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Jaguar I-PACE concept launch: VR on the world stage
“Right from the outset we thought about this project differently, we’ve done things differently at every stage of the process and the end result is something that is out of this world.”
— Jaguar I-PACE
The ground-breaking project to launch the first Jaguar electric concept vehicle, the I-PACE was a game-changer for the brand, attracting global media attention and achieving several world firsts. Showcasing the potential of virtual reality on the international stage, the world’s first live cross-continent VR product launch reveal allowed the audience to explore the I-PACE concept in a 3D social space, using technology such as the HTC VIVE™ and the Dell Precision Workstation.
Sixty-six guests – 54 in LA, 12 in London – including journalists and celebrities like James Corden, Michelle Rodriguez and David Gandy – simultaneously experienced the car, both inside and outside, under the virtual guidance of its designer Ian Callum who was live-streamed onto the VR platform. With a 360° background view of Venice Beach, morphing into a virtual desert, the social VR capability allowed the audience to interact across continents, a world-first for an externally facing consumer launch.
“We had looked at VR previously; however, in the past we didn’t think the technology was strong enough,” says Imagination’s Head of Automotive, Ross Wheeler. “But when the time came to tell the story to journalists around the world, it was a no-brainer, it had to be VR. We were telling a tech story and virtual reality was high on the news agenda, so we knew that anyone sharing this type of news could receive exponentially higher interest using virtual reality. VR quickly became the perfect channel and technology for us to use.”
“Our only real challenge was time – just four months from conception to launch”
— Ross Wheeler, Imagination Head of Automotive
Choosing the technology
High quality was key for the project, so a very high level of technology was required. “In total, we needed 114 PCs, one to run each seat at the presentation table, as well as behind-the-scenes redundancy,” reveals Imagination’s Russell Hall The project required more top of the range consumer graphics cards than were then available in the market to buy. Sixty-six HTC VIVE™ headsets were needed, the largest number ever used for a consumer product launch.
The HTC VIVE Room scale VR turned the audience space into an interactive 3D zone using 22 sensors to track the users’ movements, with motion-tracked handheld controllers to manipulate objects, interact and communicate. A server, similar to that used for Massive Online Multiplayer games (MMO) tracked each headset and relayed the coordinates to the other computers in the network across both continents. A live link was achieved by creating a virtual private cloud, running a global network to connect London and LA as if they were on the same network.
The team also worked with Unity’s real-time rendering engine, chosen for high level capabilities. As REWIND’s Matt Vernon-Clinch explains, “We pushed the engine to the limit of what it could do and what things could look like in VR, pushing the realism of anything we had ever done before.”
The merging of high-spec technologies and the powerful results achieved – news of the launch reached 263m people around the world and the launch video quickly accumulated 1m YouTube views – showed what was possible using VR technology.
Overcoming the challenges
Achieving the quality required by the client and world media was key, rendering the high spec car design in sufficiently high definition to provide the wow factor, as well as allowing the audience to get as close as possible to experience the design details. The Unity real-time engine provided the answer, allowing the data to be streamlined while still retaining high visual quality. It was necessary to remove 97% of data from the high resolution CAD model of the car supplied by Jaguar so that the Unity games engine could process at 90 frames per second.
The need to create something that was intuitive and easy to use was also of paramount importance, stress Matt Vernon-Clinch, particularly in a shared VR experience where all participants are interacting without sharing a physical space. Again, the game-based technology elements allowed the creators to draw on gaming culture, using the multi-player facility to connect participants on both sides of the world. As a warm up exercise, the audience played Scalextric to create group awareness and familiarise themselves with the controls.
Instead of the ‘push to speak’ button that gamers use to communicate across a virtual space, spotlights and audience avatars facilitated the group’s interaction. There was an issue around audio time delay when two people spoke to each other across 5000 miles of cable between the continents, which was resolved by using Imagination’s immersive theatre background to stage manage the show and bring the elements together. Open-back headphones meant that each participant could hear environmental sounds, the main experience backing track as well as key presenter announcement, while still being immersed in the total experience.
Launch day: feedback
The feedback at the launch and in the media exceeded the entire team’s targets and expectations. Actor and TV presenter James Corden claimed it had blown his mind. VR Focus said, “Jaguar just showed us the future of car launches” and the International Business Times claimed, “Jaguar’s use of VR means product launches will never be the same again”.
Lessons learned: changing consumer experiences
Ross Wheeler, Head of Automotive at Imagination, believes with this launch that Jaguar has permanently redefined the format of product launches, setting the benchmark for any consumer brand experience, for any sector, for years to come.
Research shows that the brain responds in a different way to virtual reality than to real-world environments but by affecting positively the way the brain retrieves information, a virtual experience can feel entirely real. “I convinced myself I had sat in the car, my brain was convinced I had done that because I can describe every single feature inside,” explains Ross. “The future of VR is a very powerful one.”
Lessons learned: changing working processes
Imagination is currently building a content platform that will allow other brands to broadcast interactive content in a similar way, taking insights gained from this project and packaging it up into a toolkit, which will also allow consumers to enjoy the experience at home. They also plan to use this platform as a communication tool, connecting its offices all around the world and enabling teams to work closer together.
VR in the automotive industry: what does the future look like?
“Jaguar, by embracing cutting-edge technology in this way, has created an experience rich and rewarding for its consumers. It has undoubtedly redefined the future of how automotive brands introduce their new vehicles to customers.”
— Ross Wheeler, Imagination
The challenge has been finding people with the right skills, people who “know what they are talking about”, as Ross Wheeler puts it.
“We’re now in the same place we were in with social media seven or eight years ago. Today everybody is a VR producer, but what that normally means is that they’ve worked with 360° video. The web has gone through years of hell to get to a place where user experience is core. We need to do the same for the VR journey. Currently there is no established approach to UX design in VR, it will be exciting to watch this area grow as it has done on the web. We need to make sure people understand the breath of skills needed in the industry, and both government and the industry itself need to invest in building those skills.”
As well as the skills landscape, the consumer automotive sector is set to undergo a huge change. As Ross puts it, in a world where VR starts to play a leading role, do we need to see cars in dealerships anymore?
“I buy now from Amazon, I do my grocery shopping online at Tesco, I don’t need to be in the shops. In the same way, I can fully experience a car with a headset on, speaking to a real-life virtual person who has been streamed in. I can sit in the car and I can see it on my driveway in front of my house. VR is a very powerful retail tool.”
What will empower VR for the future, Ross believes, is the access to technology for the masses. “Once the technology and hardware enters the mainstream, it’s going to change everything,” he confirms. “Then companies will start to spend serious money on this form of marketing and product presentation.”
Words by Bernadette Fallon


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A new video has been posted by Sony that shows more behind the scenes action from the Starhawk team. Developers Lightbox explain the journey from Warhawk to Starhawk, including the ‘hate sessions’.
The Starhawk private beta will go live tomorrow and a select few Warhawk players will be receiving beta passes. You can increase your chances of getting a pass by requesting updates via the official site.
Sony say the invites are being “slowly rolled out”, which explains why my inbox is Starhawk free.

domain: news


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Bixby 2.0 could potentially be on its way to the Galaxy S9 and other flagship Samsung phones, as the South Korean tech giant has appointed a new exec to oversee the second-generation virtual assistant.
Former vice chief of Samsung Research in America, Chung Eui-suk, is now the head of Samsung’s service intelligence group at its HQ in South Korea, having been appointed to oversee the next steps for Bixby which will aim to reverse the lacklustre response the virtual assistant has had, according to the Korean Herald.
Eui-suk will not directly replace head of Bixby development Rhee In-jong, but will help head-up Bixby 2.0, which is under development with the goal to improve upon the first-generation Bixby, which made its debut in the Galaxy S8.
Samsung’s mobile business chief, Koh Dong-jin recently noted that Bixby hasn’t been a resounding success, and that Bixby 2.0 would address the shortcomings of its predecessor.
“We will supplement the incomplete parts of Bixby 1.0 at Bixby 2.0,” Dong-jin said. “Outside developers will participate in the development of Bixby 2.0 although they could not for Bixby 1.0 due to time shortage.”
When Bixby first arrived on the Galaxy S8 it was limited to use in South Korea and then the US; UK support finally arrived in August, but Bixby failed to win a huge amount of approval.
This could be down to the lack of support and integration it offers with a range of services and products, but blame could also be laid at the door of the Google Assistant, which was present and fully functional on the Galaxy S8 from its launch.
The Google Assistant has a swathe of machine learning tech and power behind it and is arguably the smartest smartphone-based virtual assistant available. So if Bixby 2.0 is ready in time for a Galaxy S9 debut it will need to bring a lot more a lot sooner to the virtual assistant table. Of course Samsung could opt to not allow the Google Assistant on its next flagship phone, thus forcing people to get more familiar with Bixby.
Related: Best Android phones
Do you have a Galaxy S8 and use Bixby, or is Samsung’s virtual assistant a bit of a dud? Let us now on Twitter or Facebook.


