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When hospitality professionals throughout the Southeast gather at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta early next week for the 21st annual Hunter Hotel Investment Conference, they likely will feel shell-shocked. A persistent credit crunch coupled with a series of negative revisions to the U.S. hotel industry forecast for 2009 are fueling uncertainty about when the sector will hit bottom.
For the past several months, forecasters have been playing catch-up due to rapidly weakening market conditions. In January, PKF Hospitality Research projected that revenue per available room (RevPAR) — a closely watched metric that takes into account both occupancy and revenue —would decline 9.8% in 2009 as compared to 2008. In light of the rapidly deteriorating job market, however, PKF now expects RevPAR to fall between 13% and 14% this year.
In fact, on a year-over-year basis, RevPAR isn’t expected to turn positive until the first quarter of 2011, reports PKF, although the rate of decline is forecast to gradually abate before that time. Meanwhile, the Atlanta-based researcher now forecasts that occupancy will dip between 7% and 8% nationally in 2009. That occupancy figure was revised from an earlier projected decline of 5.5%.
“I think that what many operators, owners and investors are concluding is that this [recession] will last longer than almost anyone anticipated,” says Dr. Bjorn Hanson, clinical associate professor at New York University's Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management. “I think that we’re in the midst of another structural resetting for the amount of demand per unit of GDP (gross domestic product).”
In other words, a certain parallel exists between GDP and lodging demand. When the economy contracts as it did in the fourth quarter of 2008 at an estimated 6.2% annualized rate, hotel demand also dropped sharply. It’s Hanson’s contention that when the economy begins to expand again — perhaps in the second half of 2010 — demand will rise but at a much lower level relative to GDP (please see the demand elasticity chart below).
“Consumers in the United States will permanently have a different view of discretionary spending in travel on the leisure side. Businesses also are learning to accomplish their objectives with less travel,” says Hanson. For the moment, that trend is reflected in lower attendance at trade shows and conferences and the rise of webinars.
But isn’t this deep recession a temporary condition that will inevitably reverse course, perhaps dramatically, at some point? “Consumer confidence will recover, but not to where it was,” emphasizes Hanson. “Consumers’ sense of security, and therefore how much they have available toward discretionary spending, is being changed for at least a generation. I don’t think that’s cyclical.”
Preliminary data from Smith Travel Research shows that RevPAR across all chain- scale segments dropped an average of 16% to 18% in February 2009 compared with February 2008. The luxury and upscale sectors were among the worst performers relative to RevPAR. The year-over-year comparison for February also reveals that occupancy declined an average of 10% to 12% across all segments. Smith Travel tracks about 2.9 million U.S. hotel rooms.
Against that backdrop of declining fundamentals, it’s likely that the job losses in the hotel industry will accelerate in the months to come, says Hanson of NYU. The U.S. Department of Labor reports a net loss of 33,000 non-farm payroll jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector during February. Hanson had expected the losses to be in the range of 50,000 to 60,000 based on his discussions with analysts prior to the release of the jobs report. “I think that we will see more of these very unfortunate, negative [job] reports.”
What’s the good news? The hotel industry is much more adept at making a profit than ever before, says Hanson. In 1990, occupancy nationally was about 64%, but the industry lost $5.7 billion. In 2008, occupancy was just over 60% nationally, according to preliminary estimates from Smith Travel, yet industry profits are estimated to be over $20 billion. “The headline is that with 4% less occupancy, the industry was about $25 billion more profitable,” says Hanson.
The hotel industry is financing itself more conservatively, he observes. In addition, hotel operators have increased profits from food and beverage operations and are using technology more effectively for staffing and setting room rates.
This year’s Hunter Conference begins Sunday, March 15 and runs through Tuesday, March 17. Featured headline speakers include Dr. Rajeev Dhawan, economist at Georgia State University, and Glade Knight, chairman and CEO of Apple REIT Cos. based in Richmond, Va.
Apple REIT Cos. consists of two unlisted REITs collectively referred to as the Apple REIT Cos. These two separate companies, Apple REIT Six, Inc. and Apple REIT Seven Inc., focus on the acquisition and ownership of hotels.


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SAN CARLOS, Calif. — Three-quarters of surveyed retailers and 58% of consumer product manufacturers rank consumer centricity as a top-three success factor, according to a new survey sponsored by DemandTec here and Toronto-based Precima and conducted by IDC Global Retail Insights.
The survey also showed that high-performing retailers use consumer insights more frequently in sales/merchandising (80%) compared to the norm (60%).
Overall, the survey indicates that companies are seeing benefits from the concept, but more opportunities are available. Consumer centricity was defined in the survey as any strategy for which an organization uses shopper data to develop insight as a driver for decision-making.
The survey sample consisted of 120 respondents, including 55 retailers and 65 consumer products manufacturers.
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MONTREAL – Foodtastic Inc., a franchisor of restaurant concepts in the province of Quebec, recently acquired Les Rotisseries Au Coq, a chain of restaurants that specialize in delivery and carryout of rotisserie-style chicken.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Foodtastic noted that Au Coq is the second of several expected acquisitions financed by a C$47 million investment in Foodtastic.
“Au Coq is a treasured local brand and we are excited to welcome Au Coq into the Foodtastic family,” said Peter Mammas, president and CEO of Foodtastic. “We look forward to preserving Au Coq’s strong heritage, while growing the brand across the region.
“This acquisition of a homegrown Quebec business is consistent with our strategy of acquiring quality brands with growth potential that complement our existing brand portfolio,” Mammas added. “We believe the Au Coq acquisition will leverage our marketing, purchasing and operational systems to better serve our existing franchisees.”
Foodtastic is the franchisor of La Belle et La Boeuf, Monza, Carlos & Pepe’s, Souvlaki Bar, Nickels and Bacaro. The company reported C$110 million in annualized sales.


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Zombie Artifacts from “Z Nation” On Sale
May 31, 2019 11:39AM PDT
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) – Lots of zombie artifacts are on sale this weekend in Spokane, as the makers of the television series “Z Nation” are selling a warehouse full of costumes and props.
The sale takes place Friday and Saturday.
KREM-TV reports most of the items will be on sale for $1, $5 or $10. They will only be accepting cash.
The show, which was recently cancelled after five seasons, was filmed in and around the Inland Northwest beginning in 2014.
The show takes place after a zombie virus ravages the United States.
Information from: KREM-TV, http://www.krem.com/


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Apple Watch makes the worst thing about the iPhone 6 even worse
Early adopters are absolutely loving their new Apple Watches... but a pretty serious problem is definitely ruffling some feathers
App developers have found plenty of ways to get creative with the widget support that Apple added to iOS recently. No, it’s not the same as having full-fledged home screen widgets like Android does, but iOS Notification Center widgets can still be quite useful. For example, a nifty new widget app called Uplify lets you launch apps, post to social networks or even send pre-configured messages through your favorite messaging app, all initiated right on your lock screen or from any other screen. More →
Apple on Monday released its second beta for iOS 8.4, which will be the last major release for iOS 8 until Apple unveils iOS 9 at WWDC this year. As we’ve seen before, the highlight of iOS 8.4 will be the launch of a completely new music application that will eventually serve as the basis for the music streaming service Apple is expected to unveil at WWDC. Apple isn’t specifying anything new in this new beta and only promises the standard “bug fixes and improvements.” The newest beta can be downloaded right now at the Apple Developer Website. We’ll post the release notes for the newest beta when we see them. More →
Over the weekend, Activision released the first trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, the next installment of the bestselling FPS on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Black Ops 3 will be Treyarch’s first current-gen entry into the Call of Duty series, but it appears that the team has been heavily influenced by the futuristic setting of 2014’s Advanced Warfare.
Not that it matters very much how each company chooses to name its products, whether they’re smartphones, tablets, cars or tacos, but there actually is a legitimate reason that flagship Android smartphones from Samsung are named Galaxy “S.” Taking a walk down memory lane, Phone Arena has rediscovered what it is – and no, the “S” doesn’t stand for Samsung. More →
While Samsung is widely known for its attack ads that fire shots at Apple and the iPhone, HTC often steers clear of the fray and focuses instead on being… weird. Every once in a while, however, the company veers off its standard path and throws a few jabs at rival smartphone makers. Of course, even the company’s attack ads are still weird.
Case in point: HTC’s latest promo published late last week suggests that Apple and Samsung are both diseases, and only HTC has the cure. More →
Apple has started banning Apple Watch apps already, which isn’t an entirely new concept for a company known for keeping the App Store on a tight leash. The reason, however, is pretty silly: Your Apple Watch isn’t allowed to fart using a proper app, no matter how much fun a fart app might be for you and your friends. More →
Late last week, I wondered in a post how it was possible that I had gone for so long without knowing about an awesome little Google Maps trick. Using a simple search while logged into your Google account on your computer, you can quickly and easily send directions to your Android phone so that Google Maps is ready to navigate to your destination before you even take your smartphone out of your pocket.
Well, it turns out that nifty little trick is just the beginning. More →
The weekend has come and gone far too quickly, as it always does. If there’s one thing that will soften the blow of finding yourself stuck at work or in school once again today, however, it’s a solid list of paid iPhone and iPad apps that are on sale for free. This week we’re starting things off with eight nifty paid iOS apps on sale, and as always, you should hurry because any or all of these great sales could be over at any minute. More →
Apple’s latest iPhones are, without question, the company’s most impressive iPhones to date. The iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus both feature sleek designs, stunning screens and shockingly strong performance that manages to crush most rival smartphones despite Apple’s decision to stick with a dual-core chipset and 1GB of RAM.
But there is one area where the smaller iPhone model in particular definitely lags behind much of the competition, and it looks like the problem is being exacerbated by the brand new Apple Watch. More →
There’s a strange war brewing between Apple and Tidal, the Jay-Z run music streaming site which, as we covered in great detail before, was quickly ushered out of the U.S. iPhone top 20 download chart before plummeting out of the top 700. Put simply, the Tidal launch was nothing short of a spectacular failure.
Now comes a report via the NY Post alleging that Apple may have taken deliberate steps to cripple the Tidal launch in order to weaken the competitive landscape ahead of Apple’s soon-to-be-unveiled Beats Music service. The allegation, naturally, stems from an anonymous source from within the music industry.
According to the source, Apple purposefully took a longer time than usual to approve updates to Tidal’s iOS app. So while Tidal’s Android app was updated on April 15, the company’s revamped iOS app “still hasn’t received approval for Apple’s iOS app store.”
The wait is finally over. The Apple Watch is out and in stores and, not surprisingly, has already been subjected to some extreme torture testing. While we’ve already highlighted how the Apple Watch is much more water-resistant than anyone expected, it turns out Apple’s new wearable can withstand almost any type of torture test people can come with, including being submerged in boiling water.
Tesla this week will unveil a brand new product that’s not a car, yet it’ll feature some of the same amazing energy technology found in its electric vehicles. According to hints coming directly from Tesla as well as many other reports from the media, the new product line includes home batteries that could power a house during blackouts, but also batteries that could be used in stores and other large facilities. More →


