2o Minutes. A Manor store in Basel analyses customer movements by accessing phone data via the wi-fi connections of mobile phones. Every smart phone emits a wi-fi signal along with the phone’s unique identifier or MAC address. Once the system has accessed the phone and picked up its MAC address, the phone and its user’s […]
Archives for 2015
On the spot fines for littering. Coming soon to a commune near you.
Tribune de Genève. “If you’re caught with your fingers in the jam, you’ll get a smack on the hand”1 said Marc-Olivier Buffat of the Liberal Radical Party (PLR). The new law will allow commune staff in the Canton of Vaud to issue on the spot fines of up to CHF 200. The proposal lodged in […]
Geneva should stop paying tax to France says the MCG
Tribune de Genève. The Geneva Citizens Movement (MCG), a political party known mainly for its outspoken views on workers who live in France but work in Geneva, is calling for a stop to transfers of tax money from Geneva to France. The initiative is part of their campaign for the Federal elections to be held […]
Must a second Swiss language be taught at school? No says commission.
24 Heures. The long running battle over which languages should be taught at Swiss primary schools, took another twist this week. Swiss cantons largely decide for themselves which languages they teach at school, with minimal interference from the Federal government in Bern. This makes a lot of sense given Switzerland’s linguistic diversity – Switzerland has […]
Meet well-known authors at Morges Literary Festival 4-6 September, 2015
Rapidly becoming one of Europe’s most renowned French-English language book festivals, the Swiss lakeside town of Morges will host its 6th annual event, or Le Livre sur les Quais, at the end of this week featuring some 300 writers from all over the world. Held in tents along the waterfront overlooking Lake Geneva and the […]
Swiss urban pressure and Paris law destroying French villages
Swiss reluctance to ruin its own idyllic countryside in the Lake Geneva region combined with French laws enabling unfettered urban development is leading to the rapid destruction of the historic centres of numerous villages in neighbouring France. Edward Girardet and Christopher Woodburn explore why Paris no longer seems interested in ‘Patrimoine’, once one of the […]
Make the most of the last nice day
According to Meteo Suisse temperatures are set to drop by around 10 degrees across nearly all of Switzerland tomorrow. Today’s forecast high in Geneva is 33 degrees. Tomorrow the high is expected to reach only 22 degrees. Zurich is similar: 32 degrees today and 24 degrees tomorrow. By Saturday everywhere north of the Alps is […]
Floride; Victoria; Dheepan; Southpaw; We Are Your Friends
Floride **** (vo French) Jean Rochefort, the veteran French actor, is probably one of the most charming men anywhere. Growing more attractive with age, his elegance of manner, his abundant grey mane, chic attire and naughty humor make one laugh along with him. In this film he plays a man quite like himself, one in […]
THE SECRETS OF SUCCESS IN COACHING (7): Dealing with poor team performance
Sponsored by Centre for Coaching (Switzerland) Janine Everson, Director of the Centre for Coaching, explores in this final interview of a seven part series on The Secrets of Success in Coaching: “Dealing with poor team performance”. In this example of exceptionally powerful coaching, Janine explores the case of dealing with poor team performance. Often one is tempted […]
A gloomy start to the school year
Few things get the heart pumping of your Happy Valley correspondent more than la rentrée…that splendid combination of the first whiffs of fall air, and the return of horrendous traffic, as la Suisse Romande re awakes from its summer slumber. But this year, the rentrée in Happy Valley somehow feels…well, rather different. Rather morose, in […]