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A Massachusetts Town Has Made Bottled Water Illegal
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/massachusetts-town-bans-bottled-water-2013-1
Water, water everywhere — just not in plastic bottles, says a town in the US state of Massachusetts.
A law passed by the town of Concord went into effect with the New Year, making single-serving bottles of water illegal.
The ban is intended to encourage use of tap water and curb the worldwide problem of plastic pollution.
It only applies to “non-sparkling, unflavored drinking water.” Coke or other soft drinks are exempt.
Jean Hill, an 84-year-old activist, thought up the ban, arguing that bottles fill garbage dumps, while consumers are lured into drinking water they could obtain for a tiny fraction of the cost at their own sink.
“The bottled water companies are draining our aquifers and selling it back to us. I’m going to work until I drop on this,” Hill told The New York Times in 2010.
First time offenders get a warning. Anyone caught selling the banned bottles a second time will be fined $25, and $50 thereafter.
Copyright (2013) AFP. All rights reserved.
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Netflix wants users to be able to share viewing habits on Facebook, US Senate agrees
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/21/netflix-facebook-law-change/
We knew Netflix was big, but big enough to change the law? Apparently so, as an amendment to the Video Privacy Protection Act backed by the streaming service has been cleared by the US Senate. If the alteration gets a final sign-off from Obama himself, it’ll allow Netflix users to easily share their streaming activity on Facebook — something already implemented in regions outside the
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Facebook
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Bloomberg
It’s Time To Admit That Hulu Is A Failure (DIS, NWS)
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/its-time-to-admit-that-hulu-is-a-failure-2012-12
This morning, a Wall Street Journal story by
drop photos, trials simplified Timeline and delivers new privacy controls
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/20/facebook-lets-us-drag-and-drop-to-upload-photos/
Anyone who’s returned from an event with a virtual armful of photos may have been frustrated with Facebook’s upload interface, which until now has involved a less-than-intuitive file browser. The company is quietly solving that problem: an update pushing out to individual users lets them drag-and-drop photos into a new post, like we’ve seen on other social networks, and to a newly streamlined Messages format that’s rolling out at the same time. A much smaller circle is seeing a second update. Facebook has confirmed to ABC News that it’s conducting limited trials of an updated Timeline that moves the news feed to a single column, replaces the thumbnail navigation with simpler-looking tabs and makes all profile page information available through scrolling. A spokesperson wouldn’t say if or when the new Timeline would reach the wider public, but history points to “when” being more likely. They did however mention that the new privacy shortcuts, activity log and untagging tool would be going live for all users starting tonight, and we’ve already seen them pop up on some of our accounts.
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Via: The Verge!
Source: Inside Facebook, ABC News (1), (2)
Why Many Are Unlikely To Switch To Windows Phone Or BlackBerry 10
Source: http://gigaom.com/mobile/why-many-are-unlikely-to-switch-to-windows-phone-or-blackberry-10/
The smartphone industry is at an interesting point in time. In 2007, Apple’s iPhone practically invented — or re-invented, if you will — the current smartphone age with a full capacitive touchscreen and support for mobile apps. Google Android followed in 2008 and although it was slow to catch up, is relatively on par with iOS in terms of usability and app support.
Can Microsoft and RIM succeed where others have failed?
These incumbents — Apple and Google’s Android partners — account for 89.9 percent of smartphone sales as of the third quarter of 2012, per IDC. Some alternative platforms, such as Palm’s webOS and Nokia’s Maemo software, entered the market only to disappointingly disappear: webOS is now an open-source platform and Maemo became MeeGo, which Nokia abandoned when it chose to use Microsoft’s Windows Phone software. Windows Phone has been around for two years but has relatively little in the way of sales to show for it.
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It’s Incredible How Much Reputation Matters For Brands
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/its-incredible-how-much-reputation-matters-for-brands-2012-12
In a time where trust in companies is at an all time low, it’s more valuable than ever. That’s not a moral or values based statement, it’s about the impact on the bottom line.
This chart, from a presentation at McKinsey’s Chief Marketing And Sales Officer Forum, shows how much investors and consumers reward an outstanding reputation:
Despite the incredible value of reputation, according to McKinsey’s Betsy Holden, companies aren’t taking full advantage of their opportunities to increase it:
One thing they can do to improve their reputation is bolster their social media presence. They can publish material related to the above, like information about transparency or environmental efforts, and can use it as a customer service tool. Being accessible and accountable increases trust.
That route may be particularly effective because social media is trusted by consumers at a rapidly increasing rate:
NOW READ: McK insey Predicts The War For Talent Will Go Nuts By 2020
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Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights. 
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