Gawkwire: Web Hosting and Internet News Resource

DeepNines Wins Patent Lawsuit Against McAfee

2008-07-30T12:43:00-04:00

DALLAS, TX - Deep Nines Inc. announced today that it won its patent infringement lawsuit against competitor McAfee, Inc.

On July 15, 2008, a unanimous jury in the Beaumont Division of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas found that McAfee's IntruShield product line directly infringes, and that McAfee actively induced and contributed to its customers' infringement, of DeepNines’ US. Patent No. 7,058,976 (the “’976 Patent”). Judge Ron Clark also ruled that DeepNines did not commit inequitable conduct while the application for the ’976 Patent was pending, as alleged by McAfee. McAfee had originally alleged infringement of two McAfee patents and invalidity of the ’976 Patent, but dropped those claims in the days preceding the trial.

“The jury’s decision further validates our intellectual property and its significance in the network security market. We will continue to leverage our patented technology in the development of our industry-leading security solutions,” said Sue Dark, founder and CEO of DeepNines.

DeepNines and McAfee have been involved in litigation regarding this patent for nearly five years, beginning with an interference filed by DeepNines in 2003 after U.S. Patent No. 6,513,122 (“the ‘122 Patent”) was awarded to McAfee. While the application for the ’976 Patent was pending, the United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded McAfee’s claims from the ’122 patent to DeepNines through a process called an interference. After winning the interference in March of 2005, the ’976 Patent went through another round of reviews by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, primarily based upon a third party protest launched by McAfee. Deep Nines slightly amended the ’122 patent claims before they issued as the claims of the ’976 Patent in June of 2006.

The ’976 patent has gone through an interference, multiple reviews by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, a third party protest, numerous submissions of prior art and a trial. Despite this overwhelming evidence in support of the ’976 Patent, McAfee disregarded the rulings of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and misrepresented ownership to their customers. The jury also found that McAfee falsely marked 14 of its products with the ’122 Patent.

“We feel our win is a significant victory for other small stakeholders who have been pioneers in the technology field,” said Dan Jackson, president and COO of DeepNines. “This was a classic ‘David vs. Goliath’ case and we are thrilled that justice prevailed.”

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/deepnines_wins_patent_lawsuit_against_mcafee.html

CaOneupweb CEO Named Michigan Entrepreneur of Distinction

2008-07-30T12:30:00-04:00

Traverse City, MI - Take a firm belief that success hinges on trust, honesty and integrity, and couple that with an entrepreneurial spirit and unfailing drive to succeed. The result: Corp! Magazine's Entrepreneur of Distinction, Oneupweb Founder and CEO Lisa Wehr.

"The growth and diversity of Michigan's changing economy are at the forefront, and I'm pleased to be able to play a positive part in helping to shape our state's future," Lisa says. "It's quite an honor."

It's certainly a role she is familiar with. Since relocating her industry-leading digital marketing company to Traverse City in 1996, Lisa has been a commendable role model for other Michigan entrepreneurs. It is her vision that fosters Oneupweb's strategic direction, increasing revenue by 40 percent and more year over year. In just 12 short years, she has taken her company from a 4-man shop in her basement to a 23,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility on the shores of Grand Traverse Bay.

Lisa's experience, expertise and business philosophies have established her as a respected authority in the field of online marketing. She has been named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, a Leader & Innovator by Lawrence Technological University, and was selected to BtoB Magazine's Who's Who List five years, including being named 1 of 10 search marketing industry leaders in the Who's Who in Search category with Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. And when Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm introduced the state's aggressive plan to train workers for new careers in cutting-edge industries, it was Lisa who joined her at the podium.

Yet, like any true company visionary, she's quick to recognize the contributions of others.

"It takes a great team that contributes ideas and executes decisions. I'm really fortunate because I get to work everyday with a fantastic group of smart, innovative people," Lisa notes. "I feel a huge sense of responsibility towards them and our continued success."

About Oneupweb:
Oneupweb has been an innovator in digital marketing for more than a decade, creating integrated online marketing plans that include natural search engine optimization (SEO), paid search marketing (PPC), conversion improvement, podcast production, social media marketing, media placement and search marketing consultation for in-house marketing teams. Oneupweb was recently named a Top 20 Search Marketing Agency by Advertising Age, and CEO Lisa Wehr is recognized as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. The company publishes an award-winning blog and podcast entitled StraightUpSearch. Oneupweb is a privately held company located in Traverse City, Michigan. For more information on Oneupweb, please call 231.922.9977 or visit OneUpWeb.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/caoneupweb_ceo_named_michigan_entrepreneur_of_distinction.html

Call for Entries -- American Design Awards' 2008 Summer Semi-Annual Design Contest

2008-07-30T11:59:00-04:00

The American Design Awards is calling on all graphic and web designers worldwide to submit their greatest design creations to its world-renowned Summer Semi Annual Design Contest, for a chance to win the coveted Award of Design Excellence - presented to designers, design firms, or companies who display outstanding design abilities, while maintaining high business and ethical design standards.

The Winter and Summer Semi-Annual Design Contests which are now in their sixth year of operation, are the flagship of the American Design Awards, and attract an average of six thousand participants annually from around the globe. The top three entries in each of the 22 design categories will be nominated for the award, and will be announced on October 1, 2008.

Deadline to enter the competition is August 15th 2008, with a two week grace period.

The American Design Awards' mission is to provide a fair and ethical platform for all graphic and web designers of varying experience levels and disciplines to compete on, while providing a worldwide audience to showcase to.

With the ever-changing landscape of the design industry, the American Design Awards is also expanding its code of ethics by which designers are graded and judged. "Ethical standards have always been valued and exercised in our competitions; this is by far the most important qualification of any designer entering the awards program," said Kevin Javid, Vice President of the American Design Awards.

"Our organization's mission and the purpose of our events are to strengthen and emphasize ethical practices in our participants, benefiting both the designer as well as the design industry as a whole."

For more information regarding the entry process, including the various design categories, entry fees and time-lines, please visit http://www.americandesignawards.com

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/call_for_entries_--_american_design_awards_2008_summer_semi-annu.html

eBoost Consulting Speaks Out Against Fraudulent SEO Work

2008-07-25T10:32:00-04:00

San Diego, CA - eBoost Consulting, a leading edge San Diego-based Digital Marketing Consultancy, has recently been confused with a company called eBoost Media. eBoost Consulting has released an official statement clarifying that the firm is in no way associated with eBoost Media. Furthermore, eBoost Consulting is offering free SEO services to Rogier van Bakel, who complained of poor customer service and fradulent SEO work from eBoost Media.

Official Statement: A company with a similar name (eBoost Media) has received complaints. We are in no way associated with this company.

You may or may not have caught glimpse of a story about eBoost Media and complaints about the company's customer service and SEO work. To clear up any confusion, we are in no way associated with eBoost Media. It upsets us that our unfortunate like-name associates us with terms such as "bad customer service" and "fraudulent SEO work".

We want to take this opportunity to address this issue and re-emphasize how we believe in outstanding service and close relationships with our clients by making professionalism and customer service the pillars of our company philosophy. We are, more than ever, committed to these ideals and to you, our clients, supporters and friends.

Thank you for your time and continued support. Should you have any questions whatsoever, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Johnny Chan, CMO
eBoost Consulting
www.eboostconsulting.com
619-664-4691

http://www.gawkwire.com/seo_sem/eboost_consulting_speaks_out_against_fraudulent_seo_work.html

$20M Loan Will Accelerate RagingWire's Continued Expansion

2008-07-24T11:07:00-04:00

SACRAMENTO, CA - RagingWire Enterprise Solutions, Inc. (RES), a provider of premier colocation and managed hosting services, announced today it has secured an additional $20 million in credit facilities from one of the largest U.S. banks. These conventional loans combined with the $30 million secured in 2007, provide RES with the capital to accelerate its continued expansion. Reflecting RagingWire's strength, these facilities were issued at an average rate below 5%.

"This bank financing demonstrates confidence in our operating model, predictable cash flow, and strong balance sheet," said George Macricostas, CEO and Vice Chairman of RagingWire. "Eight years after start-up, we are in a very strong position in a growing industry, actively pursuing our expansion strategy."

RES has experienced a compound annual growth rate of over 50% for the last 6 years, and has been profitable for 16 consecutive quarters.

"We are very well positioned in the market place as demand for data center infrastructure and IT solutions continues to expand," said Yatish Mishra, President and CTO of RagingWire. "We will introduce new products and services and move into new markets in the U.S., providing next generation technology solutions and managed hosting services to support the rapid growth of our clients."

Founded in 2000, RES achieved sustained profitability in September 2004. RagingWire continues to grow and set itself apart as a highly reliable IT services provider. It has been recognized as one of the Inc. 500 fastest growing private companies in America, as well as one of the Sacramento region's fastest growing companies for 3 years in a row. Further, Mr. Macricostas and Mr. Mishra were finalists for the prestigious Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. RES has also received acclaim for its environmental initiatives and corporate citizenship.

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/20m_loan_will_accelerate_ragingwire_s_continued_expansion.html

Moniker.com Announces Upcoming Online Auction

2008-07-24T10:50:00-04:00

POMPANO BEACH, FL – Moniker (http://www.moniker.com), an Oversee.net company and provider of Domain Asset Management® services, today announced the availability of premium domain names for purchase via its exclusive online domain name auction produced in association with the Affiliate Summit 2008 East, the largest event for affiliate marketers. The online auction will start on Sunday, August 10 and continue through Thursday, August 21.

Premium affiliate-focused domains available at auction include:

Clients.com
AffiliateForum.com
CreditCheck.us
FindALender.com
MortgageBanking.com
PriceComparison.us
SuperSaving.com
RealEstateListed.com
SaleFinder.com
FinancePlan.com
Made-In-The-Usa.com
RealEstateMortgages.com
Warrantied.com
PcBuy.com
WirelessStore.com
AutoRebates.com
SmartPhoneGadgets.com
Trades.net
OnlineDiscounts.com
SellingTips.com
OnlineRegistry.com
QualifyMe.com
SpeakerStore.com
FindBestJobs.com
LongDistanceProvider.com
QuickBusinessCredit.com
OrlandoHotelGuide.com
TicketSavers.com
NewCarPreview.com
SpamClear.com
ThinkAffiliate.com
SearchAffiliate.com
VacationDiscount.com
CareerHelpers.com
TricksToSave.com
GreatRepairs.com
LowDownPayments.com
247Flower.com
TrafficForLease.com
AffiliateForex.com
RestaurantAffiliates.com
SportAffiliates.net
SalesLeadProvider.com
WallStreetAffiliate.com

A complete catalog will be released soon. For more information, visit http://www.moniker.com/auction.

This is the third collaboration between Moniker and Affiliate Summit. Two previous auctions saw hundreds of domains change hands for a total of more than $1 million in sales.

Online Bidding Options
The online auction will be conducted on the SnapNames Domain Auction platform. SnapNames® is another Oversee.net company. Buyers can join in the bidding for any domain inventory at anytime throughout the online event after opening a free SnapNames buyer account. All lots in the auction will close at 3:15 p.m. EDT (12:15 p.m. PDT) on Thursday, August 21.

To see a complete list of rules and procedures for all Moniker auctions, or review all live and online domain auctions throughout the year, visit the Domain Auction page on the Moniker website at www.moniker.com/auction. Bidders may also contact sales@moniker.com or call (800) 688-6311.

Domain Name Financing Available
Moniker and Domain Capital will offer financing to leverage domain purchases made at this online auction or for other transactions. Moniker and Domain Capital have been pioneering the concept of virtual real-estate for years in a fashion similar to real estate mortgage financing. Please contact a sales representative at sales@moniker.com for more information.

About Oversee's Aftermarket and Registrar Division
Led by Monte Cahn, Oversee's Aftermarket and Registrar Division, through Moniker® and SnapNames®, offers businesses and individual investors a complete array of Domain Asset Management® services to protect and grow the value of their internet domain names. Services include name creation, registration, acquisition, portfolio management, appraisal and escrow services as well as after-market sales and live auctions. Oversee provides a single point of contact over the entire life cycle of domain ownership, including name procurement, management, monetization and sales.

Moniker is a top 10 domain registrar and an industry pioneer who introduced the concept of live domain auctions and the industry's first domain appraisal formula. SnapNames operates the largest auction of expired and deleting domain names and gives its customers exclusive first access to the world's largest inventory of high-traffic, brand-able and investment-grade domain names every day. For more information, visit www.snapnames.com and www.moniker.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/moniker_com_announces_upcoming_online_auction.html

Over 800 Vulnerabilities in Anti-Virus Software

2008-07-23T09:49:00-04:00

Oberursel, Germany - During the past few months, specialists from the n.runs AG, along with other security experts, have discovered approximately 800 vulnerabilities in anti-virus products. The conclusion: contrary to their actual function, the products open the door to attackers, enable them to penetrate company networks and infect them with destructive code. The positioning of anti-virus software in central areas of the company now poses an accordingly high security risk.

The tests performed by the consulting company and solutions developer n.runs have indicated that every virus scanner currently on the market immediately revealed up to several highly critical vulnerabilities. These then pave the way for Denial of Service (DoS) attacks and enable the infiltration of destructive code -- past the security solution into the network. With that, anti-virus solutions actually allow the very thing they should instead prevent.

In this context, n.runs was able to make out so-called "parsing" as one of the main causes of this boomerang effect. The principle functions as follows: virus scanners must recognise as many "Malware" applications as possible -- and thereby comprehend and process a large number of file formats. In order to be able to interpret the formats, an application must partition the corresponding file into blocks and structures. This separation of data into analysable individual parts is called "parsing". Mistaken assumptions in the course of programming the parsing code create constellations which enable the infiltration and subsequent running of programme code.

As a reaction McAfee posted an statement to their Avert blog, which tries to negate some of the statements given in the original n.runs Press-release, this represents a short summary of our response to the McAfee Statement on AV Vulnerabilities. For the complete response see: Response to McAfee Statement (PDF)

Ryan Permeh (McAfee) wrote: "The ZDNet posting includes scary graphs to frighten users of security products."

n.runs would like to clarify the statistics those graphs are based on were gathered using an independent database from Secunia and National Vulnerability Database, ZDnet has not produced them. Secunia and the National Vulnerability Database are trusted and respected aggregators of security vulnerabilities and advisories and provided the database to these statistics. Let us emphasize that the intention was not to scare as the statement from McAfee implies, but to put independent facts in addition to those from n.runs on the table. The statistics show a vendor independent view on AV vulnerabilities.

"One of the conclusions drawn by N.Runs is that having AV in your environment makes you less secure than not having it at all."

n.runs would like to emphasize this is clearly not what n.runs believes. We are convinced that AV software is necessary and a requirement for today's security defense. What n.runs believes is that multiple engines increase the chance of parsing bugs to occur. Let us show what we mean by using an example based on an Email setup (Detection rates are examples, attack surface in this case is represented by the number of formats supported, # of vulnerabilities per format is an estimate based on our audits).

