LAFAYETTE, Ind. – This month Lafayette School Corporation The school board meeting was anything but mundane, as items on the agenda included emergency repairs and emotional farewells.

Monday night’s meeting saw a tearful goodbye between board members, an eighth-grader standing up for change in the school district, the appointment of two new principals and the approval of a resolution to fund emergency repairs to Murdock Primary School.

The emergency resolution to fund repairs to Murdock

The LSC Board of Directors has approved an emergency resolution to fund repairs to the roof of Murdock Elementary, which suffered extensive water damage in late February due to extreme weather, said Eric Rody, chief financial officer. of LSC.

Buckets have been placed throughout the school to catch water that drips through the roof.

Under normal circumstances, the board would publish offers and approve an offer at a later date. Due to the scale of the repairs, the council bypassed the advertising period and immediately accepted the offers.

March 8, 2022Major macroeconomic, regulatory and demographic trends are causing customers to question the traditional value propositions of health and life insurers. As a result, insurers need to rethink their roles and their products. McKinsey spoke with Marion Hämmerli, associate partner in the Zurich office, to learn more about product innovation in health and life insurance.

McKinsey: Why is product innovation an important conversation in health and life insurance today?

Marion Hammerli: Product innovation has not always been the focus of health and life insurers. For a long time, their value propositions for customers were simple: protect them against financial risk in the event of illness, disability or death, and provide savings for retirement. This has changed over the past decade as a result of major macroeconomic and demographic trends, and in some cases regulatory.

In life savings, longevity and extremely low interest rates have led to lower investment returns and collateral levels, calling into question the value of life insurance as a mainstay of retirement savings. So we’ve seen a slow growth in living space in Europe, growing at 2% per year over the last five years. This contrasts with market demand for private pension solutions, which has increased as the share of wages guaranteed by public pension schemes has started to decline in most countries, measured, for example, by falling replacement rate.

In health insurance, the situation differs according to geography. In countries like Italy and Spain, the effective coverage of publicly funded healthcare systems is decreasing, leading to increased demand for private solutions. However, in Switzerland, the share of compulsory and state-funded health expenditure has steadily increased over the past ten years, which, coupled with rising service levels in public hospitals, has questioned the value of voluntary private insurance solutions.

McKinsey: How will product innovation influence the future of the insurance industry?

Marion Hammerli: Product innovation is one key lever, among others, that insurers must leverage to deal with the erosion of their traditional value propositions.

In the field of life savings, many insurers have made the obvious: reduce guarantees and transfer the investment risk to customers, preferring pure protection products, which protect against disability or death, to retirement products. This will not be enough in the long run to protect revenues and profits, as it exposes life insurers to increased competition from asset managers and thus shrinks their market. True product innovation will be required to deliver a compelling future value proposition to customers.

The same is true for private health insurance. To ensure that private health insurance is not restricted to the affluent and to meet growing mass market demand, insurers need to provide new affordable offerings. At the same time, they must meet growing customer needs for flexibility, convenience, transparency, and access to the best possible care. They must also do this in partnership with health care providers, as all coverage sold in a health insurance product must be offered by providers for decades to come.

McKinsey: It would make a difference that investors could notice. What are the major insurers doing to succeed?

Marion Hammerli: Leading insurers are open to fundamentally rethinking their value propositions with customer needs in mind, and they are deploying the right teams with the right skills, such as actuarial, customer experience and digital, to work on the product innovation. We see a few product innovation trends emerging from this work in the broader area of ​​life and health.

• Integrated service offers, or ecosystems: Insurers have grown vertically along the value chain, through partnerships, joint ventures or vertical integration. This expansion has allowed them to offer integrated services, such as medical and non-medical support for dependent people, as well as enhance digital capabilities to reduce costs and improve customer experience and outcomes.
• Grouping of products in the fields of health, provident insurance, retirement and wealth management: Insurers have started to offer customers flexibility on different types of health and life cover, for example by expanding cover for protection against serious health risks such as death and disability or by offering the flexibility to adjust their premium to protect against different risks as they age.
• Access to growth potential through pooling: Some insurers have started to deploy, or redeploy, mutualisation concepts for retirement savings in order to offer their clients access to the upside potential of investments in riskier asset classes than traditional assets at low risk and fixed income. Pooling means that policyholders, possibly together with the insurer through excess capital, build up a pool of funds as a smoothing mechanism to protect them from poor annual performance on expiring contracts. These contracts usually come with strict cancellation rules and a long contract duration, but can generate significant upside potential.
• Improved life and health coverage: Insurers have started offering health and life coverage to customers who were previously excluded due to pre-existing conditions such as diabetes. This coverage is possible through enhanced pricing capabilities, which take into account finer risk parameters, and usually comes with a rewards system for good control, supported by digital assistance solutions.

***

Marion Hammerli is a partner in the Zurich office of McKinsey.

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How to Stay Healthy and Eat Right During Quarantine or Natural Disaster

Despite the appearance of bare shelves in some American grocery stores, the world probably isn’t going to end anytime soon. But that’s no reason to avoid stocking up on quality non-perishable foods that are high in nutrition and taste great. While bulk rice and beans are always a healthy and highly profitable investment, there are plenty of other options to keep you and your household satisfied in an emergency.