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redletterdave writes: "On Thursday, researchers at MIT announced a breakthrough in glass-making technology, which basically involves a new way to create surface textures on glass to eliminate all of the drawbacks of glass, including unwanted reflections and glare. The research team wanted to build glass that could be adaptable to any environment: Their "multifunctional" glass is not only crystal clear, but it also causes water droplets to bounce right off its surface, "like tiny rubber balls." The glass is self-cleaning, anti-reflective, and superhydrophobic. The invention has countless applications, including TV screens, as well as smartphone and tablet displays that benefit from the self-cleaning ability of the glass by resisting moisture and contamination by sweat."
#NetNeutrality is STILL in danger - Click here to help. DEAL: For $25 - Add A Second Phone Number To Your Smartphone for life! Use promo code SLASHDOT25. Check out the new SourceForge HTML5 Internet speed test. ×


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Volvo Cars will unveil the Efficiency, a special version of its small C30 hatchback, at the Frankfurt auto show in September.
As the name suggestS, the C30 Efficiency is efficient. Powered by a modified version of Volvo’s 1.6L turbodiesel, it boasts fuel economy of 52 mpg (4.5L/100 km) and cuts carbon-dioxide emissions to less than 120 g/km, qualifying buyers for a SK10,000 ($1,436) government rebate as part of the country’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Magnus Jonsson, senior vice president-research and development, says the Efficiency’s fuel economy gain, a 10% improvement from the standard 1.6L turbodiesel C30’s 48 mpg (4.9L/100km), was achieved via “small adjustments.”
Volvo says it focused development on four areas:
- Aerodynamics. The car’s chassis was lowered and a new roof spoiler, rear bumper and underbody panels were added. Also aerodynamically optimized were the engine cooling system and the car’s 16-in. rims.
- Reduced rolling resistance courtesy of low-friction tires, similar to those found on hybrid-electric vehicles.
- Higher gearing. Ratios have been revised for the transmission’s third, fourth and fifth gears.
- Powertrain efficiency increases, including low-friction transmission oil and optimization of steering servo assistance and engine management
Special visual elements also are added to differentiate the Efficiency from the standard C30.
Meanwhile, Volvo also says it will offer the Powershift gearbox, developed byGmbH, in the upcoming ’08 Volvo C30, S40, and V50. The 6-speed, dual-clutch, automated-manual transmission, also to be employed by parent Motor Co. in the all-new ’09 Lincoln MKS sedan, reduces fuel consumption 8%, Volvo says.
If Volvo andwere to apply technology from both the Efficiency and Powershift transmission across their global lineups, U.S. and European fuel economy and emission requirements could be achieved easily, assuming cost issues were addressed, officials say.
An energy bill passed earlier this summer by the U.S. Senate calls for a combined car-light truck fuel economy average of 35 mpg (6.7 L/100 km) by 2020. The European Parliament is debating proposed legislation that would force auto makers to cut carbon-dioxide emissions from new models to an average of 130 g/km across the fleet by 2012. Both proposals have met with opposition from the industry.
A worldwide rollout of the Efficiency diesel is being considered, but the car would have to meet price targets, a Volvo spokesman tells Ward's.
“Initially this was developed for the Swedish market,” he says. “We have to see how well it does in its home market first before any decision or evaluation is made about other markets. But we definitely see it as a step in the right direction.
“Nothing is cost effective in the beginning in any industry,” he adds. “If this succeeds and is effective in Sweden, which we suspect it will be, the potential always exists for it to expand if it is economically feasible from a manufacturing and consumer standpoint.”
In addition, Volvo is developing highly efficient direct-injection gasoline engines and technology that would allow more advanced control of both the engine air/fuel mixture and valve timing and lift.
“We are optimistic in doing this kind of research and pursing this avenue of development,” the spokesman says of the research into more efficient gasoline engines. “We see it as definitely a good thing. But whether it can be achieved or is cost effective, (remains) to be seen.”


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The game created by Swery65 has gone on sale with serious framerate issues, but a PR from the company said they were not planning to fix it.
“There are no plans to release a patch that fixes the framerate issues.” This phrase was uttered by youtuber Jim Sterling, but according to his words, it was a representative of the company who transmitted them to him. We are talking about Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise, the new production of Swery65. The game has debuted critically with rather lukewarm notes, not to say very low. In fact, at FreeGameTips we have awarded it a 5 out of 10. Given the comments that have emerged, Rising Star Games, the publisher of the video game, has stepped up to confirm that they are preparing improvements.
They have done so through social networks, where they have also reported that they will provide new details later. “Thank you all so much for the feedback from Deadly Premonition 2,” they say in a tweet. “We would like to officially clarify that the development team is constantly working on improving the title. The patches are up and running. More information soon! ” It is not specified whether these improvements will focus on framerate or other aspects. Not surprisingly, the game suffers from very serious technical problems that affect gameplay.
Thank you all for your feedback regarding # DeadlyPremonition2!
We would like to officially clarify that the development team are constantly working on improving the title and patches are in the works.
More news soon!
– Rising Star Games (@RisingStarGames) July 9, 2020
The drama of skateboarding
At FreeGameTips, we’ve noted that when the character gets on the skateboard, the primary form of transportation during the adventure, the framerate drops below 20 fps, to the point that the image freezes for a few moments. This problem becomes more noticeable when the console is connected to the dock, since the lack of fluidity is even more noticeable.
After publishing the remastering of the first installment, a video game that has become a true cult game, Deadly Premonition 2 has been marketed as a Nintendo Switch exclusive. Despite retaining a background, a protagonist and some very interesting dialogues, the production of Swery65 has stumbled on the same stone: its technical aspect.
Source | Rising Star Games (Twitter)


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Mumbai: Shiv Sena leader and Member of Legislative Council Neelam Gorhe today objected to the state government's announcement that it would promote wine manufacturing from banana and other fruits apart from grapes.
Replying on motion to grant supplementary demands, Agriculture Minister Eknath Khadse of BJP said in the Legislative Council that Maharashtra government had decided to promote manufacturing of wine from banana and other fruits.
"Many farmers cultivate grapes which are then used to manufacture wine. These farmers need to be given an alternative. The state will allocate Rs 7 crore for such businesses," Khadse said.
To this, MLC Gorhe said, "I fear that by doing this, our progressive Maharashtra will turn into 'Madya'rashtra (wine state)."
"Thousands of hectares of land with crops have been ruined due to hailstorms and unseasonal rains. At a time when there is bound to be a huge shortfall of foodgrains, it is intolerable for a minister to announce using of crops to make wine," Gorhe said.
However, Khadse said that NCP chief Sharad Pawar (when in government) had promoted the wine industry in the state and he was only following this policy.
Photos: Shraddha Kapoor, Kim Sharma at 'Haseena Parkar' screening
Mumbai to Goa train: First look at the glass-top Vistadome coach
Shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa keeps it short and sexy on social media
Photos: Narendra Modi, others at Marshal Arjan Singh's funeral
Photos: Sussanne Khan and Nimrat Kaur spotted at a spa in Juhu


