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Google Is Experimenting With Virtual Reality Advertising – Fortune

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

Clay Bavor, VP of Virtual Reality for Google, introduces the Daydream View VR headset during the presentation of new Google hardware in San Francisco.Beck Diefenbach Reuters

There aren't many people currently using virtual reality yet, but that doesnt mean Google isnt looking at how to advertise to them.

Google debuted a new project Wednesday thats exploring ways to show online ads in virtual reality. The new project is part of Googles Area 120 workshop that the company is using for its employees to quickly test new ideas to see if they can become actual products.

It makes sense that Google is exploring advertising in VR, considering the search giant derives the bulk of its revenue from online ads. Google is also pitching the experiment as way for developers to eventually make money building VR apps, besides just selling them online, according a blog post.

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According to an animated GIF created by Google ( goog ) , the VR ad prototype resembles a small cube with corporate logos adorned on all sides. By either clicking on the cube or staring at it long enough, people can trigger the cube to generate a small screen above that shows a video ad, sort of like a small clown might burst out of a jack-in-the-box toy.

Googles work on VR ads is still early in development, so its unlikely people will see similar ads emerge in virtual worlds. The company is currently seeking developers to test the project via the Google cardboard headset, Daydream VR platform, and the Samsung Gear VR headset.

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Google did not reveal if versions of its VR ads would work on competing VR platforms, like Facebooks ( fb ) Oculus Rift headset, the HTC ( htc ) Vive headset, or Sony's ( sne ) Playstation VR.

Virtual Reality Is the Future of Shopping – Lifehacker

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

Online shopping is on the riseits fast and ships directly to your doorstep, sometimes overnight. But with online shopping, you miss the experience of going into a store and picking up items. Enter virtual reality shopping, which tries to give you the convenience of online shopping and the experience of being in a store.

People are already shopping through virtual reality, but its still in its beginning stages. In late 2016, Chinas Alibaba launched Buy+, a virtual reality experience that could be accessed with a virtual reality headset. With Buy+, people could wander around a store, look through items, and add things to a cart by staring at a product for long enough. According to Vice, 30,000 people had already tried Buy+ an hour after its launch.

To use virtual reality shopping, youll need a virtual reality headset, which could range from a $10 Google Cardboard to hundreds of dollars for an Oculus Rift. Like online shopping, theres usually a virtual shopping cart and you can buy things by giving your credit card information upon checkout.

Big companies like Amazon are also working on adding virtual reality shopping in an attempt to increase sales. In May 2016, Ikea let users design their own kitchens with a HTC Vive. Audi also used the HTC Vive to present cars in showrooms. Later in 2016, eBay Australia teamed up with Myer to create the first virtual reality department store, but it simulated a web of floating objects rather than a physical store.

Earlier this month, Ikea started using virtual reality in Australia. You can see the experience for yourself on Android, iOS, and desktop (though the desktop version doesnt have virtual reality).

The Ikea version of virtual reality shopping feels like a more immersive version of Google Street View. You can wander around the store and in between furniture. You can select objects marked with floating blue dots, revealing the items description and price. Most of the furniture isnt marked, though, so youll have to zoom in on the tags and remind yourself to search for it later.

Smaller companies like Gatsby, a startup that creates virtual reality stores, are also looking to create virtual reality shopping experiences.

Were really trying to get close to what its like being there, and we want it to be very intimate, said Anastasia Cifuentes, co-founder of Gatsby. All the little details on how you move, were really focusing on how to have that just right. Gatsby has been experimenting with virtual reality for less than 6 months but hopes to launch an app in the fall.

Using Gatsbys shopping app to buy furniture feels like playing a game. You can look around a room from a fixed point (you cant move around the space yet). Theres a button that let you click on objects and rotate them. Once you select an object, details about the objects length, width, height, and price appear. If you want an item, you can add it to your cart.

The demo I tested was animated rather than based on real photos, which made the experience less realistic. The app is still in development, but Gatsby hopes to use real photos of objects and rooms once the app is finished. Gatsby will be free to everyoneyoull only need something, like a Google Cardboard, to view it through.

Theres an efficiency factor that being online satisfies, but weve lost something in traveling to that, which is just being able to hold the product, said Cifuentes. There are still things we need to see and touch that we have to go to the store for, like furniture.

Virtual reality doesnt completely replicate the in-person shopping experience, but its getting there. Its also getting cheaper and more accessible: now you only need your smartphone and a $10 Google Cardboard set to experience it.

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Virtual Reality Is the Future of Shopping - Lifehacker

A Virtual Reality Arcade Isn’t Going to Be Science Fiction Much Longer – Westword

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

Wednesday, June 28, 2017 at 7:50 a.m.

Lakewood entrepreneur Victoria Merchant wanted to create a fun, family-friendly alternative to late-night bowling alleys. In February, she had a lightbulb moment: virtual reality.

"VR has been on the back burner lately, I think," says Merchant. "Developers and makers wanted to go straight to consumers, but it didn't work as anticipated, because the equipment is still expensive."

Instead, Merchant saw virtual-reality arcades, where customerswould be able to try out and enjoy the latest, most advanced VR technology,as the next step in VR entertainment without the prohibitive costs.

The entrepreneur commissioned Nathan Hostetler, a techie acquaintance, to build computers for a soon-to-launch Denver VR arcade. After trying the virtual-reality equipment, Hostetler signed on.

This weekend, the duo will celebrate the grand opening of Head Games VR, the first virtual-reality arcade in the greater Denver area. AtHead Games VR, there will be three large play stations, where customers of all ages and backgrounds will be able to use HTC Vive headsets to engage in everything from experiential virtual reality to avid video gaming. More anxious customers might want to avoid games like Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, where partners help instruct a friend to diffuse a bomb a terrifying scenario in virtual reality.

In the future, the entrepreneur hopes the facility will grow to include eight HTC Vive headsets, so friends can play four vs. four multiplayer games. Additionally, a "mixed reality" room is in the works, where customers will enter a green room and film themselves inside of a virtual world. Merchant also hopes to offer this room as a facility for developers to film demos for their games.

"We don't want this to be a typical mall arcade," she says. "We want people to enjoy coming here with friends and family, and we want to take suggestions from customers; we want to create a community."

On Saturday, July 1, Head Games VR will host an opening-night after-party for Comic Con, which runs June 30 to July 2. At the event, there will be giveaways, raffles, a tournament, and five minutes on the equipment per customer, free of charge. Game developers, including Colorado's LIMN Interactive,willdemo new titles.

The arcade opens its doors officially onJuly 2.

Head Games VR's Comic Con After Party, 8 p.m., Saturday, July 1, 9655 West Colfax Avenue, Unit C, Lakewood. For more information, go to Head Game VR's Facebook page.

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A Virtual Reality Arcade Isn't Going to Be Science Fiction Much Longer - Westword

CISD trustees experiment with virtual reality – Cleburne Times-Review

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

Students in Cleburne ISD will soon be able to visit places around the world, in outer space and even underwater without leaving their classrooms with the help of virtual reality.

The CISD board of trustees tried out virtual reality headsets during Monday nights special called meeting.

Cleburne High School Advanced Placement human geography and European history teacher Brent Barnes said the goal of VR is to improve education for students. Teachers can check out a set of 30 VR headsets to incorporate them into their lesson plans for the day.

First, Barnes took trustees on a trip to seven different places around the world using Google Expeditions, a tool that lets you lead or join virtual trips all over the world.

The trips are collections of VR panoramas 3-D images annotated with details, points of interest and questions that make them easy to integrate into curriculum already used in schools, Barnes said. The teacher controls what the students see using a device like an iPad.

While piloting these VR headsets in his class last year, Barnes said he had 100 percent engagement. The students even asked him when they could use them again for another lesson.

Another program trustees tried for the first time was Nearpod VR, which brings a classroom to life with interactive mobile presentations that teachers can create and customize themselves.

CHS world geography teacher Taylor Bowers said teachers can choose from over 100 ready-to-teach VR lessons. Nearpod works on any device, including iPads, Chromebooks, Macs or PCs in classrooms.

Teachers can give students quizzes as they jump from one VR world to the next.

The final program trustees interacted with was CoSpaces, a VR tool that lets anyone create VR experiences.

In this program, students become creators themselves instead of consumers. They can explore the possibilities of new media in all dimensions.

Using a blank canvas, Barnes said students can create their own world like they can in the video game Minecraft.

Students can tell stories, build their own objects from geometrical shapes or create a whole fantasy world, he said.

The good thing about all three of these programs is they can be incorporated in almost any subject like math, history, language arts and science, he said.

The district trained some teachers at the end of the school year and plans on training more teachers before the next school year so they can use these headsets with their lesson plans.

I cant quantify the response weve had, Barnes said. Weve had 100 percent engagement. They love it.

Superintendent Kyle Heath said the VR headsets are a pilot program the board approved last year. The hope is the stay ahead of technology, Heath said.

Trustee Teddy Martyniuk said the board needs to find ways to challenge themselves to ensure students are equipped with these changing technologies in the future.

Not only can students visit places all over the world, but they can also participate in career explorations where they can be in the place of someone in a certain career field or even take a college tour without having to visit the campus itself, Barnes said.

There are more and more opportunities each day, he said.

CISD Communications Director Lisa Magers said the districts curriculum and instruction department is in the process of purchasing four 30-unit classroom sets of VR equipment iPods, goggles, containers/mobility package, and device chargers totaling $31,169 for use by teachers throughout the district.

Working with instructional technology curriculum coordinators, the classroom sets may be checked out by teachers for use by students in a particular lesson plan, activity or project, Magers said.

Nearpod training, for use with VR, for interested staff is July 31.

