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Warby Parker has trained its sights on the stylish, “post-wealth” millennial set—as customers and employees.
Early one morning this summer, a gaggle of fresh-faced twentysomethings streams into an elevator at the Puck Building on Houston Street. “I like your shoes,” one girl tells another, smiling with a first-day-of-school shyness. They could be mistaken for NYU students—the university has space on the building’s second and third floors—but they all exit on floor five, at the bright white offices of Warby Parker, where two of the company’s founders, Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa, are preparing to kick off their weekly companywide meeting. Dressed near-identically in the uniform of the New York start-up entrepreneur—tailored button-downs, dark jeans—the pair look as streamlined as a couple of smartphones and operate just as efficiently, waiting for fashionable backpacks to be dropped into chairs and Fage yogurts to be procured until precisely 8:30 a.m., when Blumenthal, tall and dark-haired with a voice that recalls Ira Glass, calls the meeting to order.
First on the agenda is the online retailer’s new stores in New York, Boston, and Los Angeles, the opening of which came as a surprise to the industry, since Warby Parker has fashioned itself as a pioneer in the new wave of e-commerce. The founders take a kind of fatherly pride in maintaining transparency with their employees, and so Blumenthal walks them through the reasoning. “One of the things we’ve learned is that if you really want to be a dominant player, you need to have a presence in both online and brick-and-mortar,” Blumenthal tells the group. “Especially in categories like fashion. Other categories, like toilet paper or diapers or paper towels, those are going to shift online more dramatically.” He goes on to cite an example: “My wife and I have actually never bought diapers in a store, which is kind of amazing,” he says. “There are probably a few other people here that have also never done that.”
There’s a pause, then a wave of laughter as Blumenthal realizes his mistake: No one in this audience is buying diapers. Blumenthal, 33, and Gilboa, 32, are pretty much the oldest people at the company.
After that, various departments offer presentations to the class: The social-media coordinator introduces a new strategy; representatives from marketing show off the company’s recent video collaboration with the designer Chrissie Miller, a soft-focus seventies-style short of a Coney Island dance-off inspired by The Warriors and West Side Story. There is a lot of up-talking? That manner of speech in which you phrase a fact as a question? It seems contagious? Especially among the newer employees? Many of whom still have, stuck to their chairs, balloons with an image of a cow saying nice to meat you. “This is actually our biggest number of hires in one week,” Blumenthal tells his employees, whose numbers have swelled to 250. “Come on up,” he says, Ira Glass morphing into Bob Barker, “and give us your fun fact!”
Fun facts are a Warby Parker tradition, a getting-to-know-you exercise that upholds one of Warby Parker’s eight core values, written on the wall of the kitchen: “Inject fun and quirkiness into everything we do.” While no one has managed to top one early hire’s mind-blowing revelation that she once held Michael Jackson’s infant son Blanket, the newest additions to the team are unlikely to disappoint—the company employs a “cultural swat team” that weeds out dullards in interviews with questions like “When was the last time you wore a costume?”
First up is Kate, from product strategy, who describes herself as a rodeo enthusiast. “Actually, a champion barrel racer?” Next is Priyata, who recently returned from a trip to war-torn Syria, “where we heard missiles but survived?” Natalie, from customer experience, was a “fan dancer” for Beyoncé in the Super Bowl halftime show? Julie lost her sense of smell crowd-surfing at 16? Ryan was the vocalist in a metal band? Emily recently rode an elephant named Pancake?
Blumenthal closes the meeting by talking about upcoming opportunities to volunteer with nonprofits like Venture for America and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship. (“Do good” being another one of Warby Parker’s core values, not to be confused, Blumenthal will tell you, with “Don’t be evil”: “Doing good is proactive—‘How can we make this world a better place?,’ not ‘How can we prevent doing something bad?’ ”) He announces a new employee happy hour, “for those of you that can drink.” Then Gilboa proffers one final thought. “We’re very happy to announce that this is the first time a sun SKU—the Downing in walnut tortoise—has made it into the top five best-selling glasses for the month,” he says.
Oh, right! The glasses.
What with all the stuff going on at the Warby Parker offices—the Lunch Roulettes and Instagram Photo Walks, the earnest philosophies and rococo marketing ventures, the pop-up store in a yurt, the map of places to read in downtown New York, the blog with reading recommendations and “style stories” about their friendly and good-looking staff—it’s easy to forget that the whole point of the company is to sell glasses. The kind people wear in order to see. That’s it. Glasses.
Warby Parker is widely viewed as one of the great success stories of the post-recession age, and a model for how digital start-up culture can work in fashion. The simple model of producing stylish, affordable eyeglasses that buyers can order online and try at home—five pairs, five days, $95—has spawned countless imitators (including underwear purveyor Jockey, which one blogger dubbed “the Warby Parker of titties,” after it began offering bra “fit kits” online). Blumenthal and Gilboa have impressed high-profile investors such as J.Crew’s Mickey Drexler, American Express, and the hedge fund Tiger Global Management; a financing round earlier this year valued Warby Parker at a reported $300 million. Along the way, they’ve managed to establish themselves as part of a vanguard of consumer-friendly, socially responsible young “disrupters”: rhapsodized about by those trying to understand the 18-to-34 demographic, revered by their employees, who are also their customers. And they’ve done all this by making glasses—the province of nerds and librarians and Steve Urkel—seem cool.
“Glasses are cool,” reasons Blumenthal, who wears nonprescription versions of the frames Warby Parker sells. He cites the recent remake of 21 Jump Street, in which characters head back to high school to discover the script has flipped: The jerky jocks are outcasts, and creative kids rule the school. “We’re lucky enough to be living in that moment,” he says, “where it’s finally cool to be smart and thoughtful and to be creative.” The moment, they reckon, is theirs for the taking.
“What we really want to do,” Blumenthal says with the confidence of someone who grew up being told he could do anything he wants and has thus far found this to be true, “is to change the way business in America is done.”
Gilboa, shier, simply nods, as if to suggest this outcome is imminently possible. Warby Parker core value No. 8: Set ambitious goals.
You don’t have to look very hard to find Warby Parker’s origin story. It’s etched on the countertops of the flagship on Greene Street, where this summer a steady stream of tourists and interns could be found peering into mirrors to check out how they looked in frames named after poets and writers, surrounded by terrazzo floors, a bronze bust of someone old and dignified, and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves with tomes arranged and labeled by color (kelly, aubergine). The space, which its designer, Anthony Sperduti of Partners & Spade, calls “functional,” “intelligent,” and “absolutely not hipster,” is intended to resemble a library, inspired by the company’s “literary history,” as Blumenthal puts it (Warby Parker is an amalgam of two Jack Kerouac characters). But as the time line will tell you, Warby Parker was conceived not in a library but in the computer lab on the University of Pennsylvania campus, where the founders met at Wharton business school in 2008. Gilboa, a would-be medical student, had enrolled after his disillusionment with the health-care industry led him to Bain & Company and the idea that business was the most powerful way to change the world. Blumenthal, an international-policy wonk who had studied at the Hague, had come to similar conclusions after a stint at VisionSpring, a nonprofit that helped distribute low-cost eyeglasses in India and El Salvador.
“We were down in the computer lab, and Dave started describing how he just lost his $700 glasses,” Blumenthal recalls. Two other students, Andrew Hunt and Jeffrey Raider, commiserated, and it turned into a confab. “Jeff’s glasses had recently broken, and Andy had this amazing idea to sell glasses online.”
Blumenthal was the only one who didn’t wear glasses, but through VisionSpring, he’d learned a few things about the optical industry. Most significant, that it was controlled by one giant company, Luxottica, which owns everything from Ray-Bans to Oliver Peoples and runs outfits like Pearle Vision and LensCrafters. Its near-monopoly status enables the company to charge high prices and enjoy high profit margins. VisionSpring had managed to circumvent this by manufacturing its own frames … and if they had done it for people in the developing world, why couldn’t four business students do the same thing for people like, well, them? “At that moment, the lightbulb went off,” says Blumenthal. “But then, of course, we all had to go to class.”
Later, they reconvened at a bar. “We looked at this huge industry that had no innovation, where there were no brands that evoked passion or that people were really proud to be associated with,” Gilboa says. “And we just thought there was a huge opportunity to disrupt an industry and create an iconic brand, a for-profit business that did good in the world and could inspire other companies.”
Over the next year and a half, Wharton became an incubator for Warby Parker. “We spent a lot of time crafting the brand architecture and arguing over ‘What do we stand for?’ ‘Who are we?’ ‘What is the aesthetic point of view of the brand?’ ” says Blumenthal.
At the time, the Great Recession was changing the landscape. Suddenly, the days of Paris Hilton and Sex and the City and conspicuous consumption looked dated, even obscene. “All this ‘How much you make,’ and the thing about the Joneses, and SUVs or Mercedes or whatever it is—those things no longer matter as much, especially to millennials,” says Blumenthal.
“Like, in the eighties,” he continues, “there was nothing cooler than a red Porsche. Now there’s nothing douchier than a guy with a polo shirt with a popped collar, driving a red Porsche. Because it’s flashy, it’s obnoxious.”
The Warby Parker brand would stand opposed to this kind of obnoxiousness. The design would resemble those of high-end manufacturers—no lion heads here—but the prices would be low, though not so low as to appear poor-quality, or conjure visions of sweatshops. Yes, to make a product under $100, they would have to manufacture in China. But they would soften this hard reality by having their factories vetted by Verité, an organization that, Blumenthal would later tell employees, “helps companies achieve the potential they have to make a positive change in the labor world.”
The overall concept was enlightened self-interest, with a product geared to appeal to the vanities of people like themselves: stylish yet practical, moneyed yet conscientious. The kind of people who think of themselves as more than a collection of data points connoting exceptional privilege (private schools, Ivy League colleges, Wharton, Bain & Company). Who carry feed bags to restaurants with $24 entrées.
“When we looked out at the world of brands, they tended to think of aspiration as wealth,” says Blumenthal. “But when we talked to our friends and looked at macro trends, particularly of the millennials, the No. 1 goal of everybody is not to live a life of just buying a bunch of very expensive objects. I think today people would rather go see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda and have an amazing experience and tell their friends about it. That has more about social capital than, you know, taking a private plane to St.-Tropez.”
They figured that traditional advertising wouldn’t work with this market. “We tried to come up with creative ideas that were different and interesting enough that someone wants to share with their social network, or they’re going to a dinner party and they want to bring up this conversation, because it’s just different and unexpected,” says Gilboa. “Basically we were trying to find as many opportunities to tell our story.” Which Blumenthal launches into a few minutes later: “How we started this business to radically transform the optical industry, bring down prices, and transfer billions of dollars from these multinational companies to normal people. And, thinking more broadly, how we wanted to demonstrate that business can be profitable and can do good in the world, and it doesn’t have to charge a premium for it.”
In fact, Warby Parker wasn’t the first to bite at the ankles of the giant Luxottica by offering a lower-priced product online. “I wouldn’t say that they disrupted the category or they discovered it,” says Roger Hardy, the founder of Coastal, a Canadian company that stuck its flag in that particular sand back in 2000. “There are lots of disrupters,” he says, among them companies like Geek Eyewear, Brooklyn’s Classic Specs, and a company called Salt Optics, which sued Warby Parker for trade-dress infringement. “They are a participant.”
But in the current atmosphere, Warby’s Samson-and-Goliath story and pared-down aesthetic have stood out. “It’s cool, but it’s not too cool,” says Ben Lerer, 31, the Thrillist co-founder and scion of Lerer Investments, who became an early investor in the brand. “It’s premium, it’s sexy, but it’s not too sexy. It’s aspirational but not douchey or showy or snotty.” GQ and Vogue wrote glowingly of their launch, and a few days after the website went live, the company found itself so inundated with orders it ran out of inventory. It ended up hitting first-year sales targets in three weeks, the founding employees shipping boxes madly from Blumenthal’s apartment in Philadelphia.
Not long after, Raider and Hunt splintered off, Hunt to join a VC firm and Raider to found Harry’s—the Warby Parker of shaving, in that its online razor business intends to disrupt another industry that’s virtually monopolized. (They remain on Warby Parker’s board.) Gilboa and Blumenthal moved to New York, first to a small office near Union Square, then to the Puck Building, the site of Neil Blumenthal’s bar mitzvah and the offices of 28-year-old Josh Kushner, whose VC firm also became an investor.
At 9 a.m., 23-year-old Mikayla Markrich presses a manicured finger to her blinking desktop phone. It’s a guy in Portland, saying he never received his package of home-trial glasses. Markrich looks up the UPS tracking number, which says the package—the five pairs of $95 glasses—was left on the porch, a frequent occurrence with UPS. “They don’t care at all,” she says, frowning.
Markrich (fun fact: She was a Segway tour guide in her native Hawaii) went to Parsons, intending to work in the fashion industry, but the atmosphere was a little too Devil Wears Prada for her gentle soul, and when Warby Parker offered to promote her from her part-time job in the company showroom to a full-time one in customer experience, she ditched her career plans. “I know that technically it’s like a call-center job?” she says between phone calls. “But it doesn’t feel that way. You think of the stereotype: The people are old; they’re miserable; it’s kind of a dead-end job. Here, everyone is so young and so smart. And we aren’t treated as though we’re just the customer-service representatives. We’re viewed as part of the team,” Markrich says. “Coming from fashion, where people were so mean, the atmosphere here was just so much better,” she says, gesturing to the rows of cheerful colleagues. “People are happy.”
Keeping employees happy isn’t just a nice thing to do; it’s good business. Which is part of what makes Warby Parker so attractive to investors like Amex, which got burned in the last dot-com boom. “It’s not, like, Elon Musk sending whatever the fuck he is doing to the moon, that’s next-level shit,” says Lerer. “It’s just good old-fashioned amazing execution.” Earlier this year, the company conducted an internal survey asking employees why they were attracted to Warby Parker and why they’ve stayed. “And to both of those questions, compensation was dead last,” says Blumenthal. “It was culture and opportunity to learn and have an impact.” Every new employee gets a gift certificate to a Thai restaurant (the cuisine of choice during the company’s founding days); a copy of The Dharma Bums; a short history of the Puck Building; and a free pair of glasses, whether or not they need them. In the vein of start-ups, employees who stick around more than a year are offered equity.
In a few years, Markrich thinks she’ll maybe go back to school for an M.B.A., inspired by her work here. “I really believe in what we do and what the company stands for,” she says, hand hovering over the ringing phone. “I do think they are going to change the way business is done.”
She picks up the receiver. On the other end is a guy whose dog ate his glasses. “Destroyed them,” he says.
“Well, that’s not your fault,” Markrich says and offers him a discount on a new pair. After filling the order, she sends a follow-up e-mail to let him know they’ve shipped. “I hope they make you jump for joy,” she types.
“So what happens when Luxottica comes and offers you a billion dollars?” asks a guy in the audience at the Brooklyn Brewery, where Gilboa is sitting on a panel titled “The Blurring of Retail and What to Expect Next,” at this year’s NeXt conference. Gilboa blushes.
It’s a good question. At the moment, the venture-capital firms invested in Warby Parker are content to allow the company to grow. But they are eventually going to want something back, through an IPO or, more likely, a sale. “They’re not just looking to make operating income,” says Jonathan Sherry, whose company, CB Insights, tracks the growth of private start-ups. “They want the big payday.”
So, perhaps, do the founders of Warby Parker, who, three years after business school, now find themselves mingling in rarefied circles. Earlier this year, Gilboa Instagrammed a picture from Richard Branson’s Necker Island, and Blumenthal tweeted about “hanging” with Jessica Alba. The night before the company meeting, they had had dinner with Silas Chou, the billionaire investor who took Michael Kors public. Blumenthal recently bought a $3.5 million apartment, and his wife recently posted on Instagram a picture of a pile of Chanel bags. And Warby Parker itself has participated in some one-percenter-ish stuff, like a promotion aboard the Standard Hotel’s seaplane to the Hamptons. “But it was a plane inspired by Rin Tin Tin!” Blumenthal protests. “Not only did you get a pair of glasses, but you got CliffsNotes of great American novels!”
At the conference, Gilboa sidesteps the question by answering it directly. “Right now, I think all of us, everyone involved, and all of the customers, would be really disappointed if we sold to Luxottica,” he says. “That’s certainly not in the cards.”
If they were to make a deal, Blumenthal says, they’d want to do it “thoughtfully,” like their friends at green-cleaning company Method, who sold to environmentally friendly Belgian manufacturer Ecover, making it the world’s largest green-cleaning company. “At the moment, the eyes on the prize is: How do we build scalable infrastructure, and how do we build a profitable business and lifestyle brand that, you know, really resonates with people?”
Which Warby Parker does. For now. But their chosen demographic is as fickle as it is desirable. “Two years ago, when someone asked if my glasses were Warby Parker, it was typically a stylish British woman or an actor/ironic bike messenger/model,” says a young entrepreneur who was tipped off to Warby Parker glasses by a friend at Harvard Business School. “Now it tends to be bros in Bears jerseys on the subway.”
The killer, he says, was when the cashier at Costco struck up a conversation about the frames he was wearing. “He said he had the same ones at home, and did I like the ones he was wearing currently?” he says, sighing. “I haven’t worn them since.”


