Centives

Jonathan Glancey wrote that in the US, shopping malls seem to be in decline:

• Economic decline and online shopping have hurt the mall.
• Just as earlier generations had ghost-towns, the 21^st century has ‘ghost malls’ – abandoned super-structures fit for horror movie storylines.
• 2007 might have been the turning point. From a rate of 140 a year, it was the first year in over 50 years when no new malls were built in the US.
• Malls may also have become unpopular because they became associated with youth who made adults feel uncomfortable shopping there.
• Given that malls are essentially giant, enclosed boxes it’s not clear what we should do with the abandoned ones. Various suggestions include turning them into leisure centers or casinos.
• Malls thrive in other parts of the world. China, Iran and even Bangladesh have malls bigger than those in the US.

Read more about malls, and see some eerie photographs of abandoned ones over here.

Source: BBC

Some tech designers have come up with a prototype luxury airline seat. Marisa Garcia took a look at what makes it special:

• The seat is able to connect directly with your electronic devices and use big data to figure out what movies you’ll likely want to watch, and what your preferred inflight meal would be.
• It comes with an active video display side panel which changes colours based on what you’re doing and the mood you’re in.
• It is, of course, able to give full massages.
• It tracks your eyes so that if you look away to pay attention to a flight attendant, for example, it’ll pause whatever you’re watching.
• The eye-tracking technology can even do things like figure out how strong or weak your vision is and recommend glasses.

Read about the seat’s surround-sound system and when the super-rich might be able to enjoy such seats over here. And read more about the economics of business class over here.

Source: Quartz

Nadja Brandt and Michael Buteau wrote about the recovering market for golf courses:

• In 2012 the market for golf courses hit a low with the average course selling for $2.7 million.
• This year the average price has risen 57% with the average golf course selling for $4.25 million. This includes one property that was sold for $75 million.
• All in all though the market is still below its pre-recession peak of $7.33 million.
• The price has been driven up by a decrease in supply – in 2013 about 144 more courses closed than had opened.
• There was an over-supply of golf courses because people were purchasing them as if they were houses – and were buying them for their potential future values.
• These days they are treated as businesses and valuations depend on metrics such as membership numbers, operations, and net profits.

Read more about the golf course industry, how banks are changing how they evaluate golf course acquisitions, and how Donald Trump’s golf courses have fared over here.

Source: Bloomberg

Germany is so well-known for its efficiency and cost effectiveness that when a project falls behind schedule it straight up becomes a tourist attraction writes Chris Cottrell:

• Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport was meant to open in 2011 but that date has been pushed back ‘indefinitely’.
• It’s now possible to get vacation packages to see the construction site just to see what a behind-schedule German project looks like.
• While there tourists can buy souvenirs with the airport’s logo.
• Despite the fact that the airport has yet to receive a flight it requires more electricity than the functional Tagel airport.
• Several empty subway trains are run through the airport every day to prevent rust from building up on the tracks.
• Taxpayers are also on the hook for the $200,000 a month cleaning cost to keep the main terminal looking pretty.
• Housekeeping still goes through every room in the hotel opposite the airport to run the faucets and let fresh air in to prepare for guests that may not come for several more years.

Read more about the airport, its cost overruns and delays, and also find out about other major projects in Germany that have fallen behind over here.

Source: The New York Times

Elon Musk and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers want to replace side and rearview mirrors with cameras writes Ariel Bogle:

• Having cameras instead of mirrors would increase the efficiency of cars as side view mirrors currently create a lot of drag.
• Image processing features such as infrared and thermal imaging sensors could also be added to improve safety.
• It seems the best place to put the image from the cameras would be on the steering wheel – keeping the image in the driver’s field of view.
• This could be expensive. Adding cameras in the back to help those reversing their cars costs at least $45 per vehicle.
• Regulators may feel that it creates more safety risks than it fixes – after all, what if the camera breaks?