How to store and store emergency food

To some extent, storing food in bulk for emergencies is not that different from storing food for everyday use. In some ways it’s easier because ideally most of your emergency supplies will be canned, dried or vacuum sealed.

The first thing to do is to use your perishables first. Cooking what’s left in your fridge is the first step, followed by using the contents of your freezer. If you already have a lot of cold food, a few bags of dry ice combined with blankets outside your freezer and refrigerator can add several days to the life of the food inside. Keep a spare thermometer in all your cold food storages to ensure the temperature does not exceed 40 degrees.

When storing non-perishable foods, remember to keep them cool and dry. Avoid leaving anything directly on the ground to minimize moisture and pest contamination. Pay special attention to canned foods and discard them if the can is bulging or dented. Bloated and dented cans are a potential sign of dangerous foodborne illness. Have hard-sided plastic containers on hand with sealed lids to extend the shelf life of packaged foods like cookies or crackers.

Always maintain cleanliness outside your food storage area. Government experts agree this is particularly important in the event of a disaster – when services such as electricity, drinking water and garbage collection could be compromised. Keep your living and eating areas swept and clean and never store trash inside, even if it is relatively clean; pests like rodents and bugs like to munch on cardboard and starchy glue almost as much as real food.

What types of emergency food to store

Remember to choose foods that you and your household will actually prepare and eat. If you don’t have the means or the will to make bread, no amount of flour will help you. Also pay attention to the macronutrient content like sugar and salt. Although delicious, many canned foods (soup and chili, for example) contain alarming levels of salt, and it’s harder to exercise and burn off excess calories if you’re mostly stuck at home. .

It is important to rotate your emergency food stock. You don’t want to gather a stockpile of food and let it sit undisturbed for months or years. Always use what you have well before its expiration date and replace it with fresh supplies. This ensures your stock is always ready to go when the next hurricane or viral pandemic hits.

The best emergency foods to buy

Nature Valley Granola Bars

These classic crunchy snacks are high in fiber and made with whole grain oats and a little less excess sugar than many other granola bars.

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No Salt Added Hormel Chicken Chunks

Made from real white meat and stored in water, this canned chicken is a great way to retain the protein you need without overdoing your salt levels.

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White Albacore No Salt Added Starkist

It’s arguably the tastiest canned tuna on the market and a long-time staple for budget preps.

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Minute Multigrain Blend

A combination of brown rice, red rice, wild rice (which isn’t really rice), and quinoa, this easy-to-cook whole-grain product is packed with nutrients and fiber and is ready in minutes.

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Amy’s Low Sodium Lentil Soup

Although dried lentils and seasonings are a little more budget-friendly, it’s nice to have some pre-made canned soups on hand for an easy dinner party.

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Nutstop.com High Energy Trail Mix

It’s simple, affordable, and full of nutrients and energy. In fact, trail mix is ​​(unsurprisingly) the most popular food among weight-conscious and cost-conscious minimalist backpackers, who tend to know a thing or two about survival tactics.

Sold by Amazon

Mountain House Freeze-Dried Beef Stew

Taking inspiration from backpackers, it’s one of the leading brand’s most popular flavors. Other delicious options include Chicken & Rice, Chili Mac and, probably most recommended, Beef Stroganoff. Keep in mind that they are quite expensive, but also quite tasty.

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Augason Farms Lunch and Dinner Variety Bucket

If you’d rather not do the meal planning yourself, consider this sealed variety pack of long-lasting meals developed specifically for emergency use.

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Dried Pinto Beans

Dried beans are probably the most nutrient dense foods on the planet for their money. Just make sure you always cook them well, because undercooked beans can and will make you sick.

Sold by Amazon

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Naomi Smart, Commercial Director

“Those who follow me on Instagram know that my most euphoric shopping moment of 2021 was finding the perfect wide leg Uniqlo U pants on a random trip late at night before LFW. The fit, fabric, color and style were so good that I bought three pairs on the spot: beige, chocolate brown and a very dark navy blue. After sharing on my feed in September, I have always get DMs about them. (Sorry folks, they sold out in a few days – Uniqlo, please bring them back.) I bought these Cos pants in order to have a similar pair in black, and so far they do a good job.

Humaa Hussain, business writer

“While it might seem like a shameless take, this Vogue sweater was one of my favorite purchases of 2021. It’s the perfect thing to throw on for running errands or just lounging around the house. And speaking of basics Cozy: Uggs have really made a comeback in my (and everyone else’s) wardrobe this year, and the brown mini version complements my neutral aesthetic perfectly.

Vogue sweatshirt with logo patch

UGG Classic Mini II Short Boots

Hannah Coates, Acting Beauty and Wellness Editor

“I made up for a rather lackluster year with a purchase that still makes me beam with joy every time I wear it. Kara’s sleek leather shoulder bag is one thing, but her heavy rhinestone shoulder strap is another. , and it can fit all my necessities – phone, purse, keys – inside. I’m (still) really obsessed.

