Well i do like a cup of the caffeine and have always wondered why we don’t have a Starbucks in Perth. The story below maybe explains why.

Almost 700 employees of the coffee chain Starbucks will lose their jobs on Sunday after the company yesterday announced the closure of 61 of its 84 Australian stores.

Starbucks employees were told of the closures during 28 meetings around the country. They were given little more than 24 hours’ notice to attend and were not told the reason for the meetings.

The American company admitted it had struggled in Australia’s “very sophisticated coffee culture” and said the announcement was unrelated to its closure of 600 stores in the US this month.

View full story
Source: www.smh.com.au

Tags: coffee, Starbucks

DETROIT – Chevrolet introduces the production 2010 Camaro. It is a heritage-inspired sports car for the 21 st century, combining great looks and performance; advanced technology and surprising efficiency – including 26-mpg estimated highway fuel economy. Sales begin in the first quarter of 2009.

Built on GM’s new, global rear-wheel-drive architecture, the Camaro is offered in V-6-powered LS and LT models, as well as the V-8-powered SS. All models and powertrain combinations include fuel-saving six-speed transmissions.

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Tags: Camaro, Chevrolet, Motoring

For those of us that use eBay as a seller or buyer or have followed the recent issues in Australia with PayPal and the ACCC concerning the eBay proposal to mandate the use of PayPal for almost all transactions on the eBay site will find these latest 3 news stories interesting. I’m not surprised by any of these stories and what once seemed like a hip online company appears to be losing its shine in many ways.

The bigger picture is that if consumer confidence in such a big operator like eBay shifts away from buying online, it may spell doom for smaller operators or new businesses trying to enter the online marketplace. I buy many items online from both local and overseas suppliers on a regular basis and I found these companies through referrals from friends and trusted sources who’s opinions i trust.

I personally don’t ever buy big ticket items through eBay and I never just base a purchase on seller feedback. Also check what level of insurance may be available to cover you through PayPal or your chosen credit provider if the purchase goes bad.

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Tags: eBay, PayPal

Blog has become a mainstream word and it’s a hot enough topic that advertisers are now using it in commercials. Here’s a Twix commercial where a guy convinces a girl to come back to his apartment so they can do some blogging. “Oh Blogging,” she says, “I love Blogging!”

Source: Bloggers Blog

Tags: Blog

ABC continues to makes steps forward in the digital arena with this new launch. This free internet TV service, which went live on the 23rd July 2008 is available at www.abc.net.au/iview. Its great to see more content available online and one can only hope this pushes the other providers to do more of the same.

ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcaster, the ABC provides two main channels within Australia as well a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas.

Tags: ABC, tv

Thanks to a partnership between Panasonic Toyota Racing and Warner Bros. Pictures, Hollywood is coming to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix weekend to celebrate the release of the event movie of the summer: The Dark Knight.

The Batmobile is around 3m at its widest point, 4.5m long and 1.5m high. It runs on unleaded fuel and weighs 2.5 tons. The vehicle has six wheels - two in the front, outfitted with sprint car race tires, and four at the back, which utilize monster truck tyres. The Batmobile has no front axle. The absence of a front axle enables the Batmobile to make extremely tight turns. It can jump 1.2m to 1.8m and has jumped a distance of 18m.

The Dark Knight will be distributed worldwide in theatres and IMAX by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Tags: Batman, Motoring, Toyota

Fiat 500 and Ferrari: two universal motoring icons which represent Made in Italy, one cute and the other exclusive. This is why the Maranello House has chosen the Fiat model as its courtesy car for its customers, who appreciate Italian style and like unique products. In actual fact, two hundred Fiat 500 have been manufactured exclusively for the Ferrari sales network and will be driving on all of Europes roads.

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Tags: Ferrari, Fiat, Motoring

My current weapon of choice is a Nokia N95 8GB which Ive had since Jan 2008. I love the phone still and find all the onboard features fit my daily needs and really that’s what is important. Like cars these days most phones are much the same, with some better than others depending on your price bracket. I’m a fan of the iPhone 3G but as in previous posts I’m disappointed by the plans offered currently and so have decided to hold off for a while.

For me the Nokia good points are

• 8GB on board storage
• Wi-Fi, GPS
• 5-megapixel camera
• Great build quality
• Nokia menu usability
• great onboard speakers
• excellent reception and call quality
• good screen size and display quality
• Bluetooth and default connections

I now use this as a point and shoot when a quick pick is needed on the fly, a well as listening to music and podcasts. Ive downloaded the typical few games and Google maps to compliment the bundled Nokia maps which is great for turn by turn navigation with the GPS.

The one think I have wanted to do is sync it with my iTunes and then my Nano could be left behind at times when i just want the 1 device.

After some research and thinking about what was the best way i decided on using iTunes Sync to handle the task.

1. Pretty easy just download and install iTunes Sync and then configure it to work with my N95.
2. Connect the USB connector from the phone to the laptop and select data transfer
3. Make sure iTunes is open and open iTunes Sync
4. Configure the phone as a device and I created a new playlist in iTunes which is what i use to sync with the phone. [help files are easy]
5. Then sync
6. All my video and audio podcasts as well as music files were transferred and filed correctly in videos, podcasts and music.

The software will work with MP3 players and id guess most phones.

Tags: iTunes, N95, Nokia

This is a good read about one of my favorite social networking apps Twitter.

“What are you doing?”

That question is the rocket fuel for Twitter — a hot social-network service that lets you tell people what you are up to at any given moment of the day — via cellphone, instant messenger, or the Web. Never heard of it, you say?

Read full article

Source: USA Today

Tags: twitter

Optus has launched new mobile plans that include unlimited calls (including video calls) and SMS/MMS plus large data usage allowances.

This applies to iPhone users too!

The plans are called ‘yes’ Timeless plans and Optus says they have “unlimited value”.

The plan with the 2Gb of data is the ‘yes’ Timeless $129 plan Cap which will be available on the 28th of July 2008.

Minimum monthly spend - $129

What this ‘yes’ Timeless Plan includes

• Unlimited Standard voice calls to any network within Australia - local, national and GSM mobiles
• Unlimited National Video Calls
• Unlimited Standard National text to any networks
• Unlimited National MMS
• Unlimited deposits and retrieval of Voicemail
• Mobile Internet Browsing: 2GB Included

“This plan includes 2GB of data to access services on Optus Zoo, as well as browsing the Internet from your mobile. If you exceed the included monthly data allowance, excess usage charges will be charged at $0.35 per MB or part thereof.”

View full details of the new plans on the Optus website

Tags: Apple, iPhone, Optus