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The Jakarta Post
Other than gracing cinemas across the country since late August, fictional Indonesian hero Wiro Sableng is also entering Arena of Valor (AOV) as one of the characters in the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game released by China-based Tencent Games.
"We are presenting a very special hero since this is the first local hero from Indonesia, Wiro Sableng; no other country has featured their local hero," said Hans Saleh, the e-commerce business operations head of Garena Indonesia in Jakarta during the AOV Star League Season 2 event on Sept. 16.
According to a statement, it took months for the collaborators, including Lifelike Pictures, Caravan Studio, Tencent Timi Studio, Garena Indonesia and others, to complete the project.
As reported by tempo.co, Garena Indonesia serves as the game platform, which hosts professional tournaments or competitions of AOV games. It recently served as an exhibition event of the Asian Games 2018.
"This AOV Star League Season 2 tournament serves as the first professional event after being featured at the Asian Games 2018. AOV has become an official e-sport after the Games," said Hans.
Launched in August, the Wiro Sableng hero character is expected to attract fans of AOV games in Indonesia, especially as the movie is still being screened in cinemas.
Vino G. Bastian, who plays Wiro in the film, is also involved in the game as a voice actor.
"It is a privilege for me and Bastian Tito as the writer [of Wiro Sableng]. My experience as a voice actor was an exciting one; I particularly adored the words 'hero jaman now ya Wiro Sableng' [the hero of today is Wiro Sableng]," said Vino, who attended the event.
In the AOV game, Wiro Sableng is portrayed similarly to the film, donning all-white clothes, long hair with a headband and his signature mighty axe Kapak Maut Naga Geni 212.
Menjadi Hero local pertama dalam jajaran hero di AOV, ini dia concept art dari hero WIRO SABLENG. Ayo mainkan heronya, download AOV sekarang!! @garenaaovid @wirosablengofficial #wirosableng #AOV #GarenaAOV #AOVsiapsableng pic.twitter.com/jQyVZfcbzG— Vino G.Bastian (@VinoGBastian__) September 20, 2018
"As a gamer myself back in the day, I'm amazed to find a game that has a local hero and features me as the voice actor. I'm so proud to be able to join in with other heroes from other countries," said Vino.
"The film is only one part of Wiro Sableng; now there's a game that features Wiro Sableng as a hero that can compete with other heroes out there," he added. (kes)
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Treasury Returns To Profit As Growth In Asia, Americas Sparks TurnaroundAugust 19, 2015
What a difference a year makes. After reporting an A$100.9 million ($74.1m) net profit loss in fiscal 2014, Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) posted an A$77.6 million profit gain in fiscal 2015 (ended June 30, 2015).
The Australian wine giant’s success came largely on the strength of its Asian business—which was helped by a relatively weak Australian dollar—and a turnaround in the U.S., where Treasury rid itself of the excess inventory that had been plaguing it in recent years. Profits were also bolstered by CEO Michael Clarke’s sharp focus on cost-cutting, and by the favorable exchange rate impact.
Treasury’s premiumization strategy has also paid off. While the company’s volume was up by 0.4% to 30.1 million cases, its net sales rose by 8.4% to A$1.85 billion ($1.36b)—including a 45.6% jump in Asia, where volume grew by 23%. Eleven of the company’s 15 priority brands posted net sales growth, compared to six in fiscal 2014.
Treasury enjoyed solid growth in the Americas, with net sales revenue up by 8.6% on 1% shipments growth (depletions rose by 0.7%). The company reported robust depletions growth in its luxury (+16%), masstige (+20%) and priority commercial (+1%) segments, all of which were offset by a marked dropoff in its non priority commercial tier (-13%).
Faced with a distributor inventory excess of roughly 3.5 million cases in 2013—which led the company to take a A$160 million writedown under former CEO David Dearie—Treasury slashed the oversupply by destroying nearly 10% of it and utilizing A$61 million ($44.8m) of the writedown to facilitate the sell-off of nearly 2 million cases. Additionally, TWE’s commercial U.S. depletions exceeded shipments by 1.5 million cases over the past two years, allowing the company to fully eliminate the excess.
“Fiscal 2015 represents the first successful year of TWE’s journey to transition from being an order-taking, agricultural company to a brand-led marketing organization,” said Clarke, who joined the winemaker as CEO in late 2013 after holding a number of executive posts in the consumer goods industry.Subscribe to Shanken News Daily’s Email Newsletter, delivered to your inbox each morning.
Tagged : Treasury Wine Estates


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By Louis Garguilo, , Chief Editor, Outsourced Pharma Follow Me On Twitter @Louis_Garguilo
The end of May started the six-month countdown to implementation of item-level (unit-of-sale) serialization for all drugs sold in the United States.
No bells rang in the milestone. It does, though, seem a good time – “good” depending on your state of readiness – to assess our progress. For that I’ve again turned to someone tasked with implementing serialization solutions for the biopharma industry to provide an update, and forecast where we’ll be when the calendar turns to January 2019.
The Guidance, And An Extension
First, let’s again trace our lengthy journey from the official start at the FDA:
“The Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA), was enacted by Congress on November 27, 2013. Title II of DQSA, the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), outlines steps to build an electronic, interoperable system to identify and trace certain prescription drugs as they are distributed in the United States. This will enhance FDA’s ability to help protect consumers from exposure to drugs that may be counterfeit, stolen, contaminated, or otherwise harmful. The system will also improve detection and removal of potentially dangerous drugs from the drug supply chain to protect U.S. consumers.”
In effect, a “product identifier” was to be affixed to drug product sold in the U.S. by November of 2017. However, and we’ll go over this in detail in a moment, the FDA felt compelled to give the industry an extension:
“On June 30, 2017, FDA issued a draft guidance for industry, Product Identifier Requirements Under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act – Compliance Policy. This guidance informs manufacturers and other supply chain stakeholders that although manufacturers are to begin including a product identifier on prescription drug packages and cases on November 27, 2017, the FDA is delaying enforcement of those requirements until November 2018 to provide manufacturers additional time and avoid supply disruptions.”
Some saw the extension coming. Back in September of 2016, I spoke to members of the external serialization-software and -hardware companies, partners, consultants, and integrators assisting biopharma and packaging companies get up to speed. That led to an article titled, Riding With The Drug "Serializers”, in which I wrote:
“… these serialization partners are hired to help devise corporate strategies, implement software and hardware, and ensure individual packaging lines at both internal and packaging partners comply with new track-and-trace regulations set forth by the FDA, CFDA, EMA, and all other agencies ... Few drug makers – or packaging service providers – will achieve timely serialization compliance without outside assistance.”
In that article, we featured a prescient Carlos Machado, who had just been hired as the director of serialization at Sea Vision S.r.l. He sensed a delay was in the works:
“The first telling sign may be in Q2 of 2017,” he said back in September 2016. “I don’t think there are enough resources supporting companies or within the Pharma companies themselves to collectively handle the workload that will still be out there.” Machado thought it a “real possibility” the FDA could offer some sort of extension.
As we know now, he was spot on.
The Delay In More Detail
I caught up with a busy Machado to check back with him on why that extension came to be, and more importantly, where the industry stands with time ticking to the new deadline.
Regarding the year-long extension (the length of which Machado also predicted), he believes the FDA recognized that solution providers were finding it difficult to scale up to service the number of production lines required by the various pharmaceutical companies.
Most of the serialization service providers started out with fewer than 100 employees. They suddenly needed to add hundreds more in a short timeframe to meet demand.
“There’s just a certain amount of subject matter experts,” says Machado. ‘Serialization is not something you go to school for; it’s a subset of something else. It takes a certain skill set to grasp what needs to be implemented across multiple disciplines, including supply chain, engineering, regulatory, project management and marketing.”
At the same time, biopharma companies themselves were having their own internal issues at their various manufacturing locations, with getting everyone up to speed on FDA requirements and aligning product SKUs. They were working intently, but still a source of their own bottlenecks.
Furthermore, the OEMs producing the equipment needed for serialization couldn’t keep up. “You can’t just knock these machines off like Toyotas from an assembly line,” says Machado. “The serialization equipment in normal lead time is from six to nine months. We started to see the OEMs running into nine to 18 months. If you have a company that needs five new case-packers, four new palletizers, and half-dozen cartoners – and you times that by 100 different pharmaceutical companies – those OEMs are squeezed tight.”
A Grand Underestimation?
That’s all understandable. However, the question still had to be asked: “Did the industry as a whole in fact simply underestimate the task at hand?”
“Listen,” Machado replies with an elevated note of seriousness, “the larger pharma companies have been doing this since 2008.” He adds: “Many companies go back as far as 2005 for their first efforts – some 13 years ago. These large corporations who have 50 to 250 lines have been consistently implementing serialization.”
So it appears it’s been mostly at the smaller companies where the size of the efforts were misjudged – and the costs associated purposely put off until the last possible second. These smaller companies that dot our industry today don’t have the Capex available to a larger pharmaceutical company. They weren’t going to implement this first stage of serialization until they absolutely had to. The extension, perhaps, even sent the wrong message.
Nonetheless, it appears the need for that extension became clear after a number of Big Pharma wrote to the FDA, indicating they were working in good faith and making progress, but still facing challenges making the deadline. And if they were having issues, so must the smaller players. The FDA subsequently agreed a delay was warranted – and necessary to prevent drug-market havoc in the U.S.
Still An Open Package
So six months into that extension and six months to go, the estimates are flying as to where we stand currently. “No one can put a definitive number on the percentage of lines that are not completed yet,” says Machado. “I hear five percent. Some have said as high as 20 percent. If it’s 20 percent, that would be shocking to me. Five percent could be 500 lines. But if there’s 2,000 lines that need to be serialized, then that’s a real problem. I’d say it is more like the five percent, but even 500 lines across the United States is a lot of lines left.”
Moreover, everyone in the industry needs to remain cognizant of the fact that this November deadline is specific to “item-level” serialization, meaning the specific unit of sale, for example a single carton. But there’s a whole second phase and higher level, which the FDA wants completed by 2023: The full “aggregation” of product throughout the supply chain.
We’ll unpack that in our next article.


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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: President Dr. Arif Alvi has underscored the need for further strengthening the existing bilateral relations with Uzbekistan in all areas of mutual interests including political, trade, economic and cultural fields.
While talking to Pakistan’s Ambassador to Uzbekistan Syed Ali Asad Gillani at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad on Tuesday, the president said that it is essential to build political, economic, and cultural relations with Uzbekistan and interacts closely on issues of bilateral importance, regional developments, and international cooperation, especially through the exchange of high-level visits, parliamentary exchanges and ministerial interactions.
The president asked the ambassador to work for the promotion of trade and economic relations between Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
Dr. Arif Alvi emphasized the need to diversify Pakistan’s exports to Uzbekistan by including manufactured goods, finished products, pharmaceuticals, and services, etc.
President Arif Alvi also asked the ambassador to work for the promotion of tourism in Pakistan as well as strengthening cultural linkages between the two sides.
The president highlighted that parliamentary cooperation was highly essential to further deepen bilateral relations and stressed the need for promoting parliamentary exchanges between the two countries.


