Believe it or not, there are some good things about a bad economy. Today's AIE Imaging Executive podcast presents an interview with tax and business attorney Barbara Weltman. She is also author of several books, including her newest, titled "Guide for Tough Times: Tax and Financial Solutions to See You Through." Weltman explains what opportunities businesses have in today's difficult economic environment, and how to hit the ground running when things start to improve.

Natural and man-made disasters have created a terrible irony in Australia: while Queensland has been struggling for several days with damaging floods from tropical downpours and overflowing rivers, the state of Victoria has been battling the worst fires in Australia's history.
  As of Tuesday, there were still 25 fires raging out of control in Victoria, according to CNN. Wildfires are common in Australia, but coupled with record temperatures and high winds, the fires have caused unprecedented loss of life and property. At least 180 people have been killed by the fires, dozens are missing, and thousands have been displaced, according to the report. About 500,000 acres of bush land has burned, as well as hundreds of homes. Some entire towns, such as Marysville and Kinglake, have been utterly wiped out, CNN reports.

  About 4,500 firefighters are battling the blazes, and 400 Australian troops will be heading to affected areas to aid in rescue and recovery efforts. Police expect that some of the fires will burn for several more days, while others may take weeks to completely extinguish, CNN reports. Investigators in Australia believe several of the fires were deliberately set.
  "My state here in Victoria, Australia, went through a living hell on Feb. 7," says PMA Australia National Chairperson Richard Robertson of Ted's Camera Stores. "Fire storms ripped the towns apart. Some have all but vanished, except for the brick fire places, burnt out cars, and machinery that stand as a reminder that there were happier times here."

Photo industry members like Alan Logue of Hutt Street Photos are collecting donations to help fire victims.

  "They have not even started to go through each burnt out house. Many died trapped on the roads trying to out run the firestorms. Those poor souls did not stand a chance," Roberston says. "Over 700 homes wiped off the face of the earth! Some of the small hillside hamlets [are] gone probably forever."
  Another PMA member in Victoria is Glynn Lavender, who says: "Fortunately my family and immediate friends are safe. There has been a lot of smoke and ash here over the last few days. The fires are all over the place on most sides of Melbourne, but the closest is about 30 miles away [from me]. I think we all know people here who have been affected in some way. I know people who have lost family property but fortunately, so far, no family itself. Over 750 houses have been lost and it will take a long time to find the people caught up in it all."
  Lavender adds: "Apparently, a lot of people tried running when it all got too close and bodies are being found all over the place, so it will not be until a full count of the missing will people know if a search is needed. Cars trying to flee have run off roads and disappeared, so until the area is known to be safe they may not be found, either."

  "A tough couple of days indeed. The fire is now heading towards another large Victorian town. Hopefully, people are more prepared and we will not see the same loss of life," he says. "The areas that are gone are places I have spent a lot of time in over the years, and all have great memories associated with them."
  In Adelaide, South Australia, Alan Logue of Hutt Street Photos has not had to deal directly with the fires or the floods, but like people all over the continent, he is still feeling their effects.
  "The fires are about 700 miles east of us, and the floods are over 2,000 miles northeast of us, so we are not involved; but the Victorian fires and the resultant death toll have left most Australians totally numb. The death toll is incomprehensible, but unfortunately true; and it will keep rising as they discover more bodies in burnt out homes. This whole disaster is on a truly incomprehensible scale."
  Flood waters in Queensland, where Phil Gresham's Fotofast shop is located, have risen as high as 12 meters in some areas. Still, Gresham echoes Logue's words of shock about the fires: "We can't believe what we're seeing."

  "One of the Queensland flood victims, on the news last night, said that the floods were devastating, but they could at least clean up and get going again. There was no loss of life," says Logue. "It's easier to replace a flooded building than a human life. In the midst of all the flooding, he said they were starting fundraising for the victims of the fires."
  According to Peter Rose, PMA director of Australian activities, photo industry members throughout the continent are also helping the victims.

  "The loss of life and extent of damage has unfortunately elevated this fire to the worst natural disaster in Australia's history," Rose says. "Numerous organizations in our industry are offering to match dollar-for-dollar donations from staff, in addition to generous one off contributions to relief organizations."
  Other industry members are discussing ways to help victims scan and restore family photos damaged by the fire or floods.
  "It's times like this our industry should be talking about the importance of images," Lavender says. "People lost their lives because they went back to get photos."

