Americans get on the road again |
- Americans get on the road again
- Vaccinate against JE nationwide
- Man in China puts on pants without hands
- 50 Cent’s SMS Audio launches sports headphones
- Intelligent cars pull investors to tech stocks
- Colombia bans foam and flour to avoid violence
| Americans get on the road again Posted: 02 Jul 2014 05:53 PM PDT
In the aftermath of the recession, "things were much tighter," said Butler, a special education teacher from Washington, Illinois, whose husband works for construction machinery maker Caterpillar Inc. "We didn't have bonuses for a while. The last two years have been better." About 34.8 million people plan to drive 50 miles or more from home during the five days ending July 6, up from 34.1 million last year and the most since 2007, AAA, the biggest US motoring organisation, said June 26. The travel recovery is boosting sales for hotels and attractions, a sign that consumer confidence and consumer spending are on the mend, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania. "Stronger business travel and tourism is a very good barometer of the health of the broader economy," Zandi said. "Spending on travel is more discretionary and expensive. The revival in travel is thus a good sign that the economic recovery is gaining traction." Hotels Fuller Hotel occupancies across the US averaged 62 per cent during the first five months of this year, up from 60 per cent during the same period last year and the highest average for that time frame since 1996, according to data provided by Hendersonville, Tennessee-based research firm STR Inc. Average room rates climbed 4.1 per cent to US$113.58 (RM364). The Federal Reserve, in its Beige Book report of regional economic conditions from its 12 banks on June 4, described travel as "fairly strong across most of the country in recent weeks. The Boston, New York, Richmond, Atlanta, Minneapolis Districts reported increasingly robust tourism activity, and Philadelphia noted slight growth; Dallas observed a pickup in passenger airline demand." Parts of the US, including the New York and Philadelphia areas, "attributed some of the pickup to the marked improvement in weather driving pent-up demand", the Fed said. "Boston credited the 2014 Marathon for much of the strength in April, and Atlanta cited strength in international visitors." The current expansion follows a first-quarter slump blamed in part on severe weather. Spending on travel and tourism fell at an annual rate of 1 per cent after a 4.5 per cent increase in the fourth quarter, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis reported June 27. Tourism Jobs Since the recession, the travel industry has added 749,000 jobs to employ close to 8 million in May, a record high, according to the US Travel Association, an industry trade group based in Washington. "There is broad optimism," Marriott International Inc chief executive officer Arne Sorenson said on a conference call with investors on April 30. "The economic recovery is broad and steady and ought to continue." Stronger markets have included San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Dallas and Denver, the Bethesda, Maryland-based company said. Florida has had "strong leisure demand" Chief Financial Officer Carl T. Berquist said. New York was hurt by winter weather, but demand is "very strong globally," Sorensen said. At the 1,957-room Marriott Marquis in midtown Manhattan, "we are slightly ahead of the pace for bookings" for July, said Kathleen Duffy, director of public relations for Marriott's New York hotels. More Vacations "People and businesses are feeling more confident, and that is reflected in travel spending," said Nikhil Bhalla, lodging analyst at FBR & Co., an investment banker in Arlington, Virginia. "People are taking more and longer vacations." Fifty-one per cent of US residents are planning to spend at least US$2,000 or more on their summer vacations this year, versus 44 per cent last summer, according to a survey by Chicago- based Orbitz.com, a travel website. An estimated 88 per cent planned a vacation this year, up 11 per centage points from a year earlier, the survey found. In another sign of higher demand, air fares are up 6 per cent for Memorial Day to Labor Day and hotel rates are up 12 per cent, according to Orbitz.com. In Washington, Harry Faulkner, who drives a pedi-cab, said he's looking ahead to an "absolutely insane" July 4th weekend. T-Shirt Sales Business has been steady and "should get better soon," said Sam Jun, 62, who has a T-shirt and trinket stand outside the Washington Monument. Sales are "better than three to five years ago, but not as good as 10 to 15". Butler, from Illinois, says she's traveling again following the economic downturn, after her husband's employer "laid a lot of people off during that time." "We luckily were not one of them," she said. "We lost bonuses and we didn't travel during that time." In the past two years, they have been also to Walt Disney World in central Florida, Hawaii and San Francisco. "There is an improved optimism," said Shane Norton, director of economics and country risk at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, which worked with Heathrow, Florida- based AAA on its forecast. "People have got their jobs. People have caught up on belt tightening they took during the recession and after. They are looking forward." — Bloomberg  |
