Honolulu Star-Advertiser from Honolulu, Hawaii • B6

B6 TUESDAY 42412 MONEY MIKE MEYER TECH VIEW 'Paperless' prediction fiction but electronic storage works (The company has posted a "green calculator" on its website, www.alohadata. comcalculator.aspx.) One of its largest customer projects was a 60-year-old local business where Aloha Data has been scanning several million pages per year. The ongoing paper-to-digital conversion not only allows the company to eliminate file cabinets, but also provides access to old contracts, correspondence, invoices or proposals. Chang emphasized that although most companies can benefit from electronic storage, not all need to buy ex pensive electronic document management software. Businesses that don't need to access files more than a few times a year, such as physicians who don't need to look at inactive patient files, might not be candidates.

However, operations that access files daily (especially those with multiple users), such as insurance firms, manufacturers or distribution companies, could benefit greatly. The bottom line: The paperless office may still be a dream, but at least document storage is no longer a nightmare. Given the emphasis on green computing, saving trees and not populating landfills with office-generated "content," are we making progress in file storage management? I asked Ina Chang, president of Aloha Data, a Honolulu-based company that specializes in electronic document management storage, what kinds of companies could benefit from this technology in Hawaii. Chang told me the spectrum of firms that can benefit from electronic document management storage range from large for-profit enterprises to tiny nonprofits. She said a good criterion would be "companies that are downsizing and need to reduce the file cabinets and turn it into a profit-making space." She offered some thought-provoking statistics.

A typical business might use on an average of 200 square feet for its file storage, which costs anywhere between $300 (off-site storage) to $500 (office space) per month. Thus, with a possible $6,000 savings per year, a business can get its files scanned, use an electronic document management solution and utilize space for two salespeople to generate more revenue. It's also a very green thing to do. For every 1 million pages Aloha Data scans, Chang estimates, her company helps save 85 trees, which is equivalent to 5.5 tons of paper. declining by 1980, "and by 1990, most record-handling will be electronic." As anybody who has worked in an office knows, the dream of the paperless office is more like the search for the Holy Grail.

It simply hasn't happened. Almost 40 years later I'm still heading down to Costco to buy printer cartridges. Ever since Business Week published a landmark article in June 1975 titled "The Office of the Future," we were led to believe the dream of the paperless office was only a matter of time. Vincent E. Giuliano of Arthur D.

Little Inc. was quoted in that article as saying records and correspondence should be BRIEFLY Mike Meyer, former Internet general manager at Oceanic Time Warner Cable, now manages IT for Honolulu Community College. Reach him at mmeyerhawaii.edu. SHIP AHOY! Today's ship arrivals and departures: HONOLULU HARBOR AGENT VESSEL FROM ETA ETD BERTH DESTINATION MNC Manukai 2 a.m. 52A Guam ISS Explorer Japan 7 a.m.

5 p.m. 10 Hilo PHT Jean Anne 6:30 p.m. 32 Kahului ISS Iwashiro Japan 10 p.m. 01B BANKOH: Mortgages and other lending to consumers have been strong, CEO says Continued from B5 under 5 percent in the first quarter from the same period a year ago. "Commercial lending activity continues to be strong," Ho said.

"For several quarters now, we're beginning to see the formation of a potential new construction phase. For us it's the beginning of a new cycle. It seems like there's been no fewer than a half-dozen new projects, mostly in the Kakaako area, mostly condo projects." Ho said residential mortgage lending also has been strong, and consumer lending, such as auto, home equity and personal loans, has stabilized. "We're bankers. We're always going to be cautious.

But I feel good about the forecast for the rest of the year," Ho said. "I've felt good for a while now. Our primary economic driver, the visitor industry, has had a nice string of success for a while. Clearly, we have to get the unemployment rate (6.4 percent) down. Hopefully, some of the early- ON THE MOVE Kathleen Lee The Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki and Golf Club has appointed Kathleen Lee to catering and convention services manager.

