Lessons From Lehman

With the global markets scrambling for safety in light of the latest debacle that was the bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers, it seems that the end of the financial meltdown, brought about by the US mortgage crisis, may not come earlier as hoped for. The expectation is that some more financial companies may fall in the coming months. Although, authorities are saying they know more now than they did when Federal Reserve bailed out Bear Stearns months before, the statement does not provide any reassurance.

One theory is that Lehman Brothers, a century and half old top investment banking institution, may have been hoping for the Fed to step in as it did with the Bear Stearns case, to avert the Chapter 11 filing.

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However, Federal Reserve would not be able to sustain bailouts in the medium to long term. Makes me wonder what if Lehman beat Bear Stearns to the punch and filed for bankruptcy earlier. Would the Fed otherwise helped the failing financial institution?

But I'm past speculation at this point. If there's anything that can be gleaned from our current global financial woes it's that you can't put so much at stake on risks. You put up some, you gain some. This way, if you do lose, your losses won't be too damaging. In the case of Lehman Brothers the losses were just so overwhelming that stockmarkets everywhere are tumbling like a house of cards.

We are in the midst of a worldwide crunch and it is clearly not the time to blindly hope for big gains and jackpots in any financial dealings. Track records are reset to zero in circumstances like these, as the Lehman's case clearly shows. People and business should just focus on buckling down to increase productivity, save up as much resources and patiently wait for this financial storm to blow over. Only then can we attempt to reshape our financial futures.

A Harrowing Halloween

Have you ever had sleepless nights after watching a horror movie or reading a scary story? Well, there were some news stories on the Web last Halloween week that would certainly keep some people up at night.

"WRITERS' REVENGE"
The Writers Guild of America have called for a strike as it demanded a "better share" of the revenue pie when it comes to works released on new media such as DVDs, the Internet and on mobile devices. It's certainly a nightmare for "talking heads" on television as they rely on members of the 12,000+ strong screenwriter's union to come up with the stuff that makes them "look good" on TV. The popular talk shows like those of Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jon Stewart, as well as comedy shows such as Saturday Night Live are the first ones to take a hit from the impasse as show producers refused to yield to the writers' demands stating that the issue on revenues from DVDs is a "roadblock to negotiations".

What's really scary about this situation? We're gonna be stuck with re-runs and reality shows until this whole thing boils over.

"THE MUMMY REVEALED"
Although it would be nice to see another Brendan Fraser / Rachel Wesiz team-up for another "The Mummy" movie franchise, this isn't about that. The teen pharaoh circa 1333-1324 BC, in the mummified person of Tutankhamun, will be up for public exhibit at his tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings for the first time since the tomb was discovered 85 years ago. The body will be placed in a climate-controlled enclosure to ensure that tourists won't contribute to further damage at the archeological site.

All I can say is... the curse - remember the curse!

"ATTACK OF THE SUPERMOUSE"
Faster and can run longer and farther than your average rodent, stronger appetite but weighs considerably less, able to give birth to what is equivalent to 80-years old in human age. It's Mickey, it's Jerry - no, it's "Supermouse"! Genetically modified mice were developed by a team of scientists at the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio that has significantly increased ability and performance compared to regular mice. This gives rise to fears from those against transgenic experimentation of future abuse especially among athletes undergoing gene theraphy and similar human-applied scenarios.

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One noticeable side-effect of the research - the supermice were more aggressive. This early on, please ban transgenics from the UFC!

"FALLING HOUSE OF CARDS"
Now that would make a great title for a Grisham thriller. And with the past weeks' turmoil in the global banking sector it certainly serves as a grim backdrop for many a-worried investors. The credit market crisis is still in a downward spiral, as the top brass of such traditionally financial stalwarts as Merill Lynch & Co. and Citigroup, Inc. took early exits after their firms suffered "sickening" losses.

As regulators and financial companies struggle to overcome the slumping market, more heads may just roll.

Did you have a harrowing halloween too?

The Airbus A380's First Commercial Flight On Singapore Airlines

"It's a great, GRAND way to fly!"
Image by Slivester Chua
Flight SQ380 of Singapore Airlines left for Sydney a little after 8am October 25 to be the first commercial voyage of the biggest airliner in aviation history - the Airbus A380. The historic 7-hour-plus flight of the "Superjumbo" carried 455 passengers from Singapore's Changi Airport to Sydney Airport, which was reportedly modified to handle the new giant of the skies.