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Multiple Yahoo Media Mentions for Cash Tech
Cash Tech gains mainstream recognition with multiple Yahoo media mentions
Cash Tech recently appeared in multiple Yahoo publications including Yahoo Finance, Yahoo News, and Yahoo Money. The widespread reporting comes shortly after Cash Tech released its whitepaper, detailing the features of its innovative wallet solution.
Cash Tech is aiming to address a wallet market that is inundated with wallets that have restricted features which are difficult to navigate. With a strong emphasis on UI/UX, Cash Tech is working towards being the most user friendly wallet solution on the market.
Cash Tech is moving from strength to strength as it approaches its highly anticipated product launch in August. The initial wallet release will include unique features like the ability to store and display NFTs from multiple blockchains.
The Yahoo media mentions help promote the Cash Tech solution to a wider audience of prospective users. Cash Tech has already built a community of prospective users that numbers in the tens of thousands. With mainstream news outlets like Bloomberg and Yahoo taking notice of the Cash Tech solution, the pool of potential users grows even larger!


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New Initiative Matches Small Veteran-Owned Businesses with Large Corporations
The Coalition for Veteran Owned Business, a collaboration between Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families and First Data Corp., has been launched as a way to put an estimated 2.5 million veteran- and military family-owned businesses into the supply chains of large corporations.
The new business initiative that features some of the biggest companies in the country, including American Express, The Walt Disney Company and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and aims to connect veteran-owned small businesses with larger corporations.
Veterans start small businesses at a higher rate than the general population but often aren’t as aware of private sector opportunities. The initiative is designed to put small businesses owned by veterans or military spouses into direct contact with larger corporations to sell products or services. The coalition will also offer entrepreneurial education and training. One goal is to indirectly improve veteran hiring by boosting veteran-owned businesses, which are more likely to hire former service members.
Interested in owning your own business? Read a few steps to take today to get started.


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Taking the title of World’s Leading Meetings & Conference Centre at the World Travel Awards Grand Final in Portugal, Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre chief executive, Arun Madhok, tells Breaking Travel News how it feels to have won.
With more than a decade of success behind it, Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre has again been voted Asia’s Leading Meetings & Conference Centre by the World Travel Awards. Here Arun Madhok, chief executive of the location, tells Breaking Travel News how it feels.
Arun Madhok, chief executive, Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre speaks to Breaking Travel News during the World Travel Awards Asia & Australasia Gala Ceremony in Shanghai.
Arun Madhok, chief executive, Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, speaks to Breaking Travel News about the facility and what it brings to the hospitality sector in the destination.
Having been recognised as the World’s Leading Meetings & Conference Centre by the voters at the World Travel Awards Suntec Singapore is doing all it can to maintain it lead in the Asian MICE space. Here Breaking Travel News editor Chris O’Toole sits down with chief executive Arun Madhok to get the latest from the destination.
Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre is working with Google to provide Street View, or panoramic digital imagery, of the centre’s interiors. The move allows Suntec to become one of the first convention centres in Asia to be digitally showcased on Google Maps. Visitors and clients can now more easily explore the Centre, before they travel to the venue, through Street View on Google Maps, which show comprehensive 360-degree indoor panoramic views of our indoor facilities.
ARA Trust Management (Suntec) has announced plans to radically overhaul Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre and the neighbouring Suntec City Mall. Breaking Travel News brings you the latest.
Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre (Suntec Singapore), sixth time winner for ‘Asia’s Leading Meeting & Conference Centre’ at the prestigious World Travel Awards has announced the appointment of two key management positions.


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Victoria Beckham turns to fashion veteran Ralph Toledano to rescue her struggling clothing company
Victoria Beckham's fashion empire has seen losses almost double to £8.5m
Victoria Beckham has appointed fashion industry veteran Ralph Toledano as chairman of her clothing company as she battles to turn it around.
Father-of-three Toledano, 66, spent more than ten years as chief executive at luxury French fashion house Chloe.
He joins Beckham’s company from the governing body for the French fashion industry, where he served as president from 2014.
His appointment comes after the former Spice Girl’s fashion empire saw losses for the year to December 2016 almost double to £8.5million.
Sales were relatively flat at £36.4million compared with £36.9million a year earlier.
Husband David Beckham dipped into his own company’s earnings to help the business, injecting £19.3million, up from £3million a year earlier.
Victoria Beckham has stores in London and Hong Kong and is stocked by Harvey Nichols and Selfridges in the UK.
Coats sell for around £2,250 with handbags retailing for up to £1,500 online.
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We’re in the News: Stay informed of Noble in the news as we advance our mission to create advanced drug delivery system trainers for the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, which, in the end, benefit millions of patients worldwide.
In this article, Joe Reynolds, Research Manager at Noble, explains how on-body injection devices have arisen from the need to develop viscous, large-volume biopharmaceutical therapies, and how Noble’s on-body training devices can help patients [...]
The global injectable drug delivery market is growing around 11.8% CAGR and will soon eclipse oral delivery as the most valuable route of administration of pharmaceuticals. The market was valued at $328 million in [...]
Earlier this year, Medgadget spoke with Noble International about the company’s self-injection trainers designed to mimic the patient experience with prefilled syringes and autoinjectors. During the interview, we heard about AdhereIT, “a smart attachable [...]
Innovation is vital for survival in the pharma industry. Although huge amounts of time, money and creativity are conventionally spent on the clinical development and commercialization of new drugs, success in the modern marketplace [...]
Noble Launches AdhereIT Connected Device to Provide Real-Time Error Correction, Feedback for Self-Injection Training and Administration
Noble Launches AdhereIT Connected Device to Provide Real-Time Error Correction, Feedback for Self-Injection Training and Administration Smart Platform Designed to Track, Monitor and Guide Patients to Improved Adherence ORLANDO – June 12, 2018 – [...]
Many patients do not stick to their autoinjector regimens, which can lead to poor health outcomes. As Craig Baker, Executive Vice-President at Noble, explains, there are many reasons why this is the case such [...]


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Many iPhone users have begun to complain about apple’s newly updated iOS 14.7.1 on the Apple Community forum that the update is causing their device to have network coverage issues. Recall that the iOS update, which was released late last month, was meant to fix an Apple Watch unlocking bug and a zero-day vulnerability, but several users have taken to Apple’s forums to report that they started facing network coverage problems on their iPhone models after installing the iOS 14.7.1 update.
The issue is observed not to be limited to a specific model and seems to have impacted people using older phones including iPhone 6s and iPhone 7 as well newer iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models.
One of the affected users who reported to the company’s forum said; “After I update (sic) my iPhone 11 to iOS 14.7.1, I lost signal. Carrier is not found”.
Apple has provided a support page specifically for users who normally get “No Service” or network “Searching” issues on their iPhone or iPad (Cellular version). The page recommends users restart their device, check for a carrier settings update, and reset network settings if other recommendations don’t work.
Some affected users said that they tried following the tips Apple provided on its support page but nothing worked for them. This is not the first time when Apple has pushed a new public release of its iOS that has started causing issues for some users. Sometimes in June, some users after updating to iOS 14.6 reported severe battery drain problems.
Several iPhone users also complained about a similar battery power dropping issue after installing iOS 14.2 in December. Apple hasn’t attended to the complaints, but it is expected that the company will fix the issue, considering the number of complaints recorded on the forum.


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Grant Brunner is a writer at ExtremeTech.com. He's been writing about the tech industry since 2007, and he specializes in Apple coverage and user interface. In his spare time, he nerds out about video games, genetics, genealogy, and dynamic story-telling. It's rumored that he's been known to host a D&D game now and again.
New titles like Forza Motorsport 7 are looking superb on this half-step console, and older releases like Rise of the Tomb Raider are being jazzed up as well. Will the Xbox One X be able to deliver on all of our hopes and dreams? Let’s dig in.
If you’re looking for a thin, lightweight laptop with all-day battery life, check out the latest iteration of Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon. It only weighs about 2.5 pounds, measures six-tenths of an inch thick, and delivers up to 15.5 hours of battery life on a single charge. Better yet, today’s coupon will help you save you hundreds off the list price.
When the Xbox One first launched in 2013, Microsoft’s gaming division was in turmoil. But under the stewardship of Phil Spencer, the Xbox team has effectively corrected course. And on November 7th, Redmond is going all in on a major console revision aimed at catering to the emerging 4K market.
Few developers have earned the level of prestige that Naughty Dog enjoys. Not only does the team benefit from a reputation for making beloved characters and franchises, but their technical skills are beyond reproach. And with the release of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy this week, we’re being treated to yet another top-tier production hot on the heels of Uncharted 4.
If you’re looking for a simple music streaming system for your home or in the office, it’s hard to beat the Amazon Echo. Simply speak a command, and Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant will start playing your favorite music. And with today’s sale in play, now’s the perfect time to buy.
Is your current PC loud, bulky, and slow? Well, it must be time for an upgrade. Thankfully, you won’t have to spend much for a nice modern desktop — just take a look at this Inspiron 3000 from Dell. If you’re looking for a PC for everyday tasks like email and web browsing, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better deal than this.
Today, Dell is offering up a $400 discount on the excellent XPS 15 laptop. With a half-terabyte SSD, a generous amount of memory, and all-day battery life, this sleek modern machine is absolutely worth the premium asking price.
Historically, there has been a stigma associated with budget releases. If there wasn’t enough confidence to charge full-price, there was a good chance that the game was a real stinker. Thankfully, that paradigm has changed completely, and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is an excellent example of what can be achieved in a half-price game with a smaller scope.
Have you ever wanted a secondary phone number to give out to people and organizations that you don’t entirely trust? Today, the folks at Hushed are offering a lifetime “burner” number that you can use with an app on nearly any iPhone or Android phone.
Subscribe Today to get the latest ExtremeTech news delivered right to your inbox.


