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How Blockchain can Provide a Better Grocery Shopping Experience
Although supermarket grocery retailers provide value in the form of convenience and choice, the blockchain could make their value redundant.
According to retail technology strategist Deborah Weinswig, the US grocery sector is expected to reach $1 trillion dollars by 2020. The estimate suggests that the majority of growth will come from online sources.
Unfortunately, in most countries, oligopolies run the supermarket industry.
Across the pond in the UK, the big four supermarkets control 50-80 percent of the grocery market. In Australia, the average markup for fresh food is 47 percent, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. In Canada, this is especially poignant after grocery store Loblaws was caught in a multi-year bread price-fixing scheme.
These price markups, inefficient supply chains, and price-fixing behavior lead to higher costs for the consumer. Blockchain technology has the ability to circumvent these issues and offer lower costs with more choices by directly connecting grocery manufacturers to consumers.
The problem with supermarket retailers
Despite the advantages of a supermarket, the Social Market Foundation, a UK independent public policy think tank launched a report on the concentration of UK consumer markets which indicated a strong dissatisfaction with the grocery oligopoly from the general public.
While there is some competition in the market, according to the UK’s Office of Fair Trading, there have been instances in 2002-2003, where price fixing has cost consumers around 270 million pounds.
Although price fixing is illegal, laws and punishments have not stopped supermarkets from creating monopolistic pricing schemes in the past.
Just recently in Canada, for instance, George Weston, owner of Loblaws, admitted to a fourteen-year-long coordinated bread pricing scheme. During the price fix, the consumer price index for bread, rolls, and buns during the 2000s increased 96 percent. While the company paid a $25 million fine, Phillippe Wojazer from Reuters commented that coordination in the grocery industry is fairly common.
Even without price-fixing behaviour, supermarkets require markups to profit from each item. According to Daily Finance, the average markup varies widely. The markup on canned goods is at 26 percent while bottled water can be as much as 1,000 percent. While it is an extremely low margin industry, supermarket retailers profit on average 2-6 percent. Given this, a mere 0.5 percent would be significant to every party from the supplier, manufacturer, and consumer.
Despite the value supermarkets provide, there are multiple issues that come along with it. Blockchain technology could deliver the same value without the additional issues.
From push to pull through blockchain
With the rapid development of blockchain technology, consumers will be able to buy everyday products at lower prices direct from manufacturers.
Blockchain technology can, therefore, shift the grocery industry from a push into a pull-based system. Supermarkets currently follow a ‘push-based’ approach where they ‘push’ the supply of products which consumers see and purchase. A ‘pull system,’ on the other hand, is where supply follows consumer demand.
In a decentralized ecosystem, every manufacturer controls their products, pricing, and listings. Manufacturers then receive aggregated customer requests. Afterwards, manufacturers deliver orders to smart distribution centers and couriers deliver orders to customers.
One such example is Moscow-based INS, a blockchain-based startup in the grocery world. They recently raised 60,000 Ether (USD 41.5 million) in a public token sale in 2017.
Cryptocurrency News Site The Merkle recently reported that INS has also attracted interested manufacturers like Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, Valio, and MARS.
The elephant in the blockchain grocery store: scalability
Blockchains may have the potential to remove supermarkets as the middleman in the upcoming years. However, a blockchain based network is currently not scalable.
When it comes to grocery and supply chains, a lot of information needs to be transferred in a very short amount of time. The transfer of misinformation would create a poor customer experience, while significant delays can be problematic since groceries are highly perishable.
Blockchain in its current incarnation, though, wouldn’t stand up to the challenge; there are currently too many limitations in the technology. For instance, the energy requirements would be so great that this blockchain alternative would be highly inefficient and ineffective today.
Even though INS, for instance, plans to launch internationally in 2018, it may be a while until a full rollout occurs without a scalable blockchain.
In the meantime, large retailers like Walmart and Kroger are working with IBM and their blockchain network to strengthen food safety in the supply chain. They are testing blockchain technology to trace foodborne illnesses to their source. This process usually takes weeks with traditional record keeping but now takes seconds with blockchain technology. Walmart has already run two successful blockchain pilots with IBM: one tracing Chinese and pork and the other tracing Mexican Mangoes.
While it may take years before manufacturers sell direct to consumers, supermarkets are currently taking advantage of the benefits of blockchain technology. Whether or not blockchain will wholly disrupt supermarkets, though, is currently dependent on blockchain’s ability to scale and grow.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
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FEBRUARY 22, 2021
In April 2020, softwood lumber prices rested at $350 per thousand board feet. Ten months later, that price is now $975 per thousand board feet, bringing the average price of a new home to $24,386 higher, according to estimates from the National Association of Home Builders. These estimates include lumber used for structural framing, sheathing, flooring, interior walls, cabinets, doors, decking, and more. While the average price of new single-family homes has increased greatly, the market value of an average new multifamily home increased by $8,998.
The softwood products considered include lumber of various dimensions (including any that may be appearance grade or pressure treated for outdoor use), plywood, OSB, particleboard, fiberboard, shakes and shingles — in short, any of the products sold by U.S. sawmills and tracked on a weekly basis by Random Lengths.

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Global crisis pushes Canadian economy into trouble
While most of the economic pundits in South Asia are raising fingers at Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for the current economic hardship and foreign exchange scarcity, according to media reports, almost all the global economies, including the Canadian economy are already in deep crisis. Amid such situation, Canada’s finance minister Chyrstia Freeland has some expert financial advice for Canadians who are struggling to manage their budgets amid high inflation rates. But Freeland’s advice is being mocked by most of her political opponents as well as a significant portion of Canadians.
In her recent statement, Chyrstia Freeland said, those who are unable to afford their mortgages, rent, school tuition, energy bills (plus the enormous carbon taxes imposed by the Trudeau government), grocery bills, etc. can simply cancel their Disney Plus accounts to cope with the financial woes the Trudeau government has created.
Freeland’s jaw-dropping comment, coming from someone who makes a six-digit salary, is an indication of how clueless the Leftist elites are, and how uncaring they are about the poor, while pretending to be their advocates.
The tweets capture the many levels of absurdity and insult embedded within Freeland’s comment, including the fact that Freeland unilaterally decided for her own older kids and other older Canadian kids that “you’re older now, you don’t want to watch Disney anymore, let’s cut that Disney Plus subscription”. Never mind the fact that Disney includes other packages for older kids and adults. As an aside, there is no sympathy here for Disney, a woke organization that was dealt a public blow by its fellow Leftist Freeland.
The Trudeau government has created Canada’s troubled economy through its lavish spending and COVID mandate overreach, which led to the Freedom Convoy. Freeland was also the one to announce the totalitarian-style freezing of the bank accounts of those linked to the protests.
Some headlines about how the Trudeau government wrecked Canada’s economy:
Trudeau and Biden double down on efforts to destroy our economy
Trudeau government weakened Canada’s economy well before COVID-19
Trudeau government has pushed federal spending to the highest level in Canadian history
Trudeau inherited a rich Canada and turned it into an economic mess in just 6 years
Trudeau Who Killed Canada, Now Seeking To Kill Nationalism
Trudeau government ignores dreary economic numbers
The list goes on. And watch now as Freeland dodges a question from CTV news about her Disney Plus comments, and instead clumsily insults struggling Canadians even more, in the most patronizing and cringeworthy manner:
“Chrystia Freeland’s Disney+ comments upset Canadians: ‘Insulting on multiple levels,’” by Elianna Lev, Yahoo News, November 7, 2022:
Canadians are puzzled by a comment made by Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, in which she offered a personal example of a way she’s cutting back on spending for her family amid soaring inflation and rising prices.
Speaking in an interview with Global News, Chrystia Freeland touched on topics like inflation, the spike in cost of living and what the Liberal government is doing to help during these exceptionally challenging times.
Freeland acknowledged Canadians are looking closely at the way they’re spending and offered an example of one way her family is cutting back on monthly expenses.
“I personally, as a mother and wife, look carefully at my credit card bill once a month,” she said. “And last Sunday, I said to the kids, ‘you’re older now. You don’t watch Disney anymore. Let’s cut that Disney+ subscription. So we cut it. It’s only $13.99 a month that we’re saving, but every little bit helps.”
Many on social media took issue with that comment, describing it as tone-deaf and out of touch, considering her salary is in the six digits.Share this:Like this:Like Loading... Recommended for you:


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Google Drops Play Store Commission to 15% for Most Developers
Following the launch of Apple's "App Store Small Business Program" a few months ago, Google today followed suit by also halving its app store commission from 30 to 15 percent for smaller developers. Starting July 1, 2021, Google will only take 15% for all digital goods or services sold on the Google Play platform for the first $1 million. Revenues above $1 million for any given developer will continue to see a 30% commission. Apple's program differs in that businesses must apply to a special program to receive the 15% rate, and are only eligible if they earn $1 million or less in annual proceeds. Google's 15% rate applies to the first $1 million in revenue automatically, regardless of company size.
Feb 10, 2022
Google today released Android 13 Developer Preview 1, with several new features that consumers can expect to see in Android 13 in the second half of this year. First, a new " photo picker " will let the system sit between apps and the user's content library, enhancing privacy.
Jun 6, 2022
Apple today announced iOS 16, the next version of its core software for iPhones. The new OS features a major revamp of the Lock Screen with new personalization, including font & color options, and widgets that are similar to complications on the Apple Watch.
Jan 8, 2021
Motorola today unveiled a full lineup of four new affordable phones, including three g-series models ranging from $169 – $299 and one 5G model for $399. All four feature large batteries (4,000 – 5,000 mAh) and large displays (6.5 – 6.8 inches).
May 4, 2021
As part of its quarterly earnings report today, T-Mobile provided an update on its 5G rollout and Sprint customer migration. The company's faster "Ultra Capacity" 5G network — the bulk of which relies on 2.5 GHz mid-band radio frequencies — now covers 140 million people and is on track to cover 200 million by the end of 2021.
Jun 30, 2021
T-Mobile's new REVVL V+ 5G will offer 5G for just $200 on both T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile this July. The T-Mobile-branded REVVL V+ 5G follows the REVVL 5G, which broke new ground by offering 5G for just $400 when it launched a little less than a year ago.


