This Movie Recruited Instagram Users To Make Its Posters

instagram movie poster

It's not just brands that have been reaching out to influential Instagram users to promote their products: Now Instagram users are getting into the film business.

Montreal-based filmmakers David La Haye and Jay Tremblay's new movie, J’Espère Que Tu Vas Bien, enlisted advertising agency TAXI to get the group "Instagramers Montreal" to collaborate and take images that would be used to publicize the film.

The photos selected for the 87—that's right, 87—movie posters are made up of pictures taken on Instagramers Montreal's organized Insta-walk through the streets of Montreal. This fits the theme of the film, which is an 87-minute, single-shot journey through the same route.

Although this Indie film is the first to employ this method of movie poster photography, it probably won't be the last.

Numerous brands have reached out to similar Instagram communities, which have been popping up all over the world, to do product-related Insta-Walks.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/nOKuzxlstls/this-movie-recruited-instagram-users-to-make-its-posters-2012-7

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Spiking Commodities Put Whole Foods On Sale

Agricultural commodity price spikes have never been friends to stocks like (NYSE: DF) – down eight days in a row for a drop of more than 24%. But over the past few days, this selling has spread to some of the premium, 21st century grocers like (NASDAQ: WFM) and The Fresh Market(NASDAQ: TFM). These specialty [...]

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/07/23/spiking-commodities-put-whole-foods-on-sale/

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Stop Wasting Money On Things You Don't Need At The Register

walmart, checkout line, grocery, store, shopping, purchase, register, buying

Retailers recently won a major concession from banks and credit card companies.

Deep within a $7 billion dollar settlement lurks an agreement that allows your favorite stores to issue a surcharge on your purchases whenever you use your credit card.

It’s been part of a long-fought battle between retailers and credit card companies, and the result could mean an additional 1.5 to 3 percent in fees rung up at the point of sale.

Although retailers and credit card companies have worked out a deal, it doesn’t mean that consumers are destined for higher bills. Shoppers would still be able to avoid fees by using cash or a debit card. Consumers could also avoid shopping at retailers that implement the fee. The ease with which consumers can change purchasing behavior has retail groups like the National Retail Federation skeptical that fees would actually be adopted by stores.

Aside from credit card fees, consumers face numerous costs at cash register that don’t add value to purchases. However, shoppers aren’t helpless. There are ways for fighting these added costs and choosing to do so will lower your family’s spending.

Packaging

When’s the last time you hung the box to your new smart phone on the wall because the artwork was visually stunning? Most packaging is designed to attract your eye and convince you to make a purchase. These are great benefits for manufacturers, but it does you little good outside publically mandated disclosures. In fact, most packaging doesn’t last longer than the moment you return home from a store, or worse, it clutters your house until you finally use a product longer than a retailer’s return policy.

Not all packaging is a waste. You need something to carry your milk home. However, most of what you are buying is of little use to you, but that doesn’t mean that you aren’t paying for it.

Fight Packaging Costs: Companies are aware that packaging adds to the price. That’s why there are many retailers and manufacturers who compete at a lower cost by minimizing packaging without necessarily providing lower quality. Some examples include cereal sold in a bag, wine sold in a box, and most items purchased in bulk. There are companies who want to sell you inexpensive packaging, you just need to find them.

Brand Name

Coke has a secret formula locked away at company headquarters. Is there a secret Tylenol formula that merits a more expensive product? I’m not a doctor, but I do know that Tylenol’s acetaminophen is not superior to other generic brands. How is it that Tylenol charges so much for its over-the-counter drugs?

Because the company advertises more than its competitors. This builds name recognition and an image that translates into a higher price. In other words, your headache won’t know that you are buying Tylenol, but your wallet will.

Fight Overpaying for Brand: The best thing you can do for your family is research products and potential alternatives. For a long time I purchased Tylenol for my family. It wasn’t until I started comparing active ingredient labels that I realized just how much I’d been overpaying for over-the-counter drugs. The same goes for any product you take off the shelves.

Bad Behavior from Other Consumers

Whenever fellow consumers try to take advantage of a company through unethical means, it creates costs for those following the rules. It could be the shopper on the other side of the country exercising a five-finger discount, pirated entertainment, and software or a frivolous lawsuit that needs to be defended by company legal teams. These things add up for companies and often translate into higher prices for those who follow the rules.

