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Updated October 28, 2021, 3:30 p.m. ET
Facebook’s new company name is Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Thursday, in an apparent effort to reshape the company’s public image from a failing social network to a technology innovator focused on building the next generation of online interaction, known as the “metaverse”.
The Facebook application used by nearly 3 billion people around the world each month will keep its name. But speaking at the company’s Connect virtual reality conference, Zuckerberg said it was time to reshuffle the company’s identity to reflect its broader ambitions.
“It’s time for us to embrace a new corporate brand to encompass everything we do,” he said. “From now on, we’re going to be metaverse first, not Facebook first.”
Seventeen years after Zuckerberg founded Facebook in his dormitory at Harvard University, the company’s brand has been severely shaken by a succession of crises, from Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election to the scandal of Cambridge Analytica’s data privacy, which became public in 2018, will last. this month’s damaging revelations from a former Facebook employee turned whistleblower Frances Haugen.
But even as the company was hit by a wave of critical media coverage of the damage to its platforms, based on Haugen’s mine of internal documents, Zuckerberg unabashedly kept his focus on the metaverse, describing it. Thursday as the company’s new “North Star”. . ”
He says the metaverse is the next big computing platform that people’s attention – and dollars – will shift to for years to come. And he wants the newly christened Meta to play a pivotal role in its creation and transformation into a great company.
“Building our social media apps will always be an important goal for us. But right now our brand is so closely tied to a product that it can’t represent everything we do today, let alone in the future. Zuckerberg said.
So what is the metaverse anyway?
Zuckerberg announced the new name, Meta, in a glitzy video presentation that served as the explanation for the metaverse, a futuristic and loosely defined concept that has become a Silicon Valley buzzword in recent years.
The term “metaverse” was coined by science fiction writer Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel, Snow accident. Enthusiasts use it to refer to immersive virtual spaces where people can play games, attend concerts, meet colleagues, and purchase all kinds of digital goods and services.
Facebook demonstrated many of these experiences in the brilliantly produced video Thursday, showing Zuckerberg riding an electric hydrofoil in virtual reality (a nod to his real-life hobby), fencing with a hologram and walking in. a 3D rendering of his “domestic space”.
This week, Facebook told investors that its spending on virtual reality and other next-generation products and services will cut $ 10 billion from its overall operating profit this year. He also announced his intention to hire 10,000 workers in Europe over the next five years to build the metaverse.
On Thursday, Zuckerberg said he plans to invest “many billions of dollars for years to come,” painting a vision of the future where one billion people will use the metaverse and generate hundreds of billions of dollars in the digital commerce – while acknowledging it remains “far away”.
“We are fully committed to it,” Zuckerberg said. “This is the next chapter in our work and, in our opinion, for the Internet in general.”
As a nod to Facebook’s long series of crises, Zuckerberg devoted part of the presentation to stressing that the company will focus on privacy and security when building its new virtual hardware and services.
“Privacy standards will be built into the metaverse from day one,” he said. “One of the lessons I have internalized from the past five years is that we need to focus on these principles from the start.”
Change could be the key to the existence of the company
Staying on top of the next big tech innovation isn’t just about Zuckerberg’s interest in the latest Silicon Valley fad. It is about the sustainability of his business, which depends on the attraction of young users.
Leaked internal documents show Facebook fears it will lose relevance as its user base ages. Those under 30 spend less time on Facebook, post less and send fewer messages, according to an internal report prepared in March and reported by Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, Instagram, which the company sees as a pipeline for young users who will eventually age in its other apps, is losing teens to other social media platforms – a phenomenon the company has identified as a “threat.” existential ”. The New York Times reported.
Zuckerberg told investors on Monday he was reorienting the business to appeal to young adults between the ages of 18 and 29, rather than the older crowd that has become its core. He cited threats, including the application of short TikTok videos, which he said is “one of the most effective competitors we have ever encountered.”
The big corporate overhaul comes as Congress threatens to pass tougher regulations on the tech industry, with some lawmakers claiming it has grown so big and powerful it looks like Big Tobacco in its heyday .
“Facebook is going through so much upheaval, so much negativity” that the name change risks making it look like “you’re trying to hide something,” said Prashant Malaviya, professor of marketing at the University’s McDonough School of Business. of Georgetown.
Indeed, critics were quick to accuse the company of this on Thursday.
“The name change from Facebook to Meta may make sense from a business marketing standpoint, but it’s also a blatant attempt to distance Mark Zuckerberg’s company from growing outrage over the damage it is causing to democracy in the United States and around the world, “said Paul Barrett, deputy director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, in a statement. “Zuckerberg and his lieutenants cannot get rid of the Facebook albatross with a smart brand adjustment.”
Changing your name often gives mixed results
Other companies have changed names in times of crisis, with mixed results. In 2001, when Marlboro cigarette maker Philip Morris announced plans to rename himself Altria, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner accused the company of “running away from tobacco.”
Malaviya says the rebranding of Altria worked at the company level – but he points out that the company never attempted to change the name to Marlboro, the product people actually knew.
Likewise, the social network Facebook, known internally as the “Big Blue App”, is not going anywhere.
“The Facebook brand is going to continue to exist. The app will be there. Instagram is still going to be there,” said Malaviya. “And this is where we have problems with what the company does.”
In 2015, Google reorganized under a new parent company called Alphabet, and its founders handed over the day-to-day management of its lucrative search engine, though the company is still widely referred to as Google.
If this story is any guide, said Malaviya, don’t expect the name “Facebook” to disappear from conversations or headlines.
Even though they are talking about this new business, the folks on Wall Street and Main Street might still be saying, ‘Well, yeah, it’s still just Facebook. “”
Editor’s Note: Facebook and Google are among the recent financial backers of NPR.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To learn more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Broadcom says its newly revised 802.11g chips offer range without gimmicks: In an interview last week, Bill Bunch, senior product line manager for wireless, said that the single-chip 802.11g adapter and two-chip 802.11g router/access point products had dramatically improved receive sensitivity, which translates into increased range. "If you have better hearing, and you and I are talking, then I can walk away further, and we can continue to talk at a very decent throughput," Bunch said. "It's like we both went out and got a hearing aid." The new technology is called BroadRange.
The new chips offer 50 percent greater range using the 125 High Speed Mode, Bunch said. "This gives you higher speed at every point that you care about." I asked Bunch what the real world performance would be given, that Wi-Fi is often advertising as a "150 foot" technology that turns out to be much less in homes with real building materials.
Bunch said that the company tests against environments that give them realistic results: if you formerly could reach 50 feet in one direction in an interior space, he said, you should now be able to reach 75 feet. For most homes, a 150-foot diameter might be all that's needed.
The adapter chip is available now; the router/AP chipset are at the sampling stage.

domain: news


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Stugan, a non-profit games accelerator that invites devs to the Swedish wilderness so they can build "the game of their dreams", has revealed this year's participants.
15 teams will be heading to the cabin in the woods this time around for a seven week, expenses-paid program that'll help them get to grips with key skills like game design, publishing, and marketing.
The new arrivals have promised to cook up an eclectic video game feast (teased in the video above), featuring, among other things, a virtual reality game about managing a puppet theater, a platformer where you change the world, and an experimental game about a jazz band.
All the teams will be helped along by a group of experienced mentors including familiar faces like Rami Ismail, Tommy Palm, and Oskar Burman, and new additions plucked straight from Oculus, Supercell, Raw Fury, Coffee Stain Studios.
"The third year of Stugan is our biggest yet," said Stugan manager Jana Palm. "We received a staggering number of applicants (including an increase in applications from female game devs) that highlighted the very best in indie games development.
"It was hard to narrow our choice down to just 15 teams, but we’re confident that we’ve selected the participants who will benefit most from what Stugan has to offer."
The 2017 edition of Stugan's games accelerator will run from June 26 until August 12. You can find out more about this year's line-up by clicking right here.


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Sekisui House Australia is continuing to invest in essential infrastructure for the Ripley community with the installation of two, free-to-use electric vehicle charging stations at Ripley Town Centre — a first for the expanding region.
Having delivered infrastructure than enables low-emission mobility, Sekisui House Australia is aiming to reduce Ripley Town Centre’s carbon footprint while preparing it for significant future growth.
The 22-kilowatt charging stations are largely powered by a solar panel system positioned on the roof of Ripley Town Centre and its carpark, which generates approximately 75 per cent of the electricity for the existing shopping environment.
Positioned near Ripley Vet and Little Piggy Cafe, the charging stations provide electric vehicle users a convenient location to top-up and go.
Sekisui House Australia Project Director Taku Hashimoto said the new charging stations meet the growing needs of the local Ripley community, both now and into the future.
“We’ve seen a steady increase in electric vehicles in the area, and our intent and responsibility is to ensure we continue to provide the right infrastructure as the needs of the community change,” Mr Hashimoto said.
“This is also in line with our ongoing commitment to sustainability — introducing initiatives and infrastructure throughout Ripley Town Centre to lessen the community’s impact on the environment.”
The charging stations are equipped with universal ports that are compatible with all electric vehicles, with 120 kilometers of range per hour of charge.
Installed in partnership with WINconnect, the charging stations also respond to the rise of electric vehicle use across the country, with electric vehicle sales in Australia increasing by 200 per cent in 2019 alone .
WINconnect CEO Phil Baxter said environmentally conscious Ripley Town Centre was the perfect location for electric vehicle charging stations.
“Electric vehicle charging is all about simplicity and usability, and we know Ripley’s eco-conscious residents will make good use of the two electric vehicle charging stations, which will also cater for the ever-growing electric vehicle market in the region,” Mr Baxter said.
Sekisui House Australia and WINconnect have also partnered for the long term to deliver what is believed to be Queensland’s largest private community energy network at Ripley Town Centre, providing ongoing benefits to the community, including lower tariff costs.
“Now with the addition of electric vehicle charging stations, Ripley Town Centre is taking yet another step forward in delivering clean and sustainable energy to the community,” Mr Baxter said.


