private hands, the Court found that the provision could make it more difficult for other companies to acquire a shareholding in TNT and that the arrangement was liable to deter investors from other member states from making such investments.
Although a response is yet to be forthcoming from either the Dutch government or TNT, the ruling could eventually open the door for an acquisition of the Express, Mail and Logistics group.
In the UK, retailer WH Smith announced that it was to float its giant news distribution division in an attempt to focus its business on high street sales. WH Smith’s management suggested that the new independent operation will be able to work more effectively with other retailers, free from its links to a key retail competitor. It would also be better placed to maximize its technological investments, win new business and, most importantly, develop new revenue streams.
This decision to demerge and float on the UK stock exchange will result in the creation of a logistics operation with a 2005 turnover of e1,733m and profits of e54m. WH Smith’s news distribution division has around a 33 per cent share of the market, although the sector is very static. For this reason the management of the newly independent operation would undoubtedly be looking to other sectors in which to expand. With the scale of the operation – 52 distribution facilities throughout the UK – it would be well placed to do so. There may even be opportunities for acquisitions across Europe should the management be ambitious enough.
Although its management has as its prime goal the flotation of the company, it may prove attractive to trade buyers or private equity companies. The business has already been linked with DHL due to interest which the German express company reportedly showed when WH Smith previously considered selling the division to a private equity company in 2001. However comments from Klaus Zumwinkel concerning Deutsche Post’s acquisition strategy would seem to rule it out of the running.
Also during the period German rail and logistics provider Deutsche Bahn (DB) released its financial figures for 2005 showing the best performance in its history. Traffic, revenues and earnings were all strongly up. Group revenues increased by 4.6 per cent (4.9 per cent on a like for like basis) to e25.1 billion, and operating profit grew to e448m, 12 per cent above initial forecasts.
One of the most important consequences of the good performance,according to the management of DB, is that it should help smooth the way for an eventual flotation on the stock market. This follows improvements to its balancesheet ratios, ROCE and gearing.
Finally, DHL entered into a political storm following reports that it is to be awarded a massive e1.2 billion deal in conjunction with US company, Novation, to manage the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) consumables supply chain. The deal will see it, through recently acquired subsidiary Exel, undertake the distribution of a vast array of products, such as syringes, dressings, disposable gloves etc to hospitals ands clinics throughout the UK. DHL/Novation was selected ahead of a consortium comprising Gist (logistics subsidiary of British industrials conglomerate BOC) and IBM.
However the deal ran into controversy on two fronts. Firstly, the US company Novation is under investigation by a US senate committee into alleged anti-competitive behaviour. There have been complaints from smaller competitors that they are being forced out of the market and that Novation charges Medicare more than hospitals are spending. The company refutes these allegations.
Secondly, some political opponents to the government are opposed to what they term as a ‘sell off’. They believe that it is unnecessary to out-source logistics in the NHS given that the Logistics Authority was already operating efficiently. They believe this has been demonstrated by the fact it returned e4.4m to the NHS in 2005. The Logistics Authority makes around 1,200 deliveries a day to 600 hospitals and clinics from six depots around the country. Its turnover in 2005 was e1.1 billion.


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US Pecan Consumption Continues at a Healthy Pace
May 08, 2014
One cannot increase consumption without adequate supply. Barring the introduction of artificial outside influences such as price supports, protective tariffs, etc., this is always true.
Keeping that in mind, as statistics go, March was a very good month for the Pecan industry. While on the surface it may not seem like it, the March Cold Storage Holdings and the Foreign Ag Statistics Export figures were full of good news. Yes, there were a lot of pecans being held in cold storage as of March 31 (311.8 million pounds, inshell basis), and “Yes,’ US exports are still down worldwide. However, almost all of the reduction is still due to China. When one compares the February month end export figures to the March figures, it is apparent that US exports continue to improve. At the end of February, US worldwide shipments were down approximately 32%. By the end of March, shipments were down only 24.3% over the same period a year ago. Shipments to China also improved. At the end of February, shipments to China were down approximately 52%. By the end of March, shipments were down only 38.5% over the same period.
The Cold Storage Holdings also provided some new insight into the size of the 2013 crop. While the USDA will not release their final crop figures until July, based on the March Cold Storage figures, it is glaringly apparent that the 2013 crop was much larger than recently projected. Many within the industry had recently estimated the crop to be between 170 and 190 million pounds, inshell basis. However, when one works the numbers, it would appear that the US crop was well over 220 million pounds; possibly as high as 245 million pounds. Considering that almost 6 million pounds of meats crossed into the US in March yet the industry’s cold storage holdings still declined 1.6 million pounds, it would appear that US consumption continues to move at a healthy pace.
The Mexican crop was also much larger than earlier projected. Based on recent Customs figures, as of April 30th over 138 million pounds (inshell basis) have crossed into the US. That is 8 million pounds more than the major industry groups had projected for the entire year and there are still four more months in the 2013 export year. As an added bonus, less than 1 million pounds of inshell has crossed the border into the US since February28th. With no remaining Mexican inshell to purchase, Mexican buyers are being forced to enter the US market to purchase badly needed meats.
Overseas, both Australia and South Africa are expecting good ‘on-year’ crops. Australia is expecting a crop of approximately 6.8 million pounds (inshell basis) while South Africa expects to harvest approximately 22 million pounds. Unless the recent freeze in the Southwestern US did significantly more damage than originally projected, pecans should continue to be the best value for the nut meat dollar.
As usual, should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 630-879-5200630-879-5200.


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Sofitel eyes Palms' shift
Sofitel, the up-market brand of Accor Hotels, is eyeing a shift to Palm Island, a report said.Christophe Landais, regional director, Sofitel, said that the group is not discarding Palm Beach for expansion plans. "We want our hotels to be a success, so Palm Island is not something that we are discarding," he said. Accor has committed itself to two new properties in Dubai. Due to be completed by next year is the 400-room Novotel and 200-room Ibis at Dubai World Trade Centre site. Accor recently put the up-market Sofitel brand on the City Centre Hotel in Dubai.


