text:
Nike Press Release Leaked On Sub-2 Hour Marathon
LRC has obtained the press release Nike will release if the sub-2 hour marathon is achieved by its shoes.
by Mike Cassidy
April 1, 2017
Sources have leaked the press release Nike will release if its sub-2 hour marathon exhibition is successful.
MONZA, Italy —In a raw and unprecedented display of speed and endurance, the Nike Zoom Vaporfly Elite today redefined the limits of athletic footwear performance, becoming the first shoes to complete a marathon in less than two hours, clocking 1:59:43 for the classic 26.2-mile distance.
The feat is as unexpected as it is inspiring, a testament to what scientific progress can achieve, when suitably paired with marketing genius. Just months ago, Nike, the Oregon-based epitome of human transcendence, was roundly pilloried for setting a goal seen as ambitious to the point of absurdity.
Breaking2, as Nike’s quest to break two hours for the marathon was christened, would require a 2.5 percent improvement on the previous world record of 2:02:57, set in Berlin in 2014 by the now laughably inferior adidas Adizero Adios Boost 2.0.
“We are humbled to be a part of this monumental expectation-shattering, worldview-revolutionizing watershed milestone of epochal transformation,” said Mark Parker, Nike Chairman, President, and CEO. “It is truly hyperbole superlative.”
The record attempt got underway just after 5:00 p.m. local time at the famed Autodromo Nazionale Monza Formula One race track. Joined by two Nike Zoom Vaporfly Elite compatriots, the Nike Zoom Vaporfly Elite took off at a preposterously fast, yet carefully measured tempo, the cadence meticulously meted out by a phalanx of ten Nike Zoom Vaporfly 4% pacemakers. Heading the procession was a lead vehicle piloted by an experienced Formula One test driver and outfitted with hundreds of thousands of dollars of timing equipment, which would seem excessive until you consider its ulterior wind-blocking capabilities.
The pack of Zoom Vaporflys stuck closely together in the early going, content to draft as the pacemakers clicked off consistent 4:34 mile splits. As expected, the conditions—10 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) with negligible wind—were conducive to running fast, and the Zoom Vaporflys looked remarkably relaxed as they traversed the opening laps of what would be 17 circuits of the 2,400-meter oval.
Things remained mostly unchanged as the trio of irresistibly compelling Zoom Vaporflys passed the midway mark in 59:55, a staggering standalone half-marathon for shoes of any vintage. One by one, the pacemakers dropped off, but, with splits delivered every 200 meters, the tempo remained steady.
The decisive move came at 35 kilometers (21.7 miles), when the Nike Zoom Vaporfly Elite somehow, improbably, accelerated, its parabolic carbon-fiber plate providing effortless transitions while its ZoomX midsole foam optimized energy return from each powerful stride. Within moments, the Zoom Vaporfly had a lead of 20 meters, then 50 meters on the other Zoom Vaporflys. 35-40K was covered in an absurd 13:58, and the magical barrier was clearly in sight.
While the initial plan called for substitute pacers to join the race en route, the Zoom Vaporfly Elite looked so majestically composed that the backups were called off at the last minute, so as to preserve the result for IAAF certification purposes.
Again and again, the glorious cycle continued, each lightweight-cushioned footfall followed by a responsive, energy-returning toe-off, as the Zoom Vaporfly, its Flyknit upper hugging tight to its contoured body, aerodynamically floated towards the finish.
When the tape broke in 1:59:43, 17 seconds under goal pace and three-plus minutes ahead of that inferior shoemaker’s world best, the Nike team responsible for the effort was nearly speechless with joy.
“This isn’t about selling shoes. This is about pushing boundaries, redefining limits, showing the impossible is possible—provided, of course, that you buy our shoes,” declared Bret Schoolmeester, Nike’s Senior Innovation Director of Global Running Footwear.
The second-place Zoom Vaporfly stopped the clock in 2:02:25, also under the old record, while third place practically jogged home in a still-purchase-worthy 2:05:47.
“If Breaking2 was just a crass marketing ploy, would I be using this quote as an opportunity to tell you the Zoom Vaporflys will go on-sale on June 8 for the bargain price of $250?” asked Schoolmeester.
The Zoom Vaporfly’s momentous achievement surely ranks among the greatest breakthroughs in the history of athletic footwear, right up there with the 1996 Olympics, when the in-no-way-ergogenically-aided golden Nike spikes won both the 200 and 400 meters, or that time when the Nike Air Jordan 11’s saved the earth from aliens bent on expropriating humanity’s basketball talent.
Arguably the most impressive aspect of the Zoom Vaporfly’s stunning achievement is that Zoom Vaporflys are relatively new to international distance running.
“There was a time, not that long ago, when marathons were mostly a blue-collar affair,” noted David Epstein, author of The Sports Gene. “Races were won by regular shoes with recognizable names, relatable backgrounds, and unremarkable phenotypes—familiar, everyday footwear like New Balance Tracksters, Onitsuka Tigers, and Nike Bostons.”
What they lacked in natural talent, these pioneers made up for in grit and passion, logging countless miles while typically holding down a day job. But as mass participation road races exploded in popularity, running became increasingly professionalized. Generous prize purses, abundant appearance fees, and lucrative sponsorships attracted previously-untapped Zoom Vaporfly talent onto the global running scene.
The impact has been sudden and dramatic. Since their introduction in early 2016, Zoom Vaporflys have come to utterly dominate distance running. They swept the men’s marathon podium at the Rio Olympics, while also claiming victory at the London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York City marathons in 2016.
Not surprisingly, the unrivaled ascendance of Nike Zoom Vaporflys has attracted considerable attention from observers seeking to explain their incomparable superiority. While there is yet no consensus, scientists, coaches, and other running experts have come up with a number of theories.
At the core is the debate between nature and nurture—are the Zoom Vaporflys endowed with some sort of innate advantage, or is their unquestionable supremacy achieved through training?
One camp puts the emphasis squarely on molecular makeup.
“Success is bred into the smallest monofilaments of their being,” said Stefan Guest, Nike Senior Footwear Design Director for Innovation. “The Zoom Vaporflys are the apotheosis of performance footwear. Their dominance is no accident— every bit of their DNA, from their ZoomX midsoles to their Flyknit uppers, was meticulously engineered expressly for the purpose of running fast.”
The real breakthrough, accordingly to completely neutral observers, is that the ZoomX foam allows the Zoom Vaporflys to simultaneously excel across dimensions traditionally seen as mutually incompatible.
“They’re both super cushioned and super lightweight,” noted Tony Bignell, Nike Vice President of Footwear Innovation. “I mean, they have a 31-millimeter stack height but weigh only 6.5 ounces. That’s preposterous!”
And the salubrious contradictions don’t end there, with an almost comically wide toe-box tapering into peaked heel counter that evokes the aerodynamic efficiency of a Tour de France time trial.
“If you were to design a shoe custom built for marathon success it would look exactly like this,” said Schoolmeester, Nike’s Senior Innovation Director for Innovative Innovativity. “So we did.”
Dr. Geng Luo, a senior researcher at the Nike Sport Research Lab, concurred.
“Geometries. It’s all about their geometries—angles, shapes, lines, curves, radius, hypotenuse, protractor,” said Luo, adding that “the more times I say ‘geometries,’ the smarter you’ll think I am, geometries.”
Bignell agreed, noting that a unique, proprietary application of sophomore year math explains the Vaporflys’ “distinct, 100% patented performance advantage.”
“You won’t see this technology anywhere else, said Bignell, “Or we’ll sue you so bad you’ll wish you were New Balance.”
And, indeed, independent laboratory tests have confirmed that the lightweight Pebax foam comprising the ZoomX have an off-the-charts 85 percent energy return. Working in tandem with the stiff, scoop-shaped carbon-fiber plate embedded within it—which optimizes ankle position and toe-off—the ZoomX achieves a level of economy well beyond the previously measured highs.
“The Vaporflys require four percent less energy than the next best racing flat to run at given pace,” explained Rodger Kram, head of the University of Colorado’s Locomotion Laboratory, and author of the study that gave the Vaporfly 4%’s their name.
While such a gain in running economy may seem implausible, we should trust the results because Kram is an independent expert, in the sense that he was paid by Nike.
“If you want to understand what’s going on, a good analogy is to think of the foam-plate combo as a spring-loaded lever,” said Guest, who may or may not slightly outrank Schoolmeester, innovation-wise. “Except don’t because that would probably be illegal.”
According to IAAF Rule 143, which governs competition footwear, shoes “must not be constructed so as to give an athlete any unfair additional assistance,” a situation which encompasses “any technology which will give the wearer any unfair advantage” and makes it abundantly clear generic tautologies are useful to no one.
Nike contends everything about the Zoom Vaporfly is 110 percent in compliance with both the language and spirit of the law, with Schoolmeester pointing out that “Hey, the shoes are freely available to any athlete who was smart enough to be impoverished, er, sponsored by Nike.”
Even more to the point, others suggest that the Zoom Vaporflys’ success is mostly about hard work, emphasizing the Zoom Vaporflys were raised in an environment that both celebrates and subsists on running.
“Let’s not forget that, from a young age, the Zoom Vaporflys were running six miles back and forth to school every day,” said Parker, Nike’s CEO whose title is curiously lacking in innovation. “It’s not like they just woke up one morning and were suddenly good. They were raised in a corporate culture that eats, breathes, and sleeps running. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a billion dollars to go give Kevin Durant.”
Guest recalls that early in their product lifecycle, Zoom Vaporflys “looked like a cross between Hoka One Ones and Vibrams. In other words, they may as well have been Reeboks.”
But through endless months spent single-mindedly being optimized for marathon performance—a typical day for Zoom Vaporflys consists entirely of training or resting—the unflappable footwear became the world-beaters they are today.
Underscoring it all were the financial incentives. For most Zoom Vaporflys, being sold as running shoes represents the best chance to escape subsisting as inventory. Nike, the unquestionably preeminent maker of athletic footwear whose hegemony is in no way under threat no matter what you might read in the newspaper, made sure the Vaporflys’ dreams could become a reality.
“Never underestimate the motivating force of pure, unadulterated greed,” said Schoolmeester. “When having more money, more market share, more power—did I mention more money?—is your sole, overriding ambition, failing to completely wipe out any competition simply is not an option. At Nike, we see running as a chance to escape the hardships of basic affluence and assert our constitutional right to monopolistic opulence.”
More likely than not, all of these explanations hold some truth, as Runner’s World Sweat Science columnist and PhD physicist Alex Hutchinson reasonably suggested. “I’ll admit, initially I was skeptical of Breaking2, but through a combination of talent and hard work, the Zoom Vaporflys surpassed even my 95% confidence interval expectations.”
To sum things up, in a passage definitely not taken from a press release, the Zoom Vaporflys are an astounding feat of engineering and design, an innovative and unprecedented marriage of comfort, style, and performance, emphasis on innovative.
Where they go from here will be limited only by imagination, determination, and the number of people brilliant marketing can convince to pay $250 for a pair of shoes that will last for about one race. But for now, the Zoom Vaporflys will bask in the well-deserved glory of being the fastest shoes ever to run a marathon.
Several African runners, including a Kenyan, an Ethiopian, and an Eritrean, whose names will remain anonymous, also took part in the event by running 26.2 miles while wearing the Zoom Vaporflys.