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BYLINE: Robert Moorman
A slowing American economy, high fuel prices, too much capacity and slackening demand may collectively account for why UPS''s first quarter results and FedEx''s fiscal third-quarter earnings were relatively flat, particularly in the domestic business.
"The first quarter of 2007 has turned out to be a bust" for UPS and much of the air freight business, said Ned Laird, president of the Seattle-based Air Cargo Management Group. "There is no growth in the domestic market and virtually no growth in the to-and-from U.S. markets."
But the reports also suggest UPS and FedEx are riding out what some believe are fundamental changes in their domestic businesses by spreading into other areas, including growing international air business, that is keeping them solidly profitable.
"Both companies are doing extremely well in a very difficult environment," said Lee Clair, a partner with Norbridge, management consultants for the transportation industry. "They are also well positioned against a slowing economy because of international businesses."
Atlanta-based UPS'' first quarter net profit dropped 13.5 percent to $843 million compared to $975 million the company earned in the first three months of 2006 and came on a 3.3 percent gain in revenue, to $11.9 billion.
Overall domestic package volume slipped 0.2 percent, with ground parcel business …

domain: news


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Melbourne, Nov 12, 2020 (Issuewire.com) - The hat-making industry into doubt, following COVID-19 restrictions leading to cancelled or postponed events.
Lindsay Whitehead, the owner of Millinery Hub, an online supplier of millinery supplies across Australia, suggests small millinery businesses will need to band together to survive the COVID-19 crisis.
"We cannot rely on people buying our hats for future events like larger and more established millinery companies might be able to. While the return of social events will likely bring prosperity to milliners who make it through these turbulent times, the fact is that right now, we cannot rely on future promises to weather the Coronavirus storm." Whitehead comments. "The answer to this problem lies in the community. Online groups exist to help each other during these difficult, socially-distanced times, and if we're all conscious about how we conduct our millinery activities, we can make sure as many milliners are still in business at the end of the pandemic as possible."
In a recent blog post covering the impact of COVID-19 on the millinery industry, Whitehead outlines numerous suggestions for supporting other milliners. These include sharing client-bases, attending workshops and classes run by other milliners, and working with struggling millinery businesses (both hat makers and millinery suppliers) to give them financial boosts where possible or help them save money.
"If we adopt the idea of community. If we accept that together we're stronger than we are alone, then the millinery industry across not just Australia, but the world, can survive the COVID-19 outbreak and thrive in the world that's left behind afterwards."
Source :Millinery Hub
This article was originally published by IssueWire. Read the original article here.


