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So the big debate last night, minus the PM and Nick Clegg.

Gutsy move by Cameron or election suicide?

Nigel seems to be losing the plot ranting about a BBC picked left wing audience, an dis it me, or Milliband starting to emulate and sound like Blair?

Do wonder if Sturgeon has a secret dream to run for a leadership contest for the Labour party

Mattel, responsible for many iconic brands seems to be struggling in this modern digital age. Having 2 small girls, I know far more than too much about this market sector than is healthy 

Disney's Frozen phenomenon seems to be a run away success that is haunting parents the world over, and kids these days are techie savvy, that use ipads at preschool onwards.

Mattel is trying to fight back with plans to release Barbies that can record voice and connect via wifi, which has generated comical comparisons to Chucky (remember the evil doll?).

Lego still seems to be popular and it's something I try and encourage my kids to play with, though the missus claims I always seem to be having more fun. Girls just don't seem to be interested in lego battleships 

So are toys evolving and leaving some manufactures behind, or is it more a case of business complacency and assumption of market dominance?

Complacency does seem to be a common trap for a lot of corporations when they get to a certain size, IBM, Microsoft, maybe Google.... 

Originally Posted by CareersPartnershipUK

“There's a huge "disconnect" for me between the news of national positive indicators (eg this rise in car sales) and what I actually see around me, in other areas of business life. ”

Here's an interesting article in the Guardian.

Why car sales are through the roof but homebuying down in the basement?

I like the argument some of it is people cashing in PPI windfalls and anticipating blowing their pension pots

As for is it National or local spikes, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders seems a bit light on actual geographic breakdown, instead concentrating on manufacturer rather than location.

From a Warwickshire perspective, I'd say there seems to be a general feeling of things are now better than they were 12, 18, 24 months ago. Prob mainly from the fuel pumps and supermarket wars.

2 years ago, I put in £130 into my motor from empty. Now it's around £85, that's some saving. Food prices definitely seem a lot more reasonable, you feel like you are getting more in your trolley, and houses locally are certainly selling well, the property market seems to be moving again, although prices are still very high, unlike further south where they are just ridiculous.

Big thumbs up for Band of Brothers and Pacific  In the days when I had time for telly, barely have time to catch up with Eastenders these days 

Thank you Christina

George Lampard unfortunately is still in full scamming mode. Although ISP's have taken down his fake websites, he still has a few entries on some rogue wholesaler type directories. As these are based in China, they aren't being very helpful with pulling the George Lampard scam listings.

For anyone researching it, details to be aware of are:

http://glampard30.21food.com/showroom/218812/products.html

http://www.21food.com/

44- 117- 3181586
Mr. George Lampard
Meat Products

Any mention of Lowi Ltd is completely fraudulent and this is just a pure scam.

Not that I'm aware of.

Google images is a good starting place. Right click the image you want to examine and select search google with this image. (at least using a Chrome browser).

Will then show you any search results of the same image that live in the Google image cache.

Getty and the like hide something in the image and use an automated bot to hunt round the net looking for new targets.

These days, you should 100% clear where any of your images are coming from. A lot of e-commerce sites simply display images of the product which is supplied by an affiliate or central supplier, so they will be ok.

But for any images you have added yourself, be sure you know where they came from. The image that we got stung with was a picture of a bunch of paint tins. Nothing particularly arty in IMHO, and certainly didn't look like a professional image.

If you use someone else's image, get permission. If required, give a credit link back to the author. I'll be honest, there are exceptions, some regurgitated images on social media, humour etc, where it's hard to try and identify the original owner. But I would only use on a light hearted forum post and not for commercial gain, eg like on a directory page.

According to the Beeb new car sales are at a 21st Century high, and van sales are at an all time high. Both indicators of growing and confident economy. Consumers are shelling out on a new motor instead of keeping the old run about going a bit longer, and new van signals a boom in the home delivery market.

492,774 new cars were registered in March alone with 108,456 vans registered between January and March.

That's a lot of new motors!

Doesn't take into account the number of unemployed owner driver couriers after the collapse City Link 

BBC - New car sales hit 21st Century high

BBC - Online shopping 'boosts van sales'

Must be good news for the current government as they can say this proves the economy is in a better shape than it was 4 years ago. Or is it 

Hi Lina

Hadn't heard of August, but a little digging and it appears they are from the Getty stable, but specialise in celebrity images.

Following the link they have sent, you have clearly used an image on your homepage which I assume you haven't asked permission for. So you will struggle to defend yourself which then goes back to my 3 options above, do nothing and see what happens, pay up or negotiate and reduce the amount.

Moving forward, make sure your images are copyright free. You have replaced the ones on your home page, I hope you have permission to use those otherwise you will have the same problem.

For your line of work, I would have though images would be a straightforward case of taking them yourself and asking your customers permission to display them. Genuine gallery pics are always much better than stock ones, plus you own the copyright.

Is it me or do you think celebs should keep their views private.

We've had the hobbit endorsing Labour party broadcasts, and now Baroness Brady has become a Tory small business spokesperson, trying to persuade owners that a Labour government isn't up to the job.

When you are in the public eye, isn't it a bit of a dangerous strategy?

Over the years we've had Bono, Sting and Geldoff banging on about one thing or another, but getting directly involved in politics seems a step too far.

Remember Andy Murray and his support for the Scottish Yes campaign, which he then downplayed.

If you are a rockstar, sports person, actor or TV celeb, can't you just stick to what you are good at and leave the politics to the politicians and the pub.

Or are you all for celeb endorsement? Does a particular well known person reinforce or win you over to a view or political party?

Another great cartoon from Tom Fishburne, parodying the average check out till.

Does make me smile when you buy a pint of milk, and you get the inevitable "do you need help with your packing" followed by have you got your reward card. 

Reproduced with permission: marketoonist.com