Future Thread: Weaving Fashion and Technology

Future Thread: Weaving Fashion and Technology

Our everyday life involves fashion. Despite this, talking about fashion sometimes makes people uncomfortable. This may be due to a lack of a proper definition of what fashion is.

Simply put, fashion is the style of clothing that a certain group of people wears at any given time. The fashion industry is international and highly globalized.

People all over the world have seen how fashion rapidly changes over a short period. Nowadays, the trend is to avoid fast fashion and to opt for more sustainable fashion choices in dressing up.

Fashion and Technology

These days, there have been many technological advances made to push forward the global fashion industry. These innovations have been made to adapt to the worldwide changes in the economy and lifestyles. Consumers of fashion have evolved, especially with the advent of social media. This is why the fashion industry needs to keep up with the increase and changes in consumer demand.

Fashion and technology work together. They complement each other in developing innovations in their respective fields. Here are some technological innovations that have tapped into the realm of the fashion industry in recent years.

In the fashion industry, laser cutting has been used since the nineteenth century. Through this technology, the fashion industry has produced pieces such as reinventing the World War I trench coat design. With robot vision systems, laser cutting has been optimized and become more efficient for applications such as textile cutting, allowing more opportunities for innovation and production.

Though not directly related to clothing production, artificial intelligence has been an innovation that the fashion industry has been taking advantage of. This technology has been used to enhance the customers’ shopping experience and monitor the consumers’ preferences to inform the brand of its trends and sales.

Mobile commerce is rapidly becoming the next best alternative to brick-and-mortar shops. With the convenience of mobile phones, shopping online using a smartphone has never been more enjoyable. This branch of eCommerce has allowed consumers to make quick purchases that satisfy their impulsive tendencies.

3D printing is not only for toys and components. 3D printing has also penetrated the fashion industry. Despite requiring more hours to produce, 3D printing results in less waste and is less labor-intensive than other types of manufacturing. This process might be a sustainable option depending on the materials used.

While 3D printing is making the rounds in the fashion industry, novel fabrics have also been making a mark in this field. Fabrics such as lab-grown leather might shape the future of fashion as it pushes the boundaries of technology and sustainability.

As mentioned, sustainability has also been the new buzzword these days. Slow fashion is the trend given that consumers are becoming more aware of garments’ environmental and ethical impact.

Fashion and technology are intertwined as they both pave the way for a better lifestyle for each individual. While these are some technological innovations that have made a mark in the fashion industry, sustainability remains a big concern in fashion.

Sustainable Fashion

Fast fashion might be the culprit of a percentage of the world’s garbage pile nowadays. Still, sustainable fashion lies in how the materials have been used and the ethical aspects of production.

The whole supply chain of a fashion ecosystem should be considered when checking if a piece of garment is part of the slow fashion movement. It is best to choose materials that are made to last longer to avoid the quick disposal of clothing that is easily torn or worn out.

Although choosing the slow fashion route is a responsible step, it will not be easy to take. The important thing to remember is to take it one step at a time until you build up a healthy habit and a healthy relationship with clothing.

It might be easy to disregard your purchases’ impact, but every step counts towards a better environment and workspace for everyone. Sustainability is not about achieving a zero-waste lifestyle, but it’s about being conscious of your choices to minimize unnecessary items in your life.

Fashion might make some people uncomfortable, but fashion is ingrained in our everyday lives. This global industry is woven into our daily choices, so we have to be conscious of our decisions every time we buy a piece of clothing. Sustainability in fashion can be achieved by exerting a bit of effort in researching brands and materials that dominate the market today.

Living Through the Quarantine: Making Better Use of Time

Living Through the Quarantine: Making Better Use of Time

Productive Things to Do While in Quarantine

The world is currently dealing with a global pandemic, and many of us are forced to stay at home to prevent the spread of disease. Companies have resorted to a work from home format to facilitate the continuation of jobs, ensuring that business operations can proceed like usual.

But with commuting and preparation out of the daily equation, we’re left with the time that we never had before. What’s the best way to make use of that? Here are a few ideas.

Get Into Fitness

Since we’re all stuck at home with more time in our hands, it’s finally the opportunity to shed the weight we’ve accumulated over the years. If you’re worried about going to the gym, then fret not. There are many ways to get fit even at home. For starters, you can try easy calisthenic or bodyweight exercises like push-ups and squats. Being that these exercises require very little equipment and utilize your own body weight, it makes a great start for fitness.

