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In 2022, the Irish were the third biggest online shoppers in Europe only behind internet buyers from the Netherlands and Denmark, according to the latest Eurostat figures. 89% of Ireland’s online shoppers used the internet to buy goods or services (clothes, shoes, accessories in the main), with 61% of Irish online buyers purchasing goods from EU sellers and 39% from sellers from the rest of the world (non-EU), according to CSO Ireland. Some purchases are made via the 29,895 .ie domains registered internationally in 2022 (most based in Germany/EU and the UK and the US/non-EU, respectively), as seen in the latest .IE report.
For World Consumer Day 2023 on the 15th of March, along with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Consumers, and our parent organisation, the European Consumer Centres Network, we focus on pitfalls of online shopping, which is sometimes riddled with unethical practices that lead consumers to inadvertent overconsumption, overindebtedness and losing out on fair pricing and fair terms.
From investigations into known problems by the European Commission and the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network of enforcement authorities in the Member States, we have learned that most consumer rights breaches in the digital sphere have to do with unfair commercial practices, unfair pricing and unfair contract terms. Most recently, among the most prominent issues identified were dark patterns, untruthful discounts for Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales, unfair commercial practices by car rental intermediaries, fake online consumer reviews, unfair terms for subscription payments and deceptive greenwashing claims, among others.
In this context, we focus on some of the most common pitfalls of online shopping in 2023:
Dark Patterns: These design elements or e-commerce features, which are deliberately placed on shopping websites, are designed to entice or manipulate consumers into making a purchase or signing up for a service or subscription.
For example, these can be pop-ups that require users to provide their e-mail address before they can access a website or a “limited-time offer” that creates a sense of urgency, on-page messaging that makes it difficult to exit a page or pressure to sign up for a subscription service that is later difficult or nearly impossible to cancel.
Read more about dark patterns in this 2022 European Commission study here.
Price Personalisation: This is the practice of displaying different prices to different consumers based on their browsing history, location and other personal data. This can lead to unfair pricing practices and discrimination in terms of accessing fair prices and ultimately results in some shoppers paying higher prices than others for the same product or service.
Consumer Manipulation: Some online retailers use psychological tactics to manipulate consumers into making a purchase. These can include false scarcity, where a product is advertised as limited in quantity and upselling, where a shopper is encouraged to buy a more expensive product or opt for add-ons to a base product or package.
Restrictive Sale Terms: These can include anything from non-negotiable terms and conditions, such as a minimum purchase amount, requiring buyers to sign up for a subscription to get a discount, absence of a returns policy, which means that customers cannot return an item for a refund or exchange.
This can lead to consumer-trader disputes of the kind the European Consumer Centre Ireland deals with on a daily basis – learn more about redress options here.
BNPL: ‘Buy now – pay later’ is a type of purchase financing option plan that allows customers to buy products online and pay for them over a certain (short) period of time, in instalments. While BNPL is a convenient payment option that allows consumers to pay for things they can otherwise be unable to afford, some potential pitfalls associated to BNPL are hidden fees, as well as overspending and debt.
Learn more about BNPL here.
Don’t lose sight of your European consumer rights when shopping online. For a rundown of consumer rights in the European Union, head over to this user-friendly infographic by the European Commission here.
To get advice and assistance with consumer questions and disputes pertaining to cross-border online shopping within the European Union,
please contact ECC Ireland here.
Learn more about online shopping consumer rights on eccireland.ie here.


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Infant bike helmets exclusively sold at Target have been recalled over possible choking hazards.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced on May 17 that importer and distributor Pacific Cycle has recalled about 129,000 Schwinn infant helmets after it received reports that a piece of magnet and a small plastic component of the chin straps may come loose. Questions about the stability of the no-pinch buckle tie may put young children at risk, not only of choking, but also ingesting the magnet.
The Product In Focus
The recalled product, manufactured by Schwinn Bikes, is officially called Magnetic No-Pinch Buckle Infant Helmet. These products are made for infants and children up to 3 years old.
The helmet and straps come in different colors and designs. For consumer guidance, there is a "SCHWINN" label printed on the front part of the headgear. Aside from this, no other products are affected by the recall.
The infant bike helmets were manufactured in China and were sold at Target branches and online from January 2014 up to April 2016. Price ranges from $18 to $25.
Although Pacific Cycle has received three reports of the plastic piece being detached, no injury reports have been noted.
Those who have purchased the recalled helmet must not use the product anymore and ensure that it is kept away from children. Consumers are advised to contact Pacific Cycle to obtain instructions on how to get a free product replacement.
Schwinn Bikes also made a statement regarding the recall.
"Safety is always our number one priority, and in an abundance of caution, Schwinn approached the CPSC to conduct a voluntary recall of the product," the company statement says.
The firm says it is committed to provide quality bikes and accessories and that safety is their number one priority. It also encourages consumers who have bought the recalled product to contact their customer service department for assistance.

domain: news


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Buena Park, CA (January 10, 2014)—Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. has announced its new “Trade In, Trade Up” program, allowing all customers who own a Yamaha M7CL-48 Digital Mixing Console to trade in their console for $15,000 towards purchasing the new Yamaha CL5 Digital Mixing Console. The program will take place through March 31, 2014.
“This limited time program will provide end users with the opportunity to own a new Yamaha CL5 console that they may not have had the budget to purchase,” states Marc Lopez, marketing manager, Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. “The trade Up to a CL5 will fulfill many of the features and benefits engineers have been asking for in an affordable package.”
End users should contact an Authorized Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. (YCAS) Dealer for more details.
Yamaha Commercial Audio, Inc.


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By failing to require full disclosure of genetically modified ingredients in food, the Trump administration has forced food companies to decide whether they’re truly committed to being transparent about what’s in the food they sell.
Loopholes in the rule implementing a mandatory GMO disclosure law will exempt many products that contain highly refined sugars and oils. EWG has previously estimated that this loophole will impact one out of six foods.
Some have pledged to disclose GMOs on the label, and some have pledged to disclose through a scannable barcode, known as a QR code, but all have pledged to go beyond the requirements of the new rule. Some have already been disclosing the presence of GMOs through SmartLabel or by continuing to follow Vermont’s GMO labeling law.
What is clear is consumers are willing to change brands when they feel as if food companies are not fully transparent.
In the coming weeks, food companies like General Mills will face a big test: Will they trust their consumers by playing it straight? Or will they hide basic facts about our food?


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After a few tough years, Jordan's exports are bouncing back, with new potential on the horizon.
Lying on the east bank of the Jordan River, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a unique country in the Middle East. With little or no crude oil resources to tap, its economy has developed in an organic manner right from the onset. Admittedly, the Kingdom still needs to contend with economic maladies such as unemployment and poverty. However, all things considered, Jordan’s economy has undergone a process of growth and liberalization during the reign of King Abdullah II.
According the World Factbook, the revenue generated by the export of goods and services account for roughly one-third of Jordan’s GDP, which means exports are of critical importance for the country’s economy. In 2017, Jordan exported some USD7.5 billion worth of goods, according to the World Bank. This figure may not be impressive at first glance, but one must bear in mind that circumstances such as water scarcity and barrenness of the land limit the country’s output in many areas such as agriculture and heavy water-intensive industries.
Jordan is trying to make up for its limited natural resources, in part, by fostering good diplomatic relations. Jordan has one of the highest numbers of FTAs in the world; the Kingdom currently benefits from FTAs with the US and Canada, the EU, many countries in the MENA and GCC regions, among many others. Forming roughly 20% of the country’s exports by value, textiles, clothing, and accessories are the leading outputs of Jordan, fetching USD1-1.5 billion per year for the Kingdom. Pharmaceuticals (9%), fertilizers (8.5%), and minerals such as salt, potassium, and phosphates along with cement (6%) were other major exports of Jordan in 2017. Meanwhile, the export of inorganic chemicals—currently generating around USD385 million per year—has been on the rise in recent years, outpacing the growth in the export of all other commodities.
In 2015, when the Middle East was experiencing some of the darkest days of its history, Jordan lost the markets of Iraq and Syria. As a compensatory measure, the nation’s exporters demanded the authorities facilitate their access to African markets. According to the Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI), around 2.5% of Jordan’s exports headed for Africa at the time, but this figure jumped to over 5% in 2018. The good news, however, is that markets of Syria and Iraq have become accessible once more as peace is slowly returning to the region.
The reopening of Jordan-Syria border in 2018 came as a relief to the exporters of fruits and vegetables, which are mostly based in the Jordan Valley, as the border closure had put the sector in a tight spot, with prices taking a nosedive. The reopening of the border has revived other sectors too; many Syrian detergent companies used to import their raw materials from Jordan before the civil war, and Jordanian exporters are hopeful that the demand for minerals and inorganic chemicals will grow in 2019 and 2020.
The Iraq-Jordan border is a similar case. Before the conflicts, Iraq was the fourth major recipient of Jordanian goods in value terms, importing around USD540 million worth of commodities each year. However, the vital trade route was cut off in 2015 as unrest escalated. The Turaibil border contributed to the bilateral Jordanian-Iraqi trade exchange, which according to some estimates exceeded USD1 billion in its heyday. Now, with the crossing opening up again, it is hoped that the volume of Jordanian exports will bounce back to their previous levels by the end of 2019.
Jordan’s exports are by no means restricted to low-tech commodities such as minerals and agricultural products. Indeed, Jordan is regarded as a manufacturer of knowledge-based products. Jordanian pharmaceutical products, for instance, are popular in the region due to their quality. However, if the sector wants to keep up with the competition and avoid losing its market to Asian and European brands, more price cuts and quality enhancement measures are necessary. If such steps are taken, Jordanian pharma exports can jump to USD1 billion per year from the current figure—just under USD670 million. Given Jordan’s capabilities for high-tech manufacturing in the Middle East, plastics and electronics are two further promising areas for exports in the coming years.