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After entering into a partnership with Zynga last year, TikTok has been testing a pair of mobile minigames on its platform in Vietnam, Reuters has reported. The move could soon allow users to play games directly on the app in what Reuter's sources called a "major push" into gaming.
TikTok confirmed that it has been testing HTML5 games on its app via partnerships with Zynga and other third-party developers. it reportedly plans to release ad-supported games drawing from TikTok parent ByteDance's library to boost revenue and engagement. "We're always looking at ways to enrich our platform and regularly test new features and integrations that bring value to our community," a representative told Reuters via email.
Last year, TikTok announced a partnership with Zynga on an app called Disco Loco 3D (above), an HTML5 app that could work inside the app. The company also created Garden of Good, a FarmVille-style minigame that allows players to earn points to make donations.
While ByteDance is starting with minigames, it supposedly plans to go beyond that, presumably into more advanced types of games. The Chinese version of the game, Douyin, already offers games, and TikTok has also tested streaming via its Live Studio PC app. The company counts over a billion users worldwide and has projected $11 billion in ad revenue this year, more than the Twitter and Snap combined.


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Earlier today Apple introduced a new Apple TV 4K box (and a redesigned Siri remote that should be easier to use), and a close look at the spec sheet reveals a few more details about what it can do.
Confirming earlier rumors, this box has an HDMI 2.1 video output, however as 9to5Mac notes, despite code leaks that mention support for a 120Hz mode, at launch the device’s “high frame rate HDR” will top out at 60 FPS. That could change with the next version of tvOS — or once 4K TVs aren’t as finicky with their support — but it’s something to keep an eye on.
One other thing to be aware of, as Dan Moren pointed out on Twitter
Thread support is limited to a few devices so far, but it could make this box a lot more useful as a hub for your future smart home. The HomePod mini also includes Thread technology, however the now-discontinued original HomePod did not, which may be a part of the reason why it got the axe and could feature in upcoming devices.
All products recommended by News Brig are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.


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Yahoo! Blog from Sunnyvale, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Generic license (caption added by us, with Ballmer’s words
Summary: Brainwash receives a much greater emphasis at Microsoft, a CMO role is created, and Microsoft finds new ways of deceiving the masses
“I hope Ubuntu is getting lots of money for pissing off users with irrelevant search results from Bong [sic],” says our reader Ryan regarding the Yahoo-Canonical deal [1, 2, 3, 4]. “You can tell Yahoo is Bing now, the least relevant crap ends up on top.”
The news is pretty much official that Microsoft has hijacked Yahoo!, sucking the life out of Yahoo! for its own selfish good (and regulators are unable to stop this). To an extent, Microsoft is doing something similar in Amazon, namely gradual assimilation through strategic staff appointments. They don’t adhere to the basics of human resources (HR) or maybe they just simply don’t care.
Anyway, Jerry Yang has just dumped Yahoo! shares. That’s the company he once created, before he labeled Microsoft an “agitator” and saw the company destorying his “baby”.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) holders probably never want to hear the name Jerry Yang again. Well, those same holders will love this… Tonight after the close a filing at the SEC from Yahoo! showed that Jerry Yang is going to be selling stock in the company. David Filo, the other Yahoo founder, is also selling shares. Normally insider selling or founders selling is viewed with some caution. That doesn’t seem to be the case here, and for good reason.
Microsoft’s buddy, Carl Icahn, has also dumped his shares, as we noted a few days ago (more press coverage in [1, 2, 3]). Yahoo director Ron Burkle is quiting as well, which only shows what type of damage Microsoft did the company. Also see:
Yahoo!(YHOO Quote) director Ron Burkle, the supermarket magnate, won’t seek re-election to the Internet search company’s board at the annual meeting later this year.
Ron Burkle will not seek re-election to Yahoo!’s Board of Directors at the annual shareholders’ meeting this year. Burkle gave the usual reasons about other business pursuits and spending more time with his family.
“Now Microsoft, Yahoo Can Tag-Team Google,” IDG says mercilessly and it also quotes the same Microsoft-corrupted DOJ [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] which blocked the Yahoo!-Google deal after intense AstroTurfing from Microsoft (political fights by secretive groups of paid-for protesters who fought for Microsoft and later got exposed). Here is the nonsense that IDG is quoting:
Bing will become a better search engine when Microsoft takes over Yahoo search, and better able to compete with search giant Google, the U.S. Department of Justice said in its decision supporting the deal.
Microsoft suffers over $2,000,000,000 in losses per year in this area. Microsoft has only itself to blame because what it shamelessly calls a “decision engine” is simply a tool for lying to the public. No wonder people don’t take it seriously. Microsoft is [p]rearranging the results such that they mock Microsoft’s competitors and hide Microsoft’s crimes. That alone is a reason to boycott Bing, as some journalists have already suggested. But Microsoft has found ways of forcing people to use its “decision engine”, namely paying carriers to remove Google as an option and probably repeating browser crimes in IE8. Microsoft also uses the Olympics again, not only to promote Silver Lie but also to make people use its “decision engine” and be indoctrinated the One Microsoft Way.
“Microsoft is [p]rearranging the results such that they mock Microsoft’s competitors and hide Microsoft’s crimes.”As usual, Microsoft will later lie about market share, citing US-only data so as to triple its real market share at least in the perceived sense. Microsoft is also using this type of deception to fraudulently enhance perception of Windows Mobile and to belittle GNU/Linux. If they are lying often enough for people to actually believe that Microsoft exceeded 10% market share in search (rather than maintained about 3%), then Microsoft believes that people are more likely to fulfill the bogus prophecy by giving Bing a try. In the same way, Microsoft discourages the industry from supporting Linux, based on some fake numbers that produce illusions.
“Ideally, use of the competing technology becomes associated with mental deficiency, as in, “he believes in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and OS/2.” Just keep rubbing it in, via the press, analysts, newsgroups, whatever. Make the complete failure of the competition’s technology part of the mythology of the computer industry. We want to place selection pressure on those companies and individuals that show a genetic weakness for competitors’ technologies, to make the industry increasingly resistant to such unhealthy strains, over time.”
–Microsoft, internal document
Microsoft has begun focusing on perception, not products. According to the news, Microsoft has just hired more marketing (i.e. deception) people from the outside [1, 2, 3]. Microsoft hires from the outside because this way it is not held accountable for overzealous behaviour (like phone-spamming that we mentioned over the weekend). Microsoft has also just created a new role, a CMO (chief marketing officer). That’s the equivalent or ministers who are responsible for lying and spinning in order for the public to think wrongly of everything and adhere to blind consent.
As part of a broader realignment of its Central Marketing Group, Microsoft on Thursday named Gayle Troberman to the newly created position of chief marketing officer.
Novell’s chief marketing officer is John Dragoon. Here is more information about Gayle Troberman:
ADOTAS – Microsoft has done some rearranging of its central marketing group and created the position of chief creative officer for Gayle Troberman, a 13-year veteran of the company who was most recently general manager for Microsoft advertising and consumer
Working for an abusive monopoly and lying on its behalf is nothing to be proud of. Steve Ballmer is about to give a keynote talk at a “Search Marketing Conference”. Will he explain to the public how he manipulated search results so as to mock everything he dislikes? That’s just Stalinist.
Two weeks ago we wrote about Microsoft's relationship with Facebook, which is becoming one of the most visited sites on the Web. Facebook will no longer allow Microsoft to spy on Facebook users for marketing reasons [1, 2], but it does embed Microsoft’s shameless “decision engine” in the site. According to another report, Microsoft also wants to buy a Facebook game developer and it tried to buy Yelp:
About two months ago, when Yelp turned down an offer from Google, there had been speculation that Yelp had received a counter offer from Microsoft.
That would allow Microsoft to rank competitors just as it demotes and mocks competitors in its so-called ‘search engine’. It’s a good thing that Yelp turned down the $700+ million Microsoft offer:
When Google offered $550 million to purchase Yelp, Yelp walked away saying it had another offer.
Looks like the other offer was Microsoft. According to Peter Burrows at BusinessWeek, Yelp had “a bid north of $700 million from Microsoft.”
If Microsoft is allowed to rank other businesses and products, then it will abuse this power. That’s exactly what it’s doing with Bing. Microsoft is a morally corrupt company, based on simple evidence.
Microsoft Corp. is among companies in talks to buy CrowdStar, the creator of games for social- networking site Facebook, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Microsoft is still trying to control top sites and use them in all sorts of ways, especially spying for marketing reasons. There needn’t be a tacit admission of this.
Here is Microsoft doing some new sniffing for marketing reasons:
v”Microsoft, Starcom Initiate Research On Mothers
Commenting on the initiative, Pushkar Sane, chief digital officer, North and South Asia, Starcom MediaVest Group said, “This is one of the many joint initiatives with Microsoft Advertising. Our strategic partnership spans across research, education, measurement and innovation. Mothers are an important audience segment for many of our clients. This initiative will help us bridge the current information gap that exists in our understanding of this key demographic.”
For those who don’t know what Starcom is:
Welcome to Starcom. We are a media communications agency that specializes in making connections between consumers and brands.
Yes, more of that very same advertising/spying business.
Today, FedScoop announced that Intel and Microsoft will be sponsoring an educational campaign focused on the present and future possibilities of cloud computing called, “Minds in the Cloud.” Each week, for 25 weeks, new High Definition (HD) interviews of influential technologists from the government, non-profit, and private sectors discussing their views on the importance of the cloud will be posted to mindsinthecloud.org.
That’s more marketing and Intel is once again helping Microsoft. It will of course be geared towards selling Microsoft software and Intel gear. It’s not about the so-called ‘cloud’, but that’s the banner under which their campaign is disguised. They sort of hijack ‘cloud’ for their own purposes, just as they do with “business intelligence” in the following new case:
Microsoft, Solver and ProfitBase are to host a business intelligence (BI) event in Los Angeles on 23 February, which will look at how companies can leverage their existing investments in Microsoft technologies.
It’s not a “business intelligence event”, it’s a business intelligence with Microsoft software event. It’s a familiar strategy of hijacking movements like the green causes in order to promote heavy fuels (reversal of causes). That’s another subject that’s to do with ethical offences in PR/AstroTurfing where smoking or carbon, for example, are described as beneficial in a way that overlaps the reasons against them, which leads to confusion. Microsoft uses these tricks to make people confused about OpenOffice.org (Office Open XML, anyone?) and “open source”. █


