Thursday, March 28

Business

United Airlines Plans to Launch New International Route Between Denver and Panama City
Business, World

United Airlines Plans to Launch New International Route Between Denver and Panama City

Panama City is the hot new destination this year, and multiple airlines are keying in to this trend. This week, United Airlines announced that it would be creating a new international route out of its Denver hub. Starting Dec. 3, nonstop flights to Panama City will head out of Denver several times each week. United Airlines is following suit with its Star Alliance partner, Copa Airlines. Last week, Copa announced it would be creating a similar nonstop route to Panama City out of Montreal, Canada. Copa has been increasing its presence in the U.S. over the past several years, and is referring to Panama City as its base for a "hub of the Americas." Copa's hub there currently connects to over 40 cities. This new travel route follows the popularity of another international route that ope...
Millennials’ Economic Situations Hurt Real Estate Market
Business

Millennials’ Economic Situations Hurt Real Estate Market

According to Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey, younger renters between ages 18 and 39 dream to be homeowners in their relatively near futures, but economic realties are getting in the way--a situation that's noticeably impeding the housing market's recovery process. According to U.S. Census statistics, the demographic's new home purchasing fell from 65.2% in 2013's fourth quarter to 64.8% in 2014's first quarter. According to Sarah Shahdad, a Fannie Mae strategic planning analyst, obstacles like staggering student loan debt, lack of savings, and less-than-perfect credit are holding Millennials back from being able to enter the housing market. Additionally, Millennials are waiting longer to get married or have kids, which means they're essentially delaying life events that would moti...
Several Automakers Consider Discontinuing Large Luxury Hybrids After Lukewarm Sales
Business

Several Automakers Consider Discontinuing Large Luxury Hybrids After Lukewarm Sales

Not all experiments end well, as the auto industry has been finding out after offering gas saving hybrid models for vehicles that are known for having low fuel economy. So few of these vehicles were sold that automakers are now wondering whether they’re even worth engineering. General Motors, after offering hybrid versions of its new generations of Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon, and Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs, has decided to pull the plug. Even though the Escalade hybrid delivered 21 miles per gallon (combined driving conditions), up 31% from the non-hybrid’s 16 combined, “No one bought them,” says David Schiavone, marketing manager for the Escalade. “And they were great.” Mercedes-Benz and Lexus have also been pulling back on their offerings. One of the issues with selling the hybrid cars,...
Texas Couple Sues Construction Company, Claiming Negligent Home Construction
Business

Texas Couple Sues Construction Company, Claiming Negligent Home Construction

A Texas couple is suing the construction company that built their home over claims of negligent construction after the home's foundations began to crack "excessively," an April 24 article in the Southeast Texas Record reported. On April 14, John and Donna English filed a lawsuit against Ronald Allen Hansen of Sandcastle Construction in the Galveston County District Court, citing breach of contract and negligence. According to the Southeast Texas Record, the complaint stated that the plaintiffs hired Sandcastle Construction to construct a house on their property in Galveston and paid Hansen in full. In the complaint, the plaintiffs also alleged that their house's foundation was now cracking excessively. The couple is seeking attorney's fees and damages to cover the repairs needed to r...
To Promote New Album, Daily News Gives Away Carlos Santana-Signed Guitar
Business, Lifestyle

To Promote New Album, Daily News Gives Away Carlos Santana-Signed Guitar

This past Monday, 39-year-old Jovany Tavarez from the Bronx got a taste of guitar great Carlos Santana's own handiwork when he was able to take home a custom Paul Reed Smith guitar signed by the master himself. No, there was no "Black Magic Woman" to thank for the feat -- Taverez was the lucky winner of a contest held by the New York Daily News' Viva publication, a Latino lifestyle magazine. Tavarez, a social worker, participated in Viva's contest (which HBO Latino co-sponsored) along with nearly 800 other entrants and became the sole victor on May 5. His prize package includes the instrument itself, a custom Paul Reed Smith guitar emblazoned with Santana's face on the body with psychedelic and traditional Latin-inspired artwork decorating it. Santana's signature lies just near the guit...
Fox to Get Rid of Saturday Night Animation Block
Business, Lifestyle

