The post Former FBI Director Says Trump ‘Begging For A Jail Term’ After Hush-Money Verdict: ‘He Needs To Spend Some Time … – Benzinga first appeared on October Surprise 2016.
Day: June 7, 2024
For the first time in decades, and with public support, dignity and fairness in the workplace are back on the political agenda
Never underestimate the capacity of the political world to focus on questions that are relatively trivial in the larger scheme of things, all while issues of much greater significance stare them in the face. Labour’s furious row over Diane Abbott’s candidacy is a case in point.
Abbott is a politician coming towards the end of her career. She will have no power whatsoever under a Keir Starmer government. But the recent row over Abbott drowned out a far more consequential internal Labour argument – the one over workers’ rights. It is more consequential because, unlike Abbott, millions of workers are in line to get more power under Starmer.
Exactly how much power, and on what terms, is unclear. The details are still being thrashed out. Some of the issues will only crystallise after the election. These are often represented as party management battles, or ancestral left-right tussles. That is true to an extent, but it misses the main point, which is that Labour is attempting something highly ambitious – to create a new business model for the British economy.
Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnist
Courtesy of Humane.
- The Humane AI Pin had to be chilled with ice packs before product demos, per The New York Times.
- Company executives said the wearable’s laser-projected display would cause it to overheat.
- Reviews previously mentioned that the AI Pin had a tendency to overheat and feel uncomfortably warm.
AI startup Humane had a hot product on their hands — quite literally.
The company’s executives told The New York Times, in a story published Thursday, that using their AI Pin’s energy-hungry laser-projected display would cause the wearable to overheat.
The Times reported, citing people familiar with Humane’s product demonstrations, that Humane staff even had to chill the device with ice packs before presenting it to potential investors and partners.
According to The Times, Humane’s founders brushed aside employee concerns about the pin’s heating issues and claimed that software updates could fix them.
Representatives for Humane didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.
Humane was cofounded by two former Apple employees — Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno — in 2019. Chaudhri spent over 21 years working for the iPhone maker, while Bongiorno clocked eight years at the same company.
“We found that our desire and passion for computing and technology didn’t just end at the work we did at Apple,” Chaudhri told BI’s Megan Hernbroth in March 2020.
Humane launched its first product, the AI Pin, in November. The device was widely anticipated before its debut and was mentioned in Time magazine’s list of best inventions in October.
Humane pitched the pin as a stand-alone device that could act as your AI personal assistant. In addition to taking calls and answering texts through voice commands, users could interact with the device via its laser-projected display.
This is the Humane Ai Pin https://t.co/ytUSGF3y55 pic.twitter.com/Zrcoaf49u7
— Humane (@Humane) November 9, 2023
But middling reviews and a growing consensus that the device can’t replace your smartphone appear to have dented the company’s once-lofty ambitions.
Last month, Bloomberg reported that Humane is looking for a buyer and is seeking a price of between $750 million to $1 billion.
Humane’s cofounders responded to the criticisms surrounding the AI Pin’s performance in April, saying it was only the “beginning of the story.”
“We have an ambitious road map with software refinements, new features, additional partnerships, and our SDK,” Chaudhri and Bongiorno said in a statement to BI. “All of this will enable your AI Pin to become smarter and more powerful over time.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
Courtesy of the author
- Our family traveled to London, apprehensive of how the kids would eat there with food allergies.
- We were pleasantly surprised by the precautions that London restaurants take — more than in the US.
- London is an ideal destination for food allergy families, and we can’t wait to visit again.
As a parent of kids with food allergies, traveling can be stressful. I worry about what they will eat and whether they will be safe when we are outside the comfort of our home.
We typically avoid restaurants. Relying on staff about allergens can be terrifying, especially when they are misinformed.
Yet, I love to travel and share that passion with them. I wanted to show them that we can have amazing adventures, despite our food allergies.
So I booked our family flights to London and prepared as much as I could.
