The sea is an abundant source of energy and, with traditional supplies constantly fluctuating in price and subject to extinction, wave power could be an ideal solution for many countries (particularly Ireland). A good number of start-ups in the US and Britain have seen the potential business opportunities; Earth2Tech has a snapshot of 13 that are worth watching.
Over at Dark Roasted Blend there’s a gallery of Tsarist and Soviet ads, including the above one for juice. Any juice. Some of them are for products and not brands — demand more!
The North-South deal allowing companies in the Republic to set up branches over the Border is great news for the all-island economy. As The Irish Times puts it:
Brian Cowen and Peter Robinson have described a new initiative to potentially transfer thousands of jobs originally earmarked for the financial services sector in the Republic to Northern Ireland as a “win-win” situation for both economies.
Cue much celebratory newstype about the benefits for both sides. But then comes the final two paragraphs:
The International Financial Services Centre, which was established when Charles Haughey was taoiseach, is one of the key successes of the modern Irish economy. It has attracted some of the world’s top financial companies, such as Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan (Chase), Citibank, Amro, and ABN Amro, which enjoy special tax breaks.
University of Ulster economist Mike Smyth said the political ramifications of the financial services sectors North and South moving closer together had little relevance in international finance.
What a peculiar quote to include. The story flows along well, all positive and shining before it comes to a sharp stop which leaves the reader go “huh?”
On another note, the Times and the Irish Independent both led with the story, while the Irish Examiner buried it in something about “no Chuckle Brothers II” between Martin McGuinnes and Peter Robinson, who will succeed Ian Paisley as the North’s first minister. Obviously I can only see the website and not the paper, so I might be wrong…
UPDATE: RTE did the same, slipping it in as a detail on Robinson being elected to lead the Democratic Unionist Party.
French newspaper Le Monde is cutting about 130 jobs, including a quarter of its journalists. Or rather, management wants to shed the jobs; the journalists have a sizable stake and could veto the plan. It lost E20m in 2007 and has debt of about E150m, despite growing its circulation to more than 310,000, which is twice that of Ireland’s biggest-circulating newspaper, the Irish Independent. It’s a fair sight bigger than UAE papers too.
Only $850m (E545m)? When MySpace and Facebook are valued at $15bn?
It was inevitable that the voracious march of consumer technology would lead to casualties, though I think this one has been something of a slow-bleeder.
Polaroid is dropping the technology it pioneered long before digital photography rendered instant film obsolete to all but a few nostalgia buffs.
The firm is closing factories in Massachusetts, Mexico and the Netherlands and cutting 450 jobs as the brand synonymous with instant images focuses on ventures such as a portable printers for images from mobile phones and digital cameras, televisions and DVD players.
The company, which once employed 21,000 people, had (stupidly) believed it didn’t have to embrace digital technology, thinking traditionalists would stick with the old-school tech.