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Seismic shifts in post-pandemic customer behaviour, aggressive new privacy requirements and breakneck advancements in technology have actually left global advertising and marketing experts more than a little off-kilter. Yet by concentrating on a couple of key concerns this year, marketing experts can handle this change-induced vertigo and also come through the uncertainty of the next couple of years.
Twist up, there’s no turning back
Covid has forced almost every brand to bolster its digital offering as well as there will certainly be no returning to our old ways. We currently loved the convenience of digital buying and also when we had the ability to use this to also our everyday grocery buying, we jumped at the chance. This change needs to provide high road shops every reason to stop briefly and think of what their buying differentiator will currently be. Anticipate to see a lot even more innovation from brick-and-mortar shops in the next few years.
First-party data will be the holy grail over the next few years, specifically as cookies go away. This new digital-forward approach will go a long way to aid firms get involved in the mind of their customers. More than just an additional revenue chance, the online play will certainly end up being an important part of the contemporary brand’s survival toolkit.
Social removes and also have to be a key focus for CMOs
As part of its yearly forecasts, Gartner has stated that “by 2026, 60% of millennial as well as Gen Z customers will certainly prefer making acquisitions on social platforms over standard digital business systems”. While it’s still in its infancy now, purchasing directly from a favourite social networks platform, such as Instagram, will swiftly expand in popularity over the next three to five years.
However, the price of development will certainly be dictated by the degree of depend on customers have in the platform brands. So, while Instagram will be the focus of marketing professionals’ interest for the moment, this will certainly be influenced by just how consumers watch and also trust its parent firm, Meta.
Social business likewise holds substantial chances for local firms in the future. SA has shown itself to be a mobile-first country, with consumers rapidly embracing mobile payments and generally being fast adopters of mobile development. Social commerce ought to be an evident possibility for clever marketing experts and even if implementation is a long time off, intending must begin quickly.
It’s all about exactly how fast that doorbell rings
The one concern with social commerce development locally exists not in the medium but in the last mile. Successful social commerce is based on immediacy. In Europe, the standard is same-day distribution. If the fulfilment part of the experience is less than great, it will certainly colour the customer’s experience overall. Regional CMOs should focus on the fulfilment experience as a crucial means of getting ready to participate in the development of social commerce in the next couple of years.
The 2nd caveat on this pattern is that not every agency will have the ability to assist brand names provide on the chance. Social business is greater than having a fantastic internet site. The complexities of creating a proper social business approach as part of an existing network technique will count on the experience and also insight of the groups dealing with the account. While early adopters can gain a real competitive advantage, a severely performed offering might push away clients, who are not likely to give a brand a 2nd possibility.
Lars Lehne, team CEO of Incubeta. Photo: Provided
A cookie-less future is obscuring the path ahead
Looking in advance, the most significant issues we are tracking, and also which need to be on all worldwide advertising leaders’ radars, are proprietary data and also the sundown of the third-party cookie.
The effect will just be comprehended when we are submersed in our new fact, however there are things that every CMO should be doing now, including boldy constructing their first-party datasets and also ensuring they have a good tech stack to manage, control, analyse and also act on that useful information. Purchasing this now might appear costly, however the option will certainly be much more pricey.
Marketing professionals have actually browsed undiscovered waters over the past 24 months and, while the sun might have poked its go out, there is no warranty of smooth sailing. For the next couple of years marketing professionals must invest in technology designed to supply the details required to establish the best training course.


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Nick’s Crispy Tacos’ latest incarnation is at Underdogs in SF
Updated 4:30 pm, Friday, August 15, 2014
Nick Fasanella is our Johnny Tacoseed, dropping versions around town of what we still colloquially call Nick’s Crispy Tacos — even if he no longer owns the Polk Gulch original.
Among Fasanella’s projects is the Taco Shop at Underdogs, where Nick’s loyalists — myself included — make a pilgrimage. There, the tradition of tacos served “Nick’s Way” proudly continues amid a cacophony of ESPN and margaritas that soar above sports-bar standards.
Yes, we know Nick’s way diverges from taco scripture. Really, though, it offers a testament of its own. There are pinto beans, a paving of Monterey Jack and those double-layered tortillas, one soft and one fried — not truly crispy so much as offering a slick crunch that deserves a place in taco taxonomy.
The key to comprehending a Nick’s addiction is understanding the progression of textures as you bite: the pliant outer tortilla, the crackling inner one, the bite of onion, the cool meatiness of fresh guacamole.
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As for the grilled fish filling: The pleasantly oily yellowtail (the fish changes seasonally) enhances what’s already a near-perfect equation.
The Taco Shop at Underdogs, 1824 Irving St. (near 20th Avenue), S.F.; (415) 566-8700. www.tacoshopsf.com.
— Jon Bonné, firstname.lastname@example.org


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Amid mass tech layoffs, Amazon also looks set to tighten its belt due to global economic issues.
Job losses across the tech sector look set to continue, with reports that Amazon plans to cut up to 10,000 staff across its global workforce.
If these job cuts go ahead, they will be the largest in Amazon’s history.
Amazon employs about 5,000 people in Ireland and more than 1.5m people globally. It is unclear how many Irish jobs could be cut.
Sources told the New York Times that the job losses will likely hit the company’s devices, retail and human resources divisions, with cuts expected to roll out team by team rather than all at once.
In its quarterly earnings report last month, Amazon predicted a fall in sales for its fourth quarter. The conservative forecast for the holiday season was seen as a possible signal for others to expect less consumer activity during a cost-of-living crisis.
In a letter to staff this month, Amazon VP for people experience and technology Beth Galetti confirmed that the company would freeze hiring for its corporate workforce, with plans to keep this freeze for the next few months.
“We’re facing an unusual macroeconomic environment, and want to balance our hiring and investments with being thoughtful about this economy,” Galetti said.
More tech layoffs
Amazon may become the latest tech company to reduce the size of its workforce as the sector reacts to issues in the global economy and a looming recession.
Yesterday (14 November), Intercom confirmed that it is reducing its global workforce by 13pc, with 39 employees in Ireland at risk of being made redundant.
Twitter made headlines for halving its headcount, while Meta announced significant job cuts last week. The parent company of Facebook is reducing the size of its global workforce by around 13pc, letting go more than 11,000 employees. There are approximately 3,000 Meta employees in Ireland, and around 350 jobs are said to be at risk.
There are also reports that Intel is planning to cut thousands of jobs worldwide amid a drop in PC sales, according to Bloomberg. The chipmaker employs roughly 4,900 people in Ireland.
Salesforce is making cutbacks, but it is unclear how many of its 2,100 Irish staff may be affected. Sources told the Business Post last week that the US company is expected to cut at least 80 staff from its Dublin office as part of the global layoffs.
With Irish workers being affected by the recent wave of job cuts, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar attempted to reassure tech professionals here that there is no sign of companies planning to fully close their Irish operations.
Following a meeting between IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland last week, Varadkar said that those who had lost their jobs as a result of these mass cuts would be assisted “as they seek alternative employment or other opportunities”.
He also said that the Government was “confident that all national employment rights requirements for consultation and notification of redundancies will be adhered to once decisions on any reductions in employment are made”.
10 things you need to know direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of essential sci-tech news.


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The social media company Snap is testing a new subscription service called Snapchat+. Rumours of this development started Thursday on Twitter that could cost around US$5 a month. This will allow them to do things like pin a “best friend” at the top of their messaging page.
Snap spokesperson Liz Markman confirmed the new to CNN Business. She explained that the company has begun early internal testing of the service but declined to comment on the features, pricing or timeline of the sercince. This comes as the company tries to kick start its business after a few tough months.
Markman said “we’re excited about the potential to share exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features with our subscribers, and learn more about how we can best serve our community,”
For more information about the source click HERE


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USDA eases import requirements for fresh blueberries from Chile
The U.S. is revising the requirements for importing fresh blueberry fruit from Chile, allowing fruit from the Biobio and Nuble regions to be produced under a systems approach as an alternative to using methyl bromide fumigation.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said the much-anticipated move, which comes just before the start of the Chilean blueberry season, is effective immediately.
The systems approach combines safeguarding measures across the production continuum by growers, packers, and shippers to minimize the risk of introducing plant pests into the United States.
APHIS says that the entry of the European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana, EGVM) into the U.S. can be avoided by following a work plan, which includes requirements that can be viewed here.
EGVM is known to exist in the southern Biobio and Nuble regions but APHIS says that pest prevalence is low.
APHIS solicited comments on the proposed rule change for Chilean blueberry imports for 60 days ending June 1, 2020.
"We received 53 comments by that date. They were from growers, importers, buyers, ports, associations, and representatives of a foreign government. All but one of those comments were in favor of the proposal with no further questions," it said.
Jorge Valenzuela Trebilcock, the president of the Federation of Fruit Producers of Chile, Fedefruta, said: "The Federation is convinced that the Ñuble Region will become the country's main fruit and vegetable hub within a few years. The fact that the United States finally approved the Systems Approach for blueberries from this area will strengthen and speed up this process," stated Valenzuela.
APHIS in December 2013 implemented the methyl bromide fumigation requirement after numerous pest detections. Blueberry producers have long complained that the methyl bromide fumigation requirements created unnecessary additional costs and could affect fruit quality.