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Deep Flaws in FDA Oversight of Medical Devices, and Patient Harm, Exposed in Lawsuits and Records
Living with diabetes, Carlton “PeeWee” Gautney Jr. relied on a digital device about the size of a deck of playing cards to pump insulin into his bloodstream.
The pump, manufactured by device maker Medtronic, connected plastic tubing to an insulin reservoir, which Gautney set to release doses of the vital hormone over the course of the day. Gautney, a motorcycle enthusiast, worked as a dispatcher with the police department in Opp, Alabama.
The 59-year-old died suddenly on May 17, 2020, because — his family believes — the pump malfunctioned and delivered a fatal overdose of insulin.
“There’s a big hole left where he was,” said Gautney’s daughter, Carla Wiggins, who is suing the manufacturer. “A big part of me is missing.”
The wrongful-death lawsuit alleges the pump was “defective and unreasonably dangerous.” Medtronic has denied the pump caused Gautney’s death and filed a court motion for summary judgment, which is pending.
The pump Gautney depended on was among more than 400,000 Medtronic devices recalled, starting in November 2019, after the company said in a recall notice that damage to a retainer ring on the pump could “lead to an over or under delivery of insulin,” which could “be life threatening or may result in death.”
As the recall played out, federal regulators discovered that Medtronic had delayed acting — and warning patients of possible hazards with the pumps — despite amassing tens of thousands of complaints about the rings, government records show.
Over the past year, KFF Health News has investigated medical device malfunctions including:
- Artificial knees manufactured by a Gainesville, Florida, company that remained on the market for more than 15 years despite packaging issues that the company said could have caused more than 140,000 of the implants to wear out prematurely.
- Metal hip implants that snapped in two inside patients who said in lawsuits that they required urgent surgery.
- Last-resort heart pumps that FDA records state may have caused or contributed to thousands of patient deaths.
- And even a dental device, used on patients without FDA review, that lawsuits alleged has caused catastrophic harm to teeth and jawbones. CBS News co-reported and aired TV stories about the hip and dental devices.
The investigation has found that most medical devices, including many implants, are now cleared for sale by the FDA without tests for safety or effectiveness. Instead, manufacturers must simply show they have “substantial equivalence” to a product already in the marketplace — an approval process some experts view as vastly overused and fraught with risks.
“Patients believe they are getting an implant that’s been proven safe,” said Joshua Sharlin, a former FDA official who now is a consultant and expert witness in drug and medical device regulation. “No, it hasn’t,” Sharlin said.
And once those devices reach the marketplace, the FDA struggles to track malfunctions, including deaths and injuries — while injured patients face legal barriers trying to hold manufacturers accountable for product defects.
In a statement to KFF Health News, the FDA said it “has a scientifically rigorous process to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of medical devices.”
‘Too Little, Too Late’
The FDA approved the MiniMed 670G insulin pump on Sept. 28, 2016, after its most stringent safety review, a little-used process known as premarket approval.
In a news release that day, Jeffrey Shuren, who directs the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, lauded the device as a “first-of-its-kind technology” that would give patients “greater freedom to live their lives” and to monitor and dispense insulin as needed. The pump was tested on 123 patients in a clinical trial over several months with “no serious adverse events,” the release said. Shuren declined to be interviewed.
The FDA’s enthusiasm didn’t last. In November 2019, Medtronic, citing the ring problem, launched an “urgent medical device recall” of the pumps, which it expanded in late 2021.
During an inspection at Medtronic’s plant in Northridge, California, FDA officials learned the company had logged more than 74,000 ring complaints between 2016 and the November 2019 recall. More than 800 complaints weren’t investigated at all, according to the FDA, which sharply criticized the company in a December 2021 warning letter.
Medtronic is facing more than 60 lawsuits filed by injured patients and their families and the company believes it may be hit with claims for damages from thousands more patients, the company disclosed in an August Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Medtronic pumps that allegedly dispensed too much, or too little, insulin have been blamed for contributing to at least a dozen patient deaths, according to lawsuits filed since 2019. Some cases have been settled under confidential terms, while others are pending or have been dismissed. Medtronic has denied any responsibility in response to the lawsuits.
In one pending case, a Las Vegas man using the pump allegedly fell into an “insulin-induced coma” that led to his death in 2020. In another 2020 case, a 67-year-old New Jersey resident collapsed at her home, dying later the same day at a local hospital.
The recall notice Medtronic sent to a 43-year-old Missouri man’s home arrived a few days after police found him dead on his bedroom floor, his family alleged in a lawsuit filed in August. “Simply too little, too late,” the suit reads. The case is pending, and Medtronic has yet to file an answer in court.
Medtronic declined to answer written questions from KFF Health News about the pumps and court cases. In an emailed statement, the company said it replaced pump rings with new ones “redesigned to reduce the risk of damage” and “fulfilled all pump replacement requests at no cost to customers.”
Shortcut to Market
The 1976 federal law that mandated safety testing for high-risk medical devices also created a far easier — and less costly — pathway to the marketplace. This process, known as a 510(k) clearance, requires manufacturers to show a new device they plan to sell has “substantial equivalence” to one already on the market, even if the prior product has been recalled.
Critics have worried for years that the 510(k)-approval scenario is too industry-friendly to protect patients from harm.
In July 2011, an Institute of Medicine report concluded that 510(k) was “not intended to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of medical devices” and said “a move away from the 510(k) clearance process should occur as soon as reasonably possible.”
More than a decade later, that hasn’t happened, even amid mounting controversy over the clearance of hundreds of devices that employ artificial intelligence.
The FDA now clears about 3,000 low- to moderate-risk devices every year through 510(k) review, which costs the device maker a standard FDA fee of about $22,000. That compares with about 30 approvals a year through the stricter premarketing requirements, which cost nearly $500,000 per device, according to FDA data. Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Center for Health Research, said even many doctors don’t realize devices cleared for sale typically have not undergone clinical trials to establish their safety.
“Doctors are shocked to learn this,” she said. “Patients aren’t going to know it when their doctors don’t.”
In response to written questions from KFF Health News, the FDA said it “continues to believe in the merits of the 510(k) program and will continue to work to identify program improvements that strengthen the safety and effectiveness of 510(k) cleared devices.” The FDA keeps a tight lid on data showing which devices manufacturers choose to demonstrate substantial equivalence — what the agency refers to as “predicate” devices.
“We can’t get detailed data,” said Sandra Rothenberg, a researcher at the Rochester Institute of Technology. “It’s very hard for researchers to determine the basis on which substantial equivalence is being made and to analyze if there are problems.”
Rothenberg cited the history of “metal-on-metal” artificial hip implants, which under 510(k) spawned many new brands — along with a disastrous toll of patient injuries. The implants could release metal particles that damaged bone and led to premature removal and replacement, a painful operation. Just four of these hip devices have been the target of more than 25,000 lawsuits seeking damages, court records show. In early 2016, the FDA issued an order requiring safety testing before approving new metal-on-metal hip devices.
Two former Medtronic sales executives in California argue in a whistleblower lawsuit that the 510(k) process can be abused.
According to the whistleblowers, the FDA approved the Puritan Bennett 980, or PB 980, ventilator in 2014 based on the assertion it was substantially equivalent to the PB 840, an earlier mechanical ventilator long viewed as the workhorse of the industry.
Medtronic’s subsidiary company Covidien made its claim even though the device has completely different “guts” and operates using software and other “substantially different” mechanisms, according to the whistleblowers’ suit.
In response, Medtronic said it “believes the allegations are without merit and has moved to dismiss the case.” The case is pending.
The whistleblowers argue the PB 980 ventilator was plagued by dangerous malfunctions for years before its recall in late 2021.
One ventilator billowed smoke in an intensive care unit while the whistleblowers were told by one hospital that “the wheels for the ventilator cart may actually fall off the ventilator during transport,” according to the suit.
Batteries could die without warning, kicking off a scramble to keep patients alive; monitor screens froze up repeatedly or otherwise went on the blink; and, in several cases, alarm bells warning of a patient emergency rang continuously and could be quieted only by unplugging the unit from the wall socket and pulling out its batteries, according to the suit.
The December 2021 recall of the PB 980 cited a “manufacturing assembly error” that the company said may cause the ventilator to become “inoperable.”
Medtronic said in an email that the ventilator “has helped thousands of patients around the world,” including playing a “critical role in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The FDA operates a massive database, called MAUDE, to alert regulators and the public to emerging device dangers. The FDA requires manufacturers to advise the agency when they learn their device may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury, or malfunctioned in a way that might recur and cause harm. These reports must be submitted within 30 days unless a special exemption is granted.
But FDA officials acknowledge that many serious adverse events go unreported — just how many is anybody’s guess.
Since 2010, the FDA has cited companies more than 5,000 times for not handling, reviewing, or investigating complaints properly, or for not reporting adverse events on time. For instance, the FDA cited an Ohio company that made electric beds and other devices more than 15 times for failing to properly scrutinize complaints or report adverse events, including the death of a patient who allegedly became trapped between a bedrail and mattress, agency records show.
In about 10% of reports, more than a year or two elapsed from when a death or serious injury occurred and when the FDA received the reports, a KFF Health News analysis found. That works out to nearly 60,000 delayed reports a year.
Experts and lawmakers say the FDA needs to find a way to detect safety problems quicker.
Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have tried for years to persuade the agency to add unique device identifiers to Medicare payment claim forms to help track products that fail. In an email statement to KFF Health News, Grassley called that a “commonsense step we can take up front to mitigate risk, improve certainty and save money later.”
The FDA said it is working to “strike the right balance between assuring safety and fostering device innovation and patient access.” Yet it noted: “Additional resources are required to establish a fully functioning active surveillance system for medical devices.” For now, injured patients suing device companies often cite the volume of adverse event reports to MAUDE, or FDA citations for failing to report them, to bolster claims that the company knew about product malfunctions but failed to correct them.
In one case, a New York man is suing manufacturer Boston Scientific, claiming injuries from a device called the AMS 800 that is used to treat stress urinary incontinence.
Though Boston Scientific says on its website that 200,000 men have been treated successfully, the lawsuit argues complaints piled up in MAUDE year after year and no action was taken — by the company or by regulators.
The number of complaints filed soared from six in 2016 to 2,753 in 2019, according to the suit. By far, the largest category involved incontinence, the condition the device was supposed to fix, according to the suit. Boston Scientific did not respond to a request for comment. The company has filed a motion to dismiss the case, which is pending.
By the FDA’s own count, more than 57,000 of some 74,000 complaints Medtronic received about the MiniMed insulin pump’s retainer rings were reported to the agency. The FDA said the complaints “were part of the information that led to the compliance actions.” The agency said it “approved design and manufacturing changes to the retainer ring to correct this issue” and “has reviewed information confirming the effectiveness of the modification.”
“What is the threshold for the FDA to step in and do something?” said Mara Schwartz, who is a nurse, diabetes educator, and pump user. “How many deaths or adverse events does there have to be?”
In 2020, she sued Medtronic, alleging she suffered seizures when the pump mistakenly delivered an overdose of insulin. Medtronic denied her claims, and the case has since been settled under confidential terms.
Some countries don’t trust the device industry to play such a key role in oversight.
Australia and about a dozen other nations maintain registries that measure the performance of medical devices against competitors, with an eye toward not paying for care for a substandard device.
That’s not likely to happen in the United States, where no device or drug manufacturer must demonstrate its new product is better than what’s already for sale.
Product liability lawsuits in the U.S. often cite troubling findings from overseas. For instance, registries in Australia and other countries pinpointed durability problems with the Optetrak knee implants manufactured by Florida device company Exactech years before a major recall. Exactech has declined comment.
The Australian surveillance network also detected deficiencies with the Medtronic PB 980 ventilator, prompting the country’s health authority to suspend its use for six months until Medtronic completed training for health care workers and took other steps to improve it, court records show. Medtronic told KFF Health News that it had “worked closely” with the Australian group to resolve the problems. “We take patient safety very seriously and have processes to identify quality issues and determine appropriate actions,” Medtronic said.
Registries have gained some traction in America. But so far, they typically have been controlled, and sometimes funded, by industry and medical specialty groups that share their findings only with doctors.
One private registry managed by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, called Intermacs, tracks death and injury rates at 180 hospitals in the United States certified to implant a mechanical heart pump known as an LVAD. Some patients might find that information helpful, but it’s not available to them.
While the FDA clears thousands of devices for use based on the “substantial equivalence” premise, manufacturers often tout “new and exciting features” in their advertising and other marketing, said Alexander Everhart, a researcher at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
These marketing campaigns have long been controversial, especially when they rely partly on wining and dining surgeons and other medical professionals to gain new business, or when surgeons have financial ties to manufacturers whose products they use. Orthopedic device makers have funneled billions of dollars to surgeons, including fees for consulting, doing medical research, or royalties for their role in fine-tuning surgical tools and techniques, even promoting the products to their peers.
Marketing campaigns directed at prospective patients may receive little scrutiny. The FDA has “limited resources to actively monitor the volume of direct-to-consumer advertising,” according to a Government Accountability Office report issued in September. From 2018 to 2022, the FDA took 255 enforcement actions involving advertising claims made for devices, according to the GAO report.
While manufacturers can advertise devices directly to patients, courts may not hold them accountable for communicating possible risks to patients.
Consider the case of Richard Greisberg, a retired electronics business owner in New Jersey. He sued Boston Scientific in 2019, years after having a Greenfield vena cava filter implanted. The device is intended to prevent blood clots that develop in the lower body from traveling into the lungs, which can be deadly.
Greisberg argued that the device had migrated in his body, causing pain and other symptoms and damage that took years to identify. Representing himself in court, he tried to argue that nobody had told him that could happen and that if they had done so he wouldn’t have agreed to the procedure.
He lost when the judge cited a legal doctrine called “learned intermediary.” The doctrine, which is recognized in many states, holds that manufacturers must warn only physicians, who are presumed to have the knowledge to understand a medical device’s risks and relay them to patients.
The court ruled that a 27-page manual the manufacturer sent to the physician who implanted it, which included details about possible risks, was adequate and tossed the case.
Greisberg, 81, felt sucker-punched. “They never gave me any warning about what could happen down the road,” he said in an interview. “I never had a chance to have my day in court.”
The family of PeeWee Gautney also faces challenges pursuing the insulin pump lawsuit.
Gautney died in a motel room in Destin, Florida, a day after riding his Harley-Davidson to the Panhandle beach town on a weekend jaunt. The MiniMed pump was still strapped to his body, according to a police report.
Medtronic had sent Gautney a form letter in late March 2020, less than two months before he died, advising him to make sure the ring was locking in place correctly. A week later, he wrote back, telling the company: “It’s fine right now,” court records show.
Wiggins, 33, his daughter, who is also a neonatal respiratory therapist, said she believes a crack in the retainer ring caused it to release too much insulin, which her dad may not have recognized.
“It should never be put on the patient to determine if there is a problem,” Wiggins said.
Medtronic has denied the pump failed and caused Gautney’s death. The FDA approved the device knowing patients faced the risk of it administering wrong doses, but believed the benefits outweighed these risks, Medtronic argued in a motion for summary judgment in September. The motion is pending.
Medtronic also cited a legal doctrine holding that Congress granted the FDA sole oversight authority over devices receiving premarket approval, which preempts any product defect claims brought under state laws. Manufacturers have drawn on the preemption defense to sidestep liability for patient injuries, and often win dismissal, though federal courts are split in applying the doctrine.
Wiggins hopes to beat those odds, arguing that the December 2021 FDA warning letter reveals that Medtronic violated safety and manufacturing standards.
Her lawyer, Scott Murphy, said that insulin pumps are “really wonderful” devices for people with diabetes when they work right. He argues that the FDA records confirm that Medtronic significantly downplayed its pump’s hazards.
“The risks get minimized and the benefits exaggerated,” he said.