Tickets to the maiden flight of the A380 were auctioned off under special arrangements with eBay, which raised around $1.3 million for charity. Passengers paid from $550 to as much as over $100,000 to be part of the inaugural flight.

Boeing's decades of dominance in the large long-haul jetliner category with its flagship 747 line of jumbo jets is now officially challenged with the entry of the Airbus A380. The A380-800, with a maximum capacity of 853 people, is also expected to fill the growing demand for air travel which have already started to outgrow current facilities and is projected to double in the next 30 years.

While undoubtedly an aviation marvel, industry analysts however are wary of the A380's projected performance business-wise. At $320 million dollars, the A380 may be a tad too hefty for commercial airliners. With a current order of 165, it would take more than 2 and a half times more orders for Airbus to break-even. In contrast, Boeing's upcoming Dreamliner 787, although mid-sized and can carry only around 250 passengers, already have orders reportedly upwards of 700. Both the Airbus A380 and the Boeing Dreamliner 787-8 are specified for travel up to 8,200 nautical miles - that's enough for flying non-stop from Hong Kong to New York.

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Known for their world-class service, Singapore Airlines (SIA) now touts the tagline "First To Fly A380". SIA Flight SQ380 is the first to offer the airlines' latest features found only on the A380 - cabin suites said to be "beyond first class". Each of the twelve lavishly endowed suites feature their own sliding doors, a 23-inch flat screen TV, and a fold-away full-sized bed.

Talk about flying at the height of luxury!

Singapore Airlines is set to receive 18 more A380 deliveries. Interestingly, SIA is also expecting 20 Boeing Dreamliners starting on 2011. Emirates Airline, have 55 orders for the A380 in the pipeline making it the largest customer of Airbus to date. The Dubai flag-carrier, Emirates is set to receive their first delivery of the titan aircraft on August 2008.

Pointers For Advertising On A Tight Budget

A few days ago, I made adjustments to a print ad layout for a friend. The ad was to come out on an expat magazine, which exactly caters to the establishment's target audience. The advertiser is a year-old fine dining restaurant that specializes in Indonesian cuisine. I share here what I imparted to my restaurateur friend.

First, a little disclaimer. I am not what you might call an advertising expert. However, I do believe that common sense goes a long way to maximizing the impact of your ad initiatives.

With that, here are some pointers on getting the most out of your advertising efforts especially when you are on a shoestring budget.

1. Size matters. The bigger the ad the more expensive it is but you can get better mileage out of your ads if you know that you are reaching your desired audience. In the case of a fine-dining shop advertising on a magazine with a wide readership of foreign expatriates, splurging on a large format ad once in a while makes total sense.
   
   Like I told my friend, you want to come off stating clearly, "You are welcome here". On the other hand, a rather small ad space merely whispers "psst, hey you, were over here." You don't want to send that kind of message. Go as large as your budget will allow.
   


2. Think "Action". With a business-card sized layout, message comes before design. Ask yourself, "what do I want the audience to do?" The answer will lead you to decide on what relevant information to put in to maximize your ad space. You do not want the readers to send you a fax, so don't put in your fax number. This gives you more space to promote your phone number so people will "know how to act" prompting them to call and inquire how to get to your shop, or to make reservations.
   
   Use short action words like "call", "visit us" or "enjoy here" - you get the idea. Get to the point - it is ok to tell people what you want them to do.


3. Keep it simple. You have limited advertising space. You want people to visit your place. Not to mention that the publication is printed in black and white. So why the heck will you employ an 8-color ad design with layers of images? Often times you will find that you can do away with the brilliant backgrounds as they do not lend to readability in small spaces.
   
   
   
   

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   Also, script fonts totally do not work in point sizes smaller than 12 or 14. Use simple text fonts instead. You would want to use a "contrasty" design - perhaps a light on dark motif or a thick border line. This will help attract people to your tiny corner of the page. Alternately, you can opt to use a short direct text copy along with the shop's logo and make it "float" on white space for that minimalist look. It's true what they say - sometimes less is more.

