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Capital Controls Meaning

Capital controls are regulations in the form of taxes, restrictions, or other measures that a government takes to restrict the flow of capital in and out of a country. Taxes, tariffs, laws, volume restrictions, and market-based rules are a few of these restraints.

For example, during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997-98, many countries imposed control regulations. Countries like Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia asked their banks to stop issuing debt financing to foreign countries. The imposition of these measures prevented the economies from collapsing.

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Key Highlights

It is a set of regulations that restrict the flow of capital in and out of a country

Governments use these to protect their currency from being exchanged. It can also be a form of economic sanction against other countries

It helps to prevent financial crises by limiting the flow of money and helping stabilize the economy

How do Capital Controls Work?

Government bodies practice capital controls to manage the flow of money that moves in and out of a country’s financial account and its markets. These restrictions may be cost-effective for a particular industry or sector. Most developing economies have tight controls, with smaller and more volatile capital buffers.

Economies can accomplish it through monetary policy, which limits the types of transactions that may take place. For example, restricting transactions only between domestic banks or imposing limitations on international transactions.

Real World Examples Example #1: Europe & Greece

During Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, the European Central Bank froze assistance for Greece on June 29, 2023. Greece closed its banks and implemented capital controls from June 29 to July 7, 2023, in response to the ECB’s action, out of concern that its citizens might start a massive bank run or capital outflow.

Financial controls placed limits on daily withdrawals from banks, international money transfers, and credit card payments. Greece’s finance minister announced on July 22, 2023, that the nation could relax its capital controls to boost trust in Greek banks. They then loosened the measures to increase the sums of money that Greek banks had set aside.

Example #2: Argentina Example #3: Other Nations

In India, many import duties, taxes, and surcharges are applied at the border, making it expensive to import goods. In contrast, China has strict rules on transferring yuan overseas and stringent limits on how much can be taken out of the country annually (currently $50,000 per person). On the other hand, Bangladesh restricts how much Bangladeshi taka (BDT) individuals can take abroad through residential remittance facilities banks.

Importance

Such controls help support an economy by preventing excessive currency inflows or outflows, which can cause inflation or deflation

Governments use it to control the flow of foreign currency flowing in their economy during periods of economic or political volatility

The capital controls design control export, import, and exchange rates.

Advantages

This imposition can prevent economic collapse due to exchange rate pressures It can lead to inflation which results in higher prices and decreased purchasing power

It can help stabilize the economy Discourages foreign investment by restricting the outflow of capital

It can lead to the growth of the domestic economy and provide investment opportunities for domestic investors. It can lead to black markets for goods, such as food, clothes, electronics, etc.

Final Thoughts

Capital controls are crucial to the government’s economic growth and stability strategy. They allow governments to regulate percent of the money that leaves the country based on domestic needs. In addition, it prevents high cash outflows, which may decrease the value of the local currency.

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs) Q1. What are capital controls? What is its purpose? Q2. What do capital controls prevent?

Answer: Any action taken by a government, central bank, or other regulatory body to restrict the flow of foreign capital into and out of a domestic economy is capital control.

They can prevent speculative attacks and devaluation of the currency. It can also prevent economic collapse in case of inflation or deflation.

Q3. What are capital controls in Russia?

Answer: To control inflation, Russia has imposed several monetary policies. They are also planning to put a limit on the interest rates in the coming years. The government also opposed any bank transactions of large amounts. There is even a pause on exporting goods in high quantity.

Q4. Name the list of countries with capital controls.

Answer: Numerous countries apply it for various reasons. Some of the major countries include Russia, India, and China. Some other countries that follow these controls are Brazil, Thailand, and Malaysia.

Corporate Sustainability – Meaning, Examples, And Importance

blog / Business Management Corporate Sustainability – Meaning, Examples, and Importance

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This article was originally published by the Network for Business Sustainability. It was written by Tima Bansal and Devika Agarwal.

Most people still find the concept of corporate sustainability unclear. We explain what it means and why it’s important.

