Andy Roberts

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  WordPress London #7

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/11/18/wordpress-london-7

  I went to WordPress London meetup number #7 last night, hosted by Headshift at their office near Shad Thames, along the south bank of the Thames, east of Tower Bridge. Nice to have something on the East side for once, although south of the river, I wouldn’t normally mention the general location but for Londoners, having different travel options is essential and I was pleased to be able to exit the Transport For London  system at a zone 2 tube station, Bermondsey. WordPress London is not really a mainly social gathering like some of the bloggers meetups, it’s a business learning event and last night there were three sections, each packed with fast moving presentations full of detail, actionable insights and deeply understood data. First up, a round up of news from the world of WordPress from Chris Adams  of Headshift with a peek at the new drag and drop file upload interface for WordPress 3.3, out very soon. There was also a heads up for the ManageWP service launched this month, a service which I use myself and would also heartily recommend for anybody who maintains more than one self-hosted WordPress installation, in fact it’s brilliant if you have dozens or more. WordPress London Meetup Then David Bain delivered a comprehensive briefing about SEO for WordPress, including an outline of a hub and spoke structure for content based on using pages for the main parts of a site, supported by posts  All based around keyword targeting, which, while possibly on it’s way to becoming somewhat old-school,  is after all what search engine optimisation is all about. One or two plugin tips to be followed up there. Finally, Keith Devon a WordPress developer explained how and why to use WordPress Custom Post Types. Custom post types are not types of posts at all, but other types of content alongside of posts or pages. The example given was that of a real estate property rental site, for which the element “Property” needed to be a thing of itself, with it’s own display template in the theme, neither a post nor a page but with it’s own “add Property” section within the dashboard. This gave me some great ideas for how I might have designed one or two of my existing sites much better had the concept been around a few years ago. Keith showed us how to implement custom post types by dropping in chunks of code into functions.php “because it’s easier” but discussion from the audience suggests that using specialised plugins for the purpose may be the way to go if you want to be able to keep your site up to date with new software releases. Time for some brief discussions and an optional visit to a Samuel Smiths pub afterwards, so I walked back along the south bank and over London Bridge back to dry land. Hashtag: #WPLDN Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogWordPress London #7

  

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  November 18 2011, 2:31am | Comments »

• I posted to distributedresearch.net

  Ash cloud moves towards UK airspace

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/05/23/ash-cloud-moves-towards-uk-airspace

  Ash from Iceland’s Grimsvötn volcano could affect Heathrow by the end of the weekThis article titled “Ash cloud moves towards UK airspace” was written by Dan Milmo and Adam Gabbatt, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 23rd May 2011 10.04 UTCAirlines and airports have been warned to expect ash from an erupting Icelandic volcano to arrive in UK airspace by Tuesday, with the possibility that it could affect Heathrow airport by the end of the week.The safety watchdog for British airlines and airports, the Civil Aviation Authority, said today that particles from the Grimsvötn volcano could reach Scotland by midnight tonight and western England by Thursday or Friday, depending on wind direction.If airspace in western England, Ireland and the Atlantic is affected by the smoke plume transatlantic flights in and out of Heathrow could suffer delays later this week as planes are diverted around the most dense parts of the cloud.However, the Civil Aviation Authority said it was confident that a new Europe-wide safety regime introduced after the Eyjafjallajökull eruption last year would reduce disruption significantly and avoid the continental shutdown that stranded millions. Under the new operating procedures, it is understood that the effect of last year’s plume on commercial routes would have been 75% smaller.Nonetheless, some disruption is expected as airplanes divert around the heaviest parts of the cloud. According to the latest forecasts, Inverness and Aberdeen are the most likely airports to suffer disruption tomorrow, although the most accurate estimates can only predict six hours ahead.“Our number one priority is to ensure the safety of people both on board aircraft and on the ground. We can’t rule out disruption, but the new arrangements that have been put in place since last year’s ash cloud mean the aviation sector is better prepared and will help to reduce any disruption in the event that volcanic ash affects UK airspace,” said Andrew Haines, CAA chief executive.Under previous guidelines, aircraft were summarily grounded if there was any volcanic ash in the air. Now, airlines can fly through ash plumes if they can demonstrate that their fleets can handle medium or high-level densities of ash.The Met Office’s volcanic ash advisory centre will identify the density and location of the cloud, aided by satellite images, weather balloons and a radar specially installed for monitoring purposes in Iceland last year. Once those zones are relayed to airlines, they will need to prove that they can fly through them by producing “safety cases” that will include information from aircraft and engine manufacturers on the airline’s tolerance to volcanic ash.A CAA spokesman said all major UK airlines already had safety preparations for medium-density ash clouds.“We are in a much better position than last time,” he said. “Safety will still be paramount but we will be able to drastically reduce disruption compared to last time, provided there is not a huge amount of high-density ash.” The spokesman said a similar level of ash to the Eyjafjallajökull incident would not result in a mass-grounding. “It will be a different picture.” However, jets will have to divert around high-density clouds, causing delays on some routes, because no UK airline has submitted a safety case for flying through heavy ash plumes.BAA, the owner of Heathrow, Stansted, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports, has convened a crisis support team to prepare for a reduction in flights, as airlines and airports await a further briefing from Eurocontrol and the UK air traffic controller, Nats. “We are working closely with the CAA and Nats in preparing contingency plans if ash enters UK airspace,” it said.Under the new ash guidelines, cloud densities are split into three levels: low, medium and high. Once the Met Office assigns a particular density of ash to a section of airspace, airlines must prove they have the safety case to fly through it. A low density cloud is 2g of ash per 10 cubic metres of air, with medium being 2g to 4g of ash per 10 cubic metres. Anything above 4g is deemed high density.The Grimsvötn volcano began erupting on Sunday, causing flights to be cancelled at Iceland’s main Keflavik airport after it sent a plume of ash, smoke and steam 12 miles into the air. Experts have said the eruption was unlikely to have the dramatic impact that the Eyjafjallajökull volcano had in April 2010.“At the moment if the volcano continues to erupt to the same level it has been, and is now, the UK could be at risk of seeing volcanic ash later this week,” said Helen Chivers, a Met Office spokeswoman. “Quite when and how much we can’t really define at the moment.”She said the weather situation was likely to be different from last year, with the wind direction set to change continuously. She added: “If it moves in the way that we’re currently looking, with the eruption continuing the way it is, then if the UK is at risk later this week, then France and Spain could be as well.”While the ash has grounded aircraft in Iceland, it is not anticipated that it will have a similar impact in the rest of Europe.Dr Dave McGarvie, volcanologist at the Open University, said the amount of ash reaching the UK was “likely to be less than in the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption”, and the last two times Grimsvötn erupted it had not affected UK air travel.“In addition, the experience gained from the 2010 eruption, especially by the Met Office, the airline industry, and the engine manufacturers, should mean less disruption to travellers,” he said.The eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in south-east Iceland in April 2010 caused the worst disruption to international air travel since 9/11. Flights across Europe were cancelled for six days, stranding tens of thousands of people, and the eruption was estimated to have cost airlines £130m a day.Eurocontrol said in a statement: “There is currently no impact on European or transatlantic flights and the situation is expected to remain so for the next 24 hours. Aircraft operators are constantly being kept informed of the evolving situation.” guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogAsh cloud moves towards UK airspaceRelated posts:How to pronounce EyjafjallajoekullAsh Grounds Planes, Rest Of World Cut OffTag Cloud

