Sleekly styled, very well built and turned out with a poise and presence which is right up there, the new multi-faceted Indigo Manza is sure to stir up the hornet’s nest which is the present day C-segment says Adil Jal Darukhanawala after an exclusive first drive

If ever one needs reminding as to how effectively Tata Motors has progressed as a car maker, one only needs to sense, see and experience its newest products. From the time the Indica Vista appeared on our roads, the going seems to have changed completely. The ground-breaking Nano seemed to indicate a whole new paradigm shift for the automotive world but Tata Motors didn’t seem eager to step off the throttle pedal. And while a few yet seem to look at the Indian firm somewhat disparagingly, it is this determined drive which is so very indicative of an automobile firm eager to stand up and be counted in its peer group.

The latest Indigo Manza sedan is yet more proof of the above. And lest someone suggest that it is but an Indica Vista with a boot, it would be doing India’s largest indigenous car maker and its latest product a huge disservice. The Indigo Manza is an all new sedan which like its Indo-Italian stablemate – the Fiat Linea, oozes grace and elegance and doesn’t look at all as if the boot has been grafted on in a tacky manner.

If anything, the Indigo Manza (Manza supposedly means a little steer or a beautiful girl, chose what you want to believe), comes across as probably one of the best looking cars in a segment full of high profile machines strong on style and turnout. The Fiat Linea we have already mentioned but in the C-segment the Manza has also to battle the likes of the Honda City, the Ford Fiesta, the Hyundai Verna, the Chevy Aveo and the Suzuki Swift D?Zire and in the battle for making the best first impression, the Tata product does have its nose ahead.

Design and Style It isn’t hard to realize this when you take in the Manza’s profile, the crisp clean lines running front to rear and with proportions of bonnet and boot strikingly elegant, the Indigo Manza is more of a handsome Indian hunk as compared to the chic Latino flair embodied by the Fiat Linea. Both these cars are built on the very same assembly line at Fiat India’s modern Ranjangaon facility (the duo share many aggregates and also reside in the same segment), so it isn’t hard to see what rubs off on each other. The Indigo Manza’s front end has a more pronounced assertion about it with a slightly more detailed grille (than on the Indica Vista) coupled to triple-barreled head lights on either side. The large air intake on the wrap around bumper is separated from the top part by a nifty chrome strip which works brilliantly with the same sort of separator strips on the sides and on the rear bumper as well. The crisp character streak just below the Manza’s belt line seems to hold every thing in lithe tenuous action and the sculpting around the A and C-pillars indicates a fresh characterful approach to the overall package. There is nothing tacky about the rear end of the car and the overall design is harmonious rather than contrived as in the case of many others who have grown into full blown saloons from the large hatchback originals. The Manza’s 2520mm wheelbase and its large 15-inch tyres help its stance and turnout. Credit Tata Motors’ European Technical Centre then, for the Manza’s clean yet pleasing design, making it seem ample yet agile rather than huge and unwieldy, both when stationary and also on the move.

Interiors

However, open the doors and step into the interiors and you can sense that this car continues to pack in the “more car per car” Tata DNA. The cabin space of the Indigo Manza is abundantly huge and spacious while also being well thought out and crafted. The front seats (height adjustable for the driver with added lumbar support) are superbly sculpted and though I would have liked to see a bit more side support, the seats seem to hold a person well without tiring him out even after hours behind the wheel. Move on over to the rear seats and you have optimum rear seat comfort for a car in its class with abundant head, elbow and leg room. The ergonomics are perfect and the ease of ingress and egress at the rear will win many plaudits. The seat back angle and the H-points are areas where a great deal of thought has gone in to provide great occupant comfort.

The Manza’s interior is simplistically done in a duo-tone shade of plastics and fabric, and for sure has the best cabin treatment of any Tata Motors’ product but the door latches are low rent in their turnout, the one jarring detail in a tastefully configured interior. The one major improvement over the Indica Vista, and a logical one at that is the instrument binnacle now being relocated at the straight ahead position in direct view of the driver’s vision and not housed in the top central console on the dashboard. The chunky four-spoke steering wheel has large horn pad and features audio controls on the top horizontal spokes. Switchgear is pretty contemporary and fantastic to feel and activate. More so the air con controls which are now electronic switches for the servo motors to actuate the flaps and not cable controlled as in earlier Tata cars. A 2-DIN music system is standard fitment even on the base Manza Aqua and overall the car comes well equipped to begin with while the top end versions (Aura, Aura (ABS) and Aura+) definitely a rung above every other car in the segment with their list of standard features.