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News hot of the wire, actor/comedian Kevin Hart has made an investment in Tommy John underwear.
The amount of Hart’s investment was undisclosed.
As part of the partnership, Kevin & founder Tom Patterson will be collaborating on new Kevin Hart collections and further growing brand awareness.
A long time fan of the brand, Kevin approached Tom Patterson, founder and CEO of Tommy John, looking to invest in the brand and discuss the possibility of collaborating on an edited collection.
Kevin Hart announces it via YouTube on 8/31.
Congrats to my pals over at Tommy John for the amazing news!


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MISSOULA — Multiple downtown businesses have been opening new locations or moving to the Midtown section of Missoula .
Notorious P.I.G. , the DRAM Shop and Bridge Pizza have opened up new brick and mortars in Midtown and now a downtown distillery is looking to move into its new centrally located digs.
Rattlesnake Creek Distillery started in downtown Missoula in 2012 and opened its doors for its downtown tasting room in 2015. Since then they have been distilling vodka, gin and whiskey under a name that is special to the Hogan brothers who own the business.
“We choose the name because we grew up in the Rattlesnake. It has a lot of meaning to us. I think you can back me up on this, but I think you have still caught more fish out of Rattlesnake Creek more than any other creek,” Sean said.
“Single handedly the best fishery that I’ve ever fished,” responded Dan.
The downtown location served as a great starting point for the business but as they look to grow, they need the space to do so. “Ideally, we wanted to stay in one location from start to finish but it just didn’t work out that way,” Sean said.
The decision to move to Midtown offers a couple of perks for the distillery -- including a little more space for parking. The new location will also mean it will be easier to bring in the materials needed to make RCD spirits.
"We found that for us to receive materials -- everything from bottles to grain -- was a challenge here because of the way our door is configured and our landing area for bringing in materials,” Sean explained. “So, the new space has the ability to bring in larger loads which is important for us.”
It’s a great addition to all the things moving into the Midtown area.
“People are excited about Midtown. There’s a lot of fun neat things happening down there for us there. A lot of like-minded businesses in a very close proximity to our new location,” Sean said. “There is a number of things like the Dram Shop, Great Burn -- all right in the area very symbiotic with what we are trying to do.
The Hogans hope to have the tasting room open by the time their busy season starts up which is closer to the summer.


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US: Liz Claiborne changes name to Fifth & Pacific
The company plans to concentrate on its Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand and Kate Spade labels after selling the Liz Claiborne brand to JC Penney last year. It will now trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FNP.
"As we say a final goodbye to the iconic Liz Claiborne name, we know the time is right for a change, and we welcome our bright new future as Fifth & Pacific Companies," said CEO William McComb.
Ken Hannah, chief financial officer of JC Penney, has reiterated that the US department store remains committed to its ongoing transformation, including the implementation of its in-store shops....
US fashion firm Fifth & Pacific has today seen its third-quarter net losses narrow as sales of its Juicy Couture brand continued to struggle....
US fashion firm Fifth & Pacific has lowered its full-year profit target after struggling to sell enough of its Juicy Couture products at full-price....
- When will Gap get back on track?
- Software solutions enhance speed and visibility
- Bangladesh factory safety progressing slowly
- Jason Denham raises the bar on denim innovation
- Portugal footwear makers underpin industry growth
- Q1 results in brief: Pacific Sunwear, Express
- China to reduce apparel import taxes
- Indonesian textile sector sees 6,000 lay-offs
- Cambodia garment factory strikes up 74%
- Vietnam garment staff return after faintings


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First Command News & Media
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — September 2, 2014
Military Families Spending More on Back-to-School Shopping, First Command Reports
First Command Financial Behaviors Index® reveals top cost-savings efforts
FORT WORTH, Texas — Military families plan to devote more dollars to back-to-school shopping than they did last year, even as widespread concerns about sequestration and defense downsizing continue to prompt many of them to curb everyday spending, according to the latest findings of the First Command Financial Behaviors Index®.
First Command's annual back-to-school shopping survey reveals that roughly four out of five middle-class military families (senior NCOs and commissioned officers in pay grades E-6 and above with household incomes of at least $50,000) are in the market for school clothes and supplies. Of these families, 37 percent plan on spending more than last year. That's roughly double the 15 percent who expected to spend more in 2013. Just 6 percent expected to do so in 2012.
This surge in consumerism is in marked contrast to the back-to-school spending plans of the broader middle class. The Index reveals that just 12 percent of civilian families expect to spend more than last year.
Back-to-school military shoppers are opening up their wallets at a time when many servicemembers and their families are responding to defense downsizing and sequestration worries through a larger commitment to frugal living. The Index reveals that 42 percent are countering their sequestration concerns by cutting back on everyday spending.
The frugal lifestyle followed by many military families shows through in how they expect to spend money on back-to-school shopping. The top cost-saving methods reported by this year's survey respondents are:
- Shopping at discount stores (58 percent)
- Shopping for less expensive supplies (55 percent)
- Using supplies from past years (47 percent)
- Spending less on back-to-school clothes (47 percent)
- Not buying new electronics (47 percent)
- Buying items in bulk (34 percent)
- Buying fewer school supplies (29 percent)
- Using hand-me-down clothes (26 percent)
- Sharing supplies with other people (11 percent)
- Fewer items for dorm rooms (8 percent)
- College children living at home (8 percent)
These cost-saving measures help illustrate the financial strain experienced by military families, where feelings of financial security have been eroding in recent months. The Index reveals that the percentage of military families who report feeling extremely or very financially secure month to month has fallen to a year-to-date low of 36 percent. That's down 16 points from a near-record high of 52 percent in February.
"The majority of military families are not new to implementing cost-cutting measures on purchasing back-to-school supplies, as we've seen for the last several years" said Scott Spiker, CEO of First Command Financial Services, Inc. "These measures are typical of the way military families are reacting to sequestration and Department of Defense budget cuts. Although they are ready to send their children back to school with needed supplies, they are taking steps to save money along the way."
About First Command Financial Behaviors Index®
Compiled by Sentient Decision Science, Inc., the First Command Financial Behaviors Index® assesses trends among the American public’s financial behaviors, attitudes and intentions through a monthly survey of approximately 530 U.S. consumers aged 25 to 70 with annual household incomes of at least $50,000. Results are reported quarterly. The margin of error is +/- 4.3 percent with a 95 percent level of confidence. Financial Behaviors Index
About Sentient Decision Science, Inc.
Sentient Decision Science was commissioned by First Command to compile the Financial Behaviors Index®. SDS is a behavioral science and consumer psychology consulting firm with special vertical expertise within the financial services industry. SDS specializes in advanced research methods and statistical analysis of behavioral and attitudinal data.
About First Command
First Command Financial Services and its subsidiaries, including First Command Bank and First Command Financial Planning, assist American families in their efforts to build wealth, reduce debt and pursue their lifetime financial goals and dreams—focusing on consumer behavior as the first and most powerful determinant of results. Through knowledgeable advice and coaching of the financial behaviors conducive to success, First Command Financial Advisors have built trustworthy, lasting relationships with hundreds of thousands of client families since 1958.


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There could be new Vandal skins coming to VALORANT according to recently discovered leaks. VALORANT leaker xtr revealed three new Vandal skins potentially coming in the next Act titled ‘Spikes’, ‘Egypt’, and ‘Daedalus’.
These Vandal skin leaks were revealed alongside a new melee titled ‘Demonstone’ and a tournament mode. But none of these leaks have been confirmed by Riot Games and could never actually make it to the game.
The Spikes Vandal follows a similar shape to the Forsaken and Reaver skins with more pronounced “spikes” across the entire skin. According to the leaks, the gun will have a black and yellowish color scheme with no variants. The Egypt skin has an Anubis head on the back of it and has a gold, teal, and orange color scheme with black accents. Like Spikes, the Egypt skin also does not have variants according to the leaks. Finally, the Daedalus skin seems to take mild inspiration from the Magepunk skins without the flashy colors. Unlike the other two leaked Vandal skins, the Daedalus skin appears to have three variants alongside the base black and brown scheme.
Outside of the three new Vandal skins, there was also a leak for a Demonstone melee that appears to be the size of a sword instead of a knife. There have been other swords in VALORANT that are slightly longer and cover more of the screen than traditional knives or axes do. Alongside the Deamonstone melee was the leak of a tournament category coming to VALORANT. The developers have talked previously about adding in-client tournaments for players of all skill levels to participate in. These tournaments would follow a similar structure to League of Legends’ Clash events. With the leaks of a potential tournament mode, players may have the ability to gather friends and play before the end of 2022.