  

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  May 23 2011, 4:09pm | Comments »

• I posted to distributedresearch.net

  Spain reveals pain over cuts and unemployment

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/05/21/spain-reveals-pain-over-cuts-and-unemployment

  Spain protests: Young protesters in Madrid and beyond have many different demands, but they are united in opposing the Spanish governmentThis article titled “Spain reveals pain over cuts and unemployment” was written by Giles Tremlett in Madrid, for guardian.co.uk on Saturday 21st May 2011 11.59 UTCThe arrival of the table, a battered piece of formica bashed on top of four rough, oversized legs raised a cry of joy. Never mind that anyone on a normal chair would barely be able to see over the top – here was another small triumph of the new Spanish revolution, the gathering of angry Spaniards of all colours, ages and persuasions that is sweeping across the country and beyond its borders.The table that arrived in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square was part of the swirl of creative chaos, naive enthusiasm and pent-up frustration that has transformed it into a makeshift camp for thousand of protesters who call themselves los indignados, the indignant ones.Tents and mattresses, armchairs and sofas, a canteen, portaloos and solar panels have sprung up in a remarkable display of organisational prowess. And the mass of people jostling around, each pursuing their own dream or demand, or just watching others doing the same, seemed more like something transported from the Arab spring in North Africa than from Europe.As the protests continued to swell on Friday, with 60,000 people defying authorities to obey the campaign’s “Take over the square!” slogan in dozens of Spanish cities, and with copycat demonstrations across Europe, the question was whether this was the new May 1968 – a youth-led popular revolt against an establishment deemed to have failed an entire generation.Esther Gutierréz, an elfin 26-year-old, wandered through the crowd with a battered shopping cart full of fruit.“We’ve got so much food we don’t know what to do with it. People just bring it to us for free and it’s wonderful stuff,” she said. “We want real democracy. Not just freedom for bankers. You’re not from the Spanish press, are you? We don’t speak to them.”Cynical and ingenuous by turns, the Madrid protesters and those who last week refused to obey orders to budge from the occupied city squares have torn up the rule book of Spanish public politics. The heavyweights of old – political parties, trade unions and media commentators – are not wanted here.“I was sacked when the Madrid regional government closed down a women’s centre last year when it imposed cuts,” explained Beatriz García as she bashed a small frying pan with a wooden spoon. “The unions didn’t even bother to turn up.”The political parties were worse, she said. “There is no renovation. There is nothing new or different, just two parties who take it in turn to govern because our electoral laws favour them.”Just a week ago Spain was known for the passivity of its citizens as they put up with one of the most depressing eras in recent history. Despite unemployment hitting 21%, widespread spending cuts and a socialist government bound to obey the diktats of Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the financial markets, they had refused to show their pain. Marches, sit-ins or riots were for the French – or British students. The real drama, anyway, was in North Africa. Spaniards stayed at home.All that changed this week as demonstrations organised via Facebook and Twitter became static protests in city squares, mushrooming into something that caught politicians, unions and the media by surprise.While journalists were following the dull routine of campaigning for Sunday’s municipal and regional elections, the steam was beginning to escape from a pressure cooker of discontent.Many Spaniards had told pollsters they were tired of the same, well-known political faces – especially those who are due to be re-elected despite being mired in corruption scandals. Politicians have rarely been held in such disregard, with the prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and opposition leader, Mariano Rajoy, of the conservative People’s party, rating lowest. Rajoy seems set to take over after a general election next March.When police forcibly evicted the Madrid demonstrators on Tuesday morning, they came back in even greater numbers later that day. By Friday night authorities had lost the battle to impose rules banning public politics on the day before elections. Police could only look on. “Join us, police officers!” the demonstrators shouted.By the early hours of Friday, it was already elbow-room only in the Puerta del Sol – the square which prides itself on being Spain’s “kilometre zero”, the spot from which all other distances are measured.On the statue of King Carlos III, somebody had pinned a sign that read: “We are anti-idiots, not anti-politicians.” Other placards read: “We aren’t against the system, we want to change it”, “Democracy, a daily fight”, and “Take your money out of the bank!”“We’ve brought tents, food and even Trivial Pursuit to keep us entertained,” said Pablo Cantó, a fresh-faced 23-year-old journalism student. Like many younger protesters, and the movement as a whole, he had trouble expressing exactly why he was here. “We want change,” he said. “Things just can’t carry on as they are.”The heavy clouds of cannabis smoke suggested others had brought their own form of entertainment.“I’ve been protesting for decades,” said 60-year-old school teacher Rosa Marín. “I’m glad to see so many young people here. The questions is this: Is this another May 1968, or are they just here for the party?”A gang of drunken skinheads, mindlessly chanting football terrace slogans, were there for the latter.But a neat, disciplined circle of people intently debating social reform showed many were here in earnest. They took turns to stand up and make their proposals, the audience listening and using the sign language applause of the deaf – by shaking their hands above their heads – to show approval without drowning the speakers out.The proposals, due to make their way through a laborious process of committees, working parties and general assemblies, varied from calls for less spending on the military to helping businesses. “Because it is not just money for the owners. They are the ones who give people like us jobs,” said one young man.For some younger protesters, it was a political baptism. “I don’t know what will come out of this, but it is enough just to show everyone how upset we are,” explained Javier de Coca by phone from the protest camp in Barcelona’s Plaza de Catalunya, where there was a surprising absence of the nationalist or separatist symbols of protest movements in recent years.“It’s as if they’ve realised they have more serious problems to deal with,” said one protester. One of those problems is 45% youth unemployment.On a wall beside the tarpaulin-covered command centre in what some were calling Madrid’s “Republic of Sol” – home to a press office, an infirmary and a legal centre – a list of needs had been pinned up. Toilet paper and food were scratched off the list. Bookshelves, wood, rubber gloves and bottles of cooking gas were on it. Volunteers were needed for a creche.“We process the proposals and try to turn them into something that makes legal sense,” explained a volunteer at the legal centre.However, the open assemblies are painfully slow. Some last for hours, as everybody is given their turn to speak. After almost a week of protests, the demonstrators have failed to come up with a coherent set of demands.Electoral reform to end the two-party system and action to both punish corrupt politicians and limit their luxuries and privileges were the main areas of agreement.So is the Arab spring spreading to southern Europe? “You can’t really compare us to people who were risking their lives by protesting,” said 23-year-old computer engineer Jaime Viyuela. “But yes, you can say that we are inspired by the courage of the Arab spring.” guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogSpain reveals pain over cuts and unemploymentRelated posts:Zapatero says Spain safe from bailoutProtest march against coalition cuts expected to attract 300,000Anti-cuts campaigners plan to turn Trafalgar Square into Tahrir Square

  

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  May 21 2011, 8:54am | Comments »

• I posted to distributedresearch.net

  Apple studies patent infringement claims by Lodsys

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/05/16/apple-studies-patent-infringement-claims-by-lodsys

  Patent holding firm Lodsys claims revenue from Apple iPhone and iPad 2 app developers, but critics say it is abusing the patent system

  This article titled “Apple studies patent infringement claims by Lodsys” was written by Charles Arthur, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 16th May 2011 16.24 UTC Apple’s legal department is understood to be “actively investigating” claims by Lodsys, a patent holding company based in Texas, to have a claim against iPhone and iPad developers who use in-app purchase systems.

