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Business Today

DrugMax president resigns immediately

By wire services
Published August 12, 2005

DrugMax Inc. said William L. LaGamba has resigned as the company's president and chief operating officer effective immediately. He is succeeded by James Beaumariage, who has been senior vice president of operations.

LaGamba's departure follows the Clearwater drug distributor's reverse merger late last year with specialty pharmacy Familymeds Inc. of Farmington, Conn. LaGamba had joined DrugMax in 1999 and had been president since 2000. The merged company, which retained the DrugMax name, moved its headquarters to Connecticut after the merger. LaGamba had continued to operate out of a Clearwater office, which will close.

A security fix to block a spyware keylogger believed to be used by an international identity theft ring has been posted by Clearwater's Sunbelt Software. Sunbelt, which discovered the keylogger last week, says the stealth software hijacked personal information from computers, including Social Security numbers, user names and passwords, credit card numbers and information on accounts at places such as eBay and PayPal. In addition to an update for Sunbelt's CounterSpy antispyware product, a free detection and removal tool was expected to be available at www.sunbelt-software.com

Tampa attorney Stephen Mitchell was elected Thursday as chairman of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, which runs Tampa International Airport and three general aviation airports in the county. Gov. Jeb Bush recently reappointed Mitchell and insurance agent Ken Anthony to four-year terms on the board. Anthony was elected Thursday to succeed Mitchell as the authority's vice chairman.

Oil prices rose briefly to $66 a barrel on Thursday and settled at a record $65.80 amid strong demand and concerns about supplies. With U.S. gasoline inventory levels falling, "gasoline will remain a key concern over the coming weeks," said Orrin Middleton, energy analyst at Barclays Capital in London.

People digging into chicken dinners or munching slices of pizza soon won't be allowed to light up cigarettes at company-owned KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants. Yum Brands Inc., the parent of both chains, on Thursday announced its decision to snuff out smoking at the KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants it owns nationwide. "No Smoking" signs will go up beginning next week at all 1,200 KFC and 1,675 Pizza Hut restaurants in the United States that are company-owned. Franchise operators in the chains will be encouraged to join the initiative.

Ever wonder if that spouse, friend or co-worker on the other end of the phone is really paying attention? The "Jerk-O-Meter" may hold the answer.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing software for cell phones that would analyze speech patterns and voice tones to rate people - on a scale of 0 to 100 percent - on how engaged they are in a conversation.

Anmol Madan, who led the project while he pursued a master's degree at MIT, said it uses mathematical algorithms to measure levels of stress and empathy in a person's voice. It also keeps track of how often someone is speaking.

If the user's attention is straying, a message pops up on the phone that warns, "Don't be a jerk!" or "Be a little nicer now." A score closer to 100 percent would prompt, "Wow, you're a smooth talker."

However, the Jerk-O-Meter also could be set up to test the voice on the other end of the line. Then it could send the tester such reports as: "This person is acting like a jerk. Do you want to hang up?"

If you were looking for a corporate symbol from the animal world, you might pick the cheetah, as Brown & Brown did, or even the AFLAC duck. Nicholas Financial went with the bumblebee.

The Clearwater car finance company used the insect's image to kick off its annual meeting Wednesday because of the bumblebee's ability to take flight against seemingly impossible aerodynamic challenges - that big body and those little wings. President Peter Vosotas called the bee's refusal to be grounded inspiring.

The company he started 20 years ago has grown to a $33-million in revenues and is on track for another year of gains of more than 15 percent in revenues and 20 percent in net income. He said it is limited only by its ability to hire people who fit the company mold.

"Our market opportunity is enormous," he said. The company specializes in customers with poor credit and he noted that "more and more people are finding ways to ruin their credit."

Information from Times staff writer Helen Huntley was used in this report.

[Last modified August 12, 2005, 00:46:18]