Engine and powertrain While the turnout and the cabin treatment and ambiance might move many subconsciously, the get up and go department hasn’t been found wanting. Tata Motors is known for its diesel acumen and it is no different here as well. The Indigo Manza gets the next power-up treatment for the famed 1.3-litre 16-valve DOHC four-cylinder Quadrajet motor which is now rated at 90 PS of power at 4000rpm and with 200Nm of torque at its disposal in the rev band from 1750 to 3000rpm. The variable geometry turbocharger has a tendency to spool up pretty quickly and help propel this 1200kg sedan to very respectable speeds from rest in a clean unflustered manner. In fact the responsiveness of the Manza’s motor is distinctly superior to what the similarly-engined Fiat Linea is capable of. A zero to 100km/h time of 17.58 seconds is respectable as is the 163km/h top speed for this car which employs a 5-speed manual gearbox but what is truly impressive is to factor in the overall performance with fuel efficiency in view. A 13.5kmpl overall fuel efficiency in our first test indicates that the new Indigo Manza could be one hell of a performer to watch out in the C-segment. This isn’t to infer that Tata Motors has given up on petrol engines. Far from it, because the Indigo Manza now comes with a 90PS Safire engine having a swept volume of 1.4-litres. This unit hasn’t just got a hike in cubic capacity but comes with a couple of new technical features which include a continuous variable cam phaser which works with the new intelligent port resizing feature to help improve driveability and boost the resultant fuel efficiency. The petrol engine is peppy and responsive on its own and the five cogs are well suited to make the best of this revvy motor which develops 116Nm of torque.

Ride quality and handling Power, torque, driveability and fuel efficiency are nothing if they are not matched by good dynamic ability and here as well the Indigo Manza makes the smiles stay plastered on the driver’s face. It is no rabble rouser or a sports car but is a rapid all round family car with good ride quality backed up with easy neutral manners and good road holding and precise well weighted steering. Of course when on full song, the 200Nm of torque being fed through the two front wheels shod with 185/60 R15 tubeless radials is a tad too much and while the car yet handles brilliantly – credit this to optimum wheelbase to track ratio and also the weight distribution, I am sure that the car on 195/55 R15 tyres would have been even better while going on to 205s would have been the best. The Indigo Manza has phenomenal body control and even though its does tend to roll when hurled into corners at speed, the occupants do stay unruffled for the most part. The steering is brilliant but we would have liked it to be a tad quicker. However as a plush upmarket saloon, the steering is eminently liveable but what is truly awesome is the poise of the car under braking. The Manza always gripped and came to a halt in a straight line whenever the anchors were thrown at speed and this is a mighty confidence-inspiring aspect of the overall drive experience. For the first time on a Tata Motors product for the domestic market, we find air bags and ABS as standard fitment on the Manza, two very welcome details which would be appreciated by many.

So how does the Manza stack up after our indepth exploratory drive? Pretty impressive is what comes quickly to mind and that she sure is. This is the best sedan ever made by Tata Motors and the fit and finish is most unlike cars from this firm. However I must add a rider to this and that in this regard there is scope for even more improvement. Pricing will play a major role in the appeal of the Manza but given the price point where the Fiat Linea resides, it can clearly be understood where the Manza would be positioned. Seems the Fiestas, Vernas, D’zires and the rest have a worthy rival to contend with.