Fight Bad Behavior from Other Consumers: This is not going to be a popular thing to say, but most people need to take things like copyright infringement and fair use seriously. Any product obtained through illegal methods, even if it’s downloading off of the internet, is bought and paid for by those following the rules. The solution means confronting other consumers about poor behavior. It’s not fun, but it will lower the cost to everyone in the long run.

Bad Behavior from Companies

Customers don’t have a monopoly on bad behavior. Retailers and manufacturers also walk the wrong side of the laws and regulations. Legal challenges, fines, bribes to foreign officials, and even outrageous executive compensation packages need to be funded by the prices people pay at the register.

Fight Bad Behavior from Companies: Discouraging costs from corporate irresponsibility is all about raising the cost of bad behavior. Avoid patronizing establishments you know to be unethical.

Some of these costs are easier to deal with than others. However, consumers are not powerless in avoiding them.

JP is the author of the money blog My Family Finances, a site dedicated to helping families make wise financial decisions. He is also an MBA and works in corporate finance.

SEE ALSO: Blogger quits his job to go on an incredible year-long trip around the world > 

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HSBC?s Money Laundering Scandal, By The Numbers

HSBC

This week a Senate investigation detailed that HSBC had lax controls against money-laundering and often ignored warnings about clients with ties to drug cartels and terrorists.

The bank is also reportedly nearing a settlement with the Justice Department, which has two criminal investigations into whether HSBC was complicit in money-laundering and tax evasion.The federal regulator that should have been keeping tabs on all this, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, also came under fire for "systemic weaknesses" in its oversight of banks' anti-money laundering procedures.

The report reaches back more than a decade, and in testimony in front of the Senate this week, the bank apologized and vowed it has recently overhauled its anti-money-laundering efforts. The bank's head of compliance stepped down this week. But the Senate report notes that HBSC made similar promises of reform back in 2003 when it was cited by regulators for poor oversight of suspicious transactions. HSBC declined to comment further on the report or on the DOJ's ongoing investigation.

There are lot of blunders and blind spots detailed in the Senate's 335-page takedown. Here's a rundown2014in each instance, we've linked to the relevant page in the report.

17,000: The backlog of unreviewed, potentially suspicious activity alerts at HSBC's U.S. arm as uncovered by government regulators in 2010.

200: Number of compliance staff in bank's U.S. branch between 2006 and 2009, of which a smaller group was charged with making sure the bank was following anti-money-laundering rules. HBUS had millions of accounts, and more than 16,000 employees overall, and according to the report, kept compliance staff small as a cost-cutting measure.Members of the anti-money-laundering group told investigators that understaffing was a key problem.

85: Number of problems with the anti-money-laundering efforts at bank's U.S. arm red-flagged by the OCC between 2005 and 2010. That was a third more than the next-closest major bank.

0: number of enforcement actions the OCC took in that time period.

3: number of years, from 2006 to 2009, for which HSBC's U.S. branch didn't do any money-laundering monitoring for transactions with HSBC banks in other countries.

15 billion: Total value of U.S. dollar bills (as in paper money) the bank accepted as part of bulk-cash transactions from foreign HSBC banks during that period, with no anti money-laundering controls.

Concerns about HBMX, the bank's Mexican arm

7 Billion: U.S. dollars exported from 2007-2008 from HBMX accounts to HSBC's U.S. accounts. At the time, both American and Mexican officials raised concerns that such a volume was only possible if it included illegal drug money.

1: Rank of HBMX in repatriation of U.S. dollars from Mexico for those years. HBMX is only the 5th largest bank in Mexico.

50,000: Number of clients in 2008 with U.S. dollar accounts at an HBMX shell operation in the Cayman Islands.

75: Estimated percentage of those accounts for which HBMX had incomplete information on the account holder.

15: Estimated percentage of such accounts for which the bank had no account holder information. (In 2009, HBMX closed 9,000 Cayman U.S. dollar accounts, but continues to allow new ones to be opened there).

Potentially Violating Sanctions

28,000: Number of transactions by HSBC's U.S. arm between 2001 and 2007 involving countries, groups, or individuals that the U.S. Treasury has sanctions against.

