BlackBerry Tip - Phone Directory / Voice Mail Dialing -

Phone directory / Voice Mail dialing – You’ll notice that the BlackBerry doesn’t have any letters over the numbers on the phone keypad. So, if you want to dial 1-800-GOT-JUNK, or search for “Graham” in a company voicemail directory, you have to either be staring at a regular phone – or try to guess which Letters correspond with the Numbers. This can be quite difficult.

There IS a solution for this.

Just use the regular keypad for the numbers, but you have to use the Alt key for the letters. So, in the example of dialing 1-800-GOT-JUNK. You would simply dial the regular 1 800 but then press Alt G Alt O Alt T Alt J Alt U Alt N Alt K – and the phone will translate that for you. In the voicemail directory scenario, you can be asked “Please type the first 3 letters of the person’s first name to search the company directory..”, and if it is “Graham” that you are looking for, you would dial Alt G Alt R Alt A and it will translate that for you.

September 2008 Economic Digest - Importing and Exportin

September 2008 Edition

INVESTMENT

 
China is about to begin work on rebuilding 2,050 miles of roads in the Republic of the Congo which were left to rot in the rainforest after the Belgian colonists pulled out 48 years ago and further shattered by seven years of war. The vast project, which will triple Congo's current paved road network, is part of China's largest investment in Africa, a US$9-billion infrastructure-for-minerals deal signed earlier this year. Besides roads, Beijing has promised to repair 2,000 miles of railroads, build 32 hospitals and 145 health centres, install two electricity distribution networks, construct two hydropower dams and two new airports.

MAGAZINES

An explosion of Western magazines has hit newsstands in India in the past 12 months, pitching a familiar mix of consumption and gossip, relationship advice and expensive luxuries. Indian versions of Vogue, Rolling Stone, OK!, Maxim, Golf Digest, People and Marie Clair have all sprung up this year, and GQ and Fortune are soon to follow. They join familiar names like Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping and Reader's Digest. Magazine advertising in India is expected to grow by 20 per cent to US$302-million in 2008.

LAND

Demand for land to grow food, biofuel crops and wood is set to outstrip supply leading to a the probable destruction of forests according to a new report. The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) claims that only half the extra land needed by 2030 is available without eating into tropical forested areas. Rising demand for food, biofuels and wood for paper, building and industry needs, means that 515 million hectares of extra land will be needed for growing crops and trees by 2030 but only 200 million hectares will be available without dipping into tropical forests.

WINE

Experts forecast that China is set to become the worlds largest exporter of bulk wine in 50 years time as well as a major force in the industry. Chinese wine currently has a low profile outside of Asia even though, in terms of number of vineyards, it is already the world's fourth largest player. Increased investment and technical expertise, allied to favourable soil conditions will transform its reputation for excellence. Certain countries, most notably Australia, may no longer be able to grow wine in bulk quantities by 2058 because of lack of water.

CARS

Surging car sales in oil-rich Russia have pushed the country past Germany as Europe's largest auto market for the first time. This comes as auto sales in the world's biggest market, the U.S., are falling under pressure from higher gasoline prices and rising unemployment. Automakers sold 1.645-million vehicles in Russia in the first half of 2008, surpassing the 1.63-million sold in Germany. Sales in Russia rose 41 per cent during the same period the previous year fuelled by sales of imported brands.

FREEDOM

The Fraser Institute reports that Alberta has more economic freedom than any other province in Canada, and ranks second in all of North America, after Delaware. The rest of the provinces are at the bottom of the list when it comes to freedom from taxes and other forms of government regulation and interference. Newfoundland and Labrador posted the greatest increase in economic freedom of any province through the first half of this decade. The next highest ranked province is Ontario which is in 51st spot among the 60 provinces and states, followed by British Columbia.

EMISSIONS

The European parliament has approved a proposal to include airlines in the bloc's strategy to cut carbon dioxide emissions, a move that may provoke a dispute with thew U.S. Under the plan, all flights starting or landing in the EU will be included in the EU's emissions trading system from 2012. U.S. officials say the EU will likely break international aviation rules if it insists on including non-European airlines in the program.

HEALTH

Retail sales within the U.S. consumer packaged goods Health and Wellness industry reached US$102.75-billion in 2007, representing growth of 15 per cent over 2006. This includes sales across all retail and direct-to-consumer channels in six categories: functional\fortified foods and beverages; vitamins, minerals, herbal and dietary supplements; organic foods\beverages; natural foods\beverages;natural\organic personal care and natural\organic general merchandise. There were 842 new product introductions in this sector in 2007.

GLOOMY

A study of 25,000 people across the 27 nations of the European Union shows that the Germans are the most gloomy. Estonian citizens are the most optimistic. The study, which focused on quality of life issues, found that new members of the EU, mostly from central and eastern Europe, were of the view that life would get better and better, while established members of the EU were almost all miserable. 49 per cent of Britons believe that life will be worse in 20 years.

