| Being An Expert on eBAY
There is a wealth of knowledge inside the Howe public library in Hanover, New Hampshire and not just in all the books, but online as well. More specifically, buying and selling on eBay. "My son has done a lot on ebay, bought things, sold things and I don't have a clue how to do it. And would like to know," said Hanover resident Elaine Ball. "Lots of people don't know what ebay is all about. It is not really like the kind of auction you go to buy a painting. It is a different kind of auction, an internet auction. It has different rules," said BoB Raiselis of ValleyNet. The library held a free workshop Monday regarding the do's and don'ts of shopping online. The event was put on by ValleyNet--an internet service provider that holds regular educational programs.
Australand's New Strategy
Sydney, Apr 24, 2007 (ACN Newswire) - One of Australia's major housing developers, Australand, has blamed poor affordability and the lack of any growth prospects for its decision to move further away from what used to be its key business, housing developments.Speaking at the company's AGM in Sydney last week, the about to retire CEO, Brendan Crotty revealed the switch, blaming the poor housing affordability in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth and the low prospect of this situation improving in the next five years.In fact it was a gloomy summation of the outlook for housing in this country: a leading developer deciding to reduce its involvement, even as it freely admits that there could be a recovery in the market around the corner.Other developers, such as AV Jennings, Mirvac, Stockland and Clarendon Homes (Investa) have expressed worries about the health of the NSW housing market and its prospects but none have been as direct at Australand.AV Jennings said earlier this year that its performance in the current year has been severely impacted by the state of the housing market in Sydney and NSW.Stockland moved away from its pure housing basis years ago and Mirvac has made a determined decision to diversify, buying assets from Lang Walker, including shopping centres and buying the Carlton Hotel interests.All developers are seeking to offset or minimise their exposure to even these new areas by packaging up the investments and selling them to other investors but retaining the management rights and some equitySydney was singled out by Mr Crotty as was the unacknowledged major influence of the state Labor government which has been in power since 1995.
Apple Playing Second Fiddle: DRM Free Tracks Were EMI's Grand Idea
We just got off the phone with Jeanne Meyer, the Senior VP of Corporate Communications at EMI. Even after adding a grain of salt, considering they did come from the horse's "official" mouth, there's are some interesting facts worth noting about the DRM-Free tracks on iTunes. •EMI approached Apple about DRM free tracks, not the other way around. •EMI is cool with any other music store doing DRM-free tracks. This is not an iTunes exclusive. •Those stores can put songs in any format they want. The iTunes premium price and AAC 256 kbps format are Apple's Marketing decision. •One underpublicized aspect of this deal is that full albums will cost the same. That means that while LCD Soundsystem's North American Scum will cost more than a DRM'd version, the full album, Sound of Silver, that it came from will cost the same either way.
WH Smith H1 underlying profit up 7 pct; in deal with Post Office ...
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - WH Smith PLC, the newspapers, books and stationery retailer, has reported a slightly better-than-expected 7 pct increase in first half underlying pretax profit, and said that although it remains cautious about consumer spending in its markets, it is confident in the outcome for the full year, sending its shares up 2 pct. The group also announced a franchise agreement with Post Office Limited to open 70 Post Offices in WH Smith high street stores by Autumn 2008. The deal, which follows a successful six store trial, will see the 70 stores offering the full range of Post Office services, but is likely to be criticised by unions. The agreement is expected to deliver profit of about 2.5 mln stg in the year to end-August 2009.
Treasure Tours & Travels to tap medical tourism segment
Speaking about the developments, Iqbal Mulla, managing director, Treasure Tours & Travels and CMD of Citizen World Travel said that the company was developing a comprehensive strategy supported by alliances across industry verticals and medical consultancy for this segment. We have set up a panel of 12 doctors, experts in their respective field of treatment to form an advisory committee. Our strategy is to affiliate with leading hospitals, insurance companies and physicians abroad, develop partnerships with airlines, hospitals and hotels in India, to offer an integrated package to patients seeking treatment and post-operative recovery. Treasure Tour & Travels will tap its captive market, primarily NRIs in Pakistan, Nairobi, Singapore, the UK, Mombasa and Tanzania, and is not limiting its packages to India.
Dell Reinstates Windows XP As New PC Option
Dell, beaten to a pulp by the stick of public demand, is reinstating Windows XP as an option on new PCs, reversing a January decision to shift entirely to Vista. You can now grab Home or Professional XP from the bullet points on their configurator, which has for the last three months been a giant ad for their competitors, as far as PC owners unwilling to deal with Vista's quirks are concerned. Why would Dell take action that Microsoft would rather it not take? The magic line, "Dell is currently the second-largest PC seller in the world" is why: the top spot was recently nabbed by HP, which, as of today, still foists compulsory Vista on us, at least when buying from their online store. Remember that Microsoft plans to retire XP in only eight months. The brass balls required to kill off your most popular product to force people to buy its sequel speaks to a breathtaking degree of market control, and that they don't have any fear whatsoever of OSX or Linux.
UK: Tesco Named Hitwise Top 10 Online Award Winner
Tesco is one of the big winners of the Hitwise Top 10 Online Performance Awards for 2006. Over the course of 2006, Tesco.com ranked first place for visits among all other UK websites in the Hitwise Shopping and Classifieds - Grocery and Alcohol category, with the Tesco Wine Club coming in at eighth place in the same category.
Tesco Wine Club has been flourishing online, with wine festivals held twice a year. March and April 2007 saw Tesco's Champagne Festival, with prices slashed up to 33% on a range of cases of champagne online. Tesco's variety of wine to buy online includes award winning champagnes as well as wine that caters to special diets - so vegetarian, vegan and organic consumers won't be left out.
The Hitwise UK Online Performance Awards celebrates the most successful UK websites in 50 key selected industries, based on the market share of visits a website has received throughout 2006.
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