Archive for May, 2010

Randi McCartney: A warrior & an athlete

Monday, May 31st, 2010

Warrior and AtheleteArmy athlete Randi McCartney is one of 187 wounded warriors competing at the inaugural Warrior Games with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The disabilities affecting these wounded warriors differ; while some are external, others are internal. She finds respite from this cruel reality by indulging in sports. Her recuperation has led her back to the swimming pool; “it’s where she finds peace”.

Deployed to Ramadi, Iraq, McCartney says that the things she saw and encountered in Ramadi are still engraved in her mind. Almost three-quarters of her squad were injured severely. One of the reasons why she’s striving to do her best is that she wants to express her gratitude towards those people who helped her get to the Warrior Games. She credits her husband the most for never letting her to quit. McCartney remarks that she and her husband kept the husband-wife and coach-trainee relationship well balanced.

Even though her husband is by her side, McCartney still sometimes battles against herself about whether she should compete further or not. On May 13, overcoming this internal battle and dilemma, she joined to play with the Army’s sitting volleyball team and won a silver medal. “There’s no experience in the world like this,” said McCartney.

Exclusive shopping for iPhone & iPad users through Rue La La apps

Monday, May 31st, 2010

Shopping through Rue La LaRue La La, an exclusive invitation-only private sale shopping hub that features premier brands, has set up total mobility to private sale shopping with brand new applications for iPhone, iPad and other select mobile devices.

Rue La La members can shop and share from the whole range of mobile instruments. Rue La La’s 48-hour boutiques generate urgency and enthusiasm among its members with popular items being sold out rapidly. The anticipation and excitement that is seen during the opening of each boutique led Rue La La to increase its services to all mobile devices.

Rue La La’s apps are exclusively designed to facilitate members to effortlessly share their shopping success with friends and invite them to join. Totally integrated Facebook and Twitter features are offered by Rue La La to iPhone and iPad users.

Additionally, Rue La La has integrated “bump” technology into its iPhone app to allow members to rapidly share the app and membership with friends by merely “bumping” their phones together. The information passed between phones is as secure as it is in online banking.

Benefiting from the features of Apple, the Rue La La apps for iPhone and iPad provide an exclusive shopping experience for members. To check the minute details of products, members can zoom in, using Apple’s multi-touch feature. Members can claim their purchased items in seconds, through fully incorporated checkout enabled by the apps.

Rue La La’s mobile expansion represents a new trend in the mobile commerce industry.

Most economical mode of travel this summer: Planes or automobiles?

Monday, May 31st, 2010

airplaneAirfares are expensive this summer. So is road transport more economical mode of travel this summer? Before choosing the mode of travel you need to decide whether it’s budget that’s more important to you or schedule?
These tips will help you in choosing the most economical modes of travel depending upon your requirements this summer:
If you plan to travel by air, you should book in advance, as planes are filling up faster. You should search various websites and compare the lowest rates. To cut cost, you might want to book flights during off-peak hours or midweek. There are several drawbacks of air travel, such as time wasted while waiting at the airport, weather delays, etc. Moreover, it is always comparatively very costly compared to road transport.

On the other hand, traveling by car is always economical than flying, especially for a family. Besides, driving your own car gives you freedom to make fuel and food stops whenever you want, and to alter travel plans on the way depending upon traffic, weather, etc. You might save money by driving yourself, but you’ll spend more time traveling.

So, depending upon your schedule and time, it is always advisable to make prior informed choice about the different modes of travel and their costs.

Bangladesh receives a loan of $292 million from the World Bank

Monday, May 31st, 2010

Bangladesh Loan Word BankWorld Bank has approved a loan of $292 Million for the development and completion of two infrastructure projects in Bangladesh via its Investment Promotion and Financing Facility (IPFF)

The IPFF works under the oversight of the central bank of Bangladesh which provides guidelines to distribute funds amongst the local institutions for them to be lend for infrastructure projects run by the private sector.