E-mail is being routed through all three engines, the detection rate increases as does the remotely reachable attack surface.

n.runs firmly believes that the use of AV software or even multiple AV software is a requirement as of today, but that the inherent bugs of AV Software need to be taken into account when designing your perimeter and internal security defense. The rising number of available formats, cryptors, packers combined with the intrinsic market pressure in the AV field (release early, release often) has not helped AV Vendors to increase code quality over the years, as the very same statistics and our experience over the years have clearly indicated (more on this later).We are convinced that AV vendors should focus on doing what AV vendors do best : Recognize malware, aps-AV takes care of the rest.

"In addition, McAfee has not seen any evidence of any of the vulnerabilities reported by N.Runs being exploited to attack our products in real world environments."

This is due to the fact that n.runs reports these vulnerabilities in order to protect our own and McAfee customers. Our vulnerability notification policy is rigid and strict, advisories included no details as to how the vulnerability was found or how it could be exploited.In our view, the bigger concern are those vulnerabilities not found and published by us, especially as black-market prices for AV-vulnerabilities are on the rise. n.runs is aware of two publicly documented incidents where AV software (running on E-mail servers) was the remote entry vector to internal networks. n.runs also believes that security is a process aimed at being proactive and not solely a process in reaction to events or bugs. Statements such as "McAfee has not seen any evidence" can be deceptive.

For instance, Immunity explained in great detail how they penetrated an Enterprise over AV software on an MTA and used it to covertly shuffle data in and out over weeks. They further explain why they choose AV Software and not a web server or client-side exploits. The attack was done in a similar way to how a professional attacker would proceed., They replicated the existing infrastructure and searched for exploitable conditions and they found one. We do think this backs up our views of the actual threat posed by vulnerabilities in AV software.

The logic that bugs are fixed when they are found is no argument against a professional attacker for the sole reason that these professional and/or military style attackers rarely use known flaws. If the paradigm you follow is -- "we protect against what is known" (quite common in the AV industry) then you are doing no favor to those who demand protection against professional attackers.

"Our numbers seemed to have peaked in 2005, which is contrary to the trending that the N.Runs reports."

n.runs finds it astounding that McAfee comes to this conclusion without taking the vulnerabilities into account that have been reported but where the patch is still pending - and without taking into account the vulnerabilities listed for example on secunia, which are not listed in CVE.

n.runs has the following bugs pending and is aware of at least another DoS bug pending from a independent researcher.

Here is the list of pending McAfee bugs reported by n.runs :
Incident ID: MFE-FW-20060227-01 - Date of receipt: February 27, 2006
Incident ID: MFE-ENG-20070605-01 - Date of receipt: June 5, 2007 (Possible Vuln #15)
Incident ID: MFE-ENG-20070607-01 - Date of receipt: June 7, 2007 (Possible Vuln #18)
Incident ID: MFE-ENG-20070608-01 - Date of receipt: June 7, 2007 (Possible Vuln #23)
Incident ID: MFE-ENG-20070608-02 - Date of receipt: June 7, 2007 (Possible Vuln #25)
Incident ID: MFE-ENG-20070615-01 - Date of receipt: June 15, 2007 (Possible Vuln #27)
Incident ID: MFE-ENG-20070615-02 - Date of receipt: June 15, 2007 (Possible Vuln #28)
Incident ID: MFE-ENG-20071111-01 - Date of receipt: November 11, 2007 (Possible Vuln #36)
Incident ID: MFE-ENG-20071111-02 - Date of receipt: November 11, 2007 (Possible Vuln #37)

n.runs believes this does indeed represent a trend, not to mention these only include problems reported by n.runs, not external researchers or entities nor internal penetration test efforts (which also pose a security threat during the exposure window but are never published).

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/over_800_vulnerabilities_in_anti-virus_software.html

Long Time Hosting Entrepreneur Passes Away

2008-07-21T04:28:00-04:00

From ServerCentral's website http://www.servercentral.net/Joe_Wishnoff

On July 14th, the ServerCentral family lost long time employee and friend Joe Wishnoff. For the last three years Joe was battling a disease called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). IPF is a chronic disease that causes scarring and deterioration of the lung tissue. IPF usually occurs in people aged 50-70 so it was very rare for someone in their mid-20s to be diagnosed. The cause of this disease is unknown and there are no known treatments or cure.

Over time, the disease had reduced Joe’s lung capacity to less than 20% of a normal healthy adult and he was fully dependent on oxygen. Recently, Joe had been placed on the list for a double lung transplant and was looking forward to getting past his disease. Sadly, the short expected wait time was not short enough.

Joe was very active in the webhosting and internet industry over the last 10 years. Before joining ServerCentral, Joe successfully started and sold three startup tech companies in the Chicago area. During his time with ServerCentral, Joe primarily acted as director for the WingSix webhosting division and successfully re-launched the brand as a separate product. Joe also worked as a consultant on various internet projects. In his private life, Joe was active in skydiving, an avid hockey fan, and was continuing his education at DePaul University.

Since being diagnosed with IPF, Joe was working with the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago and the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis to help raise awareness for people with lung disease. He recently spoke in favor of stricter limits on ozone at an EPA hearing for National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Joe was enthusiastic and energetic in all aspects of his work and life. He was full of ideas and always eager to explore new possibilities. Joe was not just a colleague, but a friend to many of us inside and outside of work. He will be greatly missed.

If you would like to help find a cure for IPF, please consider making a donation to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, http://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org/. For more information contact Bethany Fichera, bfichera@servercentral.net. View or Sign Joe's Guestbook

Another Wonderful Article about Joe http://www.spacesbetween.net/edgeoftheworld/wordpress/?p=251

And at WebHostingTalk http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=709375

http://www.gawkwire.com/reviews/long_time_hosting_entrepreneur_passes_away.html

cPanel Enhances Staff Availability

2008-07-22T10:19:00-04:00

Houston, TX - cPanel is proud to announce that as of Monday July 21, 2008, customer service hours will be extended to 7 a.m.- 7 p.m. EST. Customer service representatives will be standing by during those hours to answer questions about accounts and help tackle any issues that customers may experience.

"As we continue our efforts to provide a high quality of service, software and support, we feel this change will make it easier for us to deliver," said David Koston, VP of Operations at cPanel. cPanel technical analysts are already standing by 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to help with installations, troubleshoot issues and ensure customers have a smooth experience with the software software.

cPanel has also hired more staff in the past several weeks to further improve their software and ultimately help their customers to have profitable hosting operations. cPanel has added an additional customer service representative to help field calls from our customers. Also added are two new technical writers to work on updating and streamlining documentation. Another technical support representative has been brought on staff to help customers overcome any technical issues they may face. On the cPanel Server Suite side of things two new Windows C++ developers have been brought in. Also, in an effort to maintain a high level of efficiency and functionality in our software cPanel has added another staff member to their quality assurance team. Quality assurance works on finding deficiencies in the software and bringing them to the attention of the development team for resolution.

"As cPanel continues to grow we will continue to add new staff to ensure the smooth operation of our business and software. The ultimate goal is, as always, to provide our customers with the right products at the right time so their businesses can grow," said Eric Gregory, cPanel's resident "Swiss Army Knife."

About cPanel:
cPanel is a leading Web Hosting Control Panel Software provider supplying hosting automation tools to numerous data centers and customers all around the world. cPanel offers web hosting software that automates the intricate workings of web hosting servers. cPanel products are used on tens of thousands of servers worldwide to equip server administrators with the tools they need to provide top notch hosting to their customers. Since our beginnings in 1997, cPanel has been setting the standard for web hosting automation.

With offices in Houston, Texas as well as White Haven, Pennsylvania our staff is always available to assist you. We pride ourselves on responsiveness to the webhosting community. Our developers and technical representatives are always interested in hearing your comments and concerns and acting on them. Our goal is very simple, we want to create the best software available so that you can provide the best hosting experience possible for your customers.

cPanel has hardware facilities in Pennsylvania and Texas to ensure operations are always running smoothly. Servers in New York, California and many other locations keep software updates available and systems functioning full speed. With multiple connections at most locations and redundancy on the forefront of our design strategy, you can be sure that our operations will be running smoothly.

Our internal testing and communication with industry professionals allows us to stay on top of the hosting industry. With years of experience, cPanel is a name that the entire industry can trust to bring quality software solutions at affordable prices.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/cpanel_enhances_staff_availability.html

Oneupweb CEO Named to BtoB Who's Who in 2008

2008-07-22T09:49:00-04:00

Traverse City, MI - From a four-man business in her basement to a 23,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility on the shores of Grand Traverse Bay, Oneupweb CEO Lisa Wehr has exhibited an unfailing drive to help her clients succeed. And it is this drive that has propelled her to national recognition in BtoB Magazine's Who's Who 2008.

The BtoB Who's Who is an annual salute that honors key thought leaders across a broad spectrum of the marketing world. This year's list recognizes top business-to-business marketing executives in nine categories. Wehr is the first and only individual to be recognized for five consecutive years in the search marketing category.

"This is exciting," Lisa says. "All of the individuals on this year's list have done so much for the marketing industry. I'm pleased to be included."

2008 has been an important year for Lisa and her company as they continue to invest and evolve, working to help define the digital marketing landscape. As a result of their continued innovation and industry-leading services, Oneupweb has welcomed several new clients including: Meijer, Boyne, Banfield, Tracy Porter and more.

Oneupweb has also recently been honored with several Communicator Awards, ProComm Awards, American In-House Design Awards and Hermes Creative Awards.

"I'm honored to be chosen by BtoB for their Who's Who, but it's truly a team effort at Oneupweb," Lisa says. "I work with a group of outstanding individuals who contribute ideas and execute decisions that lead to continued success for our clients."

About Oneupweb:
Oneupweb has been an innovator in digital marketing for more than a decade, creating integrated online marketing plans that include natural search engine optimization, paid search marketing, conversion improvement, podcast production, social media marketing, media placement and search marketing consultation for in-house marketing teams. Oneupweb was recently named a Top 20 Search Marketing Agency by Advertising Age, and CEO Lisa Wehr is recognized as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. The company publishes an award-winning blog and podcast entitled StraightUpSearch. Oneupweb is a privately held company located in Traverse City, Michigan. For more information on Oneupweb, please call 231.922.9977 or visit OneUpWeb.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/seo_sem/oneupweb_ceo_named_to_btob_who_s_who_in_2008.html

Calls on ICANN for Speedy Adoption to Sign the Root

2008-07-21T16:30:00-04:00

RESTON, VA - A request by .ORG, The Public Interest Registry to bolster Internet security via the implementation of Domain Name Security Extensions (DNSSEC) was unanimously approved by the board of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) at the recent Paris meeting. As the first generic Top Level Domain authorized to implement DNSSEC, .ORG also is preparing an education and adoption plan within the Internet infrastructure community.

DNSSEC is designed to protect Internet servers from domain name system attacks, such as DNS cache poisoning by malicious users. It is a set of DNS extensions which provide origin authentication of DNS data, data integrity, and authenticated denial of existence. A recent survey of nameserver and hosting providers within the Réseaux IP Européens (RIPE) community (http://ripe.net/ripe/) indicates that despite the high recognition of the need for DNSSEC, adoption will not be widespread until there is a signed root and implementation by gTLD registries.

"Given the recent spotlight in the news on DNS vulnerabilities and attacks, the unanimous approval by ICANN is a vote of confidence in our leadership on an issue of vital importance to the future of the Internet," noted .ORG's CEO Alexa Raad. "Encouraging the adoption of needed technologies in the interest of the greater good is a core part of the .ORG mission. We will do our part but also look to ICANN for leadership in ensuring speedy execution to sign the root."

Steve Crocker, chair of ICANN's Security and Stability Advisory Committee and CEO of Shinkuro, Inc, said, "Deployment of DNSSEC in .ORG is a big step forward for the security of the Internet. This will make secure DNS service available in the global gTLD community and thus available to everyone. I applaud .ORG, The Public Interest Registry for their leadership."

Information on the DNSSEC technical process may be found at www.dnssec-deployment.org.

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/calls_on_icann_for_speedy_adoption_to_sign_the_root.html

Internet Domain Auction Threatens 285 U.S. TV Stations

2008-07-18T11:29:00-04:00

Denver - Highly-prized 4-letter domain names using the call letters of 285 U.S. TV stations -- including major affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX -- will be auctioned to the public by GoDaddy.com between Saturday, July 19, and Wednesday, July 23, according to an investigative report released today by www.AndyPurdy.com

The TV call-letter domain auction is the largest ever of its kind. Releasing the domains to anonymous bidders around the world may have a serious impact on how American broadcasters maintain their online identity, particularly in light of the upcoming switch to digital broadcast.

The call-letter domains represent some of the most successful broadcast stations in the country, including 2 NBC owned-and-operated stations -- WCAU-TV Philadelphia and WTVJ-TV Miami -- and 3 CBS owned-and-operated stations -- KPIX-TV San Francisco, KTVT-TV Dallas/Ft. Worth, and KCCO-TV Minneapolis/St. Paul.

All of the domains for public auction use the .TV top-level domain, so auction winners will lay claim to domains such as WTTW.TV (using the call letters of the famous PBS station in Chicago), WXIA.TV (the NBC station in Atlanta), and WDIV.TV (the NBC affiliate in Detroit).

Up for grabs are the call letters for 88 existing ABC stations, 78 CBS stations, 59 NBC stations (including a station that is no longer active), 56 FOX stations, 1 PBS station, 1 CW affiliate, 1 MyNet affiliate, and 1 low power station in Washington, DC.

The auction list of TV station domains includes nearly 100 broadcast stations in the top 100 TV markets. Featured throughout are stations owned by such media giants as Gannett Company, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Tribune Company, Media General, Allbritton Communications Company, The E.W. Scripps Company, and LIN TV Corporation.

For several of the broadcast companies, this would not be the first time they face losing control over online call-letter branding. Over the years, LIN Television, CBS, Capital Broadcasting, Viacom, Paramount, and others have filed complaints with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to claim domains registered by unrelated parties.

All 285 domains are currently registered under the name of a Florida resident who has no apparent ties to the broadcasting industry. The domains are now set to expire later this month, most likely because the registrant failed to pay the annual $39.99 renewal fee for each of the domains.

Ironically, it was the bulk expiration of the domains that led to the discovery of the call-letter trove by AndyPurdy.com. The sheer number of simultaneous registrations dispells any notion that it is mere coincidence that the 4-letter combinations are identical to the call letters of 285 U.S. television stations.

According to GoDaddy's contract with the registrant, the well-known Internet registrar has the right to put the expiring domains up for public auction. There are 7 online auction sessions scheduled to automatically close at 7 different times between Saturday morning and Wednesday afternoon. Bidding for each domain starts at only $10, and bids can be placed by anyone on the Internet until the posted deadlines.