In the last two years, there has been a tidal wave of companies committing to “sustainability.” They might set net zero carbon goals, diversify their workforce, or move into new, cleaner lines of business. And, this is just the front edge of the wave. The interest in sustainability is likely to grow even more over the next decade, as businesses feel pressure from social movements and environmental challenges.

But corporate sustainability is still confusing to many people. People often ask me: “So, what do you mean by sustainability?” I’m a researcher who has studied this topic for over 20 years and I work closely with companies. Here, I describe what corporate (or business) sustainability means, why it matters, and how to make it part of your business.

What are the principles of sustainability?

Corporate sustainability comes from the concept of “sustainable development.” The World Commission on Environment and Development, a United Nations initiative, defined that concept in 1987. Sustainable development means actions that “meet the needs of present generations without compromising the needs of future generations.”

To contribute to sustainable development, businesses should create wealth to reduce poverty, but do so without harming the natural environment. In this way, businesses help our world today and ensure that future generations can also thrive.

In practice, this means that business must consider three key things in their operations:

Human rights and social justice. Sustainability requires businesses to recognize their impact on the people they employ and the communities around them. This recognition means committing to fair wages, just and ethical treatment, and a clean and safe environment.

Natural resource extraction and waste. Businesses often rely on natural resources such as land, water and energy. While many natural resources can renew or “regenerate,” this takes time. Businesses need to respect these cycles, by using natural resources at the speed at which they regenerate.

Short- and long-term thinking. Businesses face intense pressure for immediate profits, but sustainability requires investing in technologies and people for the future, even though financial benefits show up much later. Companies are used to longer-term thinking for capital investments, but a sustainability orientation applies this logic to investments in people and society.

For example: Some fossil fuel companies have reimagined themselves as energy companies, even though major investments in renewable energies are less profitable in the short run than their oil, gas or coal operations. They recognize that climate change requires them to build new capabilities and sources of energy.

How does corporate sustainability differ from corporate social responsibility?

Many terms exist to describe companies’ social and environmental initiatives. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the most common; others include environmental, social, and governance (ESG), shared value, the triple bottom line, and managing environmental impacts.

I see ‘sustainability’ as the most complete and powerful of these related concepts. That’s because sustainability asks managers to take a “systems view.” A systems outlook recognizes that companies are part of a larger social and environmental system, that systems change, and that today’s actions must consider the future.

CSR emphasizes a company’s ethical responsibilities. However, what is ethical for one person or company may not be seen ethical by another. For example, some people see a minimum wage as being responsible, whereas others see a higher “living wage” as the ethical choice. Corporate sustainability emphasizes science-based principles for corporate action. A corporate sustainability lens would set a wage in which people could meet their basic needs, which will vary from place to place.

Additionally, CSR generally does not speak to fairness across generations; it focuses more on the present.

But don’t get too lost in the definitions. Ultimately, all of these terms ask businesses to think about the broader world in which they operate, and not just on short-term self-interest.

Why is corporate sustainability important?

Business is a powerful actor in society, with some businesses being larger than some governments. For example, Amazon’s revenues in 2023 were $US281bn: larger than Pakistan’s GDP.[1] Businesses now have so much power that executives can choose to create a better life for all or just a few.

Society is also pushing companies to invest in sustainability. Many governments, citizens, and other stakeholders want to see companies showing concern for their communities. Failing to do so can mean losing the social license to operate, which is society’s trust in a company.

Additionally, companies can benefit in the long term from being green and good. Evidence shows that financial benefits come in many forms. For example:

Reducing waste, e.g. through energy efficiency investments, often produces savings.

Investors increasingly look for companies that have higher “ESG” (environmental, social and governance) ratings, as a way of managing risks.

Creative and committed individuals seek out employers committed to sustainability and are even willing to take a lower salary if such a commitment is sincere.

But, let’s be honest. Sustainability is not just about making money. It is also a vision of what executives running powerful businesses want to see in the world they create. They imagine a world in which everyone can flourish, living on a planet that is resilient and rich with biodiversity. They don’t want to inhabit a world in which only a few live well, whereas others live with disease and waste.

