technology

Ruling backs refunds for accessing federal court records online

By Elva Mankin 20 mins ago

The federal government could be on the hook for millions of dollars in refunds to users of online court records after an appeals court ruled Thursday that court administrators illegally included a wide range of expenses that were never authorized to be recovered from the public.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a district court judge’s ruling in 2018 that court officials inflated fees for the Public Access to Court Electronic Records or PACER system by including costs for flat-screen courtroom televisions, electronic alerts to victims and police, as well as computer systems to manage jurors.

The three-judge appeals court panel unanimously ruled that Congress gave the federal courts permission to charge for systems that improve public access to court files, but did not create a technology slush fund that could be used to subsidize almost any purchase of electronics by the federal judiciary.

“Using [PACER]

… Read More

As the Pandemic Rattles the Global Economy, This Beauty Company’s Sales Are Booming

By Elva Mankin 2 hours ago

Madison Reed CEO and Founder Amy Errett on running a business that’s thriving, despite (and because of) the pandemic.

The global economy — and retail, in particular — is struggling. With the pandemic bringing uncertainty to virtually every industry, this is a period in which many entrepreneurs are overhauling their businesses, reassessing their priorities and figuring out how to survive. 

For direct-to-consumer, at-home hair color company Madison Reed, though, business is positively booming.

Like Clorox wipes and Purell, it turns out that Covid-19 has created massive demand for DIY hair color options that allow consumers to skip the salon. That’s putting it mildly, if you consider Madison Reed’s recent sales figures: According to a representative, over the past several months, the company experienced 12 times the number of new customers it normally would. In February, Madison Reed sold a Radiant Color Kit every 24 seconds; by May, that stat had

… Read More

eHealth, Brown & Brown, Arthur J. Gallagher and Marsh & McLennan Companies

By Elva Mankin 3 hours ago

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 6, 2020 – Today, Zacks Equity Research discusses Insurance Brokerage, including eHealth, Inc. EHTH, Brown & Brown, Inc. BRO, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. AJG and Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. MMC.

Link: https://www.zacks.com/commentary/1036541/bright-near-term-prospects-for-insurance-brokerage-industry

The Zacks Insurance – Brokerage industry comprises companies that primarily offer insurance and reinsurance products and services. Insurance brokers act on behalf of their clients and offer advice keeping in mind clients’ interests against brokerage fees. Some of these companies are also involved in providing risk management, third-party administration, and managed health care services.

Technavio analysts forecast the global insurance brokerage market to grow by $13.84 billion or at a CAGR of more than 4% during 2020-2024, according to their latest market research report.

Here are the industry’s three major themes:

  • The operational results of the industry players are affected directly by clients’ level of business activity, which in
… Read More

How the sound of religion has changed in the pandemic

By Elva Mankin 4 hours ago

<span class="caption">The Rev. Philip Dinwiddie sings to a pre-recording of mass at St. James Episcopal Church in Grosse Ile, Michigan.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="link rapid-noclick-resp" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-rev-philip-dinwiddie-sings-in-his-office-adding-music-news-photo/1220888445?adppopup=true" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Gregory Shamus/Getty Images">Gregory Shamus/Getty Images</a></span>
The Rev. Philip Dinwiddie sings to a pre-recording of mass at St. James Episcopal Church in Grosse Ile, Michigan. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Things sound different in a lockdown. The silence of usually bustling streets, the two-tone whirr of ambulance sirens and the sudden awareness of birdsong, all formed an aural backdrop to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nowhere has the change in sound been more noticeable than at houses of worship. The voices of congregants praying, chanting and singing has been quietened in churches, mosques and temples. Instead, congregants have had to work in new acoustic settings, both in person and online.

In short, religion, too, sounds different during the pandemic. We know this, because we have been documenting the sounds of religious life in America. Over the last six years, our teams of faculty and student researchers at Michigan State University and The Ohio State University have cataloged hundreds of audio

… Read More

4 Best Tech Mutual Funds Rallying on Work-From-Home Practices

By Elva Mankin 5 hours ago

Thematic investment has taken center stage in the past years given the massive changes that the world is undergoing. It helps investors diversify investments and incorporate the latest trends such as the coronavirus-triggered structural shifts in the present scenario. Talking about the latest trends, the coronavirus pandemic has forced businesses to close down offices and work from home.

Owing to advancement in technology, several companies have been operational to the maximum available capacity even as the virus wrecks havoc, globally. The work-from-home trend has become an attractive theme to invest in. Technology-based companies that facilitate in remote working have not only become highly resilient investment options but also help investors play safe during the slump.