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Football club “Baku” is to take part in the 33rd International Tourism Trade Fair FITUR which will be traditionally held in Madrid, Spain from January 30 till February 3.
Along with tourism and business, the exhibition will also feature a stand on sports to be organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan.
The participants will be given a wide information about the infrastructure of the club, children`s football, the activity of the Football Academy Baku, international relations and expanded cooperation of our team with Madrid Atletico and many others.
The so-called “Atletico hours” will be organized as part of the exhibition. In the indicator hour the Atletico footballers will visit the exhibition, give presents to the visitors of the Azerbaijani stands.
FITUR is among the biggest exhibitions in the world. Last year the exhibition was attended by 6313 journalists from 54 countries and 140,000 guests. The exhibition involved 9567 companies and state structures from 167 countries which seized the trade show FITUR as a presentation platform for their products and services.
FITUR 2013 will be preceded by UNWTO`s annual press conference at the organization’s headquarters in Madrid at which UNWTO will present the latest edition of its World Tourism Barometer, providing an overview of international tourism results for 2012 and forecasts for 2013.
The fair will be an opportunity for participant countries to present their tourism offer to potential investors and discuss business and cooperation opportunities. At the same time, the event highlights the importance of investment for economic growth, sustainable development, and job creation across the region.

domain: news


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Report: iPad 3 to Launch Within Months
December 12, 2011 10:01 AM
comment(s) - last by
iPad 2 successor possibly to hit stores as early as February
While this can be lumped squarely in the "unconfirmed" column, rumors have begun swirling about the possibility of Apple's next-generation tablet, the iPad 3, launching within the next "three to four months."
Anonymous sources in the supply chain are cited by
saying that the parts and components for the iPad 3 are being delivered to OEM contractors while reducing deliveries for the iPad 2.
"OEM production of iPad 2 will remain high at 14-15 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011 but decline to 4-5 million units in the first quarter of 2012, paving the way for the launch of the new iPads,"
The rumors are bolstered by further reports from a Chinese
report that says Foxconn will begin production on the new models in January, and increasing production by February.
The aforementioned anonymous supply-chain sources say that anywhere from 9.5 to 9.8 million units of the iPad 3 will be produced in Q1 of 2012.
Another report from last week, this one from the
, cited February as the target launch date, so the new timeframe isn't too far off.
According to the
the iPad 3 will be similar to its predecessor, but will include Apple's retina display, doubling the resolution found on the current model.
The original iPad launched in April 2010. The iPad 2 launched in March 2011. If Apple's 11-month trend for next generation of its popular tablet continues, February 2012 would be the target.
With increased competition in the tablet market from
the likes of Microsoft
additional Android offerings
, Apple might be feeling
a sense of urgency
to stay ahead of the curve if it wants to hold on to its tablet market share.
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
RE: Might want to unwrap that package that is sitting under the tree and return it now!
12/12/2011 5:21:28 PM
hey, a nice article, thanks for the link. now I understand what this is about: apple is posting some tech specs for their laptops mostly for legacy reasons but even then they don't show them as prominently as say dell does
what is funny is that ms is following the same approach now too with their signature pc campaign in their online store, and I LIKE THAT! no more GHz/GeeBees bullshit, it's only about consumer EXPERIENCE now, not JUST SPECS. cudos to Jobs for pioneering this.
also explains why Tony suffered from ms so much and why his suffering is looking so funny these days. in early days MS may have been indeed too arcane and not quite user friendly by producing shit OSes like win 3.x and win 9x (but these were dirt cheap and way waay better for people especially in business than anything else so ms earned their monopoly for a reason 'cause Apple screwed it up BIG time back then) but they learned their lesson since then and slowly becoming more and more consumer friendly company 'cause this is the only way for them to survive and ballmer fortunately understands that.
all in all great read, ok, I agree now maybe most Apple users are not looking into specs that much these days, it's true they buy on a brand image mostly, they just know apple means quality for them so... kinda explains it. specs are still there though for those who want to know, but yeah most Apple users probably are not that interested in specs anymore. it's about experience and brand name quality and user ratings these days, spec wars are kinda over, which is a good thing!
"The whole principle [of censorship] is wrong. It's like demanding that grown men live on skim milk because the baby can't have steak." -- Robert Heinlein
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text:
If we can thank U.S. president Donald Trump for one thing, it’s for giving Los Angeles–based comedian Chelsea Handler incentive to find a healthier alternative to manage politics-induced anxiety.
“The first time I smoked weed I was probably 16 or 17 years old and it was a disaster because… Well, not a disaster, but I coughed for about an hour,” Handler tells the Georgia Straight by phone, adding that it wasn’t until later in life that she discovered an appreciation for cannabis.
“Around the time Trump was elected, I had to find another avenue to suppress my rage and harness it into something useful instead of something toxic. I turned to cannabis…and I realized what it could do for other women like me.”
During the past year, Handler has ramped up her pot advocacy across the U.S., and with the help of a Canadian company, she’s bringing it north of the border just in time for legalization.
In June, Handler delivered the keynote speech at the World Cannabis Congress in Saint John, New Brunswick, presented by Civilized, a digital-media and lifestyle brand focused on weed. Shortly after the presentation, the brand’s founder and CEO, Derek Riedle, approached her with the idea of taking the cannabis conversation cross-country.
The five-time New York Times best-selling author says she jumped at the opportunity, adding: “They [Civilized] talk about marijuana use in a cultural context and normalize it as a way of life, and I just thought: ‘This is incredible. We have to educate people.’ ”
The tour, a speaking series modelled after the town-hall events Handler has hosted in cities across the States, will start in Alberta on September 20 and end in Nova Scotia on October 6. Handler and Riedle will be in Vancouver on September 21 at UBC’s Chan Centre to talk political activism, legalization, and her personal journey to cannabis use.
Speaking on the phone from London, England, she says that once she experienced success with cannabis for sleep, she began experimenting with the vast array of products available in California’s newly legalized recreational market.
“I was taking sleep aids way too frequently. And it was a great alternative to that, because I didn’t want to be on any of those medications that pharmaceutical companies are peddling,” she says.
“I realized it [cannabis] is so different than what it used to be. Now with microdosing, you are able to control what you are taking in…it’s much more of a controlled experience.”
Handler is known for her guinea-pig approach to exploring new substances and experiences, particularly when it comes to drugs. One episode of her four-part Netflix special, Chelsea Does, is dedicated entirely to exploring the benefits and harms of a mix of drugs, from over-the-counter pills like Adderall and Ambien to black-market weed and psychedelics. In it, she mixes booze and prescription medication (under supervision) and dines on THC–infused feasts, with the episode culminating in Handler participating in a traditional Peruvian ayahuasca (a psychoactive plant medicine historically used by Indigenous communities) ceremony—all in the name of education.
Since taking a step back from her high-profile entertainment career, Handler now only uses small doses of cannabis to deal with the stress that accompanies her activism.
“For me, it is more about getting off anti-anxiety medication and getting away from sleeping pills and being a more functional person…and making everybody a lot less annoying,” she says, laughing.
“It helps me not lose my temper, it helps me be a lot less reactive, and it just makes everybody just a little bit cooler.”
Since embarking on her normalization campaign, she has smoked with the cream of the pot crop, from rappers like Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg to the weed legend himself, country singer Willie Nelson.
“Smoking weed with Willie Nelson was a seminal moment. It was great,” she says.
“After I smoked a joint with him, I was, you know…let’s just say I was not able to drive afterwards. It was a situation. He’s got some potent stuff.”
Getting stoned off of a canna celebrity’s superstash may be quite the experience, but she says a line of products for the everyday cannabis consumer is in the works.
In February, Handler teased her pot-friendly fans with an Instagram post indicating an interest in starting a line of weed products. When asked for an update, she says she’s still in the research phase but is certain of one thing: any company she creates will have a focus on bringing female consumers into the fold.
“Women really need to be reintroduced to marijuana,” she says.
“There is a joke in L.A.: whoever has the best plastic surgeon never reveals it, because they don’t want anyone else to have a good facelift. And I’m here pushing against that when it comes to marijuana. Girls need to share information, they need to embolden and empower other women to own their marijuana use.”