How do you build a corporate sustainability strategy?

Companies can move step by step toward sustainability, gradually increasing and expanding their actions. Often companies begin by putting their own houses in order, looking internally at decision-making, operations, culture, and other areas. They may move on to partnering with suppliers, vendors and other companies can help organizations learn and share best practices. Eventually, companies need to engage with society, from community stakeholders to NGOs.

Ultimately, no single company can create sustainable development: it must be a collective effort. That’s because many sustainability issues, such as climate change and poverty, are so huge that they require action by many citizens and organizations. And for any single company to create zero emissions, it needs suppliers to innovate cleaner products and regulators and customers willing to support their efforts. Sustainability requires new forms of collaboration and new thinking about the economy.

Corporate sustainability may not be simple, but it is necessary. Those companies that embrace the full complexity of sustainability ideas sooner than later will contribute to a better world and experience higher long-term profits. Why wouldn’t we all want to work towards that vision?

About the Series

The Network for Business Sustainability “Basics” series provides essential knowledge about core business sustainability topics for business leaders thinking ahead. “The Basics” provides essential knowledge about core business sustainability topics. The Network for Business Sustainability builds these articles for business leaders thinking ahead.

About the Authors

Devika Agarwal is an MBA/MS student at the University of Michigan Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. Devika hails from strategic sourcing in the retail industry and now works to influence sustainability and innovation in the Global Supply Chain.

[1] Based on corporate revenues ranked against national GDP. Amazon’s total would rank it 41st in the list of world economies based on GDP, just above Pakistan.

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How Save Function Works In Docker With Examples?

Introduction to Docker Save

The ‘docker save’ is used to save one or more than one image to a tar archive. It includes all parent layers, and all tags or versions. It is by default streamed to STDOUT, however, we can write to a file, instead of STDOUT by specifying a flag. This command is very useful when we have to use Docker images on different machines without using a registry or repository. We can also compress or save the image to a chúng tôi file using gzip.

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Syntax:

$docker save [OPTIONS] IMAGE [IMAGE…]

–output, -o: It is used to redirect the output to a file

–help, -h: It is used to get help about the command.

How save function works in Docker?

As we know, it is used to save Docker images to an archive. When we run this command from the command line, the Docker daemon saves the mentioned Docker image as an archive. We can then share that archive with different teams or to different computers and so on. Now, we need to load that archive file, in order to use that image. When we load that archive file again, it creates a Docker image.

Examples

Let’s understand the whole process with an example.

Scenario: We are going to save a Docker image and then will load it after deleting the existing image.

Step 1. Let’s check available Docker images locally using the below command:

docker image ls

Explanation: – In the above snapshot, we can see that there are two images available, let’s take the ‘ubuntu’ Docker image with the ‘latest’ tag. If the image is not available locally, pull it from the public registry that is chúng tôi using the below command:

docker pull ubuntu

Note: We can use any Docker images; it should be available locally.

Step 2. Now, we have a Docker image available locally let’s save it to an archive file as shown below:

ls my-ubuntu2.tar

Explanation: In the above snapshot, we can see that the ‘-o’ option has been used to save it to an archive and the name of the archive is ‘my-ubuntu.tar’. We can also use redirection instead of the ‘-o’ option to redirect the output to an archive file as shown below:

ls my-ubuntu2.tar

Step 3. Let’s verify by deleting exiting image and loading it from archive using below command:

docker image ls

Explanation: In the above snapshot, we have deleted the ‘ubuntu’ image that we have verified using the second command and then we have loaded the image using the archive file in which we have saved the image earlier. We have to use the ‘-i’ option to instruct the Docker daemon to load the image from an archive file instead of STDOUT. Finally, we have checked the locally available images to verify and we can see that the image is available again.

Scenario: Save multiple images at once.

