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LOS ANGELES — Steven Spielberg claimed top honours including best drama at the Golden Globes on Tuesday for his deeply personal film “The Fabelmans”, as Hollywood’s A-list stars flocked to the first major awards show of 2023 despite a series of scandals swirling around its organisers.

The other top film award, best comedy or musical, went to “The Banshees of Inisherin” — a tragicomedy about a shattered friendship on a remote Irish island that ended the night with the most movie prizes.

Spielberg, who also took home the award for best director, thanked his family including his late mother, who he said would be “up there kvelling about this right now”.

“The Fabelmans” covers the troubled marriage of Spielberg’s parents, anti-Semitic bullying and the director’s early efforts making zero-budget movies with his teenage friends.

“Everybody sees me as a success story... but nobody really knows who we are until we’re courageous enough to tell everyone who we are,” he told the A-list audience at the Beverly Hilton.

Spielberg said films like “E.T.” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” had used elements from his real life, but he had “never had the courage to hit this story head on” until now.

Despite faring poorly at the box office, the film saw off last year’s two biggest commercial hits — James Cameron’s sci-fi film “Avatar: The Way of Water”, and mega-sequel “Top Gun: Maverick” — to win the night’s final prize.

“Banshees” also earned a win for Colin Farrell for best comedy actor, boosting his Oscar hopes, and for writer-director Martin McDonagh with best screenplay.

A-listers attend

The Globes, which kick off the annual film prize-giving season, have not had their usual glitz for the past two years, due to the pandemic and revelations about their organisers’ lack of diversity and allegations of ethical lapses.

In particular, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organises the awards, was criticised for not having a single Black member, although it has recently expanded its ranks.

All eyes were on which A-listers would show up on Tuesday, as NBC — which scrapped its broadcast of the show last year — brought back the 80th Golden Globe Awards on a one-off basis.

As it turned out, many heavy hitters were in attendance, including Spielberg, Rihanna and Brad Pitt, though some skipped questions from journalists on the red carpet — which was in fact grey.

Austin Butler, stepping into Elvis Presley’s blue suede shoes for rock-and-roll biopic “Elvis”, won best actor in a drama.

“You were an icon and a rebel and I love you so much,” Butler said to the legendary late singer in an emotional speech in which he also praised Presley’s family for their support.

Eddie Murphy accepted a career achievement award at the Beverly Hills gala, while Angela Bassett won best supporting actress for Marvel blockbuster “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”.

No shows

But Cate Blanchett, who won best drama actress for “Tar”, in which she plays a ruthless conductor navigating the cutthroat world of classical music, did not attend the gala.

Other prominent winners who didn’t show included Kevin Costner (“Yellowstone”), Zendaya (“Euphoria”) and Amanda Seyfried (“The Dropout”).

Michelle Yeoh was on hand to collect her best comedy actress for the surreal “Everything Everywhere All At Once”.

Her co-star in the multiverse-hopping sci-fi film, Ke Huy Quan — who shot to fame as a child star in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” almost four decades ago — offered an emotional speech as he accepted the prize for best supporting actor.

Action-packed Indian blockbuster “RRR”, which has become a huge word-of-mouth hit in Hollywood, added momentum to its awards season campaign by winning best song.

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” won best animated feature, while “Argentina, 1985” won best non-English language film.

On the television side, “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon” won best drama, and “Abbott Elementary” claimed best comedy series.

Edgy host

Success at the Globes is often seen as a potential bellwether for films hoping to win Oscars, which take place this year on March 12.

Academy voters will begin casting ballots for Oscar nominations on Thursday, just days after the Globes gala.

But recent controversies have muddied the waters.

Host Jerrod Carmichael, who struck a daring and edgy tone throughout the night, kicked the gala off with a monologue poking fun at the HFPA.

“I won’t say they were a racist organisation — but they didn’t have a single Black member until George Floyd died. So do with that information what you will,” he said.

Most of the Globes’ usual swanky after-parties did not take place this year. Nominee Brendan Fraser and Tom Cruise, the star and producer of “Top Gun: Maverick”, notably did not attend.

Despite the uproar surrounding the Globes, “Avatar” director Cameron told AFP he believed the HFPA had been “responsive to the protests”, adding: “I think we should celebrate the fact that an organisation does such radical changes.”

Early reviews for the show were positive, with Variety praising “acid-tongued” host Carmichael.

But The New York Times said Hollywood’s readiness to again embrace the HFPA as a useful marketing tool showed it has “dropped any pretence that the Globes are meaningful as markers of artistic excellence”.

