The Goods

How To Stay FCRA Compliant On Employer Background Checks

FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) is a bit of a misnomer because it’s not limited to credit reports—it also covers other information employers want, including public records, employment, criminal records, sex offender registration, driving, and more.

It’s easiest to think of FCRA compliance as having four steps.

Step 1: Employer Certifications

Prior to providing a consumer report, employers must first certify to the CRA, in writing, that they will follow the FCRA rules concerning disclosure, authorization, notice and adverse action notices, and that they will not use information in violation of any state/federal discrimination law.

Typically, the CRA will provide such a form to the employer, Rosen notes.

Step 2: Disclosure and Authorization

Before obtaining any type of consumer report, an employer must:

• Make a clear and conspicuous disclaimer to an individual, in writing, in a standalone document (not as part of the employment application), that a consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes.
• Obtain the individual’s signed authorization to obtain the report.

You can combine the disclosure and the request for authorization, but you cannot put excessive language on the form that detracts from the clear meaning.

Prior to actually obtaining an investigative consumer report, and in addition to the requirements listed above, an employer must clearly and accurately disclose to an individual that the report may include in-depth information about his or her character, general reputation, personal characteristics, mode of living, criminal, driving and work history, etc.

This disclosure must:

• Be in writing,
• Be mailed or otherwise delivered to the individual no later than 3 days after the report was first requested, and
• Include a statement informing the individual of his or her right to request additional disclosures and to receive a written summary of legal rights.

If an individual does request additional information, an employer must mail or otherwise provide the information within 5 days of receipt of the written request, or the request date of the report, whichever is later.

Step 3: Adverse Action Letters

Prior to taking adverse action based in whole or in part on a Consumer Report, employers must provide applicants with copies of the report and a Summary of Rights.

• Employers must give the consumer (applicant) the same report the employer receives, whether written or oral.
• FCRA is silent on how long the employer must wait to raise an objection, but the best practice is to give the applicant a meaningful opportunity to review, reflect and object.

You can’t “just say no,” on the basis of the report because of the many possibilities of mistakes. For example:

• Stolen identity
• Mistaken identity
• The person didn’t know about the negative record and thus no chance to correct it
• The record is wrong
• There is confusion about the record

If the adverse action becomes final, a second letter is required under FCRA Section 615; This letter must provide, orally, in writing, or electronically, the following:

• Notice of the adverse action
• The name, address, and telephone number of the consumer reporting agency that provided the consumer report
• A statement that the consumer reporting agency did not make the adverse decision and cannot provide the individual with the specific reasons supporting the action
• Notice of the individual’s right to obtain a free copy of the consumer report (if the report is requested within 60 days of receiving notice of an adverse action, a consumer reporting agency must provide the report free of charge) and
• Notice of the individual’s right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in the report.

Step 4. Follow State Rules

There are many state laws that have FCRA implications, and some are quite detailed. For example, in Massachusetts, the final adverse action letter must be in 10-point type minimum, be issued within 10 days, and use specified language.  (And, of course, he says, California has numerous “only in California rules.”)

Here are the 20 states with their own FCRA-type rules:

• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Georgia
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Minnesota
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Oklahoma
• Rhode Island
• Texas
• Washington

Various states have special rules concerning:

• Disclosure form for consumer
• Rules for Investigative Consumer Reports
• Nature and Scope letter
• Disputed Accuracy procedures
• Timing and notice of reports
• Notification periods
• 7-year limit on criminal records

Some states limit employers from using arrests, such as: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Some states limit misdemeanors, such as: California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts.

Some states limit first offense records, records based upon a certain age (other than a seven year limit) or diversion/nonadjudication programs, such as: Georgia, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Illinois, and California.

Some states limit expunged or sealed records, such as: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, South Dakota, Utah, and Virginia.

Many states have rules reflecting EEOC guidelines—that arrest or conviction must have rational relationship to job given nature and gravity of the offense, nature of the job and age of offense. 

What About Social Network Searches?

As for social network checks:

1. Make it one of the last steps
2. Make sure that someone does the checks according to a process
3. Keep it behind a “Chinese Wall”; that is, don’t let the hiring manager be the one to do the search
4. Make sure you have consent

Recruiting, interviewing and background checking—there’s a lot that can go wrong. How to get your supervisors and managers all doing it right?
Only one way—training.

Even with the best of intentions, your supervisors and managers will say something or do something that gets the company into hot water—unless they are trained. Unfortunately, up until now, training has been a real challenge—there’s such a load of extraneous planning, preparing, and tracking involved. But we’ve got good news—Barbelo Group have developed a unique new program that’s done all that work for you.

Email contact@barbelogroup.com for more information

Is There an Expectation of Privacy When Employees E-mail and Text at Work?

As we start the year, employers should be taking a close look at their technology policies. Two cases help clarify the “expectation of privacy”.

City of Ontario v. Quon

The U.S. Supreme Court held that a police department’s search of an officer’s text messages was reasonable and did not violate the officer’s Fourth Amendment rights. The Court decided the opinion on narrow grounds, however, side-stepping the issue of whether the officer had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

The Facts of the Case

• City of Ontario, CA had an e-mail and Internet policy that allowed for employer monitoring and review
• The manager told employees that text messages were treated the same as e-mail and Internet usage, and were covered by the policy
• The manager also said he would not audit any text messages over the allotted amount, as long as employees paid for the overages
• Quon’s text messages went over the allotted amount and Quon paid the overage charges
• Quon’s text messages were read to determine whether the City’s character limit was too low

The Court’s Holding

• The court assumed, without deciding, that Quon had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his text messages
• In other words, Court avoided the “reasonable expectation of privacy” issue altogether
• The Court determined that search was reasonable, that is, it was motivated by a legitimate work-related purpose and was not excessive in scope and that there was no violation of Quon’s Fourth Amendment rights.

Stengart v. Loving Care Agency

In the second case, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that Marina Stengart, Executive Director of Nursing at Loving Care, Inc. had a reasonable expectation of privacy in emails that she sent to her attorney from her personal Yahoo account on a company-issued laptop.

The Facts

• Stengart emailed her attorney via her personal, password-protected, web-based Yahoo email account during business hours and using an employer issued computer
• Stengart resigned and filed suit for hostile work environment
• Stengart’s emails were uncovered while employer imaged her laptop’s hard drive to preserve evidence for discovery
• When emails were produced, Stengart moved for sanctions and to disqualify the employer’s attorneys for ethical violations

Loving Care’s electronic communications policy stated that e-mail and Internet use were not to be considered private—”[t]he company reserves and will exercise the right to review, audit, intercept, access, and disclose all matters on the company’s media systems and services at any time, with or without notice.” 