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Yesterday Facebook’s seemingly never-ending quest to make itself appealing to younger, teenage smartphone owners has now resulted in an app called LOL. According to TechCrunch, LOL is a simple piece of software featuring a feed of memes and GIFs categorized by topics like “animals” and “pranks,” and Facebook is currently testing it with 100 high school users with the consent of their parents.
2 Days Ago It’s been less than a year since Epic Games kicked off the competitive circuit for Fortnite, but the company says it’s learned enough to make a substantial change to how it balances the consumer version of the game with the one played by pros at big tournaments.
2 Days Ago Google and watchmaker Fossil Group today announced an agreement for the search giant to acquire some of Fossil’s smartwatch technology and members of the research and development division responsible for creating it.
3 Days Ago LG is known for trying outlandish smartphone designs to stick out in the ever-crowding mobile marketplace. Last year’s G7 introduced an extra-loud, so-called Boom Box speaker that let you blast music at high volumes, as well as some rather excellent vibration and haptic technology.
4 Days Ago Electronic Arts has finally given the axe to its story-driven, single-player-focused Star Wars game, reports Kotaku. The game, which was once in development under the now-shuttered EA studio Visceral Games, had been in the works for years, most recently under the leadership of Uncharted director Amy Hennig.
4 Days Ago So you think you can copyright a dance? Continue reading…
4 Days Ago Microsoft-owned Turn 10 Studios, which develops the Forza series of racing games for Xbox and PC, today announced it would be removing two controversial dance emotes from its latest entry, Forza Horizon 4.
5 Days Ago Facebook continues to undergo the most contentious period in its history, as it struggles with the fallout from numerous scandals related to data privacy, misinformation, and fake news, as well as larger issues around the social network’s corrosive role in democratic societies.
8 Days Ago SpaceX will lay off 10 percent of its workforce, immediately following its first successful rocket launch of the year for satellite operator Iridium. The news, first reported by the Los Angeles Times and confirmed by SpaceX, suggests the company is under some financial pressure as it attempts to get two ambitious projects off the ground.
9 Days Ago Game studio Bungie, known best for having created the Halo franchise and more recently the Destiny series, is splitting up with its longtime publishing partner Activision, the company said in a surprise announcement this afternoon.
9 Days Ago PC gaming companies continue to make a splash at CES with experimental and sometimes outlandish devices that may never again see the light of day. But what companies and consumers learn from these experiments could turn into new, indispensable features in the products we’ll be using months and even years from now.
10 Days Ago Like virtual reality before it, augmented reality is the newest, hyped-up technology ripped straight from science fiction that technology companies worldwide are trying to bring to life.
11 Days Ago When popular Fortnite streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins took a four-day break in June to attend the annual E3 video game conference in Los Angeles, he lost more than 100,000 subscribers — all because he wasn’t streaming every single day that week.
11 Days Ago Amazon’s philosophy on the smart home — put Alexa in literally everything, even the most mundane of products — is pushing Google and its hardware partners to develop similar devices with very narrow use cases.
11 Days Ago It seems that we haven’t yet hit the limit on weird and novel implementations of Alexa, as Lenovo just announced what might be the neatest use of a charging station the smart home has to offer.
11 Days Ago Amazon’s Alexa got a head start on its smart home invasion compared to its primary competitor Google, and that early lead has extended beyond the home.
11 Days Ago Razer has always leaned in hard to the PC gaming stereotype of gaudy, glowing LED lights and other customizable neon aesthetics, and now it’s going to let you verbally control those lights using Amazon’s Alexa.
12 Days Ago The ideal workstation depends on who you ask, and whether that person prefers more monitors or just one and just how much clutter they’re comfortable with.
12 Days Ago Anker’s Soundcore brand, which specializes in portable Bluetooth speakers and more recently in home theater products, is announcing a few new devices at CES this year.
12 Days Ago Anker, once known as a leading accessory maker and now a multi-faceted consumer electronics company, hasn’t abandoned its roots as a supplier of some of the fastest and highest-quality chargers around.
12 Days Ago Intel is making progress on developing its next-generation 10-nanometer processors, and today during its CES press conference, the chipmaker showed off the first completed designs for what the company is calling Lakefield.
12 Days Ago HTC and its software partner Valve have been steadily working on premium, desktop-grade virtual reality with the Vive for a few years now, while Oculus VR focuses on the mainstream consumer market and Sony targets PlayStation owners.
12 Days Ago HTC announced a new variant of its high-end Vive Pro virtual reality headset today at CES that comes with native, built-in eye tracking. The device is called the Vive Pro Eye, and it promises to bring higher-quality VR experiences, thanks to a technique called “foveated rendering” that renders sharp images for wherever the human eye is looking in a virtual scene and reduces the image quality of objects on the periphery.
12 Days Ago Nvidia’s big announcement during its CES press conference yesterday — mobile RTX GPUs for gaming laptops — was an expected one. The company has always worked to find the balance of power consumption, heat production, and the delicate GPU-CPU dance required to fit a desktop graphics chip into the slim, portable package of a notebook.
13 Days Ago Nemeio, a new brand under French tech conglomerate LDLC, has taken the concept of a customizable software keyboard to whole new heights. At the annual CES Unveiled showcase here in Las Vegas, the company showed off an E Ink keyboard, which is yet to be officially named, that can be customized key by key.


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Team17 Group PLC (LON:TM17) has announced the launch of its first game for the next generation of video game consoles, Overcooked! All You Can Eat.
The video game developer said the title has launched on Microsoft Corp’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox Series X|S and will be launched tomorrow on Sony’s PlayStation 5.
READ: Microsoft prepares to launch Xbox Series X video game console, but Sony’s PlayStation 5 follows close behind
The game includes full remastered versions of Overcooked! and Overcooked! 2, including all downloadable content previously released for both titles as well as seven new levels. The game will also be available in a physical edition for both next generation consoles later this year.
“We are delighted to be extending the gaming universe of both Overcooked! and Overcooked! 2 across these next-generation consoles and look forward to further expanding our diverse portfolio of titles over the coming months”, Team17 chief executive Debbie Bestwick said in a statement.


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Sony online exec to step down
Tim Schaaf, who joined the company in 2005 from Apple, will leave the company at the end of December
IDG News Service - Sony said Thursday that the executive in charge of its online products, and linking them up to its broad hardware holdings, will leave the company at the end of the year.
The Tokyo-based electronics giant said Tim Schaaff, who it poached from Apple in 2005, will leave by "personal choice." Schaaff is president of Sony Network Entertainment, a core division that runs its streaming music and video service and its online gaming network.
Andrew House, the executive in charge of Sony's game division, will lead the networking division after the exit of Schaaff, who will continue to serve as an outside director, Sony said.
"This was proposed by him," said Sony spokesman George Boyd, adding Schaaff indicated he wanted to "take a break and spend more time with his family."
Expanding the company's online services and offering them across its video game consoles, phones, tablets and TVs is a major part of Sony's turnaround plan under new CEO Kazuo Hirai. The company has also launched apps that allow its online services to be accessed by third-party devices like iPhones and third-party Android phones.
Schaaff joined Sony under former CEO Howard Stringer, as part of the firm's efforts to add software expertise to its product design and day-to-day management. He previously managed development of Apple's QuickTime video technology.
The executive helped roll out Sony's current online offerings, and was in charge of Sony's PlayStation Network when it was breached last year by hackers in one of the largest corporate hacking incidents ever. The hack exposed the account details of over 77 million users, spurred a federal lawsuit, and caused a weeks-long service outage.
Asked to comment about the incident, Schaaff famously said he had learned a lot from it.
"I would not like to do it again. One time was enough. Great learning experience," he said at the GamesBeat 2011 conference in San Francisco.
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Kenya Moore Lands a New Gig — What Is She Doing Now?
If you need even more Gone with the Wind Fabulous-ness in your life, we have good news for you: Kenya Moore of The Real Housewives of Atlanta will appear on BET's 106 & Park to judge the Rip the Runway Amateur Model Contest on February 25, 2013. The winner of the competition will earn a chance to walk in the ninth annual Rip the Runway fashion and music show held in New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom.
Even better, Kenya will be on hand at the actual style extravaganza. According to TV by the Numbers, BET's website will "follow Kenya Moore as she captures behind the scenes interviews with models, Billboard’s chart topping artists and our phenomenal hosts" as they prep for the event.
We hope BET is prepped for Kenya's bodyguard! Tune in for the runway show on March 20 at 10 p.m. ET. Will you be watching?


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Cointree Crypto Market Update - February 16th 2022
Market report for traders
What’s happening in the market?
Most smart contract platforms dip, while Avalanche bucks the trend
Trading between the range of AU$58,600 and AU$63,500 this week, bitcoin ended the week at roughly the same place at AU$60,972. Meanwhile, Ethereum dropped 4.2% and is sitting at AU$4,220. Similarly, most major layer 1 blockchains also fell slightly. Cardano is down 9.5%, Solana is down 14.2%, Terra is down 6.1%, and Polkadot is down 11.7%. Notably, Avalanche bucked the trend and is up 7%.
While this may seem gloomy for some investors, it seems others see it as an opportunity.
Intel, Blackrock, YouTube, Warren Buffett, and McDonald’s get into crypto
Some of the most renowned brands are entering the crypto space. Intel, the chip-making giant, is building energy-efficient crypto miners, while Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, is planning to offer bitcoin trading. At the same time, YouTube is eyeing the “incredible potential” of web3 and NFTs.
Now, despite once calling bitcoin “rat poison squared”, Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway has invested AU$1.4 billion in the bitcoin-friendly Nubank, while dumping AU$2.5 billion and AU$1.8 billion of Visa and Mastercard stock, respectively. If that wasn’t enough, McDonald’s is applying for patents so they can be the first restaurant in the metaverse.
Russia welcomes crypto, while Canada pushes back
It’s been an eventful week internationally. It was an interesting start for crypto when Russia announced it would recognise digital assets as a form of currency. President Putin then backed plans for regulating the mining industry.
Now, in the past few days, crypto has been caught up in the Canadian government’s response to the ongoing trucker blockades in the country’s capital, Ottawa. Overall, they’re broadening anti-money laundering and terror-financing rules to cover crowdfunding and payment providers linked to them. Notably, the Finance Minister noted that “These changes cover all forms of transactions including digital assets such as cryptocurrencies.”
Bitcoin raging for the week
Bitcoin has been ranging between AU$58,600 and AU$63,500 (an ~8% range) for the week, and for the most part, toying with the 50 day Moving Average. This is somewhat expected with the drop in volume this week.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is still climbing towards oversold and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) is still bullish, although it’s now indicating that a little bit of squeeze is happening.
With tensions in Europe and uncertainty in a number of traditional markets, the drop in volume is somewhat expected. Any significant news in the world markets will almost certainly be a catalyst for any major moves for BTC, both positive or negative.
Currently, I’ll be looking for a break of the AU$64k resistance which could see a healthy push up. In the meantime, bounce trades are the order of the day, with tight stops and proper risk management as always. Volume will be key to any strong move in either direction, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on any increase in volume.
- Bitcoin (BTC) is ranging between AU$58,600 and AU$63,500 (an ~8% range).
- Relative Strength Index (RSI) is nearing the overbought level.
- Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) is very bullish but showing a squeeze.
- Volume has dropped off, watching for any influx of buying or selling volume.\
Disclaimer: Information provided is for educational purposes and does not constitute financial product advice. You should obtain independent advice from an Australian financial services licensee before making any financial decisions.\ As cryptocurrencies remain volatile, all prices and percentages may have changed since the time of writing.