The ceremony’s television ratings, expected Wednesday, will be closely watched by the industry.

LAS VEGAS — Immersive technologies that can better lives, whether helping people treat dementia or learn to pilot fighter jets, is the future of the metaverse, virtual reality startups say.

Some entrepreneurs at the annual CES gadget fest that ended Sunday in Las Vegas were eager to combine real and virtual worlds to help people stop and smell the roses.

The company OVR Technology has created an accessory for VR headsets that treats users around a faux campfire to whiffs of smoke and toasting marshmallows.

Smell is essential to the metaverse, said OVR Vice President Sarah Socia, because it’s “the only sense that is directly connected to the limbic system, a part of the brain crucial for memory and emotion”.

The Vermont-based startup also has a prototype of another device that can hold scent cartridges created by users through a mobile app.

Japanese “digital scent technology” company Aromajoin is also betting that the metaverse will be a place of many smells.

“It’s like before smartphones, we didn’t know how big a part they would play in our lives,” Aromajoin’s SeonHoon Cho said of scent in the virtual world.

Slowly taking shape

When Facebook changed its corporate name to Meta in late 2021, it signalled faith in the metaverse becoming the centre of online life, and the company continues to invest in that future despite profits suffering.

“Metaverse these days is very likely to be met with scepticism,” said Steve Koenig, a vice president at the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which organises CES.

“I do think that the term metaverse still is somewhat speculative in nature.”

But the metaverse is starting to take shape through various applications and devices, Koenig said.

The Indian firm AjnaLens believes immersive online experiences can help solve unemployment problems and the lack of skilled labour.

The company has designed an AjnaXR mixed reality (virtual and augmented) headset, which is lighter than existing models so it can be worn comfortably for hours.

Businesses use it to teach workers how to handle tools for jobs such as welding and painting, adding joysticks or haptic gloves that bring a hands-on feel to the experience.

“VR has a multiplied impact on the part of the brain where you store things for life,” AjnaLens co-founder Pankaj Raut told AFP.

“It’s like when you learn to ride a bike, you never forget it afterward.”

Fighting dementia?

French startup SocialDream has also designed its own mixed-reality headset adapted to its virtual world content — imagery that stimulates memory in Alzheimer’s patients.

Founder Thierry Gricourt said he wanted to project the videos “in a bubble”.

His prototype, named Dreamsense, “is not tight on the face, and the lenses do not hurt the eyes”, Gricourt said.

“And there will be sensors that measure emotions in real time.”

Meta unit Oculus and rival HTC virtual reality headsets are still mostly used for gaming at this stage.

The CTA expects 3.1 million VR headsets to be sold in the United States this year in a 20 per cent increase from 2022, while sales of augmented reality glasses are expected to double to more than 380,000.

For now, businesses seem to be embracing the technology more enthusiastically than non-gamer consumers.

The company Red 6 is testing an augmented reality system for training fighter jet pilots without the expense or risk of actual flights.

“Right now, the metaverse is kind of a solution in search for problems,” said Red 6 founder Daniel Robinson. 

“What we have done is the absolute opposite. We’ve found a really compelling use case for the technology, solving some critical problems that actually need to be solved.”

First launched in 2019 and slowly establishing a presence on Jordanian roads, the Polestar 2 is the second offering from Chinese Geely-owned Swedish brand Volvo’s sportier division since its establishment as a standalone sub-brand. The Polestar 2 is ostensibly a compact premium EV sports saloon.

Offered in single or significantly more powerful dual motor guises, the Chinese-built Polestar 2, however, feature a more practical lift-back body, and being built on the group’s high riding CMA platform, has one foot in the crossover segment.

Muscular momentum

A swift and stylish and sports saloon with a sleekly low roofline and bulging bodywork incorporating convex and concave surfacing, the Polestar 2 cuts quite the muscular figure. With sharp lines, slim headlights, pinstripe like rear lights, hungry grille, high sided flanks, jutting bumper, bulging bonnet and crisp creases, the Polestar’s athletic aesthetic is complemented by huge 19-inch alloy wheels shod with low profile 245/45R19 tyres. Meanwhile, its discretely high-riding stance and lower black cladding lend it a sense of urgent momentum.

