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Fed up of blatant copying, fashion houses have started to register their work under IPR, some have begun to copyright their entire ensemble
08 Mar 2020 8:17 AM
Ramkali sells the shop and so she can get rid of the relatives that have landed there.
20 Sep 2018 1:00 AM
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted about the scheme and said that it would help the women and girls to maintain personal hygiene.
31 Jan 2018 5:55 AM


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The Southeast Asian edition of transport logistic and air cargo will take place in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore on September 13-15 2023. MMI Asia, the regional subsidiary of Messe Muenchen (MMG), announced the dates together with key industry stakeholders Changi Airport Group, SATS Ltd and DHL Express.
This edition is the latest in the leading series of transport logistic and air cargo shows which include, India, China, Turkey, the United States and the world’s largest logistics event and parent show in Munich. transport logistic and air cargo is a timely entry into the region as the transportation, logistics, and air cargo sectors faced the advent of new technologies, business models, markets and competitions.
The event will address challenges that the eco-system is facing and bring together solutions for companies to evolve and meet changing customer expectations. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and MMI Asia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 15 November 2021, to organise the Southeast Asian edition of transport logistic and air cargo for multiple biennial editions in Singapore, starting from 2023.
This partnership includes the development of new content, programme and exhibition components for the trade show, marketing and publicity efforts, and areas of collaboration in industry knowledge exchange.
A disrupted world
MMI Asia’s director and general manager, Michael Wilton said: “In a disrupted world, the logistics industry has had to adapt, change and remain flexible in order to meet the extraordinary demands the global economies have placed on their sector. The event will enable the very best minds to meet, network and ensure they remain up to date with the latest trends and best practices in the industry. For shippers looking to address and solve the demands that have been forced on their distribution and logistics networks, the event will provide unparalleled access to the very best solutions and services available in the global market.”
Wilton continued: “The transport logistic and air cargo event is poised to be the meeting place for professionals in these sectors. Visitors will meet, learn, discover and experience the very best cutting-edge technologies, services, and best practices in the industry. This is in addition to staying ahead of industry trends via top level conferences, seminars and educational sessions. Those attending will be equipped to help their organisations meet the challenges in the years ahead.”
The event will feature a high-level conference that will focus on specific subjects and issues facing the logistics ecosystem. Under a central theme of “Integrated Logistics for a Disrupted World”, the conference and educational sessions will address challenges and offer solutions for companies looking to thrive in this sector.
Lim Ching Kiat, managing director, air hub development of Changi Airport Group commented: “Air cargo plays a key role in global trade and supply chains – its significance is further highlighted during the pandemic with the delivery of essential goods and medical supplies. Looking ahead, Southeast Asia’s share in global air trades is expected to increase, and global cargo hubs like Changi play a key role in supporting this growth. It is therefore very timely that the transport logistic and air cargo Exhibition and Conference launches an edition in this region. As a key air cargo and MICE hub in the region, we are excited to have the event anchored here in Singapore and we look forward to its successful launch.”
Julia Kwan, MMI Asia’s Group Project Director said: “The event will address the key pain points of the industry. The educational content will be vast, interactive and specifically, target the most pressing issues facing the industry. transport logistic and air cargo is trusted globally and we are committed to work with industry leaders in the region to ensure the event addresses the needs of the sector.”
MMI Asia is also working in partnership with STB to ensure the event maximises the advantages of Singapore’s logistics and event infrastructure.
Poh Chi Chuan, executive director, exhibitions and conferences, Singapore Tourism Board commented: “We are delighted that Singapore has been chosen to host the inaugural transport logistic and air cargo, and we look forward to working closely with MMI Asia for a successful launch in 2023. The addition of this marquee event will strengthen Singapore and the region’s attractiveness as a premier logistics and air cargo hub. Its launch in Singapore is also testament to our continued status as a leading destination for global business events.”

domain: news


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This article is more than 1 year old
HPE to staff: 'We are permanently clipping your costs'
'Tightened' travel, meals, catering policies the new norm
A six-month squeeze on staff travel expenses and meal allowances are among the measures Hewlett Packard Enterprise is using to lop up to $300m off its operating costs.
Nick Gunn, senior veep of global corporate services, said in an internal memo that HPE needed to "drive efficiencies" in spending and was immediately "implementing a number of company-wide actions" to do this.
"We are permanently tightening and enforcing our travel and meetings policies. Please familiarise yourself with the policy requirements, including changes to travel approvals, meals and catering," he said.
A shiny new "travel pre-approval process and tool" has been launched, Gunn said, and he warned that "only critical non-customers related travel" will be approved by Line 2 managers for domestic trips, and by Line 1 bosses for international visits.
"As a company, we continually look at ways to drive efficiencies in our spend and our investments. Each of us needs to play a role by spending HPE's money like it's our own," he said.
Things aren't quite going to plan for the shape-shifting HPE, which has already split from the divisions that sold computers, printing, and outsourcing services, and is about to offload the software business.
In recently released first-half numbers for HPE's fiscal 2017 ended 30 April, like-for-like sales declined 11.7 cent year-on-year to $15bn and operating profit was down 18.9 per cent to $1.76bn.
Product margins reduced due to rising component prices, stiff competition, and stranded overheads from the sale of Enterprise Services, the company said. As a result, HPE said it wanted to cut between $200m to $300m by the end of this financial year at the close of October.
Tim Stonesifer, CFO at HPE, said on a conference call that "roughly half" of the cost savings will come from "discretionary type stuff like policies, like travel and then the other hand is labour related".
In the headcount reduction, "half of that is really around lowering our rehire rates, taking a look at contractors... then there's the remaining 25 per cent that would be more structural and that's why we are evaluating the restructuring that we have in 2018 employing forward."
HPE is just one of a long list of born-in-the-20th-century tech businesses that have been screwed by the cloud, and it isn't alone in clipping expenses from the general workforce: IBM and DXC Technology, for example, have pulled the same strings this year. ®


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After the return of an in-person InfoComm last month, the AV industry is now turning its attention to ISE 2022, set for the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via on Feb. 1-4.
Like InfoComm a few weeks ago, this is the first full in-person version of the show widely regarded as the largest pro AV event in the world since the beginning of the COIVD-19 pandemic.
According to ISE, there are more than 700 exhibitors already committed, including brand names Barco, Crestron, KNX, Kramer, LG, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony some of which pulled out of InfoComm in the weeks leading up to the show.
Like InfoComm and other large trade shows held since the pandemic, health and safety will be a priority for all, with ISE pledging to constantly review health and safety protocols and work with the venue local health authorities.
Those safeguards include the requirement that attendees show proof of vaccination, proof of recovery, or a negative test to access the venue.
In the announcement, ISE says other “potential measures” could include face masks, social distancing and enhanced sanitation throughout the venue.
Mike Blackman, ISE’s managing director, says in a statement that it is encouraging to see trade shows return to in-person events.
“We are delighted that we already have 700+ exhibitors confirming their presence at ISE 2022 and we expect more to confirm in the coming days,” he says. “With a vibrant thought leadership content program and inspiring show floor, we are very much looking forward to getting back to business in Barcelona in February next year.”
If the show is in fact held as scheduled, it will be the first full-fledged ISE held in two years, and the first full version of the show held at its new home in Barcelona after being held in Amsterdam for 15 years.
ISE, historically held at the beginning of February, was postponed this year to June 2021 and split into four regional events with virtual offerings in Europe, but two of those events in Munich and Amsterdam were cancelled due to the pandemic. A smaller regional event was held in Barcelona, and another in London that month.
ISE 2022 Includes New Floor Layout
According to the statement, ISE 2022 will take advantage of the large, modern venue that is the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via with what ISE calls six new “technology zones” that group together exhibitors in major technology areas, making it easier for visitors to plan their visit and compare the variety of solutions they need for integration projects.
The six zones are:
- Unified Comms and Education Technology (Hall 2)
- Residential and Smart Building (Hall 2)
- Multi-Technology Zone (Halls 3 and 5)
- Audio (Hall 7)
- Lighting and Staging (Hall 7)
In an announcement, ISE highlighted pro AV giant Crestron which has exhibited at every ISE show since its inception in 2004 as a key booth to visit in the Multi-Technology Zone.
Crestron’s vice president of marketing Brad Hintze mentions in a statement that ISE remains a vital part of the pro AV community.
“We are eagerly anticipating this year’s show as a platform to showcase the many award-winning and category-defining solutions that have been released since the last time we were all together in person, he says. “Crestron is deeply committed to dealer success, and we look forward to the conversations and the opportunity to develop new business at ISE 2022.”
Elsewhere, the show floor has been redesigned, including a new Discovery Zone that highlights 40 vendors exhibiting at ISE for the first time.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication Commercial Integrator‘s website.