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At a rather subdued Knockhill race-track in Scotland, UK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and UK Transport Minister Geoff Hoon announced a plan to support Plug In vehicles, not only buying them but “Building them”.
Mr Hoon and Lord Mandelson also had the privaledge to take one of BMW’s Mini E around the Scottish track, publising the Government’s plans to offer a subsidy of between £2,000 and £5,000 to car owners wishing to buy a new EV or PHEV from 2011 onwards. The plan also includes a £20m kitty to pay for the installation of more charging points and infrastrucutre to help Brits go green. Mr Hoon said “”The scale of incentives we’re announcing today will mean that an electric car is a real option for motorists as well as helping to make the UK a world leader in low carbon transport.”
Photo by John Honniball
More thoughts on this news after the jump
The plans are a start to something big, but it was given a luke-warm reception by the mainstream press who of course included interviews with BMW’s UK director, who quite happily told the reporter of the issues that EVs have with range, battery performance and size. Of course, it may be a sound-bite gone wrong, but that’s hardly positive spin. The BBC also dealt with the obvious naysayers who spoke of the generation issues. (Check out my past blog busting the telegraph EV myths)
At the moment there’s not all that many choices for the UK EV owner. Many of my friends abroad tell me how good England has it, with at least four commercial choices for people wanting to own an EV. But at the moment we’re still waiting for a high-speed vehicle. The G-Wiz is the fastest commercial vehicle on the market (unless of course, you include the Tesla – which is out of all but the wealthiest pockets). And that’s the rub. Until the industry can produce faster, more mainstream-looking vehicles this government grant scheme won’t take off. Perhaps then, this is why the scheme isn’t set to launch until 2011. It will give the industry time to adjust. I’m assuming that the UK government will use the intervening time to help bring some EVs to the market which are fast, cool, and desirable. Oh, and the right price. The best we can hope for is that vehicles coming to the market in two years time (look to the iMiev, Smart ED and possibly Volt and Prius PHEV) will be close enough to a petrol-priced car that people will consider buying one. The £2,000 to £5,000 grant will at least help bridge the gap between a petrol car and a slightly more expensive plug in.
Why do I say more expensive? Well, at the moment it’s about economy of scale. The only way that EVs will get cheaper is if enough are built; if enough vehicles come off the production line. Of course, it’ll also help a great deal if Governmnents and private investors plough money in. These two things combined will really help us move forward. The UK Government’s plans will really help that. If the UK government offers tax breaks, insentives and assistance to EV and PHEV producing companies then perhaps we’ll have a chance to change the way people move around.
Many EV advocates view the move to Plug ins as a battle. I wouldn’t use quite that terminology, since I don’t believe that statement to be quite true. It’s not so much a battle as an evolution. I’m perfectly convinced that a plug in vehicle is an evolutionary step forwards. Bearing that in mind, I think that perhaps now we can evolve our transport a little quicker given this scheme.
The hope I have is that every major world goverment will see the same opourtinuty and pledge the same things that both the USA and now the UK have announced. Actions are louder than words of course, so it’ll be very interesting to see who follows through and who falls by the wayside. As someone who was convinced a long time ago that plug in vehicles were the way forward I can’t really tell you just how happy I am about the news. But I’m also wary. I’ve heard of all sorts of good thigns in the past. Good things which are now hollow promises and faint memories.
With the move towards plug ins getting another push today we just all have to keep spreading the word. If you own a plug in, make sure you tell your friends, family and colleagues how brilliant it is. Give as many people a chance to have a ride and have that EV grin. If you don’t already have a plug in then why not try and have a ride in one. Just don’t make it a small, pokey little one. Spread the word! And then maybe we’ll all be able to collect our new electric car in 2011.
For now though, there’s a lot of misinformation. There’s a lot of confusion. Even the mighty Times Newspaper got confused about electric cars, calling the Honda Civic and Toyota Prius Electric. They’re not. They’re hybrids. Without a plug, they’re just a regular gas-powered car with better gas mileage than most petrol vehicles. With a plug, they’re plug in hybrids, capable of very high efficiency and all-round-town electric-only mode. The plug makes a huge difference. With or without an engine too, a plug in vehicle is the one which will make waves in our future transport and help us get off the oil we’re so terribly addicted to. The plug is the thing which paves the way for a future transportation structure without petrol pumps, without dirty oil and perhaps without so many conflicts about dead animals… Without a Plug, you shouldn’t buy. As Plug in America put it:
“No Plug, No Deal!
I said it wasn’t a battle. But some of my friends would say that the battle is not yet won. And for once, I’d agree with them.


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The Rod Laver silhouette is amid the most iconic of adidas’ entire catalogue.
The Jumpman brand recently disclosed a new colorway for the Air Jordan 3 Retro.
Kith NYC and Dover Street Market united to deliver the “Achromatic Collection”.
adidas Originals brings back the Centaur now with a set of new colorways.
Asics just delivered a new series of colorways for some of its most important models.
It all goes back to 1996, the year it all began, in Richmond, Virginia. Need Supply started out selling vintage Levi’s, but soon afterwards the owners found out that just wasn’t enough.
Mackintosh, the famous Scottish outerwear brand, is back for the Autumn / Winter 14 season.
Asics recently disclosed the new ‘Paisley’ pack for the Gel Lyte III.
Famous for a series of solid collaborations, Aberdeen’s Hanon Shop now joined forces with Supra to deliver a fresh version of the Owen model.
Foot Patrol and the swoosh brand decided to better collaborate to present a unique take of the Nike Air Huarache Light.
New Balance just keeps on adding it in terms of visual greatness, and the better proof of that is this M1400 HR with an olive colorway.
Gitman Vintage and End joined their efforts for yet another installment of a creative collaboration.
Part of the new and upcoming Fall / Winter 14 collection, this is the new Asics Gel Saga Navy Soft Grey.


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How time affects how angry we are with brands on social networks
In the daily life of consumers, a pattern of behavior has been established in recent years, linked to the popularization of social networks. As they have become more and more popular, consumers have begun to internalize a mechanism. If a brand makes a mistake or if the customer service they receive is not adequate, they open their profiles on social networks and publish a review. If the brand is not solving the problem, they expect their community manager to do so.
But are we at all times equally sensitive to brand failures? Or are there times when our threshold of patience is much lower and when we are more willing to jump in with criticism and negative comments?
Different studies have been analyzing how time impacts on our behavior as consumers. Bad weather or good weather changes how we react to online advertisements, how we shop online and offline, or what we consider most important on our shopping list. It also changes how and how much we get angry on social networks and, therefore, our complaints about brands in social media.
Outside the network, hot days are those that increase people’s aggressiveness. Some studies have established links between hot days and aggressive crime data, for example. However, online, as a study has just shown, the opposite is true. Hot days do not make us become more aggressive on social networks, but rather the opposite.
As temperatures rise, aggressive and angry tweets also drop. On the contrary, when it is colder is when this type of content increases. On average, peaks of angry tweets are usually recorded when the temperature is below 15 degrees.
When the thermometer is positioned between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius is when least negative and angry comments are published. Of course, if the thermometer goes above 35 degrees, there is a slight rise in angry content on social networks.
The reasons for the change
Why does this happen? From the outset, the good weather pushes citizens to leave the house and do things like socializing, walking or going out on terraces. While doing all of that, they cut down on your network exposure time. Just as good weather tends to make us buy more from stores and less on the net, the same goes for publishing content.
Later, the researchers add that environmental temperatures affect our bodies, both in how we sleep, how we produce hormones or how much oxygen it carries to our brain. In more extreme time, more extreme will be the reactions.
The study, which has also determined that Mondays are the days with the highest incidence of angry tweets, has started from an Australian sample and has measured the general aggressiveness of citizens on Twitter, although its data is also relevant for companies and for your social media marketing strategy.
This reinforces another idea, which is that we use social media to release our frustration.


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According to Evan Blass (@evleaks) on Twitter, ASUS will introduce the ZenFone AR smartphone this week, making it the second Google Tango device available on the market.
In the tweet, no specifications for the device were provided. The phone is built to run Google’s Tango AR platform, the backside features what looks like dual cameras, plus an assortment of sensors.
The ZenFone AR will come with a Snapdragon 821 processor, making it the first Snapdragon 821-powered AR device. The only other Tango device on the market is the Lenovo-made PHAB2 Pro, which comes with a Snapdragon 652.
Also, a press release also states clearly that the ZenFone AR is also ready for Google Daydream, making it quite an AR and VR smartphone.
Once ASUS makes this info official, i will share more details.
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For me, “scalping” is a term that draws a picture of fantasy violence of those who would raid other countries and towns for conquest that one would read about in a medieval fantasy novel. This idea of taking the hard-earned resources of others without proper cause is inherently unfair and leads to an idea that can be translated to our society today, in that we should never take resources by force, especially if we do not plan to use them properly, as can be seen in the following idea of scalping.
Scalping in the modern sense refers to the buying out of the initial stock of an item that is in high demand, only to resell it immediately after. The item is normally sold at an exorbitant price, but since the seller is the only person who has this item, some people are willing to pay the price just to have the item sooner. This practice can be seen in several fields and with many different items, such as reselling Apple products or in-demand shoes for example. However, one of the industries seeing scalping is that of graphics cards, specifically the new line of Nvidia graphics cards that have just hit the market.
Scalping is currently an issue with all three of Nvidia’s newest line of cards, the RTX 3070, 3080, and 3090. These cards boast a new Ampere architecture, more virtual RAM on the cards themselves, and the ability to support the new RTX technology. RTX enables a real-time ray tracing technique that greatly enhances lighting, shadows, and reflections in video games, creating a vastly improved graphics experience for the player. Each of these three cards launched on different dates and all have fallen prey to scalping.
All three of the cards were instantly sold out upon launch. This was to be expected with the release of a new card, however, potential buyers naturally became frustrated when they realized these people used bots to buy the cards so quickly, and then posted on Twitter bragging about their purchases. Plugins on Twitter had gotten 14 RTX 3080 cards instantly, which is unfortunate for those who wanted even one.
To protest this issue, several frustrated individuals put up fake listings on eBay for the new RTX cards. Wes Fenlon of pcgamer.com reports what he found on a listing titled “Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Render – Do Not Buy (Read Description)”. The description states that “…This is not a real GPU and will not work in your PC…PLEASE DO NOT PAY MORE FOR AN RTX 3080 THAN MSRP…Paying inflated prices only incentives the scalpers. Please be patient, wait for restocking of authorized retailers, and help the community dry up this grey market”. Even on the listings for the truly inflated cards, there are several one-star reviews expressing the community’s distaste with the practice. The only good news about this issue is that the community is actively doing everything it can to stop this practice.
As reported by Michael Kan of pcmag.com, Nvidia says that “To stop bots and scalpers on the Nvidia store, we’re doing everything humanly possible, including manually reviewing orders, to get these cards in the hands of legitimate customers”, which is certainly a step in the right direction. It was also said by pcmag.com “that Nvidia and its manufacturing partners are shipping more units every day to retailers… [and that] The retailer Newegg also refrained from selling its entire RTX 3080 stock on day one”. This is certainly a step in the right direction, and if customers practice patience and stay calm, they should easily be able to obtain a card in the distant future.
It is unfortunate that we must deal with this practice today, but with the rise of technology comes the addition of new ways for people to exploit it. This practice should not be encouraged, and the best thing that we can do as consumers is to not give them money. With enough restraint shown, it is possible that while the scalpers might not disappear completely, we can reduce their numbers in the coming years so that this is no longer a recurring event.