Other business

In other news, the board approved Stephanie Botello as a first-grade bilingual teacher at Cooke Elementary School, Marilyn Chitwood as an art teacher at Wheat Middle School, Cailin Daugherty as a math teacher and coach at Smith Middle School, Jennifer MacArthur as an English teacher and coach at Smith, Eric Peets as a social studies teacher at CHS, Lance Strebeck as a science teacher at CHS, Heather Traister as an English teacher at Smith and Kristan Tyra as a science teacher and coach at Smith.

The board also approved several companies to supply the district with copy paper, school/office supplies and athletic equipment.

CISD trustees experiment with virtual reality - Cleburne Times-Review

Does Pink Himalayan Salt Have Any Health Benefits? – TIME

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

Pink salt is everywhere: in salt grinders, craggy-looking lamps, sunset-hued slabs designed for cooking steak and even in "salt rooms" at spas. But is pink Himalayan salt worth all the attention? We checked out the science behind this recent health phenomenon.

The thing: Pink Himalayan salt is made from rock crystals of salt that have been mined from areas close to the Himalayas, often in Pakistan. It gets its rosy hue from trace minerals in the salt , like magnesium, potassium and calcium. Pink salt is often found as smaller crystals in salt grinders, as large, glowing pink or orange chunks in pink Himalayan salt lamps and in the walls of "salt chambers" at spas that promise an instant detox.

The hype: People claim the salt does all kinds of things. It's rumored to be healthier for its greater concentration of trace elements. In lamp form, companies claim that it eases symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), increases energy and improves sleep by cleansing the air from pollutants like dust and pollen. It supposedly does this by absorbing water molecules from the air and releasing negative air ions, which are said to get rid of particles like dust that can cause respiratory problems, like allergies and asthma, and affect mood. Sp as have also jumped on these claims to offer Himalayan salt-based therapies, where people sit in rooms and breathe deeply while tiny particles of salt are dispersed into the surrounding areas, ostensibly easing respiratory conditions.

Marketers tout their supposed ability to release negative ions that may enhance physical and emotional health, says Dr. Andy Weil, the founder and program director of the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine . This is based on the idea that air near moving water contains high levels of negative ions, which some researchers have suggested is one reason why spending time in nature has been linked to health benefits . Whether a man-made product can produce the same effect, however, is more dubious.

The research: Some data suggests that blasts of positive ionslike those from electronics or hot air may impair mood and physical health by increasing feelings of stress and anxiety, and some studies show that negative ions in the air may do the opposite and improve people's mood. But this is not a definitive claimand pink salt lamps have not been shown in studies to generate negative ions, anyway. "There is no scientific support for such claims related to Himalayan salt lamps," says Weil.

Even air purifiers that do generate negative air ionsso-called "ionizers"are typically too small to be effective, and experts don't recommend them . The salt lamps may also come with a major unrelated downside. In January, 80,000 pink Himalayan salt lamps were recalled after it was discovered that they could shock people and catch fire.

As for the edible salt, some argue that it tastes better than the regular white variety when used in cooking, and that may well be true for some people. All salts vary somewhat with respect to trace mineral content and texture, says Weil. Proponents claim that pink salt has more minerals than typical saltbut you aren't likely to get any extra health perks from eating it, Weil says. Pink Himalayan salt is nutritionally very similar to regular salt. It's just prettier and more expensive.

Salt therapies at spas are also not yet backed by solid evidence. Salt therapy has been used and debated for centuries in medical practice, but its been more recently used as a complementary or alternative medicine practice," says Dr. Lily Pien, an allergist at Cleveland Clinic. " At this time, it has not been definitely studied, and the true benefits are not well known." One possible benefit of the therapy may not come from the salt at all, she says. Giving yourself 30-45 minutes of quiet time is a known stress reliever.

The bottom line: If you want to add a pinch of pink salt to your food, go ahead, but you probably won't reap any special health benefits. Theres even less evidence for basking in the glow of a pink Himalayan salt lamp or indulging in a salt-based spa treatment. The most you'll get out of this rock is eye candy, says Weil. "Some feel it offers decorative value," he says, but don't expect much else.

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Does Pink Himalayan Salt Have Any Health Benefits? - TIME

Jerusalem: Alternative healer indicted on rape charges – The Jerusalem Post

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

Breaking news. (photo credit:JPOST STAFF)

A Jerusalem-based alternative medicine practitioner was indicted Wednesday on multiple rape and fraud charges for allegedly sexually assaulting four Ultra-Orthodox (haredi) women who sought his aid to treat depression, anxiety and other maladies.

While details of the case remain unclear, Dror Rotkowitz, 56, was charged two weeks after complaints were filed by the women to police.

According to police, Rotkowitz opened the downtown Natural Health Clinic on Hillel Street in 2008 shortly after studying alternative medicine overseas and designating himself a doctor.

Rotkowitz primarily treated ultra-Orthodox women from the capital and allegedly falsely claimed he received approval from the haredi rabbinate and leadership to practice holistic medicine.

The women allege that he repeatedly sexually assaulted them while claiming it was part of his holistic treatment plan.

All four victims said when they protested, Rotkowitz assured them that the sexual acts were necessary to cure their ailments.

His office was shut down shortly after police began investigating the complaints.

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Jerusalem: Alternative healer indicted on rape charges - The Jerusalem Post

Back Pain? Try Yoga – New York Times

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

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Yoga works as well as physical therapy for relieving back pain, a randomized trial found.

The study, in the Annals of Internal Medicine, included 320 people ages 18 to 64 with moderate and persistent low back pain. Researchers assigned them to either 12 weekly sessions with a yoga instructor, 15 sessions of physical therapy over 12 weeks, or education with a book and periodic newsletters about back pain therapy. They measured pain intensity and disability with well-validated questionnaires.

In both the yoga and physical therapy groups, about half the participants achieved reduced pain and disability, and about half reduced their drug use. Those in the education group did not do as well: about a fifth showed improved physical function, 14 percent found pain relief, and 25 percent reduced their use of pain medication.

People apparently liked yoga better more people in the physical therapy and education groups dropped out of the study. The researchers controlled for race, age, income, body mass index, medications and other variables.

Id tell my friends to use yoga for back pain, said the senior author, Janice Weinberg, a professor of biostatistics at the Boston University School of Public Health. It is cost effective, it can be done at home or in group settings where there is social support, and it is also thought to have mental health benefits.

A version of this article appears in print on June 27, 2017, on Page D4 of the New York edition with the headline: Alternative Medicine: Back Pain? Try Yoga.

Back Pain? Try Yoga - New York Times

Dietary Supplement Caucus Briefing Focuses on Responsible Use of Supplements in Sport and Fitness – Natural Products INSIDER

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

Press Release

The 30th Congressional Dietary Supplement Caucus luncheon briefing, held last week on June 21, featured celebrated U.S. soccer player Christie Pearce (formerly Rampone), who said dietary supplements saved her and her familys lives. Speaking before an audience of 115 Congressional staffers and guests, Ms. Pearce shared personal stories and discussed the role dietary supplements have played in supporting peak athletic performance throughout her career, as well as the unique nutritional needs of her fellow players and family.

A three-time Olympic Gold Medalist and two-time FIFA Womens World Cup Champion, Ms. Pearce is the second most-capped soccer player in U.S. and world history and a long-time dietary supplement user.

One thing Im always focusing on is my fitness, Ms. Pearce told her audience. If it werent for the proper supplements, I dont know if my level of play would be where it is today.

Before highlighting her supplement regimen, Ms. Pearce revealed that she questioned dietary supplements when she started training as a professional athlete. I began looking to trusted sources of information, such as team nutritionists, and took a good look at product labels, she shared. As I transitioned from college playing to the national team, I realized that the foods I was eating were not enough. The right supplements give you something extra. They helped me prepare for each training session and game.

Ms. Pearce highlighted the critical role of consumer education and responsible supplement usage, stressing the importance of discussing dietary supplements with healthcare professionals and identifying companies that manufacture legitimate products. Ms. Pearce also echoed industrys collective message that dietary supplements are not a one-size-fits-all solution for optimal nutrition. Focus on what you need to eat, she said. The food is the fuel. Supplements fill in the gaps."

The educational event was sponsored by the bipartisan, bicameral Dietary Supplement Caucus and co-hosted by the leading trade associations representing the dietary supplement industrythe American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA), the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the Natural Products Association (NPA), and the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA).

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Dietary Supplement Caucus Briefing Focuses on Responsible Use of Supplements in Sport and Fitness - Natural Products INSIDER

The PCOS Treatment Doctors Don’t Tell You About – HarpersBAZAAR.com

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

Welcome to BAZAAR.com's first ever Period Month, where for an entire four weeks we'll be publishing stories devoted to your period. Our aim is to delve into what really happens during a woman's cycleand with the help of Flo Living founder Alisa Vitti, we'll teach you how you can harness your hormones as a path to success, power and global change.

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You've gained the Office 15! Try to exercise more and eat healthier, youll be fine, my doctorand virtually everyonetold me when I tried to find answers behind my steady weight gain that started a few years ago.

I had just started working my first full-time job out of college and was noticing a ton of changes in my body: major fatigue, anxiety, irregular periods, sharp pelvic pains and the most noticeable, weight gain. All of which I was told were issues related to my transition from college into the working world. So I listened and tried to exercise more and eat healthier, only to frustratingly gain more weight no matter what I did. I was also hospitalized twice for ruptured ovarian cysts, something I thought was an entirely separate issue, because when I told doctors and my OB-GYN about my mysterious, sharp pelvic pain that came every month, their response was simply cysts are normal, go on birth control and you wont get them. No tests, no explanationsjust birth control pills shoved in my face.