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“We are not in it to be in breakfast; we are in it to win at breakfast,” said David Novak, chairman and CEO of parent company Yum! Brands Inc., during an April 23 call with financial analysts. “And we have great products today that have gotten us into the game. We have a lot more products that we can go to when we want to.”
Launched March 27, the national breakfast platform is off to a great start, with “tremendous buzz around our advertising and products,” the company said. Yum!’s marketing strategy has included an aggressive campaign against McDonald’s Corp., with a series of ads featuring real-life Ronald McDonalds endorsing Taco Bell’s morning menu.
The advertising campaign is part of efforts to build awareness of the new a.m. offerings. Yum! said many customers in test markets didn’t know about the breakfast platform offered locally until the national ads surfaced. Generating trial of the products may be the biggest challenge.
“I think what we learned the last couple years is we can get a profitable proposition, but it’s really going to be challenging to break through the clutter and get people to be aware of your breakfast offerings and get them to try,” he said. “And I think the good news is… we’ve learned this from test markets and also with the launch: People love our product.”
He described the A.M. Crunch Wrap, which includes scrambled eggs, cheese, a hash brown and creamy jalapeño sauce with the choice of sausage, bacon or steak, wrapped in a flour tortilla and grilled flat, as “the most portable breakfast product in the category.”
“And it’s been tested up against a like product with competition, and we win with better value,” Novak said.
The Waffle Taco, which contains scrambled eggs, melted cheese and a sausage patty or bacon packed in a folded taco with a side of syrup, is “a novelty product in a sense that it’s so interesting,” he added.
Items also include A.M. grilled tacos, a sausage flatbread melt, and breakfast burritos. Cinnabon Delights, which are bite-size, frosting-filled pastries dusted with cinnamon sugar, round out the selections.
A two-year test in select markets taught Taco Bell that a strong coffee platform is a must for the morning meal.
“We have great coffee with flavored options, which people really like, and we think that segment will grow over time,” he said.
Part of the beauty of breakfast for Taco Bell is minimal investment. The company said the program was launched without significant capital expenditures.
“We want to emphasize that we know this is not a lay down,” Novak said.
Based on tests and early results of the launch, Yum! is targeting mid- to high-single digit mix for the day part.
“So, early days, I don’t want to get too excited about it because we know the challenge is immense,” Novak said. “But I’ve always said that if we can be successful at breakfast, and we fully intend to be, there’s no reason in the world why Taco Bell can’t go from 5,000 stores to 8,000 stores in the United States. So, our goal is to add that $100,000-plus concept layer that really takes an already high-returning business to a whole different level, and we get much more rapid new unit development.”
Other initiatives planned for Taco Bell include a mobile ordering program and “significant innovation” for the core business, with a major product launch planned for the second half.
“Our ongoing product innovation is backed by solid operations in strong unit economics, which allows us to open at least 100 net new units this year on top of 78 net new units we opened in 2013,” Novak said.


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FACT CHECK: Trump Pushes Tax Break To Boost Restaurants, But Would It Actually Help?
President Trump wants to bring back the tax write-off for business meals and entertainment, but critics say reviving what is known as the "three-martini lunch" tax break is not the answer to the problem that restaurants face right now.
Trump is pushing Congress to restore the measure that gave corporations a tax break for the cost of food and entertainment for clients and potential customers. He says it will give restaurants a leg up when they reopen after the social distancing guidelines for the coronavirus are lifted.
"This is a great time to bring it back," Trump said Wednesday. "It'll keep our restaurants going. In fact, I think the restaurant business will be actually bigger and better than it is right now."
But, while Trump has seized on the idea, it does not seem to be on the top of the policy wish list for the restaurant industry at the moment. Tax experts also say there were legitimate reasons for reining in the deduction.
Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, says the measure was derisively known as the "three-martini lunch" tax break.
"It was subject to tremendous abuse," Gleckman said. "What would happen is business owners would take their spouse to dinner and write it off or go on a trip and write it off."
It also mainly benefited more high-end restaurants and restaurants located in hotels.
He said the subsidy is not going to help restaurants in the short term.
"There's nothing that can be done that's going to get people back into restaurants until we address the pandemic," Gleckman said. "Even after the pandemic has passed, there's no evidence that additional tax subsidies are going to improve the economics of the restaurant business."
It was actually Trump's signature tax cut law in 2017 that completely eliminated the tax deduction for entertaining clients, which Trump is now talking about reinstating.
The tax law kept in place a provision that allows companies to deduct 50% of business meals, as long as they aren't "lavish or extravagant."
Decades ago, companies were able to deduct 100% of such meals, but Congress began to chip away at that tax break in the '80s and it dropped to 50% in the '90s.
The White House declined to comment on Trump's push, and the president hasn't offered much in the way of details.
But Trump said on Sunday that he wants to restore the deduction "so that corporations can send people to restaurants and take a deduction on it like they did in the old days."
In a letter to the White House and Congress last month, the National Restaurant Association proposed a number of steps to provide restaurants with relief. The business meal tax deduction was not one of them.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Stripe is having a moment.
Almost as soon as Apple announced its new pay-by-iPhone service, the online payments startup released its specs for supporting Apple Pay—a clear sign the world's most valuable company had brought Stripe into its inner circle. Facebook's new "Buy" button is powered by Stripe's code. And so is Twitter's.
For a while now, Silicon Valley has been in love with Stripe's promise—believing its coding tools can help bootstrap a world where we can so easily pay for stuff through most any app or web service—and these high-profile partnerships from the likes of Apple and Facebook are a sign that the company's promise is being realized. Now, Stripe and its investors hope to build on that momentum by creating a $10 million fund that will help others create new tools that any business can use in tandem with what Stripe already offers.
Following the examples of Apple, Facebook, and Twitter—among others—the new fund is an effort to extend Stripe from product into platform—to embed its tools more deeply into the internet's commercial infrastructure. And anyone can become a part of this effort with little more than a killer email.
To be clear, Stripe already is a platform, in the sense that developers use its software code and application programming interfaces, or APIs, to integrate payments into their own commerce sites and apps. For example, Stripe handles payments for ride-sharing service Lyft and grocery delivery startup Instacart. But the Stripe Platform Fund—created with money provided by venture capital firm General Catalyst—aims to do something different. It will dole out financing in $250,000 to $500,000 chunks so that independent outfits can create all sorts of new tools for Stripe users.
The first $500,000 infusion will go to Baremetrics, a company that lets cloud software businesses track their overall financials and measure the value of every customer by analyzing Stripe payments data. And now others can apply to join Baremetrics in the program.
In keeping with Stripe's minimalist philosophy, the application process for Stripe funding appears plain and simple. The company says applicants must submit a one-page email summarizing the tool they're building, along with links to the Github and LinkedIn profiles of the developers, and a link to the tool itself. The funding process, Stripe says, will transpire via startup accelerator Y Combinator's open-source financing documents.
Next-big-thing aspirants could be forgiven for thinking the idea of leaping into payments tech sounds dry compared to, say, building a billion-dollar messaging app or a virtual reality headset. But what's not so dull is this number: $1 trillion. That's how much money research firm IDC estimates mobile users will spend by 2017, and no single service is capturing more than a fraction of the money moving now. Last year, for example, online payments granddaddy PayPal processed $27 billion in mobile payments, out of the $235 billion that moved in 2013, according to Gartner estimates.
Despite the magnitude of those figures, only a small percentage of global commerce takes place via the internet. Stripe's founders, brothers Patrick and John Collison, are betting that in the coming years, that percentage will rise. It's a tough proposition to argue against, and Stripe has positioned itself in a sweet spot to ride that growth. Apple, Facebook, and Twitter aren't bad companions to have along for the trip, and $10 million says a few canny coders will at least get a seat in business class to see how high this rocket flies.


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Demand for IEBS Online Masters Rises 80% Due to Pandemic
IEBS, the leading digital business school for online training, has issued a new appeal, nearly doubling the number of students enrolled, clearly showing the consolidation of e-learning in the market due to the pandemic. Specifically, the business school registered up to 80% more enrollments than last year.
The collateral damage from the coronavirus, which prevents face-to-face classes from continuing, has led many students and professionals who previously did not consider online training to now view it as the best solution to their needs. In addition, the quarantine experience prompted those most used to the traditional model to lose their fear and choose this type of training.
All of these circumstances are reflected in the overall number of registrations completed for the 20-21 academic year, which increased by almost 80%. In Spain, this increase was 72%, while at the international level, the countries with the highest increase in the number of registrations were Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay and Chile with a growth of more by 100%, followed by Mexico with 87% and Argentina with 71%.
The diplomas that have experienced the strongest growth are those that have to do with the current situation and new digital professions. To be the most requested data scientist, the agile coach, the digital project manager, digital marketing and digital transformation of organizations, which in some cases have tripled the number of registrations.
According to Oscar Fuente, founder of IEBS, “Teleworking and the increase in digital habits have made many students and professionals trust the online formula. Despite the increasing supply of online masters in the market, students were able to differentiate between methodologies designed to be taken online and telepresence methodologies. The benefits offered by a degree specially created to be done online are notorious for the student, as it allows him to make the most of the knowledge acquired. “
Since its establishment in 2010, IEBS has managed to maintain a sustained growth of 35% per year on average, which has led it to become one of the online business schools with the most students in Spain.
In addition, to successfully cope with this new situation and avoid leaving without a place all those who want to continue the training, a new special call will be opened on November 26 in the most requested online masters.


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“The Reality Report is the world’s largest research on consumer attitudes towards mobile marketing, advertising and privacy ever conducted.
Consumer data has been mishandled systematically for decades. GDPR acts as a turning point. But how has it changed consumer opinions? And what does this mean for marketers?”