Crystal Cobra Kara leather camera bag

Rachel Garrahan, Jewelry and Watchmaking Director

“Confession: My name is Rachel Garrahan and I’m an art addict. Thanks to the fabulous #artistsupportpledge initiative founded by artist Matthew Burrows to support other artists during the first coronavirus lockdown, I became obsessed with buying paintings. The premise is simple: Artists post their work on Instagram with a sale price of £200 or less, and once they’ve sold five pieces, they commit to buying one from another artist. I’ve filled my walls with everything from the bright flowers of Louise Tappin to the surreal humor of John McKie. I think my favorite art purchase, however, has to be a non-ASP work by Marie Lenclos, a Paris-born, London-based artist. I fell in love with his precise and vivid work in 2020 and finally made one of his beautiful tree paintings my own.

Hayley Maitland, Planning and Weekend Writer

“It’s hard to even remember the summer of 2021 now – was there really a time when I stocked up on Raey briefs and Nomadic State of Mind sandals? (Both excellent, by the way by the way.) For the past few months I’ve lived in Levi’s “Ribcage” jeans, which manage to be both flattering and comfortable enough to keep me from falling back into Pangaia sweats; with nothing below the shirts; and a pair of gold Daphine hoops (the £75 price tag means I can wear them anywhere without too much fear of losing them).

However, most of my disposable income over the past 12 months has been spent on items for my home: I became one with a spirit level by installing String Furniture shelving that can (almost) hold my library of books giant kitchen cabinet, and bought more trinkets. I’d like to admit from Laura Jackson’s newly launched Glassette. As for cheap thrills? I’m a fan of bringing home prints from London exhibitions I love, and few exhibitions have impressed me more in 2021 than the Dulwich Gallery exhibition of Helen Frankenthaler’s delightfully colored woodcuts; my posters of “Snow Pines”, “Freefall”, and “Madame Butterfly”, with their electric blues and malachite greens, have cheered me up all winter long.”

Raey spaghetti-strap silk crepe de chine slip dress

Levi’s Ribcage straight ankle jeans

Laura Ingham, Fashion Market Director

“This Margiela trench coat from the Icons collection is a classic, with touches of Margiela magic. I love the plaid details on the cuffs and collar, the “work in progress” seams and the oversized fit. It’s also fully lined, making it both warm and waterproof.

Maison Margiela oversized trench coat

Eniola Dare, Associate Fashion Editor

“2021 is the year I fell in love with IDEA Books, which sells some of the best volumes of rare fashion and art – some of them you can’t find anywhere else at all! One of my favorite buys was Jeans by Alastair McKimm, which is filled with longtime imagery vogue collaborators such as Craig McDean, Mert & Marcus and David Sims. And when it comes to shopping for clothes: I love my new Tory Burch coat, which really goes with everything.

Tory Burch Double Faced Wool Hooded Wrap Coat

Jessica Gerardi, shopping editor

“If, like me, you like a good glass of sweet red wine, then this carafe is an absolute must. It sits directly on the glass and is very easy to clean, but above all it makes the wine more pleasant to drink. By far my favorite purchase of 2021. Glasses of Côtes du Rhône all round!

Final Touch Conundrum Glass Wine Aerator

Rosie Vogel, Fashion Reservations Manager

“My top buys this year have been for personal care rather than clothing. The Theragun Mini is the best thing I’ve gotten in my stocking stuffer this year. I use it every day – perfect for relief shoulder tension after a day on Zoom. It’s not a substitute for a full body massage, but until I can afford an in-home masseuse, I’ll be fine! I’ve also been a long-time fan of The Light Salon, and I’m completely obsessed with their LED Boost Mask. I use it religiously a few times a week before bed. It leaves my skin looking plump and glowing, while leaving me feeling relaxed.

4th Generation Theragun Mini Therapeutic Percussion Massager

The LED Light Salon BOOST mask

Amel Mukhtar, star assistant

“Probably not my smartest purchase (I bought them in the winter, we hardly get any sun like we do in the UK, and I can’t count the number of sunglasses sun I’ve lost in my life), but with bags and shoes, it never has It’s a bad idea to invest in accessories that you can get a lot of use out of without thinking too much. I was waiting for a trendy pair to call me, and as soon as I saw these chic Balenciaga frames with a gold logo on the side, I knew I had found this one.

Balenciaga Dynasty rectangular sunglasses

Donna Wallace, fashion and accessories editor

“My favorite purchase of 2021 was a set of large square pillows, like these clouds from Soho Home. These made bedtime even cozier, which is not just an everyday treat, but I think that could also count as self-care.

Soho Home House Goose Down Square Pillow

Alyson Lowe, Audience Growth Manager

“For me, 2021 will always be the year I turn 30. Although I’ve never really looked old for my age, I was keen to bring back the ax sculpted cheekbones of my early 20s and I ordered the NuFace Trinity on impulse in the depths of winter confinement. Although I wouldn’t describe myself as a skeptic (if anything, I suffer from blind faith in skincare and devices). beauty), I didn’t expect it to work so well. After slathering my face with base gel and starting to lift my jawline, nasolabial folds and eyebrows, I can visibly see a difference between the two sides of my face.Before a big event, meeting or date, it makes all the difference – the lifting effect is evident and the extra blood flow around my face gives me that holy grail pink glow. after a year, I feel that my cheekbones are higher and that my jaw is less swollen. The best part? I haven’t been around Botox in over six months – and I don’t want to either.