You can read more about the pros and cons of the move, as well as the role that state regulations might play, and why ultimately none of this will probably matter over here.

Source: Slate

How much does it cost to find a missing jetliner? CBS News took a look:

• An exact figure is hard to come by since a lot of the costs – such as the cost of maintaining a ship or paying troops – would have to be paid anyway.
• The search effort has also been valuable training for those responsible for search and rescue operations.
• The US Department of Defense has allocated about $7.6 million to help with the search. So far it has spent $3.3 million.
• Australia is spending half a million dollars a day on one of its search ships alone. To say nothing of general administration and depreciation costs.
• Japan has an $8.8 million budgeted for emergency relief and it is believed that its costs are covered by this budget.
• Malaysia refuses to provide a figure.

Read more about some of the other costs that should be accounted for, how defense cooperation agreements affect costs, and more over here. The Times of India says that $44 million has been spent on the search.

Source: CBS News

Via: Slate

Those who sit on a company’s board of directors are expected to provide guidance about big strategic questions. Jason Karaian took a look at some of the studies done on effective boards:

• Being a non-executive director is a nice job. For about $250,000 all you have to do is attend eight meetings a year – although you are responsible for a lot of the company’s steps (and missteps.)
• The average board of directors has nine individuals on it.
• The companies that perform the best generally replace a director, on average, once a year.
• This means that an individual sitting on the board should stick around for about nine years and then move on.
• According to one study 35% of board members feel that one of their colleagues should be booted from the board.

Read more about the board of directors, what it does, how it should effectively be managed, and find links to the studies here.

Source: Quartz

While Facebook and Google get all the attention when it comes to advertising, the good old billboard is holding its own writes Amol Sharma:

• People can’t skip through billboard ads the way they can through television ads.
• Yet billboards get only $4.4 billion in marketing dollars while television gets $74 billion.
• As people move to the suburbs commuting time are getting longer thus increasing billboard viewership.
• Regulatory change means that it’s getting harder to put up new billboards. The owners of older ones can thus secure high profits.

Read more about the shift to digital billboards, what corporate executives have to say about the market, and more over here.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Adam Taylor took a look at poor world leaders:

• Uruguay’s President, José Mujica has long been the sole contender for world’s poorest leader.
• Mujica’s habits such as driving himself in a 20-year-old Volkswagon Beetle, and often showing up to meetings without shoes have driven his reputation for frugality.
• Nepal’s latest Prime Minister, Sushil Koirala, may challenge him for that title.
• Koirala declared just three possessions of his own and doesn’t own any property.
• What do frugal leaders have in common? Radical youths. Mujica was part of a guerrilla group while Koirala has served time in prison over an airplane hijacking.

Read about the two leaders, their contrasting styles, and more over here.

Source: The Washington Post

Yesterday Microsoft announced Cortana for Windows Phones, its own Halo-inspired response to Siri and Google Now. Tom Warren took a look at some of the features which will no doubt soon be emulated across platforms and guide the development of personal digital assistants:

• Cortana comes with a notebook that shows all the information that Cortana knows about you. A user can add, modify, or delete her memory by going into the notebook and modifying its contents.
• It provides proactive alerts. When it figures out your favourite sports team it’ll let you know when they score or win. If it sees you’re in a new country it’ll automatically give you weather and currency notifications.
• You can also insert triggers into Cortana. You can ask it to remind you to ask about a friend’s father the next time you talk to them. If you call, email, or text them it’ll then give you that reminder.
• It’s educated on the finer points of grammar. If you ask for the ‘best restaurant near me’ it’ll give you only one nearby well rated restaurant unlike its competitors. To see a list of all the good restaurants close by you can ask for “best restaurants near me”.
• Over time Cortana will build a social map of those closest to you. It can also be set to identify your quiet times where only the people closest to you are allowed to reach you.

Read more about its features over here, and find out what happens when you ask who Cortana’s father is, how you can get it to address you as Master Chief, and how this all ties back to Bing.

Source: The Verge