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Media attention peaked on 24 July, when OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman’s Worldcoin made its public debut, sparking curiosity, ambition, and a hefty dose of scepticism. The futuristic project, which revolves around iris-scanning orbs and creating a digital world with IDs created by those scans, swiftly stirred up a global conversation miles away from its launch spots in Britain, Japan, and India.
In this article, we look at how Worldcoin works, what it’s trying to achieve, and the implications of giving up personal data for money. With growing worries about privacy and identity in our increasingly digital world, we also examine whether there are easier ways to prove who we are without giving away so much information.
What Is Worldcoin All About?
Worldcoin is a digital identification platform conceived with an ambitious objective: to establish a system where everyone on Earth can prove their humanity online. The project, led by Tools for Humanity, is co-founded by Altman.
The technology used by Worldcoin derives from cryptographic and blockchain tools that have become mainstays in the cryptocurrency arena. An integral part of the system is its cryptocurrency, WLD, and its associated payment platform.
How Does It Work?
Worldcoin relies on three interconnected components.
The centrepiece is the World ID, which offers a unique solution to verify the “humanness” of its users. It uses an iris-scanning device called the Orb. The device scans the user’s iris, generating a unique IrisCode – much like a fingerprint – that serves as a one-time identification mark to prevent duplication of World IDs.
Stare into the Eye of Sauron
"Tools for Humanity" pic.twitter.com/UTzfvquT6y
— Steven Lubka ☀ (@DzambhalaHODL) July 27, 2023
Following the scan, the device issues the World ID on the Worldcoin blockchain and disposes of the iris image, ensuring user data privacy. Users then interact with the system via a secured app.
Worldcoin technology is currently operational in major cities globally, such as London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Paris, Lisbon, Mexico City, São Paulo, Nairobi, New York, and San Francisco, among others.
The World App
The World App offers two-fold functionality. First, it stores user credentials for third-party app verification and doubles as a cryptocurrency wallet. In addition to the World ID, users can store Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDC in the app, with promises of support for more cryptocurrencies in the future.
With a World ID and the World App, users gain access to the WLD cryptocurrency token. The digital currency was initially issued to beta program participants, followed by a substantial airdrop to users on July 24, 2023, marking the platform’s official launch.
Worldcoin’s white paper reveals that over a period of 15 years, a total of 10 billion WLD tokens will be released. As of the launch date, 143 million WLD tokens are in circulation.
Worldcoin and Data Privacy: An Unsettling Trade-off?
Digital identity leveraged by biometric data is a complex and important issue. In the case of Worldcoin, It raises eyebrows as people seem eager to exchange biometric data for 25 WLD, worth $2.21 each as of writing. The project is essentially trading biometric data, a sensitive form of personal information, for a handful of coins.
Offering economic benefits, no matter how small, is certainly encouraging people to join the Worldcoin bandwagon, however. The potent mix of cryptocurrency’s charm and the universal digital ID’s democratization potential attracts many, especially those without access to standard banking.
25 WLD (~$50) are credited for an eye scan in WorldCoin pic.twitter.com/G2RA6YEnSq
— Mazzeox (@0xMazzeox) July 27, 2023
However, the readiness of people to trade critical biometric data for money prompts questions about the valuation of personal data. It exposes a glaring disparity – the worth of personal biometric data versus the fleeting monetary reward offered. This discrepancy points to a lack of awareness or disregard for the potential consequences of sharing such sensitive information.
The unique and highly sensitive nature of biometric data means that a data breach could lead to irreversible damage to users. Paired with the reality that no system is entirely foolproof, this is a colossal gamble for such a minor payoff.
Worldcoin’s minimal entry barrier might have psychological implications as well. By providing an instant reward, it capitalizes on the human tendency to prioritize short-term gains over potential long-term risks. This tactic could be a gateway to larger requests in the future.
The low cost of entry also raises questions about economic bias. Are people with less financial stability more likely to exchange their data for a relatively small amount? If that’s the case, it brings about a troubling ethical issue. Are initiatives like Worldcoin unintentionally taking advantage of the economically disadvantaged?
Finally, Altman’s role adds more complexity. As the CEO of OpenAI, he has tremendous influence in the AI domain. By amassing global biometric data, he could further strengthen his power and sway.
This situation isn’t merely about individual privacy but about the societal implications of such centralized power. It underscores the ethical responsibilities of tech leaders and the urgent need for strict regulations to ensure the just and responsible use of sensitive data.
A Wave of Criticism Hits Worldcoin Post-Launch
Because of the controversial nature of the project and its use of sensitive data, shortly after the official launch of Worldcoin, a barrage of scepticism flooded in.
World Coin is the ultimate litmus test
will people line up to scan their eye for a useless token created out of thin air?
if they do, central bank digital currencies and social credit scores are coming
if people reject this obvious evil
bitcoin stands a chance at winning pic.twitter.com/aDl0cKrSuK
— Crypto Tea (@CryptoTea_) July 24, 2023
On 25 July, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), for one, voiced concerns about the processing of biometric data and potential issues concerning user consent.
An ICO representative said:
“We note the launch of WorldCoin in the UK and will be making enquiries. Organisations must conduct a Data Protection Impact Assessment before starting any processing that is likely to result in high risk.”
They further stressed that user consent must be free and capable of being withdrawn without detriment. The UK regulator’s investigation could potentially influence decisions by other global authorities.
Ethereum founder, Vitalik Buterin, wasn’t silent about his worries related to Worldcoin either. Buterin suggested in a blog post that Worldcoin’s iris scans might collect more data than initially disclosed. He also hinted at the possibility of fraudulent scanning of someone else’s iris to check if they hold a World ID.
The MIT’s Technology Review, in April 2022, also alleged that Worldcoin employed “deceptive marketing practices, collected more personal data than it acknowledged, and failed to obtain meaningful informed consent.”
In response to the MIT Technology Review, Worldcoin countered by affirming its commitment to data privacy and user uniqueness.
“Worldcoin is only interested in a user’s uniqueness – i.e., that they have not signed up for Worldcoin before – not their identity,” they claimed.
Worldcoin has also faced criticism for its aggressive marketing efforts in developing regions like Asia and Africa, leading to concerns of exploitation.
WorldCoin recently launched. Looks like massive grift.
Scan your eyeballs and get grifted somewhere.
Could be funded by some evil people who want to track everyone too.
SBF is an investor in them ⚠
WorldCoin founders can't even answer who gets the coins. pic.twitter.com/9zSLfAwC9B
— yourfriendSOMMI ❤💛💚💙 (@yourfriendSOMMI) July 24, 2023
Further adding to suspicions, Worldcoin also secured investment from Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the fraudulent crypto exchange FTX, in an early funding round in October 2021.
Looking Beyond Biometrics
A complex challenge society faces in our growing digital era is the secure, efficient, and non-invasive verification of individual identities. Sam Altman’s Worldcoin project takes a biometric route, which some perceive as intrusive due to the delicate nature of the data.
Yet, it’s worth noting that there’s a wide array of alternatives, each with unique benefits and intricacies.
Decentralized ID Systems
An alternative to Worldcoin’s biometric approach lies in decentralized identity (DID) systems. DID systems give users the reins to their digital identities, eliminating the need to place trust in a centralized entity for sensitive data management.
Blockchain, despite its complexity, underpins these systems, offering security and data privacy benefits. However, an obstacle for DID systems is ensuring accessibility and ease of use for individuals with varying technology literacy.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) systems provide another avenue, combining various credentials for verification, such as knowledge-based (password), possession-based (a physical token or smartphone), and inherence-based (biometrics).
Implementing less intrusive types of MFA, like SMS codes or app-based confirmations, could potentially address data privacy concerns better than more intrusive biometric options, such as iris scans.
Anonymous verification methods like zero-knowledge proofs might offer a solution. This complex cryptographic technique allows one party to demonstrate knowledge of a specific piece of information to another party without revealing the information itself.
While this method can ensure identity verification without the need for sharing personal data, the challenge remains to simplify the technology and scale it user-friendly.
Federated identity, which lets users employ existing credentials (from Google or Facebook, for example) to log into third-party services, reduces the need for further invasive data gathering. However, it brings into question the reliance on these tech behemoths and the potential misuse of data within their platforms.
The concept of self-sovereign identity (SSI) on a blockchain could lead to a new dynamic for data privacy. Users would have a digital wallet containing verified claims. Whenever someone requests to confirm a detail, the user can choose to disclose only that specific information. This method starkly contrasts with current systems that often demand users to divulge excessive data when only a fraction of it is needed.
Undoubtedly, Altman’s new venture is ambitious and has the potential to make a significant impact on the future of digital identity. However, the ethical and practical implications of collecting and storing such sensitive data for money have left many uneasy.
Despite Worldcoin’s attempts to reassure the public about its commitment to user privacy, its rapid rollout in economically vulnerable regions and its association with the controversial founder of crypto exchange FTX have added fuel to the fire.
The final call on whether Altman’s Worldcoin is a pathbreaking innovation or a dystopian data trap will largely depend on how the project moves forward and if it can prove its commitment to the responsible and ethical use of data.