However, the policy also stated that “occasional personal use [of e-mail] is permitted.”  The policy specifically prohibited numerous uses of the e-mail system, such as job searching and forwarding chain mail.  However, the policy was silent about communicating with attorneys.  Additionally, the policy made no reference to communicating via personal, password-protected e-mail accounts (e.g., gmail, yahoo, etc.) 

The Court’s Holding

The court ruled that Stengart had a reasonable expectation of privacy in e-mails sent between her and her attorney, via her personal Yahoo account, and that the company’s lawyers violated the Rules of Professional Conduct by failing to either promptly give notice to Stengart about the emails or to seek a judicial determination to determine whether or not the communications were privileged. 

More employee / employer questions?  Email contact@barbelogroup.com

12 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2012

1.   Red Carpet

In 2012, department stores, airlines, hotels, theme parks, museums, if not entire cities and nations around the world will roll out the red carpet for the new emperors, showering Chinese visitors and customers with tailored services and perks, and in general, lavish attention and respect.

China is the new emperor, and outpaced companies, flailing nations and even broke monetary unions are looking to the Chinese to bail them out. No wonder red carpets are being rolled out wherever Chinese politicians and CEOs currently set foot. In 2012’s global consumption arena we see a similar picture: department stores, airlines, hotels, theme parks and museums, if not entire cities, around the world are going out of their way to shower Chinese customers with tailored services and perks, and in general, lavish them with attention and respect.

Some stats:

• Chinese residents made over 30 million overseas trips in the first half of 2011 alone, up 20% since 2010. For comparison, US citizens made only 37 million outbound air travel trips during the whole of 2010 (Source: China Ministry of Public Security, July 2011; Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, September 2011).
• And that’s just the beginning: The World Tourism Organization has estimated that the total number of outbound tourists from China will reach 100 million by 2020.

• In London, department store Harrods employs 70 Mandarin-speaking members of staff. It has also installed 75 dedicated China UnionPay points. In a similar vein, Parisian department store Printemps has a special entrance for Chinese tour groups and Chinese store maps.
• Australia has committed USD 30 million over three years to market the country as a luxury destination for wealthy Chinese tourists. The Australian tourism board has taken its marketing campaign to 13 cities in the mainland so far, with hopes of expanding to more than 30 cities by 2020.

2.   DIY Health

Expect to see consumers take advantage of new technologies and apps to discreetly and continuously track, manage and be alerted to, any changes in their personal health.

The Do It Yourself trend is not going to slow down in 2012. Now, there are two kinds of DIY: the kind (most!) consumers hate and the kind they love. For 2012, the latter category will show endless innovation driven by, what else, technology, which in turn feeds off a never-ending desire among consumers to be in control. And while innovative DIY spottings keep pouring in (check out true DIY luggage check-in at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport), for this 2012 overview we’re focusing on DIY and health, as countless new apps and devices are actively targeting consumers keen on preventing, examining, improving, monitoring and managing their health. In fact, Apple’s App Store currently offers 9,000 mobile health apps (including nearly 1,500 cardio fitness apps, over 1,300 diet apps, over 1,000 stress and relaxation apps, and over 650 women’s health apps) and by mid-2012, this number is expected reach 13,000 (Source: MobiHealthNews, September 2011).

Other positive implications for consumers tracking their own state of health include less necessity for potentially intrusive and embarrassing trips to the doctor, or for those that do need medical attention and supervision, a much more convenient and accessible way for their doctor to keep a remote eye on any troublesome conditions or changes.

Some further stats: research company Technavio predicts that the global mobile health applications market will reach USD 4.1 billion by 2014, up from USD 1.7 billion in 2010. So, what can you do to make life easier, if not healthier for your customers in 2012? Some examples to get you going:

Released in November 2011, Jawbone’s Up is a wristband personal tracking device that tracks a user’s moving, eating and sleeping patterns. The device syncs with an iPhone app, and users can set the device to vibrate when they have been inactive for a period, compete against friends and even earn real life rewards for completing activity challenges.

Pain Free Back, an interactive back pain relief product, lets users enter specific data as they’re taken on a guided discovery about their back pain. Exercise solutions are offered afterwards.

• The Play It Down app enables users to test their hearing. The app offers several interactive features including ‘The Ear Knob’ that lets friends compare who can hear the highest frequencies, and ‘The Volume Zone’ which measures sound volume in decibels.

• The Digifit Ecosystem is a suite of Apple apps designed for those with an active lifestyle. It can record heart rate, pace, speed and power. Data can also be uploaded to and managed via training sites such as Training Peaks and New Leaf.

Withings’ Blood Pressure Monitor plugs into an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch and takes the user’s blood pressure. Data can be sent directly to a doctor or published (confidentially) on the Web.

Skin Scan is an app which allows users to scan and monitor moles over time, with the aim of preventing malignant skin cancers. The app tells users if a visit to their doctor or dermatologist is advisable.

Lifelens has created a smartphone app to diagnose malaria. The app can analyze a magnified image of a drop of blood (captured via a simple finger prick) and identify malarial parasites.

October 2011 saw US automotive company Ford demonstrate three apps offering in-car health monitoring. The sample apps use Ford’s SYNC Applink software to enable drivers to access certain mobile health apps while driving to keep track of chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma and hay fever.

• US-based ad agency SapientNitro launched an augmented reality (AR) app called Lungs in July 2011 to show smokers the damage caused by cigarettes. Users can control settings to reflect their own experience based on factors such as their age and how many cigarettes they smoke each day; these all impact on both the visual representation and ‘time taken for lungs to recover’ statistic.

• And there’s more, more, more: In October 2011, AT&T announced it will begin selling clothes embedded with health monitors, able to track the wearer’s vital signs (including heart rate and body temperature) and upload them to a dedicated website. And nonprofit the X Prize Foundation is co-sponsoring a USD 10 million award for the best mobile device allowing consumers to diagnoze their own diseases.

3.   Dealer-Chic

In 2012, not only will consumers continue to hunt for deals and discounts, but they will do so with relish if not pride. Deals are now about more than just saving money: it’s the thrill, the pursuit, the control, and the perceived smartness, and thus a source of status too.

Deal hunting has become an integral part of daily life for millions of consumers. Yes, there are many new and innovative ways in which brands are using promotions and offers, but consumer attitudes to discounts and deals are what’s really changing.

