text:
“The growth of information technology in the business world is spreading at a phenomenal rate” (Gunawardana, 2018). It has created a number of new arenas in the business and management sectors. The concept of e-commerce has emerged in this field as a tool for selling and buying through the internet, for the ease of people who were struggling to manage time and money. Spreading globalization became a ladder for the influence of technology to climb high and high in trading platforms. First, it climbed up to powerful countries such as China, the United States, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, and then to developing countries like India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Among these countries, Sri Lanka stands as the 60th largest market, according to ECBD.com (2023). In the midst of a global digital revolution, Sri Lanka is witnessing a significant shift in business dynamics with the integration of e-commerce into traditional management practices. This note is to expose the impacts of e-commerce on management strategies in Sri Lanka, shedding light on the challenges and opportunities that come with navigating the evolving e-commerce landscape.
With the invention of new technological strategies, traditional business models have been adopted in the new digital era, and Sri Lankan enterprises are embracing e-commerce as a strategic tool for growth. In the present day, Sri Lankans are managing to buy and sell products through different online platforms by expanding market reach and breaking geographical constraints. This trend has grown significantly after the social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly with the increased use of the internet and smart devices. The growth has been promoted by increased utilization of e-payments, e-banking, online medical consultations, and e-sports. According to the Sri Lanka E-commerce International Trade Administration (2022), approximately 43% of the estimated 11 million internet users have made online purchases, and the Western Province is the largest e-commerce market geographically, accounting for around half of total orders. Additionally, Daraz stands as a prominent e-commerce platform that has gained traction in Sri Lanka. From the data obtained through Darazindex (2019), out of the total number of online shoppers in Sri Lanka, 85% have shopped on Daraz, with 94% using the Daraz online shopping mobile app. Its mobile application is identified as the best Android online shopping mobile app and the best iOS online shopping app in Sri Lanka. With the popularity gained through advertisements on the internet, Daraz could trade fashion, electronic, health, and beauty-related products, including mobile phones, watches, power banks, bluetooth speakers, laptops, handbags, and shoes. Apart from Daraz, Cargills.lk, My Deal.lk, Lanka Property Web.com, Takas.lk, Ikman.lk, Kapruka.com, Catchme.lk, and Pickme.lk, plenty of e-commerce websites have been created for the ease of marketing, business, and management in Sri Lanka. These platforms have also created several opportunities for employers in the country. Moreover, online banking services, online medical consultations, travel companies, hotels, and other service providers use ecommerce strategies like mobile payment apps, websites, and other software. Most global ecommerce sites are available in Sri Lanka with certain limitations. Small and medium enterprises (SME) are also increasingly using the concept of e-commerce to advertise products, take orders, and accept payments.
When scrutinizing these elements, it is evident that Sri Lanka has acquired considerable status in the marketing and management sectors through technology. Yet there are several drawbacks that can be seen regarding this concept as common and idiosyncratic for Sri Lanka. Owners, employees, and customers have to face different challenges in the marketing, selling, and buying processes. Also, depending on the nature of the above parties, these challenges occur in four main categories: business-to-business (B2B), business-to-customer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer (C2C), and government-to-consumer (G2C). Commonly, including in Sri Lanka, e-commerce brings up disadvantages for customers, like being unable to examine products personally; everybody should have access to the internet; otherwise, people cannot engage in this process; the possibility of products not being received; and credit card thefts. Sometimes the products that are displayed in advertisements may not be the same product in delivery. In these issues, customers throw rotten tomatoes towards e-commerce brands using social media, and that has become a major challenge for the marketing sector as they have the duty of attracting customers to buy products from their certain brand. With that, sellers have to deal with obstacles like distributions may not be effective, the initial cost of some products (electronic products) and trainer labor may be expensive, product specifications need to be updated frequently, and they may encounter fraudulent transactions and losses due to the return policy, etc. As the world is in a rat race in its quest to achieve the highest position in every range, online business owners and employees have the competition of maintaining marketing and attracting customers for the progress of their business. This has created some kinds of moral issues in culture and the well-being of people.
If we talk about Sri Lanka, despite the afore-mentioned challenges and drawbacks, our country has the biggest challenge of upgrading its Internet infrastructure according to the new improvements of globalization. The government has the provocation to deal with a competitive world and a poor economy in Sri Lanka. This has mainly affected small and medium enterprises, as there are fewer facilities for trading development. On the other hand, literacy in technology is quite lacking among the older generation in Sri Lanka. This issue mainly affects the e-banking process as adults tend to use technology without knowing the right way, and their security of personal information may be affected. Additionally, it is still relatively expensive to access the Internet, bandwidth speeds are limited, and the demand for information, communication, and technology (ICT) human capital is well above the current supply. As a result, it is not surprising that the majority of businesses do not have an Internet presence, and Internet usage is low among the general population. The contemporary economic crisis has brought the Sri Lankan marketing sector into a battle over selling products and services. This has created a harmful trading culture for people with pseudo-exaggerations of products that are less in quality and not favorable for everyone, like cosmetics and beauty products.
These issues mainly occur in mobile commerce. If customers have the literacy of information and communication technology, they can be acknowledged as participants in the buying process in e-commerce. All parties need their own literacy to choose necessary things, like how a swan separates milk from water. Amidst these challenges, the e-commerce state of Sri Lanka exhibits a fair growth in apparel organizations, electronics, groceries, care products, cosmetics, and DIY. Not only within the country but also outside of the country, e-commerce has built a wide path to exchange products and services in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the concept of e-commerce has become a good opportunity to get rid of the prevailing economic failure of the country.
In a nutshell, e-commerce has grown as a trend in selling, marketing, and buying products. Sri Lanka has also become an active member of this opportunity, with various struggles and achievements. The main struggle is that Sri Lanka has to deal with the competitive marketing strategies of the world. As everything has pros and cons, e-commerce also has a good side and a bad side. Participants in this process have the responsibility to develop their literacy to use this concept in a beneficial way. Sri Lanka can rescue itself from the current economic crisis by using e-commerce strategies in all fields of business and marketing with the help of the government. The amalgamation of these factors underscores the evolving status of Sri Lanka in the arena of e-commerce.


text:
The European Chemicals Agency has confirmed the tenth Stakeholders’ Day conference for 27 May 2015 in Helsinki. This year’s program features more views from industry representatives, Member States and stakeholder organisations than ever before. Twelve new speakers have been confirmed including speakers from the UK Chemical Business Association (CBA), the Downstream Users of Chemicals Coordination Group (DUCC) and the Dow Chemical Company. The Stakeholders’ Day offers participants the chance to hear the latest news and updates from ECHA, European industry associations and NGOs. The event takes place in conjunction with the annual Helsinki Chemicals Forum taking place from 28 to 29 May. Participation to the Stakeholders’ Day is free of charge. For further details on the event, visit ECHA’s website.
ECHA enews, 18 February 2015 ;http://echa.europa.eu ;

domain: news


text:
The Nationwide Payments Corp. of India is testing a resolution to allow for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) centered electronic spend with out an net connection, Mint noted Sunday (Jan. 23).
The option, referred to as UPI Lite, will possible be employed originally in rural spots to permit for small digital payments underneath 200 rupees.
It will also allow for mobile phone end users to make digital payments from their financial institution accounts. A bank formal told the media outlet that two remedies are being analyzed, which include a SIM overlay and a software program-provisioned solution that leverages in excess of-the-air (OTA) updates.
SIM Overlay is composed of growing the features of a phone’s SIM card, allowing payments and other solutions transpire even with no the details availability. In the meantime, OTA will enable the option be sent straight to the device’s firmware.
For each the bank formal, the OTA resolution would be comparable to the snake match on Nokia phones getting updates over the community, without having 3G or 4G abilities. Even so, the technologies is patent pending, and will possible glimpse different in apply when compared to how it is conventionally carried out.
These developments appear as India has viewed more electronic payments, next the 2016 demonetization of bank notes.
“Small benefit offline manner for electronic payments will offer an different, secure, low-charge manner of payments with a in close proximity to-cash-sort characteristic, thereby rising purchaser assurance as a most popular manner for tiny retail payments,” mentioned Monish Shah, associate at Deloitte India.
Shah added that this could increase an impetus to extra use instances with retail payments, like ticketing, bundling of products and non-conventional pricing. The Indian govt has been doing work toward much more electronic transactions — however this could end up hurting Visa and Mastercard.
Related: India’s Digital Payments Incentive Push May possibly Appear at Visa, Mastercard’s Cost
In December, the cupboard stated it had approved an incentivization plan, which would see 1,300 crores, or $170 million, toward reimbursements to merchants as element of the Service provider Lower price Charge, the charge for electronic payments retailers are hit with by financial institutions.
Buying banking companies will now be “encouraged” to spend section of the transactions tied to the RuPay playing cards and lessen-price BHIM-UPI electronic payments.


text:
Kyle has a strong passion for RPGs and survival horror games. Although, his overly competitive attitude forces his attention to shooters more often than not. When he's not gaming you can find Kyle playing music or catching up on the latest horror films.
For better and for worse Yooka-Laylee accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. A throwback to a time when 3D platformers reigned supreme, but it holds on to nostalgia too closely, never quite coming into its own.
After taking home the Best Game award at the annual BAFTA Game Awards, Naughty Dog discussed Uncharted 4’s standalone DLC The Lost Legacy.
In an exclusive, Digital Foundry has posted the specifications for Microsoft’s latest console, the Xbox Scorpio. Read the details here!
It’s no secret that Ubisoft has been flooded with complaints due to For Honor’s P2P servers. Maybe a new update will help out.