]]> http://devasuram.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/tata-indigo-manza-first-drive/feed/ 0 devasuram Manza_main Manza_main2 Manza_design_1 Manza_design_2 Manza_interiors_1 Manza_interiors_2 Manza_engine_1 Manza_engine_2 Manza_ride_1 Manza_ride_2 Manza_verdict http://devasuram.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/mafia-wars-jobs-payouts-and-rewards/ http://devasuram.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/mafia-wars-jobs-payouts-and-rewards/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:25:00 +0000 Dennis Joseph http://devasuram.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/mafia-wars-jobs-payouts-and-rewards ]]> via: http://vgstrategies.about.com/od/facebookgames/a/Mafia-Wars-Best-Jobs-XP-Payout.htm

Mafia Wars Cheats – Mafia Wars Jobs, Payouts and Rewards

This list is designed to help you level up quickly in Mafia Wars on Facebook or MySpace. Note that the calculations here are taken from the Facebook version of Mafia Wars, which may differ slightly from the MySpace one.

Mafia Wars Jobs and Experience Payouts

Jobs in Mafia Wars are broken up into sections called Job Tiers. Lower level job tiers are designed for lower level characters, although you may find yourself going back to look for special loot or collectible items.

Use this list as reference on what job will get you the most bang for your buck! The list below is also broken up into these tiers. You’ll see the general job tier listed, followed by the individual jobs within that tier, and finally the experience ratio. How the experience ratio work. The simple answer, the higher the number, the best experience per energy.

So, if a job is listed as a ratio of 1.5x, it means that for every one energy point it costs to do the job, you get back 1.5 experience points. In addition, to make things super simple I’ve highlighted the nest job in each tier. Please keep in mind that this list does not account for any prerequisites that are needed for a job, which would in reality make the job cost more energy, and therefore lower the payout ratio.

Street Thug Jobs – Levels 1-4

Mugging – 1x
Corner Store Hold-up – 1x
Warehouse Robbery – 1x
Auto Theft – 1.33x (best experience)
Beat Up Rival Gangster – 1x
Rob a Pimp – 1x
Collect on a Loan – 1x

Associate Jobs – Levels 5-8

Collect Protection Money – 1x
Rough Up Dealers – 1x
Take Out a Rogue Cop – 1x
Perform a Hit – 1x
Bank Heist – 1.67x (best experience)
Jewelry Store Job – 1.62x
Hijack a Semi – 1.29x

Soldier Jobs – Levels 9-12

Destroy Enemy Mob Hideout – 1x
Kill a Protected Snitch – 1x
Bust a Made Man Out of Prison – 1x
Museum Break-in – 1.44 (best experience)
Fight a Haitian Gang – 1.2x
Clip the Irish Mob’s Local Enforcer – 1.22x
Steal a Tanker Truck – 1.29x

Enforcer Jobs – Levels 13-17

Federal Reserve Raid – 1.41x
Smuggle Across the Border – 1.33x
Liquor Smuggling – 1.37x
Run Illegal Poker Game – 2.06x (best experience)
Wiretap the Cops – 1.74x
Rob an Electronics Store – 1.29x
Burn Down a Tenement – 1.44x
Distill Some Liquor – 1.44x
Manufacture Tokens – 1.44x
Get Cheating Deck – 1.44x
Overtake Phone Central – 1.44x

Hitman Jobs – Levels 18-24

Repel the Yakuza – 1.73x (best experience)
Disrupt Rival Smuggling Ring – 1.62x
Invade Tong-controlled Neighborhood – 1.41x
Sell Guns to the Russian Mob – 1.68x
Protect your City against a Rival Family – 1.71x
Assassinate a Political Figure – 1.71x
Exterminate a Rival Family – 1.64x
Obtain Compromising Photos – 1.32x
Frame a Rival Capo – 1.48x

Capo Jobs – Levels 25-34

Steal an Air Freight Delivery – 1.31x
Run a Biker Gang Out of Town – 1.35x
Flip a Snitch – 1.41x
Steal Bank Records – 1.41x
Loot the Police Impound Lot – 1.17x
Recruit a Rival Crew Member – 1.52x
Dodge an FBI Tail – 1.56x
Whack a Rival Crew Leader – 1.6x (best experience)

Consigliere Jobs – Levels 35-59

Influence a Harbor Official – 1.51x
Move Stolen Merchandise – 1.66x
Snuff a Rat – 1.63x
Help a Fugitive Flee the Country – 1.67x
Dispose of a Body – 1.73x (best experience)
Ransom a Businessman’s Kids – 1.37x
Fix the Big Game – 1.4x
Steal an Arms Shipment – 1.73x

