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Celebrities now working to remove their apparently mandatory Twitter checkmarks

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It’s been a dumber than average couple of days on Twitter of late—and yeah, we know, low bar to clear—as Elon Musk’s 4/20 edict to remove “legacy” verification marks finally went into effect. (Those were the ones distributed once upon a time to users to clarify that they were who they said they were, as opposed to the current system, which uses the blue check to tag paid subscribers to the Twitter Blue service for relentless avoidance.) Shortly after the Great Purge, though, several famous people began noticing that they somehow had a blue check mark anyway, complete with a false statement that they’d paid for Twitter Blue and “verified their phone number” to get the mark. It started with a few people—William Shatner, LeBron James, Stephen King—and has since spread to a number of big-name, high-follower accounts.

In his various irritating-to-parse tweets about this stuff—interspersed with videos of his rocket launches that typically omit the bits where the rockets subsequently explode—Musk has said he’s “paying for” some celebrities’ Blue accounts himself. This is typically presented, with Elon Musk’s general “lurked on the Something Awful forums but wasn’t funny enough to actually post” approach to online humor, as an act of sublime trolling of his critics. (Without questioning the basic assumption that Musk is basically admitting that his much-ballyhooed feature operates functionally as a mark of shame for an enormous number of people.) The end result has been folks like Patton Oswalt looking for ways to get rid of the blue mark, usually by, reportedly, briefly changing their display name or avatar to juke the verification system.

The most prominent such user today has, unsurprisingly, been dril, who remains, in many ways, the strange, grotesquely beating heart of Twitter. The massively popular online comedian—who recently did an interview out-of-character for the first time, and who currently has 1.7 million followers on Twitter—has had a blue check appear and disappear multiple times on his account today, amidst tweeting out a series of harsh insults to Musk. Most recently, retweeting a post about the Lantham Act, which covers false attempts to make someone look like they endorse a product—and if us learning about U.S. copyright law from a dril tweet isn’t the ultimate indicator of how dumb today has been, we don’t know what is.

Wait, actually, we do: It’s seeing the “subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number” language on the account of late actors and performers like Chadwick Boseman and Norm Macdonald, where it popped up today along with the returned checks. Current speculation is that blue checks—and possibly just Twitter Blue itself—are being given to anyone with more than 1 million followers on the service. But there’s a special kind of irritation that comes from seeing beloved dead celebrities get co-opted into this effort as Elon Musk continues to assert, yet again, that he’s not owned, he’s not owned.

 

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Roots sees room for expansion in activewear, reports $5.2M Q2 loss and sales drop

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TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.

The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.

“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.

The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.

But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.

Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.

“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.

“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”

Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.

The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.

In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.

Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.

The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.

The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.

Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.

Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.

It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.

Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.

Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:ROOT)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Talks on today over HandyDART strike affecting vulnerable people in Metro Vancouver

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VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.

No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.

About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.

Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.

Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.

A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Transat AT reports $39.9M Q3 loss compared with $57.3M profit a year earlier

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MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.

The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.

The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.

Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRZ)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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