Gawkwire: Web Hosting and Internet News Resource

EstHost, Inc: Dedicated Servers -- More Traffic for Same Price

2008-08-29T12:00:00-04:00

Wilmington, DE (Gawkwire.com) EstHost, Inc (http://esthost.com), a US-based rapidly development hosting solutions provider, is delighted to announce that new improved configuration has been applied to the dedicated servers service.

EstHost, Inc is an independent company which is thoroughly committed to providing telecommunication services marketplace. As the effective management of a successful online enterprise requires prompt and professional attention from hosting services provider the company developers see their main goal in supplying online enterprises with the most advanced hosting services affordable to both large organizations and small businesses. EstHost, Inc fast and reliable servers are located in safe and widely recognized datacenters worldwide. The most experience marketing managers and professional development team succeed in creating a perfect balance between advantageous price list and premium hosting solutions.

Today EstHost, Inc development team is glad to announce the ultimate update performed for dedicated hosting services. The new improved configuration has been applied to the dedicated server low price, standard and professional plans. The complex upgrade has been brought out in order to improve and increase the traffic performance for the dedicated server holders' benefit as the price list for dedicated hosting services has not been amended. From now on all users of dedicated server hosting services will get half as much or even twice as much traffic for the same price! To provide EstHost, Inc customers with more efficient and stable online presence, the server capability of transferring data from a website has been increased. As for an example, the bandwith limit of 2000 Gb has been pushed to 3000 Gb. All amended plans for dedicated server hosting services available at: http://www.esthost.com/dedicated.php. The changes have already been applied to all current EstHost, Inc dedicated server holders and new customers are invited to test all advantages of EstHost, Inc services as well. The company undertakes the payment process organization and has complete ready-to-use payment solutions compatible with such payment systems as MoneyBookers, Fethard, Webmoney and PayPal. An advanced payment system also enables and includes credit card processing.

EstHost, Inc has succeeded in maintaining excellence standards in customer service and strongly keeps to its vision on providing flexible and customer-focused services. Started in 2004, today EstHost, Inc offers professional, reliable virtual hosting, dedicated server and Virtuozzo-powered virtual private server solutions. Test EstHost, Inc services before becoming a customer by using the company's free 5-day trial period. Domain-related services can be purchased from http://estdomains.com, including registering new domains, setting up email forwarding or managed DNS. EstDomains, Inc strongly keeps its position as a leading ICANN-accredited domain name registrars for .COM, .NET, .EU, .WS, .ORG, .INFO and many other domain name extensions. If more information about EstHost, Inc is needed, one should not hesitate to contact the company's customer support department by creating a ticket at https://support.esthost.com (for new users registration required).

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/esthost_inc_dedicated_servers_--_more_traffic_for_same_price.html

Web Experience Forum 2008: Boston, October 14-16

2008-08-29T12:00:00-04:00

Boston, Mass. (Gawkwire.com) With online audiences more demanding and Web 2.0 sites getting richer and more complex, the web experience a company delivers is growing in importance. Industry leaders from Intel, Microsoft, Citigroup, Fluid and others will reveal actionable ideas on improving the end-user web experience at the inaugural Web Experience Forum, taking place in Boston, October 14-16.

The Web Experience Forum (WEF) will bring all dimensions of the web experience under one roof. From back-end technology, measurement and site performance, to user interface, design and more, the WEF will explore US and International perspectives on the user experience across a variety of industries. A sampling of companies presenting at WEF 2008 include:

* Intel: Brian David Johnson, Consumer Experience Architect of Intel's User Experience Group, speaks on the topic, "What's on the Internet Tonight Honey?" Johnson is a feature film director, television producer and spearheads Intel's Consumer Experience Architecture (CEA) which defines and maps the public's experience with products and services.

* Fluid: David Hogue, Ph. D, Director, Information Design and Usability. Hogue promotes collaborative and iterative design to craft innovative online experiences for Fluid's e-commerce retail clients. He is responsible for creating Fluid's design processes and methodologies from discovery to prototyping.

* Netvibes: Freddy Mini, Chief Executive Officer. Mini led Netvibes' expansion across four continents as the company pioneered its user-customized homepage as an alternative to traditional web portals. The Netvibes platform helps millions of users worldwide personalize their web experience.

* TiVo: Margret Schmidt, VP, User Experience Design & Research. Schmidt leads the groups responsible for the user interface of TiVo's television and personal computer products, market and user research and field trials. Her teams work to ensure a fun, easy-to-use, and consistent TiVo experience for all consumers.

* Gomez, Inc.: Imad Mouline, Chief Technical Officer. As a leader in web application experience management services, Gomez helps the world's top businesses measure the technical performance of their websites. Mouline is a valued source to media, analysts and others on how to engineer customer experience into online applications and services.

* Microsoft: Mark Hydar, Group Manager, Global QOS Initiative. Mark has managed, monitored and deployed mega-scale web application platforms. He is responsible for the overall Quality of Service for Microsoft Live and, by extension, its web experience.

* Citigroup: Jeff Fleischman, SVP, Customer Experience, Global Direct Banking. Fleischman is crafting a global approach to measurably transform the online banking experience and engagement model. Previously with Monster.com, he led its web strategy to expand market reach by improving the online experience and website satisfaction.

The WEF 2008 keynote speakers will be Jakob Nielsen, founder of Nielsen Norman Group, Lou Carbone of Experience Engineering, and David H. Stone, Senior Vice President of Online Customer Experience at Wachovia. Other companies presenting at WEF include Siteworkx, WebLiquid Group, blip.tv, Akamai Technologies, EdgeCast and Forrester Research.

The Web Experience Forum will be held at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. The conference agenda and other details can be found at http://www.webexperienceforum.com. Special discounted room rates are available at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers and the Marriott Copley Place.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/web_experience_forum_2008_boston_october_14-16.html

Software Blogger Linda Bustos Wins SEM Scholarship

2008-08-28T06:28:00-04:00

Vancouver, BC, Canada (Gawkwire.com) Elastic Path Software, the pioneer of flexible eCommerce software, is pleased to announce Linda Bustos, eCommerce consultant and chief blogger for the Get Elastic eCommerce blog, as the winner of Marketing Pilgrim's 2008 Search Engine Marketing Scholarship.

Bustos' winning article entitled,"8 Stupid Things Webmasters Do To Mess Up Their Analytics," won over numerous article submissions from top search marketers and offered step by step instructions on how companies can save themselves time and hassle by rethinking the way they use Google Analytics.

"Google Analytics may be lying to you, even though it tells the truth -- simply because you're not telling it how to track your site effectively," says Bustos in the article.

One point of interest in the winning article addressed the need to properly track IP addresses. Most websites are able to track IPs, but may not know whether they are doing it correctly. Adding a filter for any user who doesn't represent the target audience including company employees on their home computers, the office IP block, SEOs and other web consultants and competitors helps webmasters reduce the analysis of irrelevant traffic.

"Congratulations to Linda Bustos who won the majority of votes from our expert judges and whose entry was a great template for any "how to" article," said Andy Beal, CEO of Marketing Pilgrim. "Linda walks away with our mega-scholarship prize package and the honor of beating out some strong competition."

The SEM Scholarship Award from Marketing Pilgrim's sponsors includes:

    * One year "Enterprise" subscription to online reputation monitoring tool Trackur.com
    * Three months SEO Training from Aaron Wall
    * A free seat to the Eisenberg's Call to Action Seminar and a signed copy of their book
    * A free seat to Jill Whalen's High Rankings SEO Training Classes
    * Enrollment in a "Certified Search Engine Marketer Pathway" course at SearchEngineCollege.com
    * Six months training from MarketMotive.com

Bustos started writing on Elastic Path's blog "Get Elastic" in October of 2007, and has helped the blog become the #1 subscribed to eCommerce blog on the internet, with over 4,500 RSS and email readers.

Recognition:
Both Bustos and the Get Elastic eCommerce blog have been recognized throughout the industry. The Wall Street Journal recently named Get Elastic one of 15 entrepreneur blogs worth reading, and it is included on the AdAge Power 150 list of top marketing blogs on the web.

As an Emerging Media Analyst, eCommerce consultant and chief blogger at Elastic Path Software, Bustos' expertise spans all aspects of Internet marketing, including SEO, PPC, email marketing, social media, conversion optimization and web usability. Her experience has led to quotes by Fortune Small Business Magazine and eCommerce Guide as well as contributed articles to ProBlogger, Marketing Pilgrim and Duct Tape Marketing.

As a member of Canadian Women in Communications, Bustos served as faculty for the Banff New Media Institute's Career Accelerator Program. She was also named as one of Vancouver's Tech Women to Watch in 2008.

Bustos passion for public speaking has led her to present at numerous events including the Vancouver Social Media Bar Panel and the Banff Blog Promo for Broadcasting.

The Get Elastic Blog will be hosting a free A/B Testing Webinar on September 11, 2008 with best-selling Author, Bryan Eisenberg from Future Now.

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

HP Obtains Judgment Against Pelikan in Unfair Competition Suit

2008-08-29T09:26:00-04:00

PALO ALTO, Calif. (Gawkwire.com) HP (NYSE:HPQ) today announced that Germany-based Pelikan Hardcopy Deutschland GmbH was found to be in violation of the German law on unfair competition by the Cologne Regional Court, Germany.

In a judgment issued in July and finalized earlier this month, the court ordered Pelikan to cease labeling certain newly manufactured inkjet print cartridges as “remanufactured.”

HP initiated this unfair competition action against Pelikan last summer after Pelikan refused HP’s request to voluntarily give an undertaking to cease its misleading advertising. HP had discovered that Pelikan marketed and sold new print cartridges in packaging that claimed the new cartridges were remanufactured products. In the recent judgment, the court agreed with HP and took the view that Pelikan’s labeling was misleading to customers.

The newly manufactured Pelikan print cartridges were sold under the Pelikan brand and designated as H06 and H08 color cartridges. These same Pelikan products were the subject of a patent infringement proceeding brought by HP against Pelikan in Germany last year. In August 2007, the Düsseldorf Regional Court in Germany ordered Pelikan to stop importing and distributing these cartridges, following Pelikan’s admission of patent infringement.

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

iWeb Announces $22M Financing Agreement With Goldman Sachs

2008-08-29T09:24:00-04:00

Montreal, Canada (Gawkwire.com) iWeb Group Inc. (TSX.V : IWB, "iWeb" or the "Company") a worldwide provider of Internet hosting services and IT infrastructure, and Goldman Sachs Credit Partners L.P. ("Goldman Sachs") today announced a $22M financing agreement.

"With this agreement, Goldman Sachs will provide financing to allow us to further our business objectives." declared Eric Chouinard, iWeb Chief Executive Officer. "A deal of this magnitude will allow us to continue investing in the infrastructures which are vital to maintaining our growth, which has been outstanding thus far. " added Marc Guindon, Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer.

iWeb will initially receive $ 10M USD in senior debt, 5 years, 16% and $ 1M in common shares will be issued to Goldman Sachs at $ 1.30 per share, these common shares will be subject to a four-month hold period. A subsequent $ 1M in shares will follow at $ 1.30, subject to certain market conditions. Under the second part of the agreement, Goldman Sachs can provide an additional $ 8M in senior debt with $ 2M in shares to be issued at market price, all subject to certain conditions and performance indicators.

This agreement will cover iWeb's financial requirements for the long term growth of the company's data centers, as well as its dedicated server leasing and web hosting operations.

Share prices are in CAD unless otherwise specified.

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/iweb_announces_22m_financing_agreement_with_goldman_sachs.html

HP Completes $13.9 Billion Acquisition of EDS

2008-08-27T12:00:00-04:00

PALO ALTO, Calif. (Gawkwire.com) HP (NYSE:HPQ) today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS), creating a leading force in technology services.

With this acquisition, initially announced on May 13 and valued at an enterprise value of approximately $13.9 billion, HP has one of the technology industry’s broadest portfolios of products, services and end-to-end solutions. The combined offerings are focused on helping clients accelerate growth, mitigate risks and lower costs.

The acquisition is, by value, the largest in the IT services sector and the second largest in the technology industry, following HP’s acquisition of Compaq, which closed in 2002. The companies’ collective services businesses, as of the end of each company’s 2007 fiscal year, had annual revenues of more than $38 billion and 210,000 employees, operating in more than 80 countries.

“This is a historic day for HP and EDS and for the clients we serve,” said Mark Hurd, HP chairman and chief executive officer. “Independently, each company is a respected industry leader. Together, we are a global leader, with the capability to serve our clients – whatever their size, location or sector – with one of the most comprehensive and competitive portfolios in the industry.”

As a business group, EDS, an HP company, will be one of the market’s leading outsourcing services providers – with the ability to provide complete lifecycle capabilities in health care, government, manufacturing, financial services, energy, transportation, consumer & retail, communications, and media & entertainment. As previously announced, the group is led by Ron Rittenmeyer, president and chief executive officer, who had served as EDS’ chairman, president and CEO. It remains based in Plano, Texas.

“Today marks the beginning of an exciting new era,” said Rittenmeyer. “Clients will benefit from the breadth and depth of our solutions, our commitment to unsurpassed quality and our ability to provide truly global service delivery. With the resources of HP’s renowned R&D and world-class technologies, we have an opportunity to truly redefine the technology services market.”

HP’s Technology Solutions Group (TSG) will shift to EDS its outsourcing services operations, as well as portions of its consulting and integration activities. TSG will focus on servers, storage, software and technology services, such as installing, maintaining and designing technology systems for customers, as well as certain consulting and integration services.

“Clients will benefit from the combined scale and strength of our companies as they transform their technology environments,” said Ann Livermore, executive vice president, TSG, HP. “This is an important step forward in our ability to help them solve their challenges through practical innovations that deliver valuable business outcomes.”

New EDS leadership team

Rittenmeyer announced his leadership team for the new business group, representing a mixture of existing EDS direct reports, as well as new appointments from within EDS and HP. His direct reports are:

    * Michael Coomer, 55, senior vice president, Asia Pacific & Japan, who held a similar role at EDS.
    * Joe Eazor, 46, senior vice president, Transformation. He was previously responsible at EDS for corporate strategy and business development.
    * Bobby Grisham, 54, senior vice president, Global Sales, who held a similar role at EDS.
    * Jeff Kelly, 52, senior vice president, Americas, who held a similar role at EDS.
    * Mike Koehler, 41, senior vice president, Infrastructure Technology Outsourcing (ITO) & Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), who held a similar role at EDS.
    * Andy Mattes, 47, senior vice president, Applications Services. He was previously senior vice president, HP Outsourcing Services.
    * Maureen McCaffrey, 45, vice president, Worldwide Marketing, who held a similar role at EDS.
    * Dennis Stolkey, 60, senior vice president, U.S. Public Sector, who held a similar role at EDS.
    * Bill Thomas, 48, senior vice president, Europe, Middle East & Africa, who held a similar role at EDS.

In addition, functional support will be provided by the following individuals, who will report into global functions at HP, consistent with the company’s organizational model. They are:

    * Craig Flower, 46, senior vice president of IT, reporting to Randy Mott, executive vice president and chief information officer at HP. Flower was previously HP’s senior vice president for eBusiness, customer and sales operations.
    * Tom Haubenstricker, 46, vice president, Finance, reporting to Cathie Lesjak, executive vice president and chief financial officer at HP. Haubenstricker was previously vice president and chief financial officer for EDS’ EMEA region.
    * Deborah Kerr, 36, vice president and chief technology officer, reporting to Shane Robison, executive vice president and chief strategy and technology officer at HP. Kerr was previously HP’s vice president and chief technology officer for services.
    * Mike Paolucci, 48, vice president, Human Resources, reporting to Marcela Perez de Alonso, executive vice president of Human Resources at HP. Paolucci was previously EDS’ vice president of Global Compensation and Benefits/HR Business Development.
    * Sylvia Steinheiser, 43, vice president, Legal, reporting to Mike Holston, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary at HP. Steinheiser was previously HP’s vice president, Legal, for the Americas.

Securities analyst meeting

HP will hold a live video webcast of its upcoming Sept. 15 Securities Analyst Meeting, at which Mark Hurd and other executive members will discuss HP’s opportunities in the enterprise market, including EDS.

The webcast will be available at http://www.hp.com/investor/FocusSAM2008.

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/hp_completes_13_9_billion_acquisition_of_eds.html

Immersion and Microsoft Settle Litigation

2008-08-27T12:00:00-04:00

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Gawkwire.com) Immersion Corporation (NASDAQ:IMMR), the leading developer and licensor of touch feedback technology, today announced that Immersion and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), have settled their litigation, which was pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington since June 2007.

Immersion and Microsoft have agreed to resolve Microsoft's claim under a 2003 Sublicense Agreement between Microsoft and Immersion, as well as Immersion's counterclaim that Microsoft breached a confidentiality agreement between the companies dated May 2007. Immersion agreed to make a one time payment to Microsoft in the amount of $20.75 million. In addition, Immersion will be admitted to Microsoft’s Certified Partner Program. Other terms of the settlement are confidential.

"We are pleased to resolve our outstanding dispute with Microsoft and to put this litigation behind us," said Immersion president and CEO Clent Richardson. “We now have our full attention and focus devoted to working with innovative companies around the world, including Microsoft, to accelerate and rapidly achieve global adoption of our haptic technology in gaming, consumer electronics, mobility, and medical products.”

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

The New King of Email Spam Filtering

2008-08-27T12:00:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) At the annual CEAS conference in San Francisco held on August 21-22- the world's largest email security conference with participation of developers and leading researchers from MIT and Cambridge -Solido Systems won the competition for world's best spam filter by sorting out 99.9 percent of all spam email.

"Spam is a huge problem and costs the American labor market more than 70 billion dollars a year in lost earnings. Spam is also a major source of annoyance for employees and IT specialists and also presents a security risk when viruses and Trojans are sent out as spam emails to millions of recipients," says founder and CEO Christer Hasse from Solido Systems.
Existing spam filters have not been effective enough:

"With existing spam filters, 66% of the emails that get through to the end user are still considered spam by the user, resulting in a massive loss of efficiency. So there is a real need for new solutions." Source: Nucleus Research, "The Repeat Offender", April 2008
Solido Systems has now established itself in New York and already has a line of major companies and Internet Service Providers on its client roster.

Christer Hasse founded Solido Systems five years ago because customers of his hosting company, Armada Hosting, were already inundated with spam that the market's existing solutions just could not get rid of.

The Solido Systems spam filter can be downloaded for a free 30-day trial from http://www.solidosystems.com/products/spamfilter/
About the Solido Systems Spam filter (statements from Christer Hasse, director and founder)
"We see our close collaboration with our sister company Armada Hosting as a clear asset. This- in combination with the flexible design of both the company and our software -allows our developers to keep a finger on the pulse and closely follow developments in the spam threat profile- something that our heavy competitors have difficulty matching."

"In order to achieve this flexibility, we have actively worked from the very start to minimize internal bureaucracy so we can cut down delays in planned technical improvements for the benefit of our customers.""Despite our size, we believe our ability to find better and more creative solutions than our competitors is clear." It is this very focused development of the filter itself that raises the individual developer's awareness of the contexts between the individual components in our software."

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

Agnitum unleashes new Spam Terrier 2.0

2008-08-27T10:21:00-04:00

St. Petersburg, Russia (Gawkwire.com) The computer security experts at Agnitum, publisher of the acclaimed Outpost Pro product line, today unleashed Spam Terrier 2.0, which provides users of Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail (in Vista) and now The Bat! with self-learning protection against unwanted email.

"Spam Terrier is now on friendly terms with The Bat!, as well as 64-bit Windows and Vista email clients," said Alexey Belkin, Chief Software Architect at Agnitum. "Our users began asking for broader email client support for some time, and we're pleased to finally be able to deliver this support, along with additional new functionality to further improve Spam Terrier's ability to guard users' inboxes against spam."

As with the previous version, Spam Terrier 2.0 is free to all users and now provides even more wide-ranging protection for email users, around the clock and around the globe. With the new support for popular email client The Bat!, we can confirm that Spam Terrier is going to bat for all email users, no matter what their outlook …

Spam Terrier offers a user-friendly interface and easy customization to help users get started with teaching the software their personal definition of spam. Then the self-learning engine, based on Bayesian principles, takes over, ensuring significantly fewer false positives and misjudged messages.

