Clancy . . . overflow . . . the best bits . . . funnies
David has put in the hard yards during a period when the company was wracked and rolled by expansions, contractions, takeovers and divestments. At one stage CPI was the largest graphics arts supplier in the industry. It is now a much more settled enterprise, focusing mainly on its core paper merchanting business. It’s an activity David Bull knows about, having worked in the paper samples department, as well as the warehouse, conversion and sales service departments before settling into sales and marketing. He was made New South Wales Sales Manager in 1998. Further progress saw him become Group Sales and Marketing Manager in 2003.
And now he’s a director. Well done.
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Western printing companies have been loudly complaining about the threat to their domestic markets posed by Chinese printers. Now R.R. Donnelley, the largest US printer, has turned the tables and acquired Asia Printers Group, a prominent Hong Kong book printer with an export presence in Australia as well as North America and Europe. It markets its print under the well-known South China Printing brand. The group's Roman Financial Press is one of Hong Kong's leading financial printers. The Americans bought the company for $95 million in cash. Asia Printers Group employs approximately 1,400 people.
So the next time you see a label that reads – Printed in China – it may not be all that Chinese.
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You’ll have noticed that newsagents are up in arms at the prospect of McDonalds selling newspapers. The burger chain apparently wants to provide reading material for its breakfast trade. The protest is part of a desperate bid by the newsagents to wind back the clock and reinforce their monopoly on newspaper sales, which has outlived its usefulness.
”Would you like a Daily Telegraph with that?”
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Apple Computers has finally bitten the bullet and is switching from the hokey IBM PowerChips to the faster Intel CPUs. Changing processors is a risky business in the computer world but Apple was driven to the decision by IBM’s failure to rev up its G5 PowerPC chips or to keep them cool enough to power laptops. This year, for the first time, laptops sold more than desktop machines in the USA, and because Apple is stuck with IBM’s G4 processors, it is losing market share.
Apple is reported to have three per cent of total computer sales, mainly from the high-end graphic arts market.
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Mohawk Papers, a US family-owned paper manufacturer, is taking its commitment to green paper very seriously. It is driving two of is paper mills in New York by windmill-generated power. It is now converting a recently acquired mill in Ohio to wind power as well. The company promotes its line of process-chlorine-free 100% recycled paper made using non-polluting, wind-generated energy from wind farms in upstate New York and Pennsylvania.
With many large corporations looking to protect themselves from claims of eco-damage there is increasing value in being able to prove your environmental credentials.
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And finally … this Journalism Ethics Test from Astrid S has, I suspect, less to do with political leanings than with the punch line, so feel free to adapt it to your own favourite bogey man.
This Ethics Test only has one question, but it's a very important one. By giving an honest answer, you will discover where you stand morally. The test features an unlikely, completely fictional situation in which you will have to make a decision.
Remember that your answer needs to be honest, yet spontaneous.
You are in Darwin. There is chaos all around caused by a cyclone with severe flooding. This is a flood of biblical proportions.
You are a photojournalist working for a major newspaper, and you're caught in the middle of this epic disaster. The situation is nearly hopeless.
Suddenly you see a man floundering in the water. He is fighting for his life, trying not to be taken down with the debris. You move closer, somehow the man looks familiar.
You suddenly realize who it is. It's John Howard.
You have two options – you can save his life or you can shoot a dramatic Wakely Award winning photo, documenting the death of the Prime Minister.
So here's the question, and please give an honest answer:
Would you select high contrast colour film, or would you go with the classic simplicity of black and white?