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Posts Tagged ‘ Viacom ’
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 | Reuters | More »
Amazon.com Inc is about to announce a Web video deal with Viacom Inc in what sources said was one of the last steps in a plan to launch a standalone subscription service to compete with Netflix Inc. The online retailer will unveil the deal as soon as this week, according to two people familiar with ...
19 April, 2011 | More »


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With the age of digital media alive and growing, many landscaping companies are looking at different messaging platform possibilities they can utilize in their daily work.
It’s true that the methods companies use to communicate with customers have continually evolved since the invention of the telephone, but today, companies are using methods such as emails, texting, and social media to talk with clients.
According to Quiq, research shows that consumer services have begun using text messages more to communicate with their customers. The company states that since utilizing the messaging platform Quiq Messaging, it has seen the landscaping company Green Drop Ltd. receive upwards of 2K in inbound messages a month from their customers.
This, Quiq says, makes sense because information gathered from Quiq has shown that 66 percent of consumers prefer messaging over making a phone call.
To find out more about Quiq Messaging, take a look at what the platform’s CEO and founder has to say about its beginnings and potential.
What is it?
The idea for Quiq was formed one day when owner and CEO Mike Myer needed to communicate with a company but didn’t necessarily want to email or call them. He wanted the ability to chat with them on his cellphone, but he realized that wasn’t an option. Thus, the idea for Quiq was born.
“We all live connected lifestyles and we are on our phone and mobile devices constantly,” said Danielle Wanderer, CMO with Quiq. “Consumers are also connected and want to engage with companies at their moment of need. That typically means with their mobile phone. We are all incredibly busy, so we don’t have time to stop and make a call, but we want to interact with a company. Why not start a conversation that is always active, where the consumer can stop or start it based on their schedule? That is what we offer and that is what consumers love.”
Quiq says by shifting from higher cost phone calls to lower cost messaging, companies will be able to save significantly.
“At Quiq, our focus is on improving the way customers communicate with companies,” Quiq’s website states. “We believe mobile message-driven communications will replace a significant portion of the traditional phone and email interactions.”
The platform says it supports messaging options such as SMS/text messaging, Facebook Messenger, Kik and web chat. It can also be purchased as a stand-alone customer channel or companies can use a pre-built CRM integration, including Oracle, Salesforce or Zendesk.
“Our solution makes it easy for customers to contact a business via messaging, the preferred channel already in use with their friends and family,” Quiq’s website states. “Because messaging is so convenient and easy for consumers, the customer satisfaction scores are higher than for any other channel.”
Will it benefit my company?
Josh Noddin, general manager of Green Drop Ltd., says he uses Quiq to communicate with customers through all of the aforementioned messaging channels, which he says provides customers with simple communication methods that can be utilized at their convenience.
“We want it to be easy for our customers to communicate and contact us using their preferred method of communication,” said Noddin. “Quiq helps us to manage these options by putting them all in one easy-to-use platform, helping us to manage and ensure these communications are seamless.”
The biggest benefit Noddin says Quiq provides is that the variety of communication options available allows less “channel switching” to manage all of the platforms. Quiq allows users to respond to and view all platforms from one centralized location.
In regards to the 66 percent of consumers preferring to text instead of call, Noddin agrees that this seems to be the case for his company.
“It is easy to text,” he said. “Even the most un-tech savvy people can send a text because everyone’s phone is capable of texting. It’s relatively cheap, it doesn’t need a data provision and is often included in packages.”
How do you use it?
When it comes to either changing over to a new method of messaging or creating a system from the ground up, many companies are hesitant to deal with the possible learning curve associated with new technology.
This, Noddin says, isn’t the case with Quiq.
“It is super easy to use,” he said. “The platform is interactive. If a customer can text, uses Facebook or other apps already, they don’t even know that are using Quiq.”
Like with any messaging system, Noddin says there are costs involved with setting up and using Quiq, but based on your company’s usage and integration, the cost can vary. As a larger company, Noddin says his company was spending more on multiple platforms than they do now with Quiq, but the major change is that everything is located on one single platform.
For smaller or start-up businesses, Noddin recommends jumping in head first and investing in Quiq “right out of the gate.”
With technology being as prevalent and necessary as it is to the upcoming generation, Noddin agrees that a landscaping company utilizing Quiq could be a draw for younger people, both as consumers and workers.
“In this day and age, there are multiple (communication) avenues and customers expect to be able to reach out to businesses whenever the thought or need arises,” he said. “Quiq allows all these communication channels to flow through one platform so you can concentrate on communicating with your customers.”
To find out more about Quiq Messaging, take a look at the video below.