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Men are a fast-growing segment of consumers in the esthetic market, yet they can be underrepresented in an often female-dominated industry.
But it seems the tide is changing.
A survey by Allergan found that 48% of men would be open to discussing treatment for facial wrinkles with a doctor in the next two years. Additionally, 71% say they want to look good and almost half are willing to spend money on their facial appearance—40% of which would spend more than $250 for a single treatment.
71% [of men] say they want to look good and almost half are willing to spend money on their facial appearance—40% of which would spend more than $250 for a single treatment.
It’s no wonder then that men are getting botulinum toxin type A, or Botox, injections now more than ever. Jenya Titova, director of med spa operations at Miami’s Hochstein Medspa, said the two driving forces are workplace pressure and social media.
“A polished appearance in men helps them feel more confident, have stronger interpersonal relationships and stay more competitive in the job market,” she explained. “Another big trend is the prevalence of social media where your appearance is everything, especially when it comes to online dating. … It's also become more accepted in today's world so they don't feel ashamed to get Botox, waxing, hair restoration or even manicures.”
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons found that Botox injections were the top-performed minimally invasive procedure in 2015, with 6.7 million procedures—an increase of 1% from 2014 and 759% from 2000.
“Men are looking for an easy procedure they can do in an hour, which is discreet.” —Jorge Gaviria, M.D.
When men get Botox injections, they differ from women in that they are more prone to have their whole face done if instructed by an esthetic professional, according to Titova. Key injection areas for men include:
- Glabellar lines
- Eye area
- Frown lines
- Double chin
“Most men are generally concerned about their appearance just as women are although most don't admit it. Social media forces men to critique themselves more than ever,” said Titova. “When they don't like what they see, they want a fast solution. Others are even pressured by their wives or girlfriends.”
Titova recommends that men start getting Botox injections as a preventative measure in their 30s, however, “It’s never too late to start smoothing the lines,” she said.
Med Spas and Men
“Men are looking for an easy procedure they can do in an hour, which is discreet,” he said. “They prefer not to go under the scalpel. Botox every three months is worth it for men who want to look 10 years younger.”
Gaviria adds that for med spas to attract more male clientele, it is important to create a gender-specific approach to treating male patients as well as creating specific marketing for the male demographic.
“It’s also pivotal to bring cosmetic surgeons who specialize in various treatments aimed at men, such as hair transplant surgeons [and] cosmetic fellows together,” he said. “These professionals understand the anatomical differences between genders: larger foreheads, more vascularized faces, bigger muscles, protruding mandible, wider glabella, less facial fat than women and increased skin thickness for example. Then men can feel confident that they are being given customized treatments.”


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When it comes to mobile apps Capital One ranked highest in the retail bank category while Discover ranked highest in overall satisfaction in the credit card category.
According to the “J.D. Power 2017 U.S. Banking App and U.S. Credit Card App Satisfaction Studies”:
• Ease of use/navigation is the most heavily weighted driver of satisfaction among mobile banking and credit card app users. The studies show that the specific features most commonly associated with ease of use are login process; access to account information; and overall ease of managing the account. These make functionality such as fingerprint login, streamlined access to account balances and account transfer incredibly important variables in a successful banking or credit card app.
• With just 31% of retail bank customers and 17% of credit card customers currently utilizing mobile apps, banks and credit card companies still have a long way to go to win over those customers who are holdouts. One obstacle to overcome is trust, with less than half of respondents (44% for bank customers, 46% for credit card customers) saying they perceive their online information to be “very secure.” Additional research from J.D. Power has found that just 32% of bank customers say they trust mobile banking.
• More than two-thirds (69%) of study respondents indicate they have used a mobile payment service in the past 30 days. That number jumps to 76% among Millennials and Gen Z.1 This evidence suggests that efforts to integrate mobile payments with the mobile banking and credit card app experience would be beneficial.
Capital One ranks highest in overall satisfaction in the retail bank category with a score of 870 (on a 1,000-point scale). Bank of America follows with a score of 865, and TD Bank ranks third with a score of 860. Illustrating the tight competition in the mobile app space, just 32 index points separates the highest-ranked and lowest-ranked performers in the study.
Discover ranks highest in overall satisfaction in the credit card category with a score of 895. Capital One follows with a score of 888 and Barclaycard ranks third with a score of 886.
The 2017 U.S. Banking App and U.S. Credit Card App Satisfaction Studies are based on responses from 5,564 retail bank and credit card customers nationwide. Both studies were fielded in April-May 2017.


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European stocks advanced on Tuesday as concerns over a U.S.-Iran standoff eased, with no immediate retaliation from Iran over the assassination of the country’s top military commander Major-General Qasem Soleimani.
There was some confusion earlier in the day after a letter surfaced showing that U.S.-led coalition troops would leave Iraq. The Pentagon later clarified that it was a mistake and “there has been no decision whatsoever to leave.”
The pan European Stoxx 600 was up half a percent at 418.73 after declining 0.4 percent in the previous session.
The German DAX was climbing 0.8 percent and France’s CAC 40 index was gaining half a percent, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded flat, giving up early gains.
French building materials firm Saint-Gobain traded flat after announcing that it has acquired High Tech Metal Seals or HTMS, a designer and manufacturer of engineered metal seals for the industrial, energy and aerospace markets.
British supermarket chain Morrisons saw its share price climb by 3 percent despite the company reporting a fall in sales over the Christmas period amid “challenging” trading conditions. Marks & Spencer jumped 3.6 percent.
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings slumped 9.5 percent. The manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers stated that 2019 has been a very disappointing year from a trading perspective.
888 Holdings dropped 1.2 percent. The online gaming entertainment and solutions company said it is confident of achieving an adjusted EBITDA outcome for the year 2019 in-line with its expectations.
Premier Oil shares soared 13 percent. The company reported that its fiscal 2019 production was 78.4 kboepd, at the upper end of full year guidance reflecting high operating efficiency and continued high rates from the Premier-operated Catcher Area.
In economic releases, Eurozone inflation rose to 1.3 percent in December from 1 percent in November, flash data from Eurostat showed. On a monthly basis, consumer prices gained 0.3 percent.
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Chinese PM arrives in Switzerland for talks
New Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has arrived in Switzerland, his first European destination on a multi-country tour. The two nations, which have a historically good relationship, recently agreed on a free trade pact.
Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter greeted Li at Zurich airport on Thursday evening, and the Chinese minister will meet with Burkhalter, Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann and Swiss President Ueli Maurer later on Friday. Li and Schneider-Ammann are expected to sign a document of intent as part of the free trade agreement.
The location of the meetings has been kept secret in an effort to prevent protests like in 1999, when throngs of Tibetan protesters gathered in front of the parliament buildings to demand Tibet’s freedom from Chinese rule. The demonstrations led the visiting Chinese president at the time, Jiang Zemin, to declare the Swiss had “lost a good friend” and caused a subsequent cooling in relations between the countries.
A small group of Tibetan protesters gathered at Zurich airport upon Li’s arrival.
Swiss companies are doing particularly well in penetrating the Chinese market, according to the most comprehensive survey to date, published by the Swiss Center Shanghai on Thursday.
As many as 62 per cent of the Swiss companies surveyed said they plan to increase their investments in China in 2013. More than half of them consider China as one of the top three target countries, according to the Swiss Center, which acts as a platform supporting operations of more than 200 Swiss companies in China and Asia.
The confidence level of foreign companies is higher than it was for 2012, while the confidence of Chinese companies is going down, the Swiss Center said. Swiss companies are more positive than all others in the long term. For the next five years, Swiss managers are “confident” to “extremely confident”, on average, that their operations in China will be successful, it said.
In an open editorial in the prestigious Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper on Thursday, Li wrote that his visit sends a “strong signal” that China wants to “accelerate” the implementation of free trade between the two countries.
Switzerland was one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic relations and to enter joint ventures with China, the Chinese prime minister pointed out in the editorial.
And Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Song Tao noted in a Swiss radio interview that the Swiss company Schindler was one of the first three foreign companies to found joint ventures with Chinese businesses after China’s markets opened to the world.
With the free trade accord, Switzerland would be the first continental European country and the first from the 20 largest world economies to reach an important free trade agreement with China. Experts have described the deal as the most important for Switzerland in 40 years.
China is already Switzerland’s third major trading partner behind the European Union and the United States. A free trade agreement would further reduce tariffs and tolls and other trade barriers.
“We reached positive goals in our negotiations and reached an accord. Both sides now hope we will soon have a formalized agreement that will serve both parties,” Chinese Vice Minister of Trade Jiang Yaoping said in a separate interview with Swiss radio.
The details of the agreement are not known, but important issues for Switzerland include market access for industry and intellectual property rights, while China wants to boost sales of its agricultural products in Switzerland.
The watch industry is one particular sector claiming attention. According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, 40 million fake watches are produced every year in the world – many of them in China. The turnover of Swiss watch counterfeiters amounts to about CHF1 billion ($1.03 billion).
Li stressed in his newspaper editorial that he also wants to intensify the cooperation between both countries in the financial sector. The countries have been discussion whether Switzerland could be established as a centre for the offshore trade of the yuan.
He also asks for understanding and trust and makes a case for an even more active exchange between companies, people and government of both states. Li also reiterated that China continues to promote economic growth, human rights and the implementation of the rule of law.
He added that “there may be certain differences between us because of different histories, cultures and development levels, but we can complement each other with our strenghts.”
A final round of talks on the deal between the two countries ended earlier this month at a technical level.
Li’s stay in Switzerland, which ends on Saturday, crowns a series of visits and exchanges between the two countries. Swiss President Ueli Maurer has said he plans to visit China later this year and Environment Minister Doris Leuthard announced Friday she would visit Beijing next week to sign accords over transportation and forestry.
In compliance with the JTI standards