Thinking this was my only option, I tried going on birth control only to have bad reactions to the pills (extreme nausea and an insane spike in my hormone levels that left me feeling completely insane). I decided that, for me, I would choose dealing with painful cysts instead of feeling that way on the pill. Deep down, I also knew there was something serious going on in my body and I refused to use birth control as a quick band-aid fix to the symptom (cysts), instead of actually curing the problem. It took another two years and countless doctors to finally confirm that it wasnt all in my head: I was officially diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a chronic hormonal endocrine disorder.

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"I wasnt given any information or guidancejust birth control pills shoved in my face."

Sadly, this isnt uncommon. A recent study revealed that it takes, on average, two years and three doctors for women to be diagnosed with PCOS. (You must have at least two of its three key featuresovarian cysts, higher levels of testosterone, and irregular or missed menstrual periodsto be diagnosed.) Afterwards, I wasnt given any information or guidance, except the recommendation of birth control and the cryptic, you might not be able to get pregnant naturally, message my doctor nonchalantly slipped into our conversation.

But my journey trying to treat PCOS on my own soon led me to Alisa Vitti, a hormone nutritionist, founder of Flo Living and the author of Woman Code, a guide for women on how to rebalance hormones through food-based programs. Vitti herself had been diagnosed with PCOS 20 years ago and has since treated her symptoms through food, supplements and self-care. After reading her book, I began working with Vitti to come up with a food-based plan to treat my symptoms.

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During our first consultation, Vitti asked me for my symptoms along with an example of what my "normal day" of meals looked like. After I ran her through a typical day of eating (and by "typical," I mean I chose a healthy day instead of a day that ends in pizza and a night of drinking), I was shocked to hear that my idea of "eating healthy" was actually backfiring against me and my symptoms.

"You're cutting out an entire food group!" Vitti exclaimed when I proudly told her my normal breakfast (eggs), lunch (salmon and spinach salad) and dinner (chicken and veggies). "You can't just cut out carbs entirely. That's why you're always hungry and reaching for snacks like pretzels and chips," she explained. Instead, she suggested that I add half a cup of complex carbs like quinoa, brown rice or sweet potatoes to both my lunch and dinner. Along with fueling me, those carbs also help to manage blood sugar levels (women with PCOS typically have insulin resistance, so monitoring your blood sugar is key). So step 1: add in healthy carbscheck.

Another quick fix for my eating plan from Vitti was to bulk up my breakfast by adding a serving of (good) fat and vegetables to my eggs in order to keep me full until lunch. Dr. Kurt Waples of Bluestone Health Group backed up the theory of a high-protein, high-fat breakfast to start the day as a way to combat the high insulin spikes commonly associated with PCOS. "If you eat a breakfast thats high in fat and protein (an avocado and wild caught salmon, for example), that helps to stabilize blood sugar throughout the day. So instead of having a breakfast of oatmeal with fruit or something carby thats going to burn off fast, we have people do the opposite. The fat stabilizes blood sugar spikes that youre otherwise going to get throughout the day."

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Vitti also recommended snacking on six almonds (a good source of fat) instead of pretzels (which, okay fine, duh) and trying coconut yogurt with raspberries as an after dinner snack. Easy enough.

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But then came time for the terrible, nightmare-inducing news: if I wanted this thing to work, I would have to quit caffeine. I'm not going to lie to you and say that when Vitti told me I'd have to give up my greatest love, iced coffee, I considered hanging up and forgetting this whole thing. But the founder of Flo Living is incredibly convincing and inspiring (as referenced in her TED Talk), so I gave the idea a chance. As it turns out, my coffee addiction (consisting of two to three large iced coffees a day) was apparently making all my PCOS symptoms 10,000 times worse. "Caffeine creates cysts," explained Vitti. "With PCOS you are already prone to cysts, drinking coffee will just help create a million more."

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If you have PCOS or any hormone related issue, do me a favor: listen to Vitti and quit caffeine. This was the first change in Vitti's food-based plan that really changed the way my body felt immediately. While Vitti suggest weaning myself off caffeine and trying a week of black tea followed by a week of green tea, I decided that for me, it would be easier to quit cold turkeyrip it off like a band-aid. After five days of insanely terrible caffeine withdrawal (headaches, shakes and crying every time a coffee passed me on the street), I finally started to feel amazing: more energy, no more 3 p.m. crashes and even brighter skin. Every single person's reaction to this has been, "oh my GOD, I could NEVER do that," which is exactly what I would have said three months ago. But if I, queen of always having an iced coffee in hand, could do itso could you. Step 2: Quit insane coffee addictioncheck.

As for my other vice, alcohol, I had to make some changes in that department too. Vitti instructed me to stay away from beer altogether and to try to have as little hard liquor as possible. "Beer is full of gluten and pesticidesboth of which are endocrine disruptors. Hard alcohol is super concentrated sugar and has a higher alcohol content. It will disrupt both blood sugar/insulin levels and make the liver more fatty," Vitti said.

"I finally started to feel amazing: more energy, no more 3 p.m. crashes and even brighter skin."

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This was kind of a problem for me as I had just given up my coffee habit. I had to draw the line at giving up my beloved vodka sodas and margaritas entirely, too. So as a general rule of thumb, Vitti told me to keep my drink intake to no more than two drinks at a time. Having one glass of wine, champagne or sake with food is okay, she noted, because they have less sugar and less alcohol concentrationso they won't disrupt your blood sugar levels as much. But because sometimes one margarita turns into four and a glass of wine can turn into a bottle, she gave me a post-drinking routine to follow: Anytime after drinking two or more alcoholic drinks (which is often if you're a New Yorker), drink a serving of electrolyte enhancer (Emergen-C Electro-Mix is good) in a glass of water before you go to bed. Along with the drink, take an extra B-vitamin complex to help recover faster from dehydration. The bonus here is that along with keeping your body in check, I noticed that this little remedy also acts as a hangover preventer.

The types of food and beverages you're consuming isn't the only thing that matters, thoughit also matters what time and how frequently you're eating. According to Vitti's Woman Code plan, I needed to eat my breakfast within 30 minutes to an hour of waking up. Lunch should then be consumed within three and a half hours of breakfast, followed by a mid-afternoon snack within two hours. Lastly, dinner should be eaten around three hours after your snack. Skipping meals is an obvious no as it ends up slowing down your metabolism and, again, screwing with your insulin levels. Step 3: get on a timed schedule of eatingcheck.

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Just as important as the foods you're putting into your body are the supplements Vitti recommends adding into your diet. For me, she suggested five new supplements to start, along with a probiotic. The supplements included B-6 vitamins (which helps boost progesterone production), cinnamon pills (to stabilize blood sugar levels), magnesium (helps with insulin resistance and resets adrenal hormones) and milk thistle seed (to help detox the liver). Within just a couple weeks of starting these supplements, my body felt more energized and clear. Step 4: add the proper supplements to your dietcheck.

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After I got in the swing of these changes, it was time to follow Vitti's theory of syncing up your menstrual cycle to your entire lifewhich, trust me, sounds much more complicated than it actually is. In both Vitti's book and on her app, MyFlo, she guides you through the four phases of your cycle: the follicular phase (when follicles in the ovary mature as they get ready to release an egg); the ovulatory phase (when your ovaries actually release an egg); the luteal phase (when the lining of your uterus prepares for a possible pregnancy); and the menstrual phase (when you have your period). Based on where you are in your cycle, there are certain foods and exercises you should be focusing on. While this sounds like an incredibly difficult time commitment, it's actually really simple. For example, during your luteal phase, you should focus on adding foods rich in B vitamins to combat sugar cravings and leafy greens to reduce bloating. There is no strict diet plan to follow, it's all about weaving certain food groups into your diet based on what cycle your body is in.

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A fun fact I learned during this entire process was that I truly didn't know anything about how my body changed depending on my menstrual cycle. And how would I? Girls are never taught this in school and once it's time for the OB-GYN, their advice is almost always to go on birth control and that's that. Regardless of whether you have a hormone imbalance, PCOS, or another period-related issue, Vitti's Woman Code is such a vital read to actually understand how our bodies operate as women. Step 5: sync your life to your cyclecheck.

"Two months in, the most exciting result is that I finally cracked the code on losing weight with PCOS."

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Two months into my diet and lifestyle change, the most exciting note to result is that I finally cracked the code on losing weight with PCOS. Weight lossand controlwith PCOS is nearly impossible due to hormone imbalances and insulin resistance. In just over two years, I gained a total of 20 lbs (a significant increase on my 5'2" frame). After three years of trying everything to lose weight (more cardio, Atkin's, cleanses, you name it) and not ever losing a pound, I managed to lose a total of four pounds in just two monthsa huge feat for someone with PCOS.

At the beginning of my journey, Vitti told me that because I'm still in my twenties and have been suffering from PCOS symptoms for three years, it should only take about three months of being on her plan to reverse my symptoms. As I entered my third month last week, I felt distinctly better (both mind and body) and was finally able to lose weight for the first time in three years (which is HUGE), however I was still having painful cysts. When I told Vitti, she suggested upping my magnesium intake during my luteal phase along with taking Evening Primrose Oil as a fix, which I'm currently in the process of trying out.

As a full disclaimer, I am not someone who's good at sticking to diets, exercise or even remembering to take vitamins on a daily basis. In my first three months of trying to naturally combat PCOS, there were plenty of times I forgot to take my supplements for three days in a row, had too many vodka clubs after dinner, or totally forgot to add specific foods into my diet based on my cycle. But even following Vitti's plan only, let's say 60 percent of the time, I still managed to see results. And the entire process of working with a holistic nutritionist like Vitti gave me eye-opening insight into my own body. It's a reminder that, despite what your doctor tells you, birth control isn't always the only answerespecially to a problem like PCOS.