Bangladesh faces a huge shortage of electricity which has amounted to 2000 Mega Watts (MW) in a day which has resulted in a serious shortfall in the production form industrial units. The IPFF has assisted Bangladesh in setting up two Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Dhaka and Chittagong respectively to boost the economy and also assisted in boosting the country’s electricity generation capacity by 5 percent by the addition of 178 MW of electricity to the National Grid. The IPFF has been in operation in the country since 2006 and has helped the nation develop a more conducive environment for economic development by addressing the root causes.

The current aid will not only be used in the development of power sector but also to explore and develop modes of power saving and renewable energy. A portion of the loan will be utilized in the development of bridges, ports, containment terminals etc.

November 2011 sees the release of Twilight: Breaking Dawn

Monday, May 31st, 2010

Twilight Breaking Dawn Release 2011Twilight saga has been a popular novel series and after the release and the subsequent success of the second installment of the movie, conjectures were afloat about the following projects. Summit entertainment, the banner under which the Twilight movie installments were released; has confirmed that the fourth installment of the movie called Twilight: Breaking Dawn will be released on 18th November, 2011.

The movie is based on a popular novel series by Stephenie Meyer that explores the vampire theme, with the movie based on the third installment of the novel called Twilight: Eclipse will be released on June 30th in the United States and on July 9th in the United Kingdom. The fourth installment will be directed by Bill Condon who has brought to screen the drama about the dance divas called “Dreamgirls” which has received critical acclaim worldwide.

The movies are based on the vampire novels by Stephenie Meyer which have soared in popularity and have sold about 100 million copies worldwide. The movie franchisee has followed close at heels and has gained popularity exponentially.

However, whether the fourth installment of the novel will be adapted in one movie or two still remains unconfirmed as Summit Studio declined to comment on that.

A $1.3 Billion deal for a Zinc Unit buyout

Monday, May 31st, 2010

Deal Zinc Unit buyoutVedanta Resources, a conglomerate listed on the London Stock Exchange has bought out a Zinc manufacturing unit from Anglo American which is a UK based group of companies. The deal has closed at $1.3 Billion and is a major clinch by the Vedanta Group, who took the lead in the bid for this acquisition, leaving competitors like Xstrata and China Metallurgical Corp. far behind.

This is the company’s first acquisition this year and boosts the market share of the Vedanta Group by 11% in the global markets, on the manufacturing of zinc which has a huge demand in major consumer companies and by car manufacturers. Also, this deal has made the Vedanta group the zinc producer with the lowest cost. Apart from that, the company now has an edge over the conglomerate of Chinese metal Companies which had been competing with it for mining assets.

The acquisition was done via HZL and the deal closed after a review over the tender proposals for seven months when Anglo American chose Vedanta Group to offer the zinc unit’s reins to.

The acquisition is pending approval from Indian Companies Board and will boost production by 1.5 million tones leading to a phenomenal increase in profits.

Mounting Rents in expensive U.S. Shopping Areas May Signal recovery

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

Mounting property rentA 15 percent rise in rents in key U.S. shopping areas has signaled an extensive recovery from the end of last year, according to Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis, world’s largest commercial property broker.
Retailers with pan-nation reach are increasing the price of space on lanes such as Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California, and Michigan Avenue in Chicago. An estimated 10 percent to 15 percent rent-hike has been noticed in the priciest U.S. districts from the last quarter of 2009.
Retailers are expanding to profit from the renewed consumer spending in the wake of recovery from recession. Expansion and rise in the expensive areas are driving an improvement in secondary shopping areas in cities like Seattle and Miami, indicating that a recovery may extend to suburban markets next year.
Japan’s Fast Retailing Co. set a record last month by agreeing to pay whopping $20 million a year to rent a location near 53rd street on world’s most costly shopping district, New York’s Fifth Avenue.
A CB Richard Ellis’ survey of U.S. retailers showed that 92 percent retailers plan to spread out and expand this year. Both the landlords and retailers have a renewed confidence and a positive stance for retail and retail real estate industry.