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Staples (SPLS) was one of Wednesday's big stock losers following a disappointing second quarter earnings report and lowered full-year sales and profit outlook amid slower U.S. growth and waning European demand. The stock sank more than 14% on high volume -- topping the most-active stocks list for Wednesday, according to Yahoo! Finance data -- dipping below $12 and hitting close-to-a-decade lows of $10.99 in intraday trade. Shares have seen a 52-week range between $12.10 and $16.93.
Net income for Staples fell to $120.4 million and 18 cents per share vs. $176.4 million and 25 cents per share last year. This marks a slip of 31.7% year-over-year. Revenue declined 5.5% to $5.5 billion from a year ago. This fell well short of analyst expectations.
At the same time, smaller rivals Office Depot (ODP) and Office Max (OMX) both sank more than 3%, making it a rough day all around for the office-supply space. Office Depot last week also reported earnings that missed expectations, citing, as Staples did, softening U.S. growth and weaker European sales. The stock closed today at $1.55, down considerably from its 52-week high of $3.81.
Office Max actually beat the Street with its earnings report on August 2; four quarters straight of earnings beats have attracted some positive analyst attention (a Forbes column from Aug. 14 calls it "a true value stock"), although a year-over-year revenue decrease in the last quarter did end a two-quarter winning streak. Earnings expectations for the next quarter have also fallen slightly, from 26 cents to 25 cents per share. The stock closed today down 3% at $5.03. Its 52-week range is between $3.90 and $6.45.
Following yesterday's better-than-expected retail report and strong earnings this week from retailers such as Home Depot (HD) and Target (TGT), Staples' slump is a bit of a damper, especially when considering the back-to-school season should perhaps be a stronger one for them. On the earnings call CEO Ronald Sargent stated that, on the upside, Staples managed to accelerate growth with products outside of their core office supply base -- such as paper and ink -- such as copy, print, breakroom supplies and mobile phones and related accessories.
"Unfortunately," Sargent said, "a steep decline in computer sales, soft trends in core categories and ongoing weakness in the European economy more than offset our progress." The slump in North American sales was a particular blow for the company, as recent quarters had been significantly stronger.
But he noted a "solid pipeline of new technology products and services" to come and, likely in response to a slowdown in the PC market, Staples has recently added the the Google Nexus tablet to its inventory. Windows 8 is also expected to hit the shelves later this year.
The euro's decline (5% against the dollar in 2Q) was also cited as a factor in its lowered outlook; the Framingham-Mass.-based store makes 21% of its revenue outside of North America.
Like Office Depot and OfficeMax before it, Staples now pledges to overhaul its operations and is likely to do so by methods including slimming down its European operations and cutting costs across the board in order to reinvest.
"We're taking a hard look at each of our businesses, and we plan to make significant changes to improve results," Sargent said in the earnings release. "We're also building a plan to reallocate resources, take advantage of our best growth opportunities, and drive increased cost savings."
The office-supply space can be viewed as a major barometer of overall economic health, since demand for its products is at least partly in line with employment numbers, particularly those of white collar workers. So an unemployment rate still stuck above 8% could be hurting Staples' performance -- along with the overall office-supply arena. Staples is also facing increasing competition from retailers who are not direct office-supply rivals, such as Wal-Mart (WMT), discount stores like Dollar General (DG) and Five Below (FIVE) and, of course, online retail giant Amazon.com (AMZN), all of which offer the same supplies the office-specialized stores do.
Wal-Mart, which reports its earnings amid high expectations Thursday before the bell, is a major player in the back-to-school space, but discounters such as Five Below -- a 2012 IPO success story that caters to the teen and tween set -- could also benefit in the current economic environment.
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Villeroy, Quebec, Canada–Fruit d’Or has announced a new partnership with Innovative Natural Solutions, the largest grower, processor, and supplier of black elderberry in North America, according to a press release.
Fruit d’Or is known mainly for its cranberry ingredients, the release says. It is a participant of the Cranberry Quality Assurance Program. INS is similar to Fruit d’Or, the press release says, because they are both farm-to-table and vertically integrated, controlling the quality of their products from start to finish.
The fruits of this partnership will be offered as samples at Fruit d’Or’s Expo West booth #4476, and include Elder Cran cough syrup, which addresses colds, coughs, digestive upset, and UTIs; Elder Pure Elderberry juice powder with Sunfiber, which supports digestive, immune, and cardio health; Wild blueberry juice powder with Sunfiber, which supports cognitive health; and Cranberry seed oil with probiotics Bacillus coagulans and vegan D3, delivering digestive health, omegas 3, 6, and 9, and, of course, D3.


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Have you ever used one of those bike shares? Super resourceful, right? But lacking one thing: your bike helmet. Perhaps carrying around the conventional plastic helmet in your bag isn't your style. Well, you're in luck because a design student in NYC has just created a pocket-sized disposable helmet made from recycled paper, which she plans to make available at bike sharing stations.
Developed into a foldable honeycomb design, the helmet is water-resistant for up to three hours and is as solid as a polycarbonate plastic helmet, keeping your head safe and dry. The design recently won the 2016 International James Dyson Award and its designer is currently looking to work with engineers to move the process to mass production. What another cool way to limit your plastic use and stay green-minded!


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FDA Warns of Potential Medical Device Shortage Due to Sterilization Woes
Following the closure of several sterilization facilities, the agency is urging manufacturers and hospitals to assess their inventory.
Due to recent closures of multiple sterilization facilities across the country, the US Food and Drug Administration released a statement today regarding concerns over limited availability of medical devices including stents and catheters in the near future.
The FDA warned against potential medical device shortages back in March after a large ethylene oxide sterilization facility in Illinois run by a company called Sterigenics was forced to close by the state Environmental Protection Agency due to the presence of higher than acceptable levels of ethylene oxide in the air around the facility. Another Sterigenics facility in Georgia is now temporarily closed, and one run by Becton Dickinson, also in Georgia, is potentially facing closure.
More than 20 billion devices annually sold in the United States are sterilized using ethylene oxide, accounting for about of 50% of devices that require sterilization, according to the FDA.
“Without adequate availability of ethylene-oxide sterilization, we anticipate a national shortage of these devices and other critical devices including feeding tube devices used in neonatal intensive care units, drug-eluting cardiac stents, catheters, shunts and other implantable devices,” reads a statement by Norman E. "Ned" Sharpless, MD, Acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs. “It’s important to note at this time there are no readily available processes or facilities that can serve as viable alternatives to those that use ethylene oxide to sterilize these devices. In short: this method is critical to our healthcare system and to the continued availability of safe, effective, and high-quality medical devices.”
“The impact resulting from closure of these and perhaps more facilities will be difficult to reverse, and ultimately could result in years of spot or nationwide shortages of critical medical devices, which could compromise patient care,” Sharpless writes. “This is why today we are urging medical device manufacturers that use ethylene-oxide facilities to assess their inventory for any potential downstream impacts of sterilization facility closures on their product distribution.”
The FDA is also encouraging hospitals and healthcare facilities to evaluate their inventory of critical medical supplies that undergo sterilization via ethylene oxide prior to shipping and prepare for potentially evaluating substitute devices.
“So as to not exacerbate anticipated product availability concerns, we urge facilities to work together and not hoard product or attempt to purchase larger quantities of devices beyond their normal purchase volume,” Sharpless advises, adding that the FDA maintains a mailbox for device shortage notifications. “It’s never too early to contact us—the sooner we are aware of a potential shortage, the better we can assist in proactively developing a plan to mitigate its effects on patient care.”
US Food and Drug Administration. Ethylene oxide sterilization for medical devices. Published and accessed on: October 25, 2019.
US Food and Drug Administration. Statement on concerns with medical device availability due to certain sterilization facility closures. Published and accessed on: October 25, 2019.


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July 29, 2015
Wildlife officials on Tuesday accused an American hunter of killing Cecil, one of the oldest and most famous lions in Zimbabwe.
Conservationists and animal lovers were outraged by the news, with many voicing concerns about continued hunting and poaching.
More and more companies are showing their love for the world's precious wildlife by giving back. With every purchase, customers are helping to save animals – in style.
Below are five companies that have made it their mission to save some of the Earth's most beautiful creatures.
Savannah is on a mission to save Africa's endangered lions. In order to so, the company donates 10 percent of profits to lion conservation at the end of each month.
"A Lion possesses both beauty & strength," Savannah says on its website. "Our goal is to provide consumers with high quality products while making an impact on the world."
Customers can choose from a variety of hand-crafted bracelets in a number of colors, all while helping to save the king of the jungle.
Ivory Ella is helping to save the elephants, one item at a time. In an effort to help end elephant poaching worldwide, the company donates 10 percent of net profits to SaveTheElephants.org. More than $100,000 has already been donated to the cause since Ivory Ella's launch in April.
"Let's all look adorable and trendy by wearing one of these shirts while also saving one of the world's most beautiful creatures at the same time!" the company says on its site.
Ivory Ella sells men's and women's shirts, as well as necklaces and hand-painted wooden phone cases.
Arm the Animals creates unique and witty T-shirts and apparel. A portion of the proceeds is donated to animal rescues.
"Our goal is to assist as many small, struggling animal rescues as possible, and that is exactly what we are doing," the company says on its site.
In response to the death of Cecil the lion, Arm the Animals created a special-edition Cecil commemorative design based on its Earth Day Lion. All net proceeds from the sale of this design will go directly to the organization protecting Cecil's home turf – ZCTF - Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.
Fetching Apparel founders Rebecca and Derek Pepin adopted a shelter dog, Jeffrey, in 2007. That's when the idea for their company was born.
"Now we’re on a mission to help other homeless pets find their forever homes, and we’re wearing it on our sleeves," the company says on its site.
From tees to caps to totes, Fetching Apparel donates 40 percent of its profits to pet rescue organizations and education.
Inspired by a small rescue dog, Hendrick & Co. is dedicated to saving animals in need. With every purchase, Hendrick & Co. makes a life-saving donation.
"Saving animals has never looked so good!" the company says on its site. "Gifts that give back and gifts that save animals is at the heart of what we do."
The company donates $10 per purchase to support local animal rescues and shelters.