Underboss Jobs – Levels 60-99

Extort a Corrupt Judge – 1.81x
Embezzle Funds Through a Phony Company – 1.64x
Break Into the Armory – 1.4x
Rip Off the Armenian Mob – 1.6x
Muscle in on a Triad Operation – 1.8x
Ambush a Rival at a Sit Down – 1.68x
Order a Hit on a Public Official – 1.87x (best experience)
Take Over an Identity Theft Ring – 1.72x

Boss Jobs – Levels 100+

Settle a Beef… Permanently – 1.86x (best experience)
Buy Off a Federal Agent – 1.71x
Make a Deal with the Mexican Cartel – 1.75x
Blackmail the District Attorney – 1.73x
Shake Down a City Council Member – 1.7x
Make Arrangements for a Visiting Don – 1.75x
Take Control of a Casino – 1.84x
Travel to the Old Country – 1.83x

El Soldado Jobs (Cuba) – Levels 35-59

Rob Your Cab Driver – 1.6x (best experience)
Secure A Safehouse – 1.59x
Intimidate The Locals – 1.57x
Silence a Noisy Neighbor – 1.59x
Smuggle In Some Supplies – 1.57x
Set Up A Numbers Racket – 1.58x
Establish Contact With The FRG – 1.56x
Take Out The Local Police Chief – 1.57x
“Persuade” A Local To Talk – 1.59x
Assault A Snitch’s Hideout – 1.58x

El Capitan Jobs (Cuba) – Levels 60-84

Transport A Shipment of US Arms – 1.63x
Meet With The FRG Leadership – 1.68x
Hold Up a Tour Bus – 1.7x
Ambush a Military Patrol – 1.65x
Capture an Army Outpost – 1.66x
Sneak A Friend Of The Family Into The Country – 1.71x (best experience)
Ransack A Local Plantation – 1.64x
Burn Down a Hacienda – 1.65x

El Jefe Jobs (Cuba) – Levels 85-109

Offer “Protection” To A Nightclub – 1.74x
Rob The Banco Nacional Branch – 1.72x
Shake Down a Hotel Owner – 1.69x
Bring The Local Teamsters Under Your Control – 1.76x
Help The FRG Steal A Truckload Of Weapons – 1.7x
Hijack a Booze Shipment – 1.78x (best experience)
Pillage a Shipyard – 1.7x
Take Over the Docks – 1.72x

El Patron Jobs (Cuba) – Levels 110-129

Muscle In On A Local Casino – 1.78x
Establish A Loansharking Business – 1.77x
Eliminate A Rival Family’s Agent – 1.76x
Pass On Some Intel to The FRG – 1.78x
Execute A Regional Arms Dealer – 1.78x
Sink a Competing Smuggler’s Ship – 1.74x
Gun Down an Enemy Crew at the Airport – 1.8x (best experience)
Assassinate An Opposing Consigliere – 1.75x

El Padrino Jobs (Cuba) – Levels 130+

Raid the Arms Depot – 1.77x
Supply The FRG With Some Extra Muscle – 1.8x (tied for best experience)
Capture The Airport – 1.8x (tied for best experience)
Knock Off A Visiting Head Of State – 1.77x
Set Up A High Volume Smuggling Operation – 1.8x (tied for best experience)
Blow Up A Rail Line – 1.8x (tied for best experience)
Attack The Army Command Post – 1.79x
Storm the Presidential Palace – 1.78x

If new jobs are added this list will be updated. In addition, should you spot any errors please contact me and I will make any necessary adjustments so the information is always accurate and up to date.

More on Mafia Wars

Looking for more cheats, hints, tips and strategies for Mafia Wars on Facebook? Check the Facebook Games index for a list of currently available articles.

Google has come a long way in its eleven-year history, from its humble beginning as a Stanford University research project in 1998, to the global, multi-billion dollar online presence Google enjoys today.