Glaxo, Merck vaccines safe to use: FDA

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

Rotavirus VaccinesAlthough GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Merck & Co Inc’s rotavirus vaccines are infected with a pig virus, U.S. health controller, the Food and Drug Administration ruled them safe to use, on May 14.
The agency, in a statement, said there was no proof that the contamination caused any harm to humans and declared it safe for doctors to give patients Glaxo’s Rotarix and resume using Merck’s Rotateq.
Rotavirus is known to kill over 500,000 newborns every year globally typically in low and middle income nations. Although the deaths caused by rotavirus are rare in the US, but severe illness necessitates hospitalization.
Both vaccines target the rotavirus that causes fatal diarrhea. But portions of porcine circovirus (PCV)’s DNA have been found in both the vaccines.
The FDA’s advisory panel ruled that pig virus is not known to injure humans and called for resuming the use of the vaccines. Tests found DNA from the PCV in master cells that were used to create Glaxo’s Rotarix.
Glaxo officials have said there is no safety concern or production issue with its product Rotarix. Likewise, Merck has also informed that its vaccine Rotateq is safe.
Merck’s Rotateq vaccine’s global sales amounted to $522 million in 2009, including $468 million in the United States. Sales of Glaxo’s vaccine amounted to $440 million worldwide, including $118 million in the US.

Mobile Shopping: a new trend is here to stay

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

Mobile commerceMobile shopping tripled in the US from 2008 to 2009 and is expected to rise higher this year, according to the “Mobile Commerce” study released by ABI Research.
ABI Research explains that consumers use mobile shopping to get smarter about how they shop. However, this development goes beyond comparison shopping as consumers are increasingly using their smartphones to purchase virtual goods and services for online gaming, thereby simplifying transactions. Although consumers started using their smartphones for comparison shopping, they also started to buy comparatively better costing items through their smartphones, thereby eliminating the existing physical retailer.
Virtual goods’ sale also continues to soar because of its easy transaction method. Mobile payments for virtual merchandise was less than $1 million in 2008, but in 2009 it plummeted to $24.8 million due to innovation in mobile commerce. This trend will thrust retailers to enhance their presence in the mobile medium in 2010. The US carriers understand the importance of mobile commerce and are working hard to create the infrastructure to enable it.
These trends go beyond the boundaries of the US. Consumer spending via mobile shopping will rise to approximately $119 billion globally in 2015. According to the study, this is nearly 8 percent of the whole e-commerce market.

Sophistication and Power, two words that make up a robot

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

Sophistication + Power = RobotA new set of robots have been brought to us today. Willow Garage is a developer majoring in robotics hardware and software. He creates open-source projects and works on other innovative researches. Garage teamed up with some fellow engineers and used the PR2 robots with his open-source operating system that has been especially designed for his bots.

The team has practiced and modded several robots to achieve different levels of satisfaction and discovery. They intend on sharing the reports with the community. Willow Garage’s main inspiration is the fact that his personal project is open source. Which comforts him; and lets him know that there will always be a  supporting organization to continue his work. Eleven teams have merged to better overcome any bugs or glitches.

The company has in fact a business plan with short-term profits. According to the CEO; Steve Cousins, the company would rather enable other groups and freelancers to develop the project themselves and take part in it. This was, although not everyone makes a profit, the main work gets improved and eventually becomes bigger and stronger.

Willow Garage has demonstrated the PR2 the chosen name for the project. This is quite the sophisticated plan; comporting two pairs of stereo cameras with wide angles enables the robot to observe with better precision. The number of cameras form a triangle that can predict blind spots, and can serve as a laser scanner to reproduce its viewed reality into a 3D model. Furthermore, the hardware in this robot are quite up to date. With an eight core server processor, twenty four gigabyte of ram and a battery system powerful enough to feed 16 laptops, the PR2 remains one of the most advanced projects.

The creators are predicting that this project is way under it’s expectations. They say that this robot has a bright future and may even become as sophisticated as an human android.