With its lower black cladding somewhat detracting from and visually breaking up its high flanks, it also seems to simultaneously draw attention to the Polestar 2’s bottom-heavy configuration. Contributing towards a massive SUV-like 2,123kg mass, the Polestar 2’s batteries are located below its cabin floor to better manage their considerable heft for a low centre of gravity and within-wheelbase weighting for balanced dynamic properties. The more powerful Polestar 2 Dual Motor version meanwhile adds a second rear motor for better performance, balance, traction and driving fluency.

Seamless surge

Swift yet near silent and seamlessly surging in its delivery with its single ratio automatic gearbox and high revving electric motors, the Polestar 2 Dual Motor develops a maximum combined system output of 402BHP and a gut-wrenching 487lb/ft torque, much of which is on tap as soon as pedal hits metal when launching from standstill. Eliciting much less torque steer than usual for torque-rich front-drive EVs – presumably including its own less powerful but still abundant single motor variant — the Polestar 2’s dual motor all-wheel-drive allows more composed hard acceleration.

With less torque steer when accelerating from standstill or when powering out of corners the Polestar 2 pounces forcefully and with and responsive immediacy, running the 0-100km/h acceleration benchmark in just 4.7-seconds. Remaining versatile and effortlessly responsive through to highway speeds, the Polestar 2’s 205km/h top speed is, however, limited by its use of a single gear and its electric motor’s rev limit, the Polestar 2’s rate of acceleration is similarly expected to drop off somewhat at higher speeds, as typical to many EVs.

Confident and composed

Like most EVs, the Polestar is most efficient at more moderate stop/start speeds and inputs, with its claimed maximum 480km driving range expected to drop off significantly with sustained and aggressive inputs and high speed driving, where regenerative brakes have less opportunity to reclaim kinetic energy. Claimed 10-80 per cent charging time using a high capacity charger, where available, is 35-40 minute, and 7-8 hours for full charge using a home-installed wall charger. Conventional home charging times are not quoted, but expected to be significantly longer.

A confident and composed sports saloon with muscular responses and a low centre of gravity, the Polestar 2 turns into corners tidily and well contains body roll with a grounded ride quality. That said, its 2.1-tonne heft remains evident, even if strategically well distributed. Powering out of corners the Dual Motor version suffers less torque steer or oversteer than powerful front drive EVs, with the rear wheels acting to push it out of bends and helping to more effectively put power down to tarmac.

Quiet and classy

That said, with so much torque available so instantly, the Polestar 2 is more fluent through corners when power is re-applied with light, progressive accelerator inputs — and lift-off as regenerative braking kicks in. Settled, stable and refined, the Polestar 2 is confident at highway speeds, but can ride with a somewhat firm quality over jagged bumps and potholes. An optional Performance pack, meanwhile, includes unrated brakes, adjustable dampers and lower profile 245/40R20 tyres for sportier handling, but would come at the cost of ride comfort and fluency. 

Quiet and well-assembled, the smart and stylish Polestar 2 is extensively well-equipped with tech features, equipment and displays, yet retains an uncluttered, classy and sportily up-market ambiance, with body-hugging seats, chunky steering wheel and focused driving position. Its dark tones, high waistline and small glasshouse lend a hunkered down feel, even with a comparatively high floor, while visibility is usefully aided by a reversing camera. Adequately spaced and cosy if not outright generous inside, its larger and well-accessible lift-back rear luggage compartment meanwhile accommodates a 405-litre minimum.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Engine: Dual, front- and rear-mounted electric motors
• Battery: Underfloor-mounted lithium-ion, 78kWh
• Gearbox: 1-speed automatic, all-wheel-drive
• Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 402 (408) [300]
• Power-to-weight: 189BHP/tonne
• Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 487 (660)
• Torque-to-weight: 311Nm/tonne
• 0-100km/h: 4.7-seconds
• Top speed: 205km/h
• Range, WLTP: 480km
• Charging time, fast charger, 10-80 per cent/wall charger: 35-40 minutes/7-8 hours
• Length: 4,606mm
• Width: 1,859mm
• Height: 1,482mm
• Wheelbase: 2,735mm
• Ground clearance: 151mm
• Headroom, F/R: 1,048/1,010mm
• Legroom, F/R: 1,073/862mm
• Shoulder room, F/R: 1,386/1,370mm
• Hip room, F/R: 1,336/1,356mm
• Approach/departure angles: 15.1°/22°
• Luggage volume, front/rear, min-max: 35-/405-1,095 litres
• Kerb weight: 2,123kg 
• Towing weight: 1,500kg
• Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion
• Turning circle: 11.5-metres
• Suspension: MacPherson struts,/multi-link, anti-roll bars
• Brakes, F/R: Ventilated discs 345 x 30mm/320 x 20mm, regenerative
• Tyres: 245/45R19

One of the many challenges we face as desperate dieters is overeating during the winter. 