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The PCOS Treatment Doctors Don't Tell You About - HarpersBAZAAR.com

Vitamin D: Are You Taking More Than is Good for You? – TAPinto.net

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

The results of a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last week found that about 3 percent of adults in the U.S. are taking more than 4,000 international units (IUs) (IU - is a unit of measurement) of Vitamin D a day, an amount beyond the upper limit considered safe. This is up from 0.2 percent 10 years ago. The recommended daily amount of Vitamin D is 600 IUs for adults under 70 and 800 IUs for those 70 and older.

Journal article preview: http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2632494

Article summary: https://medlineplus.gov/news/fullstory_166773.html

Use this News

Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin. We need it to absorb calcium from our intestines, to maintain calcium and phosphorus balance for bone health, and for proper immune system, nervous system and muscle function. We make it when our skin is exposed to ultraviolet light from the sun. We also get it from the foods we eat and the supplements we take.

We need between 600-800 IUs of vitamin D a day from all sources. However, as the results of this study show, more of us than ever are taking amounts in excess of what may be safe. Yes, taking vitamins in excess can be hazardous to our health. Think of vitamins like you would aspirin or acetaminophen. If you have a head ache, you take two tablets. You wouldnt take 10 tablets figuring if two stops the pain, 10 will do it better yet some of us are doing just that with vitamin D.

According to the National Institutes of Health, Office on Dietary Supplements, (NIH-ODS) long term (three months or more) vitamin D intake greater than 4,000 IU a day, can have a negative effect on health. When intakes rise above 10,000 IU a day, there is a greater risk of some cancers particularly cancer of the pancreas, greater risk of heart attack, and greater risk of fractures among older adults. When intake goes beyond 40,000 IU a day, it can result in toxicity which causes high calcium levels in the blood, or hypercalcemia. Hypercalcemia can weaken bones, affect nerve, heart and brain function and cause kidney stones. The risk of toxicity occurs with high intakes from supplements and food. It does not happen with vitamin D produced in bodies from sun exposure.

Knowing that the recommended daily amount is between 600 800 IU, from all sources (food, supplements and sunlight), talk with your health care provider before taking quantities above the recommended amounts. If youve been taking vitamin D supplements, talk to your health care provider about having your vitamin D blood levels tested to see if you really need as much as youre taking. If you are taking any of the following prescription medications - prednisone or cortisone, cholesterol lowering drugs or seizure medications - make sure your health care provider knows you are taking vitamin D supplements. Some of these interact with vitamin D.

Use the chart below from the NIH-ODS to re-evaluate your intake of supplements in light of the amount of vitamin D youre getting in your diet.

Food

IUs per serving*

Percent DV**

Cod liver oil, 1 tablespoon

1,360

340

Swordfish, cooked, 3 ounces

566

142

Salmon (sockeye), cooked, 3 ounces

447

112

Tuna fish, canned in water, drained, 3 ounces

154

Orange juice fortified with vitamin D, 1 cup (check product labels, as amount of added vitamin D varies)

137

Milk, nonfat, reduced fat, and whole, vitamin D-fortified, 1 cup

115-124

29-31

Yogurt, fortified with 20% of the DV for vitamin D, 6 ounces (more heavily fortified yogurts provide more of the DV)

Margarine, fortified, 1 tablespoon

Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 2 sardines

Liver, beef, cooked, 3 ounces

Egg, 1 large (vitamin D is found in yolk)

Ready-to-eat cereal, fortified with 10% of the DV for vitamin D, 0.75-1 cup (more heavily fortified cereals might provide more of the DV)

Cheese, Swiss, 1 ounce

* IUs = International Units. ** DV = Daily Value. DVs were developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help consumers compare the nutrient contents among products within the context of a total daily diet.

For more information see:

Vitamin D Council https://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/

National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements Vitamin D Fact Sheet https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/

Joanna Hayden, PhD, CHESis the principal ofAssociates for Health Education and Behavior, LLC, in Sparta,a practice focused onimproving health through education. Her office offers individual and group health education, and individual health behavior change guidance. For more information please seewww.associatesforhealth.com To contact Dr. Hayden, email her atjoanna@associatesforhealth.com

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Vitamin D: Are You Taking More Than is Good for You? - TAPinto.net

SES and MDA Announce First Satellite Life Extension Agreement – Markets Insider

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

SES (Euronext Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) and MDA, a global communications and information company, announced today an agreement for an initial satellite life extension mission using an on-orbit refuelling vehicle being built by SSL, a US based subsidiary of MDA and a leading provider of innovative satellites and spacecraft systems.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170627006627/en/

SES to be first customer on refuelling spacecraft built by SSL- Credit: SSL

SES will be the first commercial customer to benefit from the satellite refuelling service, and will be able to activate the service whenever required with minimal disruption to spacecraft operation. The agreement also includes an option for further life extension missions.

SES will work with a new venture, Space Infrastructure Services (SIS), which will commercialise sophisticated satellite servicing capabilities. SIS has contracted SSL to design and build the highly-capable satellite servicing spacecraft vehicle to meet the needs of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)s Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) programme, which is designed to inspect, repair, relocate and augment geosynchronous satellites and plans to include a refuelling payload to extend the life of satellites that are low on propellant.

"Satellite in-orbit servicing is of upmost importance to next-generation architectures for communications satellites. It enables satellite operators like us to have more flexibility in managing our fleet and meeting our customers demands, said Martin Halliwell, Chief Technology Officer at SES. "After witnessing the due diligence of SSLs and MDAs technical expertise, we are confident that its new venture is the best partner in the refuelling mission field, and will be able to help SES get more value out of an on-orbit satellite.

"As a pioneer in next-generation fleet capabilities, SES is clearly committed to improving the space and satellite ecosystem, said Howard L. Lance, President and CEO at MDA. "We are very pleased to have this refuelling contract with SES and are excited to provide them with more options in fleet management.

The satellite servicing spacecraft vehicle is planned for launch in 2021.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SES_Satellites

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ses

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SES.Satellites

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SESVideoChannel

Blog: https://www.ses.com/news/blogs

Media Gallery: https://www.ses.com/media-gallery

SES White papers are available under: https://www.ses.com/news/whitepapers

About SES

SES is the world-leading satellite operator and the first to deliver a differentiated and scalable GEO-MEO offering worldwide, with more than 50 satellites in Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) and 12 in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO). SES focuses on value-added, end-to-end solutions in four key market verticals (Video, Enterprise, Mobility and Government). It provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators, governments and institutions, and businesses worldwide. SESs portfolio includes the ASTRA satellite system, which has the largest Direct-to-Home (DTH) television reach in Europe, and O3b Networks, a global managed data communications service provider. Another SES subsidiary, MX1, is a leading media service provider and offers a full suite of innovative digital video and media services. Further information available at: http://www.ses.com

About SSL MDA Holdings

SSL MDA Holdings Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) and serves as the operating company for all MDA businesses.

About MDA

MDA is a global communications and information company providing operational solutions to commercial and government organisations worldwide. MDAs business is focused on markets and customers with strong repeat business potential, primarily in the Communications sector and the Surveillance and Intelligence sector. In addition, the Company conducts a significant amount of advanced technology development. MDAs established global customer base is served by more than 4,800 employees operating from 15 locations in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The companys common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX:MDA).

About SSL

Space Systems Loral (SSL) is a leading provider of commercial satellites with broad expertise to support satellite operators and innovative space related missions. The company designs and manufactures spacecraft for services such as direct-to-home television, video content distribution, broadband internet, mobile communications, and Earth observation. As a Silicon Valley innovator for 60 years, SSLs advanced product line also includes state-of-the-art small satellites, and sophisticated robotics and automation solutions for remote operations. For more information, visit http://www.sslmda.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170627006627/en/

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SES and MDA Announce First Satellite Life Extension Agreement - Markets Insider

The outlandish surgeon who aims to transplant human heads says his ultimate goal is beating mortality – AOL

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

During a recent Skype call with Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero, he waved a tattered grey book in front of the camera.

Canavero said the book contained one of the keys to the outlandish procedure he claims to be on track to complete this year: the world's first full-body transplant.

The book was "Frankenstein," Mary Shelley's classic 1818 novel about a distraught scientist who discovers how to give life to inanimate matter.

Canavero sees his planned procedure in a similar light.

"I want to create a near death experience, actually a full death experience, and see what comes next," he told Business Insider.

This will happen, he said, when he successfully severs the spinal cords of two humans a Chinese national and a brain-dead organ donor and attaches the head of the former onto the body of the latter. He calls the procedure HEAVEN, short for head anastomosis venture. ("Head transplant," he said, is a mis-translation of his description of the procedure.)

"My first order of business is to see HEAVEN through. My goal is life extension," Canavero said.

This procedure could be used to cure spinal cord injuries, and although Canavero acknowledged that's a noble aim, he said he views it as a goal scientists should pursue so as not to "waste" his scientific efforts. But ultimately, Canavero believes humans will one day use full-body transplants to live forever by placing aging heads onto healthier bodies.

One day, we might even use clone bodies, he said.

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Canavero says that a series of his own recently published experiments are paving the way for him to move ahead with the first full-body transplant in a person.

In the first of these experiments, he claimed to have severed and then reconnected the spinal cord of a dog. Less than a year later, he published a paper detailing how he created a series of two-headed rodents. In June 2017, Canavero said he severed the spinal cords of a group of mice and then reattached them using a special solution he calls "glue."

Canavero says these experiments are proof that he and his research team have solved what's often considered the holy grail of spinal cord research: fusion.