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Brazilian regulator Anatel has confirmed that 9 companies have registered to bid in its upcoming multi-band auction.
Unused spectrum is available in several bands, including 1.8GHz, 1.9GHz and 2.5GHz. The 9 companies interested in these frequencies are Claro, Clivo Participacoes, Lig Telecomunicacoes, Nextel, Sercomtel, Sky, Telefonica, Tim and TPA Telecomunicacoes. Bidding commences on December 17.
Anatel has divided the available frequencies into 3 lots, and these firms will bid on the spectrum contained in the A and B lots. Participants do not need to register interest in order to bid for the C lot, which is expected to attract small and medium municipal providers.
The Brazilian Association of Internet and Telecommunications Service Providers has called for the auction to be postponed, claiming that participants may be deterred as there is inadequate preparation time between the auction notice being published and the auction being conducted.
4G spectrum in the 700MHz was auctioned off in Brazil last year; however the auctions did not bring in as much revenue as predicted, since only 3 of the country’s 4 nationwide operators joined the bidding.


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Welcome to the Kbsa Press Office featuring articles relevant to the home interiors industry. In this section you will find details of the Kbsa Press Office, features, press packs and press releases.
The Kitchen, Bathroom & Bedroom Specialists Association (Kbsa) are pleased to announce that they will have a number of retail members present to provide advice…
The Kbsa has announced today that Sales and Marketing Director Ruth Ward has resigned due to personal circumstances.
Ruth joined the Kbsa in January 2007…
The Kbsa has welcomed the relief offered to businesses facing huge hikes in their business rates. Newly appointed chair of the Kbsa Richard Hibbert said,…
The Kbsa has announced the appointment of a new chair for retail members with Richard Hibbert taking over the role from Tina Riley.
The Kbsa is pleased to announce the date of the 2017 AGM & National Meeting, which will take place on Tuesday 03 October in Stratford…


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343 Industries has revealed that both Halo 2 and its highly regarded remaster will be the next part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection to be released on PC, and some players in the Halo Insider Program won’t have to wait long to experience it.
In the company’s latest development update, it announced that the next series of PC test flights are on the way. It will include content for Halo 2, Halo 2 Anniversary, and Halo: Reach‘s Forge and Theater modes. Some fixes to Halo: Reach audio issues are also on the way, although it might miss the next date. All of the content is expected to go out at the end of March if development goes as planned.
The developer does reiterate though that it might not all go according to schedule. “If we remember back to earlier this year, we aimed to start flighting in January, but it ended up rolling into February when those kicked off,” 343 Industries explained. “Please be patient as we want to get these out as quickly as possible, but in development: things happen.”
If one wants to check out the flight of Halo 2, they’ll have to join the Halo Insider Program. This allows diehard fans to get test builds of titles and for the development team to get needed feedback. The studio notes that the builds are often “rough around the edges” as they’re a work-in-progress rather than the final build everyone gets to see. Those that sign up for the program can get an invite to this test, although it isn’t a guarantee.