| Vaccinate against JE nationwide Posted: 02 Jul 2014 05:53 PM PDT JULY 3 — While living in the Peninsula, my family regularly visits family in Sarawak, which means my toddler son does his regular check-ups in Kuching if he happens to be there when the next appointment is due. And there are some differences that we have noticed. One memorable incident was when a nurse in West Malaysia commented off-hand that our record book — issued when my son was born in Kuching — is outdated and that no one uses it anymore. We blushed and were given a new one. But an important difference, to me, is that in Sarawak, kids are given Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccinations. It makes sense. In Sarawak JE is endemic, meaning it is a regular occurrence, while in other parts of the country JE cases are sporadic, according to the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC). The key operative word here is "sporadic" -- while relatively rare, JE cases do occur in Malaysia outside of Sarawak. The latest reported case involved a two-year-old girl in Penang earlier this week, which follows a report last week of a 12-year-old boy being infected, also in Penang. According to the US CDC, approximately 20 to 30 per cent of patients with JE dies and some 30 to 50 per cent of survivors develop serious sequelae -- either neurologic, cognitive or psychiatric. But what must also be noted here is that JE is easily preventable. Once infected with JE, a patient if he or she survives will gain lifelong immunity. This means vaccination is an excellent avenue to safely protect our children from being infected. Why are we not extending the vaccination program for JE to the rest of the country then? And no, vaccination does not cause autism — yet another study refuting this myth was published on July 1, 2014 in the journal Pediatrics. This myth, propagated in a 1998 paper, was already shown numerous times over the years to be false. Given the recent cases, it would not be too late to start vaccinating before more cases occur. Sarawak's dropping JE cases over the years, which state health director Datu Dr Zulkifli Jantan attributed to the state's vaccination programme, is testament to its effectiveness. Earlier this week Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said that any deaths due to JE in the state would be on the local community leaders. According to Mohamad Hasan, those leaders were believed to have instigated people to continue breeding pigs in the state without permit. The context of his statement is the state ban on pig-rearing in Bukit Pelanduk, Port Dickson after a JE outbreak that claimed over a hundred lives in 1998. Yet what's done is done. If infected, strong statements and expressions of regret can't turn back time or regain lives lost. It's a cliche, but true: prevention is better than cure. In the overall scheme of things, JE may not seem like a big problem. But as the number of cases reported this year approach 20, it would not be a trivial matter to the families of the patients. By vaccination, we can prevent this. Save ourselves the pain, worry and heartbreak. * This is the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| Man in China puts on pants without hands Posted: 02 Jul 2014 05:49 PM PDT Duration: , Published 3 Jul 2014 A young man in China is basically the Superman of pants. Watch as he puts his pants on without the help of his hands or arms in less than a minute! |
| 50 Cent’s SMS Audio launches sports headphones Posted: 02 Jul 2014 05:46 PM PDT
Buzz-generating features offered by this marriage of sport and sound include professionally tuned drivers and sweat-repelling nanotechnology that is said to withstand rain and snow. The collection features four initial headphone offerings: the STREET by 50 On-Ear and In-Ear Wired Sport, and the SYNC by 50 On-Ear and In-Ear Wireless Sport, all of which are endorsed by Anthony, who is an investor. The wireless versions of both the "on-ear" and "in-ear" models are Bluetooth-enabled and connect to smartphones, enabling the user to answer calls and access apps. The "on-ear" designs promise comfort with perforated leather memory foam ear cups while "in ear" models feature clever hooks to keep them in place. All four headphones come in a variety of colors and range in price from US$79.95 to US$229.95 (RM256.20 to RM736.87). They can be ordered directly from the website, although the SYNC by 50 In-Ear Wireless Headphones, Sport Collection is not expected to ship until late summer. Although the collection claims to resist sweat and heavy weather, swimmers may prefer Surge Waterproof Headphones from X-1, while another option on the market are Powerbeats by Beats by Dre, another headphone atelier piloted by a rapper. — AFP |
| Intelligent cars pull investors to tech stocks Posted: 02 Jul 2014 05:45 PM PDT
Chip-makers or tech giants such as Infineon and Google are among a variety of companies involved in the rapid development and testing of intelligent cars from those that drive themselves to those allowing a driver to use mobile phone apps through the dashboard. A number of carmakers are embracing the trend, with Nissan Motor Co, Volkswagen AG's Audi and Toyota Motor Corp working with outside tech firms to test self-driving car technology. However, it is the tech and telecom firms — from U.S. bellwethers to small European companies — that are seen benefiting the most, fund managers and analysts said. "It's a whole new market emerging," said Christian Jimenez, fund manager and president of Diamant Bleu Gestion. "The best way to play it for investors in the long term is to buy names such as Microsoft or chip makers such as Infineon, not (automakers) Peugeot and Renault ". If the new market grows to US$50 billion as forecast by French bank Exane BNP Paribas that would be roughly half the size of German carmaker BMW's revenues last year. Internet giant