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Apple will power all its operations in Singapore—including its first retail location in there–with renewable energy. The iPhone maker confirmed to Reuters on Sunday (Nov. 15) that Singapore-based solar developer Sunseap Group will provide it with 100% renewable electricity from solar energy systems built atop more than 800 buildings.
The systems will generate 50 megawatts of solar energy, enough to power the equivalent of 9,000 homes. Apple will receive 33 MW of the new project’s capacity, according to Reuters.
The news is the latest in a string of Apple announcements about renewable energy. In October it announced it would build 200 MW of solar power in China and push suppliers to make similar commitments. That came on top of two previously announced solar farms in the country producing a combined 4 MW of power.
Earlier this year Apple said it was partnering with First Solar to build a massive farm of solar panels to power its upcoming “Campus 2″ headquarters in California. The “spaceship campus“ will be powered entirely by renewable energy sources, the company has said.
“We’re doing this because it’s right to do,” Tim Cook said at the time to an audience at a Goldman Sachs event. “But you may also be interested to know that it’s good financially to do it.”
In any case, Apple can afford to make investments in renewable energy, however long they take to pay off. It’s sitting on giant pile of cash:
Surprisingly, Apple does not yet have a retail store in Singapore, a major shopping hub in Southeast Asia. The city-state gets hordes of shoppers from nearby countries, especially Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous nation. This year, Jakarta alone will send Singapore some 1.7 million visitors, who will spend about $2.7 billion, according to the MasterCard 2015 Global Destination Cities Index.
Apple products in Singapore are currently sold through third-party retailers, mobile carriers, and its online store. The company did not disclose the exact location of the upcoming store, but the Straits Times reported last month on a fitness chain moving out of a prime spot on Orchard Road—Singapore’s leafy, mall-lined shopping mecca—to “make way for Singapore’s first Apple store in 2016.”


text:
PriceMinister's Measures Against Counterfeit Products
- September 11, 2015
- by RNN
Aiming to create a safer marketplace where users can be assured of peace of mind while shopping, the online marketplace PriceMinister has strived to address the issue of counterfeits since it was founded in 2001.
As a result of these efforts, PriceMinister is now considered a safe marketplace in France. Watch the video to see the details of the company's report on counterfeit products which has drawn media attention throughout Europe.
About Rakuten News Network
Rakuten News Network (RNN) is an internal news site providing daily video news about Rakuten to the company's employees around the world.
The videos on this site, which are originally from RNN, offer an insight into the activities of the Rakuten Group and the various services its diverse workforce provides.


text:
Sony has announced that its Sony Xperia M4 Aqua smartphone is now up for grabs in the US officially. The phone comes unlocked and costs just $199.99.This one comes with 16GB of onboard storage, while the 8GB international variant was earlier available in the US only through Amazon and that too without US warranty.
For those who don’t know, the Xperia M4 Aqua is a water and dust resistant smartphone, which is why the affordable $200 price tag is surprising for this kind of a device. The phone gets Android Lollipop pre-installed and sports 5-inch 720 x 1280 display. Under the hood is an octa-core Snapdragon 615 SoC with 2GB of RAM and 16GB internal expandable storage.
There’s a 13MP shooter at the rear and a 5MP selfie snapper at the front. A 2,400mAh battery keeps the M4 Aqua running. In case you wish to get US LTE connectivity, you should know that it’s available only for T-Mobile and AT&T and does not work with Sprint and Verizon.
Another good thing about the Xperia M4 Aqua is that it will be getting the Android Marshmallow update soon, though the exact date for the update hasn’t been revealed yet.


text:
No one likes it when a delivery fails to show, but when it happens with vaccines it costs lives.
Currently, millions of children go unimmunized each year because of delivery problems, including anything from vaccine supply chain breaks and ineffective cold chain equipment to poor vaccine stock management in developing countries. Shockingly, these kinds of issues account for a substantial number of the children who miss out on their shots.
That has got to change. These supply chain inefficiencies may be contributing to the deaths of 1.5 million children each year from vaccine-preventable diseases, the vast majority in developing countries.
Without the protection of vaccines, children in developing countries are at risk from diseases like measles, meningitis A, pneumonia, rotavirus, hepatitis B, yellow fever and polio. And of those that are fortunate enough to escape death after contracting such a disease, many are still left with debilitating consequences.
Indeed, the economic and social impact of caring for children and adults who have been debilitated by disease is huge: education is often not completed, parents are tipped into poverty, labor productivity remains low and long-term health costs skyrocket.
Common challenges within the vaccine delivery chain include weak information systems, outdated processes and a lack of “cold chain” infrastructure (storage and transport of vaccines), often in dire conditions.
At the same time, the strong value of immunization is recognized globally, leading both to a near doubling of the number of vaccines recommended by the World Health Organization, to 11 today from six in 2000, and increased demand for them by the governments of developing countries. These governments also naturally are asking for the new highly impactful vaccines, which have increased by five times cold chain volume requirements compared to the traditional schedule of vaccines. Unfortunately, all of these factors have exacerbated the supply chain’s weaknesses.
Tremendous progress has been made over the past decade or so to improve global childhood immunization rates. Thanks to the GAVI Alliance, immunization rates among the world’s poorest are at an historic high. But further progress won’t be made – or even worse, could actually be reversed – if gaps in vaccine supply chains, particularly in countries like India, Nigeria and Pakistan, do not dramatically improve.
And yet successful global businesses operate large and complex supply chains that are much more effective and efficient. They have end-to-end views of their supply chains and attach a high priority to managing them. In sharp contrast to the difficulties the public sector faces in moving vaccines down to the local level, leading companies effectively utilize supply chain models and systems that permit them to deliver their products successfully to remote rural villages in many developing countries.
So, while supply chain practices have remained largely static in the public sector over the past 30 years, the corporate sector has moved forward by innovating and adopting new technologies, such as feedback loops between product planning, development and delivery, and the use of supply chain management software and radio frequency identification tags.
It’s a model the public sector really needs to pay attention to. As the world’s largest purchaser of vaccines for developing countries, GAVI is now urgently seeking innovations that will allow governments to reach more children and maximize the dollars spent. The stakes are high. Since 2000, the value of GAVI-funded vaccines has increased tenfold, from US$ 94 million to US$ 921 million in 2011.
These vaccines flow through a delivery system that is large, complex and contains many levels. In the 73 countries supported by GAVI, there are more than 130,000 health facilities administering vaccines to poor children.
So starting in 2014, we are working to convene a supply chain “Centre of Excellence” of committed global corporations that would provide advice to GAVI on our broader supply chain strategy and individually work with partner governments and technical specialists to tackle several of the most pressing problems, such as stock monitoring, cold chain breakdowns and poor data quality. Cash and the value of in-kind contributions made by companies involved in the Centre would be doubled under the GAVI Matching Fund, a matching program for corporations and private foundations.
Certainly, the majority of issues will still need to be addressed by the governments involved, together with major GAVI Alliance partners, such as UNICEF and the World Health Organization. And although leading companies may be savvier at remote delivery, most do not face the additional challenges of keeping products cold and at a constant temperature in transit.
My belief is that Centre members will bring a fresh perspective and dynamic to the good work already underway and help develop long-term sustainable solutions in key areas. We can learn a lot from the private sector while helping them gain market knowledge and possibly catalyzing commercial solutions at the same time.
This type of collaborative partnership would be a win for all involved, but most importantly for those children who await the opportunity of a healthier life.
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text:
Nintendo sells almost a million Switch consoles in first month
- Author: Carolyn Briggs Apr 16, 2017,
Apr 16, 2017, 1:09
The company also pointed out that March is a "nontraditional month" for a new console release. Citing numbers from NPD (so we're talking North America here), the Switch sold over 906,000 consoles in March, with Breath of the Wild moving 925,000+ copies for Switch and nearly 460,000 for Wii U-also not a bad number, considering that the (roughly ten million) Wii U owners are mostly Nintendo diehards who were likely to buy a Switch anyway.
While "Breath of the Wild" has sold more copies than the Nintendo Switch, it does not mean that the console did not sell well. This smaller version of the Nintendo Switch could "possibly" be called the Nintendo Switch Mini, says the group, which also predicts that it will sell 6.7 million units of the console through March 2019, though the analysts didn't suggest a price.
Breath of the Wild shifted 1.3 million units, 925,000 of which were on the Switch, and 460,000 on the Wii U. This is an impressive attach rate, over 100% in fact. The Wii sold 470,000 units in the USA in its launch month of November 2006.
Nintendo adds that "full accounting of worldwide Nintendo Switch sales" will be made available on April 27 when it issues its full fiscal-year earnings.
"Nintendo always strives to offer consumers something fun, new and different".
The Nintendo Switch is selling fast and breaking records at Nintendo. The console has already beaten Sony and Microsoft in its home market of Japan and its flagship titles has shipped more units than the console itself. The company attributed that to people buying a limited edition version of the game to collect and another to play on the console. That problem will only be exacerbated when games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Arms, and Splatoon 2 debut in the coming months.
That show should prove one of the most exciting in recent years, with Xbox set to unveil their super-powered Project Scorpio console during the same event - making it a very good time to be a gamer.