She joined the hotel in December as a hotel assistant manager. Lee previously served as a catering sales and event manager at Courtyard Hotel in Emeryville, Calif. Nelson Lau KPMG has named Nelson Lau managing partner of its Honolulu office, effective May 1. He joined the company in 1986 and was admitted to the partnership in 2005. Lau has more than 25 years of audit experience.

HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union has announced the following to the board of directors for a three-year term: Maxine Joe has been appointed chairwoman. She began her service to the board of directors in 2002. Colleen Umetsu to secretary. She was a teacher for the Department of Education until retiring in 2008. Donald Yee to vice chairman.

He has been with the board for 13 years. Other directors include Harold Look, treasurer, and Morris Kimoto, Harlan Kimura, Jean Miya-hira, Liberato Viduya Jr. and Albert Yoshii. SEC accuses ex-pension chiefs of fraud Sacramento, calif. Federal securities regulators sued a former chief executive and a former director of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, accusing them of scheming to defraud an investment firm of $20 million.

The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that former CEO Federico Buenrostro 62, and former director Alfred J.R. Villalobos, 68, fabricated documents requested by Apollo Global Management, a New York private equity firm. Apollo had hired Villalobos, a close friend of Buenrostro, as a so-called "placement agent" to secure billions of dollars of investments from the country's largest public pension fund. The documents were used by Villalobos and his companies Arvco Capital Research and Arvco Financial Ventures of Zephyr Cove, Nev. to bill Apollo for helping to win private equity investment management contracts.

In all, Apollo paid Villalobos more than $48 million from 2005 to 2009. Villalobos received at least $12 million in additional placement fees from other investment funds that managed CalPERS money. Both Buenrostro and Villalobos have denied wrongdoing. The allegedly phony documents were patched together to make it look as if the fees had been approved by CalPERS investment staff, the suit alleged. Hasbro loss tied to severance, weak sales new york Hasbro weighed down by costs related to staff cuts and weak sales of "My Littlest Pet Shop" miniatures and other toys meant for girls, posted a first-quarter loss Monday.

The results from the maker of Monopoly and Transformers missed Wall Street estimates, and its shares fell $1.88, or 5.2 percent, to close at $34.04 Monday. The first quarter is typically quiet for toy makers, especially compared with the run-up to the crucial winter holiday shopping season. But first-quarter results do indicate how willing Americans are to spend on nonessential items. The nation's two biggest toy makers Hasbro and its larger rival, Mattel have posted disappointing first-quarter results. Pawtucket, R.I.-based Hasbro said it lost $2.6 million, or 2 cents per share, for the period ended April 1.

A year ago it reported net income of $17.2 million, or 12 cents a share. Results were hurt by costs related to staff reductions. In March, Hasbro said it was cutting 170 workers because of the "underperformance" by its U.S. and Canadian divisions, which are under new leadership. That led to $11.1 million in severance costs.

Revenue dropped 3 percent to $648.9 million from $672 million a year ago. Microsoft sells AOL patents to Facebook new york Microsoft, which just bought patents from AOL for $1 billion, is now turning around and selling most of them to Facebook for $550 million. Facebook is buying about 650 of the 925 AOL patents and patent applications that Microsoft bought, Microsoft and Facebook said Monday. Facebook also will get a license to use the rest of the AOL Inc. patents that Microsoft bought.

Similarly, Microsoft Corp. will get a license to use the patents Facebook is buying. This part of the arrangement amounts to an agreement between Facebook and Microsoft not to sue each other over any of the AOL patents. The companies are not saying what the patents cover. Pringles purchase is now key for Kellogg's new york Kellogg's lowered forecast for 2012 is raising the stakes on the breakfast food giant's purchase of Pringles earlier this year.

The Battle Creek, company cited Monday a weaker-than-expected first quarter in slashing its forecast for the full year. The move sent the company's shares down $2.98, or about 5 percent, to $51.01. Kellogg Co. gets most of its revenue from North America, where growth in the packaged food industry has been relatively weak. But in February the company announced that it would pay $2.7 billion to buy Pringles potato snacks from Procter Gamble.