text:
The number of electric cars on U.S. roads nearly doubled in the past few years, and Irvine’s tech hub is driving several new advances in the industry.
Luxury electric-car maker Karma Automotive recently opened a new design studio displaying its latest concept car, the SC2 – said to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in under 2 seconds.
Neuron EV recently unveiled plans for an electric pickup truck to compete with Tesla and which, according to reviews, “looks like the unique luxury truck of the future.”
Meanwhile, a UC Irvine research team is closing in on a new electric-car battery that promises to reduce costs for everyone.
Karma Automotive recently invested $10 million in its Irvine headquarters, including a new design studio displaying the SC1 and SC2 concept cars – both scissor-doored, fully electric hypercars.
Inside the studio, Karma designers can display full-scale digital models on a floor-to-ceiling power wall, while clients can custom-order automobile trim, including “jewels, colors and materials.”
“Karma is more than just a car company,” says Matthew Clarke, vice president of marketing and public relations. “We are a technology company.”
Just 3 years old, Neuron EV is a new face in the electric-vehicle game, but plans for its electric trucks already are turning heads. The T.ONE electric truck “might just be the electric adventure vehicle we all were hoping for,” reported Gear Junkie after seeing a prototype at the Shanghai Import Expo in November.
Neuron is pitching its T.ONE as an electric utility vehicle, and its Torq as an electric semitruck, featuring a cockpit-like setup with the driver front and center.
Neuron EV also produces an electric micro-truck, electric cross- over vehicle and electric bus.
UC Irvine battery research
A research team at UC Irvine is developing a next-generation, lithium-ion battery that promises to bring down the cost of electric cars.
Led by Huolin Xin, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy, the team is closing in on a battery that requires less cobalt, a costly material.


text:
SINGAPORE: As part of a move to further encourage the early adoption of electric vehicles, the Government will introduce more incentives to narrow the “cost differential” between electric cars and internal combustion engine cars, announced Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat in his Budget speech on Tuesday (Feb 16).
This will firstly come in the form of the lowering of the Additional Registration Fee (ARF) floor to zero for electric cars from Jan 2022 to Dec 2023, said Mr Heng, who is also Deputy Prime Minister.
The ARF is a tax paid when registering a vehicle, and is calculated based on a percentage of a vehicle’s Open Market Value – the cost of a vehicle imported into Singapore.
The move will allow mass-market electric car buyers to maximize the rebates from the EV Early Adoption Incentive (EEAI) , Mr Heng explained.
The EV Early Adoption Incentive (EEAI) allows those who buy fully electric cars and taxis to receive a rebate of up to 45 per cent on the ARF. Such a rebate is capped at S$20,000. This initiative will run all the way to Jan 31, 2023.
In addition, there will also be a revision of the road tax bands so that a mass-market electric car will have road tax comparable to an internal combustion engine equivalent, revealed Mr Heng. Further details on these plans will be provided at the Committee of Supply debates in Parliament, he noted.
This builds on the announcement in last year's Budget where a series of measures including the EEAI, were introduced as part of Singapore's vision to have all vehicles run on cleaner energy by 2040.
Late last year, it was also announced that under the enhanced Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES), there would be an increase in rebates for cleaner vehicles, as well as increased surcharge for more pollutive vehicles. The enhanced VES will last until Dec 31, 2022.
Along with the EEAI which also began at the start of the year, buyers of new fully electric cars could save up to S$45,000, while buyers of new fully electric taxis can save as much as S$57,500.
A S$30 MILLION BOOST
Describing electric vehicles as the “most promising” clean energy vehicle technology today, Mr Heng also announced that Singapore will set aside S$30 million over the next five years for electric vehicle related initiatives. This includes measures to improve charging provision at private premises.
This move would allow Singapore to “catalyse partnership” between public and private sectors, he added.
READ: Green Plan seeks to create new jobs, make use of sustainability as 'competitive advantage' for Singapore
Mr Heng also pointed out that Singapore will accelerate the development of its charging infrastructure to better support the growth of electric vehicles in the next decade.
Echoing an announcement made in Singapore’s Green Plan last week, he said that Singapore will aim to deploy 60,000 charging points at public carparks and private premises by 2030, more than double its initial target of 28,000.
“Technology is … changing the future of transport,” said Mr Heng. “While we are going car-lite, we can further reduce emissions by switching to cleaner-energy vehicles.”


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Leaf hiring spree to continue in 2014
Send this story to a friend
Cambridge-based Leaf could grow to more than 100 employees this year — doubling its staff — as the firm expands its small-business tablet to more markets.
The company, located at Intrepid Labs, has already been hiring rapidly: Leaf started out 2013 with about 15 employees and ended at about 50, founder and CEO Aron Schwarzkopf said.
The firm's Android-based tablet, LeafPresenter, aims to serve as a central hub for small-business commerce — able to accept credit card payment, log other forms of payment and run apps such as payroll and inventory management.
Leaf also offers a cloud-based business analytics and management portal — which provides insights to small business owners from their data — as well as its own app store (now in beta) for apps that can be used on the LeafPresenter.
Along with a number of customers in the Boston area, the tablet has also found strong adoption in markets including San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Madison, Wisc., the company said.
"Not so long ago we were only selling here in the Boston area, but we now have a great number of cities and states using Leaf," Schwarzkopf said. "We're close to being all over the nation."
Along with the investment in Leaf, Heartland has also been selling the LeafPresenter through its more than 800 salespeople.
Leaf's hiring push is being led by Jennifer Ramcharan, VP for HR and recruiting at the company.
About 20 of Leaf's hires have come on board since Ramcharan started in mid-August. Schwarzkopf said bringing on a head of HR was the priority before launching the company's hiring spree, as a way to "make sure the beautiful culture we have within the Leaf family remained the same."
If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.
- Most viewed
- Most Emailed
- Former FDA head says biotech model 'is basically falling apart
- ALS biotech says ice bucket challenge will pay for a clinical trial
- Eleven people who left HubSpot to pursue other ventures (slide show)
- Paul English invests in fashion startup Nineteenth Amendment
- Almost half of Google's mergers and acquisitions team is in Cambridge
- DraftKings lands $41M in funding, buys Cambridge-based StarStreet
Mass High Tech Twitter
Mass High Tech Life Sciences Directory
Email Newsletter Signup
Choose newsletter(s) you would like to receive.
- At 11th hour, Tesla gigafactory deal is stalling
- Uber debate: City's new draft changes insurance, rate policies
- Former ArthroCare execs get decades in prison for $750M 'epic tale of greed'
- Cartel Coffee Lab featured in national Square commercial
- On-demand massage app launches in South Florida
- Hillary Clinton lauds tech innovation, calls for more gender and class inclusion


text:
§ Mr. Lazarowicz
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to encourage participation by her Department in Fair Trade Fortnight from 4 to 17 March.
§ Mr. Morley
Campaigns, such as the annual Fair Trade Fortnight organised by the Fair Trade Foundation, help to raise consumer awareness of development issues in international trade as well as highlighting ways in which consumers can act to make a difference. The Department for International Development is providing £120,000 to the Fair Trade Foundation over three years (2001–03) in support of its efforts to target new groups through its annual Fair Trade Fortnight campaigns, my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for International Development will be attending the launch of this year's campaign on 4 March 2002.


text:
The UK Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint against Cyrix/IBM and its reseller Time Computer Systems, claiming the companies advertised a 233MHz chip as a 300MHz part.
The complaint cites Time, a subsidiary of Granville Technology Group, for advertising a processor called the IBM/Cyrix MII-300. The compaint was issued by a consumer who tested the chip, and clocked it at only 233MHz.
The manufacturers claim that the ‘300’ in the name was the MHz-equivalent Performance Rating (PR) of the chip. However, the standards body determined that “because naming chips after the MHz clock speed, as Intel and AMD did, was so commonplace in the industry, the Authority considered that readers were likely to infer that the true MHz clock speed of the advertisers’ processor was higher than it was.”
The story appears at The Register’s web site, http://www.theregister.co.uk.


text:
Apple is working on a revamped iPad Pro for next year, “aiming to shake up a tablet market that’s deep in the doldrums,” according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman in his latest “Power On” newsletter.
The new model will mark the first major update to the product since 2018, he adds. The new purportedly models will come in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes. That’s similar to the existing lineup, but the larger model is currently 12.9 inches. Also, according to Gurman:
° A revamped Magic Keyboard will make the iPad Pro look even more like a laptop than the current setup and add a larger trackpad.
° The new iPad Pros won’t be part of the company’s big launch event next month, when it will focus on the iPhone and Apple Watch, and probably won’t debut until spring or early summer.
It was previously reported that Apple will equip the iPad Pro with an OLED panel which could come with a new M3 chip based on TSMC’s 3nm process.
This info from Gurman is from the free edition of “Power On”. If you like it, consider subscribing to Bloomberg.com—you’ll receive the newsletter earlier and get exclusive access to a Q&A section.