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The lower prices and diversified product push come as part of Creative's effort to capture as much of this growing market as possible.
DVD-ROM drives, which use discs that can store up to 4.7GB of multimedia data per side, are increasingly becoming standard equipment on higher-end desktops and notebooks. Sales of upgrade kits have also been increasing. By 2001, there will be 19.5 million DVD drives installed on PCs, according to the Yankee Group.
Marketing different levels of add-on packages will allow the company to target a wider variety of users, at generally lower price points. Currently, DVD-ROM upgrade packages sell in the $400 to $500 range. Creative itself now has one upgrade solution officially priced in the high $300 range.
With its new drive packages, Creative will also begin to target the corporate market, said a Creative spokesperson. Until now, DVD technology has mostly been confined to consumer PCs.
The new DVD add-on packages, which will formally be introduced on March 9, will all be based around Creative's current DVD drive. Price will vary depending upon the other components in the package.
At one end of the spectrum, Creative will offer the 2X DVD-ROM drive with no extras for $149. Right now, most manufacturers, Creative included, do not market a naked drive. Typically, they are sold only as part of complete add-on solutions.
At the high end of the line the company will offer the Encore package, a DVD drive package that contains the drive, game titles including "Claw," and an MPEG-2 video playback chip, among other features.
The Encore package, which is out now, will retail for $299. It currently retails at $379 although some retailers have already shifted to the new, lower price.
In addition, the company will market a DVD-ROM bundle for system integrators. Creative will also continue to seek out deals for bundling DVD-ROM drives into computers, the spokesperson added.


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How much fruit and vegetables can you buy for NIS 100 in east Jerusalem? A lot more than you can buy in the rest of the city, TikTok video shows.
Created by user Moayad Taha, the video starts off at the entrance to an east Jerusalem market with a man holding NIS 100 bill.
He then turns around and grabs a full bag of what appears to be garlic before continuing onward and taking full bags of tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplants.
The man then grabs a cauliflower before moving on to grab full bags of avocados and oranges. After that, he continues to the other sections and grabs bags of pomelos, onions and finally, lemons.
@moayadtaha1 شو بتعمل 100 شيكل عند الحاج فرج مع العرض #foryoupage #fypシ #voiceeffects #الحاج_فرج #ابو_مندل #ابو_مندل #صورباهر ♬ الصوت الأصلي - Moayad Taha
How can you buy so much for just NIS 100?
Many viewers were shocked at the incredible deal Taha was seemingly able to achieve. The comments were filled with viewers shocked at how cheap these products were, compared to how much they normally cost.
This is an especially hot topic in Israel considering the buzz surrounding the high cost of living and rising food prices.
However, the question most people asked was where this store was located – according to Taha, the location is in Ras el-Amud in east Jerusalem. In fact, Taha has uploaded several videos about this particular market.
One commenter evidently has visited the store before, praising the prices and discussing what they have purchased from them in the past.
But why is food so much cheaper in Ras el-Amud in east Jerusalem compared to other parts of Israel?
Well, it isn't entirely unprecedented.
In the past, Israeli supermarkets have been known to have lower prices for certain demographics, such as when Shufersal was revealed to have secret discounts for haredim.
Among traditional supermarket chains, Rami Levy has the cheapest produce prices, but among smaller stores like this, the prices can vary.


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It’s no secret that tablets are slowly but surely replacing notebook PCs, but a new report suggests that even smaller slates will dominate the market within four years. According to new statistics from the IDC, tablets with screens sizes less than eight inches will comprise more than half of the tablet market by 2017.
The findings also suggest that tablet shipments in general will exceed those of laptops and notebooks in 2013, keeping with the downward trend that the PC market has seen in the past two years. While tablets are expected to replace portable computers this year, the IDC predicts that they will outpace the entire PC market (including desktops) by 2015.
MORE: Top 10 Tablets
That’s not to say that the PC will become completely extinct, but casual users are more likely to replace their personal PCs with slates.
“IDC continues to believe that PCs will have an important role in this new era of computing, especially for business users,” Ryan Reith, Program Manager for IDC’s Mobility Trackers, said in a statement. “But for many consumers, a tablet is a simple and elegant solution for core use cases that were previously addressed by the PC.”
Even now consumers aren’t looking for a tablet similar in screen size to their PC, according to the IDC. As interest shifts even further towards tablets over the next few years, smaller slates are expected to be in higher demand.
In 2013, tablets less than eight inches in size already account for 55 percent of the market. This number is expected to jump to 57 percent by 2017, as tablets between eight and 11 inches decrease their market share from 43 percent in 2013 to 37 percent in 2017.
This increased interest in smaller slates can largely be attributed to the success of 7-inch tablets such as Google's Nexus 7, Apple's iPad Mini and Amazon's Kindle Fire HD. Tablets larger than 11 inches only comprise two percent of the market today, but that number is also expected to grow to six percent in 2017.
The news that PC shipments are declining isn’t exactly new, but the IDC’s report suggests that tablet screen sizes are shrinking as smartphone displays are growing. Whispers from the Asian supply chain courtesy of DigiTimes hinted that manufacturers such as Sony, LG, and Huawei are prepping larger 5-inch smartphones for 2013. Additionally, handset makers such as Nokia, BlackBerry and HTC are rumored to be working on phablets of their own.


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BARCELONA, SPAIN -- (Marketwire) -- 02/29/2012 -- NVIDIA confirmed today that it is working with Microsoft on a program to distribute Windows 8 test PCs to software developers and device manufacturers powered by the Tegra®3 quad-core mobile processor with 4-Plus-1 architecture.
This seeding program enables these parties to create a rich ecosystem of apps and devices for Windows 8 on ARM-based processors.
"NVIDIA has a long record of supporting software developers working on the cutting edge of innovation," said Tony Tamasi, senior vice president of content and technology at NVIDIA. "We're furthering this tradition by helping to realize the extraordinary potential of Windows on ARM processors, like Tegra 3."
"Microsoft is excited to partner with NVIDIA to bring developers leading edge Windows on ARM test PCs to support the creation of compelling Metro style app and device experiences for Windows 8," said Aidan Marcuss, Senior Director of Business Planning, Microsoft.
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Nubia was set to enter the Indian smartphone market soon and now we have an exact date for the same. Nubia India is set to make its debut on May 19.
— Nubia (@Nubia_IN) May 14, 2015
Nubia India will launch its first smartphone (s) on May 19 and it will be exclusive to Amazon India. The company has also set up an official Indian website known as nubia.in along with social media pages.
Nubia has not yet teased any smartphone which the company will be launching in India. Of course, we would want them to launch the recently unveiled Nubia Z9. We could also see the arrival of Nubia Z9 Max and Nubia Z9 Mini. There will be teasers on their social media channels once the launch is near.
This is one of the most exciting period for the Indian smartphone market. As consumers, we are getting to decide between endless number of options offering value for money products. Xiaomi has already taken the Indian market by storm and Meizu also is also entering India on May 18, likely by launching the M1 Note. Today we have seen a Shanghai based smartphone manufacturer named PhiComm announce its plan to enter the Indian smartphone market by mid-June.