-- By Jennifer Barr Kruger

PMA Senior Editor

As part of its previously announced plans to increase cost-efficiency and adapt to the market situation, Helsinki, Finland-based Nokia today announced plans to close its mobile devices R&D site in Jyväskylä, concentrating mobile devices R&D in Finland at its sites in Tampere, Oulu, Salo, and the Helsinki metropolitan area. Nokia also plans to scale down Salo production with staggered temporary layoffs, aligning production with market demand while continuing operations without interruption. Nokia is beginning consultations with employee representatives about these plans.

  Nokia's operations in Jyväskylä focus mainly on mobile device product development and marketing. Nokia plans to gradually ramp down the site and close it by the end of 2009. The planned change concerns all of the approximately 320 employees working at the Jyväskylä site. The majority of employees at Nokia Jyväskylä work for devices product development, but the site also has some marketing activities and global support functions.

  Nokia also plans to scale down the production in Salo to reflect the market demand. Nokia will implement temporary layoffs on a rotational basis, with operations at the factory continuing without downtime. This arrangement is based on the Finnish labour practices and legislation, and is commonly used to adjust production to reflect notable fluctuation in market demand, says the company. The temporary lay-offs are planned to be implemented in phases with approximately 20-30 percent out of approximately 2,500 employees being temporarily laid off at a time, without interrupting the operations in Salo. The planned layoffs impact all personnel groups in Salo production.

  In addition to the above mentioned plans, Nokia will also start consulting with employee representatives regarding personnel reduction plans impacting approximately 60 employees in global support functions and 30 employees in the planned ramping down and focusing of certain development activities in the New Businesses entity in Services.

Circuit City Stores Inc., Richmond, Va., is asking a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge to allow it to give incentives to executives and other workers to stay with the company during the wind-down process, according to court filings. The company said the bonuses are needed to dissuade the 154 employees from leaving before what was the nation's second-largest consumer electronics retailer closes for good, reports The Associated Press.

  Employee turnover threatens the wind-down plan and the company's ability to "maximize value for their estates and stakeholders," Circuit City said in the filing. Circuit City has already had some key employees leave, including former Chief Financial Officer Bruce H. Besanko, who will start in a similar role at OfficeMax Inc. on Feb. 16.

  The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2008 as it faced pressure from vendors, heightened competition, and waning consumer spending. Last month Circuit City announced it would liquidate its 567 U.S. stores, cutting more than 34,000 jobs. Going-out-of-business sales should last through March, after which the stores will be closed. A small staff will keep working at the corporate office through the process, says the AP.

  Under the company's proposal, 16 executives would split up to $2.3 million if they achieve specific target tasks such as staying within the wind-down budget and obtaining the sale of Circuit City's Canadian and Internet assets. The remaining non-managerial workers would share no more than $1.62 million.

  The company, which will present the plan to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Huennekens at a hearing in Richmond on Feb. 25, also is seeking a discretionary bonus pool of an additional $750,000 to distribute to the non-management workers and others who aren't covered by the program. Circuit City said the total amount of $4.63 million that would be paid if all target tasks are reached would help the company realize about $250 million of additional value, reports the AP.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Bentonville, Ark., is mounting a new push to expand in Chicago, hoping its promises of jobs and sales tax dollars will prove more tempting in a recession than when city leaders first rebuffed the discount chain earlier this decade, reports The Wall Street Journal. The world's largest retailer, which so far has been able to build only one store in the third-largest city in the United States, hopes to open a half-dozen more in the coming years, the article says, citing the company and politicians familiar with the plans.

  The company now sees Chicago as a potential proving ground for urban development strategies it could later bring to other resistant markets, including New York and Los Angeles, reports The Wall Street Journal.

  Wal-Mart, whose stores are largely concentrated in rural and suburban markets, has long struggled to penetrate the largest U.S. cities amid opposition from politicians sympathetic to organized labor and small business groups concerned the discounter would steal sales from smaller retailers, said.

