Archive for November, 2008
‘Speed bumps’ In The Road To Bankruptcy For Hotels And Resorts.
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 | HOTELS | 4 Comments
Hospitality Lawyer: Turnarounds, workouts, receiverships, bankruptcies and deeds in lieu for troubled and defaulted hotel mortgage loans. As we all fasten our seat belts for a rough ride in the Global Financial Crisis, commercial real estate has begun to feel the pain. Hotels will share the fate of the economy, commercial real estate, the airlines and consumer confidence. It does not look pretty.
Some say that after Labor Day 2008, “the hospitality industry fell off a cliff” with gross revenue declines reaching 20% or even 30% in some markets.
The implications of this kind of change are bad for the hotel industry and hotel lenders as the liquidity crisis, rising cap rates, and tighter underwriting standards have made refinancing difficult or impossible. Maturity defaults were already threatening with billions of debt coming due in 2009, 2010 and 2011, but travel cutbacks and a deepening global recession foreshadow increased loan payment defaults on hotel loan mortgages as well.
In fact, the phones have really started ringing in bankruptcy department for JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® lawyers as creditors seek assistance in collecting or enforcing their debt, and borrowers urgently explore their options.
Hotel loans are more complex and challenging
Making hotel mortgage loans and dealing with troubled hotel loans is always more complex than with other real estate assets.
A lot has changed since the mid 1990s when there was an estimated wave of some 2,000 hotel bankruptcy filings. The veteran hotel lawyers in JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® represented many major lenders, the FDIC and RTC, and also a number of noteworthy borrowers in cleaning up that mess.
The Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994 adopted several substantial changes, including a “fix” to the vexatious “rents vs. accounts” issue that plagued hotel lenders through the mid 1990s. Another of these changes related to what constitutes a “single asset” bankruptcy entitling the secured creditor to expedited relief from the bankruptcy stay. While a single hotel in a special purpose entity might intuitively seem to be a single asset entity, there appear to be two views on this subject, perhaps depending on the facts, or perhaps depending upon the jurisdiction considering the issue.
Intel, Micron Venture Starts Making 34nm Flash Chips
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 | Computer | 4 Comments
A company owned jointly by Intel and memory maker Micron Technology started mass producing NAND flash memory chips using tiny 34-nanometer technology, the companies said Monday.
NAND flash memory is used to store songs, movies and more in iPods, iPhones and a range of other consumer electronics goods.
The Intel-Micron joint venture, IM Flash Technologies, expects 50 percent of the chips at its factory in Lehi, Utah to be made using 34nm technology by the end of this year.
The nanometer measurement describes the size of the smallest transistors and other parts that can be manufactured on a single chip. There are about three to six atoms in a nanometer, depending on the type of atom, and there are a billion nanometers in a meter.
Chip makers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) and Intel currently mass produce chips using technology as tiny as 40nm to 45nm. Generally, the more transistors on a chip and the closer they are together, the faster the chip can perform tasks.
Aside from performance, companies are working to make chips smaller and less expensive because people want ever-smaller, cheaper devices.
IM Flash is manufacturing 32G byte NAND chips the size of a thumbnail with its 34nm technology, and expects the chips to be used in small solid-state drives (SSDs) or flash memory cards aimed at products including digital cameras, digital camcorders and personal music players.
The 32G byte chips are multi-level cell (MLC) chips, which means they can handle more rewrites than the single level cell (SLC) variety of NAND flash.
Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest NAND flash memory chip maker, is currently upgrading its chip factories to use 42nm technology and plans to start 30nm production next year.
The company showed off a multi-level cell 64G byte NAND flash memory chip made using 30nm manufacturing technology last year.
IBM launches cloud services
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 | IT-Tech | 4 Comments
IBM has unveiled new services designed to help customers evaluate, install, configure and deliver secure cloud computing inside the datacentre, and protect against web-based threats.
The firm’s business consulting services division will help organisations assess the total cost of ownership, and how best to manage and integrate the perfect balance of public and private clouds to achieve their business goals, according to IBM.
Big Blue’s cloud computing technology services will help clients draw up a product roadmap for implementing cloud computing, including the configuring and testing of servers, storage and other relevant technologies.
The computing giant also aims to build security into its cloud computing services using its research and X-Force divisions, focusing on trusted virtual domains, and authentication and access control technologies.
“Cloud strategies need to be in line with business strategies,” said Willy Chiu, vice president of high performance on-demand solutions at IBM. “Over the last year in our 13 cloud computing centres worldwide, we’ve worked with clients to understand how to help them take advantage of public and private clouds to get the best economics.”
