Play that funky music on vinyl

More than 9.2 million vinyl records were sold in the U.S. last year while its sales in U.K. breached the one million level, the biggest in the country since 1996, Time.com has reported.

That number of records bought in America represents an increase of 52 percent compared to last year, underscoring the resurgence of the medium preferred by nostalgic people and musical purists.

In contrast, the sales figures of digital music are plummeting, down 9 percent for digital downloads of albums and 12 percent for songs in 2014.

Optimal, a German-based presser of vinyl, told the Guardian that they would produce 18 million of the records this year, even as a new vinyl pressing plant named Canada Boy Vinyl is opening in Calgary also this year.

“Vinyl remains popular because the high-quality sound it delivers. While everyone from DJs to your grandfather has been saying for years that the sound on vinyl is richer, warmer and clearer than what’s being released online, it might not just be music snobbery talking. Most industry experts agree with them to an extent,” wrote Time.

According to Jon Lloyd, a music genre specialist, the poor quality of digital records is pushing people to rediscover the magic of vinyl. –End-

Image by: JHD

This Prince is super Generous

The 34^th richest man on the world, Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, is donating his entire US$32 billion personal fortune to charity, reported the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC).

Alwaleed is chair of the investment firm Kingdom Holding Company which owns stakes in hotels like The Four Seasons, Fairmont and Raffles, and in diversified companies like News Corp., Citigroup, Twitter and Apple.

But Alwaleed clarified that he would only donate his personal money which “is very much separate from my ownership in Kingdom Holding.”

Bereft of any official government position, the prince, aged 60, said his move was inspired by the philanthropy of Bill and Melinda Gates, who put up the Gates Foundation in 1997.

He said the money would be used to "foster cultural understanding", "empower women", and "provide vital disaster relief", among other things.

Gates hailed Alwaleed’s announcement, saying it is an “inspiration to all of us working in philanthropy.” Alwaleed Philanthropies  has already donated $3.5 billion to charity. 

– End-

Image by: Alwaleed

Google(rillas) issues mea culpa

Google has issued an apology after its facial recognition software misidentified two African-Americans as “gorillas,” reported USA Today.

“Looks like Google has some fine-tuning to do on its facial recognition software. Or maybe it needs to hire more people of color,” said the paper.

A programmer based in Brooklyn, Jacky Alcine, tweeted a screenshot of photos he had uploaded where Google’s Photo app labeled himself and a friend, both blacks, as “gorillas.”

The brouhaha has stirred criticism on the large of cultural diversity in Google, where only two percent (2%) of employees as African-American and 60 percent are white. 

-End-

Image by: Alcine

Aboitiz Float Raises PhP615M

Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) has managed to raise P614.8 million in fresh capital through the sale of treasury shares. The listed conglomerate sold 10.6 million shares at P58 apiece in a treasury sale transaction on June 30.

The fresh capital is on top of the P1.2 billion that AEV raised from three similar transactions between August 2014 and January this year.
With the latest share sale, the company is now left with 140,332,814 treasury shares, or its inventory of unissued shares or those that were bought back from the public.

Last August, the AEV board authorized the sale of up to 50 million treasury shares to boost the firm’s cash reserves and working capital. It has sold 32.4 million treasury shares so far.

“The proceeds of the sale will be used to build up the company’s cash reserves, working capital and for other general corporate purposes,” AEVsaid.

AEV is the holding firm for the Aboitiz family’s businesses. The company allotted P60 billion in capital expenditures for this year, higher than the P31-billion actual spending last year.

The bulk of the budget, or P52 billion, has been earmarked for its power subsidiary, Aboitiz Power Corp.

The remainder has been set aside for its property (Aboitiz Land, Inc.), banking (Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc.) and food (Pilmico Foods, Inc.) subsidiaries. –End-

New Jersey gov bids for Republican nomination

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, 52,  announced today (July 1, 2015) his bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday, reported Reuters. He became the 14^th Republican to bid for his party’s anointment as candidate in the November 2016 election.

Reuters said Christie is known for his “trademark brashness, offering up his blunt talk and willingness to tackle tough issues as the cure for Washington dysfunction.” Christie said his  dose of New Jersey straight talk could help span the partisan divide to solve difficult political problems.

"I mean what I say and I say what I mean, and that's what America needs right now," Christie said as he launched his nomination bid at his old high school in New Jersey. "Truth and hard decisions today will lead to growth and opportunity tomorrow."

Christie had derided both parties for its warring leaders, as well as  President Barack Obama's "hand-wringing and indecisiveness and weakness in the Oval Office”. Obama is a Democrat.

"Both parties have failed our country," said Christie. "Both parties have led us to believe that in America, a country that was built on compromise, that somehow now 'compromise' is a dirty word." – End-

Image by: Forbes

Greece Defaults

Greece became the first developed country to default on its loan payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after missing payment of $1.7 billion, CNN reported.

Fast running out of money, Greece rejected the conditions set by Europe and the IMF set for the release of the remaining billions from its existing bailout at the weekend. That bailout expired Tuesday.

It was a development already expected for the financially beleaguered nation which meant that Greece would no longer have access to funding from the IMF, an organization of 188 nations.

Greece had hoped to stem its plunge into economic payoff by requesting a two-year bailout from Europe, its third in six years, asking for a total of $32 billion.

CNN reported that finance ministers have “discussed the request by phone and agreed to hold another call Wednesday, when Greece is expected to provide more details.” –End-

Image by: Infowars

Mayor Binay steps down to await CA ruling

Makati Mayor Junjun Binay today (July 1, 2015) stepped down from office but only temporarily to await the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) on the assailed suspension order of the Ombudsman against him.

The CA had invalidated the first suspension order of the Ombudsman against the son of Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay. Binay is seeking a similar temporary restraining order (TRO) or preliminary injunction against the second suspension order.

The second suspension order was in relation to the alleged overpriced construction of the Makati City Science High School Building while the first was over the alleged overpricing of the Makati City Hall Building 2.

Binay said he was temporarily leaving his office to stop his supporters from getting hurt like what happened yesterday when the police and officials of the DILG tried to serve him the Ombudsman’s suspension order.

“Kahit labag sa aking kalooban, ako po ay pansamantalang lilisan sa ating city hall," Binay said in a televised press conference. - End-