Brown-Forman posts higher 1Q profit (AP)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ? Brown-Forman Corp. said Wednesday its first-quarter profit rose 6 percent as its flagship Jack Daniel's lineup posted double-digit revenue growth and the liquor company posted strong sales overseas.

The company reaffirmed its full-year earnings projection and said it expects to benefit from brand development and wider distribution to help fuel improved net sales growth.

Louisville-based Brown-Forman reported a double-digit increase in advertising spending in the latest quarter, much of it to back the introduction of its Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey product ? its latest entry in an industrywide trend toward infusing new flavors into liquor.

The company's brands had a mixed performance in the three-month period.

Its leading Jack Daniel's brand lineup had a 15 percent revenue gain for the quarter, on a constant currency basis. The company reported higher volumes for its Chambord vodka, Herradura, Sonoma-Cutrer and Woodford Reserve brands.

Overall Finlandia vodka revenue was flat for the period on the same constant currency basis, while several other brands had declines.

Southern Comfort continued to struggle with an 11 percent drop in revenue for the overall brand. The company also reported revenue declines for its el Jimador, Canadian Mist and Korbel Champagne brands.

The company said it got a lift from a weaker U.S. dollar in its increasingly important international markets. It reported gains in Germany, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Russia and Brazil, which more than offset declines in Poland, Spain and Australia.

"In this quarter, we continued to enjoy widespread international growth," said company CEO Paul Varga. "We also saw an important acceleration of our U.S. business, driven by the continued growth of the Jack Daniel's trademark and super-premium brands."

The recession made U.S. consumers less inclined to venture out for out-on-the-town drinking at bars and restaurants, which the industry calls "on premise" consumption.

For the three months ended July 31, the company reported net income of $118.1 million, or 81 cents per share. That's up from $111.4 million, or 76 cents per share, a year ago.

Net sales rose 13 percent to $840.3 million from $744.9 million a year ago.

Analysts expected earnings of 83 cents per share on revenue of $767.2 million.

Its Class B shares rose 5 cents to $73.53 in morning trading.

For the full year, Brown-Forman expects to earn $3.45 to $3.85 per share. Analysts on average expect $3.70 a share for the year.

The company recently introduced new packaging for Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey and Finlandia, following up on packaging remakes for Southern Comfort, Herradura and Chambord. Varga said the investments in packaging and advertising will pay dividends.

"We believe that product, packaging and marketing innovation will continue to be important contributors to sustainable sales and profit growth in our industry," Varga said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110831/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_brown_forman

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Getting More RSS Subscribers For Your Blog | Topics Info | Internet ...

If you run a blog or plan to create one, then it?s obvious that you know the importance of getting and retaining RSS subscribers to ensure that you get repeat visitors. The reason for this article is to show you the kind of work that will need to be done and the steps to be taken to increase the RSS feed subscribers in the best possible way to your blog.

Get Friends to Recommend Your Blog/RSS Feed: Everybody knows that testimonials are great at inspiring action but recommendations work even better. That?s right, if you can ask your friends to recommend your blog?s feed to their readers and subscribers you?ll get a much higher response since they will share a trusting relationship that you?ll be leveraging. You will quickly see that by accepting the help of your friends here you?ll be slowly but surely increasing your subscription numbers without having to put in any of your own effort.

Recommendations always work well because there is a comfort factor that gets people in.

Leverage an Existing Audience: If you have a built up audience for another project of yours why not use it to your advantage and to build up the subscribers to your new blog? It?s possible to do lots of cross promotion if you have other platforms that are open to leveraging.

And it?s even better if this audience is relevant and related to your current blog. Not being focused enough can cause so many opportunities to pass us by. Check around to see if there might be some other sources waiting to be used to grab the attention of your existing audience and point it at your blog.

Keep a Tab on Your Feeds: It?s not uncommon to find your blog?s RSS feed not working due to a broken link or some other technical glitch. You need to keep your eyes on your feed to ensure that it continues to function properly because when you don?t do that you might be losing lots of people who are trying to subscribe to you.

Don?t allow yourself to become obsessed with just this one factor, checking in regularly should be all that is needed to keep the feed alive and healthy. Beyond that, having a feed with a broken link (or something in the same vein) can get you labeled unprofessional and cause people to unsubscribe to you entirely. You simply cannot control or predict how the readers might react so you need to make sure that you are offering them as smooth an experience as humanly possible. There are plenty of ways to increase your subscriber numbers to your RSS feed, so work on some tactics and see what works best for you.

Jesse Wilson is undoubtedly an expert in diet tips, easy ways to lose weight together with weight loss foods.

Source: http://www.topics-info.com/internet-businesses-online/getting-more-rss-subscribers-for-your-blog

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Former Giants employee charged with embezzlement

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? A former payroll manager for the San Francisco Giants has been arrested on federal charges associated with embezzling more than $1.5 million from the baseball club's employees, including players, and using the money for fancy cars and a new home.

Robin O'Connor, 41, was confronted by the team in July and acknowledged diverting more than $600,000 from two Giants employees, a criminal complaint filed last month in U.S. District Court in San Francisco said. An affidavit filed by an FBI special agent states that the club immediately fired her.

The Giants confirmed Tuesday that the club had discovered possible embezzlement by O'Connor last month.

"We immediately notified the United States Attorney's office and are working with the federal authorities to ensure that this matter is thoroughly investigated and that any wrongdoing is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," the team said in a statement.