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"It looks like the Gravity Rush Meat and Onion download costumes that Sony announced yesterday were just cruel April Fools' Day jokes."
Now I can make myself a sandwich, in a 3D environment, with touch screen controls! (obviously joking).
I WANT THE GAME NAO!
the wait is unbearable
N4G is a community of gamers posting and discussing the latest game news. It’s part of NewsBoiler, a network of social news sites covering today’s pop culture.


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An aluminum stool, a stainless steel kitchen table, and a stainless metal coffee table for $50?
If you’re looking for something that won’t break the bank, check out the stainless steel poop stool for just $20.
And that’s with the toilet seat up and running.
The stool is the work of the British firm Bowery Bar, which is selling it on Etsy for $15.
That’s $20 less than the price of the stool in the article above, but $20 is still $20, even with the stool sitting on the floor.
Bowery has also included a sticker that says, “This stool is made from recycled materials from the United Kingdom.”
That makes it environmentally friendly, and it’s not hard to see why: Bowerys stool is one of the only toilets in the world made entirely from recycled material.
You can buy an aluminum stool or a stainless stool for less than $25 on Amazon, and the stool is actually made in the U.K.A. England.
The company’s founder, Andy Bower, was inspired by his mother, who worked in a supermarket.
After seeing the plastic garbage bags she threw away, he realized that he wanted to make something that would also be a waste of time.
“I realised that plastic bags were a waste, and I thought I could make something with them, but it was all about the waste,” he said.
He made the stool from a metal toilet seat, but he’s also used stainless steel to make other toilets, like the plastic stool stool from the British toilet company Nott.
This stool will last a lifetimeIf you’ve ever used a toilet in a toilet stall, you know that there are certain parts of a stall that are very hard to remove, like a toilet seat or a bowl.
But the stainless-steel stool isn’t made of plastic.
It’s made of stainless steel.
It can hold up to 50 times its own weight, and has a diameter of 5 inches.
The stool measures 1.75 inches tall and 2.2 inches wide.
It measures 8 inches wide and 10 inches long.
It weighs just a little more than 3 pounds, but Bower said that’s because it’s a sturdy piece of toiletry.
He said the stool can also hold a heavy load for up to 10 hours, and can last for up and a half years if properly cared for.


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Chester County grocery shoppers don’t have far to go to find America’s favorite place to stock pantry shelves. With stores in Downingtown, Glen Mills and Collegeville, Wegmans was recently rated America’s Favorite Grocery Retailer by Market Force Information.
“Thanks to high praise for attributes like cleanliness, specialty departments and ease of finding items,” Wegmans beat out national contenders like Publix, Trader Joe’s, Hy-Vee and ALDI with a score of 76 percent on Market Force’s Composite Loyalty Index, according to a Philly.com report by Nick Vadala.
Wegmans also fared well on Philly.com’s Clean Plates supermarket cleanliness rankings, garnering another first place with “near immaculate records,” the article stated.
Malvern-headquartered Acme Markets placed among the local top 10 — ahead of popular national chains Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s — but didn’t show up in the Market Force survey of 10,000 grocery shoppers.
Read more about the good news for Wegmans on Philly.com here.


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A Maryland bill proposes changing the state’s standard corporate income tax apportionment formula to a single-sales factor formula. The bill has been introduced in the Maryland Senate.
If enacted, the new standard apportionment formula would apply to tax years beginning after 2017.
Current Three-Factor Formula
The current standard formula is a three-factor formula (sales, property, and payroll), with a double-weighted sales factor.
S.B. 1090, as introduced in the Maryland Senate on February 12, 2018


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Apple’s Death Cross Doesn’t Scare This Analyst
Investors and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) watchers spent the bad day for the company worrying about the possibility that the stock was on its way to hitting the death cross. That technical marker occurs when a stock’s 50-day moving average crosses its 200-day moving average, and usually leads to further weakness. Apple’s 50-day price average is $608.41 at the moment, while its 200-day average is $600.91. However, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, a known Apple bull, is not in the least worried about any impending danger to the stock.
What Danger is Apple In?
“Apple’s simple 50-day moving average is nearing its 200-day moving average, which is a negative technical sign,” Munster told Barron’s in an interview. “Based on our conversation with Piper Jaffray technical analyst Craig Johnson, we believe that for this technical indication, most of the damage has been done to Apple, but there could be a worst case additional 10 percent move to the downside, which could be the next meaningful area of support.”
Our 20-page proprietary analysis of Apple’s stock is ready. Click here and to get your Cheat Sheet report now!
According to the analyst, the stock should be able to avoid an additional 10 percent downside despite the technical issues because of historical performance.
How Could Apple Be Affected?
In addition, the possibility of higher-margin requirements on trading Apple, which was also a cause of pessimism on Wednesday, was also “not a big deal,” Munster told Barron’s. The announcement that Nokia (NYSE:NOK) had entered into a partnership with China Mobile (NYSE:CHL), another point that was hurting Apple’s stock, was also not as important as it had been made out to be, the analyst said.
Just because the carrier had made a deal with the Finnish phone company, it did not mean that a partnership with Apple wouldn’t happen. “Why would it need to be mutually exclusive?” Munster asked. For a wireless provider to carry multiple devices was normal course of business, he added.
Collin Monsarrat, an analyst at Birinyi Associates, also pointed out that Apple shares had reacted positively after each of the five death crosses it has seen since November 2000. “The data is fairly inconclusive, but if it shows anything, it is that a death cross implies better performance,” Monsarrat told The Wall Street Journal. “The stock has tended to struggle for the week and month following the cross, but three months later the stock has tended to be not only up but outperform the S&P 500 60 percent of the time.”
Munster and Monsarrat were reacting to Apple’s fall of 6.43 percent on Wednesday that took the stock to $538.79.
Don’t Miss: This Trader is in Trouble After Sham Apple Buy.


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President signs Trade Promotion Authority bill
Washington—President Obama’s signature on Trade Promotion Authority legislation opens the door to creating new trade partnerships around the world that will drive American business forward in the international marketplace, according to American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman.
“The American economy stands stronger when we work together—and that’s just what Trade Promotion Authority enables us to do at the bargaining table. U.S. agriculture is ready for ambitious trade agreements that break down barriers to products grown and made in America, so our trading partners know we mean business,” Stallman said in a statement.
For the past 40 years, TPA and its precedent versions have provided U.S. negotiators the ability to reach agreement with other nations on trade matters that are not open to change by Congress, yet TPA has protected Congress’ constitutional role to set trade objectives and preserved lawmakers’ final “yea” or “nay” on the agreement.
In 2014, U.S. farmers and ranchers exported more than $152 billion in food, fiber, feed and energy commodities and products to customers around the world, providing the country with a positive net trade of $43 billion over imports. Agriculture’s 2015 export forecast isn’t as sunny, with a projected $9 billion drop. While some of this decrease stems from lower commodity prices for certain crops, ongoing challenges U.S. negotiators face in reaching multilateral agreements and resolving trade conflicts are also a factor.
“Without the ability to finish negotiations and present those agreements to Congress for an up or down ratification vote, we are ceding potential market development and expansion to our competitors and yielding global economic leadership to other nations,” Stallman said in a letter to lawmakers urging them to pass the bill.


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Tomi, a cryptocurrency and blockchain project in its commitment to financially impact the world and massively broaden participation in its system, has announced plans to airdrop $75,000 in TOMI tokens.
Since the launch of the Tomi ecosystem, the project has been exploring the industry while marking huge success at every development it makes. The rate of increasing interest in the project and the acquisition of the token has been alarming for a young project.
The NFT sale and IDO it conducted prior to the airdrop plans was also a success. Thus, the platform is considering opting for something more huge to further attract the interest of more onlookers. It has decided it will airdrop $75,000 in TOMI tokens to 45 lucky winners.
The team behind the platform revealed that more than 45 people will be opportune to earn the chance to be freely involved with Tomi’s ecosystem with very easy steps via the airdrop. Interested participants are required to follow the few easy steps below to earn a chance to become a lucky winner;
- Like and follow Tomi on Twitter and retweet this tweet + tag three friends in the comments below using the $TomoAirdrop hashtag
- Join the Tomi Telegram group
- Fill in the form to confirm you completed all steps and add your Ethereum address.
The announcement revealed that the project will reward 1 winner with $5,000, the next 4 winners with $2,500, and the remaining 40 people will get $1,500.
It further unveiled that all winners will be announced throughout the airdrop to keep building excitement.
The announcement reads;
“Tomi will announce up to 8 winners every two days, with the final five winners being unveiled right at the end of the airdrop timeline. Participants can re-enter the competition if they tag three different people on social media.”
Tomi to Launch TOMISwap and TOMIFundMe After Airdrop
In a bid to improve the adoption of the ecosystem while also bringing more value to the TOMI token, the platform had given highlights on its plan to launch TOMISwap and TOMIFundMe.


