How to Pronounce Decades

But we solve this problem in an easy way. At this point, our augmented reality system moves in. This augmented reality system works in three stages. First, they will choose a product in our app, and then they have to press the "How do I look like in this clothing" button. after that, the second stage starts, the button forwards to the AR page. On this page, they just took a picture of themselves. soon after, the last stage starts the AR page shows their photograph within these clothes. So, whit this system we want to improve refound numbers. Because with this system as we developed our customers can buy customers buy more confidently. We want to make our application the most user-friendly application on the market. For that reason, we worked with experienced designers in their field. But it's not enough alone, so at the same time, we worked with professional psychologists. If we had to sum it all up in one sentence, We combined science and art while designing this application. Consumers spent $861.12 billion online with U.S. merchants in 2020, up an incredible 44.0% year over year, according to Digital Commerce 360 estimates. That’s the highest annual U.S. ecommerce growth in at least two decades. It’s also nearly triple the 15.1% jump in 2019. Online’s share of total retail sales has steadily been on the rise—with ecommerce penetration hitting 21.3% in 2020, Digital Commerce 360 estimates. That’s up from 15.8% in 2019 and 14.3% in 2018. The more than five-percentage point gain in ecommerce penetration is by far the biggest year-over-year jump for U.S. retail sales ever recorded. No other year has even reached a two percentage-point gain in digital penetration. COVID-19-related boosts in online shopping resulted in an additional $174.87 billion in ecommerce revenue in 2020, Digital Commerce 360 estimates. If it weren’t for the bump in online sales from the pandemic, the $861.12 billion in ecommerce sales wouldn’t have been reached until 2022. Digital Commerce 360 updated the ecommerce sales estimate for 2020 in January 2021. Total retail sales increased 6.9% to $4.04 trillion from $3.78 trillion the year before, according to Digital Commerce 360’s analysis of the latest U.S. Department of Commerce figures. This is the highest growth since 1999. Digital Commerce 360 studies non-seasonally adjusted Commerce Department data and excludes sales of items not normally purchased online, such as spending at restaurants, gas stations and auto dealers. The record-breaking jump in total retail sales may come as a surprise considering the coronavirus pandemic’s negative impact on in-store shopping. However, all of the growth in retail came from ecommerce. Online sales accounted for 101% of all gains in retail in 2020. This means sales through all other channels—stores, catalogs and call centers—declined. This is the first time in history that ecommerce sales accounted for all retail sales gains. The previous high was in 2008, when ecommerce accounted for 63.8% of all retail sales growth.

Arthur has long been a beloved staple of childhood television, capturing the hearts of viewers young and old. For over two decades, this animated series has followed the daily adventures of Arthur Read, an 8-year-old aardvark, and his friends in the charming fictional city of Elwood. Based on Marc Brown’s popular book series, the show is much more than just a children’s program; it’s a cultural phenomenon that has skillfully blended humor, education, and heartfelt storytelling. Elwood City, the world of Arthur, is a vibrant, welcoming place where diverse characters of different animal species live side by side in harmony. Arthur, with his round glasses and signature red sweater, navigates the ups and downs of being a third-grader, from schoolyard dramas and sibling squabbles to the joys and challenges of friendship. The town is as much a character in the show as Arthur himself, providing a backdrop that’s both relatable and filled with opportunities for adventure and learning. What truly makes Arthur special is its rich and varied cast of characters, each with their own distinct personalities that have grown and evolved over the years. Arthur’s best friend, Buster Baxter, is a lovable, imaginative rabbit who often adds a light-hearted, humorous touch to the show. Arthur’s younger sister, D.W., with her precociousness and occasional bratty behavior, embodies the classic younger sibling trope but does so in a way that is utterly endearing. The supporting characters, like the strict yet kind-hearted Mr. Ratburn, add depth to the show, making the world of Arthur feel fully realized and lived-in. What sets Arthur apart from many other children’s shows is its willingness to tackle tough, real-life topics with grace and sensitivity. The show doesn’t shy away from discussing issues like illness, disability, or the challenges of growing up. It addresses these subjects in a way that is accessible to children, offering them not just entertainment but also valuable life lessons. Episodes dealing with complex emotions or difficult situations are handled with care, ensuring