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“The actions of a minority threaten to undermine confidence in legitimate battery and product manufacturers. This a matter of deep concern for our members,” said George Kerchner, Executive Director of PRBA which represents most of the world’s largest manufacturers of lithium ion and lithium metal batteries.
Lack of enforcement is increasing pressure on airlines and regulators to unilaterally ban all forms of lithium battery shipments from aircraft. This would add to the cost of global supply chains and consumer goods, and encourage those who flout the law to increase mislabelling of batteries, further increasing safety and security risks. “A ban on the shipment of lithium ion batteries aboard aircraft would put lives at risk by slowing delivery of life-critical and life–enhancing medical equipment and jeopardize the security of many countries because a large number of military applications are powered by lithium batteries,” said Kerchner.


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Netflix has posted its first drop in US subscribers in eight years, but in Australia the subscription streaming service continues to increase its customer base.
As the company announced its second-quarter results – losing 130,000 subscribers rather than gaining its predicted 300,000 – its shares fell by more than 12 per cent in Wall Street after-hours trade.
Netflix’s price rise in the US – from $US10.99 to $US12.99 a month – could be to blame for the less-than-desirable results.
At last count, Australia isn’t set to cop the latest round of price rises, but customers in the UK, Spain, Germany and France are in for a hike.
“Our missed forecast was across all regions, but slightly more so in regions with price increases,” the company said in announcing results.
It gets worse for the ‘Flix: WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal also have services in the pipeline, due to launch next year, taking with them popular binge-shows Friends and The Office respectively.
This is in addition to Marvel slowly drip-feeding out its content, in preparation to load into Disney’s streaming funnel.
In total, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said, the four newcomers account for up to 65 per cent of Netflix’s content.
“[W]e expect the migration of third-party content to be relatively slow,” Mr Pachter said last week, AAP reported.
However, “it is unclear whether Netflix can replace it with quantity and quality sufficient to keep its current subscriber base loyal.”
Hey Netflix, we still love you
The latest results in Australia, released by Roy Morgan earlier this year, indicate Aussie viewers are still jumping aboard the Netflix express.
As of February, the company has 11 million paid subscriptions in Australia, a year-to-year growth of 25.2 per cent.
The growth would be solidifying the company’s decision to continue to invest Down Under.
Last month, it was announced Netflix would be opening an Australian headquarters by the end of 2019, comprised of about 10 employees.
We’ll bounce back
Netflix was quick to say it expects its subscriber dip to last but a moment, with strong projections for the third quarter, flanked by strong content coming online.
It listed the third season of Stranger Things, and the final season of Orange is the New Black as big drawcards for the platform.
AAP reported it is also banking on season three of Ozark, Jerry Seinfield’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and a host of comedy specials from professional funny people such as Aziz Ansari and Katherine Ryan.


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…Stocks bounce back (somewhat). Thus spake Clarida. Amazon looks at a weak holiday season. Alphabet stumbles. Intel beats. Twitter loses users that did not exist. AK Steel hurt by tariffs. Saudis get away with murder. Simultaneous former presidential assassination attempts.
Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 10-25-2018
DOW + 401 = 24,984
SPX + 49 = 2705
NAS + 209 = 7318
RUT + 31 = 1500
10 Y + .01 = 3.14%
OIL + .16 = 66.98
GOLD – 1.60 = 1232.80
New Federal Reserve vice chair Richard Clarida on Thursday said he’d support “some further” increase in interest rates as the best way to nurse the current U.S. recovery along while guarding against any jump in inflation. In his debut speech as the Fed’s second in command and the most recent appointee by President Donald Trump, Clarida said the economy showed signs of continuing to motor along, making it appropriate to continue to gradually raise interest rates that remain “accommodative,” or encouraging of spending and investment.
Clarida’s speech puts him squarely in the mainstream of Fed thinking, though he did hint that he may favor an earlier stopping point to the current cycle of rate hikes than some of his colleagues who see rates rising to a “restrictive” level of around 3.4 percent sometime in 2020. While growth is strong and may well have shifted into a higher permanent gear, particularly after data showing higher than previously estimated household savings available to support future spending, Clarida said it also may be the case that productivity is rising and that unemployment can fall lower than expected without producing inflation.
Amazon’s third quarter revenue and fourth-quarter guidance missed expectations. Amazon reported earnings per share of $5.75 on revenue of $56.6 billion. Analysts expected the company to report earnings of $3.14 per share on revenue of $57 billion. Revenue from Amazon Web Services, its cloud business, grew 46% to $6.7 billion. Amazon’s higher-margin cloud service business had $1.6 billion in operating income last quarter, making up 55% of the total. Shares of Amazon fell about 6% in after-hours trade, after getting hammered during the broader market sell-off this week. Amazon forecast disappointing holiday season sales, projecting its fourth-quarter revenue growth would be the slowest in years. Amazon forecast that fourth-quarter sales will rise between 10 percent and 20 percent, or up to $72.5 billion. Analysts were expecting $73.9 billion. That would be Amazon’s lowest quarterly sales growth since at least the start of 2016.
Alphabet missed analysts’ estimates for third-quarter revenue, while rising expenses trimmed its operating margin for the third straight quarter, fanning concerns about regulatory scrutiny. Its stock fell 4.7 percent. Separately, the New York Times has just published the results of a year-long investigation into Alphabet, making the case that Google and Alphabet have a track record of quietly handling credible sexual-misconduct allegations, while paying out and even celebrating the men responsible. The article includes several instances of misconduct by several high-profile executives. The man directly responsible for the payouts is, the Times shows, Larry Page, the co-founder and CEO of the company.
This is not just about rewarding the bad behavior of powerful men, but the ways in which this culture pushes women out and sidelines their careers. For years technology companies have argued that the reason for Silicon Valley’s dismal rates of women in technical and leadership positions is a training and competence problem, basically. There are simply not enough qualified women to occupy the leadership or board roles at tech companies. But who can read a story like the Times’ and maintain “the pipeline” is the problem with Google and other tech companies?
Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent an email to all Google employees Thursday saying the company has fired 48 people over the last two years for sexual harassment. Of those 48 people, 13 were “senior managers and above” and none of them got an exit package when they were let go.
Reacting after hours, Netflix dipped 1.9 percent and Facebook, which reports results on Oct. 30, lost 1.5 percent. The latest round of upbeat results came from a wide range of companies, including Ford Motor, Visa, Whirlpool and Twitter, and offered relief after the earnings season began on a tepid note and then geared lower on sluggish outlooks from manufacturers and chipmakers.
Twitter shares jumped as much as 22 percent, putting them on track for their biggest one-day gain, as the social media company easily beat Wall Street’s revenue and profit estimates by selling more ads even though it lost users after purging millions of fake accounts.
Snap stock shed more than 12 percent to an all-time low in extended trading Thursday after warning investors it will continue to lose daily active users. The company posted a narrower-than-expected loss for the third quarter, as the company offsets declining user counts with higher revenue per user.
AK Steel shares dropped as much as 15 percent in after-hours trade following third-quarter earnings that missed expectations. The company reported earnings of 21 cents per share on $1.74 billion in revenue. Those results fell short of analyst expectations for earnings of 23 cents per share on revenue of $1.81 billion. The steelmaker posted disappointing results despite Trump administration tariffs that were supposed to help companies like AK Steel.
Results from S&P 500 companies have pushed up third-quarter profit growth estimates to 23.6 percent from 21.8 percent in the last 10 days. But dour forecasts have pulled down fourth-quarter growth estimates to 19.4 percent from 19.9 percent.
Intel beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly profit and revenue, driven by its high-margin data center business and strong demand for its PC chips, sending its shares up as much as 6 percent in extended trading. The company’s performance and better-than-expected fourth-quarter forecast should come as a relief for investors after three days of grim news from other major chipmakers that have shaken stock markets globally. Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics and SK Hynix have all warned of slowing demand for the remainder of the year. But Intel bucked the trend with strong sales of chips for PCs, the second quarter in the row the company benefited from the sector after years of stagnation because of the rise of smart phones. Intel does not see any near-term impacts from the trade tensions or Chinese economy, despite the fact that several large data center customers are based in China. Intel’s results also allayed concerns that a trade conflict between the U.S. and China or a slowdown in the Chinese economy could drag down the global chip business.
The Saudi government’s handling of the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been incredible and unbelievable – as in, they are not believable or credible. About a week ago, the Saudi’s denied any involvement in the death of Khashoggi. Then they claimed the journalist left the consulate o his own accord; then they claimed he fell down, then they claimed he was involved in an accident; then he was part of a rogue incident; then he got into a fight which got out of hand. Saudi Arabia’s attorney general said today that evidence shared by Turkish officials suggests that the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi was “premeditated.” Despite the shifting narrative, the Saudis have maintained that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had no prior knowledge of the operation. So, you might reasonably expect that justice will now be served. Not exactly. More like business as usual. Saudi Arabia said it signed $56 billion of deals at an investment conference this week and expected the United States to remain a key business partner despite a partial boycott of the event over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
There was concern that, temporarily at least, commercial ties with the West could be damaged as the blow to Riyadh’s reputation and the risk of economic sanctions over the Khashoggi murder made it harder to enter new deals. Still, the three-day Future Investment Initiative conference drew hundreds of businessmen and government officials from around the world to a palatial venue in Riyadh, aiming to attract foreign capital to support Saudi economic reforms. Germany is so far alone in halting arms sales to the world’s largest oil exporter. Other European countries have largely limited their reaction to calling for those responsible to be held accountable. Britain said on Wednesday it was joining the United States in revoking visas of people said to be involved. But so far, business execs seemed more concerned about losing potential revenue than they feared embracing a murderer. Henry Biner, an executive at the Boston-based P/E Investments, said that Khashoggi’s killing was “horrendous” but that there were wars and atrocities occurring across the Middle East and that the situation should not necessarily deter business ties. “One year from now, somebody is going to ask where the revenue is,” he said. “We’re not going to put our relationships on the line for this.” So, this week we had a chance to witness economics without a soul.
Following diplomatic talks with Russia, National Security Adviser John Bolton confirmed Trump’s plan to withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which Trump alleges the Russians have violated. No word yet on what we got in return.
The hunt continues for whomever has been sending pipe bombs through the mail to prominent opponents of Trump. Ten explosive devices have been found so far but none of the packages has exploded. The latest bombs were addressed to former vice president Joe Biden and actor Robert De Niro. So, it is all very strange, nobody seems to know why the bombs are being made or who is behind this, but it appears to be the first time that we have ever seen simultaneous assassination attempts on two form president and one former VP.