The colder weather makes it too easy to overeat especially for those who suffer seasonal depression. Being aware of this helps us to prepare ourselves both mentally and physically for the emotional toll this can take on us.

Comforting and nutritious

Soup is one of the best selections to keep us satisfied without going over our daily caloric limit. It’s also one of the easiest ways to incorporate healthy veggies as well as lentils and legumes into our menu. It’s comforting and nutritious which is a very powerful combo. When we combine good nutrition with comfort, we are more apt to enjoy those selections more often. Here are a few key strategies I’ve learned to make a healthier life style a daily reality instead of a far-fetched dream.

Having the ingredients on hand. Every time I go to the grocery store I make sure to buy fresh veggies as well as some frozen ones to ensure that I won’t run out.

Frozen spinach is one of my favourites to purchase because spinach freezes well and can be added to stir fries as well as soups and stews. I also take advantage of garden vegetables that friends share with me as they taste amazing no matter how you cook them.

The other items I try to keep in my pantry are garlic and onions, chicken broth and tomato paste. I try to be mindful about purchasing items lower in sodium and I make sure to add enough herbs and spices to jazz my veggies up. By the time you add chopped onions, garlic and herbs to your soup, you will have made it so flavourful that no one will miss the lack of high sodium.

Using leftovers to create new soup recipes. You can cut up leftover chicken or beef and add onions, garlic and quinoa or lentils and create an entire meal that is filling and very satisfying. It’s also an easy ‘all in one’ meal to pack with you for lunch at work the next day. You can prep, divide and freeze soups and meals to grab on the go to ensure you eat healthy even on your busiest of days.

Don’t fall into the fast food trap that we’ve all fallen into as desperate dieters. Just because we are busy people, it doesn’t mean we have to eat unhealthy “fast foods” that taste delicious while robbing us of the necessary nutrients our bodies desperately need.

I don’t know about you, but on cold winter days when I’m very busy at work, it is so tempting to just stop somewhere to pick up the foods that I love to eat. Fast food is one of the reasons we got into this mess, so let’s not fall for that anymore. I’m not saying we should aim for perfection and that we never ever taste a juicy burger and French fries ever again. But I am saying that we should aim to avoid them.

Aim for improvement not perfection. That improvement will look different for each of us. For some, it will mean eating at home more often and taking the time to prepare our meals from scratch and not always going for the easy, processed meals. Yet, for others it will mean having a cup of soup before their meal and skipping dessert entirely.

Maybe for some it means taking one or two bites of dessert instead of finishing every crumb on the plate. For some, having even one bite of a dessert will do them in by sending them on that vicious cycle of a downward spiral where their body continues to crave sweets and salty foods.

Never quit! Whatever your improvement looks like, remember to give yourself credit for the days you get it right and forgive yourself for the days you don’t. Learn to encourage yourself when there are no positive people around you. This is a skill that we all need to practice so let’s do it together. Let’s build each other up to be stronger in our quest to get a handle on our food issues. Sometimes we take one step forward and two steps back, but this doesn’t mean that we should quit. It just means that we should get that pot out and make our favourite soup, loaded with the nutrients our bodies need and help ourselves to get back on track.

Here’s to curling up with a good book and a hot cup of soup on these cold winter days!

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

LAS VEGAS — Entrepreneur Antony Perzo introduces a small device called Emobot, which looks like a cross between a speaker and a piece of abstract art, and explains: “It’s an emotional thermometer!”

Like hundreds of other exhibitors at CES, the world’s biggest tech expo, French engineer Perzo is selling the merits of an object that depends on the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.

AI is the big buzzword at the Las Vegas tech extravaganza, with companies big and small unveiling anything from TVs to toothbrushes that depend on big data and connected computing to impress.

Perzo’s Emobot, shown in a corner of Sin City’s Venetian hotel, is used to detect possible psychiatric disorders in the elderly and could help caregivers in nursing homes adjust treatment without waiting for the psychiatrist.

The technology can “analyse micro facial expressions” that reflect human emotions, themselves a magnifier of our “psychological and psychiatric state”, said the engineer.

Nufa, another startup, defines itself as a “pioneer in body transformation through AI”.

The mobile app allows users to edit a photo to see themselves with a slim and athletic body, and motivate themselves to follow a 90-day plan to achieve this result “in real life”.