Obviously, consumers have always loved getting good deals or exclusive rewards, but rather than having to hide one’s haggling, securing the best deal is now accepted, if not admired by one’s fellow consumers. In fact, it’s now about more than just saving money: it’s the thrill, the pursuit, the control, and the perceived smartness, and thus a source of status too. Just three reasons why DEALER-CHIC is set to get bigger and bigger in 2012:

• MORE FOR LESS: While many people in developed economies may have less money to spend right now, consumers everywhere will forever look to experience more.

• THE MEDIUM IS THE MOTIVATION: Consumers are now being alerted to, using, reusing and sharing offers and deals via new (and therefore infinitely more exciting and attractive) technologies.

• BEST OF THE BEST: With instant mobile or online access to not only deals but reviews as well, consumers can now be confident they’re getting the best price for the best product or service.

And next? An even bigger ‘deal ecosystem’, more personalization, more loyalty schemes, more pressure on brands to deliver deal-immune brilliance as an integral part of everything they sell and promote. Some examples:

• In September 2011, The National Louis University in Chicago became the first educational establishment in the world to sell a course on a daily deal site.
• Notikum is a real-time, location-based app for Singaporeans which enables users to find deals near them, organized into categories of “Shop”, “Eat” and “Play”.
• Brazilian Daitan (a dealership selling used Honda cars) gave customers the opportunity to propose prices for cars on a “Faça sua Oferta” (“Make your offer”) page.

• American Express Link-Like-Love social commerce program gives AMEX cardholders relevant deals and experiences based on their likes, interests and social connections on Facebook.

4.   Eco-Cycology

Brands will increasingly take back all of their products for recycling (sometimes forced by new legislation), and recycle them responsibly and innovatively.

While in times of recession, economic interests tend to overrule eco-causes, the quest for a more sustainable lifestyle will remain a most pressing issue for years to come. We picked one ‘green’ trend (out of many) for this 2012 list: the phenomenon of brands helping consumers recycle by taking back all old items from customers, and then actually doing something constructive with them.

Because, as our recent Trend Briefing on RECOMMERCE introduced, consumers are increasingly aware not only of the financial value in their past purchases, but the material and ecological value of ‘stuff’ as well. Insert your own eco or generous angle [here]. We have dubbed this all-encompassing recycling on steroids ‘ECO-CYCOLOGY’. Sometimes prompted by new legislation*, sometimes by brands seeing the light (yes, it happens), these programs leave consumers no excuse to not recycle in 2012.

* ECO-CYCOLOGY mentality is more than a just brand-led phenomenon; realizing its importance, various cities or states in US (San Diego, Seattle and San Francisco to name a few) have enacted their own mandatory recycling laws. Likewise, The European Parliament has voted for tougher regulations on the disposal of electronic trash, requiring each country to collect 4 kilos of e-waste per citizen by 2012, and to process 85% of all its electronic waste by 2016.

• As part of US outdoor brand Patagonia’s Common Threads Initiative, any item bought from Patagonia that has reached the end of its ‘life’ can be returned for recycling into new fiber or fabric. The company claims to have so far taken back 45 tons of clothing for recycling and made 34 tons into new clothes.

• Nike’s trailblazing Reuse-A-Shoe scheme (first launched waaay back in1990!) has collected and recycled over 25 million pairs of worn-out Nike shoes to-date. Old shoes are sliced, separated and ground up into a material called Nike Grind, which is then used in creating athletic and playground surfaces, as well as a variety of Nike products.

• French beauty brand Garnier began partnering with US based environmental charity Terracycle in April 2011 to host the Personal Care and Beauty Brigade program. Offering free collection and recycling of all personal care and beauty related products, the brigade traveled between US cities, where attendees could recycle beauty packaging (and be awarded points or money). The waste packaging is then used to make playground equipment across the US. Filled bags could also be sent via UPS for free, with Garnier meeting all costs.

• Dell runs Dell Reconnect in partnership with Goodwill Industries. The scheme allows users to take their electrical equipment, from any brand, to one of Goodwill’s 2,200+ participating locations in the United States or Canada, where it will then be refurbished or recycled.

5.   Cash-Less

Will coins and notes completely disappear in 2012? No. But a cashless future is (finally) upon us, as major players such as MasterCard and Google work to build a whole new eco-system of payments, rewards and offers around new mobile technologies.

Sure, the cashless society has been popping-up in every trend list since 2005. And while 2012 (again) is not going to be the year that consumers en masse will forego coins and notes and just swipe their smartphones, it is going to be the year that major players like Google and MasterCard will actively roll out their cashless initiatives* around the world. For consumers, the initial lure will be convenience, but eventually mobile payments will create an entirely new data-driven eco-system of rewards, purchase history, deals and so on.

* Many of these initiatives incorporate NFC (Near Field Communication), which allows for encrypted data exchange between two devices in close proximity (“near field”) to each other. For instance: a reader located next to a retail cash register. Shoppers who have their credit card information stored in their NFC smartphones can pay for purchases by waving their smartphones near or tapping them on the reader, rather than using an actual credit card.

Just a few of the CASH-LESS initiatives to keep an eye on in 2012:

• In October 2011, Google’s free, NFC-enabled mobile payment system Google Wallet became operational at a selection of retail chains across the US. Licensing MasterCard’s PayPass technology, shoppers simply tap their mobile device on special terminals at points-of-sale to pay instantly. In participating stores, they can also redeem special coupons, participate in sales promotions or gain loyalty points, simply by choosing to pay with Google Wallet.

• In June 2011, US online payments processor PayPal demonstrated a mobile payments application for Android devices. Users install the app and activate the PayPal widget, and can then request to send or receive funds from another individual with a smartphone and PayPal account. Using NFC, the two users can then hold their devices together in order to instantly transfer funds.
• Square is an electronic payments service which enables users to accept credit card payments by using a card-reading portable device connected to their iPhone, iPad or Android device. Both the Square card-reader and app are free, although there is a 2.75% charge for each payment made. Once the system has been set up, users can accept payments immediately. In November 2011, Richard Branson and Visa became investors in the venture. In the same month, Square updated the app, allowing for a completely hands-free payment experience by simply saying your name.

• Launched in Sweden in June 2011, iZettle is a device that enables consumers to accept credit card payments while on the go. The portable chip and pin reader plugs into iPhones or iPads and uses an iZettle app, meaning that card transactions can take place instantly. Bills can also be paid or money transferred using the device. There’s a facility to tag transactions with images, notes or location data, which users can post to Facebook and Twitter to share their purchases with friends.

• In November 2011 Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s main rail operator, extended its Touch&Travel service to all its 320 stations. Passengers can either use NFC to pay, or take a photo of a barcode as they enter and exit stations.