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We’ve got a few months to figure out how to organize our lives without the plastic grocery bags and foam take-out containers that are mostly banned under a new Colorado law, and in Denver, a 10 cent fee on disposable bags began Thursday.
You might think Coloradans were environmentally savvy enough to reduce our dependence on single-use and toxic plastics without a legislative mandate, but you would be wrong.
Every day, Coloradans use an estimated 4.6 million single-use plastic bags and 1.2 million polystyrene cups, according to the Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG). Every. Single. Day.
OK, that estimate is based on national statistics that show the country’s per capita bag use at 306 a year and our per capita foam cup use at 82 a year. Even if you believe Colorado is a greener than the average state (doubtful given our dismal recycling rates) and cut that usage in half it still is appalling.
We need the law — House Bill 1162. We need the 2019 action by Kroger (parent company of King Soopers and City Market) to phase out plastic bag use nationwide by 2025. We need Vail Resorts to fulfill its promise to send zero waste to landfills by 2030, among other sustainability pledges.
We all must give up our lazy addiction to harmful plastics in the name of convenience.
The question now is what will we use in place of these things, and the answer in some cases, sadly, is not straightforward.
BYOB – Bring your own bag(s)
The options for replacing single-use plastic shopping bags, however, are simple: pay 10-cents for a paper bag or bring your own bag.
Natural Grocers ditched plastic bags more than a decade ago and estimates that it’s kept more the 300 million of them from polluting the environment. They do provide easily recyclable cardboard boxes for those who don’t bring their own bag or box.
The hordes of Costco shoppers don’t seem to mind that even their smallest purchases simply get loaded back in their shopping cart (or a bag or box they’ve provided). They figure out how to transfer into their vehicle and then their home.
The first change will come Sept. 1, when stores must charge customers at least 10-cents for a recycled paper bag or single-use plastic bag. The bill has a confusing array of dates by which stores must use up their existing stock of plastic bags, so you might see different options at different stores.
They can continue to offer paper bags, for at least 10-cents each. And, no they are not just as bad as plastic. Those arguments were debunked long ago.
There’s also a confusing number of exceptions, including for such things as bags used for produce or at bulk bins and for “small stores.” While I’m at it, the bill also has a confusing list of definitions that sometimes seem to contradict each other.
My fault, I suppose. I should have enlisted a lawyer and a petrochemical engineer to read it with me. Instead, I went through half a package of cheese curds.
Regardless, we can avoid the confusion of who can and can’t use plastic bags by avoiding them altogether.
Grocery stores, nonprofits and community organizations have been giving away reusable shopping bags for more than a decade, so you should have a nice collection by now. Corral them in one (reusable) bag and put them in your vehicle so you’ll always have one with you.
Throw in a handful of widely available reusable (or rinsed and dried) produce bags and a canvas wine bag for bottles (wine or other large glass jars).
After you carry groceries or other items you’ve purchased inside, return the bag to your car. It takes, literally, a minute. Or put it with your keys or on the doorknob so it goes back out on the next trip.
Use them everywhere — the grocery store, the farmer’s market, department stores, wherever.
It takes a month or so to get accustomed to the routine, and then you’re suddenly saying “why wasn’t I doing this all along?”
A plastic world
When I delve into the world of plastics, pondering what’s recyclable, what might leech toxic chemicals into my food or coffee why we’ve so willingly embraced single-use plastics, I inevitably think of the classic scene from “It’s A Wonderful Life” where Sam Wainwright tries to convince George Bailey to invest his cash into plastics to get in on the ground floor.
George famously says he doesn’t want any plastics or ground floors. He wants what he wants.
I think it’s his frustration that resonates with me: I want the use, reuse and recyclability of plastic to be simple.
And it’s just not.
Plastic may not be inherently evil, but our use and abuse of it have taken a terrible environmental toll.
I’m happy that as of Jan. 1 — just six months from now — take-out dinners in Colorado won’t come in “expanded polystyrene” containers. What we call Styrofoam. They contain styrene, which was labeled a probable carcinogen in 2018 by the World Health Organization.
It is also difficult to recycle.
Plenty of restaurants have switched to other carry-out containers in recent years, but they aren’t all easily recyclable or compostable, even if they’re labeled as such.
The good news is that the world of sustainable packaging is evolving rapidly and takes into account the entire life cycle of a packaging product, said Kelly Cramer, who leads the How2Recycle program within the Sustainable Packaging Coalition and is director of Program Management at GreenBlue.
Cramer, who’s based in Denver, said Coloradans are most likely to see foam containers replaced with clear PET (#1 plastic) clamshells, black PET trays with clear PET lids, polypropylene (PP – or #5 plastic) tubs with lids, molded fiber clamshells, paper cups with plastic lids and compostable plastic trays or containers.
In Denver, many of these products are recyclable or compostable, but you still must pay attention to what bin you’re putting things in. And food containers must be rinsed, as grease and food residue can contaminate the whole bin.
Compostable materials are not recyclable, and many must be processed by commercial composting companies. There is a fair number around Colorado, but they’re not everywhere. Check with your local trash and recycling company or find one on this list.
Backyard composting bins generally do not generate enough heat to break down compostable plastics, which are labeled with #7 in a triangle with PLA underneath.
Part of the confusion that people face every time they look at the numbers and chasing arrows on a container arises because standardized recycling labels didn’t exist until about 2012. We never really learned to do things correctly.
There’s been a lot of greenwashing by companies that want you to believe they’re environmentally friendly, and wishcycling by consumers who hope everything they throw in the bin will get recycled.
The How2Recycle program is trying end that confusion and make things easier for consumers. The labels clearly tell what part of packaging is recyclable and how it should be recycled. But it will take time for those labels to be on all the products we use.
Cramer says consumers absolutely should let companies know they want more sustainable packaging, and better directions on what is and is not recyclable.
Consumers aren’t the only ones who would benefit.
George Engelhardt, facilities managers at the Green For Life Recycling center in Colorado Springs, said they are constantly sorting out things that can’t be recycled. But he understands the confusion, and the desire of people to want to do the right thing.
His facility is where my recycling goes, and he explained why a #6 plastic is not always recyclable, even though they take #1 through #7.
The #6 is that polystyrene plastic that when expanded becomes a Styrofoam-like material. But there’s also the rigid #6 plastic that includes such things as hard CD cases.
The GFL facility takes those rigid #6 plastics, along with rigid #3, #4 and #7, processes them and bales them up. Last year he sold them at a loss, he says.
He’d rather see more of the plastics they can sell (the Colorado Springs facility sells only in-state), such as #1, #2 and #5. Or cardboard and paper and aluminum.
Those PET take-out containers are recyclable, consumers simply must do their part and clean out the food residue.
And as for those plastic bags, he and other recyclers are thrilled to see them gone. They do nothing but tangle in the machines.
It takes work
Right about now I’m longing for the days when burgers and take-out sandwiches got wrapped in piece of waxed paper and stuffed in a paper bag. The days when we took our own regular (not disposable) dishes to the church potluck and brought them home to wash.
Or when we went out to eat and my Mom carefully wrapped an uneaten sandwich or dinner roll in a napkin and carried it home to wrap up. There were no expanded styrene take-away boxes available. There were no single-use plastic bags at the grocery store.
Which of course shows that we can — and must for the sake of the planet — live without them. We made the mess; we must do the work to clean it up.
Sue McMillin is a long-time Colorado reporter and editor who worked for The Gazette and Durango Herald. Now a regular columnist for The Denver Post and a freelance writer, she lives in Cañon City. Email her at email@example.com.
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Discover more from Always Be Curious
Always Be Curious #180: AI consciousness, Tesla's supercomputer, and Mexico's microchip advantage
This week in ABC: AI coverage is all over this ABC, we take a look at Tesla's new supercomputer, and Foreign Affairs labels Mexico as the logical US partner in chip production.
📅 Due to an upcoming holiday break, the next ABC will publish Sun 17 Sept
There are weeks that I feel like ABC is becoming AIBC! 🤯 There’s so much stuff happening in AI and driving all that crazy innovation is raw computing power. You can clearly see that in the two main sections of my newsletter. In “The round-up in sci-tech”, you'll find some of the applications of AI: generative AI, European start-up Aleph Alpha in the spotlight, an AI that won a drone race, a checklist for AI consciousness based on neuroscience. In “This week in chips”, you’ll find the back-end of it all: the computing power, GPU clusters, and supercomputers that are making all these applications possible. And that’s exactly what I set out to create some four years ago. A way to see the link between what goes on in the chip industry and what that leads to in your every-day life. 🙏
Have a good week, stay safe and sound,
Thanks for reading Always Be Curious! Subscribe for free and join the curious clan on Sunday mornings. ☕🥐
👨💻The round-up in sci-tech💡
Computational rules might describe the evolution of the cosmos better than the dynamical equations of physics — but only if they are given a quantum twist.
Analysis shows that mini jets of gas help to generate the solar wind, a discovery that also illuminates how our star's activity damages satellites.
The European Union is desperate for its own artificial intelligence giant. German startup Aleph Alpha might be its best hope.
A checklist derived from six neuroscience-based theories of consciousness could aid in the assessment.
From steam power to the internet, there has always been a lag between technology invention and adoption across industries and the economy.
🎓 We used A.I. to write essays for Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Here’s how it went. (The New York Times)
A.I. chatbots can do a passable job of generating short essays. Whether their use on college applications is ethical is the subject of fierce debate.
Companies using AI to generate fake people are committing an immoral act of vandalism, and should be held liable.
An autonomous, AI-piloted drone named Swift beat three human drone racing champions in 15 out of 25 races.
🤓This week in chips⚠
Tesla has unveiled its brand new $300 Million supercomputer powered by 10,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs for its self-driving automobile goals.
Interesting piece! “The right way to shift the semiconductor supply chain away from China.”
Arm has achieved indispensable status: 13 million software engineers write code that runs on its chips, and it sits at the heart of the iPhone while remaining largely in the background. Now it is coming into public view with a planned blockbuster public listing in America, reports James Ashton.
Arm is targeting a valuation between $50 billion to $55 billion for its much-awaited initial public offering (IPO), ahead of its roadshow with investors next week, according to people familiar with the matter.
Taiwanese microchip manufacturer TSMC blames struggle to build Phoenix plant on skilled labor shortage but workers cite disorganization and safety concerns.
“Blaming American workers for problems with this project is as offensive to American workers as it is inaccurate,” Butler wrote. “TSMC is blaming its construction delays on American workers and using that as an excuse to bring in foreign workers who they can pay less.”
It is being said by industry sources that Intel for now can achieve a maximum output of 365,000 Meteor Lake CPU tiles per month.
🇺🇸 Nvidia, beware! IBM has a new analog AI chip that could give the H100 a run for its money (TechRadar)
The 14nm analog chip mimics the human brain and is up to 14 times more efficient than leading GPUs.
🇺🇸 Google's new A3 GPU supercomputer with Nvidia H100 GPUs will be generally available next month (TechCrunch)
Despite their $30,000+ price, Nvidia's H100 GPUs are a hot commodity -- to the point where they are typically back-ordered.
🇨🇳 China exploring ways to make its own AI memory chips despite US sanctions (South China Morning Post)
China is exploring how to make its own versions of the next-generation memory chips tailored for artificial intelligence (AI) processors, despite headwinds from US sanctions, sources said.
📈By the numbers📉
At least, for a large chip.
Intel may overtake Samsung as the world's second largest contract chipmaker as early as 2024, trailing only TSMC, according to industry sources.
Python and SQL are on top, but old languages shouldn’t be forgotten.
❤For the love of tech❤
Always love comparisons. 😎 Ahead of Apple’s next product launch event in September, this shows an aspect of smartphone innovation. These devices have come a long way—and are nowhere near done! Credits: @theapplecycle
Always Be Curious is the personal newsletter of Sander Hofman, Senior Creative Content Strategist at ASML. Opinions expressed in this curated newsletter are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.


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More ways to keep up with the latest news from Polk County Public Schools:
The faculty and staff at Westwood Middle School were recently granted the opportunity to wear jeans to school if they donated five non-perishable items each. All food items went to a local non-profit that helps families struggling during the Holiday season.
A few staff members took the thoughtful gesture a step further and offered to sponsor some of the families for Christmas by providing gifts of clothing, jackets, shoes, and books for the children of the families.
After the items were collected, students helped organize and package the items for delivery.


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RadioShack HTC One Ad Reveals $50 Google Play Bonus And $199 Sprint Pricing
RadioShack wireless service kicks off
RadioShack appears to be gearing up to launch their own wireless service, according to leaked screenshots
LG Enlighten dummies hit RadioShack, launch is imminent
White HTC EVO 3D at RadioShack
Google Wallet services with RadioShack starting 1st September?
HTC EVO 3D simulator online on RadioShack
HTC EVO 3D available June 24 at RadioShack
HTC EVO 3D priced $200 at the RadioShack
HTC EVO 3D now ready for pre-order
T-Mobile Sidekick 4G arriving on April 20?
RadioShack to sell the HTC EVO Shift 4G on Jan 6th
Radioshack ad confirms HTC EVO Shift 4G will be priced at $150
RadioShack To Offer The T-Mobile G2 From October 3rd
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As Facebook parent company Meta Platforms gets involved in more and more businesses, the company is acquiring more and more companies. Recently, Meta has acquired another startup.
Meta has acquired Lofelt, a Germany-based haptic feedback technology startup, a few weeks ago, but Meta only made the acquisition public in an interview today, The Wall Street Journal reported today.
Lofelt had previously developed tools for haptic feedback technology in mobile and PlayStation 5 games, but the company announced in July that it was discontinuing support for those products. It is reported that Meta acquired Lofelt mainly to achieve Meta’s goals related to the field of virtual reality and to continue to plow deep into the metaverse experience.
The acquisition comes at a time when Meta is embroiled in a legal dispute with the Federal Trade Commission (Federal Trade Commission). In July, the FTC filed a lawsuit asking the court to block Meta’s acquisition of virtual reality fitness software developer Within Unlimited.
Yesterday, FTC lawyers said they had asked their internal court to force Meta and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, to get FTC approval before any future deal.


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Envision Racing, a Formula E racing team, has created a drivable car made from recycled electronic waste like smartphones, circuit boards, and vapes. The car is called the Formula E Gen3 Recover-E car.
The vehicle is a collaboration with artist/designer Liam Hopkins, who used e-waste donated by the company Music Magpie to design the car.
The car features repurposed LED lights on the backside, while brightly colored vapes and iPhones are spread across the front bumper. The main body of the vehicle is covered in flattened circuit boards, giving the majority of the car an eye-catching green hue. It debuted at the ExCeL in London.
Electronic waste –– which includes discarded phones, batteries, computers, vapes, and other consumer technology –– is a significant issue, as e-waste production may exceed 80 million tons by the end of the decade, according to DesignBoom.
Envision Racing launched its Race Against Climate Change campaign to help spread awareness of the issue and transition toward renewable energy. The team also encourages fans to build their own cars out of e-waste through its Recover E-Waste to Race program.
Electronic waste is dangerous because it often leaks into the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the soil where our food grows. Substances like lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic, which can lead to cancer, reproductive problems, and neurological damage, can be released from e-waste, according to the Geneva Environment Network.
"If the millions upon millions of Lithium batteries that are found in vapes and other products are recycled, it will dramatically reduce both the need for rare earth mineral mining and the large energy needed to create the batteries from scratch," Sylvain Filippi, the managing director and CTO of Envision Racing, said.
Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the coolest innovations improving our lives and saving our planet.


