Adidas Wilson's Blog, page 96
August 16, 2017
Amazon Is Making Instant Pickup for Online Orders a New Option
Amazon.com is rolling out pickup points in the United States where shoppers can retrieve items immediately after ordering them, shortening delivery times from hours to minutes, the company said on Tuesday.
The world’s largest online retailer has launched ‘Instant Pickup’ points around five college campuses, such as the University of California at Berkeley, it said. Amazon has plans to open more sites by the end of the year including one in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Shoppers on Amazon’s mobile app can select from several hundred fast-selling items at each site, from snacks and drinks to phone chargers. Amazon employees in a back room then load orders into lockers within two minutes, and customers receive bar codes to access them.
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The news underscores Amazon’s broader push into brick-and-mortar retail. The e-commerce company, which said in June it would buy Whole Foods Market (WFM, -0.12%) for $13.7 billion, has come to realize that certain transactions like buying fresh produce are hard to shift online. Its Instant Pickup program targets another laggard: impulse buys.
“I want to buy a can of coke because I’m thirsty,” said Ripley MacDonald, Amazon’s director of student programs. “There’s no chance I’m going to order that on Amazon.com and wait however long it’s going to take for that to ship to me.”
“I can provide that kind of service here,” he said of the new program.
Instant Pickup puts Amazon in competition with vending machine services. Yet the larger size of the Amazon sites means they are unlikely to pose a threat to those selling snack and drink vending machines to offices and schools. MacDonald said Amazon considered automating the Instant Pickup points but declined to say why the company had not pursued the idea.
Amazon’s ability to shorten delivery times has been a sore point for brick-and-mortar retailers, who have struggled to grow sales as their customers have turned to more convenient online options. Until Instant Pickup, Amazon shoppers could expect to have their orders within an hour at best via the company’s Prime Now program, or within 15 minutes for grocery orders via AmazonFresh Pickup. Amazon has made two-day shipping standard in the United States.
Instant Pickup prices may be cheaper than those on Amazon.com, MacDonald said. He declined to detail how the items are priced, however.
Other locations in the program now open include Los Angeles, Atlanta, Columbus, Ohio and College Park, Maryland.
Source:
http://fortune.com/2017/08/15/amazon-instant-pickup-online-orders/
Facebook’s New ‘Watch’ Feature Has Got YouTube and Google Really Worried
If you’ve been at all in tune with the modern world the last decade, you’ve definitely noticed that Facebook has largely taken over the social media sphere. From its classic blue-and-white timeline to its acquisition of Instagram to–most recently–its addition of Snapchat-like features, Facebook has done a stellar job keeping up with the fluctuating trends of every emerging generation.
Facebook just stepped up its game once again, unveiling a new feature to add to its continually growing roster: A new Watch tab that allows existing Facebook users to consume video content, chat and share with friends, and discover short-form videos and visual content that their friends are engaging with.
How does it show what we’re all really looking for in social media?
Facebook’s move of blending video content with intimate online interaction with our friends and family shows us that–for the vast majority of social media users–the most important aspect of going online is our interactive engagement with our personal communities.
Although Facebook’s forthcoming Watch tab definitely mirrors existing video platforms–YouTube’s, in particular, is easily the first to jump to mind–it offers a new way to interact with existing online friend networks that YouTube doesn’t. So, despite the video giant’s 1 billion users per month, Facebook’s newest feature–with the platform’s 2 billion monthly users–could potentially help the company unseat YouTube as the reigning video king.
Think about it for a second. Whenever you look up a YouTube video, you’re there simply to watch the content. Sometimes, you might take a couple minutes to scroll through the comments section to check out what trolls and random people from the Internet are saying before leaving to watch the next video, or close the tab altogether.
When you discover a video on Facebook, however, it’s usually something your friends have shared. You might be more interested, more willing to comment, and more likely to re-share it yourself–which is ultimately a lot more engagement than a video on YouTube would experience.
So, next time you watch a video on any social platform, think about how you interact with it. With Facebook’s new update, you might be surprised by how much having a community online will change your habits.