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On May 4, Johnson & Johnson was ordered by a Missouri jury to pay $110 million to a Virginia woman who claimed in a lawsuit that she developed ovarian cancer after using the company’s talc-based products for feminine hygiene for decades.
Lois Slemp, 62, alleged that her use of J&J’s Shower-to-Shower and Baby Products over 4 decades, as well as asbestos particles found inside her, caused her cancer.
The mother of 2 grown sons was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012. The cancer has since spread to her liver. Slemp, a nurse, is undergoing chemotherapy and was too ill to attend the trial.
The jury awarded Slemp $5.4 million in actual damages, as well as $105 million in punitive damages, according to her attorney, Jim Onder. Slemp was also awarded $50,000 against talc supplier Imerys Talc.
The verdict is the largest so far out of 2,400 lawsuits accusing J&J of failing to adequately warn consumers about the cancer risks posed by talc-based products.
Ted Meadows, another lawyer for Slemp, said of the verdict:
“Once again we’ve shown that these companies ignored the scientific evidence and continue to deny their responsibilities to the women of America.”
While J&J said in a statement that it sympathizes with Slemp, the company also said it plans to appeal.
In March, J&J won its first trial in the Missouri litigation, breaking a 3-trail winning streak by plaintiffs, when a jury sided with the company in a lawsuit by a Tennessee woman who said Baby Powder caused her cancer.
In February, a jury awarded $72 million to the family of a woman who died from ovarian cancer.
In May 2016, another jury awarded $55 million to a woman who claimed J&J’s talc-powder products caused her to develop cancer. Then, in October 2016, a third jury hit Imerys with a $70 million verdict.
In her lawsuit, Slemp claimed that J&J talc was contaminated with asbestos, a rare allegation in these cases. Jurors were told by a company lawyer that J&J’s products did not cause Slemp’s cancer, and that they don’t contain asbestos.
The $105 million in compensation was calculated based on a formula starting with the number of years since the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a wing of the World Health Organization (WHO), classified talc as a possible carcinogen back in 2006.
Juror Lindsay Polley said that internal documents showed J&J was aware of the growing consensus that talc could cause cancer.
“The J&J documents acknowledge that. If we could, we would make them put on a warning label.”
Juror Jeremy King called the J&J documents “mind-blowing.”
Talc, the softest mineral on earth, is used on babies, so the assumption is that it’s a safe product. Based on that belief, women often apply talcum powder to their genital area, to tampons and pads, and underwear to prevent chafing. The powder is believed to cause cancer when particles migrate up through the vagina.
Talc products have been linked with cancer for decades. A study published in 1971 detailed how British researchers analyzed 13 ovarian tumors and found talc particles “deeply embedded” in 10. It was the first, but certainly not the last, study linking talc use to cancer. A 1982 study in the journal cancer was the first to show a statistical link between genital talc use and ovarian cancer.
There have been 20 epidemiological studies since then that found long-term perineal talc use increases the risk of ovarian cancer by about 33%.
And because J&J’s Baby Powder is considered a cosmetic, it doesn’t need to be approved under the FDA’s 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Out of the 345-page document, only 2 pages are devoted to the safety of cosmetics. Congress is considering updating the law to give the FDA more authority to regulate products.
Of course, there have been studies that found no link between talc use and cancer. But people who have developed cancer after using talc say that’s not the point; they should have been warned about the products’ potential to cause cancer.
As for the rare claim that Slemp’s cancer was caused by asbestos-tainted talc products, it’s not as crazy as it may sound. Talc and asbestos are mined in close proximity to each other.


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Are non-performing loans, the global currency bubble and the push for a cashless society contributing to serious economic problems?
Josh Sigurdson talks with author and economic analyst John Sneisen about the fall of the Indian economy as Moody’s downgrades India’s outlook to “negative” from stable causing great concerns over the possibility of Moody’s downgrading India’s credit rating in the near future.
John breaks down why non-performing loans, the global currency bubble and the push for cashless may play into the serious problems approaching India’s economy despite the great independence of the people of India.
While India’s economy may not crash tomorrow, the global economy will crash and India will unfortunately be part of the domino effect. All fiat currencies eventually revert to zero.
Stay tuned as we continue to cover this subject closely!


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By Todd Bender - February 18, 2016
Todd Bender Performance Systems is proud to announce our renewal of an old relationship with Randolph Engineering, and their RE Ranger Shooting Glasses. For decades RE Ranger has been an industry leader in eye protection with the military and the sport shooting disciplines. More importantly is RE Ranger's commitment to not only a quality product, but to quality customer service. We recently met with Sarah Waszkiewicz this January at the 2016 SHOT Show in Las Vegas. Sarah, whose family started the business, is a clay target shooter, has a passion for shooting, and a passion for the business that her family began. It's values like these where greatness resides, and it's companies like these that Todd Bender Performance Systems aligns with. For more information about RE Ranger and their tremendous eye protection products go to http://www.randolphusa.com
or the soon to be launched, new site RERanger.com.


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DHL Global Forwarding has launched a temperature controlled services moving small quantities of speciality foods from Europe to markets around the world.
“The demand for European specialities and exclusive products is constantly increasing all over the world. Therefore, we have combined our expertise in temperature-controlled goods with a new customised solution,” said Bernhard Stade, vice president ocean freight management Germany at DHL Global Forwarding.
To make sure that chocolate and pastries from Europe arrive in best quality in Asia, a consistent cold chain with temperatures between 12 and 17 degrees Celsius is necessary.
Every week, the goods are transported by ocean freight from Hamburg to Singapore, to be further distributed from there.


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Lenovo has unveiled the Go USB-C Wireless Charging Kit, a wireless charger for laptops. The novelty will be on sale from October 2021. Wireless charging for laptops will cost € 139.
The kit includes a wireless charging receiver for connecting to the laptop’s USB-C port, and a steel pad that connects the Go USB-C Wireless Charging Kit to a 45W to 65W wall charger.
Powered by Energysquare’s Power by Contact wireless charging technology, it works with any 13 ” and 14 ” laptop, both Windows and MacOS. Only touchscreen devices are not supported.