text:
- Food retailers fail to protect bees from toxic pesticides
Food retailers fail to protect bees from toxic pesticides
by Kendra Klein, PhD, staff scientist
Your contribution will benefit Friends of the Earth.
Thanks for your interest in Friends of the Earth. You can find information about us and get in touch the following ways:
A new scorecard from Friends of the Earth shows that top food retailers are failing to protect bees and people from toxic pesticides. The report, Swarming the Aisles II, shows that, while supermarkets have made commitments on sustainability issues, like energy and recycling, only one, Whole Foods, has taken action to reduce pesticide use in its food supply chain.
Along with prioritizing organic products, Whole Foods is working with fruit, veggie and flower growers to reduce pesticide use on non-organic farms, giving the company the highest grade on our scorecard. But the leader is now owned by the laggard. Whole Foods’ new parent company, Amazon [NASDAQ: AMZN], received an “F” for failing to have a pesticide policy or any commitment to increase sales of organic foods.
This scorecard represents the second year in a row of grading top retailers on these goals. Since 2016, we saw an increase in transparency and additional commitments to expand organic offerings, but no new pesticide policies.
Bees are the “canaries in the cornfields”From Amazon to the grocery stores, big box chains, and pharmacies that sell the majority of food Americans eat, it’s critical that the food retail sector put pesticides at the top of the sustainability agenda. Forty percent of invertebrate pollinator species are on the brink of extinction, and a leading factor of their decline is rampant pesticide use in conventional agriculture. Concerns about the impacts of pesticides on insects, birds, and other wildlife have led scientists to warn of a “second silent spring.”
Without pollinators, a trip to the grocery store would be a bleak affair. Imagine shelves without tomatoes, strawberries, almonds, and chocolate. Even the meat and dairy shelves would be bare since alfalfa and other feed crops depend on the work of pollinators. Pollinators are responsible for one in three bites of food.
But this is about more than what food is available for us to eat. Bees are the “canaries in the corn fields.” Like the birds that miners carried into coal mines to warn of hazardous gases, the decimation of bee and butterfly populations associated with the rampant use of toxic pesticides warns us that chemical-intensive agriculture is on a fatal track.
The environmental and human health cost of pesticide use is “catastrophic” according to a recent UN report that debunks the myth that pesticides are necessary to feed a growing world population. Chemical companies like Monsanto, Bayer, and Dow-Dupont peddle the story that we need to double down on our chemical “war on nature” to feed the world. But if we’re going to feed ourselves now and into the future, we need to protect the clean water, healthy soil, and biodiversity that are the basis of farming. Chemical-intensive agriculture is taking us in the opposite direction and is costing the world $3 trillion annually in environmental damage according to the UN.
Farming with nature is the real solution. Forty years of research show that organic farming can yield enough food to feed a growing population while protecting the ecosystems we depend on. Organic farming is a climate solution: it sequesters more carbon in the soil than conventional farming and provides greater resilience during droughts and floods. And organic farms support up to 50 percent more pollinating species than conventional farms, help other beneficial insects flourish, and foster biodiversity.
While we push for policies aimed at helping more American farmers transition to organic, recent research shows that most non-organic farmers could dramatically reduce overall pesticide use while growing just as many crops and maintaining, or even increasing, their profit.
Organic farms support up to 50 percent more pollinating species than conventional farms, help other beneficial insects flourish, and foster biodiversity.
Food retailers should follow the science on pesticides
Food retailers have a crucial role to play in bringing about the sustainable food system of the future. Friends of the Earth, with the support of 50 farmers, beekeepers, and environmental organizations, is calling on food retailers to eliminate pollinator-toxic pesticides in their supply chains and increase USDA certified organic food and beverages to 15 percent of overall offerings by 2025, prioritizing domestic producers. We are also asking retailers to practice greater transparency about sustainable purchasing policies and practices and to advocate for public policies that support a rapid transition to a healthy, sustainable food future.
Meanwhile, pesticides like neonicotinoids, chlorpyrifos, and glyphosate are making national news thanks to the federal government’s failure to act on scientific findings that finger these toxic chemicals for imperiling the health of pollinators and people. The growing gap between science and regulatory action makes market leadership on pesticides all the more critical. The story of a pesticide called chlorpyrifos is a case in point.
Chlorpyrifos is part of a class of nerve gas poisons developed by Nazi Germany. It is toxic to both pollinators and people. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was poised to withdraw chlorpyrifos from the market in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence that exposure in the womb and early childhood can derail brain development, leading to developmental delays, lowered IQ, and increased risk of ADHD and autism.
But in one of his first moves in office, Trump’s appointee to head the EPA, Scott Pruitt, rejected the science of the agency’s own chemical safety experts and reneged on the chlorpyrifos ban. It’s not hard to follow the money behind this corrupt decision. Dow Chemical, manufacturer of chlorpyrifos, donated $1 million for Trump’s inauguration, the company’s CEO was given a position as head of a White House manufacturing working group, and Dow lawyers sent a letter to the EPA asking the agency to “set aside” the results of government studies on chlorpyrifos.
This is not an isolated case. Government regulations often lag far behind the latest science on the harm pesticides cause to human health and the environment. Food retailers need to step into the gap. The health of their consumers and the resilience of their supply chains should be motivation enough.
Whole Foods’ Responsibly Grown© program is currently the leading example of a food retailer program that follows the science on pesticides. The program “prohibits specific pesticides that have been identified by scientists as high risk but are commonly used in conventional agriculture today.” Chlorpyrifos is prohibited in all categories of Responsibly Grown© products, along with other commonly used hazardous pesticides like atrazine, 2,4-D, and malathion.
Organic is the gold standard for pesticide reduction
Many of the companies profiled in Friends of the Earth’s report are competing to meet consumer demand for organic food, but only six have clearly stated their intent to expand organic offerings in the future: Albertsons, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Costco [NASDAQ: COST], Target [NASDAQ: TGT], Walgreens [NASDAQ: WBA], and Whole Foods. And of those, just four have publicly stated that they are taking measures to expand U.S. production of organic food or support U.S. organic farmers: Whole Foods, Target, Wegmans, and Costco.
The top retail news over the past year confirms that organic is the future of food retail, from Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods to German grocer ALDI’s bid to open 900 new stores offering low-cost organic food in 2018. Organic food sales increased by 8.4 percent from 2016 to 2017, blowing past the stagnant 0.6 percent growth rate in the overall food market.
Sales of organic food are booming in the U.S. because consumers are demanding non-toxic, environmentally-friendly food. But U.S. government programs and policies overwhelmingly support chemical agriculture over organic. Less than one percent of federal agricultural research dollars go to organic farming. The U.S. accounts for 44 percent of global organic sales, but just four percent of global farmland under organic production. In short, U.S. farmers are losing out on the chance to feed Americans’ growing appetite for organic food, and our farms, rivers, and rural communities remain soaked in toxic pesticides.
It also means that the U.S. is missing out on an important solution to rural poverty. A recent meta-analysis shows that organic farming is more profitable for farmers and provides greater economic stability. And research shows that counties with high levels of organic farming and associated organic businesses are economic hotspots that boost household incomes by over $2,000 and reduce poverty rates by as much as 1.35 percent, even more than major anti-poverty programs.
Retailers have an important role to play in expanding organic agriculture in the U.S. by supporting farmers during transition, prioritizing products from domestic organic farmers, and standing up for public policies to advance the American organic sector. This year, the Organic Agriculture Research Act and the Organic Farmer and Consumer Protection Act are just two opportunities to support organic as part of the Farm Bill, the U.S.’s most important food and farming policy.
In the hypercompetitive food retail market, strong policies to expand organic offerings and phase out toxic pesticides are critical ways for retailers to distinguish themselves from the pack.
Check out Swarming the Aisles II to see how your grocer measures up and for more information on policy opportunities and the science behind pesticides, pollinators, and organic farming.


text:
No strategy, no success - Brightcove SVP on video trends
By Dan Brain, Content & Marketing Director, MAD//Fest London3 December, 2018
Around 544 BC, the Chinese military general Sun Tzu wrote
strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
The same could be said for video marketing in 2018.
Without a strategy, you’re shooting in the dark, says Mark Blair, SVP International Operations at cloud video platform Brightcove.
You can’t measure it, you’re not going to get the results, you’re not going to get the outcomes. Start with the strategy and work from there.
Mark says brands must embrace a cross-device mindset for video and ensure that their content is accessible wherever people are trying to access it.
So what will be big video trends in the year ahead? Here is Mark’s view on how brands can capitalise on video trends in 2019.
Brightcove’s Senior Director - EMEA Justin Barrett was a Main Stage speaker at MAD//Fest London on 29 Nov. Click here for an interview with Justin on how video can boost conversions and consumer confidence.


text:
Telstra's software defined networking products, developed with Cisco, are being included in Telstra's standard channel partner model, enabling local partners to reap the benefits.
The new offerings, announced earlier this month, are designed to enable businesses to instantly deploy and configure services over Telstra's networks and are the result of Telstra's partnership with Cisco to deliver a platform and products using SDN and network function virtualisation (NFV).
The first product, Internet Virtual Private Network (Internet VPN), available later this month, will enable businesses to connect multiple sites and mobile workers to office networks, with secure, encrypted links over the public Internet, with just a few clicks in Telstra's online portal.
The second product, currently available in beta, is Cloud Gateway Protection, a virtual security appliance that can be deployed and configured within minutes in the cloud to protect internet access, cloud services and Next IP networks from malicious attacks and unauthorised access.
A third SDN product, Data Center Interconnect, is an extension of Telstra's global data center interconnect SDN product PEN, and will be available later this year.
Telstra says by adding Australian PoPs, the extended solution will enable businesses to instantly set up point-to-point links between domestic and global data centers, configure them on-the-fly and choose from a variety of pay-as-you-go, flexible contract terms, all from the same portal.
A spokesperson says the new products are channel-friendly. She cites the example of Internet VPN, where a portal has been modified to capture dealer codes for services that are ordered with the assistance of a dealer.
At launch, the model will be ‘sell-with' where the indirect channel partners will need to work within the portal with the customer to make a purchase.
However, the company says the ‘buy on behalf of' functionality is in the roadmap for release.
Philip Jones, Telstra executive director of global products and solutions, says just as cloud computing redefined the user compute experience with simple, dynamic configuration and provisioning, so SDN and NFV technologies are redefining the user experience on the network.
“By allowing us to overcome the constraints of traditional network infrastructure, the software driven customer experiences dramatically increases our agility by enabling us to quickly create new solutions, and puts the control of those solutions into the hands of our customers,” Jones says.