Source:
https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/facebooks-new-watch-feature-has-got-youtube-and-go.html
Another Game of Thrones episode has leaked online
An unaired episode of Game of Thrones has appeared on the internet this morning. Episode six, due to be aired on Sunday, appeared first on file sharing sites and a Reddit post. Some Reddit users claim the episode was accidentally aired by HBO Nordic in Spain for an hour before it was removed. The episode six appearance follows a similar leak of episode four around two weeks ago.
The previous leak was related to a distribution partner in India, and it’s likely this is a similar scenario if the Reddit claims are accurate. HBO was subject to a security breach earlier this week, allowing hackers to reportedly obtain 1.5 terabytes of stolen data from the company’s US servers. This latest leak doesn’t appear to be related to the security issues. Hackers have so far only published published script outlines on the web, rather than full episodes.
HBO has struggled multiple times with Game of Thrones leaks in the past. The first four episodes of season 5 leaked online, thanks to advance screeners that are sent out to members of the press. A HBO subsidiary also released a season 6 episode a day early. HBO decided to scrap screeners for season 7, but that hasn’t prevented two major leaks this season.
The Verge has reached out to HBO for comment, and we’ll update you accordingly.
Source:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/16/16155552/game-of-thrones-season-7-episode-6-leak
August 15, 2017
Increasing Minimum Wage Puts More Jobs at Risk of Automation
When the minimum wage goes up, the robots come for people’s jobs. That’s the upshot of a paper published today on the National Bureau of Economic Research’s website (abstract, full PDF paywalled), which analyzed how changes to the minimum wage from 1980 to 2015 affected low-skill jobs in various sectors of the U.S. economy.
Federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 an hour, the same level it’s been at since 2009. But 30 states have laws on the books that mandate a higher wage—it’s $11 in Washington State, for example, and Seattle recently voted to phase in a pay hike that would bring it to $15 by 2022. Such measures are designed to ensure that “minimum wage” is the same thing as a “living wage.”
Interestingly, a study of Seattle’s new law, released in June, suggested that cuts to working hours meant people were actually losing as much as $125 a month.
The new analysis, by Grace Lorden of the London School of Economics and David Neumark at the University of California, Irvine, suggests that there’s a similar negative effect among people who work minimum-wage jobs that machines can do. The researchers found that across all industries they measured, raising minimum wage by $1 equates to a decline in “automatable” jobs—things like packing boxes or operating a sewing machine—of 0.43 percent.
That may not sound like much, but we’re talking about millions of jobs across the entire U.S. economy. And certain industries were affected far more than others—in manufacturing, an uptick of $1 in minimum wage drove employment in automatable jobs down a full percentage point.
Of course, we know that automation is already gobbling up jobs in the U.S. (see “Who Will Own the Robots?”). This latest study suggests that even wage policies designed to help America’s workforce may instead be speeding up that process.
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UPS is developing virtual reality tech to train its drivers
UPS drivers preparing to get behind the wheel will soon be using virtual reality to do so.
The company’s new VR training program will be rolling out next month at nine of the company’s training facilities, simulating some of the uncertainties and challenges of delivering packages on city streets. Trainees will interact with the content using voice commands to identify obstacles while wearing headsets.
“Virtual Reality offers a big technological leap in the realm of driver safety training,” said UPS exec Juan Perez in a statement. “VR creates a hyper-realistic streetscape that will dazzle even the youngest of our drivers whose previous exposure to the technology was through video games.”
While companies like Walmart have signed onto programs with enterprise-focused startups like Strivr Labs, UPS will be building its training materials in-house.
Virtual reality may be a more immersive technology but, when done poorly, training videos can be just as unbearable as more traditional instructional materials. The big issue right now is that making custom, realistic VR content able to take advantage of everything the medium has to offer really isn’t worth the effort.
Enterprise software companies could build (and some have) game engine-rendered content that allows you to move around and interact with the environment, but they often end up with dumpy PlayStation 1 graphics that wander too far from the real-world. Largely for this reason, most companies are opting for more realistic — but less interactive — 360 video.