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China's September trade surplus stayed high at $16.9 billion amid pressure from Washington and others to ease currency controls they blame for job losses amid a slowing global recovery.
Export and import growth both weakened, hurt by slower global demand and a moderation in the rapid expansion of China's economy, the world's second-largest, data showed Wednesday.
The trade gap narrowed from August's $20 billion level but might reinforce demands by American lawmakers for Beijing to ease exchange rate controls they say give China's exporters an unfair price advantage and are costing U.S. jobs.
"The trade surplus will stay large" for the rest of this year, said Sun Fanghong, a Pingan Securities economist. "This will be a reason for the United States to pressure China over its exchange rate."
Export growth fell to 25.1 percent from August's 34.4 percent as Europe's financial crisis helped to cool global demand. Import growth also fell to 24.1 percent from August's 35.2 percent, a negative sign for economies that look to relatively robust China to drive sales of their goods.
"We'll probably continue to see more slowdown in trade because the global recovery is facing difficulties," said Citigroup economist Ken Peng. Still, he said, "the trade surplus could hang onto current levels" in coming months.
Exports totaled $144.9 billion while imports were $128.1 billion, according to China's customs agency.
Beijing also is likely to face demands for action on currency at next month's meeting in South Korea of the Group of 20 major economies. A Chinese official said Wednesday the meeting should focus on the global recovery and argued that criticizing Beijing over currency would be divisive.
Also Wednesday, China's central bank reported its foreign reserves soared to $2.65 trillion at the end of September. That was up nearly $200 billion from June and could add to currency pressure.
The rapid growth of the reserves is a side effect of Beijing's effort to manage its exchange rate. To prevent the yuan from rising too quickly, the central bank buys most of the dollars and other foreign currency that are flooding into the economy and stockpiles them abroad in U.S. Treasury bills and other foreign assets.
Beijing promised more exchange rate flexibility in June. It has tried to defuse pressure in Washington by allowing the yuan to rise faster in recent weeks but it has gained only 2.4 percent against the dollar since the June pledge.
Pressure from American lawmakers for action has mounted amid signs the U.S. recovery is weakening ahead of November elections. The House of Representatives passed legislation Sept. 30 to allow Washington to sanction governments that manipulate their currency for trade advantages and the Senate is due to take up the measure after the elections.
"It's a very real possibility that the currency bill would pass," said U.S. Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, who was in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials.
"My job is to tell the Chinese government how serious it is," Baucus said. "They said they understood."
Beijing has insisted it will set the pace of change, and Premier Wen Jiabao warned in a speech in New York in September that too fast a rise could bankrupt Chinese companies and wipe out jobs.
"The more pressure the United States tries to put on China, the more resistant China will become," said Sun.
On Wednesday, a Chinese official argued the G-20 meeting should focus on the global recovery and said criticizing China would "show a divided G-20" to the world.
"The G-20 should focus on what is required by the global economic recovery ... certainly not on any particular currency of any particular country," Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai told reporters in Seoul.
Beijing and Washington have accused each other of protectionism despite pledges to avoid measures that economists say would slow the global recovery. The governments are arguing over access to each other's markets for tires, steel, chicken and other goods.
China rebounded quickly from the global slump, helping to boost demand for iron ore and other materials from its Asian neighbors, Australia, Brazil and other economies. But growth is expected to slow to about 9.5 percent in the July-September quarter from 10.3 percent the previous quarter.
Demand for steel and some other materials is falling sharply as the government reins in a building boom triggered by its stimulus spending.
The rising yuan and shrinking trade surplus might help to defuse trade tensions, said Citigroup's Peng.
"It will be more difficult for the U.S. political sphere to reach a consensus to pass this legislation," he said. "I'm becoming more optimistic we can move on without a currency war."
Associated Press Writer Chi-chi Zhang, AP Business Writer Kelly Olsen in Seoul and AP researcher Zhao Liang contributed.
China General Administration of Customs:


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Hollywood's biggest and most beautiful stars donned their finest to strut down the red carpet at the Golden Globes on Sunday with strapless gowns, chandelier earrings, bold colours and black the top choices.
The global style spotlight swings to Milan on Saturday, September 20th where fashion week kicks off with more than 90 spring-summer 2009 collections to be sent out, highlighted by the much-awaited debut of Gianfranco ...
By Julie Mollins TORONTO (Reuters Life!) - When Master Corporal Paul Franklin started collecting war rugs while serving with the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan he did not know he would be part of a growing global trend.
From hair cropped short, to smoking cigarettes and making-up in public, the Roaring 20s revolutionised women's wear and lifestyles like no other era before, according to a show kicking off in Paris this weekend.
By Julie Mollins TORONTO, Jan 12 (Reuters Life!) - Contrary to popular belief, money can grow on trees and so can memories, according to the organizers of an exhibition chronicling the use of bark cloth.


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(RxWiki News) Herbal supplements make up a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States. Last year, sales totaled an estimated $5.2 billion, and that was up from the previous year.
Economic unease isn't keeping Americans from seeking health care from herbal supplements. According to a recent report, sales in the United States increased 3.3 percent in 2010. This report was published in HerbalGram, the American Botanical Council’s (ABC) quarterly journal.
"Tell your doctor about all medicines you're taking, including vitamins and herbs."
These figures are based on herbal supplement sales statistics from market research organizations - Nutrition Business Journal (NBJ), SPINS, and SymphonyIRI.
Mainstream outlets - drugstores, grocers, etc. - had an overall sales growth of 6.6 percent from 2009 to 2010, according to NBJ. These sales totaled some $936 million. Natural and health food stores had a 2 percent growth in 2010 to $1.663 billion.
In addition to these traditional outlets, herbal supplements are sold through mail order catalogs, Internet sites, direct sales radio and TV outlets, multi-level marketing and other channels. Healthcare professionals also sell directly to their patients.
HerbalGram Editor Mark Blumenthal says the increased sales are contributing to a trend. In 2009, sales increased 4.8 percent over the previous year when the U.S. recession was in full swing.
In 2010, according to SPINS, the top-selling single herbal supplements in the health food channel included:
- Flaxseed and/or oil
- Grass (wheat or barley)
IRI reports the top-seller single herbs in mass market channels were:
- Saw palmetto
HerbalGram is a a peer-reviewed publication of the American Botanical Council, a nonprofit organization.


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Social media platform Facebook was on the verge of losing 17 billion pound ($23 billion) of its value after its announcement of making changes to its News Feed.
The new update on the News Feed will allow the users to see more updates from family and friends rather than posts from business, brands and media. This means that now the user will get more news from known relatives and friends rather than advertising of a brand or business.
According to reports, the company’s share fell 4 per cent within hours of the official announcement by CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg, who took to Facebook to clarify why the amendments were justified, said, “One of our big focus areas for 2018 is making sure the time we all spend on Facebook is time well spent.”
“Research shows that strengthening our relationships improves our well-being and happiness,” he added.
He also said, “We feel a responsibility to make sure our services aren’t just fun to use, but also good for people's well-being. So we've studied this trend carefully by looking at the academic research and doing our own research with leading experts at universities.”
“As we roll this out, you'll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media. And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard -- it should encourage meaningful interactions between people,” he confessed.
Zuckerberg also admitted that the new changes might not be welcomed easily by the users and can result in a downfall, but believes that meaningful social interactions are important for the users.


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Around 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 7, Jarvis, a 20-ish Park View resident, plunks his cash down in the glass carousel of a Georgia Avenue convenience store and barks out his order: “Honey Philly!” The clerk, separated by a wall of plexiglass, furrows his brow and cups his hand to his ear. He can’t hear. So Jarvis shouts again, enunciating: “Ho-ney Phil-ly!”
The clerk catches on this time, and he serves up the desired cigarPhillies being the brand, honey the flavor. It’s what Jarvis will be rolling with this evening, though he’s not wedded to the honey Philly. Dutch Masters, he says, also puts out a nice cigar. And as far as flavor goes, he actually prefers chocolate. “They hit better than most blunts,” he says with a shrug.
Jarvis has a lot of blunts to choose from at the liquor and convenience stores along Georgia Avenue NW. At the Georgia Ave. Market, where he’s shopping tonight, the Phillies lineup runs the whole flavor gamut: berry, sour apple, peach, strawberry, honey, chocolate. Even cognac.
While it’s a boon to smokers like Jarvis, the diversity in choice for cigar consumers angers Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Sinclair Skinner. “The chocolate, the watermelon, the strawberryall this is ridiculous,” says the 34-year-old Skinner, who runs a dry cleaner in the neighborhood. “I tell young people about it and they know it’s ridiculous. And hypocritical….It’s enticing when you see flavored candy. Now you have flavored blunts.”
To Skinner, who lives near Howard University, the panoply of flavors is just one more indicator that the cigars are rarely smoked in their original formand one more reason he’s intent on halting their spread. Noting that blunts and other smoking products are marketed to the hiphop crowd in magazines and on the Web, Skinner believes a race element is at work. “The areas that receive the proliferation of these products are in black neighborhoods,” he says, adding that the creation of a watermelon flavor only adds to the race argument. “That’s some real Sambo stuff.”
To bolster his campaign, Skinner’s working to enlist the Howard University chapter of the NAACP and plans on taking out advertisements in the school’s student newspaper. But his main strategy will be to implement voluntary agreements.
Such agreements between advisory neighborhood commissions and local businesses are common: If the business agrees to stop promulgating a community nuisancesuch as live music, say, or single-container beverage salesthe commission will withdraw its objections when the time comes for license renewal with, for example, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. But Skinner’s 11-member commission has so far drafted no resolution against blunts sales, and some would rather not meddle. “You have two schools of thought,” concedes Skinner. “Some have a laissez-faire attitude: Let the business do what they want if they’re not breaking the law.”
So Skinner has decided to hit the streets on his own. He made his first approach last weekto Sonya’s Market at the corner of 11th and Harvard Streets NWand said he wouldn’t support the store’s future beer-license renewals unless it stopped selling single blunts. Under Skinner’s proposal, the store would be limited to selling only multi-blunt packages.
Owner Yong Fu, who’s been running Sonya’s Market for 20 years, sells strawberry-, chocolate-, and apple-flavored Phillies, along with standard Dutch Master cigars and Top brand rolling papers. Because Skinner hasn’t approached any other retailers, Fu feels singled out. He’s worried he’ll have to stop selling some forms of blunts while his competitors around the block can continue hawking all the flavors. “Whatever [Skinner] says, we have to do,” he says.
Adding fuel to the fire of Skinner’s crusade, manufacturers such as Royal Blunts, along with rolling out new flavors, have introduced what are commonly called “blunt papers”flavored tobacco-leaf paper without the filling. Marijuana smokers, explains Skinner, no longer have to open the cigar to remove the low-grade tobacco inside. “It’s to the point where you don’t even have to unroll the blunt,” he says. “‘We’ll just give you the paper.’”
Lance Alexander, a spokesperson for Corona, Calif.-based Royal Blunts, says the explosion of the roll-your-own market has more to do with rising cigarette taxes than with marijuana use. “There’s a heavy tax in most states,” says Alexander. “Consumers have decided to buy their own loose tobacco and paper.”
Alexander, whose company sells pre-cut, “ready-to-roll” leaf papers in nine flavors including blueberry and honey, says Royal Blunts regularly receives glowing testimonials from cigarette smokers who use its rolling papers. Not a single cannabis smoker, he says, has written to the company. Allowing that such papers could be used to illegal ends, Alexander says his company nonetheless wouldn’t be responsible. “Clearly, you can use any product for illicit purposes,” he argues. “Say I buy a can of Coca-Cola and I make a Molotov cocktail out of it. Then I go throwing it around. Are you going to say they can’t sell Coke?”
Skinner plans on explaining his voluntary-agreement proposal to more neighborhood stores over the coming weeks. Fu, for his part, says he doesn’t understand what the fuss is all about. “I don’t even know what they use them for,” he says. CP