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28 Jul A new parent-friendly smartphone repair solution launched in Australia
The new ‘we-come-to-you’ mobile repair service launched across three Australian capital cities offering at-home repairs in less than an hour on average.
New research from Likewize* found nearly six million (5.9 million) Australian adult smartphone users have damaged their device in the last year and almost five million Australians admit to damaging their new device within its first year of ownership, leaving them to either complete the rest of their contract with a damaged phone, or lose access to their device for a few hours, or even days, while it is repaired.
The study revealed Australians who have damaged their smartphone in the past 12 months are most likely to say it was due to simply:
- dropping it (49%),
- dropped it while trying to take a selfie (16%)
- sitting on it when it was their back pocket (12%)*.
And nearly one million Aussie smartphone owners admit their device has been damaged after letting their kids play with it*.
The appeal of this new service comes as no surprise to this parent cohort who are more likely to damage their device three or more times in a year (8% compared to 3% for Australians without kids at home), with 729,000 parents, who have damaged their smartphone, attributing the main cause to their kids playing with the device. 88% of those with kids at home admit they will face barriers when having to repair their smartphone.
The top three tips on how to avoid damaging your smartphone:
- Get a screen protector– Although many smartphones include scratch and impact resistant screens, they are not indestructible, so a screen protector is that extra layer you can add to your device to help protect it when it’s in your pocket, handbag or if you drop it.
- Invest in a quality case – The compact nature of smartphones today means they conveniently fit into pockets. However,this can be a blessing or a curse as they can just as easily fall out of them. That is why getting a quality case to protect your device from unforeseen accidents is essential.
- Avoid extreme conditions – Keeping your device away from water and extreme heat/cold is essential to ensuring it remains protected. Removing any drops of water quickly and ensuring a device is not kept in direct sunlight or out in extreme cold may help to avoid it from getting damaged.
Available now across Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, it is the first smartphone repair service using genuine parts in a fully-equipped mobile workshop that is easily bookable online through a convenient digital platform. Services include front displays for Apple devices, as well as front, rear, and battery repairs for Samsung devices, with plans to expand to full device repairs in the near future.
A convenient online booking system allows consumers to book a repair by simply identifying the make and model of their device. A trained, security-cleared technician will then arrive at their doorstep and conduct the repair in less than one hour (on average), so the whole process is quick, convenient, and effortless. All repairs also receive a 12-month warranty, giving consumers peace of mind.
*This research was conducted online by YouGov in partnership with Likewize Repair and consisted of a national sample of 1047 Australians aged 18+ who own a smartphone from 4th-8th May 2022. The figures were weighted and are representative of all Australian adults (aged 18+) who are smartphone owners.


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Struggling Snow Brand Milk Products Co. said Thursday it posted a group net loss of 71.74 billion yen for the 2001 business year, 35 percent worse than the year before, due to plunging sales in the wake of a food mislabeling scandal at its meat packing subsidiary.
Snow Brand’s consolidated net losses were 52.93 billion yen the previous year.
Under a new rehabilitation program, the dairy product maker plans to reduce its capital by 98 percent, slash its workforce by 1,300, and will ask its main lenders for 50 billion yen in financial assistance.
Snow Brand will then form capital alliances with several companies, including the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (Zen-Noh) and trading house Itochu Corp.
The firm will write off 75 billion yen in special losses for the current business year, including 4.2 billion yen to cover costs for its retirement program and 25 billion yen to pay for restructuring its milk business.
The restructuring plan will return the company to profitability in the 2003 business year, according to Snow Brand Milk President Kohei Nishi.
Snow Brand’s current management team will step down in June to take responsibility for the recent scandals.
The new management team will include two board members from Norinchukin Bank, the firm’s main bank, and the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives. An outside company official will also join the board. The reshuffle needs to be approved at a shareholders’ meeting June 27.
Under the restructuring plan, Snow Brand Milk, a former parent company of scandal-hit Snow Brand Foods Co., is asking its creditor banks, including Norinchukin Bank, to provide 50 billion yen in financial aid through debt waivers and a debt-for-equity swap.
It plans to reduce its capital from the current 27.8 billion yen to about 500 million yen by the end of July. It is expecting to get approval for this plan at the shareholders’ meeting.
To strengthen its capital, Snow Brand Milk will issue new shares totaling 10 billion yen through a third-party allocation by the end of March 2003.
The firm hopes Zen-Noh will purchase 5 billion yen worth of shares and Itochu 3 billion yen, asking four to five other companies, including Asahi Breweries Ltd., to become its capital partners, Nishi said.
Zen-Noh would become its largest shareholder, followed by Norinchukin Bank and Itochu, Snow Brand Milk executives said.
The dairy product maker has been hit hard by a series of scandals, including a beef-mislabeling scam by subsidiary Snow Brand Foods, which was disbanded at the end of April.
Facing high hurdles to maintain its group, Snow Brand Milk decided to concentrate on milk products and spin off its other businesses.
As a result, it will cut 1,300 jobs — about 25 percent of its workforce of 5,000 — by the end of September through a voluntary retirement program.
Another 2,200 employees will be asked to move to group companies by the end of next March, the company executives said.
Snow Brand Milk will set up a joint venture for its milk business with Zen-Noh and the National Federation of Dairy Cooperative Associations (Zenrakuren) in January.
It will sell 15 percent of its stake in Yukijirushi Access Inc., its profitable food wholesale subsidiary, to Itochu, leaving Itochu with a 25 percent stake in the wholesaler.
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D2 gets a #whiff of P&G's digital marketing efforts
A Procter & Gamble Co. advertising pitch for Head & Shoulders with Old Spice shampoo has been a hit with baseball fans, but the brand manager who called the shots suggested Wednesday that P&G won’t be satisfied until its digital marketing efforts change the way Americans talk about the national pastime.
Instead of referring to strikeouts by pitchers, Head & Shoulders is pushing the slang term whiff, Michael Sabbia, Head & Shoulders for Men brand manager, said during the Wednesday afternoon keynote speech at D2 (Digital Dialogue) Cincinnati.
“We want to change the lexicon,” Sabbia said. “We want to change the language of baseball.”
Homeruns are popular with many, but “pitching is where it’s at,” Sabbia said.
The number of strikeouts by Major League pitchers increased from 30,644 in 2005 to 36,426 last season.
A Twitter campaign dubbed Season of the #Whiff has engaged fans who watch baseball on TV, expanded brand recognition and helped boost sales of the shampoo, Sabbia said.
The digital marketing conference, which continues Thursday at Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati, is focusing on how brands, retailers and technology companies can digitally connect with consumers.
The conference is sold out, with about 400 people in attendance from throughout the nation. It’s being presented by the Cincinnati chapter of the American Advertising Federation and Dunnhumby USA, a consumer research firm that is a joint venture of Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. and London-based Dunnhumby.
Research indicated that one of the common consumer complaints about Head & Shoulders had been that it smelled like medicine, so P&G decided to combine it with another iconic brand, masculine-smelling Old Spice, Sabbia said.
Brunsman covers Procter & Gamble Co. and health care.
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Undecided about Android? Well, right now might be the time to take the plunge. The first handset to run Google's Android operating system, the T-Mobile G1 is available for $98 from Amazon USA -- $80 less than its debut price. Ranked fifth on PC World's Top 10 Cell Phones chart, the G1 has a highly responsive touch screen and a clean, customizable interface.
To get this special deal, you must sign up for a new two-year contract so T-Mobile customers unfortunately don't qualify. But on the upside, T-Mobile may drop the price of the G1 as well. For the last few weeks, the Black, Bronze and White G1s have been listed as "extremely limited supply" on the T-Mobile Web site.
With the announcement of the HTC Magic at the Mobile World Congress (which will most likely be branded as the T-Mobile G2), it isn't suprising that Amazon and T-Mobile would want to make some room on their shelves. In fact, HTC Magic availability has already been announced for April in the UK.
If you're like me and enjoy the combination of a physical keyboard and touch screen, you might want to snatch up the G1 while you can -- the HTC Magic is fully touch screen.


