Oh by the way... In case you didn't know these are the teams competing in the Confederations Cup, South Africa 2009
1 - South Africa (Host)
2 - Italy (Reigning World Cup holder)
Regional champs
3 - Brazil
4 - USA
5 - Spain
6 - Iraq
7 - New Zealand
8 - Egypt
Pre-sales ticket applications are now open to VISA customers! All the dates, venues and ticket pricing have been released. The actual draw, which will determine which teams are pit against each other (and where), will happen in a couple of days on the 22nd of November. Be sure to check where your favourite team(s) (be it Brazil, Italy, Spain, South Africa or one of the others) are playing. So you wanna buy tickets? Here's how...
Step 1 - Register on Fifa.com
Step 2 - Check pricing, dates (times also cause some of the matches are on weekdays) and venues.
Step 3 - Proceed to use your VISA card (which has been enabled for electronic transactions) and apply/purchase for the tickets online.
NOTE: There are discounted tickets for South African Residents (Category 4) and tickets are available on a first come first serve basis naturally :)
Step 2 can be accomplished partially by reading this article and fully by reading the next article which will be posted on November 22 following the draw.
All data below has been obtained from the official FIFA site.
FIXTURES (click on images to enlarge)
TICKET PRICING
Venue Specific
Individual Matches
Anil Kumble called it quits after the recent test in Delhi. One would have expected him to play out the last test of the series against Australia currently on the go but it appears the injury to his hand he picked up in the last test would hamper his fielding ability [the little he has :D ] and he decided to call it a day. Not a bad effort with 619 test wickets since his tenure begun in 1992. Its Amazing actually... He's India's top wicket taker by far, just to add some perspective he's got more wickets than the combined efforts (to date) of Zaheer Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Agit Agarkar, Ishant Sharma, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag! Aai Gaa Anil Bhai!
Speaking of records, Sachin Tendulkar has eclipsed 12,000 test runs in the series against Australia on the go. Yup, that makes him the highest run getter of all time worldwide and he's also racked up over 40 centuries and 50 fifties in his test career... phenomenal. Sachin's not done :) no sign of retirement for India's most revered son just yet.
Sourav Ganguly who had previously stated that this would be his last series is also stepping down after a long and illustrious career.
The trio above along with Laxman who is playing in his 100th test were honoured for their achievements yesterday.
[Images Courtesy: cricinfo.com]
The indian aviation sector which was booming just a year or two ago is now in the doldrums. Many domestic airlines have been cancelling/postponing inducting new aircraft orders and there are signs of releasing pilots and crew. The two big rivals, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines are rethinking their routes and international strategies and have even formed an alliance on their ground services to reduce costs. Rising fuel costs are a killer to the airlines especially in India where jet fuel tax is the highest in the world at up to 40%, this is the main reason for the dismal performance in recent times. The resulting ticket price hikes coupled with the global credit crunch have had the effect of declining load factors reported across the aviation industry world wide. Lower revenues and higher operating costs result in reduced profit margins for some... and losses for others.
The month of November (what's left of it rather) has been declared blogging month here on 'Peering Inside', look out for regular posts on whats caught our attention while we were off. Your comments, suggestions and feedback are welcome as usual...
The 2008 Olympics have just concluded in China and despite signs of protest prior to the games the events were hugely successful and very impressively staged.
So what or who rather will these Olympics be remembered? If I were to choose my top 3 performers of this Olympics they would be:
-1- In first place the fastest man ever on track even though it appears he isn't even straining himself, Usain Bolt, the star performer and joker on the track will undoubtedly be the name most people will remember from the Olympics. He took 3 golds and all 3 in world record time for the 100m(9.69s), 200m(19.30s) and 4x100m relay (37.10s). 
Bolt became the first sprinter to break both 100 & 200m records at the same Olympics and it was also the first gold Jamaica have claimed in the Olympic 100m competition.
Following his victories, Bolt donated $50,000 to the children of the Sichuan province of China in aid of those harmed by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
-2- Micheal Phelps is the next best thing to a dolphin in the pool claiming 8 Gold medals in swimming competition 7 of which were new World records and the other an Olympic record!!!
A truely exceptional feat as he was virtually competing day in and day out and to sustain his stroke through so many events is simply incomprehensible, he becomes the first Olympian ever to capture 8 Gold medals in a single competition.
-3- Team China The entire Chinese squad produced an astonishing effort in their home Olympics to ensure they finished with a 100 medals comfortably topping the standings with their 51 Gold medals. Now I can't say for sure but I serious doubt that any nation in history has been able to claim over 50 Gold medals in a single competition in Olympic history.
Looking at the results from the past 4 competitions a clear picture can be formed of China's improvement to their current feat. Plainly since Atlanta in 1996 China has progressively risen up the rankings from fourth to first in Beijing. Though the USA still had the most medals overall they were clearly No.2 in Beijing losing out to China overall in number of Golds won and Jamaica in the most hyped track events on which the US have traditionally held a foothold.