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In this week’s briefing:
- Clare V. is among fashion brands fine-tuning their retail strategy
- Pinterest acquires The Yes
It’s moving day for brands rethinking the purpose of the store
New norm, new store.
As e-commerce booms, stores merely serving as points of sale are losing their luster. So fashion brands, looking to better engage customers by telling a more complete brand story, are fleeing existing stores in favor of new spaces — sometimes across the street.
Clare Vivier, founder and designer of 14-year-old Clare V., best known for bags, said the end of a lease marked an opportunity. At the end of May, the company packed up and relocated its NYC store in Nolita from 239 Elizabeth Street to 240 Elizabeth Street. At 900 square feet, more than double the size of its predecessor, the new digs are better suited to the brand’s evolution and objectives, as well as its customers’ behavior. Unlike in 2013, when 239 Elizabeth opened, Clare V. is more than just handbags.
Alex Mill and Billy Reid are among other retailers that have recently relocated stores for similar reasons.
Los Angeles-based Clare V. is in growth mode, most outwardly obvious in its recent category expansion. Vivier is also expanding the company’s leadership team and store footprint. In step, increasing the overall focus on storytelling has become a bigger priority, she said.
During the pandemic, when demand for the brand’s handbags dropped off, sales of its apparel — especially sweatshirts — picked up. The company also began producing masks to maintain operations and cash flow. Leaning into sales trends, it began introducing new apparel designs as quickly as possible. It’s since continued to build on the category “in a slow and methodical way,” through capsule collections and 2-3 permanent style additions every season.
“Our customer is clearly ready to go with us on that ride when we really get into clothing,” Vivier said. “Our stores now have the capacity to tell the full story of the brand, and we want to keep the door open to [entering] even more categories.”
The brand recently launched costume jewelry ahead of holiday 2021. In February, it introduced an online resale service via Recurate.
Currently, Clare V. operates 10 stores and a summer-exclusive store in Amagansett, each at 900-1,000 square feet. In the months ahead, it will open a second store in San Francisco and a location in Seattle’s University Village.
Moving to cities with a large existing customer base, in areas that feel “lively,” “community-driven” and, therefore, “very Clare V.” is the focus, Vivier said. “I opened my first store in my neighborhood of Silver Lake [Los Angeles], because I, for one, like to stick around and patronize the local businesses on weekends.”
Like Clare V.’s Cobble Hill, Brooklyn location, a selling point of the “Newlita store,” as the company has dubbed it, was its access to a backyard, offering natural light indoors and facilitating outdoor cocktail parties. Early this week, the store hosted an opening party welcoming Vivier friends including Naomi Watts and Christy Turlington. Clare V.’s Amagansett store regularly hosts pop-ups by brands specializing in complementary categories like home products.
“People getting to know the brand in a visual way is really important,” Vivier said. She noted that Clare V.’s seen “huge success” with in-home marketing. And to promote the new store, it’s running a month-long wild postings campaign for the first time in the states – it’s used wild postings to promote a Paris pop-up in the past. Notably, handbags are missing from some of the included imagery.
Ten-year-old DTC apparel brand Alex Mill is also fine-tuning its physical retail play in Lower Manhattan. In June, it will move its 3-year-old SoHo store from 70 Mercer Street to 75 Mercer. And like Clare V., it’s making the move in step with launching several growth initiatives. For example, it introduced international shipping via its e-commerce site on May 31. Former Gap Inc. and J.Crew Group CEO Mickey Drexler, whose son Alexander Drexler founded Alex Mill, took over as the company’s CEO in July 2021. Alex Mill has another store on Madison Avenue.
Though smaller, the new shop will be spread over two floors, providing a more cohesive flow and better customer experience, according to Alexander Drexler. At the same time, it will allow for greater focus on special products, like collaborative collections.
“[The store] will allow us to bring the brand ethos to life,” he said, adding that its location is a key factor. “We’re a Downtown New York-based and -founded brand.”
Meanwhile, menswear brand Billy Reid is replacing stores to concentrate its physical presence on 10 markets, including L.A. Building a more immersive, omnichannel presence in select areas, versus casting a wide net, is the strategy, said Jeff Zens, president of Billy Reid. He noted that, at the same time, the company is updating its marketing approach across channels to focus more heavily on communicating the brand’s story.
Clare V.’s winning strategy
Currently, Clare V.’s revenue is 80% direct-to-consumer sales, with the remainder coming from retail partners including Shopbop, Nordstrom and Anthropologie. It also has a “growing” business via 150 global boutiques, including in Australia and Scandinavia. It once did a significant business in Korea through a retail partner that has since shuttered.
“International sales fluctuate based on where the economy is doing well,” Vivier said, noting that clarev.com ships internationally. “We definitely have untapped markets, when it comes to our wholesale overseas accounts. I would love to get into China and Europe. But we don’t want to be dependent on any big partners.”
That independent focus has been a theme since Vivier bootstrapped the business in 2008. She hired her first employee in 2010 and opened her first store in 2012. She also opened a dedicated Clare V. warehouse close to the company’s L.A. headquarters, rather than ever enlisting a 3PL. Currently, 80% of the brand’s styles are made in Los Angeles.
In 2012, Vivier sold 40% of her business, 33% to Bedrock Manufacturing and 7% to fashion company Steven Alan. Though Clare V.’s been investing in retail, as well as many high-level staffers – including a vp of brand, a vp of design, a director of production and a first-time in-house PR exec – Vivier said she’s not looking to further fundraise, calling raising more capital “an option, but unnecessary.”
“We’ve always been running our own engine and [driving] our own organic growth,” she said. “And we’ve always been profitable.”
And she doesn’t believe the onset of a recession would change that. “I started my brand during a recession,” she said. “It was actually a good thing, because people were wanting something that felt special — founder-driven, and with a point of view and a taste behind it — without being extremely expensive. I hope the same rules apply.”
The last 12 months have served the brand well: Clare V.’s overall handbag business has grown 71% year-over-year, largely driven by sales of crossbody and fanny pack styles. In the first quarter of 2022, the company shipped 70% more products than in the same time period a year before.
Despite Clare V.’s recent price increases, driven by cost hikes within the supply chain, “We’re always going to be an accessible brand,” she said. Opening and expanding stores will certainly help.
What Pinterest’s acquisition of The Yes means for the future of social commerce
On Thursday, Pinterest announced its acquisition of AI-driven fashion marketplace The Yes. The deal will enable the social platform “to accelerate [its] vision for becoming the home of taste-driven shopping,” according to Pinterest. Two-year-old The Yes sells styles by fashion brands from Madewell to Alexander McQueen, and personalizes shoppers’ product selection based on their shared preferences and liked styles.
Julie Bornstein, founder and CEO of The Yes, who also has experience at Stitch Fix, Sephora and Nordstrom, will report to Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann as the company’s new head of shopping vision and strategy.
Bornstein has a history of working with Pinterest. In 2016, while COO of Stitch Fix, she spoke to Glossy about the company’s Pinterest partnership. It centered on incorporating a selection of Pinterest boards in its signature style quiz to help pinpoint a shopper’s style.
In 2020, just after launching The Yes, Bornstein said social platforms were not a competitor, as people were not using them with the intent to shop. “They’re complementary, as fashion influencers on Instagram are certainly a way people are getting style ideas,” she said. And she described items bought on Instagram as merely “impulse purchases.”
“I had expressed skepticism of social media companies becoming e-commerce companies because the expertise and orientation is so different,” Bornstein said when asked whether her views have changed.
She added, “Now, Pinterest will become the leader because they took the bold step of making an investment in a shopping infrastructure and expert team.”
Inside our coverage
Fashion brands are collaborating with anime.
A crowd-sourced collection is the first experiment from Ba&sh’s Creative Lab.
Dia & Co. acquired 11 Honoré in an aim to be the go-to retailer for plus-size apparel.


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Anyone loading up Netflix this morning will be in for a surprise. The streaming giant was out for the count as it suffered from worldwide outages.
The service remained down for 80 minutes before being fixed. That’s a short movie, or three episodes of a show, missed by eager streamers. Here’s what they could have been watching.
- The best streaming movies this month
- Best streaming shows available this month
- Netflix movies to watch while you’re stoned
Downdetector, a site that charts disruptions in digital services reported the problem at 9:15 am Eastern. At that point, the outage map showed Netflix was down in Europe, Asia, and parts of the U.S.
Two hours later, most of the outages resolved. However, if you’re in mainland Europe, or somewhere down the East Coast, you’re likely still affected.
The good news is that the majority of North America and the world are now good to stream. Plus, Netflix continues to give the green tick to services across the world — even for those in Europe and down the East Coast. If you’re in that area, let us know if Netflix is up for you.
You can check whether the Netflix outages are impacting your service here at Netflix.com.
Netflix not the only service with outages
Disney+ also suffered outages this month. Sadly, the technical issues came on its November 12th launch. This caused many fans to be disappointed as they tried to dig into some of Disney+’s top movies and shows.
During the Recode Conference earlier this week, Disney’s Direct to Consumer head Kevin Mayer said high demand caused their outages. However, the question persists about whether the technical issues were actually because of a data breach, however unlikely.
It is unlikely that this Netflix outage spirals into a similar line of questioning. It all depends on whether people start spotting their Netflix accounts up for sale on the Internet’s black market.


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TRADERS in Goldhawk Road have been slapped with Compulsory Purchase Orders as developers move in on Shepherd's Bush Market.
Thirteen shops face the wrecking ball to make space for a redeveloped market but the traders are continuing to fight their case and are heading back to the High Court in October in an attempt to get the project thrown out.
Developer Orion says it put in the CPOs because the traders refused to accept its offer of new, bigger replacement units within the new development. But the shops insists they have never received any offer in writing.
Audrey Boughton of Cooke's Pie and Mash said: "They make all these wonderful, far-reaching statements but as far as we are concerned it is all worthless because nothing has ever been put to us in writing."
Orion is adamant the traders are getting a good deal. It says the new units would be taller from floor-to-ceiling and provide greater storage space, while it has pledged to offer assistance to find temporary units nearby during the development.
But the traders own their own freeholds which they would lose in the deal. "We cannot get like-for-like terms - Orion have already admitted that," said Mrs Bougton.
She says the shops are now funding specialist CPO lawyers to look at their case and hope to secure a public enquiry into the planning permission at the High Court later this year.
Nick Botterill, leader of the council, defended the CPOs and again insisted the traders are getting a good deal.
He said: "For more than a decade, traders and customers have been complaining the market has been allowed to decline because of a lack of investment. The council has a duty to local people to start these proceedings to prevent further delays to a scheme that will increase retail expenditure by more than £3million a year.
"The Goldhawk Road businesses have been offered a good deal by the developer, including the chance to return to new, larger shop units on the Goldhawk Road. That offer is still on the table and this CPO process is a last resort to stop this crucial scheme from protracted hold-ups."
A council spokesman insisted traders had 'refused to enter into negotiations' - branded a 'lie' by Mrs Boughton.
Orion, who will build 200 new flats as part of the scheme, could not be contacted for comment.


