August 2011
San Francisco BART Police Shut Down Cell Phone Service In Mubarak Style Response to Protesters
Determined to not let London be the first city to implement a Hosni Mubarak style crackdown on communication methods or devices, San Francisco transportation police suspended wireless access in stations in order to prevent protesters from organizing.
The Utter Ridiculousness of David Cameron’s Proposed London Riot Social Media Ban
In a move somewhere on par with rearranging the deck chairs as the Titanic sinks, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has floated the idea of banning people suspected of organizing or participating in the London riots from social media. Since having more police than rioters is an idea that didn’t occur to anyone until four days of disorder and destruction had passed, and it’s easier to blame BlackBerry.
Turkish Flash Sale Site Trendyol Raises $26 Million
Trendyol, a Turkish flash sale site, just raised $26 million from investors including Kleiner Perkins (KPCB), whose related investments include fashion rental service Rent the Runway and home design flash sale site One Kings Lane. It brings the company’s total funding to $50 million.
In the Case of the Red Soles, Louboutin Faces An Uphill Battle
Though they gained a small victory when a Manhattan judge threw out evidence from Yves Saint Laurent’s attorneys demonstrating a history of other companies using red soles, Christian Louboutin lost a far more important part of their lawsuit over YSL red-soled shoes.
What London’s Riot Response Says About Olympic Preparedness
Four days after the initial incident that sparked unrest in London, there still appears to be no definitive end to the organized violence. Some blame BlackBerry BBMs and Twitter for facilitating the organization of riots and looting, but regardless of the communication tools used to communicate, London faces a bigger problem: police can’t figure out how to quell outbursts of violence and stop them from spreading. That doesn’t lend a lot of confidence to the city’s ability to ensure safety for the 2012 Olympics.
Amy Winehouse’s Fred Perry Collection Will Live On
Amy Winehouse had a strong fan following not only for her music, but for her style as well. After her untimely death at the age of 27, the future of Winehouse’s fashion label with Fred Perry was uncertain. Her father and a Fred Perry representative have both confirmed that the collection – which had reportedly been finished well before the singer’s death – will appear in stores for Fall 2011 and Spring 2012.
Economic Unease Pushes Gold and Platinum To Equal Value
Remember when Eartha Kitt asked Santa Baby for the deed to a platinum mine? This Christmas, you may want to revert your wishlist back to the gold standard if current trading conditions continue through to December.
Today, the price of gold reached parity with platinum, pushing the value of the fine jewelry metal to a level not seen since 2008. It hit a record high of $1715.29 per troy ounce following the downgrade of the US government’s credit rating by Standard & Poor’s as investors looked for a safe haven alternative to more volatile stocks. Platinum, which hit a low of $1703 per ounce, doesn’t get the same boost as gold because it’s largely seen as an industry product while gold is also seen as something of a monetary instrument.
Did BlackBerry Fuel the Fires Of London’s Riots?
While analysts are predicting the imminent death of BlackBerry as Android and the iPhone battle it out for the title of the top smartphone, the phone that initially gained popularity among corporate users may be finding a new following among London youth.
A Tale Of Two Shoppers: Luxury Sales Bounce Back With Markups, Wal-Mart Struggles With Price Perception
MasterCard released their SpendingPulse macroeconomic report for July 2011, and the findings are a mixed bag for retailers. Luxury good sales are up 11.6% year over year, while Wal-Mart’s same store traffic is down 2.6% year over year. Though they’ve attempted to up their style credibility, shoppers aren’t buying it and competitors like Target and traditional supermarkets are seeing foot traffic increase.
So what gives? Is the economy that far back on track that everyone’s trading up? Not exactly.