Bids are already being placed anonymously on many of the domains. To prevent last-second preemptive bidding by aggressive bidders, GoDaddy extends each auction 2 minutes past the last bid. This gives any other bidder at least 2 minutes to post another bid, which, in turn, may further extend the auction.

Winners of the TV call-letter domains must in addition pay the one-year $39.99 renewal fee for each domain acquired.

Also according to the GoDaddy.com contract, the current registrant retains certain rights even beyond the close of each auction. For a period of about 7 days after the auctions, the current registrant will still have the right to redeem and recapture any of the domains by paying a premium to GoDaddy.com. In those cases, auction winners would no longer be able to claim a domain, however, they would receive a refund from GoDaddy of monies advanced for the domain.

The report posted at AndyPurdy.com includes a complete list of all broadcast stations represented in the auction, along with links to 16 selected WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center Administrative Panel Decisions that shed light on abusive registration of media-related domains.

The report also features an in-depth auction research tool listing the 7 auction sessions with links to bidding information for each of the 285 domains, and links to backgrounder information on each of the 285 broadcast stations.

Andy Purdy, publisher of the AndyPurdy.com site, served as the U.S. cyber security "czar" for two years in his role heading the Department of Homeland Security's National Cyber Security Division/US-CERT. Before joining DHS in 2003, Mr. Purdy served as a member of the White House staff and helped to draft The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. AndyPurdy.com derives no income from the sale of any domains listed and has no financial interest in the domains or corresponding stations. Also, AndyPurdy.com cannot guarantee the accuracy of any of the information provided in the report, as all of the auction-related data may be subject to change without notice. Comments and suggestions from members of the broadcasting industry are most welcome.

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/internet_domain_auction_threatens_285_u_s_tv_stations.html

GlobalSign's Partner Program Opens Up New Revenue Streams

2008-07-18T11:26:00-04:00

Portsmouth, NH - GlobalSign (SSL Certificate secure server specialist, has today revealed the significant revenue opportunities for partners who expand their core business lines with GlobalSign security products. Companies such as Web Hosts, ISPs, Domain Registrars and VARs have the perfect opportunity to gain additional revenue from their customer base by reselling SSL Certificates -- a fundamental requirement for sites conducting online commerce or capturing customer data.

Since launching the SSL Partner Program last year, GlobalSign has seen a continuous rise in the number of new partners joining. Offering the most highly featured SSL product with extensive technical, marketing and sales resources, makes GlobalSign's SSL reseller program one of the most advanced SSL reseller programs currently available.

To be a successful reseller, there must be demand for the product and the partner must be able to easily sell it. GlobalSign's feature packed and simplified SSL product range easily meets these requirements. For example, unlike competing SSL products, all GlobalSign SSL Certificates come with enhanced SGC security (provided free of charge) to ensure minimal encryption strengths of at least 128 bit and up to 256 bit. GlobalSign SSL products are also neatly arranged into three groups, categorized by the differing vetting processes - domain validation, organisation validation and extended validation (also known as EV SSL). This user-friendly grouping makes GlobalSign SSL easy to understand, and more importantly, easy to sell.

High margins are needed for the partner to generate high profits. GlobalSign offers high dollar revenue per SSL Certificate sold Pay As You Go partners make between $50-$100 per Certificate sold. Even higher margins are available on bulk purchase plans -- starting at only 5 Certificates.

"We do not just offer exceptional margins for such a high value product," said Steve Waite, Marketing Director, GlobalSign, "We also offer easy integration and all the business campaign resources to make sure partners have the fastest market launch and ROI possible. We make sure minimal time and effort is needed to add SSL to their portfolios and we recommend companies of all sizes speak to us today about how we can help them leverage the SSL revenue opportunity."

For companies wishing to refer customers to GlobalSign and gain 15% cash back from online referrals, please visit the zero-integration SSL Referral Program homepage at http://www.globalsign.co.uk/partners/ssl-affiliates/index.htm.

To talk to us about Partnership opportunities contact sales@globalsign.com or call US 1-877-SSLGLOBAL, UK +44 1622 766766, Europe +32 16 891900 or drop by Booth #422 at HostingCon 2008, Chicago, July 29-30.

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/319.html

AMD Board of Directors Elects New Officers

2008-07-18T10:35:00-04:00

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - AMD today announced that its board of directors elected President and COO Dirk Meyer as the company’s chief executive officer. Meyer succeeds Hector Ruiz, who will become executive chairman of AMD and chair of the board of directors. As executive chairman, Ruiz will ensure a smooth executive leadership transition, focus on driving the company’s asset smart strategy to completion, and assist with high-level government and strategic partner relations.

“Dirk’s election to CEO is the final phase of a two-year succession plan developed and implemented jointly by AMD’s board of directors and executive team,” said Robert Palmer, lead independent director. “Under Hector’s strong leadership, AMD drove the industry adoption of pervasive 64-bit and multicore computing, became a trusted enterprise-class partner to leading technology suppliers and significantly expanded its global footprint in high-growth markets like China.

“Dirk’s extensive experience as a business leader and his notable engineering accomplishments before and during his 12 years at AMD make him ideally suited to build upon the foundation Hector created and lead AMD.”

“AMD has fundamentally altered the industry landscape, leading the innovation agenda while delivering greater choice and better experiences for our customers and users,” said Ruiz, executive chairman, AMD. “Dirk is a gifted leader who possesses the right skills and experience to continue driving AMD and the industry forward in new, compelling directions. I am placing the company in excellent hands.”

Meyer, 46, joined AMD in 1995 and made his mark as part of the design team responsible for the original AMD Athlon™ processor, a breakthrough product for AMD and the industry’s first processor to break the 1GHz barrier. From 2001 to 2006, Meyer led the company’s microprocessor business, overseeing related R&D, manufacturing, operations, and marketing. His leadership skills during these five years resulted in a doubling of revenue for the microprocessor business and a substantial expansion of AMD’s global profile. In 2006, Meyer was appointed president and COO, and in 2007, he was elected to AMD’s board of directors.

“I’m tremendously excited by the opportunities ahead for AMD. As the only company that possesses expertise and leadership in both x86 microprocessor and graphics technology, AMD has a unique capability to drive the next wave of innovation through the integration of computing and graphics processors to deliver a better computing experience,” said Meyer, president and chief executive officer, AMD. “We are in the midst of re-shaping AMD’s business model with the goal of delivering sustained profitability through a focus on the core technologies that differentiate AMD. My immediate priority is to work with the leadership team to accelerate this transformation. I appreciate the trust that the Board and Hector have placed in me. During the years that I’ve worked under Hector, he has been an excellent leader, mentor and friend.”

Ruiz, 62, joined AMD as president and chief operating officer in January 2000 and became AMD's chief executive officer on April 25, 2002. He has served on AMD’s board of directors since 2000 and was appointed chairman of the board of directors in 2004. His accomplishments at AMD and contributions to the industry include:

Expanding AMD beyond the consumer desktop market into the commercial and enterprise market, resulting in AMD technology being used by as much as 90 of the top 100 companies on the Forbes Global 2000 by the year 2007.
Growing AMD’s customer base to include the world’s top 10 computer manufacturers and the world’s top 10 consumer electronics manufacturers.
Redefining the future of enterprise computing with the introduction of the AMD Opteron™ processor, paving the way for the industry-standard x86 architecture to deliver the advantages of 64-bit computing.
Sharply growing AMD’s global presence, with new teams and new design centers in China, India, and other high-growth markets. In 2007, AMD’s international sales represented 87 percent of total consolidated revenue, as compared to 66 percent in 2001.
Focusing the industry on innovating to better meet customer needs. This strategy, commonly referred to as “customer-centric innovation,” has become a hallmark of Hector and of AMD, and is a primary point of AMD’s competitive differentiation.
Broadening AMD’s platform advantage to include leading-edge graphics and paving the road for the next generation of computing, Accelerated Computing, with the ATI acquisition in late 2006.
Promoting fair and open competition in the global microprocessor market with AMD filing a landmark antitrust suit against Intel. Since 2005, antitrust regulators around the world have validated claims made by AMD regarding Intel’s illegal business practices by launching independent investigations that have thus far uncovered evidence of illegal monopoly maintenance that harms consumer choice.
About AMD

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) is a leading global provider of innovative processing solutions in the computing and graphics markets. AMD is dedicated to driving open innovation, choice and industry growth by delivering superior customer-centric solutions that empower consumers and businesses worldwide. For more information, visit www.amd.com

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/amd_board_of_directors_elects_new_officers.html

Be the Next Buy.com?

2008-07-17T09:56:00-04:00

Miami Beach, FL - BigBangNames.com is auctioning off a $1 million e-commerce site for only $1,000 with no reserve: Payhalf.com. The auction ends on July 22, 2008 at 12:00 p.m. and is hosted on the BigBangNames.com Web site.

Payhalf.com is an online consumer electronics retailer that invested over $2.5 million before it ran out of cash. The sale includes the high value domain name portfolio, appraised as high as $500,000, and Payhalf.com, technology and key-supplier of information.

"We bought all the matching domains in the UK, China, Brazil. Our plans were to grow the brand worldwide," says James Cook, former CEO of Payhalf.com. "Last month, Moniker.com a leading domain name auction site, listed 'Pay.com' at auction for $2.2 million."

"I started a social shopping network called Kawink.com. We needed cash to fund it. We wasted a lot of time listing our business so we decided to jump on board with BigBangNames.com," continues Cook.

"Where traditional business listings take time and may not yield any results, the BigBangNames.com auction format guarantees a sale. We list all assets at $1,000 with no reserve and we let the marketplace decide the true value!" says Michael Newman, VP of Marketing for BigBangNames.com.

"Entrepreneurs and private sellers get cash fast, and domain name investors get access to good inventory at a great price. Every entrepreneur has a few good domains, shelved concepts or technology pieces in its closet," says Mr. Newman.

With the economy tightening up, more and more people are trying to cash out of their assets. For entrepreneurs trying to raise cash without giving away equity, BigBangNames.com offers a unique solution to getting those assets liquid.

"We are the domain name liquidators! We want to be know as the best place to sell your .com names, fast. It's a win-win. Entrepreneurs and private sellers get cash fast, and domain name investors get access to good inventory at a great price," says Michael Mesure, CEO of BigBangNames.com.

After generating over $1.5 million liquidating products on Liquidation.com, Mr. Mesure came up with the idea to duplicate the no-reserve auction format for domain names. Liquidation.com processed over one million transactions online, charging $200 per auction and up to 20 percent in listing fees.

"Selling your domain can take a while. First you have to get an appraisal, which for the same domain, can vary from $1,000 to $100,000 depending on whom appraises it. Then you can list the domain on various marketplaces and wait for a buyer to pull the trigger. When you need to cash out, you can waste a lot of valuable time. The auction format forces the buyers to make a decision," says Mr. Mesure.

BigBangNames.com gathers domain name investors, business brokers, technology buyers, business owners and private sellers in one fluid marketplace.

The $1 million auction for $1,000 is closing on Tuesday July 22, 2008 at 12 p.m.

For more information visit BigBangNames.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/be_the_next_buy_com.html

Can SaaS Appliances Save Search?

2008-07-16T23:51:00-04:00

Silver Spring, MD - According to data collected from over 500 business users, 29-54% of respondents report choosing alternatives to traditional licensed software for their Findability solutions. AIIM’s new Market IQ on Findability reveals that Findability is much more than simple “search” — it requires a set of techniques and technologies applied within an Information Architecture (framework) to successfully solve findability challenges. The variety of choices for solutions in this space has exploded in response to the ever-growing scale and complexity of the contents of most organization’s digital landfills. The AIIM Market IQ on Findability is available for free download at www.aiim.org/findability.

“Organizations do not want more technology when it comes to Findability – they want solutions to their Findability failings - allowing employees, partners and customers to find the information necessary to accomplish their business objectives,” states AIIM Vice President Carl Frappaolo. “Business users should not know or care how Findability is accomplished. At the same time, a slow realization is coming about in the IT department that ‘ownership’ of solutions does not require literally owning and maintaining every aspect of the final business solution.”

No deployment method is perfect – each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Buyers should beware of vendors who claim any one approach is the one and only option. One significant factor in determining which type of solution would be most appropriate is the complexity of an organization’s technical infrastructure. A specific concern is the number of repositories (i.e., e-mail servers, file servers, content management systems, portals, etc.) that enterprise information exists within, and whether it is possible to search all of those systems - whether individually or as a whole.

For respondents with simple, single source information systems (49% of non-AIIM member respondents), one might expect that Findability should be an easily solved problem. However, simplicity can be deceiving and dangerously misleading when it comes to the nature of “success” in Findability within the enterprise.

Within larger and more complicated information systems, five or more systems may be referenced in any given week (36% of AIIM members), and in general, it is easy to see that complexity varies widely across all respondents.

While it appears that there are certain organizations that have the most simplified information needs possible (only one system of reference), that seemingly good news needs to be combined with the finding that 69% of respondents believe that only 50% or less of their organization’s information is searchable online.

“In fact, respondents report not knowing which system to use to find information, and the use of a single repository may simply be because there is only one system they have easy or useful access to. Siloed search is more often the norm than federated or universal search approaches at this time,” stated Dan Keldsen, Director of Market Intelligence, AIIM and report co-author. In the ''Golden Age of Search'' we are still at the beginning of the journey. Confusion abounds from every angle of Findability, although slow progress is being made.

The AIIM Market IQ on Findability is available for free download at http://www.aiim.org/findability. The report is over 65 pages long, with 70 charts/figures, including user satisfaction with over 20 solutions.

http://www.gawkwire.com/reviews/can_saas_open_source_and_appliances_save_search.html

New Appliance Withstands Harshest IT Environments

2008-07-17T09:44:00-04:00

AUSTIN, Texas - Mirage Networks, developer of patented, full-cycle Network Access Control (NAC) technology, today announced the release of a ruggedized appliance that is designed for environments where standard equipment cannot be deployed. The new appliance withstands temperature extremes, vibration and airborne contaminants – conditions that occur in less than ideal environments where computing equipment is essential.

“We have a unique challenge with environmental factors at New York City Transit,” said Zhi-Wei Lin, project engineer with the Communications Engineering Group at New York City Transit. “To operate in our subway system, IT and telecom devices must be ruggedized. Product manufacturers must take specific steps to ensure performance under harsh conditions.”

Independently tested to comply with select MIL-STD-810F standards, the ruggedized NAC appliance was engineered for industrial environments in gas and energy, transportation, military and manufacturing organizations. But customers across all vertical markets have requirements for devices that are durable enough to withstand severe conditions.

Many organizations do not have dedicated facilities for IT equipment and deploy them into poorly ventilated spare closets or alongside heavy industrial machinery. And while data centers and IT closets are often cool and clean environments, in many cases they do not meet specifications for HVAC and air purity. Offshore oil rigs, power generation plants, manufacturing facilities and mass transit systems are only a few examples of harsh environments where organizations have a tremendous challenges deploying computing equipment.