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Welcome to Beatport’s newest genre;
“Leftfield House & Techno”
With the on-going change up around Beatport, the new genre is another step towards separating commercial-leaning electronic music to more underground styles. Beatport’s newest section contains music from labels such as Hivern Disc, Hot Haus Records, No Corner & many others.
Beatport General Manager Terry Weerasinghe stated that,
“70% of the tracks sold on Beatport fall squarely in our House and Techno genres so we wanted to do something to highlight the high-quality underground releases that people could miss amongst the 25,000 new tracks that appear each week. Beatport have worked directly with smaller, boutique labels to make an area on the site which will shine a light on off-kilter, lo-fi, avant-garde house and techno.”
Beatport may have more genres to announce in the coming months to further separate commercial and underground releases.


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Boston Garage Equipment director has said he’s “surprised” by the success of the brand’s first ever range of substantial price reductions.
Most Boston models of brake testers and vehicle lifts are offered, all with over £2,000 discounts until the December 31st deadline.
Boston director, Brad Calcutt said: “We are frankly surprised at the scale of extra sales volume which apart from the vehicle lifts and braketesters, have included five new complete MOT bays, two of which were for Class 7 testing.
“It proves to us that MOT centres are acutely aware that European/UK built equipment is rarely available at the discounts we are offering, and taking full advantage of the opportunity to place orders while the Boston winter sale continues.”
With a 30-year record of continued technical advances, over 20 per cent of 22,000 UK MOT premises now use Boston Equipment.
For further information about Boston, click ‘more details’ below.


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La Palette Rouge (LPR), a division of Euro Pool Group, announces a year of significant growth within the Irish FMCG sector.
In a year dominated by the impacts of the ongoing pandemic and Brexit, LPR welcomes Irish household names including Artisan Finnebrogue, Keelings and Keogh’s and Country Crest (under the Family Business Network umbrella) to its ranks.
Bronagh Sproule, head of business development for LPR Ireland said, LPR has been active in Ireland for a number of years now, but it is great to see these hugely recognisible brands joining us. I’m looking forward to introducing many more Irish businesses to LPR”.
Diane Carroll, commercial director at LPR UK and Ireland comments “Our coverage in Ireland as a whole has continued to grow in 2021, and welcoming such identifiable names in the Irish FMCG sector to LPR is a particular highlight of the year. I’m looking forward to seeing our continued growth in 2022.”
© 2021 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Commercial Content. For more supply chain news click here. Click sign up to subscribe to Checkout.


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The combination of a weaker Canadian dollar, lower energy prices and stronger growth in key export markets are creating the ideal environment for small to mid-sized business (SMBs) to expand, a recent report from RBC Economics concludes.
The report, Doors open for Canada’s SMB exporters, found that in several industries, including information and cultural services and a number of manufacturing sectors, small to mid-sized companies represented more than 50 per cent of exports. However, overall they represent only 25 per cent of Canada’s merchandise exports, a low number compared to other advanced economies.
After peaking a decade ago, the number of SMB exporters fell by 15 per cent through 2010 and have not recovered, the report said. Despite their diminished numbers, smaller exporters earn higher average revenues and are more likely to be fast growing than their non-exporting counterparts, the report found.
“In the past decade, a number of factors, including the 2008 recession and a strong Canadian dollar, led many exporting businesses to shut down or look inward to the domestic market. But the landscape has changed to become more favourable for exporters,” Gerard Walsh, an economist at RBC, said in a release.
“Considering the upside potential for business and overall economic growth, there is an opportunity for small- and mid-sized businesses to think beyond Canadian borders again if they aren’t already.”
Here’s what RBC recommends for business owners looking to expand through exporting:
- Explore financing from a variety of sources, including government grants, commercial financing and trade credit from suppliers.
- Tap into government resources for education, export incentives and financial services, including public-sector institutions such as Export Development Canada and the Business Development Bank of Canada.
- Look for opportunities overseas. Trade agreements, including the recently concluded Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union, are providing exporters with improved access to international markets. Looking ahead, the Trans-Pacific Partnership may create new opportunities for in the Asia-Pacific region.
Why group benefits matter for small business
Small business owners should think twice before dismissing group benefit plans as expensive or hard to manage, RBC Insurance advises. It says, given the choice, 59 per cent of Canadian employees would prefer benefits over a 10 per cent salary increase. The problem is, 75 per cent of small companies with less than 100 employees don’t have a group benefits plan, John Carinci, head of group and business markets for RBC Insurance, said.
“Businesses don’t realize that group plans today are flexible, affordable and easy to manage even if you’re a business with only a few employees.”
There are plenty of ways to go about it, from full coverage with plenty of value-added offerings to a bare bones plan. Here are some ways a small business can put together an affordable plan:
- Be selective with your coverage options — basic life, health and dental insurance might be enough for your needs;
- Look for value-added services such as HR support, an employee discount program or second opinion medical services;
- Leverage options such as mandatory generic substitution on prescription drugs;
- Consider administrative-services-only plans or health-spending accounts in lieu of traditional insured benefits;
- Look into cost-splitting premiums between you and your employees.
Carinci recommends reviewing your plan every one to two years to ensure it aligns with your objectives and evolving employee needs. “There are always new features and options that come available.”
Six symptoms of destructive management
Management style matters when it comes to boosting employee morale, even for small business owners. Management and leadership consultant Shawn Murphy, CEO and founder of Switch and Shift spells out his thoughts on the subject in his recently released book The Optimistic Workplace: Creating an Environment that Energizes Everyone.
Murphy notes that destructive management can be infectious and draining for employees; and outlines six core “symptoms” to watch for:
Blind impact A leader who is unaware of how their actions, attitude and words impact others and damages any opportunity for workplace optimism.
Antisocial leadership A leader who lacks the ability to encourage, build and evolve a community of people and is often autocratic and distrustful, and sparing with praise.
Chronic change resistance A leader’s unwillingness to initiate change to help their team and/or organization remain relevant.
Profit myopia Leaders who cling to the outdated belief profit is the only success measure.
Constipated inspiration When a leader is too focused on their own needs and insecurities and gives little attention to what their employees experience at work.
Silo syndrome A leader than can’t see beyond their immediate responsibilities or how work affects employees’ family lives. (This syndrome includes seeing people merely as a role.)


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“Mr. Praline: Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I’m looking at one right now.
Owner: No no he’s not dead, he’s, he’s restin’! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn’it, ay? Beautiful plumage!”
– Monty Python
Based on a press release from the World Trade Organisation, and tweets from its Director-General Roberto Azevedo it would appear that the WTO is about to defy persistent reports of its death and come back to life with its first agreement on tariff elimination in eighteen years.
Covering a wide range of technology and IT products including new generation semi-conductors, GPS navigation equipment and medical equipment, including magnetic resonance imaging products and ultra-sonic scanning apparatus, the proposed agreement will lead to the elimination of import tariffs in a uniform and non-discriminatory manner – the [no WTO member is treated worse than the] ‘most-favoured nation’ principle. The WTO estimates that the value of trade covered by the prospective agreement amounts to USD 1 trillion.
In recent decades, the process required to reach agreement at the WTO has resulted in deadlock and an increased focus on regional trade negotiations such as TPP, in part because these are perceived as being easier to reach agreement by virtue of involving a smaller group of participants amongst whom a common goal can be agreed. Further, whilst students of David Ricardo still extol the virtues of free-trade, in recent years the WTO has come under both attack from populist anti-globalisation movements and domestic anti-trade liberalisation political pressure in many countries against trade liberalisation.
Against this backdrop, why does it now seem likely that the WTO will reach an agreement including the world’s largest trading blocs (US, China and EU) as well as much of SE Asia?The simple answer to this question is that everyone has something to gain. The reason for this is the global spread of technology – almost every country has technology exporters of some sort (bearing in mind that many manufacturing facilities for MNCs are in low wage economies) and/or see clear benefits in importing technology.
It is welcome to see that the global community still sees the benefit of global trade agreements – the next big question is whether this will lead to a wider reinvigoration of the WTO as means of advancing trade negotiations, as opposed to regional negotiations like the TPP?