Google Inc is leading the charge among tech companies, trying to break into the century-old industry as it works on its own prototypes of fully autonomous vehicles. It may be a few years before driverless cars hit the road but Google is already shaking things up in the sector, saying last week that the first cars running its Android Auto — a voice-enabled software allowing drivers to navigate maps and send messages while behind the wheel — will hit showrooms later this year. Apple is also in the race, with its new CarPlay — which integrates iPhone functionality — allowing drivers to use applications directly via the dashboard to view maps, make calls, listen to music and send and receive text messages. Only about 10 per cent of vehicles have built-in connectivity today, but the number is expected to rise to more than 90 per cent by 2020, according to the British consulting firm Machina Research. "This is not a distant dream, but a five-year race where there is money to be made, or lost," Exane BNP analyst Stuart Pearson said in a note to clients, predicting that the market for connected car services would grow by an estimated 30 per cent a year through to 2020. European presence Investors are also keen to pick smaller, specialised companies at the heart of changes in the car driving. AKKA technologies, a French engineering firm which has been developing a prototype of electrical driverless car, has seen its stock soared by nearly six-fold since 2009. "The autonomous car is not science fiction, it's real and it's happening now. The technology is ready, it's just a question of regulation at this point," said Philippe Obry, head of research and development at AKKA. "The idea is not to upgrade existing cars with new technologies, it's to rethink the whole sector and the way people will use cars in the future...We're not a car maker, so it's been easier for us to think outside the box." Shares in French electric car battery maker Blue Solutions have jumped 130 per cent since their initial public offering last October, which was more than 15 times oversubscribed. Among big European tech stocks, Nokia and TomTom are seen facing their make-or-break moment with the connected car, Exane's Pearson said. "The two map-makers hold a duopoly in maps for embedded solutions of original equipment manufacturers and auto part suppliers. If these embedded solutions dominate in the long run, our TomTom fair value could rise by 32 per cent, 13 per cent at Nokia." Chip makers profit Analysts and fund managers also see chip makers such as Germany's Infineon and Texas Instruments profiting from the push into driverless cars, while telecom operators will also win from the increased data revenue, with larger, cross-border operators set to dominate. Last April, Infineon — whose chips activate airbags, enable cruise control and cut vehicle emissions — raised its profit outlook for the year and said it would lift its dividend after posting forecast-beating quarterly results, buoyed by robust demand from the automotive sector. Qualcomm and Intel are already competing to supply chips that connect cars to the Internet and processors for increasingly sophisticated navigation and entertainment systems. Whether made with 3G chips from Qualcomm or Bluetooth and Wifi chips from Broadcom, every wirelessly connected car needs components to handle power amplification, switching and filtering, made by companies such RF Micro Devices Inc and Skyworks Solutions. This year, those two companies have seen their stocks surge 91 per cent and 68 per cent respectively. "Whether it's connectivity from a phone or a car or a Nest thermostat or a home security system, the only thing ubiquitous across the Internet of Things is they have to connect wirelessly," said Ascendiant Capital analyst Cody Acree, who recommends Skyworks as a play on connected cars. Bosch, STMicro and San Jose, California-based InvenSense are supplying growing numbers of sophisticated sensor chips for braking, driver assist and other safety functions that are bringing cars nearer to becoming autonomous. — Reuters |
| Colombia bans foam and flour to avoid violence Posted: 02 Jul 2014 05:41 PM PDT
BOGOTA, July 3 — Colombia will ban the sale of flour and shaving foam in Bogota for tomorrow's quarter-final World clash with hosts Brazil, with thousands expected on the streets and passions running high in the football-mad country. Colombia ns often celebrate by dousing people in shaving cream or making flour "bombs," but police, who will be out in force for the game on the streets of the capital, want to stamp out the practise because it can lead to fights. Alcohol sales will also be banned tomorrow. President Juan Manuel Santos, who will watch the team in Fortaleza, called on his countrymen to "keep calm." After the victory against Uruguay on Saturday, authorities logged more than 3,200 fights and 34 were hurt in post-game violence across Colombia. On Saturday, it will be Costa Rica's turn, when they face the Netherlands for a place in the World Cup semi-finals. Costa Rican authorities said yesterday they would clamp down on domestic violence that has spiked on game days of the country's historic run in the tournament. Violence against women has surged 200 per cent when the national team are playing, figures show, with alcohol consumption largely blamed. Alejandra Mora, minister for women, said: "The abusers are turning a special moment for our country into a disgrace in their own homes and we have to stop it. "We are trying to make the problem more public and give domestic violence the red card." — AFP |
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