Spam Terrier is 'behavior'-driven rather than the more typical criteria-driven approach of other anti-spam products. In other words: users can select what they consider spam and teach the product to recognize the specific behavior patterns of junk mail.

The more you train Agnitum Spam Terrier, the better its nose for inappropriate mail. This is achieved through a system of "spam scores", which classify a message as "not spam", "probable spam" or "definite spam". Users can alter the principles for such classification in order to adjust the software's level of tolerance for different types of message. But however "tolerant" the application may be, it will never let unwelcome guests in - Spam Terrier is constantly scanning new mail in search of fresh spam samples. Spam Terrier uses this data to update its database, increasing the accuracy level dramatically.

Spam Terrier not only barks when it spots spam, it bites fraudulent correspondence, too. With Spam Terrier to define white and black lists, as well as customized settings, users will never miss a valid message from a friend or colleague. And Spam Terrier will guide users through the easily-manageable interface and intuitive, convenient controls.

Spam Terrier is fully compatible with all Windows operating systems from 2000 onwards, including Windows Vista and its built-in mail client Windows Mail.

New support for The Bat!
After installing Spam Terrier, the user's The Bat! window will display two basic commands -"mark as spam" and "mark as non-spam", as well as the black/whitelist menu. These tools will help The Bat! users to easily define benign and malicious messages, ensuring that before long, spam will lose its way to the inbox.

New support for 64-bit Microsoft email clients
Spam Terrier 2.0 now supports all 64-bit email programs from Microsoft: Outlook, Outlook Express and Windows Mail.

More effective filtering algorithm
By creating a structure of specific libraries of email samples, managing current statistics and archiving obsolete knowledgebase data, Spam Terrier 2.0 enables more accurate decision-making and avoids false positives, ensuring that legitimate email will always be delivered to the user's inbox.

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/agnitum_unleashes_new_spam_terrier_2_0.html

SiteAssist Enables Users to Build CSS Sites with Navigation in Minutes

2008-08-27T10:16:00-04:00

San Diego, CA (Gawkwire.com) WebAssist today announced SiteAssist Professional, the next evolution of their best-selling SiteAssist product. SiteAssist Professional provides incredible new functionalities to build entire CSS-based sites, complete with navigation and personal customization to pages, in just minutes.

Web professionals continue to embrace the power of CSS in their development, but are still encumbered by the time and process inherent with it. To solve the challenge of creating smooth-flowing sites, SiteAssist Professional walks web designers and developers through the building of a CSS site from beginning to end, allowing them to build CSS sites easily and without the hurdles.

SiteAssist Professional delivers web standards compliance and expertly designed and full-featured web pages, integrated with drop-down navigation for easy web site creation, publishing, and highly-flexible customization options. In addition to the 16 included expertly-crafted layouts, SiteAssist Professional users can use designs created in Eric Meyer's CSS Sculptor, a WebAssist extension for Adobe Dreamweaver and Microsoft Expression Web, or from their own Dreamweaver templates.

For the first time, web developers can also create and customize their pages to include Spry or other JavaScript framework components within the template, while also taking advantage of support for standard Dreamweaver templates, CSS Sculptor layouts, and CSS Menu Writer navigation. All CSS templates within the SiteAssist Professional library are customizable, eliminating the "cookie-cutter" look and the need to start from scratch for professionals. Even beginners can enjoy a customized, professional look without the obstacles or learning curve.

"CSS is, undeniably, one of the most efficient and flexible ways to build sites today, but it isn't without its limitations," said Hieu Bui, President, WebAssist. "SiteAssist Professional seeks to help developers, both professional and beginner alike, harness the power of CSS easily and utilize their resources more effectively with customization of templates and easy navigation options."

The SiteAssist wizard makes site creation point-and-click simple. In the wizard, SiteAssist users first select from a variety of industry-specific Web site structures including those for clubs or associations, consultants, education, medical professionals, non-profits and real estate. A full range of layouts, fonts, color and navigations are available in the second step of the wizard; users are free to mix-and-match to create their unique designs. Page layouts are assigned in the next step: a complete slate of page types, also known as information architecture wireframes, is included. Entire new branches of the site can be added with the click of a mouse. After the site is created, it can be modified for complete customization directly within Dreamweaver.

New Features in SiteAssist Professional include:

* Totally new engine - rebuilt from the ground up
* Web-standards compliant, CSS-based layouts
* CSS-based drop-down and fly-out navigation
* Compatible with Dreamweaver templates
* New templates included, 14 in all
* 16 different site types included
* Integrates with Eric Meyer's CSS Sculptor
* Supports CSS Menu Writer
* Imports custom page types

SiteAssist Professional is compatible with Dreamweaver CS3 and Dreamweaver 8 on both Windows and Macintosh platforms. SiteAssist Professional retails for $199.99, but is available for $149.99 as a special introductory price until September 9, 2008 directly from WebAssist.

For more information, please visit: http://www.webassist.com/go

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

SEM Dashboard Keeps You in Touch with Your Online Marketing Campaign

2008-08-27T10:12:00-04:00

Houston, TX (Gawkwire.com) Zephyr Salvo, a full service Search Engine Marketing firm in Houston, Texas, has launched a new service called the "Search Engine Marketing Dashboard". "The SEM Dashboard is designed to give clients an up to the minute status report on their Search Engine Marketing campaign", says John Phillippe, president of Zephyr Salvo. "Now, instead of waiting for monthly reports, or calling our office to check on the results of their latest campaign, they can simply open their Search Engine Marketing Dashboard from their desktop and see traffic stats, server stats, and even sales leads. That's pretty powerful, monitoring Sales Leads from your website on your desktop. Wow."

"If they have any questions, the dashboard has a chat feature that allows them to instantly connect with one of our Search Engine Marketing specialists to get the answers they are looking for" says Phillippe. The Search Engine Marketing Dashboard also features Google Analytics, All available traffic stats directly from the server, and a FAQ's link.

"The Search Engine Marketing Dashboard is free for all of our SEM clients, it 's a perfect monitoring device for clients to see the work we do at their convenience. The Zephyr Salvo Search Engine Marketing Team believes in total project transparency, the client can monitor where every online advertising dollar is being spent, as well as make adjustments to their campaign if necessary. Clients having a tool like this allows us to become an online marketing partner, not just an SEO vendor" adds Phillippe.

Zephyr Salvo, is a full service Search Engine Marketing firm located in Houston, Texas. For the past four years it has been named one of the top Search Marketing and Web Design firms by the Houston Business Journal.

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

Google Lets Users Interact With Search Results?

2008-08-27T00:58:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Google has recently announced that it is considering allowing its users to control results by rearranging and commenting on them.

Tests of this new concept have already been ran publically on search-results pages. A couple new features include up and down arrows next to links, as well as buttons that allow users to comment on the results.

Ben Gomes, a Google Distinguished Engineer, says "At this point, I can't say what we expect from this feature; we're just curious to see how it will be used," in Google's blog on Tuesday.

Although the feature was never reveled by Gomes, a screenshot of the test pages also reveals "x" buttons have been placed next to search results to allow users to remove them from view.

If Google decides on incorporating these new features into the site, it would be a significant new development that allows users to interact with the search engine and its results.

Google seems to be reacting to the constant critisism that the search engine relys too much on mathematics and not enough on user feedback to contribute to result rankings and evaluations. This reaction however is just a new experiment in the eyes of Google and testing will continue on the new concept.

Gomes went on to say,"We test almost everything, even things that you would think are so small that we could not possibly care — nor could they possibly matter. In fact, small changes do matter, and we do care."

Reports say that Google declined to comment any further on Gomes' posting, so no more information about the products development stages and "how it works" could be gathered.

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

This Year's Data Breaches Surpass 2007 Totals

2008-08-26T12:00:00-04:00

With four months to go in 2008, the number of data breaches on the Identity Theft Resource Center's 2008 breach list has already surpassed the 446 breaches reported by the organization for all of 2007.

As of the morning of Aug. 22, the number of data breaches reported had reached 449.

As to whether things are getting worse, ITRC founder Linda Foley is cautious. "This is a little frightening, knowing that we're four months ahead of last year," she said. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/this_year_s_data_breaches_surpass_2007_totals.html

Renesas Technology Upgrades SH7786 Dual-Core Processor

2008-08-26T12:00:00-04:00

San Jose, Calif. (Gawkwire.com) Renesas Technology America, Inc. today announced an enhanced SH7786 dual-core 32-bit processor, a second-generation version fabricated with a 65-nm process for high-performance multimedia equipment such as car navigation systems. The new processor delivers excellent processing performance: up to 1,920 million instructions per second (MIPS) when operating at 533MHz. This member of the SuperH® family incorporates a DDR3-SDRAM memory interface for faster, ultrahigh-speed data transfers: up to 4.27Gbytes per second (4.27GB/s). Yet the device uses less power than the previous version, which was fabricated with a 90-nm process.

Paul Sykes, Marketing Manager, MPU Group, Renesas Technology America, Inc., said, “With its dual SH-4A high-performance 32-bit RISC CPU cores, each of which delivers up to 960 MIPS performance, the SH7786 can process complex data at high speeds for excellent application response. It readily meets the requirements of next-generation car navigation systems that have functions such as graphical display capabilities, high-quality audio reproduction, and image recognition. The faster data-transfer capabilities of the new chip help ensure that the user’s experience is exceptionally impressive, while the decreased power consumption eliminates the need to build bigger power supplies, increase heat-sink size and use larger power wires.”

“Besides car navigation systems, we expect that this processor will be advantageous to customers that are producing game consoles, digital home electronics, and industrial equipment, among other applications,” Sykes added.

The new SH7786 integrates a dedicated 32-bit bus operating at 533MHz for connecting to DDR3-SDRAM (Double Data Rate 3-Synchronous DRAM) with an operating voltage of 1.5V, enabling the fast 4.27GB/s transfer rates. (Earlier 90-nm SH7786 products were compatible with DDR2-SDRAM with an operating voltage of 1.8V.) In addition, the 65-nm processor’s multiple PCI Express bus interfaces support large-volume data transfers with data throughput up to 800MB/sec. This makes it possible to implement sophisticated drawing capabilities such as smoothing out complex and real 3D graphic images.

To aid the design of advanced multimedia equipment, a version of the E10A-USB on-chip debugging emulator with multi-core support is available as a development environment for the SH7786. It provides a range of flexible simultaneous debugging functions, including simultaneous execution, simultaneous break, and single-CPU break and re-execute. It greatly reduces the effort necessary to create software for systems that take full advantage of the 65-nm processor’s prodigious processing capabilities. The new SH7786 is fully supported by QNX® Neutrino® RTOS and the QNX Momentics® development suite.

About the dual SH-4A CPU cores
The architecture of the 65-nm SH7786 has two SH-4A CPU cores, each of which has a built-in floating-point processing unit (FPU), as well as its own cache memory and RAM. The design supports both symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) and asymmetric multiprocessing (AMP). For SMP, it implements a snoop controller that maintains the coherency of both CPUs’ internal caches by handling exchanges of cache update data between the cores.

The clock frequency and four low-power modes can be set independently for each CPU. For example, one CPU core can continue to operate at full speed while the other is set to a low-power mode. This enables to minimize power usage while responding quickly to changes in the SH7786’s processing load.

The FPUs in each CPU core operate at up to 533MHz and support both single-precision and double-precision arithmetic operations. Their maximum single-precision performance of 7.46 GFLOPS (giga floating-point operations per second) enables high-speed, high-quality codec processing of still images or MPEG video.

The internal cache memory of each CPU core is configured as a 32Kbyte four-way set-associative instruction cache and a 32Kbyte four-way set-associative data cache. Cache coherency support allows high-speed software processing. Also, each core’s 8Kbytes of RAM enables high-speed instruction fetches, while the 16Kbytes of RAM in each core enables high-speed data accesses. System engineers can boost the overall real-time performance of multimedia products by storing exception-handling routines in these on-chip RAM areas.

The SH7786 implements multiple PCI Express (PCIe) bus interfaces that can be set to operate as one to four lanes, for data transfers at up to 800MB/sec with external memory or other devices that have similar interfaces. A high-speed data transfer function is provided between lanes. This makes it possible, for example, to obtain high-level display capabilities by connecting a high-performance external display device that conforms to the PCIe bus connection specification. In addition, inexpensive standardized peripheral devices that support the PCIe interface can be used, a capability that offers expansion flexibility and helps reduce overall system cost.

About the SH7786’s on-chip peripheral functions
Built into the 65-nm SH7786 processor are the following functions:

* A USB 2.0 high-speed (480Mbps) host and function peripheral. It simplifies the development of systems with USB functionality and eliminates the need for a dedicated external USB 2.0 controller.
* A media access controller (MAC) conforming to the IEEE-802.3 standard. The MAC makes it easy to implement functionality for connecting to a 10/100Mbps (megabit per second) Ethernet LAN.
* Three low-power modes: Sleep, Light sleep, and Module standby. These modes can be controlled by software to reduce the power consumed by the chip to the lowest level consistent with the specific processing tasks being performed at any particular point in time.
* Additional peripherals, including display, sound and communication functions. They reduce the number of components required to build a multimedia system (see attached Specification Summary).

About development support for the dual-core SH7786 processor
When system engineers develop a multi-core product, they can allocate separate systems (domains) with different characteristics and functions to each CPU core. A distributed-function system design is used so the CPU cores can interoperate and function in an integrated manner. The SH7786 employs technologies developed by Renesas that support distributed-function system design approaches — specifically, communication interface technology for interoperability between the operating systems of multiple domains, and technology for preventing interference between the different operating systems. This enables developers to make use of existing software resources designed for single operating systems. It also enables to build multi-core distributed-function systems in a short amount of time. Additionally, these Renesas-developed technologies support different operating systems simultaneously with high levels of reliability.

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/renesas_technology_upgrades_sh7786_dual-core_processor.html

QuickBooks Online Gives You More Mobile Mojo

2008-08-26T12:00:00-04:00

Mountain View, Calif. (Gawkwire.com) Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU) today announced both iPhone and BlackBerry integration with QuickBooks® Online, the leading Web-based small business accounting software.

Now the more than 130,000 small businesses that subscribe to QuickBooks Online have even more freedom to manage their business anywhere, anytime - with or without a computer. These early version Web-based mobile applications are part of Intuit’s Connected Services strategy to help entrepreneurs connect to their data when and where they need it.

Available on IntuitLabs.com, an early concept release site, these iPhone and BlackBerry applications help QuickBooks Online users get an up-to-date view of their finances by:

    * Checking current bank and credit card balances.
    * Tracking who owes them money and who they owe.
    * Finding vendor and customer contact info with addresses via Google Maps.
    * Running balance sheet and profit and loss reports.

“QuickBooks Online is perfect for us as there is no ‘office,’ just volunteer member parents working from various home or work offices,” said Laura Olcott, treasurer for Twin Cities Co-op Preschool in Corte Madera, Calif. “Given the virtual nature of our interactions, iPhone support helps us be more productive. While waiting for an appointment, I was able to check QuickBooks Online using my iPhone to look up parents with open balances and send them an e-mail reminder to pay their bill.”

“A growing number of small businesses are looking to mobile technology to run their business,” said Rick Jensen, senior vice president of Intuit’s Small Business Division. “Our goal with these new mobile services is to give QuickBooks Online users the edge they need to compete and manage their busy lives by keeping tabs on their business even when they are out of the office.”

IntuitLabs.com
The iPhone and BlackBerry Web-based applications for QuickBooks Online are part of IntuitLabs.com, a site where customers are encouraged to try Intuit’s early concept releases and contribute to the innovation process by providing feedback.

The site includes applications that address several important customer problems in a range of categories for consumers and small businesses.

Pricing and Availability
More information on QuickBooks Online on the iPhone and BlackBerry is available at www.intuitlabs.com/apps/category/mobile/. QuickBooks Online is available starting at $9.95 per month at www.qboe.com. The iPhone and BlackBerry Web-based applications are free to QuickBooks Online users.

Links:

Mobile Software and Downloads

Accounting Software

Intuit Labs

Billing Manager on the iPhone

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

NEMedia Announces Reseller Partnership with Hostgator

2008-08-26T09:52:00-04:00

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (Gawkwire.com) NEMedia, a developer of solutions that facilitate the management of successful organic search engine optimization campaigns, is pleased to announce the addition of Hostgator to the RankSense Partner Program.

The recently revamped partner program is available to SEM agencies, design firms, value-added resellers, hosting companies and others serving small businesses with an online presence.

"We're committed to providing the most complete set of tools for our customers, and are pleased to give them access to RankSense," said Chad Bean, HostGator's Director of Marketing.

The new partnership will provide Hostgator and its subsidiary company--SEO Hosting with the opportunity to resell the RankSense SEO software suite to its base of more than 1.3 million hosted websites.

"We are pleased to welcome Hostgator to our partner program. I am confident that this strategic partnership will prove to be mutually beneficial," said Hamlet Batista, NEMedia's President.

Designed by developers with an internet marketing background, RankSense offers a fully featured, integrated suite of SEO tools that simplify the process of organically ranking web pages within the major search engines easier than ever before for the keywords most relevant and profitable to the user. RankSense navigates the user through the necessary steps needed to improve natural search engine rankings in an ethical way.

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

Commuto Releases Facebook Bartering Application

2008-08-26T09:47:00-04:00

Toronto, ON (Gawkwire.com) Commuto announced today that it has released the Commuto Facebook application, allowing Facebook users to access Commuto's database of millions of products and interact with Commuto's functionality by posting, viewing and trading items from within their Facebook accounts.

"Launching Commuto's Facebook application is a very important step for us and our users. By combining Facebook's social networks with Commuto's social communities, we have given our users the most social and interactive bartering application online and have given our users even more choice over how they interact with Commuto", said Stephen Arbib, President and founder of Commuto, "Millions of Facebook users will now be able to show their friends all the items which they own and those they want, and be able to trade with Facebook and non-Facebook users all in real time."

Commuto's Facebook application is the first of a series of widget and applications that Commuto plans to release in the coming year to increase awareness of their online social bartering site,
Commuto.com.

Commuto is still in beta release and will continue through the third quarter of 2008, after which an integrated marketing campaign will begin with Vancouver-based partner, UM Marketing.

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

BlogWorld & New Media Expo Helps Businesses

2008-08-26T00:43:00-04:00

Las Vegas, NV (Gawkwire.com) BlogWorld & New Media Expo, the first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference and media event dedicated to blogging and new media, will offer companies critical real-world information on integrating blogs into their corporate communications strategy in order to improve customer relations, build community around their products or services, and energize their brands.

The exclusive pre-show Executive & Entrepreneur conference will feature advice, insight, and experiences as shared by senior executives from Fortune 500 companies and industry thought leaders, all of whom have already fought the battles, made the tough decisions, and successfully implemented social media operations at their own companies.

Blogworld Expo will be held Sept. 20-21, 2008 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Registration is still open at www.blogworldexpo.com.

Featured speakers at the pre-show event on Sept. 19 include John Andrews, Sr. Marketing Manager - Emerging Media at Walmart; Michael Brito, Social Media Evangelist at Intel; Hilary Weber, Director, Internet Marketing Services at Kaiser Permanente; and Michael E. Rubin, Vice President of Community at The Blog Council.

With more than 112 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media online (1), the business of blogging continues to boom. The medium is disrupting the traditional channels of business communications, as companies - such as Nike, Southwest Airlines, Motorola, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Ford, and General Electric - have turned to blogs as a catalyst for creating more personalized customer service, branding, humanization, and community cultivation.

A study conducted by Burson-Marsteller earlier this year found that 15% of Fortune 500 companies communicate with consumers via blogs. According to the agency, this figure represents an approximate 270% increase compared to when Wired magazine and Socialtext began tracking Fortune 500 blogs in December 2005. This same study found that larger companies are more likely to be using blogs than their smaller counterparts - as blogs can be found at nearly one-third (32%) of the Fortune 50, 16% of the Fortune 201-250, and only 2% of the Fortune 451-500.

