Th3 Core

I've never subscribed to a YouTube channel before but I'm really liking what DUST are doing.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7sDT8jZ76VLV1u__krUutA

It's a load of short movies (about 15mins) that are used to promote the story to the big studios to turn them into features length films. I'm really liking most of them.

Thought I'd share if anyone here likes their movies

Just in case, you never know
http://mattbierbaum.github.io/zombies-usa/

Anyone else in the UK been subjected to this?

My eldest started secondary school last September so I'm new to this, but she came back from school today saying that to complete her homework she needs an iPad...... what! hang on a minute.
So I started looking to it thinking that I could get a chromebook instead but the school needs her to download ipad apps and they don't have the apps for any other platform.

Now I've never bought an apple product in my life, and it's p***ed me right off that I'm being forced into buying, if I don't them my child suffers.
Great, so the school chooses the most expensive platform on planet earth with no alternative option and probably gets a nice kickback from Apple for doing so.

Rant over.

I'm planning on doing my first mail shot to my customers (ex and current) and have never had anything in the post from me before.

It will consist of an A5, 8 page booklet with offers, and an A5 flyer as a cover sheet so I can over print the customer's address on. This sheet will have a plastic card attached to it that awards them instant access to membership pricing (they normally have to spend £30 first).

Would you a) pop it all in a clear mailing bag for all to see instantly, or b) put it in an envelope?

I can't work out what will be better received.
Putting it in the clear bag instantly shows who it's from and everyone can see the sale hooks, but then I feel there's a higher chance of it going straight in the bin as it's the standard junk mail setup.
Putting it in an envelope with the plastic card will trigger their curiosity more and grab their attention better when they actually open, but then I don't want to come as being 'sneaky' so to speak.

What would you do? or am thinking too much into it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-40406542

Google has been fined 2.42bn euros ($2.7bn; £2.1bn) by the European Commission after it ruled the company had abused its power by promoting its own shopping comparison service at the top of search results.

I'm sure it should read

Google has been fined 2.42bn euros ($2.7bn; £2.1bn) by the European Commission after it ruled the company had abused its power by promoting its own shopping comparison service at the top of their search results.

I'm a bit stumped as to why Google can't do this. I mean, what would happen if they decided to turn off their search engine for 24hrs?
Surely the EU can't turn around and demand that they must turn it back on.

Is this an early Aprils fools joke?

I'm coming up to a crossroads with my business, and there's one area I don't exactly know how to approach.

It's to do with purchasing from suppliers and setting myself up so I don't regret it later on.

The main point of the business is going to be offering convenience for consumers who purchase a particular brand on a regular basis.

The problem though is I don't have the buying power to negotiate good unit prices from the start, so I am going to have to play by their rules and pay their wholesale price.
But I want to put myself in a good position, so later on if the business kicks off, or their particular brand becomes a top seller, I can renegotiate the price for larger order quantities.
But because consumers will be brand loyal, and if the supplier plays hardball I will be left with two options as far as I can see.
1) Carry on paying the high wholesale prices
2) Drop their brand, and offer a replacement with another supplier of similar type using the new found buying power.

With option 2) I may keep a sizable number, as the service I'm offering should be strong enough for them to consider staying, but I underlined may because it's an unknown variable.

So with all that, I'm thinking along the lines of supplier agreements.
Agreements with certain stipulations (e.g. delivery time frames) and volume targets set over a certain period to hit (e.g. a yearly contract that is renewed based on the previous year's sales volume)
But I haven't a clue with regards to supplier agreements, what the pitfalls are or anything to compare to get a feeling for what is talked about in these supplier agreements.

Any help or pointers in the right direction would be much appreciated.

I'll just add this here for NFFC to appreciate

https://liquidfootball.net/2016/08/01/nottingham-forests-badge-voted-best-in-english-football/