text:
Blania described a futuristic world awash in Orbs of varying shapes and sizes, where each person would be assigned a unique and anonymized code linked to their iris that they could use to log in to a host of web and blockchain-based applications.
Blania did not rule out the possibility that Worldcoin would charge a fee for providing this service, but the startup primarily plans to make money through the appreciation of its currency. “You distribute a token to as many people as you can,” Blania said. Because of that, the “utility of the token increases dramatically” and the “price of the token increases.”
Key to all of this technology is the Orb itself, and the contract that Orb operators sign underlines the company’s focus on stress-testing it. “Your role is to help us evaluate the Orbs and how people interact with them,” the contract says. “You should think of yourself as a product tester.”
Blania told BuzzFeed News that the company was primarily using its field tests to see how the Orbs performed in different environments — from Kenya’s heat to Norway’s freezing cold. “In Kenya where there was like, 40-degree heat, and just the reflection on the Orb is something we have never seen here in Germany in the office,” Blania said.
Adam Schwartz, a senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the ambiguity about Worldcoin’s goals is troublesome. “The question is, is this a digital currency company, or is this a data broker?” he said. “Either way, the practice at hand, which is paying people for their biometrics, is very problematic to privacy and to equity.”
“Worldcoin is not a data company and our business model does not involve exploiting or selling personal user data. Worldcoin is only interested in a user’s uniqueness — i.e., that they have not signed up for Worldcoin before — not their identity,” Worldcoin said in a statement.
The company’s efforts to build its database could also run afoul of data privacy and processing laws in Kenya, where the company has extensive operations. Kenya recently passed a data protection law that forbids companies from transferring biometric data abroad without approval from the newly constituted Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. Worldcoin currently processes user data in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and India, according to its data consent form.
Immaculate Kassait, Kenya’s data commissioner, told BuzzFeed News that her office “was not aware” that Worldcoin was collecting the biometric data of Kenyans and transferring it abroad.
The company has until July 14 to register itself with the commission and submit a detailed Data Protection Impact Assessment under Kenya’s newly implemented data privacy laws, Kassait said over email. Worldcoin told BuzzFeed News that the company would soon engage with Kenya’s Data Commission and had already conducted a “rigorous” privacy impact assessment.
Bryan Ford, who heads the Decentralized/Distributed Systems (DEDIS) lab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and wrote one of the pioneering papers on proof of personhood in 2008, said solving the authentication problem in a way that preserves user privacy would be a significant advance. Ford, however, isn’t convinced by Worldcoin’s solution. The company’s decision to build and store a giant, centralized database of irises and iris-hashes, he said, is a massive invasion of user privacy.
“We dispute the characterization that collecting images of Worldcoin users is an invasion of privacy: If collecting images of people with their consent was an invasion of privacy, CLEAR” — the biometrics identification company — “the UN and Aadhaar would all be examples of invasions of privacy too,” Worldcoin said in a statement to BuzzFeed News.
“Informed consent means that you are in a position to fully understand what is going on,” said Elias Okwara, Africa policy manager for the advocacy group Access Now, noting that a majority of Kenya’s population speaks Kiswahili. “So right off the bat, it becomes difficult to be able to explain to an individual what the data processing means.”
Worldcoin said it would soon roll out its privacy form in six languages and suggested that the Orb operators were live-translating and explaining the company’s voluminous policies to people who do not speak English. “In all these local countries, we have Orb operators, and their whole purpose and role is to explain to people what they consent to in their local languages,” the company said.
Any large biometric database is also susceptible to hacking, Ford said, explaining that the database could be compromised if someone hacks into the thousands of Orbs that the company plans on distributing. “Basically no hardware is reliably unhackable,” Ford said.
Blania conceded that “there has never been an uncracked hardware device” but said that Worldcoin was building fraud-detection mechanisms to identify compromised Orbs.


text:
Growing up, your parents may have told to eat your fruits and veggies.
Nowadays, some people are juicing them. Our Yvonne Thomas spoke with one woman who said she lost more than 70 pounds on a juice diet.
Three years ago, Patrice Bass decided to change what she calls "her unhealthy life style."
“When both of my grandparents told me I was overweight in their own loving way... I knew it,” said Bass. “But my clothes couldn't hide it anymore.”
Patrice said she weighed more than 250 pounds and wanted to lose a lot of it.
“I worked out for a year, but I knew that it just wasn't enough,” said Bass. “It wasn't the results that I wanted.”
After hitting a plateau, Patrice said she looked online for other weight loss options, and she joined the Juice Challenge.
With juicing, plus diet and exercise, Patrice says she dropped more than 70 pounds.
“It gave me energy,” said Bass. “It helped me with my skin. It started helping me with my nails.’
Even though juicing worked for Patrice, experts say it’s not a one size fits all recipe.
Dietician Jullian Roberts said if you don't mix it correctly, you could gulp down "a drink full of sugar."
"Juicing is not always a good option for people,” said Roberts. “You're taking the fiber out of the fruit.”
Roberts said a high sugar juice blend could lead to overeating.
“It's very low calorie, too,” said Roberts. “You will be eating out of deficit, so you will feel those hunger pains.”
Roberts said even though juicing fruits and vegetables can add extra vitamins to your diet, you have to replace the fiber.
“I know there are some diets out there that you use them as a meal replacement,” said Roberts. “That is not something that I would ever recommend.”
But Patrice said she did her homework before she started, and when she juices she eats food that are high in fiber.
“You can eat salmon filets, avocados, lentil soup, beans. Those are staples in my kitchen," said Bass.
Patrice, AKA The Juice Lady, says it's not for everyone, but it works for her.
“I just choose to be healthy,” said Bass. “I just choose to live life abundantly, and that's how I live it.”
Patrice was so inspired by her weight loss journey through the juice challenge, she says she wants to help others. She has her own juicing business called "Just Juicy." Click here for more information.


text:
Growing up in the 1980s and 90s, I’d stop channel surfing to catch a few minutes of a Chicago Bulls game… even though I was never really interested in sports.
Like any other kid, I was awed by Michael Jordan.
He defied conventions. And played at a whole different level than other players.
The NBA declared Jordan as the greatest basketball player of all time by pure acclamation.
It’s not even close. Jordan dominated the courts over a 15-year career.
He averaged 30.1 points per game over his 15 seasons… played in 15 All-Star Games… was league MVP six times… and was named among the 50 greatest NBA players of all time.
Most importantly, Jordan helped the Chicago Bulls win six championships.
So it’s no surprise that – the kids who grew up watching Jordan when they were young – now want to own a piece of that magical era as they grow older and wealthier.
That’s because collectibles like Jordan’s jersey are the ultimate Maverick Investment. I’ll get to what these investments are in a moment.
But here’s why I’m telling you about Michael Jordan…
The “Last Dance” is a Netflix documentary recounting Jordan’s final season with the Bulls. It culminated with Chicago’s win over the Utah Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals.
Just last month, a jersey worn by Jordan during the 1998 Finals set an auction record of $10.1 million.
That sale of the “Last Dance” jersey nearly quadrupled the record for the most expensive Jordan memorabilia, previously set by a 1997 autographed card that sold for $2.7 million.
In fact, the jersey is the most expensive piece of game-worn sports memorabilia ever bought at an auction.
For the past two months, we’ve been telling you that high net worth individuals (HNWIs) are pouring their money into Maverick Investments like collectibles… despite the volatility we’re seeing in the stock and bond markets.
It’s the clearest sign yet that you need to gain exposure to this trend. And in today’s issue, I’ll show you how.
While Stocks Sell Off, Sports Memorabilia Takes Off
While stocks and bonds crash this year, we’ve seen record-setting sports memorabilia sales. For instance:
On August 27, a Mickey Mantle rookie card sold for $12.6 million. That’s the most ever paid for any sports memorabilia (so far).
On August 4, a Honus Wagner card sold for $7.25 million in a private sale.
On May 4, Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” Argentina jersey from the 1986 World Cup finals sold for $9.28 million.
What do these record-setting sales have in common?
They’re what Daily editor Teeka Tiwari calls Maverick Investments.
Maverick Investments exist outside the standard “60/40” model of equities and bonds. We like them because they contain three important traits…
Real: These are generally (but not always) tangible assets like art and real estate, or intangibles like certain cryptos and music royalties.
Rare: These are assets with low supply.
Enduringly desirable: These are assets with a history of having high demand from wealthy people.
Because they have these three traits, we believe they’ll provide market-beating returns… while also outpacing inflation. And that’s why HNWIs are turning them.
And as you can see below, Jordan’s “Last Dance” jersey ticks all three boxes.
It’s real: The legendary Sotheby’s auction house authenticated the jersey.
It’s rare: While there are plenty of licensed (and unlicensed) “Last Dance” jerseys on the market… only a few remain that Jordan actually wore during his final run with the Bulls.
Enduringly desirable: Michael Jordan is a living legend. Understandably, those who grew up watching him play want to own his memorabilia. And that’s why Jordan’s collectibles are in such high demand.
This sale may set a high mark for Michael Jordan memorabilia… for now. That’s because sports collectibles as a whole are seeing massive new demand.
Sotheby’s says that there’s “a new generation” of sports memorabilia collectors who are coming into the market.
And they have deep pockets.
Since 2006, sports memorabilia has returned 7x more than the S&P 500, according to investment platform Rally.
Returns spiked higher in 2020 and 2021 when the government handed out stimulus checks like a drunken sailor. That out-of-control money printing directly fueled the record-high inflation we’re seeing now.
Teeka calls it the New Order of Money. In this new order, you’ll need to find assets that outpace inflation… And that’s where collectibles come in.
As more folks of my generation build wealth, they’ll want to own memorabilia from their childhoods. And because they’re looking for assets that will beat inflation, they’ll turn to collectibles in droves.
It’s a trend that will drive the collectibles market even higher.
Fortunately, you don’t need a cool eight figures lying around to own trophy assets like Jordan’s “Last Dance” jersey.
There are growing number of platforms that allow investors to buy “shares” of best-in-breed collectibles for a few dollars.
The Top Investment Platform for Sports Memorabilia
If you’re interested in the sports memorabilia market, you should consider Collectable.
Collectable is a platform that offers investors access to cards, jerseys, sneakers, and other sports memorabilia.
Founded in 2020, the platform already boasts over 80,000 members who have invested over $50 million. And you can buy “shares” in some collectibles for as little as $5.
Collectable focuses on rare and valuable pieces with a high potential for price appreciation.
The platform has an average return on investment (ROI) of 60%. By comparison, the average annual return on the S&P 500 is 9.2%.
Some collectibles it’s resold include a LeBron James rookie card and Luka Doncic’s game-worn sneakers.
Signing up on the platform is easy. Simply go here and get started.
As with other collectible platforms, you’ll need to link a bank account to get started.
By signing up for platforms like Collectable, you’ll gain exposure to the rapidly-growing sports collectibles market.
As a bonus, they’ve even got a some Michael Jordan memorabilia available. So check it out today.
Analyst, Palm Beach Daily


text:
It is now revealed that Senior Director Teja consented to an arrangement with mainstream OTT stage Amazon Prime for a web arrangement. In the most recent seven day stretch of July, Teja began going for the arrangement at Nanakramguda.
Subsequent to wrapping up two scenes, as an unforeseen episode, Teja was tried positive for Covid-19. In the mean time, the most recent buzz is that being at a home isolate, Teja has given over the heading of obligations to his partners.
News is likewise that Teja is directing the shooting plans through online association.