"We have so much data that confirms this in mice, rats, and soon you will see the dogs," said Canavero. "This is the message. We have a cure for spinal cord paralysis."

Other experts don't buy Canavero's claims, citing a lack of evidence.

"I simply don't think the reports of joining spinal cords together are credible," James FitzGerald, a consulting neurosurgeon at the University of Oxford, told Business Insider.

Robert Brownstone, a professor of neurosurgery and the Brain Research Trust Chair of Neurosurgery at the University College London, agreed.

"Many great scientific ideas are born out of crazy ideas that turned out to be right so we can't completely turn a blind eye to this, but there has to be some mechanistic aspect to it, which I'm not seeing," Brownstone said.

Others, including University of Cambridge neurosurgery professor John Pickard, say the journal in which the studies were published is also a red flag. "I just don't think he's done the science," Pickard said.

The second word in the name for Canavero's procedure, anastomosis, is a combination of the Greek words "ana," meaning to place upon, and "stoma," meaning mouth. Together, the words essentially mean "a connection or opening between two things."

Canavero did not necessarily mean for the words to be taken literally about the head and body instead, he sees the procedure as a way to connect the realms of the living and the dead.

"I'm into life extension. Life extension and breaching the wall between life and death," he said. "My goal is not curing spinal cord injury. It is not curing medical conditions because there are not enough bodies. Even if you cure someone who's in bad shape, what about everyone else? Then you have to think about clones."

James FitzGerald also spends a significant amount of time thinking about how to cheat death, but he believes Canavero is taking the wrong approach. Instead, he says, the best route is technology like brain-computer interfaces that enable people with paralysis to power robotic limbs with their mind.

"This is all stuff we're going to be seeing in the next decade," said FitzGerald. "Full-body transplants, on the other hand, are nowhere in sight."

NOW WATCH: Scientists have developed a 'bionic spinal cord' to help paraplegics walk

Kenya Barris To Write Russell Simmons Biopic For Fox, ‘Life And Def: Sex Drugs Money + God’ – Deadline

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

EXCLUSIVE: Fox has set Life And Def: Sex Drugs Money + God, a feature biopic that chronicles the rise of Russell Simmons from the inner city streets of Queens to one of the most influential music/fashion culture impresarios of his era. The studio has set to write it Kenya Barris, the creator of ABCs hit series Black-ish and co-writer of films that include Barbershop: The Next Cutand the upcoming comedy Girls Trip (written with Tracy Oliver). Pic is a co-production between SimmonsDef Pictures and Misher Films, with Simmons and Kevin Misher producing. Jake Stein, Bobby Shriver, Josh Bratman and Andy Berman are the exec producers.

Associated Press

Fox last year signed a deal with Barris and his production company, Khalabo Ink Society, to hatch films aimed at telling compelling stories that pull back the curtain on the parts of our society that typically go unnoticed. Life And Def will capture the rebellious rise of rap and hip hop in America, through the prism of the disruptive Simmons and the formation of Def Jam Records. That label started with rap icons like L.L. Cool J, Public Enemy, and the Beastie Boys and grew to include Kanye West, Jay-Z and DMX.

Its a different view of a zeitgeist movement than L.A-set films like Straight Outta Compton or All Eyez On Me. The backdrop here is New York City in the early 80s, when crime and crack were spreading like wildfire, Gotham City teetered on bankruptcy and MTV was blowing up as disco was dying. Into that vacuum walked Simmons, a young party and record promoter who emerged from hustling on the streets of Hollis, Queens to managing young musical artists who were rapping words to a beat instead of singing a melody, with furious passionate lyrics that burned across ethnic, class and geographic lines and spoke to an emerging youth culture.

Barris is represented by CAA, Principato Young, and Morris Yorn.

David Ignatius: Selfishness rises in global politics | Columnists … – Billings Gazette

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

ERBIL, Iraq Here in the capital of Iraqi Kuridstan, the mood is "Kurdistan First" with the announcement of a referendum on independence in September. In neighboring Saudi Arabia, it's "Saudi First," as a brash young crown prince steers the kingdom toward a more assertive role in the region. In Moscow, where I visited a few weeks ago, it's "Russia First," with a vengeance. And so it goes, around most of the world.

The politics of national self-interest is on steroids these days. For global leaders, it's the "me" moment. The nearly universal slogan among countries that might once have acted with more restraint seems to be: "Go for it."

The prime catalyst of this global movement of self-assertion is, obviously, Donald Trump. From early in his 2016 campaign, he proclaimed his vision of "America First" in which the interests of the United States and its companies and workers would prevail over international obligations.

Trump has waffled on many of his commitments since becoming president, but not "America First." He withdrew from the Paris agreement on climate change and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, to name two multinational accords that Trump decided harmed American interests, or at least those of his political supporters.

Trump's critics, including me, have been arguing that this selfish stance is actually weakening America by shredding the network of global alliances and institutions on which U.S. power has rested. But let's put aside this issue of self-inflicted wounds and focus instead on what happens when other leaders decide to emulate Trump's disdain for traditional limits on the exercise of power.

Nobody wants to seem like a chump in Trump world. When the leader of the global system proclaims that he won't be bound by foreign restraints, the spirit becomes infectious. Call the global zeitgeist what you will: The new realism. Eyes on the prize. Winning isn't the most important thing, it's the only thing.

Middle East leaders have been notably more aggressive in asserting their own versions of national interest. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates defied pleas from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to stop escalating their blockade against Qatar for allegedly supporting extremism. Their argument was simple self-interest: If Qatar wants to ally with the Gulf Arabs, then it must accept our rules. Otherwise, Qatar is out.

For the leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan, the issue has been whether to wait on their dream of independence. They decided to go ahead with their referendum, despite worries among top U.S. officials that it could upset American efforts to hold Iraq together and thereby destabilize the region. The implicit Kurdish answer: That's not our problem. We need to do what's right for our people.

Trump embraces the same raw cynicism about values-based foreign policy as does Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Who are the outliers in this me-first world? France and Germany retain the conviction that their destinies involve something larger than national self-interest. Fear and nationalism have shaken Europe, but not overwhelmed it. An enlightened center is holding at Europe's core.

China, too, manages to retain the image that it stands for something larger than itself, with its "One Belt, One Road" rhetoric of Chinese-led interdependence. The question, as Harvard's Graham Allison argues in his provocative new book, "Destined for War," is whether the expanding Chinese hegemon will collide with the retreating American one.

The politics of selfishness may seem inevitable, in Trump world. But by definition, it can't produce a global system. That's its fatal flaw.

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David Ignatius: Selfishness rises in global politics | Columnists ... - Billings Gazette

REVIEW | Is MGMT ready for a comeback? – Popdust

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

It seemed that once upon a time MGMT owned the brand of indie-pop. When the genre was really taking off into the mainstream in the late aughts, their psychedelic electronics took the culture's ear by storm. They were youthful, introspective, and accessible. At some point, they got sick of their own brand and tried to break free, and landed themselves in relative obscurity, whether that was their ultimate goal or not.

They've been teasing new material for over a year now and with a festival run this summer, it seems like a new album is coming soon. Back in 2013, I questioned whether they were going to go further down the path of strangeness and experimentation or take it back to their roots, gunning for a more crowd-pleasing sound? They would up going way past the Congratulations side of strange with their self-titled third album MGMT. Even more than their sophomore album, MGMT seemed to estrange some fans and wasn't doing much to bring in new ones. So now I'm asking myself a similar question, what direction will they be going in for album number four. A return to their early sound or another leap into the unknown?

What happened to MGMT is really not different than what happens to a lot of small bands that hit it big right out of the gates. They, very understandably, got sick of what got them famous. They gained a small amount of popularity as "The Management" and once they transitioned to MGMT and released their EP Time to Pretend, they were mustering up support online and had some notoriety for their crowd-capturing performances. Their early sound was gruff electronic alt-dance rock, it even had a punk feel to it. They had their deep moments and their fun moments. They were an appealing sound as rock changed its forms, looking for a new movement to grab onto in those years.

So Oracular Spectacular comes out in 2007 and they are bonafide indie-rock stars. "Kids" is everywhere, and "Time to Pretend" and "Electric Feel" are lighting it up as well. Critically the album fared well, garnering a generally positive response, and chartered well to boot, eventually going Gold. For the next few years, they seemed to stay relevant while the indie-rock scene was really booming, with acts like Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse making waves commercially.

By 2010, MGMT seemed ready to repeat themselves. Early that year, Kid Cudi dropped one of the highlights of his career, the anthemic "Pursuit of Happiness", which featured MGMT along with the electronic-rock duo Ratatat. It seemed like the extra buzz generated from that single just months before Congratulations, their sophomore effort, would come out would poise the trippy indie-kids for success. And with the album debuting at Number 2 on the Billboard 200, it seems their momentum was holding true.

That momentum would slowly fade as the ambitious departure in sound and style that Congratulations was made it a hard sell to new fans and some old. While Oracular came into the sonic zeitgeist of 2007 and took off, Congratulations was an experimental and personal record for the duo. They opted out of some of their more electronic tendencies, just as bands like Foster the People were proving that style to still be in demand, in order to pursue a more full-band production. It became evident that they, like many acts before them, had grown weary of the sound they had become popular on. It was even evidenced in live performances, like the recording Qu'est-Ce Que C'est La Vie, Chaton? (Live At The Bataclan), where they would play parts of the set with only acoustic instruments, which they were sure to announce.

