Latest news with #humanconnection
Irish Times
8 hours ago
- Automotive
- Irish Times
Alpine A290: an EV that will have you smiling and giggling on almost every drive
Technology divides us. The glowing oblong abyss that stares back at us from our palms is locking us into place, forcing us to follow the algorithm rather than our hearts. It makes us mute, sponges for content rather than people who share ideas and talk to one another. It has replaced our memories with a Google search. You are, presumably, reading this very piece on a phone, or a tablet, or maybe a laptop, and I'm grateful that you are. But I wish you were reading it as ink on paper, and maybe looking up from it to share your reaction to it with a friend. Tech, then, is a generally a bad thing. Perhaps the original French 'saboteurs' – who in legend, if not quite in fact, threw their wooden shoes, sabots, into newfangled machines that were taking away their livelihoods – had the right idea. Then again, perhaps it's to France that we should be looking once again to turn tech into something more human. READ MORE Alpine is French. In fact, it's very, very French. Founded in 1955 by Jean Redele, using humble Renault mechanical bits to make increasingly sexy sports cars, and named for the tumbling hairpin roads of the French Alps, Alpine has been successful in rallying, at Le Mans, and fitfully in Formula One. Bought up by Renault in the 1970s, its road-car making operations seemed to have died in the 1990s, but was resurrected in 2017 with the gorgeous, agile, tactile A110 mid-engined two-seat sports cars. The A110O, one of the very best cars that you can drive, even now, leaned hard into Alpine's heritage as a maker of light, focused sporting machines. Alpine A290 GTS This A290 doesn't. It's an electric hatchback, basically a new Renault 5 E-Tech wearing some rally-car cosplay in the shape of some little LED spotlights on the nose and a surprisingly aggressive bodykit down the sides. In many ways it should be a tech-heavy (battery power, Google-based software for the touchscreen) pastiche of a real car. And yet, what Alpine and Renault have done here is to take tech and graft humanity on to it. Alpine is as close as you will get these days to a truly cottage-built operation in motoring. Its Dieppe factory is tiny by comparison to most huge car plants (and indeed the A290 isn't even built there, it's built alongside the standard Renault 5 in Douai), and so its products tend to feel a bit less ... corporate than what you'd get from, say, Porsche. The A290 carries some of that character. It may be powered by electricity and assembled by robots, but it looks incredibly adorable. That basic Renault 5 shape is perfectly adorned by those spotlights on the nose, which are almost worth the price premium alone, and the side skirts, which stick so far out that you're always going to get muddy trousers from getting in and out. Alpine A290 GTS Once in the cabin is basically that of the standard Renault 5, which means a handy 10-inch touchscreen that somehow doesn't dominate the cabin. What dominates is the steering wheel, three-spoked and flat-bottomed. It's a slightly odd wheel to hold, but Alpine has been clever and has added three useful buttons to it. One, on the left, adjusts the strength of the regenerative braking and feels very tactile and satisfying to use. Another, to the bottom right, adjusts the driving mode, and you'll probably always leave it in Sport. At the top right is a little red switch that, when pressed, activates Overtake mode. It's basically a push-to-pass button that ramps everything up to maximum attack mode when you need a burst of speed. And the Alpine A290 has a useful burst of speed. There's a basic 180hp version (30hp up on the standard Renault 5), which is brisk enough, but there's also a 220hp GTS model, which can do the 0-100km/h run in a decent 6.4 seconds, and which feels quite entertainingly quick on the road, especially when you've pressed the little red button. Alpine A290 GTS However, this is very definitely not an EV that's only fun in a straight line. Alpine has retained the basic suspension layout of the Renault 5, but every part is bespoke, the track is wider, and the 19-inch alloys wear sporty Michelin Pilot tyres. Oh, and the regenerative braking is backed up by Brembo brake calipers lifted from the A110 sports car. So it's fun. Properly fun. The steering is lively and chatty, which is just as well, as the 300Nm coming from the electric motor can actually trigger quite a bit of torque steer, which is entertaining in a pleasingly unruly fashion. The A290 is firmly sprung, but never harsh and, thanks to hydraulic bump-stops, it deals exceptionally well with the worst of Irish roads. Grip is strong, but not so much so that it feels dead in your hands. It is a classic hot hatch – not so fast that you need to be constantly sweating about speed cameras, but so much fun around corners that you will smile and giggle on almost every drive. In a word, it's adorable. Range? A bit less than the Renault 5. The Alpine uses the same 52kWh battery, but with more power and stickier tyres, it's limited to a range of 385km for the 180hp version, and 364km for this GTS. It's just about enough, as long as you're not planning on constantly ragging it from Mizen to Malin and back. The best bit might be the price, though. At €36,690 for the basic 180hp version, the Alpine is only a little more expensive than the Renault 5 E-Tech, and the €2,000 upgrade to get the 220hp version seems like an absolute bargain. The most you can spend on an A290, for now, is €44,700, and that's for the bells-and-whistles Premiere Edition, which isn't worth it. The slight trip wire for some might be that, for now, there's only one dealership – Windsor Motormall in north Dublin, and you can't get an Alpine serviced at a regular Renault dealership as there are too many bespoke bits. Is a standard Renault 5 roughly 90 per cent as much fun for a bit less cash? Yes, it is, but that's not the point here. The point here is that tech now has a human face and a human feel. Alpine has taken EV technology and bent it to its original 1955 will – the will to make a car that's fast, fun, and accessible. This kind of fun doesn't divide us, it joins us together. And the fact that it comes with rally spotlights just makes it all the better.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Sophisticated Short Stories out now: Failed Summer Vacation By Heuijung Hur, Poppyland By D J Taylor, The Latehomecomer By Mavis Gallant