BlogWorld & New Media Expo brings together visionaries, senior-level executives, and pioneers from the corporate blogging world, as well as those looking to make their first leap into blogging, livecasts, podcasts, micromedia, and other social media programs. Companies can learn first hand how to use blogs to increase brand awareness, build a passionate community, establish thought leadership, and improve customer service. Attendees will see tangible results and proof points from real-world success stories in social media to help understand the business case and ensure buy-in for their corporate blogging and social media programs.

BlogWorld & New Media Expo sponsors include Investor Village, Six Apart, Southwest Airlines, b5media and Pajamas Media. Additional information on BlogWorld & New Media Expo, including speaker topics, session descriptions and registration details, is available at www.blogworldexpo.com.

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

Protection for the Modular Data Center

2008-08-25T06:37:00-04:00

Kutztown, PA (Gawkwire.com) Heavy hitters like IBM, Sun, and Google are all offering "data center in a box" products as a way to quickly deploy computing power. The pre-configured IT equipment is delivered to the data center site in a standard shipping container, where it is typically parked outside the building and connected to the required power, communications and cooling systems. For several years FIRELOCK® has been building fireproof modular server vaults, but with the emphasis on protecting the mission critical equipment and data housed within the server room, rather than speed of deployment.

The high costs for building-in the future cooling and UPS capacity for future expansion equipment is often the driver for examining this modular approach. But an examination of this modular expansion concept reveals that clients forego this common sense approach due to the inflexibility of the design module and the high incremental cost of each cubic foot of expansion. The use of these add-on modules are almost exclusively used for disaster recovery situations, where the business continuity requirements outweigh the high incremental costs.

It makes sense to protect the mission critical server room with a data-rated fireproof server vault chamber. Fortunately, the advantages of phased expansion can be applied to fire protection by installing a FIRELOCK® modular server vault. The modular panel design allows data center operators to protect the server racks they have now, and expand the fireproof vault area as their server room footprint grows.

It is inconceivable to build a data center without a fire suppression system to protect the equipment. No IT professional would even consider it. IT systems are too important to most organizations' survival to count on sprinkler systems alone to protect them from external fires. The server room must be able to survive a building fire, the fire fighting efforts of the building's sprinkler system and the high pressure hoses of the firefighters themselves. This mandates that a secure server room must be in fact, a server vault chamber.

The heat-sensitive nature of IT equipment--and perhaps even more important--the information stored upon that equipment, requires a Class 125 Fire-Rated vault to protect it. This vault can withstand heavy hose streams, the smoke and steam of a building fire as well as explosive fire development of the structure. The vault must be able to do this and still maintain a vapor tight chamber to protect the servers. FIRELOCK® server vaults are rated at least Class 125-2 Hour, which means the temperature must be held below the 125-degrees F. threshold for at least a two hour period with temperatures up to 2,000-degrees F. outside the vault. FIRELOCK® achieves this level of performance with a comprehensive vault system. The modular vault panels that comprise the walls and roof structure utilize ceramic fiber, a high temperature industrial insulating material, to provide unsurpassed fireproofing and heat protection. Because there is no single fire door on the market that can provide Class 125 protection, a double door assembly is installed. These doors are equipped with automatic closers that are activated by heat, smoke, flammable gas or power failure. Specially insulated penetrations for power and network cables, coolant lines, and air ducting are installed to ensure there are no weak links in the chain. The cost difference between installing a data-rated vault versus conventional gypsum board structures is negligible, especially when compared to the value of the IT infrastructure and information that must be safeguarded.

A common misconception among architects and facilities designers is that fire rated gypsum board will adequately protect heat-sensitive IT infrastructure. Unfortunately, standard fire ratings focus on how long it takes flame to penetrate a layer of gypsum board, not how much heat is being transferred through the barrier. Because gypsum board is a high-density material, it conducts heat very quickly. Heat-sensitive servers and data are destroyed long before flames penetrate traditional fire rated structures. Class 125 door systems, cable penetrations, coolant line penetrations and dampers are also overlooked in conventional facilities.

The "Modular Expansion" that the shipping container modules hope to target can be more easily achieved with an internally located server vault chamber. This chamber can be expanded as required with panels that offer phased expansion with simple interlocking panel add-ons. The new add-on occurs while the data center or server room operates and then at the final phase of construction, a removable panel opens the new addition to the existing data center. All the wire management, fire suppression systems and HVAC are in place for a smooth transition.

The "data center in a box" concept is well suited to applications such as disaster relief efforts, military operations, data center migrations (for temporary use), or rooftop deployment for facilities that run out of room. Critics of this concept have raised questions about physical security for containers full of IT equipment parked outside the facility. A single connection point for the dense power and communications services required is also cause for concerns about reliability. Then there is the question of what to do if you need to open the container during a rainstorm, or other adverse conditions.

One other use for "data center in a box" containers is as a temporary (and costly) replacement for IT equipment that has been damaged or destroyed by fire. Failure to protect the data center may create just such a need. For conventional data center applications, a modular fireproof vault offers the design flexibility needed to optimize data center operations and protect mission critical information.

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

Parallels Business Automation reaches 300 Customer Milestone

2008-08-25T12:00:00-04:00

Renton, WA (Gawkwire.com) Parallels today announced that Parallels Business Automation has attained a customer base of over 300 deployments. Parallels Business Automation adoption has accelerated as customers realize the benefits of switching from in-house billing systems to a more efficient and powerful billing system.

A webcast on August 27th will explain how Parallels Business Automation was built into a world class billing and business system that provides customers a fully integrated and easy to use platform.

The solution automates all aspects of service delivery for enterprises, ISPs, telecoms, and hosting service providers so they can streamline their existing IT operations. The solution is integrated with in-house provisioning and control panel systems, scalable to millions of accounts and deployable in high-availability configurations. The web-based storefront and management control panels provide ordering, account management, billing, invoicing, trouble ticketing, and fraud control through a customized workflow. Customers can enable any type of billing, promotions, reseller billing, flexible queues, workflows, and payment methods.

“We are extremely pleased with the results we’re received from Parallels Business Automation and anticipate further benefits as we continue to grow our business,” stated David Pratt, Sales and Marketing Director of Firstserv. “Parallels Business Automation has brought many practical capabilities to our billing infrastructure and is helping us maximize our revenue.”

“Switching our billing system to Parallels Business Automation was an invaluable business decision,” stated David Andrews, Product Manager, Marketing at Dotster. “Important resources are better utilized and revenue-generating programs have become more effective.”

"Parallels Business Automation enables customers to concentrate on generating revenue and providing new services versus the less efficient in-house systems that waste resources," said Jack Zubarev, President, Service Provider Worldwide, Parallels. "By leveraging Parallels Business Automation and the Parallels Open Platform, we believe our customers can gain competitive advantage with a solution that addresses their business needs now and into the future."

Details and registration for the August 27th webcast, “Why hundreds of service providers have switched from in-house billing systems to Parallels Business Automation” are available at www.parallels.com/en/webcasts. http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/parallels_business_automation_reaches_300_customer_milestone.html

Resellers Missing Opportunity with Social Network Users

2008-08-25T03:00:00-04:00

Toronto, ON (Gawkwire.com) Tucows Inc., (AMEX:TCX, TSX:TC) a leading provider of Internet services to Web hosting companies and ISPs worldwide, announced today the results of an industry survey conducted by its reseller services group OpenSRS at the HostingCon 2008 conference in Chicago last month. Survey findings revealed resellers of email and domain names are missing significant business opportunities to tap into social network users.

Of the respondents, 60 percent have their own blog or personal Web site, and nearly three-fourths use social networks like Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and FriendFeed to share information with friends and family. Despite the majority of people using social networking services, 81percent of the respondents in the Web hosting industry do not believe these “Web 2.0” or functional-hosting businesses could hurt their business.

“While the Web hosting industry does not view social networks as a threat to its business, people are going to functional-hosts for services that allow them to share information online. This demonstrates that there are opportunities for Web hosts to tap into consumers who embrace social networks – but these opportunities are being overlooked by the very industry that knows the Internet best,” said Ken Schafer, Vice President of Product Management and Marketing for Tucows. “It’s important that as the Web hosting industry moves forward, we understand that Internet users are seeking a customized, personalized, Internet experience for both personal and professional reasons. Ultimately, it’s about customer relationships. Providers and resellers need to work together to provide the support, services and infrastructure that give users the best experience.”

Other results of the survey revealed that 73 percent of all domain name resellers enjoy working with their provider. In addition, three-fourths of domain name resellers believe their provider understands its needs and nearly one-half have no complaints with their provider, but of those that did, the top complaints were poor communication or support and lack of the full range of services their customers want.

“It’s always great to receive positive feedback from the industry – OpenSRS has made a strong commitment to our reseller community because they have been incredibly supportive of us. By making it easy to sell and manage the highest quality Internet services, we give our resellers the tools they need to be successful,” added Schafer.

In 1999, Tucows became the first domain name wholesaler to be accredited by ICANN and chose the name OpenSRS for its domain name service. Recently relaunched to celebrate its resellers’ sustained loyalty, OpenSRS today remains one of the world’s largest wholesale domain registrars as well as the most reseller-friendly, and has expanded its offerings to include hosted email and SSL certificates. OpenSRS has grown steadily each year and today boasts over 9,000 active resellers on six continents. Those resellers, in turn, have the potential to reach millions of end users.

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

Acer Announces Price Reductions on Its Popular Aspire one

2008-08-25T12:00:00-04:00

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Gawkwire.com) Acer America, the third largest vendor in the global PC market (source: Gartner data, 2Q 2008), today announced it has lowered the price of the popular Aspire one ultra-lightweight mobile Internet device in the U.S. retail channel. In a move that will provide affordability and value just in time for back-to-school, the Aspire one featuring Windows XP Home® will now retail for $349.

Compact and smart, the Aspire one provides continuous access to the Internet in an easy-to-use, stylish and ultra-mobile platform. Light enough to tote in a backpack at just 2.17 pounds, the Aspire one is designed to be an affordable, entry-level, “first PC” solution for students, as well as a secondary computing device for on-the-go tech savvy enthusiasts and professionals.

The Aspire one is ideal for everyday tasks such as Web browsing, checking email, listening to music, instant messaging, viewing photos, VOIP calls and streaming video. Equipped with Intel® Atom™ processor, Windows XP® Home, 1GB of RAM memory installed, 120 GB internal hard drive, and a three-cell battery, the Aspire one AOA150-1570 is now priced at $349. The Aspire one AOA110-1722 with Linpus™ Linux Lite is now priced at $329.

“The Aspire one is a breakthrough product that meets the connectivity needs of both students and mobile professionals,” said Kristin Markworth, senior manager of notebook product marketing for Acer America. “By increasing the value of our mobile Internet device lineup, Acer is opening the Aspire one experience to a whole new base of users.”

Also introduced for business and education customers, the Aspire one AOA150-1447 offers a professional solution for those who require added performance. Featuring a six-cell battery, 160GB internal hard drive and Windows XP Home, the Aspire one is perfect for on-the-go business travellers and environments which require long-lasting battery power. The Aspire one AOA150-1447 is now available via Acer authorized resellers with prices beginning at $399.

Pricing and Availability

The Acer Aspire one netbook is available now via Acer’s authorized resellers and at major retailers nationwide. All models come with a one-year limited warranty.

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

Fpweb.net Supports SharePoint User Groups

2008-08-25T12:00:00-04:00

St. Louis, MO (Gawkwire.com) Managed hosting provider Fpweb.net is sponsoring SharePoint User Groups (SUGs) around the world. SUGs are an excellent SharePoint community resource and Fpweb.net has made it a goal to help them grow.

The purpose of an SUG is to provide SharePoint users with easy-to-access, local sources for Microsoft SharePoint related information. From forums, to discussions, to knowledge bases and even official documentation, SUGs offer users a great opportunity to increase their SharePoint understanding. Plus, membership and participation is free!

For this reason, we have been sponsoring user groups around the world by offering free SharePoint Hosting for their site, sponsoring member meetings and providing giveaway prizes.
As a company goal, Fpweb.net strives to promote growth in the SharePoint community. As the community expands and improves, it becomes an even greater resource to both customers and employees of Fpweb.net. "We understand that user groups are often sponsor-funded and may lack the resources to maintain an enhanced community site," said Rob LaMear, Fpweb.net President. "For this reason, we have been sponsoring user groups around the world by offering free SharePoint Hosting for their site, sponsoring member meetings and providing giveaway prizes."

With Fpweb.net's free SharePoint hosting, SUGs no longer have to allocate resources for SharePoint licensing, server management, basic web parts, etc. Plus, Fpweb.net offers the Community Kit for SharePoint: User Group Edition, which is a template specifically designed to accommodate user group websites.

In September, Fpweb.net will be sponsoring the Los Angeles SharePoint User Group meeting to encourage member participation and meeting attendance. Fpweb.net will present information on their SharePoint hosting services and, at the end of the meeting, they will give away 6 months of free SharePoint hosting (nearly $600 in value) to one lucky attendee.

Most SUGs host monthly meetings in either face-to-face environments or via webcasts with speaker presentations, product demonstrations, networking opportunities and much more. As active participants in several of these user groups, the Fpweb.net team would like to encourage SharePoint users of any level to join, contribute and take advantage of their local SUG site.

If you are interested in having Fpweb.net sponsor your SUG site or member meetings, please contact Lori Hofmeister, Director of Marketing, at lhofmeister@fpweb.net for more details.

Fpweb.net provides Software as a Service solutions for SharePoint, Exchange, CRM, Project, PerformancePoint, Office Communications Server and SQL. Fpweb.net offers shared, semi-dedicated and dedicated WSS & MOSS hosting environments, housed in SAS 70 Type II data centers with PCI, SOX and HIPPA compliance. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, they serve over 5,000 enterprise customers including Intel, Boeing and the NY Yankees.

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

EstDomains, Inc Invites Customers Participate in .BIZ/.US Promo Action

2008-08-25T09:46:00-04:00

Wilmington, DE (Gawkwire.com) EstDomains, Inc (http://www.estdomains.com), one of the world's leading ICANN accredited domain name Registrar, is glad to invite its customers and all comers to participate in the recurrent promo action and feel the benefit of outstanding services and the most advantageous price list. This time .BIZ and .US domain names at the most low pricing ever available.

The professional developers of EstDomains, Inc have been serving the online market with the most advantageous and secure domain name registration solutions for several years. As a result, the number of company's partners and customers has increased significantly. Recently, NeuStar, Inc, the prime Registry for .BIZ and .US domain zones has entrusted the Registrar development team new promo action prepared for the mentioned domain names. Thanks to this long-term partnership and the high-level confidence established between affiliates, EstDomains, Inc made .BIZ domain names available for as low as 6.19$ per domain and .US domain names for 5.79$ per domain.

.BIZ - domain name for commercial business enterprises
This particular domain name zone has been created as an alternative to the widely spread dotcom, the perfect choice for those who has a certain intention to establish online its own online enterprise as originally .BIZ stands for "business". There is no geographical restriction in registering .BIZ domain name. Everyone is free to give his or her business a new expert entity on the Internet by choosing .BIZ!
For resellers with turnover beyond 500 USD - 6.19 USD per domain
For resellers with turnover exceeding 500 USD - 5.89 USD per domain

.US - domain name marks one's presence in the United States
EstDomains, Inc would like to pay special attention to the fact that only the United States citizen, resident or organization has the ultimate right to purchase the unique .US domain name for the website to emphasize the belonging to the United States of America.
For resellers with turnover beyond 500 USD - 5.79 USD per domain
For resellers with turnover exceeding 500 USD - 5.49 USD per domain

EstDomains, Inc (http://www.estdomains.com) strongly keeps its position as a leading US-based domain name Registrar for .COM, .NET, .EU, .WS, .ORG, .INFO and many other domain name extensions. The company also offers a wide spectrum of domain name related services, including domain name registration, domain forwarding, mail forwarding and managed DNS. The company is true to its politics to provide the domain name registration services affordable to everyone. In addition every webmaster is also invited to use and enjoy the high-quality hosting solutions from EstHost, Inc (http://esthost.com), such as virtual hosting, dedicated server and Virtuozzo-powered virtual private server solutions in the free 5-day trial period!

EstDomains, Inc professional support team is available 24/7 and is thoroughly committed to providing its customers with the prompt assistance and consulting services. The feedback, suggestions or questions can be submitted to the support ticket system at: http://support.estdomains.com.

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

Superstar Bloggers' Top Web Hosts Revealed

2008-08-25T09:43:00-04:00

London, UK (Gawkwire.com) Would-be superstar bloggers need no longer fear choosing a host that can't handle the rapid growth in traffic that occurs when a blog hits the big time.

Researchers at WhoIsHostingThis.com have revealed who hosts the world's 100 most popular blogs.

The study offers an at-a-glance guide to hosting companies with proven performance at the top of the blogosphere.

The report reveals that the hosting company of choice for top bloggers is Media Temple, a privately owned hosting company based in Culver City, California.

Media Temple hosts 11 of the top 100 blogs, with the runner up, Datagram the proud host of 8 top blogs.

Another key finding was the high number of top blogs using free blog hosting services. Eight of the top 100 blogs used free services like Google's BlogSpot and SixApart's TypePad service.

The list of sites analysed for the study was drawn from Technorati's ranking of the world's most popular blogs.

The list includes many famous names, such as tech guides Lifehacker, Engadget and Gizmodo; political opinion formers The Drudge Report, Daily Kos and The Huffington Post and humor sites PerezHilton and icanhascheezburger.com.

Richard Kershaw of WhoIsHostingThis.com explained why the study matters to budding big time bloggers.

"Choosing hosting often feels like a trivial decision for bloggers starting out. But all it takes is one post to hit a site like Digg.com, and the traffic spike could take their site offline.

"It's vital for anyone serious about blogging to make sure they're hosting with a company that's can scale up as their blog grows."

The full report is available at: http://www.whoishostingthis.com/top-blog-hosting

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

SEM Firm iProspect Wins at Search Engine Strategies Awards

2008-08-25T09:41:00-04:00

Boston, MA (Gawkwire.com) iProspect®, the Original® Search Engine Marketing Firm, announced today that its client, Microsoft Small Business Center, won the Best BtoB Search Engine Marketing Campaign Award at the first-ever SES Awards, presented at the Search Engine Strategies Conference in San Jose, California, last week. Microsoft Small Business Center is Microsoft Corporation's portal for educating, supporting and selling Microsoft products to small businesses.

Designed to recognize excellence in search engine marketing and inspire innovation and encourage new ideas, the SES Awards acknowledge outstanding marketers in 15 different categories. Reviewed by a panel of over 30 industry experts, campaigns were judged in four key areas: innovation in methodology and execution, achieving success goals, excellence in tactical execution, and overall approach and category relevance.

"It is exciting to earn this SES Award for the Best BtoB Search Engine Marketing Campaign," said Dave DeVries, Microsoft Small Business Marketing Manager. Working together with iProspect, we have been able to overcome the challenges that BtoB marketers struggle with in search marketing, and in the end, have achieved impressive results that enhanced our premier resource for small business - Microsoft's Small Business Center. I think this SES Award symbolizes what we have achieved by working together with iProspect."

Celebrating its 10th Anniversary the Search Engine Strategies Conference is a major industry event series that has guided online marketers through the complex and ever-changing search engine marketing industry over the past decade.

"It is rewarding to see our team at iProspect, as well as the team at Microsoft, be recognized as outstanding marketers," said Robert Murray, President, iProspect. "We work very closely with our clients - as partners really - and Microsoft has a knowledgeable team of search marketing professionals that have been key to achieving these award winning results. Taking home this award can't help but inspire us to continue to develop creative and innovative search engine marketing strategies that produce great business results."

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

NetPro Announces Support for Windows Server 2008

2008-08-22T12:00:00-04:00

Phoenix, Ariz. (Gawkwire.com) NetPro Computing, Inc., a leading provider of infrastructure optimization software, today announces support and compatibility of its product portfolio with Windows Server 2008. Intelligently filling the gap between what Windows Server 2008 provides and what organizations need to solve key business and IT challenges, NetPro customers now benefit from enhanced management capabilities for auditing as well as backup and recovery to maximize their Active Directory investment.

With the launch of ChangeAuditor 4.7, a real-time auditing solution that helps organizations drive security and demonstrate compliance throughout their Microsoft Windows-based infrastructures including Active Directory, Files Systems, Exchange and SQL Server, NetPro now provides customers with a robust product offering, fully compatible with Windows Server 2008.