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YMTC's Chief Technology Officer, Huo Zongliang, highlighted the anticipated growth in the flash memory sector, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21% expected from 2023 to 2027. The rising demand underscores the industry's challenges, including cost reduction per gigabit, enhanced read/write performance, and diversified consumer needs. QLC NAND's increasing market share, projected to exceed 40% by 2027, signifies its growing relevance in meeting these challenges.
The introduction of the X3-6070 and the showcased PBlaze7 7340 series solid-state drives at CFMS 2024 indicate YMTC's readiness to extend its QLC technology into various applications, including enterprise storage and mobile devices. The company's innovations in NAND flash materials, error-correction algorithms, and SSD controller optimizations contribute to the X3-6070's high endurance.
Moreover, YMTC presented the PC41Q consumer-grade QLC SSD, boasting a sequential read and write speed of 5500MB/s and reliability comparable to TLC SSDs. This includes a data retention period of 1 year and 2 million hours of mean time between failures (MTBF) at 30°C, showcasing the X3-6070's potential in consumer markets.
YMTC's strategic decision to maintain a 128-layer structure for the X3-6070, despite the industry's trend towards higher layer counts, emphasizes its commitment to balancing performance with cost-effectiveness. This approach, combined with material innovations, algorithmic enhancements, and controller optimizations, underscores YMTC's competitive edge in the NAND flash industry.


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Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is one of those games that’s been in development for what feels like forever, and though there’s some concern that it could end up being another Mighty No. 9, much of what’s been shown of the game has been promising. Ahead of its release this year, Inti Creates put out a smaller taster of a game in Bloodstained: Curse Of The Moon, a short and heavily Castlevania inspired game that’s received plenty of praise.
Inti Creates recently released a sales breakdown of Bloodstained: Curse Of The Moon and to the surprise of nobody, it sold the most units on Switch by a distant margin. Here’s the distribution:
Switch – 56%
Steam – 19%
PlayStation 4 – 17%
3DS – 4%
PlayStation Vita – 4%
Inti Creates also released sales data based on region and the results were rather surprising in how much they skewed towards North America. Here’s how much each region bought:
North America – 64%
Japan + Asia – 23%
Europe + Australia – 13%
What do you think? Did you enjoy Bloodstained: Curse Of The Moon? How do you think the full release will turn out? Share your thoughts in the comments below.


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Bloody June: What’s behind last month’s DDoS attacks?
Bloody June: What’s behind last month’s DDoS attacks?
June’s large-scale DDoS activity is the child of many different parents.
By Jon Gold
NetworkWorld | Jul 7, 2014 12:44 PM
The list of DDoS attacks in the month of June has made for grim reading. High-profile sites have been targeted by extortion demands, online games got disrupted and at least one company was put out of business as a direct result.
While it’s tempting to look for a single cause at the root of this apparent tsunami of distributed denial-of-service activity, the reality is considerably more complex. Online activism, the profit motive and even potential nation-state activity contributed to June’s high volume of DDoS attacks.
The only commonality, in fact, may be the ease with which DDoS attacks can be launched.
Experts like Molly Sauter, an academic and author of the forthcoming book The Coming Swarm, say that the process is childishly simple.
“Literally, if you have a credit card and if you’re bored, it could be anyone,” Sauter told Network World. “It’s so easy to rent a botnet – most of them are out of Russia – and you can rent one for stupid cheap, and then deploy it for a couple of hours, and that’s really all you need to target a major site like Feedly or Evernote.”
Sauter’s research focuses on the socio-political aspects of technology. She highlights the attacks, earlier in June, on websites connected to the World Cup’s sponsors and backers, which used the iconography of Anonymous.
“I’m seeing a lot of Anonymous-oriented DDoS actions,” she said. Anonymous, according to Sauter, is a useful “brand” for politically motivated DDoS attacks, allowing groups to identify themselves with a particular flavor of political thought, despite no organizational connection to other activists.
But the highest-profile attacks in the U.S. this June were not politically motivated – the DDoS attempts that took down RSS reader Feedly and note-taking and personal organization service Evernote drew big headlines, and Feedly, at least, was asked for ransom by its attackers.
Feedly didn’t pay up, and, according to Forrester principal analyst Rick Holland, that’s probably for the best.
“There’s no guarantee that they’re not going to continue to DDoS you,” he said. “It’s like regular extortion – you start paying people off and then, suddenly, they’re going to keep coming back to you every month.”
Holland stopped short of urging a blanket refusal to pay off DDoS extortionists, however, saying that companies need to decide their own cases for themselves, in close consultation with their legal teams. He doesn’t know of any companies that have paid a DDoS ransom, but said that it wouldn’t surprise him to learn that it has happened.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if people have gotten DDoS, it didn’t go public, they paid a ransom and that was that, but I have not specifically had those conversations,” he said.
IDC research manager John Grady said that the increasing primacy of online services means that extortion-based DDoS attacks are becoming a more serious threat.
“When there are direct ties from resource availability to revenue, targeting availability is a quick way to get someone's attention,” he said.
Grady echoed both Sauter’s point about the general cheapness of botnets and Holland’s argument that paying the ransom doesn’t make a company proof against further attacks. What’s more, he said, the growing power of some types of attack swings the balance of power further in favor of the attackers.
“Increasingly, the ease of amplifying attacks through DNS or NTP, which can ramp traffic up in the hundreds of gigabit range that we've seen become common, gives attacks real economies of scale,” Grady said.
Research from Forrester shows that, in addition to volumetric attacks like DNS and NTP (which essentially flood targets with unwanted data), targeted application-level attacks have been on the rise. Application-level incidents had been seen by 42% of DDoS victims surveyed in a 2013 report – just shy of the 44% that suffered volumetric attacks. Moreover, 37% used some combination of techniques.
According to a report from Infonetics, that trend has prompted increasing attention for application-level mitigation technology.
“An increasing number of application-layer attacks, which older DDoS detection and mitigation infrastructure can’t identify and block, are forcing companies to make new investments in DDoS solutions,” wrote principal security analyst Jeff Wilson in December.
What this means is that a DDoS attack, whether it’s motivated by politics or money, is an increasingly unequal struggle. Attack techniques have become easier, cheaper and more powerful at the same time as their effects have become more damaging – and defensive measures have failed to keep pace.
“The cost of entry is very low for the attackers and the cost to defend is very high for the targets,” said Holland.
He said that the best defense may be to simply be as forewarned as possible, and to make plans in advance for potential DDoS incidents. Many businesses haven’t even considered the potential ramifications of a DDoS.
“I’m surprised that many of my clients that have some kind of online service – be it a business-to-consumer service, business-to-business service – they don’t know how much 10 minutes of outage would cost them. So when I talk to customers, that’s always one of the first questions I ask them,” he said. “You need to have a playbook set up, basically.”


