Some carriers tend to rename their versions of a particular device, perhaps just to set it apart from the competition. That seems to be the case here with the AT&T LG Escape2. Yes, there is no whitespace in between the “Escape” and the “2”. In many aspects, the Escape2 is pretty similar to the LG Spirit launched just last March. … Continue reading
If the stars align, we might actually get to see the Sony Xperia Z4, as it is known in Japan, head outside the Land of the Rising Sun, contrary to earlier assurances that the weird device is a Japan-only affair. Sony sent out invitations in India for an event dated May 26, and although the aquatic theme of the invite … Continue reading
There are a zillion digital photos in the public domain and scientists have just figured out something very cool to do with them. A team from Google and the University of Washington have developed a fully automated way to create time-lapse videos of …
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s Shiite militias have vowed to dislodge Islamic State extremists from Ramadi, a day after the militant group seized the Anbar provincial capital in major loss to the Iraqi troops.
Youssef al-Kilabi, a spokesman for the Shiite militias fighting alongside Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s forces, told The Associated Press on Monday that the paramilitary forces have drawn up plans for a Ramadi offensive in cooperation with the government security forces.
Al-Kilabai says they will “eliminate the barbaric enemy,” and that they will “achieve this triumph and we will not accept anything less than that.”
He did not elaborate.
Thousands of Shiites militiamen answered a call from the country’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to take up the fight after IS blitzed through northern and western Iraq last June.
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There are slam dunks. Then, there are works of art like this.
Jordan Kilganon, a 6-foot-1 professional dunker, is blowing the Internet’s mind this week with an outrageous, I-seriously-can’t-believe-he-just-did-that dunk, dubbed the “Lost and Found.”
In the video above, watch as the Canadian dunker debuts the killer move, performing a behind-the-back self-alley oop while spinning 360 degrees in the air before finishing with a slam dunk.
Somehow, Kilganon manages to complete the whole move using just one hand.
“This is the best slam dunk you’ve ever seen,” SBNation.com said.
Be careful of your jaws, guys. They’re bound to hit the floor.
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Kristin McClement is responsible for the customer experience, driving the customer perspective throughout Payfone. Prior to this role, She served as Director of Product Management at Payfone, Inc. Ms. McClement was responsible for the product planning and execution throughout the product lifecycle. Prior to Payfone, she was a key technical member of initial launch of Peek. At Peek she led both network and IT integrations and was responsible for delivering the back-end billing and CRM systems. Ms. McClement has also worked for major mobile operators and vendors in Canada and the Caribbean. In the Caribbean, she was responsible for the rollout of all Value Added Services (VAS), products, promotions and services including for three new Digicel operations in Guyana, El Salvador and Suriname. In Canada, she worked at TELUS where she was responsible for the overall product development and implementation of TELUS’s Commercial LBS service including two flagship services. She started her career at Redknee, a IN and billing vendor where she was responsible for the product development and management of several key products including on-site deployments, customer consulting and training support in Europe and the Caribbean. Ms. McClement has an Honours Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Electrical Engineering Co-operative Program from the University of Waterloo.
How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
I learned early on that the most important skill to have is the ability to learn. My parents were entrepreneurs who ran their own business for 35 years. I was fortunate to grow up with that spirit, knowing that I could do anything if I constantly challenged myself, absorbing the successes and failures from each experience.
How has your previous employment experience aided your tenure at Payfone?
Building out mobile networks in a number of developing countries gave me an early appreciation for the power of mobile technology. I saw remarkable changes to the economies where we brought cell phone service to those who never had the opportunity to access it before. What we viewed as a means of convenience in North America was a tool that unlocked communication and commerce in ways I had never imagined. Starting at Payfone with that point of view and technical knowhow has been an invaluable asset.
What have the highlights and challenges been during your tenure at Payfone?
Scaling a business between Tier 1 Financial Institutions and Tier 1 Mobile Network Operators takes years to get right, but there are rewards for this effort. This week Payfone will host its second summit where decision makers from the largest Financial Institutions and Mobile Network Operators in the world will sit down in one room to focus on one topic: protecting the mobile consumer.
It’s such a rare opportunity to have these types of minds in one room. Being a part of the company that brought these two groups together, working together, solving real market problems together has been a great achievement for myself and our team.
However, we all know success wouldn’t be the same without the obstacles that come along the way. Having these large institutions relying on our technology challenges us to balance our ability to be nimble and innovative given the maturity and processes that are required to work with intuitions that touches nearly everyone in the U.S.