6.   Bottom of the Urban Pyramid

The majority of consumers live in cities, yet in much of the world city life is chaotic, cramped and often none too pleasant. However at the same time, the creativity and vibrancy of these aspiring consumers, means that the global opportunities for brands which cater to the hundreds of millions of lower-income CITYSUMERS are unprecedented.

Driven by extreme urbanization on a global scale that will not slow down in 2012, expect more BOTTOM OF THE URBAN PYRAMID (BOUP) consumers than ever (the hundreds of millions of CITYSUMERS who don’t have middle-class salaries to spend) to demand innovation tailored to their unique circumstances, from health issues to lack of space to the need for durability. And remember, BOUP consumers have materialistic and aesthetic desires too.

Some examples:

• Developed by NCR, the Pillar ATM harnesses biometric technologies, making it suitable for use by illiterate and semi-literate populations. The device features a contactless card reader, a biometric fingerprint scanner, fast cash buttons, a dispenser and a receipt printer. Users of the free-standing device can simply place their thumb on the sensor and push the color-coded button for the amount of cash they want to take out. In Q3 2011, NCR began testing five prototype Pillar ATMs in the US, with the aim of launching the device in developing markets

• Aakash is an Android-based, wifi-enabled tablet computer, manufactured in Hyderabad, India as a low-cost but full functioning device. It is expected to be sold for USD 60 in retail stores, and (subsidized by the Government of India) to students for around USD 35.

• PepsiCo India is test-marketing two products: Lehar Gluco Plus, a beverage with electrolytes and glucose, and Lehar Iron Chusti, a fortified iron snack. Both are aimed at consumers at the bottom of the pyramid — in urban (and rural) areas (Source: Economic Times, June 2011)

7.   Idle-Sourcing

Anything that makes it downright simple- if not completely effortless- for consumers to contribute to something will be more popular than ever in 2012. Unlocked by the spread of ever smarter sensors in mobile phones, people will not only be able but increasingly willing, to broadcast information about where and what they are doing, to help improve products and services.

In 2012, count on the crowdsourcing trend to continue to shake up business processes and spawn endless innovations. After all, being given a chance to contribute, or to be a part of something bigger than themselves, will be forever popular with people.

However the reality is that most consumers- while they might want to contribute- find that it’s too difficult or too much hassle. Which is why you can expect to see more IDLE SOURCING initiatives in 2012: products and services that make it downright simple (if not effortless) to contribute to anything, from pinpointing roads in need of repairs to finding signs of extraterrestrial life.

Just one development unlocking new possibilities: the ubiquity of always-on, GPS and accelerometer-enabled smartphones in 2012, means that consumers themselves can and will increasingly broadcast data about where and what they are doing (assuming they have agreed to do so of course: don’t even get us started on the privacy debate that will continue to rage in the new year).

Two IDLE SOURCING examples that show the way:

• Test launched back in March 2011, the Boston based Street Bump app takes advantage of the sensors on smartphones to give city officials a real-time map of road conditions. The Android app uses the accelerometers and GPS technology in users’ phones to register when and where the user’s car has experienced a pothole, which it logs and reports automatically.

• Israeli crowd-sourced traffic navigation app Waze reached seven million users across 45 countries in October 2011. The app provides free turn-by-turn navigation alongside live information about road conditions, crowdsourced from other users. Users can also sign-in and view their friends’ locations.

8.   Flawsome

Why to consumers, brands that behave more humanly, including exposing their flaws, will be awesome

While many trends are all about the new, it’s always worth remembering that success in business in the end is more about being aligned with consumer culture than just being aware of ‘new’ techniques and technologies.   

While 2011 saw new levels of consumer disgust at too many business’ self-serving and often downright immoral (if not criminal) actions, stories of businesses doing good (Patagonia! Ben & Jerry’s!) remind consumers that personality and profit can be compatible. In fact, in 2012 consumers won’t expect brands to be flawless; they will even embrace brands that are FLAWSOME*, and at large (or at least somewhat) human. Brands that are honest about their flaws, that show some empathy, generosity, humility, flexibility, maturity, humor and dare we say it, some character and humanity.  

Now, there are endless powerful and novel strategies that you can use to flaunt your FLAWSOME side, which is why we’ll dedicate an entire Trend Briefing to FLAWSOME and HUMAN BRANDS in March 2012. For now, just one nice FLAWSOME example: 

• In July 2011, US based fast food retailer Domino’s launched a month-long promotional campaign in New York. Hiring out a huge billboard space in Times Square, the brand live-streamed (good and bad) customer feedback given via Twitter onto the digital hoarding.

9.   Screen Culture

Thanks to the continued explosion of touchscreen smartphones, tablets, and the ‘cloud’, 2012 will see a SCREEN CULTURE that is not only more pervasive, but more personal, more immersive and more interactive than ever.

SCREEN CULTURE is less of a trend in itself, but more the medium through which so many trends in this Trend Briefing will manifest themselves. 2012 will see three mega-tech currents converge: screens will be (even more): ubiquitous / mobile / cheap / always on; interactive and intuitive (via touchscreens, tablets and so on); an interface to everything and anything that lies beyond the screen (via the mobile web and, increasingly and finally mainstream in 2012, ‘the cloud’). In fact, the future for most devices will be a world where consumers will care less about them and just about the screen, or rather what’s being accessed through it.

So whether it’s the convergence of ‘online’ and ‘offline’ (see OFF=ON in our recent RETAIL RENAISSANCE Trend Briefing), consumers tapping into THE F-FACTOR to discover and decide on new products with the help of their friends, fans and followers, or never ending mega-trends like ‘convenience’ or INFOLUST, expect all consumer culture to be influenced by and take place in an all-pervasive SCREEN CULTURE.

And no, there won’t be ‘screen overload’ or ‘screen fatigue’. In fact, the above video is just a taste of things to come for digital natives in 2012 and beyond. Some random signs of the times:

• UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s, in a partnership with television provider Sky, is allowing shoppers to watch key sports events while they shop using in-cart iPad docks and speakers. The Sky Go trolley comes complete with a tilting iPad holder, speakers and an onboard battery with self-charging solar panel. All sports-minded shoppers need to do is download the Sky Go streaming app onto their tablet and then load it into the shopping cart’s dock.

• The European Parliament’s “Parlamentarium” is the largest visitors’ center in Europe, and combines interactive multimedia and history in 23 languages to show the daily lives of EU citizens. A 360-degree digital surround screen takes visitors into the heart of European Parliament action, with touch screen applications providing more information about MEPs. One of the Center’s unique features is that it caters for all 23 EU official languages using iPod Touch devices, configurable in any language.