Alternatively, personal equipment for your own makeshift home gym is affordable and accessible. You can start with resistance bands as they can emulate how barbells and dumbbells work. For the best effect, go for a combination of resistance training and calisthenic exercises.

Learn How to Cook

The best way we can make use of the time we have at home is to develop life-skills. And among the most important life skills is, of course, cooking. Everyone likes to eat, but not everyone knows how to cook. If your cooking skills don’t go beyond frying hot-dogs or eggs, then take the time to learn an easy fish escabeche recipe! Or go for something grander, like carbonara or even a home-style pizza.

Even if you already know how to cook, this is the best chance to hone your other cooking-related skills chopping or learn something more advanced like gutting a fish. Learning how to cook (and how to cook well) is one of the best life skills you can develop.

Study Personal Finance

If there’s one thing that we all felt through the quarantine, is that our money will run out if we don’t treat it wisely. With companies suddenly downsizing because of an economic downturn and finding a new job being more difficult, learning more about personal finance and how to better handle your money is crucial in surviving in the long run. Personal finance is an umbrella term that covers handling your money, budgeting, expenses, savings, insurance, even investing. With how volatile the economy is today, learning more about managing your own finances will definitely go a long way.

Grow a Garden

One thing we can’t do nowadays is to go outside and enjoy nature. But that doesn’t mean we can’t bring nature to us. Yes, we’re talking about having your piece of nature at home. If you have a yard, or extra space at home, one way you can utilize it is by starting your own garden. You can go for either decorative plants or fruit-bearing plants. Both have their own advantages, but can help you make in not just keeping your sanity, but keeping the air fresh. For fruit-bearing plants, you can go for common but useful ones like chili pepper, tomato, onions, or calamansi.

Learn a New Skill

We live in an age where technology gives us access to a whole host of resources- for free. Using the Internet, we can dive into topics as deep as we can, as the expanses of learning materials available are far and wide. Why not use what time you have now to arm yourself with a new skill? Take, for example, programming. With how reliant the world is on technology, learning programming and coding will definitely be a useful skill to have.

There are millions of free resources available on that topic as well. Or you can learn more about sewing or crocheting. While you need the materials to do them, the learning materials are free, and if you have thread and needle lying around you can start immediately (Who doesn’t, right?). Learning a new skill might just provide you with more opportunities in the future.

Get an Online Certification

As mentioned in the last point, learning a new skill is one thing you should definitely do during this time. Another idea that can make learning a new skill even more worth it is getting an online certification for it. While you may have to pay for the course, being certified for a skill can bolster your resume and open you to more career options. Especially during times of job instability, having a certification can help you secure jobs as it’s a guarantee of skill. Fortunately, there are many affordable online courses available, and some are even free.

Technology That Will Improve Logistics and Strengthen Supply Chain in the Future

Technology That Will Improve Logistics and Strengthen Supply Chain in the Future

How These New Technology will Improve Logistics in the Future

Most consumers do not notice it, but there is a network of people and processes that enable goods to be transported from a source to a grocery shelf halfway around the world. The pandemic has been a challenge to the global supply chain. As borders were closed and movement between nations was strictly limited, the transfer of goods has also undergone restrictions.

Around the first half of 2020, there was a global shortage of food. Many supermarkets were emptied. Because of outbreaks, some major meat processing plants were forced to shut down. Meanwhile, some farms were forced to plow their crops because there were no buyers as restaurants around the world close down.

Later on, more and more items experienced shortages. By October, the United States and Europe were in short supply of more than half the drugs needed to treat patients infected with COVID-19. Even technology companies such as Apple found themselves dealing with a serious deficit in parts which affected the production of iPhones and iPads.

Now that economies have reopened and vaccination campaigns have started in the majority of the world, things are slowly but steadily gaining back a sense of normalcy. However, the past year has exposed the vulnerabilities of the global supply chain.

Logistics at Work

The logistics industry continued to work throughout the pandemic despite the threat of infections. Companies that not only transport but produce, store, and distribute goods strove to keep operating, sometimes with reduced capacity, to keep products that people need, including food, medicine, household products, and personal care products.

In the distribution of vaccines, there are still logistics at work. Most vaccines need to be stored in the cold. Moderna and Pfizer, for example, require to be frozen at -20 degrees Celsius and -70 degrees Celsius respectively. It is a difficult undertaking and these products need to be delivered to their destination in the safest way possible. These vaccines are precious and fragile and there is a very limited supply but a high demand.