In Last Vegas, AI-powered gadgets cram the hallways — there are AI bird feeders, baby carriages or fatigue-fighting wristwatches — to the point that some wonder if the phenomenon is being oversold.

But AI “isn’t just a buzzword to win the CES bingo”, noted tech analyst Avi Greengart.

The technology “is used in smartphone cameras, in factories to spot defective products, in agriculture to identify weeds and spray them with weed killer. AI is here to stay”, he said.

Using AI to explore emotions is also the ambition of Emil Jimenez, who founded MindBank Ai in a “quest for immortality... so my daughter could always ask her daddy a question”.

His app asks users to record their answers to deeply personal questions (“What does love mean to you?”) in order to “save your mind forever on the cloud” by creating a personal digital twin.

‘Huge opportunity’

AI can also be used to understand crowds. Canadian company Advanced Symbolics has developed askpolly, which trawls through social media to conduct market research in just minutes.

The user asks it a question — for example, “Is this a good time to buy an apartment?” or “Should underage criminals go to jail?” — and the programme scans social networks like Twitter and Instagram to survey public opinion on a large scale.

The biggest AI headlines lately have been on algorithms that make it possible to create original content at the click of a mouse.

California-based company OpenAI has impressed with ChatGPT, an easy to use software that generates a poem or school essay in seconds, and DALL-E which creates visual art.

In a similar way, French start-up Imki has designed a sound and light show for an ancient Roman theatre in southern France using similar programs.

“This allows us to create content quickly with very low production costs,” said Marie Lathoud, marketing director of Imki.

While he sees AI as a tool for artists, Saket Dandotia, director of operations at Magnifi, admitted that so-called generative AI represented a threat to the designers it will replace, much like robots in factories.

AI tools like ChatGBT are “faster, less costly”, Dandotia said.

His team created Strobe, an automated video software. “For us, AI is a huge opportunity, which will transform the entire creative design industry,” he said.

LONDON — Irreverent British designer Vivienne Westwood, who died on December 29, succeeded in keeping her fashion house financially independent, even as others sought stock market listings or security within major luxury groups.

She weathered the Covid pandemic, inflation and other storms thanks to the support of celebrities such as actor Emma Watson, singer Dua Lupa and British Queen Consort Camilla.

The punk icon’s fashion house had just two board members — Westwood herself and long-time director general Carlo D’Amario — until Jeffrey Banks joined them just two weeks ago on December 16.

In 2018, the company went into the red and was restructured.

But it stayed afloat.

“Vivienne did have ups and downs because of Covid, as well as inflation, especially in Europe,” said Andrew Burnstine, associate professor in marketing at Lynn University in Florida.

“One of the reasons she was able to weather the recent storm was because of the incredible celebrity client base she had,” Burnstine told AFP.

“Having a loyal and solid client base, licences, franchises and yearly collections are the best way to continuing your brand name and identity,” he added.

“Vivienne was very good at making calls, meeting with clients and, most importantly, marketing her brand and name on social media and the media.”

‘Buy less. Choose well’

The latest financial results for Westwood’s fashion house published on the UK government’s Company House website — covering the 2020 financial year — showed a pre-tax profit of £3.9 million ($4.7 million) on sales worth £42 million.

The label had around 500 employees.

The trade press made much of a past run-in Westwood had with the UK tax authorities.

She was accused of underestimating the value of her label by means of payments to a Luxembourg-based subsidiary and was forced, about a decade ago, to pay around £500,000 in extra tax.

Westwood was an environmental and anti-capitalist activist, and coined the phrase “Buy less. Choose well. Make it last.”

But she was accused of hypocrisy for continuing to produce several collections every year, including men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, accessories, perfumes and wedding dresses.

The Westwood label nonetheless prides itself on using organic or recycled synthetic materials, has stopped using plastic packaging and regularly publishes its carbon emissions.

While the majority of the label’s sales are in the UK, where it owns six boutiques, the brand also has one outlet each in France and Italy, and two in the United States.

It is also making inroads in Asia, notably in China, Japan, Thailand and Singapore.

It has production sites in the UK, China, Italy and Kenya, with a “Made in Kenya” line that aims to develop a sustainable supply chain in Africa.

Subverting conventions

Since 2016, the company’s artistic direction has been steered by Westwood’s husband and long-time business partner Andreas Kronthaler, who has made a significant contribution to the style of the brand since the couple met in 1989. 

That style cocks a snook at bourgeois and aristocratic conventions by subverting traditional British clothing habits.

The cuts are sophisticated but asymmetrical.