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 brings with it a number of enhancements that improve operating system performance, reliability, and manageability in highly distributed environments, as well as prevent system attacks. These improvements benefit a wide range of organizations working under a broad set of operational requirements. But Windows Server 2008 is not intended to be a "one size fits all" solution. Microsoft relies on third-party solutions, such as those developed by NetPro, to facilitate complex tasks including enterprise-class auditing, backup and recovery, industry and legislative compliance efforts, and more.

NetPro enhances Windows' native toolset, effectively extending Windows Server 2008 capabilities across the following product offerings:

* ChangeAuditor - Delivers complete, real-time change management that drives network availability and productivity with proactive auditing, in-depth forensics, and comprehensive reporting on all key configuration changes in Windows.
* AccessManager - Drives security and compliance and lowers administration costs with automated provisioning and de-provisioning of user access to Windows resources, including Active Directory, Exchange, SQL Server, files, folders, shares, printers, registry, and services through a single interface for centralized delegation, control, and reporting.
* SecurityManager - Develops a graphical dashboard highlighting all risk areas, allowing users to enforce, track, and report on security policies in real-time---all from a single client.
* RestoreADmin - Quickly locates and restores deleted objects---or rolls back existing objects---without taking users offline while creating automated, centralized backups of Active Directory domains.
* ReportADmin - Centralizes and consolidates Active Directory compliance reporting by translating raw event data into meaningful reports without manual, time-consuming scripting and reporting tasks.
* SelfServiceADmin - Streamlines Active Directory password administration by empowering users to reset their own passwords and unlock their accounts.
* Business Insight - A powerful analytics warehouse for more effective management reporting and troubleshooting, Business Insight 3.0 draws on data across multiple sources and provides more detailed trending and analysis to improve security and compliance within an organization's Windows-based infrastructure---including Active Directory, Exchange, and SQL.

In addition, the NetPro services-oriented architecture supports Windows Server 2008. This unifying architecture enables customers to quickly add NetPro capabilities without the usual ramp up time and complexity that comes with installing, training, and maintaining multiple tools and point solutions.

"Windows Server 2008 is a bold step in improving the security and manageability of Active Directory. As NetPro's customers look to realize the benefits of this new platform, they recognize the need for additional domain-specific expertise to enhance and extend the operating system for their specific industry and operational requirements," said Brad Hibbert, Vice President, Product Strategy, NetPro. "With a long-standing commitment to the Microsoft market and a proven track record of delivering the solutions customers need to maximize their Windows investment, NetPro's support for Windows Server 2008 gives our customers an integrated architecture with the coverage and visibility today's business and regulatory challenges demand."

Support for Windows Server 2008 extends across NetPro's product line from Security and Compliance and Infrastructure Administration, to Identity and Access, providing a single source for solving today's key business and IT challenges for Windows networks.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/netpro_announces_support_for_windows_server_2008.html

Internet Marketing Company Cybertegic Offers Different Ecommerce Solution Platforms for All Business Types

2008-08-22T12:00:00-04:00

City of Industry, CA (Gawkwire.com) Every business, big or small, should already be connected to the internet and more importantly, should have their own interactive website to speak of. It is now indeed very important and an imperative necessity as this can greatly affect every company's financial stability and bottom line.

As a growing number of companies are starting to realize the importance of going online and investing in their cyberspace infrastructure, each company should also understand that being online is not the end all and be all. The website need to be carefully studied, maintained, updated and constantly improved by internet marketing experts as the limitless world of cyberspace is becoming more and more competitive by the second. More and more companies are fighting tooth and nail to always be included in the top ranking of major search engines like Google and Yahoo. This is the main reason why an effective Ecommerce Solution, accompanied with a powerful internet marketing plan done by a very capable internet marketing company is vital to ensuring that a company's ranking in cyberspace is assured of always remaining on top.

Cybertegic, an acronym for Cyber Strategic Business Development, is an Internet Marketing company that precisely helps ecommerce companies get noticed in the vast world of cyberspace. Cybertegic provides the perfect Ecommerce solution to companies who realize the importance of being constantly seen and heard of online. Having a highly effective Ecommerce Solution employed on a company's website and done by the internet marketing experts of Cybertegic is a lot like trusting your life to a specialist. Cybertegic provides the perfect Ecommerce Solution that will absolutely keep your website and your online business, in tip-top shape.

Cybertegic has various Ecommerce solution platforms suited for every company's needs. Cybertegic's team of Ecommerce web site design experts can create the perfect Ecommerce Solution needed to ensure that your company's website is continuously maximized and used to its fullest potential. Combined with the company's expertise in the different internet marketing services, any ecommerce website is bound to generate results and profit.

The different Ecommerce Solution platforms offered by Cybertegic for companies, big and small, include:

The Yahoo Ecommerce Solution Platform, which is very ideal for small businesses that has a sales transaction of around $30,000 to $700,000 per year. This Ecommerce solution platform is designed to have a low implementation and maintenance cost, have a short development time of 4 to 8 weeks and uses a non-customizable Ecommerce solution system. See Cybertegic's list of clients under the Yahoo Ecommerce Solution platform.

Another is the Oracle E-Business Suite Platform. This Ecommerce solution is perfect for mid-sized to large companies that expect to make $1 million or more in online sales transactions per year. This corporate Ecommerce Solution platform comes complete with an integrated set of enterprise applications that streamline every area of a business sales including service, marketing, financials, human resource, supply chain, and even manufacturing. It also has a low maintenance requirement and employs a limited degree of customization. See Cybertegic's list of clients under the Oracle Ecommerce Solution platform.

The Microsoft Ecommerce Solution Platform, on the other hand, is an Ecommerce solution designed for mid-sized to large companies who plan to do $1 million or more online sales transactions per year but this type is specially intended for a company that has been in business for many years and requires the company's ecommerce solution to match with its existing business processes. This Ecommerce solution is also a fully-customizable system that can be designed to fit any business requirement.

The Channel Advisor Platform. This Ecommerce solution platform is likewise designed for mid-sized to large companies who expect to make $1 million or more online sales transactions on a yearly basis. However, this Ecommerce solution system specializes in businesses who what to sell in EBay, Amazon, Nextag, Shopzilla, and other shopping sites. See Cybertegic's list of clients under the Channel Advisor Ecommerce Solution platform.

For any Ecommerce Solution concerns, make sure to only contact the internet marketing experts of Cybertegic. Cybertegic, a Microsoft Certified Partner, is an internet marketing company that surely has what it takes for your online business to reach new heights and increase profits exponentially.

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

Safeware Insurance Launches New Mobile Electronics Protection Plan

2008-08-23T06:00:00-04:00

Columbus, OH (Gawkwire.com) Safeware, The Insurance Agency, Inc. announced a new individual program today that offers an a la carte approach to electronics insurance for laptops, desktops, tablet PCs and other devices.

Labeled their 'Mobile Electronics Policy', the program offers a variety of customizable options including type of coverage, deductible, and coverage area (domestic or international).

Safeware Insurance policies have typically provided full coverage; which includes accidental damage and theft protection. The Mobile Electronics policy allows a customer to select from an Accidental Damage Plan, a Theft Plan, or a Full Coverage Plan. All policies will also continue to provide coverage for fire, flood, vandalism, power surge & various forms of natural disasters. This allows customers who have Accidental Damage Coverage through their devices' manufacturer to obtain Theft Protection at a much lower cost, and ensures their equipment is fully protected in the event of a burglary or theft.

In addition to coverage options, the Mobile Electronics Policy also allows customers to choose their deductible. Options range from $0 to $500 per incident.

The Mobile Electronics full coverage policy is currently available online at www.safeware.com. Customized policies are available by contacting a licensed agent at 1-800-800-1492, Monday thru Friday, 9am to 7pm, ET. Coverage subject to State availability.

Over the coming months additional coverage options and discounts for loss prevention devices will be announced via the company website (www.safeware.com).

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

WebHostingBuzz.com Wins Award for Best Web Hosting Support

2008-08-23T06:00:00-04:00

Wilmington, DE (Gawkwire.com) WebHostingBuzz.com, a leading provider of web hosting services encompassing budget hosting, reseller hosting and managed services has announced it has won the award of 'Best Web Hosting Support' from webhostingsearch.com.

Matt Russell, Chief Operating Officer of WebHostingBuzz.com released in a statement; "WebHostingSearch signed up anonymously with us and several other hosting companies whilst conducting a survey to find which company had the best web hosting support. Without us realising they were testing us, they contacted us repeatedly through our live support, helpdesk and phone support channels with a range of inquiries and problems. We addressed and resolved all of these problems beyond their expectations which resulted in us winning this award.

As Chief Operating Officer of WebHostingBuzz, I oversee all daily operations. This includes those of our customer service team, technical support team and our sales and billing team. I see how hard all of our staff members work day after day, and I am delighted that this award recognizes the massive contribution they put into WebHostingBuzz. We are the type of company where employees come in for unpaid overtime through the love of their job and their love of this company. It makes me immensely proud to work with such a dedicated group of people."

Markus Wessing, Director of WebHostingSearch, commented "We're very pleased to award WebHostingBuzz with this high level of recognition after a lengthy period of testing. Their responsiveness was unmatched, with fast and helpful responses through all channels in a very short period of time. We had not expected this level of support, even from companies that charge a lot more.

Our 95% positive rating for WebHostingBuzz reinforces that we're not the only ones who have been suitably impressed. Congratulations!"

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

HostGator Web Hosting Ranks 21st on 2008 Inc 5000 List

2008-08-22T09:36:00-04:00

Houston, TX (Gawkwire.com) Inc. has ranked HostGator the 21st fastest-growing private company in the country this week on its prestigious Inc 5000 list. HostGator is a leading provider of web hosting services including shared hosting, reseller hosting, and dedicated servers.

The 2008 Inc. 5000 list measures revenue growth from 2004 through 2007. To qualify, companies must be U.S.-based and privately held, for profit, independent - not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies - as of December 31, 2007, and have had at least $200,000 in revenue in 2004, and $2 million in 2007.

HostGator revenue grew by 5297% during the measured period. In addition to being ranked #21 overall, HostGator was also ranked #1 for growth in the Houston metro, #2 for growth in the Business Services category, and #1 for growth within the state of Texas.

The Houston-based company had revenues of $18,700,000 in 2007 compared to revenues of $326,000 in 2004 and projects revenues over the next 12 months will reach $50,000,000. Since moving to Houston in 2006, HostGator has created over 155 positions for highly skilled technicians and systems administrators. It recently completed renovations to accommodate a large increase in hiring activity and expects to add at least 100 new employees in Houston over the next few months.

"I started the company with a $1,000 budget from my dorm room in Boca Raton, FL. Today the owners of more than 1.3 million websites depend on our hosting service. We are extremely proud of our strong past growth, but we're really only getting started," commented Brent Oxley, HostGator's Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Oxley, who turned 25 in March, attributes the growth of the company to its commitment to customer service and dedication to providing customers with the best web hosting experience in the hosting industry.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/hostgator_web_hosting_ranks_21st_on_2008_inc_5000_list.html

Liquid Web Honored as 693rd Fastest Growing Company in the United States

2008-08-22T12:00:00-04:00

Lansing, Michigan (Gawkwire.com) Liquid Web, a premier web hosting and data center company, has been honored by INC. Magazine as the 693rd fastest growing company in the United States. Liquid Web was also ranked No. 19 on the Top 100 Computers & Electronics Companies list. This prestigious list has included notable names such as Microsoft, Intuit and Oracle. The list is the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy -- America's independent-minded entrepreneurs. Taken as a whole, these companies represent the backbone of the U.S. economy.

This is the second consecutive year that Liquid Web has placed on the INC. 5,000 list which ranks companies based on their revenue growth over a three year period. Liquid Web's revenue grew from $2.1 million in 2004, to $12.2 million in 2007, a growth rate of 491.6%. Liquid Web's growth has been fueled by strong customer demand for their trademarked Heroic Support and three wholly owned data center facilities.

2008 Award: http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2008/company-profile.html?id=200806930
2007 Award: inc.com/inc5000/2007/company-profile.html?id=200706770
Inc Business Profile: incbiznet.com/companies/liquid-web

Media (http://www.liquidweb.com/about/media.html)

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/liquid_web_honored_as_693rd_fastest_growing_company_in_the_unite.html

FEMA phones hacked; calls made to Mideast, Asia

2008-08-21T12:00:00-04:00

WASHINGTON, DC - A hacker broke into a Homeland Security Department telephone system over the weekend and racked up about $12,000 in calls to the Middle East and Asia.

The hacker made more than 400 calls on a Federal Emergency Management Agency voicemail system in Emmitsburg, Md., on Saturday and Sunday, according to FEMA spokesman Tom Olshanski.

FEMA is part of Homeland Security, which in 2003 put out a warning about this very vulnerability. ...Go to source

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

Search Marketing Standard Acquired by iNET Interactive

2008-08-21T12:00:00-04:00

West Chester, OH, and Brooklyn, NY (Gawkwire.com) iNET Interactive today announced that it has acquired Search Marketing Standard, the largest and fastest growing print publication serving the Search Marketing industry, and its associated web properties, SearchMarketingStandard.com, PayPerClickUniverse.com and SEMCompare.com.

Launched in early 2006, with the goal to provide readers with practical, relevant and easy-to-understand Internet Marketing information, Search Marketing Standard magazine has grown from a newcomer in the field to an authoritative resource used by over 50,000 search engine advertisers and Internet marketers. Search Marketing Standard's websites incorporate user-contributed ratings, reviews, and discussion along with professionally-produced, instructional content focused on helping businesses succeed within the rapidly growing field of search and Internet Marketing.

The addition of Search Marketing Standard is a natural extension for iNET Interactive, further strengthening its position as the leading media company serving Internet professionals and technology enthusiasts. The iNET Interactive portfolio also includes Web Hosting Talk, the largest online community serving the web hosting and hosted services industry, and Hot Scripts, the largest directory of scripts for the web development community.

"We are very excited to be able to add Search Marketing Standard to iNET Interactive's portfolio of media brands," stated Troy Augustine, iNET's President and CEO. "Search Marketing Standard is a strong brand, and it is a perfect complement to our strengths in the web development and web hosting areas."

Search Marketing Standard was founded by Boris Mordkovich and Eugene Mordkovich and headed by the Editor-in-Chief, Andrey Milyan. Boris will remain engaged with Search Marketing Standard as an advisor while Andrey Milyan will remain editor-in-chief joined with other Search Marketing Standard veterans to continue their sales and editorial roles.

"Troy and his team fully embrace the commitment our team has given to our loyal readers and advertisers in producing a high-quality publication and online media properties." Boris Mordkovich stated. "We have complete confidence that iNET Interactive will continue to grow and develop Search Marketing Standard with the same energy and dedication that we poured into it."

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

IntelÂ® and Yahoo!Â® to Bring the Internet to Television

2008-08-21T09:47:00-04:00

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (Gawkwire.com) NOTE TO EDITORS: photos, videos and more facts available at www.intel.com/pressroom/idf and http://connectedtv.yahoo.com/newsroom.

Intel Corporation and Yahoo! Inc. today previewed plans for the Widget Channel, a television (TV) application framework optimized for TV and related consumer electronics (CE) devices that use the Intel Architecture. The Widget Channel will allow consumers to enjoy rich Internet applications designed for the TV while watching their favorite TV programs. The Widget Channel will be powered by the Yahoo! Widget Engine, a fifth-generation applications platform that will enable TV watchers to interact with and enjoy a rich set of “TV Widgets,” or small Internet applications designed to complement and enhance the traditional TV watching experience and bring content, information and community features available on the Internet within easy reach of the remote control. The Widget Channel will also allow developers to use JAVASCRIPT®, XML1, HTML1 and Adobe Flash® technology to write TV applications for the platform, extending the power and compatibility of PC application developer programs to TV and related CE devices. In addition to supporting the Yahoo! Widget Engine, Yahoo! will also provide consumers Yahoo!-branded TV Widgets that are customized based on its category-leading Internet services.

TV Widgets will enable consumers to engage in a variety of experiences, such as watching videos, tracking their favorite stocks or sports teams, interacting with friends, or staying current on news and information. Viewers will be able to use TV Widgets to deepen their enjoyment of the programming they are watching, discover new content and services, or share their favorites with friends and family. TV Widgets can be personalized because they will be based upon popular Internet services such as Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Sports, Blockbuster® and eBay® that viewers have customized for use in their daily lives.

“TV will fundamentally change how we talk about, imagine and experience the Internet,” said Eric Kim, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the company’s Digital Home Group. “No longer just a passive experience unless the viewer wants it that way, Intel and Yahoo! are proposing a way where the TV and Internet are as interactive, and seamless, as possible. Our close work has produced an exciting application framework upon which the industry can collaborate, innovate and differentiate. This effort is one of what we believe will be many exciting new ways to bring the Internet to the TV, and it really shows the potential of what consumers can look forward to.”

“On the PC and mobile devices, Yahoo! is a leading starting point for millions of consumers around the world,” said Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo! Inc. “Yahoo! aims to extend this leadership to the emerging world of Internet-connected TV, which we call the Cinematic Internet™. By partnering with leaders like Intel, we plan to combine the Internet benefits of open user choice, community, and personalization with the performance and scale embodied in the Intel Architecture to transform traditional TV into something bigger, better and more exciting than ever before. By using the popular Yahoo! Widget Engine to power the Widget Channel, we intend to provide an opportunity for all developers and publishers to create new experiences that can reach millions of TV viewers globally. Yahoo! plans to enable the Cinematic Internet™ ecosystem, which will benefit consumers, device makers, advertisers and publishers.”

Widget Channel Framework and TV Widget Developers

Underlying the Widget Channel will be a powerful set of platform technologies, including the Yahoo! Widget Engine and core libraries that expose the powerful functions enabled by the Intel Architecture. The Widget Channel framework will use established Internet technologies to dramatically lower the barrier of entry for developing applications optimized for TV. To help create new TV Widgets for the Widget Channel, Intel and Yahoo! plan to make a development kit available to developers, including TV and other CE device makers, advertisers and publishers. The Widget Channel will also include a Widget Gallery, to which developers can publish their TV Widgets across multiple TV and related CE devices and through which consumers can view and select the TV Widgets they would like to use.

Intel and Yahoo! are working with a range of industry-leading companies that are planning on developing and deploying TV Widgets, including Blockbuster1, CBS Interactive1, CinemaNow1, Cinequest1, Comcast1, Disney-ABC Television Group1, eBay1, GE1, Group M1, Joost1, MTV1, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.1, Schematic1, Showtime1, Toshiba1 and Twitter1. These and other companies and individuals will be able to innovate, differentiate and deploy TV Widgets across multiple TV and related CE devices using the Widget Channel framework. Additional information on the Widget Channel framework and the Yahoo! Widget Engine can be found at www.intel.com/go/celink and http://connectedtv.yahoo.com/newsroom.

Intel Architecture

Intel Architecture (IA) is at the heart of millions of PC-, MID- and server-based Internet clients, which has helped enable the proliferation of Internet-based content and services while providing users with an uncompromised Internet experience. Accelerating the delivery of the Internet to the TV, Intel today extended performance, headroom and connectivity of IA into a new family of “purpose built” system-on-chip (SoC) media processors for Internet-connected CE devices, including optical media players, U.S. cable set-top-boxes, digital TVs and other connected audio visual products.

Intel’s first CE IA-based SoC, the Intel® Media Processor CE 3100 (formerly “Canmore”), is a highly integrated chip which includes a high-performance IA core and other functional I/O blocks to enable high definition video decode and viewing, home-theater-quality audio, 3-D graphics, and the fusion of the Internet and TV experiences. The Widget Channel software framework is designed to work with a new generation of Internet-connected CE devices based on Intel’s purpose built SoC. The hardware and software compatibility of IA also provides support for broadcast and Internet content.

Intel also plans to release the Intel Media Processor CE 3100-based hardware development system called the “Innovation Platform” which will provide the initial development and validation environment for developers of TV Widgets on the Widget Channel.

An Open Framework

Finally, Intel and Yahoo! are working with industry members to promote the development of open and consistent standards necessary to grow the TV Widget ecosystem. As part of their efforts, the companies are sharing an early version of a development kit for the Widget Channel with selected TV Widget developers now.