Step 1. Let’s save two Docker images Ubuntu and nginx to an archive file as shown below:

docker save -o chúng tôi ubuntu nginx:alpine

Step 2. Let’s verify it as well using the same way we did earlier:

docker image ls

Explanation: As per the above example, we can understand that we can save multiple images in a single archive, so we load it again, it will load all the images that were saved using the ‘docker save’ command.

Scenario: Save Docker images to a chúng tôi file.

Solution: We can do it by using the gzip command. It compresses the tar and makes it smaller in size. We can run the below command to save the images to a chúng tôi file:

ll chúng tôi my-images2.tar.gz

Explanation: In the above snapshot, we can see that the ‘my-images2.tar.gz’ file is much smaller than the ‘my-images.tar’ file.

Advantages

We can archive the Docker images if not in use, for example, old builds are not required after a new build is released, however, we have to keep it for some time before removing it so better we can archive those images.

We can save a lot of disk space if we also compressing the archive using gzip.

Conclusion

The ‘docker save’ is a handy command to save the images only, it does not save changes made to the image by any running container using that image. We have one more command to save the images and that is ‘docker image save’. This command works similarly to the ‘docker save’ command.

401(K) Matching: What It Is And How It Works

401(k) employer matching is the process through which an employer matches an employee’s contributions to their 401(k) retirement account.

401(k) employer matches can improve employee morale and retention, attract better hires, and provide tax benefits to your company.

When offering 401(k) matching, you should set employer match contribution limits, review the IRS’ contribution limits and include vesting provisions.

This article is for business owners and employers interested in 401(k) matching.

Retirement plans are among the benefits employers most commonly offer their employees. Some employers take their retirement offerings a step further by offering 401(k) employer matching, which incentivizes employees to participate in the company’s 401(k) plan by adding money into their retirement savings based on how much they contribute each pay period.

If you’re thinking about opening retirement accounts for your team, want to improve your existing 401(k) options, or are in need of a new 401(k) plan for a startup, you should consider setting up a 401(k) employer match. Before doing so, though, you need a clear understanding of what 401(k) employer matching is, what the benefits are and how you should operate your matching program.

Editor’s note: Looking for the right employee retirement plan for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.

What is 401(k) employer matching?

401(k) employer matching is the process by which an employer contributes to an employee’s retirement account based on the employee’s contributions. Employers tend to set their 401(k) contribution limits based on the employee’s annual salary. In other words, an employer’s contribution rate may be at most a certain percentage of the employee’s salary. For example, an employer may be willing to match 50% of an employee’s contribution, up to 6% of their annual salary. So, if the employee contributed 6% to their 401(k) plan, the employer would contribute an additional 3% to the employee’s retirement savings.

Rarely, some employers instead set a contribution limit of a predetermined dollar amount that’s unrelated to the employee’s annual salary. In either case, these contributions are typically made per pay period and reflected on the employee’s paycheck.

Key Takeaway

401(k) employer matching is when an employer also contributes to an employee’s retirement account based on the amount the employee contributes.

What is the maximum amount you can contribute to 401(k) plans?

When determining how much money you should contribute to an employee’s retirement account, you should also consider the annual contribution limits that the IRS sets for both you and your employee. For 2023, the limit on elective salary deferrals – retirement plan contributions an employee voluntarily makes – is $20,500 for a traditional 401(k) plan. For a SIMPLE 401(k) plan, this limit is lowered to $14,000. Employees age 50 and older can contribute an additional $6,500 in elective salary deferrals to a traditional 401(k) plan or $3,000 to a SIMPLE 401(k) plan.

The total contribution limit a person can make to an employer-sponsored retirement account during a year is the sum of elective salary deferrals, employer contributions and allocations of forfeitures. For 2023, the total contribution limit is $61,000; for an employee with an annual income below $61,000, the limit is whatever their income is. Notably, if an employee has a retirement account with your company and a separate 401(k) they contribute to through side income they generate as an independent contractor, that separate account is unaffected by the limits on the employer-sponsored account.

How does 401(k) vesting relate to your 401(k) matching program?