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5th February 2015
100 new jobs announced in significant boost for the North-East
5th February, 2015
- Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton welcomes Europe’s first fully cloud based omni-channel Customer Engagement Centre
- 100 new jobs announced in significant boost for the North-East
- Engagement Centre is set to attract significant overseas investment in Ireland
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, TD and Minister for Business and Employment Ged Nash, TD were in Dundalk, Co. Louth today to welcome the opening of a brand new, state of the art Customer Engagement Centre established by SalesSense International, Ireland’s leading sales solution provider. The engagement centre which is the first fully cloud based centre in Europe will create 100 new jobs in 2015 for the North-East.
Speaking at the unveiling, Minister Bruton commented, “At the heart of our Action Plan for Jobs for 2015 is accelerating jobs growth in every region of the country. All 8 regions have shown jobs growth over recent years, but some regions are growing faster than others and we are putting in place a range of measures to spread the benefit of the jobs recovery. SalesSense is a highly innovative Irish company servicing domestic as well as overseas customers from their Dundalk HQ. Today’s announcement that they are creating an extra 100 jobs is another great boost for the North East and an example of what is possible across the country. I wish Ger and the team every success with their expansion”.
CEO of SalesSense, Ger Teahon commented; “Against the economic backdrop of the past few years our announcement today is testament to the hard work and amazing passion from the whole team here in SalesSense. As an indigenous company focused on being the best, we are absolutely thrilled that this day has finally come as the excitement levels have been building around this engagement centre for some time. The pride and satisfaction we take in being able to build our business and create 100 jobs is fantastic and we look forward to further growth in the years ahead.”
“This Engagement Centre will be unique in many ways but central to its offering will be its state of the art technology which will significantly benefit our own clients and partners. That together with our company ethos and the highly trained and skilled professionals we will provide make it a formidable proposition in the global sales and service market.”
Also speaking at the opening, Minister Nash said,“This is a fantastic jobs boost for Dundalk and the county in general. I want to pay tribute to SalesSense and Ger Teahon for the hard work and dedication they have put into building up this company from relatively small beginnings.”
"It is particularly heartening to see an existing company expand its workforce. This is a sure sign of confidence in our hard-won economic recovery.”
"This doesn’t happen by accident – we are working hard as a government to compete for these investments – but the calibre of the workforce available in Louth is clearly a huge factor in this decision by Salesense.”
The new cloud based Engagement Centre unveiled by SalesSense will be omni-channel in its operation meaning it has the ability to cater for all customer needs across all communication platforms such as phone, email, direct message and social media amongst others thus significantly improving the customer experience. Meanwhile, SalesSense is very optimistic the all new Engagement Centre will stimulate further overseas investment in Ireland with several foreign companies already looking to partner with SalesSense to manage their sales and service offerings across Europe from the Dundalk location.
CEO of SalesSense Ger Teahon founded the company in 2006 and in the last four years has grown the company from one employee to 150. The addition of these 100 new jobs is part of the company’s plans for continued growth from its Irish base.
For further information;
01 6342549 / 087 1232182
01 6342543 / 0879904480
Notes to Editor:
SalesSense is a full service sales service solutions provider working across multiple platforms for its many large clients. These platforms range from field sales to the many touch points of the customer engagement centre.
Back to Department News


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The Ministry of Economy has estimated the possible losses of exporters in case Egypt imposes protective measures at $400 million.
A special note has been sent to the Egyptian ministry.
The document contains reports confirming the absence of facts testifying to the damage to the Egypt’s steel industry.
Egypt announced its intention to impose protective measures on steel products in March. (Ukrainian metal)
YOUR ADV. here FREE


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A state senator in New York wants to stop food stamp recipients from using their benefits on lobster, steak and candy bars.
Republican state Sen. Patty Ritchie introduced the bill which would restrict the types of purchases that can be made through the state's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as the food stamp program.
"Many of these items aren't just unhealthy," said Ritchie in a press release announcing the legislation. "They're also expensive."
Ritchie's bill would target what she calls "luxury food items," blocking food stamp recipients from using their benefits to purchase certain foods that are either high-end or not nutritious. The bill's memo lays out some examples: lobster, certain steaks, decorated cakes and energy drinks.
The state of New York already restricts SNAP benefits to unprepared foods -- prohibiting non-essential items including alcohol, cigarettes, pet food, and other non-food items, but Richie's bill would go further, banning foods that are "expensive."
A major obstacle for Ritchie's bill is that federal law doesn't allow states to set restrictions on what people can buy with SNAP benefits.
Thanks to the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, almost all food items can be purchased with SNAP benefits. The USDA explains on its site the definition of "food" is a part of that 2008 act, so changing the definition would require action by a member of Congress.
If states keep pushing, Congress might be forced to listen. However, according to USDA report, "designating foods as luxury or non-nutritious would be administratively costly and burdensome."


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New LaPorte venue combines art and food
Glass blowing featured at Elements Cafe
At the Elements Cafe and Studio in LaPorte, you’ll see something not usually found in a restaurant — glass blowing. The business, which opened Friday at 706 Jefferson Ave., combines the quaint charm of a small cafe with the colorful, vibrant atmosphere of an art gallery.
Right alongside the kitchen is a flame-working studio. Flame working is a type of glass blowing that uses a torch to heat glass, and it’s an art that cafe owner Ian Osborne has been doing for 17 years.
Osborne has been creating custom artwork and stocking galleries and shops, and for the last five years, he’s been teaching the art. But when he recently moved back to the area to be closer to family, he decided to combine two of his loves, art and food, he says.
For the last year, he’s been working on the small cafe. The front and back rooms have a rustic feel with wood tables and counters and highlighted with splashes of glass-blown features. Osborne created all of the small artistic details throughout the cafe, like little glass-blown blades of grass and mushrooms and glass-embellished paintings.
But he calls it an ongoing art installation, as he has much more planned for the space.
“I’m hoping that this place will serve as a creative influence in our community,” he says.
And that’s why bringing a glass blowing studio to the area was important to him, he says, because he didn’t know of any place where people could learn the art. In addition to the art that’s for sale, Osborne will offer classes for all ages in which people can learn to make glass beads, jewelry, ornaments and other items. You can find out more information or schedule a session by calling 219-380-8382.
Even if you aren’t interested in learning the skill, you can stop by to eat and possibly catch an artist at work. A window behind the counter gives you a glimpse of the artist, but a TV screen provides a better overhead view that you can watch while waiting on your order.
Osborne says he focused on farm fresh, local and organic ingredients for the menu. The cafe offers frittatas, salads, wraps and sushi, as well as soup specials, smoothies and coffee. With the limited space, Osborne says, they are focused more on carryout orders.
He does hope to expand though and has his eyes on the building next to the cafe.
In the current building, there is some seating up front, but the backroom is available for dinner by reservation. The backroom can seat four to eight people, and guests aren’t necessarily limited to the menu if they call in advance. Osborne says he wants to spoil people, and will work with guests on a dinner menu.
“It’s to provide an experience in a unique setting,” he says.
Lincoln Wright’s column runs on Wednesdays and Sundays. Contact him at email@example.com or 574-235-6324. You also can talk retail at Facebook.com/thebasket and at Twitter.com/marketbasket.


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Updated: Jul 4
WHERE THE CHEESE
News sources in Carytown, Virginia say a late-night CVS store run got two black men in some type of cheese dispute got turned into a run-in with police after panicked store employees locked themselves in a back room and called the cops, reports WATE.
Controversy Ricky Berry, he and his roommate Philip Blackwell went to a CVS store in Carytown, Virginia in search of cheese.
The two men said they made several attempts to reach out to contact the store manager and personnel but were unsuccessful, spokesperson for CVS did issue a public apology and also acknowledged that the employee who called the police was being counseled and retrained.
Berry also recall the entire event as being apart of a horror scene in a scary movie rephrasing how he felt about the situation unfolding at hand.
“We’re being kicked out because they were scared of us and hiding,” Berry said, “He just told us that we need to leave premises or else we would be arrested for trespassing and that flipped the script on all of us. We had no idea what was going on.”
Berry stated that a police officer showed up and helped them search the store only to discover the employees hiding in a back room behind locked doors.