that young viewers can understand and learn from the experiences of the characters. Inclusivity has always been at the heart of Arthur, making it a trailblazer in children’s programming. The show has consistently introduced characters from a variety of backgrounds, religions, and cultures, reflecting the diversity of the world around us. Whether it’s through the introduction of Francine’s Jewish heritage or the inclusion of characters with disabilities, Arthur has been a model for representation, helping children see themselves and others in a positive light. One of the most memorable aspects of Arthur is its ability to balance educational content with humor and charm. The show’s writers have a knack for creating stories that are both informative and entertaining, teaching valuable lessons without feeling preachy or dull. This balance is what has allowed Arthur to remain relevant and engaging for so many years, appealing to both children and adults alike. As Arthur continued through its many seasons, it never lost sight of its original mission: to provide quality programming that both entertains and educates. Even as the characters faced new challenges and grew in complexity, the show retained its core values of friendship, understanding, and the importance of community. This consistency has endeared Arthur to generations of viewers, making it a timeless piece of children’s television. In an era where many shows come and go, Arthur has stood the test of time, proving that good storytelling and meaningful content can create a lasting legacy. Its impact on children’s programming is undeniable, and its ability to adapt to the changing times while remaining true to its roots is a testament to its creators’ dedication and vision. As Arthur finally came to a close after more than 25 years, it left behind a legacy that will be remembered fondly by those who grew up watching it. The show’s gentle humor, relatable characters, and commitment to important life lessons have ensured that Arthur will continue to be a beloved part of childhoods for many years to come

First, I love learning about different industries and commodities, how they developed over time, often over millennia, shaping world markets and modern political economies (e.g. cotton, gold, salt, cod, petroleum). “The Fish” provides a fascinating introduction to the world of bananas, a fruit that every American today knows and most of whom love on their breakfast cereal or as a mid-day, nutritious snack. Only, as I learned, bananas aren’t actually a fruit and little more than a century ago they were far from common, but rather quite exotic, a true luxury, displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition to crowds of gawking onlookers as if it came from another planet. Indeed, according to the author, a banana in 1900 was as unusual to the average American as an African cucumber is today. There’s a lot about the very familiar banana that I never knew. For instance, Cohen explains that the banana tree is actually the world’s largest herb, and thus its offspring, the banana, are technically berries. Even more fascinating, bananas grow from rhizomes, not seeds. In other words, cut appendages continue to grow, replicating the original. As Cohen describes it: “When you look at a banana, you’re looking at every banana, an infinite regression. There are no mutts, only the first fruit of a particular species and billions of copies. Every banana is a clone, in other words, a replica of an ur-banana that weighed on its stalk the first morning of man.” Believe it or not, the story of the banana gets even crazier. If you’ve ever wondered why old black-and-white films joked about slipping on a banana peel even though the banana peel that you’ve long known doesn’t feel particularly slippery, that’s because we have completely different bananas today. In the early nineteenth century, Americans were introduced to the “Big Mike,” a variety of banana that went extinct in 1965. It was bigger, tastier and more robust than the bananas we have today, according to Cohen, and their peels were far more slippery. The bananas we eat today are known as “Cavendish,” their primary benefit being immunity to the Panama disease that wiped out the Big Mike. Again, because bananas are all exact genetic copies, they are highly susceptible to rapid eradication from disease. Second, I’m a sucker for a great rags-to-riches story. The tale of Samuel Zemurray delivers that in spades. He arrived in America in 1891, a penniless Jew from what today is Moldova, and settled in the Deep South. (It may surprise many Americans but the South was far more hospitable to Jews for most our history. For instance, Jefferson Davis had two Jews in his Cabinet; Lincoln had none.) While still in his teens Zemurray recognized a business opportunity where other only saw trash: the ripe bananas that Boston Fruit discarded along the rail line in Mobile, Alabama before shipping off to Chicago and other northern metropolitan destinations. Zemurray was a natural entrepreneur; he had no particular affinity for bananas, it was just the opportunity at hand. “If he