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WESTPORT, Conn. -- Sometimes, you can be living as healthfully as you think when you learn you could do better.
That's what happened to Siobhan McKinley. The Ridgefield mom of three, who was a cosmetic executive for over 14 years, thought she was doing all the right things until the day she came across a book that blew her away.
It was a story about the startling amount of toxins and harmful chemicals in personal care products -- that the U.S. government allows. She was also stunned by the lack of labeling laws.
"When I looked at what other countries around the world were doing to protect the consumer, I was shocked," she said.
"The EU law, for example, bans 1,328 chemicals from cosmetics that are known or suspected to cause cancer, genetic mutation, reproductive harm or birth defects. In comparison, the U.S. FDA has only banned or restricted 11 chemicals from cosmetics."
And so, after some diligent research -- she began first in Ireland where her family is from -- she discovered small batch companies that not only have high efficacy standards and high-performing, result-driven product lines but are also environmentally and sustainable conscientious.
Long story short: She opened ORGÁNACHS, a "green beauty" boutique in Westport devoted solely to premium organic skincare. She says it's the only store of its kind in Connecticut.
The shop, now just over a year old -- she opened in March 2016 -- carries a highly curated selection of more than 25 premium organic skincare, cosmetic, bath/body, haircare, suncare and well-being brands.
McKinley said it's not just the brands that set ORGÁNACHS apart, it's the information and personal attention her staff provides. "This is very much needed when making the transition to clean, non-toxic beauty," she explained.
"The products contain natural ingredients that consumers are not used to hearing about or used to using and there needs to be some education."
Organic skincare, she added, is "feeding" your skin the best ingredients derived from plants and other naturally occurring ingredients. The mantra of her store, in fact, is "farm to skin."
"These plant-based ingredients are better for your health and they work!"
The scary truth, she said, is that it takes 26 seconds for chemicals applied on the skin to enter the bloodstream.
"Think about the number of chemicals in everyday personal care products that women are applying and that adds up to hundreds of chemicals each month," she said. "We absorb up to 60 percent of what is applied to our skin."
Among her top sellers: VOYA, an organic Irish skincare brand which is sold in some of the world's top spas, the De Mamiel skincare line (which uses the ancient principles of Chinese medicine along with modern scientific research into how ingredients interact with our bodies) and natural deodorants from Meow Meow Tweet.
For summer McKinley loves Maya Chia's Illuminating Face and Body Serum, a mineral pearlized sheen housed in a beautiful base of pure nutrition for the skin, and The Highlight of the Day Face Serum, which offers a believable bronze-golden glow. She also highly recommends The Highlight of the Day Body Serum, a universally flattering highlighter made for the body with a rose-gold, wearable sheen.
New this year: her online store so folks can shop 24/7. And, coming soon, a blog that will feature "Conversations" with guests from the beauty, health & wellness industries.
She's also planning to bring a new esthetician on board so ORGÁNACHS can continue to offer facials and add new services. And, come September, look for workshops teaching folks about how to live healthier lives. It's a lesson -- and a mission -- McKinley is very passionate about.
"Informing women of the benefits and effectiveness of using natural ingredients to achieve the results they are looking for is what I enjoy doing every day," she said.
"I know it's not necessary to apply chemicals to your skin in order to have beautiful skin."
Go to www.organachsfarmtoskin.com for more information.
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Toyota Motor North America has joined the National Safety Council’s Check To Protect campaign, which seeks to reduce the number of vehicles with open recalls.
Toyota says it will work with the Council to spread the word to vehicle owners about the importance of checking for open recalls and, if necessary, getting them repaired for free at a dealership. Owners can learn their vehicle’s recall status quickly by visiting CheckToProtect.org.
“We call this campaign Check To Protect for one reason: We want owners to check their vehicles in order to protect the loved ones who ride with them,” says Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council. “It only takes a minute to learn your recall status at CheckToProtect.org.”
The agency says more than 760,000 users visited CheckToProtect.org in year one.
Toyota joins founding partner Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in supporting the campaign. Other organizations such as the Governors Highway Safety Association, National Automobile Dealers Association, National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, National Auto Auction Association and more than a dozen states also are working with the Council to reduce the number of open recalls.
The Council and Toyota will increase awareness through community outreach events, social media efforts, dealership participation and more.
Nearly one-in-four vehicles on the road today has an open unrepaired recall, according to the Council. While some owners are not aware of their recall status, others know they have a recall but do not perceive the issue to be important. Many of these recalls involve Takata airbags that have the potential to spray sharp metal fragments into the vehicle, causing injuries or even death to drivers or passengers if these defective airbags deploy.
“The safety of our customers is a top priority, that’s why we continue to reach out to involved owners to make sure they are aware of all safety recalls, including the Takata recall,” says Tom Trisdale, Toyota’s vice president of product quality and service support. “Check To Protect provides us with valuable partnerships to improve awareness, understanding and promote action.”


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Taxman accepts blow up dolls as payment for part of sex shop owners £2,000 debt
- Owed 90,000 Roubles,after getting into trouble with tax payments and pension contributions
Bailiffs working for the Russian taxman have accepted two blow-up dolls in partial payment for a hard-up sex-shop owner's debt.
The 34-year-old Siberian shop owner was forced to offer the sex toys after getting into trouble with his tax payments and pension contributions.
He owed the taxman 90,000 Roubles, (£1850), but the two dolls, worth 11,000 Roubles (£225) were accepted in lieu of payment. It is understood he paid the balance in cash.
Cold comfort: The Russian taxman accepted two blow up dolls as payment for a Siberian sex shop owner's debt
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti explained: 'The bailiffs agreed to take the synthetic women and put them up for sale.'
It is not known where the bailiffs are selling the two dolls or if indeed they have already been snapped up.
It is not the first time unusual property has been seized by bailiffs working on behalf of the the Russian taxman.
Other unusual items have included metal doors, dog clothes, underpants, felt boots, pet dogs and cats, a consignment of bananas and even a helicopter.
Siberia is well know for its harsh climate and temperatures can drop as low as -60 in some parts.
However unlike some parts of Canada there is a strong female bias, with only 86 men for every 100 women.
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The Nintendo Switch's battery life has received a lot of criticism, but is this truly valid?
The Switch will be launching later this week for $300. Is this too much?
The Nintendo Switch is not here to compete with the PS4/XBO — it's doing it's own thing.
The Nintendo marketing team is going all out with the Switch!


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Study: Coffee May Increase Euphoria, Addiction To MarijuanaDrinking large amounts of coffee may enhance the high one gets from smoking marijuana, but researchers caution that copious amounts of coffee consumption may increase addiction.
Father Suing Company That Made Caffeine Powder That Killed SonThe father of an Ohio teenager who died after ingesting caffeine powder is suing online retailer Amazon.com and companies that distribute the powder, blaming them for not providing proper warnings about its dangers.
Travel On A Budget This Labor Day WeekendHere are some helpful tips to keep costs down while enjoying a safe and enjoyable trip over the Labor Day weekend.
High School Senior Dies After Ingesting Toxic Amount Of Caffeine PowderA senior at Keystone High School was found dead after he ingested toxic amounts of caffeine powder.
7 Simple Tricks To Beat Jet LagNo matter how seasoned you are as a traveler, you will get jet lag. Though jet lag can't be avoided, it can be minimized on your next vacation with these seven tips.
Kids Continue To Pound Back The CaffeineApproximately 75 percent of U.S. kids and young adults consume at least some caffeine on a daily basis.
Report: 5-Hour Energy Drink Linked To 13 DeathsDrink it in seconds. Feel it in minutes. Lasts for hours. But does taking a 5-Hour Energy result in the last hours of a person’s life? According to the FDA, the answer is maybe.