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Amazon employees filed a lawsuit that alleges that the mega-corporation is not doing enough to protect its workers from the coronavirus. Nine Amazon employees across the country have died from the coronavirus. While millions of Americans are staying home, and some are lucky enough to work from home, Amazon warehouse employees have been on the frontline of the supply chain (Corporate Amazon employees are working from home until at least 2021). Without these brave workers, people following the “shelter-in-place” orders would not be able to get many of the essential items they need.
Workers at other companies in the United States report a lax attitude of their employers toward worker safety from the coronavirus. A Seattle employment lawyer can provide guidance and advice if you feel that your employer is taking unnecessary risks with your health.
The JFK8 Walk-Out
Amazon workers at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island, New York, walked off the job to increase public awareness of Amazon’s failure to protect its employees. Workers accused Amazon of providing inadequate supplies for them to sanitize their workspaces and making them perform their tasks in settings in which they cannot follow social distancing guidelines.
The Lawsuit Allegations Against Amazon
The lawsuit against Amazon alleges that the corporation has merely put up a front of complying with government guidelines about the coronavirus while reaping massive sales increases because of the pandemic. Even though the stay at home orders did not happen until near the end of the first quarter of 2020, the surge was enough to increase Amazon’s sales for the entire quarter by 26%.
The lawsuit does not ask for any money damages. Instead, the advocacy groups that filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Amazon workers want the court to issue an injunction that orders Amazon to comply with the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the state of New York. By way of example, the lawsuit asks Amazon to give workers more time to sanitize their workstations and provide them with access to 48 hours of paid time off.
In its defense, Amazon says that during the months of April and May, it spent $4 billion on initiatives related to the coronavirus. The corporation says that it offered employees as much time as they needed away from work during the March and April and that on May 1, it started providing leave for at-risk workers or employees who needed to care for children or other family members.
Further, Amazon says that it does temperature checks, enhanced cleaning and sanitization, and provides masks and gloves. It offers testing and extended pay and benefit options for its employees. The company says that it spent over $800 million on these items.
The lawsuit demonstrates the conflict between health and the economy and underscores the risks some people face because their jobs are not possible to do from home. Because we have not, in modern history, faced a global pandemic of this scale, neither employers nor workers have experience dealing with a situation like this.
Schedule a consult today. We can help to protect your legal rights if you think that your employer has not followed the applicable guidelines to protect you from COVID-19.


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CNET News.com: "Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will launch a new version of the
Pocket PC operating system at a San Francisco event Thursday, joined
by handheld makers and, yes, developers, developers, developers.
The major device makers that supported Pocket PC the first time
around--Compaq Computer, Hewlett-Packard and Casio--will be there. Also on hand will be a
number of new supporters, including Toshiba, NEC and Mitsubishi Electric."


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Reputation Institute conducts an annual survey of the world’s most reputable companies, but also country-specific surveys. Just last week, we revealed that Amazon, Kellogg’s, and LEGO topped our 2015 survey of America’s most reputable companies. For our US RepTrak® 100 survey, we conducted more than 50,000 interviews with the US general public in 1Q 2015 – no small feat! That makes our survey America’s largest survey of corporate reputation. We announced the results last Wednesday and the word is spreading fast.
Our media coverage has included an article published online in Forbes that has surpassed 10,000 views in less than a week’s time. It has also included an article in TheStreet and the many hundreds of media hits as a result of our press release included Reuters and the Boston Business Journal, to name a few.
We’ve seen that the top companies have been touting their great achievement, too. Bayer, Hasbro, Shire, and Briggs & Stratton Corporation distributed press releases announcing that they made the list of top companies and they were picked up by major media outlets including CNBC and Bloomberg.
America’s most reputable companies have also been highlighting their accomplishment on social media. Krispy Kreme tweeted, “@Reputation_Inst That is such sweet news. Many thanks for the mention and recognition! #ShareTheJoy.” Whole Foods, in particular, elaborated on Facebook by posting “We are proud to have landed on the top 25 on the Reputation Institute’s annual list of America’s Most Reputable Companies, which looks at consumers’ perceptions… about organizations that they most trust, admire and respect.” And that’s just a few examples.
So, what’s at the root of all this attention? The media knows that people care about companies and their reputations. And America’s most reputable companies recognize the importance of being a reputable company. Click here if you’re interested in finding out more about the return on reputation.
Sven Klingemann, Ph.D.
Global Research Manager


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Stephen Brooks, EVP and Managing Director at VidaPrimo, is joining the Portada Brand Star Committee, one of the six units of Portada’s Council System.
Posts Tagged ‘VidaPrimo’
What: Latin Music video network VidaPrimo has reached a distribution agreement onto branded channels with Roku and Amazon Fire, two of the world’s largest digital streaming platforms. Why it matters: The expansion to new platforms is also vital to media buyers that need a vehicle to reach the Latin Millennial audience. Latin Music video network VidaPrimo will distribute its library of […]
A summary of the most exciting recent news in online video in the U.S., U.S.-Hispanic and Latin American markets. If you’re trying to keep up, consider this your one-stop shop.
A summary for Corporate Marketers, Media Sales Executives and Advertising Agencies to see what clients are moving into the Latin American market and/or targeting Latin American consumers right now.


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Details of a new discless Xbox Series X spotted in leaked Microsoft presentation. With the reported leaks, it simply means one thing and that is that the Xbox maker has some really big plans for the year 2024.
Discless Xbox Series X
It is expected to be another five years until Microsoft gets to the next-generation Xbox, but there however could be a new Xbox Series X on the horizon. A discless Xbox Series X, which is in question codenamed Brooklin, might just be in the works, as per leaked court documents that reportedly surfaced on Tuesday.
The New Xbox Design
The new Xbox in question would have a very unique cylinder-like design that does not feature a disc drive, a USB-C plug in the front, updated internal parts that is inclusive of Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, as well as 2TB of storage, which is in question double the amount that is available in the current Xbox Series X. Brooklin would as you should know would make use of less power than the current Xbox Series X by 15% and then have a new low-power standby mode that is reportedly 20% less power than the current standby mode of the console, as per the court documents.
Content of the Leaked Documents
The documents in question as you should know appear to be part of an exhibit in FTC v. Microsoft, in which Sony is now attempting to prove to US regulators that its acquisition of publisher Activision Blizzard will not lead to or create an anti-competitive video game market. A version of the exhibits that is reportedly containing “non-public information” was reportedly uploaded to a public District Court page for the case, as per a court order on Tuesday. And after the court was notified, it moved to take away all trial exhibits from the internet, but however not before the documents were posted on ResetEra forums and then reported on by The Verge.
Other Content and Details of the Leak
Along with the company’s plans for a possible Xbox Series X refresh, the leak in question also showed details of a new controller that is codenamed Sebille. Details regarding the controller list it has Bluetooth 5.2, new mobile app features, precision haptic feedback, a built-in accelerometer, a reported ability to wake up the controller just by lifting it, and then a rechargeable and swappable battery.
Release Date of the Rumored Xbox Series X
According to the documents, Microsoft reportedly plans to release the new Xbox Series X, which is codenamed the Sebille controller, and a refresh of the Xbox Series S all in 2024.
On a request for confirmation, Microsoft did not respond immediately.
MORE RELATED POSTS


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Amazon spared taxes that threaten High St: Online giant's rates bill will shrink after government's reforms
Pressure is mounting on the Government to axe a tax raid on small shops, after it emerged Amazon's tax bills will shrink.
Some retailers will see their so-called business rates — a tax on commercial property — rise by thousands of pounds.
But now, it has emerged that online stores could be left paying less after a Government revaluation of business rates in April.
Amazon's distribution centre, Swansea, Wales. Online stores could be left paying less after a Government revaluation of business rates in April
Nine Amazon distribution centres in England and Wales will see a £148,000 reduction in property tax this year — a 1.3 per cent fall in its rates bill for 2017/18, according to CVS, the business rent and rates specialists.
Internet fashion store Boohoo's rateable value, on which the bill is based, will fall by 13 per cent from April on its distribution centre in Burnley, Lancashire; clothing etailer Asos's warehouse in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, will not change.
Electrical etailer Ao.com will see a rise of just 0.37 per cent on its Crewe warehouse.
By comparison, High Street independents will experience tax hikes of up to 300 per cent. They say this could force them to close, and will give online shops a further advantage.
The Association of Convenience Stores called for an immediate review.
Alan Hawkins, of the British Independent Retailers Association, says it's giving online stores a 'massive competitive advantage'.
The Treasury said the property revaluation was designed to keep business rates fair, 'not to raise money for the Exchequer'.
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A recent global study on the future of meat found traditional sheep and beef farmers in the Gisborne region face a major threat from meat alternatives including plant protein and cultured meat already growing in labs around the world. Beef farmer and Nuffield Scholar Richard Fowler believes New Zealand meat farmers will have a real problem competing with these cheaper, healthier, cleaner, more environmentally sustainable alternatives.
Such challenges and opportunities are the subject of a major conference being held in Gisborne next month for Māori land owners, farmers and entrepreneurs in the Tairāwhiti region.
Some of the leading food futurists and agritech innovators in New Zealand will present along with nearly 40 inspirational presenters sharing their insights and experience at the first Māori agritech-foodtech conference in Tairāwhiti to be held in Gisborne 22-24 November.
‘Inā te Ora’ is the third event in a series of conferences organised by Hikurangi Enterprises…
View original post 240 more words


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The vivo S17e mobile phone appeared on Google Play’s list of supported devices, equipped with MediaTek Dimensity 7200
According to GIZMOCHINA, the vivo S17e has recently appeared in the list of Google Play supported devices, the product model is “V2285A”, and it is expected to be officially released in the near future.
According to previous reports from IT House, the vivo S17e has previously passed the national 3C quality certification, supports 80W fast charging and will be equipped with MediaTek Dimensity 7200 chip.
In addition, there is no more information about the configuration of the new machine.
It should be noted that in addition to the vivo S17e, the vivo S17 series also includes the vivo S17 and S17 Pro.According to @数码闲话站 broke the news, vivo S17 and S17 Pro will beEquipped with BOE OLED display with a resolution of 1.5K. The S17 series will feature curved displays, and the S17e is expected to do the same.
The vivo S17 and S17 Pro rear camera modules will be equipped with a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766V main camera, which supports optical image stabilization OIS, and is equipped with a 12-megapixel portrait telephoto camera. The whole system supports 80W fast charging.


