Wednesday, November 22, 2006

The 1999 and 2000 year model Honda Civic SiR tops the list of Canada’s most stolen cars.

Consumer popularity also assures the cars will be popular with thieves. Its the second year in a row the Honda SiR has topped the list.

Rick Dubin Vice President of Investigations for the Insurance Bureau of Canada said “The Civics are easy targets.”

Dubin said that once stolen, the cars are most often sold to “chop shops” where thieves completely dismantle the vehicles. The automobile’s individual parts are worth more than the entire car.

The sheer numbers of the cars and their lack of theft deterrent systems make them thieves’ preferred choices.

1999 and 2000 Honda Civics do not come with an electronic immobilizer, however all Hondas from 2001 and onward are equipped with an immobilizer. Immobilizers will be mandatory on all new cars sold beginning September 2007. The devices enable an engine computer to recognize an electronic code in the key. If the code in the key and the engine don’t match exactly, the vehicle can’t be started.

In third place was the 2004 Subaru Impreza, while the 1999 Acura Integra came in fourth, with the 1994 Honda Civic rounding out the top five.

In sixth place, the 1998 Acura Integra, and the 1993 Dodge Shadow completed seventh.

When asked why early model vehicles are selected, he said that, “auto thieves continue to find it easier to steal older vehicles lacking an IBC-approved immobilizer. We’ve seen this trend developing for several years, and these results confirm it.”

Another Honda automobile, the 1996 year model Civic filled eighth place, with the 2000 German Audi TT Quattro in ninth.

The American 1996 Chevrolet/GMC Blazer rounded out the top ten.

None of the above cars had an electronic immobilizer.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

A father shot his two daughters and wife, then committed suicide yesterday in Erie, Western Pennsylvania according to police.

The Erie police responded to a call from the house at 11 a.m. on Saturday and found a 29-year-old man, a 27-year-old woman and two children, ages four and seven dead of gunshot wounds. A two-year old boy was hospitalised with minor injuries; he was reportedly shot in the ear.

A resident, Kevin Klino, who lives one block away from the crime scene and heads the Citizens Reunited Against Crime group told the Associated Press, “I was outside just leaving my house when I heard gunfire, four, five, or six shots… and seconds later, cop cars came flying by.” Klino was quick to talk to the police and informed the community that a gunman was not on the loose, rather, a suspected murder-suicide.

Klino also added, “This is an impoverished neighborhood with a lot of good people in it. People were just walking through the neighborhood stunned. It’s not even a tragedy, it’s worse than that… when you’ve got kids involved, it just numbs you, shocks you”

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The International Monetary Fund and the European Union approved aid packages to help Georgia recover from its conflict with Russia, which occurred in early August. The IMF approved a US$750 million loan which will allow Georgia to rebuild its currency reserves. The European Union also approved an aid package of €500 million in aid by 2010, which is expected to help internally displaced people (IDPs) and economic recovery in the form of new infrastructure. Only €100 million of the EU aid will be given to Georgia this year.

These loans are aimed to restore confidence in Georgia’s economy and send a signal to international investors that Georgia’s economy is sound. According to the IMF, international investors have been “critical to Georgia’s economic growth in recent years.”

Takatoshi Kato, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chairman of the IMF executive committee, said the loan will “make significant resources available to replenish international reserves and bolster investor confidence, with the aim of sustaining private capital inflows that have been critical to Georgia’s economic growth in recent years.”

Georgia has requested $2 billion in international aid to help it recover from the conflict. So far, the United States has pledged $1 billion in aid. Further assistance and loans to Georgia are expected from other organizations. Kato noted that “…Georgia is expected to receive financial assistance from multilateral and bilateral donors and creditors in support of the reconstruction effort.” It is expected that an international donors’ conference will take place next month to solicit more aid for the country.

Georgia’s government expects that economic growth will be more than cut in half as a result of the conflict. Last year, Georgia’s GDP increased 12.4% and it is predicted by the IMF that growth will be less than 4 percent in the coming year.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

As “Brand International Promotion Association” and “Taiwan Excellent Manufacturers‘ Association” merged to “Taiwan Excellent Brand Association” (TEBA), “2007 Taiwan Brands’ Trend Forum”, with the slogan of “Winning Global Economic with Taiwan Brands”, held yesterday and invited professionals from governmental, financial, and IT industries to share experiences on marketing MIT (Made in Taiwan) brands and encourage MIT brands market to the world by innovations.