25,000: number of those transactions that involved Iran. The vast majority, auditors found, were sent through the U.S. without disclosing Iranian ties. In many cases, foreign HSBC banks substituted their own names for clients' with Iranian ties to avoid triggering red flags.

300,000: dollar amount of a wire transfer that went through HBUS because a compliance officer didn't realize "Persia" meant Iran.

2: transactions with Myanmar that slipped through filters because they didn't recognize "Burmese" or "Mynmar." [sic]

2: Number of U.S. dollar accounts established by HBSC's European operation in the U.K. for the "Taliban." HSBC's U.S. operation was unable to tell Senate investigators whether they ever processed transactions for the account.

Other shady ties

1 billion: U.S. dollars bought from HSBC between 2006 and 2010 by Al Rajhi, a Saudi Arabian bank previously cut off because of ties to terrorism. An HSBC official fought against concerns from compliance employees, because of the revenue they brought to the bank.(He apologized in front of the Senate committee Tuesday).

290 million: Amount in U.S. dollar travelers' checks cleared by HSBC's U.S. operation for a Japanese bank over four years. The checks originated at a Russian bank and were brought in by 30 clients who all claimed to be in the used car business. Compliance officers raised concerns in 2005, but HSBC didn't stop processing the checks until October 2008. (When questioned by the Senate committee, the Japanese bank could offer no explanation for why "the parties were using U.S. dollars to purchase used cars located in Japan or why [the bank] had so little information about the 30 clients carrying in U.S. dollars travelers checks totaling about $500,000-$600,000 each day.")

2,000: number of U.S.-based HSBC accounts opened by "bearer-share" corporations2014where whoever physically holds the stock owns the corporation, so there's virtually no record of who owns them.

1,670: number of those accounts in the bank's Miami branch, holding $2.6 billion in assets. One such account was linked to a Miami real estate family convicted of tax fraud for hiding nearly $200 million through bearer-share accounts. Another account, for a Peruvian family, was opened without the normal controls on bearer-shares. One HSBC executive wrote in an email in support of waiving the requirements, "this is too important a family in Peru for us not to want to do business with."

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Late-July Is Rarely Pleasant For Stocks

Market's annual and short-term patterns have held so far this year. What's next? Some of the declines in the second half of July have been notable. Last year certainly was. After a summer rally from June into mid-July last year, the market topped out on July 22 and the S&P 500 lost 18% over the next three weeks.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/07/23/late-july-is-rarely-pleasant-for-stocks/

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Take Your Message to the World With Podcasting

As a pastor, you spend countless hours each week praying, researching, writing and preparing for Sunday morning. What if your message could live on through lunch into forever?

Podcasting is an easy, affordable way to share the gospel online. Feel like you?re behind? You?re not alone. While some churches are deep in the world of digital media, many just have a toe in the water.

We spoke with Craig Groeschel, pastor of LifeChurch.tv in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Chris Mefford, producer of the EntreLeadership Podcast series, about the benefits of podcasting and how you can dive right in.

Make a Plan

Before you press the record button, you need a solid plan in place. There are two main things to consider:

  • What type of podcasts will you offer? LifeChurch.tv offers podcasts of teaching messages and worship music in both audio and video formats. Other churches also offer shorter podcast series on specific topics. Determine what will benefit your congregation and what is doable for you at the time. You can always increase your podcast offerings later.
  • What equipment do you need? The great thing about podcasting is you may already have the basics required. Chris says, ?Churches can use their sound system or an iPhone. It just depends on the quality you want. Then you can use the Mac program, GarageBand, to edit.?

Most churches are already recording the Sunday morning message for CD distribution. Editing, publishing and promoting will take your recording to the next level.

Connect With Your Listeners

Don?t just take the recorded sermon and throw it up online. While this is beneficial, Chris calls it ?podcasting circa 1995.? He says, ?Instead, do an intro, add in your content, and then tell them about your programs. You earned the right by giving them content. It?s a great trade.?

LifeChurch.tv does this well. Pastor Craig and his staff add information to the beginning and end of each podcast to connect listeners to their ministry. It?s an effective way to encourage locals who are trying out your church from home to take the next step and visit. You can also engage your audience by asking questions and providing an email address for responses to be sent in.

