A New York woman is trading her smartphone for the chance to win $100,000 if she can go an entire year without using with her -- or anyone else's -- mobile device. Fantasy writer Elana Mugdan was selected from a pool of more than 100,000 applicants to VitaminWater's #nophoneforayear contest, the beverage company announced Friday. Her winning submission stood out for its humor and brand relevance, VitaminWater told CBS MoneyWatch. The former filmmaker directed -- and starred in -- an infomercial for going phoneless. "We were looking for creativity, originality, cultural or brand relevance, humor, and her post capitalized on all those criteria," said VitaminWater brand manager Natalie Suarez. The competition's goal matched VitaminWater's: To break monotony. "VitaminWater broke the monotonous water category by adding vitamins and flavor to water. We have always stood for breaking boring habits -- and what's more mindless than scrolling on your phone?" Suarez said.Friday marks the start of … [Read more...] about New York woman wins chance to ditch smartphone for $100,000
New york life investment management
MML plots new fund of €125m-plus to back SMEs
The move will provide a fresh pot of money for Irish SMEs as non-bank finance becomes more prevalent here. MML, which declined to comment, typically invests in established, profitable SMEs on the island of Ireland. It is led by Neil McGowan and Rory Quirke. Individual commitments to companies tend to range from €5-€15m, and can be for minority or majority stakes. It established a first fund a number of years ago, which it has used to invest in businesses ranging from courier firm Fastway Couriers, to bathroom products supplier Sonas Bathrooms. Last year it exited investments in refrigeration business Lowe Refrigeration, and specialist engineers H&MV. MML has filed documents at the Companies Registration Office for an entity called 'MML Growth Capital Partners Ireland II'. The investors in the first MML fund were AIB, Enterprise Ireland, Goldpoint Partners (an investment arm of US insurance company New York Life), the European Investment Fund and the American health … [Read more...] about MML plots new fund of €125m-plus to back SMEs
Interview with The New York Times Publisher A. G. Sulzberger: ‘To Produce Good Journalism, There Are No Shortcuts’
February 06, 2019 03:19 PM DER SPIEGEL: Mr. Sulzberger, you're one year into your role as the publisher of The New York Times. How much is resting on your shoulders? Sulzberger: This is a really difficult time for media. Journalists and journalism are under attack by political forces all over the globe. Trust in media is declining, the business models are changing. Anyone who cares about journalism should be very worried about this. But I don't feel a high degree of weight falling on me personally. DER SPIEGEL: The New York Times is 167 years old, you are the fifth generation of the Ochs Sulzberger family to take over as publisher. Are you afraid of screwing up? Sulzberger: In the last couple of years, The New York Times has managed to develop a real clear sense of our vision for what The Times will become in the future. And we have a strong team to pursue it: Dean Baquet is the best executive editor in the business, the newsroom is incredibly strong, our business team too. … [Read more...] about Interview with The New York Times Publisher A. G. Sulzberger: ‘To Produce Good Journalism, There Are No Shortcuts’
The new elite’s phoney crusade to save the world – without changing anything
A successful society is a progress machine. It takes in the raw material of innovations and produces broad human advancement. America’s machine is broken. The same could be said of others around the world. And now many of the people who broke the progress machine are trying to sell us their services as repairmen. When the fruits of change have fallen on the US in recent decades, the very fortunate have basketed almost all of them. For instance, the average pretax income of the top 10th of Americans has doubled since 1980, that of the top 1% has more than tripled, and that of the top 0.001% has risen more than sevenfold – even as the average pretax income of the bottom half of Americans has stayed almost precisely the same. These familiar figures amount to three-and-a-half decades’ worth of wondrous, head-spinning change with zero impact on the average pay of 117 million Americans. Globally, over the same period, according to the World Inequality Report, the top 1% … [Read more...] about The new elite’s phoney crusade to save the world – without changing anything
More than 70 new bars, restaurants, cafes and pubs opened in Nottingham in 2018
There's one thing we're not short of in Nottingham (and the rest of the county) and that is places to eat and drink. 74 (correct us if there's more) new cafes, pubs, restaurants and bars have sprung up or re-opened with a change of identity in 2018. Banks have been converted into cafes. Shops have been transformed into bars. The revolving door of new openings means you might have lost track of just how many different spots there are to try - from the latest trend for Indian street food to the continuing obsession for gin. You never need be stuck for somewhere new to try. Start planning your list of places to visit in 2019 right now... Hockley Rebel A venue in Broad Street, Hockley, went from Mexican to Welsh this year. El Capo a bar and cantina closed after only a year. In stepped Ales from Wales, founder of Hockley Rebel, billed as a traditional dog-friendly pub, with real ales, darts and jovial banter. Upstairs sees the return (kind of) of popular cocktail joint and night spot Bar … [Read more...] about More than 70 new bars, restaurants, cafes and pubs opened in Nottingham in 2018