Westwood uses traditional flowery or tartan prints, along with tweed and romantic tulle fabrics. But the prints and colours clash.

Tucked-up skirts and crumpled crinolines make for a mad princess or wonky ballerina look — always provocative, always tongue in cheek.

SM apparel combines with the corsets of romantic heroines. Taffeta dresses are worn as mini skirts with fishnet tights — a look Westwood herself sported when she collected an award at the Florence Biennale in 2021, at the tender age of 80.

Once a punk, always a punk.

SANTIAGO — Every morning, trucks collect potato and avocado skins, orange peels and other food scraps that residents of Santiago’s poorest neighbourhood leave hanging in bags on their front doors or in tree branches or place in special bins.

For nearly two decades, the residents of La Pintana have been pioneers of recycling in Chile — South America’s largest garbage generator.

Under a project started in 2005, the commune of 190,000 people enthusiastically gather their plant-based food waste, which is then turned into compost to help green their community.

In La Pintana, where 15 per cent of people live in poverty, 50 per cent of the community’s organic waste is collected for recycling — a figure that puts to shame the 0.8 per cent achieved by Chile as a whole, according to environment ministry data.

“They do a lot with it [the waste]:  They produce compost and it is used for the community itself, for the squares and gardens,” La Pintana resident Jose Vera told AFP as he left two large cardboard boxes filled with scraps on the sidewalk, proud of his contribution.

“It is also a saving [for the municipality] because they no longer have to buy” fertiliser or pay landfill fees, he said.

Chile generates some 1.13 kilogrammes of waste per person per day — the highest output in South America, according to World Bank data.

And in terms of recycling, it is far from achieving even Latin America’s low average of four per cent of solid municipal waste processed.

But La Pintana, one of the first neighbourhoods of Chile’s deeply socially unequal capital to adopt such a project, now collects some 20 tons of organic waste every day.

It is delivered to a local plant that turns the scraps into natural fertiliser for the town’s own municipal nursery, and others.

‘A change in people’

The municipality estimates to be saving some $100,000 per year — money that can go to other community projects.

“There has been a change in people,” since the project started, resident Vera said. 

“They are now concerned about recycling and no longer put the vegetables with the garbage.”

La Pintana’s nursery, built on what used to be an unsightly landfill, yields some 100,000 plants of 400 different species every year.

These are planted back in La Pintana, one of the areas of Santiago with the fewest green spaces per inhabitant.

The nursery uses about a ton of humus — a dark organic matter created when plant material decomposes — every year, according to project member Cintia Ortiz.

All of it is obtained from La Pintana’s plant waste.

“This humus, the benefit it gives us, is that it is organic... thanks to the community and the workers,” Ortiz told AFP.

In addition, “as we can keep the plants well-nourished, we do not have to use chemicals”.

Planting flowers outside a municipal sports center, municipal worker Jeanette Gonzalez told AFP the project “brings us... joy. The town is improving”.

“When we took over... it was a town where every 200 metres there was a landfill,” Claudia Pizarro, mayor of La Pintana since 2016, said of the trailblazing project, which has received several international awards.

“It is a virtuous circle: People see that where there used to be a landfill there is now greenery and everything is flourishing, and they stop throwing garbage there,” she added.

There have been spillover benefits too: More than half of the municipal nursery’s 15 staff are former inmates doing community work in lieu of serving prison time.

Chile’s Environment Minister Maisa Rojas recently proposed a bill to reproduce the project in the rest of Chile.

SAN FRANCISCO — The latest leaps in artificial intelligence in everything from cars, robots to appliances will be on full display at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) opening on Thursday in Las Vegas.

Forced by the pandemic to go virtual in 2021 and hybrid last year, tens of thousands of show-goers are hoping for a return to packed halls and rapid-fire deal-making that were long the hallmark of the annual gadget extravaganza.

“In 2022, it was a shadow of itself — empty halls, no meetings in hotel rooms,” Avi Greengart, an analyst at Techspotential told AFP.

“Now, [we expect] crowds, trouble getting around and meetings behind closed doors — which is what a trade show is all about.”

The CES show officially opens on January 5, but companies will begin to vie for the spotlight with the latest tech wizardry as early as Tuesday.

CES will be spread over more than 18 acres (seven hectares), from the sprawling Las Vegas Convention Centre to pavilions set up in parking lots. Ballrooms and banquet rooms across Sin City will be used to hustle up business.

With transportation now computing’s new frontier, next generation autos, trucks, boats, farm equipment, and even flying machines are expected to grab attention, according to analysts.