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Seventy percent of display video advertisers will increase spend in 2011, but budget shifts do not appear to be profound, according to research from Break Media. On the latter issue, 79 percent of surveyed advertisers said they will allocate less than 25 percent of their total online display ad budgets to display video advertising next year. Sixty-three percent of advertisers said the increase will be funded from TV budgets, while 70 percent said it will come from online budgets.
The Los Angeles-based ad network recently polled a mix of 350 marketers and agencies. It found that 75 percent of agencies plan on increasing video ad spend, compared with 61 percent of marketers. According to Break Media, verticals where video ad buying will increase span automotive, baby/parenting, casual dining/quick-serve restaurants, alcohol, local, non-alcoholic beverage, packaged foods, retail, and cosmetics/toiletries.
Yet 35 percent of those surveyed said they did not use video ad networks for campaigns this year and do not intend to do so during 2011. Instead, they buy video-based promotions directly from online publishers of TV show, sports, movies, and gaming content.
When asked about the relatively high number of ad buyers going the more independent route, Andy Tu, VP of marketing for Break Media, said video networks offered scale that the publishers did not. At the same time, he said, “Publishers have done a compelling job of proving to advertisers that their video advertising will run adjacent to professionally produced content.”
Marketers and agencies were also polled about their online video advertising challenges; and targeting, metrics, and cost were cited as their top concerns. Also, advertisers said better ROI in addition to more easily measured ROI would encourage them to spend more in the space. Transparency of ad placement ranked as another major concern.
Tu said, “It’s because [our industry is] not using standardized metrics that people are having a hard time measuring ROI… I think it goes back to publishers working more closely together.”
Google has introduced new tools and features to AdWords to specifically address the consumer shift towards mobile.
As video content increases, it’s time for brands to understand their consumers, in order to deliver the most relevant ads to them. ... read more
Advertising to millennials can be challenging, especially when there’s a lack of understanding towards their needs. Here’s what you need to consider before targeting ... read more
When it comes to the complicated world of mobile video, the most important customer you can reach is the one you already have.