Consistency Is Key

When it comes to publishing, we trust you?ll work out the technical kinks through trial and error and helpful tutorials. What you should know now is that consistency, Chris and Pastor Craig agree, is key. ?Podcasts are subscriptions, which sets the expectation that content will be delivered on a regular basis,? says Craig. Make sure the podcast is easy to locate and posted on the same day and time each week.

You can also use a service like FeedBurner to measure podcast traffic. That information helps you know which topics are most popular and how you can better tailor your message to the listener.

Spread the Word

Once you?ve published the podcast, it?s time to tell your church and the community at large the good news. Pastor Craig and the team at LifeChurch.tv use several channels within the church to get the word out: social media, announcements from the stage, the church website, promotional videos, the bulletin and email newsletters. Be creative and consistent with your promotion.

Get Started Now!

The potential to expand the impact of your ministry is well worth the effort of podcasting.

?Podcasting has helped our congregation stay connected to our teaching. If they can?t attend one weekend, the message is waiting for them when they?re ready. Others like to reinforce the message by listening to it again while they are exercising or during their commute. [It is] easily shared and can support engagement on a global level,? says Pastor Craig.

Pastor Craig regularly listens to sermon podcasts himself. A few of his favorites include Andy Stanley, Steven Furtick and James MacDonald; their messages stretch him in biblical application, inspire him to grow in faith, and offer solid teaching.

How could podcasting benefit your ministry? What podcasts are your go-to downloads each week? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Source: http://www.daveramsey.com/article/take-your-message-to-the-world-with-podcasting/lifeandmoney_church

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Here Are 20 Mathematicians Who Changed The World

Gottfried Leibniz

Before scientists can develop medicines or engineers can advance technology, they throw numbers onto whiteboards using concepts laid out by mathematicians sometimes centuries earlier.

Generations of school children will disagree, but no other field of study has played a bigger role in changing the course of history as mathematics.

Unfortunately, mathematicians often get little recognition for their contributions to history.

We're changing that right now.

We've identified the 20 mathematicians responsible for the modern world.

William Playfair, inventor of charts

William Playfair, a Scottish engineer, was the founder of graphical statistics. Besides that signature accomplishment, he was at various times in his life a banker, an accountant, a journalist, an economist, and one of the men to storm the Bastille. 

It's difficult to overstate his importance. He was the inventor of the line graph, bar chart, and the pie chart.  He also pioneered the use of timelines. You're probably familiar with his work. 

James Maxwell, the first color photographer

Maxwell was a Scottish mathematician who formed the classical electromagnetic theory. This combined centuries of research in magnetism, electricity, and optics into a single theoretical framework. He was the first to demonstrate that electricity traveled through space at the speed of light.

How crucial was he? Einstein kept a framed photo of Maxwell on his desk beside pictures of Michael Faraday and Issac Newton. He was the first to develop a color photograph. Connecting light with electromagnetism is considered one of the greatest accomplishments of modern physics. He's in many ways the founder of his field.

Alan Turing, World War II codebreaker

Alan Turing is a British mathematician who is hailed as the father of computer science. His work laid the groundwork for the PC you're presumably reading this on. 

Turing is especially unique on this list for his efforts during the Second World War. Working at the famous Bletchley Park, Turing is credited as one of most important people in devising the techniques for breaking the German Enigma cipher.

He developed the method by which the Bombe  a massive electromechanical machine built by the Allies  could crack the Enigma on an industrial scale, allowing them to read nearly all German communication. In that regard, he is one of the founders of modern cryptanalysis, and by all rights played one of the most crucial parts in winning the Battle of the Atlantic for the Allies. 

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/zqIxW5j6K4w/important-mathematicians-modern-world-2012-7

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Since Doing Away With Sales Didn?t Work, JCPenney Is Just Getting Rid Of Check-Out Clerks

jcpnoclerksIf it works for grocery stores, why not try it at a department store? JCPenney is doing away with human checkout clerks and turning to self-service stands instead. You never know, perhaps the lure of a new experience will bring in customers to the struggling retail chain, since doing away with sales didn't quite pan [...]

Source: http://consumerist.com/2012/07/since-doing-away-with-sales-didnt-work-jcpenney-is-just-getting-rid-of-check-out-clerks.html

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