You gotta hand it to those bods over at TiVo land. First of all they invent a brilliant dvr for recording TV programmes that lets you skip adverts and gives you ultimate viewing power. Well now, they have turned that on its head and have incorporated a feature that lets you buy products you either see on a show or on a commercial all from your couch.
TiVo have partnered up with Amazon for this amazing switcheroo. And of course it gladdens the hearts of all those companies who had been paying out top dollar for TV advertising only to have viewers completely ignore their pitches.
Now the 'Product Purchase Feature' will pair up any item that is available from Amazon with a TV show and allow TiVo viewers to simply click and buy.
"By teaming with Amazon.com, TiVo enables viewers to purchase products related to their favourite TV shows or what they've seen in TV ads without leaving their couch," said Evan Young the director of broadband services for TiVo.
"For example, if a guest on the Daily Show or Oprah has a new book, CD, or DVD out, you can purchase it on Amazon.com using your TiVo remote without missing a second of TV, whether the viewer is watching live or recorded."
Whoopee! More people getting into debt buying things they don't need and more profits for everyone else.
Frankly I think it's a sell out. I liked the fact that TiVo kinda thumbed its nose at the advertisers and gave us, the viewer, the power to just enjoy a programme without it being interrupted every 12 minutes or so.
Now it's the worst of all worlds.
Advertisers hounding us every which way and the awful prospect of constantly being pitched at during a show and after. I know we already are with product placement and subliminal advertising and that as we walk around our towns and cities we are bombarded by thousands of advertising messages every day. But this is just another slide on the slippery slope to increased debt and probably crass TV.
Ask yourself what is going to happen to all those great documentaries and period dramas that cost a fortune to make. Does it mean they will only get funding if they incorporate this feature?
Let's be really extreme and imagine as we watch Mary Queen of Scots head to the chopping block, that we are offered the chance to buy DVDs on the history of the British monarchy. Or let's say, during that World Cup clincher between England and Scotland (hey we can all dream!) that you get the amazing opportunity to buy the autobiography of Sir Alex Ferguson or David Beckham's new underpants line.
Yes, you may scoff, but who is to say that that is not what lies down the road.
Don't get me wrong. I understand the basic business model that TV needs to make money to make programmes and that advertisers need eyeballs to sell their products and that the advertising pie is being gobbled up by the internet. What I fear is that erosion of great TV and the ability of great TV producers and directors to take creative chances that might not always pay off.
Heck you can see here in America that advertising is already going where it really shouldn't ought to.
On the front page of this week's New York Times there is a story about how the presenters on a morning news programme in Las Vegas sit with cups of McDonalds iced coffee on their desks. The anchors rarely touch the cups. I think that is meant to convey journalistic integrity or something.
Execs at the station say it's part of a six-month promotion to shore up advertising revenue. One advertising honcho at the company behind the scheme admitted to the NY Times that if the programme did a negative news story about McDonalds that the cups should get whisked away or they wouldn't be very happy and would probably can the promotion.
I lament the all pervasive nature of advertising in our world and especially in our very own living room. And now TiVo, the company that made skipping adverts so easy is delivering viewers back into the hands of advertisers. But then I guess that's what they call progress!
Showing posts with label production. Show all posts
Showing posts with label production. Show all posts
Friday, 25 July 2008
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
China to hold medicine exhibition in Lhasa
China is to hold its first exhibition on traditional medicine of ethnic groups in Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, in September.The exhibition is to display medical products made by minority pharmaceutical companies along with other Chinese pharmacies and Western medicine, according to Yu Deshui, executive deputy director and secretary general of the China National Health Association of Ethnic Nationality."The exhibition will boost the exchange of information among different ethnic groups, especially in the area of health care," said Yun Xiumei, deputy director of the association.China has abundant medical resources in minority-inhabited areas. These regions are home to more than 8,000 traditional medicines, accounting for nearly two thirds of the total traditional Chinese medicine resources.Traditional medicine of the ethnic groups have often come in handy for low-income families as some of the recipes have been tested by generations and ingredients can easily be found in the wild.