While VR may not be as revolutionary as, say, drones to a company that ships packages across the globe, it can still be an effective tool for getting prospective employees ready before they get out on the job. It’s also important because UPS drivers are a clear candidate for utilizing AR headsets in the future to more easily keep track of shipments hands-free while preparing for drop-offs and pick-ups.
Source:
UPS is developing virtual reality tech to train its drivers
JOHN McAFEE: Here’s why you can’t call bitcoin a ‘bubble’
There are innovations peppered throughout history that have changed human culture beyond recognition. One such innovation was the adoption of agriculture.
Prior to this adoption, the great thinkers within society struggled with how to determine when to break camp and move to more fruitful lands, how to limit the size of a village so that sheer numbers did not quickly deplete the available food in a new area, and how to design lodging so that could be quickly dismantled for a sudden move.
Imagine how these great thinkers must have struggled to comprehend a world in which the village never moved; where the size of the village was inconsequential; and where lodging was constructed of immovable stone. There would be nothing in their contextual understanding of their culture that would allow them to comprehend the end product of the emerging new world.
I believe that the blockchain is, even now, ushering in a new economic and social paradigm that will rival, if not exceed, the impact that agriculture had in human society.
The idea that has clouded the waters for many is the idea of “decentralization.” There has been much hype for dozens of years about the mind bending potential of decentralization but little if nothing has come of it. The reason is that no-one has been able to solve the problem of distribution required to power these decentralized system.
Distributed, decentralized systems have an inherent power that literally obsoletes centralized systems. this is obvious even to the most casual observer. We have known this for decades. It was not until the arrival of the blockchain, however, that we had a tool capable of melding “decentralized” and “distributed” into a single unit within which no central authority whatsoever was necessary. The distributed ledger, maintained by no-one, accessible to all and validated by consensus is the tool the world has been waiting for.
Those who understand this tool see immediately the absurdity of words like “bubble,” “investment,” etc. when applied to cryptocurrencies. These thought leaders use bitcoin to buy and sell and those who use bitcoin exclusively as a currency and use no other currency – and I personally know dozens who do so – could care less about what bitcoin is worth in dollars.
These people see, and have seen for some time, that the old paradigm constructs are meaningless in this new world.
It is like the first pueblo cultures being warned by their past sages that they will perish in their stone houses when it is time for the village to move. They understood that the concept of “moving” had no meaning in their new world.
Likewise, what people see as a bitcoin “bubble,” from the perspective of the new paradigm, is merely the predictable and systematic devaluation of fiat currencies that will continue, with obvious ups and downs, until all fiat currencies reach the zero point.
As the relative value of bitcoin temporarily drops, they will point to this as proof if their understanding. It won’t matter. The reality if this new world is what it is. Those who understand will be the leaders of this new world.
Source:
http://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-price-john-mcafee-not-a-bubble-2017-8
Costco owes Tiffany $19.4 million for fake Tiffany rings: U.S. judge
Costco must pay the storied jewelry company Tiffany & Co. more than $19 million for selling about 2,500 diamond rings falsely identified on store signs as “Tiffany” rings, a federal judge ruled Monday.
Costco’s management “displayed at best a cavalier attitude toward Costco’s use of the Tiffany name in conjunction with ring sales and marketing,” U.S. District Judge of the Southern District of New York Laura Taylor Swain wrote in her opinion.
Her decision followed a 2015 jury verdict, which found that Costco had received a profit of $3.7 million from falsely using the Tiffany brand, rejecting Costco’s argument that the word “Tiffany,” with reference to a ring’s setting, had become a generic term, like Popsicle or dumpster.
Swain ruled Costco should pay Tiffany $11.1 million plus interest, which is three times Tiffany’s lost profit from Costco’s actions plus $8.25 million in punitive damages.
Finally, Costco is barred from using the stand-alone word “Tiffany” to describe any products that aren’t connected to the famous jewelry brand.