  So far Lodsys has served papers on about a dozen iOS developers who it says are infringing its patent 10/732,102, which it bought in 2004 from the inventor, who filed it in the 1990s, covering user interaction over a network.

  Apple is not expected to respond to the claims, which have been passed to it by affected developers, until later this week.

  Lodsys is asking for 0.575% of US revenue for in-app purchase. Although that may not be substantial for individual developers, one told the Guardian: “0.575% of the in-app purchase market across all platforms would be a very nice figure to have indeed. And, of course, it’s 0.575% for this patent today. Tomorrow it’s another 1% from some other company, and so on.”

  Lodsys says that Apple has licensed the patent covering in-app purchasing – but adds that it can still claim for payments that use the technology in developers’ own apps. “The scope of [Apple's] licences does not enable them to provide ‘pixie dust’ to bless another third-party business applications [sic]. The value of the customer relationship is between the Application vendor of record and the paying customer,” notes the blog’s author, believed to be Lodsys‘s chief executive, Mark Small. “The operating system is acting as an enabler and the retailers are acting as a conduit to connect that value.”

  In a series of blog posts, the company notes that Google and Microsoft have taken out licences, but notes that “so far no one has asked” whether apps written on those platforms might be liable for licence fees.

  A number of iOS developers received couriered documents last week from Lodsys claiming payments were due following their use of in-app purchases.

  The move has worried app developers, who see it as a dangerous and slippery slope where they become liable for payments to third parties after using the in-system APIs that they are required to by the mobile OS company. Apple does not allow apps that use other systems for purchasing to be sold through its app store, and Google is also tightening its rules on app APIs.

  Lodsys is also suing a number of larger companies including Samsung, Brother, HP and Motorola Mobility.

  Lodsys comments on its blog that:

  “There are lots of bills in life that it would be preferable to not pay if one didn’t have to. Lodsys is just trying to get value for assets that it owns, just like each and every company selling products or services is, trying to do business and make a profit. It’s odd that some of the companies that received notices had such a visceral reaction. Some of these companies have our favorite apps, for which we paid the asking price. We realise you have to get paid for your work and so do we.”

  One developer told the Guardian: “They do imply they’ve have a horrible weekend, but then again, I seem to be the one who hasn’t slept properly since Friday, and I’m pretty sure I’m not the one who sent the letters in the first place! It feels very hypocritical for them to paint themselves as the victim here.”

  Florian Mueller, who has tracked patent disputes in the US and EU, suggests on his blog: “Lodsys is trying to abuse the patent system in a way that could ultimately destroy the entire mobile apps economy, which is not only thriving on its own but has been and continues to be a key factor in making new mobile devices so useful and popular.”

  He says: “It’s actually questionable whether Lodsys’s patents would survive a well-funded effort to have them declared invalid,” adding: “Even if they could be upheld under the system as it stands, there’s no way that those patents represent a fair deal between society and” Lodsys, which bought them from the inventor.

  Mueller fears that if Lodsys prevails it will buy more patents and use them against small app developers who would be unable to defend themselves; and other companies would follow its business model, “shaking trees for money that you just can’t lose because your opponents can’t even defend themselves”.

  The risk to the mobile app economy is huge, says Mueller, and this move by a small, relatively unknown company might be the final straw needed to get the mobile companies, including Apple – which is the largest mobile phone vendor in the world by revenue – to lobby the US administration finally to do something positive about software patents. The problem is, what?

  guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.

  Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogApple studies patent infringement claims by Lodsys

  Related posts:Forget Google – it’s Apple that is turning into the evil empire Smartphone competition heats up as HTC closes in on Apple Iran claims London 2012 Olympics logo spells ‘Zion’

  

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  May 16 2011, 11:39am | Comments »

• I posted to distributedresearch.net

  Flybe profit warning sends share price crashing down

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/05/05/flybe-profit-warning-sends-share-price-crashing-down

  Flybe shares drop 25% as airline admits cash-strapped consumers are cutting back on air travel

  This article titled “Flybe profit warning sends share price crashing down” was written by Dan Milmo, for The Guardian on Thursday 5th May 2011 16.42 UTC Flybe’s £215m flotation has come crashing down as the carrier’s shares shed 25% of their value in the wake of a profit warning over waning consumer appetite for air travel. The Exeter-based regional carrier bases its appeal on “affordable travel from the most convenient airport” but admitted that lower high street spending in the UK had affected demand for cheap flights since the new year, with domestic routes among the hardest hit. Despite warning of cash-strapped customers, Flybe also announced a £3 fuel surcharge on all flights from September. Flybe said the slowdown in consumer outlay, already indicated by trading woes at high street names such as HMV and Mothercare, had affected “discretionary spend” on air travel and triggered significant analysts’ downgrades. Flybe said it expected pre-tax profits for this year to be broadly in line with the 2010/11 figures, which put it heavily out of kilter with analysts’ expectations. Investors ignored Flybe’s defence of its “resilient and flexible” business model of flying from small airports such as Southampton and Norwich, and sold the shares heavily. Shareholders had expected a pre-tax profit of about £36m, not the £22m indicated in the trading update, and Flybe’s shares slumped 25% to 172.50p, far below the flotation price of 295p last December. Flybe’s new investors included George Soros, the hedge fund tycoon, who acquired a 3.4% stake on flotation and whose more assured bets included starting a run on the pound in 1992. British Airways owns a further 15% of the business. One of the pioneers of add-on charges including baggage fees when it rebranded from British European in 2002, Flybe said the £3 fuel surcharge would be dropped if the price of Brent crude fell below $75 (£45.60) per barrel for 28 consecutive days; its current price is $117 per barrel. Flybe also indicated cutbacks on its domestic routes as it flagged the possible disposal of surplus aircraft, believed to include the Bombardier Q400 turboprop planes that are used on its UK services. In its trading update the company did not expand on its strategy of building its presence in continental Europe but it is understood that Flybe is standing by plans to add 35 Embraer aircraft to its 68-strong fleet, with the option of buying 105 more. The £66m float proceeds have been earmarked for the expansion, which includes codeshare deals where it operates flights on another carrier’s behalf. Iata warning The International Air Transport Association (Iata) warned that the financial markets have taken a bearish stance on airlines. Airline share prices have underperformed stock markets by 17% this year, Iata said, and investors now fear that carriers will be hard hit by higher fuel costs – about a quarter of the industry’s cost base – and the consequent effect on demand as higher prices hit sales. “Financial markets, bullish over airlines through 2010, now believe the industry will suffer more than most in this high fuel cost and demand-shock environment,” said Iata. Flybe said demand from business travellers, who account for 45% of its customers, remained strong. “This sector has proved very resilient,” said Flybe, echoing recent comments by Iata, which said demand for business class travel was holding up more strongly than in the back of the cabin. The premium airline market grew 7.7% in February, compared with a 3.3% improvement in economy class traffic.

  guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.

  Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogFlybe profit warning sends share price crashing down

  Related posts:Oil price surge risking global recovery, says IEA chief Oil price soars after UN resolution against Muammar Gaddafi Oil price jumps nearly $2 on continuing concerns about Libya and Bahrain

  

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  May 5 2011, 12:46pm | Comments »

• I posted to distributedresearch.net

  Portuguese learn price of €78bn debt bailout

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/05/04/portuguese-learn-price-of-e78bn-debt-bailout

  Health and education spending in Portugal to be cut by €745m, state pensions reduced and major building projects axed

  This article titled “Portuguese learn price of €78bn debt bailout” was written by Giles Tremlett, for The Guardian on Wednesday 4th May 2011 15.20 UTC

  Portugal woke up to the price of its €78bn (£70bn) bailout on Wednesday as new airports and high-speed rail lines were sacrificed in a package of austerity measures and the government pledged to freeze pensions and shrink the civil service. Lisbon’s new international airport, already on hold, and the building of a high-speed rail link between Lisbon and Oporto will now be put back until after 2013, according to state news agency Lusa. Health and education spending will be cut by €745m, civil service pay and pensions will be frozen, and people on state pensions above €1,500 a month will have them reduced. Civil service staffing is to be squeezed by 1% a year in central government, while regional administrations and town halls will be told to shed 2% of their employees annually. Portugal’s banks will take up to €12bn of the bailout funds to rebuild their capital ratios, according to reports. The banks would have to raise their core tier one capital ratio – a gauge of higher quality capital that mainly comprises equity and retained earnings – to 9% at the end of this year and to 10% by the end of 2012, Reuters said. The country will also carry out a fire sale of the nationalised Banco Português de Negócios (BPN) bank. “The authorities are launching a process to sell BPN on an accelerated schedule and without a minimum price,” according to a memorandum of understanding seen by the Guardian, which added that the sale should be finished in July. Portugal is expected to reduce public spending by 3.4% of its GDP this year and raise an extra 1.7% of GDP by raising taxes on cars, tobacco and electricity and getting rid of income and corporation tax loopholes. A detailed investigation of public-private partnerships (PPPs), which have been used for building hospitals, roads and rail lines, will be carried out to see if they are hiding extra government debt. New PPP projects will be suspended. José Sócrates, Portugal’s caretaker prime minister, announced the areas that would remain untouched when he explained the bailout during a television address to the nation on Tuesday night. These included pensions for the worse-off and the retirement age. But he failed to reveal what austerity measures came with the bailout package, beyond saying they would be similar to those rejected by parliament in March. The March defeat brought down his minority socialist government and a snap election was called for 5 June. Polls show the opposition Social Democrat Party (PSD), which rejected the March austerity package, may win that vote. Representatives of the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank met Social Democrat leaders on Wednesday morning to seek their backing for the plan. “The PSD will give its opinion on what it has read and heard late today or early tomorrow,” said Carlos Moedas, the party’s economics advisor, after the meeting. Social Democrat leaders had already indicated they might change elements of any bailout-related austerity package if they were elected to government, although always with the aim of hitting this year’s target of reducing the budget deficit to 5.9% of GDP. The IMF said: “We have said from the start that it is important that any agreement have multi-party support and we shall continue in our efforts with opposition parties to show that this is the case.” Portugal managed to raise €1.12bn euros in three-month treasury bills today with demand almost doubling the offer, but investors insisted on a 4.65% interest rate – up from 4.05% two weeks ago. Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics in London, said the bailout might not be enough to stave off restructuring: “It won’t put an end to speculation that – along with Greece and perhaps others – it will sooner or later need to undertake some form of debt restructuring.”

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  May 4 2011, 10:30am | Comments »

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  Supermarkets kill free markets as well as our communities

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/05/03/supermarkets-kill-free-markets-as-well-as-our-communities

  Across the country local shops have been wiped out by supermarkets.

  This article titled “Supermarkets kill free markets as well as our communities” was written by Peter Wilby, for The Guardian on Tuesday 3rd May 2011 20.00 UTC A few weeks ago our last local butcher closed. When we moved to this suburban Essex town 40 years ago, it had six specialist shops selling fresh meat. The last independent greengrocer disappeared nearly two decades ago. Happily, we still have an independent baker close by, and even a fishmonger a brisk 25-minute walk away. But for how long? Across the country the small retailer is being wiped out. In the whole of Britain there are fewer than 1,000 specialist fishmongers, 7,000 butchers and 4,000 greengrocers, and barely 3,000 independent bakeries. In all these categories, the number of specialists has fallen by 90% since the 1950s, and at least 40% in the last decade alone. They have been driven out by supermarkets, which now sell 97% of our food, with four chains accounting for 76%. Next to the motor car, nothing else has so radically changed the look and texture of our environment over the last half-century – creating what the New Economics Foundation calls “clone-town Britain” where every high street has the same shops. Until now politicians have had almost nothing to say about it. However, last Sunday the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, was asked about the “Tesco-isation” of high streets – a subject prompted by two riots in Bristol over a Tesco store – and said: “I think that is an issue, yes, and it is something that we’re looking at.” Hardly a rallying cry, but an encouraging change from the standard political response, endorsed by the Competition Commission in 2008, that consumers like the low prices, range of goods and quality offered by supermarkets. An advance too from Labour’s position in Scotland: in February it helped defeat the SNP minority government’s proposal to impose a “supermarket tax” on retail premises worth £750,000 or more. Even the “good for consumers” defence of the big stores requires scrutiny. Supermarkets may offer mangoes and kiwi fruit as a blessed relief to generations who recall the surly greengrocer grunting “no demand for it” when asked for anything out of the ordinary. But the option to buy locally grown produce is increasingly closed off; many varieties of English fruit disappeared long ago. Supermarkets stock food not for its taste, but for its longevity and appearance. Conventional economists count numbers, assuming that a huge increase in toilet roll colours represents an unqualified gain to the consumer. They neglect more subtle dimensions of choice. The central issue, however, is whether “what the consumer wants” should close down the argument. What people want as consumers may not be what they want as householders, community members, producers, employees or entrepreneurs. The loss of small shops drains a locality’s economic and social capital. Money spent in independent retail outlets tends to stay in the community, providing work for local lawyers and accountants, plumbers and decorators, window cleaners and builders. US research finds that every $100 spent at a local store generates 60% more local economic activity than $100 spent in a chain store down the road. It also finds that, after the arrival of a big supermarket, participation in local charities, churches, campaign groups and even voting declines sharply. As Jane Jacobs argued in The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1960), communities are created by myriad small daily encounters: getting cooking tips from the greengrocer, hearing about a job from the butcher, recommending a good plumber at the bakery, exchanging opinions in the pub. “The sum of such casual, public contact at the local level,” wrote Jacobs, “…is a feeling for the public identity of people, a web of public respect and trust.” Supermarkets minimise human contact in the interests of efficiency and convenience, most recently by introducing self-service lanes for payment. As one critic put it, they “cut the threads that hold an engaged community together”. Such issues should concern the right as much as the left: indeed, the most hard-hitting recent report on supermarkets came from ResPublica, the “red Tory” thinktank, and points out that only 12% of Britons hold business assets – and that, when monopoly goes unchecked and a sector of the economy is in effect closed to new entrants (as the grocery sector largely is), we start to “practise capitalism without capitalists”. Becoming a small retailer once allowed an ordinary working man or woman, and particularly an Asian migrant, to aspire – often after redundancy – to independence, self-reliance and upward social mobility. Moreover, supermarkets have become not only a monopoly, giving consumers a diminishing choice of food outlets, but also a monopsony, giving suppliers little choice of buyers for their produce. They have used this power ruthlessly, forcing down prices and increasingly dictating to suppliers what they produce, where they produce it and how they package it. The casualty rate for small producers, unable to survive on the supermarkets’ terms, is almost as great as for small shops. The effect on wages and working conditions in the food industry is well known, but the effect on what is supposed to be a free market is less often considered. Eastern European regimes, dictating from remote, central offices who could grow how much of what, were once regarded with horror. Even western governments were denounced when they adopted industrial policies to choose “winners” and “losers”. Tesco does that every day, and its suppliers have as little recourse to legal or political redress as a Soviet peasant.