It's a legitimate struggle, mostly for acts that start small, without necessarily a strong aim to go big, that happen to get boosted into the mainstream fairly quickly. They grapple with concerns over entering into the big scary industry. "How do we keep our authenticity as we make these big deals, as we get a hit single?". They were certainly not the first band to battle with that transition. MGMT's response was essentially to make the record they wanted to make and move away from the growing indie-pop sound. In 2011, Frank Ocean's "Nature Feels" on Nostalgia Ultra, which sampled MGMT's "Electric Feel", would continue to prove the enduring nature of the band's early sound.

One thing I never doubted was their more dedicated fans. MGMT has seemed to maintain a following with a strong attachment to them, whether it be due to nostalgia or respect for their constant experimentation and disregard for convention. When I saw them at Firefly in 2013, they garnered a large crowd bubbling with excitement. People sang along and were generally entranced, for one reason or another. Although, there were definitely a few that were perturbed by MGMT's classic refusal to play "Kids".

It's hard to say what would've happened if they had stayed the course. It's very likely that had they stuck with the sound that made them famous, people would have gotten sick of it quickly. On the other hand, maybe they did push too hard and far away. Their self-titled MGMT might not have totally alienated dedicated fans but it certainly didn't attract too many new ones. While they were cautiously praised by some critics for their experimental efforts, in general critical and commercial performance was pretty weak but I mean, do they even care about all of that?

In an interview given pretty early on in 2013, they answered my question of what direction they would be going in, and that answer was they were going weirder. "We're not trying to make music that everyone understands the first time they hear it," Ben Goldwasser told Rolling Stone. So fair enough, that's their M.O. Nonetheless, I'm wondering the same thing I did in 2013 about this next album, which they recently announced would be titled Little Dark Age.

The group has been teasing at new content for over a year and a half now, mostly through their Twitter. Like has happened in the past, the project's expected release has been continuously pushed further and further back. With a string of festival appearances this summer, it seems like the same timeline as their last album, so it seems right to expect it sometime in early fall. If I'm correct in seeing a similar timeline, we should probably be expecting a single sometime soon.

Ostensibly, a new logo stylization for the band

As far as content goes, the most we've gotten at this point that they've personally released is a cryptic video appearing on their website. It's ambient. It's got a meandering dream-scape vibe that's only further reinforced by the video accompaniment. If this is what we can expect sound-wise for the new album, then yes, I think the answer is that they will again go down a strange new path. The operative there, though, is new given that while it still doesn't sound like they're trying to hit the same notes they did in their early work, the strangeness of this new sound isn't defined by the compressed, distorted anarchy of their last album.

So we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully they will be releasing more content soon and we'll get a better listen as to what we're in for. Given that Indie Rock has seemed to have fallen off the mainstream radar in the last few years, it's always interesting to see what the once-juggernauts are up to.

Giphy

[Andrew Sheng] May into June – The Korea Herald

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

April is the cruelest month, so said poet TS Eliot. But one wit remarked that June marks the end of May.

Who would have expected that British Prime Minister Theresa May would lose her majority in Parliament in the June election, which was supposed to strengthen her hand in negotiating Brexit with the European Union? This expectation reversal was as big a shock as Brexit or Trumpism. May may have found her Ides of March in June.

In sharp contrast, unlike earlier in the year when everyone was worried about France falling to populist rule under Marine le Pen, a fresh centrist candidate named Macron won, and was rewarded by a handsome legislative majority to carry out his promise to reform France.

In Bangkok this week to refresh memories of July 2, 1997, I was struck by how history seemed to rhyme in 10 year cycles. Next month would mark not only the 20th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to China, but also the 20th anniversary of the Asian financial crisis, when the baht was devalued.

The year 2007 also marked the 10th anniversary of the US subprime crisis, which together with the European debt crisis caused a decade of low growth for advanced economies. Initially, investors hardly noticed the tremors from the subprime crisis. On July 19, 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average touched a record high of 14,000. After an adjustment in Aug. to 13,000, the index dropped below 11,000 on Sept. 15, 2008, following the Lehman failure. It fell to a 12-year low of 6,547 on March 9, 2009, recording a 53.2 percent drop over this period.

Similarly, the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index also crossed the 20,000 milestone on Dec. 28, 2006 and rose to the all-time peak of 31,958 on Oct. 18, 2007. A year later, it lost 66.6 percent to a low of 10,676 on Oct. 27, 2008.

Ten years later, both indexes have once again touched record highs, with the Hang Seng recovering past the 26,000 mark this month, whereas the Dow hit a record peak of 21,528 this week. Because this rally is essentially tech driven, even the Nasdaq index has surpassed its 2000 tech bubble peak of 5,048 to hit a new peak of 6,305 on June 2, 2017.

These market gyrations suggest that another consolidation may be reached sometime soon, except we do not know the exact timing and the trigger. All we know is the there are many risks out there, including policy uncertainties from whether the Fed would continue to raise interest rates, the sudden reappearance of inflation and possible geopolitical or natural disaster events.

So far, market worries about Chinas high leverage issues seem to have receded with the stabilization of US-China relations and better performance at the growth level.

All in all, the markets have priced in so far almost all the Brexit and Trump fears and did not react too much to the recent normalization of Fed interest rates.

The stark reality is that no one knows for sure whether we are in overpriced territory or bubble zone. The US economy appears to trundle along in reasonable shape, with unemployment numbers reaching new lows. All we do know is asset prices are at record highs, financed by historically high debt and abnormally low interest rates.

In this zone of radical uncertainty, we are no longer sure that the gross domestic product indicator reflects the true state of the economy. GDP measures the old resource-based economy well, but does not capture growth in a data-digital economy. No economy reflects this contradiction more than China, which has shifted from being the largest assembler of the global supply chain towards a consumption and service-driven economy. Both consumption and services crossed the 50 percent of GDP levels, moving closer towards an advanced country pattern where consumption and services account for roughly 60-70 percent or more of GDP.

If China succeeds in this historic transition, with the old resource-consuming industries, like coal, steel, energy, being phased out, even as the new internet economy trims the inefficiencies in the current Chinese distribution system, then China could break through her middle-income trap. But one recalls that South Korea achieved Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development status in December 1996, only to fall into the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98. Mexico did the same in 1994.

All countries go through growing pains, especially what Austrian economist Schumpeterian called creative destruction. This transition creates massive winners and also losers. We see this pattern being reflected in the mixture of top Dow Jones index component companies, whereby the leading tech stocks are being priced to win, whereas the old energy, manufacturing and distribution companies are struggling to maintain their market share.

Given these radical uncertainties, history is replete with the rise and fall of nations, as well as the rise and fall of companies. It teaches humility in forcing us to think holistically on the broader trends, whilst sorting out the signals from the noise.

Emerging markets in Asia today are facing what is called a middle income trap whereby they need to break through a pain barrier to rise to advanced income status. Advanced and aging economies countries like Britain and Japan face the opposite, a high income trap where if major policy mistakes are made, a rich country may slide into stagnation and possible lower income levels.

Ultimately, demographics and geography determine destiny. Asia may face many growing pains and a complex operating environment from disruptive technology and excessive competition, including geopolitical rivalry. Western analysts disdain for Asian demagogues are now being haunted by their own demagogues. Basically, in the midst of these complex transitions through mega-trends, there is also a governance transition. The millennial generation is rapidly taking over in terms of consumption lifestyle, innovation and governance style. History suggests that it will not be a bloodless transition.

Despite all such noise, we should do well to remind ourselves that Asia is still where there is still demographic and technological growth. Lets see whether the next market adjustment will stall or disrupt that growth trajectory.

Happy 10th and 20th anniversaries!

By Andrew Sheng Andrew Sheng is a distinguished fellow at the Asia Global Institute of the University of Hong Kong. -- Ed.

(Asia News Network)

[Andrew Sheng] May into June - The Korea Herald

Zimbabwe’s biggest resource for economic development is its people – Nehanda Radio

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

By Conrad Mwanza

If we looked at countries natural endowments as a measure of their potential for economic development, very few in Africa would stand toe to toe with Zimbabwe. For ours is one of those rare countries that boast a wide range of mineral deposits and natural potential.

Zimbabwe hosts the second largest platinum group metals as well as the largest high grade chromite resource base in the world on the Great Dyke. A notable global producer of lithium and chrysotile asbestos, the country is also possessed with significant deposits of gold and diamonds.

Add to that the millions of hectares of arable and grazing land, which has historically ensured successful mixed farming and may yet see the countrys commercial agricultural sector bounce back to its former glory.

But with a literacy rate that has consistently topped all of Africa, and a massive pool of skilled human resources across all sectors, it goes without saying that Zimbabwes biggest resource is its people. These are the potential drivers of the countrys economic development, if fully harnessed and deployed towards production, innovation and service delivery.

However, over the past two decades especially, weve not been spared the exodus of skilled professionals and many others who trekked off to more developed economies in response to globalisations pull, as well as the push of national economic hardships and political insecurity. Indeed, unofficial estimates claim the country may have lost as much as 60% of its qualified professionals, while up to three million Zimbabweans are believed to have left the country.

In the UK where I live, estimates put the total population of the Zimbabwean community at 400,000 thats about four times the size of a micro-state like The Seychelles. The sheer determination of my compatriots to carve out a space for themselves in their adopted home and get their pound of flesh was the single most inspiring factor that led me to found the Zimbabwe Achievers Awards in 2011.

The awards body was to serve as both a celebration of those small, significant steps of success that Zimbabweans were making as they worked their way up the UKs socio-economic ladder, as well as inspiration and motivation towards even greater achievements.

In the seven years of our existence, weve gone from celebrating small community businesses to awarding professional architects delivering multi-million dollar projects across Africa. Weve recognised cutting edge tech-start-ups worth millions, freight services serving global markets, and healthcare companies servicing huge government contracts.