text:
U.S. diesel prices have fallen to a low not seen since Avatar raked in hundreds of millions of dollar at movie theaters across the country.
The most damaging aspect of the exodus of two major container lines from the Port of Portland, Oregon, last month was the loss of more than 650 trade and transportation jobs in Oregon, the port’s executive director says.
Weak exports from China are driving Asia-Europe container freight rates down to new record lows, according to the world’s largest shipping association.
U.S. exports of logs and lumber via ocean container declined year-over-year in January for the fourth consecutive month, partly because of declining demand from China and unfavorable exchange rates.
The pace of truck rate increases could slow this year, if manufacturing continues to grow slowly and low energy prices deter capital investment, Wall Street analysts said. However, they see a storm coming in 2016-17.
A U.S. dollar in hyperdrive is helping exporters in some trading nations and setting the stage for a surge of U.S. imports.
Shipment delays through U.S. West Coast ports, compounded by severe late winter weather, cost some retailers sales in recent months, but they believe the worst is over and say inventory levels are returning to normal.
A rising U.S. dollar — while reflecting the renewed strength of the U.S. economy — is weighing down the nation’s exports and exacerbating the West Coast port congestion pain inflicted on exporters.
The truck driver shortage in the U.S. apparently is becoming "more pervasive" despite higher pay and retention efforts by for-hire trucking companies, data released by the American Trucking Associations suggests.
Signs that the container logjam in Southern California is beginning to break are showing up on the truck spot market, as deconsolidated loads come up for grabs at West Coast warehouses.


text:
Mobile health: a largely untapped market for healthcare
Consumers want health apps to do more for their lives, to "more accurately communicate and monitor their health." But product sophistication and an accurate understanding of consumer profiles limit capability.
A recent study published by the Journal of Medical Internet Research and designed by New York University revealed the consumer perspective of health app use in the U.S.
[See also: Mobile health app market in growth mode]
More than 1,600 mobile phone users were surveyed, assessing sociodemographic characteristics, health app history and reasons for use and the status of their overall health.
More than half of mobile users have downloaded mobile health apps, with the majority seeking fitness and nutrition goals. However, while mobile health app usage is extensive throughout the population and increasing in popularity, there are a vast number of people not engaged. Even more stop using them.
"The potential in this use of apps is great, and healthcare systems must embrace this technology and work through privacy and regulatory barriers to supply the services that patients are already requesting," the report states.
[See also: mHealth and engagement: A delicate duet]
One of the biggest survery trends was improved communication with healthcare providers; 57 percent of respondents were interested in apps capable of making an appointment or directly connecting to physicians. More than 60 percent wanted an app to access their medical records.
"I would want to be able to easily schedule appointments with my doctor, write to my doctor with concerns, have my doctor be able to respond to my concerns, view my medical records and be able to track my medications," said one survey respondent.
Other survey participants stated they wanted "full access to my health records and the doctors I have to see, to diagnose some health concerns or issues by symptoms," or a way to "jot down symptoms that are ailing me at the time, so I could send them to my doctor."
Another participant cited that access to an EHR would make it possible to view "graphs showing my health as time passes."
But healthcare professionals aren't involved with the design of the majority of health apps. In fact, 1/5 of health apps merely provide information with limited functionality.
The respondents stated that if apps were developed by trusted healthcare vendors, they'd feel more confident in sharing personal data. Developers need to focus more on usability testing to rise to consumers expectations.
The data also revealed app developers need to enforce clinical trials to test effectiveness, which will expand the appeal and reach. Additionally, there need to be cost reductions – a major consumer concern.
Recommendations from providers may increase mobile health app usage, as can the "prescription" of specific apps. However, clinical trial evidence backed with academic medical evidence will be the true driving force behind app use and increased patient engagement.
[See also: Mobile apps changing healthcare.]


text:
Snapchat Launches New Shoppable AR ‘Try-On’ Campaign with Gucci Shoes
Snapchat has launched the first campaign using its new ‘Shoppable AR’ technology, which it recently announced at its 2020 Snap Partner Summit. The initial campaign will be an AR shoe ‘try-on’ filter, created in conjuction with Gucci.
To be clear, this is not the first time Snapchat has featured products in an AR Lens, but it’s the first use of Snapchat’s Shoppable AR option, which will enable Snapchatters to purchase the shoes they like directly from the Lens via a “Shop Now” button. [continue reading…]
Tech Crunch / 2020
If you’re interested, you can check out the new Snapchat/Gucci Lenses by scanning these Snapcodes with your Snapchat camera.


text:
Home TV screens just keep getting bigger. And there's no end in sight. Panasonic pitched a tent outside the New York Stock Exchange yesterday to show off the biggest high-definition plasma screen yet.
At 103 inches, it's an inch bigger than versions being produced by Samsung and LG.
Panasonic vice president Andrew Nelkin says the new screen weighs 400 pounds. If you buy one, and have a wall big enough to fit it, you'll want professional installation. He also says he wouldn't be surprised to see someone come up with an even bigger screen before long.


text:
Despite people staying at home, the amount of food delivery in New York is lower now than it was before the new coronavirus pandemic hit, Grubhub said on Monday.
The Chicago-based food delivery platform, which also owns Seamless, released an update on its first-quarter earnings, showing how COVID-19 has impacted its business. There have been “record numbers of new diners and new restaurants on the platform,” the company noted in its earnings update — but orders in New York “remain below pre-COVID volumes.” Business in the city, which has become the center of the crisis, has been worse here than in other metro areas across the country, the company said.
That’s in part due to a dramatic drop in corporate business. Companies that previously used the service stopped after instituting work-from-home policies to help mitigate the spread of the new coronavirus.
But home delivery took a hit as well due to the pandemic. Huge swathes of local restaurants have closed, which likely contributed to the decline, Grubhub said. Other factors may include residents leaving town or cooking more at home. Following the Monday report, shares of the company’s stock dropped.
Many restaurants in NYC have opted to temporarily halt all operations, and most of the ones remaining open for delivery and takeout say that it’s still not nearly enough to sustain business. Many are calling for platforms like Grubhub to cap the commission it takes from restaurants — a move that hospitality advocates started calling for long before the crisis started. Last Friday, San Francisco’s mayor took the matter into her own hands, announcing that delivery platforms must cap commissions at 15 percent as restaurants struggle to stay open.
Though the backlash against Grubhub started swelling months ago, the crisis has heightened scrutiny against the company, which continues to charge commission fees as high as 30 percent. Grubhub has dug itself deeper with moves like “Supper for Support,” a promotion intended to help drive business but forced restaurants to shoulder the cost of discounts.


text:
Bosch goes electric and autonomous
Bosch, the biggest supplier in car business, warns for a difficult year 2019 and announces huge investments in new types of mobility with electric drivetrains and autonomous cars to ensure its number one position in the future.
At 5,3 billion euro the operational result (Ebit) of the group was the same as in 2017, but for 2019 the company employing 410.000 people worldwide announces a stabilization at around 5 billion.
Brexit and trade wars
“We see a number of economic dangers weighing on consumption and investments”, says Stefan Asenkerschbaumer, CFO of the group. He is, of course, referring to Brexit and the trade war between the US and China.
The turnover of the company grew 1,5% to 77,9 billion euro, the car department of the group progressed with 2,3% last year. Nevertheless, Bosch foresees a difficult year in the car sector, especially in China, but it will try to do better than the market.
Bosch therefore foresees an investment of 4 billion euro in four years in the autonomous car as well as quadrupling its staff working on it to 4.000. On the electrical side, Bosch wants to become the leader on the mass market, with a turnover for the electric department of 5 billion euro in 2025, ten times more than today.
Apart from recruiting 3.000 engineers and technicians on the theme of artificial intelligence (AI) ,Bosch also wants to hire 25.000 (!) IT specialists the coming years. The decline of the diesel, on the contrary, has already led to 600 employees leaving the company from the 15.000 that work on diesel technology.
With a little help
Meanwhile there’s a lot of discussion going on between several car manufacturers and their suppliers to eventually forge alliances. “We talk with a lot of people”, confirms Volkmar Denner, CEO of Bosch, “we will see what the final results are.”
Bosh is already associated with Daimler, but the German business magazine, Manager Magazin, suggested talks between those two and BMW, Volkswagen an another big German automotive supplier, Continental.
“Spreading the investments over as many shoulders as possible is an economical must”, added Denner. Comments on the negotiations are scarce and prudent, but nobody is denying.
The necessity for big investments and the uncertainty about where to go and how fast, causes nervousness. It invites everyone to share the risks. That’s why Honda has recently invested in the autonomous technology department of General Motors, Cruise.
Just today German mobility provider, Sono Motors, announced that its so-called integrated car Sion, scheduled to reach production at the end of this year, will have a central control unit and connectivity software coming from Bosch.
Sono Motors recently announced that Continental will supply the electric drive system of the Sion and that ElringKlinger is the partner for the development and production of the battery. Until now the company has received 9.300 pre-orders for this electric car with solar integration.