  The supermarkets are classic examples of what has been called the tyranny of small choices. Any rational individual will buy most of his or her food and household goods from a big store because prices are lower, choice greater, quality more consistent, and service speedier. I may have the time and money to tour smaller shops. My neighbour, while recognising he may get something better from a specialist retailer, may judge that it will not be so reliably better (for my parents’ generation, supermarkets were liberators from the risks of mouldy cheddar and maggoty apples) as to justify the extra cost and time. Neither of us will take much account of community cohesion or local employment, still less of the dangers of monopoly and monopsony. This is where we should look to politicians for a larger view. They need not confront supermarkets directly, which clearly terrifies them. But they can partially re-create, and preserve what is left of, the independent retail sector through, for example, tax concessions; a community right to take over or find buyers for threatened businesses; and enhanced powers for local councils to protect retail competitiveness. This is an issue – straddling political and ideological boundaries and putting flesh on the abstractions of communities, big societies and social mobility – that Miliband and the Labour leadership, encouraged by the stirrings in Bristol, should seize.

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  May 3 2011, 5:17pm | Comments »

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  MPs step up pressure to remutualise Northern Rock

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/05/02/mps-step-up-pressure-to-remutualise-northern-rock

  Support grows for motion tabled by MP Chuka Umunna to return nationalised lender to the mutual sector. That means the Northern Rock Bank would become the Northern Rock Building Society again, a mutual building society without any shareholders.

  This article titled “MPs step up pressure to remutualise Northern Rock” was written by Jill Treanor, for The Observer on Saturday 30th April 2011 23.06 UTC Political pressure for the remutualisation of Northern Rock is gathering strength: 100 members of parliament have signed an early day motion backing the return of the nationalised lender to the mutual sector. Chuka Umunna, the Labour MP who tabled the motion, said 19 MPs had lent their support in the past week. Northern Rock and UK Financial Investments (UKFI), which looks after the taxpayer’s interests in the bailed-out banks, have appointed Deutsche Bank to explore options for the Newcastle-based lender. Deutsche will present ideas to UKFI that could be used as the basis of any recommendations made about Northern Rock to the chancellor. The lender, notorious for granting 125% mortgages before the financial crisis, was nationalised by Labour in February 2008 after it suffered the first UK bank run in living memory and thousands of anxious depositors queued round the block to withdraw funds amid fears about its solvency. After it was rescued by the government, the bank was split to create Northern Rock plc, the “good” bank that has resumed lending, and Northern Rock Asset Management, the “bad” bank that was merged with Bradford & Bingley’s mortgage business, another nationalised casualty of the credit crunch. Deutsche is looking at the options for Northern Rock plc. While Labour was in office, the then Treasury minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry revealed that ways of remutualising Northern Rock had been considered, but warned: “I’m not pretending it’s going to be easy.” Coventry building society has presented itself as being interested in linking up with Northern Rock, although little information has emerged as to how it might facilitate any deal. An analysis by Landman Economics has suggested that “profit participating deferred shares” could help the government recoup the money tied up in the lender. Landman’s analysis concludes that a trade sale or stock market flotation would not raise enough funds to pay back the taxpayer in full. Labour ex-minister Gareth Thomas, who has campaigned for the Rock to be remutualised, said he had doubts about whether George Osborne was interested. “I do not believe the Treasury is taking this seriously,” he said. Another option is merging the 70 Northern Rock branches with the 600 that Lloyds Banking Group has to sell to comply with EU rules on state aid.

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  May 2 2011, 9:51am | Comments »

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  Tesco protesters charged after second night of violence in Bristol

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/05/02/tesco-protesters-charged-after-second-night-of-violence-in-bristol

  Police appeal for informants to identify others involved in violent disorder surrounding Tesco opening in Bristol Stokes Croft riots area

  This article titled “Tesco protesters charged after second night of violence in Bristol” was written by Jamie Doward, for The Observer on Saturday 30th April 2011 23.06 UTC Two people have been charged following a second round of violent protests against the opening of a Tesco shop in Bristol. Stephen Carroll, 32, was charged with assaulting a police officer and criminal damage. A 17-year-old, who cannot be named, is accused of violent disorder and theft. The two were among 30 people detained after violence in the Stokes Croft area of the city saw officers and protesters injured early on Friday. A further 13 men and two women remain in custody, while 12 men have been released on bail pending further inquiries, police said. The violence, which saw stones, bottles and other missiles thrown, came a week after high-profile demonstrations followed the shop’s opening. CCTV images of more than 80 people were issued by police following the first eruption, which came after officers raided a flat in search of petrol bombs they believed were about to be thrown at the shop. “I am appealing to the community, to residents, and traders and other people whose lives have been severely disrupted, whose property may have been damaged and whose personal safety may have been put at risk by the violence,” said assistant chief constable Rod Hansen. “I urge people to study the photographs, and if you think you know any of these people and where they might be, please contact us.” Police said Thursday night’s demonstration began as a “good-spirited event” attended by eight neighbourhood beat officers. But the crowd grew from about 250 to more than 400.

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  May 2 2011, 9:33am | Comments »

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  Popularity of fish pedicures fuels health and animal welfare concerns

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/05/01/popularity-of-fish-pedicures-animal-welfare

  Fish pedicure Ban in a dozen US states prompts British scientists to investigate risk posed by treatment amid animal welfare concerns. Have you tried a fish pedicure? What happens to the fish afterwards?