These work-from-home stocks generally include technological infrastructure and services and deal in cloud technology, cybersecurity, remote communications, online project and document management among others. In fact, their commendable performance during the coronavirus-driven economic slump in

… Read More

@DepopDrama Is Where Fashion And Meme Culture Collide

By Elva Mankin 7 hours ago

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

From Esquire

It started with with an argument over £30. In October 2018 the Instagram account @depopdrama posted an exchange between a buyer and seller on the fashion retail platform Depop. The seller responded to the meagre offer with ‘are you joking’, the buyer countered with ’35 plus will follow ur insta’, and a sensation was born.

Two years later and the Jerry Springer Show of social media, Depop Drama, is now nearing half a million followers, who revel in their tales of dubious consumer ethics and vicious insults, fun wisecracking and deeply strange exchanges, which result from letting vendor and customer loose on one another without an employee code of conduct to keep things in check.

Depop has democratised selling clothes: a slicker, fashion-focused iteration of eBay which connects someone in Bristol who wants to get rid of a Champion t-shirt to someone on the

… Read More

There is no productivity software

By Elva Mankin 9 hours ago

This article was originally published by Matthew Guay on Capiche, a secret society for SaaS power users, building a new community of people who care about software to make the SaaS industry more transparent, together.

300,000 people are on Superhuman’s waitlist, while 95,000 requested a Hey invite before it launched—both in pursuit of a more productive email experience. Enough people paid Roam Research from $15/month to $500 for 5 years that they hit $1 million in ARR only 6 weeks after launching paid plans.

Give people a new productivity tool, and they’ll show up in droves. And woe betides if you take it away. There were more Hacker News comments about Microsoft shutting down Wunderlist than about any other thing the to-do list app had ever done.

Something entices us about productivity software. Not that most of us directly measure our productivity enough to know whether something actually makes

… Read More

Digital Identities: Technologies That Propel

By Elva Mankin 12 hours ago

In the latest webinar produced by WWD, “Digital Identities,” Robert Pernice, director of global market development, Beauty, Intelligent Labels at Avery Dennison, joined WWD executive editor Arthur Zaczkiewicz to discuss technologies that can help propel the success of beauty brands and retailers in these unprecedented times.

The goal of the webinar was to introduce a new concept for digital in a unique item-level digital identity that can drive retail and operation successes for beauty brands and retailers during and after COVID-19. “Digital has long been important for beauty,” said Pernice. “The most common applications are ones you’re familiar with that help people make shopping decisions. But purchases are also transacted through digital e-comm platforms, and the compelling influence of digital before COVID-19 has only been amplified by the pandemic.”

More from WWD

Avery Dennison, the global material science company and technology leader, specializes in a wide variety of labeling and

… Read More

How Pietra Is Helping Black Businesses Break Into the Fashion Industry

By Elva Mankin 13 hours ago

Like the inseams of a dress that no one ever really sees, the fashion industry has a history of hidden issues, including a lack of inclusive sizing, ableism, or absence of diversity on the runways and in boardrooms. In the wake of mass protests to honor Black Lives Matter, and with COVID-19 impacting Black entrepreneurs at a disproportionate rate, the fashion industry has had to flip their dress inside out and face these issues head-on. 

Leaders and entrepreneurs like Aurora James, founder of Brother Vellies, have called for companies to pledge to source at least 15% of products from Black-owned brands. But before we can even support our favorite Black-owned fashion and beauty brands, we must address inequities Black entrepreneurs face when starting and scaling any business. 

Globally, 80% of all venture capital firms don’t have a single Black investor, and just 1% of venture-funded startup founders

… Read More

Samsung Unveils Galaxy Note20 & Z Fold Smartphones

By Elva Mankin 15 hours ago

Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

Samsung unveiled two new Galaxy Note20 smartphones on Wednesday that the company promises will deliver bigger, brighter screens, a speedier processor, and faster autofocus from the camera.

The tech giant also announced an updated version of the dual-screen Galaxy Fold smartphone, featuring a redesigned hinge and a much larger front display.

Like the S20 models released by the manufacturer earlier this year, the Galaxy Note20 and Galaxy Note20 Ultra are equipped to access 5G service on carrier networks.

The Note phone’s S-Pen stylus has been outfitted with new tricks, too. To start, Samsung says it has reduced the device’s latency by 40 percent, trimming the time it takes for what you scribble to show up on the phone’s screen.

Available for preorder Thursday, the phones officially go on sale Aug. 21. The Note20—which offers 128 gigabytes of storage—will be

… Read More