The deal will strengthen the company's footprint overseas; Pringles are sold in more than 140 countries, and the brand gets two-thirds of its revenue from abroad. Intel to debut first chips of new generation new york Intel Corp. said Monday that PCs with chips from its new generation of processors, featuring a revolutionary design, will be available this week. The new generation, code-named "Ivy Bridge," is the first to be made with a 3-D structure. Miniature fins jut out of the plane of the chip, letting Intel cram more features into the same space.

That means the chips can be faster while consuming less power. Analysts have called it one of the most significant developments in silicon transistor design since the integrated circuit was invented in the 1950s. In terms of manufacturing technology, it puts Intel two to three years ahead of the competition, said Romit Shah at Nomura Securities. sumer checking accounts a nearly 9 percent gain from the year-earlier quarter that brought increased fee volume. "The pricing change that took effect in the beginning of the fourth quarter last year would have had the impact of reducing our revenue by $4 million, but the actual number was only down $3 million because we simply added more checking accounts," he said.

Bankoh also benefited from a $3.5 million gain on the early termination of leveraged leases for two cargo lumber ships. That was partly offset by a $1 million loss from the sale and termination of an aircraft lease. Noninterest income in the first quarter of 201 1 included gains of $6.1 million on sales of investment securities. The bank also declared a dividend of 45 cents a share that will be payable June 14 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 3 1 That would equate to an annualized yield of 3.7 percent. seemed to interpret the projection for this year's second quarter as a sign that Netflix will have a more difficult time attracting new subscribers as more alternatives emerge for Internet video streaming, including services from bigger companies, said Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler.

Amazon.com Wal-Mart Stores Vudu and Comcast Corp. all offer video streaming options. Verizon Communications Inc. is preparing to launch a service in a joint venture with Coinstar the owner of Redbox kiosks that rent DVDs in thousands of stores across the U.S. Netflix shares plunged $16.94, or nearly 17 percent, to $84.90 in Monday's extended trading.

I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE KEPT THAT THOUGHT BOTTLED UP INSIDE fAE, stage activity we see on the real estate side will bring more construction jobs." First Hawaiian Bank, the state's largest, reported last week that its net income jumped 7.7 percent in the first quarter to $56.8 million. Bankoh's net interest income, the difference between what it pays depositors and what it brings in from loans, slipped 1.8 percent in the quarter to $97.9 million from $99.7 million. Noninterest income, which includes money earned from fees and charges, fell 10.8 percent to $48.1 million from $53.9 million. Bankoh's fee income continued to be affected by the Durbin Amendment, a new law implemented Oct. 1 that reduces by nearly 50 percent the average amount of fees that all banks collect from debit card transactions.

Ho said Bankoh's fees from debit cards were down $4 million from the year-earlier quarter, but that was somewhat mitigated by the bank adding 27,000 con ing subscribers in the U.S. during the second quarter. That would still be less than the 1.8 million streaming customers that Netflix picked up in last year's second quarter. It's also less than the increase of 1 million subscribers registered in the second quarter of 2010. Netflix says the comparisons to its subscriber numbers from past second quarters are no longer an accurate barometer because the company has become more susceptible to seasonal swings as its audience has swelled.

Management says Netflix is more likely to experience more cancellations in the spring and more new customers to sign up during the final three months of the year. But investors instead DID YOU COI-AE UP WITH THAT WHEN YOU WERE GETTING DENTAL WORK? NETFLIX: Company attempts to buffer expectations as more competitors push in Continued from B5 tish investors keyed on a second-quarter forecast that calls for a slowdown in subscriber growth during the spring and early summer. The April-to-June period has historically been a sluggish period for Netflix because more daylight and warmer weather tend to discourage people from staying inside to watch movies and old TV shows. That's the main reason Netflix cited for its prediction that its service for Internet video streaming might add as few as 200,000 U.S. subscribers in the second quarter after gaining 1.7 million customers in the first three months of the year.

At most, Netflix is hoping to add 800,000 video stream- Dilbert Scott Adams OUR NEW BRAND WILL BE CALLED "HERTHLOKEL." Star-Advertiser news services.