Collectively as the Zimbabwean diaspora, weve consistently remitted billions of dollars back home over the years and compelled the government to pay attention to our net contribution to the economy of our home country. Dollarisation has helped cut off the forex black market, ensuring that all remittances go through the official channels. However, remittances are only a fraction of the diasporas capacity to contribute towards national socio-economic development.

To illustrate the limits of remittances to achieve broader community transformation, a case study from Bangladesh is worth referring to. About 95% of all British-Bengalis trace their origins to Sylhet division in north-east Bangladesh. The region receives around US $1billion in remittances every year from expatriate Bengalis in the UK alone and should, in theory, be the wealthiest and healthiest part of the country.

However, as The Guardian reported, Sylhet has worse literacy and school enrolment rates than all other regions, child malnutrition rates are well over the WHO emergency threshold of 15%, fertility rates are the highest in the country and expectant mothers are more likely to die during child birth in Sylhet than any other part of Bangladesh.

And the reason for this discrepancy between the high volumes of remittances and the overall state of the community is that remittances are transferred to individual households rather than to charity or community development. As the Zimbabwean diaspora, we also find ourselves locked in this phase of financial contribution and have yet to fully inhabit our economic potential by broadening our investment beyond the family to achieve wider developmental impact.

At the Zimbabwe Achievers Awards, we have spread out from our UK base to all major diaspora centres South Africa, USA, and Australia. Through this community vehicle, weve networked with both individual professional Zimbabweans doing great things in their careers as well as entrepreneurs, businesses, social enterprises and philanthropic organisations.

Throughout the networks weve built, the one pulsating passion that courses through all of us is a deep-seated desire to contribute towards Zimbabwes socio-economic development and make a difference. Weve formed partnerships with corporates based in Zimbabwe that are at the forefront of kickstarting the countrys brain gain by employing experienced Diaspora professionals and bringing them back home.

This is a trend that we fully support and as we believe that Zimbabwes critical professional skills are indispensable in the reconstruction of the country after decades of economic lethargy and the loss of much needed human resources. Innovative human resources companies need to step up and start engaging the diaspora labour market to harness key skills and bring them back home, as has happened elsewhere across the world.

In China, for instance, huge numbers of professionals who left their country to study and work, have returned. These so-called sea turtles have brought back desirable skills, invaluable networks of international business contacts and innovative ideas to energise the economy.

India, too, has enjoyed a significant brain gain in recent years, with scientists returning home to take advantage of the relative strength of the Indian economy and growing opportunities there. By 2013, according to the scientific journal publishers Elsevier, India had become a net importer of productive scientific talent.

But that does not just happen home governments need to communicate clearly that expatriates are wanted and needed back home. Policymakers need to understand the diaspora and incentivise its involvement in the countrys development.

Emotional ties alone do not cut it governments can actively do away with obstacles and create opportunities for diasporas to engage in economic development. Governments must be on their front foot if they are to harvest real benefits from their diaspora.

Even more importantly, the role of the diaspora as investors is very much under-appreciated within our own Zimbabwean context. One of the most prominent examples of diasporas investing in their home country is that of the Chinese. Between 1985 and 2000, the Chinese diaspora accounted for 70 per cent of Chinas foreign direct investment, which helped fuel the countrys rapid economic growth over this period.

There is need for the Zimbabwean diaspora itself, the corporate sector back home as well as the government, to work collaboratively to facilitate diaspora investment. Apart from sending money to families, many in the diaspora do not have the information they need to make decisions about investment, nor do they know what investment opportunities are available.

There is need for mutual encouragement to organise better to facilitate this investment. It is very feasible for health professionals in the UK, for instance, working with government facilitation, to invest in a state of the art hospital that can provide world class medical care and save the country millions in dollars that are spent towards health tourism to India, South Africa, Singapore and other popular destinations.

Likewise, a lot of the infrastructural projects in Zimbabwe can also harness the investment and participation of diaspora-based engineers, many of whom are members of diaspora chapters of the Zimbabwe Institute of Engineers. Many other types of diaspora investment, such as collective investment in community projects through hometown associations, can be fully explored and practical steps towards facilitating them taken.

Clearly, there is a lot of unexplored potential in the Zimbabwean diaspora, and a strong relationship needs to be fostered between the diaspora and the government as well as the corporate and charity/philanthropic sectors. To this end, ZAA International will be hosting a Zimbabwe Economy Forum in Dubai from 21-24 September this year to explore these and other key issues concerning our national economy.

One of the projects I hope to launch at the forum together with partners like Vavaki Architects is a holiday housing complex in the great Victoria Falls that Zimbabweans in the diaspora can buy into. This falls firmly within the greater vision to see a Victoria Falls that will be a leisure and tourist hub of the region, complete with state of the art facilities to complement its world heritage natural offering.

Robocalypse Now? Central Bankers Argue Whether Automation Will Kill Jobs – New York Times

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

All the signs now point to a strengthening and broadening recovery in the euro area, Mr. Draghi said. His comments pushed the euro to almost its highest level in a year, though it later gave up some of the gains.

But along with the optimism is a fear that the economic expansion might bypass large swaths of the population, in part because a growing number of jobs could be replaced by computers capable of learning artificial intelligence.

Policy makers and economists conceded that they have not paid enough attention to how much technology has hurt the earning power of some segments of society, or planned to address the concerns of those who have lost out. That has, in part, nourished the political populism that contributed to Britains vote a year ago to leave the European Union, and the election of President Trump.

Generally speaking, economic growth is a good thing, Ben S. Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, said at the forum. But, as recent political developments have brought home, growth is not always enough.

In the past, technical advances caused temporary disruptions but ultimately improved living standards, creating new categories of employment along the way. Farm machinery displaced farmworkers but eventually they found better paying jobs, and today their great-grandchildren may design video games.

But artificial intelligence threatens broad categories of jobs previously seen as safe from automation, such as legal assistants, corporate auditors and investment managers. Large groups of people could become obsolete, suffering the same fate as plow horses after the invention of the tractor.

More and more, we are seeing economists saying, This time could be different, said Mr. Autor, who presented a paper on the subject that he wrote with Anna Salomons, an associate professor at the Utrecht University School of Economics in the Netherlands.

Central bankers have begun examining the effect of technology on employment because it might help solve several economic quandaries.

Why is workers share of total earnings declining, even though unemployment is at record lows and corporate profits at record highs? Why is productivity the amount that a given worker produces stuck in neutral?

The mere fact that we are organizing this conference here in Sintra testifies to our interest in that discussion, Benot Cur, a member of the European Central Banks executive board, said in an interview, referring to the Robocalypse debate.

Of particular interest to the European Central Bank is why faster economic growth has not caused wages and prices to rise. The central bank has pulled out all the stops to stimulate the eurozone economy, cutting interest rates to zero and even below, while printing money. Four years of growth have led to the creation of 6.4 million jobs. Yet inflation remains well below the banks official target of below, but close to, 2 percent.

One explanation is that more work is being done by advanced computers, with the rewards flowing to the narrow elite that owns them.

Still, among the economists in Sintra there was plenty of skepticism about whether the Robocalypse is nigh.

Since the beginning of the industrial age, almost every major technological innovation has led to dire predictions that humans were being permanently replaced by machines.

While some kinds of jobs were lost forever, greater efficiency led to more affordable goods and other industries soaked up the excess workers. Few people alive today would want to return to the late 1800s, when 40 percent of Americans worked on farms.

Robocalypse advocates underestimate the power of scientific advances to beget more scientific advances, said Joel Mokyr, a professor at Northwestern University who studies the history of economics.

Think about what computers are doing to our ability to discover science, Professor Mokyr said during a panel discussion, citing computers that can solve equations that have baffled mathematicians for decades. There may be breakthroughs that we cant even begin to imagine.

There are other explanations for stagnant wages besides technology.

Companies in Japan, the United States and Europe are sitting on hoards of cash, doling out the money to shareholders rather than investing in new buildings, equipment or innovative products. Just why is another topic of debate.

Hal Varian, the chief economist at Google whose self-driving technology may someday make taxi drivers unnecessary said that the plunging cost of information technology has virtually eliminated the fixed cost of entering a business. Companies can rent software and computing power over the internet.

And flat wages reflect the large number of women who have entered the work force in recent decades as well as the post World War II baby boom, Mr. Varian said, adding that those trends have run their course. We are going to see a higher share going to labor, he said.

Yet already, disruptions caused by technology help account for rampant pessimism among working-class and middle-class people across the developed world.

Mr. Bernanke referred to polls showing that about twice as many Americans say the United States is on the wrong track than say the country is moving in the right direction.

As a result, last November Americans elected as president a candidate with a dystopian view of the economy, Mr. Bernanke said.

Mr. Autor, co-author of the Robocalypse paper, concluded that it was too early to say that robots are coming for peoples jobs. But it could still happen in the future.

I say not Robocalypse now, Mr. Autor said, perhaps Robocalypse later.

Follow Jack Ewing on Twitter @JackEwingNYT.

A version of this article appears in print on June 29, 2017, on Page B4 of the New York edition with the headline: Robocalypse Now? Bankers Ask, Will Automation Kill Jobs?.

Robocalypse Now? Central Bankers Argue Whether Automation Will Kill Jobs - New York Times

Zume’s robot pizzeria could be the future of workplace automation … – The Verge

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

Zume Pizza, a food delivery startup in the San Francisco Bay Area, is expanding to a new location in the heart of Silicon Valley with the help of robotic companions. The company, which starting today will deliver fresh pizzas to Palo Alto and the Stanford area in addition to its hometown of nearby Mountain View, says it has pioneered a robot-assisted technique for pressing pizza dough in a perfect circle in just nine seconds.