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London shops' sales at standstill
FRESH evidence that London's retailers suffered a miserable Christmas emerged today from a survey showing sales growth was at a virtual standstill in December.
The report from the London Retail Consortium and KPMG revealed that sales in central London fell by 0.01% on a like-for-like basis compared with a year earlier. That pulled the three-month trend rate of growth, which irons out monthly fluctuations, down to 1.3% from 2.3% in November.
A painfully slow start to the festive season was blamed for the dismal performance. Amanda Aldridge, head of retail at KPMG, said: 'The post-Christmas sales, many of which started earlier this year, kicked off strongly.
'This, together with many more retailers opening on Boxing Day, has flattered the December numbers. Retailers are looking to the January sales to boost their like-for-likes after this generally disappointing month.'
Despite the Christmas blues on the High Street, a separate report showed London's economy as a whole continued to grow in December.
The Royal Bank of Scotland purchasing managers' report, based on the respected CIPS/Reuters national PMI, revealed a sharp increase in new business and rising employment.
The headline business activity index registered 61.4, down slightly on November's 62.2 but well above the 50 'no change' level.
Meanwhile, 24% of London firms plan to increase investment over the next six months, almost double the 13% who intended to six months ago, according to a survey from Lloyds TSB.
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The major Gulf carriers (Emirates, Etihad Airways, and Qatar Airways) have been all over the news in the last couple of months. If you thought the electronics ban was going to be the only airline story coming out of the Middle East this year, you were mistaken!
Qatar Airways has been dealing with diplomatic issues; they also introduced a new business class product and just won the 2017 Skytrax award as the best airline in the world. Etihad Airways won the Skytrax award for the best first class product (in large part due to The Apartments), and Emirates has cut service to the U.S.
Etihad Cuts Chauffeur Service
Today, Etihad made more news with 3 announcements. Most notable is a big change to its chauffeur service for first class and business class passengers. As of July 3, 2017, Etihad will no longer offer complimentary chauffeur service to and from any airport besides its hub in Abu Dhabi.
When you consider the cuts Etihad has made recently, this isn’t entirely surprising. But it’s still disappointing for those who enjoyed the ease with which they could get to and from the airport.
Fortunately, these changes will not be retroactive. Those who have already booked flights (or book prior to July 3, 2017) will still receive complimentary car service at airports around the world when flying first or business class on Etihad. We only get 2 weeks notice, but it’s much better than many of Delta’s infamous unannounced changes.
Etihad Lounge Access Expanded
In March, Etihad started allowing economy passengers to pay for access to their premium lounges around the world at a cost of about $50 per person.
Now, they have announced that business class passengers departing or connecting in Abu Dhabi can purchase access to Etihad’s flagship First Class Lounge & Spa. This is another financial move to boost revenue while they cut complimentary chauffeur service.
Recently, there have been reports of Etihad cutting back where they can in lounges around the world, specifically in food and drink offerings. Though it’s a great space to relax while waiting for a flight, we certainly hope the overall experience will remain first class.
The biggest concern for many will be the risk of overcrowding, which could make Etihad’s lounges louder than the peaceful oasis environment most people expect.
New “Neighbour-Free Seat” Option in Economy
Of the changes being introduced by Etihad, their “neighbour-free seat” option in economy class might be the most interesting. We’ve all experienced cramped economy seating, sitting shoulder to shoulder, and fighting for space on the armrest.
Well, economy class passengers will now have the opportunity to bid for the seats next to them at the time of booking if they would like to create a buffer between themselves and other passengers.
You can bid for up to 3 seats so you can get an entire row to yourself, even on long-haul flights. Etihad’s announcement stated that this option will be “subject to availability and cabin configuration.” We’ll see what that means in practice as they roll out this new option.
If you bid for an empty seat and win, you will be notified 30 hours prior to your scheduled departure.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out, since other economy class passengers may see 1 person in a 4-seat middle section and think they can move to these open seats. Hopefully, Etihad will have a clear way of marking that the seats are not available, similar to what European carriers do with intra-European business class seats.
We’re seeing lots of changes in the airline industry these days. We hate to see Etihad’s chauffeur service cut back, if for no other reason that it can be a fun treat on a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. However, we are still seeing new, industry-leading business class products, so there is plenty to leave us hopeful for the future of air travel.


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Skyflow raises $17.5M to drive growth of its data privacy vault
Skyflow announced a $17.5 million Series A to drive growth of its data privacy vault. The round, led by Canvas Ventures, brings the total amount raised to $25 million over the last year and includes Foundation Capital, which led the seed round.
With this funding, Skyflow plans to:
- Invest aggressively to build out its sales and marketing organization.
- Expand its product portfolio with vertical-specific vaults for finance, health and B2C companies.
- Hire engineering and operations teams to serve the needs of a growing list of customers.
Skyflow radically simplifies how companies manage, access and govern sensitive customer data. The zero-trust data vault with an elegant API allows developers to quickly build applications and workflows without worrying about data security, privacy or compliance.
Be more like Apple
“Our customers asked us—why can’t I be more like Apple? These companies are tired of buying tool after tool just for compliance,” said Anshu Sharma, CEO and co-founder at Skyflow.
“Customers are telling us they want a simpler, unified way to securely handle sensitive data. They need to serve their users by running workflows and analytics while meeting increasingly stringent privacy expectations and regulations such as CCPA and GDPR. Skyflow’s data privacy vault does just that via a simple API.“
Move to digital and cloud multiplies privacy challenges
Companies that handle personally identifiable information, payments and healthcare data (PII, PCI or PHI) face ever more sophisticated attacks, as well as increasing data compliance challenges like GDPR and CCPA.
Although an abundance of cybersecurity products exists, data breaches and compliance problems are still common because these products act like patches on existing systems.
Organizations spend tens of billions of dollars on compliance without fundamentally solving for the privacy and security of the data entrusted with the healthcare, finance, and other apps people use.
Skyflow’s radical new approach: Goes beyond compliance
Skyflow takes a different approach. Inspired by the data vaults built internally by companies like Apple, Google and Netflix that spend tens of millions of dollars on privacy, Skyflow has built a zero-trust data vault that any company can use.
At its core, the Skyflow data privacy vault is powered by a radical new approach called polymorphic encryption, which utilizes the latest industry-standard encryption and tokenization algorithms.
“Protecting sensitive data has been a pivotal challenge in the enterprise for decades,” said Paul Hsiao, general partner at Canvas Ventures. “The phenomenal growth Skyflow has seen in a few short months speaks to the strengths of the Skyflow team and their data platform for solving very complex privacy challenges.”


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Popular electric car maker Tesla has posted profits for four consecutive quarters for the first time in its 17 years of existence, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
According to the newspaper, Tesla made $104M during the second quarter of 2020, while during the same period of the previous year, the company posted a loss of $408M. However, starting in the third quarter of the same year, quarterly results moved into positive territory (+143 million, +105 million, +16 million).
Tesla could now include its shares in the S&P 500. If this eventually happens, the large index funds will "compete" to include the shares of the the electric car maker in their portfolios.
The company CEO Elon Musk has announced the construction of a second assembly plant in Texas. The plant will be located in Austin and will assemble the Cybertruck, semis as well as the Model 3 and Model Y for consumers in the east of the United States.
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to stay up to date on the latest crypto and blockchain news.


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Sweat Records is celebrating their 7th anniversary with Sweatstock 3. Saturday, April 21st is also 2012’s Record Store Day, an international holiday now in its fifth year. Hundreds of exclusive releases are made available to independent stores only and Sweat will be stocking them. All releases are first come, first serve when the store opens at 10am. This year’s official Record Store Day “Ambassador” is none other than Miami resident Iggy Pop.
The outdoor stage runs from 2pm to 11pm and will be headlined by Miami electro-pop-stars Afrobeta. Preceding them are some of Miami’s best live acts from an array of genres: Deaf Poets, Krisp, Psychic Mirrors, Ketchy Shuby, Plains, Arboles Libres, The Stage Of, and Jessie Jackson performing with a full band. Also outside will be the MAM’s custom Soundbomb Bus – a classic ‘70s VW bus transformed into a mobile party- starter with DJ booth, to coincide with their current vinyl-centric exhibition, “The Record”. Manning the bus at Sweatstock will be super awesome local DJs Induce, A-train, Rob Riggs And Dj Hottpants.
There will also be loads of music and merchandise on sale as well as freebies, including treats from Miami label Other Electricities Sweat will also be debuting several new store t-shirts for sale, with soon-to-be-iconic designs by local artist R. Grimes, Brian Butler And Iron Forge Press.
Next door, Churchill’s Pub will be open all day with no cover (18+ only). Local blog Beached Miami are hosting the Inside Stage starting at 4pm while recent Knight grant awardees Roofless Records will be bringing their experimental-yet-high-quality programming to the Patio Stage once the sun goes down. Full lineups TBA.


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It’s Monday. Here’s what you need to know in Australian tech today.
1. Google is making a giant change this week that could crush millions of small businesses and you have one day left to prepare. On Tuesday Google is rolling out a new algorithm which will start favouring mobile-friendly websites (ones with large text, easy-to-click links, and that resize to fit whatever screen they’re viewed on) ranking them higher in search. Websites that aren’t mobile-friendly will get demoted. There’s more here.
2. High piracy rates = cheaper Netflix. Netflix reportedly sets its prices lower in regions where there are high levels of illegal downloads. When the streaming platform launched in Australia last month at $AU8.99 a month, it was the cheapest movies-and-TV streaming package in the market. The price is also cheaper than in the US which is $US8.99 a month or about $AU11.50. Australia has one of the highest rates of content piracy in the world. More here.
3. BEEzerk crowdfunding. After running a crowdfunding campaign for a new beehive on Indiegogo since late February, Aussie inventors Cedar Anderson and his father Stuart look set to raise a staggering $US12 million. They were hoping to raise $US70,000. Shows how powerful the combination of a strong idea and a crowdfunding platform can be.
4. Freelancer.com just got local. The jobs marketplace is expanding to add over 100 new location specific skills like pick up and delivery, trades like plumbers, builders and electricians. Similar to what Airtasker does, as Freelancer launches out the new features over this quarter, you will be able to book someone to pick up your dry cleaning or stand in line at the Apple shop for you. Full story here.
5. I’ve been told over, and over, that 2015 is the year of “data security”. So with that in mind, here’s what elite hackers do to protect their data when they see an iMac in their fancy hotel room.
It’s pretty high-tech. They turn the screen around, unplug it and cover it with a towel.
Have an awesome day! I’m on Twitter.
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Netflix Previews Interactive ‘Escape the Undertaker’ Special Featuring WWE Stars
Netflix dropped a short trailer providing some much-needed info on its upcoming Escape The Undertaker interactive special.
The 2-minute trailer lays out the basic plot of the film and showcases the interactive “choose your own adventure” component of the special. Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and current WWE Champ Big E — The New Day — approach the Undertaker’s mansion with a request: to the Undertaker’s powerful urn as a fuel source for their positivity movement. Taker, however, has something different in mind. He lets the New Day into his mansion with a nefarious intention: to steal their souls and power the urn even further. What follows is a series of ethereal, otherworldly challenges that the New Day must overcome to get the urn and escape the mansion with their lives. Users will help guide E, Woods, and Kingston through the mansion and defeat the Undertaker once and for all.
Yes, it’s as brilliantly cheesy and reminiscent of pro wrestling’s carny roots from the 80s and early 90s as it sounds. Wrestling fans will no doubt enjoy the callbacks to wrestling’s past while appreciating the New Day’s unique personalities in the present. And, of course, the Undertaker himself is a commanding presence while on screen. You can check out the full trailer below:
We know Netflix is ramping up its interactive entertainment offerings, especially gaming, thanks to a new initiative that saw the creation of “Netflix Gaming,” an entirely new content category for them. Netflix’s gaming offerings are likely to be simple in nature, especially as many subscribers lack the gaming power of a gaming PC or an Xbox or Playstation console, and are restricted to what a smart TV, mobile device, or streaming device can handle. Netflix has already started beta testing its games overseas, as it let fans in Poland try out two games based on the Stranger Things universe.
But interactive films are already an established idea for Netflix, so expect to see more, especially if Escape the Undertaker performs well. Escape director Ben Simms has already worked on multiple interactive specials, including the You vs. Wild series, and two of Netflix’s top IPs — Black Mirror and Stranger Things — both have interactive specials of their own.
Escape the Undertaker releases on October 5, only on Netflix.