Fox to Get Rid of Saturday Night Animation Block

Fox TV has made the decision to axe its "underperforming" Animation Domination HD block of programming. The Saturday night program's last night will be June 28; no replacement for the 11 p.m. hour has yet been announced, according to Broadcasting and Cable. The Animation Domination High Def (ADHD) brand will continue on digital platforms off the air, including FoxADHD.com, Broadcast and Cable reported. Sunday's primetime Animation Domination block, which airs shows like The Simpsons and Family guy, is staying put, executives said. Animation Domination's Saturday night block, which had been geared toward young males and resembled Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming, made its debut last year. Fox describes ADHD as “alternative animated series, shorts and user-adapted material.” ...
Google’s Automated Cars Ready To Navigate Heavily Populated Cities
Business

Google’s Automated Cars Ready To Navigate Heavily Populated Cities

"Google says that cars it is programming to drive themselves have started to master the navigation of city streets and the challenges they bring, from jaywalkers to weaving bicyclists -- a critical milestone for any commercially available self-driving car technology," Fox News reported Monday. Google's self-driving cars previously traveled relatively straightforward, rural highways only. New software enables the automated vehicles to pick up on cyclists, hand signals, instructions from crossing guards, buses, and pedestrians walking alongside or crossing the road. With some improvements, experts argue that self-driving cars will make the roads safer. The cars will likely drive even better than humans. "A self-driving vehicle can pay attention to all of these things in a way that a human...
US Manufacturing a ‘Rising Star’ in the World, Says New Report
Business

US Manufacturing a ‘Rising Star’ in the World, Says New Report

The U.S. has lost some 7.5 million industrial jobs since the employment sector hit its peak in 1979, in large part because companies chose to ship their manufacturing jobs to less-expensive overseas markets. However, that trend is reversing, and, according to a new report, the U.S. now ranks second in overall competitiveness. It trails only China. On Friday, the report released by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) said that the U.S. was a “rising star” of global manufacturing. It also said that China’s place as the top manufacturer was, if not being explicitly challenged, “under pressure” because of increased labor and transportation costs as well as reduced productivity growth. Conversely, the U.S. is becoming a better market for manufacturing thanks to the lower cost of natural gas...
New Report Finds America Employed, but Perhaps at the Cost of the Housing Market
Business, Lifestyle

New Report Finds America Employed, but Perhaps at the Cost of the Housing Market

After spending the better part of a decade in disaster mode, the American economy has used the past four years to gradually bounce back to a relatively stable state, according to recent reports. In fact, millions of Americans are now back to work. But of course, with these numbers come a bit of good news and a bit of bad news. The good news? A bolstered economy means an enlivened workforce, with nearly 4 million jobs being created in the past few years. The bad news? The overwhelming majority of these employment opportunities have come at places like McDonald's, Taco Bell and retail shops in strip malls. In a grander sense, the economy's bounce-back has yielded far more low-paying jobs than better-paid ones. But who cares, as long as there are jobs at all, right? The housing market, ...
Chinese Company 3-D Prints 10 Houses in Just One Day
Business, World

Chinese Company 3-D Prints 10 Houses in Just One Day

WinSun Decoration Design Engineering, a Chinese construction company, has harnessed the power of 3-D printing technology to build 10 one-story houses in Shanghai in just a single day. Each of the houses is 33 feet (10 meters) wide, and 22 feet (6.6 meters) high, for an approximate square-footage of 2,100 feet. They're built layer by layer with a quick drying cement, similar to the way that bakers would ice cakes, and cost less than $5,000 to build. As each layer gets added, it's checked for quality, since there aren't any building codes pertaining to 3-D printing construction in China. "We purchased parts for the printer overseas, and assembled the machine in a factory in Suzhou," aid Mia Yihi, the CEO of WinSun CEO, to the International Business Times. "Such a new type of 3-D printe...