• South African mobile telecommunications brand 8ta installed touch-activated windows in its stores, enabling customers to browse the retailer’s catalog throughout the day and night. Using technology from digital media company One Digital Media (also based in South Africa), the store’s ‘whispering windows’ act as speakers, allowing shoppers to hear about products, as well as view them in the storefront. In the retail space, further touchscreens utilized on product display tables and embedded in walls showcase 8ta’s products.

• In September 2011, Sichuan hotpot chain Hao Di Lao and Chinese technology firm Huawei announced a partnership to install telepresence screens in Hao Di Lao’s Shanghai and Beijing restaurants. Customers can sit down and share their hotpot meal with family and friends located elsewhere via the screens. Hao Di Lao customers can already use iPads provided on their tables to order food.
• And SCREEN CULTURE examples (will) keep coming. In 2012, keep an eye on the iPhone5 and iPad3. And on the Kindle Fire. And on the Aakash tablet.
  Large screens will see an overhaul too: from Apple iTV and Samsung’s SmartTV, to a whole host of apps available with GoogleTV to LG’s 3D projector to Sony’s future TV plans.
  Oh, and with winter hitting the northern hemisphere soon, expect a comeback of Muji’s and Etre’s screen-friendly gloves.
  Looking further ahead, how about the OmniTouch, a wearable prototype device (from Microsoft Research Redmond) which transforms any surface into a touchscreen via projection? Or Samsung’s flexible screens and screen-embedded windows?
  Away from consumer electronics, Adidas and Intel have also showcased a Virtual Footwear Wall, enabling shoppers to browse up to 8,000 shoes at once via a touchscreen interface. Yes, SCREEN CULTURE truly is the culture ;-)

10.  Recommerce

It’s never been easier for savvy consumers to resell or trade in past purchases, and unlock the value in their current possessions. In 2012, ‘trading in’ is the new buying

It’s never been easier for consumers to unlock the value in past purchases.

Consumers have always resold large, durable goods like cars and houses; but in 2012, almost anything is ripe for resale, from electronics to clothes, and even experiences. Novel brand buy-backs, exchange schemes, online platforms and mobile marketplaces offer smart and convenient options for consumers keen to ‘trade in to trade up’, alleviate financial strains (double dips, anyone?), and/or quell environmental and ethical concerns.

Three drivers behind the RECOMMERCE phenomenon:

• NEXTISM: Consumers will forever crave new and exciting experiences promised by the ‘next’.

• STATUSPHERE: The growing status boost that comes from being savvy and shopping (environmentally) responsibly.

• EXCUSUMPTION: Cash-strapped, recession-stricken consumers embracing creative solutions to spend less and still enjoy as many experiences and purchases as possible.

A few examples:

• Decathlon, the French sports apparel and equipment store, launched Trocathlon for a week in October 2011. Stores bought back any used equipment in return for coupons valid for six months.

• Already featured in ECO-CYCOLOGY, Patagonia’s Common Threads Initiative is also an excellent example of RECOMMERCE. The US outdoor gear brand partnered with eBay in September 2011 to launch an official marketplace where customers could buy and sell used goods.
• Levi’s Singapore offered customers SGD 100 when they brought in their old jeans and bought a new pair: a SGD 50 discount and a further SGD 50 in vouchers.

• US-based DealsGoRound allows users to resell and buy past Groupon, LivingSocial, and BuyWithMe deals.

• Amazon Student released in August 2011, enables students to scan the barcodes of books, DVDs, games or electronics they own, and see the trade-in price. If accepted, a shipping label is generated, and the funds awarded as an Amazon gift card.

• StubHub, the secondary ticket marketplace, added mobile ticket functionality to their app in August 2011, meaning that users can resell and buy tickets right at the event, even without access to a printer.

11.  Emerging Maturialism

While cultural differences will continue to shape consumer desires, middle-class and/or younger consumers in almost every market will embrace brands that push the boundaries. Expect frank, risqué or non-corporate products, services and campaigns from emerging markets to be on the rise in 2012

This is what we said about MATURIALISM a while ago: “Thoroughly exposed to (if not participating in) an uncensored, opinionated and raw world (especially online!), experienced consumers no longer tolerate being treated like yesteryear’s easily shocked, inexperienced, middle-of-the-road audiences. Able to handle much more honest conversations, more daring innovations, more quirky flavors, more risqué experiences, these consumers increasingly appreciate brands that push the boundaries.”

This mainly applied to consumers in mature consumer societies, but in 2012 we will see more and more MATURIALISTIC manifestations in emerging markets too.

Why? For all the many cultural differences that may exist, the global consumer class is remarkably alike in its needs and wants, not to mention more urban too (read: more connected, more spontaneous and more try-out-prone). So if you’re a Chinese or Indian or Turkish brand, or you’re a Western brand selling to emerging markets, 2012 is the year that you can push things a bit further.

Examples:

• In 2011, Diesel India ran an in-store promotion headlined with the phrase ‘Sex sells. Unfortunately we sell jeans’ that offered a spoof sex toy to customers spending over USD 150. The leatherette ‘Knee J’ knee pads came boxed in packaging featuring risqué retro cartoons and the tagline “Knee Jerk Reactions Guaranteed.”

• Released in March 2011, Indian personal care brand Cardiograph Corporation’s hand sanitizer Sanitol’s ad campaign shows one man touching another’s intimate area and another picking his colleague’s nose. The ads hint at the kind of germs that consumers might have on their hands, and proving why they should use sanitizer to keep clean.

• US pharmaceutical brand Johnson & Johnson created an advertising campaign in China during September 2011 to raise awareness about gynecological health. A video commercial advertising a diary purportedly written by “V” (vagina, “小V日记” in Chinese) took internet users to a dedicated microsite where users could view a fictional online diary written about women’s sexual health. The 30-page virtual booklet had articles and information on relationships and sex as well as fashion and friendship.

12.  Point and Know

Consumers are used to being able to find out just about anything that’s online or text-based, but 2012 will see instant visual information gratification brought into the real and visual world with objects and even people.

With textual search and textual information now being available to most people most of the time, the race is on to add a (useful) real world element – and by ‘real world’ we mean the world of objects and people.

2012 will see a mix of the known (Apps! Augmented Reality!) and the very known (QR codes!) bringing information about the objects (and even people) that consumers encounter in the real world instantly. And like some other trends, it’s the rise of the (always-in-my-pocket) smartphone that will fuel full-blown POINT & KNOW in the next 12 months. After all, the need and expectation for instant information and instant access to everything one wants to know, is already deeply ingrained in the SEE-HEAR-BUY consumer. Use POINT & KNOW in a practical fashion: adding depth of knowledge, communicating stories, origins, price comparisons, reviews, ecommerce and so on, or by all means, just have some fun with it!