“It’s going to feel almost like you’re at an auto show,” said Kevan Yalowitz, head of platform strategy at Accenture.

More than ever, cars now come with operating systems so much like a smartphone or laptop computer, Accenture expects that by 2040 about 40 per cent of vehicles on the road will need software updated remotely.

And with connected cars come apps and online entertainment as developers battle to grab passenger attention with streaming or shopping services on board.

Electric vehicles enhanced with artificial intelligence will also be on display “in a big way”, Greengart said.

“What has really been the buzz is personalised flying machines,” said independent tech analyst Rob Enderle.

“Basically, they are human-carrying drones.”

Metaverse momentum?

Led by Zuckerberg’s Meta, immersive virtual worlds referred to as the metaverse are seen by some as the future of the ever-evolving Internet, despite widespread criticism that the billionaire CEO is over-investing in an unproven sector.

After being a major theme at CES last year, virtual reality headgear aimed at transporting people to the metaverse are expected to again to figure prominently. 

Formerly known as Facebook, Meta will be allowing selected guests to try its latest Oculus Quest virtual reality headset, trying to persuade doubters that the company’s pivot to the metaverse was the right one.

Gadgets or services pitched as being part of the next-generation of the Internet — or “Web 3” — are also expected to include mixed reality gear as well as blockchain technology and NFTs.

Web 3 promises a more decentralised Internet where tech giants, big business or governments no longer hold all the keys to life online.

“The idea of how we are going to connect is going to be part of the big trend at CES,” said Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi.

Analysts had expected cryptocurrencies to be touted among Web 3 innovations at the show, but there “could be pullback” because of the implosion of cryptocurrency platform FTX and arrest of its boss Sam Bankman-Fried, according Milanesi.

COVID and climate

CES offerings will likely show effects of the pandemic, since products designed during a time of lockdowns and remote work will be now heading for market even if lifestyles are returning to pre-COVID habits, noted Greengart.

Tech designed to better assess health and connect remotely with care providers will also be strong at CES.

And though the show is unabashedly devoted to consumerism, the environment will also be a theme from gadgets designed to scoop trash from waterways to apps that help people cut down on energy use.

A lot of companies are eliminating plastic from packaging and shifting to biodegradable materials, while also trying to reduce carbon emissions, according to analysts.

“If you are the kind of person who is off the grid growing vegetables, then CES is not for you,” Greengart said.

“But, I do commend companies that find ways to make their products and the supply chain more sustainable.”

A popular independent market import rather than official dealership model, the Chinese-built electric Volkswagen e-Golf version of the seventh generation of the German brand’s most defining modern model continues even as a new eight generation entered service.

Revised rather than retired in the same year — late 2019 — as the mk8 was introduced, the updated mk7 Chinese e-Golf remains one of the more aesthetically appealingly discrete and ‘normal’ EVs widely available in Jordan, and is all the better for its improved power and driving range.

Improved in performance and efficiency but otherwise near identical to the outgoing variant, the e-Golf meanwhile maintains the handsomely conservative yet subtly sporty demeanour and uncluttered sense of design clarity that the mk7 introduced when first launched back in 2012. Perhaps something of an EV for car buyers who do not like EVs, or at least not the often extravagant and sometimes downright “odd” designs, attention-seeking style or virtue-signalling badges and detailing of many modern electric-powered cars, the e-Golf has a reassuring sense of familiarity.

Classy and conventional

Little distinguishable from the regular combustion engine mk7 Golf and sharing the same clean and sharp design ethos, big glasshouse, and understated sense of momentum, the e-Golf’s differs with it discreet badges, blocked off and purely decorative integrated rear “exhaust” ports and C-shaped LED lighting framing its front fascia. 

The e-Golf’s differing radiator shutter and grille, and flush alloy wheels — shod with low rolling resistance tyres — are perhaps the biggest EV drive-line giveaways, which along with underbody panels go towards achieving a low 0.27 drag co-efficiency.

Built on Volkswagen’s highly capable MQB platform underpinning the mk7 generation Golf, but adapted for EV duty, the e-Golf shares a similarly conventional front motor and front-drive layout with batteries located at the rear, rather than Volkswagen’s similarly sized but dedicated rear engine ID.3 hatchback, with its under-floor batteries. 

Built using increased lightweight aluminium content as all mk7 Golfs, the e-Golf’s heavy batteries — estimated at around 350kg — make it even heavier than the powerful outgoing mk7 four-wheel-drive Golf R, at a hefty 1,580kg.