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

Chain Reaction Ecommerce Releases CRE Loaded Version 6.3

2008-08-21T09:46:00-04:00

Atlanta, GA (Gawkwire.com) Chain Reaction Ecommerce, Inc. (CRE), a leading provider of open source ecommerce technology and services, today announced a new version of its popular ecommerce shopping cart software, CRE Loaded. CRE Loaded 6.3 Standard and Professional versions are now available for download at http://www.creloaded.com.

CRE Loaded 6.3 adds new features and updates to its open source ecommerce system, including a redesigned administrative interface that promises to make it easier for all users to manage their online storefronts and shopping cart systems. The administrative interface has been redesigned for easier navigation, as well as improved product and page creation.

"Version 6.3 is a milestone release for CRE," said Michael Valverde, CEO of Chain Reaction Ecommerce. "This release features the most significant round of updates and enhancements - driven by ongoing feedback from our large install base and open source community. We believe customers will be very excited about the new features and expanded capabilities found in CRE Loaded 6.3."

New features and enhancements found in version CRE Loaded 6.3 include the following (some features are limited to the Professional Edition):

Content Director:
Content Director adds a powerful content management system to CRE Loaded 6.3, enabling store owners to dramatically improve the look and feel of their ecommerce storefront and content pages, and allowing store owners to add and manage rich content. The advanced page-management features in Content Director make it possible for users to build an entire Web store in one tool, with easy menus and full-search capabilities. Content Director also helps store owners to improve page rankings with integrated search engine optimization features.

SEO URL 4.1:
The SEO URL feature of CRE Loaded 6.3 optimizes your URLs for improved indexing by all major search engines. SEO URL automatically places important keywords - derived from your category, product database and other content - directly into your URLs. Management of keywords at the URL level is a significant factor affecting the optimization and ranking of your pages within search engines.

One-Page Checkout:
One-Page Checkout is one of the most-requested features from existing customers to be addressed in version 6.3. One-Page Checkout combines all checkout elements into a single-page, giving your customers added simplicity and ease-of-use - a factor also shown to significantly reduce shopping cart abandonment rates.

Abandoned Cart Recovery:
The CRE Loaded Recover Abandoned Carts Module finds abandoned CRE Loaded shopping carts and creates a list of items and the customers who were shopping for them. You can generate automatic emails to abandons, asking them for feedback about why they didn't complete the process, or offering them an incentive to complete the purchase and reminding them of the item(s) they didn't purchase. Abandoned Cart Recovery includes a reporting feature to report on data, such as number of abandoned carts converted into sales.

RCI Expansion:
Runtime Code Inclusion (RCI) allows custom modifications and additions to be used with the base program code, with less likelihood of the customizations being overwritten by future patches/updates to the CRE Loaded core code. In version 6.3 the RCI functionality is expanded further than ever before.

These are only a few of the features and improvements found in CRE Loaded 6.3, for a detailed list of CRE Loaded 6.3 features, please read the release notes here.

"You can't just put up an online store and hope for the best and expect to be successful," adds Valverde. "That's part of the reason we added enhanced content management and search engine optimization features to our latest version. We want to empower customers to manage their online stores for high-performance, providing them with all the tools and guidance they need to be successful."

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/chain_reaction_ecommerce_releases_cre_loaded_version_6_3.html

Microsoft Eases Path to Virtualization

2008-08-19T07:02:00-04:00

Get Virtual Now Web site

REDMOND, Wash. (Gawkwire.com) New licensing, expanded product support policies and a worldwide series of events from Microsoft Corp. help business customers create more dynamic datacenters and enterprise IT systems with virtualization software. Beginning Sept. 1, 2008, customers will be able to move any of 41 Microsoft server applications between servers within a server farm as often as necessary without paying additional licensing fees, and they can take advantage of expanded specialized technical support.

“Businesses are taking steps to make their IT operations more dynamic and are delving into virtualization as a cornerstone strategy,” said Zane Adam, senior director of integrated virtualization in the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft. “Microsoft recognizes this and is innovating its licensing policies, product support and a wide range of IT solutions to help customers get virtual now.”

To highlight the recent innovations in virtualization, Microsoft also will begin a worldwide series of “Get Virtual Now” events this month that will showcase Microsoft virtualization products and partner solutions, reaching more than 250,000 IT professionals.

New Licensing Flexibility

Microsoft is updating its software licensing terms for 41 server applications, including Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise edition, Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 Standard and Enterprise editions, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Enterprise and Professional editions, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, and Microsoft System Center products. With the new terms, the company is waiving its previous 90-day reassignment rule, allowing customers to reassign licenses from one server to another within a server farm as frequently as needed. For many customers, the change will reduce the number of licenses they need to support their IT systems, increase agility, and simplify the tracking of application instances or processors because customers now can count licenses by server farm instead of by server.

“IDC research is finding that the use of server virtualization is moving past the early adopter stage and is quickly becoming a mainstream solution,” said Al Gillen, research vice president for system software at IDC. “As IT professionals update their standard server images for new installations, they are increasingly integrating virtualization to simplify deployments, to increase the system flexibility, boost usage rates and increase portability of the applications. With this latest update to its licensing rules, Microsoft is knocking down barriers to virtualized deployments, which should help further accelerate the adoption rates.”

Expanded Technical Support

Microsoft has updated its technical support policy for 31 server applications so that customers can receive technical support when deploying those applications on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Microsoft Hyper-V Server or any other third-party validated virtualization platform. Now customers can get the same level of product support in a virtualized environment that they are accustomed to with nonvirtual environments. More information is available at http://support.microsoft.com.

To enable this support policy, Microsoft launched the Server Virtualization Validation Program in June 2008. The program is open to any software vendor to test and validate its virtualization software to run Windows Server 2008 and previous versions of Windows Server. To date, Cisco Systems Inc., Citrix Systems Inc., Novell Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc. and Virtual Iron Software Inc. are participating in the program.

“Technical support of virtualized images is an industrywide challenge,” said Roger Levy, senior vice president and general manager of open platform solutions at Novell. “Novell and Microsoft continue to collaborate to optimize bidirectional virtualization between Windows Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise with Xen. Microsoft’s Server Virtualization Validation Program provides customers with additional peace of mind when they run Windows as a guest in a validated environment such as SUSE Linux Enterprise.”

Microsoft Worldwide Events Help Customers Get Virtual Now

This month, Microsoft begins a worldwide series of events designed to educate more than 250,000 IT professionals on Microsoft virtualization products, deployment tools and partner solutions. The series of more than 100 events started Aug. 3 in South Africa, continues Sept. 8 with a U.S. kickoff event and eventually will cover more than 50 other countries. The U.S. “Get Virtual Now” event will feature Microsoft executives Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Server and Tools Business; Kevin Turner, chief operating officer; and Bob Kelly, corporate vice president of infrastructure server marketing within the Server and Tools Business. More than 40 sponsoring partners will be in attendance, including Platinum sponsors Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Citrix Systems, Compellent Technologies Inc., Dell Inc., Hitachi Data Systems Corp., HP, IBM Corp., Intel Corporation, Juniper Networks Inc., NetApp, Novell and Sun Microsystems. More information about the events and registration is available at https://www.getvirtualnow.com.

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/new_microsoft_licensing_and_support_eases_path_to_virtualization.html

Apple adds HyperOffice to iPhone App Store

2008-08-20T13:00:00-04:00

Rockville, MD (Gawkwire.com) HyperOffice is now available by download from Apple's new App Store, putting the business collaboration suite within easy reach of any iPhone user.

HyperOffice transforms the iPhone into a tool for mobile business. Users connect to secure corporate email, contacts, calendars, tasks and notes - and share documents and data without Microsoft Exchange and Sharepoint.

The award-winning webware makes it easier for owners, employees, clients, partners and suppliers of growing businesses to collaborate, communicate, plan projects, share documents, schedule meetings and tasks, and manage information, anytime, from work, from home, while traveling.

Click here to download HyperOffice from the App Store: http://www.apple.com/webapps/productivity/hyperofficemobilebusinesscollaboration.html

"This is not emailing files back and forth as attachments. Instead, you're managing and sharing documents with online storage, version control, user rights and change notification," said Farzin Arsanjani, president of HyperOffice.

HyperOffice enables iPhone users to share group and project calendars with team members and clients who also use Outlook and HyperOffice. Users may also retrieve; share and update address books, projects and tasks, and manage documents with online storage, versioning, user rights and commenting. HyperOffice also provides discussion groups, security and backup; and business-class email without spam and viruses.

Plus, if you're working on a Mac or PC, HyperOffice also offers web conferencing, Exchange and Sharepoint functionality, Outlook sync, Intranet/Extranet page and portal builders, time and expense tracking, and an online database application.

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

The Planet Returns Popular Double Down, Triple Play Promotions

2008-08-20T08:00:00-04:00

HOUSTON, TX (Gawkwire.com) The Planet, the global leader in IT hosting, today launched new promotions that offer discounts on a broad array of dedicated servers and new technologies. Leading the promotional lineup are two of the company’s most popular options: Double Down and Triple Play. Beginning today, customers can double RAM, hard drive disk space or bandwidth at no additional cost on new server orders. Or, they can triple their performance by doubling RAM, hard disk space and bandwidth for a nominal $47 per month.

The company also unveiled new low pricing on select servers. The Xeon 3210 SAS – regularly priced at $249 per month – is now $199, a savings of 20 percent. The Xeon 3210 SATA is now $179 per month, down from $199. Additionally, The Planet is offering the Dual Xeon 2.4 SCSI for $115 per month, a 47 percent discount and its lowest-ever listed price from The Planet. The offer includes free setup, a $25 value.

The Planet is offering a free fifth server for customers who purchase four servers in a Dedicated Private Rack, a complex hosting solution with customizable options for bandwidth, networking and advanced hosting technologies such as load balancers and firewalls. Customers can also receive free setup – a savings of up to $1,000 – when they add a load balancer to any Private Rack or Virtual Private Rack order.

“As customers begin to ramp up their businesses for the fall, these new promotions offer something for everyone, from low single-server pricing to discounts on our advanced Private Rack solution,” said Urvish Vashi, The Planet’s general manager for dedicated hosting. “Along with the quality of our network and data centers, these promotions mean that businesses can gain a significant competitive advantage by outsourcing their IT infrastructure with The Planet.”

The above offers are good through Aug. 31, 2008, or while limited promotional supplies last. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.theplanet.com/dedicated-servers/server-specials.

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

Hostway Announces ''The .Pro Red Carpet VIP Affair'' Domain Reservation Period

2008-08-20T09:50:00-04:00

Chicago, Illinois (Gawkwire.com) Hostway Corporation, the global Web solutions leader, announced it is now taking reservations for the .Pro TLD through August 31, 2008.

Hostway's wholly owned subsidiary, RegistryPro, is the exclusive Internet registry for .Pro, a TLD for licensed professionals and entities. RegistryPro's mandate has long been to enable professionals to distinguish themselves on the Internet by using the .Pro extension. Originally .Pro registration was restricted to a limited group of professionals in specific countries. Under ICANN's new guidelines, the TLD is effectively available to all professionals, all over the world.

"When RegistryPro announced in May that ICANN had dramatically expanded the scope of the .Pro TLD - and relaxed the limitations surrounding its use - Hostway was eager to be among the first to promote the relaunch," stated Lyza Latham, director of marketing for Hostway. ".Pro is now a must-have TLD for any professional individual or organization seeking to reinforce their image and legitimacy."

"Because the registration process was previously so strictly controlled, there are literally millions of .Pro names currently available," continued Latham. "While professionals will still be required to self-certify their credentials, the process is significantly streamlined." For more information about certification, refer to Hostway's .Pro FAQs.

Through August 31, The .Pro Red Carpet VIP Affair will allow customers to reserve their .Pro domain in advance of the relaunch for the price of $49.95 per year. On September 8, Hostway will officially open registration and all reserved names will become active.

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

Google's Tim Armstrong, "Click" Author Bill Tancer Keynoting

2008-08-20T09:45:00-04:00

Redding, CT (Gawkwire.com) The organizers of Search Marketing Expo - SMX East announced that Google's Tim Armstrong and "Click" author Bill Tancer will keynote the October 6-8 event.

Tim Armstrong is President, Advertising and Commerce, North America, and a corporate Vice President at Google. Armstrong is responsible for paid search sales and sales operations.

Bill Tancer has just authored "Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why It Matters." Bill will be discussing the significant findings from "Click" and what they mean to search marketers. Tancer writes extensively about online user behavior, including a weekly column for Time magazine, and is General Manager of Global Research at Hitwise.

"These keynotes are an exceptional opportunity for search marketers to understand where our industry is headed," SMX East Conference Chair Danny Sullivan said. "Tim is a Google veteran who helped build Google into the advertising powerhouse it is today, plus he's fought the battles to help search advertising gain acceptance. Bill as a self-avowed 'data geek' is always entertaining when he shares what we can learn about ourselves from how we search. We're fortunate and pleased to have both participating," he added.

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

Computer Security Educator Launches New eLearning Portal

2008-08-20T08:35:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) MICE Training and Education (http://mice.org) is marking a decade in business with a message that could not be more timely. Computer security and identity theft expert Debbie Mahler wants to prove to people "The information you didn't know, you needed to know."

To celebrate ten years in business, MICE is opening a new eLearning Portal and offering a discount on their signature training package. To emphasize their mission, MICE recently changed the last part of their name from Technology to Education (http://mice.org/celebrate/).

Mahler is an anti-malware activist and a natural born teacher. With first hand experience of the devastating effects malicious software can have on a machine and on a business, she is only too aware that the problem is getting worse. She lives to impart this vital information to others so they can protect themselves before it is too late.

"Last year a staggering 21 percent of malware attacks were unleashed with no known anti-virus protection," Mahler said. "That means fully one-fifth of the time, users were 100 percent vulnerable. There is no foolproof tool that can keep people safe. Knowledge is the only protection."

MICE Training and Education offers complete computer security education, grounded in Mahler's own lifelong love of technology. Their Essential 3 consists of a trio of courses aimed at ensuring users achieve an intermediate understanding of computer security and identity theft issues. Her advanced class, "Hack Your Way to Security" will be offered in the very near future. Register now and for a limited time get 50 percent off the everyday price.

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

GraphOn Files Lawsuit against Google

2008-08-19T13:00:00-04:00

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (Gawkwire.com) GraphOn Corporation (OTCBB: GOJO), a leading worldwide developer of server-based application publishing and Web-enabling software solutions, announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) alleging infringement of four GraphOn patents.

The complaint, filed in United States District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, alleges infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,324,538 (the ‘538 patent), 6,850,940 (the ‘940 patent), 7,028,034 (the ‘034 patent) and 7,269,591 (the ‘591 patent) which protect GraphOn’s unique method of maintaining an automated and network-accessible database. The suit alleges that Google’s Base, AdWords, Blogger, Sites and YouTube online services infringe the GraphOn patents. The suit seeks permanent injunctive relief along with unspecified damages.

This lawsuit follows the filing of a lawsuit against AutoTrader.com, Inc. in November 2005 claiming infringement of the ‘538 and ‘940 patents, the filing of a lawsuit against Juniper Networks in August 2007 claiming infringement of GraphOn patents which protect GraphOn’s fundamental network security and firewall technologies, and the March 2008 filing of a lawsuit against Classified Ventures, LLC, IAC/InterActiveCorp, Match.com, LLC, Yahoo! Inc., eHarmony.com, and CareerBuilder, LLC alleging infringement of the four patents included in the Google lawsuit. In January 2008 GraphOn announced a license agreement and the end of its legal dispute with AutoTrader.com.

GraphOn obtained the ‘538 and ‘940 patents and the applications that resulted in the ‘034 and ‘591 patents as part of its acquisition of Network Engineering Software, Inc. (NES) in February 2005. In addition to the subject patents, GraphOn acquired intellectual property, other patents, and other patent applications resulting from more than ten years of development effort by NES.

“The number of patents now owned by GraphOn as a result of the NES acquisition has increased to twenty-three, a number that is expected to continue to increase as patent applications on file at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office mature into issued patents,” said Robert Dilworth, GraphOn’s chief executive officer. “Aggressively protecting the technology represented in these patents is an important part of maximizing their value to GraphOn.”

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

WebTrends Appoints New CEO

2008-08-19T13:00:00-04:00

PORTLAND, Ore. (Gawkwire.com) The Board of Directors of WebTrends Inc. today announced the immediate appointment of Alex Yoder as the company's new president and chief executive officer following the resignation of Dan Stickel. Yoder was also appointed to the company's Board of Directors.

In naming Yoder as CEO, the board turned to a WebTrends insider with seven years of experience at the company, and who most recently led WebTrends to its most successful quarter in history as its vice president of sales. He also has been one of the key executives leading the company's long-term strategic planning, and has over 20 years of global business experience.

Commenting on the management change, board member Neil Garfinkel of Francisco Partners said: "Alex has a proven track record and has demonstrated clear leadership at the company over the years, helping to form our strategic vision and drive customer success. He’s the right person to lead WebTrends business forward.”

Yoder joined WebTrends in 2000 and has served in various management capacities in the sales organization. From 2007-2008, Yoder was the vice president of sales at Touch Clarity, a behavioral targeting company, before leaving to rejoin WebTrends as vice president of sales.

"I've spent seven of the last eight years focused on expanding the WebTrends brand and delivering business value to our customers,” said Yoder. “I'm excited to partner with other WebTrends leaders such as Nick Sharp, vice president and general manager WebTrends EMEA, to achieve our next phase of growth and become the clear worldwide leader in marketing optimization solutions. We will achieve this with an unwavering commitment to product innovation, by delivering valuable and compelling solutions to our customers and by building strong relationships with our partners."

WebTrends recently announced its highest revenue quarter in the company’s history, and tomorrow will unveil its new search engine marketing optimization solution—WebTrends Ad Director™.

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

GoGrid, Now Offers Windows Server 2008 in the Cloud

2008-08-19T01:43:00-04:00

San Francisco, CA (Gawkwire.com) GoGrid (http://www.GoGrid.com), the leading service provider of Windows and Linux cloud-based server hosting, announced today the immediate availability of 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Server 2008 within its Cloud Computing infrastructure. Parent company ServePath is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, and launched Windows Server 2008 dedicated hosting in February of this year.

With this release, GoGrid becomes one of the first Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) providers to offer Windows Server 2008 "in the cloud." The new Windows Server 2008 operating system from Microsoft sets new benchmarks for server stability, manageability, and security; therefore, interest from Windows Server customers wanting to try it out has been high. GoGrid customers can now deploy Windows Server 2008 servers in just a few minutes for as little as 19 cents an hour, with no commitment.

GoGrid is the Cloud Computing service that enables system administrators to quickly and easily create, deploy, load-balance and manage Windows and Linux cloud servers within minutes. GoGrid offers true "Control in the Cloud™" with its unique web-based, Graphical User Interface (GUI) which allows for "point and click" deployment of complex and flexible network infrastructures, which include load balancing and multiple web and database servers, all set up with icons through the GUI.

Initial Windows Server 2008 offerings on GoGrid include both 32-bit and 64-bit preconfigured templates. GoGrid users select the desired operating system and then choose preconfigured templates in order to minimize time to deploy. Pre-configurations include:

* Windows Server 2008 Standard with Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS 7)
* Windows Server 2008 Standard with IIS 7 and SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
* Windows Server 2008 Standard with IIS 7, SQL Server 2005 Express Edition and ASP.NET

Windows Server 2008 Standard includes Terminal Services Gateway, Remote Desktop Client for Terminal Services, Application Server, Active Directory Domain Services, DHCP Server, DNS Server, and SMTP. To learn more about Windows Server 2008, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/default.aspx

"The ability to deploy and manage critical infrastructure systems in the Cloud is becoming increasingly important to customers," said Jason Hermitage, director of Windows Server marketing at Microsoft Corp. "We're excited that with Windows Server 2008 offered on GoGrid, customers will be able to run our most powerful enterprise server software in the Cloud and take advantage of the increased security, reliability and ease of management that Windows Server 2008 can bring."