As a parting shot, remember that while your advertising budget for print may be rather restrictive, the Web can offer better and more affordable (even free) alternatives for providing exposure for your business. From appending a simple e-mail signature, to getting your own domain and website, to getting listed on online business directories - combining a print campaign with a web-based solution can multiply your business' advertising results a thousand-fold.

Airbus A380 Superjumbo Jet Arrives in Manila

"Get off my bus...err, plane!"
Photo by Paolo V. Guinto, PFSG

For the first time ever, the world's largest airliner - the Airbus A380 - touched down at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, Philippines at about 2:45 PM October 11 (Manila time). The visit is part of it's route proving flight in Asia to show that the mammoth aircraft can be accommodated at existing airports without the need for special modifications.

The "Superjumbo" aircraft dwarfed other commercial airliners parked nearby runway 24 where it made a smooth landing according to visiting planespotters from the Philippine Flight Simmers Group (PFSG) at the Philippine Skies Forums. Mon, a PFSG member said that it was "a pretty quiet plane for its size."

The MSN009 A380 test flight is now at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (Clark International) and will depart for Dubai on October 13.

Here is a video of the A380 landing in the Philippines.


There were discussions on whether the international airport in Manila can hold the enormous weight of the A380. During initial flight tests, the A380's take-off weight was recorded at over 420 tonnes. The aircraft is measured for a maximum take-off weight of 650 metric tonnes. In this instance, the 3,737 meter long runway 24 at Manila withstood the burden of the massive eight-storeys high flying machine.

Airbus (aka Airbus, S.A.S), is a subsidiary of European Aeronautic Defence and Space company (EADS, N.V.) based in Toulousse, France. Development of the A380 began as early as the 1990's. It was destined to rival the dominance of Boeing's 747 in the large commercial jet airliner category. Moreover, the A380 is Airbus' anticipated response to the projected doubling of demand for air travel in the coming years.

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Said to be "cleaner, greener, quieter and smarter", the A380-800 model comes in 2 double-deck configurations. The standard three-class design can carry 525 people while the full-economy configuration can hold up to 853 passengers. In contrast, the Boeing 747-8 carries up to 467 people just a little more than half that of A380's capacity at full-economy mode. The A380 is designed to fly non-stop from Hong Kong to New York with a maximum capacity of 310,000 liters of jet fuel.

Airbus encountered numerous delays in the production of the A380. Currently 17 airlines have a total 165 orders for the aircraft. Airbus projects to break-even at 420 units. The first official delivery of the A380 is scheduled on October 15 for Singapore Airlines.

You can watch the live stream of the delivery at A380Delivery.com.


Technorati tags:A380, Airbus A380

Google.org Earmarks $10M for Eco-Transport Solutions

In support of technologies aimed at solving global warming, Google.org - the philantrophic arm of Google - issued a $10 million request for investment proposals (RFP) with particular focus in the areas of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), Electric Vehicles (EVs), and Vehicle-to-Grid Solutions (V2G).

This news comes amidst new rounds of oil rate hikes and the OPECs intentions to raise global oil supply. Further serving as a backdrop is a seemingly growing discussion which purports man-made global warming as a mere hoax.

Bannered under Google's RechargeIT program, the RFP seeks to invest amounts ranging from $500,000 to $2,000,000. The funds are earmarked for corporations and similar for-profit enterprises worldwide whose initiatives have the capacity to fast track global commercialization of eco-transport solutions. The Google.org blog said, "This is a global challenge, and it will take all of us to solve it."

While $10 million is a fraction of the total investment needed to transform our transportation sector, we hope this RFP will help catalyze a broader response. We need the automakers to bring these cars to market, but plug-in vehicles also need an entire ecosystem of companies to flourish. (from blog.google.org)

On a personal note, global warming or not, this initiative I believe is long overdue. Technology is about finding a better way and our centuries-old dependence on fossil-fuel based transportation should already be transplanted by cleaner more efficient technologies.

Proposals need to be on the desk of the RechargeIT group no later than October 22, 2007. Details of the Google.org's RFP here.

Happy Birthday CD!

That's right - the "compact disc" or CD celebrates 25 years - a silver anniversary for that silvery disk the world has come to love and burn.

