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Cosmetic surgery.

Investors Chronicle – magazine and web content, May, 2007

Tuesday 27 March: Tanfield results

5pm. Completely overlooked Tanfield results this morning in reno cosmetic surgery my excitement about meeting Astrid this weekend. The milk-float maker has certainly caught the zero-emission wave, with retailers like Marks and Spencer and delivery firms queuing up to take its vehicles. However, despite doubled turnover and a bulging order book, I feel the shares are looking a little pricey now, at 105p – that’s a historic PE ratio of over 100 and 16 times 2008’s forecasts results

WINE AND BURGER

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado wine tour in napa Springs), May 22, 2009 | by NATHANIEL GLEN

Wines of Colorado, a cool little restaurant and tasting room at the base of the Pikes Peak Highway in Cascade, causes almost everyone driving by to do a double take.

After all, “wine” and “Colorado” are not two words most people put together.

It’s a bit like ski resorts in Kentucky. Most people are surprised to find they exist at all, and are doubtful they are much good.

“I moved here from California,” said the man pouring us samples from a row of cabernets. “And when I saw the sign that said Wines of Colorado here, I thought, boy, that must be one tiny store.”

In fact, Colorado has 750 acres of vineyards and 64 licensed wineries. It has been producing wines for more than 100 years, and some really good wine for about a decade. (Colorado Springs founder William Jackson Palmer is thought to have dabbled in viticulture.)

Wines of Colorado has brought together most of the state’s wineries in one place with good, affordable food and one of the best patios in the region.

Most of the building is devoted to selling bottles. Stacked cases of bold Palisade tempranillo, crisp viognier, choke cherry merlot and spiced mead made from fermented honey make aisles around a bar where customers can sample flights of wine before buying.

Many of the offerings are quite good

BASF Honors Pioneers in Energy-Efficient Home Building

Business Wire, Feb 4, 2009

Partners With U.S. Department of Energy to Inspire EnergySmart Construction

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — On Jan. 21, 2009, BASF, the world’s leading chemical company, presented three industry leading homebuilders with the first annual BASF Builders’ Challenge Award. The awards ceremony, green construction california conducted with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), highlighted the extraordinary progress made by three builders in constructing homes that meet the DOE’s Builders Challenge goal of creating homes that achieve 70 or better on the EnergySmart Home Scale (E-Scale)

Green Foundations

New Jersey Business, Jul 2009 by Birritteri, Anthony

In today’s burgeoning. green movement, much has been written about the building technologies that make structures energy efficient, i.e., solar panels, wind turbines, designing for more natural sunlight, programmable window shades, fluorescent lighting, green roofs, recycled construction materials and efficient heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, etc. For the most part, these are all above-ground solutions, but what about the actual land prior to construction? Specifically, how is the green movement impacting the role of environmental engineers who work “from the ground down” – those professionals who prepare building sites before concrete is poured for foundations and steel girders reach skyward? For the answer, New Jersey Business magazine has reached out to a number of leading engineering firms in the state.

The In Situ Solution

When dealing with the remediation of brownfield sites, Sui Leung, vice president, division manager for the environmental service group at H2M Associates, Parsippany and Melville, New York, says clients are asking for ways to treat contaminated soil instead of carting it away. “In the past, it was dig it up, move it out and take it to a landfill. Now the focus seems to be treat it in situ and enhance the natural degradation process with additives to promote reaction and treatment,” she says.

In situ is Latin for “in the place.” In the context of site cleanup, it means treating contaminated soil where it lies rather than carting it away (i.e., ex situ). Chemical oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide, potassium permanganate, ozone or dissolved oxygen are injected into the soil or groundwater and, over time, natural bioremediation occurs.

In situ remediation does take longer than digging and hauling dirt away, but clients are being made aware of the processes. “It’s less disruptive and [more] cost effective,” says Leung. H2M is currently monitoring a five-acre farm site in Flemington that was contaminated with copper by an industrial facility next door. In this project, a “soil amendment” was added to the ground to change its pH balance.

Peter Sorge, senior manager at JM Sorge, Inc., the Somerville-based environmental engineering firm, describes in situ as adding bio-organisms into the ground to “enhance natural processes and break contaminants down into non-toxic components. Conditions have to be right for the degradation to occur. Like any living organism, the additives need air and food in order to thrive and breakdown the contaminants.”

Sorge says the in situ process also reduces the company’s carbon footprint by having fewer trucks on the road hauling materials away, not to mention reducing the chance of contaminants spilling onto highways or local roads.