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Stock indexes fell as China said it would impose tariffs on more U.S. products and President Trump told U.S. firms to look for alternatives to doing business in China.
The S&P 500 fell 2% to 2,865.46; the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.8% to 25,778.33; the Nasdaq 2.5% to 7,793.33.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond plunged 6.5% to 1.51%.
The price of gold rose 2% to $1,538 an ounce.
The price of oil dropped 3% to $53.71 a barrel
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: SWKS) in Irvine was down 4% to $73.84 and a $12.6 billion market cap. Shares in the chipmaker are up about 20% year-to-date.
TTM Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: TTMI) fell 5% to $10.18 and a $1.1 billion market cap. The printed circuit board maker added several senior executives this week.


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USABookNews.com, the premier online magazine featuring mainstream and independent publishing houses, announced the winners andfinalists of THE 2013 USA BEST BOOKS AWARDS on November 14, 2013. Ambassador International is thrilled to announce that Each the Same was honored as a finalist in the Children’s Picture Book: Hardcover Fiction category. Winners and finalists were announced in over 100 categories. Awards were presented for titles published in 2012 and 2013.
Jeffrey Keen, President and CEO of USA Book News, said this year’s contest yielded over 1500 entries from mainstream and independent publishers, which were then narrowed down to over 400 winners and finalists. “The 2013 results represent a phenomenal mix of books from a wide array of publishers throughout the United States,” says Keen. “With a full publicity and marketing campaign promoting the results of the USA Best Book Awards, this year’s winners and finalists will gain additional media coverage for the upcoming holiday retail season.”


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The leading global crypto payments infrastructure provider, MoonPay, has announced the launch of a world-first plug-and-play solution that enables brands, creators, and marketplaces to provide their customers with a streamlined way to buy and sell NFTs using a credit card.
According to reports, Checkout classifies NFTs as ‘digital goods’ and the current card approval rates are considerably higher than the standard ‘crypto-on-ramps’ which results in three-fold more sales, MoonPay says.
NFT payment challenges resolved by Checkout
Prior to the launch of NFT Checkout, customers interested in buying an NFT had to first buy a cryptocurrency and then exchange it for the NFT. This made the process for many users, a complex and time-consuming process.
However, MoonPay’s NFT Checkout is now offering a swift solution for the trading of NFTs, which simplifies the process considerably for users, and cuts down on the amounts of fees they have to pay. Checkout also offers an easier verification process that manages debit/credit cards, including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay, SEPA, Faster Payments, Wire Transfers, Open Banking and ACH.
Plug-and-play solutions for NFT trading
APIs have transformed the banking industry, and now look set to play their part in the complicated and evolving world of cryptocurrency. MoonPay’s solution works on any blockchain, including Ethereum, Flow, Solana, and Polygon—and delivers NFTs directly to an on-chain wallet address. MoonPay also takes regulatory and chargeback responsibility away from business customers, enabling them to go to market faster and with peace of mind.
MoonPay expansion plans
The news follows on from MoonPay’s recent announcement that it raised US$555mn in a Series A financing round led by Tiger Global Management and Coatue with participation from Blossom Capital, Thrive Capital, Paradigm, and NEA.
The capital, which values the bootstrapped and profitable company at $3.4bn, will accelerate its global footprint through new products, such as MoonPay Concierge, and partnerships with leading organizations, like FaZe Clan. In addition, with NFT Checkout, the company aims to widen appeal and access to digital assets for billions of customers globally.
NFTs revolutionising intellectual property
Speaking about the launch of Checkout, Ivan Soto-Wright, MoonPay’s CEO and co-founder explained, “We’ve already radically simplified cryptocurrency transactions — NFTs were the obvious next step. NFTs are revolutionising everything from art to intellectual property and how we send, receive, and store value.
“They hold the potential to transform the way we build, strengthen and maintain powerful human connections—not for a centralized few behind walled gardens, but for anyone and everyone on the planet who is ready to become a part of this powerful movement.”
He added, “Right now, the NFT market is limited to the hundreds of millions of people who own cryptocurrency. MoonPay’s NFT Checkout has just opened the door to billions more who own credit cards by making ownership both simple and fast.”


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Samsung is all set to launch two new mobile handsets in India soon. The firm has teased to bring Samsung Galaxy F02s and Galaxy F12 on April 5. A dedicated microsite has also been created on Flipkart to tease its availability. Ahead of the launch, the key specs and the designs of both smartphones have also been revealed. Both the devices will come with a waterdrop-style display. While the former one is to come with a 60Hz refresh rate support, the latter one refreshes at 90Hz. A triple rear camera and quad rear cameras are there on the phones respectively.
Samsung took to Twitter to announce the arrival of Samsung Galaxy F02s and Galaxy F12 in the Indian market. As said, the launch of both devices is set for April 5 at 12 noon. The dedicated microsite not only revealed the design of the smartphone but also threw some light on the key specs that both the devices are going to feature.
Speaking of the specifications, the listing for the Samsung Galaxy F02s reveals that the device is going to come with a 6.5-inch HD+ Infinity-V Display having 60Hz refresh rate support. It is confirmed to be powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 SoC clocked at 1.8GHz. The phone is listed to feature a triple rear camera set up headlined with a 13-megapixel primary sensor. According to the company, the Galaxy F02s will house a 5,000mAh battery to deliver a full day charge.
The company has not yet revealed the pricing but Samsung Galaxy F02s is rumoured to be available with a starting price of Rs 8,999. In the past, the device was also spotted at the Google Play Console listing suggesting to run on Android 10.
On the other hand, a separate microsite for the superior Samsung Galaxy F12 reveals that the smartphone will feature a 6.5-inch HD+ Infinity-V Display and it refreshes at 90Hz. The quad rear camera setup on the phone will include a 48-megapixel primary sensor. Additionally, the mobile phone will be backed by a 6,000mAh battery. Under the hood, there will be an Exynos 850 SoC. It will further include a USB Type-C port for charging and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
While the launch is set for the next week Smasung is expected to spill more beans as far as the specs and the pricing is concerned.
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Prices disguise poor pig values
By Philip Clarke
RETAILERS are failing to pass on the dramatic drop in pig values to their customers, blaming rising labour and packaging costs for shop prices not much different to those of 12 months ago.
Figures published by the Meat and Livestock Commission reveal that retail prices are just 12% lower than they were when the market peaked in June last year. Over the same period, producer prices have slumped by a massive 55%.
"There is a world of difference between what a farmer gets and what a retailer pays," said a spokeswoman for the British Retail Consortium.
"Supermarkets would never buy a whole carcass, but only certain cuts. It is an unfair comparison." The fact the gap was widening reflected the rising cost of getting product on the shelf, including labour, packaging, labelling and promotion.
The extent of retail price falls depends on the cut, with loin chops typically 18% less at £4.20/kg, boneless legs 15% lower at £3.67/kg and boneless shoulders 11% down at £3.10/kg. Loin steaks are the most expensive cut at £5.31/kg this week – ten times the spot price for slaughtered pigs.
"Normally the gap between producer and retail prices hovers between 250% and 300%," says Signet consultant Derek Wells. "But last week it went over 400% for the first time."
He dismisses retailer claims that packaging and labour costs justify the gap. "I could make exactly the same argument from the producer side. True, feed prices have fallen. But other variable costs, labour costs and fixed costs have all increased – especially with the change to loose housing systems."
Meanwhile, UK farmers have not benefited from the increase in export subsidies announced in Brussels at the start of this month. While other member states have seen prices stabilise, UK values dropped another 10p/kg dw during August.
However, there is growing concern on the continent over the recent devaluation of the Russian rouble, which will hamper the competitiveness of EU exports. Last year Russia accounted for 30% of all Third Country trade. Following problems in the Japanese market, that was expected to rise to 50% this year, according to Karsten Flemin, of Danske Slagterier in Copenhagen.
The effects have already been seen in the German market, where prices have slipped about 7p/kg in the past ten days.
"This will be reflected in the rest of Europe in the next few weeks," predicts Mr Flemin.
• Brussels has turned down Irish requests for private storage aid to help take surplus meat off the market. The commission fears the move would put further pressure on the trade when product comes out of stores. *