Philips (PHG) and Sony (SNE) were jointly credited for ushering in the age of digital optical storage on that now too-familiar plastic polycarbonate disk. The first ever CDs came out of a German Philips factory August 17, 1982 carrying the latest recording of ABBA's "The Visitor". It took a while for the format to become widely accepted due largely to the sentimental value of them old vinyl forty-fives and LPs (long playing albums) collected over the years by our elderkind.

By the time the 90's generation caught on, boosted by the computer industry's adoption of the CD format, CD use had spread like wildfire worldwide. Not only that - the CD had diversified to store not only music recordings but also, videos, photos and even text and software files.

For the past quarter century, an estimated 200 billion CDs have been sold, pressed, listened to, viewed, burned, labeled as well as scratched, dropped, chipped or otherwise obliterated in one way or another. It has spawned recent variants with DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. It has served the music and film industry, as well as the IT industry and just about every other business and household which have come across the need or want for digital storage. That there is a well-rounded performance by a circle in a square case.

By human age, the CD is now a young adult. However with the blinding-fast turnover of technology we may just be seeing the CDs farewell in the coming decades (maybe even sooner) as new devices and formats have come to challenge its dominance in the realm of digital entertainment and storage. Already, digital downloads and contraptions like the iPod and MP3/MP4 players have captured a major chunk of the music and video industry such that the CD may just become a relic as what it did to the vinyl albums and VHS movies of yesteryears.

So we bid this lowly spinning platter a salute for 25 years well served. 'Til you're next incarnation or demise, enjoy the remainder of your reign while it lasts.

These Batteries Should Not Have Been Included - Nokia's Advisory on Risky Batteries

Nokia, the Finland-based global cellphone leader, came out with a Product Advisory concerning risks of certain batteries overheating when charged. It even goes to say that the battery might get dislodged from a short-circuit fault, which presumably can potentially hit and hurt someone in the process. So far, no such damaging occurence has been reported.

Said advisory singled out the BL-5C Nokia Battery manufactured by Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. of Japan that were made between December 2005 to November 2006. The Nokia website runs a product identification feature where affected customers can enter their battery's identification number to verify whether the battery in question falls within the scope of the advisory. A list of cellphones compatible to the BL-5C are also indicated on the website.

The advisory states that only 100 incidents of overheating while charging have been confirmed with the BL-5C line of batteries. The battery products from other manufacturers seem not affected. Although the occurence have been comparatively rare, Nokia offers free replacements for the 46 million units of the Matsushita BL-5C type battery in question.

Nokia is the largest cellphone company in the world, taking close to 37% of global mobile phone sales according to latest available statistics. During the 2nd quarter of 2007 alone, Nokia shipped over 100 million cellphone units worldwide.

The global demand for small-but-powerful gadgets is pushing technology experts to the limits of powering such micro technologies. Other high-technology companies like laptop manufacturers have recalled products in recent years due to faulty or otherwise risky power sources.

The Other Toy Story - Death Shadows Massive Recall of China-Made Toys

The reported suicide of a toy factory owner in China happened just a few days before Mattel was set to announce a second round of recalls for its Fisher-Price line of pre-school toys this month. Already 1.5 million toys, syndicating Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer, and Sesame Street's Big Bird and Elmo characters, were pulled off store shelves early August after fears that the products' paint coating contained too much lead.

California toy giant Mattel is expected to suffer an estimated $30 million in losses over the 1st round of recalls. The second round figures have not been announced as of writing nonetheless millions of dollars are believed to be at stake as well.

It is regarded that children exposed to dangerous levels of lead suffer behavioral, learning and health problems. For pre-schoolers, who have a penchant for putting things in their mouths, lead poisoning from contaminated toys could be imminent. Knowing this, Mattel's actions can easily be appreciated.

China-made products have recently come under fire for questionable components that pose life and health risks to consumers. Despite that, a significant number of American and other G8-country companies operate or otherwise offshore their productions in China because of the low labor costs. In a recent study minimum wage in some provinces in China go as low as $40-50 per month. It's appalling to say the least.

The upcoming holidays will reveal whether products made in China will overcome these recent string of quality and risk issues. Toys are supposed to be sources of fun and enjoyment. Behind the making of toys however, the story is not as heartening.