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Oregon stirred up debates about parental rights to refuse medical advice not long ago when people started to discount vaccination for children. Recently, another case has caused yet another round of discussions about whether how far a parent can block court-established advice. This time, CBD is the topic; this following the legalization of cannabis and growing medical researches about it.
Christina Gale Dixon, a Wilsonville resident, was accused of disobeying court order to bring her 13-year-old daughter Kylee Dixon to state care. Christina refused to get Kylee surgery to excise the malignant tumor found in her liver.
Kylee is living with a foster family and is under state custody. She has met both her oncologist at OHSU hospital and the naturopathic doctor recently and are likely to suggest her a combination of treatment styles, says an Oregon Department of Justice attorney.
However, Kylee’s family and herself do not agree with the doctor’s advice to undergo what they insist as a life-saving operation. She says that she does not want the surgery, but rather resumes her CBD oil treatment, which her mother believes would work.
A judge from Clackamas County set a ruling this week that the court will not block Kylee’s need for surgery to take away the tumor, even when Kylee and mom Christina have a serious objection regarding the matter.
Judge Heather Karabeika further stated that she trusts a medical professional to give the most appropriate treatment based on their knowledge and experience.
Experts in the medical field are almost united in their stance that natural medicine is not yet proven effective as a sole cancer treatment. However, parents who think otherwise are flocking to CBD as an alternative course of action.
More on CBD
Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the many derivatives found in hemp and has recently established a national following as more CBD-infused products are introduced to the market.
CBD is mixed to beauty and skincare products, food and lotions and is introduced as a miracle cure-all substance.
Various researchers show promising results on CBD regarding its many uses. Companies are cashing in on CBD products and joining in the fray. Even Oregon State University is working on a university-wide movement to pioneer more hemp studies.
Yet, many impressive CBD claims are largely unproven. As of writing, only one CBD-infused medication is approved by the FDA. Epidiolex is an oral preparation that helps control epileptic seizures.
This successful drug has urged more advocates and researches to bank on CBD as an effective natural remedy for severe illnesses and conditions.
Animal trials using CBD as a potential treatment for Parkinson’s, cancer and Alzheimer’s abound, but professionals state that no consensus has been reached yet in the medical world. Therefore, hypothetical treatments should not discredit proven ones.
Harvard Medical School instructor Peter Grinspoon said that CBD is an intriguing science, but people should take caution since there is still no evidence that this substance can remove a solid tumor, which endangers the child’s life.
The Dixon case is certainly not the first; a 3-year-old from Florida was taken out of chemotherapy by parents and moved to Kentucky to avoid the state from interfering with their preferred treatment of alkaline water, special diet, and CBD instead of medically recommended drugs.
The state found the boy eventually and was sent back to live with grandparents. A Florida judge ruled last May that the boy be subjected to chemotherapy again.
These and more cases have prodded advocates to fight for complete parental rights in making medical decisions, using Dixon’s case an example of “medical kidnapping”.
The Dixon Case
Christina claims that the tumor was reduced by 90% after her CBD treatment; this is yet to be verified by her doctors.
The mother skipped Monday hearing because of an arrest warrant for kidnapping. She has also refused to give out her phone number, fearing that law enforcers could locate her.
She is allowed to call daughter Kylee but hasn’t gotten around to doing that due to such reasons.
A Facebook page was set up by Christina to rally her case against the state’s alleged “medical kidnapping” of her daughter.
Kylee, in the meantime, still refuses surgery. The child’s Attorney Rebecca Schaleger said surgery is 100% against what Kylee wants.
The case has also led the Department of Human Services to gather doctor recommendations and found that most experts believe the surgery can save Kylee’s cancer from spreading by as much as 70%. DHS follows the mandate that children should not be allowed to refuse life-saving medical decisions.
Unregulated Wellness Chemicals Find Acceptance from Americans
Americans easily recommend cannabidiol or CBD, even to strangers they meet on an errand or travel. Shops have popped up here and there, selling a broad range of CBD products, from tinctures to gummies to oils and vapes. Even celebrities like Kylie Jenner has endorsed a CBD-infused product, drawing many fans to try it out as well.
CBD is lauded by users for its alleged therapeutic benefits from alleviating anxiety to curing cancer. There are also varying levels of evidence to back up the different claims.
Hitting peak popularity
According to Google Trends data, CBD has hit its peak in the US last May. The search engine giant recorded more than thrice the queries for CBD than Beyoncé.
Cannabidiol is a compound identified as a cannabinoid, which are chemicals found in hemp and marijuana plants. It was largely unknown a couple of years back, but the legalization of hemp as an industrial crop in the 2018 Farm Bill has catapulted CBD to its popularity today.
Hemp is a cousin of marijuana, the substance infamous for being addictive. Both plants are from the same plant species, Cannabis sativa L., but hemp is considered as the safer, non-psychoactive compound of the two.
Although studies regarding CBD are lacking, consumer interest hasn’t dwindled. Manufacturers have already taken the initial steps to experiment with some less popular cannabinoids like CBN or cannabinol. Salespeople find it easy to market cannabinoids since there is still little information about them.
Before CBD, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC was the most recognized cannabinoid, mainly because it causes the high in marijuana. THC levels in cannabis-derived products draw the line between what is legal and what’s not. With hemp becoming legal to grow and process, the US now has its homegrown supply for CBD production.
Lack of official regulation
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is yet to provide detailed rules on cannabidiol, including the labeling and quality testing of the many CBD and CBD-infused products out in the market today. As of writing, CBD products are still illegal to sell as dietary supplements and as a food additive, although such product forms are widely sold domestically.
The FDA still has not provided nuanced rules, due in part to the lack of academic research on cannabis. Permission and funding to conduct cannabis studies are limited, and scientists have a hard time securing such provisions.
Ether Blessing, New York University Langone Health researcher, believes that it might take a decade to establish FDA approval of CBD as a drug. She warned that the current condition makes it difficult for consumers to know the quality and CBD content of the product they are buying.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published research in 2017 that concludes cannabinoids as a useful substance for chronic pain, nausea, and multiple sclerosis symptoms. It is one of the very few studies made on the compound.
No waiting for Americans
Despite the very little information on CBD, Americans don’t wait for formality to set in, which is why the CBD industry has flourished in a couple of years. With the cracks in the health care system, CBD products have filled the needs of the average consumer. The substance is said to be effective in alleviating several health conditions, including anxiety, nausea, pain, MS, and cancer.
However, the unique way in which cannabidiol is incorporated or sold does not necessarily mean that it is valid or if there is any CBD in the product at all. What retailers do is satisfy the consumer’s curiosity by developing novel ways to market the compound, even at the expense of the buyer.
Much like vitamins and supplements, CBD and other cannabinoids are mostly untested and unregulated, yet many Americans purchase such products. The more or less have the same reasons, such as distrust for pharmaceuticals, lack of medical care access, or curiosity about the new product.
Coca Cola Denies Rumors Regarding CBD-infused Product Development
Coca-Cola has no plans to enter the CBD market with its products, dismissing rumors about the company selling beverages incorporated with hemp oil.
Kent Landers, Coca Cola spokesperson, said in an interview with FOX Business that the speculations are not valid. He reiterated that the beverage giant had no intention of joining the CBD craze as what they have stated several times.
The rumors have arisen after a Youtube video of a man popping open a can of Coca Cola and claiming that it is infused with cannabidiol oil, a cannabis leaf extract typically used to alleviate pain without causing a high. The video has since been deleted.
About the video
The Youtube user who made the video, “Gabor the Blind Guy”, claimed to the viewers that he got ahold of the product via his father who allegedly produced capping and bottling machines for several primary food and pharmaceutical companies.
He further stated that his father was contacted by Coca Cola Canada to develop a machine that would produce childproof caps for Coca Cola cans. The company is said to release a new line of products infused with cannabidiol extracts, which are considered as cannabis-based substances as declared by Gabor.
Coca Cola was supposedly looking into a collaboration with Aurora Cannabis, a Canada-based cannabis production company. The beverage powerhouse allegedly eyed the CBD market since it grew in demand, as reported by Bloomberg last September of 2018.
Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger, CEO and Vice-Chair of Berkshire Hathway, respectively, indicated that Coca Cola joining the marijuana industry would not be right. In an interview with FOX Business Liz Claman, the experts said that entering the CBD market will be detrimental to the wholesome image that the company has kept throughout years.
Munger stated during the Berkshire Hathway Annual Shareholders Meeting held in Omaha, Nebraska that going into the cannabis market is a massive mistake for the company. The company’s image does not align with cannabis and its related products.
James Quincey, Coca-Cola CEO, dispelled the speculation in October, declaring that the company does not plan to get into the CBD space at this stage.
More about CBD
Cannabidiol oil has gained significant popularity over the recent years because of the positive reception from users. CBD is now known as an almost magical remedy that cures or alleviates pain, sleeplessness, anxiety, and more. Users claim that CBD is useful in resolving a broad range of health conditions.
However, there is still no formal regulatory framework for CBD from the Food and Drug Administration or FDA, the regulating body that is supposed to safeguard consumers from fake and harmful products. Many advocates, cannabis groups and even members of the House have called on FDA to hasten the process of providing a clear set of guidelines for the use and sale of CBD products.
The only FDA-approved medication out in the market today is Epidiolex, a drug used as an adjunct treatment for intractable epilepsy. It means that other CBD products out in the market today cannot be advertised as medication or food supplements, which makes adds to the confusion regarding the legality of the industry and the products.
CBD-Based Wellness and Skincare Products for Newbies
Active ingredients in skin care products can take hours of research, and several clinical trials to determine which ones really work. While nature-derived substances are considered safer, some allergies and skin sensitivities can still cause a reaction when using natural remedies.
Cannabidiol or CBD is the latest natural ingredient that has sparked interest in the wellness industry. It is extracted from Cannabis sativa L., the source plant for hemp and marijuana. Many questions arose regarding the application of CBD on skincare: does it work? What are the benefits of using it for wellness and beauty? Does it give a “high” when used, like in marijuana?
To clarify, cannabidiol is derived from the non-psychotropic component of marijuana. It has little to no tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, which is the compound responsible for the psychoactive effect of the drug. Several countries have banned CBD products, but most formulations are safe to use and have zero dependency potential.
In terms of skincare benefits, CBD can be used to soothe, calm, and relax the skin. CBD is touted to have anti-inflammatory effects, which makes it a viable cure for acne. It is also believed to bring balance to skin sebum levels, controlling breakouts. CBD, as a plant-based ingredient, is rich in anti-oxidants and reduces wrinkles, roughness, and dull skin.
It might be confusing or intimidating to start on a CBD-based skin regimen. Some factors to take note of when choosing a CBD product for skin care are the method of extraction, packaging, purity and INCI compliance.
Here are some CBD-based skincare products that you can incorporate into your CBD routine.
Cannuka combines CBD oil and Manuka Honey to provide its all-natural skincare solution. Some of their products include CBD Harmonizing Face Cream, CBD Skin Balm, and CBD Calming Eye Balm, which showcase the healing capabilities of both ingredients. The products were created for the purpose of skin therapy.
The company ensures thoughtful harvesting, sustainable sourcing, and quality. Their hemp farms are known to produce quality cannabidiol since 2014. Their Manuka honey is sourced from an established farm in New Zealand.
For evening skin routine, the Lavender CBD Face Oil from Populum is an excellent choice. It is made of full-spectrum hemp oil and incorporated with lavender to give a calming sense while also working towards reducing signs of aging. The effect is a more youthful and radiant skin after applying during the night.
CBD and lavender are a good combination, which provides antioxidants, and as well as give a soothing effect for an improved mood and wellness.
Lily CBD is a company that values integrity, safety standards, and paying it forward. Their CBD-infused product, Essential Oil Rollers, is promoted as a gift item for loved ones with a busy schedule. They incorporate full-spectrum cannabidiol in their products and have travel-friendly skincare items that minimize discomfort after a long trip.
Bathing’s Cultures CBD product is Dipsea Soak, which is specially formulated to reduce stress and provide a relaxing bath experience.
Fleur Marche is known for its informative labeling and transparency of their products. The Starter Kit is their offering for people wanting to start a CBD routine, with products such as Balance Drops, Nite Nite Patch, Luxury Beauty Serum, CBD Mint Truffles, and CBD & Honey Ache and Pain Relief Stick that are best-selling for their effectiveness.
They Call Her Alfie
The premium collagen and certified CBD make They Call Her Alfie products a hit in the market. They offer fast-acting skincare on their Forever Firming Duet Set, which works to rejuvenate and reinvigorate the skin.
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The photo editing app can be downloaded for £9.99 for a limited period
In celebration of the Affinity Photo editing app being voted as Apple’s best iPad app of 2017, users can download it for half price.
The editing app was awarded the accolade by Apple’s App Store editors six months after the iPad version was unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2017.
The offer allows users to download the app for £9.99 until 12pm GMT on Saturday, December 8.
Announcing Affinity Photo as the App of the Year for 2017, a spokesperson for Apple said: “Affinity Photo is a pro grade photo editor and illustration tool that has wowed not just us, but the professional users and enthusiastic amateurs that it serves, too.”
Affinity Photo calls itself the ‘first fully-featured, truly professional photo editing tool’ to arrive on the iPad.
The app contains comprehensive retouching tools, including dodge, burn, clone, blemish, patch and red eye tools.
Users are also able to correct and enhance images with Levels, Curves, Black and White, White Balance, HSL, Shadows and Highlights. The app allows work across multiple layers, which photo editors can drag and drop between.
Callum McInerney-Riley tests a range of the best Android and iOS apps available for on-the-go image editing
Adobe has revealed the latest version of Creative Cloud – Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC – at the Adobe MAX conference. New…
Photoshop guru Martin Evening sorts out your photo editing and post-processing problems. Here he looks at optimising sharpness
For the full features offered on the editing app, check out AP’s comprehensive feature from when it was released.
The iPad app was launched off the back of the successful desktop version of Affinity Photo, which was the Mac App of the Year in 2015.
The offer is available online on the Apple App Store until 12pm on December 9, 2017. Compatible devices are the iPad Air 2, iPad 2017, iPad Pro 9.7-inch, 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch.


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Rumours are flying that Langford will soon be home to a new Island distribution centre for Amazon.
The buzz is that a 13-acre parcel bordered by Sooke and Luxton Roads will be the site for a giant warehouse that could potentially bring up to 400 jobs to the West Shore community.
Langford Mayor Stew Young said Amazon has been the talk of the town over the past several days, but he was tight-lipped on anything official.
“It’s a great rumour, a fantastic rumour, and if it’s true I know we can sure use those hundreds of jobs in our community,” Young said Thursday. “And it is a great site because you can get anywhere on the Island pretty quickly from here.”
There’s no question Amazon, the behemoth retailer, will open a distribution centre on the Island soon, as the popularity of buying online continues to skyrocket.
The Island is currently served by smaller warehouses in Central Saanich, Nanaimo and other centres, which dispatch vans, drivers and parcels.
The question is where will Amazon build?
A massive distribution centre is being proposed on federal land at Victoria International Airport .
Edmonton-based York Realty wants to put up a 486,937-square-foot building on 7.7 acres and lease it to one tenant, but isn’t naming anyone right now.
David Ian Gray, founder of DIG360 Consulting, told the Times Colonist last month companies like Amazon and Walmart are obvious candidates, although the tenant might also be a third party, a logistics company working on behalf of many other brands and retailers.
Given the access to major transportation portals like the airport and ferries, the Sidney location would make sense for Amazon.
However, Langford has faster access to the rest of the Island and some experience with the retail giant, having thrown its hat in the ring as a long shot for a second corporate North American headquarters back in 2017.
At the time, Young said: “We just want [Amazon] to know we’re open for business.”
The Langford property along Sooke Road was snapped up last fall by Beedie, a Burnaby-based company specializing in light-industrial developments in excess of 200,000 square feet.
Beedie has developed about 30 million square feet of construction in Canada since 1954, including massive distribution centres, manufacturing plants, warehouses and commercial spaces.
The land, recently home to chicken coops and some derelict homes, has been levelled and is now prepared for building. The Luxton site would connect with Langford’s western entrance from Metchosin and Sooke, which has been developed into a major industrial and commercial complex. The area is connected by the recently completed West Shore Parkway between Sooke Road and the Trans-Canada Highway.
Amazon isn’t saying anything about the rumours.
Young said the company would likely want to make its own announcement, so he declined further comment, other than to say “we’d love to have them.”
Last month, Amazon announced another major investment on the Lower Mainland, an expansion that includes five new buildings — a fulfillment centre at the Port of Vancouver, sorting centre in Langley and new delivery stations in Pitt Meadows, Delta and Langley. The investment will create more than 2,000 jobs.
Amazon employs about 5,500 full- and part-time employees in operations, corporate and technology jobs in British Columbia and said it has invested about $3 billion in the province over the last decade.
— With files from Carla Wilson and Andrew Duffy


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The novelty is likely to be released under the Nokia brand
Google is preparing a special version of the Android operating system for push-button telephones, reports 9to5Google.
It is expected that the novelty will be released under the Nokia brand.
A new modification of Android apparently has a lot in common with the system installed on millions of modern smartphones.
Saved the overall style, including the bright colors of the interface and the design of icons.
In this case, the desktop itself, there is – on the main screen just displays information about the time, date, battery level, network signal and the application is open.
In particular, it shows that the phone is running a voice assistant.