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Trade is changing. Historically, international trade agreements focused on market access for goods, like grain and steel.
But today, the United States exports billions of dollars annually in “intangible assets,” from digital content like movies, video games, and music to cutting-edge creations like cancer medicines and vaccines.
Domestically, these assets are safeguarded by copyrights, patents, trademarks, and other IP protections.
Internationally, though, American innovation is routinely undervalued or even stolen, with many markets forcing U.S. companies to compete on an unlevel playing field. This must change.
Innovation and creativity drives the U.S. economy. In 2015, copyright-intensive industries contributed $1.2 trillion to America’s GDP — and this number is growing at nearly 5 percent annually. Industries that depend on other types of IP protections, like patents and data exclusivity, boost that number significantly. The U.S. biopharmaceutical sector alone produced over $1.3 trillion in economic output for the United States in 2016.
Innovative and creative industries drive job creation, as well. IP-intensive manufacturing industries — biopharmaceuticals, semiconductors, aerospace, and transportation, to name just a few — support nearly 60 million American jobs.
Innovative and creative industries are also major exporters, so strengthening them would reduce trade deficits.
America’s dominant position in these industries provides an opportunity for U.S. negotiators to ensure that the global economy rewards innovation and protects creative assets. This begins with the ongoing NAFTA modernization talks, as the final outcome may set the standard for future trade agreements.
IPR Protection and Enforcement
America’s innovation economy depends on strong trademark, copyright, and patent protections. That’s why strong enforcement mechanisms — including injunctive relief and civil and criminal sanctions — are critical to ensuring the effectiveness of such protections.
Counterfeiting causes a significant drain on the U.S. and global economy. It leads to lost sales for legitimate manufacturers, lost tax revenues and duties for governments, decreased U.S. employment, and diminished investment in capital improvements and research and development.
Today, counterfeiters are not simply producing fake luxury goods and bootleg albums; they’re producing fake foods and beverages, pharmaceuticals, and even defense-related goods like airplane parts. Consequently, counterfeiters present a clear threat to the health and well-being of consumers everywhere — and to the integrity of our national security infrastructure.
The growth of sophisticated logistics networks and information sharing has created significant challenges for rights holders in managing and protecting against infringements. It is therefore important to establish practices and principles to enable both policymakers and rights holders to identify the intermediaries involved in the supply chain, understand how these supply chains can be infiltrated, and develop steps to curb abuse.
Even the strongest protective measures are not effective without the political will and the legal authority to enforce these protections. In many countries, seizures of counterfeit goods at the border remain unacceptably low. And there is often a lack of political will to pursue criminal prosecution of infringers, even in the countries where criminal sanctions are in place. In other cases, customs authorities simply do not have adequate authority to take effective action against infringing goods. Countries everywhere must get serious about the trade of illicit goods.
In many countries, law enforcement agencies are reluctant — or even unable — to devote the time and resources needed to block the sale of illicit goods online.
Local Content Requirements
IP-intensive industries are particularly susceptible to acts, policies, and practices abroad that benefit local producers at the expense of U.S. workers. These anti-IP actions have become so pervasive that they are now a routine part of many transactions between business leaders and government officials. Localization barriers include local manufacturing conditions, technology transfer requirements, local testing and certification requirements, and de facto bans on imports, such as licensing requirements that virtually prevent market entry.
Where the internet is not secure, digital trade cannot thrive. Protecting the digital environment against cybercrime does not — and should not — prevent policymakers from safeguarding privacy, promoting trust, and fostering creativity.
Some governments are launching sham antitrust investigations to undermine the rights of U.S. patent holders and enrich local companies, whether through technology transfer, barriers to competition, or direct price controls. These investigations, which are particularly prevalent in Asia, are problematic because U.S. manufacturers often lack due process protections.
These investigations not only undermine U.S. patent rights, suppress innovation, and put U.S. competitiveness at risk, but they also potentially violate the terms of certain U.S. trade agreements. It is imperative for U.S. policymakers to seek international remedies provided under trade agreements to protect U.S. companies from discriminatory practices.


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From hobby to business
Published 10:47 am Friday, May 22, 2009
IRONTON — What do you get when someone meshes a lifelong passion with an entrepreneurial spirit?
You get a thriving business that is ready to expand into the public eye.
For owner Dennis Thornton, that passion and entrepreneurialism has taken him from his home office and workshop to become the newest member of the downtown Ironton business community.
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Celebrating its grand opening on Memorial Day, Thornton Custom Cabinets and Supply brings the self-taught, woodworking skills Thornton has honed most of his adult life in private to the public forefront with custom-made furniture, moldings and cabinetry in a showroom setting.
Thornton Custom Cabinets and Supply is located at 113 S. Third St., a site most recently vacated by Grandview Warehouse Outlet. Its hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
With its warm pear and crimson colored-walls along with century-old ceilings and quarter-sawn floors, Thornton knew exactly what he wanted in selecting a storefront to expand into.
It was a decision he said was five years in the making since leaving his job as an economics professor at Ohio University Southern and making woodworking a full-time business.
“I started with a blank slate when we got the store and it gave me a visual presence that people can see that we are here,” Thornton said in describing the 800-square-foot showroom and 1,400-square-foot basement that doubles as his workshop.
Thornton took over the building on Jan. 1 and opened for business on April 1.
Even the window displays, highlighting a breakfast table with chairs and a child’s toy box, show Thornton’s intricate attention to detail and use of materials.
“The table and chairs has already gotten three orders since it’s been placed there,” Thornton said. “I wanted a visual display where people could be able to touch, see and feel the work.”
As for the work, just browsing through the store one can see the detail in every piece. For the corner hutches made from walnut and maple to the elegant quilt racks to the cutting boards near the front of the store constructed of cherry, oak, walnut and hickory.
Just building something from nothing is the enjoyment Thornton gets from woodworking.
“It is fascinating to me, to take a piece of rough cut lumber and turn it into something people will buy.”
Because of his experience in designing and constructing a variety of pieces, one additional option Thornton is able to offer is custom building. With more than a dozen books containing the hundreds of jobs he has designed over the years, Thornton can meet most any type of woodworking request.
“If you have an idea or a picture, we can draw it up,” Thornton said.
Also available for shoppers are a wide variety of arts and crafts and the “From the Lane” scented candle collection from Nanette Brown.
But for Thornton, the choice to put aside a successful education and teaching career to live through his passion and talent for woodworking and carpentry comes to knowing opportunities in the game of life do not come around often.
“I’ve thought about it quite often, but I think we made the right decision.”
The grand opening of Thornton Custom Cabinets and Supply is scheduled for Memorial Day, May 25 at 9 a.m. Cake and other assortments will be available along with drawings for a number of custom-made cutting boards.


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There are two weeks left before the opening of the 11th International Exhibition "INTERFABRIC-2022.Spring", which will be held as part of the "Russian Textile Week", the event will take place, as previously planned, on March 14 -16, 2022 in Moscow, at the Expocentre Fairgrounds.
This spring more than 250 participants from different regions of Russia and other countries have been announced at the exhibition, including large worsted mills of Russia, leading manufacturers and suppliers of fabrics for the production of clothing, knitted fabrics, technical textiles and textile raw materials, home textiles, accessories and accessories, dyes and printing services on fabrics, auxiliary and related products.
Simultaneously with INTERFABRIC-2022.Spring the 21st International Exhibition of Equipment for the Textile Industry INLEGMASH will open at Expocentre, scheduled to be held from March 14 to 17, 2022. The exhibition will demonstrate equipment for all stages of textile and clothing production at the stands of 88 manufacturers, suppliers and customers from different countries.
Both exhibitions will be tied by an extensive business program of the Russian Textile Week, which includes events of the International Textile Forum and the International Industrial Conference "INLEGMASH". The current situation and prospects for the development of the domestic industry with the participation of leading industry experts will be discussed daily at the discussion platforms of the "Light Industry Week".
The largest congress and exhibition event in Russia dedicated to the textile industry will open, as announced, on March 14 at 12:00 with a panel session "Textile and apparel industry in Russia: realities and challenges of 2022", which will be attended by officials from Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, industry associations, experts and top managers of Russian and foreign companies.
Also within the framework of the business program all planned strategic sessions with industry regulators, specialized sub-sectoral and thematic sessions, open meetings, conversations with experts and round tables and practical events will be held. In the previously announced format, a new Textile Trend Forum concept will be presented – an updated trend zone of the exhibition and specialized competitions Interfabric Award 2022 and Textile Design Talents Award 2022 will be held. More information about the business program can be found on the websites of the INTERTKAN exhibition and the Russian Textile Week.
The organizers of the exhibition note that this season the exhibition has significantly expanded and the interest of visitors – representatives of the professional industry community - has grown significantly. Currently, active registration of visitors continues.
We are looking forward to see you at Expocentre from March 14 to March 16, 2022!