If dirt has to be hauled away, Leung explains most environmental firms try to bring it to landfills that are as close as possible to the worksite. There are landfill sites in New Jersey, but they take fairly clean materials, she says. “Nasty materials tend to go out of state.” Therefore, much of the state’s contaminated soil goes to Pennsylvania and Ohio and sometimes as far north as Canada.

If a redevelopment site happens to be an industrial location with rail access, the rail line would be used to transport the contaminated soil rather than trucks, according to Leung. “It’s quicker, more affordable and rail cars can hold three times the amount that a truck can hold,” she explains.

Capping Contamination

Another method in keeping contaminated soil on site and safe from harming people is through capping solutions. “Capping means installing a barrier so no one is at risk of direct contact with the contamination,” according to Sorge. For a landscaped area that will not have a structure on it, a geo-textile fabric membrane with two feet of clean soil can be a sufficient cap. The asphalt of a parking lot can also be a capping solution. For a structure, the building’s slab along with a plastic membrane underneath is also suitable. For building sites that have volatile contaminants, sometimes a stouter membrane is used with a passive vapor diffusion system. This is a network of pipes underneath the building that vents around the outside of the facility, Sorge explains

Gift card rewards launched

Chain Drug Review, April 6, 2009

ITASKA, Ill. — To help consumers’ food dollars go further during hard times, Jewel-Osco has rolled out “refund rewards,” enabling shoppers to boost the value of grocery gift cards by up to 10% during tax season.

Under the program customers of the food/drug combination store who purchase grocery gift cards in either $250 or $300 increments will get another $20 or $30, respectively, added to the card. The program is in effect through April 15.

A recent “ABC News”/Washington Post poll found that one in three Americans have sustained a job loss or pay cut or know of someone who has and, among those who still have jobs, 79% feel financially insecure. And even among Americans who say they feel financially secure, 55% are trimming their spending.

“We know that consumers’ budgets are strained as never before, so we’re looking for ways to help our shoppers find value at the grocery store,” says Jeff Noddle, chairman and chief executive officer of Jewel-Osco owner Supervalu Inc

Bluetooth Wireless Headsets, Car Chargers & Leather Cases Make up the Top Accessories Most Inquired About & Purchased in the Wireless Accessory Market

Business Wire, Feb 9, 2007

DUBLIN, Ireland — Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c50175) has announced the addition of 2007 Wireless Accessory Demand and Sell-Through to their offering.

This report provides reviews the accessory demand and sell-through and how it has changed since 2003 in the United States. The 2007 study includes demand information on the following accessories:

Bluetooth Wireless Headsets, Wired Headsets, Thumb QWERTY Keyboards, Foldout full-size QWERTY Keyboards, Digital camera accessories, Connectors/cables for synching, Car Chargers, Phone Faceplates, Extra Batteries, Leather Cases, Car Phone Holders, Memory Cards, Hands-free Car Kit, Belt Holster, Car Antenna, Screen Protectors, Stickers, Housings & Handstraps.

Methodology

We completed in-depth surveys with wireless sales associates in the independent agent channel using stratified random sampling to represent the indirect wireless retail channel in the United States. With this information, we offer readers a rare glimpse into the opinions of those sales associates standing behind the counter making recommendations to millions of wireless consumers each year regarding which wireless phones, accessories and services to purchase.

Topics Covered

Section 1 Introduction

1.1 Study Background

1.1.1 Strategy for the 2007 Wireless Retail Survey

1.1.2 On-Going Lack of Information on the Retail Channel

1.2 Objectives

1.2.1 Our 2007 Accessory Demand and Sell-Through from Wireless Sales Associates

1.2.2 Other 2007 Wireless Retail Reports from us

1.3 Scope and Methodology

1.3.1 Scope

1.3.2 Sample Plan

1.3.3 Questionnaire Development

1.3.4 Interviews

1.3.5 Report layout

Section 2 Accessory Demand and Sell-Through

2.1 Accessories Introduction and Definitions

2.2 Market Penetration of Accessories

2.3 2007 Results–What Happened with Accessories?