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AUSTIN, Texas Many IC designers may quickly move past the 90-nm node for digital-dominated designs to 65-nm design rules. However, richer models are needed to improve first-time design success rates, said Ted Vucuverich, senior vice president of advanced R&D at Cadence Design Systems Inc.
The 130-nm node is likely to have a relatively long life as mixed-signal designers cling to the 1.2 V power supplies needed for analog functions, Vucuverich said here at a Fabless Semiconductor Association seminar. The 1V rating for most 90-nm offerings is not attractive for analog-intensive designs, he said.
For digital-dominated designs, graphics companies such at ATI, Nvidia and others are moving quickly to 65-nm design rules in some cases even faster than vendors of high-performance microprocessors, NAND flash and DRAMs.
"Once designers figure out the parasitics and how to deal with power issues, they go to 65-nm quickly," he said Thursday (April 7).
There are few materials changes from the 90- to 65-nm nodes, with high-k, interconnect and inter-metal dielectrics roughly the same. Moreover, the techniques employed at the 90-nm node to keep leakage currents under control can be adapted to the 65-nm node, he said.
Asked about mask costs, Vucuverich said the industry is working to differentiate between the crtical and non-critical mask features, pointing to research by Mark Mason at Texas Instruments Inc. and Karen Maex at IMEC, the Belgium-based Interuniversity Microelectronics Center. The use of more optical proximity correction at the 65-nm node will not slow down most companies, and the 193-nm scanners are nearly the same, he added.
Vucuverich said the industry badly needs to shift to richer models that include support for statistical timing, power, and yield predictions. Support for statistical timing is being implemented now at leading integrated device manufacturers for both high-performance and high-volume products, he said.
While IDMs can accomplish the shift by sharing information between design process, modeling and manufacturing engineers, he said foundries sometimes hit a wall created by "the sanctity of information" between the various engineering disciplines.
"We have to move away from static libraries. And extraction, modeling and simulation needs to be a lot more integrated," he said. The use of multithreading will allow parallel-computing techniques to be applied to the more complex design models, he said, adding that many current EDA tools can be readily adapted to statistical timing techniques.
The shift to statistical timing will have the immediate effect of reducing design margins that leave a great deal of performance on the table. "The window can be much narrower, and more aggressive," he said.
The industry has been weighed down by relatively poor first-time design success rates, he said, quoting data from analysis firm Collett and Associates. In 2003, only about one-third of the 130-micron designs achieved first-time success. After the third iteration, only 60 percent of the designs worked, he said, attributing hard-to-detect in the designs for the low rate of improvement. After three failures, many designs afflicted with "really hard problems" are declared disasters and abandoned altogether, he said.


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Singles' Day is fast approaching, we review Alibaba's plans for 11.11 ahead of the events' six years anniversary.
Alibaba's annual Global Shopping Festival, 11.11, will bring together shoppers, retailers, suppliers and financial institutions from around the world to experience Alibaba's vision on the future of retail. The retailer's latest strategy, New Retail, aims to blend online, offline and big data to reinvent retail.
To showcase this concept during the event, Alibaba will collaborate with 52 shopping malls to set up 60 New Retail concept pop-up stores across 12 cities in China. See our Hema Fresh report to see an example. The 24-hour online sale itself will be available across Alibaba's marketplaces, and feature over 140,000 brands and 15 million product listings globally.
Image source: alizila.com
Initiatives supporting main event
Alibaba are running several different initiatives prior to the 11.11 festival. Tmall, for example, are broadcasting an interactive fashion show, with models and celebrities showcasing a range of different items. During the fashion show, viewers will also be able to make real-time purchases from their mobile phones.
Performance driven by experience and insight
New Retail experiences such as facial-recognition payment, will be made available in converted 'smart stores' across nearly 100,000 stores in 31 provinces and 334 cities in China. Pop-up stores for cosmetics, for example, will offer experiences through augmented reality for make-up and lipstick trials.
Coverage to drive wider appeal
Alibaba will utilise media and entertainment to drive online engagement, with celebrities, well-known singers and movie stars to feature during the Singles' Day countdown. This will be broadcasted live on satellite TV channels Zhejiang TV, Shenzhen TV and Beijing TV. To drive further appeal, there will be an AR game on Mobile Taobao App called Catch the Cat and red envelopes will be shared amongst consumers through various games.
Connecting consumers across China
Alibaba is accelerating the shopper journey for consumers in China through connectivity. Consumers will be able to experience Alibaba's New Retail concept during 11.11 at community stores like Rural Taobao service centres and neighbourhood convenience stores. Longer term, Alibaba is planning to launch a new smaller format store in Shanghai, based on the Hema Fresh model. Smaller formats require less capital and can be expanded more rapidly and could prove to be a more cost effective solution.
Alibaba Group’s chief marketing officer, Chris Tung said, this year’s event “brings consumers around the world a step closer to realising the aspirational life where entertainment and retail become one. [...] regardless of their physical location, consumers will be able to participate in more experiences than ever before this year, all showing the reality of New Retail. We start today but this is a festival with nearly two weeks of celebration and so many different ways to participate.'
In previous years, Alibaba has used Singles' Day to test the capability of new innovations, and it seems that this year will prove to be no different. New Retail aims to offer consumers a better experience - perhaps they are close to achieving what retail might look like in the future.


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Oat-based milk maker Oatly’s blockbuster IPO isn’t just proof of the healthy appetite that now exists for plant-based living. It’s also a reflection of the brand’s smart blend of creativity, responsibility and positivity in a consumer goods category – alternative milks – few would have previously believed had big creative or cultural potential.
Born in the nineties and backed by research from Lund University, Oatly’s relatively rapid transition from Swedish-based start-up to global phenomenon has been powered by five things.
First, as dairy alternatives are measurably better for the planet, Oatly is inherently green. Second, it is green at a time when green lifestyle choices, including plant-based alternatives – hand in hand with conscious consumerism generally – are going mainstream.
Some 57% of consumers now believe brands need to do more to positively impact on society, according to the Conscious Brands 100 Report, from Wolff Olins and Hall & Partners, in which Oatly rated highly (in eighth position in the UK top 10).
Third, the product itself is good. Oatly’s range is more complete than many of its rivals. Further, it has also cleverly included a ‘barista’ version in its range with a higher fat content to make café – or, indeed, at home – frothing easier.
Next, Oatly has a great brand built through and supported by great marketing. Its mission, name, brand, attitude and tone are all well-constructed. It works as well in hipsters’ homes as it does on supermarket shelves. And it has driven fandom and usage at a massive scale by challenging the norms of the food industry with a provocative stance. It has also proven itself adept at successfully balancing the need to be both responsive and responsible.
Led by CEO Toni Petersson – a career marketeer who raised eyebrows singing a tune he wrote himself in a wide-open field of oats for Oatly’s recent Super Bowl ad – the business has essentially created a lifestyle brand built on sustainability.
Finally, Oatly has invested in large growth markets. Available both in the US and China, its single biggest market in Europe is the UK, where it is now looking to build a plant.
Looking ahead, Oatly is well-positioned to continue benefiting from its category boom and current trends around a more plant-based, sustainable diet and lifestyle. Its responsible credentials are also on point, though as with any business that wears its green credentials prominently, it needs to be aware that any missteps can quickly escalate.
The company’s decision to sell a stake to a consortium that includes powerful private equity firm Blackstone, for example, left a sour taste in the mouths of some.
Meanwhile, how well Oatly can shift from marketing-led growth to scaling across marketing remains to be seen.
Following its IPO, however, Oatly is well-positioned to accelerate its expansion into other oat milk-based products. And it now has a solid base for the brand to develop beyond its category if it chooses, with more freedom to experiment in terms of operations, marketing and product diversity.


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Creaform, a world leader in automated and portable 3D metrology solutions, is focusing on automated quality control at this year’s Hannover Messe, which is getting more and more important in the manufacturing industry and Industry 4.0.
Auf der diesjährigen HANNOVER MESSE (1. - 5. April 2019) präsentiert DENSO Robotics als Highlight COBOTTA, den innovativen, kompakten Roboter für die sichere Mensch-Roboter Zusammenarbeit (Halle 17, Stand C 67). Der Messeauftritt markiert zugleich den Serienstart in Europa.
Bielefeld/Pfronten. Strong performance: At the beginning of the year, DMG MORI presents its entire technological expertise on 7,500 m2. With 70 high-tech machines, two world premieres as well as the future topics of automation, digitization and ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, the traditional Open House exhibition at DECKEL MAHO in Pfronten (22-26 Jan. 2019) will be dedicated to integrated manufacturing solutions for holistic processes.
Moog, a designer and manufacturer of high performance motion control products, solutions, and services – was exhibiting its enlarged portfolio of smart motion control solutions for use across industrial applications at the 2018 SPS IPC Drives in Nuremberg Germany. At this year’s SPS IPC Drives, Moog launched also its new MSC III controller, a multi-purpose industrial motion controller for hydraulic, electric and motion control systems, and analog or digital interfaced motion control applications.
At this year's SPS IPC Drives trade fair in Nuremberg (November 27-29, 2018), the HARTING Technology Group will be showcasing numerous innovative connectivity products and solutions for smart and digital automation.
KUKA Group completed the 2017 financial year successfully and was able to surpass the previous year’s results by a considerable margin in some cases. “We continued to profit from the digitization trend over the past year. The demand for intelligent automation solutions remains strong,” states Dr. Till Reuter, CEO of KUKA AG. “At the same time, we have had to set the right course for a successful future. To a significant extent, our success is founded on our investments – in key technologies and innovative products for Industrie 4.0, in partnerships, in new business segments such as consumer robotics, and in the growth market of China,” he stressed.
KUKA acquires Visual Components and defines the next level in intelligent automation
Encoders from SICK monitor and secure motion sequences and ensure precise and efficient processes. They will detect the exact speed, revolution, path, or angle of a movement and deliver the result to the process control or the Cloud in data that can be used for further calculations.
In January 2015, Fraunhofer IPA presented a prototype of the “Care-O-bot® 4” service robot. The charming helper is now proving its worth in the real world. “Paul” the robot has been greeting customer in Saturn-Markt Ingolstadt since the end of October 2016 and directing them towards their desired products.
The toothed belt axes in the HM-B series from HIWIN which have now won the iF DESIGN AWARD are extremely stylish, powerful and adaptable.
The production of lines for braking systems, air conditioning units and similar devices with a length of 1500 mm and tiny diameters of as little as 18 mm represents a real challenge when it comes to bending technology, specifically with regard to handling. After all, to be economical, production processes also need to be swift. And precision and quality are factors that are just as important.
German robotics and automation sector on global growth course after record year - In the past years, robots have considerably contributed to economic growth and prosperity worldwide. "The use of robotics and automation offers outstanding opportunities for stable economic development, high-quality and ergonomic jobs as well as safe and affordable products," Patrick Schwarzkopf, Managing Director of the VDMA trade association Robotics + Automation, said at the annual press conference.
DMG MORI will be confirming its status as a world market leader in the field of metal-cutting machine tools with 7 world premieres as well as a representative cross-section of its high-tech portfolio at the EMO in Milan.


