Villa Preview 2012

Football, Sport

The Guardian previews Aston Villa ahead of the new English premier league campaign. It seems quite lightly optimistic in tone but still, when compared to the years of 5th and 6th place finishes quite depressing for me. But I doubt how it can get worse after last year even if we did avoid relegation.

So, all in all, the new Villa manager has quite a job on his hands, although it is one that he should relish. The fans will be right behind him and the only immediate pressure Lambert will be under is the pressure that he puts on himself. Serve up some expansive football and avoid being mentioned in the same breath as a relegation battle and Villa, after two miserable years, will be heading in the right direction. That, together with some more good news about Stilian Petrov winning his battle against acute leukaemia, should give Villa supporters something to smile about.

Guardian writers’ predicted position 12th

Frugal Helsinki

Finland, Helsinki, Travel

The New York Times Frugal Traveler feature has visited Helsinki. There are some nice tips here although I’m not much of a berry or porridge fan.

The most inviting bar on the block was Molotow, which had a cheap Finnish beer starting at 3.80 euros for a half-liter, and lots of other choices as well, but the best spot of the evening was a bit of a hike, several blocks farther north, the irresistibly friendly and funky confines of Magneetti bar, to which Kati Kallioniemi had given the irresistible description: “It seems like a normal bar, but all my friends met their boyfriends there.” With social booths cramped together in one room, and a darker space of candlelit tables in the other, I could certainly see how that had happened.

Hot PMI!

Economy, Finance, Ireland, Thought Provoking

The hottest country in Europe for PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) in July is…
Ireland

What is PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) anyway? According to Investopedia:

PMI is a very important sentiment reading, not only for manufacturing, but also the economy as a whole. Although U.S. manufacturing is not the huge component of total gross domestic product (GDP) that it once was, this industry is still where recessions tend to begin and end. For this reason, the PMI is very closely watched, setting the tone for the upcoming month and other indicator releases.

The magic number for the PMI is 50. A reading of 50 or higher generally indicates that the industry is expanding. If manufacturing is expanding, the general economy should be doing likewise. As such, it is considered a good indicator of future GDP levels. Many economists will adjust their GDP estimates after reading the PMI report.

Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/university/releases/napm.asp#ixzz22ITKRJ8s

Why buying shares in Manchester United doesn’t make sense

Finance, Football, Sport

Analysis from the financial side in the Guardian.

Among the many reasons not to buy shares in Manchester United in the forthcoming flotation on the New York Stock Exchange are the pure, cold financial numbers. The updated prospectus shows what happens when the team flops in the Champions League: ignoring a one-off tax credit, the club will report a small operating loss from continuing operations for the 12 months to June this year; and revenues will be about 4% lower than the previous year at £315m-£320m.

Yet the Glazers hope buyers can be found for Man Utd at a price tag of almost $3bn (£1.9bn). Six times revenues! That’s a rating associated with go-go technology stocks where income doubles every couple of years. At Man United, despite the Glazer camp’s boasts about greater commercial adventure and bigger sponsorship deals, revenues have advanced by a grand total of 14% over the course of the past three years.

Why Germany is the patent litigation centre in Europe

Germany, Tech, Thought Provoking

Interesting article from the New York Times about why so many patent disputes are being fought out in German courts.

Joachim Henkel, a professor of management at the Technical University of Munich, said big international companies were often seeking to exploit the German system for strategic advantage.

Mr. Henkel said the prominent patent and intellectual property disputes in the mobile phone sector, which have also involved courts in Asia, Britain and the United States, were bogging down cutting-edge companies in court.

“All of these infringement cases in Germany, Europe, the United States and Asia are having a hampering effect on innovation globally,” Mr. Henkel said. “Usually, what masquerades as a patent dispute is in actuality a dispute motivated by business strategy.”

The process has turned the German patent courts in Mannheim, Düsseldorf and Munich into some of the most overworked in Europe.

There is no risk for bringing a patent action as the article states.

Unlike the German patent system, the American system gives judges the option of awarding proportionate damages instead of granting outright injunctions that ban sales of disputed products in cases where “irreparable harm” cannot be demonstrated.

In Germany, if a court determines that a company legally holds a patent, it can issue an injunction to ban competing uses if asked.

There is no option of granting proportional monetary damages.

CRM doing well in the downturn

CRM, Tech

CRM market doing well in the downturn according to All Things D. No mention of Siebel/Oracle though…..

He notes that Microsoft’s customer relationship management product, Dynamics, is showing up in the small-business end of the marketplace, though it’s seen as “short on user interface and features.”

And even though there was little sign of any large deals closing, Keirstead writes that the chance of Salesforce ending the quarter with billings up by about 30 percent is “promising.”

Another good indicator: The results of German software giant SAP, a key Salesforce rival, which on Tuesday reported solid numbers that defied the economic conventional wisdom.