What advice can you offer to women who want a career in your industry?
Quite simply — if you don’t ask for it, you won’t get it. I’ll never forget being so proud of my first job out of school only to find out my colleague, who started in the same role, on the same day, with the same degree, was making significantly more than me. When I asked him why, he told me he negotiated for a higher salary because he thought he deserved it and was perplexed as to why I didn’t do the same. I always encourage woman to ask for what they deserve and to never back down.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your career to date?
It doesn’t matter how right or smart you are — you need to build trust and strong relationships if you are going to be successful. You cannot do it alone.
How do you maintain a work/life balance?
Moving to Denver has been a big part of finding true balance in my life. I’m fortunate to have a front row view to the mountains and tranquility every day I walk into work. And being surrounded by nature everywhere I go is a saving grace for me because I can maintain an active lifestyle the minute I leave the office. Running has been my sanity since I can remember. It is how I deal with stress, how I am able to stay grounded and keep perspective on life. There are very few days I can’t find 45 minutes to block out to run or exercise.
What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?
I would say that we are our own worst enemies, as we feel like we don’t deserve the same level of success. Even when we realize that we do, we are still working twice as hard to prove ourselves. Although social norms are shifting, we are still part of a generation that grew up with certain expectations that are hard to shake.
How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life?
I haven’t really had one particular mentor in my life but I’ve had a lot of help along the way. I think it’s important to seek out leaders who you respect and can learn from throughout your life. At Payfone, I’m fortunate to work with a CEO that has cumulated over 20 years’ experience working in mobile that provides invaluable guidance everyday.
But, the work place isn’t the only place to find a mentor. In University, I was fortunate enough to meet three phenomenal strong, talented and smart women. We have created strong bonds and friendships over the past 15+ years. Even though we live in different countries, time zones and worlds, we have regular conference calls to help each other navigate through our professional and personal lives.
Which other female leaders do you admire and why?
Sheryl Sandberg, not only for what she has accomplished but also for her refreshing take on women in the workplace. My favorite quote of hers – “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.”
What do you want Payfone to accomplish in the next year?
I couldn’t be more proud of what our team has accomplished in the past year, and we’ve really set the bar high for 2015. I want Payfone’s Identity Certainty to be synonymous with secure, frictionless mobile experiences much in the way that FedEx is synonymous with shipping. While achieving this kind of ubiquity is ambitious, I am confident that Identity Certainty will become a necessary part of the everyday vocabulary as we depend on mobile more and more.
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A Starbucks worker in Queens, New York is no longer with the company after a video showing her screaming at a customer went viral.
Ruby Chen wrote on YouTube that she had ordered a Frappuccino and a “special straw” — presumably one of the popular new cookie straws — and tried to pay with her Starbucks app on May 12 when something set off the worker, identified only as “Melissa.”
“Melissa started to shout at me saying hey helloooo with very bad attitude,” Chen wrote. “Then she took the scanner away as I was trying to pay then told me to leave and never go back.”
Another customer caught the scene on video and posted it on Facebook, calling it “too much attitude.”
The video, above, shows Chen looking confused as Melissa yells at her, tells her to leave, accuses her of stealing the straw, threatens to call police and even begins yelling at other people in the store.
“Give me the straw. Give me the straw,” Melissa repeats. “Give me the straw.”
At one point in the video, Chen is heard asking for a manager.
“You’re talking to the manager,” Melissa responded, although local media reports say she was a shift supervisor and not a manager. “Get out. You’re not going to be served here. Period. Bye! Bye! Bye!”
As other customers defend Chen, Melissa shouts: “Nobody’s talking to you,” and then tells them to leave, gesturing to a large crowd of people at the counter.
A Starbucks spokesperson told the New York Post that Melissa is no longer with the company.
“This customer’s experience is not reflective of the service our partners provide to customers every day,” a company spokeswoman told NBC New York. “Our leadership team is reaching out to the customer to apologize and make this right.”
In comments on her Facebook page that have since been either removed or made private, Chen said she had been offered a $100 gift card by the company.
Melissa told WPIX-11 in New York that the customer was abusive and insisted that she wasn’t fired, but quit because she had no support from the district manager.
The store’s manager has defended the former employee, calling her a “good person.”
“We do our very best to hire good people with good hearts who care about our customers,” the manager, who would not identify himself, told the station. “This is a good person who did a bad thing.”