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Musk also said that the production of cars in China can increase the speed of their vehicles in the Chinese market and help the company improve the efficiency of capital use.
However, Musk also revealed that Tesla does not have any short-term goal of building a new factory in China. He said: "We can't burn money too fast, you know, otherwise we will have a shortage of funds."
Since last month, Tesla has started accepting scheduled orders for the low-priced version of Model 3 in China.


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Australian landscaping products and services company, Ecodynamics, has announced the merger of its sub-brands – WeBlow, Aquaseeding and Mossrock. These brands will be housed under the Ecodynamics name for its operations in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.
With turnover expected to rise to $40 million by 2022, the company is expected to grow exponentially in line with the burgeoning infrastructure projects planned across Australia, and the shift towards creating more sustainable, greener futures.
The company will now consist of four divisions spanning landscaping, services, mulch and the nursery. The nursery division is the company’s social enterprise that aims to offset climate change and land degradation through community initiatives.
Ecodynamics managing director Nick Somes says bringing the companies together is responding to the need in the market to offer a diverse range of products and services under a single and easy to recognise brand in the marketplace.
Ecodynamics has delivered many of Australia’s most iconic green spaces, some of which include Eastlink and Birrarung Marr in Victoria, the Northern and Southern Expressways in South Australia, and Burrill Lake in New South Wales.
Along with its new branding, Ecodynamics has announced it will be the Principal Partner for the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) Victorian Chapter to directly engage with and support the state’s design and landscaping community.
“The partnership aligns with our company ethos and the work we do in greening and nurturing communities. We look forward to working closely with AILA and its member base over the next year to share our expertise in delivering quality projects across Australia,” says Somes.


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If you were hoping for any news at this year’s E3 from Rockstar Games or any other Take Two company, get ready for a dose of disappointment.
During the latest earnings call Take Two’s President, Karl Slatoff, revealed what Take Two’s plans were for E3 2018. Well, actually, he kind of just put a dampener on it. Instead of giving an optimistic outlook, Slatoff revealed that there will be no new games announced at this year’s E3.
I kind of expected Gearbox’s Borderlands 3 to make an appearance at some point, but it looks like it’s not happening anytime soon. Still, the gaming calendar has expanded over the last decade and E3 is no longer the be-all end-all. There’s Gamescom, the various PAX events, EGX Rezzed, Tokyo Game Show, and even Sony’s, Microsoft’s, and Nintendo’s events that are used to make new announcements. Fingers crossed…
We sometimes link to online retail stores. If you buy something from our links, we may make a small commission which goes towards keeping the lights on and coffee in the pot.
Chris has been writing about gaming news for far too long, and now he’s doing it even more. A true PlayStation know-it-all, Chris has owned just about every Sony console that ever existed. Trophies are like crack to this fella. (Bronze trophies, that is – he only has one Platinum.)


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Who made my clothes? Are brands in Britain playing by the rules?
Six years on from the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh Traidcraft Exchange is teaming up with Fashion Revolution in a new initiative that aims to speed up change in the fashion industry. Tom Sharman explains why we’re now asking: ‘Who made my clothes? Are brands in Britain playing by the rules?’
Before we launched ‘Who picked my tea?’ about a year ago, Fashion Revolution had been encouraging its supporters to ask ‘Who made my clothes?’ for a while. The similarity in names isn’t a coincidence – I liked Fashion Revolution’s language and its staff were nice enough to give their blessing.
With ‘Who picked my tea?’ drawing to a successful conclusion we’ve been thinking about which injustices in trade to tackle next and the obvious place to start is the fashion industry.
Fashion Revolution Week is timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh which killed more than 1,000 people, most of whom were young women making clothes for the international market. Amid the devastation, one positive thing that emerged was a new wave of activists who both loved fashion and hated the injustices perpetuated by the fashion industry. That is the essence of Fashion Revolution.
‘Who made my clothes?’ or, more accurately, #whomademyclothes has connected hundreds of thousands of consumers directly with the brands that sell the clothes they wear. A lot of this has happened through the medium of Instagram because that platform allows its users to take a photo of their clothing label, tag the brand in question and ask ‘Who made my clothes?’. Simple, but effective because the brands do feel compelled to respond.
I will not pretend that I’m particularly Instagram-savvy myself (I’m more Generation Facebook). And I suspect that neither are many of Traidcraft Exchange’s core supporters. Plus, Fashion Revolution have got that demographic pretty much covered.
Where we can add value here is by looking at some of the related issues and mobilising our campaigning muscle to tackle them.
Modern slavery – people being owned or controlled by an ‘employer’ or forced to work – is alive and well in the fashion industry. At least that’s what leading lights in the fashion industry themselves argued in evidence to a Select Committee of MPs: the luxury goods brand Burberry said:
“We take the view that the labour and environmental standards in certain countries are not sufficient for us to have confidence that our standards can be adhered to. Therefore, we have a strong policy around countries from which we will not source our finished products. These countries include; Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia and Myanmar.”
So what is the rest of the fashion industry doing about this? Well it’s not that easy to find out. The UK Modern Slavery Act does require major companies to set out what they are doing to tackle modern slavery in their supply chains. But the British Government does not keep a central record of what each of them are doing – a major gap in the system.
We’re aiming to close that gap by persuading the Government to set up a proper modern slavery database so that we, as consumers, can see which brands are the leaders and which are the laggards.
Tom Sharman is Traidcraft Exchange’s Senior Campaigns & Communications Officer