I quickly realized London restaurants are more accommodating
Armed with EpiPens and a suitcase full of foods free of the top eight allergens, we were off on our first London adventure.
When we arrived at our hotel in London’s West End, I quickly scanned the area for grocery stores and discovered that there were none. The kids wanted hot food, so we went on a quest to find a good meal.
We discovered a traditional UK pub nearby. I hoped we could find at least one safe food they could eat. I was surprised as to what happened next.
As soon as we sat down, the waiter greeted us. The first question he asked was, “Do you have any food allergies?” In my experience in the US, servers rarely initiate conversations about food allergies. When we ask, they often respond annoyed.
Delighted that I didn’t have to initiate this discussion, I listed their many allergies. He pointed out the separate fryers and work spaces to avoid cross-contamination.
He brought out an iPad with an app that listed the allergens for every item on the menu. We typed in our food allergies, and the app told us the foods my kids could eat.
We were thrilled, and the kids devoured their meals safely and without worry.
Could eating at a London restaurant with food allergies be this easy? It was too good to be true!
I figured this was a fluke, so we went to another place. They took the same precautions, provided me with an allergen menu, and did their due diligence to avoid cross-contamination.
My kids never ate so safely and so well as they did in London
My kids have never eaten so well and safely as they did while on vacation in London. London is an ideal international destination for food allergy families.
Curious as to why we were having such a different experience in London than in the US, I researched.
There are more food allergy regulations in the UK than in the US. In the UK, Natasha’s Law protects people with food allergies who rely on ingredient transparency. Restaurants must provide allergen information in writing. There is no US federal regulation requiring allergen disclosure in restaurants.
In the UK, restaurants are required to list 14 common allergens on food labels, while in the US, they list nine. In the UK, servers ask their customers about food allergies, while in the US, the customers ask.
Traveling with kids brings unexpected surprises, sometimes good and sometimes bad. In our case, we unexpectedly ate like royalty. We will visit London again with hungry stomachs and a newly gained sense of safety.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Getty Images
- Baby naming consultants are increasingly popular, offering tailored services to parents.
- These experts use social media platforms to attract clients and earn significant income.
- Unique baby names are becoming more accepted, influenced by celebrity trends and social media.
Baby naming isn’t what it used to be.
Gone are the days of picking a name for your new baby from an index in a book.
Now, there are baby naming consultants who rifle through popularity lists, analyze trends, and recommend the right fit for families. They can charge up to $10,000 for their services.
What was once deemed a quirk of the super-rich and famous is now becoming commonplace, with parents wanting their children to stand out and have their own unique identities.
Normalizing the unusual
In May, influencer Francesca Farago, who became famous for appearing on various Netflix reality shows, shared some of the baby names she and her partner were considering for the twins they are expecting.
They were all unusual, including Heart, Orca, Afternoon, Lyrics, and Baby.
The response was mixed, with some thinking the names were too “out there” and that Farago was stretching the definition of what names should be.
I forgot so many of my faves, lmk if I should do a part two
Unusual names are for everyone now, not just celebrities. When Gwyneth Paltrow named her daughter Apple in 2004, many considered it bizarre. Now, there are plenty of children with names that are nouns or adverbs and once considered “just words.”
The consultants who spoke with Business Insider agreed that there’s been a shift in the last few years that has both widened the criteria for what a name can be and helped boost their businesses.
“There are things that are even too extreme for me,” Steph Coffield, aka Names With Steph, told BI. “But I also listen to the client, and if they’re like, I want ancient Greek mythology-inspired names, I want super uncommon word names, I get so excited about that.”
Embracing originality
Morgan Timm, from Illinois, started her baby naming consultancy in 2022, finding her way there through her interest in collecting vintage yearbooks, spending time on the subreddit Name Nerds, and scrolling through baby name forums.
She said many of her clients had popular names in the 80s or 90s and didn’t want their child to be known as “Jessica L,” “Matthew R,” or “Hannah S.”
“I think that’s where a lot of people got their interest in having a more uncommon name,” she said. “Just with their experience of having a common one.”