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Digital natives. The concept makes more and more sense. According to a study by the Common Sense Media organization, 38% of children under the age of two have used a mobile or tablet to play games or watch videos.
The percentage is very high, especially compared to that of two years ago . In 2011, 10% of children under 2 years old had used a mobile device connected to the Internet.
72% of children under 8 years have used a mobile or tablet
Even higher is the percentage of children under 2 years old who have used other equipment. For example, 66% have used television (the percentage remains stable between the 2011 and 2013 data).
The report also indicates that the use of computers among babies grew from 4% to 10% in these two years, while the number of children who saw content on a DVD before reaching the age of two has dropped from 52% to 46%. .
The study also notes that 72% of children under the age of 8 have used a mobile or tablet at some point in their lives.
The challenge now is to ensure that the time that children spend in front of mobile screens is used for both leisure and learning .
Do you know children who use mobiles and tablets? For what? Tell us in the comments.


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Mother of Pearl launch sustainable line with BBC Earth. Mother of Pearl’s new collaborator isn’t a model, fashion brand or an influencer but a TV channel.
Mother of Pearl has created a 9-piece collection with BBC Earth, with the pieces made with ‘peace silk’- silk that is produced from silkworm cocoons without killing the worn inside – as well as eco-friendly dyes and textiles which are certified by the Organic Textile Standard and National Program for Organic Production.
Mother of Pearl’s Creative Director Amy Powney spoke about the impact the fashion industry has on the environment, saying: “I think a lot of people don’t have a real grasp on the impact of fashion and that it’s one of the most polluting industries on the planet after oil and meat.”
Explaining how her collection is a ‘solution to that problem’, Powney went on to say: “We’re trying to say that you can make things better and create a more elevated product, too. Sustainable fashion doesn’t have to be hemp or hippie-ish.”
To create wearable clothes with a nod to nature, Powney looked at botanical drawings and iconic BBC photos to get inspired, with a few designs beign digitally printed with massive flower designs.
When Mother of Pearl launched, sustainability wasn’t part of Powney’s messaging, but she’s spent the past few years trying to change that.
“In university, my graduate collection was about ethics and fair trade, and at that time the bigger focus was on social issues,” she says.
“I didn’t even know the extent of fashion’s environmental damage, and people still don’t naturally connect fashion to the environment.”
But when she won the British Fashion Council/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund in 2017, she put her £200,000 prize money towards transforming her brand into a sustainable one.
“We were a tiny company back then, and as we grew our quantities, I thought: Hold on, what is my impact? Of course, as a small brand your impact is pretty minimal compared to the massive brands. But I looked at our footprint and decided to restructure everything.”
On why she chose to work with BBC Earth, she said: “I felt quite responsible to not just create sustainable products but also tell people about it. So that’s really how this BBC project came about—they have the chance to amplify my learnings. As a small company, we can’t talk to everybody, but the BBC can reach a lot more people.”
She also spoke about her partnership with Net-a-Porter and their new platform Net Sustain, which promotes all sustainable brands and products in the fashion industry.
Powney told Vogue: “Net-a-Porter has stocked a number of brands who champion sustainability on the site, and with the launch of Net Sustain, we’re able to formalize our approach and identify the products that fall into this category for the ease of the customer.”
In the new few years, Net Sustain will grow to include more designers and brands.
Powney explained how she wants to be a positive example to fashion brands looking to become more eco-friendly.
“A lot of people come to me and think it’s a quick fix, but it’s a thought process that has to be interwoven into how you run your company.”
She also revealed how her brand benefitted from become a sustainable one.
“I didn’t move our brand into a sustainable one [for any reason] other than the fact that we were making more and more product, and I couldn’t keep doing this if we didn’t do it in the right way. But when we came out to market [to introduce our new supply chain], the business grew, our profile grew, and we found that it was actually less expensive to produce our collections sustainably. So it was a win-win-win.”
Mother of Pearl launch sustainable line with BBC Earth


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Apple today announced that it has updated the 12-inch MacBook (more…)
Here’s our quick first impressions with the iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro in Rose Gold.
Uber Canada has launched a campaign to gain public support before city council votes in Ottawa on April 13.
Apple is expected to use a new “fan-out” packaging technology for some components to maximize the amount of room in the iPhone 7.
The teardown has begun by iFixit as they dismantle the iPhone SE.
Don’t watch this if you have a weak stomach.
GE once had a chance to buy Apple for $2 billion.
AlwaysOnline Wireless launches new plans for iPads with Apple SIM.
You knew this test was coming. Here’s how long the iPhone SE lasts underwater.
You can now download Miitomo for iOS in the Canadian App Store.
Skype Bots is a new way to bring expertise, products and services into Skype messaging.
FBI will help prosecutors gain access to an iPhone 6 that might hold evidence in an Arkansas murder trial.
The man is hoping to retrieve the photographs stored on his dead son’s iPhone.


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Confusing and sometimes misleading claims about recycling will get scrutiny in Oregon
Buy a bottle of dish soap, a jug of milk or a takeout container of Chinese food, and you’ll find an embossed triangular symbol of three arrows around a number.
The chasing arrows, a relic of recycling laws passed decades ago, would appear to indicate that an item could be dropped in a curbside recycling bin and be reincarnated instead of spending eternity in a landfill.
But there’s a catch – not all products with chasing arrows can actually be recycled, and recycling standards vary across the state and country. That leaves uncertainty for consumers wanting to be thoughtful.
Over the next several months, a task force appointed by Gov. Kate Brown will study misleading or confusing claims made by manufacturers about recycling and provide recommendations to the Legislature for new laws. The review is part of a larger effort to modernize recycling in the state as laid out in a law passed earlier this year.
“The recycling system was built on policies that were created over 30 years ago, and not written to keep up with the changes in our consumer marketplace,” said Sanne Stienstra, project manager at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. “Our recycling system was built around recycling certain materials like newspapers, and not other things that we deal with and handle today, like packaging and shipping materials.”
The foam polystyrene used in egg cartons, to-go drink cups, packing peanuts and cushioning blocks for shipped appliances, for instance, can be recycled, so those products are marked with the chasing arrows symbol.
However, local governments and recycling providers don’t accept the foam in their curbside recycling programs, because recycling it takes more work than recycling other plastics. Tossing a block of foam into the recycling bin means someone down the line is going to have to fish it out, or could mean an entire load of recyclable materials is rejected and ends up in a landfill.
Manufacturers selling products in Oregon will be required to label them to indicate whether they can be recycled in Oregon, said state Sen. Michael Dembrow, the Portland Democrat who spearheaded the law. Dembrow said that will likely start as a sticker, but may shift to permanent marking as other states follow Oregon’s lead.
Dembrow has long been focused on reducing Oregon’s dependence on plastics. Then, beginning in 2018, China stopped importing the millions of tons of recyclable plastics generated in the U.S. and Europe. Addressing plastic waste became even more pressing.
“I can’t fault the Chinese for doing what they did,” Dembrow said. “They’ve been taking our garbage, frankly, for a long time. It’s not in good shape when it gets to them, and most of it, they have not been able to really sort and recycle, so it was going into their landfills or being burned.”
His measure, which passed both the House and Senate on mostly party-line votes, set up the task force and requires DEQ to establish statewide standards for recycling – so people in Pendleton can recycle the same materials as people in Portland. Brown has yet to appoint the 15-member task force, which is set to begin work in January.
The measure also requires companies that produce things like boxes, shipping envelopes, writing paper and food containers to join a producer responsibility association and follow rules that will be developed by the DEQ over the next few years.
DEQ can already assess fines of up to $25,000 per day for violating Oregon’s existing recycling laws, and that would extend to the new law. The department would use any proceeds from fines for a new grant program that would give local governments and nonprofit organizations money to develop more waste prevention programs.
Most Oregonians won’t see many changes until 2025, Stienstra said.
“If you live in rural Oregon, eastern Oregon, the southern part of the state, you’re more likely to see more changes because the services that are available are going to drastically improve and increase,” she said. “If you live in, say, the Portland metro area, the services that you see are already fairly robust, so you’ll see fewer changes.”
The department will also work with companies to create additional options to recycle materials like foam packaging that couldn’t be dropped in a curbside bin or at a recycling depot, she said. Models for this already exist with items like computers or plastic grocery bags in states that haven’t banned them – you can’t stick a dead computer or a plastic bag in a recycling bin, but some stores and popup sites will recycle them.
During the few years before the new law takes full effect, Dembrow said Oregonians can help the state’s recycling by checking with their local government or garbage service to make sure that they’re only putting truly recyclable items in their blue bins.
“I think people should pay attention to that and try to follow those requirements to the best of their abilities,” he said. “And at the same time, they should be calling on us in the legislature to take steps to really have truth in advertising and make it easier for consumers to know what to do.”
Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Les Zaitz for questions: firstname.lastname@example.org. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter.