  Separately, Wal-Mart announced it cutting 700-800 jobs at its Wal-Mart and Sam's Club home offices as the group looks to realign its corporate structure and reduce costs. Wal-Mart, which has roughly 14,000 employees at its home office in Bentonville, said Tuesday it is eliminating jobs in merchandising, real estate, and marketing in its Wal-Mart U.S. division, while cutting merchandising positions at its Sam's Club warehouse division.

  "We will continue to take appropriate steps to further align our support structure with our business plans," said Wal-Mart Chief Executive Mike Duke in a memo obtained by Reuters. Duke began serving in the role on Feb. 1. Wal-Mart's sales at U.S. stores open at least a year have been outpacing its competitors, but the retailer has said it would keep a close eye on expenses amid the economic downturn.

Smilebox Inc., Redmond, Wash., offers a variety of digital Valentine cards and scrapbooks using photos and personal video messages styles. The digital cards and scrapbooks can be sent for free with an ad or for $2.99 to $3.99 with ad-free and full-screen playback, personalized music, and printing. Smilebox is available for free download at www.smilebox.com.

  Smilebox users can also enter the "Love & Smiles" contest for a chance to win a Canon digital camera. To participate, customers need to submit their best expression of love using a Smilebox design either as a comment on the Smilebox blog or by emailing blog@smilebox.com.

  Smilebox lets customers drag and drop photos and videos into animated templates, personalize them with music and words, and share them via email, blog, or print.

SanDisk Corp., Milpitas, Calif., and Toshiba Corp., Tokyo, Japan, announced the co-development of multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory using 32-nanometer (nm) process technology to produce a 32GB 3-bits-per-cell (X3) memory chip. The introduction may bring to market advanced technologies that will enable greater capacities and reduce manufacturing costs for products ranging from memory cards to Solid State Drives, claims the companies.  

  The 32Gb X3 on 32nm technology is the smallest NAND flash memory die reported so far, able to fit into the fingernail-sized microSD memory card format. The 32nm is the most advanced flash memory technology node to date, requiring advanced solutions to manage the challenges of feature size scaling. SanDisk and Toshiba today presented a joint paper on 32nm 32Gb X3 NAND flash memory, highlighting the technical advancements that made 32nm possible. Production for the 32nm 32Gb X3 is expected to begin in the second half of 2009.

GLOBALedit, New York, N.Y., launched a new service called FileSociety for professionals looking for faster tools to collaborate and share files. FileSociety was designed and developed for file-based workflows such as film, photo and audio production, advertising and marketing, publishing, printing, research and medical, architecture, retail and event production.

  FileSociety is powered by Aspera's next-generation firewall and advanced security protocol transport technology for high-performance file transfer up to 100 times the speed of FTP, says the company. More information on availability and pricing is available by contacting the company.

  GLOBALedit is a professional online image management system that provides global access to large photo collections and a suite of workflow tools that connect creative and business communities.

ZINK Imaging Inc., Bedford, Mass., announced the fourth product incorporating their ZINK Zero Ink Printing Technology -- the Dell Wasabi PZ310 Ink-free Ultra Mobile Printer. The Wasabi is available today online in the United States from Dell.

  ZINK Technology provides an ink-free technology platform from which a new generation of consumer electronics devices can be launched. The Wasabi is a pocket-sized mobile printer that produces borderless full color 2-by-3-inch peel-and-stick ZINK Prints from a range of devices including digital cameras, camera phones, and laptop computers.

D-Link Systems Inc., a Fountain Valley, Calif.-based computer network solutions provider for consumers and businesses, and Cellcom, a De Pere, Wis.-based cell phone carrier, have partnered to allow wireless phone customers in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan to send images from their mobile phones to a 10-inch wireless D-Link digital photo frame.

  Cellcom offers technology that allows its customers to send photos from their mobile phones to the DSM-210 D-Link Wireless Digital Photo Frame, which is available for purchase on the Cellcom website. The DSM-210 comes pre-loaded with FrameChannel software, which lets users remotely manage their frames over the Internet and offers several photo-sharing opportunities. FrameChannel works in conjunction with many of the most popular photo-sharing websites. FrameChannel also provides the capability to send digital photos taken with a mobile phone back to the photo library, which in turn are posted directly to the D-Link photo frame.