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Der Mode-Discounter Kik hat in der Öffentlichkeit in etwa so einen guten Ruf wie die irische Kette Primark. Also einen schlechten.
Doch am Ende des Tages kaufen dann doch alle bei Kik ein. Das behauptet zumindest der Kik-Chef in einem Interview. Dem „Handelsblatt“ sagte Heinz Speet jetzt:
„Vertun Sie sich nicht, auch bei uns findet man den Porsche und die S-Klasse auf dem Parkplatz.“
Speet behauptet: „Es gibt einfach Sachen, für die möchte man nicht viel Geld ausgeben – und die kauft man bei uns. Wenn Sie zum Beispiel ein Marken-T-Shirt kaufen, ist die Qualität oft die gleiche wie bei Kik, nur der Preis ist um ein Vielfaches höher.” Fast alle Marken – von Luxus bis Discount – kämen oft aus den gleichen Fabriken.
Der Kik-Chef zeichnet danach auch das Bild von Kunden in Deutschland, die bei Umfragen gerne sozial erwünscht antworten und sich im Alltag doch anders verhalten. Oder anders ausgedrückt: Von deutschen Kunden, die ganz schön heuchlerisch sind.
„Die Kamera ist kaum aus, da kaufen die Kunden schon wieder beim preisgünstigsten Anbieter“
Nachhaltigkeit, super Arbeitsbedingungen in Bangladesch – das zähle für die Kunden gar nicht so viel. Dem „Handelsblatt” sagte Speet:
„Die Kunden interessiert in erster Linie der Preis, und die meisten haben dabei kein schlechtes Gewissen.“
Wenn man Kunden vor der Kamera befrage, ob sie bereit seien, für bessere Produktionsbedingungen einen höheren Preis zu zahlen, dann würden die meisten nach Ansicht des Kik-Chefs mit Ja antworten. „Aber die Kamera ist kaum aus, da kaufen sie schon wieder beim preisgünstigsten Anbieter“.
“Zwölf Millionen Menschen können sich gar nichts anderes leisten, als das Günstigste zu kaufen”
Damit will Speet nach eigener Aussage aber nicht die Moralkeule schwingen. „Ich halte es für völlig falsch, den Kunden bei der Moral zu packen und verantwortlich zu machen für das, was da passiert. Außerdem haben wir in Deutschland mehr als zwölf Millionen Menschen, die von weniger als dem Existenzminium leben müssen. Die können gar nicht anders, als das Günstige zu kaufen.“
Kik setze sich dafür ein, die Arbeitsbedingungen in den Fabriken, etwa in Bangladesch zu verbessern, betonte Speet. Man habe gemeinsam mit den Behörden und Regierungen schon “viel verändert, aber das dauert eben auch einige Jahre”.
In Deutschland will Kik künftig seine Filialen aufhübschen. Sie sollen moderner werden. Chef Speet denkt etwa über kostenloses W-Lan in den Filialen nach sowie über iPad-Stationen und Sitzbänke für Rentner.
HINTERGRUND:
Kik ist mit rund 2600 Filialen der größte Textildiscounter Deutschlands. Außerdem betreibt das zur Tengelmann-Gruppe gehörende Unternehmen nach eigenen Angaben noch rund 600 Geschäfte in anderen Ländern Europas.Die erste Filialen wurde 1994 in Düsseldorf eröffnet. Seitdem hat das Unternehmen ein stürmisches Wachstum erlebt. 2013 erzielte KiK mit mehr als 22.0000 Mitarbeitern einen Umsatz von knapp 1,6 Milliarden Euro, ein Plus von 6,8 Prozent im Vergleich zum Vorjahr. Das langfristige Ziel ist, in Europa rund 4000 Filialen zu betreiben. (dpa)
Hier geht es zurück zur Startseite
Video: Bei Schnäppchenjägern beliebt:
Primark: Der fragwürdige Aufstieg des Mode-Discounters
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It’s perhaps a good job that most astronauts seems to be trained engineers and physicists—because a stay aboard the International Space requires the maintenance of some fairly complex equipment.
It’s amusing to see how desktop computing is becoming smaller and smaller while remaining capable enough for majority of our menial and office-related tasks. Maybe even a bit of multimedia on the side.While mini computers have so far been the territory of lesser known players in the industry, some of the big names are starting to also show their smaller … Continue reading
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