NuFACE Trinity Facial Toning Device

£329£263.20

look fantastic

Julia Hobbs, Fashion Projects Editor

“Hard to choose between this and the 3m iPhone charger cable that also changed my life in 2021, but… in the spring of 2021, I became obsessed with the cool appeal of super smooth and This product is now my go-to I can’t leave home without it and the foundation of my entire beauty routine.

Belkin Braided Lightning Cable

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze

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49ers Diary: McDaniel raves about Deebo, says Garoppolo playing his best football; Nick Bosa on “beatable” Cowboys OTs, Ezekiel Elliot; It’s sunny in the world of Trent Williams

As always, Thursday was a hectic media day for the San Francisco 49ers, which had a number of players speak to the media as well as defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans and offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. 49ers Webzone has already taken a deep dive into a number of the topics covered by these players and coaches, but there is much more to cover than that. We’ll cover that in today’s notebook feature below. Here’s an overview of a number of items of note covered in today’s press briefings. (See also: John Lynch says Deebo Samuel will be with the 49ers for a long time | DL Arden Key

49ers’ Trent Williams says elbow won’t require surgery and shares injury details

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Transcripts: What Kyle Shanahan, Jimmy Garoppolo and Richard Hightower said before the 49ers-Cowboys

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TOKYO (Kyodo) – It’s been more than five decades since Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori developed a theory describing the strange or uncomfortable feeling people experience in response to humanoid robots that closely, but not perfectly, resemble human being.

Called “the strange valley” by Mori in 1970, the phenomenon has stood the test of time with more recent examples of dread filtering through the burgeoning fields of artificial intelligence, photorealistic computer animation. , virtual reality, augmented reality and increasingly realistic androids.

But what happens beyond the other side of the valley as the likeness to humans improves? Some researchers fear that as ‘trusted’ virtual humans become indistinguishable from real people, we are exposed to more manipulation by platform providers. In other words, our responses while we are still in the Weird Valley, scary as they may be, could be a good thing – some sort of self-defense mechanism.

Mori, now 94, professor emeritus at the Tokyo Institute of Technology who retired in 1987, originally plotted his strange valley hypothesis in a graph, showing the emotional response of ‘an observer against the human likeness of a robot.

He stated that as a robot’s appearance is made more human, there is an increasing affinity for it, but only to a point beyond which the person experiences a reaction of extreme disgust, of cold or even fear, manifested by a dip in the valley.

But as the robot becomes more and more indistinguishable from a real person, positive emotions of empathy similar to human-to-human interaction reappear. The bewildering void between “not quite human” and “perfectly human” is the strange valley.

With tech companies led by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms Inc. claiming the creation of a metaverse – seen as the next iteration of the Internet “where people can work and socialize in a virtual world” – some experts say the graph of the Strange Valley is equally relevant in immersive environments, including VR and AR.

As we have grown accustomed to interacting with “low fidelity versions of human faces dating back to the early days of television,” we will have the ability to project photorealistic humans into 3D virtual worlds before the end of this decade, Louis Rosenberg, a 30-year veteran of AR development and CEO of Unanimous AI, recently told Kyodo News in an interview. How will we determine what is real?

Personally, I think the greatest danger in the Metaverse is the prospect of artificial agents driven by an agenda and controlled by AI algorithms to engage us in ‘conversational manipulation’ without us realizing that the ‘person’ we interact with is not real. ”

In a corporate-controlled metaverse featuring ‘virtual product placement’, we could easily think that we are just having a conversation with someone like us, causing us to let go of our defenses. “You will not know what has been manipulated to serve a third party payment agenda and what is genuine.”

This is dangerous because “the AI ​​agent who is trying to influence us might have access to a vast database of our personal interests and beliefs, our buying habits, our temperament, etc. So how do we go about it? protect us from that? regulation, ”Rosenberg said.

Mori himself said designers should stop before the first summit of the strange valley and not “risk getting close to the other side,” where the robots – and now, by extension, the AI or AR – become indistinguishable from humans.

Applying his theory to the virtual world of the Metaverse, he said, “If the person (in the real world) understands that the space they are in is imaginary, I don’t think that is a problem, even if it is. is scary. he recently told Kyodo.

But if the person is unable to distinguish reality from a virtual world, that in itself will be a problem, he said, adding that the “bigger problem” is if bad actors abuse technology for purposes. malicious, comparing it to a sharp tool that can either be used as “like a ‘dagger’ to kill or a ‘scalpel’ to save someone.”

In her research, Rachel McDonnell, associate professor of creative technologies at the School of Computer Science and Statistics at Trinity College Dublin, asks the question, “should we walk gently through the strange valley” with virtual humans?

She says that even though virtual humans have almost reached photorealism, “their conversational skills are still far from a stage where they’re convincing enough to be mistaken for a true human conversator.”

A long-time follower of making virtual humans more realistic, she says the biggest dangers now are “AI-driven video avatars or deepfake videos, where compelling videos can be created of a human, driven by the human. movement and the word of another “.

But she adds, “Being transparent about how avatars and videos are created will help overcome some of the ethical challenges associated with privacy and misrepresentation.” She gives an example of attaching a watermark to distinguish deepfakes from genuine video content.