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Unique Fundraising Ideas
Whether you're affiliated with a school, a church, or any non-profit organization, you are undoubtedly always on the look-out for fundraising ideas. There are so many options out there, it can be hard to decide what will work best for you. The internet has given us far more opportunities, but it can be difficult to navigate through the many, many sites to find something that will work for you. Here are just a few suggestions to get you started:
Online Auctions:
With the state of the economy, more and more people are doing their shopping online so that they can find the best deals. Why buy something at a physical retail location when you can find it cheaper on the web? Your organization can hold a drive for items to be donated - everyone has items in their home that they no longer need but have yet to part with. As such, you should be able to get a decent amount of products donated that can generate money being sold online. Nearly everyone is familiar with E-Bay, but there are also many other online auction sites that you can utilize. In this way, you can take items that cost you nothing and raise money for your particular goal. Additionally, you can sell home-made items that are crafted by members of your organization. This allows your members to donate their time creating items that will generate funds, rather than donating money.
Personalized Christmas Ornaments:
This is a fun and unique idea, but it does take start-up money. You can purchase the ornaments from one of several wholesale companies - all you need are members of your organization with nice handwriting. Your members can carry the catalog, rather than the breakable ornaments, and take orders for the ornaments plus the personalization. This can be names, dates, or any other information that your customer might like to have on an ornament. All you need for the personalization is a few permanent markers (fine point) in several colors. You have now created for your customer an item that they will keep for years to come, and something that is of more value to them than the actual cost.
Happy Feet Slippers:
This is a truly unique idea, and doesn't require any money up front. Happy Feet are the oversized house slippers that look like tennis shoes, though there is also a line of animal slippers available now. They also offer licensed products, including over 70 colleges/universities and NBA and NFL teams. They will provide you with a flyer that you will fill in with your organization's information, and it will direct your customers to a website. You will then get a percentage of all orders placed, without ever handling the product or the money! This has only been available for a few years, so it's unlikely that your customers will already have been approached with this product. And of course, slippers are something almost everyone will use! The great variety of available products helps to ensure that there will be something for everyone.
Hopefully these ideas have helped you in your decision-making process! The idea of fundraising can be daunting, but don't let it get to you. There are a lot of good and profitable ideas out there - one of them is bound to be a perfect fit!
Online Auctions:
With the state of the economy, more and more people are doing their shopping online so that they can find the best deals. Why buy something at a physical retail location when you can find it cheaper on the web? Your organization can hold a drive for items to be donated - everyone has items in their home that they no longer need but have yet to part with. As such, you should be able to get a decent amount of products donated that can generate money being sold online. Nearly everyone is familiar with E-Bay, but there are also many other online auction sites that you can utilize. In this way, you can take items that cost you nothing and raise money for your particular goal. Additionally, you can sell home-made items that are crafted by members of your organization. This allows your members to donate their time creating items that will generate funds, rather than donating money.
Personalized Christmas Ornaments:
This is a fun and unique idea, but it does take start-up money. You can purchase the ornaments from one of several wholesale companies - all you need are members of your organization with nice handwriting. Your members can carry the catalog, rather than the breakable ornaments, and take orders for the ornaments plus the personalization. This can be names, dates, or any other information that your customer might like to have on an ornament. All you need for the personalization is a few permanent markers (fine point) in several colors. You have now created for your customer an item that they will keep for years to come, and something that is of more value to them than the actual cost.
Happy Feet Slippers:
This is a truly unique idea, and doesn't require any money up front. Happy Feet are the oversized house slippers that look like tennis shoes, though there is also a line of animal slippers available now. They also offer licensed products, including over 70 colleges/universities and NBA and NFL teams. They will provide you with a flyer that you will fill in with your organization's information, and it will direct your customers to a website. You will then get a percentage of all orders placed, without ever handling the product or the money! This has only been available for a few years, so it's unlikely that your customers will already have been approached with this product. And of course, slippers are something almost everyone will use! The great variety of available products helps to ensure that there will be something for everyone.
Hopefully these ideas have helped you in your decision-making process! The idea of fundraising can be daunting, but don't let it get to you. There are a lot of good and profitable ideas out there - one of them is bound to be a perfect fit!