Tiffany said in a statement to CNN the ruling “validates the strength of the Tiffany trademark and the value of our brand, and most importantly, sends a clear and powerful message to Costco and others who infringe the Tiffany mark.”
“We brought this case because we felt a responsibility to protect the value of our customers’ purchases,” the company added. “It is critically important that the Tiffany name not be used to sell any engagement ring that is not our own.”
Following the ruling, Costco said it would appeal, calling the decision the “product of multiple errors” on the part of the judge.
“This was not a case about counterfeiting in the common understanding of that word — Costco was not selling imitation Tiffany & Co rings,” Costco said. The diamond rings “in question were not stamped or otherwise marked with the Tiffany & Co. name (but rather were stamped with the name of the company that manufactured them); they were accompanied by appraisal documents that did not mention Tiffany & Co., and with sales receipts that did not say Tiffany or Tiffany & Co. Notably,” Costco added, “Tiffany & Co. did not claim in the lawsuit that it lost a single sale to Costco as a result of any sign. From a purchaser list of approximately 2,500, Tiffany identified fewer than 10 who said they had misunderstood Costco’s signage.”
Source:
Game of Thrones: is Varys about to betray Daenerys?
Castrated “root and stem” as a young boy by a heartless magician and left on the streets to die, he clung on to his life by begging, stealing and selling “what parts of my body still remained”, before transforming himself into one of the most influential figures in the Seven Kingdoms. Varys, the so-called Spider and Master of Whisperers to multiple monarchs, is one of Game of Thrones’s most compelling creations, and one of few truly low-born characters to establish himself as a main player in the HBO series.
In earlier seasons, it was often difficult to tell what the endgame of the bald eunuch, played to slippery perfection by the Northern Irish actor Conleth Hill, would turn out to be. Like Aidan Gillen’s Littlefinger, who boasts a similarly sharp set of scheming skills, he clearly had a Long Term Agenda. Unlike Littlefinger, however, who craves power for himself, Varys has repeatedly claimed that he is working only for the good of the realm, and for the ordinary, innocent people who live in it. He will lie, and betray his “betters” – but it’s all to make sure that the right person sits on the Iron Throne. Littlefinger might crave chaos (he thinks it’s just like a ladder, did you know?) but Varys, ultimately, wants stability.
It just needs to be the right kind of Varys-approved stability.
Challenged by Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), who questioned his flickering allegiances earlier this season, the eunuch launched a passionate defence of himself.
“When I was a child I lived in alleys, gutters, abandoned houses. You wish to know where my loyalties lie? Not with any King or Queen, but with the people,” he told her. “The people who suffer under despots and prosper under just rule. The people whose hearts you aim to win! If you demand blind allegiance, I respect your wishes. Grey Worm can behead me, or your dragons can devour me.”
In this respect, Varys is one of the most forward-thinking characters in the Game of Thrones world. Yes, others have challenged the show’s rulers in the past (Robert’s Rebellion, which took place long before the events of the series, was prompted by the actions of a tyrant) but only Varys is enlightened enough to regard unquestioning loyalty as a flaw in itself, rather than something to be overcome in extreme situations.
Of late, he certainly seems to be wavering in his feelings towards Daenerys, understandably perturbed by her penchant for Drogon-assisted punishment (aka burning people alive). Because of this, many have speculated that he could abandon her after all, possibly even aligning himself with the annoyingly noble Jon Snow, whose claim to the throne, it was subtly revealed in Eastwatch, could well be the strongest of all.
Of course, Daenerys’s decision to support Jon in the battle against the army of the dead, coupled with the fact that the two leaders appear to be growing closer (some are convinced they’ll be hooking up by the end of the season), could mean that Varys won’t have to choose between them after all.
Source:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2017/08/15/game-thrones-varys-betray-daenerys/
Facebook Marketplace Opens for Business in 17 European Countries
Facebook is stepping up its modest moves into e-commerce by expanding its service for connecting local buyers and sellers into 17 new European markets, the U.S. company said on Monday.
