Source: http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/356592
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If you've seen one streetlight, you've pretty much seen them all. They're important, sure, but they're usually not much to look at. The lamps that popped up across Portland are a little bit different. A little more like giant, carnivorous plants.
"Nepenthes" by Dan Corson is a collection of four, 17-foot tall light-up sculptures that devour sunlight, and spit it back out after sundown. Though they share their name with plants known for eating bugs and occasional small animals, these sculptures just soak up rays during the day with solar panels mounted on top, and use that energy to glow for about four hours after dark. Just run-of-the-mill synthetic photosynthesis for these plants.
Made from translucent fiberglass with embedded with LED lights formed around a steel spine, each of the four lamps is structurally identical, but has a uniquely wild color scheme that sets it apart from its brothers. All and all, they seem like a neat represention of the "urban jungle," and it's a good thing they're a little more urban than jungle. [Dan Corson via Designboom]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/portlands-new-streetlights-are-psychedelic-carnivorou-619917815
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Brooklyn, New York (PRWEB) June 30, 2013
OneClick Cleaners has just entered into a territory development agreement for California adding to a number of states being serviced by Master Franchisees in the United States. The addition of this Master Franchisee, adds to the list of states already launched, including: Florida, Colorado, Washington, Idaho, Oregon and New Mexico. OneClick Cleaners is focused on developing the franchise through Master Franchisees, as this a proven franchise method for both growth and successful franchise units.
Looking over the best brands and concepts over the past 20 years, for the average business investor of $50,000 to $250,000, the strongest options come from the concept of becoming a Master Franchisee (also known as Territory Developer). The basic structure of a Master is to acquire a larger territory for development, where one would recruit, train, and develop the standard franchisee base. In exchange for this work, the Master will typically earn commissions and long-term residual income in the form of royalties.
Our franchise concept enhances the leading factors that capture uniqueness in our market that has lead to rapid growth strong branding, proven business model, industry differentiators and edge over competitors and innovations, said CEO Joseph Albert of OneClick Cleaners. The dry cleaning industry has been successful for many years; we just applied our model and unique twist. We are growing rapidly because of it.
Imagine the initial territory developers for concepts like Five Guys, Jimmy Johns, Serv-Pro, Val-Pak, or SportClips? These are all brands that have grown substantially and provide unique aspects that help them stand out and gain market share. One of the major benefits of becoming a Master Franchisee is the access to growing a brand concept in an area that you control and personally develop with the support and guidance of a franchisor home office.
So what about OneClick Cleaners? Throughout the globe, one of the cornerstones of any region are the service category businesses, such as hair salons, house & business cleaning, auto repair, lawn care, massage, etc. all providing core services that people use. Dry cleaning is no different. Pull into any small shopping center in America and you are likely to see a traditional cleaner hard at work providing garment care to his community. In some cases, you will find multiple cleaners within a one or two block radius. Do you ever wonder why? It is simple this is a core service that every walk of life needs whether it is a simple shirt service, cleaning a suit, or caring for household items like comforters and drapes.
Becoming a traditional dry cleaner will require a fairly substantial investment. Developing a store with equipment takes time and money plus the expense of a high lease, labor, and materials. A typical dry cleaner customer will spend about $25 on average, per visit. The margins in a dry cleaning business are quite good comparatively, mainly because the staffing and materials expenses are very low compared to other businesses.
The OneClick Cleaners concept is much different this business concept focuses on leaner operational costs and outsourcing the expensive portions (dry cleaning labor, lease costs, and equipment) allowing the business owner to concentrate on growing the customer base. Another differentiator is the online presence that OneClick Cleaners has developed; innovating a 100% online approach to business development and management including a cashless business for the franchisees to operate. Customers enroll online and manage their account and payments in the cloud. As for regular (no-master) franchisees, they will typically invest less than $50,000 all-in (the franchise fee, operating capital and a vehicle,) operating the unit as an owner/operator and maximizing margins, which are typically 50% or higher.
A typical Master territory will be a large metro area, partial or full state, or collection of states and require a higher investment (varies by territory size). Plans are in development to expand to other countries as well. As a Master Franchisee, OneClick Cleaners investors will concentrate on developing a territory with franchisees, earning money in three ways:
More information can be discovered on the OneClick Cleaners company website or by visiting Entrepreneur.com.