  This article titled “Popularity of fish pedicures fuels health and animal welfare concerns” was written by Tracy McVeigh, for The Observer on Saturday 30th April 2011 23.05 UTC One of the fastest-growing beauty treatments in Britain, fish pedicures – during which tiny toothless carp smooth down feet by eating dead skin – has come under new scrutiny from health experts and animal rights campaigners. The number of UK outlets offering pedicures with Garra rufa – fish that lift off hard skin and, through an enzyme in their saliva, diathanol, are thought to heal conditions such as psoriasis and eczema – is growing rapidly. As the craze catches on, beauty salons are already starting to move on to full body immersion tanks. But even for those who can get past the “ick” factor, the treatment is not without controversy. Following the decision by more than a dozen states in the US to ban the pedicures over fears they could spread infections and disease, scientists from the Health Protection Agency have begun an investigation into potential risks. A spokesperson for the agency said that, while it did not expect to be enforcing a ban in the UK and believed the risk of catching an infection from a fish foot spa to be “very small”, it was looking at publishing guidelines for the public. “The HPA and Health Protection Scotland are currently unaware of any cases of infection associated with the use of fish spa pedicures in the UK,” the spokesperson said. “However, following a number of inquiries to the HPA from local environmental health officers, the HPA, Health Protection Scotland and the Health and Safety Laboratory are currently examining the most up-to-date evidence and will publish practical advice to help both salons and the public to minimise any possible risk in due course.” Animal rights groups have also voiced alarm over the conditions in which the fish are kept. “We do have concerns about the welfare of any fish involved in this practice,” a spokeswoman for the RSPCA told the Observer. “Fish are covered by the Animal Welfare Act. They need a stable environment, with the correct water quality and temperature range. Sudden changes in temperature should be avoided as they can severely compromise welfare and even kill the animals. Water quality is of paramount importance in maintaining healthy fish. Having people bathe in the water with the fish is likely to affect quality, particularly if they are wearing any lotions or other toiletries that could leach into the water. Similarly, chemicals used to disinfect tanks and to clean patients’ feet beforehand would have to be non-toxic to the fish.” The practice of using Garra rufa fish – often called “doctor fish” – to heal skin dates back over 400 years in their native southern Turkish river basins. Turkey’s government has now made the Garra rufa a protected species over concerns about over-exploitation by spas, which has led to some outlets in the US using the chin chin, which masquerades as a Garra rufa but doesn’t do the job as well and often dies in the process. In the UK the business is booming, helped by the cheap cost of setting up. At least three companies run franchise operations for fish pedicures and several dozen online offer complete kits for a Garra rufa business. One firm, Appy Feet, has opened 21 stores throughout the UK with double that planned. “Appy Feet is extremely popular with both sexes and all age groups and the interest continues to grow. It is not just people trying the treatment for the novelty factor, many of the customers are regulars who come for a treatment around one to two times a month,” said a spokeswoman, who added that the welfare of the fish was high on their agenda. BEASTLY BEAUTY

  Bull semen A moisturing hair treatment is on offer at a London salon that uses the sperm of Angus bulls.

  Ox bone-marrow shampoo Exactly what it says on the bottle. From Brazil.

  Nightingale droppings Salons in Japan and New York offer the so-called Geisha facial as a cleanser. Victoria Beckham is allegedly a fan.

  Snail slime Farmers in Chile raising snails for the French market discovered secretions gave them smooth and soft hands. They now produce an ooze-filled hand cream.

  Snake venom Several face creams contain a protein that is a replica of the venom produced by the temple viper, claimed by some to have the same face-freezing effects as Botox.

  Leech Therapy Used for centuries to treat disease and still used in medicine, the slimy parasites now appear in a “detox” spa in Austria beloved of celebrities such as Demi Moore.

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  May 1 2011, 7:23am | Comments »

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  Game facing 60% drop in profits, warn retail analysts

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/04/26/game-facing-60-drop-in-profits-warn-retail-analysts

  The computer game retailer Game, is expected to publish results badly affected by the rise of digital downloads in the same way as music filesharing has hit record shops.

  This article titled “Game facing 60% drop in profits, warn retail analysts” was written by Andrew Clark, for The Observer on Saturday 23rd April 2011 23.06 UTC Britain’s leading computer games retailer, Game, is likely to reveal a plunge in profits of up to 60% this week as electronic entertainment enthusiasts shun high street shops in favour of digital downloads. Game, which is expected to name former Ladbrokes boss Chris Bell to replace its soon-to-retire chairman Peter Lewis, is forecast by analysts to deliver profits of £37m-£39m for the year to January, a dramatic drop from £90m a year ago, in spite of the success of hit games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops and Fight Night Champion. In common with music specialist HMV, the company is facing fundamental structural challenges as sales migrate onto the internet. In a strategic review in February, Game promised a “step change” in its own online offering, pledging to triple digital sales to £300m by 2013 to offset weak trading at its 1,300 shops. Analysts at Deutsche Bank have suggested Game could be a takeover target for US retailer Gamestop, which has a handful of shops in Britain and is rumoured to be considering expansion.

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  April 26 2011, 12:48pm | Comments »

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  Seasonal water metering is seen as a con by consumers, study finds

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/04/26/seasonal-water-metering-is-seen-as-a-con-by-consumers-study-finds

  Public anger grows over proposed seasonal water tariffs, as utility companies look for ways to save the UK’s supply

  This article titled “Seasonal water metering is seen as a con by consumers, study finds” was written by Jamie Doward and Mario Ledwith, for The Observer on Saturday 23rd April 2011 23.06 UTC The race to provide Britain with a sustainable water supply is already generating the first of what is likely to be a long list of controversies. As the UK basks in temperatures that put Athens in the shade and with rivers already running low, utility companies are under increasing pressure to preserve water. But the most comprehensive study of its kind suggests the leading option for ensuring the UK enjoys a sustainable water supply – metering – is hitting the poorest hardest and is viewed with suspicion by consumers who believe it is a ruse by utility companies to increase their profits. The study by Wessex Water, which supplies water to more than one million households in the west country, found the introduction of meters reduced customer demand by 17%, higher than previous estimates. The reduction was even greater if the meters were tied to a tariff system that saw the price of water rise in the summer, an increasingly popular option being considered by the utility companies, but one which has caused widespread anger among consumers. The Wessex study, the largest since metering was introduced 20 years ago, found 15% of customers saw their annual bills rise by more than £100 after flat-rate metered systems were installed. A quarter of the poorest customers saw their bills increase by more than £50. Phil Wickens, tariffs manager at Wessex Water, acknowledged his company had one of the highest water rates in the UK, but said that it was vital the industry introduced a new charging system if the UK was to have a sustainable supply. “We want a charging system that gives us the ability to meet future challenges in the long term,” Wickens said. “Climate change and population growth are going to place pressure on the need for increased investment. In order for us to secure that investment we really need all of our customers to be willing and able to pay their bills. There is a commercial incentive for raising these issues now.” Household water bills have increased by more than 50% in real terms since 1989, partly due to investment costs. But the financial burden on customers is becoming a key issue, with an increasing number refusing to pay their bills. Wessex estimates its underlying bad debt has doubled over the past decade, with the figure expected to rise further given economic conditions. It is estimated that the average customer now pays an extra £12 a year to cover unpaid water bills. Experts suggest establishing a fair charging system is vital if more schemes, such as the new £270m Thames Water desalination plant that filters salt from water in the Thames estuary, are to get the go-ahead. A failure to address water sustainability could have serious repercussions for the UK. The current spell of hot weather has already triggered warnings that farmers in some regions will have to limit their use of water. Several rivers in England and Wales are reportedly at “exceptionally low” levels, raising fears there will be a need for hosepipe bans. The Environment Agency said two months of unusually dry weather has left 11 rivers at extremely low levels of the kind seen only once every 20 years. The government is currently consulting on water sustainability, and environment minister Caroline Spelman is reportedly in favour of metering as a key part of its response. All new homes built since 1989 have had to be fitted with water meters, and an increasing number of people opt for them. Just under half of all UK customers now have a water meter, and it is predicted that all households will have one fitted in the future. But the shift to metering has prompted concern among charities. The Fairness on Tap (FoT) coalition – made up of 12 leading environmental organisations, including the WWF and the National Trust – is calling for a national switch to water metering. The coalition claims the current system of water charging is outdated, unfair and encourages wastage, with many households paying a flat “all you can use” charge, giving them no incentive to be water-efficient. However, the previous charging system, with water bills linked to the rateable values of homes, protected the poorest in society from excessively high bills. “The industry has been moving from a system based on rateable values that were set as part of local authority charging back in the late 80s,” Wickens said. “Lower income customers were paying less than higher income customers, but as we are gradually moving towards metered charging that social protection is winding out.” Creating a fairer charging system has seen some water companies experiment with higher charges in the summer. The option, being tested in more than 1,000 homes by Wessex, has resulted in a “step change” in consumer behaviour, says the company. Wickens said: “Higher income customers with bigger gardens end up paying a fairer chunk than lower income customers.” The new form of charging is likely to trigger animosity among households in the “squeezed middle”, who may fear they will be hit disproportionately. However, the Wessex study found almost all customers opposed to seasonal tariffs. “Customers are cynical about companies changing the way they are charged; they assume it’s about making money, like travel companies charging more on holidays, but in our case it isn’t,” Wickens said. “Even if we had a dry summer and generated more income, the regulator takes that money off us.”