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Crowd Control Esports (CCE), has recently announced ‘AAYO PokeCon’, India’s First LAN Pokemon Unite Tournament, something to cheer for the Indian Pokemon Unite Community. Through this, the brand has also launched its latest IP- ‘AAYO’ which will mark all their future conventions in the coming years.
It is first of its kind 3rd party LAN event for Pokemon Unite across the globe. (Pokemon Unite was launched last year on mobile in September 2021) and since its debut, apart from PokeCon, the only other LAN of this scale is the Pokemon Unite World’s where India was also a participant. It’s also unique because it’s a one-of-a-kind esports festival, where the focus is not just on competition but also on celebration and creation. Pokemon Unite is a free-to-play Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game released for Nintendo Switch and Mobile devices. Reportedly, the game has been downloaded more than 70 million times across all platforms globally as of April 2022 and continues to grow.
AAYO PokeCon is attracting a lot of attention as it is expected to be India’s largest esports festival because of the sheer footfall that is expected and the theme, where the company is presenting esports as an experience and what are the different aspects of it. The date of the finale (online) is October 15-16, 2022, while the date of the finale (Event-LAN) is October 21-23, 2022. The tickets for the same are going live from September 27, 2022.
Speaking on the subject, Peeyush Kumar, Founder and CEO- Crowd Control Esports said, “The Indian esports fraternity is ready and CCE aims to disrupt the esports space by bringing forth different format of games which will tests one’s skillset and abilities on various levels. We also very proud to mention that it’s also a first-ever LAN for a mobile MOBA. Prior to this India has only witnessed LAN events for games like PUBG, BGMI and FreeFire. AAYO PokeCon is already being dubbed as the biggest third-party event in the history of the Indian MOBA community. Our aim in the next 3 years is to completely change the Indian esports landscape and make it at par with International esports standards.”
The teams participating in the AAYO PokeCon are- S8Ul, Revenant Esports, True Rippers, Team Lagaan, Bichoo Gang, Enigma Gaming, Chemin Esports and God’s Reign to name a few. Also, this tournament offers the largest prize pool ever for a mobile MOBA in India of Rs. 10,00,000 for the finale.
CCE is a third party to the game Pokemon Unite and has the permission to organize the ‘AAYO PokeCon’ by The Pokemon Company International. AAYO PokeCon also has interesting offerings for those who are NFT collectors, cosplay artists or fanart creators as there are activities like Cosplay, Metaverse, NFT shows, Anime, Comics and much more. This will be the first-ever esports event where the tickets can be purchased via NFTs. The 45 days event will see over 100 teams battling to grab 8 slots for the league stage at Gaur Stadium, Noida (UP) (the first Esports stadium in India).


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Rate-cut calls look set for cold shoulder
A NEW-LOOK Bank of England monetary policy committee holds its first meeting today, with calls for an interest-rate cut ringing in its ears. Former Goldman Sachs economist David Walton joins the nine-strong MPC, replacing Marian Bell whose departure deprives the MPC of one of its most dovish members. Walton is more likely to occupy the centre ground. JANE PADGHAM looks at the committee's agenda ahead of its decision at midday tomorrow.
Another month, another fall in property prices. Building society Nationwide reported a 0.2% dip in values in June, pulling the year-on-year rate of increase down to a mere 4.1%. That is the lowest annual rate for almost nine years and a far cry from the 20%-plus growth of last summer. However, hopes for a soft landing rather than a damaging crash remain high.
High Street spending
The crisis on the High Street is worsening. In the latest evidence that debt-laden consumers have tightened their belts, the CBI said retailers suffered their worst fall in sales on record in June. The decline may have been exaggerated by last year's Euro 2004 mini-spending boom on beer and plasma TVs but there is little doubt retail spending has hit a wall.
The Office for National Statistics' updated calculation of the economy's first-quarter growth was a shocker. Gross domestic product - a measure of overall economic activity - rose just 0.4% in the January to March period, down by a third from an initial estimate of 0.6%. The annual growth rate was slashed from 2.7% to 2.1% - the worst performance for more than two years. Gordon Brown's 3% to 3.5% forecast for the full year now looks impossible.
An improvement in factory activity in June brought a glimmer of hope to the battered manufacturing sector. The purchasing managers' index from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply registered 49.6, up from 47 in May but still below the 50 nochange level. Another industrial recession still looks likely as manufacturers struggle with sky-high energy prices, Asian competition and anaemic eurozone growth.
Despite warnings from the Bank that inflation could shoot higher, it remains well anchored for now. It stuck fast at 1.9% for the third month in a row in May, a whisker below the Government's 2% target. The economic slowdown should keep a lid on future price rises.
The collapse of MG Rover was partly to blame for a fourth consecutive monthly rise in unemployment in May, but the underlying jobs market is deteriorating. The claimant count rose by 13,200 to 855,300 during the month, more than double the increase City pundits had expected. It marked the longest run of increases since recession-hit 1992. Benign average earnings growth indicates wage pressures are under control.
International economy and markets
The past month has seen the oil price burst through $60 a barrel to record highs, sparking fresh warnings that the global economy is seriously at risk from soaring energy costs. The election of hard-line Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as President of Iran, and the fact that US refineries are working flat out to meet demand, were blamed for the move. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve nudged US interest rates up by another quarter-point to 3.25%.
Marian Bell left her mark on the MPC by voting for a quarter-point cut in interest rates last month, her final meeting. She was joined by the Bank's chief economist Charlie Bean, the dovish duo arguing that the consumer slowdown could become entrenched if immediate action was not taken. Sir Andrew Large, who had been calling for higher rates, rejoined the ‘no change’ camp. Bank Governor Mervyn King said in his annual Mansion House speech that risks to the inflation outlook were on both the upside and downside.
The MPC looks set to resist calls for lower interest rates and keep borrowing costs at 4.75% for an 11th consecutive month. Next month's re-evaluation of its forecasts for the August Inflation Report will give it the perfect opportunity to debate the case for an easing. With the High Street in crisis and the wider economy floundering, an August cut is on the cards.
|Bank rate held at 0.5% since:|
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Litigation in the Metaverse
LITIGATION IN THE METAVERSE
By Sarah Malik and Swetha Sivaram
- Law 360 recently reported that we are going to see a ‘’huge wave of litigation’’ in the metaverse, particularly in the areas of IP and data privacy. What, in your opinion are the reasons for this shift? What types of disputes have we seen, and will continue to see litigated in the metaverse?
The metaverse is a virtual world/a 3D version of the internet where people can engage in a virtual wide range of activities, including socialising, gaming, and shopping. The metaverse market was valued at USD 68.49 billion in 2022 and is estimated to surpass USD 1.3 trillion by 2030. As the metaverse continues to grow in popularity and complexity, it has become an increasingly important area of focus for legal issues, particularly in the areas of intellectual property (IP) and data privacy.
One of the main reasons for the shift towards litigation in the metaverse is the increasing commercialisation of virtual worlds. With more businesses and leading household names entering the metaverse, the potential for IP disputes has grown. Companies may claim that their trademarks or copyright materials are being used without permission in virtual environments. Similarly, disputes will arise over ownership of virtual goods and assets.
Another factor driving the rise of litigation in the metaverse is the growing concern around data privacy. As people spend more time in virtual worlds and personal information is shared, there is naturally an increased risk of cybersecurity and data breaches and other privacy violations. Virtual environments collect personal data such as IP addresses and location data, purchases made by users and social media conversations with other individuals which are then used for targeted advertising or other purposes without the user’s consent.
Also with sports teams building digital arenas in the metaverse, broadcasting rights will become an issue that is likely to litigate.
Some of the disputes we have seen litigated in the metaverse include cases related to trademark and copyright infringement, virtual property ownership, and fraud. We have seen cases involving NFTs in the metaverse such as the Meta-Birkin, Nike vs. StockX and Miramax LLC vs Tarantino. These are IP related issues and have been litigated in Courts. At some stage litigation is likely to take place within the metaverse itself once the metaverse becomes a more sophisticated environment with its own laws and own legal systems.
We are likely to see increased litigation including disputes over virtual currency and payments, online harassment and cyberbullying, and the use of artificial intelligence in virtual worlds. To minimize the risk of legal issues, companies functioning within the metaverse will need to carefully consider the legal implications of their actions and take steps to protect their intellectual property and user data. This thought process will take place in line with an evolving legal landscape which will be tailored to cater for the issues that are arising and are likely to arise in a virtual world.
- What are some of the key challenges/issues that law firms and their clients will need to be aware of when litigating in the metaverse?
Litigating in the metaverse presents various challenges and issues that are unique that law firms and their clients will need to be aware of. Some of the key challenges include:
- Jurisdictional issues: The metaverse if a fluid environment that transcends borders, law and geography. As the metaverse exists beyond physical borders, determining jurisdiction will be challenging and there are no clear-cut answers. Where parties are located in different countries, governing laws and jurisdiction will become an issue as well as where any potential dispute will take place whether in the real or virtual world. It is likely that users of the metaverse will prefer expedient resolution of disputes within the metaverse which will be seen to be easier and faster than disputes arising in the real world with more complex and longer procedures.
- Technical complexity: Litigating in the metaverse often involves technical issues, such as analysing code and digital evidence, which will require specialised knowledge and expertise. Lawyers and judges need to be able to understand and work with AI and virtual worlds as this is a reality.
- Difficulty in collecting evidence: In the virtual environment, evidence is stored in multiple locations and in various formats, making it difficult to collect and preserve evidence. Additionally, evidence can be easily manipulated, hacked into or destroyed in virtual worlds, which will necessarily complicate any discovery process.
- Data Privacy concerns: Privacy concerns in the metaverse are significant, and law firms and their clients will need to be aware of how data is being collected and stored. Clients will also need to take additional steps to protect user data, such as implementing more stringent privacy policies and protocols. There could be a scenario where a defendant hacks into the claimant/plaintiff’s headset and could therefore follow their movements and conversations, possibly even thoughts.
- Emerging legal frameworks: As the metaverse continues to grow and evolve, legal frameworks are still emerging, and there will not be clear precedents or case law for many legal issues. This uncertainty will make litigation more challenging, as lawyers and judges need to interpret existing laws and possibly new laws specific to the metaverse apply them to new and complex situations in a virtual environment as opposed to a real world.
- Litigants in person: Individuals who are litigants in person are probably more affected in respect of virtual court hearings because it is unlikely that a majority will have access to complex technology to be able to access the metaverse.
To overcome these challenges, law firms and their clients will need to work closely with experts in virtual reality, data privacy, and other related disciplines to understand the technical aspects of the case. They will also need to take a proactive approach to collecting and preserving evidence and invest in technologies such as blockchain to ensure data integrity. Additionally, they may need to stay up to date with emerging legal frameworks and precedents in the metaverse to build effective legal arguments.
In our experience, some of the newer qualified lawyers show a huge interest and affiliation with the virtual space and an understanding which can be used effectively by law firms as generational is key in the metaverse.
- What are some of the key benefits of litigation taking place in the metaverse?
Whilst litigation in the metaverse has its own challenges, there are also potential benefits that will arise from resolving legal disputes in virtual environments.
Litigating in the metaverse is likely more cost-effective than traditional litigation, as it will not require physical travel (instead, the use of VR headsets will suffice) or the use of physical resources such as courtrooms. Virtual reality tools, such as virtual mediation platforms, will be used to resolve disputes without the need for in-person meetings. In addition, tools that are used to create 3D models and visualisations will assist lawyers and judges to better understand various complex and technical issues or evidence.
As a globalised platform, the metaverse will make the legal system and litigation in particular more accessible to people who may not be able to attend in-person hearings, such as those who live in rural areas or have mobility issues and will open avenues for people of different socio-economic backgrounds to be able to access justice in the metaverse.
In comparison to traditional litigation, litigating in the metaverse will potentially be faster and more efficient, as virtual environments will enable real-time collaboration and streamline different aspects of the legal process.
There will also certainly be a boost in innovation and experimentation within the legal industry as lawyers and judges work to adapt to new technologies and find new ways to resolve disputes in virtual environments.
Overall, while there are challenges associated with litigating in the metaverse, there are also key benefits that can make the legal process more efficient, accessible, and innovative.
- A court hearing in Colombia recently took place in the metaverse, with participants using virtual reality headsets and appearing as avatars. If this process is rolled out worldwide, what implications is this likely to have on the litigation process, particularly with regards to witnesses giving evidence?
The use of virtual reality and avatars to conduct court hearings has the potential to significantly impact the litigation process, particularly with regards to witnesses giving evidence. There are also some potential implications in terms of witness credibility, language barriers, security concerns, technical challenges and improved access to justice.
Credibility of witnesses while giving evidence is seen as a key matter in trial processes globally. There are natural concerns about whether witnesses are coached while giving evidence. It will also be difficult to verify the identity of a witness appearing as an avatar, and it will be harder to assess their body language and other non-verbal cues that can indicate truthfulness. However, we have already seen a trend towards virtual/hybrid hearings during the COVID-19 pandemic and this issue has been dealt with by the use of 360-degree cameras in rooms where witness testimony is being provided. Witnesses are also able to provide evidence from different locations geographically, potentially reducing the costs and logistical difficulties associated with traveling to give testimony. This in turn will increase access to justice for individuals who are not able to attend court in-person.
Conducting court hearings in the metaverse requires technical infrastructure, which is not readily available in all regions globally, and not all participants have the same affordability or access to the necessary equipment, such as virtual reality headsets. The more sophisticated the use of technology is the more likely it is to lead to glitches depending on where one accesses the virtual environment.
Virtual courtrooms may require the use of machine translation software to facilitate communication between participants speaking different languages, which may well introduce errors and inaccuracies in the proceedings.
Security concerns, such as hacking or impersonation, which would undermine the integrity of the proceedings are also likely to arise with the use of the virtual environment to conduct court hearings.
In order for virtual reality court hearings to become more widely adopted, many of these challenges will need to be addressed. Improved standards for verifying witness identities will need to be developed, and upgrades to machine translation software will be necessary to ensure accurate communication between participants speaking different languages. The use of virtual reality in court hearings presents both opportunities and challenges, and it will be important for legal systems proceed with caution while adopting these technologies keeping in mind the various implications.
- What are your predictions of the litigation trends in the latter half of 2023 and beyond?
Based on current trends and developments in the legal industry, it is possible to make some informed predictions about litigation trends in the latter half of 2023 and beyond.
With the growing threat of cyberattacks and data breaches, we are likely to see an increase in litigation related to cybersecurity and data privacy. This will include cases involving allegations of hacking, unauthorised access to sensitive information, or failure to adequately protect personal data.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues are becoming increasingly important to investors and regulators, and this is likely to translate into more litigation related to ESG concerns. This could include cases involving allegations of environmental damage, labour violations, or board misconduct related to corporate governance.
As virtual and augmented reality technologies continue to evolve; cases involving allegations of copyright infringement, trademark disputes, or data privacy violations in virtual environments are likely to arise.
Almost all industries are introducing and integrating AI within their existing systems. There may well be a rise of litigation related to cases involving allegations of bias or discrimination in AI algorithms, or disputes over intellectual property related to AI inventions.
Class action lawsuits are becoming increasingly common in many jurisdictions, and this trend is likely to continue.
It is important to note that these predictions are based on current trends and developments and are subject to change based on various factors such as changes in technology, legal and regulatory developments, and unforeseen events.
Disclaimer: This publication is not intended to offer legal advice and is solely for informational purposes.