• Google Goggles is a free image recognition app which enables users to search based on photographs taken with a handheld device. By taking pictures of objects, places or product barcodes, users can find out further information.

• Released in November 2011, the Amazon Flow app enables users to access information about products– and purchase them– using image recognition. In addition to books, music and film, many household products can also be recognized.

• Oh, and will 2012 finally see the tipping point for QR codes, the granddaddy of POINT & KNOW technologies? They’re everywhere now, and thanks to smartphones, consumers may finally be warming up to them too. In September 2011, Ralph Lauren introduced customized QR codes in its stores, featuring the retailer’s signature polo player logo. By scanning them, customers could win tickets to the US Open tennis tournament or purchase products on the Ralph Lauren M-Commerce site. Other luxury brands, like Louis Vuitton, are beautifying their QR codes too. Hey, and once even luxury brands are on the e-bandwagon… ;-)

• In October 2011, Starbucks unveiled a QR code promotion designed to educate consumers about its mobile payments app and its coffee.

• Canadian shoe designer John Fluevog’s ‘Ask Clogs’ collection incorporates QR codes into the sole of each shoe. The codes links to a video of that specific item being produced – from the first stages of manufacturing to in-store.

• Open during October 2011, The eBay Inspiration Shop in New York was the result of a collaboration between marketplace website eBay, US designer Jonathan Adler and a selection of ‘tastemakers’ such as celebrities, editors, bloggers and stylists. The virtual storefront displayed a range of electronic, fashion and automotive products, and to purchase items instantly, shoppers had to download eBay’s mobile application and scan a QR code.

• leafsnap is a free app that utilizes visual recognition technology to enable users to identify various species of tree by taking photographs of leaves.

• WeBIRD allows anyone with a smartphone to record a bird’s call, submit it wirelessly to a server and (after a few seconds) receive a positive ID on the species of bird. WeBIRD hopes to be available to the public in time for the spring migration in 2012.

• Popular mobile music application Shazam (which offers music recognition software that enables users to identify any track they hear, wherever they are, share it and/or buy it), saw a 100% increase in downloads of the app each week in the twelve months preceding June 2011, with over 125 million users tagging four million songs every day. In September 2011, Shazam also announced that more than USD 100 million was spent each year on digital music via the app. Also check out similar service Midomi SoundHound, which is partnering with Spotify.

• Created by Carnegie Mellon University, PittPatt is a facial recognition tool that enables users to find individuals from photographs or videos. The face detection software can locate human faces and match them up with photographs from Facebook and Google Images, identifying individuals in under 60 seconds. PittPatt, still in development, was acquired by Google in July 2011. Scary? Perhaps. Interesting? Definitely.

Internet strike: Wikipedia, Mozilla, Reddit to Go Dark Tonight While Google Joins SOPA Strike with Homepage Action

What does an Internet strike look like? You’re about to find out.

Wikipedia, Reddit, BoingBoing and hundreds of other websites in a pledge to go dark Tuesday night to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) — two anti-piracy bills that are currently making their way through Congress.

“This is an extraordinary action for our community to take,” said Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales in a statement Monday announcing Wikipedia’s decision to go dark. “While we regret having to prevent the world from having access to Wikipedia for even a second, we simply cannot ignore the fact that SOPA and PIPA endanger free speech both in the United States and abroad, and set a frightening precedent of Internet censorship for the world.”

Wikipedia — the Web’s fifth-most popular property with 470 million monthly users — is the largest Web entity to declare its intent to go dark, but it joins many other websites that have already pledged to shut down for 12 to 24 hours to draw attention to legislation that they say will hasten the end of the free Internet.

Reddit was one of the trailblazers of the blackout movement, declaring its intent to go dark on Jan. 10. Two days later, Ben Huh, chief executive of Cheezburger, which has a network of 50 sites including the seminal ICanHasCheezburger as well as Fail Blog, Know Your Meme and the Daily What, said his sites would be joining the strike.

Blackouts are not the only types of protest you’ll find online Wednesday. Google,biggest Internet presence in the world announced Tuesday that, while its search engine will continue to function, the company will place a link on its home page to highlight its opposition to the bills.

“Like many businesses, entrepreneurs and Web users, we oppose these bills because there are smart, targeted ways to shut down foreign rogue websites without asking American companies to censor the Internet,” Samantha Smith, a Google spokeswoman, said in an email Tuesday. “So tomorrow we will be joining many other tech companies to highlight this issue on our U.S. home page.”

And Scribd, which claims to be the world’s largest online repository of documents, said visitors to its website would find a pop-up roadblock Wednesday in protest of SOPA and PIPA that will lead to a call to action and an online petition. 

Craigslist started its protest early. A starred section at the top of the site urges users to “help put a stop to this madness” and links to a page dedicated to the topic.

Add to the list of confirmed participants in the SOPA Strike, which has reached over 7,000 US websites. And more participants should be named in the hours leading up to the strike. For instance, what will Google subsidiary YouTube do, given that they have much to fear from this legislation?

Everything You Need To Know From Last Night’s Golden Globe Awards

Ricky Gervais toned down his insult-heavy hosting act while George Clooney and Seth Rogen brought the jokes.

People who have never seen “The Artist,” ”The Iron Lady” or HBO’s “Enlightened” and “Cinema Verité,” have made mental notes to do so, while Rob Lowe has vowed never to get a spray tan again.

Ricky Gervais hates Kim Kardashian

Second-time host Ricky Gervais came out of the gates with not one, but two, digs at Kim Kardashian during his opening monologue.

The one-two punch:

1.) “The Golden Globes are to the Oscars what Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton. A bit louder, a bit trashier, a bit drunker and more easily bought. Allegedly. Nothing’s been proved.”

2.) “What’s with all the divorces? What’s going on? Arnold and Maria, J.Lo and Marc Anthony, Ashton and Demi. Kim Kardashian and some guy no one will remember. He wasn’t around long. Seventy-two days. A marriage that lasted 72 days. I’ve sat through longer James Cameron acceptance speeches.”

When introducing Madonna as a presenter, Ricky Gervais ribbed, “She’s always vogue, she’s a material girl and she’s just like a virgin (cough).”

Madonna took the stage and quickly responded, “If I’m still just like a virgin, Ricky, then why don’t you come over here and do something about it? I haven’t kissed a girl in years… on TV.”

But joke was on Gervais (and Elton John) when Madge took home the award for Best Original Song…

Elton John gave Madonna the stink eye

After Madonna beat Elton John in the Best Original Song category, the pop divo gave Madge a serious look of disgust. Perhaps that’s because earlier in the evening Elton told Carson Daly on the red carpet that Madonna “hasn’t got a f***ing chance!”