Marketplace, which sits alongside Facebook’s mainstay newsfeed, photo, video, messaging and other services, marks fresh competition for community-based e-commerce pioneers such as Craigslist and eBay’s (EBAY, +0.61%)classifieds business.
Marketplace is being introduced this week in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
Launched 10 months ago, Marketplace charges no fees to buyers or sellers and aims to make it easy for users to trade mostly second-hand goods, with the ability to post items for sale via smartphone or computer in less than 15 seconds.
Marketplace, already up and running in a handful of markets including the United States, Britain and Australia, is building on Facebook’s buy-sell groups. These draw in about 550 million monthly visitors, accounting for more than a quarter of Facebook’s 2 billion global users.
“We want to make it easier to buy and sell, but we also want to make it community based,” said Deborah Liu, vice president of Facebook Marketplace.
Prospective buyers can pick a radius for how far they wish to travel to collect purchases, but most transactions are local. Marketplace restricts searches within national boundaries, mainly to avoid language confusion, Liu said.
Source:
http://fortune.com/2017/08/14/facebook-marketplace-europe/
Uber is beginning to warn drivers about “long trips” likely to last over an hour
Uber driver Steve Fleck wasn’t expecting to drive to Cincinnati when he picked up a passenger at the MGM Grand Detroit a few minutes after 5:30am on Aug. 2. The ride-hailing company doesn’t reveal rider destinations to its drivers until after they accept a trip, a feature designed to keep drivers from discriminating against customers headed to poorer and less accessible neighborhoods historically underserved by taxis. But that Wednesday morning it also meant Fleck didn’t learn his rider had booked a four-hour trip across state lines until the passenger was already climbing into his car.
“I was a little in shock,” Fleck, 37, said.
Uber is now testing a feature to avoid precisely these situations. “Long Trip” warns drivers when a ride is likely to last over an hour before they accept the fare. The feature was spotted by Harry Campbell, author of the popular driver blog The Rideshare Guy, as well as on Reddit, where one driver recently shared a screenshot of the alert. “Long: This trip likely to take 60+ minutes,” it reads. A spokesman for Uber confirmed to Quartz the company is testing this feature. He declined to say whether refusing a long trip would count toward a driver’s overall ride acceptance rate.
Fleck’s 265-mile trip took a little over four hours and 10 minutes. The rider slept most of the way, then chatted with Fleck for the last hour. Fleck said the rider asked for his contact information, in case he wanted to make the Detroit to Cincinnati trip by Uber again. The rider left a small tip, which Fleck took to a cafe down the street after completing the trip. He took a short break to eat a curry chicken sandwich, then turned around and drove back to Detroit.
In all, Fleck drove more than 500 miles over nearly nine hours that day. But he only got paid for the first half of the trip, when there was an Uber passenger in his car. Fleck earned $260.10 for the ride. Uber paid him 64 cents a mile and 12 cents a minute, plus a base fare of 40 cents and $60 for a demand-based incentive called “boost.” Depending on how you look at it, he either made about $62 an hour, or just under $30 an hour before gas and other expenses. Uber charged the rider $593.82, of which it kept $333.72, or 56%.
“I believe this negates everything uber has said about us not working for them and us being self-employed,” Fleck wrote in an email to Quartz on Aug. 9, in which he shared the details of his trip. “Because if I am self-employed I just got fucking robbed, because I just made uber a shit ton of money.”
Long trips have always been a gamble for Uber drivers. Kevin Jones hit the jackpot when he drove a woman 550 miles from Omaha to Denver last October. Jones made $702.09 for the seven-and-a-half hour trip, 80% of the total $877.61 fare. Others, like Janis Rogers, do less well. Rogers earned $294.09 in December taking a woman 400 miles from Virginia to New York City. That trip lasted just under eight hours in one direction. There and back, Rogers estimated she made just over $9 an hour after expenses. “This was not lucrative,” Rogers, 64, told the New York Post at the time. “I did it because it was an adventure.”
Source:
Uber is beginning to warn drivers about “long trips” likely to last over an hour