Newly-elected Chairman of TEBA Andy Tzu-jen Hsieh remarked in the opening: “A product with MIT brand didn’t mean ‘cheap’ but ‘value’ of its good quality.” With Hsieh’s words, Minister of Economic Affairs of Taiwan Steve Ruey-long Chen echoed and said: “Self-made (MIT) brands were progressively refined with its innovations, R&D, and new ideas. Lots of good MIT brands became notable world-wide in the presence. But it’s uncertain to determine success or failure when a company manages its brand because companies with small-business scale were grown up. A brand needs a long-period management to keep it in a good image.”

Many participants and local media focused on the keynote speech by the founder of Multitech Stan Shih. He compared brands trend between Taiwan and other world-wide countries with “The World Is Flat“ and proved the trend of optimization on global companies with his “Smiling Curve” theory. “We (the public) should determine a brand good or failure by its quality, nature, and notability but not its scale.” Shih said and stressed, “Companies with MIT brands (OBMs) can’t always be ODMs or OEMs because some (people) often confused on conceptions and basis of ‘Branding Taiwan’ and ‘Taiwan Brands’. If a company need a good brand, it (a brand) should has its (brand owner’s) creations and management strategies to mark it into the world in a good position.”

“The brand trends in Taiwan is from ODM in the past to OEM commonly in the presence. But after some products by MIT companies were presented to the public, lots of MIT brands became world-class brands such as BenQ, Giant, Acer so that Taiwan can enter into the OBMs’ era. If Taiwan can still be in the OBMs’ era, the global market competitiveness and world-wide media exposure of MIT brands will be improved. ‘OBMs in Taiwan’ will help companies from several industries keep their headquarters retain in Taiwan.” Tracy Chun-fang Hsu (Vice Director-general of the Bureau of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs of R.O.C.) mentioned in the forum.

Before the Panel Discussion, Jerry Wang (Vice Chairman of BenQ) corrected the difference between “Values” and “Value” with some quotes from Wikipedia. He said: “Value of a brand include values and consumers’ value. A factor who determine consumers to buy a product or not is emotion or self-need. A brand’s or a product’s nature can be known with differences on consumers’ population. Of course, in Taiwan or other world-wide countries, every self-made brand or product has its style, nature, and characteristics.”

In the final of Panel Discussion, 3 main speakers think that “Smiling Curve” theory is a key factor to determine a company pursue its “brand value” success or failure. If a MIT brands wants to become world-class and notable, a company (brand owner) should not only have its creations, images, and innovations but also consider feelings from consumers.

Sunday, December 31, 2006

The French Space Agency will publish its UFO archive online by late January or mid-February. Most of the 6,000 reports have been filed by the public and airline professionals. Jacques Arnould, an official for the French Space Agency, said that the data had accumulated over a 30 year period and that they were often reported to the Gendarmerie.

Often they are made to the Gendarmerie, which provides an official witness statement … and some come from airline pilots – Jacques Arnould

Monday, May 23, 2005

The Brazilian government news agency Agencia Brasil, or Radiobras, says that it is transmitting audio and video through the internet using free software. Proprietary software like Windows Media Player is not necessary to watch or hear the radio and TV transmissions.

According to Diogos Gonzaga, from Agencia Brasil technology division, the agency is using the following software: Icecast for the Ogg Vorbis codec radio transmissions and the Ogg Theora codec for the video ones.

The user who wants to hear Brazilian radio transmissions can select among the following stations from Agencia Brasil: the National Radio(AM), the National Radio (FM), the National Radio from Rio de Janeiro or the National Radio from Amazon. TV transmissions can be watched by the NBR TV channel.

Agencia Brasil started the change to free software in 2003.

Friday, April 15, 2005

The organization formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons released a report claiming that prescription drug prices in the United States rose 7.1% in 2004. Overall U.S. inflation was about 3 percent in 2004.

The study covers 197 of “the brand name prescription drugs most widely used by Americans age 50 and older.” The drug prices are compared on a month-by-month basis, i.e. January of 2004 is compared to January of 2003. Percentages were then averaged to arrive at quarterly and annual figures. According to the report, most of the change occurred in the first quarter of 2004; the average brand-name drug price in the first quarter of 2004 was 3.5% higher than the average price in the same quarter in 2003.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade group, faults the AARP’s report. For example, the trade group says medical inflation, which is greater than overall inflation in the United States, would have made a more appropriate comparison.

Three drugs increased by more than 20% in price in 2004, said the study: Premarin, Miacalcin, and Neurontin. The companies that led the way with price increases were Boehringer Ingelheim, Aventis, and Purdue Pharmaceuticals, each with average price increases of greater than 10%. Three companies increased their prices by less than 6%: Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and Eisai, according to the study.