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US Justice Dept. Charges 2 in NFT 'Rug Pull' Scheme
"They pulled the rug out from under the victims," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said of the creators of the Frosties NFT collection.
Two men allegedly behind the "Frosties" non-fungible token (NFT) project, an infamous scam whose Discord server reportedly evaporated hours after mint, were charged Thursday with money laundering and wire fraud by U.S. prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.
It's an early example of U.S. law enforcement prosecuting an alleged NFT "rug pull."
Ethan Nguyen and Andre Llacuna, who prosecutors say are Frosties's pseudonymous backers, defrauded their NFT investors of over $1 million when theft. Facing criminal conspiracy and financial crime charges, they are among the first criminal NFT defendants in the rug-pull era.
"Mr. Nguyen and Mr. Llacuna promised investors the benefits of the Frosties NFTs, but when it sold out they pulled the rug out from under the victims, almost immediately shutting down the website and transferring the money,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a press release.
Added Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agent Ricky J. Patel:
Protocol reported on the Frosties debacle in a February article.
The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.
Learn more about Consensus 2023, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.


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Calendar of events
Hong Kong Cathay Pacific Airways has been named World’s Best Airline
Russia – Hong Kong Business Association member – Cathay Pacific Airways, the home airline of Hong Kong, has received the World’s Best Airline honour in the annual Skytrax World Airline Awards.
“Cathay Pacific has been the home airline of Hong Kong for close to 70 years and we take great pride in putting the city on the international stage and we are deeply committed to building our city into one of the world’s great aviation hubs. We do this through our huge investment in new aircraft, our world-beating seats, lounges and other products, an ever-expanding network of destinations and our renowned service straight from the Heart”, - commented Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Ivan Chu at the award ceremony.
Annual UK Skytrax is acknowledged as running one of the most comprehensive customer satisfaction surveys in the airline industry. The latest awards are based on a survey of 18.85 million airline passengers from more than 160 countries around the world, which covered 245 airlines worldwide. The survey measures standards across 41 key performance indicators of airline products and services.
Cathay Pacific Airways took the title of “World’s Best Airline” in 2003, 2005 and 2009, so it is the only airline to achieve such a feat for four times.
Äðóãèå íîâîñòè ðóáðèêè International Events:
12-07-2018 | Ñhairman of the Russia-Hong Kong Business Association, Sergeó Vikulin visited the spring / summer fashion week in Hong Kong.
01-06-2018 | Chairman of the Association of Business Cooperation "Russia-Hong Kong" Sergeó Vikulin visited the European Forum in Rotterdam
Ñhairman of the Russia-Hong Kong Business Association, Sergeó Vikulin visited the spring / summer fashion week in Hong Kong.
|Tel.: +7 495 280-77-70, fax: +7 495 280-77-74
e-mail: info @ russiahk.ru


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The Woodland Trust has pledged to end the use of new plastic tree shelters from its sites by the end of the year – and is encouraging others to follow suit.
The charity – which hopes to plant 10 million trees each year to 2025 – has spent the past two years carrying out rigorous trials of plastic free alternatives which will be scaled up dramatically by the end of 2021.
Woodland Trust chief executive Darren Moorcroft said: “By committing to go plastic free in terms of the use of tree shelters, we are set to be the trail blazers in this field and catalysing a permanent change to the tree planting world.”
Without protection from rabbits and deer, young trees didn’t stand much chance, said Mr Moorcroft. Plastic guards had long been the first port of call due to their longevity. But they didn’t biodegrade and were not environmentally friendly.
He added: “We all need millions of new trees, want to turn the industry on its head once and for all and we have the chance to finally solve this puzzle through new sustainable approaches to tree establishment.”
Although the Woodland Trust currently removes the plastic tubes from its sites and recycles them, the charity has been working hard for some time to find long term, effective alternative products.
The research has seen a huge trial of plastic free alternatives at the trust’s Avoncliff site in Wiltshire where it has closely monitored closely the effectiveness of plastic-free tree protection.
Alternatives range from innovative products made from cardboard to one made from British wool and is totally biodegradable. It says this option has some “significant sustainability credentials” and would establish a new market for wool.
The trust is also working with academic partners at the
Plastic Waste Innovation Hub at University College London.
It says it is determined to understand the full life cycle impacts from such products to ensure its approach to tree protection is sustainable.