As an employer, you can take ownership of part or all of your employer match contributions through a practice known as vesting. The legal definition of “vesting” is the right to ownership over a future payment, benefit or asset. When applied to retirement accounts, vesting describes the process of employees earning greater rights to access their employer contributions as time passes. That’s why the vesting schedule you set for your 401(k) employer match is a crucial component of your program.

Tip

If you’re considering borrowing from your 401(k), keep in mind you can only borrow against the vested amount of your employer match, not the gross total that includes the non-vested matching funds.

Your vesting schedule can incentivize employees to stay with your company longer because the longer your employees stay with you, the more their nonforfeitable rights to your employer contributions grow. After a set number of years, your employee can leave your company while taking all of your employer matching contributions with them, but employees who leave too soon may forfeit some or all of your employer matching contributions.

Alternatively, offering immediate vesting is an appealing benefit for employees too. They’ll have the comfort and security of knowing that should they leave your company for any reason at any time, their 401(k) funds are going with them regardless of how long they’ve been employed with you. This option is likely to make your business more attractive to new hires.

Key Takeaway

To figure out how your 401(k) matching process will work, determine your employer match contribution limits, familiarize yourself with the IRS-mandated 401(k) contribution limits and determine a vesting schedule that drives employee retention while minimizing your financial risk.

401(k) matching makes financial sense

401(k) matching makes financial sense for employers and employees alike. Employee matching is the best way for employees to maximize their retirement savings, while employers get the benefits that come with investing in their team members’ futures – namely, tax savings and reduced employee turnover. Learn more about employee retirement plans and their features in our buyer’s guide.

Kimberlee Leonard contributed to the writing and reporting in this article.

Semantic Search: How It Works & Who It’s For

For simple user queries, a search engine can reliably find the correct content using keyword matching alone.

A “red toaster” query pulls up all of the products with “toaster” in the title or description, and red in the color attribute.

Add synonyms like maroon for red, and you can match even more toasters.

But things start to become more difficult quickly: You have to add these synonyms yourself, and your search will also bring up toaster ovens.

This is where semantic search comes in.

Semantic search attempts to apply user intent and the meaning (or semantics) of words and phrases to find the right content.

It goes beyond keyword matching by using information that might not be present immediately in the text (the keywords themselves) but is closely tied to what the searcher wants.

For example, finding a sweater with the query “sweater” or even “sweeter” is no problem for keyword search, while the queries “warm clothing” or “how can I keep my body warm in the winter?” are better served by semantic search.

As you can imagine, attempting to go beyond the surface-level information embedded in the text is a complex endeavor.

It has been attempted by many and incorporates a lot of different components.

Additionally, as with anything that shows great promise, semantic search is a term that is sometimes used for search that doesn’t truly live up to the name.

What Are The Elements Of Semantic Search?

Semantic search applies user intent, context, and conceptual meanings to match a user query to the corresponding content.

These components work together to retrieve and rank results based on meaning.

One of the most fundamental pieces is that of context.

Context

The context in which a search happens is important for understanding what a searcher is trying to find.

Context can be as simple as the locale (an American searching for “football” wants something different compared to a Brit searching the same thing) or much more complex.

An intelligent search engine will use the context on both a personal level and a group level.

The personal level influencing of results is called, appropriately enough, personalization.

Personalization will use that individual searcher’s affinities, previous searches, and previous interactions to return the content that is best suited to the current query.

It is applicable to all kinds of searching, but semantic search can go even further.

Again, this displays how semantic search can bring in intelligence to search, in this case, intelligence via user behavior.

Semantic search can also leverage the context within the text.

We’ve already discussed that synonyms are useful in all kinds of search, and can improve keyword search by expanding the matches for queries to related content.

But we know as well that synonyms are not universal – sometimes two words are equivalent in one context, and not in another.

When someone searches for “football players”, what are the right results?

The answer will be different in Kent, Ohio than in Kent, United Kingdom.

A query like “tampa bay football players”, however, probably doesn’t need to know where the searcher is located.

Adding a blanket synonym that made football and soccer equivalent would have led to a poor experience when that searcher saw the Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer club next to Ron Gronkowski.

