Many foreign companies are willing to collaborate or form partnerships in order to enter the Turkish cargo sector, but further growth of the sector is only possible with the removal of some legal restrictions, said MNG Cargo's vice chairman.

The cargo market constitutes 10 percent of the gross national product (GNP) in the world and European countries, said Aslan Kut. However, in Turkey it is only worth $6 billion, he added. Considering the world average, Turkey's transportation market should reach $50 billion. A market worth $44 billion is still waiting for services. Turkey, if it manages to use its geographical advantages well enough, has the potential to become the region's logistics center, said Kut. There is goods circulation worth $600 billion from Europe to the Middle East and Asia via Turkey.

American Idol Buzz

It appears almost every show is sold out or close to sold out. In past years, some venues showed capacity levels of 60 percent or fewer, especially season three.

Okay.

LOCKPORT: Council ready to OK concert pact

The Common Council is set to give Mayor Michael Tucker the OK tonight to sign a contract with Canal Concert Series Inc. for a series of summer concerts at Ulrich City Centre.Canal Concert Series announced last week it plans to bring its annual eight-show series to Lockport from North Tonawanda. Relocation was facilitated by Tucker and City Centre developer David Ulrich.The free outdoor shows, by a mix of classic rock and contemporary musicians, are expected to bring thousands downtown on Friday nights.The three-year host agreement commits the City of Lockport to covering certain costs and providing certain services at each concert. According to Tucker, these include:n Paying the cost of stage rental and a stage manager, estimated at $7,975 per show or roughly $64,000 a year. Tucker said the money, which was not budgeted in 2008, may end up coming from city bed tax proceeds.

Here lies a dumb idea

It didn't take Fox News long to post Monday's Chronicle story on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' latest dumb idea. As Phil Matier and Andrew Ross reported, a board-approved resolution has urged the city's Department of Public Works to approve a project to install bronze plaques on city sidewalks to memorialize homeless people who died on the street.

On the plus side, taxpayers would not be saddled with the expense of the plaques, which would be placed throughout South of Market, Haight-Ashbury and the Western Addition.

Lodging leaders await tax specifics

Several say any hotel-motel tax hike being considered for a downtown ballpark should provide funds to promote the city.

The local hotel industry is anxious to learn more details about a possible increase to the hotel-motel tax that Mayor Kathy Taylor might seek to help fund a new downtown baseball stadium.

Although Taylor has talked to members of the hotel industry about a possible 2 to 3 percent tax increase, those officials say it is too early to come out in support or opposition.

Increasing the tax is subject to voter approval.

Taylor announced in January that the city has signed a four-month exclusive agreement to negotiate with the Tulsa Drillers on building a downtown, city-owned ballpark, expected to cost no more than $70 million.

Bird tests positive for deadly flu

A BIRD found dead in Hong Kong a week ago has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain, agricultural officials said today.

Migratory birds have been blamed for the global spread of the disease, which has killed at least 209 people and ravaged poultry flocks worldwide since 2003.

Hawaii's Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course: The rare airport course worth ...

Okay, The Dunes at Maui Lani Golf Course is an airport course. And it's not as great of a find as some of its press might indicate. But it does offer a good round of golf and some very affordable green fees.

NewWayService 3.21

NewWayService is a software solution for service management. Easy to use, this tool allows you to quickly track your work orders in a user-friendly environment. It adapts to your needs and allows you to manage work orders, actions, worked or billed hours, customers and contacts, banks of hours, technicians, products and serial numbers, spare parts, appointments, and schedules. Features include the ability to send and receive work orders by e-mail, to insert documents in most of the modules, and to automatically generate work orders. Also included are a knowledge base and a data import/export utility.

Donation 3.04e

Simple. Powerful. All you Need. Donation is used by small to mid-sized charities, churches and other non-profits to track their donors and donations and issue charitable receipts. It is very user-friendly. Donation has over 4,000 registered users across North America. Its powerful features include custom fields and categories, over 30 built-in reports, mail merge, annual pledge tracking, and fast weekly collection entry for churches. Version 3.04e may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes. .

The Search For The Elusive Captive Audience Means No More ...

It's actually interesting at times but you're really not there very long. I was crushed the other day while I filled up to hear that Eric Clapton was at Madison Square Garden at the same time we were already going to be in California! If we hadn't had other firm plans they might have driven a sale. And it's not very intrusive as I find that pumping gas isn't much of a "personal" moment where such things might be seen as an intrusion. YMMV ....

Ever read The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth? A number of Heinlein's novels depicted intrusive advertising in passing, not as a main theme. Many SF writers since have included intrusive advertising to some degree in their stories.