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AllThingsD is reporting that Apple will announce its so-called iPad Mini in October, according to several of their sources. Apple’s gearing up for two events for its new phone and tablet hardware, according to sources at AllThingsD.
The launch event will take place only a month after the iPhone event, which is supposed to take place on September 12, although Apple is yet to confirm that.
Unfortunately, the anonymous sources weren’t revealing anything further. Apple’s yet to confirm that posited September 12th event date, let alone any secondary event.
Initially, some postulated that the iPhone and the iPad mini events will take place simultaneously, although that seemed unlikely considering Apple has historically kept the two product events separate.
This latest news tells us that although Apple might not be willing to merge the iPad events with the iPhone’s, they are also not going to wait till next year’s main iPad event to release the smaller variant.
When ever it will be! just be assured that we’ll be covering both of them. And be sure to keep your eyes wide open to our home page.
Source : AllThingsD


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- Google aims to protect data from future quantum computers
- The experiment will not compromise user security
- It will be replaced within two years
Many tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and IBM are working on with quantum computers, and while it comes with many benefits, one of those is also a potential threat – the potential to quickly decrypt current day encryption. In order to prevent this, Google is experimenting with new connections between Chrome (on desktop) and its servers that will use new post-quantum algorithm to prevent decryption of content.
Google says that it is looking to test this feature in order to protect user data even from future quantum computers. Quantum computers are expected to be significantly faster than current technology, and large quantum computers may also be able to break the asymmetric cryptographic primitives that are currently used in TLS (the security protocol behind HTTPS).
The tech giant assures that user security will not be compromised with this experiment. Currently, Google is only experimenting this post-quantum key-exchange algorithm on a few connections. It is enabled in Chrome Canary, and users can check if they are using this new algorithm by looking for CECPQ1 under the Key Exchange in the browser security panel.
Google also confirms that it does not intend to make this the standard algorithm. “We explicitly do not wish to make our selected post-quantum algorithm a de-facto standard. To this end we plan to discontinue this experiment within two years, hopefully by replacing it with something better,” wrote on its blog post.
Asserting that this is just an experiment, Google says that the algorithm may break. In such a case the HTTPS standard elliptic-curve key-exchange algorithm still exists to provide secure connections.
Download the Gadgets 360 app for Android and iOS to stay up to date with the latest tech news, product reviews, and exclusive deals on the popular mobiles.