2.3.1 The Pull – Customers Asking About Accessories

2.3.2 The Push–Associates Informing Customers about Accessories

2.3.3 The Take–Customers Buying Accessories

2.4 The Commission Paid for Selling Accessories

2.4.1 Accessories for Which Associates Earn Sales Commission (2003 vs. 2007)

2.5 Headset Sales

2.6 Key Findings and Recommendations on Accessories

2.6.1 Key Findings

2.6.2 Recommendations

Summary

Bluetooth wireless headsets, car chargers, leather cases, belt holsters and wired headsets make up the top five accessories most inquired about and purchased

A seeming trend.(Property/Casualty)(Disaster insurance)(Brief article)

Best’s Review, May, 2009

A SEEMING TREND of ever more extreme weather events is putting such pressure on Australian insurers that insurance may become too expensive for many property owners. Floods, storms, bushfires and other severe weather events accounted for more than 31.5% of all nonlife insurance claims in 2007, compared with 12.3% in 2000, according to KPMG in Australia. So far this year, bushfires in Victoria state have generated 9,105 claims and insured loss of A $1.12 billion ($733 million).

USB reader inputs CNC programs from a flash drive

Modern Machine Shop, Dec, 2007 by Mark Albert

Most of us are familiar with USB flash memory devices (also called flash drives or data sticks) for storing documents and digital photos. They are a convenient way to move files from a laptop to a desktop PC, from a camera to a PC and so on. They can also be handy for storing and moving part programs for CNC machines on the shop floor.

Calmotion LLC (Chatsworth, California) has developed a reader/ control unit that acts as ah interface between commercially available USB flash drives and CNC units with RS-232 serial ports that can be used for datainput. Called the USBCNC, the system allows machine tool files to be sent from the flash drive to the CNC and from the CNC memory to the flash drive. Data from the flash drive can also be “drip fed” into the CNC. “Drip feeding” lets the CNC read in each line of the part program code as needed to execute the machining operation. According to the company, DNC (”direct” or “downloading” numerical control) firmware is built into the reader/control unit so that it can be connected to almost any machine tool CNC unit.

The USB reader/control unit helps shops with CNCs that have limited i memory capacity. Proprietary memory upgrades for these CNCs may be prohibitively expensive or unavailable. The reader/control unit is an alternative. Libraries of part programs can be stored on a single flash drive (a 1 GB drive comes with the system). Likewise, the system is an alternative to either using a PC on the shop floor for DNC or stringing long cables so that the PC can be placed in a safer location.

In operation, the reader/control unit displays simple messages or a directory of files stored on the flash drive. Three buttons on the reader allow the user to scroll up and down and select items

Targus® Launches New Brand ID in Support of the Company’s New Line of Laptop Cases and Accessories

PR Newswire, Sept 14, 2009

New brand reflects the company’s focus on developing consumer-centric mobile solutions that enhance the way users communicate, collaborate, work and play

ANAHEIM, Calif., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ — Targus Inc., maker of the world’s top-selling laptop computer cases and accessories, revealed today its new brand ID as part of its global launch of 28 new laptop cases and accessories. The new Targus brand ID symbolizes the company’s heightened focus on delivering relevant consumer-centric solutions to support the growing mobile lifestyle.

“The company’s consumer-focused design approach has been incorporated into our new logo, brand ID, packaging, website and most importantly, our new line of laptop cases and accessories launching today,” said Mike Hoopis, president and CEO of Targus. “With laptops and netbooks becoming the primary interface for how people around the world interact, Targus sought to embrace this evolution by designing an entire line of accessories and cases that support consumers as they navigate through the blurred lines of learning, working, sharing and playing.”

The new Targus brand ID represents the company’s evolution from its origins as a purely corporate-focused brand. The new brand reveals a softer, more personal look designed to appeal to both men and women and to complement each individual’s personal style – whether in the board room or on campus. The new Targus branding incorporates a sophisticated design approach using white and gray tones with highlights in a rich, vibrant yellow. The new color pallet is designed to appeal to a much wider audience while retaining core elements of the brand associated with Targus’ established reputation in laptop protection and trusted performance.

As part of the new branding strategy, Targus has also updated its packaging to provide a more engaging, user-friendly experience.

“Special detail was paid to the design of the new packaging, which showcases the product while providing a more interactive shopping experience. Consumers can clearly view the product from a variety of angles and hold the product without removing it from the package,” said Bob Shortt, senior vice president of sales and marketing

Cook, Hall & Hyde, Inc

Real Estate Weekly, March 4, 2009

Cook, Hall & Hyde, Inc. recently announced that Sean H. Griffin has joined the agency as an account executive in its commercial insurance division. Mr. Griffin brings extensive expertise in the marine industry, coupled with over six years of direct experience in insurance consulting and sales. Mr. Griffin developed his knowledge of recreational boats, yachts and personal watercraft serving as a sales consultant and product specialist with Oakdale Yacht Club (Oakdale, N.Y.), a full-service boat and yacht sales/ brokerage center and marina. Additionally, he held an equity position in a private insurance practice where he had a strong concentration in the marine markets