Last year, Responsible Travel added roughly 1,000 vegan-friendly trips as part of its commitment to becoming “nature positive,” a vow to not harm wildlife or habitats but leave them more protected and supported, by 2030.
Its vegan-only vacations include a 10-day vegan tour of Ethiopia (from roughly $2,300; prices exclude flights), seven days of hiking volcanoes in Guatemala (from about $1,360) and eight days of snowshoeing in Austria (from about $1,160).
There's nothing quite like waking up in a rain forest — the sounds, sensations, and sheer size of these biodiverse landscapes are a magical reminder of the magnificence of nature. But unless you're traveling with your own camping gear (and some serious survival skills), the best option is to check into a well-appointed lodge for a worry-free wilderness retreat. Fortunately, many eco hotels in rain forests also encourage responsible tourism, from preventing deforestation by buying huge swaths of forests to supporting wildlife conservation projects. As more travelers seek new ways to consciously connect with nature, here are some of the best rain forest stays for 2022.
To bring remotes from the age of 1,000 buttons to the age of modern tech, companies downsized. For some, it was because of a realization that consumers wanted simplicity. Others were prodded along by the minimalism of Apple Inc. and Roku remotes. The way we watched TV was changing—more on-demand streaming, less regular programming—and so was the way we interacted with all of our devices. Voice assistants became the most prominent characteristic of the modern remote, featured in those for Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Google’s Chromecast, as well as Roku.
As a technology analyst I have always been impressed with the wide coverage and rigor Consumer Reports brings to its analysis of autos, home appliances and consumer tech. I scan through every monthly issue and especially the annual Top Picks and Auto issues.
It has stayed true for 75 years to its motto of being a “force for honesty and integrity in the marketplace” and is broadening its horizons. They shared their vision in their strategic plan here.
It is one of the best nonprofits we support and would encourage others to do the same.
With many people still working from home, athleisure has gained further ground, reflecting new attitudes toward traditional workwear. Increased health awareness has given many people a new perspective on sports and general fitness. E-commerce has thrived, as consumers continue to shop online, even as lockdown measures have eased. Digital forms of individual or community-based exercise and physical activity have become more popular and have created new possibilities for sporting-goods companies. Meanwhile, sustainability is more important than ever, with the COP26 Climate Change Conference emphasizing the need for companies to increase their efforts to decarbonize as they seek to differentiate their offerings.
Smart companies are recognizing that telehealth is just one piece of a much larger whole. Carbon Health, an early virtual care provider, now has physical locations in 17 regions around the country and is getting into clinical trial research. Amazon Care, which launched its virtual care platform in 2019, has opened 17 in-person clinics for Amazon employees with Crossover Health. Companies such as Rezilient Health are also thinking about the ways in which spaces such as parking lots can be repurposed to house health clinics.
This movement is part of a coming wave of retail health clinics. This year, Walgreens agreed to invest $5.2 billion into VillageMD (see video below) to put 1,000 of its primary care offices next to Walgreens pharmacies. CVS is making similar investments. At its recent investor day, CVS Health CEO Karen S. Lynch said the company would be expanding services to include primary care, both in person and virtually. Even Dollar General is marketing itself as a health care destination.
The world’s biggest owner of cables is a household name, at least to Americans – it’s AT&T, which has a stake in around 230,000 kilometres of international internet cabling, or around one sixth of the total. But looking at others in the top ten reveals why both Big Tech and Western governments are starting to pay the apparently dull issue of cable ownership more attention: in second place is China Telecom, while Chunghwa Telecom (based in Taiwan) is third and China Unicorn is sixth.
In the tenth and eleventh spots, however, are some very familiar names: Facebook and Google. Big Tech is getting into big cables – and doing so in a big way. Over the past few years, 80 percent of investment in new cables has flowed from the two US tech giants. As of today, Facebook owns or co-owns 99,399 kilometres of cables, Google 95,876 kilometres. And more investments are on their way: in August, Facebook and Google announced their plans for building a 12,000 kilometre undersea cable, Apricot, which will link Singapore, Japan, Guam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia when completed in 2024. For Google, that came hot on the heels of a previous announcement about the Echo subsea cable, which will connect California, Singapore, Guam and Indonesia. For its part, Facebook has thrown its weight behind the coalition of telcos building what might turn out to be the longest subsea cable ever: 2Africa, a 45,000 kilometre-long cord planned to encompass the whole African continent and connect 33 countries in Africa, Europe and the Middle-East by 2024. In May 2020 Bloomberg reported that the project will cost under $1 billion – but that was before Facebook announced several expansions to the initial design.
As the iconic Daytona 500 kicks off today, good to see NASCAR continue to innovate
"The Next Gen car, a collaboration of the brightest engineering minds in racing and the automotive industry, is designed to give the drivers greater control. It will put an emphasis back on race strategies, team personnel and vehicle setups while returning the ‘stock car’ look to NASCAR with the new Toyota TRD Camrys, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s and Ford Mustangs. The cars, which were designed to look like the models available to fans in showrooms across the country, will utilize the latest technology to maximize performance, improve safety and provide incredible racing for fans."
Film-lovers have a treat in store in 2022. The greatest movie ever made is getting a 50th anniversary re-release, and if you've never seen The Godfather on the big screen, then make a note of Friday, February 25. It's a cinematic offer you can't refuse.
Of course, there are plenty of other contenders for the title of greatest movie ever made. My friend Avril thinks it's Mamma Mia!. More discerning judges, dare I say, choose the Orson Welles classic Citizen Kane, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, or David Lean's Lawrence Of Arabia.
But those of us who think it's The Godfather, know it's The Godfather. And one of the most remarkable things about Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece about a Mob family in 1940s New York, and their battle for supremacy with the Mob's other leading families, is that it was every bit as eventful off screen as on.
"It has taken 50 years for each viewer to decide on what that "more" is all about. We know that it's there in the film's DNA but can't easily decide how to define it. To cinema buffs, it's art: the intentions behind choices in texture, lighting and performance. To some viewers, it's a shared community: the feeling of belonging that comes when strangers can bond over enjoying the same memorable line from a movie."
Here’s a longer perspective on some of the drama that went into the making of the first episode
The British military been exploring the possibility of boarding ships at sea with futuristic jet packs that let wearers fly over the water like Iron Man.
The "Jet Suit" was made by Gravity Industries. The company released a video Sunday that showed its operators wearing jet packs and working with the Royal Marines to launch from rigid inflatable boats and land aboard the Royal Navy Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol ship HMS Tamar.
Consumer Reports – what an awesome resource
It has stayed true for 75 years to its motto of being a “force for honesty and integrity in the marketplace” and is broadening its horizons. They shared their vision in their strategic plan here.
It is one of the best nonprofits we support and would encourage others to do the same.
February 24, 2022 in Industry Commentary | Permalink | Comments (0)