Earlier this week, the company celebrated its 11th birthday and choose to mark the occasion with an all new Google Doodle, a fun take on their colorful identity. The unique logo illustrated Google’s eleven years in operation by adding an extra L to the company’s name to form a number eleven.

Google’s actual founding date is subject to debate. There are those who think that Google should bring out the cake on the September 4, the day in 1998 that Google filed its incorporation papers and officially became Google, Inc. Still others think that Google should recognize September 15, 1997 as its founding date, as that is when Google registered the google.com domain. But despite the debate, Google has celebrated its anniversary on September 27 for the past few years now, making the date somewhat official.

Any birthday offers the perfect opportunity to reflect on the past, so just what has Google been up to in the last eleven years?

Early Days: 1998

With 1997 behind them, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin dropped the original BackRub moniker in favor of Google, a play on the mathematical term “googol“. With the Google.com domain registered and a healthy $100,000 investment from Sun co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim, the two Stanford students rented out a $1,700 a month garage space in California’s Menlo Park.

With a makeshift office in place, Google made it official and filed for incorporation as “Google Technology Inc” on September 4, 1998. As the rest of year played out, Google began to receive positive support in the press, and the company also hired their first employee, Craig Silverstein.

Money And Moving: 1999

Thanks to its growing workforce, the fledgling company moved twice in 1999. Google outgrew its modest garage and relocated briefly to a more suitable location in Palo Alto. In June, the company released its very first press release, detailing how the firm had secured $25 million of funding.

During the second half of the year, as the company reached forty employees, Google moved once again to offices in Mountain View, with an in-house chef included. T

his year also saw Google drop the exclamation mark from their logo and settling with its now world-famous branding.

Growth & Expansion: 2000

2000 was a year of growth, as along with the search engine reaching a milestone of one billion pages indexed, the website also expanded to support over fifteen languages including Chinese, French, German, Japanese and more.

How things change. This year (2000) also saw Yahoo! reveal that they will be using Google as their default search provider. At the time this was a big deal, as Yahoo! was once one of the darlings of search, which Google had originally set their eyes on to compete with; mission accomplished? Of course today paints a very different picture as now both Yahoo! and Microsoft are collectively attempting to compete with the search giant that Google has become.

Before the year was out Google also found time to launch the immensely successful AdWords program, and their Toolbar browser plug-in. With the year drawing to a close it was pretty clear that the search engine was on a meteoric rise, as Google was now handling nearly 100 million search queries a day.

Going Global: 2001

With the search engine now available in over twenty-five languages, it only seemed right that the company would expand on a global level with the opening of its first international office in Tokyo.

2001 also saw Google hire ex-Novell chief executive Eric Schmidt, who started at Google as the Chairman of the Board, before quickly moving on to become the CEO.

With the Google search index approaching three billion webpages, it seemed the perfect time to tackle a new type of search: Images. Google launched its Image Search service in July, and initially had an index of over 250 million images.

Getting Geeky: 2002

2002 saw Google launch a range of new products, including the shopping tool Froogle, the experimental Google Labs, and the popular Google News service, a product of the company’s so-called “twenty percent time“. Geeky Google also decided to offer a Klingon translation of the site for all those Star Trek fans out there, bringing the total number of supports languages to over seventy. Spiderman, Warcraft 3 and pop star Shakira were amongst the most common search terms of the year.

The Written Word: 2003

2003 was one verbose year for the search-engine giant. It began in February when Google acquired Pyra Labs, creators of the Blogger service, which allowed the masses to publish their thoughts online with ease. Soon after the acquisition, Google’s company name was announced as a recognized verb, to “google it” had become synonymous with search, however Google strived to steer clear of dictonaries and protect their strong brand.

In December the controversial Google Print was launched: Now known as Google Book Search, the service allows users to view excerpts from thousands of books in digital form. Classic books and their film adaptations, such as Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter, were some of the most searched for terms on Google in 2003.

Email, Google Style: 2004

Without a doubt 2004 biggest Google news was the introduction of Gmail.