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Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:01 by GxMedia
As Guyanese continue to pay more for scarce chicken because of a shortage of hatching eggs, government on Monday announced that 18 import licenses have been granted to increase that meat supply.
The licenses would be valid until January 2014 to bridge the supply gap indentified by the Guyana Poultry Producers Association.
“After careful consultations with the poultry association and the major stakeholders involved in the chicken industry, especially representatives of the farming community, we decided to issue permits for the importation of chicken to almost every person who applied,” the Government Information Agency (GINA) quoted Commerce Minister, Irfan Ali as saying.
He was optimistic that within weeks the situation could correct itself with the demand meeting the supply.
“We are encouraging the large poultry producers, and small farmers, to step up production so we can control the market for the end of the year. Indeed our consumption of chicken has increased tremendously; we need to ensure production continues to increase to meet that level,” said Ali.
The decision to grant the licenses followed the commencement of monitoring of the escalating poultry prices from last month.
The Guyana Poultry Producers Association and the Guyana Livestock Development Authority have concluded that the shortage and spiraling prices for chicken were due to a shortage of hatching eggs. “Both agencies confirmed that the problem was with a shipment of hatching eggs,” Mr. Derrick Cummings, who spoke on behalf of the Ministry, explained.
The permits for the importation of chicken were granted at 100% duty and were given to traditional importers whose applications were pending. Those granted permission will be restricted to one or two containers, to be imported from Suriname and the United States.
Earlier this month, Agriculture Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy said with the granting of licenses for the importation of chicken, the issue of shortage would be greatly eliminated and once chicken prices are stabilized, those licenses would not be renewed.
According to Dr Ramsammy, the government will be taking action now to ensure that consumers do not have issues with high prices during the Christmas season. “We are working to ensure that there isn’t a shortage or significant increase in prices during that time,” he stated.


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The 12th anniversary party for California Carnival Company on July 1st proved to be a trifecta. Reaching the dozen year mark was just one reason to party. The other two reasons were the final payment to Midway of Fun was made, and the launch of a new company, American Doniker, a portable sanitation company.
To say that the 2018 fair season has been one of milestones for Kevin Tate, President of California Carnival Company is an understatement. Reports of many fairs being mired in wet, rainy weekends and attendance doldrums may be widespread in many parts of the country, but this Northern California-based carnival company has seen business up 25 percent so far this year. This uptick was due to a combination of factors – the company added festivals and other dates to their early itinerary – the company’s route now begins in February – and the weather was mainly cooperative. “I think we lost one day to rain,” said Tate. “We had good weekends; the fairs are doing a little better. We booked more spots, more parking lots. Our fair season starts in May and ends Labor Day.”
Spending is up and the economy may be on an upswing in California, but Tate also credits his workforce in creating a fun, 21st century midway. “We are handling the crowd better, we are doing our job as showmen better,” he said.
The company added key equipment upgrades to its 2018 inventory, including a new $100,000 entrance sign, a Funnel Cake stand, and a refurbished Sizzler and Dumbo. Last year the company added a new Wave Swinger. The company has strengthened its marketing efforts with its events and has cultivated a growing following in the region, evidenced by the California Carnival Company’s Facebook page exceeding 13,000 followers.
But Tate would not have even considered more dates and an enhanced midway without attaining H-2B workers. Last year, it was not until August that he was able to get his 15 workers, but this year that number came in at 25 and the workers were onsite at the earliest 2018 California Carnival Company gigs. “If I didn’t get those 25 kids I would have been trouble,” he admits.
Even though he may have dodged a bullet this year, there’s no guarantee the levels of caps will remain for next year. With no legislative fix on the horizon, the ongoing issues with the H-2B worker system worry Tate the most. The caps in place may soon be put to a test, said Tate, citing that crackdowns on illegal immigration may cut into the labor for other industries, who in turn will tap into the H2-B pool of employees. If caps remain unchanged while the competition for visiting foreign workers escalates, the fair industry and carnival companies could face a sudden and steep labor shortage in 2019. “The fair industry is in trouble, he said, “The reason is the instability of the H-2B worker system.”
Tate is convinced that legislators will listen to the fair industry and other proponents and expand the caps or otherwise ensure the system enables the recruitment of stable foreign workers for key industries. With the economy on the upswing, his company alleviating a debt and his once upstart carnival company having a robust year, the ever-entrepreneurial Tate decided to embark on a new business venture –American Donicker. Donicker is a slang term for toilets in the carnival business; this portable sanitation company was born out of Tate basically being fed up with the service and the restroom options that he had been contracting with for his midways. “They all have terrible beat up equipment,” he said.
American Doniker features VIP trailers complete with hot and cold running water and electricity as well as single toilets that instead of dark, plastic version of a phone booth, Tate wraps the interior with colorful landscape graphics as well as amenities, making the call of nature as pleasant for the end user as possible. “I added showmanship to the portable donicker business,” he said. “We made the toilets fun, we made them a marquee product.”
Many economists claim that with the right product, supply can create its own demand. American Donicker services a similar geographical area as the Carnival Company – Northern California, mainly the San Francisco and Sacramento market areas – and “we have had five major events so far, we are also very heavy with industry.”
Tate’s first job in the fair industry was in 1978 with Butler Amusements. By the 21st century, he was unit manager of a Midway of Fun, which he purchased 12 years ago from Sam Johnson, owner of the original company. The company’s celebratory soiree included over-sized checks and other fanfare and was attended by Sam and Gail Johnston as well as various attorneys, bankers and accountants who help make the arrangement equitable and amicable.
In other words, the celebration had the showmanship ethos that California Carnival Company has become known for. Looking back, that showmanship includes friendly staff and clean and professional midways. An early mistake was trying to grow too fast, which meant a paring down of dates until about three years ago, when the company began contracting with more fairs and festivals, a strategy that has reached fruition in the successes of 2018. Controlled growth and reasonable expectations has been the foundation of the company, which Tate operates differently than other companies. “I book more dates, but there are dates you have to say no to, you have to do the research. Our company runs off of a profit and loss statement, not off cash flow. Some companies will play a spot where they lose money but keep up the cash flow. I play a spot to make money, if there’s too much of a risk of a loss and not enough profit, than I don’t book that date.”
Left to right: Mike and Linda Davisson (M&L Concessions), David Garrett (Haas & Wilkerson Insurance), Sam Johnston (former owner of California Carnival Company), Bob Sare (General Manager of California Carnival Co), David Kee (CCC CPA), Jane Tate (California Carnival Co. owner), Vanessa Payne (concession manager), Kevin Tate (California Carnival Co. owner), and Matt Payne (Concession Manager).
Sam & Gail Johnston (left), Jane and Kevin Tate (right)


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There are plenty of reasons why someone might want to spend time on Discogs. The long-running site is both an incredibly detailed source of information on records both lauded and obscure, and it’s also a place where you can easily buy long-out-of-print music if you, like me, are fond of physical media. Discogs has also provided a useful glimpse into what records might be ripe for high-profile reissues; writing about Numero Group’s Duster reissue campaign at The Ringer in 2019, Mark Richardson noted that “Discogs offers a useful snapshot of what’s out there, who has a given release, and who wants it.”
What happens if that balance between community and commerce begins to slip away? That’s the scenario that Natalie Weiner described in a new investigation for The Verge. Weiner points to several changes that Discogs has implemented over the last year, including raising the percentage it takes from sales earlier in 2023. At the same time, the company also began taking a cut of shipping fees; taken together, it’s prompted some buyers and sellers to look to other large-scale marketplaces like eBay and Amazon.
One seller told The Verge that “[t]he sudden fee increase was a huge, huge blow to a lot of people.” It’s worth mentioning here that sellers on Discogs aren’t just record collectors looking to offload parts of their collections; there also also plenty of shops for whom Discogs sales are a substantial part of their business.
Is the Vinyl Boom Actually Hurting Independent Music?Supply chain issues are still plaguing indie labels, artists and record stores, but are huge pressings by pop stars like Adele and Taylor Swift to blame?
Weiner also observed that Discogs hasn’t helped things by being more communicative; she details a request for comment that took the company almost a month to respond to. It’s been a challenging time for online music communities — see also, the issues raised by Epic Games’ sale of Bandcamp. Given the breadth of music covered by Discogs and the number of sellers using the platform, it isn’t hard to see why so many people are upset with the company.
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At the Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, NY, print textbooks are a thing of the past. For the 2013-2014, school year, the school has converted its curriculum to digital textbooks stored on an Internet cloud. So far, according to Lisa Alfasi of Pearson Education, Stepinac is the only high school in the country to abandon print textbooks entirely.
Digital textbooks are certainly a growing trend in the education sector, and not just in private educational institutions. By 2017, all North Carolina public schools will receive funding for exclusively digital textbooks. While moving to a digital library has its perks, the question remains how every single student will gain access to a computer, either provided by the school or a “bring-your-own” policy.
But after high school, according to the 2013 College Board Trends in College Pricing Report, students budgeted approximately $1,200 for textbooks and supplies for the 2013-2014 academic year. Student debt is an enormous obstacle for many recent graduates (read this excellent NY Times feature for an in-depth look at this issue), and the cost of textbooks often is not even included in tuition and fees that can near $60,000 per year for private universities alone.
In college, due to rising prices of hard-copy college textbooks, both online resources and textbook rentals are increasing in popularity. According to this USA Today article, some students avoid purchasing textbooks altogether in an effort to defray already astronomical education costs and student loans. In the future, it seems that textbook companies will have to develop cost-effective interactive and online versions of their books.
From this report, we can see that in the US, printed college textbook prices have risen at a rate of 82% from 2002-2012, and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) — which measures change over time in prices for bundles of consumer goods — has risen at a comparably much slower rate, 28%.
What does this mean? The cost of print textbooks is rising at a significantly faster rate than consumer goods at large. Therefore, proportionally, textbooks are becoming more expensive more quickly when compared to other goods considered in the CPI, which include eight major groups: food and beverages, housing, apparel, transportation, medical care, education and communication, and other goods and services. At the start of the 2013-2014 academic year, Bloomberg news addressed this textbook inflation as an “untenable trajectory,” according to Watson Scott Swail, president and CEO of the Educational Policy Institute.
To improve learning experiences, like at Stepinac High School, and offer a lower-cost alternative to print, publishing companies like Pearson Education are exploring options to capitalize on 3D digital technology for interactive textbooks. For example, Pearson’s Prentice Hall “United States History” digital text for iPad costs just $14.99 on Apple iBooks…
…But some would say that digital textbooks cannot replace the attractiveness of a hard copy textbook, at least in early childhood education.
Let’s return to the Stepinac model for a moment. With technology on the rise in classrooms, students unarguably have greater access to educational materials and resources. But what’s the solution for K-12 public schools, where funding usually does not cover procurement of technology for individual students (a problem case in point for the North Carolina plan to “go digital” by 2017)? And what about private and public universities, which generally provide neither print/digital textbooks nor computers for their students? The cost of learning remains a challenge, despite the benefits of a growing trend in digital textbooks in K-12 and university learning environments.
On a lighter note, thanks to Cagle Cartoons for this one.
In your opinion…
Do you think digital textbooks should replace all, some, or no print media in K-12 and higher education classrooms?
Check back tomorrow for how SMARTdesks suggests “going digital” in the classroom!