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In the past few months, more than 150,000 people who worked in the tech sector have been laid off. Big Tech giants are among the most prestigious employers; even a small percentage of staff layoff will affect thousands. The Tech industry says staff cutting is necessary to remain competitive and profitable as the sector faces many headwinds.
For many companies, it is a matter of trimming the pandemic fat. When the Covid-19 pandemic led to mass lockdowns and remote work, people shifted online in hordes for everything from grocery shopping to entertainment to work. Companies hired experienced staffers to meet the soaring demand. During that period, Amazon and Meta almost doubled their staff strength. But, the opening of the economy and businesses created a shift back to the pre-pandemic, real-world ways making a large percentage of the new hires redundant.
The global economy, emerging from the pandemic, was buffeted by record-high inflation and the prospect of a recession. Both are not conducive to the tech industry. With high prices, low demand, and even less purchasing power, companies fear for their revenue models. Many large tech companies rely heavily on advertising revenue, and a gloomy economic outlook caused a drastic cut in marketing budgets.
Growth projections have been slashed due to the economic downturn, and companies must rework hiring and budgeting strategies. With borrowing costs likely to remain high in the foreseeable future, cost-cutting is the inevitable option. With fewer new clients and investor pressure to stay profitable, many companies had no option but to let go of employees.
Also, the tech industry is at the cusp of another transformational shift. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is enhancing automation and streamlining processes, and tech giants are investing in developing AI-powered tools. Interestingly, according to a 365 Data Science report, 28 percent of all layoffs were from the HR divisions of various companies. AI has enabled the automation of human resource departments in many sectors. The robust, scalable, and customizable software has taken over recruiting, hiring, staffing, and payroll functions.
That AI is the next big thing in tech has been the writing on the wall for quite some time. Now, companies like Microsoft are laying off 10,000 personnel and investing $10 billion in OpenAI, the creators of the viral application ChatGPT. Following the industry trend, Google has trimmed its staff strength by about 6% and let go of close to 12,000 people. The company released its AI chatbot Bard this week.
Though reasons and situations are different, the mass layoffs echo the dot-com bubble burst of the early 2000s. While the markets lost close to $5 trillion in about two years, more than 415,000 jobs were lost between November 2001 and April 2005.
Today, the U.S. tech industry is estimated to employ around 8.9 million. The industry and investment analysts are portraying the mass firings as a painful but necessary step to remain competitive and growth-oriented. The cost-cutting, many believe, will offset the reduced revenue. Channeling their limited resources into innovation and R&D will ensure that the companies keep abreast of the latest developments in the industry. In the cutthroat world of profitability and investor satisfaction, revenue per employee is a marker that most tech giants are concerned about.
While the sector’s fiscal responsibility may help the companies survive the choppy economic climate, those who have been laid off may find that HR calls have dwindled since the pandemic days. With developers, software and hardware engineers, and HR personnel flooding the job market, the fantastic perks and bargaining powers of the pandemic era may be a thing of the past.


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From Home Furnishing Business
Milliken Takes Permanent Exhibit Space for Showtime
The company said the move is part of a new effort to target the interior textiles market.
“The interiors textile market is a major area of focus for Milliken,” said Jennifer K. Harmon, vice president of Milliken Specialty Interiors. “Establishing a permanent presence at High Point is further evidence of our commitment not only to expanding our presence in this important market, but to driving innovation and educating key audiences about the unique capabilities and solutions Milliken can provide.”
Harmon said the High Point lease is the next step in Milliken’s strategy to increase its visibility and leadership position in the interiors market. In recent months, Milliken has combined several business units to create its integrated Specialty Interiors business, launched a website to better serve the market, and built the team with well-respected industry veterans to propel this expansion, she explained.
The next Showtime fair will take place Dec. 3-6. While the full showroom build-out won’t be finished until the June 2018 Showtime, appointments are being accepted for the December show.
At the December show, Milliken feature the introduction of its expanded line of Breathe by Milliken environmentally-friendly performance fabrics. Designed to address the growing demand for more sustainable products, Breathe is a plant-based, fluorine-free performance fabric available in natural or synthetic fibers made from recycled plastic bottles.
Although launched just this year, the company said Breathe has already earned placements with top retailers such as Pottery Barn.


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While social media is an amazing way to build a brand, Meta’s seemingly random enforcement of their Terms of Services has seen many legal cannabis brands lose their accounts, and followings built, overnight. While Meta’s platforms are amongst the most well-known, their disdain for cannabis content makes them an unsustainable platform for building a brand.
This doesn’t mean brands shouldn’t be engaging on social media, it just means they need to find the right platform.
Twitch, owned by Amazon, is the largest live-streaming platform online – with Google and other tech giants struggling to compete. Hundreds of thousands of channels go live every day to millions of audience members, playing video games and engaging with their viewers. Not only a large platform, but Twitch’s approach to cannabis-creators is also much more laissez-faire; to the point where even Snoop Dogg himself streams on the platform.
Twitch is a great choice for cannabis marketers simply because of their leniency with cannabis; the overlap between gamers and cannabis consumers is remarkable. In Cannabis Business Times’ article on “CannaGamers”, a recent poll showed that 54% of cannabis consumers use cannabis while playing video games. This number is steadily growing, as there was an 86% increase in cannabis use before/while playing video games; seeing an 86% increase from Q1 to Q3 of 2020. Despite this, products that include video games in their marketing make up for less than 1% of the American cannabis market, with 81% of the market share made up by Vapes.
With this incredible overlap between cannabis consumers and the gaming community, there is a huge opportunity for cannabis marketers. Twitch’s viewership has only grown year after year, amassing over 2.78M concurrent viewers in 202, with 1460 billion minutes watched across the globe – yet no cannabis companies seem to be jumping at the opportunity.
While Meta’s platforms aim to be an all-ages experience, Twitch understands many creators want to create content that is more adult-oriented. For this, there are relative age-gating creators can place on their channels, making viewers confirm they’re of age for adult content. While this doesn’t confirm one’s age, this can be paired with the ESRB rating of the games being played by the creator to ensure the audience being reached is adult.
What about Non-Gamers?
While Twitch is a video-game forward platform, in recent years, they’ve expanded their reach through the creation and rise of categories such as Just Chatting, Sports, Art, & Makers and Crafting. While brands have the option of working with gamers, there is an equal opportunity to collaborate with artists, musicians, and large personalities that choose Twitch as their primary platform for content creation.
How can a Brand get Involved?
Creating Twitch content isn’t the only way brands can infiltrate the Twitch community; in fact, working with established creators on the platform is the most apparent opportunity. While creative endorsement/collaboration opportunities exist (similar to the trend seen on Instagram), brands can also work to indirectly grow their brand while supporting content creators. While following a Twitch channel is free, subscriptions (which the proceeds go directly to the creator) can be gifted to the creator’s audience, creating the opportunity for the creator to discuss the brand and interact with the brand in a way that directly exposes them to new audiences. Brands can even message in the general chat for free in ways that allow the creator to ask probing questions to discuss the brand. While larger creators on the platform may not choose to engage with brands seeking free marketing, there are hundreds of thousands of smaller creators who will be excited about this type of engagement.
As the market and subsequent regulations continue to evolve, the methods marketers will take to reach new audiences will evolve as well. The question now is; who will be the first to utilize the amazing potential of Twitch properly?
Last Updated on September 23, 2022 by ADCANN