Rosenberg, meanwhile, describes various forms of regulation to keep the Metaverse safe, such as notifying users when they interact with a virtual character.

“They may all be required to dress in a certain way, indicating that they are not real, or have some other visual clue. But, an even more effective method would be to make sure they don’t look quite human in comparison to other users. ”

That is, regulation could ensure that virtual humans trigger the “strange valley” response deep in our brains, he said. “This is the most effective route because the response within us is visceral and unconscious, which would most effectively protect us from being duped.”

Meta, the social media giant formerly known as Facebook that changed its name to focus on the metaverse, has come under fire in recent years for spreading misinformation, mistreating user data, and using algorithms that end by sowing discord and mistrust on the Internet, where users cling to their own “facts”.

On December 9, Meta launched the cartoon-like Horizon Worlds to people 18 and older in the United States and Canada.

Christoph Bartneck, associate professor at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, says the metaverse, a name taken from Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel “Snow Crash”, is not a new concept, and for now, just fiction.

“It’s a sign of a lack of originality that Facebook is resorting to to promise another virtual world. It sounds like a gigantic distraction maneuver to distract our attention from all the bad influence that Facebook and its products have on society.” , did he declare.

In 2021, Meta announced that it will spend at least $ 10 billion in its Metaverse division to create AR and VR hardware, software, and content. Other tech companies, including Microsoft and video game and software developer Epic Games, jumped on the bandwagon, while Nike Inc. launched Nikeland, with virtual sneakers, on the video game platform Roblox. .

Unanimous AI’s Rosenberg says making the Metaverse seem “odd,” that is, not quite real, is easier than we think. “It turns out that very small changes can make a big difference” by focusing on how our perception attributes authenticity to experiences.

British design and manufacturing company Engineered Arts’s Ameca is described as “the perfect platform for developing the interaction between us humans and any metaverse or digital realm”. A newly unveiled AI robot with remarkably human facial expressions, it seems astonished to be “awake” – puzzled and strangely amused.

“In the metaverse, the simplest thing – like the way a virtual character’s eyes move, or hair moves, or even just the speed of their movement (does it take longer to move? than a real human?) is enough to make them appear deeply unreal, ”said Rosenberg, adding that regulations should require that artificial agents be distinct from others, as that would be easy to achieve.

McDonnell, meanwhile, says she’s still optimistic that realistic virtual humans will have a positive impact on society in a future metaverse, including benefits such as preserving user privacy in situations. sensitive such as whistleblowers or witnesses testifying in court and tackling phobias, racial bias phobias, and even conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

“There is huge potential for using virtual humans for good,” she said.

During experiments, his research team found that participants in survival task games “generally trusted” virtual agents who had suggested a ranking of objects vital to survival in hypothetical crash scenarios, “but of small manipulations of officers’ facial expressions or voices could influence the level of confidence, ”she said.

The notion of the strange valley as a defense mechanism dates back to Mori in 1970, who called it an “instinct of self-preservation”, not from lifeless objects that seem different from us, but to protect us from it. things that are “extremely similar, such as like corpses and related species,” noted Karl F. MacDorman, associate professor in the School of Computing and Computer Science at Indiana University.

As for Mori, who has said that he never intended Strange Valley to be a rigorous scientific theory but rather a caveat to robot designers, his message on the Metaverse is straightforward.

“I hope (those) involved in its creation will do something healthy for the happiness of mankind,” Mori said.

The Essentials of last year The implosion marked one of the most publicized consumer electronics startup failures in recent memory. Launched in 2017 with $ 330 million, a killer pedigree, and some truly grandiose ambitions, the company has flouted through a combination of industry issues, disappointment, and troubling allegations against founder Andy Rubin.

The brand was eventually bought by Carl Pei for his new business. But the executive ultimately resisted the name in favor of “Nothing.” “[B]before we called ourselves Nothing, ‘Essential’ was one of the names we were thinking about, internally, ”he told me earlier this year. “That’s why we acquired the brand. We don’t plan to do anything with Essential.

Something much closer to a spiritual successor is coming in the form of OSOM. The company, founded by former Essential employees, has received little media coverage in recent months but has remained largely silent. Today, however, the California-based Cupertino confirmed what many have long suspected: OSOM (pronounced “awesome”) works on a phone.

Its planned OV1 device is, at least aesthetically, very clearly the work of the same team that gave the world the Essential PH1. But rather than features like modularity, the product is designed with one goal in mind: privacy. Specifically, it is designed to give users greater control over data privacy.

Beyond that, details are scarce ahead of its scheduled launch at MWC 2022. We caught up with co-founder and CEO Jason Keats for more information on OSOM and its future handset.

TC: Are we about two months away from the announcement?

JK: Yeah, we’re a few months away from sharing the finer details. We plan to give the full announcement to MWC and then ship in the summer of 2022. Right now we are ready to announce that we are building a phone. People are really excited. We wanted to give our fans something this year, and we’re coming under the wire.

What constitutes a fan at this point, given that the business has been under lock and key?