The beta launched on April Fools Day, but Google made sure that Gmails was no joke, offering a then-unheard-of 1GB of storage along with a speedy user experience and the beauty of Google’s search technology built right in to your inbox. The service launched as a strictly invite-only affair, which resulted in an online gold rush of those hoping to land an invitation. After five years, Gmail finally disposed of its beta status early in June of 2009.

2004 also saw Google move to its Mountain View, California “Googleplex” headquarters, where the company still resides today. In addition, Google opened a research and development center in Tokyo and a European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. With over three thousand employees, a range or products under its belt and over eight billion items in its search index Google’s growth continued to amaze.

Mapping The World: 2005

In 2005, Google’s ongoing effort to organize the world’s information continued as

they released Google Maps. Since then, Google has continually improved the mapping service, adding new features such as satellite views and directions, as well as increasing the number of new searchable locations. Google Earth, a 3D satellite photography-based mapping application, soon followed, further complimenting Google’s range of location services.

2005 also saw the release of the iGoogle customizable home page, Google Reader RSS feed manager and Google Analytics. Optimized mobile versions of Gmail, Blogger, and Search were also released.

Oh, and could you imagine naming your newborn baby “Google”? It happened.

A Message From Chad & Steve: 2006

Ending months of speculation, in late 2006 Google finally revealed that they had bought online video site YouTube in a massive $1.65 billion stock transaction.

The Growth Continues: 2007

The year started with Google expanding into new territories once again, with Google Maps making its way to Australia and the Google Docs suite of tools being made available in several additional languages. Gmail was also made available to all, no longer requiring an invitation.

T

he biggest innovation from Google in 2007 was the addition of street level photography to Google Maps. Dubbed Street View, the service lets you view and explore a number of US locations at street level. Naturally, Street View’s introduction caused some controversy as it raised quite a few privacy concerns.

Popular search terms in 2007 included the iPhone, Facebook and Second Life. Since Google acquired YouTube in 2006, the popular video site has grown into an outright juggernaut: Even the Queen of England has her own YouTube channel.

Going Full Circle: 2008

Last year Google celebrated their tenth year in operation, and showed no signs of slowing down. The company released its first iPhone application, expanded Street View’s coverage to include a number of additional countries, revealed a new version of its Picasa photo management app, and launched Knol, a Wikipedia-type service.

In its biggest move of the year, Google announced that it would enter the browser wars with its own take on the humble web browser. The open source Google Chrome appeared in September of last year, and featured a minimalist interface and home page with shortcuts to frequently visited pages–features that have made their way into other browsers since then.

Later in the year, Google’s foray into software continued as the first ever cell phone to use Android, Google’s open-source mobile OS, hit the scene.

Google At Present: 2009

2009 has been a busy year so far for Google, and it isn’t over yet. So far Google has added offline access to Gmail, introduced its Latitude location service, taken you to Mars with a new version of Google Earth, and re-launched the GrandCentral phone service as Google Voice, to name but a few things.

Google also unveiled its Wave service in May of this year. Wave combines a range of communication and social networking activities into a single web application and is expected to be available to the masses later this year.

The biggest news from Google this year came when the firm announced that it plans to release an operating system. Google Chrome OS is expected to land next year, and will initially be aimed at low end devices such as netbooks. Several hints at what the OS could look like have leaked online, but Google have yet to comment on any supposed screenshots.

A rumoured screenshot of Google’s Chrome operating system.

What Does The Future Hold?

With eleven years behind them, Google is still innovating and tweaking. What we can expect next from the search giant is anyone’s guess, but in the immediate future we can look forward to taking Chrome OS for a spin, trying out new versions of Android, and watching countless videos on YouTube.

So this years winners are:

Eighth Place
In Detroit , a 41-year-old man got stuck and drowned in two feet of water after squeezing head first through an 18-inch-wide sewer grate to retrieve his car keys.

Seventh Place
A 49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker, who ‘totally zoned when he ran,’ accidentally, jogged off a 100-foot high cliff on his daily run.