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Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced brand new efforts to stop the processing of unlawful payday advances through debit card transactions and assistance protect ny customers. MasterCard and Visa have actually agreed in talks utilizing the Department of Financial Services (DFS) to simply take a few actions to simply help stop this activity that is illegal their debit card sites. A continuing, substantial DFS investigation has uncovered that as regulatory force mounts on online payday lenders punishment of this Automated Clearing House (ACH) bank payments community some loan providers are alternatively making use of card that is debit as a conclusion run around that system to illegally subtract funds from New Yorkers bank reports.
Benjamin M. Lawsky, Superintendent of Financial Services, also today sent cease-and-desist letters to 20 additional businesses that DFS ongoing investigation has defined as illegally marketing, making, or collecting on pay day loans to ny customers 12 of which seem to be utilizing this debit card tactic that is new. With todays action, DFS has sent stop and desist letters to 55 online pay day loan businesses. Formerly, in August 2013, DFS sent cease-and-desist letters to 35 online payday lenders providing unlawful loans to New Yorkers the majority of which may have stopped lending in nyc after those letters.
My management is going to work tirelessly to remain one action in front of online payday lenders that you will need to evade state legislation and trap customers in a vicious period of financial obligation, stated Governor Cuomo. By working together with us to root away this conduct that is illegal Visa and MasterCard have actually stepped as much as the dish and shown how personal organizations could work alongside local government to safeguard susceptible New Yorkers. This collaboration, combined with latest stop and desist letters through the Department of Financial solutions, should provide to place all payday lenders on observe that unlawful task will never be tolerated within the State of the latest York.
Superintendent Lawsky stated: Whenever online payday loan providers try brand new schemes to flout our rules and exploit ny customers, we shall simply just take strong action to go them down during the pass. Visa and MasterCard reacted swiftly whenever we contacted them concerning this problem and now have set a very good instance today because of their whole industry.
Chris McWilton, president, North American Markets, MasterCard, stated: Prepaid cards are a definite tool that is financial helps consumers make the most of advantages like direct deposit, internet shopping and bill re payment. Working together with the State to handle the payday financing problem is one of the ways we could assist New Yorkers avoid them of predatory financing methods.
During its significantly more than year-long research, DFS has brought a few actions to simply help restrict usage of the ACH electronic bank repayments system for online payday lenders who’re illegally deducting funds from brand New Yorkers reports. Nevertheless, DFS recently identified a brand new trend among some online payday lenders in processing payments from loan borrowers. These loan providers have actually started notifying borrowers on their sites they are not any longer utilizing the ACH community to process payments, consequently they are now needing borrowers to supply debit card information and so the loan providers can immediately subtract payday loan Westminster CO loan re re payments from borrowers reports.
In current talks with DFS, MasterCard and Visa have actually devoted to using a number of actions to aid stop the processing of unlawful payday advances through their debit systems before this becomes a extensive problem. These actions include the next:
- MasterCard and Visa is going to work with acquiring finance institutions to ensure they’re not processing debit that is illegal deals on behalf of payday loan providers. On a continuing foundation, DFS provides MasterCard and Visa with information concerning payday loan providers that could be either financing into nyc illegally or utilizing debit systems to gather on unlawful loans from New Yorkers. These records should include the names associated with loan providers, URLs, and any other pinpointing information that might be helpful. MasterCard and Visa will investigate the situation and just just just take appropriate action with the payday lenders acquiring standard bank to stop MasterCard and Visa task with this loan provider.
- MasterCard and Visa will alert all acquiring banking institutions for the dangers of accomplishing company with payday loan providers that could be running in breach of state legislation. MasterCard and Visa will be sending alerts to all or any the acquiring finance institutions in their debit companies about unlawful payday lending and ny guidelines prohibiting lending that is payday. The alert will additionally remind acquiring economic organizations of MasterCard and Visa guidelines that use in regards to the processing of unlawful deals by merchants.
Superintendent Lawsky today sent cease-and-desist letters to the following 20 businesses that DFSs research has defined as marketing, making, or gathering on unlawful payday advances to New Yorkers. Initial 12 businesses listed look predicated on DFSs research become requiring debit card information to get on illegal pay day loans.
Payday financing is illegal in nyc under both criminal and civil usury statutes. In a few full instances, nevertheless, loan providers try to skirt brand brand brand New Yorks prohibition on payday financing by providing loans on the internet, looking to prevent prosecution. However, Web payday lending is just like illegal as payday financing built in individual in ny.
The Cuomo management has brought a number of actions to aid stamp down unlawful online lending that is payday nyc. In February 2013, the DFS issued a caution to collectors that loans with rates of interest over the statutory maximums are void and unenforceable.
In August 2013, the Department delivered cease-and-desist letters to 35 online loan providers making loans that are usurious New Yorkers, with yearly interest levels since high as 1,095 per cent. Nearly all those loan providers have actually ceased financing in nyc after those letters. The Department additionally urged banking institutions and NACHA to work alongside DFS to stop payday loan providers access to ny client reports.
The Department expanded its research in December 2013 by issuing subpoenas to 16 online lead generation businesses suspected of misleading or deceptive advertising of unlawful, payday loans online in nyc. These organizations typically try not to make payday advances straight, but rather put up internet sites that market those loans and accumulate delicate information that is personal consumers. Lead generators then offer this private information to unlawful online payday lenders as well as other organizations, including scam musicians. The Department received complaints against a number of these businesses about false and advertising that is misleading harassing telephone calls, solicitations and privacy breaches.
In January 2014, Superintendent Lawsky additionally delivered a page to NACHA and its own board of directors noting that as the reforms they proposed after their August 2013 page represented steps that are positive they failed to acceptably deal with the abuses of this ACH community by payday lenders. The Superintendent urged NACHA to simply just simply take certain, more powerful actions to root down unlawful payday lending over the net.
Copies associated with letters Superintendent Lawsky delivered to MasterCard and Visa confirming their commitment to help stop unlawful online lending that is payday ny can be obtained in the after website website link and website website website link.


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A federal judge has ordered two smoke shops on the Poospatuck Indian Reservation in Mastic to pay New York City $10.5 million for bootlegging untaxed cigarettes into the city.
The decision last week by Judge Carol Bagley Amon awarding damages to the city for lost tax revenue follows a 2009 injunction issued in the suit brought by the city against various smoke shops. The injunction ordered smoke shops to stop selling untaxed cigarettes to non-Indians.
Federal and state law exempt Indians from paying taxes on cigarettes, but testimony in the case showed smoke shops on the reservation routinely sold to outsiders and trafficked large numbers of cigarettes far beyond Mastic.
That injunction and a later change in state tax law have shut off the flow of illegal cigarettes into the city, said Assistant Corporation Counsel Eric Proshansky, the city lawyer who led the litigation.
"Almost everything was coming from Poospatuck," he said. "We think we've reduced it considerably."
Although smoke shops often sell to outsiders at other reservations, Proshansky said most illegal cigarettes sold in the city came from the Poospatuck reservation because it's only 70 miles from Manhattan.
From 2004 to 2009, Peace Pipe sold more than 1 million cartons of cigarettes to city residents through traffickers, Amon wrote. She ruled that Peace Pipe and its owners owed the city more than $10 million.
Similarly, TDM Discount Cigarettes owes the city $450,000, Amon ruled.
Lawyers for the smoke shops did not respond to requests for comment. Other smoke shops earlier agreed to abide by the 2009 injunction.
The city argued during hearings in 2009 that the sale of bootlegged cigarettes had cheated it out of $200 million in tax revenue and had exacerbated the health problems caused by cigarettes by making them easier to get.
Proshansky said he wasn't sure how difficult it would be to collect the judgments from the smoke shops.
"We won't know until we try," he said.


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[Trans] Yes24: Cho YongPil's album sales is similar to JYJ's 3 years ago
Cho YongPil has released his new album 'Hello' in 10 years last April 19. His album sales is showing a similar trend when JYJ released their album 3 years ago.
Kim Hyeran, in charge of Yes24 MD sales said, "For the first time since JYJ released their album 'The Beginning' 3 years ago, we sold over 1000 albums on the first day of Cho Yong Pil's album release. We sold 2600 copies of JYJ's The Beginning on the first day of its release."
Note: Yes24 is an online/offline music record store.


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by Elizabeth DePaul
While most eighth grade girls are gearing up for high school, finishing up spring season sports and picking out their graduation dresses, five eighth graders at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy have a distinctively different priority on their minds; they’re busy collecting donations for animal shelters as part of their school project on puppy mills.
Every eighth grader who attends the school is required to spearhead a yearlong project on a cause of their choice, and for Federica Cristofanili, Nicole Novo, Maia Brown, Londyn Harry and Taylor Harris, their focus became educating the public about the appalling cruelty of puppy mills, a cause unknown to many people. (All of the girls are 14 except for Maia, who is 13.)
Since March the five teenagers have been working on their school project with help from project advisor Ellen Koenig. Puppy mills are inhumane places where dogs are overbred, abused, undernourished, shipped off to pet stores and sometimes even killed. Most puppies sold in pet stores throughout the country were purchased from puppy mills.
By educating the community about this topic, the girls hope to raise awareness and support local shelters and organizations that have been campaigning against puppy mills. Many puppy mills exist in Pennsylvania, including many in Lancaster County and among Amish farmers, but if these girls had their way, these canine concentration camps would not exist at all.
According to Sonja Meadows, executive director of Animals Angels, of Hagerstown, MD, one of many organizations that have exposed puppy mills, “Our investigation of the puppy mill industry shows widespread abuse of the puppies who are sold malnourished, sick and full of genetic disorders. Frankly, they are the lucky ones.
“The real victims are the ‘puppy mill moms’ who are confined to life in cages where they give birth on average to 140 puppies in their lifetime. Large puppy mills can have over 1,000 breeding dogs that produce cute ‘purebred’ puppies, primarily for pet stores. These dogs sit in their own feces all day in a small cage — often a chicken coop. Their feet never touch grass. They are not socialized.
“They are bred until they can’t produce any more puppies. Then when they are no longer useful, they are shot or killed with a rock or hammer. A few lucky ones go to rescue groups; others are sold to medical labs … One way to help is never buy a dog from a pet store. Visit your local shelter or contact breed-specific rescue organizations to adopt.”
Setting out with a main goal of making puppy mills illegal, the five Chestnut Hill students hope to someday start a petition to do just that. But for now, as Londyn Harry stated, “We just want to make a difference and make people aware of the dangers of puppy mills.”
As dog and animal lovers, the five teens picked the cause to inform people in our area of the cruelty of puppy mills through going door to door handing out brochures, putting up posters, setting up donation boxes in local businesses such as Cake and Bone Appetit, and recently holding a bake sale at their school. All the money raised was donated to Francisvale Home for Smaller Animals in Radnor, with whom the girls have met to discuss their project, the Humane Society of the U.S. and the ASPCA.
“People should start caring more and being more aware,” said Nicole Novo. Through their ongoing efforts, the girls are continually informing people of the dangers of buying a dog from a pet store or even from a large chain like Pet Smart. Unless a pet store can prove with documentation where a dog came from, which many stores do not even know (or want to know), the dog was almost certainly bred at a puppy mill. Many dogs from puppy mills have physical and social problems from being in close quarters with numerous other dogs and don’t like being outside because they are so accustomed to being in a cage at all times.
The teenage girls will cover all of this in their end-of-the-year presentation to their entire class. They hope that by enlightening their peers and the community, word will spread to make more people aware of the horrors of puppy mills, the collaboration of pet stores and the almost unbelievable inaction by public officials to do anything to halt this epidemic of cruelty.
As the school year is set to wrap up, their project will continue well beyond the classroom; they hope to organize events, have a school assembly and continue to raise money for experienced organizations that can help them with their efforts.
For more information, email email@example.com