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(Yicai Global) Sept. 15 -- Goubuli Group, which has been making its celebrated steamed buns for more than 160 years, has apologized publicly after a franchise store phoned the police because a customer said they were unpalatable.
Goubuli also said via WeChat today that it intends to end its cooperation with the store in Beijing's popular Wangfujing shopping street because it violated their franchise agreement and the group's corporate brand regulations, damaging the time-honored brand's reputation. Goubuli launched its steamed buns business in 1858.
Blogger Gu Yue uploaded a video on Chinese social media Weibo on Sept. 10, saying that Goubuli Wangfujing's buns tasted ordinary and CNY100 (USD14.70) for two was "a bit expensive." In response, the outlet said the comments were untrue and Gu should be held accountable, adding that it had filed a complaint with the police.
The franchisee handled consumer reviews without Goubuli's authorization, the Tianjin-based company said, adding that the store's behavior was highly inappropriate and was not representative of Goubuli.
The company has gone in for direct sales since 2005 and has not extended deals with more than 80 franchise stores in various regions. The Wangfujing store was the only franchise out of 12 in Beijing in operation, its statement added.
Editor: Peter Thomas


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Israel’s premier gaming event “Gamerz” will take over Tel Aviv during Passover
Hide your kids… or don’t! For four days in April, Gamerz will be hitting Tel Aviv’s port for Israel’s largest gaming convention of the year This will be a party of all sorts, featuring the biggest gaming, technology, and gadgets, all in a convention.
Alon Livne's new winter collection is bewitching
The new winter collection by acclaimed Israeli designer Alon Livne was inspired by a historical story that took place in 1590 in Scotland, where, according to stories, a group of women, led by Agnes Sampson (a Scottish healer and purported witch), was accused of witchcraft and betrayal by the King of Scotland, James VI and betrayal of the monarchy. Alon Livne 2019 © Adi Segal These women who were suspected of stirring up storms in the sea and causing the ship's fleet to drown, were accused of doing so by performing a worshiping ceremony for the devil that included dance and sex during which they were marked by him in intimate areas of their bodies. Alon Livne 2019 © Adi Segal These signs, which were discovered on the women's bodies, were the ultimate proof of their guilt, and the group was executed. According to the story, Agnes's spirit is still wandering in the palace gardens. Alon Livne 2019 © Adi Segal The collection, "Aconitum", is named for the flower known by its form of seductive petals in deep crimson. It is a particularly poisonous flower, also known as the Devil's Cloak, by which competitors concocted poisons from in the Middle Ages. Alon Livne 2019 © Adi Segal The collection consists of 30 ensembles, including jackets, pants, shirts, coats, bodices and lavish evening dresses, in black, white, silver and red. Each garment in the collection is crafted from a variety of materials that were assembled together and sewn with meticulous sewing tec
6 Israeli fashion designers who became international superstars
The Jewish brain has been gifting the world with brilliant inventions for decades. Now, Israelis are taking over the world with their fashion skills. From high couture to artistic design, we've got the lowdown on our very own Israeli fashion designers that have made it abroad.
Forbes 30 Under 30 is at it again – in Israel
An interview with Randall Lane, Chief Content Officer at Forbes Magazine The Forbes Under 30 Global Women's Summit (March 31 – April 4) will bring the most powerful female leaders from North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia together in Tel Aviv for a week packed with parties, networking events and even a fashion show lead by women designers through Jerusalem's Machne Yehuda Market. This is the fourth consecutive year that Forbes has hosted a 30 under 30 summit in Tel Aviv, but this one is different. It has the main goal of changing the business world for women all over and helping create investment opportunities as well as promoting women entrepreneurship and mentorship. The guest speakers include Susan Ma, founder and CEO of Tropic Skincare; Charlie Javice, founder and CEO of Frank; Nadia Masri, founder and CEO of Perksy; and more. We sat down with Randall Lane, Chief Content Officer at Forbes Magazine. 2018 Event Why do you think the women’s summit is important? We plan to bring 500 women to Tel Aviv, each of whom has so much history and vitality behind her. We need more women-leading companies – and more investments for women. The vast majority of funding is going to male founders, and this has to change. Women outperform men when they do get funding. We believe that the conversation has to be between the women and the men. We are letting up to 20 percent of male founders be involved, but not before they write an essay on how they are going to help the
Eating and drinking in Israel
The 11 most-loved restaurants in Israel by local chefs
We found out where local Israeli chefs love to eat in our extensive “Where Israeli chefs eat” article. Now, we’ve analyzed the results and come up with the 11 most common restaurants in Israel chosen by yours truly. Hipster bites, Asian delights, Tel Aviv street food, hummus hotspots and everything in between, check out the most popular dining establishments among Israeli chefs when off-duty.
The best restaurants in Tel Aviv to get your sushi fix
The words “sushi” and “Israel” might not bring to mind a usual pairing, but since when do Tel Avivians strive for ordinary? Recently, from Japanese street food to tantalizing Thai, an Asian invasion has been taking over the Tel Aviv restaurant scene.
The best of Israel
The best beaches in Israel
Israel's beaches are more than just a place to lay out and tan. Hitting the sand is a lifestyle - where friends meet, families frolic and gym rats get fit. It’s a nexus of Israeli life, buzzing every day of the week. With access to four seas: the Mediterranean Sea, the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, each of the beaches in Israel offers a distinct experience. Here's your guide to the country's coastline, including the legendary beaches in Tel Aviv.
Time Out guides
Tzfat: a guide to the mystical city
Out of the green mountains and lush winding roads of the Upper Galilee, emergesa city steeped in the history and mysticism of the Jewish people. Tzfat, one ofJudaism’s four Holy Cities, is well known as the center of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) in Israel, where around each turn of the cobbled streets lies another mystical shop welcoming you in for a taste of 16th century spirituality. This Holy City on a hill is also home to ancient sites with panoramic views, hearty homemade yemenite food, and vibrant art galleries. Whether you come for the history or hiking, this magical city will undoubtedly leave an impression on your mind–and maybe even on your soul.


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For more than a decade, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated Europe’s footballing scene. They play for two European powerhouses, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United, and both players are among the highest-paid athletes in the world.
According to Forbes, Lionel Messi was the highest-paid athlete last year, earning $130 million (£110 million) in pre-tax gross earnings. Whereas Messi and NBA great LeBron James have $121.2 million (£102 million), Ronaldo has $115 million (£97 million).
Messi’s PSG colleague Neymar is fourth on the list, with earnings of almost $95 million. These are the only three footballers who made the top ten list. Is Messi, however, the world’s richest footballer? GOAL attempts to discover…
Who is the world’s richest footballer?
Messi, Ronaldo, and Neymar may be the best earnings, but their net worth is considerably behind that of the world’s richest footballer. Faiq Bolkiah, the Prince of Brunei’s son, is the richest footballer on the planet, with an estimated net worth of $20 billion (£16.9 billion).
The Brunei national team captain is from one of the world’s wealthiest families. His father, Jefri Bolkiah, is the Prince of Brunei, and his uncle, Hassanal, is the country’s Sultan or king.
The 24-year-old spent his formative years at Southampton, Chelsea, and Leicester City academies. He joined Maritimo in Portugal in 2020 after failing to gain a spot in senior squads with Premier League clubs. Faiq joined Chonburi in Thailand after spending a year there. He has made 14 appearances in the Thai league and has four assists.
Bolkiah has made six appearances for his country and scored once.
The former Arsenal player may not be regarded as the finest in the game, but he has done very well in his secondary career as an entrepreneur.
He co-founded GF Biochemicals, a significant manufacturer of levulinic acids and derivatives. Its headquarters are in Italy, and it also has a presence in the Netherlands. Pasquale Granata is his business partner.
Flamini’s net worth exceeds $10 billion (£8.5 billion).
The Portuguese man is not only a football great, but also a commercial magnate. He is sponsored by Nike, ZTE, KFC, Samsung, and numerous other multinational corporations.
CR7 is a brand in his own right, with a luxury clothing and accessory collection. He also owns and operates the CR7 Pestana hospitality and hotel group. His net worth is estimated to be at $500 million (£423 million).
Messi earns more at PSG than Ronaldo does at Manchester United, yet the Argentine behind his professional opponent in the net worth index.
He, like Ronaldo, has his own clothing brand, the Messi shop, which he opened in Barcelona in 2019. He owns the MiM hotel chain, a premium brand in which Messi invested roughly £26 million in 2017.
The footballer also has a lifetime contract with Adidas and supports a number of other companies, including Pepsi, MasterCard, and Budweiser. His net worth is estimated to be over $450 million (£381 million).
The England international may have gone from the sport a long time ago, but he remains a global icon. He is a co-owner of MLS club Inter Miami and a brand ambassador for H&M, Adidas, Diageo, and L’Oreal, to mention a few.
According to the Sun, Beckham received over £29 million in dividends from his company DB Ventures Limited between 2016 and 2017, equating to around £40,000 each day.
According to documents filed with Companies House, Beckham received a £18.75 million dividend from his company, DB Ventures Limited, in 2017, after receiving a £10.2 million payout in 2016. His net worth is projected to be in the $400 million (£338 million) range.
Player Net Worth is ranked in order of importance:
|1.||Faiq Bolkiah||$20 billion|
|2.||Mathieu Flamini||$14 billion|
|3.||Cristiano Ronaldo||$500 million|
|4.||Lionel Messi||$450 million|
|5.||David Beckham||$400 million|
|6.||Dave Whelan||$220 million|
|8.||Zlatan Ibrahimovic||$190 million|
|10.||Alexandre Pato||$145 million|