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by Denise Whitmore, Social Media Department
Let’s be honest, social media can feel like the same old song and dance and even a little tiresome at the best of times. It’s true, for many people it’s a love-hate relationship with lots of noise, plenty of drama and even more adverts. At the same time, it’s fantastic, riveting, entertaining and a beacon of inspiration.
You see, if you’re like me, you appreciate the good and bad things about social media and as the number of users continues to rise, it’s clear that these platforms are hitting their stride as the year-end closes in.
But how can we sum up this wild and wonderful year?
Social Media in 2018: the year of everything and more
You know, at this stage, I can usually say it was the year of “something” but so much has happened in social media over the past twelve months that picking any one thing is impossible.
In other words, it wasn’t just the year of influencers or the year of live streaming or even the year when Snapchat became the equivalent of a ghost town. It was all of these things…and more.
At the same time, there are some things that definitely deserve a mention so let’s take a look back over the past year and see what happened in the world of social media:
Live Streaming exploded in 2018
Live streaming really took off this year with immense growth statistics and hordes of online users taking their first steps into the live arena. In fact, while the live streaming industry has grown since a $30 billion valuation just two years ago, this figure is fully expected to double by the end of 2019.
It also makes perfect sense that people were so quick to adopt live streaming. After all, at the mere click of a button, streaming has the potential to reach thousands of new viewers. What’s more, live streaming is a great way to connect with an audience and has a certain transparency that can feel to be missing with any other form of content including imagery.
Example – Some popular live streaming sites include Youtube, Vimeo and Twitch.
Fact – Twitch.tv is now one of the largest streaming sites in the world with 10 million daily viewers.
The Year of Facebook Ads…Yaaaaawn
Unfortunately for users, the presence of ads continued throughout the year in spite of assurance from CEO Mark Zuckerberg that Facebook would show users “more content from family and friends and less from publishers”. However, these ads appeared in rather unexpected places.
Now, this was quite an interesting development as Facebook had less and less wiggle room for ad inventory coming into the year. That is to say, Facebook was running out of space in which to show advertisements. Two years ago, Facebook even announced that it had prioritised long videos to improve user experience and cater for this diminishing inventory.
Anyway, instead of leaving ad numbers as they were, Facebook went on to introduce ads in the middle of videos before implementing more ads to Messenger and opening a new marketplace for advertisers.
Advertising controversy on YouTube
Speaking of adverts, YouTube is another culprit when it comes to interrupting the masses with incessant ads. What’s more, their algorithms were also shown to be placing advertisements beside extremist and hateful content without the advertiser’s knowledge which left them red faced and scrambling to re-categorize these videos.
Afterward, YouTube began to implement policies and crack down on what was deemed inappropriate content. As a result, many major channels were restricted, suspended or even shut down including accounts used Logan Paul and PewDiePie who both faced censure for sharing inappropriate or offensive content and have the highest number of subscribers on the entire platform.
The continued rise of influencer marketing
It’s no secret that influencer marketing has been out of control over the past couple of years but 2018 was the year when money began to flow. In other words, it was widely accepted this year that social media influencers will only promote when a certain fee is involved.
But why was this year so different to before?
Well, it’s thought that both generation Z and millennials, who make up most of the world’s population, are heavily influenced by influencer marketing. For this reason, they also account for a huge amount of the purchasing power in the world and digital marketing specialists are willing to pay to reach them.
In case you might be asking yourself, generation Z refers to those who were born between the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s.
Marketers scrambling for influencers
As already mentioned, it was the year of everything and influencers were right at the centre of some serious trends in social media this year. More specifically, studies by Rakuten Digital Marketing revealed that most professional marketers were willing to pay for influencers to promote their brand.
Interestingly, the figures for sponsored posts varied from $200 to a staggering $150,000. As it turns out, these same studies showed that more than 85% of marketers were still unsure how to calculate the figures that these influencers should be paid in the first place!
Thousands of emails Entitled “GDPR”
It seemed as though every second email in my inbox last year was entitled GDPR. To be honest, I had no desire to find out what they meant at the time but it would seem that GDPR was a very big deal.
As it turns out, the EU created unique data protection laws and regulations that would have an impact on every brand that does business within its member states. As you know, these laws indicate that sufficient planning is required from every business to protect and maintain personal data within the organisation.
It’s at least good to know that so many businesses were actually paying attention.
Snapchat tripped and never got back up
Snapchat’s decline is nothing short of legendary and a stark warning to brands who want to stay relevant. Just a couple of years back, Snapchat was moving and growing at a frantic pace with hordes of teens in particular captivated by the “stories-driven” social media app.
However, in one swift blow, Instagram Stories was introduced and as Snapchat stumbled in disbelief, Instagram started to grow even faster, in spite of being a “duplication”.
As social media users began praising and reveling in this new feature on Instagram, Snapchat looked on in wonder and slowly declined to the point of **non existence.
**Social media moves incredibly fast and I would not be surprised if Snapchat were to rise from the ashes or re-invent itself.
Instagram stole Snapchat’s taxi to the airport
As Snapchat lingered at the taxi rank in the middle of ghost town, Instagram raced off to the airport with a ticket to the promised land and more than 100 million daily users.
It was an immense moment in social media history and to be honest, probably the most significant milestone that took place in 2018. For a little context, the 100 million daily users mentioned above was achieved with just two months of launching Instagram Stories. For even MORE context, this figure has already exceeded 300 million daily users which is now twice the entire user base of Snapchat.
The truth is, most brands prefer Instagram Stories to what was available on Snapchat and in the year that Snapchat went away, one study showed that 45 per cent of digital marketing professionals were using Instagram Stories compared to a measely 9 per cent on Snapchat.
The appeal of Instagram Stories
While it’s hard to pinpoint any one factor for the success or appeal of Instagram Stories, there are clear reasons as to why it worked.
For example, for influencers or brands with more than 10k followers, they can now include a URL link within the video. Until now, the only links allowed on Instagram were hidden at the bottom of the users profile. Needless to say, this was a dream for digital marketing as these links enabled them to direct traffic to websites and sales funnels etc.
On the other hand, Instagram Stories came with some fantastic metrics and these were highly trackable compared to any other video platform.
Generation Z called most of the shots
As already mentioned, millennials and generation Z account for most of the world’s population. With this in mind, these demographics also constitute the largest buying power on the planet. It’s no wonder social media has relied on these generations for direction in every sense.
In fact, reports from Fluent showed that individuals in these generations were consuming more than one hour of video every day. When you realise the significance, you should see that millenials and generation Z have called all the shots for social media in 2018.
What happened with the biggest movers and shakers
Many social media platforms have jumped into the mix over the past couple of years with mainstays like Reddit or Pintrest being joined by Twitch and promising platforms such as Steemit. But the truth is, there is only room for so much social media and the major brands are still the main focus:
Facebook – Facebook still has the largest audience of any social media network with more than 2.05 billion monthly active users. Amazingly, that’s one third of the population in the world. What’s more, 100 million hours of video are consumed daily but the platform continues to have a diverse audience which is extremely hard to categorize. This is seriously impressive considering the Cambridge Analytica scandal and other questions about their business practices that they have had to deal with this year.
Youtube – More than 1 billion hours of video was consumed this year on the number one video social network. Youtube is watched every day in more than 80 countries and in more than 70 languages. As you know, this platform is owned by Google so it’s interesting to know that YouTube is now the second biggest search engine. In short, marketers also love YouTube and 90% of marketers say that video content marketing on this platform is highly effective.
Instagram – It just could be the year that Instagram won and with the focus on images, it must be said that Insta makes a nice break from the overload of content online. Forbes said that Instagram was the top social media platform for engagement and with 800 monthly users, 250 million daily stories and the undying love of every marketer out there – who could argue?
Twitter – I almost forgot about Twitter but with 330 million active users, the platform is showing slow yet certain signs of continued growth. Twitter also supports 40 languages nowadays and management says that up to 80% of Twitter users are affluent millennials with college degrees. I have no idea how accurate this figure might be but Twitter continues to stay relevant with no signs of slowing down.
And finally, the silent bull in the china shop
While most of the above have been rolling out their new algorithms and advertising strategies, one platform has been growing at a silent yet deadly rate – Linkedin.
In case you might not know, Linkedin is no longer just a resume and job opportunity website. On the contrary, the platform now has a thriving network of influencers and users with an unmatched demographic across all platforms. That is to say, 13% of Linkedin users are millennials but 44% of users earn more than $75k per year and a whopping 41% of millionaires have profiles on the platform.
Linkedin has inched past 500 million members in recent months and with these impressive demographics and such a fast growing network, many digital marketing gurus believe that Linkedin is the next target for huge growth on social media.
As you can see, this was not the year of anything but rather the year of everything and with so much competition in the space, next year should be the most interesting one yet.