Seth Rogen’s jokes were more outrageous than Ricky Gervais’

When presenting Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy alongside Kate Beckinsale, Seth Rogen opened with, “Hello, I’m Seth Rogen, and I’m currently trying to conceal a massive erection.”

What is this, ’90s NBC?

Former “Frasier” star Kelsey Grammer took home a Globe for his new TV drama on the Starz network, “Boss,” while former “Friends” castmate Matt LeBlanc received his first ever statue for Best Actor in a Comedy for “Episodes,” a BBC2/Showtime TV series created by “Friends” co-creator David Crane.

Kate Winslet can’t stop winning awards

The Brit actress won her second Golden Globe for Best Actress in a  Mini-Series, “Mildred Pierce.”

Neither can Meryl Streep — who got bleeped during her acceptance speech for cursing

After looking genuinely surprised by her win for Best Actress in a Movie Drama for “Iron Lady,” Meryl Streep took to the stage to accept her award but let out an accidental, “Oh, sh*t,” after realizing she forgot her glasses.

This led to a series of A-list stars, including George Clooney, passing the reading glasses up to Meryl. The glasses-train ended with director David Fincher who refused to make an on-stage cameo to help out Lady M.

Tilda Swinton channeled David Bowie

Tilda Swinton, wearing a Haider Ackerman tuxedo gown and sporting a bleached blonde ‘do, draws comparisons to the likes of David Bowie, Julian Assange and Andy Warhol. 

This year marked Swinton’s thrid Golden Globe nomination for her leading role in the drama, “We Need To Talk About Kevin.” It also marked Swinton’s third Globes loss. Damn you, Meryl Streep!

Charlize Theron, Rooney Mara & Reese Witherspoon are really, really good looking

With Rooney Mara still channeling Lisbeth Salander in her black Nina Ricci gown, Charlize Theron flaunting her singledome in a pastel Dior Couture and Reese Witherspoon showing she’s still got it in a Zac Posen, these three ladies made it onto almost every “Best Dressed” list.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie don’t win any awards yet still manage to win the night

Everything You Need To Know This Morning

• Apple will announce “GarageBand for e-books” on Thursday.

• Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says Android is better than iOS at voice control.

• Wikipedia will go dark on Wednesday in protest of SOPA.

• Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian appeared on MSNBC for a debate about SOPA.

• Sarah Lacy has launched her new site, PandoDaily.

• This chart indicates that the PC is about to die a slow, painful death.

• Check out Google’s latest trick for logging into your online accounts.

• More than 1,000 man-years have gone into developing Google search.

• Facebook’s huge IPO could be on track for late May.

• The world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional has died.

Money Matters:

• Asian markets were up in overnight trading with the Shanghai Composite surging 4.18%. Europe is higher, after the S&P downgraded European countries on Friday, and the EFSF yesterday. U.S. futures are up ahead of the market open.

• China’s Q4 GDP climbed 8.9% from a year ago, beating estimates, but growing at its slowest pace in 2.5 years. The strain in China’s property market and the impact of Europe’s debt crisis on Chinese exports has increased pressure on Chinese premier Wen Jiabao. Investors now speculate that policy makers will ease monetary policy. Don’t Miss: The economies that will dominate the world in 2050 >

• S&P downgraded the European Financial Stability Facility from AAA to AA+ on Monday. This follows the downgrade of France and Austria, two previously AAA rated guarantors of the EFSF. The head of the EFSF, Klaus Regling, has however said that the downgrade would have little impact on the fund’s operations and investor demand for its bonds.

• Spain’s Treasury sold €4.88 billion of 12-month and 18-month bills just below its maximum target of €5 billion. The average yield on the 12-month bill was 2.049%, and 2.399% for the 18-month bill, coming in lower than expected. Borrowing costs eased despite its two-notch downgrade by S&P. Spain will auction its long-term debt on Thursday. Check out the 25 riskiest countries in the world >

• UK inflation grew 4.2% year-over-year in December, compared with 4.8% the previous month. Inflation slowed to its weakest pace in six months. Core inflation which excludes food and energy eased to 3%, while retail-price inflation slowed to 4.8%.. Now here is a quick guide to inflation rates around the world >

• The Empire State manufacturing survey for January will be released at 8:30 AM ET. Consensus is for a rise in the general business conditions level to 10.50. Follow the release at Money Game >

• Earnings season begins in earnest this week with some heavyweights in the financial sector. Today, Citigroup is expected to report Q4 earnings of $0.52 per share, and Wells Fargo is expected to post Q4 earnings of $0.72 per share. Now here’s what Wall Street’s sharpest minds expect from stocks in 2012 >

• Asian insurer AIA Group, which is one-third owned by AIG, is considering acquiring ING Groep’s Asian insurance operations for $6 billion. ING has reportedly hired Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan to advise on the sale.

• Costa Concordia, the cruise ship owned by Carnival Corp, ran aground off the coast of Italy killing at least 6, with another 29 missing. Insurance losses from the ship are estimated to be between $600 million - $800 million. The ship was insured by several companies including XL Group, Assicurazioni Generali, and RSA Insurance Group, and, Carnival Corp used Aon as its insurance broker.

• The German ZEW measure of economic sentiment unexpectedly rose to -21.6 in January, from -53.8 in December. Sentiment rose over policy response to the European debt crisis, and German analyst and investor sentiment showed its biggest jump on record. Now here is the hot new indicator for predicting doom and collapse >

• BONUS - Beyonce Knowles has been criticized for her lightened skin color in a promotional picture for her fourth album.

6 Awesome Math Tricks That Will Make Your Life So Much Easier

You’re on the trading floor, trying to price out if a 15-year bond issued by General Electric will generate the returns needed to placate your investors.

Bad news, your calculator is dead and the trader from Cantor Fitzgerald is readying to signal his buy. What to do?

Well, if all you need to do is double the investment in five-years, you’re in luck.

That’s probably not the case, and GE probably isn’t issuing 15-year debt.  But we compiled a list of six math tricks that might just come in handy.

Mark Cuban’s 12 Rules For Startups

Anyone who has started a business has his or her own rules and guidelines, so I thought I would add to the memo with my own. My “rules” below aren’t just for those founding the companies, but for those who are considering going to work for them, as well.

1. Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and something you love.

2. If you have an exit strategy, it’s not an obsession.

3. Hire people who you think will love working there.

4. Sales Cure All. Know how your company will make money and how you will actually make sales.

5. Know your core competencies and focus on being great at them. Pay up for people in your core competencies. Get the best. Outside the core competencies, hire people that fit your culture but aren’t as expensive to pay.

