Hopefully, this won't put newspapers out of business.

El Segundo advertisers see green on TV screens

By Muhammed El-Hasan
Staff Writer

At coffee shops, customers wait to order amid the intermingling scents of lattes and cappuccinos.

After ordering, the patrons wait some more as baristas prepare their drinks.

The founders of an El Segundo-based company see these customers as more than just coffee drinkers.

They are a captive audience - at least until they walk out the door.

Ripple, a small company with 40 employees, is trying to capitalize on this captive audience by selling advertisements on a network of monitors it has installed at coffee shops, juice bars, restaurants and other venues where people wait. Launched in 2006, Ripple has placed screens in about 1,000 locations nationwide, including more than half in Southern California.

"It's getting harder to reach people, with TiVo and the Web," said Ali Diab, 33, co-founder and president of products and technology at Ripple. "This is a chance to capture their attention where there's no other competing media at the time."

Powered by $15 million in venture capital, Ripple is found in the large media markets of Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City and Boston. The company recently opened a sales office in New York.

Read the full story.

Posted by Muhammed El-Hasan at 11:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I hope you stocked up on the so-called "forever stamps."

(Bloomberg) The price of a first-class stamp will increase one penny to 42 cents tomorrow, the US Postal Service said on its Web site as a reminder.

Prices for other mailing services, including standard mail, periodicals, package services and special services, will also increase tomorrow, the Postal Service, an independent federal agency, said.

Forty-two-cent stamps will be required on first-class mail weighing an ounce (0.02 kilograms) or less, while first-class mail weighing as much as two ounces will increase 1 cent to 59 cents, the Postal Service said.

Posted by Muhammed El-Hasan at 2:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Watch Out Boeing and Airbus. I wonder if the Air Force will ever buy aerial refueling tankers from China.
Oh, yea. And happy Mother's Day.

China establishes company to make its own jumbo jets

BEIJING (AP) -- China has established a homegrown company to make passenger jumbo jets, state media reported Sunday -- a step forward in the country's quest to become less dependent on Boeing and Airbus.

China Commercial Aircraft Co. was established in Shanghai with registered capital of 19 billion yuan $2.7 billion, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

It said the central government and the Shanghai government are among the major shareholders, as are China's two main aircraft manufacturing and servicing companies, China Aviation Industry Corp. I and China Aviation Industry Corp. II, which were split off from state-owned China Aviation Industry Corp. in 1999.

Europe's Airbus has forecast that China's domestic market will increase fivefold by 2026. Airbus and Chicago-based rival Boeing dominate the market for commercial airplanes carrying 100 or more people.

Xinhua said Commercial Aircraft Co. will be able to make planes with more than 150 seats.

General manager Jin Zhuanglong said in a Xinhua interview that it was too early to say when a Chinese-developed jumbo jet would be taking off, as it would take a long time to develop homegrown talent and do research.

"According to the development history of Airbus and Boeing, the development and success of civil planes cannot be realized by relying on one or two generations," he said.

Posted by Muhammed El-Hasan at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)