(Of course, if we know that the searcher would have preferred to see the Tampa Bay Rowdies, the search engine can take that into account!)

This is an example of query understanding via semantic search.

User Intent

The ultimate goal of any search engine is to help the user be successful in completing a task.

That task might be to read news articles, buy clothing, or find a document.

The search engine needs to figure out what the user wants to do, or what the user intent is.

We can see this when searching on an ecommerce website.

As the user types the query “jordans”, the search automatically filters on the category, “Shoes.”

This anticipates that the user intent is to find shoes, and not jordan almonds (which would be in the “Food & Snacks” category).

By getting ahead of the user intent, the search engine can return the most relevant results, and not distract the user with items that match textually, but not relevantly.

This can be all the more relevant when applying a sort on top of the search, like price from lowest to highest.

This is an example of query categorization.

Categorizing the query and limiting the results set will ensure that only relevant results appear.

Difference Between Keyword And Semantic Search

We have already seen ways in which semantic search is intelligent, but it’s worth looking more at how it is different from keyword search.

While keyword search engines also bring in natural language processing to improve this word-to-word matching – through methods such as using synonyms, removing stop words, ignoring plurals – that processing still relies on matching words to words.

But semantic search can return results where there is no matching text, but anyone with knowledge of the domain can see that there are plainly good matches.

This ties into the big difference between keyword search and semantic search, which is how matching between query and records occurs.

To simplify things some, keyword search occurs by matching on text.

“Soap” will always match “soap” or “soapy ”, because of the overlap in textual quality.

More specifically, there are enough matching letters (or characters) to tell the engine that a user searching for one will want the other.

That same matching will also tell the engine that the query soap is a more likely match for the word “soup” than the word “detergent.”

That is unless the owner of the search engine has told the engine ahead of time that soap and detergent are equivalents, in which case the search engine will “pretend” that detergent is actually soap when it is determining similarity.

Keyword-based search engines can also use tools like synonyms, alternatives, or query word removal – all types of query expansion and relaxation – to help with this information retrieval task.

NLP and NLU tools like typo tolerance, tokenization, and normalization also work to improve retrieval.

While these all help to provide improved results, they can fall short with more intelligent matching, and matching on concepts.

Semantic Search Matches On Concepts

Because semantic search is matching on concepts, the search engine can no longer determine whether records are relevant based on how many characters two words share.

Again, think about “soap” versus “soup” versus “detergent.”

Or more complex queries, like “laundry cleaner”, “remove stains clothing”, or “how do I get grass stains out of denim?”

You can even include things like image searching!

A real-world analogy of this would be a customer asking an employee where a “toilet unclogged” is located.

An employee with only a pure keyword-esque understanding of the request would fail it unless the store explicitly refers to their plungers, drain cleaners, and toilet augers as “toilet uncloggers.”

But, we would hope, the employee is wise enough to make the connection between the various terms and direct the customer to the right aisle.

(Perhaps the employee knows the different terms, or synonyms, a customer can use for any given product).

A succinct way of summarizing what semantic search does is to say that semantic search brings increased intelligence to match on concepts more than words, through the use of vector search.

With this intelligence, semantic search can perform in a more human-like manner, like a searcher finding dresses and suits when searching fancy, with not a jean in sight.

What Is Semantic Search Not?

By now, semantic search should be clear as a powerful method for improving search quality.

As such, you should not be surprised to learn that the meaning of semantic search has been applied more and more broadly.

Often, these search experiences don’t always warrant the name.

And while there is no official definition of semantic search, we can say that it is search that goes beyond traditional keyword-based search.

It does this by incorporating real-world knowledge to derive user intent based on the meaning of queries and content.

It’s true, tokenization does require some real-world knowledge about language construction, and synonyms apply understanding of conceptual matches.

However, they lack, in most cases, an artificial intelligence that is required for search to rise to the level of semantic.

It is this last bit that makes semantic search both powerful and difficult.

Generally, with the term semantic search, there is an implicit understanding that there is some level of machine learning involved.