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Polaroid, the company which once attempted to launch a digital camera with the Android OS, has now come into the news again, with another attempt in the same concept. “There will be an Android powered, interchangeable lens camera introduced by Polaroid at CES 2013,” Scott Hardy, president and CEO of Polaroid told Imaging Resource in an emailed statement. “Additional information and specs will be released during the show.”
The details about the camera are just the rumors right now, but we are hearing that it could be around 18.1 megapixel lens in the camera, and the latest version of the Android OS, at least the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich version, and the camera would be having a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen.
According to the information through the rumors, IM1836 is the model number of the Android camera. It is going to have the interchangeable lens, and this is the only confirmed spec as said by the company officials, and everything else although detailed in an image, seems just rumors.
Polaroid had announced the SC1630 model Android camera in CES 2012, but that just disappeared with no public appearance later on, but Polaroid this time should be coming strong, taking inspiration from Samsung who have launched the Samsung Galaxy Camera in the market a couple months back, with some excellent features, better lens and the large 4.8 inch capacitive touchscreen. The SC1630 from Polaroid was a good 16 Megapixel point and shoot type of camera which was running on Android, but never got into the market.
The announcement is going to be done during the CES 2013, from Jan 8th to Jan 11th 2013 at Las Vegas, and we would be there to cover the news.
With the Android OS being present in the camera, it would surely have the connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, using which one would be able to connect to the web and socially share the captured and edited pictures directly from the camera, but for confirming all this, we would need to wait for the official announcement.


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Peoples Bank of Alabama in Cullman, Ala., is launching 30 of NCR Corp.'s SelfServ automated teller machines that use scalable deposit module technology.
Scalable deposit modules allow customers to deposit checks and cash at the same time through a single slot. NCR said in a press release Monday that this technology will make ATM deposits faster and easier for customers.
The $496 million-asset bank also will run other NCR software including NCR Aptra Passport across its ATM network. This technology integrates ATM deposit transactions with their item processing provider for deposits review and validation.
NCR said this will decrease Peoples Bank of Alabama’s back-office costs for processing these transactions and makes transactional information available almost immediately for review.


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- Amazon shipped a tiny microphone stand in a huge, 4-foot (1.2 metres) by 2-foot box (60cm) with 30 feet (10 metres) of packaging paper.
- The company has come under fire for its excessive packaging.
- Amazon says it’s trying to fix the problem by shipping products in their original packaging, along with other measures.
Amazon has a problem with shipping tiny items in giant boxes.
A shopper in the UK recently received a boom pole – also known as a microphone stand – that Amazon had packaged in a huge, 4-foot by 2-foot box, SWNS reports.
The item was buried in the box under a 30-foot roll of packing paper.
— Fabluc (@Fabiolucv) March 26, 2018
“I just couldn’t believe the amount that came with it,” Jade Nightscales, the customer who ordered the package, told SWNS. “The boom pole is so small – it was a bit of a needle-in-a-haystack type job.
“It seems strange that they’d use this much wrapping but I’ll get it recycled for sure.”
Amazon has come under fire for using excessive packaging on small orders.
The company has been trying to fix the issue by shipping some products in their original packaging, along with other measures, but it clearly still has some room to improve.
An Amazon spokesperson told SWNS: “We continue to pursue multiyear waste reduction initiatives – e-commerce ready packaging and Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging – to promote easy-to-open, 100% recyclable packaging and to ship products in their own packages without additional shipping boxes.”


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Nike's annual Hyperdunk release is always a showcase for the latest developments from their r&d labs. For the 2017 model, Nike is introducing a new cushioning technology they're calling "React" that features a proprietary foam that is delivers a dynamic balance of comfort and stability. Nike put in 2,000 hours of testing to help precisely inform where traction will be needed. Of course, Nike matched the React sole with a Flyknit upper and added a decoupled collar for a more personalized fit and better movement.
Look for the Hyperdunk React Flyknit to hit stores worldwide on August 3rd.


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Milky hates vet visits; they make him anxious and restless. His owner, Morgan, hates them almost as much. It upsets him to see his dog so stressed, every appointment costs a fortune, and their opening hours make it almost impossible for him to fit Milky’s appointments around work.
Vets on Call employs 5 people
If it’s true that all clouds have silver linings, then the glow that surrounds poor Milky’s trauma is the launch of Morgan’s app-based business, Vets on Call. The proud Torres Strait Islander and Melbourne local developed an app that connects home-visiting vets with pet owners across Victoria in an easy, three-step booking process with upfront quotes. That is, of course, so long as people can find it.
Enter, Google. As a digital business, digital marketing was always going to be Morgan’s best bet for getting Vets on Call off the ground. He taught himself how to navigate Google Ads, and has seen impressive growth in his twelve months of business. “When I first started the business, it was costing $23 to convert a customer. Today, we’re down to $2.80 per customer. That’s unheard of.” Morgan’s business has grown exponentially over the last year, and he now has 60 vets on their register, over 3000 clients, and is starting to see repeat business. As well as marketing his business on Google, Morgan also regularly shows at pet expos, offering free vet checks for the pets of everyone who downloads the app, which allows Vets on Call to control conversions and build trust with their client base.
It took a lot for Morgan to get his dream up and running. “It’s been hard to explain the sacrifice and my burning ambition,” Morgan says. “If I’m up at five a.m working on the business, I can see the impact. It’s been an incredibly empowering experience.” And, perhaps most importantly, Milky’s much happier now, too.


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Amy Nelson, Founder of The Riveter, accepts Startup of the Year at the 2019 GeekWire Awards. (GeekWire photo)
– Amy Nelson returns to co-working. The Riveter’s founder and former CEO announced Tuesday that she is president of SaksWorks, a new partnership between Saks Fifth Avenue owner Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC) and WeWork.
SaksWorks will be a new chain of shared workspaces that will leverage HBC’s retail presence. According to The Wall Street Journal, the locations will be in existing Saks Fifth Avenue locations as well as buildings previously occupied by Saks Fifth Avenue brands and the Lord & Taylor department store, which is now an e-commerce only retailer. WeWork will manage and occupy the coworking spaces under a revenue sharing agreement.
In an email to GeekWire, Nelson said she will remain on the board of directors at The Riveter, which originally started four years ago in Seattle and has grown to nine locations with more than 100 women. But it closed its physical locations in May 2020 due to the pandemic and is now a fully digital community and media brand.
New York-based Liat Ashkenazi Myers has been named President of The Riveter and will lead the team of 10. As a former loyalty marketing director at Starwood Resorts, Myers most recently served as a marketing and social media strategy consultant.
The SaksWorks website.
The first SaksWorks locations will open in the greater New York City area this fall. Services and features include haircuts and blowouts, dry cleaning, meeting rooms, bike storage, yoga meditation, “zoom rooms”, volunteer opportunities, gyms, cafes, portable power supplies, and a lecture series and networking events.
In an Instagram post, Nelson described SaksWorks as “a revitalization of the American leisure center with belonging and work and wellness and good food and things for families and more.”
“I know [Saksworks] will be the place we have all longed for during these horrific months of isolation, ”wrote Nelson.
Nelson moved to Columbus, Ohio earlier this year. Nelson and her husband are denying the FBI’s bank account seizure in an ongoing lawsuit against Amazon Web Services.
Brian Mariotti. (Funko photo)
– Everett, Washington-based Funko, creator of Pop! Figures, CEO Brian Mariotti announced the newly created role of Chief Creative Officer next year. He has been the company’s CEO since 2005.
Funko President Andrew Perlmutter will take over the role of CEO with effect from January 3rd. Perlmutter joined Funko in 2013 as SVP of Sales.
“This transition will allow me to stay closely connected to the business while focusing solely on the creative and fan-centric areas that I’m passionate about,” Mariotti said in a statement.
– Charlie Bell, Amazon’s Senior Cloud Executive, is leaving the company after more than 23 years. This is the latest leadership change at Amazon Web Services. Read the story.
Shari slate. (Textio photo)
– Cisco Chief Inclusion and Collaboration Officer Shari Slate joined the advisory board of startup Textio for augmented writing. She is also Vice President of Inclusive Future and Strategy at Cisco.
Slate will advise the company on its approach to integration both within the company and its technology. Last year, Textio introduced a tool that enables more diverse and inclusive language in a range of corporate messages.
– Following the death of drug development pioneer Tadataka Yamada, Seattle-based biotech company Icosovax named Mark McDade to succeed Yamada as chairman of the board. Icosovax was spun off from the University of Washington and went public last month.
McDade is the former EPP and COO of UCB Biopharma. He is currently a Managing Partner at Qiming Venture Partners, a China-based venture capital firm with a US fund focused on healthcare and life sciences.
At the time of his death, Yamada was also chairman of the board of directors of Athira Pharma. Kelly Romano was selected as his successor; She has been on the board of Athira since December last year and is currently CEO of the consulting firm BlueRipple Capital.
Jennifer Pawlosky. (Photo Stowers Institute)
– Jennifer Pawlosky is now Vice President of Communications at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. Most recently she was Executive Director of Communications for the Allen Institute and previously worked for Fred Hutch.
The Kansas City, Missouri-based Stowers Institute conducts research on genes and proteins to improve the prevention and treatment of disease.
– Microsoft Corporate Vice President Liz Hamren joined the board of directors of LegalZoom, a Glendale, California-based legal technology company that went public in June. Hamren was formerly the marketing director of Facebook’s Oculus VR and currently heads Microsoft’s Xbox games business.
Devesh Mishra. (Delivero photo)
UK grocery delivery company Deliveroo has named Amazon Vice President Devesh Mishra as its new Chief Product and Technology Officer. A longtime Amazon veteran, Mishra most recently oversaw global supply chain strategy and technology.
Deliveroo is headquartered in London and currently operates in 12 international markets. Mishra will begin his new role in September reporting to Deliveroo founder and CEO Will Shu. Amazon owns more than 10% of Deliveroo, which went public in March.
– Nautilus Biotechnology hired Karl Voss as Vice President of Life Sciences Research and Development. He will work at the company’s research center in San Carlos, California.
Voss spent the past 12 years with Pacific Biosciences, most recently as VP, consumables research and development. He has his Ph.D. in chemistry and has focused his research on single molecule biochemistry.
Seattle-based Nautilus Biotechnology is led by Isilon Systems co-founder Sujal Patel and went public in June via a SPAC merger.
Ashley Levesque. (Banzai photo)
– Event marketing startup Banzai has named Ashley Levesque as vice president of marketing. Most recently, she was Marketing Director at the Demio webinar platform, which was acquired by Banzai in February.
Seattle-based Banzai was founded by former Avalara employees and recently raised $ 15 million in venture capital funding. During the pandemic, the startup focused on its marketing solution for virtual events.
– Bothell, Wash. Based BioLife Solutions, a publicly traded biotech company, announced that Chairman Raymond Cohen is retiring, replacing current CEO Mike Rice.
Nathaniel Crook. (Instabase photo)
– Former Microsoft Global VP of Sales and Strategic Accounts Nathaniel Crook joined the San Francisco-based start-up Instabase as Chief Revenue Officer.
Crook is based in Portland, Oregon. Before joining Microsoft, where he worked for more than eight years, he was a systems engineer at Cisco.
The announcement comes a few weeks after Instabase joined the Microsoft for Startups program. Instabase offers an app store for business and enterprise applications. The company is working with Microsoft to leverage its Azure Cognitive Services on the Instabase platform.
– Kal Sahota has been named as the new CEO of HeroX, based in Vancouver, BC, a platform for crowdsourcing solutions to challenges. One of those challenges is the Boeing-sponsored GoFly Prize program.
Sahota has been with HeroX since 2015 when she started working as a client advisor. She previously worked in financial planning and investments.