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w/Wiser! #108 - Friday 13th January 2023
You'll notice that the newsletter is shorter in reading length this week. That's partly because I'm travelling this week and next, and I have little time to write longer articles or post much on social media. It's also because I'm trying out something new, which is to put the longer form content into a separate page on the website. This keeps the email size down to help all of you who read Wiser! on your mobiles, which is a lot!
The thing is, I've started it this week, and you'll see a few links to "continue reading on Wiser! Things." This link will take you to the webpage if you want to know a bit more about the story having read the headline.
I hope you like it. 👍
Otherwise, Wiser! is all that you've come to expect with a ton of headlines, insights and information about what's happening in tech.
Meanwhile, thanks to all of the new Premium subscribers who have bought access to the Brand Strategy Collection. The next drop of brands named N to R will drop in the first week of Feb.
P.s. Remember: Insight and Information Gives You Leverage!
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The Wiser! Top 10 Predictions for the Tech Economy 2023
From AI to NFTs, from the race for space to the future of Twitter, in my 2023 Tech Economy Predictions, I cover them all. Read the 10 plus 1 predictions and my logic for each one of them here.
Whats happening in BigTech
ChatGPT and Microsoft
Big Story: Microsoft are to invest $10 billion in OpenAI on a $29 billion valuation. This comes days after it was announced that Microsoft was to build ChatGPT into its Office product range, changing the way more than a billion Microsoft users write Word docs and create PowerPoint presentations. Out of interest, take a look at Notion, who have already implemented a great example of what this looks like, which I'm using to write this newsletter.
It was also announced that ChatGPT will be integrated in the Microsoft search engine, Bing, creating a major threat to Google’s dominance of Search.
Here’s The Thing: Google are worried by the threat posed by ChatGPT. The tech giant has spent years working on its own chat bot and has actually built one to rival ChatGPT called LaMDA.
But it has been reluctant to share LaMDA widely because of its potential to generate false or toxic information.
According to the New York Times, Google has a second dilemma: if a chat bot responds to search queries with tight sentences and perfect answers, there’s less reason for people to click on advertising clinks.
In other BigTech news
- Consumers in China last year spent 1.41 trillion yuan, or $208 billion, buying things on ByteDance’s Douyin video app, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, an increase of 76% from 2021.
- However, TikTok faces growing challenges in Europe and the US. I reported last week on the calls for TikTok to be banned in the USA, which I don’t think will happen (the US never banned Facebook after the Cambridge Analytica scandal exposed the harm it posed to US democracy.) This week in Europe, the app’s chief executive met with the European Union’s top digital policymaker in Brussels to discuss regulatory hurdles, investigations, and political criticism across the continent.
- Meanwhile, WeChat, the Tencent owned messaging app, has reported fast growth on its own TikTok copycat short-video feed. Total number of views on WeChat Channels tripled in 2022, the company said. Channels has become increasingly important for Tencent as it fights to keep WeChat users’ attention in the face of TikTok’s domination of the attention economy.
- Apparently, Meta is rolling out a new machine-learning solution for reducing algorithmic bias in its advertising on Facebook and Instagram. Good luck with that!
- A review of Twitter by NBC News found dozens of accounts and hundreds of tweets claiming to sell child sexual abuse material. Remember, just last November, Elon Musk tweeted that stopping this kind of material on Twitter was “priority #1.” The reality is that little has changed, and how could it when the content moderation teams have all be disbanded?
Here’s The Thing: Advertisers and users don’t like it. Clients of WPP-owned GroupM, the world’s largest ad-buying firm, have cut their spending on Twitter by between 40% and 50% since Elon Musk took control of the company in late October.
- Jack Ma has lost control of Ant Group. Remember: Jack Ma, once described as the Jeff Bezos of ChinaTech, disappeared from public view after he publicly criticised the CCP and China’s approach to financial services regulation. Continue reading on Wiser! Things.
- Only thirteen days into 2023 and already more than 21,700 tech employees have lost their jobs.
- Apple said it paid developers making apps for its App Store $60 billion in 2022, which was flat compared to what it paid out the year prior.
What's happening in Metaverse
- Apple’s mixed-reality headset is set to launch this year after seven years of development and delays, according to Bloomberg.
- H&M is upping its bets in emerging tech with the launch of Loooptopia, joining numerous others, including Gen Z retailer American Eagle, who have made Roblox a key marketing asset in an attempt to connect with younger shoppers.
- Mastercard is launching a web3-focused incubator to help artists connect with fans through a new medium.
- McDonald’s new media campaign to celebrate the Lunar New Year uses AI, augmented reality, 3D filters and has a metaverse theme. In their press release, a McDonald’s spokesperson said:
"We know our fans live at the intersection of innovation and culture and that's where McDonald's needs to meet them.”
For more on the brand strategy of H&M, American Eagle and McDonalds in emerging tech, sign up for the Brand Strategy Collection.
What's happening in Web3
- Hong Kong is pushing ahead with the development of its Web3 industry as part of a plan to re-establish itself as a global cryptocurrency hub, pursuing a very different path from that taken by mainland China when it comes to the digital asset industry. Unlike China, which banned crypto transactions in 2021, Hong Kong is positioning itself to welcome a new licensing regime that will potentially open a market for retail cryptocurrency trading.
- El Salvador is to raise funds through the world’s first sovereign blockchain bond. The congress in El Salvador has passed a digital-securities law that would allow the nation to raise funds as it continues to push the country’s adoption of Bitcoin.
- In Dubai, a dedicated crypto hub for local entrepreneurs has attracted twice as many digital asset startups last year than in 2021.
- NFT December sales surged to their highest levels since June last year. This was fuelled by ‘tax-loss harvesting’ caused by the slump in prices of some non-fungible tokens. This and allowed US holders to take advantage of a loophole to reduce capital gains taxes.
- The "Game of Thrones" official NFT collection, dubbed "Build Your Realm," completely sold out just seven hours after its release this week on Nifty's NFT marketplace.
- Twitter is developing a ‘Coins’ feature with Stripe payments. It’s not clear if these will be digital tokens on blockchain or via a more traditional web2 solution. But as I’ve said before, my guess is that Musk will integrate payments into Twitter. It’s a domain he understands very well (assuming Twitter survives, of course.)
- Federal prosecutors in the US are to investigate Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange following the collapse of FTX.
- Meanwhile, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) popped up on Substack on Thursday with his own newsletter. In his first post, he repeated that he did not “steal funds” in what seemed to be his “I didn’t do anything” line of defence. FYI, the Substack newsletter will set you back $80, which is considerably more expensive than a subscription to Wiser! and, IMHO, substantially less interesting or of value!
What's happening in Technology
Generative AI continues to dominate the news agenda
- OpenAI has opened a waitlist for a professional version of ChatGPT, the popular artificial intelligence chatbot, according to TechCrunch. OpenAI may start to experiment with a paid version of the platform (which is currently creaking at the seams because of the massive demand for the free version.)
- Meanwhile, browser Neeva has integrated ChatGPT into it’s ad-free subscription service. Read my conversation with one of the founders of Neeva here.
- Notion has implemented a great example of how GPT-like AI tools will become as ubiquitous as calculators and spell checkers in consumer software (which I'm using to write this newsletter.)
- New York City Governors has banned the use of ChatGPT in schools. I think that’s short-sighted and explain why in Wiser! Things.
- Security research group Check Point Research (CPR) published a terrifying article entitled “OpwnAI: Cybercriminals Starting to Use ChatGPT.” Although not surprising, I wasn’t expecting it so soon.
- Meanwhile, according to Forbes, people are using ChatGPT to write fake scientific abstracts which are good enough to fool scientists.
- ChatGPT is free to use. But that hasn’t stopped a ton of new mobile apps charging fees to use the free technology.
- Ryan Reynolds read from an AI-generated script in the new Mint Mobile ad.
- Microsoft has shown off its latest research in text-to-speech AI with a model called VALL-E that can simulate someone's voice from just a three-second audio sample. The speech can not only match the timbre but also the emotional tone of the speaker, and even the acoustics of a room.
In other Tech & Innovation news
- Healthtech biometrics goes down the pan! At CES2023 last week, sensors inside the toilet are measuring human waste to detect health markers.
- Panasonic and Biel Glasses have announced a new pair of smart glasses to aid mobility for the visually impaired that describe as “life-changing.”
- Bloomberg reported that Apple is actively working on making a touchscreen MacBook, which it plans to begin selling in 2025. Steve Jobs was always against such an innovation.
- Hyundai have demo’ed its 'crab-walking' e-Corner technology in an Ioniq EV. The tech allows the wheels of a car to turn in ways they can’t on a traditional suspension system. Expect to find the tech in production vehicles as early as 2025.
- An experimental, potentially revolutionary all-electric airplane designed by NASA will soon be taking its first test flight, which will mark a major milestone for battery-powered aviation.
- Shopify’s New Year’s Resolution is "No More Meetings" after the CEO, Tobias Lütke announced that all recurring meetings with three or more attendees will be removed “in perpetuity”. When I asked LinkedIn followers if they thought Shopify “employees be better off because of the ban”, 58% responded “yes.”
- John Deere says it makes AI robotics, not farm equipment, which is more real than it sounds - its products are full of cameras and GPS now.
🛠 Tools, tips and tricks to save you time
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- Moonbeam is specifically trained to write essays, articles, blogs, and other long form content.
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🎙 Big Tech Little Tech #16
The latest episode of Big Tech Little Tech is all about what's coming next as Shaun and I gaze into our crystal balls and make a few predictions for the year ahead.
Find all the links and show notes in the latest issue of the Big Tech Little Tech newsletter.
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Anchor | Pandora | Google Podcasts | Castbox | Deezer | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | RSS Feed | Subscribe to Newsletter
🌎 For all show notes, background links and everything to do with the show, go to the Big Tech Little Tech website.
Wiser! is a weekly newsletter that makes sense of what's happening and what's coming next in the tech economy. From disruptive technologies, like blockchain, crypto and artificial intelligence, to emerging trends, like Web3 and the Metaverse. Plus there's a big focus on BigTech and the impact of social media.
The purpose of Wiser! is simple, to help you stay interesting, informed and one step ahead of your competition. Using easy and engaging language, I make sense of it all so that you don't have too.
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