Chief Officers News

Aviation: Spirit Airlines - is that hand luggage, or am I just pleased to see you?

Spirit Airlines tags its website with "cheap tickets, cheap flights, discount airfare, cheap hotels, cheap car rentals, cheap travel." It doesn't add, as it perhaps should, cheap tricks. For now it costs more to fly your hand luggage than it costs to fly you. And either they sting you at the gate or rely on breakage to increase their "take."

Media: gangs gang up on Village Voice's "Backpage.com" online advertising site

About a month ago, a New York Times columnist called Nicholas D Kristof penned an Op-Ed that said that Backpage.com, a website owned by New York's Village Voice Media. The article was one of several that accused Backpage.com of profiting from child prostitution and trafficking. Even though there is little evidence of that, and much of the supposed evidence turns out to be fiction, Village Voice Media is under pressure.

Anti Money Laundering Seminar - Hong Kong - to hear impact on international trading companies

New international guidelines will bring all financial and trading companies with any international dimension within the scope of expanded laws to combat money laundering and terrorist financing - and other activities, a Seminar to be held in Hong Kong will hear.

Comms: new mobile app aims to deliver "SuperHD" VOIP for mobiles in Japan

Swedish company Plingm (currently named Freephoo on Apple's App Store) says that its free mobile VoIP app with SuperHD sound is now available fo the Japanese market. With the app, , the company says, users can make quality voice calls to friends all over the world and cut phone bills substantially.

Governance: Murdoch "is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company."

A committee of UK MPs has found that Rupert Murdoch "turned a blind eye and exhibited wilful blindness to what was going on in his companies and publications,� says the report into telephone hacking which goes on to say that there was a culture emanating from the top and permeating down the organisation which resulted in a "lack of effective corporate governance at News Corporation and News International."

Aviation : laser attacks on aircraft have become a serious problem

As a commercial airliner approached Liverpool's John Lennon Airport last year, a laser light was shone into the cockpit, temporarily blinding one of the crew during landing. It is far from an isolated incident.

Intellectual Property : how Google Drive (and other services) can own your rights

A report on a leading website has raised a disturbing question about intellectual property rights with the new Google Drive service for users who have their heads in the cloud.

F1: competition or lottery?

With four winners in four races and more teams in the running for points than (it feels like) ever before, exactly what is going on in F1?

Publishing: the NYT (pay)wall is closing in - and so are the threats

The New York Times was a leader in mass-market paywall concept. Now it's revising its plan. It marks a fundamental shift in the way that customers see news more than a shift in the way the NYT sees customers. Nigel Morris-Cotterill, publisher ChiefOfficers.Net and other media, says that there are serious questions as to the future of how newspapers present news.

Aviation : "no chance of survivors" in Islamabad crash

A Boeing 737-200 operated by Bhoja Air on a domestic flight in Pakistan has crashed on approach to Islamabad Airport on the first day of a new service.

BizLawNews : World Money Laundering Report Volume 11 Number 2

World Money Laundering Report Vol 11 No 2 Free Download until 25 April 2012.

Sales: The ultimate salesman - as seen on TV !

Have you ever tried to buy a camera at a discount? Ah Wing wants to sell it to you. But he's going to make you pay for the privilege!

Public Health: tobacco companies accuse Australia of stealing their brand value

Australia's Federal Government has ordered that, from December this year, all cigarettes sold in the country must be in plain brown boxes (with large colour photographs of the harm smoking causes) and the company and product name in pre-determined, standardised fonts. The tobacco companies are steaming, if not actually smoking.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Online booking - should airlines declare all charges up front?

Airlines' on-line ticket booking sites are notorious for taking users through screen after screen with optional - and in some cases non-optional charges being added at each stage. Our sister site, AirTravelReports.Com is inviting travellers to Have Your Say on this important topic.

Aviation: Passengers injured in rush to evacuate

Fifteen passengers were injured as they left a Virgin Atlantic aeroplane yesterday after a turn-back and emergency landing at London's Gatwick airport.

Comms: Indian mobile sector in disarray

When people ask what doing business in India is like, just refer them to the telecoms sector. If they still want to invest in a country that can't make a decision and stick to it, it's up to them.

Automotive: Hybrids - been there, done that, never again

Polk, a market research company, has produced a report that says that many owners of hybrid cars won't make the same purchasing decision again.

F1's new spa - the mudbath in Texas

It is by no means certain that the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (which has christened itself COTA) will take place. But with several months to go, there is a reasonable chance that it will.And there's a nice revenue generating wheeze - provided fans don't work out the downsides.

F1: Will the 2012 Bahrain GP happen?

For the second year in a row, a row in Bahrain is making the race there, due next month, is looking less certain. But this time, the background is more complex.

F1: the Lotus saga continues - without Lotus

Remember when Tony Fernandes and his little team bought the rights to the Team Lotus name? And Malaysian government owned Proton which owned Group Lotus objected? So they all ended up in a protracted and expensive Court battle in the UK in which there was no clear winner. Now the whole thing seems to be utterly ridiculous.