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Mark Carrel - stock.adobe.com
Compared to many other industries, IT is very young. Barely a teenager in fact. That sense of youthfulness is compounded by the near-constant changes and innovations that appear with increasing frequency. Nevertheless, there’s no getting away from the fact that it’s now well over 40 years since the first PC was released. Which means that however young IT seems as an industry, it’s old enough for people to have started a career in it and to have worked in technology through to retirement.
Good luck to them. The big question is whether people starting work in IT now, or even those in their 30s, 40s and 50s, will be as fortunate. Not everyone is optimistic. A recent UK survey by Aldermore found 76% of bosses in technology SMEs were planning to work past retirement (and more than a third expected to work well into their seventies). Up to 12% believed they would never be able to retire and only 16% expected they would be able to sell their business to finance their retirement.
So, according to the survey, one in eight SME technology bosses expect to work until they die. We’ve all heard about dying with your boots on but this is more like dying while your reboot’s on.
On the surface, one of the biggest difficulties with IT businesses concerns how you value them when what they do is constantly changing. The emergence of cloud and as-a-service, for example, is going to change how IT companies are valued. It also makes them potentially more vulnerable to competition from new small entrants as well as bigger, more established companies. Given this seemingly perilous state of affairs, what can SME technology owners do to ensure they can retire if they want to?
Tom Wells, partner at Arma Partners, says the value of IT services businesses can be higher if there’s a technology foundation to the business. If it’s enabled by software, the technology foundation is “pretty self-evident, there’s some form of code or innovation which has been created to deliver the services”. Other questions are whether the innovation is defensible against competitors: “Is it unique, patented, can it scale?”
But he adds that “the underlying software or technology is not necessarily the only important value driver”. In B2B, contractually recurring revenue can be a significant source of value. It’s about the development of the customer base, “who are they, how many do you have, how much money do you make from them?” Wells points out that “building a long term sustainable customer base is a significant source of value”.
And while pure cloud is grabbing the headlines, that doesn’t mean more traditional businesses can’t transition to cloud. “If you provide a service and you helped people build legacy infrastructure in the old world and you’re well known and trusted, the value of that trust has not gone away in the new world,” Wells argues. “For people to shift to a nameless, faceless, global cloud provider, there has to be a pretty good reason. It’s either a better product, it’s cheaper or (more unlikely) it’s able to support the customer in a better, more comprehensive fashion.”
Ross Fabian, partner at chartered accountants, HW Fisher & Company, says there is a great divide in the tech world between developers of a new piece of tech who are “very focused on selling their business – their exit is their payday after all” and IT channel entrepreneurs, where the situation is “less clear cut”.
The main reason for this difference, he notes, is value. “An original, proprietary piece of tech has the potential to generate recurring revenue – and thus an obvious value to its owner. But for IT service, maintenance or consultancy companies, it is harder to build sufficient intrinsic value in the business to attract would-be buyers.”
So what should you do if you’re the boss of an IT service, maintenance or consultancy company? “If you’re in this position, the key is to add value – and longevity – to clients,” Fabian argues. “In crude terms, the better the clients, the longer the client list, the ‘stickier’ the clients are, the more attractive – and valuable – the company will be. This is why recurring revenue and subscription models often result in higher valuations.”
He agrees that “the advent of SaaS has commoditised many core IT reseller and support services, but SMEs that have their own software are less vulnerable to this threat. Anything which secures user acceptance – and then user reliance – is vital in terms of client retention and value creation”.
One of the big difficulties with smaller businesses is that their identity can often be completely intertwined with their owner. Frequently, these types of businesses will be dominated by the owner of the company. In some cases, potentially worthy successors may have left or felt forced out because they saw little prospect of advancement at an organisation where the owner had too tight a grip on the reins.
Owners may not be unaware of their overwhelming control of their organisations and they may not understand that their unwillingness to allow others to take on responsibility can be injurious to their companies in the long-term. In some smaller businesses, the owner and his or her relationship with the customer may be the only value they have. And they may be reluctant to allow others within the company to become engaged in that relationship.
In this context, Fabian says it’s important to understand that the value of a business “should reside in the company, rather than just its owner”. It’s all well and good having an inspirational leader, “but if the owner is the business, prospective buyers will worry that a change at the top could kill client loyalty. Such a risk will either drive down the valuation or put off buyers altogether”, he warns.
Potential buyers are not going to be attracted by the notion of paying money for access to customers whose relationship is with an individual about to leave the organisation they are buying. And you can see why. The customer relationship has to be with the company for the value to reside in the business when it has been acquired.
It’s like a soccer team. When someone buys a club, they’re buying everything that comes with it and that includes the players and the loyalty of fans that go to watch the games. What no one wants is to take over a football club only to find out that after the star player retires, he was the only reason most of the fans were going to the games.


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Adweek's annual #Brandweek summit will explore the ideas behind breakthrough successes, discuss solutions to pressing challenges and explore new opportunities in the Metaverse. Join leaders from Alo Yoga, Hyundai Motor America, Frito-Lay and more, Sept. 12–16 in Miami. Sign up early to save.
While Olympians regularly endorse everything from sneakers to credit cards, Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter places a blackout period immediately before and during the games when competing athletes can’t appear in ads. Samsung is getting around that restriction ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing with a spot from Leo Burnett that casts actors as athletes.


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Dr Joseph Atick, a pioneer in biometrics, who co-founded early facial recognition companies such as Visionics, now fears that large companies could use new versions of his technologies for electronic surveillance,- and warned of “unexpected consequences” unless the industry changed its habits.
Smartphones such as iPhone 5S rely on buttons to scan fingerprints – but the CEO of biometrics firm CrucialTec says that smartphones with a new hi-tech bezel-free screen which scans fingerprints will go on sale this summer.
Greetings Dear Reader, We have published guidance material previously on passwords and passphrases, some are blogs and some are lengthier depending on your liking (link & link). Even still it is always good practice to reinforce sensible password techniques. For this blog, I plan on sharing an analogous self-ritual, and one that relies on a


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Malware on the Mac: is it mostly hype or a real problem faced by real people? If you ask John Gruber, the answer might be the former—there are lots of proof-of-concept scenarios and virtually none that manifest themselves beyond a slow news day. If you ask Ed Bott, however, the answer would be the latter—he recently interviewed an AppleCare employee who claimed that the recent release of fake antivirus app “MAC Defender” has caused a spike in malware reports among Mac users.
The truth is hard to tease out. Partly because Mac OS X still makes up a comparatively small percentage of the global OS market share, and partly because Apple itself is a secretive company, it’s not easy to find out whether malware on the Mac is indeed becoming more common, or it’s simply being reported on more often.
Still, we tried to do exactly that. Ars spoke with 14 different Mac support specialists—including several Apple Store Geniuses—in order to get a handle on whether things have changed when it comes to dealing with malware. Their experiences are all over the map, but the general consensus does seem to lean towards a low amount of malware problems—until you get to the Geniuses.
Not an epidemic?
Many third-party Mac support specialists told us that they had not seen a noticeable spike in malware issues on the Mac recently.
“The majority of Mac users I support are somewhat technical, but even the ones that aren’t have been trained (by me) to be paranoid and come running to me if they’re not sure about something,” longtime Ars forum member Comp Guru, also known as Sean Murphy, told Ars. “MAC Defender is just like ‘Security Center 2011’ that plagues the Windows 7 users in my office, and a few have actually installed it. One came very close to paying the $85 to make the ‘infections’ and ‘drive errors’ go away. Luckily she came to me first and I removed it with Malwarebytes. On the Mac side I’m glad it’s an easy-to-remove application if someone does happen to install it.”
Source: Read more at Arstechnica