That allows the operation to improve efficiency and let its human employees spend time on less tedious work, according to CEO and co-founder Julia Collins. We wanted to identify places where humans were overtaxed physically, bored, or whether the job they were doing was not safe, like sticking their hand into a 600 degree oven for six hours a day, Collins said in an interview with The Verge. Thats why we focused next on this practice of opening the dough.

The new robot, aptly named Doughbot, is now being deployed on Zumes robot-enabled pizza assembly line, where it does the job of pressing dough up to five times faster than even the most seasoned pizza spinning pros.

If this all sounds like an alien and absurd idea robots making pizza does look like overkill, at first glance its helpful to understand the full context of Zume Pizza and its food-delivery ambitions. The company, which first began delivering pizzas last year, was founded on two core concepts: robotic automation and on-route cooking. Robotic automation is easy enough to understand. Zume, which sources machines from industrial robot maker ABB, employs these devices for tasks like dispensing the perfect amount of sauce, spreading that sauce, removing pizzas from ovens, and, now, spreading the dough with just the right thinness and crust-to-pie ratio. The various robots work in unison with humans in an assembly line-style work space attached to the companys Mountain View facility.

Zume is one of a number of automated startups popping up in the Bay Area trying to fuse cooking with technology. For instance, Eatsa which now has a number of locations in California has made headlines in the past for letting you order healthy and low-cost quinoa-based bowls without interacting with a single human. These types of companies combine the on-demand ambitions of startups like DoorDash, Munchery, and Postmates with a kitchen technology twist, all with the aim of avoiding the typically heavy costs associated with food production and logistics. To that end, Zume has hired Susan Alban, who led the launch Ubers food delivery arm UberEats, as its new vice president of operations, Collins announced today.

Zume relies on both robots and on-route cooking to cut costs and speed up deliveries

For Zume, robots are just one aspect of the business. Its really the on-route cooking concept that got Collins and her co-founders excited years ago, when they first began applying for patents and churning through hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to protect their inventions. Folks often go to the robots first, because robots are sexy, Collins says. But the founding idea of Zume was really cooking on route.

You see, Zume Pizza uses up to six specially designed delivery vehicles the size of FedEx trucks. Each one is outfitted with dozens of pizza ovens that can simultaneously reheat hundreds of pizzas, so that each one can be placed fresh and hot into the companys custom pizza box. That way, when someone orders pizza, it arrives in under 20 minutes.

We use predictive technology to make really high-fidelity bets on what pizzas people are going to order, Collins says. Early in the morning we produce a daily inventory of pizzas. We predict the total volume of pizzas and the types of pizzas that we need to satisfy that days demand. That way, Zume doesnt have to cook every pizza from scratch, while still managing to avoid the fast food pitfalls of serving precooked meals.

Zume predicts how many and what kind of pizzas it needs to make each day

The predictive factors at play range from simple stuff like time of day and day of the week to more complex ones like what sporting event or television premiere happens to be airing at the time. When demand gets too high, Zume stops going door to door for deliveries and parks its trucks. It then deploys a fleet of small Fiat vehicles and scooters to ferry the pizzas out in a more efficient manner.

Zumes ultimate goal is to make fresh, locally sourced food at reasonable prices by aggressively rethinking the costs of running a food operation dependent on delivery. Zume pizzas are priced between $10 and $20 for a single pie, and the company uses up to 60 ingredients to offer gluten-free and vegetarian options, as well as artisan-style pizzas with ingredients like arugula pesto, asparagus, and ricotta.

All ordering is done through the companys mobile or website. There is no storefront. So rather than paying 10 percent of sales in rent, we pay 2 percent of sales in rent, Collins says, while robots increase our production volume.

This is what allows Zume to keep costs down without relying on contractors, like so many of the Bay Area-based food delivery startups (and ride-hailing apps). Collins says Zume has around 115 full-time employees, all of which receive benefits like health insurance. As for whether these employees will all be automated away by robots, Collins stresses that the goal is never to fully automate the process of making and delivering food.

Our goal was never to have end-to-end automation. It was never, How can we have a pizza production operation that would have no humans? Collins says. Automation allows Zume employees to shift focus from laborious tasks to more creative ways, she adds. Our best pizza spinner is really happy to work on our menu and ingredient selection.

Our goal was never to have end-to-end automation.

This all sounds like the quintessential utopian dream of automation: a world where robots takeover only the most boring and physically taxing jobs and humans are free to perform creative and fulfilling work. Of course, theres no telling how well Zume will scale when it attempts to tackle a market as dense and complex as, say, San Francisco, which is undeniably the biggest target on the companys radar.

Theres also no telling how sophisticated artificial intelligence and robotics will be in just five years time. Whos to say ingredient selection wont be perfected by an algorithm? Driving Zumes trucks most certainly will be automated by self-driving cars at some point in the future, even if that practice is still decades away on a regulatory timeline.

But Collins is confident that Zume can lay the groundwork for the future of high-quality, tech-infused food delivery that doesnt treat human labor as an enemy. That her company employs only full-time workers, and its leadership so dedicated to keeping those employees from doing tedious tasks, seems like a promising step toward that dream.

We want to make sure everyone has access to high-quality, affordable food, she says of Zumes goal, and to use technology to solve Americans food problem. If that mission involves a robot that can press dough or spread sauce faster and better than a human being, can you really blame Zume for being the first to get out there and use it?

See more here:

Zume's robot pizzeria could be the future of workplace automation ... - The Verge

Automation to Squeeze the ‘Muddy Middle’ of Big Law (Perspective … – Bloomberg Big Law Business

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Danzig

Blue cables connect computer server units. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

A recent Gartner report observed that, by 2022, smart machines and robots may replace highly trained professionals in tasks within medicine, law and IT. The report goes on to conclude that the ability of automation techniques to substitute for a lawyer means that what the enterprise previously considered value-added practices will become a utility (Prepare for When AI Turns Skilled Practices Into Utilities, Gartner, March 8, 2017).

It is yet another voice in the debate over the impact of advanced technologies on BigLaw. In considering this issue, we tend to overlook the reality that BigLaw is no longer a monolithic industry. The most recent set of AmLaw data simply confirms the trend we have seen for a number of years the industry is becoming increasingly stratified into groups of firms with different brand values and positions in the marketplace. For example, the top 20 or so elite firms have clearly broken from the pack with respect to economic performance. Beneath that group it is likely that we will see clusters of firms begin to emerge at various levels of the marketplace.

This change in the structure of the industry is largely driven by economic/market factors. Clients want and need different things from their legal service providers. They need predictable cost structures, efficient service delivery, smart deployment of technology, process, and project management to name a few.

In the absence of an industry willing to meet these challenges, the buyers of legal services are speaking with their money. Elite firms (or elite practices within firms) continue to attract client business. And, while there continues to be work for other firms, increasingly clients are keeping work in-house or using alternative service providers. Thus, while the need for legal services is rising, the demand for services from traditional law firms remains flat.

Avoiding the Muddy Middle

We see this dynamic reflected in a variety of data spread over the industry. Of course, AmLaw data supports this conclusion. Similarly, in a recent Altman Weil survey, well over half of the firms responded that their partners were underproductive (Altman Weil 2017 Law Firms in Transition). Yes, there is still healthy money to be earned in the industry generally, but the struggle in the muddy middle of the industry to compete for scarce market share is quite clear. This is so because the nature of the business has changed. Mark Cohen captured this change perfectly by noting that legal delivery is now the business of delivering legal services, not simply the practice of law (Are Law Firms Becoming Obsolete, Forbes, June 12, 2017).

Now layer technology advances on this striated industry. The impact simply will not be felt equally. Technology whether through cognitive computing, machine learning or other tools usually lumped together under the term AI will shortly be in a position to handle the repetitive tasks generally associated with large swaths of the practice. The elite firms those firms or practices that handle legitimately bespoke work will stave off the impact. For smaller firms or alternative service providers, it provides an opportunity to use technology to punch above their weight. It is the firms in the middle that will be squeezed. In another context, McKinsey has referred to this as the barbell economy (McKinsey Global Institute, A Future that Works).

Can firms in the muddy middle adapt to this challenge? Some will. Most will not. The problem is that adaptation requires change. The Altman Weil survey produced some interesting results in this regard. The overwhelming majority of managing partners surveyed see the increased price pressure, the slide of practices into commodities and the impact of technology as permanent trends.

Despite this recognition, 61.5percent of the respondents said their firm was only moderately (or less) serious about change. Lest you think this is not a bad number: 81.5percent of corporate counsel gave the same response about their firms. On the technology front, only 7.5percent of firms have begun to use AI tools. Another 29percent are exploring. The remaining 64percent were either doing nothing or are unaware of the emerging opportunities.

The reason for this disconnect between belief and action is pretty obvious: 65percent of firm leaders say their partners resist change. Hardly shocking. And why? 60percent respond that they are not feeling enough economic pain to feel the need to change.

Indeed, the financial performance of the industry remains healthy. The speed of technological advances, however, is remarkable. Up until this point, the industry has had the ability to slowly adapt to market forces and emerge ever stronger.

That slow adaptation is unlikely to work this time. Existing market forces will only be amplified by the emergence of different technologies that will change the nature of the delivery of legal services. This is a tremendous opportunity for firms who embrace the challenge and change their delivery systems. For those who continue to believe they are special snowflakes that will escapewell, the odds are not in their favor.

For more essays from Stephen Poor (@stephen_poor) and Seyfarth on change in the legal industry, visitRethink the Practice.

Originally posted here:

Automation to Squeeze the 'Muddy Middle' of Big Law (Perspective ... - Bloomberg Big Law Business

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