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  April 26 2011, 11:01am | Comments »

• I posted to distributedresearch.net

  Spotify to halve free music allowance

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/04/14/spotify-to-halve-free-music-allowance

  Spotify is notorious amongst musicians for only paying a fraction of the royalties that other online music sites pay to bands. But it’s popular with music fans for allowing them to listen to almost anything on demand. Now they are being forced to bring in new restrictions

  This article titled “Spotify to halve free music allowance” was written by Josh Halliday, for guardian.co.uk on Thursday 14th April 2011 09.31 UTC Spotify is to cut back the amount of free listening available to users from 20 to 10 hours.

  From 1 May, the music streaming service will reduce by half the amount of free music available to its six million users in the UK and Europe.

  Under the new restrictions, non-subscribers will only be allowed to listen to an individual track a maximum of five times. New users will be moved on to the restricted model within six months; it will apply to existing users from 1 May.

  Since its 2008 launch, Spotify’s free offering has proved popular enough to tempt more than 1 million people to become paying customers.

  Daniel Ek, Spotify’s co-founder, announced the changes in a blogpost on the company’s website on Thursday.

  “Making Spotify available to millions across Europe has seen the service become incredibly popular. People are listening to more music and from a wider range of artists than ever before, and are giving up on piracy, which is exactly what we hoped would happen,” he said.

  “So it’s vital that we continue offering an on-demand free service to you and millions more like you, but to make that possible we have to put some limits in place going forward.”

  Ek said that the changes would mainly affect heavier users of the service, and that users would still be able to listen to around 200 tracks or 20 albums for free each month.

  The move will no doubt rankle with some music fans, who had grown used to Spotify’s free streaming service being “too good to be true“.

  The first commenter on Spotify’s official blogpost lamented: “So long Spotify. It was nice knowing you. Guess I’ll go back to pirating music again then.”

  More details soon…

  • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook

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  April 14 2011, 6:19am | Comments »

• I posted to distributedresearch.net

  Turkey eggs make UK supermarket debut

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/04/10/turkey-eggs-make-uk-supermarket-debut

  I like duck eggs myself, but not necessarily from Waitrose.

  This article titled “Turkey eggs make UK supermarket debut” was written by Rebecca Smithers, for The Guardian on Sunday 10th April 2011 14.14 UTC They are one of the best-kept secrets of the baking world, but shoppers have never before been able to buy them on the UK high street. Next week, however, turkey eggs will go on sale in supermarkets for the first time in response to demand from consumers keen to cook with a growing range of speciality eggs. Retailers report healthy year-on-year sales of duck, goose, quail and even ostrich eggs as a more interesting and distinctive-tasting alternative to traditional hens’ eggs. Turkey eggs – which will make their debut in Waitrose – have never been sold by retailers because turkeys lay fewer eggs than hens and most of them are used for breeding the Christmas birds. The chef Jamie Oliver has used turkey eggs in his test kitchens. They are about one and a half times the size of large hens’ eggs and are strongly recommended for baking, giving cakes a light and fluffy texture. They are also suitable for soft boiling, scrambling and poaching. The Waitrose eggs buyer, Frances Westerman, said the supermarket had decided to stock the eggs in response to customer demand “Turkey eggs are the most asked-for speciality eggs amongst our customers,” she said. “They have excellent cooking qualities and, because they are they’re bigger than hens’ eggs, you need two instead of three to make a really light sponge cake.” The eggs will be on sale in selected Waitrose stores until late August, when the laying season ends, and will cost £1.99 for a pack of two. Later this month, the chain will also stock rhea eggs – 10 times the size of medium hens’ eggs, which take roughly 90 minutes to hard boil – costing £25 each. Selfridges sells the full range of eggs supplied by the Cornwall-based speciality breeders Clarence Court – goose, ostrich, hens, guinea fowl, quail and duck – endorsed by chefs and restaurateurs such as Mark Hix, who is keen to show the potential of eggs beyond boiling and scrambling. The store will be stocking gulls’ eggs when they come into season later this month, and says its food halls attract a high number of customers looking for speciality goods. The Selfridges chilled goods buyer, Elizabeth Hastrip said: “We’re also seeing a big spike for quail’s eggs at present – up 20% on this time last year. Goose eggs have only just come into store, but they’re performing about 20% above expectation at the moment.” Of other supermarkets, Sainsbury’s stocks duck and quail eggs and reports a year-on-year rise in sales of 10.9% and 1% respectively. Overall, sales of eggs in the UK grew by 2.6% last year, according to TNS Superpanel data, but Britons still lagged behind many other countries in egg consumption.

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  April 10 2011, 12:41pm | Comments »

• I posted to distributedresearch.net

  Sleep in or work from home: minister’s plans to ease rush hour

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/04/08/sleep-in-or-work-from-home-ministers-plans-to-ease-rush-hour

  I’ve been doing this for 3 or 4 years now. Transport minister says ‘it is crazy these days for people to go to work when work can come to people’  But once people get the taste for working from home, they may well also realise that it isn’t necessary to work for corporations any more either, and so the pyjama nation disruption of old work patterns continues apace.

  This article titled “Sleep in or work from home: minister’s plans to ease rush hour” was written by Polly Curtis, Whitehall correspondent, for The Guardian on Wednesday 6th April 2011 23.07 UTC The transport minister, Norman Baker, wants to dramatically reduce rush hour in the capital and across the country by convincing companies to let people work from home, come in late, or set up satellite offices that will create commuting routes which go against existing traffic. Ministers are investigating tactics to “nudge” people into abandoning the rush hour, such as convincing train, tube and bus companies to offer bigger discounts for travelling outside the busiest hours. Instead of just peak and off-peak fares, the price of a journey could be staggered incrementally, with the most expensive fares around the times of 9am and 5pm. The system could be organised so that a 6.30am fare is cheaper than a 7.30am fare, for instance. “It is crazy these days for people to go to work when work can come to people. It is even crazier that we all travel on the same train on the same day at the same time. We should be able to spread the peak across different times,” Baker said. The plan would reduce carbon emissions, but ministers are also warning that there is urgency to fast-track changes to the rush hour because of the Olympics, warning that it would be “impossible” for the capital to accommodate the visitors anticipated for the games as well as going about its business as usual. Baker said: “We are going to have a gigantic influx of people all wanting to travel to see their events and it is simply not possible for everything to keep running if every one carries on as normal, so you have got to work differently to do this.” “This is not just the Olympics. It is winter too. Should business shut down when it snows? No. Should government spend taxpayers’ money investing in hundreds of snow ploughs? No. We should make sure we can carry on in business and government without everyone needing to travel in that period.” Options being considered include new “office hubs” in rural areas which would allow people to hotdesk closer to home. Some might have childcare facilities attached in “co-working” zones. Flexi-working, late or early starts, could stagger the rush hour and give people a greater work-life balance. More video-conferencing might mean people don’t have to leave home at all. The Trades Union Congress is backing the consultation. A TUC spokesman said they were pleased the minister was taking an interest. Staggering payments to encourage people to travel outside rush hour have been most stringently applied in Singapore, which also began the first road-pricing scheme in 1975. The system adjusts the price according to how busy the roads are at the time of driving. Singapore also has some of the world’s highest car taxes, and new cars are rationed in a bid to keep the state, the size of the Isle of Wight and having 4 million residents, congestion free.