GoGrid continues to offer Cloud servers for Windows Server 2003 as well as various Linux distributions and will continue to expand GoGrid's "Control in the Cloud™" offerings in the future.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/gogrid_now_offers_windows_server_2008_in_the_cloud.html

Spammers spread 1.55m Spam Emails From School

2008-08-19T09:58:00-04:00

Otago, New Zealend (Gawkwire.com) Over a recent teo-and-a-half days, a reported 1.55 million spam emails were sent out by hackers who gained access to staff members accounts at New Zealand's University of Otago.

Reporters from the Otago Daily Times say that the spammers, impersonating officials from the university, tricked at least four staff memebers into giving them important login information. The information was then used to send out the spam emails.

An official from the University of Otago released a statement on Friday announcing, "The university is currently experiencing access and delivery issues with Stonebow webmail. A number of Stonebow accounts have been compromised by staff members responding to a phishing email. These accounts have been used to distribute spam. This has resulted in the university mail server being blacklisted by a number of providers."

The school however still has a lot of work ahead of them in the upcoming days, even though the compromised accounts have been deleted.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/spammers_spread_1_55m_spam_emails_from_school.html

MobileMe Phishing Scam Catches Hundreds of Customers

2008-08-18T13:00:00-04:00

Investigators have found that some 100 to 200 people have fallen victim to a MobileMe scam that was started earlier last week. CardCops, an identity protection group used automated bots to help the investigators uncover the scam on a server used by scammers to store data.

Sources say,"We found 20 different files parked on the server, each file with two or three or four, up to 20, profiles," CardCops president Dan Clements told Computerworld. "Cumulatively, there were about 300 profiles collected in that one day. And 100 to 200 were mac.com addresses."

The MobileMe scam was figured out piece-by-piece after officials contacted those who had fallen for the attacks. Since it's release, MobileMe has continued to have endless problems. As users have become accustomed to the problems, many never hesitated to click through the phishing email that claimed there had been a problem with the users MobileMe payment.

The phishing occurs at the bottom of the official-looking webpage where it reads,""We were unable to process your most recent payment. Did you recently change your bank, phone number or credit card?"

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

Online Advertising Analytics Company to Present at Search Engine Strategies

2008-08-18T23:35:00-04:00

Columbus, OH (Gawkwire.com) ClearSaleing Inc. (http://www.clearsaleing.com), an online advertising analytics and technology company, has announced that Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer Adam Goldberg will be presenting on attribution management at the Search Engine Strategies Conference 2008 in San Jose, CA.

For his presentation at SES San Jose, Goldberg will address the topic of attribution management, but first will discuss the importance for B2Bs to evaluate leads with a tracking technology that implements with their back office, so they can track the amount of profit each of their keywords and ads produce. Once these areas have been addressed, then they can address attribution management. Goldberg will touch on the importance of being able to properly value each of the online ads that are used to produce a conversion. While most online marketers give the entire sale credit to the last ad clicked, there often is a team of online ads that a user clicks through before making a purchase. Without the technology to track this data, online marketers are at a loss as to how to properly value each of their ads and allocate budget.

"Attribution management is the hottest topic in the world of online marketing today," Goldberg said. "However, before companies can even think about attribution, they need to first implement a tracking technology that allows them to track both online and offline sales, and have the ability to track the Purchase Path™, which is all of the ads that lead to the purchase versus the last ad clicked."

Goldberg, a former Google executive, experienced firsthand the overwhelming challenges that online advertisers face in terms of managing, analyzing and optimizing their paid search ad campaigns. Goldberg realized that technology could solve many of the challenges that search engine marketers were facing. He decided to take his ideas and start a business named ClearSaleing, Inc. Goldberg, along with his partners, raised financing and developed a technology that is used by several Fortune 500 companies, as well as over a dozen members of the Internet Retailer 500.

SES San Jose will be held August 18-22 at the San Jose Convention Center. Goldberg will be presenting at 4pm on Tuesday, August 19 and will also teach a training session on Friday, August 22 from 1-5pm, entitled "Marketing Metrics and Myths", which focuses on the misleading metrics that online marketers commonly face and how to dispel these myths to ensure the metrics being used ensure the desired results.

Search Engine Strategies is an educational event that features presentations and panel discussions covering the search engine marketing industry.

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

Microsoft Names Vice President of Queue Associates Inc

2008-08-18T09:33:00-04:00

New York, NY (Gawkwire.com) Toni Savage, Vice President of New York City based Microsoft partner Queue Associates, has been named as the Microsoft Dynamics Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for Microsoft Dynamics SL business solutions.

Microsoft MVPs are a highly select group of experts representing technology's best and brightest who share a deep commitment to community and a willingness to help others. Ms. Savage is receiving this prestigious recognition for the third consecutive year, as she continues to share her vast knowledge of the Microsoft Dynamics SL solution. Worldwide, there are over 100 million participants in technical communities; of these participants, there are fewer than 4,000 active Microsoft MVPs. Toni has been selected as one of only three Microsoft Dynamics SL MVP's worldwide.

Microsoft MVPs have earned users' respect and trust by sharing their expert opinions and experiences. Technical community members, current MVPs and Microsoft personnel nominate candidates; a panel comprising MVP team members and product group teams then evaluates them. Technical expertise and voluntary community contributions during the past year are among the criteria used in this rigorous selection process.

"I am honored to have been selected for yet a third year as an MVP," said Ms. Savage of Queue Associates. "I hope to be able to continue to share my knowledge with the Dynamics SL community."

"We are truly honored that Microsoft and her peers have recognized Toni's contributions to the Microsoft Dynamics Community," said Jeff Goldstein, President of Queue Associates, said, "Toni is a huge asset to our team."

Ms. Savage has specialized in corporate accounting solutions for 31 years. She is the founder of TS Systems, Inc., the largest and one of the first Value Added Resellers of Solomon Software in the country, and served as its President prior to joining Queue Associates. She came to Queue with more than 18 years of experience in microcomputer accounting system installation, training and customer service. She is a frequent contributor to industry publications and has authored articles for Smart Reseller magazine and PlanetIT.com. Ms. Savage holds a BS from Barnard College of Columbia University and a Management Accounting Certificate from NYU. She attended various offsite business courses at the Wharton School of Business and holds a wide range of Dynamics SL certifications. She has been an Officer at Queue since 1996.

Queue Associates, Inc. is a full service information technology consulting firm, focused on providing Microsoft-based solutions to various sized organizations. These interconnected solutions include accounting and finance, project accounting, financial reporting, internet-enabled enterprise resource planning (ERP), sales force automation, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Queue provides a full range of services including installation, implementation and training, customization, and ongoing technical support to clients. Queue's uniquely thorough Business Process Review, conducted by CPA's and MBA's, ensures that recommended solutions meet clients' current and long-term requirements.

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

Consumer Online Behavior is Changing

2008-08-17T13:24:00-04:00

London, UK (Gawkwire.com) Brands that fail to embrace and engage in online consumer dialogues are set be amongst those most severely affected by the expected economic downturn.

Released today, research conducted by E-consultancy, Logan Tod and immediate future, reveals that 64% of respondents will reduce their spending generally in view of the deteriorating economic climate. However, 56% said that their online spending will either not be affected, or would actually increase.

The survey shows that with increasing fears surrounding the credit crunch, falling house prices and worsening economic conditions, consumers are turning online to find both the best available prices and advice.

Online retail has seen a continual growth in 2008, with online spend up 38% on the first half of 2007, now accounting for 17p of every pound spent in the UK*. A large proportion of consumers are turning to comparison engines and user reviews before taking the final purchase decision. 62% of respondents said that they are now more likely to consult reviews written by other web shoppers before buying.

Whilst women are more inclined to reduce overall spending during the economic downturn, they are also more likely to consult online reviews than men (64% compared to 58%).

Katy Howell, MD of social media specialist immediate future, comments "The research clearly highlights the importance of online interaction between consumers when faced with purchasing decisions. Whether it is with blogs, comparison sites, or user reviews, brands need to understand and engage with social media to survive the expected economic downturn."

When comparing the different age groups, it is the 'silver surfers' (aged 55 and over), many of whom have paid off mortgages or enjoy higher disposable income, who are the least concerned about the economic situation (43% said that the economy would not affect their spending), followed by the 16-24 age bracket (37% wouldn't change their spending levels).

Matthew Tod, Logan Tod CEO, explains "It is clear from this research that online strategies will have to become far more sophisticated to weather the economic slowdown. A one size fits all strategy will no longer be the most effective and online retailers will have to start to segment their audience and match their marketing activity to each group"

For more information please visit http://www.e-consultancy.com/publications/Online-shopping-and-credit-crunch-survey-report/

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

Twitter shuts down SMS in all but 3 countries. What next?!

2008-08-15T13:00:00-04:00

Yes, you read it right. If you don’t live in US, Canada or India, no more SMS updates for you! We know it’s horrible but true, as apparently it costs $1000 per user per year to Twitter for SMS costs. Instead of monetizing Twitter and providing better services to its users, we are seeing the demise of a quality feature.

The reason why US, Canada and India will continue to get updates is because Twitter has good relations with the cellular operators in those countries and it doesn’t cost them anything to provide SMS services to those users. This makes one wonder, where the funding went? There certainly hasn’t been any new feature or improvement in Twitter over the past time ( except if you call the reduced downtimes an improvement ). A lot of other services also used Twitter’s API to send text alerts to Twitter, so RememberTheMilk doesn’t look that attractive suddenly. ...Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/twitter_shuts_down_sms_in_all_but_3_countries_what_next.html

Smart Home Automation Interface for iPhone & iPod Touch

2008-08-15T23:40:00-04:00

Melbourne, Australia (Gawkwire.com) CommandFusion, an Australian-based company, has announced the release of it's first home automation control application, iViewer for iPhone and iPod Touch. The iViewer application renders a fully customizable user interface, designed using the CommandFusion guiDesigner software for Windows. This allows system integrators to create interfaces that look good enough to eat right of the gorgeous iPhone's 3.5" widescreen.

With iViewer, home automation owners can control their lighting, temperature, curtains, AV equipment, security and much more, from anywhere in their house, or anywhere in the world, all on their iPhone or iPod Touch. Full two-way feedback allows not only control of devices, but also reading back system status such as security events, all wirelessly. A Web version of the interface working in any Flash™-enabled Web browser will also be available soon.

CF iViewer is available exclusively from Apple's AppStore free of charge. Simply download the application to your iPhone, have your system programmer integrate the device into your home automation system, and enjoy.

Jarrod Bell, Director and Lead Developer of the company, says the application and it's supporting software have been in development for over a year now, and it really hitting the mark with beta testers.

"It's amazing how quickly and easily an effective interface design can be created with our guiDesigner software," Bell says. "The result is a system that owners will love to use, and so will all their friends!" The guiDesigner software is available as a free download. A video demo of the guiDesigner in action can be found at www.commandfusion.com.

Bell says the iViewer application uses a simple communication protocol that can easily be adapted for use in any IP-enabled automation systems, such as Crestron, AMX and Control4. "We have even created a simple proof-of-concept Windows application that acts as a server for relaying commands and feedback with Winamp, allowing iViewer to control the full functionality of Winamp without any automation system hardware," Bell says. "iViewer really opens the doors for iPhone interfacing with IP-enabled hardware and software, without the need to spend time and money developing a purpose-built iPhone application."

Any developers interested in creating an iPhone interface for their hardware or software, complete with fully customizable user interface should contact CommandFusion via www.commandfusion.com.

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

Server Intellect Unveils New Website with Dedicated Server Configuration Tool

2008-08-14T13:00:00-04:00

Orlando, FL (Gawkwire.com) Server Intellect (http://www.serverintellect.com), a leading provider of advanced Windowsâ€based Shared, Virtual Private Server (VPS), Dedicated and Enterprise web hosting solutions, today unveiled their new and improved website, which includes a number of new and exciting features.

The new site is the result of months of development by a team of dedicated developers at Server Intellect.

This new website better reflects our long-term goals of providing enterprise class solutions to small and medium sized businesses worldwide. I am confident that customers will find this new site to be a great asset in their quest for a true IT Solutions Partner
http://www.serverintellect.com was designed with a new clean look and feel. The layout and functionality was designed after deep analysis of customer website interaction and feedback.

One of the most touted features of the new site is the Dedicated Server Configuration Tool. This option gives clients and prospective clients the ability to custom configure their new dedicated server online by selecting from over 40 base server configurations and customizing the memory, hard drives, ports and more. Clients will receive an instant PDF quote which can be viewed or emailed to one or more people. Additionally, the quote is stored online and can be retrieved from the Server Intellect website for up to thirty days making the ordering process simple for those that need to align logistics before ordering.

Along with the new Dedicated Server Configuration Tool, one of the biggest new benefits is the site search feature which allows clients and prospective clients to search for information with ease. The new search functionality will enable visitors to quickly narrow down and access specific information.

Eric Pratt, CEO of Server Intellect says, "This new website better reflects our long-term goals of providing enterprise class solutions to small and medium sized businesses worldwide. I am confident that customers will find this new site to be a great asset in their quest for a true IT Solutions Partner".

Server Intellect provides a wide array of options for small to medium sized businesses. The options range from basic web hosting services and dedicated server packages to sophisticated enterprise solutions encompassing multi-server load balanced configurations. All of the options are explained in detail on the site, allowing visitors to make better informed decisions.

To learn more about the Server Intellect and to view the new website, please visit:
http://www.serverintellect.com.

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

SEO Made Simple, Reveals Proven Methods for Achieving #1 Google Rankings

2008-08-14T13:00:00-04:00

Robbinsville, NJ (Gawkwire.com) Michael H. Fleischner, President and Founder of MarketingScoop.com, announces the publication of SEO Made Simple: Strategies for Dominating the World's Largest Search Engine. Now available on Amazon.com.

One of the biggest challenges facing businesses today, both large and small, is their ability to achieve top rankings for their websites. SEO Made Simple answers this challenge by explaining the challenges associated with achieving top Google placements and providing proven methods for overcoming these obstacles in simple, easily understood terms. Its author, Michael H. Fleischner, has determined the most valuable techniques for improving search engine rankings on Google for virtually any website for even the most competitive keywords.

SEO Made Simple: Strategies for Dominating the World's Largest Search Engine is an important resource for anyone attempting to improve their search engine rankings on Google and other major search engines. The book provides unique insight into the most powerful methods for enhancing a website's layout, content, and the factors most important to search engine ranking results. Readers are offered a fascinating look inside the techniques used by top webmasters to achieve search engine dominance.

Michael Fleischner of MarketingScoop.com says, "What makes this book so valuable is the practical, easy-to-follow techniques that readers can begin applying immediately to improve their website's rankings on Google. It's like providing the precise combination needed to unlock the mystery of search engine optimization and the Google search engine."

SEO Made Simple is for anyone doing business online, especially small business owners and webmasters. This practical guide is ideal for those seeking basic search engine enlightenment as well as those in search of advanced techniques to take their search engine optimization to the next level. Although these SEO techniques are ideal for Google optimization, many apply to other leading search engines such as Yahoo! and MSN.

Michael Fleischner is an Internet marketing expert with more than 13 years of experience implementing successful search engine optimization initiatives and founder of http://www.marketingscoop.com. He has worked in the public sector and now speaks internationally to audiences on marketing, search engine optimization, and online marketing. He is the founder of MarketingScoop.com and blogs at The Marketing Blog (http://marketing-expert.blogspot.com) and Good Marketing Tips Blog.

SEO Made Simple: Strategies for Dominating the World's Largest Search Engine, (Published July, 2008. ISBN: 978-0615178639. $24.95) is available at MySEOMadeSimple.com (Lightning Source and Amazon.com).

http://www.gawkwire.com/reviews/seo_made_simple_reveals_proven_methods_for_achieving_1_google_ra.html

Marketing Automation for the Small Business Budget

2008-08-14T09:54:00-04:00

Englewood, CO (Gawkwire.com) Swiftpage, a leading integrated email marketing and sales force automation solution announces a new marketing automation service called Swiftpage Drip Marketing that brings enterprise level automation functionality to the small business marketplace at an affordable rate.

Swiftpage Drip Marketing blends simple functionality, like the ability to automatically send a sequence of marketing messages to the correct target list in your database, with intelligent technology that will send different messages to contacts based on their previous actions. For example, send a postcard to those that did not open the previous email - automatically!

"We opened our ears and listened to thousands of our email marketing customers ask us to remove the manual steps from their current marketing and sales processes. We looked at those pieces and built Drip Marketing to enable the small business manager with automation tools that were recently only available at the enterprise level," says Swiftpage CEO, Bob Ogdon. "By layering in our existing integrated email marketing and survey solutions into Drip Marketing we feel Swiftpage can close the loop and eliminate unneeded manual steps."

Simple functionality - Swiftpage Drip Marketing provides an extremely simple to use interface that allows a user to build entire marketing campaign in minutes. Create your campaign, define your targets and launch - Your marketing messages will automatically be delivered to the right contacts at the right time.

Sales and marketing processes on cruise control - Swiftpage Drip Marketing makes a full loop of the sales and marketing cycle starting from a form on your website. A visitor hits your website, they fill out a form for 'more information' (this is a Swiftpage survey form), upon hitting submit they are automatically sent an email thanking them for their request, automatically loaded into your database based on their responses in the form and automatically loaded into a Drip Marketing Campaign. With a simple request from your website that lead has been entered into your database and will automatically receive a series of marketing messages based on their response.

Intelligent Technology - Swiftpage Drip Marketing currently communicates with the ACT! by Sage and Sage SalesLogix database environments and can make decisions based on database field results. For example, as a lead becomes a prospect and ultimately becomes a customer, they can be delivered different messages based on their status in the database. As their status changes from lead to prospect, they will be transferred from the lead campaign to the prospect campaign automatically removing the need for manual sales and marketing cycle management.

Multiple Mediums - Swiftpage Drip Marketing is not meant just to send a number of emails out over time. While it can do this in its simplest form, multi-touch marketing is most effective when multiple mediums are used. Drip Marketing introduces Print, Fax, Postcards and call center at its Gold service level. Drip Marketing intelligently defines who should receive the message, creates a .csv file of those contacts and sends them to your print, postcard or fax provider. In the Call Center model, Drip Marketing intelligently defines who should receive a phone call, creates a .csv file and sends it to your call center with a Swiftpage survey. The Call center makes the call based on the survey questions, fills out the survey for each call and the data is written back into the database automatically.

Affordable for the Small Business Budget - Drip Marketing begins at $29.95 per month in addition to a current Swiftpage account. To learn more about Swiftpage Drip Marketing and all service levels go to www.swiftpage.com/dripmarketing.

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

P2PGSM Gets an Overhaul at the Hands of the Furious Team

2008-08-14T09:50:00-04:00

Hong Kong (Gawkwire.com) The Furious Team, designers of the award winning Furious Gold mobile phone unlocking software, proudly announced the 2008 release of their updated P2PGSM mobile phone file sharing solution.

After the failed launch of the original P2PGSM two years ago the Furious Team stepped up to the plate. The new P2PGSM was designed specifically to target and eliminate the complications that made the original P2PGSM too difficult to use while continuing to provide their clients with access to a huge database of software, graphics, ringtones, games and media files.

"(This is) the ultimate GSM file sharing site," says the P2PGSM team about P2PGSM.com.

The new P2PGSM is hosted on the Furious Team's US based core server, allowing users to upload and download their shared files quickly and easily without having to wait on a peer to peer connection. The server is capable of hosting over 20 Tera Bytes of software, flashfiles, ringtones, videos and unlocking software, providing its users with an almost limitless selection.

P2PGSM isn't only good for business at the Furious Team. Since the release of the new P2PGSM users have reported personal gains of 5 USD a day or more by integrating it into their personal marketing campaign. Users can use the site to promote their own personal banners and AdWords accounts, helping to grow both the P2PGSM network and their own profits without paying a penny in advertising costs.

"The key word is share, share, share!" says P2PGSM. "The more you upload hot new files, the more exposure you will give your banners and ads."

The site will also serve as a launch pad from which programmers and product support teams can base their support services, allowing them to quickly and easily share their support files with a huge network of clients, and allow artists to develop, sell and share ringtones, logos and other media.

Furious Team is a leader in mobile phone unlocking solutions, including Furious Gold (regular and Bling Bling edition), the FuriouSim, the latest in SIM card technology, and MTunlock, as well as a wide variety of custom designed software and hardware. P2PGSM.com and the upcoming new P2PGSM iPhone application mark the company's next steps in bringing mobile phone solutions to an international community of users.