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The giant that is Hennes & Mauritz´s H&M group celebrated along partner Seventeen Magazine the launch of their most recent campaign addressed to one of the world’s basics: denim.
The understated piece, considered by many a necessary item in anyone’s closet is the new focus for the swedish’s brand newest campaign titled *Denim Days*. It was Yves Saint Laurent who onced stated he wished he had invented blue jeans, and Andy Warhol who mentioned he wanted to die in a pair; but is the timeless allure of the simplicity, and bendible expression that H&M is celebrating.
CW‘s new hit show actress from The Carrie Diaries: AnnaSophia Robb hosted the celebration along 300 attendees who enjoyed 25% discounts, americana-themed sweet treats, a mix of great tunes and customization of thier favourite denims at the fifth avenue store in New York City.
AnnaSophia Robb was in head-to-toe H&M and stated during interviews: “I love H&M because it’s affordable and that’s where I shop. It’s accessible to girls my age and to women in general and it’s fashionable”.
Availability including all fits and styles, from classics to new designs, for men, women, teen and kids, H&M is aiming to be the perfect staple for any wardbrobe.
Photography by Greg Mitola


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bitcoin trading platform FXBTC suspected collapse is alleged to have been unable to cash in
[TechWeb] May 10th news, bitcoin trading platform FXBTC (www.fxbtc.com) suspected of bankruptcy, the site suddenly closed at 0 on May 10, 2014, so far still can not open.
According to informed sources,
, a few days before this, all customer funds and virtual currency can not be reflected, customer service reply is the cause of the system. The platform of all customer QQ group has been disbanded, some users have now established QQ activist group.
also circulated online a "FXBTC outage notice", due to the recent announcement that the central bank’s policy, FXBTC has been hitherto unknown pressure, including the inability to charge, lead to normal operation, making difficult issues.
notice that this long blockade of central banks, now the company has long-term losses, incapable of action, finally decided to stop operating FXBTC, in order to facilitate the user to cash, the site will be open until May 10, 2014.
up to now, TechWeb has not yet received FXBTC official response to the matter. (Ming Yu)


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Andhra Govt Launches AP Purse Mobile App to Push Cashless Payments
The tech-savvy Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu launched ‘AP Purse Mobile App’ to help people in the state to move to cashless payments using mobile wallets. Currently, this new platform has 13 mobile banking and 10 mobile wallets to pay utility bills and carry out digital transactions.
Encouraging by Providing Incentives:
Addressing the launch, AP CM Mr Naidu, said: “The citizens should opt for mobile banking to come out of the present small currency crisis after demonetisation. The government will encourage people including students to improve digital financial literacy among people.” He further added that his government will provide incentives to the agents named ‘Marpu Nestam’.
As per the new initiative, engineering students would be persuaded to train common people in mobile banking using several wallets. For this, the government would use the services of engineering colleges and students and help them to earn while learning.
To encourage cashless transactions, the AP Govt has already introduced Aadhaar linkage at fair price shops across the state. With this AP Purse App, the government hopes to expand adoption of digital wallets outside urban areas. Using this mobile app, the user can pay utility bills, property taxes, purchase goods and transfer money from anywhere and anytime.
AP Purse Mobile App – Just a Mediator Interface:
The AP government has got tied up with many mobile wallets and payment gateway apps including Airtel Money, Freecharge, JioMoney, MobiKwik, Ola Money, Paytm, PayUMoney, SBI Buddy etc. Contrary to expectations, this AP Purse mobile app is just an e-wallet aggregator or mediator interface that lists already popular Apps being used by smartphone users.
What’s Your Say on This?
Though the App is in beta stage, the AP government needs to be appreciated for taking an initiation in providing a platform for cashless transactions. Hope the other state governments too will shift their focus towards digital transactions.


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Morrison government confusion over China will damage the economy, experts warn.
The Morrison government’s attitude to Chinese investment in Australia is confusing and will exacerbate the growing tensions over trade, China experts have warned.
The policy confusion was highlighted this week with the blocking of a $300 million takeover of Australian construction group Probuild by a Chinese consortium, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg citing national interest grounds.
It follows a similar intervention by the Treasurer in August when he blocked a $600 million sale of Lion Dairy & Drinks to China’s Mengniu Dairy Co.
“Lion was owned by Japanese interests so we had Frydenberg blocking the sale of a Japanese-owned, Australian-based dairy and drinks manufacturer to a Chinese buyer, saying it wasn’t in the national interest,” said James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at UTS.
“It was already foreign-owned so there were clearly no national security issues.
“Now the purchase of a [ultimately South African-owned] construction company is being blocked citing national security concerns. It’s a bit of a stretch – it’s not like a telco, electricity network or a port.” Tension mounts
The blocking of the Probuild deal comes after months of ramped-up trade tensions which have seen China block Australian exports of wine, barley, lobster and timber.
Currently, 73 ships carrying about $1 billion in Australian coal are holed up in Chinese ports with officials preventing them from unloading.
“The investment and trade concerns stem from the crisis in diplomatic relations,” said David Treisman, principal consultant with advisory group CF Gauss and Associates.
“It is becoming a tit-for-tat outcome for both sides and the background is the decline in US dominance, with Australia trying to tread a path between the US and a growing China”
Professor Laurenceson agreed saying that Australia needed to distance itself from the US politically.
“China has made the assessment that Australia is using its alliance relationship with the US to attack China and we are the only country in the region being singled out,” he said.
“Nearly every country in the region has a security relationship with the US but a strong economic and trade relationship with China.
“But we are the only country in the region that has no dialogue with China at a leader or ministerial level because of the view it has formed about us.” Vulnerability grows
Australia has become highly vulnerable to China’s diplomatic mood, with the country now accounting for 40 per cent of our overall goods exports.
That was an untenable situation that the government should have addressed as China became more aggressive under Xi Jinping, according to shadow foreign affairs minister Penny Wong.
“This government has had over seven years to figure it out and it still hasn’t delivered a plan to support our exporters, save Australian jobs or diversify our economy,” Senator Wong said.
Not only is Australia tied to China through exports, the Asian giant provides a massive amount of the imports that the country relies on.
To date, the trade spat has had little impact on the overall Australian economy, with China buying only marginally less Australian products in 2020 than 2019, according to new official figures.
Australian goods accounted for 5.6 per cent of China’s total imports last year compared to 5.8 per cent in 2019, but have grown dramatically from the 4.9 per cent in 2018.
But for particular industry sectors hit by the bans, the situation will change this year.
“As this year unfolds you are going to see some fairly nasty shocks in areas like wine,” Professor Laurenceson said.
But China may be forced to lift some of the bans this year.
“With China’s economy weakened by the pandemic it has been able to block some Australian products,” Mr Treisman said.
“Demand has weakened and they have stockpiles of products like coal and timber.
“When demand picks up and the stockpiles run down they will want to start buying Australian products again.” Cost to China
The bans have not been without consequence for China.
“Some reports show that prices Chinese electricity generators and steel producers are paying for coal are much higher than the international price at the moment,” Professor Laurenceson said.
Trade directions have also been changed by the bans.
“We are starting to see international markets being restructured in a way that does not harm Australia,” Professor Laurenceson said.
“China imports less coal from Australia and more from other countries, so that creates new opportunities for Australia to supply markets that once bought the coal now going to China.”
What is now necessary is clarity from the Australian government about its position.
“Australia needs to make public statements defining our relationship with the US and China,” Mr Treisman said.


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"Further delays in following suit quickly are detrimental to the country positioning itself as travel-ready and attractive. We have a very small window of opportunity as tourism destinations around the world like Australia reopen and others like the United Kingdom remove the negative PCR testing requirement for all inbound travellers," says Tshivhengwa.
The TBCSA is again calling for this action just days after the government of Botswana announced that fully vaccinated travellers would no longer be required to furnish a negative PCR test to enter the country, thus elevating the destination’s attractiveness for inbound international tourists.
Tshivhengwa says: "Beyond the requirement being difficult and expensive for many of our international visitors, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has reiterated that international travellers should not be considered a priority group for PCR testing and that those who have been fully vaccinated should be exempt from heightened travel restrictions."
As South Africa sees international travel returning to some level of normality, and acknowledging that for travel to happen, the destination needs to deliver ease of travel to incoming visitors, it is essential that South Africa follow suit and remove this requirement.
"Our tourism industry needs to get back to business and our people need to get back to work. Travellers are ready to visit and further contribute to our industry’s growth. However, the PCR test requirement is the biggest inhibitor," concluded Tshivhengwa.