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HARARE – One of the roles of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is to help the Zimbabwe economy operate effectively.
This is done through the monetary policy, which is the process to control the money supply in the economy by making interest rate decisions to achieve higher economic growth and maintain price stability.
The monetary policy is to address the management of money supply and interest rates to achieve macroeconomic objectives like controlling inflation, growth, liquidity, and consumption. In short, the monetary policy is specifically designed to maintain the economic stability of the country.
As a result, the central bank has a lot of power to influence the economy, and this indirectly impacts how stocks move. While the stock market is not the economy, it can be seen as a reflection of how confident consumers are about the strength of the economy now and in the future.
Interestingly, the stock market can be used by both those who are confident (for good returns) and those who are fearful (as a hedge).
Additionally, the stock market is a helpful indicator of economic change, well-being and growth. As a result, investors should keep a close ear to news coming out of the RBZ as a gauge to where the markets might be headed next. This past Monday, the apex bank released its 2022 Monetary Policy Statement. There was no major shift in policies that were already in place. For example, interest rates were maintained at previous levels.
The Bank policy rate and the Medium Term Accommodation (MBA) Facility interest rate were maintained at the previous levels of 60 percent and 40 percent, respectively.
Focusing on interest rates is a great way to understand how the stock market moves. Knowing the relationship between interest rates and sectors can help investors understand why certain stocks are performing better than others.
The biggest impact of the interest rate on the stock market is on the intrinsic value of stocks. Not only do higher interest rates reduce the intrinsic value of the stock, but reduce the value of future cash flow.
Further, when interest rates are lower, as they are now, it is cheaper to borrow money. This means consumers are able to purchase big products and services like major appliances among others. When that happens, the big companies will have increased earnings which will boost the intrinsic value of stocks, and vice-versa.
What this also means is that if the stock market trend, which is currently positive, was a result of the prevailing interest rates, then it will likely follow the same path going forward. But if the stock market was on its upward trajectory, in anticipation of a shift in interest rate policy shift, then we should expect a reversal of the trend.
Inflation erodes not only earnings of listed firms, but erodes the capital gains made. Post the MPS, the stock market has since reached an all-time high. At a market cap of more than $1,6 trillion as of Wednesday, the market is now valued at US$13,5 billion using the official exchange rate and US$7,2 billion using a parallel market exchange rate of 220.
The Inflation outlook is also another factor to consider when investing in the stock markets. The central bank has forecast month-on-month inflation to be reduced to below 4 percent in the first quarter of the year and to average below 3 percent in the second half of 2022.
This path is expected to reduce the country’s annual inflation rate to a range of 25-35 percent by end of December 2022. Given that in 2020, the RBZ started with a year-end inflation target of 10 percent, but later revised several times to end at 60,7 percent, chances are that inflation will once again miss the set targets and close upward of 60 percent. Investors would seek to use stocks as a hedge against inflation.
Another policy measure announced in the latest MPS is the downward review of the quarter-on-quarter reserve money growth target from 10 percent to 7,5 percent for the quarters ending March and June 2022.
The plan here, according to the RBZ, is to “sustainably anchor inflation expectations and curtail the speculative demand for foreign currency which has exerted pressure on the exchange rate and prices since the last quarter of 2021”.
This has always been the intention with the previous monetary targeting framework which however failed to bring exchange rate and price stability. Excess liquidity and the resultant inflation and currency depreciation saw investors turning to the stock market in the last two years.
As a result, the stock market rallied, and valuations kept elevating. Investors got more than just hedging but got very good returns. More of the same is expected post the latest MPS if money supply growth is not curtailed fully.
The MPS also acted to boost export earnings by allowing exporters in the manufacturing, tourism and horticulture sectors to retain 100 percent of their incremental export receipts.
On account of the high import requirements embedded in the manufacturing, horticulture and cross-border transport sub-sectors of the economy exporters in the manufacturing, horticulture and cross-border transport sub-sectors are now eligible to retain 100 percent of the incremental portion of their export receipts.
ZSE listed stocks set to benefit include exporting manufacturers such as Hippo, starafrica, Dairibord, Edgars’ Carousel Clothing factory, Innscor, Proplastics, and horticulture firms Tanganda and Ariston.
Also to benefit from increased retention levels are players in the tourism sector. In order to respond to the adverse effects of Covid-19 on the tourism sector, which was hard-hit by the pandemic not only in Zimbabwe but the world over, the RBZ allowed players in the tourism and hospitality industry to retain 100 percent of their foreign currency earnings to allow them to quickly recapitalise and procure the necessary goods and services required by tourists and travellers.
Listed hotel operators African Sun and RTG will benefit from this move and investors are likely to keep a keen eye on developments. Some will take long term positions.
EcoCash Holdings’ performance has been hamstrung by transaction limits imposed by the central bank. However, the company is certain to benefit from the 25 percent and 50 percent upward review of mobile banking transaction limits.
Source: Business Weekly


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DYNAPAC ONE STEP AHEAD THANKS TO PROPLATE
Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency. Three words that have guided Dynapac in its efforts to streamline production and maintain competitive advantages in a world where high demands are placed on prices and lead times. Thanks to Proplate, Dynapac can stay one step ahead in development.
FOCUSING ON THE CORE BUSINESS
Proplate has been one of Dynapac’s main suppliers of cut metal plate since 1997. Until recently Dynapac carried out the time-consuming task of preparing the metal plates for assembly – cutting, drilling, welding and painting – itself. Thanks to Proplate Machining, Dynapac can now concentrate on its core business: making the world’s leading construction machinery.
“Dynapac was an early adopter and saw the benefits of machining. Their requirement was a clear indication that spurred us on to invest in Proplate Machining,” says Hans-Åke Andersson, Business Development Manager at Proplate.
Proplate could offer by far the best price, quality and delivery times. Delivery of the first prototypes began in summer 2011. In 2012, Proplate and Dynapac will further intensify their collaboration. Lars Diener is the Strategic Head of Purchasing at Dynapac:
“It’s a smooth process that fits in perfectly with our streamlining of the assembly lines. Our engineers design the parts and deliver the drawings to Proplate, which then handles all product development and delivers the products to us.”
GREAT DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL
“There is tremendous development potential for this type of service,” says Lars. Hans-Åke agrees:
“Demand is increasing. The market is tough and places strict demands on prices and lead times. Letting us take care of the machining brings several interconnecting advantages, such as shorter lead times, a more efficient process and more competitive pricing.”
Furthermore, new aspects have been added to the products which weren’t there to the same extent before, according to Lars:
“The final finish and appearance, for instance. They have to look attractive. These requirements are increasing all the time, and thanks to Proplate we can stay one step ahead in development.”
MORE THAN JUST MONEY
There are more values in good business than just prices and lead times, says Lars.
“Prices and times are the framework around which we build the business, and Proplate is extremely professional and skilled. But business is more than just money. It’s about being able to build a long-term relationship with the customer and about good communication. Proplate is responsive and understands the requirements we place on our suppliers, our own products and the production process.”
Hans-Åke Andersson comments that Proplate Machining has got off to an excellent start:
“Dynapac is an important customer for us. They are one of the world’s leading manufacturers of construction machinery – machines with extremely high demands on quality and finish. The fact we are delivering to them says something about our own ability and expertise.”


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Uber merges with taxi app Yandex in Russia
The taxi-app Uber brings its activities in Russia, Azerbaijan, belarus and Kazakhstan in a new company that, together with the Russian search giant Yandex is set up.
That the companies announced on Thursday. Uber gets a minority interest 36.6 percent in the new company, with a valuation of 3.8 billion dollar (3.3 billion euro). The share of Uber is $ 1.4 billion worth.
Previously nudged Uber also all of its Chinese operations to competitor Didi Chuxing. Uber got a share of 17.5 percent in that company, with a valuation of $ 50 billion.
In an e-mail to Uber-staff, writes Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, head of the European branch of Uber, the company in the past three years, 170 million dollars invested for 21 towns in four countries. Uber puts out a further 225 million dollars in the new company and all the staff of Uber Russia moves along.
“This deal is a result of our exceptional growth in the region and will help Uber continue to build a sustainable global company,” says Gore-Coty.
Yandex is in Russia, a lot bigger than Uber; the company is in more than one hundred cities asset with a similar taxi app.
Also the activities of bezorgingsdienst UberEats be included in the joint venture. Consumers in Russia, the Uber app continue to use it. Drivers will be transferred to the app from Yandex.
With the deals in China and Russia seems to be Uber’s most loss-making parts like punches. The company has its losses in the past quarters and reduce, to 708 million dollars in the first quarter of the year.
In the past months, Uber had to deal with several scandals, which eventually led to the departure of director Travis Kalanick. His replacement is still being sought.