OneClick Cleaners Quick Stats:
-Total Franchises: 19
-2012 Sales: 5
-2013 Sales: 14
-Master Franchisees: Florida, Colorado, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, New Mexico, California
-In-house financing available for franchisees
-Training: Held in New York
-Support Center: New York
-Home Office: New York
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/oneclickcleaners/franchise/prweb10886918.htm.
Related Keywords:Source:PRWEB.COM Newswire. All Rights Reserved
Source: http://www.consumerelectronicsnet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=2683109
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Treat yourself to a test drive in the 2013 Ford Focus. This 4 door, 5 passenger sedan offers the latest in technological innovation and style. It features a front-wheel-drive platform, an automatic transmission, and a 2 liter 4 cylinder engine. Ford prioritized practicality, efficiency, and style by including: delay-off headlights, 1-touch window functionality, a trip computer, front bucket seats, air conditioning, power door mirrors, and power windows. Take assurance in side curtain airbags, providing head protection in the event of a severe collision. We pride ourselves in consistently exceeding our customer's expectations. Stop by our dealership or give us a call for more information.
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Susan Rice, outgoing ambassador to the U.N., and President Barack Obama's next national security adviser, said Edward Snowden's leaks have done nothing to harm the Obama administration, and that the US will get through this period.
Outgoing US Ambassador Susan Rice speaks to reporters at her final news conference at the U.N. headquarters. Rice, who will start her new job as national security adviser on Monday said the Obama administration was not weakened by Edward Snowden's leaks, and that it was simply a difficult issue of the day.
Devra Berkowitz/United Nations Photo/AP
EnlargeUS Ambassador Susan Rice dismissed claims that Edward?Snowden's?highly classified leaks have weakened the Obama presidency and damaged US foreign policy, insisting that the United States will remain "the most influential, powerful and important country in the world."
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Rice's remarks were her only public ones on?Snowden?and came in an interview with The Associated Press as she prepared to leave the U.N. post and start her new job Monday as President Barack Obama's national security adviser.
She said it's too soon to judge whether there will be any long-term serious repercussions from the intelligence leaks by the former National Security Agency contractor who fled to Hong Kong and then Russia after seizing documents disclosing secret US surveillance programs in the US and overseas, which he has shared with The Guardian and Washington Post newspapers.
"I don't think the diplomatic consequences, at least as they are foreseeable now, are that significant," she said.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have called?Snowden's?leaks a serious breach that damaged national security. Hagel said Thursday an assessment of the damage is being done now.
"There will always be difficult issues of the day," Rice said, "and frankly this period is not particularly unique."
"I think the?Snowden?thing is obviously something that we will get through, as we've gotten through all the issues like this in the past," she said in the interview Thursday before heading to a lunch in her honor hosted by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The United States has charged?Snowden?with espionage and demanded his extradition, but China and Hong Kong let him fly to Moscow and the Russians have so far refused. The?Snowden?case has not only raised tensions with Moscow and Beijing but with many Americans concerned about the NSA collecting their Internet and phone data.
Rice dismissed commentators who say?Snowden's?disclosures have made Obama a lame duck, damaged his political base, and hurt US foreign policy, saying: "I think that's bunk."
"I think the United States of America is and will remain the most influential, powerful and important country in the world, the largest economy, and the largest military, (with) a network of alliances, values that are universally respected," she said.
Rice said Obama has "significant ambitions and a real agenda" for his second term, pointing to major speeches last week on disarmament and nonproliferation and this week on the impact of climate change.
As for?Snowden, she said, "It's often, if not always something, and US leadership will continue to be unrivaled, demanded, expected ? and reviled and appreciated around the world."
Rice, 48, is expected to bring her outspoken and aggressive negotiating style to her new, higher-profile job.
At the United Nations, she has been a bold and blunt ambassador, successfully pushing for tougher sanctions against Iran and North Korea and international intervention in Libya. But Libya ultimately caused her greatest professional disappointment when she became the face of the administration's bungled account of the terrorist attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including the US ambassador.