“Our customers have countless situations where they can’t deploy equipment in a sealed white room,” said David Thomas, vice president of products for Mirage Networks. “We designed this product for the real world where it’s gritty, hot, and often very shaky. By providing a ruggedized appliance that is rock solid, we can help our customers keep their network infrastructures secure, and their businesses online.”

Mirage’s NAC solution enables maximum network performance by controlling network access, isolating noncompliant and threatening endpoints, and providing self-remediation capabilities. Mirage’s network-based solution requires no agent software, deploys virtually inline, and works in any network environment.

Mirage solutions are made available through Authorized ChannelFirst Partners and can also be delivered as a managed service.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/314.html

Socialmedia.com VP to Speak at the OMMA Behavioral Conference

2008-07-17T09:41:00-04:00

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - socialmedia.com announced today that Vice President of Marketing and Business Development Eddie Smith will speak on a panel outlining the future of behavioral targeting at OMMA Behavioral in San Francisco, CA at the Hotel Nikko on Monday, July 21, 2008. This one day conference explores how user profiling and tracking influence all aspects of online marketing, content and retail.

New research methods for tracking, profiling and predicting user behavior are reshaping the online experience into meaningful interactions. At this event, industry experts will delve into the core of behavioral targeting and how advertising networks have the opportunity to leverage data to customize outreach and optimize consumer engagement into new digital technologies.

These innovative platforms have the potential to bring a new kind of behavioral data into the mix. With new technologies and social networks come new sensitivities about managing personal data and education to achieve scale and ROI. Mr. Smith will participate on the panel, "Out of the Black Box: BT's Next Practices." This session will focus on expanding behavioral targeting practices of tracking user content consumption outside the typical online ad network of search and display, into email, mobile advertising, widgets and social media. Content and marketing has become more portable and customizable by users, and panelists will share new targeting techniques available to offer consumers relevant and authentic messages and how to expand and engage current case studies, media planning and privacy polices for beneficial targeting.

The panel is moderated by Roman Bukary, VP of Marketing and Business Development of Truviso. Mr. Smith is joined by Bill Flitter, CEO of Pheedo, Dorion Carroll, VP of Engineering of Technorati, Elgin Kim, Head of Sales, West, for Nokia Interactive, and Dave Martin, Director of Interactive Media, Ignited Media. The panel takes place at 12:15 p.m. PDT in the Nikko Ballroom.

For more information about this event, please visit: http://www.mediapost.com/events/ommabehavioral/

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/socialmedia_com_vp_to_speak_at_the_omma_behavioral_conference.html

Cloudmark Identifies Crafty Spam Techniques

2008-07-16T11:24:00-04:00

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Cloudmark, Inc., the global leader in carrier-grade messaging security, today released a list of common techniques now being employed by email spammers, based on analysis of the billions of messages that Cloudmark scans each day.

Spam now constitutes between 90 to 95 percent of all email traffic in the U.S., and in an effort to penetrate inboxes, spammers and hackers are taking new approaches in an effort to evade traditional spam filters.

As part of Cloudmark's continual analysis of global spam, it has identified several crafty spamming techniques seen this year:

-- The 'lite brite' attack -- These attacks see spammers position a
    collection of characters to take the form of larger letters, which spells
    out a word. For example, using many iterations of a stock symbol to spell
    out the word "BUY" in an effort to promote the stock.
-- Character manipulation -- Email addresses, IM usernames and phone
    numbers are commonly included in spam -- some spammers will use inventive
    spelling techniques to proliferate their messages, replacing characters
    with "visual puns" for example '0' for 'o' and '1' for 'i.' More creative
    spammers may sometimes also use ambiguous content. For example, advertising
    a product and telling recipients to 'email me or im me at jeffbr0ck
    |replace with @| yahoo |put dot here| com.'
-- Unusual linking -- There are many ways to write characters into a
    clickable URL. For example, URI encoding and entity encoding can place
    unprintable characters into an http link without breaking it. Spammers are
    taking this practice to an entirely new level, finding ways to format URLs
    that, despite not conforming to published web standards, will still be
    clickable through certain email clients, web interfaces and other online
    products.
-- Domain domination -- Spammers are buying and hosting a range of
    different domain names with similar characteristics, for example
    'worldjackpotcasinobc.com,' 'worldjackpotcasinob8.com,' and
    'worldjackpot9casino.com.' This relatively simple, but effective, technique
    takes a legitimate-sounding domain and then permutes it many times.
    Spammers expect that recipients would be more likely to click on these
    domains than ones that are randomly-generated and nonsensical.
-- Image imposters -- Spammers can disguise their campaigns as images,
    attempting to bypass basic filters that only pick up on text-based spam.
-- Stock scam scramble -- Stock scams are on the rise in email spam, with
    spammers further scrambling the content in order to bypass filters. A
    recent stock scam attack saw spammers scramble their message to such a
    degree that neither the company name nor the advertised ticker symbol was
    spelled correctly.
    "As spam filters getting more sophisticated and accurate, spammers are getting craftier in their attacks and more creative with their approach. The over-the-top and in some cases, almost amusing, lengths spammers are taking in their attempts to bypass spam filters really showcases their desperation" said Jeremy Robin, spam accuracy researcher at Cloudmark. "While attacks continue to get more sophisticated, Cloudmark stays one step ahead through the unique combination of its Advanced Message Fingerprinting™ algorithms and feedback from its Global Threat Network™ technology, which can spot spam regardless of language, format and encoding."

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/cloudmark_identifies_crafty_spam_techniques.html

AspireHR Launches Webinar Program

2008-07-16T10:17:00-04:00

Plano, TX - AspireHR has launched a webinar program which will feature a series of events to be held over the next several months.

The launch was announced today by Todd Hall, AspireHR’s Software Sales Manager and coordinator of the company’s webinar initiative.

“Our summer and fall series of webinars will be highlighting our software products and some selected topics that should be of interest to the professionals who deal with SAP HR initiatives on a daily basis,” said Hall.

The first webinar in the series will explore AspireHR’s RecuitOne software product. Entitled “RecruitOne: Recruit Great Talent”, the webinar will demonstrate how RecruitOne can enable recruiters to streamline the recruiting process and concentrate on recruiting.

“RecruitOne brings together the functionality of SAP E-Recruiting with an intuitive recruiter dashboard that simplifies the recruiting process,” said Hall. “This combination allows recruiters to focus on what they do best: Recruit great talent.”

The webinar will be presented by Brian Collett, Partner in charge of software solutions. Collett is responsible for managing the company’s software products and oversees the development of new software offerings.

The RecruitOne webinar is scheduled for Friday, July 18th at 1:00 p.m. (CDT). Professionals interested in attending the event can register in advance.

Future webinars presentations will feature other AspireHR software products, including WorkSmart, TalentScout, and HR DataExchange. The webinar program will also cover timely topics such as issues pertaining to payroll taxes, SAP data migrations, and lessons learned from SAP upgrades. Information regarding this webinar and future scheduled events will be available on the company’s website at www.aspirehr.com.

Aspire HR specializes in human capital management (HCM) for SAP. This focus has enabled the company to develop unparalleled expertise in HCM, superior HR project management, and packaged software applications that add real value for our customers. These functional resources coupled with our software development center enable us to do high quality implementation quickly, efficiently and with high customer satisfaction.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/309.html

Short Domain Names Hold Enormous Investment Promise

2008-07-16T00:14:00-04:00

Winnipeg, MB - BQB.com, a no commission next generation domainer to domainer (D2D) domain name auction platform dedicated to short domain names has announced sales exceeding $25,000 for June 2008.

"Absolutely fantastic, it's exceeded all our expectations. That said, we have very high hopes for the future," says Reece Berg, CEO of BQB.com Inc.

Since opening to the domain name world in early May 2008, BQB has attracted 371 like-minded short domain name investors who share the belief that advancing mobile technology and ever increasing Internet penetration will greatly increase the desirability of short domain names, making an investment in short domain names among the strongest appreciating internet investments for many more years to come. BQB.com has facilitated over $40,000 in domain sales since May 2008.

"It's like 1999 all over again with the prices of short domain names up as much as 4000% since 2002. With worldwide Internet penetration hovering around 20% and mobile phones outnumbering computers 4 to 1, there's still a lot of upside potential," suggests Berg who recently turned a $12,000 investment in four letter .com domain names (known in the domain name business as LLLL.coms) into upwards of $70,000 within six months. "Easy money," says Berg, referring to how little work was actually involved in making this profit.

"When people tell me there isn't money to be made today in the domain name business today, I just shake my head and wonder what ever convinced them of that," says Berg who goes on to note he's made six figures buying, selling, and trading short domain names this year.

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/short_domain_names_hold_enormous_investment_promise.html

Toshiba Lights Up New LED Screen in New Yorkâ€™s Times Square

2008-07-16T10:07:00-04:00

NEW YORK - The Toshiba message will shine out over Times Square bigger and brighter than ever before following today’s unveiling of a new full color LED display, Toshiba Vision Times Square, that supports over one billion colors and high definition resolution. The new LED display will take pride of place at the top of One Times Square Building, and carry its message to the crowded streets 285 feet (about 87 meters) below. It will be switched on today, at 19:30 EST.

The Toshiba Vision Times Square display is bigger and offers higher resolution than the previously installed display that Toshiba took over in December 2007. Expressly designed for fixed outdoor installation at the Times Square site, the new display is a massive 15.6m x 16.0m (51.2 ft. x 52.5 ft.) and it incorporates a fully digital high-definition video system. The 22.3m (73.3 ft./880-inch) diagonal screen integrates an array of 1280 x 1248 LEDs, and high definition image quality is realized by Toshiba’s proprietary TECHNOVIRTUAL technology. This innovative two-dimensional, pixel-sharing technology uses adjacent LEDs to create virtual pixels with a 12.5mm pitch.

The Toshiba Vision Times Square display is designed to combine high definition image quality with environmental durability. It is also designed for enhanced eco efficiency, and uses the latest LED technology to cut power consumption, an advance that also contributes to improved performance reliability and an extended life cycle.

Like the previous display, the new Toshiba Vision Times Square display will promote the Toshiba brand and products for different times of the year, and send out messages in tune with the seasonal changes of New York. Under its current mid-term business plan, Toshiba is aiming for a significant expansion of its global business, and Toshiba Vision Times Square display will play a key in supporting business activities in an essential market.

Toshiba produces a versatile range of lightweight indoor, outdoor, and multi-purpose LED displays characterized by outstanding picture quality and product durability. The company is the first manufacturer of LED displays to offer modular HDTV screens to the worldwide rental market.

Toshiba participation in the lightning business dates back to 120 years ago and the production of Japan’s first incandescent lamp. Since then, the company has become one of the world's leading manufacturers and suppliers. In April 2008, Toshiba Group announced that it would end production of incandescent lamps by 2010(1), a move taken to cut CO2 emissions, and put in place a new cross-organizational structure that is bringing a renewed impetus to management of the business. With environmental concerns guiding product planning and R&D, Toshiba will develop eco-friendly fluorescent and LED products, promote new lightning systems for homes and offices, and enhance its global business.

http://www.gawkwire.com/video_tv/toshiba_lights_up_new_led_screen_in_new_york_s_times_square.html

GW Equity Announces Sale of Carpathia Hosting to Spire Capital Partners

2008-07-15T11:04:00-04:00

DALLAS - GW Equity, an advisor to privately held and family-owned businesses for mergers, acquisitions, and strategic growth initiatives, announced the sale of its client Carpathia Hosting Inc., a provider of enterprise application hosting, based in Ashburn, Va., to private equity investor Spire Capital Partners LP, of New York. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed.

Carpathia Hosting provides information technology application hosting solutions, including servers, firewall/load balancing, bandwidth, backup facilities collocation and remote monitoring. Founded in 2000, Spire Capital Partners is a private equity group with approximately $600 million in assets under management across a broad range of business services.

Founded in 2003, Carpathia Hosting retained GW Equity to provide business valuation and exit planning services when its owners decided to pursue other business ventures. “GW Equity helped us market the company and maximize on the potential wealth in our rapidly growing business,” said Rick Smith, CEO of Carpathia Hosting. “Spire has excellent resources to continue expanding Carpathia and capitalize on our success.”

Spire Capital Partners was interested in acquiring a company in this sector and was working with an established management team to acquire the company. “We are excited to have Carpathia as part of the Spire portfolio,” said Sean C. White of Spire Capital Partners. “We are looking forward to continuing to aggressively grow the company.”

“The deal between Carpathia and Spire Capital reflects GW Equity’s strong track record of providing valuable advice, securing competitive offers and closing deals on behalf of our clients,” said GW Equity President Ryan Binkley.

GW Equity received interest from numerous parties, but recommended focusing on Spire. “We felt that Spire was well suited to acquire Carpathia because of the strong management team ready to take over,” said Steve Heimstead, GW Equity’s lead managing director for the transaction. “Our team worked very hard to create a deal that would benefit everyone involved and ultimately we were very successful in doing this.”

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/gw_equity_announces_sale_of_carpathia_hosting_to_spire_capital_p.html

Sun Microsystems and Fujitsu Unveil Next-Generation SPARC Enterprise Servers

2008-07-15T11:01:00-04:00

TOKYO & SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Sun Microsystems, Inc. and Fujitsu Limited today announced an enhanced line of SPARC(R) Enterprise servers – M4000, M5000, M8000 and M9000 – that delivers a highly scalable, enterprise-class virtualization and consolidation platform with up to 80 percent better performance on commercial applications and 2x better performance on HPC workloads and using 44 percent less energy per core. Based on the quad-core SPARC64(TM) VII processor and the Solaris(TM) Operating System (OS), the new SPARC Enterprise servers are ideal platforms for high-availability, mission-critical enterprise applications including large-scale databases, BIDW, ERP and CRM. The new processor is also available as an option for seamless upgrades in existing SPARC Enterprise servers.

"The new SPARC Enterprise systems up the ante on performance and deliver the flexibility to address the most demanding enterprise workloads," said John Fowler, executive vice president, Systems Group, Sun Microsystems. "Today, we're freeing customers from the constraints of the mainframe with open systems that deliver the scalability, consolidation and virtualization they want along with long-term investment protection features that can future-proof their datacenters.”

“The SPARC Enterprise servers advanced to a new stage with the SPARC64 VII processor, which provides spectacular performance, reliability and eco-efficiency and benefits from Fujitsu’s unparalleled mainframe heritage,” said Tatsuo Tomita, corporate senior executive vice president and a board member at Fujitsu. “We are confident that the SPARC64 VII processor which powers the world’s most scalable and flexible systems, not only protects but also increases the value of our customer's investments.”

New Servers Provide Massive Scalability and Virtualization with Investment Protection

The SPARC Enterprise servers announced today build on the existing systems co-designed by Sun and Fujitsu and extend long-term customer investment protection through binary compatibility, industry leading hardware and software partitioning and the ultra-flexible “mix and match” SPARC64 processor architecture. These SPARC Enterprise servers are the only systems on the market with the ability to mix SPARC64 VI and VII processors in a single domain, enabling customers to increase performance – without downtime and without requiring other hardware changes. Customers can also minimize upgrade costs by using the new SPARC64 VII option in current SPARC Enterprise servers.