For more information, visit www.P2PGSM.com

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/p2pgsm_gets_an_overhaul_at_the_hands_of_the_furious_team.html

Microsoft Live Search Signs on as Gold Sponsor at PubCon, Las Vegas 2008

2008-08-14T09:49:00-04:00

Austin, TX (Gawkwire.com) PubCon, the Search Engine & Internet Marketing Conference and Expo, has announced Microsoft Live Search signs up as a new Gold Sponsor at the Las Vegas Convention Center, North Halls, on November 11-14, 2008.

Brett Tabke, PubCon's Organizer, said, "Microsoft takes the search and Internet business very seriously, and we're delighted to have the opportunity to welcome Microsoft Live Search as Gold Sponsors to this year's event."

This year, Las Vegas PubCon 2008 has moved into the North Halls at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

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

The New Employee Connection: Social Networking

2008-08-11T04:26:00-04:00

Microsoft calls it TownSquare. Deloitte hosts D Street. IBM has its Beehive, and Best Buy its BlueShirt Nation.

No, it's not a real estate explosion. In industries from retail to high tech, banking and manufacturing, companies are increasingly building networks behind the firewall where employees can create profiles and connect with one another in ways first demonstrated by LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace.

"The whole Web 2.0 explosion has moved from the consumer and college student world to professionals in the business world," says Amy Shuen, author of Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide. (O'Reilly Media, 2008). "Employees are seeing this as a way of enlarging their sphere and interacting with colleagues." ...Go to source

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

IBM urges virtualization for datacenters

2008-08-13T13:00:00-04:00

Virtualization, SOA, and cloud computing are keys to accommodating the anticipated growth of datacenters in an energy-conscious environment, an IBM official stressed Monday.

In a keynote presentation and subsequent interview at the Share conference in San Jose, Calif., Helene Armitage, vice president of systems software development in the IBM systems and technology group, emphasized substantial growth projections for datacenters. She also noted concerns about whether the power grid can handle this growth. Industries such as medical imaging and financial services are experiencing rapid growth, Armitage said. ...Go to source

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

New Powerhouse for Trusted Email Delivery Created

2008-08-13T13:00:00-04:00

NEW YORK and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (Gawkwire.com) Two of the pioneers in email reputation management and deliverability services today joined forces to create a new company that can better address the needs of senders, receivers and consumers to ensure trusted email delivery despite growing online threats. Return Path, Inc., the largest email deliverability service provider, will acquire its closely held competitor, Habeas, Inc. The agreement creates a new, integrated email reputation management and deliverability services provider delivering a variety of comprehensive services to more than 1,500 clients globally.

Despite the hype around newer technologies, email continues to thrive as the most pervasive of all business communications tools. According to a May 2008 study by research firm Ipsos, more than 67 percent of consumers prefer email over other online vehicles and 65 percent believe this will continue to be the case in five years.

“Email is by far the most relied upon channel for business communications, and today’s news will help ensure the vitality of email for many years to come,” said Matt Blumberg, Chairman & CEO of Return Path. “Return Path pioneered email deliverability five years ago, just as Habeas pioneered the third-party whitelist. Now we can combine our complementary approaches to ensure trusted email delivery regardless of fraud, spam and virus challenges. Together, this accelerates our mission to keep the email ecosystem healthy and vibrant by enabling legitimate senders to get their messages to their consumers while enabling receivers to make better, faster and more accurate spam filtering decisions.”

For Return Path customers, this acquisition solidifies Return Path’s market leadership with a larger client base, more innovative tools and services, and a larger professional services team. It also increases the company’s base of ISP and filtering/receiver partners and brings the industry’s two leading third-party whitelists under one roof, making Return Path the undisputed leader in third-party email accreditation.

Large-volume email receivers will also benefit from this acquisition, as they will get more comprehensive data to make more accurate filtering decisions as well as a more streamlined process for managing communications with the largest pool of commercial emailers.

Habeas, founded in 2002, currently provides email reputation intelligence to a million email networks, including hundreds of ISPs, in 190 countries. This global network enables optimum delivery of Habeas-certified email to businesses, organizations, and individuals worldwide.

“We at Habeas are very proud of our track record of enabling trusted email communications and building a strong community of customers and partners committed to this same objective," said Des Cahill, CEO, Habeas, Inc. “Return Path is a great company, and this merger will deliver more capabilities, resources and expertise to clients and partners. It’s also a strong reflection of the growing need for email reputation management and deliverability services, which will help keep email strong for senders, receivers and consumers alike.”

The deal, the terms of which were not disclosed, was signed on August 6 and is expected to close on August 18. While specific integration plans are still being worked through, the company plans to maintain the Sender Score Certified whitelist and the Habeas SafeList as separate and distinct programs.

Return Path will expand its presence in Silicon Valley by keeping Habeas’ Mountain View office, as well as most of its staff. Return Path is headquartered in New York City and has offices in Superior, Colorado, Paris, London, and Berlin.

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

NetXen Brings 10 Gigabit Ethernet Into the Mainstream

2008-08-13T13:00:00-04:00

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Gawkwire.com) NetXen, Inc., the leader in mainstream 10 Gigabit Ethernet server connectivity, today announced immediate availability of its NX3031 ultra-flexible and highly upgradeable third-generation NetXen Intelligent NICs® with FlexLOM™ technology. NetXen’s NX3031 silicon and boards deliver the industry’s highest performance for next-generation, mainstream server environments. As the server industry’s first upgradeable quad-to-10 Gigabit LAN on motherboard (LOM) architecture for volume blade and rack server platforms, NetXen’s patented FlexLOM technology equips the NetXen NX3031 Intelligent NIC silicon to be the long-heralded catalyst for the volume server industry’s migration to 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE).

“NetXen’s FlexLOM solution clearly differentiates them from other 10 Gigabit Ethernet NIC vendors and should accelerate the industry transition from Gigabit to 10 Gigabit Ethernet. The cost effectiveness and upgradeability of the FlexLOM technology is extremely attractive for OEMs and end users alike. And, when combined with the highest performance numbers I’ve seen to date, the NX3031 delivers impressive price/performance,” said Bob Wheeler, Senior Analyst, The Linley Group. “As 10 Gigabit server connections evolve from costly network interface cards to sophisticated LOM architectures designed for mainstream high-volume servers, the new NX3031 silicon positions NetXen as a technology leader in 10 Gigabit Ethernet.”

Running Windows and operating in stateless NIC mode, NetXen’s NX3031-based Intelligent NICs deliver a quantum leap in network I/O performance. According to a new Tolly Group Up to Spec Certified test, NetXen achieves 22 Gbps of bi-directional throughput and greater than 14 Gbps receive throughput for 1500-byte packets. These test results represent a near doubling of previous industry benchmarks. This best-in-class performance milestone is achieved through a new form of stateless offload enabled by the programmability of the Intelligent NIC.

"Both with 1500-byte frames and with Jumbo Frames, the NX3031 delivered ultra-high throughput coupled with extremely low CPU utilization," said Kevin Tolly, president and CEO, The Tolly Group. "This underscores the effectiveness of the new stateless offload capabilities of the NetXen NX3031."

NetXen’s NX3031 Intelligent NIC family of chips and boards has been specifically designed to address both current and future go-to-market needs of volume server OEMs. For the cost of a 25-cent connector and a small riser card that incorporates the customer’s choice of physical layer interface, servers are instantly readied for the transition from Gigabit to 10 Gigabit Ethernet. The solution enables server OEMs to commit 10 Gigabit Ethernet to the motherboard without worrying about a specific connectivity variant, such as SPF+, CX4 or the emerging 10GBASE-T. This “above-board” connectivity option future-proofs their servers while removing risk for both the OEM and the end user.

“Our third-generation Intelligent NIC solutions harness the power of the FlexLOM architecture to provide server OEMs and board manufacturers with an effortless, affordable and high-volume transition from Gigabit to 10 Gigabit Ethernet,” said Govind Kizhepat, CEO and founder, NetXen. “Beginning today, volume server providers can confidently incorporate NetXen’s NX3031 Intelligent NIC solution, starting out with Gigabit Ethernet connectivity on their servers, and then transitioning to 10 Gigabit Ethernet when, how and as they need it, without burdening the cost of the base platform.”

Already established as the market leader and trusted provider to leading server OEMs, NetXen’s server-friendly FlexLOM technology launches a new era of 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity for volume 1U/2U servers and blade server platforms. NetXen’s patented third-generation Intelligent NIC delivers an unprecedented combination of technical and business advantages that include:

* A proven, robust and highly extensible solution built around the programmability of the Intelligent NIC architecture, allowing features to be added over time via firmware upgrades
* Breakthrough performance with the 2x bandwidth gains provided by PCIe 2.0* Advanced energy efficiency through Dynamic Power Management™
* New levels of SLA enforcement for virtualized environments via NetXen’s Quality of Virtualization (QoV) features, including SR-IOV, NetQueue, rate limiting and bandwidth allocation control
* The industry’s first single chip solution supporting full offload of Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) that will continue to drive storage and network convergence
* The upgrade-readiness provided by FlexLOM

NetXen’s third-generation NX3031 Intelligent NIC family of server I/O solutions

NetXen is now shipping its third-generation NX3031 Intelligent NIC solution, which is the foundation for its new series of intelligent network adapters:

* NX3-20GxR: Dual-port 10GbE low-profile PCI Express 2.0 cards with pluggable SFP+ optical interconnect modules
* NX3-20GCU: Dual-port 10GbE low-profile PCI Express 2.0 card with direct attach twinax copper wiring for cost-effective in-rack connectivity
* NX3-4GBT: Low-profile PCI Express 2.0 card with four Gigabit Ethernet ports for maximum flexibility in mixed 1G/10G environments

Pricing and Availability

NetXen’s NX3031 Intelligent NIC 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity solutions are available now at port price parity with Gigabit Ethernet, providing the momentum to reduce street prices for 10 Gigabit Ethernet server I/O to less than $299 per port, a price point which industry analysts have signaled will fuel broad migration to 10 Gigabit Ethernet for server connectivity.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/netxen_brings_10_gigabit_ethernet_into_the_mainstream.html

FireThread Introduces New Custom-Tailored Ecommerce Solution

2008-08-13T10:27:00-04:00

Schenectady, NY (Gawkwire.com) FireThread, a Schenectady-based full-service interactive Web design and custom software development firm, today announced the launch of its new, complete ecommerce solution. FireThread Ecommerce is designed to help companies of all sizes better market their products and services, strengthen their brand and improve the online experience for their customers.

Grounded in real-time Web analytics, analysis and refinement, FireThread Ecommerce is a custom-designed ecommerce solution based on clients' marketing needs. The easy-to-use, intuitive interface allows users to fine-tune every aspect of their Web site for improved results and increased revenue.

The FireThread Ecommerce solution includes:

    * Design
    * Customization
    * Store front and shopping cart
    * Product database set up
    * Hosting
    * Server and database management
    * Updates and modifications

These features together with online marketing drive customers to a client's Web site to make an immediate impact.

"FireThread Ecommerce was created with the goal of helping companies of all sizes shift to a Web-centric business model allowing them to grow with lower advertising and operating costs," says Ryan Menzer, President of FireThread. "We have a clear vision about how the Internet can develop our clients' overall business and we are confident that FireThread Ecommerce and our Web expertise help them achieve their Web-based marketing goals."

By using the FireThread Ecommerce solution, companies will enhance their Web marketing experience and be able to:

    * Develop a rich, interactive experience for customers
    * Track performance of sales and provide instant inventory updates
    * Optimize Web site for search engine placement
    * Plan and implement key word marketing campaigns
    * Create landing pages for targeted campaigns
    * Develop interactive showcases, demonstrations and videos
    * Provide management and tracking of multiple shipments
    * ntegrate with and export to back office software

As a trusted business partner, FireThread is committed to training and helping their clients understand every nuance about their Web site. This proactive, hands-on approach eliminates the 'intimidation fact' and the need for expensive overhead to employ a technology staff to manage and implement its Web site.

"We can assure our clients that we will never overwhelm them with overly-technical details and will take the time to guide them through every step of the process using non-tech speak to make their excursion into Web-based marketing a fun and profitable experience," says Melina Iacovone, Director of Marketing and Client Services at FireThread. "FireThread takes a simple approach for marketing our client's products and services for improved results and increased sales revenue."

FireThread Ecommerce is available now. For pricing information or to schedule a demo, please contact FireThread at http://www.firethread.com/contact/request_for_quote.aspx.

For more information about FireThread's Ecommerce solution, go to http://www.firethread.com/ecommerce.

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/firethread_introduces_new_custom-tailored_ecommerce_solution.html

GotWebHost.com Releases SEO and Web Hosting Demo Player

2008-08-13T10:24:00-04:00

Valparaiso, IN (Gawkwire.com) Got Web Host, the original SEO web hosting company, announced today the release of their SEO & Web Hosting Demo Player. This new SEO & Web Hosting Demo Player provides access to over 160 video tutorials. These tutorials cover such subjects as the use of the Direct Admin control panel, transferring domains between various registrars, setting up private nameservers, use of phpMyAdmin and many more common tasks that a web host client might undertake.

Director of Internet Marketing, Tanya Martin, said of the addition, "With our demo player you can see Flash tutorials on many web hosting and search engine optimization topics. Plus when we add more demos or tutorials you will get them automatically each time you start the player. You will only need to download a file again when we update the SEO & Web Hosting Demo Player."

Lloyd Brown, Director of Sales & Business Development, commented, "We launched our demo player with over 160 tutorials, covering such topics as using phpMyAdmin and managing MySQL, how to manage DNS nameservers and transferring domains with 15 popular registrars like Godaddy and Dotster. We also cover use of popular email programs, use of various FTP clients, and more."

"Our tutorials will help people with specific tasks related to web hosting or SEO a lot easier," Brown added.

To download the player in either .exe or .zip formats click SEO & Web Hosting Demo.exe for the .EXE or SEO & Web Hosting Demo.zip for the .ZIP file. For more information please go to http://seo.gotwebhost.com/seo-web-hosting-demo-player/. Visit the Got Web Host knowledge base at http://seo.gotwebhost.com/ for more SEO and web hosting related topics.

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

Blabline Launches Web Search by Recency

2008-08-13T10:19:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Based on leading custom search technology, Blabline offers web search by recency. Ordinary search engines give search results ordered by relevancy. Sometimes users want search results ordered by recency rather than relevancy. In news search engines for example, the results are generally ordered with a high degree of recency, since, for this kind of content the publishing date is usually important in addition to how relevant the news articles are in relation to the search queries.

Many search engines for web pages have some form of ordering by date or date interval option. Blabline's ability to order by date plus relevancy takes ordinary web search to a similar kind of search result ordering that today is used by news search engines. This means that efficient ordering by recency is now available for all types of web pages, regardless of topics, categories, content or publisher.

Blabline sorts the search results using a unique combination of recency and relevancy. The search results have the same order of recency for all queries. For instance, users can type in queries like 'election 2008', 'paris hilton' and 'madden nfl 09' and they will get search results with newly published web pages from all sorts of websites such as news sites, blogs, forums, government, education, business, financial, e-commerce, special topic and social networking sites.

Blabline aspires to be the leading search engine for finding web pages by recency, and by being the first to offer search for newly published web pages in this way, Blabline is in a good position to establish a robust brand for this niche market.

To try Blabline and for questions, visit: www.blabline.com

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

DiscountASP.NET Launches SQL 2008 Hosting in the U.S. and UK

2008-08-13T10:17:00-04:00

Pasadena, CA (Gawkwire.com) Innovative windows hosting leader, DiscountASP.NET, announces the launch of Microsoft SQL 2008 hosting, available to all DiscountASP.NET customers as a new hosting add-on option in both U.S. and UK datacenter locations.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 is a major update to its enterprise database. Some of the SQL Server 2008 feature enhancements include new data types, such as geospatial data types and date/time data types. In addition, integrated full text search, Language Integrated Query (LINQ), sparse columns, and large user-defined types are improvements that will help drive next-generation data-centric applications.

"One of our goals is to be an early adopter of new Microsoft technology. We are proud to be among the first hosts to officially launch SQL 2008 hosting along with a suite of SQL 2008 management control panel tools," said Takeshi Eto, VP Marketing at DiscountASP.NET. "We also wanted to make sure that all of our customers have the opportunity to access next generation technology, so we've made SQL 2008 hosting available in both of our datacenters, located in the U.S. and Europe."

With the launch of SQL Server 2008 hosting, DiscountASP.NET introduces new SQL 2008 management tools in their control panel, including an on-demand SQL 2008 database backup tool, an automated SQL 2008 database restore tool, and an automated Attach MDF File tool. Customers can manage their SQL 2008 databases with Microsoft SQL Management Studio.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/discountasp_net_launches_sql_2008_hosting_in_the_u_s_and_uk.html

Gmail users hit by outage again

2008-08-13T10:45:00-04:00

It’s the second Gmail outage in less than a week, and as the service wobbles, questions persist about Google’s ability to provide enterprise-grade software availability and performance.

Google is heavily promoting its Apps collaboration and communication software suite as a SaaS (software-as-a-service) option to conventional, on-premise options like Microsoft’s Office and Outlook/Exchange.

While so-called cloud computing services like Apps, in which software and IT infrastructure are provided via the Internet, are convenient in several ways, their Achilles heel is server downtime and slowness. ...Go to source

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

Gmail Back in Service after Outage

2008-08-12T13:00:00-04:00

Google confirmed "many Gmail users" were unable to access the email service since about 2 p.m. Pacific Time after receiving a "502 Error" message which would seem to indicate a system overload of some kind for the popular service.

Whatever the issue, it appears to have been identified and fixed. A Google spokesman said the issue has been fixed and Gmail is functioning normally. Several mail users contacted by InternetNews.com report their service is back and working after being unable to access it. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/393.html

White Horse Will Present at Online Marketing Summits and Shop.org

2008-08-12T13:00:00-04:00

Portland, Ore. (Gawkwire.com) White Horse, a leading digital agency, announced that its leading strategists will be speaking at three upcoming industry events.

White Horse is presenting at two Online Marketing Summit (OMS) Regional Tour events. The summits, which attract 100-200 people per city, offer sessions led by industry experts to help online marketing executives evolve their approaches and programs. Eric Anderson, Director of Agency Services, spoke at the OMS Seattle event on August 7 and Jen Modarelli, CEO, is speaking at the OMS Denver Summit on August 14.

Anderson led a session exploring The Rise of the User: How User-Generated Content is Transforming Integrated Marketing. The Rise of the User offered an insightful perspective on how online user-generated content constitutes an evolutionary step in integrated marketing as well-established brands deepen their relationship with consumers by ceding a degree of brand control.

Ms. Modarelli will speak on Becoming a Persona-Led Organization. The presentation will offer a primer on the role of personas in developing end-to-end integrated marketing strategies.

Leveraging its deep expertise in the retail sector, White Horse, Columbia Sportswear's online agency of record, will also moderate a roundtable at the Shop.org Annual Summit in Las Vegas September 15-17.

Ms. Modarelli spoke earlier this year at ExactTarget's Route 1 to 1: the New eMarketing Essentials seminar in Seattle, which White Horse sponsored. She discussed a successful e-mail customization strategy for the Columbia Sportswear e-newsletter.

Shop.org attracts more than 2,000 online and multichannel retails and their service partners for the annual summit and is part of the National Retail Federation.

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

Cyveillance Test Reveals Majority of Active Malware Attacks Go Undetected

2008-08-12T10:17:00-04:00

Arlington, Va., (Gawkwire.com) Cyveillance, the world leader in cyber intelligence, today announced that a recent test of best-of-breed anti-virus vendors over a thirty-day period revealed that more than half of all malware threats on the Internet go undetected. Data for the test was compiled from the thousands of active malware threats Cyveillance detects daily1, which was then fed through each of the vendors' anti-virus solutions in real-time. This data was captured as part of Cyveillance's recent 1H 2008 Online Fraud Report," which was issued today.

Cyveillance identifies a malware threat as a file or application downloaded from a Web site or server that exhibits properties that are both involuntary and malicious in nature. An active malware threat is one that has been located on a live Web site within the last 30 days.