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Biofuels Are A Potential Low Carbon Energy Source: by Christopher West
Biofuels were invented by Nazi Germany prior to WWII; check any book on history and you will see. Germany is land-locked country with no oil fields. Biofuel is a contentious subject. The amount of land needed is staggering. Biofuels are fuel components produced from renewable materials such as plants, straw or bio-mass waste products such as poultry litter. Is there merit to seeking innovative ways to meet our nation’s increasing energy needs in a world of limited fossil fuel production?
Biofuels production (Ethanol and Bio-Diesel) is on a fast-track in the USA today and we can provide the funding to get them built and online. Alternative Fuels Finance, LLC offers construction and permanent financing, mezzanine and equity funding.
Ethanol subsidies put livestock producers at a competitive disadvantage as relates to corn procurement. Hog prices will not increase on their own just because input costs have risen. Ethanol can be produced from a variety of materials, and other options are being explored now for production in the U.S. Although not yet in large-scale commercial production, cellulosic ethanol is an emerging technology to produce ethanol from agricultural waste and forestry residues such as corn stalks or rice husks, or from purposefullyâ€"grown crops such as switch grass or trees. Ethanol is made from corn and can be run in a Flex Fuel or converted gasoline vehicle. Biodiesel can run in any conventional diesel engine and is commonly made from soy beans.
Production and consumption of agricultural products in general will grow faster in the developing countries than in the developed economies - especially for beef, pork, butter, skimmed milk powder and sugar. OECD countries are expected to lose export shares for nearly all the main farm commodities. Producers get credit for a facility production rate of 25 million gallons annually, or 125 million gallons over the five-year lifespan of the 2005 incentive. Producing electricity from bagasse, a by-product from the sugar industry, harnessing wind and solar energy can prove to be more sensible options for our country. We also need to invest in research so that we produce vehicles that are more efficient in energy consumption and less polluting.
Biofuels are a potential low-carbon energy source, but whether biofuels offer carbon savings depends on how they are produced. Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands to produce food-based biofuels in Brazil, Southeast Asia, and the United States creates a biofuel carbon debt’ by releasing 17 to 420 times more CO2 than the annual greenhouse gas reductions these biofuels provide by displacing fossil fuels. Biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel are often touted as a panacea for a host of environmental and energy-related problems. This hot topic has even become a centerpiece of high level geopolitics, as evidenced by President Bush's recent trip to Brazil , where ethanol was a principle area of discussion.
Biofuels production (Ethanol and Bio-Diesel) is on a fast-track in the USA today and we can provide the funding to get them built and online. Alternative Fuels Finance, LLC offers construction and permanent financing, mezzanine and equity funding.
Ethanol subsidies put livestock producers at a competitive disadvantage as relates to corn procurement. Hog prices will not increase on their own just because input costs have risen. Ethanol can be produced from a variety of materials, and other options are being explored now for production in the U.S. Although not yet in large-scale commercial production, cellulosic ethanol is an emerging technology to produce ethanol from agricultural waste and forestry residues such as corn stalks or rice husks, or from purposefullyâ€"grown crops such as switch grass or trees. Ethanol is made from corn and can be run in a Flex Fuel or converted gasoline vehicle. Biodiesel can run in any conventional diesel engine and is commonly made from soy beans.
Production and consumption of agricultural products in general will grow faster in the developing countries than in the developed economies - especially for beef, pork, butter, skimmed milk powder and sugar. OECD countries are expected to lose export shares for nearly all the main farm commodities. Producers get credit for a facility production rate of 25 million gallons annually, or 125 million gallons over the five-year lifespan of the 2005 incentive. Producing electricity from bagasse, a by-product from the sugar industry, harnessing wind and solar energy can prove to be more sensible options for our country. We also need to invest in research so that we produce vehicles that are more efficient in energy consumption and less polluting.
Biofuels are a potential low-carbon energy source, but whether biofuels offer carbon savings depends on how they are produced. Converting rainforests, peatlands, savannas, or grasslands to produce food-based biofuels in Brazil, Southeast Asia, and the United States creates a biofuel carbon debt’ by releasing 17 to 420 times more CO2 than the annual greenhouse gas reductions these biofuels provide by displacing fossil fuels. Biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel are often touted as a panacea for a host of environmental and energy-related problems. This hot topic has even become a centerpiece of high level geopolitics, as evidenced by President Bush's recent trip to Brazil , where ethanol was a principle area of discussion.
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