It was really surprising. The core fans were very, very supportive at the start, and they continued to support us and be excited about what we’re building for the future. I think we’re going to attract a lot of mainstream Android fans. Right now, there aren’t many flagship phones outside of Pixel that are vanilla Android. We will continue to do so, and we have already built and continue to refine some privacy-focused software.

How many members of the existing team came from Essential?

When we built PH1 at Essential, we were maybe 30 people in total. We have maybe 15 people on that team. It is really the core of people; design, engineer, product design and software engineering.

What is the size of the team in total?

About 30 people […] We are more than two-thirds of the engineers.

How did you begin the process of building one business from the ashes of another?

For all the shortcomings and mishaps that have happened at Essential, one thing I will praise [Rubin] forever is its ability to recruit. He brought incredible talent. When he told me the business was going down, I said, what am I going to do next? I don’t want to work for Google or Apple or go to Amazon, but there’s this amazing team out there who’ve built things up and worked so closely together. He walked through the trenches together[…]

We realized that probably the biggest problem [with Essential] was a lack of concentration. We realized we had to have a purpose. What are we trying to solve? It became apparent to us that privacy was really not being addressed consistently, especially in 2020.

Does the world need another phone company?

Yes, absolutely I think they do. One that’s actually all about privacy. And there is a big reason for this. If we were just a software company making privacy software, we could put it on the play store, people could install it, whatever. But if it is just an app installed on someone’s phone, it is easily bypassed, it is easily disabled because it is not integrated into the system. It is not integrated into the device. This is what we do. Because we are an OEM, because we have access to Qualcomm’s TrustZone, because we have access to system software, we can create real privacy-centric software that the user can use or not, if they need it. wish. But it is about giving them the choice.

How hard will it be to get someone to jump on that phone with privacy as the main selling point?

In the United States, I don’t try to prey on Apple users. We are going after Android users. And in this scenario, there isn’t a huge amount of brand loyalty in the Android space. People are ready to take a lot more pictures. For privacy, we’ve already lined up a number of partners who have shared high-level demographics on who uses their software or hardware for privacy. The figures amaze us. They really indicate that there is a demand for privacy and that people are currently spending their money on privacy.

What is a realistic expectation in terms of units? You cast a wide net [to the U.S., Canada and throughout Europe]. It seems that in the end, essential numbers weren’t what people were hoping for.

It’s funny. When we launched Essential, the goal was 100,000 units in the first year. We sold just under 300,000 units to end users in the first year. The biggest problem is because [Rubin] amassed so much money, it was expected to ship two million units. When you wait for 100,000 units and sell 300,000 units, that’s a huge success. It all depends on the metric you are using. For [OSOM]I would absolutely love 200,000 units in the first year. We would be here a long, long time.

Were the outside expectations so intense they made things fall apart [at Essential]?

I can fill out a book about what went wrong. And there were lots of little things.

Give me the CliffsNotes.

Some decisions made at the highest level were counterintuitive to our success.

Regarding capital, it was reported that the company had raised 5.6 million dollars. What has been the fundraising so far.

So we got $ 20 million. Part of that investor, and part of it was a pre-order from a channel partner. We already have orders close to the number we can support in the first year. Most of our investors were from myself and my co-founder Wolfgang and our external VCs were all primarily Canadian companies.

Was there a Series A in addition to the initial seed funding?

We are currently in the middle of a series A.

Was Playground involved?

No. We had a long conversation with them. The team there – Bruce, Matt and Peter – are still great friends. I still use them as sounding boards for ideas.

When was the business officially launched?

The articles of association were officially filed on 4 20 2020.

The name is pronounced “awesome? What was the first one, the name or the acronym?

Twenty minutes later [Rubin] told me that Essential was leaking, I was like, “Okay, I’m gonna do my own thing.” I hate stuff that’s super obvious. I hate all the wires and plugs and this and that all over your house, and it drives me nuts. And I got this idea for a different product, which we could possibly build or not. It has nothing to do with the phone, but just a crazy idea. But the idea was out of sight, out of mind. I think about what folks, what the average consumer really imagines when we talk about future technology in Star Trek, and the meaning of speech and something responds out of the ether. It’s not something on my desk that has a nine foot long cable, but it’s only twenty-five inches from the wall. The idea was that thing coming out of the ether, and the idea was “out of sight, out of mind.” Oh, OSOM, we’ll just call it awesome. I checked it in from the hotel in Hong Kong.

Are any of these initial ideas being applied here? Obviously, privacy is the thing.

That’s definitely the mindset, because of the way we build our software. The idea is that, again, it keeps one out of sight, out of mind; you just have to trust that your devices are protecting you when you want to be safe.

At the moment it is an American company?

Yes. We are a Delaware C Corp. Like every other tech company, probably all registered at the same address.

You spoke to the Canadian government about incentives… but you will continue to have your head office in Cupertino?

Right now, it’s in the air. OSOM Products, the American company, will continue to exist. But we can move our head office to Canada.

What do Essential and OSOM have in common? Philosophical? Aesthetic?

Aesthetically, 100%. Even though it’s the same designer, Dave Evans and I do the industrial design, we didn’t really see it as an obvious successor to the PH1, until we had the first prototype, that is. ‘was like, “this was clearly designed by the same team”. Both from a material point of view and from an aesthetic point of view, it is the continuity of the same crew. Our software team, especially when it comes to Android and security updates, the team that was responsible for super-fast updates at Essential is here at OSOM.