6. An espresso machine? Are you kidding me? Coffee is for closers. Sodas are free. Lunch is a chance to get out of the office and talk. There are 24 hours in a day, and if people like their jobs, they will find ways to use as much of it as possible to do their jobs.

7. No offices. Open offices keep everyone in tune with what is going on and keep the energy up. If an employee is about privacy, show him or her how to use the lock on the bathroom. There is nothing private in a startup. This is also a good way to keep from hiring executives who cannot operate successfully in a startup. My biggest fear was always hiring someone who wanted to build an empire. If the person demands to fly first class or to bring over a personal secretary, run away. If an exec won’t go on sales calls, run away. They are empire builders and will pollute your company.

8. As far as technology, go with what you know. That is always the most inexpensive way. If you know Apple, use it. If you know Vista, ask yourself why, then use it. It’s a startup so there are just a few employees. Let people use what they know.

This post originally appeared at Entrepreneur.

Here Are The 17 Hottest, Craziest Cars We Saw At CES In Las Vegas. Which one’s your favorite?

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is filled with room after room of smartphones, computers, and gizmos—but that’s not all this show is about.

In the upper reaches of North Hall you’ll find a variety of insane cars packed to the gills with carbon fiber, LEDs, and hemorrhage-inducing subwoofers.

Plus, there are just a ton of cool concept cars.

Here are the most eye-catching vehicles we saw at CES this year. 

This Lamborghini is powered by Nvidia…

…but we have no idea how

Audi’s “Urban” concept is a stunner.

More Than 250 Apple Employees Are Undercover At CES

Apple is famous for blowing off CES each year, but more than 250 of its employees are registered to attend this time, reports Reuters.

While the company still isn’t appearing in any official capacity to demo its products, a reporter for Paid Content saw Apple’s head of iOS product marketing, Greg Joswiak, near Sony’s booth at the convention center.

We’re not surprised by this — the convention is simply too big to ignore

Instead Of Killing Your Productivity With Multi-tasking, Try ‘Set Shifting’

Most of us multi-task because it gives us this false perception that we’re managing our time effectively.

But research shows that your brain can’t efficiently perform two or more tasks at the same time so you should never multi-task when trying to learn something new.

“A tremendous amount of evidence shows that the brain does better when it’s performing tasks in sequence, rather than all at once,” Stanford University professor Clifford Nass told Women’s Health.

In order to test how much your brain is actually “dumbed down” when you multi-task, researchers at UCLA conducted a study which found that people use a different part of their brain while multi-tasking compared to when they learn without distractions.

For the study, researchers provided the participants with cards they were asked to divide into two sets. With one set, they were able to learn the materials on the card without distractions. With the second set, they were asked to sort through the cards while listening to high and low beeps and simultaneously keeping a mental count of the high-pitch beeps.

The study concluded that when participants performed tasks without distractions, the hippocampus part of their brain was active, which is used for storing and recalling information. In contrast, when they performed their tasks simultaneously with the beeping sounds, they used a part of their brain called the striatum, which kicks in when you perform repetitive skills such as riding a bike.

The beeping sounds didn’t reduce accuracy on the participants’ sorting, but did effect them when they were asked to recall certain details of the task during a follow-up session.

Instead of multi-tasking, one can try “set shifting,” which means you’re consciously and completely shifting your attention from one task to the next. Successful set shifting demonstrates brain fitness and agility, but you can’t think about another task aside from the one you’re currently working on, says Paul Hammerness and Margaret Moore, authors of the book “Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life.”

Everything You Need To Know This Morning

• More than 250 Apple employees are undercover at CES.

• Pandora just partnered with lots of auto manufacturers to make your car radio better.

• A new tablet from Pantech is fully waterproof.

• Actually, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will have 32 GB of storage.

• Are you ready for Facebook in your car?

• Reddit will go dark in protest of PIPA and SOPA.

• Meg Whitman has hired Henry Gomez back to HP as EVP and Chief Communications Officer.

• Huffington Post CTO Paul Berry has left to start a “social platform” with the HuffPo cofounders.

• Twitter is concerned about Google’s new social search features.

• Intel’s secret Android phone has been spotted in the wild.
  

Money Matters

• Overnight trading in Asia was mixed, with the Hang Seng up 0.8%. European shares traded lower, with the German DAX falling 0.8%. U.S. futures point to a lower open.
• Mitt Romney won the first primary of the season in New Hampshire with 39.4% of votes and 95% of precincts reporting. Ron Paul placed second in the state, with 22.8% of ballots cast, while Jon Huntsman rounded out the top three with 16.8%. The candidates will head to South Carolina for the next primary to choose the GOP nominee.
• Germany’s economy contracted in the fourth quarter of 2011. The nation saw GDP fall 0.25 during the period, the government’s statistics office said. Overall for the year, German growth slowed to 3%, 70 basis points below 2010’s rate of expansion.
• Deposits at the European Central Bank continue to reach new heights, with more than €485.8 billion stored at the ECB. Eurozone financial institutions also took advantage of €1.9 billion from the ECB’s overnight lending facility. Click here to see what will happen in Europe in 2012 >
  
• Ratings agency Fitch set off a sharp decline in the euro when head of sovereign ratings David Riley called on the European Central Bank to do more to prevent a “cataclysmic” collapse. Riley noted that while a collapse of the euro was unlikely, it could happen if Italy cannot contain its debt issues. 
• A five-year debt auction in Germany sold below 1% for the first time in the country’s history. Germany sold €3.15 billion worth of debt at 0.9% to strong demand, with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.8.
• Retail inflation in the United Kingdom fell to its lowest rate in 16 months as discounts over the holiday period kept costs down. Prices increased 1.7% year-on-year, but below November’s 2% reading, the British Retail Consortium and Nielsen report.
• Microsoft’s head of investor relations warned yesterday that fourth quarter computer sales would be lower than originally forecast after floods in Thailand keep factories off line. The technology giant earlier predicted unit growth of 5%. Some analysts now see that figure declining to -1%.
• The CEO of mortgage lender Fannie Mae has said he will step down as soon as the company’s board of directors appoints a replacement. Mike Williams took over the troubled lender in 2009, and his departure follows similar news that Freddie Mac’s head would depart in 2012.
• MetLife will close its residential mortgage forward origination business and lay off up to 4,300 employees in the unit, the company announced in an Securities and Exchange filing. The company will take a $90 to $110 million charge over the coming year to exit the business, but does not expect the announcement to impact operating income. 

Bonus: Model Molly Sims is pregnant with her first child.