Improved output

Never a particularly brisk machine to be compared to hot hatch Golf R or GTI variants, the revised e-Golf’s output has been usefully bumped up from 115BHP to 134BHP, while torque rises from 199lb/ft to a more generous 214lb/ft. 

Though marginally heavier, the improved e-Golf’s output increases translate into performance gains. With quicker 9.6-second 0-100mkm/h acceleration, over the outgoing model’s 10.4-seconds, and a 10km/h top speed rise to 150km/h, the e-Golf easily exceeds national speed limits and is adequately quick for an eco-oriented EV family hatchback.

With a near instant torrent of torque on tap, the e-Golf’s is responsive from standstill, chirping its driven front wheels and progressing with confident versatility at moderate speeds. 

Driven through a single-speed automatic gearbox, the e-Golf’s uninterrupted acceleration is always contingent on its high-revving motor’s speed, with its rate of acceleration dropping off somewhat at higher speeds of travel. Relying more on torque that outright power, the near silent driving e-Golf is, meanwhile, confident on inclines and when carrying heavy loads.

Comfortable character

Most efficient and with driving range at its best in urban in driving, in contrast to combustion vehicles that are best on motorways, the revised e-Golf features improved 35.8kWh battery capacity and longer single charge range, increased from 133km to 190km. 

Charging through a variety of wall chargers or conventional wall plugs in between 5-hours, 15minutes to 16-hours, 30-minutes, the e-Golf can be charged by a fast high capacity charger in 36-minutes at best, where available.

Manoeuvrable and compact yet practical, refined and reassuring, the e-Golf works well as a commuter car, if not long distance tourer, where it is hindered by range and charging time. With light steering, good visibility and compact dimensions, the e-Golf is meanwhile easy to park. Its driving character and dynamics are similar to petrol-powered variants, with quick and direct steering, confident cornering, and motorway stability. The e-Golf’s regenerative lift-off braking is however the biggest difference in driving character style.

Smooth and silent

Reminiscent of combustion engine sisters, the e-Golf turns into corners with similar agility and response, if slightly more tendency for understeer and body lean, owing to a combination of a more forgiving ride, slimmer 205/55R16 tyres and heavier weight than sportier GTI and R variants previously driven. 

Instant and abundant torque also translates into slight torque steer if one comes back on power hard and early when exiting a tight corner. That said, it finds a good balance between ride comfort and body control, and is smooth, stable and comfortable.

Well insulated, well built and refined, the e-Golf’s cabin is classy, conventional and user-friendly, if not quite luxurious. It provides a supportive, comfortable and well-adjustable driving position, clear instrumentation and controls, comparatively good cabin room and above average visibility. 

Luggage room is reduced owing to under-boot batteries, but still adequate at 341-litres, to 1,231-litres with the seats down. It is also reasonably well equipped with safety, convenience and infotainment features, including reversing camera. 

Though not licensed to sell new, the local official Volkswagen dealership is however reassuringly certified to service the e-Golf.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine: Synchronous AC permanent battery, front-mounted electric motor

Battery, voltage/capacity: Lithium-ion, 325V/35.8kWh

Gearbox: 1-speed automatic, front-wheel-drive

Power, BHP (PS) [kW]: 134 (136) [100]

Power-to-weight: 84.8BHP/tonne

Torque, lb/ft (Nm): 214 (290)

Torque-to-weight: 183.5Nm/tonne

0-100km/h: 9.6-seconds

Top speed: 150km/h

Range, EVBD (NEDC) [WLTP]: 190km (300km) [232km]

Fuel consumption equivalency EVBD (NEDC) [WLTP]: 1.9- (1.4-) [1.7-] litres/100km

Charging time, wall chargers and plugs/fast charge: 5h15m-16h30m/36m.

Length: 4,267mm

Width: 1,799mm

Height: 1,479mm

Wheelbase: 2,631mm

Ground clearance: 143mm

Headroom, F/R: 975/967mm

Legroom, F/R: 1,046/903mm

Shoulder room, F/R: 1,420/1,370mm

Luggage volume, min/max: 341-/1,231-litres

Kerb weight: 1,580kg 

Payload: 480kg

Steering: Electric-assisted rack & pinion

Lock-to-lock: 2.76-turns

Steering ratio: 13.6:1

Turning Circle: 10.9-metres

Suspension: MacPherson struts,/multi-link, anti-roll bars

Brakes: Ventilated discs

Tyres: 205/55R16