Let’s talk about advertising. How will you differentiate the brand from the other 800 phone makers?

I don’t want to give anything away, because I’m super excited about it. I’ll put it this way: When we show the whole team the campaign ideas and the first drafts, the people who have been at Essential since the very beginning, they ask themselves, ‘why haven’t we done that before? We have to spend on marketing to differentiate ourselves. Much of the money we have raised is spent on marketing.

What can we expect from the spec side?

It is a flagship device, both in terms of hardware and software.

Is it difficult to keep the price of a first piece of equipment low?

Not really. The team that I brought from Essential, when it comes to supply chain, is one of the best in the world. Our partners have been surprisingly united. We got incredible rates. Literally go to a few meetings like, “I just want the same price to give Apple and Google.”

So at a price comparable to other flagship products.

We’re going to be well under $ 1,000.

For those new to Lululemon shopping, “sale” offers are available in the “We Made Too Much” section of the brand’s website, and the first discounted Black Friday pieces are already here and waiting for you to grab them. The section includes the celebrity, influencer and everyone’s favorite Align Pants – yes, those leggings that make your peach look more cheerful than you’ve ever seen – the matching tank top and matching bike shorts, the sweatpants, running shorts and sweatshirts galore. So if your fingers can’t wait to stop, drop, and roll (er … shop, shop, and scroll), these deals are perfect for early risers. For those of you who want to wait and see what the holiday weekend has in store, what we do know is that last year the sale started a few days before Turkey Day, a lasted all weekend and even introduced new offers on Cyber ​​Monday. Many of their bestsellers were even up to 50% off, so pack your wallets and make room in your closet, because it’s going to be. fat.

What our editors buy at the Lululemon Black Friday sale

Wunder Under High-Rise Tight 28 “Full-On Luxtreme – $ 98.00

Well + Good commerce editor Francesca Krempa has these leggings at the top of her list. “I write a lot about it, but I live in a very cold place and I am a perpetually cold person. Therefore, I never have enough base layers and these tights do just the job. I like that they are high waisted and thick enough that I can wear them on my own Where layer them under my jeans / pants when the temperatures drop. So if you shop for me you know what to buy, ”she enthuses!

Define Luon Jacket – $ 118.00

Well + Good Beauty Editor Kara Jillian Brown wears the Define Jacket for all her winter activities. “I’ve had the Define Jacket since 2015 and it’s still my favorite item to put on when heading for a workout. It’s thin, which makes it ideal for layering under a waistcoat or leather jacket when it’s cold. The thumbholes are also great for keeping your hands a little warmer, ”she explains.

Bra Free To Be – $ 48.00

According to Zoe Weiner, Beauty Editor at Well + Good, “This bra is sort of super strong but feels like I’m not wearing anything at all. The multi-strap design keeps my breasts in place during each and every time. activity (yes, even during burpees), and it’s so comfortable that I often wear it in place of a regular bra under real clothes (… don’t worry, I wash them first).

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Side strap tote bag – $ 58.00

“For a very long time, I’ve been looking for a mid-size duffel bag that is stylish enough to transform into an everyday tote bag, and it fits the bill PERFECTLY. It’s also water repellent, which is a big plus in keeping odors and humidity under control during my HIIT training days, ”enthuses Taylor Bell, business writer for Well + Good.

Perfectly Oversized Crew – $ 108.00

According to Gina Vaynshteyn, Chief Trade Editor of Well + Good, “The Perfectly Oversized Crew is one of my family, because I know I can wear it with anything. My leggings. My jeans. On a dress if I want to be a fashionable capital letter. It’s so soft and drape, and I’ll probably never take it off.

Oh hi! You look like someone who loves free workouts, discounts for top wellness brands, and exclusive Well + Good content. Sign up for Well +, our online community of wellness insiders, and unlock your rewards instantly.

Hailed as the epitome of beauty by millions around the world, Bella Hadid, who is also an inspiration to countless aspiring models, collapsed in her latest Instagram post. Sharing a few tearful selfies, the model captioned the post with a long heartbreaking note about her mental health issues. The American model, who has previously spoken about depression and anxiety, even shared a video of Hollywood actor Will Smith’s daughter Willow Smith with her selfies. “Willow Smith, I love you and your words. It made me feel a little less alone and that’s why I would love to post this,” Bella wrote.