The packages and options are rather clearer now, indeed the service is offered as a 24 month contract, pricing includes cost of the 'phone' equipment, if the customer decides to discontinue the subscription then the payment will become R89 a month (this is for the hardware). The table below details the key aspects of the packages. 
Apparently Neotel intends to double their base stations around Gauteng in the next month, current coverage includes the following areas Joburg CBD, Sandton, Rosebank, Randburg, Bedfordview, Menlo Park, Waterkloof Glen, Pretoria CBD, Hatfield. It is quite odd that Neotel hasn't released a coverage map so those who would like to check if their residence has reception can do so. At the moment the only way to find out is through the Neotel call center (0800 333 636) or by email if you're lucky (consumers@neotel.co.za).
Finally after years of waiting it appears that Neotel are gearing up for a public internet consumer service offering in May. This along with recent statements that they now have access to the SAT-3 undersea cable are very promising indeed.
Details of the first consumer offering titled NeoConnect Prime have surfaced and initial impressions are that Telkom and the Mobile operators will have to make changes to their packages or else watch as they lose many potential and existing customers. Word on the street is that Telkom is planning to reduce adsl tariffs, we'll have to wait and see.
Neotel haven't advertised their consumer launch in the common print/television media as yet so it may be a while yet before the public are able to sign up. One would hope that by the end of May they sort all the initial admin issues and have a proper launch in the proposed regions (Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape town and Durban) with the entire range of bundled options.
One thing that hasn't been indicated is if the service is provided as a contract for a fixed period (most related offerings are 2 year contracts), it may be safely assumed that the service will be a contract offering as the 'phone' equipment will be provided 'free of charge'.
The internet/broadband landscape in South Africa is about to undergo a radical upgrade with respect to performance, quality and cost. With Neotel and NeoConnect soon to become more than just names and various WiMax services set to come alive later this year Telkom will be dealt a knockout punch, one which will have them reduce their tariffs if they are to regain consciousness.
Remember you read it first right here... priceless information that'll save you loads...
The IPL begins this week and while I struggled to find a good tournament website, (the 'official' one hasn't been updated) the team websites are quite impressive. Seems most of the teams gear is provided by either Adidas or Reebok. Below find links to the team websites:
Bangalore Royal Challengers
Chennai Super Kings
Deccan Chargers
Delhi Daredevils
Kings XI Punjab
Kolkata Knigtriders
Mumbai Indians
Rajasthan Royals
That's right, the deal was formally announced yesterday, 26 March 2008, that Tata Motors of India has acquired British marques Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. Ford put up the two brands for sale so as to focus on its core business of making general purpose vehicles for its primarily US market. Ford continues to own Swedish marque Volvo and a significant stake in Japanese manufacturer Mazda.
Will Tata be able to do what Ford failed to and promote the brands to be profitable and competitive with their very successful German rivals? Time will tell... Its clear that it will be an uphill battle, Jaguar is unprofitable and Land Rover just managed to reach profitability in the past year, but if anyone can change things its got to be Tata.
Tata have pledged to retain production plants in the UK along with company staff and also have agreed to continue with the 5 year plans drafted by JLR (Jaguar, Land Rover) which run till 2011. My guess is that turnaround won't happen overnight, but in time the acquisitions may pay off. This is the motor industry and success of a company is mainly down to sales, and sales are driven by the product offering. If you can offer a product which is superior to the competition at the same price then the trajectory of the sales figures will gather vertical momentum.
A vehicle offering is judged by a number of categories, some of the key ones are:
> Performance
> Technology
> Design
> Reliability
> Value Retention
> Environmental Friendliness (increasingly important)
> Brand Name
On pondering over these areas its evident why Jaguar is not profitable.
> Performance have not been on par with German offerings.
> Technologically incomparable to German rivals (resulting in lower engine outputs, higher fuel consumption and interior gadgetry that's outdated).
> Design has not been bad but the classic trends have not been to everyone's tastes.
> Reliability hasn't been in the same league as the Germans/Japs.
> Value Retention the above factors result in the 2nd hand value dropping more than other marques.
> Jaguar do not make hybrid or smaller engined cars, and this is bad when it comes to the 'Enviro' rating.
> The Jaguar marque does have a history of producing luxury cars so this is one area they aren't suffering.
So Tata and Jaguar have quite a bit to do, some encouraging signs are that the latest offerings from Jaguar have modern appealing designs and appear to have improved in interior technology spec. The alliance with Tata may also help Jaguar when the new emissions laws get imposed in the west as Tata makes many small engined vehicles (the Tata Nano is the latest example) and if these are exported to the west then the overall 'Enviro' score may meet the requirements (other marques already use this technique to avoid penalties on their Luxury brands).
From this it can be seen that all is not gloomy and hence the reason for my quiet optimism. Either way it should be interesting to see if Tata's bold move pans out to be the stupid decision that'll have all the critics saying 'I told u so, anyone could have predicted it' or one that leaves them speechless.