Read full entry

Sixth Place
While at the beach, Daniel Jones, 21, dug an 8 foot hole for protection from the wind and had been sitting in a beach chair at the bottom! When it collapsed, burying him beneath 5 feet of sand. People on the beach used their hands and shovels trying to get him out but could not reach him. It took rescue workers using heavy equipment almost an hour to free him. Jones was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Fifth Place
Santiago Alvarado, 24, was killed as he fell through the ceiling of a bicycle shop he was burglarizing. Death was caused when the long flashlight he had placed in his mouth to keep his hands free rammed into the base of his skull as he hit the floor.

Fourth Place
Sylvester Briddell, Jr., 26, was killed as he won a bet with friends who said he would not put a revolver loaded with four bullets into his mouth and pull the trigger.

Third Place
After stepping around a marked police patrol car parked at the front door, a man walked into H&J Leather & Firearms intent on robbing the store. The shop was full of customers and a uniformed officer was standing at the counter. Upon seeing the officer, the would-be robber announced a hold-up! and fired a few wild shots from a target pistol. The officer and a clerk promptly returned fire, and several customers also drew their guns and fired. The robber was pronounced dead at the scene by Paramedics. Crime scene investigators located 47 expended cartridge cases in the shop. The subsequent autopsy revealed 23 gunshot wounds. Ballistics identified rou nds from 7 different weapons. No one else was hurt.

Honorable mention
Paul Stiller, 47, and his wife Bonnie were bored just driving around at 2 A.M. so they lit a quarter stick of dynamite to toss out the window to see what would happen. Apparently they failed to notice the window was closed.

Runner up
Kerry Bingham had been drinking with several friends when one of them said they knew a person who had bungee-jumped from a local bridge in the middle of traffic. The conversation grew more heated and at least 10 men trooped along the walkway of the bridge at 4:30 AM. Upon arrival at the midpoint of the bridge they discovered that no one had brought a bungee rope. Bingham, who had continued drinking, volunteered and pointed out that a coil of lineman’s cable, lay near by. They secured one end around Bingham’s leg and then tied the other to the bridge. His fall lasted 40 feet before the cable tightened and tore his foot off at the ankle. He miraculously survived his fall into the icy water and was rescued by two nearby fishermen. Bingham’s foot was never located.

AND THE WINNER IS…
Zookeeper Friedrich Riesfeldt ( Paderborn, Germany) fed his constipated elephant 22 doses of animal laxative and more than a bushel of berries, figs and prunes before the plugged-up pachyderm finally got relief.
Investigators say ill-fated Friedrich, 46, was attempting to give the ailing elephant an olive oil enema when the relieved beast unloaded.
The sheer force of the elephant’s unexpected defecation knocked Mr. Riesfeldt to the ground where he struck his head on a rock as the elephant continued to evacuate 200 pounds of dung on top of him.

via

Free access to Commonwealth and Common Law

http://www.commonlii.org/

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1. Finding a New Boom Amid the Bust
2. Accountant
3. Entrepreneur
4. Police Officer
5. Network and Computer Systems
6. Nurse
7. Nutritionist
8. Physical Therapist
9. Teacher
10. Mathematician
11. Government Manager

via: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/aug2009/sb20090814_425078.htm?campaign_id=rss_smlbz

Discounting stinks.

As a marketer whose job is to create preference and profitability for my clients, I don’t like discounting. In fact, I hate it. I call it the D-word. It’s distracting. It’s demeaning. It’s destructive and depressing. And yet I see companies do it all the time.

These days discounting is more prevalent than ever. Now into the second year of our economic tsunami, we are getting used to headlines bemoaning declining sales and shrinking profits across virtually every sector of the economy. The current issue of the Harvard Business Review even coined the term Post-Recession Consumer, whose “new thriftiness and desire for simplicity” will change business for a generation. Just this month Yahoo! (YHOO) introduced a new Web site called Yahoo Deals, offering coupons, information about limited-time promotions, and even a cheap gas finder. The company reports that searches for the term “printable coupons” are up 50% this year because, as Greg Hintz, head of Yahoo Shopping, puts it in a recent Brandweek piece, “Frugality is the new ‘cool.’ ”

Many companies are getting caught up in the frenzy and slashing prices. Even marketers who should know better—those who have made big bets on discounting in the past and lost—have not been immune. Both McDonald’s (MCD) and Burger King (BK) recently fought public skirmishes with their franchisees over the price point of their low-end burgers. Their corporate offices want to drive traffic, but franchisees complain that it does them no good to sell any product at a loss. And Macy’s (M), the nation’s dominant department store chain, lowered its price on a popular line of men’s slacks in an effort to generate sales. While the decision resulted in “tremendous sell-through” according to CEO Terry Lundgren, it also required “low price points and no margins,” an article in The Wall Street Journal quoted him as saying.