The 25-year-old model opened up about anxiety and overcoming flaws together while slamming “social media” into her post. She even wrote: “Social media is not real. For anyone who is struggling, please remember this. Sometimes all you need to hear is that you are not alone. So from me to you, you are not alone. I love you, I see you and I hear you. “

Further, speaking about her mental health issues, Bella added, “It took me a long time to figure this out, but I’ve had enough depression and exhaustion to know this: if you work hard enough on it. yourself, spend time alone to understand your traumas, your triggers, your joys and your routine, you will always be able to understand or learn more about your own pain and how to deal with it. you may be wondering. Anyway. I don’t know why but it feels harder and harder not to share my truth here. Thank you for seeing me and thank you for listening to me. I love you . “

Needless to say, Bella’s Instagram post went viral in no time, leaving her fans in awe. While many came out in favor of the model, Bella’s post was called “bogus” by many Twitter users. Here are some reactions:

#Mental health problems are real, be nice to people and always try to understand them. I felt so much better after reading this by #bellahadid ?? pic.twitter.com/PMEGEVW49e

– idalia (@edaliamarquez) November 9, 2021

some people here are so pathetic like millionaires in trouble guys have a life if you don’t like his statement about his depression and wrestling don’t see him stop making unnecessary comments when you shoot the statement so many times who don’t judge others & I do#BellaHadid

– peri kiz✨ without sck 😭 (@ AnkitaS91605212) November 10, 2021

I’m sorry to say that but #BellaHadid recent post feels so fking staged. I know this is a very sensitive item but yet putting something like this weeks after all the drama with #Zayn nop doesn’t sit well. I’m not saying she’s perfectly fine but it’s over !!!!!

– No (@jugemental_af) November 9, 2021

Sorry but who takes selfies when they cry FFS #BellaHadid pic.twitter.com/sn043iE7wy

– Zainab (@zainabmariakhan) November 9, 2021

Also, Bella Hadid’s family on one side makes fun of a very anxious man all the time and on the other is trying to clear up his own image, it’s disgusting. Like now watch history change for the umpteenth time …. #BellaHadid pic.twitter.com/UQIUN4TkuJ

– maera (@maeralivvv) November 11, 2021

Bella’s sister Gigi Hadid, who recently split from partner Zayn Malik, has provided support. Singer Willow Smith, who was mentioned in the post, also replied, “Your honesty and tenderness heals so much” in the comments section. Meanwhile, Bella, who took a hiatus from social media earlier this year to focus and improve her mental health, gave everyone a glimpse of her battle with her post.

SEE ALSO: Astroworld Tragedy: Linkin Park, Lady Gaga & Adele concert videos go viral after Travis Scott’s performance – here’s why

Cover image: Shutterstock / Instagram

In describing his next mushroom shop, Tyler Akabane wants you to imagine a butcher shop.

“[The mushrooms] will be behind some kind of glass chest, ”he described,“ and you will go up and order by the pound. I’m sure I’ll have some sort of daily special, like a mushroom mix.

Akabane will be opening The Mushroom Shop in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville early next year, the culmination of more than seven years of working in the mushroom business, where he has led picking classes and supplied mushrooms to local restaurants. However, it was his home delivery service that allowed him to truly envision a physical store.

After the pandemic, the businesses of Akabane restaurant customers slowed down considerably as they temporarily closed or shifted to take-out, and Akabane, who developed a love for foraging soon after college, still had plenty of mushrooms to hand out. Home cooking was on the rise, which sparked interest in experimenting with maitake, shimeji, yellow feet, and other varieties. Akabane therefore started promoting a mushroom delivery service through his Instagram account, @mushroomsformyfriends, urging the public to order mixed bags of mushrooms for delivery – first via Instagram posts, then via a Google form, and at as the delivery service grew, via its website.

“It happened very quickly, so much so that I didn’t really recognize it for a year,” he said. “There were times when we made 60 or 70 home deliveries in a day. It was me and two other people doing home deliveries. It got pretty wild, pretty fast.

Akabane has also seen a growing interest in the courses he offers, which lead small groups on foraging expeditions to discover and identify a wide variety of fungi.

“I really think the mushrooms are having a moment,” Akabane said. “I think it’s probably several things, one of which is that people are eating more local and even more people are interested in organic. Some people had free time [because of the pandemic]. My classes were very busy, and that’s either because of the pandemic and people wanting an outdoor activity because it’s safer, or because of their growing interest in mushrooms. It seems like a good reason to open a store.

To help fund the opening of The Mushroom Shop – which Akabane says is the only one of its kind in Massachusetts – he turned to NuMarket, a crowdfunding platform. The campaign has already reached and exceeded its goal of $ 30,000.

In addition to mushrooms, Akabane said The Mushroom Shop will sell items that complement the store’s main product – corn and peaches in the summer, pumpkins in the fall, asparagus in the spring, and more. He also plans to sell books and other learning resources focused on mushrooms, and maybe even mushroom-themed artwork.

“It’s not a place to sit – there are no chairs – but I hope people will want to come and discuss mushrooms and learn,” Akabane said. “It can be a clubhouse and a mushroom hangout.”

For the non-mushroom and passers-by, Akabane also hopes to offer coffee.

When it opens, The Mushroom Shop will operate three or four days a week; Akabane will use the other days to prepare home deliveries, which it will continue to offer, or to meet the needs of people in the restaurant industry who wish to come and shop in its inventory. Above all, he hopes to spark the same interest he felt years ago when he started searching for mushrooms in the Blue Hills, triggering a sense of connection that comes from collecting wild ingredients to use. in your own kitchen.

“I always say that Americans have been mycophobic for a long time,” Akabane said. “Parents teach their children from an early age: Hands off these mushrooms. … May be [foraging] will not be noticeable one day. People will just say, “Oh yeah, I’m going to get some mushrooms. “

Stay up to date with the opening of The Mushroom Shop by following the shop at @themushroomshopsomerville.