The furor scuttled Rice's long-held hopes of becoming secretary of state when it became clear she would not gain Senate confirmation to that post, which went to John Kerry.
Rice has called her 4 1/2 years at the U.N. "the best job I ever had," and told The AP she would be "hard-pressed" to think of any better place to prepare for her new post.
"You get to deal with ... literally every country under the sun, and I think you get a unique feel for the orientations, interests, styles, of a wide, wide range of countries," she said.
To succeed at the U.N., Rice said, it's crucial to form alliances and coalitions, which change depending on the issue, so a friend one day can be an opponent the next day.
Rice has sparred repeatedly with Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who can be equally blunt. But despite being on opposite sides of the Syrian conflict, which has paralyzed council action to end the fighting, Rice said they agree perhaps 85 percent of the time.
"I like and respect him," she said. "I think he likes and respects me, and it's been a good relationship. That's why I asked him to speak at my farewell. I asked people who were important to me. He's a very smart and a very funny guy and he can be a pain in the butt, too ? and I tell him that to his face!"
At the farewell, Churkin delivered an off-the-record roast of Rice, without notes, that had some 300 diplomats, U.N. officials and journalists doubled-over in laughter.
The Syrian conflict will be near the top of Rice's agenda in Washington as will the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea.
Rice said the result of Iran's presidential election earlier this month, a victory for Hasan Rouhani, a moderate who supports direct talks with Washington, "was a dramatic demonstration of the Iranian peoples' dissatisfaction with the status quo."
"To the extent that the leadership feels obliged to heed popular opinion ? obviously we would hope they would ? it may perhaps signal a readiness to move in a different direction, and if so, we would welcome it," she said.
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19 hours ago
LARRY DOWNING / Reuters
A U.S. Airways jet takes off from Washington's Reagan National Airport outside Washington, passing an American Airlines plane, February 25, 2013. Reuters reports the Justice department is probing the proposed American-US merger for antitrust issues.
The U.S. Justice Department is taking depositions as part of a probe into a planned merger of American Airlines and US Airways that would create the world's largest airline, three sources close to the discussions told Reuters.
The sticking point in talks between the Justice Department and the companies is whether the airlines will agree to sell slots -- take-off and landing rights -- to reduce their dominance at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., according to one source.
The three sources spoke privately to protect business relationships.
US Airways announced on February 14 that it planned to merge with American, which is emerging from bankruptcy, to create an $11 billion airline. The deal requires the approval of the Justice and Transportation Departments. The companies hope to wrap up the merger by the end of September.
American Airlines and US Airways declined comment. Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona said only that the agency's investigation was continuing.
The fact that the Justice Department is taking sworn testimony in the form of depositions indicates it has concerns that the proposed merger creates antitrust problems. Depositions will be needed if the agency approves the deal with conditions or, in rare cases, if it decides to try to stop it. The department could also decide to approve the merger without requiring asset sales.
Depositions preserve testimony if the department decides to challenge the merger, said Robert Doyle, an antitrust expert with Doyle, Barlow and Mazard PLLC.
If the deal is approved, the new airline would have 68 percent of the slots at Reagan National, far more than Delta Air Lines with 12 percent, United Airlines with 9 percent and the 11 percent held by other airlines, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The companies have pushed back hard against any suggestion that takeoff and landing slots at Reagan National be sold.
US Airways CEO Doug Parker told lawmakers in congressional testimony last week that requiring the combined company to surrender slots could mean fewer flights to small and medium-sized cities.
Antitrust experts have said the Justice Department could request divestitures of some slots at Reagan National and a small number of other airports. Outside these hubs, the carriers fly different routes for the most part.
In late May, more than 100 members of Congress asked U.S. regulators to allow the new American to keep all the slots at Reagan National. The airport is used by many members of Congress to travel to and from their home districts.
The U.S. airline industry has undergone five years of rapid consolidation. Delta acquired Northwest Airlines in 2008, United merged with Continental in 2010 and Southwest Airlines Co bought discount rival AirTran in 2011.
With fewer carriers competing, ticket prices have risen. The average fare rose about 8 percent to $375 in the third quarter of 2012, compared with $346 in 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.
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