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Mac users who upgraded to Snow Leopard on Friday began reporting problems with Hewlett-Packard (HP) printers within hours of Apple launching the upgrade, according to t...
Hewlett-Packard reported a 2 percent drop in revenue for the July quarter, which was better than expected, and said its business is stabilizing.
HP today announced a partnership with retail chain Kmart which would see the printer manufacturer roll out its Retail Publishing Solutions across 184 stores nationwide. The roll-out is expected to be completed over the course of a few months.
Vendors have been moving to liquid cooling on servers to reduce heat in data centers, but Hewlett-Packard Co. said today that it is expanding use of liquid cooling on its workstations to tackle another problem: whiney and irritating fans.
HP today announced the expansion of its "HP Planet Partners Program" to consumer and small business customers. Previously available only to its direct enterprise customers, the recycling program will allow consumers and small to medium businesses to ...
IBM and HP are trying to lure server and storage customers away from Sun Microsystems by exploiting uncertainty caused by Oracle's pending acquisition of the company.
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HP has agreed to purchase a storage company called Ibrix that builds file serving software for extreme cloud and high-performance storage computing environments.
Contract manufacturer Flextronics opened a research and design center for laptop computers in Taiwan, aiming to tap into the island's pool of engineering talent.
Dell and Hewlett-Packard (HP) were criticized by Greenpeace for not implementing their product recycling services properly in India.
Greenpeace International on Wednesday criticized some major PC makers for backtracking on commitments to reduce hazardous substances in hardware.
Hewlett-Packard is offering six-core processors in a new workstation series, the company said Wednesday.
Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7, will cost between $199 and $469 for upgrade and full versions when it launches in Australia on October 22 this year. The software company will offer six retail versions of the Windows Vista successor, with...
"Cloud" has proliferated as the term for Internet-based computing resources because "everyone can draw one," according to Russ Daniels, the cloud services CTO at Hewlett-Packard, who just added CTO responsibilities at the company's Electronic Data Sy...
The world's two most powerful computers have not been surpassed in 2009, but the latest edition of the Top 500 supercomputer list shows a new entry in third place and continued dominance from the likes of IBM, Cray, HP and Intel.
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First impression on unpacking the Q702 test unit was the solid feel and clean, minimalist styling.
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The Lamborghini Veneno has been delivered by the Italian automaker as a very special edition model, of which just three were offered to the wide audience.
Now there are honest people out there trying to make an honest living by selling their hard earned Veneno for an honest buck – yeah, we’re kidding. Anyways, the speculator has been kneecapped by a second Veneno seller who decided to be less greedy. Supposedly Lamborghini has sold the only three public copies of its halo car to die-hard Raging Bull aficionados with a great Lamborghini buying history – but two of the units are already on sale as prized used cars. The shenanigans started earlier this month when a Veneno selling add made us go bezerk – it was listed at a mind boggling 9.98 million euros ($11.15 million) and was apparently sourced from Japan. And the uber-exclusive ride has so far only clocked on the odometer 840 km (522 miles).
Now there’s a second Veneno listing which is this time around the sensible version – it comes with red accents as opposed to white for the first one and the asking price is of 7.1 million euros ($7.93 million). It’s an even sweeter deal since the odometer only reads 100 km (62 miles). Additionally, it it’s of any consequence in a three unit deal that’s also the first model produced. The Veneno has been rumored to have been sold for about $4 million and made its official public world premiere during the 2013 Geneva motor Show.


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Rebranding is a tricky business for any company, and yet in many cases change is inevitable if brands want to grow.
But when a re-branding goes wrong, it can go very wrong.
Kraft Foods, for instance. Its decision to re-name its international division Mondelez has been met with criticism and even some scandal. Apparently, the name sounds like the Russian word for oral sex.
While Kraft doesn't seem ready to back down on the name yet – it already bought the stock symbol MDLZ – there are plenty of other companies that have come to regret their adventures in re-branding.
Nissan revives its original brand, Datsun, in new markets.
While the Nissan Motor Company has used that name since the 1930s, it wasn't until 1981 that it called all of the cars it produced Nissan. Until then, its line of cars was called Datsun.
Nissan announced this week that it is bringing back the Datsun brand in developing markets like India, Indonesia, and Russia. Corporate Vice President Vincent Cobee told BusinessWeek that the new Datsun are entry-level cars aimed at "up and coming" people who are "optimistic about the future."
Tropicana tries to streamline its packaging, but ultimately brings back the orange.
When PepsiCo decided to overhaul the Tropicana brand it underestimated how attached consumers were to the design and that orange with a straw in it. When the new cartons his shelves in January 2009, consumers were up in arms.
The New York Times reports that "[s]ome of those commenting described the new packaging as 'ugly' or 'stupid,' and resembling 'a generic bargain brand' or a 'store brand."
After a month of complaints and a 20 percent drop in sales, PepsiCo announced that it would bring the old carton back.
New isn't always better when it comes to Coca-Cola.
In what is commonly referred to as the "marketing blunder of the century" (the 20th century, that is), Coca-Cola tried to replace Coca-Cola Classic with a New Coke in April of 1985. At the time, Coke had been hurt by the Pepsi Challenge and thought it would be smart to reformulate for better taste. They thought wrong. Consumers went crazy.
Phil Mooney, archivist for the Coca Cola Company, says that there were protests led by the Society for the Preservation of the Real Thing and Old Cola Drinkers of America. One man in San Antonio even drove to a local bottler and bought $1,000 worth of Coca-Cola Classic to stockpile.
The Company returned to their classic formula, and original branding, in July 1985.
Radio Shack tries to be relevant as "The Shack."
In 2009, Radio Shack launched a massive advertising campaign in which it re-branded itself as "The Shack" in a sad attempt to seem hip.
"Why would anyone throw away decades of brand value (which actually shows up on the balance sheet as an intangible asset) just to try to be cool for a few minutes?" Rob Frankel of Method Inc. asked.
Radio Shack was especially criticized once it came out that nothing else – not the company's actual offerings or internal brand identity – would be changing.
British Airways ditches the Union flag, then brings it back.
In 1997, British Airways embarked on a rebranding of its entire fleet of planes, replacing the trademark Union flag on the tail fin with designs created by artists from all over the world.
Then chief executive, Bob Ayling, said at the time: "Perhaps we need to lose some of our old-fashioned Britishness and take on board some of the new British traits."
After many complaints from passengers and crew, the airline stopped painting the planes in 1999. And in 2001, shortly after Ayling was replaced by Rod Eddington, all of the tail fins were once again painted with the flag.
In complete opposition to Ayling, a spokesperson at the time of the change told the BBC that the Union flag "reinforces a core goal of Britishness in a more modern and less formal way."
Gap's new logo outrages the public.
When Gap tried to refresh its logo in October of 2010, it was met with a backlash so extreme that it returned to its original logo in just one week.
And who could blame Gap, with the kind abuse it was being dished. Here's a sampling:
- A mock Twitter account was set up for the new Gap Logo where it mocks the company. "This is what happens when you take a company field trip to a screening of Helvetica. Damn you Gary Hustwit!"
- A website called "Crap Logo Yourself" let users make their own Gap inspired logos.
- Tom Scocca of Slate said: “It looks like the emblem of some failed low-fare spinoff of a major airline.”
- And AdAge wrote that critics' "most common sentiment [was] that it looks like something a child created using a clip-art gallery."
Vegemite chooses an irrelevant name and feels the backlash.
When Kraft wanted to re-brand Vegemite in 2009, it held a contest to let consumers suggest and choose the new name. While it would seem that this strategy would mitigate any public outrage, it doesn't when you agree to rename the product iSnack 2.0.
As Nick Foley, managing director of the branding agency Landor Associates, told The Age, "They are taking the 'i' that is associated with the iPod and 2.0, which is a term for the web. So what does any of that have to do with a food product?''
It was Australia's version of the New Coke debacle, and Kraft switched the name back to Vegemite within 5 days.
What is O.co?
In a daring move, Overstock.com attempted to change its name to O.co in 2011. Rushing full speed ahead with the change, the company plastered the new moniker on its TV ad, website, and the Oakland Coliseum (which it sponsors).
The problem was that people were really confused by the change. Jonathan Johnson, Overstock's president, told AdAge that 'a good portion' of customers went to O.com where there is nothing, instead of O.co.
While the company has not retired the name O.co (it still adorns the Oakland Coliseum and is used internationally), it decided a few months later that it should be using Overstock.com in all advertising until the public is ready.
Sun Chips attempts to do the right thing and makes consumers deaf.
In 2010, Frito Lay launched new packaging for Sun Chips that was 100% compostable in an attempt to demonstrate the brand's "greenness."
Trouble is, the unusual molecular structure of the bag that made it more rigid also made it extraordinarily loud. USA Today noted that it people were comparing to everything from "lawnmowers to jet engines."
It was so loud that people actually stopped buying it; sales declined 11 percent in the year the bag was on the market. A year and a half later, Frito Lay pulled the it from the shelf and went back to the lab to build a better compostable bag.
Netflix makes another bad move with Qwikster.
In late 2011, after the debacle with price increases, Netflix made another misstep when it proposed separating its DVD-by-mail service from its streaming service. The name for the new DVD-by-mail service, Qwikster.
Many customers left. One unhappy member said, "With actions like this, it is only a matter of time before you become the next MySpace."
The company abandoned its plans for the separate service just a month later.