Road building, regional supermarkets and Cuban cigars
Consumer news with Winifred Robinson. Which innovations today could be behind economic regeneration tomorrow? And how fraudsters posing as police are holding computers to ransom.
Consumer news with Winifred Robinson.
Computer fraudsters are freezing personal PC's and then demanding a fine is paid before the computer can be unlocked. The demand comes via an email purporting to be from the Police but it's a fake.
Should we build more roads? Broadcaster and columnist Matthew Parris thinks so; He says there's a marked change in car use and new roads would now be unlikely to induce more traffic as in the past.
Economic recession may be tough for industry but it is a good time to invent something- many of the key innovations that drive the modern world were developed during recession - why?
Booths, the Lancashire food store, is a thriving regional supermarket but despite its success it has no imitators in the rest of the UK; is there a gap between the convenience store and superstore that enterprises elsewhere in the UK could and should exploit ?
The Segway, an electric powered two wheeled platform, was hailed as the urban transport of tomorrow ten years ago; why has it failed to thrive in the UK?
and the enduring attraction of the Cuban cigar- the champagne of smokes.
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Ransomware
Criminals are disabling personal computers with a virus that generates a fake police email accusing the user of visiting illegal websites and demanding they pay a fine.
Road Building
Have we reached 'peak car' and is now the time to build relief roads that will actually bring relief and not more traffic?
Cigars
Despite falling sales of both cigarettes and cigars the luxury Cuban Cigar has seen a boom in sales; why?
Leisure, Travel and the Elderly
A new report claims holiday and leisure businesses are missing out on millions by failing to cater sufficiently well for the over sixties.
Regional Supermarkets
After a round of closures and take-overs there is only one regional supermarket chain left in the UK. What's the secret of their success and could others replicate it?
Segways
Ten years after the Segway was hailed as the future of urban tranpsort the machines are still illegal. So what happened to the dream?
Mother of Invention
Many of the inventions that have shaped the modern world were either invented or developed during economic hard times; why is that?
Broadcasts
- Thu 29 Dec 2011 12:00Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM
- Thu 29 Dec 2011 12:04Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 LW