Almost as often, this also involves vector search.

Vector search works by encoding details about an item into vectors and then comparing vectors to determine which are most similar.

Again, even a simple example can help.

Take two phrases: “Toyota Prius” and “steak.”

And now let’s compare those to “hybrid.”

Which of the first two are more similar?

Neither would match textually, but you probably would say that “Toyota Prius” is the more similar of the two.

You can say this because you know that a “Prius” is a type of hybrid vehicle because you have seen “Toyota Prius” in a similar context as the word hybrid, such as “Toyota Prius is a hybrid worth considering,” or “hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius.”

You’re pretty sure, however, you’ve never seen “steak” and ”hybrid” in such close quarters.

Plotting Vectors To Find Similarity

This is generally how vector search works as well.

A machine learning model takes thousands or millions of examples from the web, books, or other sources and uses this information to then make predictions.

Of course, it is not feasible for the model to go through comparisons one-by-one ( “Are Toyota Prius and hybrid seen together often? How about hybrid and steak?”) and so what happens instead is that the models will encode patterns that it notices about the different phrases.

It’s similar to how you might look at a phrase and say, “this one is positive” or “that one includes a color.”

Except in machine learning the language model doesn’t work so transparently (which is also why language models can be difficult to debug).

These encodings are stored in a vector or a long list of numeric values.

Then, vector search uses math to calculate how similar different vectors are.

Another way to think about the similarity measurements that vector search does is to imagine the vectors plotted out.

This is mind-blowingly difficult if you try to think of a vector plotted into hundreds of dimensions.

If you instead imagine a vector plotted into three dimensions, the principle is the same.

These vectors form a line when plotted, and the question is: which of these lines are closest to each other?

The lines for “steak” and “beef” will be closer than the lines for “steak” and “car” , and so are more similar.

This principle is called a vector, or cosine, similarity.

Vector similarity has a lot of applications.

It can make recommendations based on the previously purchased products, find the most similar image, and can determine which items best match semantically when compared to a user’s query.

Conclusion

Semantic search is a powerful tool for search applications that have come to the forefront with the rise of powerful deep learning models and the hardware to support them.

While we’ve touched on a number of different common applications here, there are even more that use vector search and AI.

Even image search or extracting metadata from images can fall under semantic search.

We’re in exciting times!

And, yet, its application is still early and its known powerfulness can lend itself to a misappropriation of the term.

There are many components in a semantic search pipeline, and getting each one correct is important.

When done correctly, semantic search will use real-world knowledge, especially through machine learning and vector similarity, to match a user query to the corresponding content.

More resources:

Featured Image: magic pictures/Shutterstock

What Is Apple Watch Family Setup And How It Works?

At the ‘Time Flies’ event, Apple announced two new Apple Watch models – Series 6 and SE. One big highlight was a new feature in watchOS 7 called Family Setup. You can now set up the Apple Watch of family members from your iPhone. Here’s how to do this and all the other related information you need to know!

What is Apple Watch Family Setup?

With Family Setup, now a parent or guardian can set up Apple Watch for kids or older people who do not have their own iPhones. The parent can use their iPhone to manage the kids’ Apple Watch.

Once set up, kids can use the Apple Watch freely without needing an iPhone. They can go to school, sports practice, picnic, and anywhere without any concern, and the parent can know about the whereabouts.

To know more what’s in it for kids and parents, please take a look at the subsequent headings.

What Kids Can Do With Apple Watch Family Setup?

Make and receive FaceTime audio calls and standard phone calls.

Send and receive messages and emails.

Connect to other Apple Watch users with Walkie-Talkie.

Connect Apple Watch to AirPods or any Bluetooth earphones & speaker and use Apple Music.

Use Apple Cash Family: This lets parents load money to kids’ Apple Watch, which they can utilize where ever Apple Pay is accepted.

Have kid-oriented personalized Activity goals/Activity rings.

Use custom Memoji right from the Apple Watch using its Memoji app.

Use the health and safety features of Apple Watch (without needing an iPhone), like Emergency SOS, Maps, Siri, Alarms, and the App Store.