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The end of the cheesy toast: Sizzler to close permanently in Australia
Collins Foods have announced that the remaining 9 Sizzler restaurants in Australia will be permanently closing citing “peak COVID-19 impacts” as one of the primary reasons. Innaloo, Kelmscott and Morley were the three remaining stores in Perth.
In a statement Collins Food has said:
“As a casual dining concept, and unlike Collins Foods’ KFC and Taco Bell restaurants, Sizzler revenues and earnings have been slow to recover from peak COVID-19 impacts.”
Gary Mortimer, Researcher at Queensland University of Technology told Gareth Parker “the heyday of Sizzler and the cheesy toast back in the 80’s and 90’s were long gone.”
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November 24, 2014 01:25 AM
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BRITTANY MEILING The San Diego Union-Tribune
February 20, 2019 03:00 AM
Your first business idea out of college is supposed to flop, right? Not so for San Diego State University grads Griffin Thall and Paul Goodman, who have spent their post-college years building a retail empire.
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Their Instagram feeds might look glossy and curated, but in real life, artists are vulnerable and scrambling for work.
This past February, like so many others in her 25 years as a freelance makeup artist, Rachel Goodwin boarded a plane from LAX to Paris with a 50-pound bag of makeup and a calendar full of Fashion Week gigs. “By the time I got there, it was like the whole world had changed,” she tells Refinery29. “The Louvre was being shut down, my clients were not going to the shows, and I was getting on a plane to come home because of COVID,” she says. “My world has not been the same since.”
Like many in service-based industries — which make up 25% of the U.S. work force and employ more women than men — Hollywood’s leading makeup artists, hairstylists, and nail professionals have become unemployed virtually overnight as a result of the pandemic. Freelance celebrity hair colorist Cassondra Kaeding, who had just started working with Kylie Jenner, says her entire calendar was wiped clean in an instant. “If our clients aren’t working, we’re not working,” Kaeding says. Hairstylist Jenny Cho had just wrapped an in-salon training in London, worked with Lucy Boynton for the Chloé show during Paris Fashion Week, and finished an ad campaign with Ana de Armas before making it out of Spain right as travel advisories were being put into place. “I literally got home in the nick of time,” she says.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF JO BAKER
Makeup artist Jo Baker, hairstylist Jenny Cho, and stylist Leith Clark were in Paris with their celebrity client Lucy Boynton days before the city starting shutting down to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Whether Kylie has fresh highlights or a glittery Fashion Week party gets cancelled might seem trivial in a time of international crisis — especially when it’s easy to confuse the lifestyles of glam squads with those of the celebrities they serve. But outside of the flawless last looks and BTS images they post on Instagram, there’s a lot to the job we don’t see. “What’s shown on social media is definitely curated,” Cho says. What’s not pictured: a schedule that can change on a whim, 4 a.m. call times, jet lag, and long days away from family — all for less compensation than one might imagine. “I love my job,” Cho says. “But it’s not as easy and as glamorous as people may think.”
The Real Cost Of Celebrity Beauty
The truth is, despite its glossy veneer, the job of a Hollywood beauty pro is closer to that of a gig worker: If there’s no one to serve, there’s no work — and no job security, either. “No matter how fabulous the venue, the client, or the event, freelance is freelance and that means you’re unemployed until you’re employed,” says makeup artist Tasha Reiko Brown, whose clients include Logan Browning and Tracee Ellis Ross.
Freelance beauty pros are typically paid between 30 to 90 days after completing a job and in one lump sum from which they draw their own salary after paying out-of-pocket for health, liability, and disability insurance, retirement, 401K contributions, agency fees, assistant fees, taxes, and supplies like foundation, brushes, and hairspray. “When people hear our rates, what they don’t understand is that freelance artists are on our own. So what we make at the end of the day is not what it sounds like,” Goodwin says. “There’s a misnomer that it’s a big glamorous career, and it is, but it’s also feast or famine. We’re very vulnerable because we don’t get a normal paycheck. There are people who won’t be able to pay their rent in this unpredictable climate.”
PHOTO: COURTESY OF RACHEL GOODWIN
Rachel Goodwin, longtime makeup artist to Emma Stone, says freelance celebrity makeup artists are more vulnerable because they’re not part of an organized union like on-set artists who work in film and teleivision.
As both Goodwin and makeup artist Fiona Stiles point out, the COVID-19 outbreak has exposed other cracks in their sector of the industry. “Makeup artists and hairstylists in the film industry are more protected because they have a union,” says Goodwin, who works with actors like Emma Stone and January Jones. “Our part of the business has never had it and I’ve always wanted there to be one, but there’s just never enough momentum, seemingly, forpeople to get behind it.”
Even before COVID-19 put an abrupt end to the movie premieres, photoshoots, press junkets, and galas that kept Hollywood’s glam teams earning a steady income, many artists in the industry had already taken financial hits with a changing landscape. In the 2008 financial crisis, rates were slashed to a quarter of what they once were and have never fully recovered, according to Goodwin. Meanwhile, a surge of young talent who are looking to break into the industry and willing to work for less has congested the field and stymied rates. “There are artists who will fly themselves to LA or to Paris during Fashion Week or to France for Cannes to make themselves available wherever the clients are going,” notes freelance hairstylist Lacy Redway, whose clients include Tessa Thompson and Zazie Beetz.
It’s a precedent that can trickle up to seasoned pros, who are expected to occasionally pay out of pocket to keep a client on their books. “Since the 2008 economic disaster, studios have cut budgets so low that they sometimes ask us to pay for travel ourselves or to crash at a friend’s house like we’re 19 years old, but I try not to do that,” Cho says. Collecting frequent flyer miles can help lift the burden, but that doesn’t always cover it. Sometimes, celebrity clients split the difference.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF RACHEL GOODWIN
Goodwin, seen here with Brie Larson, says she’s banked enough savings to get by for a few months, but worries about emerging freelance artists who don’t have a safety net.
Financial Worry Despite Fiscal Responsibility
In some ways, the fluid and unstable nature of freelance artistry in beauty has better prepared veteran artists and stylists for the type of sudden fallout that many gig economy workers are facing due to the coronavirus. All the pros we talked to for this story have stacked savings to draw from while they’re out of work — in this case, because of a pandemic. “When I first got into this business, I was told to save my money and be able to position myself to where I had a six-month fund because you want to ride out times when your loyal clients aren’t working. Even without COVID, you can have a dry spell, so you have to be the kind of person who thinks ahead and doesn’t live beyond your means,” Goodwin says.
A healthy war chest built to cover a few months of expenses can help ease the pressure of sudden job loss, but the unpredictable nature of the pandemic is worrying even the most prepared of professionals. “It’s an emotional rollercoaster,” says Redway about her concerns brought on by the shutdown. “It leaves artists and creatives in such an uncertain place because we don’t know when we’re going to be able to go back to work. We work in such an intimate way with talent — we’re touching their faces, hair, and nails constantly. After the ban is lifted, when will people be comfortable with having other people touching them in that way?”
PHOTO: COURTESY OF JO BAKER
Right before COVID-19 became a threat, hairstylist Jenny Cho had a calendar of Fashion Week events with actress Lucy Boynton.
But it’s not enough, and many are still left waiting and wondering what the future will hold. “I’m definitely worried about what’s going to happen,” notes Cho, who had just closed escrow on a new home when the shutdown hit and has a family to support. “I applied for unemployment and am waiting for it to show up. It’s not a lot, but it’s something.” For her part, makeup artist Emily Cheng is looking into enrolling as well.
It’s not just those with dependents who face additional challenges to making ends meet at a time when work has flatlined. As Goodwin acknowledges, freelance artists still establishing themselves in their careers might not have had the privilege of stacking an emergency fund. “The artists I feel bad for right now are the ones who are just starting because they haven’t been able to build up and establish themselves,” she says. “If I was two or three years in, this could be a roadblock I may not be able to get by.”
The Instagram Economy
Queenie Nguyen is an LA-based nail stylist who works with both private and celebrity clients. Last year, after more than 10 years in the salon sector, she made the switch to working with talent. Since then, she has impressively grown her portfolio, not only by gaining agency representation and working with stars like Halsey and Soirse Ronan, but also by building a modest following on Instagram. Though she says she has some savings to draw from, she couldn’t have prepared for the sudden and massive fallout from the coronavirus. The nail stylist is working to drum up brand partnerships on Instagram. But she also recently signed up to be a Postmates delivery driver a few times a week in order to cover the cost of her grocery bills.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF CASSONDRA KAEDING
Hair colorist Cassondra Kaeding mixes up custom color kits for her longtime clients, as well as new customers she’s gained through Instagram.
Because the app allows her to pick her shifts, she’s able to prioritize nail-focused opportunities as they come up. “If I have a collaboration with a brand or a set Instagram Live, then I can make sure to be there for that,” she says. She’s already partnered with a beauty brand on a DIY video since the shutdown and is working to do more. “I don’t really make a lot of money from this. It’s just for the exposure, so that when this is over, I’ll have more work,” she says.
Kaeding, who splits her time between working with celebrity clients and in a salon, has found her own unexpected revenue stream in quarantine. Right when her salon was closing, the colorist made moves to stock up on supplies. “I thought, Maybe I can do something for my clients,” she says. She landed on making at-home hair color kits to help clients keep up their color while self isolating.
The endeavor has earned her a little extra cash, and connected her more closely with her regulars as well as new clients from all over the country. “It broadens my horizons and it’s cool to see people so happy and excited when they’re able to do color themselves,” she says. “Before, I worked so many hours that I was never able to brainstorm and come up with ideas. But this has got my wheels turning. Maybe this is something that I can continue to do later down the road for people who can’t come to me.” In addition to mixing $110 custom-color kits for customers on Instagram, Kaeding is working on creating a website to make ordering more seamless.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF HANG NGUYEN
Nail artist Hang Nguyen, who is nine months pregnant, creates custom nail decals at home — a small source of income for her now that red-carpet work has stopped.
Nguyen and Kaeding aren’t the only artists taking to Instagram to share their skills. Despite increasingly dire circumstances, there’s never been a better time to get beauty advice straight from Hollywood pros who are typically too slammed with their day jobs to engage online. Makeup artist Reiko Brown has partnered with brands like BeautyBlender and Kevyn Aucoin for tutorials and Q+As. “It’s keeping me creative,” she says. “There’s times that I can’t do something like this because we have back-to-back press junkets and I don’t have time to do a how-to or beauty breakdown. Now I have time. I’m going more in depth and sharing a lot of knowledge. That feels good, and the response has been amazing.”
For artists who have no other subject to work on, this unique time is pushing their skills in new directions. “Personally, I’ve never wanted to be in front of the camera, but it’s not like I have anyone else to do makeup on, and I miss it so much that this has encouraged me to think about getting a little more personal and showing my personality off a little bit,” says makeup artist Emily Cheng, who works with Yara Shahidi, Laura Harrier and Julia Garner.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF JENNY CHO
Cho is trying to build an office in her new home for freelance work, while serving as a caretaker for her four-year-old son.
Other artists are using this time to focus on content to deepen connections in the beauty community and inspire their followers. As co-founder of the forthcoming Makeup Museum, Goodwin is working to create online content around its #generationsofbeauty campaign. On her own platform, she’s creating an IGTV series called “State of the Art” for burgeoning industry pros. Redway is also offering her services wherever they’re needed. “At the beginning of this, I started to question whether or not I should post on social media because I was starting to feel like what I did wasn’t as valuable and important as a nurse, a doctor, or other people on the front lines,” Redway says. “People are suffering or losing family members and don’t know how they’re going to pay their next bill. If me showing them how to do an updo or twist-out at home is beneficial to them, then I’m happy to get on that Zoom call and do it for free.”
Instagram and brand sponsorships can help provide some income for artists, but they’re typically reserved for those with an established social media presence, which can take years to build. Let’s not forget that artists are also just doing their best to survive during a traumatic time. Hang Nguyen, a nail stylist who works with Jennifer Garner and Emma Roberts, is expecting her third child any day. Though she does have some income thanks to collaborations with nail companies, she’s most concerned with staying healthy. Cho is thinking about creating her dream product line in between unpacking boxes in her new home and homeschooling her four-year-old kid. Like countless other working women, moms like Goodwin, Redway, and Stiles are suddenly taking on the role of primary educator.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF FIONA STILES
Makeup artist Fiona Stiles says juggling homeschooling and her small business is nearly impossible.
“For parents, you’re suddenly a chef and full-time teacher and parent. I have zero time. I’m trying to figure out how to do second grade math and still run Reed Clarke,” Stiles says of her ecommerce beauty site. “When am I going to have time to do a YouTube video? This is not a creative moment for a lot of us. It’s just a lot of extra doing.”
From Hands-On To Hands-Off
No matter how slammed Stiles is with her quadrupled workload, she can’t help but think about how the process of executing a red-carpet look is going to change moving forward. The veteran artist has been hyper vigilant about sanitation and preventing contamination since day one. She washes her hands, uses sanitizer constantly, and deep cleans her tools after every use.
But like other celebrated makeup artists in the business, Stiles, who works with Zoey Deutch and Gabrielle Union, typically uses her fingers to tap and blend cream blushes, lipsticks, and other makeup products onto her clients’ skin. “My fingers are a big part of my toolkit. I mix colors on the back of my hand to get a custom lipstick shade or to see what the chemical reaction of a product on the skin will be before I put it on someone.What used to be an asset — my hands, my fingers — are slightly weaponized,” she says.
PHOTO: COURTESH OF BASIA BOWENS
Makeup artist Tasha Reiko Brown, who works with Letitia Wright, says doing makeup in Hollywood will change forever after COVID-19.
Adjustments will have to be made, she says. “Moving forward I’ll have to figure out how to mix colors and products in a way that doesn’t include contact with my skin. It’s going to be interesting to pick an intuitive part of doing makeup and adjust it to a more systematic way of touching a product.”
Celebrity nail stylists may already wear protective gloves and masks, but Nguyen thinks pros will have to rethink how certain products, like dip powders, are used. Redway pictures a scenario in which every member of a glam team wears masks while working. She’s also considering whether gloves will need to be worn when touching the scalp while braiding hair. How will they not rip or cause static cling? “Someone may have to create a glove that feels like human touch,” she says.
It’s hard to imagine when Hollywood glam teams will get back to work, much less how. “Some people have clients who only do performances, and we know we’re not going to be in packed amphitheaters anytime soon. With movies, I don’t know what press junkets will look like moving forward,” Reiko Brown says. “I do know the dust will settle and nothing will go back to normal. We’ll have a new normal, but the industry will hold. We’ll adapt to survive.”
It isn’t just in your head—“hair hurting” is an actual thing. Of course, leave it to an old Sex and the City episode to provide the best visual. The girls are sitting at the diner having brunch, and Charlotte’s suffering from a brutal hangover. (The night before, she was on Staten Island dancing to ’80s songs while Carrie held court judging a firemen calendar contest.) Frustrated with the New York dating scene, she looks up at Carrie, Miranda, and Samantha and says: “My hair hurts.” Scalp pain has several different causes, but it usually flares up when you’re tired and stressed—and the number one culprit is not washing your hair.
Celebrity hairstylist Harry Josh chalks up hair pain to a simple analogy. “It’s like not working out for a week! If you don’t wash your hair and keep it in the same style, it feels sore because it’s lacking hair and scalp stimulation. If you’re that girl who has to go five days without washing, then brush your scalp. The brush is back!” Although Josh warns against penny-pinching in this department. “I’ll go to these gorgeous apartments, with marble bathroom floors, and clients are using some cheap-ass brush that’s a dollar from the drugstore,” says Josh, laughing. He recommends using brushes like his Premium Oval Brush to really get in there and distribute oil from the scalp down to the end of hair strands and his Paddle Brush to rub the head and revive blood flow.
So how often should we be shampooing? “It all depends on what you’re starting off with,” says Josh, referring to varying hair types. “Finer hair can’t go multiple days, because it produces more oil,” says Josh. “But curly or gray hair can, as it produces less.” As a rule of thumb, he says people with oily hair should shampoo every day or every other day. Dry or coarser hair should do every three to four days. And of course, dry shampoo is a great bridge.
Hair pain isn’t just the result of under-washing or overstyling, it’s something that happens to two thirds of those who suffer from migraine headaches, too. In this case, the phenomenon is referred to as allodynia, and it comes from the repeated firing of nerve cells in the brain that are involved in the process of a migraine. “Allodynia is not limited to the scalp, but refers to increased sensitivity to pain from a non-painful stimulation like a light tapping or a light touch,” explains Dr. Fusco. “Individuals with migraines may experience the sensation that a mere wind blowing, a hat, or a light touch to the scalp elicits pain.” For this, doctors recommend taking migraine medication as soon as you feel a migraine coming on and before the onset of allodynia.
Whether your follicles feeling like they’re hurting is the result of infrequent cleansing, tight styling techniques, or a symptom of a migraine headache, your hair isn’t all that different from your body—it needs to be washed and worked out on a regular basis in order to be the best it can be. So at the end of a long, hard, stressful day, forget about trying to preserve a particular style for as long as possible, and instead, slow down and treat your hair to some much-needed self-care.
2020: your year of really good hair. As you head into a new year and a new decade, you might feel like letting go of the past and forging a new future. Breakups often trigger a transformational haircut, or maybe 2019 was just a weird year (just us?). Regardless of the reason, if you’re in the mood for a fresh look to ring in the shiny new decade, then you’re in the right corner of the Internet. Ahead, we’ve called on top hairstylists from across the globe to reveal the haircut trends that will reign supreme as the new decade dawns; bring these to your hairstylist to stay ahead of the curve.
Pet Shop Boys Preview New Album ‘Hotspot’…with ‘Burning the Heather’ album arriving in January!
Pet Shop Boys will release their 14th album, Hotspot, on January 24th, 2020. The album, produced by Stuart Price, features 10 new songs written by band members Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. The band has released a radio edit of one of the new tracks, “Burning the Heather” which features Bernard Butler on guitar.
Hotspot follows Pet Shop Boys’ 2016 album Super, which featured single “The Pop Kids” and appeared on Rolling Stone‘s 20 Best Pop Albums of 2016 list. The new album is available for preorder now.
Had you asked me as a kid in the early ‘90s, I would have sworn the world would look like a sci-fi film by the year 2020: robots, flying cars, sleek silver uniforms. In actuality, 2020 looks a lot like… well, the past. Fashion lovers are wearing larger-than-life blazers reminiscent of the ‘80s, lip gloss is trending like it’s 2005, and the top 2020 haircut trends could be plucked from the flower power era.
Professionals are predicting a return to ‘60s and ‘70s styles in the year ahead, with a few ‘90s references thrown in for good measure (there’s even a variation on your little brother’s bowl cut). “The shag and all of its variants are still rocking and rolling at full force,” Lex Seibel, a hairstylist at Foxtrot in Los Angeles, tells The Zoe Report. “This hair energy isn’t going anywhere — it’s only going to become more of a widely embraced style for a broader group of people.” On one end of the spectrum, you have your long, curly shag: a little softer, a little more feminine. On the other end, you have a shag so severe it’s more of a modified mullet, says Tim Duenas, a Master Stylist at Nine Zero One Salon in Los Angeles. “The great thing about this shape is the androgyny of [it],” he tells TZR.
Looking for something a little more subtle? Just add fringe. “We’ve been seeing a lot of ‘60s-inspired references in beauty, like the hair flip — and [fringe] is the next wave,” Marc Mena, a celebrity hairstylist who works with Mindy Kaling and Ashley Benson, tells TZR. “Think classic Jane Birkin and Brigitte Bardot.” Of course, if retro just isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other styles to choose from, including the ultra-modern jagged bob.