Failed Summer Vacation By Heuijung Hur, Translated by Paige Aniyah Morris (Scratch Books £10.99, 184pp) There's an air of quiet mystery to these seven askance short stories, a sense that nighttime dreaminess has seeped into the daytime world, leaving reality awash with strange, unsettling feelings and inexplicable happenings. Hur's world is one of emotional alienation and failed human connection. Unexplained, menacing triangles fall from the sky in a story that begins with housemates deciding to get a dog (Shard), a smashed music box becomes symbolic of a troubled friendship (Ruined Winter Holiday), and a futuristic Earth is the scene of unexpected violence between crew members on an expedition team (Flying in the Rain). Poppyland By D J Taylor (Salt £9.99, 208pp) Norwich is the geographical setting for most of the stories in this wry, wistful, astutely observed collection, but its real territory is that liminal space where hopes and dreams are dashed against the disappointing realities of the present. Relationships drift, husbands stray, families fight, ambitions are thwarted and even eyeliner is 'overwrought'. D J Taylor is an affectionate chronicler of his characters' failings and eccentric foibles, gracing the melancholy of their situations with surprising shimmers of beauty from the 'great wide sky' in Drowning in Hunny to the warm glimmer of poppies 'crimson and consoling' in Poppyland. The Latehomecomer By Mavis Gallant (Pushkin Press Classics £12.99, 288pp) Canadian author Mavis Gallant was an exceptional short story writer, with over a hundred stories to her credit, most of which were published in The New Yorker. The 16 sophisticated tales gathered here beautifully capture the elegance and economy of her prose. Her characters are displaced, out of step with themselves and their surroundings, dislocated by war or hardship, the hapless husbands, put upon wives and a wry observant child struggle to find their place in a changing world. None more so than Thomas, who's the Latehomecomer of the collection's title; a young German prisoner of war arrives home, and – swamped with overwhelmingly bitter memories – he's advised by a fascist neighbour-turned-black-marketeer to do the impossible: 'Forget everything …Forget. Forget.'
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
They Meet for the First Time, Have Intimate Photo Shoot During Blind Date — and the Pictures Go Viral (Exclusive)
A photographer from Iowa is testing out photographing strangers in her area The 25-year-old hopes to push willing participants outside their comfort zones and show that connections can be found in the most unlikely of places So far, she has had two successful sessions with two pairs of spontaneous individualsIn a world where genuine human connection often feels out of reach, one photographer is challenging strangers to step outside their comfort zones – one photo at a time. Using Facebook as her platform, Anndee Jaelynn Clark invites individuals living in Indianola, Iowa, who are looking to meet someone new, to apply for her sessions. With just a few details, the 25-year-old carefully pairs people together, capturing the raw, unfiltered reactions of strangers meeting for the first time. While the idea of taking pictures of strangers isn't new, Clark wanted to branch out from typical photoshoots and offer something more unique and meaningful in her area. 'I decided it would be so fun to not only get out of my comfort zone but to help others get out of theirs,' she tells PEOPLE exclusively. After sharing her first post in late March, looking for willing participants, she was shocked at how many people expressed interest – and yes, Clark makes sure that they are all truly strangers. 'I make sure the matches don't know each other or have mutual friends,' she explains. 'I also used social media to find singles, whether through mutual or suggested friends, and I reached out to them to see if they would like to be in a shoot.' While the experience can be uncomfortable and sometimes awkward, most of Clark's participants come in excited to leap outside their comfort zone. Those interested in the unconventional dating experience can sign up for her $45 sessions by messaging her photography page, Anndee Jae Photography, where she asks for basic info, such as age, interests, hobbies, and what they look for in a partner. 'It was a new way for them to meet someone outside of dating apps,' she shares. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. So far, Clark has had two successful photoshoots, with the parties involved exchanging phone numbers in the end. 'A big thing is participants knowing that these sessions require no commitment afterwards. It's just for fun, or it can be all of that and more,' she emphasizes. Both of the stranger sessions she's done so far have been effortlessly fun and easy. The matches connected well, making the experience more comfortable and the shoots full of laughter. 'This project has made me realize that in the dating world, people are so quick to cut someone off when their first interaction is over their phones,' Clark explains. 'This has changed my own perspective on human connection, whether that be romantic or platonic, by seeing two complete strangers being able to let their guard down and connect with each other so quickly.' At a time when forming friendships or finding partners can feel more isolating than ever, Clark's project reminds participants of the magic that can happen when they dare to connect. 'The role photography plays in this is to capture their real emotional reactions to seeing each other for the very first time,' she says. 'In these shoots I wanted to reveal that even though getting out of your comfort zone can be scary and uncomfortable, it can also be rewarding and memorable.' Clark hopes to inspire others to take chances on new experiences, showing that unexpected connections with strangers can lead to meaningful relationships. 'You never know what you and another stranger may have in common, which is why I encourage doing something like this; whether it's a blind date or a stranger photo shoot,' she tells PEOPLE. 'You may even end up with a romantic partner or a great friendship.' Read the original article on People