With the addition of the new quad-core SPARC64 VII processor, the SPARC Enterprise servers also offer unmatched scalability in a single symmetric multi-processor system (SMP) system – from 16 to 256 cores. The SPARC64 VII processor also delivers the RAS functions of SPARC64 VI, including hardware instruction retry, dynamic degradation and parity-protected processor registers, to maintain the levels of performance and reliability needed in mission-critical systems.

The new processor consumes 44 percent less energy per core than the SPARC64 VI chip, enabling customers to consolidate and minimize energy consumption. Leveraging built-in hardware partitioning features and Solaris Containers, the new SPARC Enterprise servers form an ultra-high density environment that provides exceptional virtualization capabilities. As a result, customers can increase system utilization by supporting larger application workloads and services on their existing infrastructure, while controlling operating costs and reducing environmental impact.

More information on the SPARC Enterprise server line is available at http://sun.com/sparcenterprise and http://www.fujitsu.com/sparcenterprise/.

SPARC Enterprise Systems Best The Competition

The SPARC Enterprise M9000 server running Solaris 10 OS, the SAP(R) ERP application Release 6.0 and Oracle Database 10g achieved a world record result on the SAP Sales and Distribution (SD) Standard Application Benchmark by achieving 39,100 SD Benchmark users. The SPARC Enterprise M9000 server result beats the IBM Power 595 POWER6 server with 35,400 SD Benchmark users by 10.5% and outperforms the HP Integrity Superdome SD64B with 30,000 SD Benchmark users by 30.3%, as well as demonstrates the ability to run both the application and database software in the highly scalable and reliable way.[1]
The SPARC Enterprise M9000 server, based on SPARC64 VII processors, and using Sun Studio 12 software with Solaris 10 OS delivers a score of 2.023 TFLOPS on the Linpack's Highly Parallel Computing benchmark. The SPARC Enterprise M9000 outperforms the IBM Power 595 POWER6 by nearly 2X and beats the HP Integrity Superdome system by 2.7X.[2]
For additional information on Sun and Fujitsu's leading benchmarks please visit:

http://www.sun.com/servers/sparcenterprise/benchmarks/index.html and http://www.fujitsu.com/global/services/computing/server/sparcenterpris e/key-reports/benchmarks/.

Customers Tout the SPARC Enterprise Servers

SPARC Enterprise customers span the globe and industries including HPC, financial services, retail and Web 2.0. Customers include: China Mobile Communications Corporation, CIMB Group, Core Services, HPCVL, Qualcomm, SuccessFactors and Weight Watchers International.

Product Availability and Services

The new SPARC Enterprise systems are available immediately directly from Sun and Fujitsu and their authorized resellers. Continuing to provide investment protection for customers, the SPARC64 VII processors will also be available as upgrades for existing systems. For more information visit: http://www.sun.com/tradeins/offerings/sse/index.jsp and http://www.fujitsu.com/sparcenterprise.

Sun and Fujitsu also provide a full suite of services to help customers maximize their infrastructure investments. More information is available at http://www.sun.com/service and http://www.fujitsu.com/.

Both Fujitsu-branded and Sun-branded SPARC Enterprise servers will be marketed worldwide. All features are identical.

http://www.gawkwire.com/video_tv/sun_microsystems_and_fujitsu_unveil_next-generation_sparc_enterp.html

Free Vision Helpdesk License for Beta-Testers

2008-07-15T10:41:00-04:00

TheVisionWorld.com has announced free Vision helpdesk license for beta testers who provide quality feedback or help finding bugs.

Vision Helpdesk is well-organized and logically constructed system that provides a vast feature set clients can depend on. Key features are - Multiple Domains/Companies, Inbuilt Antivirus Tool, Handy Tool Bar, Migration Tool, AJAX Based Rich User Interface, Online Issue Tracking, Login Share, Service Level Agreements, Report Generation, Scrap Book & Private Messaging and Client Side Quick Search Facility.

Vision is a powerful web-based helpdesk software that integrates various support channels (emails, web based helpdesk, phone or fax) at one central point and allows maximum control over them" said company HR Preeti Sharma.

Beta testers can signup for evaluation version at - http://www.thevisionworld.com/purchase.html

http://www.gawkwire.com/reviews/free_vision_helpdesk_license_for_beta-testers.html

iNET Interactive Acquires HostingCon

2008-07-15T10:29:00-04:00

Dayton, OH and Crystal Lake, IL - iNET Interactive today announced that it has acquired the HostingCon conference and trade show from Interjuncture Corp. The acquisition will be effective July 31, 2008, immediately following the close of HostingCon 2008. While Interjuncture Corp. will be responsible for all aspects of HostingCon 2008, iNET Interactive’s staff will be on-hand to address any questions from attendees and exhibitors and to discuss the details of HostingCon 2009.

Founded in 2005, HostingCon is the world's largest conference and trade show serving the hosted services industry. This year’s event, to be held July 28 – 30 at Navy Pier in Chicago, is expected to draw over 1,500 hosted services professionals and nearly 100 exhibitors. The event features keynote addresses from Serguei Beloussov, the Chairman and CEO of Parallels, and Mark Rogers, the Director of Cloud Computing Services at Microsoft.

The addition of HostingCon is a natural extension for iNET Interactive, further strengthening its position as the leading media company serving the hosted services industry. The iNET Interactive portfolio also includes Web Hosting Talk, the largest online community serving the hosted services industry, HostingCatalog, the industry’s only pay-per-click ad network, and various specialty hosted services directories.

“We are excited to be able to add HostingCon to iNET Interactive,” stated Troy Augustine, iNET’s President and CEO. “HostingCon – the world’s largest physical gathering of hosted services professionals – is a perfect complement to Web Hosting Talk – the largest online gathering of hosting services professionals.”

HostingCon was founded by George Roberts, the CEO of Interjucture, and Frank Spaulding, Interjucture’s COO. The pair will remain involved in HostingCon as members of its advisory board. “Although Frank and I will remain involved as advisors, we are very excited to hand over the reins to iNET Interactive”, George Roberts stated. “We have complete confidence that iNET Interactive will continue to grow and develop HostingCon with the same passion and commitment that Frank and I have applied.”

About iNET Interactive
Founded in 2002, iNET Interactive (www.iNETinteractive.com) is a social media company operating prominent online communities for Internet professionals and technology enthusiasts. Its vertically-focused communities incorporate user-contributed ratings, reviews, and discussion augmented with professionally-produced content.

About HostingCon
HostingCon is the world’s largest conference and trade show serving the hosted services industry. Founded by George Roberts and Frank Spaulding in 2005, the annual event has grown to over 1,500 attendees and nearly 100 exhibitors from more than 30 countries. For more details about HostingCon, visit www.hostingcon.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/inet_interactive_acquires_hostingcon.html

iPhone Tops One Million

2008-07-14T00:42:00-04:00

Despite the outages, shortages, and related hand-wringing associated with last Friday's iPhone 3G launch and Thursday's release of the iPhone 2.0 firmware, Apple says there were nevertheless 10 million downloads from its new App Store in its first weekend of existence.

And those long lines? A total of one million iPhone 3G units were sold. The millionth phone was sold on Sunday. ... Go To Source ...

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/iphone_tops_one_million.html

Google Slapped Newsday For Link Selling

2008-07-14T00:37:00-04:00

New York City publication Newsday saw its PageRank drop from 8 to 5 after Google took offense at the paper's linking practice.

Long Islanders may have experienced a little trouble finding Newsday in search results on Google recently. Some link selling shenanigans evidently grabbed Google's attention, with the usual penalty meted out for playing that game.

SERoundtable said the incident took place in June, as the SEO manager for Newsday posted about the drop in PageRank in the Google Webmaster Help forum. ... Go To Source ...

http://www.gawkwire.com/seo_sem/google_slapped_newsday_for_link_selling.html

DNS and Security Gurus Shed Light on Recent CERT Advisory

2008-07-14T10:28:00-04:00

SANTA CLARA, CA - Infoblox Inc. today announced that it will host a webinar to explain the potential impacts of the new DNS security flaw recently publicized by the Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT), a joint government-private sector security partnership. Attendees will learn how to mitigate the impacts of the exploitation of this vulnerability [CERT VU#800113 (CVE-2008-1447)], as well as similar, related vulnerabilities.

The webinar will feature the security researcher who discovered the DNS flaw, Dan Kaminsky, director of penetration, testing services, IOActive, and Cricket Liu, author of O'Reilly's "DNS and BIND" and vice president of Architecture at Infoblox.

In addition to live Q&A, Kaminsky and Liu will provide during the webinar an update on the recent CERT advisory, means to mitigate the new vulnerability, a review of other known DNS vulnerabilities, and best practices for maintaining secure DNS systems.

Webinar Details

Title: "DNS Security: Old Vulnerabilities, New Exploits"

When: July 17, 2008, 8:00 a.m. San Francisco, 11:00 a.m. New York, 5:00 p.m. Paris

Speakers:

-- Dan Kaminsky, Director of Penetration testing services, IOActive

-- Cricket Liu, VP of Architecture, Infoblox

Registration: https://admin.na3.acrobat.com/_a46961130/webinardnsexpert/event/registration.html

ABOUT THE DNS VULNERABILITY

The security flaw [CERT VU#800113 (CVE-2008-1447)] makes virtually all DNS servers vulnerable to cache poisoning attacks, whereby an attacker can populate DNS server caches with incorrect information. As a result, a client request to a legitimate website can be directed to a malicious website using this attack. Once a non-suspecting user connects to the malicious website, they may divulge personal information (e.g., bank account numbers and passwords).

For more information about the vulnerability, visit: http://www.infoblox.com/solutions/DNS-Security-Flaw.cfm.

About Infoblox

Infoblox appliances deliver utility-grade core network services, including domain name resolution (DNS), IP address assignment and management (DHCP and IPAM), authentication (RADIUS) and related services. Infoblox solutions, which provide the essential "glue" between networks and applications, are used by over 2,300 organizations worldwide, including over 100 of the Fortune 500. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., and operates in more than 30 countries. For more information, call +1.408.625.4200, email info@infoblox.com, or visit www.infoblox.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/dns_and_security_gurus_shed_light_on_recent_cert_advisory.html

Yahoo! Rejects Microsoft/Icahn Proposal

2008-07-11T14:20:00-04:00

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Yahoo! Inc., a leading global Internet company, confirmed today that it has rejected a joint proposal from Microsoft Corporation and Carl Icahn for a complex restructuring of Yahoo! that would include the acquisition of Yahoo!'s search business by Microsoft.

The proposal was made on Friday evening and Yahoo! was given less than 24 hours to accept the proposal, the fundamental terms of which Microsoft and Mr. Icahn made clear they were unwilling to negotiate. After reviewing the proposal with its legal and financial advisers, Yahoo!'s Board of Directors determined that accepting the proposal is not in the best interests of its stockholders.

The Board’s rejection of the proposal was based on a number of factors, including the following:

1. Yahoo!’s existing business plus its recently signed commercial agreement with Google has superior financial value and less complexity and risk than the Microsoft/Icahn proposal.

2. The Microsoft/Icahn proposal would preclude a potential sale of all of Yahoo! for a full and fair price, including a control premium.

3. The major component of the overall value per share asserted by Microsoft/Icahn would be in Yahoo!’s remaining non-search businesses which would be overseen by Mr. Icahn’s slate of directors, which has virtually no working knowledge of Yahoo!’s businesses.

4. The Microsoft/Icahn proposal would require the immediate replacement of the current Board and removal of the top management team at Yahoo!. The Yahoo! Board believes these moves would destabilize Yahoo! for the up to the one year it would take to gain regulatory approval for this deal.

Roy Bostock, Chairman of Yahoo! said, “This odd and opportunistic alliance of Microsoft and Carl Icahn has anything but the interests of Yahoo!'s stockholders in mind. Clearly, Microsoft, having failed to advance in search, is aligning with the short-term objectives of Mr. Icahn to coerce Yahoo! into selling its core strategic search assets on terms that are highly advantageous to Microsoft, but disadvantageous to Yahoo! stockholders. Yahoo’s Board of Directors will not allow that to happen. Yahoo!’s Board remains open to any transaction that delivers full value to our stockholders – we just do not believe such a transaction should be dictated by Microsoft and a single short-term investor.”

Mr. Bostock continued, “After negotiating among themselves without the involvement of Yahoo!, Carl Icahn and Microsoft presented us with a ‘take it or leave it’ proposal under which we would be required to restructure the Company, hand over to Microsoft Yahoo!’s valuable search business and to Carl Icahn the rest of the Company, giving us less than 24 hours to respond. It is ludicrous to think that our Board could accept such a proposal. While this type of erratic and unpredictable behavior is consistent with what we have come to expect from Microsoft, we will not be bludgeoned into a transaction that is not in the best interests of our stockholders.”

Mr. Bostock also noted that Microsoft’s position that it would not deal with, or otherwise engage with, Yahoo!’s management to reach agreement on this proposal or to implement it, is completely absurd and irresponsible given the complexity of the deal – one that requires the removal of half of Yahoo!’s business from Yahoo! and then the integration of it into Microsoft.

Yahoo!'s Board points out that a transaction to acquire the whole company would be much more straightforward and involve far less risk than the new proposal or any similar alternative. The Board believes a whole company transaction could be negotiated and executed prior to August 1st. In rejecting the Microsoft/Icahn proposal, Yahoo! not only repeated its offer to sell the entire Company to Microsoft for at least $33 per share, but also offered to negotiate an improved search only transaction. Microsoft rejected both offers.

Ironically, Carl Icahn, who jointly with Microsoft developed and presented this proposal, had previously urged Yahoo! not to sell its search business to Microsoft. Specifically, in an interview on CNBC's Fast Money program, on June 4, 2008, Mr. Icahn said, “... it's crazy for this company now to do this alternative deal and give the store away, because obviously, an alternative deal is a poison pill because once you've done an alternative deal and given the search to Microsoft, you don't need Microsoft to buy you anymore. So, that would be a poison pill….”