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Brexit is here: today’s separation from Europe for the UK market comes with little certainty for book publishing and other creative industries in Britain.
Temple is following a path similar to that of the AAP’s Maria A. Pallante. Senate IP subcommittee leadership is calling for the post to be filled swiftly.
The AAP leadership and that of the Copyright Alliance are standing with a group of lawmakers, calling out an ongoing ‘restatement’ project’ in copyright law.
On Frankfurt’s Academic & Business Information Stage, Copyright Clearance Center will look at the EU’s new copyright directive, open access, and ‘big data.’
Set at London’s Barbican Centre on October 10, the UK Publishers Association’s Brexit Forum is will offer discussions on key Brexit challenges and legal advice for book publishers.
Some fear that a summary can kill book sales, but Lucerne’s getAbstract for 20 years has created and distributed summaries in partnership with publishers.
The head of Malawi’s copyright agency, Dora Salamba, says the public doesn’t understand the damages that piracy can do to rights holders.
At the Nairobi IPA Africa Seminar in June, Gbadega Adedapo will lead a discussion on the ‘Lagos Action Plan’–set in motion at last year’s Nigerian seminar.
Ahead of the International Publishers Association seminar in Nairobi, Kenya Publishers Association chair Lawrence Njagi looks at agenda-setting issues.
Copyright Clearance Center is working with CopyGhana and other African organizations to build effective infrastructure for licensing and reproduction rights.


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Mike Wang, a senior executive at Nokia (NYSE: NOK) China, stated last August that the company will release 3 to 4 Nokia Android smartphones probably in the fourth quarter of this year. Recently, Geekbench website revealed that Nokia D1C Android 7.0 smartphone was tested on September 30, 2016, which will commercially be launched by the end of this year.
Previously, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) failed to convince people that Windows-on-Nokia is a good combination and consequently their idea of launching Nokia X Android phones in 2014 was dropped out. However, taking advantage of the situation, Foxconn/HMD Global will launch 3 to 4 Android smartphones in this year’s holiday shopping season to make Nokia phones popular once again.
Specifically, Nokia is working on three new flagship devices, namely Nokia 5320 (from August), Nokia RM-1490 (August), and Nokia D1C (September) being the latest one. Let’s have a look at the known specifications of these phones:
- 27GHz quad-core processor
- 2GB RAM
- Android 4.4.4 KitKat
- Single-core 500MHz AMD A8-5545M processor
- 2GB RAM
- Android 4.4.2 Jelly Bean
- 4GHz octa-core Qualcomm processor
- 3GB RAM
- Android 7.0 Nougat
Meanwhile, other specifications of the devices are still unknown. Nokia has also achieved licensing fees from Nokia-branded phones and tablets which will be shipped out by Foxconn/HMD Global. According to the reports, Foxconn/HMD Global will officially launch the Nokia-branded Android smartphones on 26th October 2016.
Can Nokia make a grand entry in the world of Android smartphone? Will Nokia be able to compete with other smartphone manufacturing giants such as Apple, Samsung, OnePlus?
Let us know about your views in the comment section below.