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Earlier this year, it was rumored that Apple would negotiate with the BOE to become the third OLED screen supplier in the iPhone 12 series before even the iPhone 12 family appeared. However, only Samsung and LG remained in the supply chain, and the BOE had some quality control issues, and the deal was postponed until those issues were resolved.
Industry analysts now say that the Bank of England is finally certified and will soon begin manufacturing OLED panels for Apple’s iPhone 12 family. It is estimated that Samsung will produce about 130 million units in 2021 and LG and BOE will settle 40 million and 10 million units, respectively.
But if everything goes well with next year’s iPhone 12 sales, which means orders can reach up to 20 million units. This seems to be the company’s first step, accounting for more than 40% of the global OLED panel market, which is projected to reach $ 49.7 billion in 2024.
Source (In Chinese)


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FOOTBAL BRANDS 2016: Who leads the game?
Brand Finance Football 50 is an annual study conducted by one of the leading brand valuation and strategy consultancies. The study published on June 6, 2016 determines which of the word largest football clubs have the most powerful and valuable brands.
The numbers do not lie. As can be seen in the chart, the world’s most valuable football club brand this year is Manchester United FC with a brand value estimated at 1,170 USD million. The second position is occupied by the current Champions League Winner, Real Madrid, and the podium’s third place is attributed to its forever greatest rival, Barcelona.
Every football aficionados has heard about the amazing season accomplished by the English club Leicester. Because of this achievement, the club wins the title of the fastest growing football brand of 2016 with a 132% rising while the second place is given to Borussia Mönchengladbach with a rising of ‘only’ 101%. Unfortunately, not every football brand has seen his value increasing. As a matter of fact, football clubs like Newcastle United and Aston Villa have seen a significant decline of their brand values this year. The same applies to the Turkish clubs Galatasaray facing a decline of 34% while Fenerbahce suffers a loss of 21%.
On another area when looking statistics by country, football clubs brands from England & Wales capitalize a total amount of 7,168 USD million representing 48% of the total brand value, whereas, football clubs from Spain and Germany share 19% and 16%, respectively. It is not surprising when it has been established that out of the first 10 most valuable brands, 6 of them come from the UK.
For more information please see BrandFinance’s just published report of 2016 – which includes an executive summary, charts, brand value and much more: http://brandfinance.com/knowledge-centre/reports/brand-finance-football-...
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When was MoviePass founded?
June 30, 2011MoviePass/Founded.
What happened to MoviePass?
MoviePass, the subscription service that spent enormous amounts of venture capitalists’ money subsidizing movie tickets in a bid to upend the theater business model, is officially shutting down on September 14th. … (MoviePass claimed it had restored service to some users, but it’s not clear that ever happened.)
How did MoviePass make money?
To be absolutely clear: The more subscribers MoviePass signs up, the more money it loses. It pays theaters full price for each ticket, whether a member visits once or 31 times a month.
Did MoviePass shutdown?
Theater-subscription service MoviePass officially shut down on Saturday, September 14th, ending the platform’s controversial two-year run as a would-be disruptor of the moviegoing business.
Did MoviePass go out of business?
On September 14, 2019, MoviePass shut down its mobile ticketing service. On January 28, 2020, MoviePass’ parent company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and announced that it had ceased all business operations.
Who is the CEO of MoviePass?
Mitch Lowe (Jun 28, 2016–)MoviePass/CEO
Is MoviePass Dead 2019?
MoviePass, the monthly subscription service that once allowed moviegoers to see one film a day for a discounted rate, will officially shut down starting Saturday, Sep. 14. … 14, 2019, because its efforts to recapitalize MoviePass have not been successful to date,” according to a press release.
Does MoviePass still exist?
There was once a time when MoviePass subscribers could see a movie every single day for the cost of $9.95 a month. Now, the company has officially shut down the service and its future is still undetermined. … When the company was founded in 2011, a MoviePass subscription cost about $40 a month.
Why did MoviePass shutdown?
On Friday, MoviePass notified remaining subscribers that it would be shutting down the service effective Sept. 14, 2019, because “its efforts to recapitalize MoviePass have not been successful to date,” parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics announced.


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PARIS – Activity in the French manufacturing sector slowed further last month, reaching a seven-month low, as steep inflation hit new business while continued supply chain and logistics problems slowed production, a survey showed on Wednesday.
S&P Global’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 54.6 in May, down from 55.7 in April but slightly above a 54.5% flash estimate. It was the lowest reading since October.
“The French manufacturing sector is just about managing to stay in growth territory, but the current pace of expansion is sluggish amid a multitude of economic headwinds,” S&P Senior Economist Joe Hayes said.
The greatest hit came from weak new orders, which “almost ground to a halt”, the survey showed, as clients were hesitant to commit amid price pressures, caused largely by the war in Ukraine.
Delivery times worsened further, to their since January 2021, S&P said, citing continued supply bottlenecks and freight issues.
In line with the inflationary trend, the companies which reported the strongest production growth included firms engaging in raw material deliveries and stock-building.
French inflation rose more than expected in May to a new record, preliminary EU-harmonised data showed on Friday.
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Catherine Evans)


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Any business that supplies, distributes or sells packaged products or printed paper in Manitoba may be affected by new provincial legislation that goes into effect April 1.
The Packaging and Printed Paper Stewardship Regulation requires affected companies to register as product stewards and to remit fees that are used to cover up to 80% of the cost of municipal recycling programs.
A new industry group—Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba (MMSM)—has been tasked with collecting fees and running the stewardship program. To find out if your company must register and pay fees, visit the MMSM website stewardshipmanitoba.org. Stewards must register no later than March 31, 2010.
A presentation on steward fees for 2010, and on how to register and report, will be held January 29, 2010 from 11:00 to 12:30 in Winnipeg (location to be determined). Alternately, stewards may choose to participate via the Web. To register to attend in person or online, visit the MMSM website then navigate to the What’s New tab.


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Former HSN host Rachel Huber has landed — in Canada.
Huber posted on Facebook that she is heading north.
“The time has finally come to announce my new host position at The Shopping Channel in Canada!” she wrote. “I’m thrilled to be joining the team and I’m most looking forward to shopping with all the wonderful viewers!”
At first, we couldn’t place where we had seen Huber before. But some friendly Facebook folks reminded us it was HSN.
Among the people congratulating her for her new gig was HSN host Bobbi Ray Carter.
The Shopping Channel gave Huber a warm welcome on Facebook.
Her bio says that Huber had 10 years experience in electronic retailing on HSN, and she described herself as a “shopping-ista” who has “a distinct passion for jewelry.” Hey, don’t copy our Homeshoppingista name, girlfriend!
In an interesting note, it says that Huber worked for eight years as a middle school French teacher in Omaha.
She’s married to Kurt, and “is a mom to three cats Monet, Mia and Paris.”


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Speaking at Samsung’s keynote at CES yesterday yesterday, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar noted that its Hulu Plus service will be coming to Android handsets “in the coming months”.
Unfortunately it will only be made available to owners of an Android device running Android 2.2 or above but with over 50% of Android devices now running the firmware, it will make its way to a healthy number of users within the U.S.
CES attendees were treated to a sneak peak of the app, running on a Samsung Galaxy S:
It is not known when the exact launch date will be, when a company says something will launch in the coming months, its usually a little longer than you expect. Whether the app will work on all Android 2.2 enabled handsets is another matter, both the launch date and compatible devices are due to be announced soon.


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SHANGHAI (Reuters) - General Motors Co. plans to more than double its sales in China to around 5 million units by 2015, its top executive in China said Monday while unveiling the automaker's five-year plan for the world's biggest auto market.
In a briefing ahead of the Shanghai Auto Show, which opens on Tuesday, GM China chief Kevin Wale said GM planned to introduce around 60 new and upgraded models in China over the next five years. He said 12 of the new models would be Buicks, and 15 models would sport the Chevrolet badge.
The 2015 sales target, which includes light vehicles, would be up from 2.35 million units sold by GM in China in 2010. In the previous two years, GM more than doubled its volume in China.
"We've set aggressive goals with our five-year plan. We are confident that we will achieve every one of our goals," Wale told reporters.
GM is looking to tap a market that it expects to continue to grow strongly, even though it might slow from last year, when the Chinese vehicle market expanded by a third.
GM and its rivals are rolling out new models for the Chinese market, seeking to gain a foothold particularly in the smaller cities where much of the growth is expected to come over the next five years.
"We still expect the market to grow between 10-15 percent this year," Wale said, referring to the broader China market.
As part of its plans, GM aims to work with local partner SAIC Motor Corp. to develop next-generation electric vehicle (EV) architecture adapted to the Chinese market, Wale said, adding GM aimed to build battery electric vehicles in China.
GM plans to launch the new Baojun brand, which it is producing through a venture with SAIC in southern China, at 150 dealerships and to expand quickly, he said.
GM also unveiled sales targets for other markets.
Tim Lee, president of GM's international operations, told the briefing that it planned to team up with its partners to introduce light commercial vehicles to India.
Susan Docherty, GM vice president for global sales, added that GM expects sales of Chevrolet vehicles in its international operations, including China, to more than double in five years.
Chevrolet sold 1.1 million vehicles globally in the first quarter, up 15 percent from a year earlier, Docherty said.
GM sold 1.2 million Chevrolets in its international operations unit last year, up 40 percent from 2009 and more than double from five years ago.
Chevrolet vehicles constitute about 35 percent of all GM international operation sales.
GM said late last year it expects exports of its China-made Chevrolet Sail to more than quadruple this year due to rising demand for low-cost quality vehicles in emerging markets.