Significantly, the Board believes Microsoft and Mr. Icahn are overstating the value their search and restructuring proposal would deliver to Yahoo! stockholders and are substantially understating the risks. Yahoo! noted that a transaction that would separate the Company's search and display businesses is an undertaking of great complexity. While the Board acknowledges that the current proposal contains a number of improvements over Microsoft’s earlier proposal, the Yahoo! Board's conclusion that the current proposal is not in the best interests of stockholders is based on a number of factors, including:

The revenue guarantees suggested, which are conditional and subject to reduction, are well below the search revenue that the Company is expected to generate on its own and in association with its announced commercial agreement with Google. That agreement alone is estimated to generate $250 to $450 million of incremental cash flow for the first twelve months following implementation, while allowing Yahoo! to remain a principal in paid search;
The success of the remaining Company is critically dependent on Microsoft’s ability to effectively monetize search;
Microsoft/Icahn’s proposed Traffic Acquisition Costs rates are below market;
The proposal calls for Yahoo! to sell its industry-leading algorithmic search business and its related strategic and valuable intellectual property portfolio for no incremental consideration; and
Many of the components of the headline value that Mr. Icahn and Microsoft put forward, such as the spin-off of the Yahoo!'s Asian assets and the return of cash to stockholders, are steps that could be taken by Yahoo! on its own and the Board continues to evaluate these options.
Mr. Bostock concluded, “Microsoft and Mr. Icahn are trying to dismantle the Company and deliver our search business to Microsoft on terms that would be disadvantageous to Yahoo! stockholders. We are prepared to let our stockholders, not Microsoft and Carl Icahn, decide what is in their best interests and we look forward to the upcoming vote.”

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/yahoo_rejects_microsoft_icahn_search_and_restructuring_proposal.html

BierBootHaus.com Launches New Website

2008-07-11T11:53:00-04:00

What are Beer Boots and why do people call them “Das Boot”?
Beer boots are a German invention with over a century of history where they are called a "Bierstiefel" and are thought to have originated within the German military. They exploded in popularity in the U.S. and Canada towards the end of 2006 upon the release of the movie Beerfest, a beer-themed comedy revolving around a secret beer Olympics at Oktoberfest in Germany. The movie coined the expression "Das Boot," referring to a 2 liter glass beer boot, which has since become the standard nomenclature for this unique drinking vessel. Bier Boot Haus offers a wide selection of glass 2 liter beer boots for as little as $34.99.

The Beer Boot Game:
Beer boots are all about the camaraderie of sharing your favorite beer among friends. The beer boot game (Das Boot Challenge) entails passing a 2 liter boot with each individual taking a sip and passing the boot to the left. Once the beer boot is picked up, it cannot touch the ground until finished and must be flicked by each participant before and after taking a sip. Whoever finishes the beer boot, the person before them is responsible for refilling the boot for the next round. Bier Boot Haus tip: Since the toe of the boot creates an air pocket, beer boot drinkers will tell you to drink with the toe facing to the side, not up (Which causes beer to splash in your face).

Custom Engraved Beer Boots
Bier Boot Haus also offers custom engraved beer boots for those looking for a personalized “Das Boot”. Personalized beer boots are extremely popular groomsmen gifts at weddings, and can be customized with virtually any logo, photograph, or text in a variety of fonts.

Beer Boots will always get the attention of your friends and make a great addition to any bar. A “Das Boot” also makes a great gift for any occasion. Contact www.BierBootHaus.com for additional information or to browse our full product catalog.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_design/bierboothaus_com_launches_new_website.html

Submissions Now Open for Web 2.0 Summit Launch Pad

2008-07-11T01:47:00-04:00

SAN FRANCISCO - TechWeb (formerly CMP) and O'Reilly Media, Inc., co-producers of the annual Web 2.0 Summit, today announce the Launch Pad program, a unique public forum designed to uncover the most promising Web startups, is open for submissions. The theme for this fourth edition Launch Pad, Web Meets World, spotlights the industry's best startups that use the Web's culture to change the world. For more information on submitting your company or product for this year's Launch Pad and to complete a submission form, visit: http://en.oreilly.com/web2008/public/content/launchpad. The Web 2.0 Summit takes place November 5-7, 2008 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

Launch Pad's focus will be on startups in the fields of alternative energies, social entrepreneurialism, microfinance, developing economies, political action, renewable technologies, and other innovative areas. Web 2.0 Summit Launch Pad will provide Web 2.0 companies a chance to present in front of six leading venture capitalists from Internet and Green backgrounds, while receiving raw, real-time feedback from both judges and audience members.

"The conversation is no longer just about the Web, rather about the bigger social movements driving the Web's greatest solutions," said John Battelle, Web 2.0 Summit's Program Chair. "We've adjusted our Launch Pad to reflect the natural progression of the conversation and, most importantly, to present the Web's most promising innovations."

The Web 2.0 Launch Pad's judging panel of venture capitalists will sponsor the program, thus eliminating company participation fees. Any company in any stage of financing can compete for a slot on stage, whether or not they are launching a new company or product. Judges will select the finalists who will compete at the Web 2.0 Summit event and receive up to ten minutes on stage to present to the entire Web 2.0 Summit audience and the VC judging panel.

"We're honored to be a part of Web 2.0 Summit's Launch Pad: Web Meets World. It allows us the unique opportunity to learn about those Web companies working to improve the complex problems facing industries outside the Web -- something invaluable for Panorama Capital," said Chris Albinson of Panorama Capital. "Together with the Web 2.0 Summit's audience, we'll uncover those shining stars working to build a better future."

Submission deadline for Web 2.0 Summit Launch Pad is September 10, 2008. Final determination of the Launch Pad companies will be made by John Battelle, Web 2.0 Summit's Program Chair, in concert with VC judges including Chris Albinson of Panorama Capital, Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures, and Mike Goguen of Sequoia Capital.

Web 2.0 Summit is produced by partners O'Reilly Media, Inc. and TechWeb and is moderated by John Battelle, Program Chair, and O'Reilly CEO Tim O'Reilly. Attendance is limited to maintain an intimate setting and foster dialog among participants. General attendee registration is by invitation only; requests for invitations are being accepted through mid-September. Media credentials will also be extended by invitation only.

-- For more information on Web 2.0 Summit and to apply for an invitation, please visit: http://web2summit.com/

-- To read coverage from Summit 2007, please visit: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/pub/w/62/news.html

-- To view select video from last year's Summit, please visit: http://web2summit.blip.tv/

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/submissions_now_open_for_web_2_0_summit_launch_pad.html

Gmail, PayPal and Ebay embrace DomainKeys to fight phishing emails

2008-07-09T14:32:00-04:00

Brad Taylor, Google’s Gmail Spam Czar, has just posted details on the ongoing cooperation with PayPal and Ebay, two of the most targeted brands in phishing emails, the effect of which is rejecting compared to flagging as spam each and every email pretending to be coming from paypal.com and ebay.com as well as from their international domain extensions. It’s a win-win-win move for users, and the companies themselves which are now digitally signing all of their emails, making phishing emails spoofing their origin easier to detect: ...Go To Source...

http://www.gawkwire.com/seo_sem/gmail_paypal_and_ebay_embrace_domainkeys_to_fight_phishing_email.html

Intermedia Surpasses Goals for Growth and Industry Recognition

2008-07-10T10:28:00-04:00

Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, Houston, TX - Intermedia, the global leader in business email services, announced today that it has surpassed 300,000 customer mailboxes hosted. In the past six months, Intermedia experienced tremendous growth in the number of accounts with fifty or more mailboxes, demonstrating the growing penetration of private label SaaS services into the midmarket. Further, over the past year, Intermedia also became a BlackBerry Alliance Member; was honored with the MSExchange.org Reader's Choice award; and launched two major offerings: the first and only hosted Office Communications Server 2007 service and Intermedia Secure Mail email encryption. Intermedia is a Microsoft Gold Partner, the leading provider of Microsoft Exchange 2007 software as a service (SaaS) and the first company to offer Microsoft Entourage 2008 as a free download to customers. Achieving these milestones signals a landmark year for Intermedia.

"We are excited to have met aggressive goals in such a short amount of time," said Serguei Sofinski, CEO, Intermedia. "Our achievements speak volumes to our customer satisfaction and we're looking forward to continued success and additional opportunities to empower our customers and our partners."

The SaaS market is experiencing tremendous growth and Intermedia has capitalized on this opportunity by making strategic business and solution decisions to support existing customer demands and its vision for tomorrow. For example, in addition to becoming a BlackBerry Alliance Member, Intermedia has met the demands of enterprise mobility by offering early support for email solutions on the iPhone 2.0 through ActiveSync capability. Its efforts have resulted in BlackBerry accounts growing 100% in the past six months and Windows Mobile ActiveSync accounts growing by 375% in the past year. Overall, the company has seen 122% growth in the total number of wireless accounts.

About Intermedia
Intermedia is the worldwide leader in business email services. More than 25,000 small and medium-sized businesses trust Intermedia to manage their email, calendars and address books. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Intermedia is committed to best-in-class service and ease of management for businesses that depend on MS Exchange. Intermedia is headquartered in New York, NY with offices in Sunnyvale, California and St. Petersburg, Russia. For more information, visit www.intermedia.net.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/intermedia_surpasses_goals_for_growth_and_industry_recognition.html

3G iPhone to Have Tsunami-Like Impact, According to Survey

2008-07-10T10:22:00-04:00

Rockville, MD - The new 3G iPhone from Apple (AAPL) is going to have a tsunami-like impact on the consumer smart phone market, according to a new ChangeWave survey of 3,567 consumers conducted in the aftermath of Apple's June 9th announcement.

At present, the Canadian Blackberry manufacturer Research in Motion (RIMM) (42%; unchanged) is the clear consumer smart phone market leader among smart phone owners.

But the biggest mover over the past 90 days has been the Apple iPhone (11%; up 2-pts), which continues to make major inroads in the consumer marketplace. Having gained market share for the fourth-consecutive survey, it is now close to wrestling the number two spot away from PALM (14%; down 2-pts) which has sunk to a new record low.

"These numbers are good news for Apple," said Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave Research and editor of ChangeWave Investing, "but it's when we asked respondents about their planned smart phone purchases over the next 90 days that this tsunami-like effect of the marketplace transformation becomes crystal clear."

The Coming Apple Tsunami

The survey found that a full 56% of respondents who plan to purchase a smart phone in the next 90 days say they're getting an Apple iPhone - a huge 21-pt leap from the previous survey.

The accompanying chart shows just how dramatic a jump in market share this represents.

Going forward, RIM's share of consumer planned purchases is set to take a hit over the next 90 days, falling 6-pts to 23%. Palm remains a far distant third with just 3% of planned purchases.

Note that the above chart focuses exclusively on the 10.5% of total survey respondents who say they plan on buying a smart phone during the next 90 days. The 10.5% represents a sharp jump from the previous survey in March, and it is the highest percentage of planned smart phone buyers recorded in a ChangeWave survey.

"The most likely explanation for such a large-scale projected increase in smart phone buyers going forward is the anticipation and publicity surrounding the imminent release of the 3G iPhone," said Smith.

In another positive for the new 3G iPhone, better than one-in-two current iPhone owners (55%) say they're Very Likely to buy the 3G iPhone for themselves or someone else in the future. And many don't plan to wait long. Among this group, half (50%) say they'll purchase within the first 90 days of release.

RIM Gets Set to Counterattack

While the 3G iPhone announcement has catapulted Apple ahead in terms of planned consumer smart phone purchases, it should be remembered that Research in Motion has a huge lead of its own in the corporate smart phone market. RIM is also still the leader among current owners in the consumer market.

Moreover, RIM isn't sitting idly by while Apple rolls out the 3G iPhone. The Canadian manufacturer has multiple plans in motion to counter Apple's momentum among consumers - including an already announced new product release (the Bold) and two likely additional product releases (the Thunder and Kickstart).

In an upcoming release, ChangeWave will report on what consumer respondents have to say about RIM's new counteroffensive--and the ongoing battle for smart phone supremacy.

About ChangeWave:

ChangeWave runs a proprietary network of more than 15,000 highly qualified business, technology, and medical professionals in leading companies of select industries -- credentialed experts who spend their everyday lives working on the frontline of technological change. ChangeWave surveys its members on a range of business and investment research and intelligence topics, collects feedback from them electronically, and converts the information into proprietary quantitative and qualitative reports.

For more information and contact details, go to: changewave.com/apple). For questions email darlene@changewave.com and mnocerino@changewave.com

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/3g_iphone_to_have_tsunami-like_impact_according_to_survey.html

New Facebook iPhone App Includes Chat

2008-07-10T10:34:00-04:00

Facebook has released a new version of the Facebook application for the iPhone which is available to be installed tomorrow at the launch of the new iPhone. The application includes chat which means you will be able to chat with all of your Facebook friends while on the go. Personally, I think this is a big deal because you will have instant access to all of your friends who are on Facebook. Does this spell the death of SMS? ...Go To Source...

http://www.gawkwire.com/seo_sem/new_facebook_iphone_app_includes_chat.html

Microsoft Announces Software + With Assistance From Hosting Providers

2008-07-10T00:05:00-04:00

HOUSTON — Today at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2008, Microsoft Corp. announced that more than 550 independent software vendors (ISVs) have enrolled in the Microsoft Software + Services Incubation Center Program since its launch in October 2006. As part of this announcement, the Microsoft Software + Services Incubation Center Program, formerly the SaaS Incubation Center Program, was renamed to better align with the company’s comprehensive software-plus-services vision.

The Microsoft Software + Services Incubation Center Program provides hosting providers with the tools, guidance and licensing model to help ISVs successfully transition to a service-based delivery model. Through the Incubation Centers, ISVs are guided through a structured series of business and architectural consulting sessions with the support of an established hosting provider to help ensure their business models and applications are ready to address the challenges of service-based delivery.

“Microsoft realizes that the evolution of the software industry will reach far beyond just bringing software to the browser,” said John Zanni, general manager of Worldwide Hosting at Microsoft. “Instead, Microsoft envisions a world of software plus services that consists of a unique blend of traditional applications and services available over the Internet. With the launch of the Incubation Center Program, Microsoft recognized that partnerships would be critical in order for ISVs to be successful in the new world of software plus services. Now through the tremendous success of this program, there is no doubt that building an integrated ecosystem plays an integral role in helping ISVs deploy service-based applications.”
To help ISVs embrace the software-plus-services opportunity, hosting providers are able to merge their core expertise in managing infrastructure and delivering services with business and design guidance through the Software + Services Incubation Center Program. Building on the Windows hosting platform with the support of Windows Server Hosting Guidance, the Software + Services Incubation Center Program helps bring together the infrastructure, licensing, consulting services and partnerships that ISVs need to be successful.

“As a software company that develops record-management systems for schools and construction companies, we saw a golden opportunity to expand our software by helping schools comply with Dutch government legislation for managing student records electronically,” said Rens Drent, commercial director, Kooijman Software. “The Incubation Center operated by SaaSPlaza has helped us reduce the obstacles typically associated with delivering service-based applications, enabling us to better focus on our customers and our business.”