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Monday, June 28, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
The 100 Helmets of THE VADER PROJECT
In July, The Vader Project travels to Freeman’s Auctioneers and Appraisers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the final opportunity to view the helmets in person before they are sold at auction. “The result is astounding” said Simeon Lipman, Pop Culture Specialist at Freeman’s. “The sale will give members of the public the chance to purchase unique artworks made from these iconic symbols of the movie industry by a number of well known artists including Shag, Marc Ecko, Tim Biskup, Frank Kozik and many more.” The Freeman’s Auction will take place July 10, 2010 at Freeman’s Auction House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania preceded by a 5-day exhibition there July 5-9. www.freemansauction.com
Collectors and art connoisseurs worldwide will have the opportunity to bid online at Freeman’s website, www.freemansauction.com. Most bidding will begin at $1,500. For more information about how to participate in the auction, please visit “How to Buy at Auction” at www.freemansauction.com/buying.asp.
Curated and produced by Dov Kelemer and Sarah Jo Marks of DKE Toys (www.dketoys.com), The Vader Project features 100 of the best underground artists and designers working today. “From a simple idea in 2005 to a record-setting exhibition in 2009, it’s time for our child to venture forth into the world,” Kelemer and Marks said. “We are pleased to have partnered with Freeman’s to make these fine pieces of art available to the public for the first time.”
For this unique project, each artist customized a 1:1 scale authentic prop replica of the actual Darth Vader helmet featured in the STAR WARS™ films. Notable artists involved with the project include: Shag, Peter Kuper, Jermaine Rogers, Gary Baseman, BXH, Tim Biskup, The Pizz, Dalek, Paul Frank, Ron English, Jeff Soto, Michelle Valigura, Frank Kozik, Plasticgod, Simone Legno - Tokidoki, Bill McMullen, Secret Base, Joe Ledbetter, Alex Pardee, Suckadelic, Cameron Tiede, Mister Cartoon, Marc Ecko, and Amanda Visell.
Since its premiere in 2007, The Vader Project has toured the world. The collection launched in May 2007 at the Star Wars Celebration IV event in Los Angeles, and travelled internationally to Europe in July 2007 and Japan in July 2008. Most recently The Vader Project was on display from February 13 - May 3, 2009 at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Posted by estevanoriol.com at 9:07 PM
Friday, June 11, 2010
Monday, June 07, 2010
Estevan Oriol visits the opening round of the Formula DRIFT series
Posted by estevanoriol.com at 11:50 PM


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On Monday 28 May, Chargé d’Affairs a.i., Mr. Vegard Holmelid delivered a speech at the Norwegian Seafood Seminar and Dinner hosted by the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC). This was an event where many of the leading actors in the Thai seafood market could meet with the 13 Norwegian Seafood exporters that are participating at this year’s THAIFEX – World of Food Asia.
In his speech, Mr. Holmelid spoke about the tremendous growth in export of Norwegian seafood, most notably salmon, to Thailand. The demand from the Thai consumers has been increasing for several years. Today, Norwegian salmon constitute more than 90% of all fresh salmon sold in Thailand, and Thailand is the biggest market for Norwegian salmon in Southeast Asia.
Jon Erik Steenslid, Regional Director of the NSC concluded the seminar by underlining that all indicators suggest that the Norwegian Seafood adventure in Thailand will continue to grow. For 2018, he expects the export to Thailand to grow with 15-20% from last year.
Source: Royal Norwegian Embassy in Bangkok


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Omani products expo launched
Muscat, April 23, 2012
A three-day exhibition showcasing Omani products was launched today (April 23) in Sohar as part of a series of exhibitions of Omani Products' Campaign 2012 entitled "Omani".
Organised by the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE), the opening ceremony will be presided over by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saleh Al Ma'awali, Wali of Saham.
A significant number of companies representing various economic, production and service sectors from inside and outside the industrial estates pertaining to PEIE, are expected to participate in the exhibition.
This exhibition is the second in this year's road show held in the various governorates in the Sultanate. The Omani Products Expo seeks to spread awareness on the quality of Omani products and their local and international competitive capabilities.
The exhibition also attempts to encourage consumers, both individuals and organisations, to purchase local products and services, and to emphasise the importance of buying Omani products and its direct contribution in boosting the national economy.
PEIE’s road show will continue throughout the year with the sole aim of informing consumers about the quality of local products. – TradeArabia News Service
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Dick, you're not in Kansas any more.
Or Pennsylvania, Idaho, Florida or New York.
This is Santa Rosa, and we do things a little differently around here. Sometimes.
That was the word given this week to Dick's Sporting Goods by the Santa Rosa Design Review Board. Board members took a look at plans for a new Dick's store at Coddingtown, and said a huge sign proposed over the entryway won't fly under the city's design rules.
But that's how Dick's always does it, company representatives argued. "They want you to be able to go anywhere in the country and say 'That's a Dick's.'"
Santa Rosa, though, isn't just anywhere.
You might argue otherwise, should you venture down Santa Rosa Avenue past the Best Buy and Target and Michael's and other chain stores that would look just as comfortable in Boise or Tempe or Oklahoma City. We can do cookie-cutter as well as the next guy.
But there are some rules. And, according to Kevin McCallum's story this morning, the giant sign on Dick's proposed 50,000-square-foot store on Cleveland Avenue would violate the one that says sign structures can't rise above a building's parapet.
"I think it's there to be a billboard," said board Chairman Doug Hilberman.
"I think the scale is too big. It's too loud," said board member Warren Hedgpeth.


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The OnePlus 5 has had a turbulent few weeks, getting Oreo as a Christmas present before it was cruelly snatched away for unknown reasons. The good news is that the update is now back with a freshly tied bow.
Instead of rolling out as OxygenOS 5.0, owners of the OnePlus 5 will see the upgrade coming as OxygenOS 5.0.1 gradually. It’s a staged procession as always, so it’ll take some time to hit all units across the world. The changelog is pretty much the same as before, with the exception of 2 new additions.
One concerns bug fixes for third-party camera apps, while the other fixes network issues for European operators. Either one of these or both could be the real reason why OxygenOS 5.0 was cut down in its prime. A moderator on OnePlus’ official forums recently talked about how the former issue was causing these applications to capture green pictures with the selfie snapper.
Also Read: OnePlus 5T gets revamped in Sandstone White
OnePlus is warning people that any OnePlus 5 with an unlocked bootloader will fail if it tries to update to Oreo. It’s asking them to backup their data and re-lock their device, noting that this will wipe away everything. Users will be able to continue with the promotion once this has been over and done with.
The OnePlus 5T will soon follow in its predecessor’s footsteps. It’s currently in the midst of its own Oreo experiment via the OxygenOS Open Beta 1. The company will hopefully avoid making the same mistakes and ensure a smooth error-free rollout the first time round.


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CACannaBizCon 2019: Five questions with NCIA's Executive Director, Aaron Smith
The National Cannabis Industry Association’s annual California Cannabis Business Conference 2019 took place this week in Long Beach, CA, and The Elegant Stoner was in attendance, covering the show as it happened. The show expo featured lots of different businesses involved in the cannabis space, including many that don’t really sell consumer products — they offer help to growing cannabis businesses, or support the industry in other ways. Even though we mostly focus on cool stuff consumers can buy, we still wanted to highlight some of the people and businesses at the show, and so we’re going to be posting a series of quick interviews from around the CACannaBizCon 2019 show floor, asking people at the show what they’re up to, and what they’re thinking about in the cannabis industry.
This interview is with the NCIA’s Executive Director — he took time out of his busy schedule overseeing the show to chat with us for a few minutes.
What's your name, title, and what do you do?
My name is Aaron Smith, and I'm the Executive Director of the National Cannabis Industry Association. We are here at our third annual California Cannabis Business Conference. We're here to bring together cannabis professionals, regulators, policy makers from across the state of California and the country to discuss best practices, regulatory trends, policy trends, and help the industry better prepare for the future here in California and beyond.
How did you get involved in cannabis?
I've been working in the cannabis reform arena for almost my entire adult life -- 15 plus years professionally. I started here in California as an advocate for medical marijuana in the 2000s, working for the Marijuana Policy Project. Over time, we started seeing that a real industry was emerging here, where you had not just the storefronts but also the ancillary businesses. And then legalization came to Colorado, and there were sort of unique needs that the traditional advocacy organizations weren't really suited for, and so it was kind of an empty parking lot space for a trade association. So we started the NCIA, and that was in 2010.
What do you like about the industry?
I like that this is a new frontier every day. Every day we're doing something that nobody has done before, in a way. It's less than once in a lifetime experiences all the time in this industry. And also to be able to know that we're not just creating an industry, we're creating an industry that's changing popular culture around cannabis and wellness, and ultimately letting people be freer to make their own adult decisions. This is a movement, as Troy said at the keynote this morning, as long as anybody is in jail for this plant, this is still a social movement. That's really what gets me up in the morning.
What do you foresee as the biggest obstacle to the industry, pre or post legislation?
Right now the biggest obstacle to the industry's ability to grow is, I think obviously, federal prohibition. The biggest obstacle at this point to reforming these prohibition laws is no longer public opinion, but general congressional gridlock. Congress doesn't really get much done of anything, but we're now starting to see on both Republican and the Democratic side, we're starting to see some movement. First, it's going to be in the banking arena, and then I think we'll see broader reforms. In some ways, having looked at this for so long, it's kind of a great place to be, where it's not that this is a third rail political issue that nobody wants to touch, but it's just that we're dealing with the general dysfunction of our system of government. I think within a matter of three to five years we'll have a good shot at having cannabis legal from coast to coast.
Anything you've seen that's cool lately or that you want to recommend?
What's really great is being able to see these new institutional businesses that have been around for decades entering the cannabis space and coming to events like this. And actually joining that movement -- they join for their own self interest but they end up being part of NCIA and part of our events, and actually helping to reform our outdated drug laws. And being able to see that the profit motive is also driving social change!
Thanks for reading! You can see all of our NCIA CACannaBizCon 2019 interviews all in one place with our CACannaBizCon2019 tag. Stay tuned for more interviews with cannabis business owners and professionals, straight from the show floor.