text:
News flash -- the first lady is like every other red-blooded American woman -- she runs out to Target, Starbucks, and Baskin-Robbins as often as possible.
In an interview on the Today Show, Michelle Obama admitted that she sneaks out to Target, Starbucks, Baskin-Robbins, and Petco. She also mentioned that on the outings, she's never discovered and that some of the clerks "look right through" her.
Wonder if Jackie Kennedy ever stepped out of the White House for a coffee.
Here's the interview:
Watch the first lady shopping at Target:


text:
The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) gathered journalists from across Africa at a venue in Johannesburg on 14 April to reveal its latest strategy. The materials manufacturer will be intensifying its presence on the continent, and has already started doing so with the addition on 250 employees to the Dow team across Africa.
‘We are ready for growth in Africa,’ said Diego Donoso, business president of packaging and speciality plastics at Dow. At the media event, which was held at the 54 on Bath hotel in Rosebank, he noted that the company’s expansion on the continent is based on its activities with the Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara). In 2011, Dow jointly established Sadara with the Saudi Arabian Oil Company to help bring materials closer to its customers.
With a total investment of about US$20 billion, Sadara is building a world-scale chemical complex in Jubail Industrial City II in Saudi Arabia’s EasternProvince. Comprised of 26 world-scale manufacturing units, the complex is said to be the world’s largest to be built in a single phase and will be the first in the Middle East to use refinery liquids, such as naphtha, as feedstock.
‘We are ramping up manufacturing at Sadara and more capacity is coming online in the next few months. With this new capacity, Dow will be able to grow in Africa for decades to come,’ explained Donoso.
Changing consumer perceptions
His colleague Javier Constante, commercial VP for Dow’s packaging and speciality plastics business in EMEA added that Sadara will be a key enabler for the company to help meet the growing need for flexible food packaging on the continent.
The company made its position on food waste clear to attendees at the event, and outlined the scale of the problem on the continent. ‘While some African countries are banning plastics, we must look at the benefits of packaging,’ continued Constante. ‘In a continent where there are people starving, it is unfair to throw away food. The best way for governments to address plastic waste is to focus on the collection of packaging after use.’
Dana Mosora, sustainability and advocacy director of packaging and speciality plastics EMEA at Dow, explained that consumer perception of packaging in some countries in the world is that packaging is not able to properly preserve food, and that packaging is more harmful to the environment than food waste. She pointed out that research has shown food waste emits significantly more carbon dioxide than packaging.
The Dow team will be looking at ways to reduce food waste in Africa, through the development of better, more sustainable packaging solutions. ‘We will focus on providing solutions for the end of life of packaging. The aim is to decrease food waste and material use, and increase recycling of flexible packaging,’ Mosora concluded.


text:
Never mind the morbid humor of juxtaposing “Black Friday” and funeral home products and services, apparently, the day after Thanksgiving is no different for the funeral industry than any other retail business.
While these deal are not meant for the general public, MortuaryMall.com is holding their second annual Black Friday sale today, where mortuary and funeral home owners can go to get deep discounts on the products they need for their business including embalming machines, mortuary cots and air trays. The deals could save morticians and funeral directors a nice chunk of change.
But that’s not really what we’re taking issue with here. When Walmart starts offering caskets, no industry is safe. We also realize that everyone could use a great deal during these trying economic times, but Black Friday isn’t about death, even if it does result in several injuries during the initial customer surges. Black Friday is about getting gifts for family and friends that we intend to visit during the holidays.
Is it just us or does it seem tacky to have a sale on products used for preparing the dead on the same day as all of the other retailers? There are many other weeks in which to have these types of sales, why would a company choose to have “Black Friday” sales on the same day as stores like Gap, Williams & Sonoma and IKEA?
It should be pointed out that this is the SECOND annual sale, meaning MortuaryMall.com had this same sale last year and found it to be enough of a success to do it again this year. Could it be because people are already in a spending frame of mind, so they are more likely to make business purchases as well?


text:
October 4, 2012
3D Printing And Light The Focus Of Disney Research
Michael Harper for redOrbit.com — Your Universe Online
For many, the future will be a place where instead of going to a store to buy a product or ordering it from the Internet and waiting for it to arrive, consumers will simply download it and have it printed almost instantly on their desktop 3D printer. While the technology is still in its infancy, many companies are pushing for this new future to become reality very soon. This week, Disney has announced they are exploring this 3D printing potential by showing off printed optics and 3D printable light bulbs.With these printers, Disney says they´ll be able to test out new toys more quickly than ever before.
So far, Disney has found a way to employ “light pipes” in these 3D prototypes, giving the toy maker a greater control on how these toys light up as well as how these optics are built.
Currently, the process of making these 3D-printable light bulbs requires a bit of a manual touch, as the print job must be stopped midstream so the lighting elements can be inserted. However, according to NOTCOT.com, this process could one day be easily automated, bringing the dream of the future to light.
Of course, light pipes and LEDs are worthless without a clear material with which to shine through. Currently, 3D printers use a sort of plastic filament to create whatever is being printed. Disney is using a high-quality, clear filament capable of clearly passing light all the way through. Combined with the light pipes, LED elements and this see-through material, Disney´s optics design creates some very interesting and futuristic effects.
To show off this new advance in 3D printing, Disney has released a video showing off the potential of this new process. With control over the light pipes and the way light is displayed or reflected, Disney is able to make toys which respond in very specific ways to a host of sensors. As examples, the company shows off a toy monster, chess pieces and even a few examples of sensors which can be used to control motion.
The little blue toy monster has light pipes which run from its feet to its green, glowing eyes. When placed on top of a mobile projector, this monster´s eyes light up in just the right way. In the video, the horned monster is seen interacting with a little girl. The projector lights up in different ways, responding to her voice, so when she asks the monster, “Do you like pizza?” the monster´s eyes respond by flashing red hearts.
There´s even a game of chess being played in the video, with the bottoms of the pieces built out of Disney´s 3D printed optics. The chess board acts as a projector and sensor, so when the pieces move across the board, the piece´s location is displayed on the front. When a piece is picked up and moved, the location is changed accordingly.
Finally, several sensors are shown off in the video, controlling projected animations on a screen. Light is being passed through these clear sensors, which affects and manipulates the animation. When a button is pressed or knob is turned on these sensors, the animation changes in kind. For example, when a button is pressed on one of these sensors, a yellow circle is quickly and fluidly reduced in size, shrinking on a screen. When a knob is twisted on another sensor, the displayed circle is peeled away like a pie graph, all done seamlessly and in real time. These sensors are even shown off as controllers, moving the displayed circle from one side of the screen to another.
While these videos have a clear “wow factor” to them, one industry watcher told the BBC it might be difficult for Disney to make a viable business out of these futuristic toys.
"So far the small number of other companies that have developed 3D printing methods have found that the resulting products end up being expensive and have targeted them at adult collectors, rather than children,” explained John Baulch, editor of Toy World Magazine.
3D printing may be the future, but for now, it seems it still has quite a way to go.


text:
Farm shops well-placed to make the most of plastic-free demand
Farm shops are well-placed to boost footfall and fresh produce sales if they publicise their plastic-free credentials, new research has confirmed.
Rural retailers have widely embraced the call to reduce plastic – and FFD has spoken to several owners confirming this – but new data shows consumers are actively seeking sustainable businesses and products.
Now research from Kantar has found sales of loose fruit and vegetables are growing twice as quickly as those wrapped in plastic.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “Consumers are applying pressure on the retailers when it comes to packaging and making their feelings known in the fruit and vegetable aisle.”
Some 21% of fruit and vegetables were sold loose in the 12 weeks ending 24th March, with sales growing twice as quickly as packaged produce, he said.
Robert Copley, who owns Farmer Copleys in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, said a “huge” number of farm-to-fork businesses already had less plastic produce packaging than supermarkets and many had made an increased effort over the past year.
“Customers can just choose the produce they want and use paper bags rather than plastic,” said Copley, who also chairs the Farm Retail Association (FRA).
The FRA has been urging the public, who are looking to reduce their plastic waste, to visit farm shops and farmers’ markets.
Minskip Farm Shop in North Yorkshire, for example, estimates it has reduced its own waste by 45% since 2017 by reusing produce and egg boxes and moving to paper bags.
Farndon Fields Farm Shop in Leicestershire reuses all its produce boxes by offering them to customers for carrying their shopping.
Milly Stokes, the shop’s co-owner, said it now sells loose dried goods from glass jars and all the shop’s deli counter items are wrapped in brown or greaseproof paper.
“We have had an overwhelming positive response from customers for our recent changes to 100% eliminating single-use plastic.”
Victoria Holland, buyer at Washingpool Farm Shop, in Dorset, does not sell anything in plastic apart from cucumbers. “The shelf life’s better in plastic so there’s less food wastage with the cucumbers when wrapped.”
Holland said this showed it was important to weigh up the different sides of the environmental equation before acting on certain products.
This story appeared in the May issue of Fine Food Digest. You can read more on the digital edition here.
Read more of the latest news from Fine Food Digest here