Forbes
20-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
5 Ways To Land Sales Calls With Your Dream Customers
5 ways to land sales calls with your dream customers Most business owners make getting in front of dream clients harder than it needs to be. They create elaborate outreach strategies, throw money at expensive ads, and wait for gatekeepers to grant them access. Meanwhile, their perfect clients remain one email away, completely accessible but totally out of reach. 61% of sales professionals say cold calling is their least favorite task, but 82% of business buyers have accepted meetings with cold callers. Cold email gets a similar rap, yet 80% of buyers say they have accepted sales meetings via cold email, and 77% report responding favorably to cold outreach. I built and sold my social media agency by mastering the art of getting calls with precisely the right people. The strategy was surprisingly simple: create pathways for conversation. When I eliminated the complexity from my outreach, my calendar filled with exactly the people I wanted to speak with. No fancy tech stack needed, just a systematic approach to human connection. Your ideal customers are people with problems to solve, sitting on the other side of a conversation you haven't started yet. But you need to approach them. Too many founders post personal photos on social media, send generic cold emails, and wait for the phone to ring. They hope the right customers will magically find them. When they don't see results, they blame the algorithm, the economy, or their industry. The real problem? They've overcomplicated what should be straightforward and under-personalized what should be unique. A different strategy gets you on the phone with your dream clients, fast. Drop the sales pitch. Nobody wants to be sold to, but everyone wants solutions to their problems. Instead of saying "I'd love to tell you about our services," try "Based on what's happening in your industry, it probably makes sense for us to meet. One day you'll need this." This shows you've done your homework. You understand their world and you're offering value, not taking their time. The mere exposure effect kicks in. They're being warmed up to you without realizing it. When people hear "I want to sell you something," mental barriers go up. When they hear "This might solve your problem," those same barriers come down. Lead with their needs, not yours. If you have a sales team, make sure they're hitting their numbers. If you're solo, maintain your own discipline. Sales is fundamentally a numbers game. The calls made per day determine your success. One connection in twenty might be your ideal scenario. One in fifty might be reality. Either way, volume wins. Set daily contact targets. Track who reaches out to whom. See what messaging lands and double down on what works. Perfect clients rarely appear on the first try. They show up after persistent, strategic effort. We're all drowning in information and your ideal clients don't need more data. They need someone to tell them what matters. Instead of pitching your services, share valuable insights about their industry that they can't find elsewhere. Curate content that helps them get to the crux of what matters. When you become the person who helps them get perspective, they'll book the call themselves. I built a weekly newsletter about AI for coaches that broke down what was happening in AI. Not selling every week, mainly just helping them understand what mattered. Within months, coaches were approaching me about my tool, not the other way around. Your perfect customers leave clues everywhere. Follow them with intention. Find the real person behind the corporate title. What matters to them outside work? What causes do they support? Where did they grow up? What sports teams do they follow? Reference something they genuinely care about in your outreach. Most people try too hard to sound professional and forget to connect human-to-human. "I saw your post about mountain biking in Colorado. I was there last month and thought you might find this useful..." It requires homework, but it makes you stand out. People do business with people they like, and people like those who notice what matters to them. Sometimes the best approach skips cold outreach entirely. Join the masterminds, attend the conferences, and become active in the online spaces where your target customers are already comfortable. When you're in the same room, the conversation happens naturally. I landed some of my biggest clients by showing up where they were already spending time. Sometimes that meant investing in a high-ticket mastermind. Other times it meant speaking at their industry event. Or simply being present in the right rooms. People do business with those they know, like, and trust. Proximity builds all three faster than any email sequence. Getting calls with your dream customers isn't complicated. State their best interests. Push for consistent outreach volume. Become their trusted information curator. Dive deep into their social presence. Show up where they already gather. Your perfect clients are waiting for someone smart enough to approach them the right way. Make that you.
Times
17-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Virgin ponders rebirth of the Megastore in central London
Few high street stores were as iconic as the Virgin Megastore — until their demise at the end of the 2000s. But the listening rooms, record displays and in-store gigs could be set for a return to at least one central London site, with Virgin Group chief executive, Josh Bayliss, viewing a potential space as a chance to bring back the 'human connection' to the brand. The stores became a fixture on the high street in the decades after Sir Richard Branson opened his first, on Oxford Street, almost 50 years ago. After a combination of online and supermarket competitors, plus acquisitions that failed to pay off, the struggling business became Zavvi in 2007 before they closed for good in 2009. Now, 16 years later,