IBM also announced a validation programme for vendors delivering applications or services to clients in the cloud environment. This will make it easier for customers to identify the best providers, said IBM.
Hotel Industry News Has Never Been So Engrossing!
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 | HOTELS | 5 Comments
JDD Media, publishing house of HotelView, employs in-depth market analysis, focusing on the developments, changes and projected changes, thus making it refreshingly different. HotelView, by Joshua David Dinnerman, ethos is to keep its readers abreast of the changes in hotel industry and provide vital information needed to meet the challenges ahead. Joshua David Dinnerman aspires to educate and inform the travelers, about the new openings, restaurants, location, exotic resorts, heritage hotel along with their honest reviews, atmosphere, facilities to all those who are allied with the hotel and travel & tourism industry through HotelView.
Firefox Updates Include A Dozen Security Fixes
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 | Computer | 5 Comments
Mozilla released Firefox 3.0.4 and Firefox 2.0.0.18 to address a dozen security flaws, half of which the browser maker ranks as critical. Among the critical is one that could allow an attacker privilege escalation after a session restore. Another could allow arbitrary code to execute with compromised Flash media files.
The updates are pushed automatically to current users and will take effect the next time the browser is restarted. Updates will soon no longer be available for users of Firefox 2; the update is a security update only. Current users of Firefox 2 are encouraged to upgrade by manually downloading Firefox 3 as soon as possible.
Microsoft Delivers Its First SaaS Suite
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 | IT-Tech | 5 Comments
Microsoft has announced Exchange and Office SharePoint will be available as online subscription services for US customers from today, and for UK customers from spring time next year.
Exchange Online and Office SharePoint Online will be available separately or as a suite together with Office Live Meeting for conferencing, Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services and Microsoft Office Communications Online for instant messaging and presence.
The Exchange and Office online services will be updated every six months, but customers can lag two updates behind the most current edition before they must upgrade, said King.
Microsoft also announced it will soon offer another SaaS offering that will help IT managers secure and manage desktops.
These online services will be based on components from existing systems management, identity and security offerings, Microsoft said.
Business Travel To Drop By 2.7% In 09
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 | HOTELS | 4 Comments
The U.S. hospitality industry will take a hit in 2009, according to a new forecast from the Travel Industry Association. TIA predicts that leisure travel will fall 1.3 percent nationally in 2009, and business travel will decline 2.7 percent.
Travelers surveyed by TIA say they intend to cut spending on food, beverages, entertainment and souvenirs, and shorten length of stays, reducing the amount of money visitors leave behind in top destinations.
Overseas travel, which excludes visitors from Canada and Mexico, is expected to slide 3 percent, according to TIA. But the group said it expects international traffic will finish 2008 up 9.1 percent from 2007.
Domestic travel, by contrast, will end the year down 1 percent, followed by a 1.7 percent decline in 2009. TIA said the forecast shows that leisure travel volume remains stable for 2008, down just 0.2 percent and is expected to decline modestly in 2009, down 1.3 percent.
The TIA forecast is based on interviews conducted with 2,291 American adults during the week of Oct. 13.
Latest Information On Computers
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 | Computer | 4 Comments
Joshua David Dinnerman introduces some of the best global practices with industry news to the young breed of professionals who are ready to take on the world by storm. Josh Dinnerman and JDD Media covers all aspects of the fastest growing world of computers with latest articles, reviews, computer networking and security, IT infrastructure, along with troubleshooting tips. Josh Dinnerman, publisher from JDD Media gives access to latest product information about international brands like to name a few.
Passion for success, thirst for new information and the ability to communicate effectively by educating the readers, high brand equity have contributed to the success of Computeview, an enterprising initiative by Joshua David Dinnerman.
Boon For People Seeking Knowledge Of IT Sector
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 | IT-Tech | 4 Comments
IT-Techview is an enterprising media brand by Joshua David Dinnerman, publisher and owner of JDD Media. It provides an inside view of the happenings and developments in the world of IT. Joshua Dinnerman publishes over 35 niche media brands that have fascinated and engrossed its readers for years. IT-Techview is another niche magazine by Joshua that familiarizes you with the global trends in the dynamic and innovative IT industry.
Joshua Dinnerman’s IT-Techview tells about the renowned brands and brings out the latest in the software, hardware and other branches of IT. JDD Media’s IT-Techview is your window to the world that educates and informs you all about telecom, portal, cable, satellite search engines, web and more. The variety of information and compiled facts by Joshua Dinnerman certainly make IT-Techview a must read for both IT enthusiasts and Connoisseurs.