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- Chad Hamilton 2015
Get ready to get sweaty. Aug. 20, lululemon athletica Oklahoma City hosts its third Sweatstock free fitness festival, and this years event will be at 323 NW 10th St. in Midtown.
This annual celebration is our stores birthday party, and its an entire day of fitness classes, said Rachel Campbell, lululemon athletica Oklahoma City key leader.
This year, the event moves to Midtown from Classen Curve to allow more space for guests and activities, Campbell said.
It will be right next to The Bleu Garten, she said, and were putting up a huge tent for shade, because its going to be a scorcher.
And a calorie torcher. Classes begin at 7 a.m. and go until about 9 p.m. and feature yoga, Pilates, CrossFit and barre workouts.
And since were right near food trucks and Organic Squeeze, theres more for people to do, Campbell said. For our first year, we used a space in Classen Curve that had housed the old Tamazul restaurant. Last year, we grew it and took it out into the parking lot in front of our store, but this year, we wanted to make it even bigger and give people more to do and more reasons to stay longer.
Local fitness and yoga studios offer classes for all levels of experience, as organizers also wanted Sweatstock to provide the community an opportunity to try traditional offerings like yoga and Pilates as well as newer classes like Orangetheory Fitness, which is new to the metro, or CrossFit. Guests are required to sign a participation waiver.
- Chad Hamilton 2015
Aside from signing the waiver, which you can do online or in person, people should just bring their own yoga mats and water, but in a reusable bottle to help keep our community green, Campbell said.
Betina Wills, owner of This Land Yoga, has been involved with Sweatstock since it began. She was a lululemon fitness ambassador for the festival each year and welcomes any opportunity to bring yoga to the masses. For Wills, yoga, like life, is a journey that changes as she goes.
I began practicing yoga in 2004, she said. It began as a strictly physical practice to supplement running track and rowing. Yoga quickly transformed into a practice that allowed me to connect more deeply with body, breath and mind, and I was hooked.
She began teaching in 2010 and opened This Land Yoga in 2014.
Wills said This Land Yoga participates in Sweatstock primarily to connect with the community.
This event is a great deal of fun, a truly exciting glimpse into the interest in wellness in Oklahoma City and a totally free opportunity for the city to try out a variety of classes with a diverse group of studios and instructors, she said. It has been incredible to witness the great things [event organizer] lululemon athletica has done for Oklahoma City and the fitness community.
Wills said guests can expect to laugh, sweat, listen to good music definitely some hip-hop beats and engage in yoga meant for all levels.
Other participating studios include Balance. Yoga. Barre., barre3, Club Fitz, Koda CrossFit, Orangetheory Fitness, The Pilates Body, 5th Quarter Performance, Red Coyote Running and Fitness, Soul Yoga OKC, Tribe Gym, Trinity Exercise Studio, Union Performance, Yoga at Tiffanys and The Yoga Box.
Visit facebook.com/lululemonoklahomacity for more information.
Print headline: Hot fitness, Sweatstock free fitness festival returns for its third year and moves to a larger location.


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Many of us have become painfully aware of the impact of coronavirus and the pandemic that is currently gripping the world. Not only has it affected our personal lives in multiple ways, but it also seems to be impacting the food supply chain in both big cities and small towns in the United States. There is a small town in Alaska, Gistavis, that has seen this issue in great measure.
The story took place in late April when the grocer in the town set sail from the area on a small barge to go to the most remote Cosco warehouse in the world. It took him seven hours to reach Juneau, where he loaded up with more than $20,000 worth of eggs, flour, meat, canned goods, produce, and likely, plenty of toilet paper.
The man who went was a grocer that runs a small store called Ice Strait Wholesale, a store that is known fondly in the area as “Toshco.” 446 people in the town depend upon him to have the food that is necessary, which can be a challenge, considering how isolated the area is. There aren’t any roads and you can’t bring the car into the town and they didn’t even have electricity or phones until the 80s and 90s.
The mountains and icefields of Glacier Bay National Park surround the town on three sides and on the fourth side is the ocean. It is cut off from the rest of the world.
The town’s volunteer mayor, Calvin Casipit, said: “You either gotta fly here or boat here.”
Parker is connected to the town through deep family roots and he opened the grocery store a decade ago. Abraham Lincoln Parker, his great-grandfather, was the first homesteader that made the area his permanent home in 1917.
Parker and his father saw the growth of the local store so they also opened up a gas station. They purchased two ships after opening a freight company. Those ships made sure that Parker would be able to maintain the supply of food if it were otherwise disrupted.
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Parker is busy now during the pandemic taking orders from the town residents of everything that they need, from food supplies to appliances. Every week, he heads to the Alaskan capital, which is a seven-hour journey, to purchase what is needed. It’s a challenge for a grocer, considering he also is dealing with very slim profit margins.
“It’s an art form, not a science,” Parker told The Hustle, as he talked about the demand that comes in every week.
“The town might have a 100-gallon swing in (its) demand for milk from one week to the next without any explanation of why. One week, nobody wants whole milk; the next week, everyone wants 2%.”
In addition, Parker can’t raise the prices to justify all of the work that he is putting into it. Purchasing a dozen eggs at his store cost $7.99. In other words, he only has $3.50 that covers all of his costs associated with getting the food to the area and storing it until it is sold.
“I can’t mark something up 5x because they know exactly how much something costs at Costco,” said Parker, explaining how Costco’s prices keep his prices honest.
“Toshua pretty much saved the town,” says Mayor Casipit. “I really don’t know what we would’ve done without him.”
“It’s like Christmas when the load gets here,” says Parker according to The Hustle. “Everyone is waiting for it. Word gets out, and they all seem to know when it’s coming.”Whizzco


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New software solution details oil companies’ spending
With 50,000 suppliers providing goods and services, it’s easy for their customers to wonder what exactly they’re spending their money on.
“Everyone is trying to understand costs – their own costs,” said Chris Dinkler, senior vice president and general manager of Enverus Business Automation, in a phone interview.
In digging into the issue, he said, “we found in each case everyone has problems understanding what they’re spending for similar parts with different vendors in different categories.”
Categories such as pipe, valves, fittings, casing, cement, chemicals and even labor can be confusing, he said.
“For example, a 2 1/2--inch valve for a particular use: Each supplier creates a unique description and attribute, and there’s no way to know what you’re spending on particular items,” he said.
The company, formerly known as DrillingInfo, has a deep history in analytics. So, in early May, the company launched OpenInsights, a software analytics solution that gives energy supply chain teams detailed understanding of what their spending buys.
With more than 50,000 active oil and gas suppliers submitting invoices and field tickets into the company’s network, and more than $190 billion in industry spending on data, “we were in a unique position to crack the code on category-specific supply chain data,” Dinkler said. “By analyzing millions of lines of complex, unstructured data and normalizing it through descriptive attributes, this solution allows companies to quickly analyze their own spend data at a granular level to identify where every dollar is being spent, how it is being spent, and if their supply chain is truly optimized without any tedious onboarding process or IT resources required.”
In other words, “we standardized the attributes,” said.
Reports are generated by category, by attribute and by supplier.
Dinkler said clients utilizing OpenInsights see reports related only to their specific invoice information.
“A lot of times they had no idea what they were spending for the same part from several vendors,” he said. “This had immediate value.”
In today’s energy economy environment, he said, “more than ever, what companies need is to be smarter, to be more informed about their spending.”
By unlocking such savings, he said, companies may be able to avoid laying off staff.
While supply chains have historically attempted to do such analysis, Dinkler said it has bene done manually and what OpenInsights does is put the analysis in front of the company in dashboard form.
Such new software platforms come as automation becomes a key part of supply chains, he said. In addition to OpenInsights, Enverus recently launched AuditIntelligence, which helps companies identify incorrect or fraudulent billing.
Coming up next will be a software platform to optimize payments, Dinkler said.
“We’re now looking for ways to deliver similar analysis to the more than 50,000 suppliers,” he said. “Let them understand their buyer base even better. We want to drive value for suppliers, not just buyers.”