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“What are we here for?” For a moment, I expected WiLAN chief executive Jim Skippen to slip into a discourse on the meaning of life. But, no. On Wednesday morning the battle-hardened executive had something else in mind.
He wanted to explain to his company’s long-suffering shareholders why it was important to believe in WiLAN’s promise despite a 25 per cent plus drop in its share price during the past year.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
“We are affected by factors that are bigger than us,” Skippen told a group of WiLAN shareholders and employees, “We feel the market has over-reacted.”
Skippen was characteristically direct. He talked about how patent licensing firms such as WiLAN are facing a multitude of negative influences. Part of it, he acknowledged, stems from the firm’s business model — which involves suing firms that use technologies claimed by WiLAN or its partners.
He said opposition lawyers in these cases have portrayed WiLAN and its competitors as “patent trolls”, firms that are “doing something wrong” by trying to extract royalty payments through the courts. Skippen added that the result is judges and juries in the U.S. are less inclined to render favourable judgments or royalty arrangements.


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Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are reportedly gearing up for cameo appearances in the upcoming Zoolander 2 movie, all thanks to Will Ferrell.
According to Complex, although Ferrell recruited the power couple for the forthcoming film, their roles are yet to be determined. The picture is set to start filming in the spring, with a tentative release date for sometime in 2016. In light of this, here are some of the times both Kanye and Kim have been good sports at poking fun of themselves.
Kim’s Super Bowl T-Mobile Advertisement
This year’s T-Mobile Super Bowl ad featured a desolate Kim K addressing the problem of unused data.
“Hi, I’m Kim. Each month, millions of gigs of unused data are taken back by wireless companies. Tragic. Data you paid for that can be used to see my makeup, my backhand, my outfits, my vacations… and my outfits. Sadly all lost. Please, help save the data.”
Kanye Mocks Grammy Antics At SNL’s 40th Anniversary
While on the red carpet for SNL’s 40th anniversary last month, Kanye tried to grab the microphone from host Matt Lauer, mimicking his then-recent Grammy antics.
To check out the video, click here.
READ MORE ON THE URBAN DAILY
Is Kanye West Funny Enough For ‘Zoolander 2?’ Two Times KimYe Was Surprisingly Funny was originally published on theurbandaily.com


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One of the oldest exchanges in the crypto space recently announced that it will step up its efforts to reach more users in the US.
In an advertisement for Bitstamp That’s what the cryptocurrency exchange said today would launch a US marketing campaign to educate retail investors about cryptocurrencies after seeing significant growth in the first quarter of 2021. As part of that effort, Bitstamp said so He planned to triple the number of employees on his US team and increase his customer service team by 50% by 2021.
The CEO of Bitstamp, Julian Sawyer, Cointelegraph told Cointelegraph that the company has seen interest rates rise from US retail investors and financial institutions since 2020, and also stated that other crypto exchanges have seen the same “Problems with availability and customer service.” He said the company’s security, transparent fees, and infrastructure would give the exchange an edge over any local competition.
“Cryptocurrencies are the fastest growing financial services sector and we want to be the leader in the most competitive financial market in the world: the US”, Said Sawyer. “The upside potential for new US retail and institutional investors is astronomical.”
Sawyer cited the significant growth in exchanges during the pandemic as a sign that Americans may want better access to digital assets. Bitstamp reported that US user assets under management increased 281% in the first quarter of 2021, while the number of clients in the first four months of this year increased by 570% compared to the same period in 2020. Additionally, operations and deposits saw a monthly increase of 348% in 2021 over the same period last year.
The announcement comes after Bitstamp changed key positions on its board of directors last year. Sawyer, a former Gemini executive, joined the company as CEO last October. Recently, Stephen Bearpark, Amazon veteran and former CFO of Barclays, joined Bitstamp as CFO Sameer Dubey took over as Director of Operations.


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Payback time starts on Canada Day.
That’s the day we get our own back on Donald Trump. That’s when we impose retaliatory tariffs on a raft of American imports – everything from steel to gherkins and Kentucky bourbon. That is our response to the ridiculous and punitive tariffs that President Trump has slapped on our steel and aluminum, using the ludicrous excuse that they threaten national security. But we’ll show them! We’ll make them bleed. Our national honour will be avenged. Canada, in the immortal words of Justin Trudeau, will not be pushed around.
On our nation’s 151st birthday, we stand on the brink of what could be the biggest trade war we’ve ever faced. But it would be wise to keep our war-fever in check. Trade wars seldom end at just one round of tit-for-tat. Sometimes they keep escalating until, like the First World War, the whole landscape lies in smoking ruins. And when the other guy has a cannon and you have a popgun, it’s not likely that your side is going to win.
“I believe Trump is a bear and we shouldn’t be poking him too much,” Bob Verwey, president of motorhome-seller Owasco, told a Commons committee earlier this week. “Please step quietly.” He’s worried about escalation and says his livelihood is on the line.
Robert Dimitrieff is caught in the crossfire, too. His company, Patriot Forge of Brantford, Ont., employs 250 people and makes specialty steel products for U.S. customers. Because it imports its steel from the U.S., the retaliatory tariffs mean the company will get clobbered twice – once when it imports the raw steel and again when it sells its products back to the U.S. They figure they’ll be out of business within months. “I am preparing for the worst and it’s not a good thing,” Mr Dimitrieff told the committee.
Most of us fell asleep during the lesson on tariffs in high school. We never thought of them as a matter of life or death. So here’s a very short refresher. Tariffs are designed to hurt the other guys, by making their exports more expensive. But for the same reason, they also hurt our side. They are generally irrational and mutually destructive. So when we hit back at Mr. Trump, we can end up hurting ourselves too. Jobs and businesses are destroyed.
Everyone is worried that this trade war could escalate to Car-mageddon. Car-mageddon is what happens if Mr. Trump goes nuclear: he retaliates by slapping a 25 per cent tariff on all cars made in Canada, including Fords and other American makes. That would add an average of US$5,800 to the cost of every car sold in the United States – almost US$45-billion annually. This would almost certainly shift much of our vehicle production south. Bye bye, Canadian auto industry; hello, recession. The TD Bank says a tariff of that magnitude could cost Canada 160,000 jobs – mostly in Ontario. John White, chief executive of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, says the result would be a “tsunami-like economic downturn.”
That’s a high price to pay for not being pushed around.
Managing the U.S. trade relationship – and averting smoking ruins – is now Mr. Trudeau’s most important job. The Canadian economy depends on it, as do his election hopes. It’s going to be a tricky act. People want him to stand up to the bully – but they also need him to be prudent. His efforts to date have not been a stunning success. NAFTA talks have gone nowhere. He took Ivanka to the theatre, but that didn’t help. Now he’s taxing imported U.S. pickles. Will that help? We’ll see. Our only consolation is that the rest of the world is equally perplexed about how to handle the vengeful two-year-old in Washington.
Everybody knows that Mr. Trump’s protectionist rhetoric is ignorant, hypocritical and deprived of facts. The only thing he’s good at is creating chaos. But so long as he’s around, we’re at his mercy.
Everybody has a different idea about what Canada should do (or should have done). Maybe we just should have asked Mr. Trump what he wanted and cut a deal. Maybe we should throw those dairy farmers under the bus. Or maybe we should just wait it out, until the crazy guy goes away and sanity prevails again. This seems to be quite a popular option. But that too is wishful thinking, according to people who know America well. This week, former prime minister Stephen Harper said that the new world order will be defined by by America-First politics and “rapid, unorthodox, populist political change.” In other words, Mr. Trump will go away but Trumpism is probably here to stay.
So happy Canada Day everybody. Enjoy the festivities, and don’t worry about a thing.


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Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has said it will open the world’s first rooftop, open-air, drive-in theatre at Jio World Drive (JWD), the premium shopping mall unveiled by the company, in Mumbai on November 5.
“Operated by PVR, Jio Drive-in has a capacity for 290 cars and boasts of the biggest cinema screen in town, equipped to provide viewers an unparalleled cinematic experience. This concept promises to be a completely new source of entertainment, especially in the current times and will bring a new way of watching movies from one’s own car,” RIL said in a release on Monday.
The release added that Jio World Drive (JWD) is geared to provide a world-class retail experience to customers in Mumbai with technology, style and cutting-edge innovation at its core.
It said JWD offers a slew of innovative concepts in entertainment, food and beverage, retail, culture – many of which are being experimented with for the first time in India and have been built “with the vision of bringing the best global experiences to India and showcasing the best of India to the world”.
“This vision has led to yet another redefining experience for Mumbaikars with the opening of the Jio drive-in theatre,” Ambani said.
“Through JWD, we have envisioned a brand that will nurture a culture of new ideas and lead with innovation and accessibility as core ethos. One aspect of accessibility is creating an inclusive space for art, making it participative and open to dialogue, especially among the youth,” Ambani added.


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Small is the new big as pump prices go up, up and up
With fuel prices climbing, auto makers are focusing hard on compact and entry-level rides, Jeremy Cato reports
Read more on The Globe and Mail
5 Upsides to Global Turmoil
The unnerving events of 2011 have stress-tested the economic recovery.
Read more on US News & World Report
Luxury car dealers spending millions on upgrades in Bergen
BMW , Porsche and Mercedes dealers in Bergen County are spending millions of dollars on their showrooms and service areas.
Read more on The Record