Jessie Paquette, another consultant, was also always fascinated by names, watching YouTubers talk about popularity lists and speaking to her friends at school about what the No. 1 names for boys and girls were that year.
Unusual names were more of a “luxury” 20 years ago, said Paquette, for the rich and famous who “care about appearance and care about status.”
“As TikTok and social media came into the picture, it became more for the common person,” she said.
#greenscreen @Babylist babies born this week! Baby name announcements this week were taken over by the girl names! #babynameconsultant #babynames
Colleen Slagen, who helps parents find their babies’ names through her consultancy Naming Bebe, told BI there is a “cultural trend towards embracing individuality.”
As well as out of the ordinary names, she has also noticed that parents are leaning towards names that are “traditional but uncommon,” such as Margaret, Ingrid, Eugene, and Bernard.
She also considers the names of any other children and surnames to avoid awkward rhyming disasters.
“People really want to get it right,” Slagen said. “They want to choose a name that represents them but also sets their kid up for a lifetime of success.”
A lucrative career
Baby naming is an “extremely lucrative” career path, Paquette said, but if you go into it to make money, you won’t be successful.
“It has to happen organically,” she said.
Making content on TikTok also provides income, Paquette said. She has just over 100,000 followers on the platform, while some of her peers have 200,000-300,000.
“Certain creators in this niche are making upwards of thousands of dollars a month just off of views,” Paquette said. “It’s become a multilevel stream of income for people.”
Slagen’s consultations start at $250. During these, she has couples fill out a detailed questionnaire about the kinds of names they like and how popular or rare they want the name to be.
****2023 stats for some of your favorite girl names! #nametok #babynames #nameconsultant #topbabynames #girlnames #babies
Some of the better-known baby namers can charge hefty fees. One consultant, Taylor A. Humphrey, has services that range from $1,500 for a list of names to $10,000 for something more bespoke, The New Yorker reported.
Humphrey also offers a “baby name branding” service for $30,000, according to Vox, which “helps people in the public eye choose a name that reflects their personal brand.”(Humphrey didn’t respond to BI’s request for comment.)
There are companies that specialize in baby names, too. Nameberry, for example, offers a naming session with resident baby name expert Sophie Kihm for $350 or a package called “the name concierge,” which comes with “nine months of on-call name advice, with unlimited meetings and name suggestions.” That’ll set parents back $10,000.
Coffield said she knew she could make a living from baby names when she started talking about it on TikTok. She had previously focused on educating women about how to be empowered while giving birth and casually spoke about baby names a few times.
That “really took off,” and her inbox was soon full of people wanting her advice.
Frey and Rennick are my top picks! #nameswithsteph #nameconsultant #uncommonbabynames #vintagebabynames #babynameconsultant #babynameinspo2023
Coffield, who is from Minnesota, started by charging $60 for 10 names on Fiverr. She has since moved off that platform to her own website, where a personalized list costs $140, a list plus a video costs $200, and a luxury service, which includes three phone calls with her to help with the decision, costs $700.
The biggest way to build success in the baby naming business is to make sure people find you credible, Coffield said. There are some accounts that use ChatGPT and other AI software to come up with lists, but these aren’t likely to find as good a match as a consultant can.
Consultants aren’t an algorithm, so they are limited by how many clients they can take on, Coffield added.
Timm said she “severely undercharged” her clients when she started but has since figured out her worth.
She said that while she thinks there is “less pushback overall” with unconventional names, there is still some sort of exclusivity gap when it comes to celebrities.
One recent client of Timm’s made her sign an NDA so she couldn’t share their name, or even the fact that they had hired her at all.
“That was a really cool moment,” she said.
super rare baby nsmes used only a handful of times in 2022! I’d love to know what you think of these, and if you had to choose one of the baby names which would it be? i think i might go with Afton or Lew for a boy, and Clancy for a girl. #rarebabynames #nametok #babynameconsultant #creatorsearchinsights
Read the original article on Business Insider