Microsoft Announces New Incubation Centers
The Microsoft Software + Services Incubation Center Program is composed of 20 Incubation Centers globally, including 10 in Europe, eight in North America and two in Asia. In the past year, Microsoft has seen the participation in its Software + Services Incubation Center Program grow significantly, with new Incubation Centers offered by such hosting providers as PEER 1 Network Enterprises Inc. in the United States, YouSaaS in France, Mondo A/S in Denmark and NetSourcing in the Netherlands. In fact, NetSourcing is the first application hosting provider to deploy Microsoft Connected Services Framework, a service enablement platform designed to simplify the creation, integration and deployment of value-added services, as part of its Incubation Center. The solution provides the foundation for delivering a variety of services and applications from ISVs, as well as Microsoft’s own value-added services, such as the Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration and hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Microsoft’s Software + Services Incubation Center Program also recently expanded into Asia, with Incubation Centers now available to ISVs through NTT PC Communications Inc. and Fujitsu in Japan. In addition, KDDI Corp. and GMO Hosting & Security Inc. are also expected to launch Incubation Centers in Japan shortly “As a leading provider of online IT infrastructure in North America, PEER 1 recognizes that ISVs that want to start offering software plus services to reach new markets must learn to operate differently than they’re used to as a traditional ISV. This introduces many potential challenges without the proper resources,” said Robert Miggins, vice president of business development for PEER 1. “Through our SaaS3 Incubation Center on the Microsoft Windows platform, PEER 1 has assisted many small to midsize ISVs to test, deploy and manage their Web 2.0, enterprise and SaaS applications throughout the entire product lifecycle. By working closely with the ISV community, Microsoft’s Software + Services Incubation Center Program has also enabled us to develop key partnerships, expanding our customer base and driving revenue.”

Attendees of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference can obtain additional information about the Microsoft Software + Services Incubation Center Program, as well as Incubation Centers operated by PEER 1, OpSource and visionapp A.G. by visiting the Microsoft Software-Plus-Services Partner Hosted Pavilion, booth 875. YouSaaS will also be present at the conference and located at booth 618.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/288.html

Data393 Opens New Denver Data Center

2008-07-09T01:18:00-04:00

ENGLEWOOD, CO - Data393, a leading provider of colocation, managed hosting, disaster recovery and IP network services, announced today the completion and availability of its 10,000-square-foot, power-rich data center expansion.

Data393 increased the amount of raised flooring to a total of approximately 30,000 square feet within its Denver Tech Center facility. The acquisition of Data393 by Managed Data Holdings in December 2007 gave Data393 the resources to accelerate this expansion and meet market demand. The expansion incorporated high density power and cooling, parallel redundant generator capacity, static-dissipating raised flooring and a mix of cabinet and cage colocation space.

"The demand for colocation and managed hosting continues to grow as our current and potential customers seek power and cooling to support high density blade technology and high density hosting applications," said Brett Jones, General Manager of Data393. "We also developed more growth space as businesses are increasingly consolidating computing infrastructure from their offices to our data center. Our investment of increased power and cooling meets those needs while delivering greater options for tailored colocation bundled with hands-on managed services required in today's online world."

While many data facilities are not equipped to handle the increased demands for power and cooling required by high density devices, Data393 has engineered higher raised flooring and ceiling heights and employed next-generation technology in cooling. Data393's colocation suite also features multi-faceted upgrades, including a string of six paralleled Generac 600kw generators with N+1 redundancy and increased capacity of three megawatts of power, ensuring a 24/7, redundant power supply capable of supplying up to 200 watts of power per square foot.

"With our expansion, Data393 is helping small and medium-sized businesses avoid paying millions of dollars in capital expenses for data storage and management while giving them access to next-generation, high density and high availability colocation space," said Corey Needles, Director of Technical Operations at Data393. "The addition of a return plenum in the new data center space also provides greater efficiency in cooling, making the support of high density environments very feasible for Data393 and its customers."

For more information on Data393 or to schedule a tour, contact Data393 Sales at 1-800-260-4843 or email sales@data393.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/data393_opens_new_denver_data_center.html

DataPipe Secures $75 Million in Funding

2008-07-09T10:42:00-04:00

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - DataPipe, a global provider of managed IT services, announced today that it has secured $75 million dollars in combined credit and equity financing led by Goldman Sachs.

"We're very pleased to be fully funded for future growth," DataPipe Founder and CEO Robb Allen said. "This funding will enable us to expand our data center facilities and enhance our service offerings globally; it's great news for our clients," he added.

According to Allen, DataPipe will immediately begin an expansion of its Somerset, New Jersey campus, which has the potential for 60,000 square feet of data center space. DataPipe is also pursuing significant expansion opportunities in London and China.

Gene Yoon of Goldman Sachs added, "We've been impressed with DataPipe's expertise in the managed hosting market and look forward to pursuing additional growth opportunities in partnership with Robb and the DataPipe management team."

DH Capital, LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to DataPipe for this transaction.

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/datapipe_secures_75_million_in_funding.html

1&1 Internet Partners with Open-Xchange to Offer 1&1 MailXchange

2008-07-09T10:33:00-04:00

Philadelphia, PA - 1&1 Internet Inc., the world's largest web host by known servers, today announced a new product, 1&1 MailXchange, based on Open-Xchange Inc.'s award winning collaboration technology.

MailXchange is a 1&1 hosted solution-- requiring no server management or licensing fees from customers. Small business owners and private users looking for an affordable alternative to Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint can utilize this hosted and feature-rich email and collaboration service. The service can also be utilized with any Windows Mobile smartphone.

With 1&1 MailXchange users can take advantage of Open-Xchange's advanced web-based personal information management (PIM), providing customers with email, calendaring, contact and task management to enhance efficiency and teamwork. The centralized document management system allows for users to attach documents to corresponding tasks, as well as share them without emailing large files. The web-based MailXchange interface is available anywhere with internet access. This gives companies with multiple locations and employees working out of office, the flexibility to effectively share information. With 1&1 MailXchange users also have the option of synchronizing with Microsoft Outlook.

Oliver Mauss, CEO 1&1 Internet Inc., said, "MailXchange delivers valuable functionality for small businesses and individuals, facilitating effective teamwork and enabling document sharing anywhere, anytime, with any device. As a leader in innovative technology, 1&1 will continue to call upon proven open-source technologies which enable our customers to benefit from greatly reduced licensing costs."

"We're seeing the dawn of a new era with hosted software made widely available to everyone when that was previously reserved only for installations at enterprises," said Rafael Laguna, CEO of Open-Xchange. "1&1's customers will benefit from access to our collaboration software that streamlines communications and can improve users' productivity."

MailXchange offers synchronization with Windows Mobile smartphones. While most email services use 'pull technology,' MailXchange uses 'push technology,' automatically pushing emails, appointments and tasks directly into your account, without needing to actively sync.

1&1 MailXchange starts at $4.99 per user per month, and is discounted with additional users, making the product more affordable and tailored to the customer's business. Users have the option to continue using Microsoft Outlook, and can manage up to five separate email accounts within MailXchange. MailXchange incorporates dependability features such as document version management and integrated anti-spam protection. The product includes the domain of the customer's choice, 5 GB of email account storage and 2 GB of document storage per user.

For more information on 1&1 Internet Inc., visit the website at www.1and1.com

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/1_1_internet_partners_with_open-xchange_to_offer_1_1_mailxchange.html

Google and Richards-Zeta Win Buildy Green Initiative Award

2008-07-09T10:30:00-04:00

SANTA BARBARA, Calif - This month at the BuilConn conference in Santa Clara, California, Richards-Zeta was awarded the Best Green Initiative award for its Intelligent Buildings Systems (IBS) platform deployed across many of Google’s Northern California corporate offices. Richards-Zeta’s (RZ’s) IBS is a strategic technology platform that enables businesses to reach critical energy and facility data and manage their green building programs on an ongoing basis.

Google’s Leadership Role in Sustainability and Green Energy

From its inception, Google has been the world’s leader in organizing and presenting information before not easily accessible. Once Google had indexed more of the HTML pages on the Internet than any other search service, Google engineers turned their attention to information that was not as readily accessible. Google’s has taken the same approach to their sustainability and green building strategy. After taking concrete steps to reduce their carbon footprint and accelerate improvements with green technology, Google’s facilities team knew they would need to access all facility, building and equipment data in order to mine for further efficiencies and greater energy reductions. Refusing to accept the limitations of traditional building control systems which lock equipment data in proprietary formats, Google enlisted Richards-Zeta IBS platform.

RZ’s IBS consists of RZ’s Mediator and OMEGA software. The Mediator is an intelligent middleware platform (combined hardware and software) for advanced system integration. The Mediator physically links Google’s building control systems, onsite photovoltaic plant, energy meters, electrical switchgear, UPS systems and lighting controls into the vast IP network. RZ’s OMEGA software, which is embedded on the Mediator hardware, provides a web-based graphical user interface (GUI). It is pre-configured with tools such as EventManager, SecurityManager, TrendManager and GraphTool. OMEGA provides Google with a personalized dashboard view of the entire campus including 3D renderings, events, real time energy use and more. The IBS solution allows Google the choice to participate in PGE’s Automated Demand Response (ADR) program helping to alleviate pressure on the grid during peak demand periods.

The IBS is expandable and adaptable to reflect Google’s growth. Once Google completed its acquisition of YouTube, Google’s facility team extended its IBS platform to include the YouTube campus - despite having a completely different building control system in place. Overall, the significance of the IBS to Google’s green strategy includes increased energy efficiency, reduced management complexity, better energy reporting and participation in the Utility’s demand response program.

Intelligent Building System -Foundation technology for Green and Sustainable Buildings

Richards-Zeta’s IBS platform is a key element in a company’s commitment to a clean and green energy future. From renewable energy, higher-efficiency lighting, and environmental management systems, companies with an aggressive commitment to reducing its carbon footprint are struggling with the growing complexity arising from disparate green technologies and facility systems. The challenge is further impacted by the requirements for ongoing reporting and continued energy use reductions.

Richards-Zeta’s IBS helps organizations seamlessly integrate their physical equipment layer and bring the systems into the IT network without the need for costly enterprise applications. As a web 2.0 technology Richards-Zeta’s platform allows full read/write and real-time capabilities to allow facility and energy managers as well as sustainability leaders the ability to proactively react to systems that prior were out of reach.

An Intelligent Building System is scalable, expandable and adaptable to meet the demands of a company’s green building strategy. IBS uses range from simple energy data monitoring to complicated Utility offered automated demand response and control systems. Companies are able to deploy the IBS according to their sustainability policy and make financial decisions to drive down energy costs.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/282.html

Ball in Microsoft's Court, Two Love Yahoo!

2008-07-08T10:20:00-04:00

REDMOND, Wash. - Microsoft Corp. today issued the following statement:

In the past week we have had the opportunity to discuss with Carl Icahn the prospects for a possible agreement between Microsoft and Yahoo!.

Despite working since January 31 of this year, as well as in the early part of last year, we have never been able to reach an agreement in a timely way on acceptable terms with the current management and Board of Directors at Yahoo!. We have concluded that we cannot reach an agreement with them. We confirm, however, that after the shareholder election Microsoft would be interested in discussing with a new board a major transaction with Yahoo!, such as either a transaction to purchase the "Search" function with large financial guarantees or, in the alternative, purchasing the whole company.

As Mr. Icahn notes in his statement today, it would be premature to discuss at this time important details such as the price or other terms of a possible transaction. We respect the right of Yahoo!'s shareholders to determine the destiny of their company, and we do not intend to engage in ongoing commentary on these issues in advance of Yahoo!'s shareholder meeting.

As we explained on June 12 when Yahoo! announced an agreement with Google, we believe that our proposed search acquisition and partnership would have delivered superior value to Yahoo!'s shareholders and the marketplace as a whole. We have not changed our position, even as we continue to move forward with our own online search and advertising offerings. We therefore welcome interest by Mr. Icahn in pursuing this and other discussions.

While of course there can be no assurance of a future transaction, we will be prepared to enter into discussions immediately after Yahoo!'s shareholder meeting if a new board is elected.

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/279.html

VeriSign founder interim new CEO, president

2008-07-07T05:05:00-04:00

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - VeriSign Inc. said Thursday that its board elected the company's founder and first chief executive, Jim Bidzos, as chief executive and president and named him executive chairman, all on an interim basis.

Bidzos, 53, replaces William A. Roper, 62, who resigned from VeriSign and its board as of Monday.

Roper has been president and CEO of for a bit more than a year -- he was named in May 2007 after VeriSign's previous CEO, Stratton D. Sclavos, stepped down for undisclosed reasons.

In a statement, VeriSign said its board "feels a sense of urgency to better position the company to take advantage of not only the growth opportunities in the core businesses, but to develop a strategic growth plan to identify new compelling opportunities that align with our company's core competencies and are an ideal fit under the VeriSign brand."

The company said Bidzos will remain at the helm while VeriSign searches for a CEO and president "that matches this compelling profile."

Bidzos has worked as either chairman or vice chairman of VeriSign's board since 1995.

In a separate statement, Bidzos said that VeriSign, which runs some of the Internet's core systems, still plans to divest its noncore operations and expects most sales of operations will be "substantially completed this year."

The company, which over time accumulated an array of disparate businesses, had said in November that it would consider selling some of its noncore units.

Among the largest units to be sold are its communications division, which focuses on telecommunications routing technologies, and a unit that processes billing transactions for wireless providers.

Also Thursday, VeriSign said it anticipates second-quarter revenue will meet or beat estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

On average, the analysts expect revenue of $231.4 million.

VeriSign shares fell 48 cents to finish regular trading at $36.74.

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/verisign_founder_interim_new_ceo_president.html

Google Launches Affiliate Network

2008-07-03T10:34:00-04:00

Google is now in the affiliate-marketing business, having launched the Google Affiliate Network, a rebranding of the network run by DoubleClick's Performics business.

In the typical affiliate program, publishers place links on their Web site to online retailers or other e-commerce sites and receive a commission for each referral they pass along.

The relaunched network will put Google in competition with large affiliate networks such as ValueClick's Commission Junction and LinkShare, a division of the Japanese concern Rakuten. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/google_launches_affiliate_network.html

Report: Yahoo-Google partnership under DOJ scrutiny

2008-07-03T10:19:00-04:00

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a formal antitrust investigation into the advertising partnership between Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc., the Washington Post reported today.

On June 12, Yahoo said it would run advertisements supplied by Google alongside search query results, a four-year deal estimated to bring Yahoo up to $800 million in revenue a year. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/yahoo-google_partnership_under_doj_scrutiny.html

The Planet Executive to Address Microsoft Summit

2008-07-02T01:14:00-04:00

HOUSTON, TX – The Planet, the world’s largest privately held dedicated hosting company, today announced that William Charnock, vice president, technology, will deliver an address at the 2008 Partnering Executive Summit, an invitation-only event held on the first day of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC). Charnock’s presentation, scheduled for Monday, July 7, at 3 p.m. CDT, is titled, “Why Linux Hosters Should Care About Microsoft’s ‘Software + Services’ Platform.”

The address will take place at the Hilton Americas-Houston, conference hotel for the WPC. Charnock will co-present with Hyder Ali, industry director for Microsoft’s communications sector.