The team conducted an audit after O'Connor's alleged admission and discovered 11 suspicious deposits totaling more than double what she had confessed to, for a total of $1,513,836, the affidavit said.

O'Connor, who lives in the San Francisco Bay area suburb of American Canyon, didn't immediately respond to an email or phone message Tuesday night. The federal public defender listed as her attorney also did not respond to an email seeking comment.

She is currently free on a $500,000 bail bond.

The team paid her $80,000 annually in base salary and she was eligible for bonuses, according to the affidavit. She processed payroll for Giants employees, including players, and was responsible for making changes to amounts of money sent to employees' bank accounts.

The first sign of trouble came on July 5, when the Giants were contacted by Bank of America, who said O'Connor had applied for a residential loan for a property in San Diego, the affidavit stated. The loan file included a letter on San Francisco Giants letterhead explaining two large deposits that had been made into O'Connor's bank account.

"Because of her outstanding contributions to our Major League Baseball team and front office during the 2010 season that assisted us in accomplishing our goal of winning the 2010 World Series, she was given two additional payments of compensation in May 2011," the letter, quoted in the affidavit, states.

Those payments were for $100,090 and $200,348, the affidavit states.

The letter also provided a phone number for a human resources manager who could confirm the payments, but the number was actually O'Connor's direct line at work, the affidavit states.

In addition, documents obtained by investigators showed that O'Connor spent tens of thousands of dollars on expensive cars, including a BMW.

O'Connor faces federal felony charges of wire fraud and fraud in connection with a computer. She's due in court Sept. 30.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-08-31-Giants%20Employee-Wire%20Fraud/id-5880195c5b814b12b02822a8d10e12d3

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Samsung supports Android, others with new ChatON service (Appolicious)

Samsung?s hedging its bets across mobile operating systems with its new instant messaging service ChatON. Based on its own software platform Bada, ChatON will come pre-installed on Samsung devices running on major platforms, including Android, BlackBerry and Bada. The messaging app also supports iOS devices, giving Samsung an expansive grab of the market. With smartphone sales exceeding Apple?s, Samsung could have a strong entry into this crowded space, as the handset maker hopes to further lure consumers to its devices.

ChatON is a free messaging application, with texting, group chat messaging, as well as media-sharing. With two versions of ChatON, users can keep it basic or get more complex with social interactions, including profile comments, animated messages and quick filters for most frequently contacted friends. Engadget reports that Samsung plans a web version of ChatON for PCs as well. With a global reach for handsets, ChatON will support dozens of languages across 120 countries, aiming to be a truly international communication hub.

One company ChatON will be competing with is Skype, which already has cross-platform and cross-device support, along with integration in major social networks like Facebook. Skype also expanded its portfolio by acquiring popular Android group messaging tool GroupMe last week. The Wall Street Journal also runs a few stats on a home-based competitor, Kakao Talk. The free messaging service has a stronghold on the South Korean market but also has worldwide appeal, with a reported 22 million subscribers, including about 4 million foreign customers in Japan and the U.S.

Samsung?s global reach is also being hindered in a few ways, from Hurricane Irene to Apple?s own storm of lawsuits. Shipping of the Samsung Galaxy S2 smartphone has been delayed due to the east coast terror Hurricane Irene, while Apple?s managed to get Samsung smartphone sales blocked in a couple of European countries including Germany, and Samsung?s Australian tablet debut has been delayed because of Apple as well. Combined with Verizon?s recent decision to not sell the recently released, Android-powered Galaxy S2, and Samsung?s got a few obstacles to overcome in order to maintain its worldwide hold on the market.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_appolicious_tc/http___www_androidapps_com_articles9256_samsung_supports_android_others_with_new_chaton_service/42747505/SIG=1375tqm74/*http%3A//www.androidapps.com/tech/articles/9256-samsung-supports-android-others-with-new-chaton-service

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How to Make Dill Pickles | Healthy Food and Drink

2011?8?29?

Ever wanted to be able to make your own pickles? Allison will show you how with a simple cold pack method. You can make whole or spear dill pickles.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Entry Filed under: Food Channel. ??: Dill, Pickles.

Source: http://holylandpizza.com/archives/5576

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International Friendship Day ? A Exceptional Date Intended for your ...

Posted August 27th, 2011.

This July, on the 30th, the Sky Lanterns ended up being fairly advantageous. The International Friendship Day was observed then. As a rule observed during the 1st Sunday during August, you will suppose that we could be in the wrong. This year nonetheless, it in actual fact had been marked over the thirtieth of July, as opted by the United Nations. Pals are for eternity here with the intention to assist us during the easy and hard times, all through tears and laughter, so this particular date is especially destined to honour them. Prove your gratitude toward your mates. Listed below are several impressive proposals with the purpose to compose them feel very distinctive on this particular day. Take a look through the photos you have in the company of your friends. Choose the top of them next compose a random collection. Everybody gets pleasure from an attractively made lovely collage. Unlike a plain photo, this particular random collection shall be a symbol of your entire companionship and everything you?ve passed through together. Set up your beautiful collage in addition to a gorgeous sky lantern then get together with your pal. They shall be stunned by the attention alone so as to honour this particular date together with them, coupled with at the time they glimpse the gorgeous collage in addition to wish lantern. The magnificent Sky Lanterns are going to be capable to be a fantastic way to reveal your closeness as well as upcoming journeys.

Source: http://www.myjakesmith.com/news-and-society/international-friendship-day-a-exceptional-date-intended-for-your-friend/

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