What Family Members Can Do with their Apple Watch in Family Setup?

Receive Emergency SOS Notification

If the parents or guardians are set as emergency contacts (which they should be), they’ll be notified in emergencies. Kids can look at their Medical ID for relevant information. Plus, the guardian can also view the health and activity of their family members using the iPhone’s Health app.

Set Schooltime Schedule

During School-time, the kid’s Apple Watch shows a yellow circle on the watch face. This helps the teachers in the classroom (or parent tutoring at home) easily recognize the apps’ whose access is restricted, plus Do Not Disturb can be enabled on the kid’s Apple Watch.

Apple Cash Family

This lets the parents load money to kids watch via Apple Pay and choose to receive notifications when they spend it. The parent can even see the kid’s purchases in the Wallet app on the iPhone. This is a fine example of training the young generation for the coming cashless future!

Other Features

Parents can allow certain contacts, and kids will be able to communicate only with these approved persons.

Set Content Restrictions and Ask to Buy: This lets the parents manage which category of apps are available for download on kid’s Apple Watch. Ask to Buy sends the parent an approval notification when the kid tries to purchase an app or make an in-app purchase.

Share the kid’s location using the Find People app on the Apple Watch. Parents can also receive location notifications, such as when the kids reach their school or basketball practice.

How to Set up an Apple Watch for a Family Member

Before You Begin:

Make sure the watch is running watchOS 7, and the iPhone is running iOS 14.

Turn ON Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on the iPhone.

Erase the Apple Watch if it isn’t new.

Ensure you have an Apple ID for you (parent or guardian) and one for the kid or older person whose watch you are setting.

Family Sharing must be set up.

Wear the Apple Watch and switch it ON by pressing and holding the Side button.

Bring the watch near the iPhone. Wait for a moment, and you should see “Use your iPhone to set up this Apple Watch” on the iPhone screen. Tap on Continue. After this, tap on Set Up for a Family Member → Continue. In case you do not see this, open the Watch app on iPhone → All Watches from the top right → Pair New Watch.

Point the iPhone over the animation on the Apple Watch screen. You will see a message that says the Apple Watch is successfully paired.

Agree to the terms and conditions (if you do), select text size, and set a passcode for the Apple Watch.

Select a family member from the screen or tap on Add New Family Member. Now, enter the kid’s (or the family member’s) Apple ID and proceed. It is a good idea to tap on Turn on Ask to Buy. (more about it above)

Set up cellular (if the carrier supports) and Wi-Fi on the Apple Watch. After this, you may turn on other options like location, Siri, Apple Cash Family, Health data, etc. You can also set up Schooltime and shared contacts. Once you are done, tap on OK. Now, the kid can start using the Apple Watch.

Family Setup Compatible Apple Watch and iPhone

Family Setup is available on cellular models of Apple Watch Series 4 and later running watchOS 7. You can pair the watch with iPhone 6s and later running iOS 14.

Note: Apple says that ‘a cellular plan isn’t required to set up an Apple Watch for a family member, but is necessary for some features.’

Regions and Carriers That Support Family Setup

At launch, 18 carriers in 12 countries and regions support Family Setup. This is a carrier support-oriented feature (separate phone number, data plan, etc.) Thus, in the coming months, it will expand to other regions and carriers as well. For more information, like availability and pricing, contact your carrier.

Views On Family Setup

In my opinion, this is a great feature. Now, you can give the kid an affordable Apple Watch SE or your old Series 5, and they get the power to stay safely connected to people that matter.

One thing that I feel strange is that Apple discontinued Series 4 and 5 but kept Series 3. And unfortunately, Family Setup requires Series 4 and above. So, that’s a bummer!

Now, instead of giving a smartphone, it is convenient to have a powerful tiny computer on the child’s wrist (that they won’t misplace) when on baseball practice or friend’s house. Likewise, it lets keep track of older people more conveniently.

Overall I think it’s a smart move to get Apple Watch to more people in an affordable way!