“A number of our more than 22,000 customers are Linux-based resellers, so we have a unique perspective on the hosting market,” said Charnock. “As more enterprise-class customers migrate to hosting their IT infrastructures, we’re seeing an increased interest in Microsoft platforms, and we’ve made preparations to address this expanding opportunity.”
The Partnering Executive Summit will draw more than 100 senior-level executives from Microsoft partner companies. The summit is in conjunction with the 2008 WPC, scheduled for July 7-11 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. The event provides a wide range of resources for its partners, enabling companies to leverage their Microsoft investment by sharing in future business opportunities, participating in hands-on training, and networking with the extended partner community.

The Planet is a bronze-level conference sponsor and will showcase its hosting solutions and services at Booth 1114.

For more information, please visit http://www.theplanet.com/news/events.asp.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/the_planet_executive_to_address_microsoft_summit.html

How to Avoid Becoming a Victim of ID Theft During the Credit Crunch

2008-07-02T10:53:00-04:00

Mountain View, CA - (GAWKWIRE) - Security specialists DriveSentry today announced the release of a free security software for home users - Combining Antivirus, Antispyware and HIPS technologies to provide zero day, real time identity and PC security.

We are all aware of the security implications of posting too much personal information on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace but the more sensitive personal information held on our local drives is just as vulnerable. DriveSentry Free is released at a time where incidents of identity theft and data encrypted blackmail are drastically increasing and becoming a normal risk associated with surfing the Internet. The latest variant of GPcode.AK that is currently spreading across the Internet is a prime example of the threats posed by malicious programs. GPcode.AK is a ransom-ware virus which, if successful, will encrypt your data, making personal data useless until a "ransom" payment is made to decrypt files. It is important that we put adequate protections in place to prevent becoming a victim of such cases of fraud and id theft, especially at a time when we are all facing some tough economic choices.

As traditional antivirus products struggle to cope with issues raised by their aging technologies, we face difficult decisions regarding how to secure ourselves from increasing threats to our identity and PC security. Many of us feel that if the criminal trojans and viruses do not get hold of our hard earned cash, then this is due to antivirus software companies, who in theory receive the money instead through annual renewal fees. So the question remains - how can we secure our identity and PC security without paying monthly or annual fees?

The latest version of antivirus software DriveSentry provides free, up-to-the second protection, which adopts a simple approach to securing your system and data. DriveSentry is dedicated to protecting your identity and PC security from viruses, Trojans, spyware, adware and many other variants of malicious code including tracking threats; many of which threaten to compromise your personal information. DriveSentry safeguards against all these zero-day threats by automatically allowing access to whitelisted applications, blocking over one million known threats and querying the unknown.

DriveSentry's database of black and whitelisted program identities are downloaded and stored on your PC to enable automated offline protection. Using the free version of DriveSentry you will be alerted when a signature update is available. "DriveSentry have also introduced hassle free, 'tricklefeed' technology, which provides real time, automatic signature updates", explains Mike Quinn, Director of Product Marketing. "There is no longer any delay in the distribution of known viruses as DriveSentry "tricklefeed" ensures that your local signature database is constantly up-to-date with no need for annual license renewal".

"With a new virus, like the recent GPcode.AK, being distributed every 2 seconds on average, it is incredibly important that people protect their personal information and data from the latest viruses, reducing the potential risk of identity theft or online blackmail" added John Safa, CTO of DriveSentry. He continued "Computing without antivirus protection in this day and age is not an option."

Don't leave your system and data open to attack. Download DriveSentry, now available absolutely free, from http://www.drivesentry.com

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/avoid_becoming_a_victim_of_id_theft.html

'Help! My Business Sucks!'

2008-07-02T00:44:00-04:00

Salt Lake City, UT - (GAWKWIRE) - With 80% of small businesses failing every year in the U.S. alone, it's no surprise that "Help! My business sucks!" is a common cry heard from the lips of these poor "drowning" business folks. Is there any help… say a business savior of sorts, who could throw them a lifeline?

The answer is an emphatic yes! The new, weekly Web-TV show - "Help! My Business Sucks!" is just what the doctor ordered to keep these sinking entrepreneurs afloat until they get their business bearings "on-compass."

This unconventional show is the brain-child of Andrew Lock, a self proclaimed 'maverick marketer' who can be seen piloting his rescue vessel at HelpMyBusiness.com and on iTunes. Lock says, "The show focuses on unconventional marketing techniques to prove to entrepreneurs that there's a much better way to promote their products or services - easily generating profits rather than losses."

Lock comments, "The way that marketing is taught in most business schools is antiquated and boring. It's setting people up for failure, and the stats prove it. It's unacceptable, and I'm on a mission to change it.

"This "Brit with wit" also shows entrepreneurs how to 'get more done and have more fun'. Each episode is fast moving, irreverent, and often 'laugh out loud' funny, while providing lots of helpful unconventional marketing tips and advice. It seems that audiences are responding to the message. "Help! My Business Sucks!" has been "on-the-air" since April of this year and already boasts the fastest growing audience among business podcasts in iTunes. Apparently business owners are desperate for help, even from unconventional sources.

If you consider yourself an entrepreneur, head over to HelpMy Business.com - who knows, Andrew might just reach his goal of helping YOUR business to eliminate the cry, "Help! My Business Sucks!"

http://www.gawkwire.com/video_tv/help_my_business_sucks.html

SEO Experts to Teach Universal Search SEO Training Class in Seattle

2008-07-02T10:39:00-04:00

Seattle, WA - (GAWKWIRE) - Search Engine Strategies (SES) has asked search engine optimization experts, Greg Jarboe of SEO-PR and Amanda Watlington of Searching for Profit, to teach a universal search SEO training class in Seattle. Their full-day search engine optimization training workshop, Optimizing for Universal Search, will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 17, 2008, at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel in downtown Seattle.

Matthew McGowan, Global VP of Marketing with Incisive Media, says, "You can't learn search engine optimization once and never update your knowledge and skills. Even SEO experts are continually challenged to tackle emerging search engine optimization methods and master the latest SEO techniques. That why we've asked Greg and Amanda to teach this 'Optimizing for Universal Search' workshop in Seattle."

Jarboe adds, "What Google calls 'universal search' and Microsoft calls 'blended search' have changed 17 percent of what even SEO experts knew before May 2007. So, our SEO training class is designed to teach business professionals at Seattle companies what they need to known today to optimize YouTube videos, news stories, online images, local maps and other web content for universal search."

Watlington concludes, "Since few corporations in Seattle have shifted their internet marketing resources or reorganized their marketing department to tackle universal search, our search engine optimization training workshop is aimed at marketing executives as well as search engine optimization specialists, public relations professionals, and corporate video producers. The advent of blended search results requires a whole new integrated marketing communications plan."

Visit http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/training/seattle/ to view the description of the SEO training class. Full-day registration for the search engine optimization training workshop costs $1,345.

http://www.gawkwire.com/seo_sem/seo_experts_to_teach_universal_search.html

Hackers Hijack Sites of Internet Organizations

2008-07-01T10:50:00-04:00

Turkish hackers broke into two of the most established international Websites that oversee and regulate the Internet in order to reroute visitors to a rogue domain, the New York Times reported Friday.

Two of the domains under attack include the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN, icann.org) and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA (iana.org) -- two organizations that that have dominion over numerous critical functions regarding Internet regulation.

IANA oversees the international coordination of the domain name system, IP addressing and other Internet protocol resources. ICANN has global authority over the Internet's identifier system, allocating IP address space and managing the Web's domain name system. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/hackers_hijack_sites_of_internet_organizations.html

Domain Names Available at Upcoming Moniker Auction

2008-07-01T10:35:00-04:00

Pompano Beach, Fla. - (GAWKWIRE) – Moniker.com (http://www.moniker.com), an Oversee.net company and provider of Domain Asset Management® services, today announced an initial list of premium contenders for a live and online domain name auction at the GeoDomain Expo, the world's largest geo domain conference and auction, July 10-12 in Chicago. The exclusive live auction will take place Saturday, July 12 at 4:30 CDT/5:30EDT/2:30 PDT) at The W Hotel.

The auction will include the following premium domains:
• Fargo.net
• Yemen.com
• MauiHawaii.net
• LargoFlorida.com
• Brazil.tv
• MalibuCalifornia.com
• Murrieta.com
• SimiValley.com
• PortOfLongBeach.com
• Burien.com
• SonomaCalifornia.com
• Afghan.com
• EastRockaway.com
• ChicagoHotelReservations.com
• CityofCleveland.com
• Victorville.com
• PeoplesRepublicofChina.com
• SantaClara.com
• Latinos.org
• Burbank.net
• Secaucus.com
• VisitZimbabwe.com
• HollywoodCalifornia.net
• AlleganyRiver.com
• Zimbabwe.com
• OysterBay.com
• SanMateo.com

A complete auction catalog will be released soon. Inventory updates are available at www.moniker.com/liveauction. The final catalog will include approximately 2,000 of the best geo-focused domain values for sale in the extended online auction. Of that list, only the top 250 names will make it into the live domain auction.

In-Person and Online Bidding Opportunities Available
GeoDomain Expo attendees are automatically eligible to attend the private live auction. Bidders not attending can place bids live online through SnapNames Live™, an integrated live and online auction platform developed by SnapNames®, another Oversee.net company. Interested bidders may also submit an absentee bid form to the auctioneer, or sign up for telephone proxy bidding.

Moniker will also host an extended online auction in conjunction with the live event in Chicago, offering thousands of additional names for sale. The online auction will begin on Saturday, July 12 and continue through Thursday, July 17.

To learn more about bidding options for this event, see a complete list of rules and procedures for all Moniker auctions or review all live and online domain auctions throughout the year, visit the Domain Auction page on the Moniker website at www.moniker.com/liveauction. You may also contact sales@moniker.com or call (800) 688-6311.

Domain Name Financing Available
Moniker and Domain Capital will offer financing to leverage domain purchases made at this event or for other transactions. Please contact a sales representative at sales@moniker.com for more information.

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/domain_names_available_at_upcoming_moniker_auction.html

"Hands Free" Law Goes Into Effect

2008-07-01T10:28:00-04:00

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - (GAWKWIRE) - As most California residents well know, the "Hands Free Law" goes into effect across the state on July 1. As of today, if you talk on your cell phone without a headset while driving in California, you can be pulled over and ticketed.

While the law begins to address the problem of keeping hands on the wheel, surprisingly, dialing and texting are still legal under this new California law. According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, "the new law does not prohibit dialing, but drivers are strongly urged not to dial while driving."

Using a headset religiously will keep you within the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law is clearly telling us to get serious about safety while behind the wheel. In that sense, headsets are really just the beginning.

While making any sort of call while driving is dangerous, dialing into a conference call from the road is asking for trouble. A conference call -- with lengthy dial in numbers and convoluted passcodes -- is one of the most difficult calls to make, especially while navigating stop and go traffic on the highway.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/hands_free_law_goes_into_effect.html

Yahoo Takes Its Defense Against Icahn to Investors

2008-07-01T10:45:00-04:00

Yahoo Inc. began pressing a case to major shareholders Monday that its board and management deserve a chance to prove they made the right move when they rejected a $47.5 billion takeover offer from Microsoft Corp.

The missed opportunity to sell to Microsoft infuriated many Yahoo shareholders, prompting activist investor Carl Icahn to agitate for replacing Yahoo's nine directors and reviving negotiations with Microsoft. If he gains control of the board, Icahn intends to fire Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang as chief executive.

In response, Yahoo has assembled a 32-page shareholder presentation to elaborate on the points it has been emphasizing since Microsoft withdrew its bid May 3. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/yahoo_takes_its_defense_against_icahn_to_investors.html

Go Daddy Rooting for Their â€˜Girlâ€™ to Rule the Pool!

2008-07-01T10:20:00-04:00

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz - (GAWKWIRE) - Starting today, the best swimmers in the U.S.A. will be vying for their chance to compete in Beijing – the big question is will seven-time medal winner Amanda Beard get her shot at an eighth? GoDaddy.com believes she will.

“Amanda is as focused as any athlete,” said GoDaddy.com CEO and Founder Bob Parsons. “She’s been working hard, she’s passionate, but most of all… she has the experience. You don’t win seven medals at that level just because you’re lucky!”

Amanda won a gold medal and two silvers at just 14 years of age and grabbed headlines for clutching her teddy bear on the podium. She went on to win four more medals in the 2000 and 2004 games.

Amanda has also developed a career as a spokesperson and model. She’s one of the most downloaded athletes in the world, was voted the world’s sexiest athlete and posed for the coveted Playboy cover last summer.

Go Daddy has a reputation for its risqué advertising dating back to the legendary 2005 Super Bowl controversy and made the sexy swim star an official Go Daddy Girl and spokesperson last year. Shortly thereafter, Amanda starred in a GoDaddy.com commercial also featuring nine-time medalist Mark Spitz.

“My attraction to Go Daddy and Bob Parsons is about so much more than any edgy Super Bowl ad,” Amanda said. “They are the best in the world, bar none! In fact, they are almost three times the size of their closest competitor. Now that’s saying something when you consider how competitive the Web industry is.”

Go Daddy is the world’s largest provider of Web site addresses, officially called domain names. Go Daddy is also a world leader when it comes to hosting and creating Web sites. Go Daddy prides itself on offering everything needed to establish or enhance an online presence at affordable prices.

Join Go Daddy in cheering for Amanda as she competes in three different races, starting today at the time trials in Omaha. The Go Daddy Girl is set to compete in the 100 meter breast stroke today and the 200 meter individual medley and the 200 meter breast stroke later in the week.

You can read Amanda’s Web blog at www.GoDaddy.info/Amanda.

To find out how Go Daddy can help you get online without spending a lot of money or being a tech whiz, visit www.GoDaddy.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/go_daddy_rooting_for_their_girl_to_rule_the_pool.html

WebGraFxx Announces Strategic Partnership With ControlScan

2008-07-01T10:16:00-04:00

MORRISVILLE, NC and ATLANTA, GA - (GAWKWIRE) - WebGraFxx (www.webgrafxx.com), a leader in Web hosting services, announced today its partnership with ControlScan (www.controlscan.com), an Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) certified by the Payment Card Industry (PCI), to help its e-commerce merchants meet mandatory requirements set forth by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Council.

"WebGraFxx chose ControlScan because they offer quality PCI compliance and Website security products, services and personal touch support," said Alan Pollenz, president, WebGraFxx. "We are committed to providing the best to our customers and we would expect nothing less."

ControlScan will provide WebGraFxx merchants with a leading PCI scanning solution, which includes on-demand security scanning and the PCI Self Assessment Questionnaire. These merchants can also take advantage of ControlScan's Verified Secure seal. Websites displaying this seal typically realize an increase in online sales and a decrease in shopping cart abandonment.

"We are excited about this partnership," said Jethro Felton, executive vice president of sales and business development, ControlScan. "WebGraFxx can now complement its high quality hosting services and support by providing its customers with tools to help meet PCI compliance requirements and other ControlScan products to help ensure e-commerce security for their merchants."

For more information about the partnership visit www.controlscan.com/webgrafxx or call 800-879-6021.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/webgrafxx_announces_strategic_partnership_with_controlscan.html