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Sir: Despite great work from the industry on combating food waste, domestic waste continues to be a major concern.
The Waste & Resources Action Programme WRAP estimate that it equates to 7.2 billion tonnes each year, with milk waste a particular area for concern. Tetra Pak recently commissioned research showing eight in 10 British consumers are throwing milk away because it has gone off before they can use it all.
Confusion over correct storage and the role of packaging, as well as misconceptions over long-life alternatives, continue to be major barriers. Our findings show almost half of consumers don’t fully understand what long-life milk is. More than 80% don’t know it’s best to chill it before you drink it.
Almost half of all food waste in the UK comes from domestic sources, so educating consumers on simple changes to cut waste must be a priority.
Andrew Smith, marketing manager, Tetra Pak


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Do new FDA actions endanger your favorite cheese?
Chicago cheese lovers looking for some traditional French cheeses may be out of luck this year.
“There are certain cheeses we simply aren't seeing at all at the moment, like Morbier,” says Greg O’Neil co-owner of Pastoral Cheese Bread & Wine in Lakeview and the Loop. “This is unfortunate, because it is a classic and a mover.”
Newly enforced federal guidelines have stopped many types of imported raw milk cheeses--including Morbier and Roquefort-- at the border in the last six months due to levels of non-toxigenic E. coli.
So what’s wrong with non-toxigenic E. coli?
WBEZ asked the Food and Drug Administration and a representative sent this:
“While these bacteria don’t cause illness, their presence suggests that the cheese was produced in unsanitary conditions.”
This statement runs contrary to 2009 draft guidance by the FDA stating:
“Because of the close association of raw milk with the animal environment, low levels of Escherichia coli may be present in raw milk or products made from raw milk, even when properly produced using GMPs. However, the presence of Escherichia coli in a cheese and cheese product made from raw milk at a level greater than 100 MPN/g (Most Probable Number per gram) indicates insanitary conditions…”
And so if, according to this 2009 FDA draft, non toxigenic E. coli numbers under 100 MPN can occur in raw milk cheeses under GMP (good manufacturing practices), why did the FDA move in 2010 to lower that number by 90 percent for all dairy?
That’s a question the American Cheese Society posed to the FDA last week.
“We want to know if there is research data, linkages to foodborne illnesses or a public health risk,” said ACS executive director Nora Weiser. “Because it’s important for us to know if that exists and if that is why they have lowered this standard.”
But, as of press time, the agency said it was still working on an explanation for its 2010 guideline.
The American Cheese Society is not the only entity cheesed off by the recent enforcement of the guidelines. Chicagoist writer Erika Kubick detailed her concern here. And the Cheese Importers Association of America is gearing up to confront the FDA soon.
“The CIAA would like to reinforce our concern that the FDA is taking regulatory action without recognizing the historic safety of imported cheeses like Roquefort," the organization said in a statement. "We completely agree that food safety is at the forefront of this decision. However, as was have done with the wood board aging issue, the FDA is promoting regulation without taking all factors into consideration. This action was discussed at the recent CIAA board meeting, and our concerns will be communicated to the FDA shortly.”
If the presence of non-toxigenic E. coli in raw milk cheese posed a threat to American health, certainly the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would know about it, right? Well, not really.
The CDC had nothing on its website about the bacteria so WBEZ contacted CDC press officer Christine Pearson. She said she would try to get some information on non-toxigenic E. coli but didn’t have an easy time of it.
She wrote back saying: “I heard back from one of my experts that nontoxigenic is not a term that we use.” Follow up questions last Friday remained unanswered.
This lack of clarity and explanation isn’t just affecting cheese imports. It also prompted award-winning Uplands Wisconsin cheesemaker Andy Hatch to skip making his famous Rush Creek Reserve raw milk cheese this fall.
“I’m intimidated by the lack of consensus or clarity,” Hatch told WBEZ’s Chewing the Fat food podcast. “I think most cheesemakers are saying the same thing. We’re not exactly sure how they’re approaching these cheeses...And it’s also so perishable so that if anything should hold up shipment, the window for sale is really tight, and so one little hiccup and you’ve spoiled months of work.”
International cheesemakers whose products have been “Red Listed” by the non-toxigenic E. coli guidelines have already been hurt by this hiccup. The questions remains, why?
Consumers who want to comment on the FDA rules can still do so here.
WBEZ will stay on this story and update it when the FDA responds to the American Cheese Society on the problems posed by exceeding 10 MPN per gram of non-toxigenic E. coli in raw milk cheese.
Monica Eng is a WBEZ producer and co-host of the Chewing The Fat podcast. Follow her at @monicaeng or write to her at email@example.com


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Bettina Hemmes, sister of pub baron Justin Hemmes, has splashed out on a magnificent beach house in one of Sydney’s most sought after postcodes.
The attractive fashion designer who enjoys a low profile compared to her 49-year-old billionaire brother, was rumoured to have spent $7 million on the purchase, reports The Daily Telegraph.
Located at Palm Beach, nearly 40kms from Sydney’s CBD, the beautiful property, originally built in the 1930s, covers 1170sq m.
Million-dollar view: Palm Beach as seen from the patio of Bettina Hemmes new property – a beautiful Palm Beach weekender rumoured to be worth approximately $7 million
Described as ‘rustic’ the dazzling spread offers panoramic ocean views, a holiday atmosphere and spacious living.
The kitchen has managed to retain a bit of early 20th century charm, since the stove is an electric Kooka, a famous brand and today, something of a collector’s item.
Other features include a large patio and combined dining area with ocean outlook, and a huge living room.
The resort style main bedrooms offers plenty of light, and balcony access.
Dynasty: Fashion designer Bettina, with pub baron Justin and their father, John Hemmes as seen on the red carpet at the Ivy in 2012
The Daily Telegraph reports that no price details have emerged from Bettina’s sale. The last bid on the property was for $6.5 million, before Bettina managed to seal the deal.
Average house prices in Palm Beach, a destination long-prized amongst celebrity’s and artists, is $5.7 million, according to realeaste.com.
Meanwhile, Bettina’s brother, Justin made it into the headlines once more last month.
Holiday life: Visitors can dine outside or relax on the verandah
Resort style: One of the gorgeous bedrooms inside Bettina’s new purchase at Palm Beach
Rustic charm: Old style cooking inside the Palm Beach weekender includes a genuine antique – an early electric Kooka
The guru behind the massive Merivale hospitality brand threw a party worth $1 million for his staff.
The shindig was held at Justin’s popular Sydney CBD nightclub The Ivy, lasted a whopping 12 hours and, with the 49-year-old Merivale CEO pictured joining the fun.
‘It was a mini-festival. Thousands of staff all having an amazing time, it was incredible,’ Hemmes told The Daily Telegraph.
Time to party! Justin Hemmes (pictured) threw a whopping party for his staff at his popular Sydney CBD nightclub The Ivy last month which cost a whopping $1 million


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Photo by Sam Johnson
A diverse crowd of people in hoodies, snapbacks and other kinds of streetwear lined up Saturday for nearly three blocks on Haight Street, hoping for a chance at free tickets to a secret all-ages rap concert.
Those in line were waiting to get into the Pink+Dolphin Clothing store, located at 1431 Haight St. The first 400 customers had the chance to get exclusive free tickets to a secret all-ages concert on Saturday night, along with purchasing limited-offer clothing, and meeting rapper Iamsu! and the rest of Heartbreak Gang.
Dedicated fans of the clothing store and artists were determined to take advantage of this one-time opportunity.
Chris Dominichi, 20, and Lofe Sanchez, 15, residents of Ripon, located more than 80 miles east of San Francisco, Calif., waited for 26 hours to get into the store.
“The atmosphere was very humble,” Dominichi said. “We saw a lot of crazy things, like a bum breakdancing.”
It wasn’t unexpected, as they slept Friday night in sleeping bags in lawn chairs on the sidewalk to guarantee their spot.
Dominichi and Sanchez were there for both the “rare pieces” of clothing and the tickets, while Adrien Elias, a 17-year-old from Oakland, was there mostly to meet the artists.


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Remember that adventure game about the stoned detective koala? As it turns out, the creator of that game has had an interesting little journey, one that’s led them to a new indie title about being a pop star.
STONE was one of those games that revelled in its weirdness, so much so that a local brewer made their own Dank Black IPA for it. But what’s especially interesting is what happened to the game’s creator.
But despite not finding much of an audience, the game’s expat Australian creator ended up joining Housemarque a couple of months after STONE released. From there, they ended up becoming the cinematic and narrative director for PS5 exclusive Returnal, which was easily one of the best games this year.
But Greg Lounden isn’t done with indie development, as it turns out. His latest project, unveiled through the [email protected] YouTube account, is a new narrative adventure called BURN. There’s some interesting options hinted in the trailer, like starting a cult or turning into a monster.
The official Steam page says BURN will have over 16 endings, with the game panning out over three different time periods. Here’s the official description:
BURN is a pop star tragedy told over 16 endings that on replaying with different choices you can unlock the full story and endings. BURN follows Nina BURN, a Finnish pop star over 3 Acts from her DEBUT at 16, ESTABLISHMENT at 24 and CLIMAX at 27 via shuffled moments from her life which give insight into Nina on every replay. BURN’s story is adapted every play where your dialogue choices change Nina’s style, her dialogue, the musical score and results in a GOOD, BAD or UGLY ending from 16 potential outcomes.
Sounds interesting. There’s more info over on the Steam page here, which says the game is aiming for a 2022 release date.