Luckily, the technology to enable a smooth storage and distribution exists. There are refrigeration data loggers that will enable manufacturers to monitor cargo to ensure that no perishable goods are wasted while in transit or in a warehouse. There are software applications that design a blueprint that will make the whole process smooth-sailing from start to finish.

While COVID-19 has led to the global supply chain disruption, in future pandemics, the industry might be more ready. There is currently technology that is improving logistics so that, despite crises, goods can move seamlessly from production to the hands of consumers.

Robotics

The pandemic made employing robots convenient. When outbreaks happened in factories and warehouses, robots enabled work to continue. Places that long ago automated could continue production while maintaining physical distancing and other health measures.

Amazon, one of the few big winners of the pandemic, received increased demand in the past year as people locked themselves indoors. Consumers were purchasing their groceries, school and work supplies, and other goods online. The e-commerce giant was able to respond to the demand so easily by hiring new staff to work alongside robots.

Drones

Drones can potentially ease delivery, especially at the last mile when the package will be handed to the consumer, in future pandemics. People who deliver goods are at a higher risk of infections through close contact. Drones allow them to deliver packages to their respective owners without fear of becoming ill. They only need to operate the machine from a safe distance.

Amazon, Google, and other companies have already begun testing the use of drones in logistics. In the past year, CVS partnered with UPS to utilize drones to deliver prescription drugs to patients in a massive retirement community in Florida. Seniors were at a higher risk of becoming sick and being hospitalized due to COVID-19. Drones would be lifesavers in case the world once again succumb to another pandemic.

Self-Driving Vehicles

Truckers were at a higher risk of catching COVID-19. The nature of the job involves coming in and out of places, interacting with other truckers and logistics people, and, sometimes, dealing with little sleep, poor nutrition, and lack of exercise.

The technology is not ready yet, but self-driving vehicles can take some load that human truck drivers have to transport from state to state. Right now, the technology is only used across short distances such as in warehouses.


The pandemic was exacerbated by these shortages in the global supply chain. The past year should be treated as a test to see what else can be improved in the entire process. One day, if the world experiences another pandemic or crisis, the same issues will not be present.

5 Tips to Stay Financially Healthy during the Pandemic

5 Tips to Stay Financially Healthy during the Pandemic


How to Stay Financially Stable during the Global Pandemic

The global coronavirus pandemic has caused many people to lose their jobs. During these difficult times, people should use their emergency savings to stay financially stable and weather the crisis.

This, however, isn’t always the case. A news report from 9News revealed that 61 percent of Aussies weren’t saving money during the coronavirus crisis. This meant that they won’t have anything to fall back on if they experience financial hardship.

If you’re one of the fortunate people who are still employed during the pandemic, you’ll need to make sure that you’re taking steps to stay financially healthy. The last thing you want to happen in your life is to lose your job and have nothing to pay off your debt and other expenses.

Here are a few strategies to help you handle your finances effectively during these times of uncertainty:

Never save or set aside money blindly. Create financial goals and take steps to achieve them. If you’re planning to purchase your first house after the pandemic, for instance, you’ll want to make sure that you set a specific down payment goal before meeting with a professional mortgage broker.

When coming up with financial goals, take note of these tips:

If you have free time, use it to bump up your take-home pay. You could use that extra cash to further increase your savings, pay off your daily expenses, reduce your debt if you have one, increase your emergency fund or invest it in profitable assets.

When looking for ways to earn more money, take a good look at your skills and talents to find a side hustle that you’ll enjoy. If you like cleaning, for instance, you could offer your services as a house cleaner. Alternatively, you could wash high-profile cars or other vehicles and charge a reasonable fee. Finding a side project you’ll enjoy doing will make it seem more like a hobby and less like work.

Spending your money wisely will help your hard-earned cash go further, especially during the pandemic. If your spending habits have remained the same for several months, allot time to re-evaluate them by going over your purchases.

Here are a few ways to help you begin cutting down your expenses:

Forgetting a payment can result in late fees and penalties – expenses that will drain the funds in your bank account. What’s worse, late fees are a sure-fire way to ruin your credit standing. When your credit score dips, you risk paying higher interest charges on any future borrowing.

So, make the most of automatic payment options for credit card bills, loans and utilities. Some companies may even provide a discount if you set up a recurring payment.