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Why build resilience now? Because here's what we can't rely on ...
When dollars are scarce, timebanks help neighbors swap skills, instead.
A tough economy makes cross-race organizing more important than ever.
Infographic: How to create money out of thin air.
Wall Street is bankrupt. Instead of trying to save it, we can build a new economy that puts money and business in the service of people and the planet—not the other way around.
Mondragón Cooperative Corporation: Look who makes the profits.
Americans want to invest locally. What's stopping them?
Local banks can change the world, one investment at a time.
Roosevelt didn’t come up with all those progressive programs on his own.
It begins with small farms working with natural cycles and ends with fresh food and stronger communities.
Meet the man who’s convincing the country, and the new President, that the next economy needs to be green and just. Interview by Sarah van Gelder.
With the housing crisis nationwide driving struggling families from their homes, Boston’s creative Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative shows how communities can hold their ground.
First rule: Don’'t panic. How to weather an economic storm and help make the transition to a less crisis-prone future.
NAFTA was sold as a win-win. After 14 years of losing, Mexican farmers are making their own trade rules—fair ones.
The U.S. spends piles of money on foreign aid, right? See how the spending actually stacks up.
7 of the best current models for changing who owns, controls and benefits from business. Profits can flow to workers, consumers or the community - not just outside investors. And these businesses succeed.
The boom of cooperatives in Venezuela is promoting employment and social justice at a grassroots level.
Horizontalidad: bringing direct democracy to Argentina's citizens while reducing unemployment and stimulating worker involvement.
By investing in health care that is holistic and focuses on prevention, Cuba has created one of the most effective systems in the world. Cuban doctors are engaged in missions throughout poor parts of the world, exchanging medical know-how for positive diplomatic relations.
Latin America's marginalized are mobilizing and changing the face of their nations' politics. From increasing national oil profits to rethinking regional trade plans, they are empowering themselves and lessening their dependence on the U.S.
Invisible Rights: We'll protect your right to vote. But not to eat. Economic human rights are in the Universal Declaration, but not in the U.S.
Judy Wicks learned how to build community, run a legendary restaurant, and start a national movement for just and sustainable business--all without leaving home.
Many communities in the U.S. ship food out—and ship the same food back in. What's the value of keeping it at home?
In a world where everything's for sale, we've forgotten that much of value happens outside the stream of commerce. Here's how we forgot--and how we're reclaiming the commons.
Buying local products at local businesses creates a ripple effect as those businesses and employees in turn spend your money locally. In contrast corporate chains send most of your money out of town.
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SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today called on Uber to make public details of its testing of self-driving cars in Pittsburgh and to answer ten key questions about its robot car program and plans.
“You have opted to use public roads as your laboratory and with that comes a responsibility to fully disclose exactly what you are doing both when things go right and when they inevitably go wrong,” wrote John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog Privacy Project director in a letter to Uber Co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick.
Consumer Watchdog’s letter noted that some states, such as California, have regulations covering the testing of self-driving robot vehicles; Pennsylvania does not. The nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest group called on Kalanick to make four commitments for disclosure. In addition, Consumer Watchdog asked ten questions about Uber’s self-driving car program so people can understand what is being attempted and its impact on their safety.
Read Consumer Watchdog’s letter to Kalanick here: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/ltrkalanick090716.pdf
The letter called on Uber to make these four commitments:
— First, you must publicly report all crashes involving your test vehicles. This is required in California where crash reports are posted on the Department of Motor Vehicles website. Because Pennsylvania does not have self-driving robot car regulations, you could simply post crash reports on your own website. You could use the California crash reporting form as a template for your inevitable crash reports.
— Second, you should publicly release any technical data and videos related to any crash.
— Third, you should issue monthly reports similar to what Google now does, detailing your testing activities and what you have learned. It should also list the miles traveled by the robot cars in self-driving robot mode.
— Fourth, you should compile and publicly release “disengagement reports.” Companies testing self-driving robot cars in California must do this annually. The disengagement reports detail when and under what circumstances the self-driving robot technology could not cope and ceded control to the test driver, or when the test driver felt compelled to intervene for safety reasons. As an example, Google’s most recent disengagement report said the self-driving robot technology failed 341 times. The technology turned over control to the human driver 272 times; the test driver felt he should intervene 69 times.
Consumer Watchdog also posed ten questions Uber must answer about its plans to test robot cars so that public fully understands what the company is doing and to demonstrate that Uber has thoroughly examined and contemplated the complex issues involved. Here are the questions:
1. We understand the self-driving car cannot currently handle many common occurrences on the road, including heavy rain or snow, hand signals from a traffic cop, or gestures to communicate from other drivers. Will Uber publish a complete list of real-life situations the cars cannot yet understand, and how you intend to deal with them?
2. What does Uber envision happening if the computer “driver” suddenly goes offline with a passenger in the car, if the car has no steering wheel or pedals and the passenger cannot steer or stop the vehicle?
3. Your programmers will literally make life and death decisions as they write the vehicles’ algorithms. Will Uber agree to publish its software algorithms, including how the company’s “artificial car intelligence” will be programmed to decide what happens in the event of a potential collision? For instance, will Uber’s robot car prioritize the safety of the occupants of the vehicle or pedestrians it encounters?
4. Will Uber publish all video from the car and technical data such as radar and lidar reports associated with accidents or other anomalous situations? If not, why not?
5. Will Uber publish all data in its possession that discusses, or makes projections concerning, the safety of driverless vehicles?
6. Does Uber expect one of your robot cars to be involved in a fatal crash? If your robot car causes the crash, how would Uber be held accountable?
7. How will Uber prove that self-driving cars are safer than today’s vehicles?
8. Will Uber agree not to store, market, sell, or transfer the data gathered by the self-driving car robot car, or utilize it for any purpose other than navigating the vehicle?
9. Does Uber have the technology to prevent malicious hackers from seizing control of a driverless vehicle or any of its systems?
10. When does Uber expect to deploy and carry passengers in fully autonomous, self-driving robot cars without backup human drivers?
“Once you have opted to use public roads as your laboratory as you have done, you take on a moral obligation to be completely transparent,” the letter concluded. “Answering our ten questions will help the public fully understand what Uber is attempting to do and the risks that are involved. Full transparency about your planned self-driving robot car testing activities is the only acceptable approach.”
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Visit our website at www.ConsumerWatchdog.org


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Osprey names Jonathan Petty head of marketing
Jonathan Petty is moving to England, Dorset to be exact. The Brit has been appointed as the new marketing director of Osprey, based in Poole, in the south of England, where the American brand specializing in outdoor backpacks has set up its European headquarters.
"Jonathan Petty and I have known each other for over 15 years and we have always stayed in touch," said Rob Wylie, Osprey's CEO Europe, in a statement. “I am very confident and trust that his abilities, experience and personality are entirely in line with our company and more particularly, at this stage of brand development."
Jonathan Petty was previously brand director of the accessories brand Montane. Prior to that, he spent more than 10 years at Patagonia in commercial and marketing positions. He was also Marketing Director of Salomon between 2000 and 2002.
While the Osprey European headquarters are located in England, the company has no ties to Osprey London, a maker of vintage-inspired luxury handbags and accessories.
Copyright © 2023 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.


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Apple became the first company to reach $3 trillion market value Monday, a leap of $1 trillion in just 16 months, despite sometimes unsteady iPhone sales and supply chain issues.
Apple’s dramatic growth was reinforced by rising iPhone sales, which increased almost 40% over the 12-month period ending September 2021, the New York Times reported.
Demand for Apple products exceeds supply by about 12 million units, with supply chain issues expected to ease during the first half of 2022, according to a report by investment firm Wedbush Securities.
Apple’s 2022 product launches are expected to include the iPhone 14, upgraded AirPods and potentially a virtual-reality headset with augmented-reality features, Bloomberg reported.
Wedbush also predicted the release of an Apple Car by 2025, prompting further growth for the company.
In 1995, Ford became the first U.S. company to reach $100 billion in value. Two years later, as Apple was flirting with bankruptcy, Microsoft became the first U.S. company to hit $500 billion. Buoyed by the rising popularity of the iPhone, Apple outstripped its competitors and, in 2018, became the first U.S. company to reach $1 trillion. In 2020, even as the global economy shrank due to the coronavirus pandemic, tech companies benefited from an increase in remote work and online shopping, and Apple became the first U.S. company to hit $2 trillion. Microsoft reached the $2 trillion milestone in June 2021 and Alphabet in November.
Apple’s value is greater than the $2.76 trillion GDP of the United Kingdom but still short of the $3.85 trillion GDP of Germany, according to World Bank data.
“When we started, we thought it would be a successful company that would go forever. But you don’t really envision this,” Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told the New York Times. “At the time, the amount of memory that would hold one song cost $1 million.”
In October 2021, Apple cut its iPhone production target from 90 million to 80 million due to supply chain issues, as the delay between order and delivery of microchips hit a record average of 21.7 weeks. Demand for the iPhone slowed during the 2021 holiday season as shortages and delivery delays increased, Bloomberg reported.
In December, Apple issued $180,000 stock bonuses to some of its top engineers to prevent defections to companies like Facebook owner Meta, Bloomberg reported.
“Apple Becomes First Company to Hit $3 Trillion Market Value” (New York Times)