text:
1) Google Buzz is being shut down.
2) Google Code Search is being shut down.
3) Google Labs is being shut down.
4) FTC will be auditing Google for privacy issues every two years for the next twenty years.
5) And a few other things being shut down / consolidated, that don't matter as much.
The sad news:
Google Labs and Code Search in particular have provided a lot of useful tools to end users outside of Googleplex. I'll admit, not all of the Labs tools have proven to be good, but many have eased online activities for a large number of users. And they have inspired other companies to share 'sneak previews' of their products in similar Labs-style environments. Given the fast pace of technology, this has been one of the most productive ways of sharing innovative ideas between companies that typically operate behind closed walls.
The good news:
It's no secret that the US is one of the most lax countries in the world when it comes to privacy. That there's actually a federal commission looking at online privacy issues is an indication to me that people – in particular Americans – are beginning to care about privacy. And perhaps there's a meager chance that the US will tighten up their regulations to match the rest of the world.
First link /via +Siegfried Hirsch
Official Google Blog: A fall sweep
A fall sweep. 10/14/2011 10:03:00 AM. We aspire to build great products that really change people’s lives, products they use two or three times a day. To succeed you need real focus and thought—th…


text:
Year-on-year, transport cost decreased by 5.3 percent in November following a 4 percent drop reported a month earlier as petrol pump prices fell 4.3 percent.
Housing cost declined by 1.2 percent, extending a 1 percent correction in October, as a result of the soft housing rental market.
Services cost growth moderated to 1.4 percent from 1.7 percent in the previous month, given lower holiday travel cost and a smaller increase in household services cost and medical treatment fees.
Food inflation rose to 2.9 percent in November from a 2.8 percent a month earlier, due to price increases for non-cooked food items and prepared meals.
Core Inflation, which excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport, eased to 1.5 percent in November from 1.7 percent in October, mainly owing to a smaller increase in services fees.
On a month-on-month basis, the consumer price index increased 0.3 percent in November, following a 0.4 percent drop in October. Price increases were reported for: accommodation (+1.5 percent), vegetable and vegetable products (+1.3 percent), fruits (+0.8 percent), hobbies & other miscellaneous expenditure (+0.6 percent), meat & poultry (+0.5 percent), personal effects (+0.5 percent), dairy products (+0.5 percent) and cooking oil & fats (+0.4 percent). In contrast, prices declined for: private road transport (-0.7 percent), personal care (-0.4 percent), sugar and seafood (-0.3 percent respectively), fuel (-0.2 percent) and household durables (-0.1 percent).


text:
Executive joins to accelerate the global move to peer-to-peer collaborative commerce
TORONTO, Feb. 3, 2021 /CNW/ - Kognitiv Corporation, a global leader in the rapidly expanding market for collaborative commerce, announces the appointment of Shawn Pearson to the role of President effective February 1st.
Mr. Pearson joins the Waterloo-based B2B technology growth company returning from the United States where, most recently, he was President and CEO of Bluegreen Vacation Corporation. While at Bluegreen, Shawn led a successful initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2017 and achieved record performance.
Founder and Executive Chairman Peter Schwartz said, "Shawn's impressive track-record of building commercial scale and agility was immediately attractive to Kognitiv. With a world class team, a decade of deep and focused investments in technology and select strategic acquisitions, including the 2020 acquisitions of Aimia Loyalty Solutions and Aimia Intelligent Shopper Solutions, Kognitiv is poised for rapid growth and client adoption. In the past few months, we've seen tremendous interest from clients across various markets. Shawn will build on that momentum across our operations. His acute understanding of the issues faced by global executives will help our clients to leverage opportunities and to tackle these mounting challenges. We believe the next era of commerce is here and Kognitiv, now with Shawn joining our team, is well-positioned to lead our clients into this exciting new period. "
"COVID has accelerated many innovations, however Executives still struggle with how to create new value for their consumers, build deeper loyalty and manage the increasingly complex requirements around data security and privacy demanded by both consumers and regulators. Kognitiv's Platform-as-a-Service subscription addresses these critical concerns safely and securely. This unique capability is what attracted me to the organization, "shared Mr. Pearson "A reliance on ad-supported or 3rd-party aggregation models will no longer drive the business growth Executives demand or the experiences consumers increasingly expect. In the past month we've seen two of the largest organizations in the world go toe-to-toe on how to tackle data privacy and consumer data which highlights what a pressing issue this has become for C-suite executives and for their consumers. Executives need alternative ways to meaningfully utilize their assets, goods and services to deliver value throughout their consumer's journey. Peer-to-peer collaborative models are the only ones able to truly do that at scale, while meeting consumers increasing requirement for deeply personalized experiences, data safety and security."
"By putting zero-party consumer data at the core of our collaborative commerce model, Kognitiv's clients and partners have the ability to redefine the rapidly-evolving relationship forming between businesses and their most important consumers. We're confident that peer-to-peer collaboration will become the most sustainable way to create and deliver the new types of value that consumers demand. The collaborative nature of our platform, and the resulting network effects that benefit all partners, is a ground-breaking approach to deliver that type of business impact. As I look across the sheer breadth of our clients and partners, the possibilities for collaborative commerce are immense," shared Mr. Pearson.
Kognitiv Corporation is a B2B technology growth company with a singular focus on enabling collaborative commerce for their global clients and their most important consumers. Headquartered in Canada, and employing over 550 people across 50 countries, Kognitiv delivers real business impact by deploying a Platform-as-a-Service model to create, deliver and nurture peer-to-peer collaborative commerce across multiple sectors including Retail, CPG, Telecommunications, Media, Hospitality and Financial Services. Find out more at www.kognitiv.com
For further information: Hilton Barbour, [email protected]


text:
BUSINESS ROUNDUP (4 items)
* port orchard
U.S. Bank to open in-store branch
U.S. Bank of Washington is planing to open a new in-store, full-service bank at the Port Orchard Albertson's store at 1434 Olney Ave.
Cindy Duryee, a U.S. Bank spokeswoman, said the branch won't be completed until sometime during the first quarter of next year.
U.S. Bank has two other branches in Kitsap County, one in downtown Bremerton and a second located at 9551 Ridgetop Boulevard in Silverdale.
Duryee said the new Albertson's branch will be open seven days a week, and include an automated teller machine, teller services, customer phone lines, and desks for consulting. She said the size of the branch has yet to be determined.
Last year, U.S. Bank signed an agreement with Albertson's to open 170 in-store branches throughout the Northwest over a three year period.
-- Kevin Dwyer
n mason county
Economic Development Council luncheon is Friday
Bruce Jorgenson, commissioner of Mason County Public Utility District 3 will speak on the de-regulation of electrical power and what it will mean to Pacific Northwest consumers at the December luncheon of the Economic Development Council of Mason County.
The luncheon will be noon Friday at the Orient ExPress restaurant in Shelton. Everyone who is interested is invited to attend. For information, call (360) 426-2276.
Bainbridge RE/Max has new partner
Penny McLaughlin, Kitsap County's top selling Realtor in 1996, has joined RE/Max on Bainbridge Island as a Realtor and partner. She joins Doug Nelson as owner of the firm, located at 345 Knechtel Way in Winslow.
McLaughlin closed almost $14 million in business last year and has been among the county's top three selling agents for the past three years. She specializes in upscale properties, mostly on Bainbridge Island.
She can be reached at (360) 692-1101 or (206) 842-2443.
n web site help
Electronic Commerce Resource offers Web site consultations
The Bremerton Electronic Commerce Resource Center is offering free Web site development consultations Friday and in January and February.
One of 16 non-profit centers around the country established to help smalland medium-sized businesses adopt various methods of electronic commerce, the ECRC also offers free classes on how to conduct business on the Internet
The ECRC staff invites businesses to bring web pages to the sessions on disk to they can be analyzed and suggestions can be made to solve problems.
Call Lisa Andrews, (360) 405-5401 or (800) 478-3933 to reserve a consultation time. The times are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 14 and Jan. 28 at at the ECRC office, 4312 Kitsap Way, Bremerton.
-- Jeff Brody


text:
Manila and London, 7 May 2019 – A new survey from the leading online international money transfer service WorldRemit reveals how Filipinos living abroad celebrate their moms on Mother’s Day.
WorldRemit money transfers to the Philippines during the week leading up to Mother’s Day increased by 13% last year, highlighting that Mother’s Day is a special time for OFWs to show their love and appreciation for their moms.
The WorldRemit survey of customers sending money to the Philippines revealed:
- When asked who they send money to, 62% of those who responded said they send money to their moms in Philippines.
- When asked when they last met their mother, 43% of those who responded said they haven’t seen them for at least 2 years.
- 99% of respondents who send money to their mothers celebrate Mother’s Day.
- When asked how they celebrate Mother’s Day, 82% of those that responded said they send their mother money.
- Of those respondents who send their mom money for Mother’s Day, 78% also give their mom a call and 52% also send her a gift.
Last year, overseas Filipinos sent home over $33.8 billion, and Mother’s Day is an important time to connect with family by sending money home. To celebrate Mother’s Day this year, WorldRemit is offering new customers zero fees on their first transfer if they use the code MDAYWR when making payment.
WorldRemit’s app and website make sending money home as easy as sending an instant message. Filipinos living in over 50 countries, including the USA, Canada and Australia, can send money in a few taps directly from their smartphones, without having to travel and pay expensive fees at a money transfer agent.
For recipients in the Philippines, WorldRemit offers a variety of convenient ways to receive money, including mobile money, bank deposit, cash collection at around 15,000 locations across urban and rural areas of the Philippines, and mobile airtime top-up.
“Mother’s Day is an important time for the 10 million Filipinos living and working abroad to show their moms that they’re thinking of them,” says Michael Liu, Managing Director for Asia-Pacific at WorldRemit. “Our online money transfer service makes it easier to send money to your mom this Mother’s Day. Customers can make transfers at any time from anywhere with just a few taps on their smartphones. We also deliver notifications to you and your mom when the money has been sent and received to help you stay connected at every stage of the money transfer journey.”
For further information on sending money to the Philippines with WorldRemit, click here.
About the WorldRemit survey
Responses were collected from a survey of 2,384 WorldRemit customers aged 18 – 50 who have sent money to the Philippines in the last six months from the USA, Australia, Canada, UK and Norway.
WorldRemit is the leading digital money transfer service that makes sending money as easy as sending an instant message. The company currently sends from 50+ countries to more than 145 receiving destinations, leading the shift to online and mobile money transfers and improving speed and convenience for users. On the sending side WorldRemit is 100% digital. For those receiving money, the company offers a wide range of options including bank deposit, cash collection, mobile airtime top-up and mobile money. Backed by Accel Partners, TCV and Leapfrog – early investors in Facebook, Netflix and Slack – WorldRemit’s headquarters are in London, UK with a global presence including offices in the United States, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore.
It’s easy to use – just open the app or visit the website and send money 24/7 – no more agents. Learn more at worldremit.com.
Research and Communications Executive