If the COVID-19 pandemic has made you feeling overwhelmed, consider reaching out to a professional who can help you keep your personal finances on track.

Achieving financial stability is doable even during these challenging times. Apply these personal finance tips in your life, so you can weather the crisis and work toward a better future for yourself.

Newbie In The Real Estate Market: Understanding House-selling Criteria

Newbie In The Real Estate Market: Understanding House-selling Criteria

Target House-selling Criteria For New Investors

As the saying goes, it’s never smart to put all your eggs in one basket, and the smart investor would always look to other places that can generate profit like a successful tech startup, investing in indexes, understanding cryptocurrency, and many other financial instruments. Of course, there’s no denying that it can be a hassle to manage all of these at the same time, but we also can’t deny that grasping all facets of the market gives you an edge as well.

So, today we’ll be going over the real estate market and why small and medium business owners should look into investing in housing and properties. Specifically, we’ll be going over the target house-selling criteria to help newbie investors find the perfect properties to purchase and sell in under three weeks.

My Business Is Doing Fine, So Why Do Real Estate?

Of course, we wouldn’t blame you for being skeptical. If your business is doing fine as it is and steadily growing despite the adverse effects of the pandemic, it’s only natural to think that you’d stimulate and continue to reinvest capital back into your business. However, there are distinct benefits to owning real estate, features that you won’t necessarily get to enjoy with a business alone.

  • Diversification And Appreciation Of Investments: Firstly, buying properties and owning real estate investments is one of the most accessible ways to diversify your investment portfolio. Furthermore, these tangible assets also appreciate over time. So, unlike your business that is bounded by performance, homes typically increase in value regardless of what you do.
  • Passive Rental Income: Secondly, there’s no telling when we’ll face another economic event that causes instability in the market, and just because your business survived now won’t mean it will have the same fortune later. With real estate investments, you can create more revenue streams through a passive rental income and even house-flipping, which can net you extra money in case something were to happen.

So, What Should I Look Out For?

Lucky for us, creating a target house-selling criteria is fairly simple and doesn’t require as much technical knowledge as you’d expect. Of course, you could get by much easier if you had the help of a real estate agent or expert, but a lot of the analytical tools used in business still translate into the real estate market.

#1 Focus On A Neighborhood Close By

While there’s merit in penetrating new markets, we strongly recommend focusing on neighborhoods that are nearby and in proximity. The last thing you want to happen is the off-chance of overlooking something important and having to go out of your way just to get to the property. Sure, later on in your investment strategy, it’s perfectly fine to expand your horizon, but starting out must also start somewhere close to home.

  • Accessible And Easier To Manage: Fixing up a property to sell or rent out can go by as quickly as a couple of weeks or last upwards of a couple of months, depending on how long it will take to make the place liveable and get the right price. So, you’ll want to be close by so that it’s more accessible and easier to manage.
  • Strong Grasp On Local Housing Market: Choosing a local neighborhood also gives you the advantage of a strong grasp on the local housing market. You know the lay of the land and can easily compare how well the property stands in comparison to others. Plus, you can isolate your search on house-selling apps to that specific area.

#2 Sales Activity In The Area

Just like how you would analyze the saleability of a product by its sales performance and engagement numbers, you will also want to be critical of the sales activity in the area. Poor sales performance and sale signs that have been put up for quite a long time mean that the neighborhood isn’t as desirable as it would seem. So, stick to neighborhoods that indicate otherwise.

  • Comparing Selling Price: In terms of sales activity, another important factor consider is the selling price of homes. Low-end and more affordable homes are much easier to find and sell, but you run into the difficulty of turning in a profit at times. On the opposite end, high-end and luxury homes have great appeal but require a substantial amount of cash as a downpayment. So, we recommend sticking to the median price where most people will buy.

#3 Overall Appeal Of The Home

Last but not least, you want to gauge the overall appeal of the home, considering all aspects such as comfort, aesthetics, and everything that a homebuyer would think important. For example, a home that’s reminiscent of Mediterranean architecture is sure to catch more eyes than ones that are more plain-looking. So, look for homes that offer a distinct advantage or unique touch.

Expand And Grow Your Personal Portfolio

As a business owner, you should know firsthand the importance of positive cash flow and how your personal portfolio directly ties in with earning potential. So, expand and grow toward real estate investments, and let the streams of income do the talking.

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