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There has been plenty of chatter in regards to the Huawei Ascend P7 in recent weeks. The device is currently sporting a codename of Sophia and speculation was suggesting the handset would be announced later this month during Mobile World Congress. But thanks to new details coming from the Wall Street Journal, it now looks like that will not be happening.
Huawei does have some plans for MWC though. In fact, it seems there will be several devices shown by Huawei. There was talk of one smartphone, two tablets and a smartwatch. The specifics for the devices were left a mystery, however it was made clear the one smartphone will not be the successor to the Ascend P6.
Instead, that device is said to be coming later in the year. Again, the specifics of the devices were not discussed, however we do know the next flagship, expected to the Ascend P7, will not be announced. This could lead one to believe the smartphone shown at MWC will be mid-tier.
Android Community will be in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, and we will be keeping an eye out for the new smartphones and tablets from Huawei. But at the same time, we are a bit more curious about the smartwatch. More to the point, we are curious to see if Huawei will be able to introduce a watch with a standout feature, say, something the other players aren’t doing just yet.


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THE UK’S fastest growing independent travel firm has defied Brexit scaremongering to sell a record £1 million worth of holidays in just one day.
The boss of Hays Travel North West, which has its head office in Wrexham’s Lord Street and stores in Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Connah’s Quay, Flint and Mold, said ‘Brexit scaremongering’ was doing nothing to put off a ‘resilient’ British public from booking their holidays in the sun.
Don Bircham, Managing Director of Hays Travel North West, which has opened 11 new stores over the last year, said: “We now have a fix on how we are performing, during what is the busiest month of the year for us and hugely important within the industry as a whole.
“It’s when some of the best deals and discounts are available and the time when people are really looking to plan something to look forward to.
“We had a bumper January last year and so I have been astounded with the results for 2019 so far.
“Even if we take out the 11 stores we have opened over the last year, we are still 10 per cent up in terms of passenger numbers and holiday sales which is a fantastic boost.
“We have also just had our busiest sales day in the history of the company. The second Saturday in January is always a key day in the calendar for us and our stores made close to £1m worth of holiday sales in just that one day.”
Don added: “There has been a lot of Brexit scaremongering, talk of high costs of visas, having to change passports, huge queues at airports and flights being grounded but I just can’t see this happening at all.
“I am very pleased to see that the British public are ignoring this too and getting on and booking their holidays with us.
“Why would people in mainland Europe want to stop the British arriving en masse to enjoy their holidays with them? We have been going there for decades and spending millions of pounds.
“It is absolutely within their best interests that they continue to welcome the British to enjoy their holidays in as smooth a way as possible and that’s certainly what we are hearing within the industry, both here and abroad.
“There is nothing to suggest that holidays won’t go ahead as planned before or after Brexit, whatever is eventually decided.
“Our busy January has shown that people are still booking holidays in mainland Europe in their droves. Spain, Greece, Portugal continue to be the most popular destinations alongside longer haul to such as Mexico, the Caribbean, the USA and cruise holidays.
“It’s clear that it will take much more than Brexit to put people off booking their holidays in their much-loved and preferred European destinations.”
Hays Travel North West, which is fully ABTA and ATOL-registered, launched a major expansion scheme at the end of last year and the firm now has 35 branches across the North West and North Wales and this is expected to rise to 50 within the next 18 months.
The latest push has been in Cheshire and Greater Manchester with new stores opening in Didsbury, Rochdale, Runcorn and Ashton-under-Lyne.
New units have also been identified in Macclesfield, Northwich, Formby, Bury, Cheadle, and Oldham with some already undergoing refurbishments ready for opening later in the year.
Don, a father-of-two, set up his business with a single travel agency in Mold town centre, in Flintshire, in 2000.
His network of travel agencies are now the main partner of the hugely successful Hays Travel, based in Sunderland, which has just announced a turnover of more than £1bn and is the UK’s largest independent travel agency.
At the end of last year Don’s firm announced a turnover of more than £70m for the first time and this year the expanding business is aiming to provide £100m of holidays.


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According to Nation’s Restaurant News, “As gasoline prices continue to rise, Pizza Hutâ€™s largest franchisee said its delivery-oriented restaurants expect to see more consumers picking up their orders.”
“That shift from delivery to carryout could help NPC International Inc., which operates 1,135 stores Pizza Huts, save on the reimbursements for delivery drivers, which are adjusted monthly as gas prices rise, the Overland Park, Kan.-based company said Friday. ‘Our history tells us that traditionally when gas prices get high, our consumers want to slide into carryout mode,’ Troy D. Cook, NPCâ€™s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said during a conference call to discuss first quarter results.”
â€œ’Thereâ€™s a natural kind of hedge in our business against higher gas prices,’ he said, ‘because the consumer says, â€˜I donâ€™t want to pay the tip to the driver, because Iâ€™m feeling squeezed on disposable income due to the higher gas prices, and I donâ€™t want to play a delivery charge. So Iâ€™ll drive into that carryout access mode.’â€
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Leading wholesalers will be teaming up with their customers to make presentations at this year’s Drinksummit.
Parfetts managing director Steve Parfett and Booker’s director of retail and Premier development, Steve Fox, will each team up with a customer to give delegates a view of the business from the sharp end.
In addition there will be presentations from other top independent retailers, and Tony Walsh of Nielsen will give an authoritative view on the overall drinks market.
The supply side will be represented by Simon Harrison, off trade wholesale director at InBev, Richard Jones, channel director – wholesale and cash and carry, of Pernod Ricard, and Neil Barker UK commercial director for Foster’s EMEA.
Now in its 21st year, Drinksummit is the agenda setting conference in the drinks calendar. This year it will be at a new venue, The Cotswold Water Park Four Pillars Hotel, Gloucestershire, on June 22-23.
l For more about Drinksummit and to book see pages 36-37


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Dell has posted a 31 per cent drop in quarterly profits, with the declines in its consumer business underlining the reasons behind Michael Dell's $24bn (£15.5bn) bid to take the company into private trading.
Mr Dell, along with the private equity group Silver Lake Capital and international software giant Microsoft, has offered $13.65 (£8.85) per share to take the business private in order to revive its flailing fortunes.
Although the offer has encountered resistance from some of the company's larger independent shareholders, the quarterly results, which showed that net income had slumped to $530m (£343.5m) from $764m (£495m) in its fourth quarter, highlighted the challenges faced by the business as it deals with the downturn in the market for PCs and growing competition from tablets and smartphones.
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Hundreds of demonstrators marched through Sheffield for the city's fourth ‘Kill the Bill’ protest on International Workers' Day campaigning against the newly announced Policing Bill. Around 800 people gathered at Devonshire Green and Barkers Pool last weekend as...
Meadowhall staff have started a new petition calling for a safer staff car park after due to dangers accessing the car park from the shopping centre at night. The staff car park on Aisling road is on the opposite side of the shopping centre, with poor lighting and a lack of crossing areas.
Reclaim the Streets: vigil for Sarah Everard evolves into virtual and offline campaigns across Sheffield.
Around 150 people joined a virtual vigil meeting in honour of 33-year-old Sarah Everard at 6pm last Saturday night. The event was held on zoom and was open to all.
A modernisation move worth £1.4 million for 15 libraries across Rotherham is now underway.


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Plans of British foreign minister Dominic Raab will travel to Canada, the United States and Mexico this week to seek to boost ties with non-European countries ahead of Brexit, were made public on Tuesday
Ex-Brexit chief negotiator of the UK, Raab was appointed last month by new Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has promised to take Britain out of the EU at 31 October with or without a withdrawal deal.
“I’m determined that we fire up our economic relationships with non-European partners,” Raab said in a statement ahead of his trip to Toronto, Washington and Mexico City. “That means working with them now to ensure a smooth transition of our trading arrangements after Brexit and means quickly moving to wide ranging trade deals that boost business, lower prices for consumers and respect our high standards.”
Raab will also use the visits to discuss global collaboration on key international issues, according to the announcement, with Raab wanting to build “a stronger alliance to uphold international rule of law and tackle the issues that threaten our security whether that’s Iran’s menacing behaviour or Russia’s destabilising actions in Europe, or the threat from terrorism and climate change,” he said.
This announcement comes after Raab’s last week trips to Bangkok, where he met 20 foreign ministers from around the Asia-Pacific region to discuss trade opportunities and strengthening diplomatic ties.
This way, the UK keeps waning to forger how the country’s greatest trade partner remains the EU, with 289 billion pounds of exports in 2018 andimports from the EU reaching 345 billion pounds.
According to pro-Brexit campaigners say leaving the bloc will allow Britain to pursue its own new bilateral trade deals around the world. Ut the UK administration insists that Canada, the United States and Mexico collectively represent around 225 billion pounds of annual bilateral UK trade, according to figures released by the British government.


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Bain builds $10bn war chest
Bain Capital, the Boston-based buyout firm that acquired Dunkin' Donuts earlier this month, is seeking $10bn (â¬8.2bn) for its largest takeover fund.
A report by Bloomberg, citing two people with direct knowledge of the matter, said the fund was scheduled to close on March 31.
The report said the two people declined to be identified because the plans are confidential.
Money flowing into buyout funds may reach $150bn this year, up from $134bn last year, according to estimates from Private Equity Intelligence, an industry research firm in London.
Blackstone has commitments of $13.25bn for the world's biggest buyout fund.
Bain was formed in 1984 by Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who is considering a run for US president in 2008.
An investment group including Bain completed the $2.4bn acquisition of Dunkin' Brands on March 1.
Bain is co-owner of Burger King, which last month said it would sell shares to the public for the first time. In January, Bain agreed to buy discount retailer Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse for about $2bn. Bain also is acquiring a unit of Texas Instruments for $3bn.