SNAILS

The price of snails, one of France's more exotic foodstuffs, is about to soar because of economic development in Eastern Europe. France consumes more than 14,000 tonnes of snails each year but few are from France and the industry relies on central and eastern European imports. Now, economic progress in countries like Poland and Bulgaria means less appetite for the hard work of snail-gathering. In the past, rural families could earn a decent wage from collecting snails in the fields and woods.

TRENDS

Increasingly, airlines are going cashless in flight. Alaska Airlines has become the latest carrier to go cashless for in-flight purchases such as headphones, cocktails and snacks. Switching to credit-card only boosts sales slightly as people tend to spend more with credit cards. The benefit to the airlines is that attendants don't have to worry about counting cash and having change on hand and accounting for cash transactions.

TRAVEL

Despite the weak U.S. dollar, a boom in international travel to the U.S. has not materialized. Explanations range from post 9\11 security headaches and lower airfares elsewhere to poor marketing by the U.S. According to the World Tourism Organization, the U.S. had 51-million international visitors in 2000, more than 7 per cent of the 682-million tourists. In 2006, major destinations such as Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco, Miami, Honolulu, Las Vegas and Chicago saw 20- to 34 per cent less visitors compared with 2000. Only New York saw more visitors in 2006.

QUALITY

The world's most famous teddy bear maker has decided to repatriate production after finding the cut-price Chinese factories could not replicate the quality of craftsmanship. Iconic Steiff bears, which have a button sewn into their ears, moved production to China four years ago joining the global cost-cutting trend of moving production to China. German analysts suggest that Steiff's return could mark the beginning of an exodus from China of foreign companies initially tempted by savings but ultimately disappointed by quality.

FARMS

The share of farmland used for organic production has grown quickly in many rich countries. Swiss farmers are among the keenest on organic food production, more than 10 per cent of their land is devoted to organic farming, up from less than two per cent in the mid-1990s. Austria comes a close second. Outside Europe, organic farming is less-popular. In the U.S. it accounts for just 0.25 per cent of land under cultivation. Japan's organic farms account for less than one per cent of agricultural land bringing down the OECD average to less than two per cent.

SALES

Christie's and Sotheby's, the worlds two top auctioneers have just completed a series of summer sales in London that raised more than US$1-billion, underlining how resilient the top end of the market is despite growing economic gloom. Records tumbled and bidding was aggressive when a Monet water-lily painting fetched $80.5-million, double the previous high for the French master. Christie's raised $552-million in the summer season of impressionist, modern, postwar and contemporary art while Sotheby's raised $449-million.

GRAIN

China's cabinet has approved a plan to ensure grain production keeps pace with strong domestic demand and overcomes challenges such as climate change. China aims to reach and maintain annual grain output of 500-million tonnes by 2010, and to increase output to more than 540-million tonnes a year by 2020. Presently, harsh weather and the development of arable land are hurting grain output. In order to achieve its goals, it has identified 120-million hectares (296-million acres) of land as a necessary minimum to ensure a 95 per cent self-sufficiency in grain supply.

WAITING

Wait times are a simmering shopper frustration. At grocery stores more than four minutes can jeopardise a customer's loyalty a new survey shows. Satisfaction remains high when the wait is four minutes or less in all store categories, after that, satisfaction levels drop considerably across the seven categories: grocery, consumer electronics, department, drug, home improvement, mass merchandisers, and office supply stores. 43 per cent of those surveyed said long lines would affect their decision to shop at a particular store in the future.

CLIMATE

Scientists are suggesting that climate change has caused plants to seek cooler conditions at higher levels. A study of 171 forest species in mountain ranges of western Europe found that many plants had climbed an average of 29 metres each decade. The plants are shifting upwards to recover temperature conditions that are optimal for their development and reproduction. The work was possible because of two large-scale, long-term databases that have recorded the presence of forest species since 1905.

RESTAURANTS

The largest restaurant in the world is the Damascus gate in Syria. The 6,014 seat restaurant has taken the record away from the eatery in Bangkok which serves 5,000 diners.

WATER

Statistics Canada reports that higher-income households and households with children were the most likely to drink bottled water in the home, though the large amounts of plastic waste generated by the consumption of bottled water has raised concerns. Households living in apartments and households with seniors were least likely to drink bottled water. Overall, almost 3 in 10 Canadian households used bottled water as their main source of drinking water in 2006.

GIVING

The Web has radically changed the way we shop, conduct our finances, get the news and participate in politics. Now it is changing the way we give. In 2007, giving to charities in the U.S. exceeded US$300-billion for the first time. Traditional means of fundraising, direct mail and telemarketing, are growing less effective and more expensive each year. Online fundraising in the U.S. has grown from $250-million in 2000 to an estimated $6.9-billion in 2006 and $13.2-billion globally.

SPACE

The UK Department of Transport has ruled that train commuters should be allocated 0.45 square metres of space, whether they are seated or standing. The EU regulations say this is less than is allowed for goats, chickens, calves and sheep.

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