text:
For every classic-car owner, there’s a habitual mental calculation of whether to protect a valuable car by sealing it in a tomb-like garage, or actually enjoying it but risking potentially-catasptrophic accidents.
The owner of this 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL took that risk, and unfortunately things didn’t work out. The car was crashed during the Mille Miglia, an Italian vintage-car rally that traces the route of one of history’s greatest races.
According to the Italian website Tuscia Web, the driver of a BMW 1 Series lost control on a broken stretch of road and ran headlong into the SL. The Mercedes spun and, while the damage looks pretty gruesome, there were reportedly no major injuries.
Known as the “Gullwing” because of its distinctive roof-hinged doors, the 300SL coupe and its convertible sibling are among the most desirable collector cars today.
The 300SL helped Mercedes get back on its feet after World War II, winning races and showing the reconstituted company’s technical prowess. Its 3.0-liter straight-six propelled it to a top speed of 161 mph.
It also launched the SL line of sports cars that’s still around today, and inspired the Mercedes SLS AMG.
Today, a pristine 300SL is worth $500,000 to $700,000, although some examples have reportedly sold for over $1 million. With that much value tied up in its sheet metal, hopefully this SL’s owner will decide to rebuild it rather than scrap it.


text:
MSCHF's infamous Big Red Boots are once again catching attention. After turning heads with Crocs' Big Yellow Boot collab at Paris Fashion Week earlier this year, Bape has now showcased its take on the viral silhouette.
Today, the legendary Japanese streetwear label showcased several camo iterations of the MSCHF Big Red Boots during the former's Spring/Summer 2024 runway show for Tokyo Fashion Week. The entirety of the upper dons Bape's signature ABC camo, including in green, pink, and blue. Seen throughout the camo print is Bape's Ape Head logo throughout. Images of the unofficial Bape x MSCHF Big Red Boots were shared by Highsnobiety.
MSCHF confirmed to Complex that Bape purchased a batch of Big Red Boots to customize specifically for this runway show, meaning that this set is not an official collab and there are no plans for it to release to the public.
While these Bape x MSCHF Big Red Boots won't be released at retail, one of MSCHF's sneaker projects that is expected to drop this year is Kid Cudi's Super Normal 2 collab.


text:
Jarrett Jack (left) says he feels like a bicycle cop (right) in his sleeved jersey. (Rocky Widner/Getty Images and ICFuse/YouTube)
Jarrett Jack is here to run the pick and roll, not patrol the coast for illegal bonfires.
The veteran Cavaliers guard has unloaded on the NBA's short-sleeve jersey designs by Adidas, lodging complaints about both their fit and fashion. In Jack's estimation, the jerseys look "disgusting" and that they are better suited for two-wheeled law enforcement officers.
"We're like the Beach Police," Jack told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "You know those police who are on the beach with those bikes? They've got those little shirts with the shorts? That's what we look like. Like we about to give somebody a citation."
He went on to add that the jerseys "felt a little snug" and that they make NBA players "look like a volleyball team."
The Indian volleyball team's jerseys (left) and the Warriors' sleeved jerseys (right) compared. (Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP and Rocky Widner/Getty Images)
Jack, who wore sleeved jerseys last year with the Warriors, told the paper that he wants the league to consider custom tailoring the sleeves to fit each player and to "save everyone headaches."
You have to hand it to Jack for the humor and accuracy of his fashion comparisons, and he's certainly not the only player to register public complaints about the NBA's new look, which debuted during the 2012-13 season and has been used more widely this season.
Heat forward LeBron Jamestold reporters earlier this month that he was "not a big fan" of the jerseys and that the jersey "pulled... underneath my arm" when he execute his shooting motion. Those comments came after the back-to-back MVP shot 6-for-18 from the field and 0-for-3 from deep in his worst shooting outing in nearly a month.
Adidas unveiled its first sleeved jersey, a yellow Warriors look, in February 2013. A white sleeved Warriors jersey, an orange sleeved Suns jersey, and a light blue sleeved Clippers jersey followed. The apparel manufacturer then designed sleeved jerseys for all 10 teams that played on Christmas Day and used sleeved designs during the 2014 All-Star Game in New Orleans. Also this month, six teams, including James' Heat, are wearing sleeved jerseys for the league’s annual “Latin Nights” series of games, and the Celtics are wearing a green, sleeved jersey for St. Patrick's Day.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver defended the sleeves at All-Star Weekend.
"The idea behind them was that presuming there was a large segment of our fan base, especially older males like myself, who weren't going to be comfortable wearing tank-top jerseys but would feel comfortable wearing a sleeved jersey to work out or play basketball in or whatever else," he said. "I think from that standpoint it's been successful. People are buying them and people like them."
Silver did acknowledge that feedback from the players had been "mixed."
"I've talked to lots of players who like them," he said. "I've heard directly from other players who don't like them. I think from the fashion standpoint, I'm comfortable with it. If players believe it has any impact whatsoever on the competition, even if it's just a perception, we need to deal with it. We know that shooting percentages are virtually exactly the same for games in which we have sleeved jerseys and teams in which the guys are wearing conventional jerseys. ... I'm pretty comfortable from a competitive standpoint that it's having no impact."
“You’re on national TV, NBATV, wearing our ugly jerseys,” Curry said, according to USA Today Sports, after he shot 2-for-13 overall and 0-for-5 from deep. “I shouldn’t have said that [about the jerseys], but it’s just one of those things where there’s a lot of attention on us and we don’t show up to play.”
“Personally it bothered me and my shot,” Udrih said, according to the Wall Street Journal. “On a normal shot, I’m used to getting my shoulder and elbow up [unhindered]. That was my personal feeling. I don’t know how anyone else was feeling. I know Timmy [Hardaway] was saying he wore it in college before. I never did it before.”
A number of players watching the Christmas Day games commented on the new look as well.
“Call me old school but these jerseys with sleeves are awful,” Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki tweeted.
The NBA has said that it would not continue with the sleeved jerseys if enough players complained.
“If the players as a general matter feel like they don’t want to wear short sleeves on a go-forward basis, the league would simply not do it,” Sal LaRocca, the league’s president of global operations and merchandising, said back in February.
Adidas executives have maintained that the short-sleeve look is selling well at the retail level.


text:
We have been working on the traditional school system for a long time. But now, with the adoption of mobility and increasing internet-wide availability, e-learning solutions are in demand. The outbreak of Coronavirus has led to a new era and revolutionary experience for children around the world through digitization and online learning solutions.
Nowadays, the field of education is changing and at the same time the epidemic is increasing all over the world. The COVID-19 epidemic has changed the education system forever. Now the place of education is changing, experiencing the power of technology like never before. Join Global leading online language learning platform.
The education sector, today, is experiencing the power of technology as before.
How has online learning grown in the last few years?
In the year 2020, the huge pandemic that forces the closure of all schools and universities around the world. Globally, one billion children are out of the classroom. But this is a new beginning in the development of a new learning environment. Education has changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby teaching is undertaken remotely on digital learning platforms.
Research says that online learning has been shown to increase retention of information, and take less time, which means the changes coronavirus has caused might be here to stay.
With the sudden shift away from the classroom in many parts of the world, some are wondering whether the adoption of online learning will continue to persist post-pandemic, and how such a shift would impact the worldwide education market.
With the sudden shift away from the classroom in many parts of the world, some people are wondering whether the adoption of online learning will continue even after the epidemic, and what effect such a change will have on the education market around the world. Become an online tutor at Evopry.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, online learning has become more centric in people's lives. The pandemic has forced schools, universities, and companies to remote working and this booms the usage of online learning platforms.
Even before the pandemic, Research and Markets forecast the online education market is on its peak.
Some trends define the new education space in 2021:
- Online learning will continue to grow: The global online learning market is attracting large amounts of capital, and this trend will continue for the next few years. This is also confirmed by using metrics such as an increase in the number of users opting for online, growth on online platforms, greater willingness to pay, and more.
- Internet revolution: Along with the epidemic, which helped to increase online learning products and services, is the deep and relatively rapid invasion of high-speed Internet with easy availability of smartphones. As it is the students who are adopting learning platforms.
- Focusing on skills: Learning forums are providing you the best language and technical skills within the online learning space. As such, they provide the benefits you really want to learn and this will witness a lot of your growth.
- Increasing Accessibility: Online education has reduced geographical boundaries with the use of technology. You can use quality materials and knowledge from all over the world.
There are so many factors that are responsible for digital learning growth:
- It’s time flexibility
- Easy to access
- Personalized lessons
It’s a fact that digital learning is the future and will undoubtedly replace land-based learning in the future. Mobile platforms have given access to more people to take benefit from online learning. This has created huge data, then machine learning has given personalized solutions for any subject. In fact, in the coming years, it will not be surprising to see more elements in the online learning structure.