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Nielson, the television data collection company, reported that the US betting and iGaming industry had spent a combined $153.6 million on television advertising during the first quarter of 2021.
The total equals a 1339.3% increase in spending compared to the same time period in 2019.
The industry spent $24.8 million on national television ads, $6 million on network TV advertising, and $$1.2 million on cable television.
The top casinos in ad spending were as follows:
- FanDuel – $57.7 million
- DraftKings – $43.6 million
- BetMGM – $24.9 million
- BetRivers – $9.3 million
- Betfair – $6.7 million
- PokerStars – $5.8 million
The primary purpose of advertising in the iGaming industry is to push brand awareness. This marketing strategy is critical as more states look to legalize online casinos. With increased brand awareness across the country, casinos are already pulling in potential players before launching in their state.
A majority of the spending on ads has shifted to airing ads during news programming, which is an excellent opportunity for local news and tv affiliate stations in terms of revenue.
Nielson added in their findings, “The overwhelming sea change across the sports and media industries with respect to betting ads highlights a significant growth opportunity for both local and national television…even though gambling activities are limited to select states, advertising in this category, where legal, is increasing across the overwhelming majority of the country’s 208 DMAs. And that spells opportunity for local news organizations and advertising agencies alike.”


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Olathe, Kan. — Garmin, which said it would make a public offer for TeleAtlas, also reported record third-quarter results.
Net sales were $729 million, up 79 percent from the same period last year, and net income was $193.5 million, up from $122.9 million the previous year.
The company said strong sales in its automotive/mobile segment “continue to exceed our expectations” and that the GPS maker sold 2.69 million units in the third quarter, up 119 percent from the same quarter in 2006. Year-to-date units sold increased 97 percent from the same period in 2006.
By segment, automotive/mobile revenue increased 118 percent to $519 million in the quarter. Aviation increased 27 percent to $74 million, while outdoor/fitness segment revenue increased 24 percent to $88 million. The marine segment revenue increased 17 percent to $48 million in the quarter.
In North America revenue was $454 million compared with $265 million to the previous year’s third quarter.
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By Alexander Winifred
KUALA LUMPUR (Sep 11) -- Malaysia's Bermaz Auto, a vehicles and spare parts distributor for Japanese automaker Mazda, said Monday net profit more than halved in the fiscal first quarter mainly due to lower margins.
Net profit for the three months ended Jul. 31 was 20.21 million ringgit ($8.48 million) compared to 41.11 million ringgit a year earlier.
Revenue fell 20.73% to 391.23 million ringgit compared to 493.62 million ringgit in the year-ago period.
While overall industry volume rose 5% in the first seven months of the year, trading conditions remain "challenging" due to weak consumer sentiment, Bermaz Auto said in an exchange filing.
However, the company is "optimistic" that sales in the second half of the fiscal year will be boosted by the launch of Mazda's new CX-5 model in October, it added.
- By Alexander Winifred; Alexander.Winifred@nikkeinewsrise.com; +60320267363
- Edited by Lopamudra Bhattacharya
- Send Feedback to feedback@NikkeiNewsRise.com
- Copyright (c) 2017 Nikkei NewsRise Asia Pte Ltd.


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Bikes and boots smokescreen to CBD parking plans
Wearing their best designer summer sandals and flip-flopping around the streets of Bendigo carpeted in autumnal colours, the Bendigo Bunch have spent weeks telling us mere mortal ratepayers and residents that walking and cycling are the answer to CBD parking and traffic.
The CEO and councillors think it’s okay for the good citizens of Epsom blessed with so much spare time they can allocate 90 minutes to pound the paths into Bendigo and visit a dud GovHub on land they once owned and Maiden Gully’s growing population of families and retirees to dust off the trusty treadlie for a 30-minute cycle into the CBD.
Suddenly, with speed greater than a Malvern Star, the Bendigo Bunch has announced amid the bikes and boots smokescreen that it needs some community consultation on the future of parking in the Bendigo CBD.
It’s amazing that there can be a parking community consultation forum organised by council despite CEO Craig Niemann claiming on local TV that that approach was so “oh yesterday” when brought to account for lack of engagement and consultation on the flawed GovHub – selling prime CBD land, handing the sale cheque straight back to government and paying rent for the next three generational rebirths of the daggy Dragster.
So yet again, it raises some very serious questions about GovHub that will probably again have CEO and council backpedalling at the breakneck speed you’d get clocked at freewheeling down Big Hill.
Did councillors know there was a need to increase parking capacity in the CBD to accommodate those 600 workers being relocated from the suburbs to a central GovHub, workers so time-poor the Adidas shoes stay in the cupboard?
Did they consider options for adding two storeys to the current municipal offices and including new carpark facilities at the site for a new income stream?
How much more parking is need because of GovHub?
Why are council considering abolition of new developments to have parking requirements?
Why does GovHub even need to be in CBD when there is insufficient parking available now and plenty of land available out in the suburbs?
Council’s parking forum is on 27 May at the Engine Room, coming nicely a few days after the bikes and boots consultation finishes.
Make your way through the smokescreen, take along your bike helmets and ask these questions of CEO and council.


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Microsoft launches Talking Camera for the blind
November 14, 2017
Microsoft has launched a new app called Seeing AI, which has been described as a talking camera for the blind.
The app uses artificial intelligence and the camera of an iPhone or iPad to describe the world around it. It's able to recognize text, objects, and people.
Using the app is as simple as pointing the camera at various objects and people. The app can recognize saved friends, or describe people based on their approximate age and how they look, and it can read text that it detects aloud.
Seeing AI can scan and read documents like books and letters, help with formatting, and it can see objects like money to identify specific denominations like rupees or dollars.
In shops, it can scan barcodes to help users shop, and it can also be used within other apps like Twitter for checking out images. Seeing AI is available in the United States, Canada, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore, and Microsoft plans to expand it to more countries.
Seeing AI can be downloaded from the App Store for free.
Read more on Newz Hook
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NEW DELHI: The US health regulator has refused entry of 11,664 Indian products, including drugs, into the American market between January 2011 and February 2016, Parliament was informed today.
"According to refusal report data available on the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) website, 11,664 refusals of Indian products were recorded from January 2011 to February 2016," Minister of State for Commerce and IndustryNirmala Sitharaman today said in written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
The products from India that were denied entry into the US included medicine, bakery products, fried snacks, spices, basmati rice, fisheries and herbals, she added.
Dietary supplements, hair dyes and colours were also part of the no-entry list.
"The reason given for the refusal varies from problems in branding to packaging, labelling and adulteration," the minister said.
Elaborating on the steps taken by the government to improve standards and quality to international levels, the minister said: "The steps taken by the government include tightening labelling rules and making it mandatory for companies to clearly mention the dates of manufacturing."
Other steps include improving pre-export inspection, greater emphasis on standards through sensitisation of exporters for compliance of regulatory issues through export promotion agencies and also taking up the issue at bilateral trade forums wherever possible, Sitharaman said.
"Currently, thousands of customers have placed orders for the festival, which are pending delivery. Due to the lockdown and closure of retail outlets, the retailers are unable to supply the goods to the customers for Gudi Padwa and their weddings," the letter stated.
He noted that guidelines and instructions have been issued from time to time for testing, surveillance, isolation, vaccination and Covid appropriate behaviour for the public in general, and people venturing in weekly markets, transporting vehicles, malls, cinemas, religious and social gathering and banquet halls in particular.


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New award, The Shinys was created to acknowledge businesses who are really helping their customers.
Australians have flooded CHOICE with stories of generosity, as the consumer advocate recognises Australian businesses for acts of COVID kindness.
“The Shinys are about saying thank you to people, who despite going through their own unique challenges during COVID-19, have used their businesses to help the community,” says CHOICE Managing Editor, Marg Rafferty.
“With over 700 nominations spanning from the suburbs of Perth to Bruny Island the winners of the Shinys went above and beyond to help their communities through COVID.”
Big Brand Awards
NRMA – assisting essential workers and vulnerable community members.
Greater Bank – credit card relief for struggling customers.
Local Champion Awards
Hotel Bruny, Bruny Island, Tasmania
The George Harcourt Inn, Nicholls, ACT
Busy Bee Deli, Como, WA
Daughter in Law, Melbourne, VIC
“With their businesses facing the biggest disruption of a lifetime, hundreds of small hotels, delis and restaurants across the country fed our essential workers and stepped up for people experiencing homelessness and unemployment,” says Rafferty.
“These small businesses from across Tasmania, Western Australia, the ACT and Victoria kept their communities fed and The Shinys are their communities saying thank you.”
There were almost 100 nominations for supermarkets, with Coles, Woolworths, ALDI, IGA and other smaller grocers being commended for their response to COVID-19 situation.
More than one nomination recognised their local pharmacist for not just delivering medications but making sure community members were able to receive other essentials safely while self-isolating.
Setting the standard
Time and again, nominators told CHOICE about the newfound commitment to supporting those who supported them, saying they were a ‘life support system in our time of need. We will not forget’.