had settled in Chicago,” Cohen writes, “it would have been beef; if Pittsburgh, steel; if L.A., movies.” Zemurray quickly turned one man’s trash into cash, renting a boxcar to carry the castoff bananas along the slow rail route through the South, selling his cargo to local merchants at each Podunk rail stop until either his inventory ran out or spoiled. From such humble beginnings did a great international trading company eventually take root, Cuyamel Fruit, named after the river separating Honduras and Guatemala, the heartland of banana growing. By 1925, Cuyamel Fruit Company, the creation of an upstart Jewish immigrant banana jobber, had emerged as a serious threat to United Fruit, the undisputed king of the industry, a company that was led by Boston’s best, the sons of Brahmins. The threat was not because of Cuyamel’s size. In most ways United Fruit still dominated its aggressive rival (i.e. United Fruit was harvesting 40 million bunches a year with 150,000 employees and working capital of $27m, compared to Cuyamel’s 8 million bunches, 10,000 employees and $3m in working capital). The threat was that Cuyamel was a better run business and more innovative, leading the way with selective pruning, drainage, silting, staking and overhead irrigation. “U.F. was a conglomerate, a collection of firms bought up and slapped together,” Cohen writes. Cuyamel, by contrast, was a well-oiled machine, vertically integrated and led from the front by Zemurray, the ultimate owner-manager-worker. Cuyamel’s success was certainly no accident. It was the product of hard work, an obsessed owner-operator who understood his business at a visceral level, a skill earned over decades of hard, unglamorous work. Zemurray adhered to his own, classically American immigrant code of conduct: “get up first, work harder, get your hands in the dirt and the blood in your eyes.” Cohen describes his commitment and ultimate advantage this way: “Zemurray worked in the fields beside his engineers, planters, and machete men. He was deep in the muck, sweat covered, swinging a blade. He helped map the plantations, plant the rhizomes, clear the weeds, lay the track…unlike most of his competitors, he understood every part of the business, from the executive suite where the stock was manipulated to the ripening room where the green fruit turned yellow…By the time he was forty, he had served in every position from fruit jobber to boss. He worked on the docks, on the ships and railroads, in the fields and warehouses. He had ridden the mules. He had managed the fruit and money, the mercenaries and government men. He understood the meaning of every change in the weather, the significance of every date on the calendar.” Indeed, dedicated immigrants like Sam Zemurray have made America great. There’s nothing wrong with doing grunt work. In fact, it’s essential. United Fruit bought out Cuyamel in the early days of the stock market crash of 1929, when the former had a market share of 54% to the latter’s 14%. United Fruit’s profit was some $45m and its stock price $108. By 1932, profit was down to $6m and the stock languished at $10.25. “The company was caught in a death spiral,” according to Cohen. By January 1933, Zemurray used his massive stake and proxy votes to take over the company, claiming “I realized that the greatest mistake the United Fruit management had made was to assume it could run its activities in many tropical countries from an office on the 10th floor of a Boston office building.” The immigrant with dirt under his nails and a rumbled jacket knew the business better than the Ivy Leaguers with manicures and pinstriped suits. Indeed, the fish (Cuyamel Fruit) was swallowing the whale (United Fruit). Zemurray would run the company until 1951, arguably the most successful years of its history. In 1950, the company cleared $66m in profit. By 1960, profits would fall to just $2m. United Fruit collapsed, eventually restructuring and reinventing itself as Chiquita Brands, based in Cincinnati. When Zemurray started in the industry at the turn of the century, bananas were curiosities, a sidebar trade, something for the rich. By the time he retired, bananas were part of the daily American fabric, the interests of the industry consistent with that of political leadership in Washington. Indeed, some of the most illustrious and powerful men in government had close connections to United Fruit during the Zemurray era: CIA director Allen Dulles (member of the board of directors), secretary of state John Foster Dulles (U.F. legal counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell), New Deal fixer Tom Corcoran (paid lobbyist), UN Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge (large shareholder), among others. By the 1950s, Cohen writes, “it was hard to tell where the government ended and the company began.” At its height, Cohen says, United Fruit was “as ubiquitous as Google and as feared as Halliburton.” For anyone interested in business history, American politics in Central America or the development of the global fruit industry, “The Fish that Ate the Whale” is a book to own and savor. Read less