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  April 8 2011, 6:07am | Comments »

• I posted to distributedresearch.net

  Portugal admits it needs EU bailout

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/04/07/portugal-admits-it-needs-eu-bailout

  Finance minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos says Portugal has ‘to resort to the financing mechanisms’ of the EU. That means a bailout.

  This article titled “Portugal admits it needs EU bailout” was written by Larry Elliott, Heather Stewart and Simon Goodley, for The Guardian on Wednesday 6th April 2011 19.36 UTC Portugal admitted tonight that it will need aid from the European Union to overcome its financial troubles, as the country’s crisis intensified. Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, the finance minister, said: “In this difficult situation, which could have been avoided, I understand that it is necessary to resort to the financing mechanisms available within the European framework.” It was not clear from the comment whether he was referring to a short-term loan until the country’s 5 June snap general election or a fully-fledged bailout such as the ones received by Greece and Ireland – and which markets widely expect Lisbon to need next. The comments came as fears grew of a fresh debt crisis for weak countries on the fringes of the single currency zone as the European Central Bank prepared to start raising interest rates from the emergency level plumbed during the financial crisis. The euro rose on the foreign exchanges today in expectation that the European Central Bank would raise borrowing costs from 1% and signal further policy tightening in the months ahead. But City economists warned that the move would add to debt servicing costs and prove more problematic for countries such as Portugal and Ireland than for the core single country nations of Germany and France. Ben May, of Capital Economics, said: “If interest rates were to rise in line with market expectations, their impact would be greatest in the periphery and may prompt a further escalation of the region’s fiscal crisis. “Higher official interest rates will not only lower economic growth in the periphery, but will also prompt the average interest rate that governments pay on their debts to rise. Other things equal, then, higher interest rates will increase the chance of peripheral government debt spiralling out of control.” Along with other central banks, the ECB slashed interest rates during the financial crisis in an attempt to pull Europe out of recession, but it has responded to rising inflation in recent months with clear signals that borrowing costs will rise. The euro’s strength coincided with a rise in the price of gold to $1,454.84 an ounce. Marchel Alexandrovich, of Jeffries International, said a 1% increase in ECB rates would mean that mortgage debt interest payments of euro area households would rise by around 7% on average, but there would be a 30% jump in debt services payments for households in Portugal and Finland, a 15% increase in Ireland and around a 10% rise in Spain and Italy. “In aggregate, debt interest payments for the euro area households and non-financial corporations would rise by around 0.3% of GDP if ECB rates are one percentage point higher,” he said. “But Germany and France would see a rise of just around 0.1% of GDP, while Portugal, Spain and Ireland would see increases equivalent to 0.8% of GDP. “The countries which least welcome higher interest rates on economic fundamentals are likely to be the ones most affected by them. One more reason why the ECB would be wise to tread very carefully in the months ahead.” Several of Portugal’s banks have been calling on the government to accept help from its eurozone partners, warning that they can no longer continue to buy up Portuguese debt. Lisbon needs to find almost €5bn in repayments this month and another €27bn in June. The rising interest rate on Portuguese borrowing has added to the sense of crisis in the eurozone, amid reports that Greece is under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to default on its borrowing. The Irish government is understood to be concerned about weaker-than-expected tax revenues and the vulnerability of its banking sector. An informal meeting of European finance ministers is planned for Friday

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  April 7 2011, 2:35am | Comments »

• I posted to distributedresearch.net

  Honda considers suspending UK production after Japanese crisis

  http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/04/07/honda-considers-suspending-uk-production-after-japanese-crisis

  Carmakers Honda are considering a plan for coping with the parts shortage in Swindon as the global impact of earthquake and tsunami takes hold

  This article titled “Honda considers suspending UK production after Japanese crisis” was written by Tom Bawden and Justin McCurry in Tokyo, for The Observer on Saturday 2nd April 2011 23.13 UTC Honda could be forced to halt production at its car plant in Swindon next month as the repercussions of Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami reach British factories. At a crunch meeting this week, the Japanese carmaker will agree a plan on how to tackle the growing shortage of key components such as satnavs. Executives will discuss a range of options, including a temporary closure of the Swindon plant, which employs about 3,000 staff, or a period of reduced production. The plant makes about 165,000 Civics, CR-V compact SUVs, and Jazz superminis a year and is braced for a shortage of electronic, electrical and brake parts. Each car comprises about 20,000 parts, 10% to 15% of which come from Japan. A Honda spokesman said: “All scenarios are a possibility. There will be an impact, although it won’t be till May. We don’t yet know what to do to get around the issue, but a decision will be made some time this week.” Honda is by no means alone, with car manufacturers around the world expecting interruptions to production as component shortages spread worldwide. Toyota’s UK plants in Burnaston, near Derby, and in north Wales are to continue a ban on daily overtime and fortnightly Saturday shifts imposed around the middle of last month, while a Nissan spokesman said the group was “constantly monitoring the situation in the UK and all over its operations”. The shortage of parts in the UK is expected to become increasingly significant over the next month, since many components from Japan take six weeks to arrive. Paul Everitt, the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), said: “The disruption in Japan will have an impact on the UK motor industry, but the scale and timing remain very uncertain.” Initially, carmakers had hoped that most component manufacturers in Japan would be up and running in time to ensure minimal interruptions to overseas supplies. However, in the past fortnight it has become increasingly apparent that the damage and power shortages in Japan will have an impact overseas. Professor ManMohan Sodhi, an expert in supply chain management at Cass Business School in London, said: “There has been an aftershock in car manufacturing that mirrors the aftershocks from an earthquake. They may be smaller, but they are still significant.” In Japan, the economic damage caused by the crisis is already evident. Sales of new vehicles plummeted by 37% in March, the biggest monthly decline since 1974. Although none of the major car manufacturers suffered serious damage to factories, most cannot return to full operation until at least mid-May. Toyota had to halt production at all 18 of its plants in Japan immediately after the earthquake, although two have since reopened to produce a limited number of Prius and two other hybrid models. Honda said it would resume making parts for export markets tomorrow, with production due to restart at all its Japanese factories seven days later – but only at half their original capacity. The firm has not said when manufacturing will return to normal. Nissan, which estimated that its production fell by 55,000 vehicles in March, said it would resume normal operations by mid-April at all but one of its assembly plants. The exception is a factory in Iwaki, north-east Japan, located just 50km from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

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  April 6 2011, 6:32pm | Comments »

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