Discounting destroys brand equity, hamstrings investment in innovation, and zaps profitability for companies and their stakeholders. Which raises an interesting question: Can discounting ever be an acceptable strategy for a business?

Rules for discounting wisely

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in more than two decades as a consultant, it’s never say never. There may be times and places where a discount can make sense to achieve a limited, well-defined objective. That said, discounting should be rarely used and carefully managed. Let me suggest three rules of thumb that should be kept in mind if (when) you begin flirting with the discount beast.

First: Discount briefly. Discounting is like a drug. Employed for a limited time to treat a specific condition, discounting can have its place. But like a drug, it’s addictive. Companies that get hooked on it do little more than drive their value proposition down, sometimes past the point of no return.

This is one reason why department stores have been in decline over the past two decades, launching Red Tag sales as soon as their Red Apple sales are over. They discounted so often that they trained customers not to shop if there wasn’t a sale going on. (My firm even produced a campaign for a retail client that spoofed how department stores would look for just about any reason to discount, such as the “Life’s Not Fair” and “President Polk Day” sales.)

Second: Discount credibly. Handled carefully, discounting can be used to achieve specific business objectives without compromising your brand’s overall value perception. The key is to make the rationale behind the discount credible (and obvious) to consumers, so they don’t perceive it as an act of desperation.

For instance, Apple’s (AAPL) student discount on laptops doesn’t damage the brand because it’s based on a rational corporate reason (get young computer users hooked on its products) and a credible consumer need (students are poor). The company also offers 10% off a new iPod when customers recycle their old one, which not only encourages upgrading but makes Apple look like a responsible corporate citizen. Both of these tactics enable Apple to maintain (perhaps even increase) brand equity while making its products more accessible.

Third: Discount creatively. Smart companies understand that price is just one element of the value equation, and find ways to “discount without discounting” by focusing on other elements of the marketing mix. Luxury leather goods maker Coach (COH) did just that by adjusting its merchandise inventory so that half of its handbags are regularly priced between $200 and $300 (compared to its historical average price of $325). While this will have a negative impact on the long-term equity of the Coach brand name, it’s less damaging than hanging a “30% off” tag from the handle of every purse.

Or consider video game retailer GameStop (GME), which is pushing the sales of more used games (that have a naturally lower price point) while times are tough. That will keep customers in the habit of coming to its stores to find what they want. GameStop understands that when the economy comes back, so will the sales of new games. Rather than hurting its future pricing power by discounting new merchandise, the company has found another way to satisfy its customers in the short term.

And then there’s Quizno’s, which has taken some licks from franchisees for discounting in the past. Facing not only a down economy but a powerful competitor making a compelling offer (Subway’s Five for $5), Quizno’s developed new sandwiches that it can profitably sell for four bucks or less. According to CEO Rick Schaden in an e-mail interview with me, the “Toasty Bullet” and “Toasty Torpedo” were designed “to appeal to consumers’ wallets and tastes while still protecting franchise owners’ margins” under a program called the Flex Plan. A major component of the Flex Plan is to provide, “a constant pipeline of new product innovation,” including, if necessary, additional lower-priced menu items.

The bottom line: In your customers’ eyes, your product is either worth regular price or it’s not. In tough times like these that may be a more difficult case to make, but if you’re not winning the value equation in their eyes you should focus on finding a way to meet their needs without reflexively taking a percentage off the top. If you do choose to incorporate discounting into your strategy, it must appear sensible and smart, not irrational or a result of panic.

People understand that prices are a market mechanism. If you start playing the discount card too much, you’re sending a signal that you don’t believe your product or service is worth it. And if you don’t believe it, who will?