Given the reactive nature of today's malware and anti-virus detection technology, even leading anti-virus solutions are inherently at a disadvantage to keep up with the dynamic nature of growing malware threats. Because anti-virus solutions primarily detect previously identified malware threats, perpetrators quickly replace recently discovered malware threats with modified versions and exploit this discovery lag-time to evade detection and infect unsuspecting machines. As such, the Cyveillance test which took place from June 20 - July 19, 2008, looked at five best-of-breed anti-virus vendor solutions2, deployed in their default settings with auto-update features enabled to ensure all malware signatures were within vendor parameters.

A full description of Cyveillance's anti-virus malware detection data is included in the company's "1H 2008 Online Fraud Report." In addition to a detailed evaluation of the effectiveness of leading anti-virus malware solutions, the report also tracks the online "fraud chain" comprised of malware components that store and serve malware executables, distribute malware to consumers, and receive and store the confidential information collected from infected computers. Other key report findings include:

- Data tracked during first half of 2008 shows that the United States not only continued to extend its lead as the top malware distributor, but is now distributing more malware than all other countries combined.
- 367 unique new brands were phished in the first half of 2008, which represents a 80% increase over the second half of 2007.
- Phishers continue to expand attacks worldwide. In the first half of 2008, Cyveillance identified phishing attacks in 30 different countries, with numerous new targets in the Middle East and Latin America.

"Security technologies such as anti-virus and anti-spyware solutions are effective once malicious code has been identified and confirmed as a mainstream threat, and these vendors are doing their best to keep up with the rapid onslaught of new threats," said Panos Anastassiadis, CEO and Chairman of Cyveillance. "However, because they are predominantly reactive in nature, they will continue to fall short when it comes to protecting against real-time and zero-day threats. No solution will ever be 100 percent effective, but by adding proactive intelligence gathering techniques to these defensive anti-virus technologies, the gap between infection and protection can be greatly reduced."

All figures and statistics in the Cyveillance "1H 2008 Online Fraud Report" report are actual measurements rather than projections based upon sample datasets. The cyber intelligence included in this report includes data collected and analyzed between January 1 and June 30, 2008. It represents aggregate cyber intelligence findings that Cyveillance has delivered to its OEM data partners, except where otherwise noted. For more information about Cyveillance's research findings, please visit: http://www.cyveillance.com/web/forms/request.asp?getFile=111

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

GoGrid Awarded "Best of Show" for LinuxWorld 2008

2008-08-12T00:12:00-04:00

San Francisco, CA (Gawkwire.com) GoGrid (http://www.GoGrid.com), a leading Cloud Computing service provider of Linux and Windows Cloud server hosting, announced that GoGrid has been awarded the "Best of Show" Product Excellence Award at IDG's LinuxWorld Conference and Expo. The LinuxWorld Product Excellence Awards recognize product and service innovations by LinuxWorld and Next-Generation Data Center Conference and Expo exhibitors. GoGrid had been nominated for Best Virtualization Solution and was pleasantly surprised to receive the Best of Show honor. The LinuxWorld Conference and Expo took place August 4th through August 7th, 2008 at Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA.

ServePath, the parent company behind the GoGrid service, won the Product Excellence Award at LinuxWorld 2007 for best Grid Computing Solution last year. Capitalizing on this experience and honor, ServePath's new flagship Cloud Computing offering, GoGrid, continues to secure its strong position within the Cloud Hosting industry with this new Product Excellence Award.

GoGrid is the Cloud Computing service that enables system administrator users to quickly and easily create, deploy, load balance and manage Linux and Windows cloud servers within seconds. GoGrid offers true "Control in the Cloud™" with its unique web-based, Graphical User Interface (GUI) which allows for "point and click" deployment of complex network infrastructures which may include load balancing and multiple web and database servers, all set up with icons through the graphical user interface.

System Administrators and Developers enjoy GoGrid's REST-like Application Programming Interface (API), which allows for programmatic control of the entire GoGrid infrastructure using clearly documented commands. The GoGrid API provides the ability to create interactive GoGrid management applications and enables the scripting and chaining of various GoGrid commands for automation.

"GoGrid is the future of server delivery," said ServePath CEO John Keagy. "This award is terrific third party validation of the smart, hard work that our development and product teams have put in over the last three years." Keagy went on to say: "Without revealing any secrets, I can assure you that GoGrid will continue to get better and persuade more people to give up their hardware dependent ways of serving data. We continue to add to the GoGrid library of operating systems, server images and applications like Apache, IIS and mySQL. Furthermore our commitment to Linux and Open Source solutions is strong."

GoGrid was an exhibitor at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo 2008 and demoed the award-winning product in booth #900.

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/gogrid_awarded_best_of_show_for_linuxworld_2008_product_excellen.html

Innovative Data Solutions Collaborates on Targeted SEO Campaign

2008-08-12T10:10:00-04:00

Atlanta, GA (Gawkwire.com) Medium Blue Search Engine Marketing is proud to announce that it has signed its newest client, Innovative Data Solutions (IDS), for one year of search engine optimization services to help IDS achieve its goals for its website. The two companies are eager to embark on a highly targeted SEO campaign that will increase website leads and traffic to the site and disseminate information regarding its products.

"After doing our research in the very crowded world of search engine marketing companies, we agreed that Medium Blue's attentiveness to details during the pre-sales process and reputation in the industry made the choice clear," said Josh Brown, President of Innovative Data Solutions. "In the short time we have worked with the search engine marketing company's professional and knowledgeable staff, we have already seen great results in our organic search rankings. We look forward to furthering the progress of this SEO campaign and anticipate a great, long-term relationship."

IDS is a major provider of policy procedure management tools and electronic organizational software. Some of the company's products include PowerDMS, PowerTEST, PowerSURVEY, PowerTRAINING, and PowerDETAILS, ideal for a wide range of industries including law enforcement, governmental agencies, healthcare, hospitality, and telecommunications. IDS differentiates itself by offering fully customized products with simple interfaces and scalable solutions that meet clients' needs. Both Medium Blue and IDS are eager to see the outcome of this collaborative SEO campaign.

"We anticipate great things from our collaboration with IDS," said Scott Buresh, CEO of Medium Blue Search Engine Marketing. "We look forward to delivering top-notch results and seeing IDS' leads and traffic increase dramatically in the coming months."

About Innovative Data Solutions
Innovative Data Solutions (IDS), a Florida-based policy procedure management and electronic organizational software company, develops software applications for numerous industries nationwide, including governmental, financial, and public enforcement agencies. IDS markets its products via its website, direct mailings once a quarter, and trade shows. With an innovative approach to understanding and learning management software, IDS sets itself apart from the crowd by addressing specific needs and never overcomplicating things.

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

Moniker.com Offers Premium Search-focused Domains for Its Live Auction

2008-08-11T14:10:00-04:00

POMPANO BEACH, FL- (Gawkwire.com) Moniker (http://www.moniker.com), an Oversee.net company and provider of Domain Asset Management® services, revealed today the premium domain names available at for its exclusive live and extended online auction at the Search Engine Strategies (SES), the high-tech and internet company event of the year. Held at the San Jose Convention Center, the exclusive Moniker live auction is scheduled to start on Wednesday, August 20 at 5:45 p.m. PDT (8:45 p.m. EDT).

Premium search-focused domains that will be offered for purchase in this Moniker live auction include:
Ad.com
CTR.com
Much.com
Fees.com
Rebate.com, Rebates.com
Cart.net
AdWeb.com
InternetAds.com
OnlineSolution.com
FindALender.com
GolfGame.com
SearchMovies.com
TicketSavers.com
FinanceProtection.com
MedicalService.com
ClickSave.com
BankServices.com
RealEstateDirect.com
Searching.com
PaidTraffic.com
RepeatTraffic.com
Brand.net
Discount.org
EngineInfo.com
EngineNews.com
SEO.mobi
SEOBrand.com
SEMBrand.com
SEOProducts.com
TrafficExpert.com
LocalDirectory.com
AmazingSEOTips.com
ProfessionalSEO.com
SearchEngineTool.com
KeywordSelection.com
SearchGalaxy.com
NetGuy.net
TopSEO.us
NoCostSEO.com
NationalSEO.com
YouSearch.com
SEOHeros.com
SeoAffiliates.net
GreatWebTraffic.com
FreeSEOKit.com
SEOandPPCTools.com
AmericianCars.com
AutoLoanAPR.com
LoanCalculator.com
GameDiscounts.com
CellPhoneEssentials.com
SeniorHealthBenefits.com
WebPortal.com
WebTrack.com

The final catalog will be released soon, and will include approximately 2,000 of the best search-focused domain values for sale in the extended online auction. Of that list, only the top 200 names will make it into the live domain auction. For more information, visit http://www.moniker.com/auction.

In-Person and Online Bidding Opportunities Available
SES attendees are automatically eligible to attend the private live auction. Bidders not attending can place bids live online through SnapNames LiveTM, 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 San Jose, offering thousands of additional names for sale. The online auction will begin on Wednesday, August 20 and continue through Tuesday, August 26.

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/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.

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/moniker_com_offers_premium_search-focused_domains_for_its_live_a.html

The Web host suffers on continued concerns about the state of the IT market.

2008-08-11T13:00:00-04:00

Rackspace Hosting shares fell by 12 percent in the Web hosting company's market debut Friday, a day after its initial public offering priced at the lower end of the forecast range.

The San Antonio-based company's shares traded at $10.92, down 12.6 percent, in mid-morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Its shares opened today at $10, or 20 percent below the price set for the IPO.

Rackspace's IPO priced for $12.50 per share, at the lower end of the estimated range of $12 to $16 a share. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/385.html

Razorpoint Security's Rz.DataWatch(TM) Service Protects Firms From Latest DNS Flaws

2008-08-11T13:00:00-04:00

New York City, NY- (Gawkwire.com) Razorpoint Security Technologies, Inc. a leader in network security services, announced its managed Rz.Datawatch(TM) service monitors corporate Internet presences and detects attacks involving the recent Domain Name System (DNS) vulnerabilities.

Rz.DataWatch(TM) detects and reports on, among other things, the attacks malicious attackers can leverage from the new DNS vulnerabilities (e.g., Domain Hijacking, Man-In-The-Middle (MITM), and Pharming). The service enhances security for firms conducting e-commerce, e-banking and other online transactions.

"DNS and other online services are now business assets," said Gary Morse, President and Founder of Razorpoint Security. "Your business requires these assets to be precise and accurate. If they're not, you could be out of business."

Rz.DataWatch(TM) monitors a firm's online Internet assets (DNS information, WHOIS, ARIN, RIPE, domain names, server information, etc.) on a continual basis and rapidly notifies clients of any modifications.

"Domain Hijacking, Man-In-The-Middle (MITM), and Pharming are not necessarily new attacks, but these latest vulnerabilities make them much easier to pull off," said Morse. "And, you can do it without being detected easily."

Attacks on web sites, e-commerce business and email traffic are all possible without triggering intrusion detection systems, without ever showing up in a firewall log, and without companies knowing. Rz.DataWatch(TM)'s customized system probes and data analysis engine monitor and analyze your company's online presence. Said Morse, "Our unique service monitors the way the Internet-world sees you and your business, and identifies malicious activity."

Rz.DataWatch(TM) is available as a low cost, monthly service. The service requires no management, no software to install, nor does it consume network resources. It is available on a world-wide basis and is rapidly implemented.

More information can be found on Razorpoint's web site and blog.razorpoint.com

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

Search Engine Marketing Firm iProspect Names Kaminski EVP

2008-08-11T13:00:00-04:00

Boston, MA- (Gawkwire.com) iProspect, the Original Search Engine Marketing Firm , today announced that it has named Brian Kaminski, their current Managing Director of iProspect San Francisco, to Executive Vice President in response to the rapid growth of the search engine marketing firm's San Francisco office.

A nine-year iProspect veteran, Kaminski was tapped in 2006 to establish a West Coast office due to the firm's tremendous growth and considerable client base in the area.

"Because we function as strategic partners with our clients, we opened a West Coast office to better serve our business relationships in that part of the country," said John Tawadros, Chief Operating Officer, iProspect. "Brian's leadership and drive -- not to mention the impressive team he has developed - have allowed us to achieve that objective. This promotion is a fitting recognition for all that he has accomplished."

Over the past two years, Kaminski and his team have expanded iProspect's West Coast client roster. Today their clients include companies such as VEGAS.com, Archstone Smith, and Nielsen Claritas.

"It has been enormously rewarding to watch Brian grow and develop the San Francisco office into the success it is today," said Robert Murray, President, iProspect. "From the outset I had complete confidence in Brian's abilities to make this office a success, and he has more than delivered."

As Executive Vice President and Managing Director of iProspect San Francisco, Kaminski will continue to oversee the search engine marketing firm's West Coast operations, but will join the Executive Team in helping to form the strategic vision of the firm for the future.

"Brian's efforts have been tireless, and his results speak for themselves," said Murray, "Not only does he have the business acumen to get the job done, Brian also possesses tremendous search knowledge and expertise. We are delighted to acknowledge his hard work and dedication with this promotion to Executive Vice President."

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

New Review Website for Web Hosting Services Launched

2008-08-10T14:32:00-04:00

Austin, TX- (Gawkwire.com) With its latest website, Web-Hosting-Info.com, Zilker Ventures wants people who are searching for a web hosting service provider to know that they are not alone.

"When we first looked into finding a web hosting service provider we were completely stumped. The sheer number of web hosting service providers and available plans made it hard, even for us, to make a decision about which one to choose. This site was made with the intent of making the whole process a lot easier for you than it was for us."

The message, which is visible on Web-Hosting-Info.com, calls attention to the aim of all Zilker Ventures websites. Like its sister business service review sites, Web-Hosting-Info.com was created with the small business owner in mind. The site was created to inform users about the top, affordable web hosting plans available.

"Part of what makes our sites so successful is the fact that we aren't afraid to tell people who don't have a clue what they're really getting out of the service," says Zilker Ventures COO Leo Welder. "No, this provider doesn't have a money back guarantee, but they will refund any time for unused months of service--details like that."

Tidbits of service feature information, such as the one mentioned by Welder, comprises only one part of the comprehensive resource that is Web-Hosting-Info.com. Users of the website are able to view a features grid, which allows them to make a side-by-side comparison of different web hosting service plans, and a robust vendor reviews page that breaks down each plan into "Pros," "Cons" and a general conclusion about the service.

Other important parts of the website are the "Market Standard" and "Our Recommendations" sections, which advise consumers on important aspects of web hosting services that help them evaluate a provider and service plan.

"We want people who visit the site to have an enlightening experience, whether they know something about web hosting or not," says Web-Hosting-Info.com co-creator Gaines Kilpatrick. "We try to help people be able to make an informed decision about the web hosting service they choose."

Web-Hosting-Info.com researches and reviews service plans from web hosts, such as Host Gator, GoDaddy, Yahoo and many other web hosting service providers. Zilker Ventures plans to expand their list of reviewed vendors as Web-Hosting-Info.com grows.

For additional information regarding Web hosting comparison and reviews, visit http://www.Web-Hosting-Info.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/new_review_website_for_web_hosting_services_web-hosting-info_com.html

eCommerce Merchants Selected for 500/Inc. 5000 Conference

2008-08-11T10:27:00-04:00

New York, NY- (Gawkwire.com) eCommerce Merchants has been selected to provide a merchant ecommerce education program by Inc.com, creators of the Inc. 500 and Inc. 5000, definitive lists of America's fastest-growing privately held companies. eCommerce Merchants is a leading trade association for ecommerce education.

eCommerce Merchants will provide online and in-person education to all Inc. 5000 companies beginning with the 27th Annual Inc. 500/Inc. 5000 Conference and Awards Ceremony at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Washington D.C. on September 18-20, 2008 where a dedicated eCommerce Pavilion will be included at the conference for the first time ever.

"Inc. 500/Inc. 5000 Conference is delighted to be working with eCommerce Merchants on this exciting and important new initiative," noted Kelly Winkler VP, Events and Business Resources, Mansueto Ventures, Publisher of Inc. "This partnership will allow us to deliver valuable information to Inc. 500/Inc. 5000 business owners at our events and throughout the year."

"We couldn't ask for a better partner than Inc. 500/Inc. 5000," commented Cresta Pillsbury, Executive Vice President of Business Development at eCommerce Merchants. "They have an impressive tradition of fostering entrepreneurial excellence, which complements our 'best-practices' approach to ecommerce perfectly."

The Inc. 500/Inc. 5000 Conference in Washington is open for the first time to all business owners. Reservations can be made by visiting www.Inc500Conference.com or by calling 877-211-0489. eCommerce Merchant members who are not Inc. 500/5000 members are eligible for a special member discount by calling 877-211-0489 and asking for an "eCommerce Pavilion Attendee" registration.

Companies interested in exhibiting in the eCommerce Pavilion or working with eCommerce Merchants should contact Cresta Pillsbury at cresta.pillsbury@ecmta.org or (415) 342-7075.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/ecommerce_merchants_selected_for_500_inc_5000_conference.html

Nomis Solutions' Dr. Robert Phillips to Speak on Pricing and Revenue Optimization

2008-08-11T10:24:00-04:00

San Bruno, CA- (Gawkwire.com) Nomis Solutions, the recognized leader in Profit-based Pricing for banking and finance, today announced that Dr. Robert L. Phillips, founder, chief science officer and vice president of research and development, will be delivering an insightful presentation concerning the ideas surrounding Pricing and Revenue Optimization at the Wharton Club of Northern California. The event will be taking place at Carr & Ferrell Llp. in Palo Alto, California at 6:00 p.m. on August 20th.

Dr. Phillips will present how Pricing and Revenue Optimization (PRO) can be used to both generate more profit as well as gain valuable strategic insights into customer behavior. He will also lead a discussion on PRO's practical approach in different industries, showing how mastering pricing, incremental profitability, and price-elasticity can materially drive business improvement.

Dr. Phillips founded Nomis Solutions in 2002 to help financial services firms use pricing analytics, optimization and execution to improve profits and market share by better understanding how customer preferences impact product and portfolio performance. Over the past 15 years, Dr. Phillips has helped leading companies optimize pricing and revenue within a wide variety of industries including airlines, rental cars, hotels, automotive, electric power, freight transportation, and manufacturing. He is also the author of the award-winning book Pricing and Revenue Optimization.

To find out more information about the event, visit http://www.whartonclub.com/article.html?aid=963&nl=469#.

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

Volume9, Inc Introduces Private Label SEM Service

2008-08-11T10:22:00-04:00

Denver, CO- (Gawkwire.com) Private Label SEM offers their search engine optimization services to your current clients while using your existing brand. Your company can use Private Label SEM's expertise in SEO, paid search management and website analytics to provide industry-leading expertise for your client's Internet marketing projects at a fraction of the normal cost. Through the integrated service offering, a team of experts will handle all aspects of SEO, PPC, and web site analytics for your company and its clients.

"Volume9 has been informally offering SEO & PPC partner, reseller and referral services through our current partners in the Denver area for the last 2 years." said Chuck Aikens, President of Volume9. "We are looking to expand our partnership base outside of the Denver market and are actively looking for new partners. Our goal is to find the right partners who are focused on the technologies, industries, and markets where we are confident we can deliver the search engine marketing success that clients are looking for."

With Private Label SEM, you'll be assigned an SEM account manager that will work directly with your customers as a member of your team. This account manager will use Private Label's established systems and processes from the initial customer assessment to the execution of the defined search marketing project tasks, all the while communicating with your customers monthly at performance meetings. In the event that a client ever directly asks about the actual relationship between themselves and your company, the Private Label SEM account managers is trained to provide appropriate responses.

http://www.gawkwire.com/seo_sem/volume9_inc_introduces_private_label_sem_service.html

3FN Offers New Budget Dedicated Servers with Direct Admin CPanel

2008-08-11T00:18:00-04:00

San Jose, CA- (Gawkwire.com) 3FN Inc., Triple Fiber Network, an international hosting company that provides dedicated hosting, shared hosting and collocation services, today announces the enhancement of its services with new budget dedicated server that goes with direct admin control panel.

Triple Fiber Network is delighted to announce the enhancement of its hosting services, offering new budget dedicated servers. The company offers new dedicated servers with direct admin control panel. New budget dedicated servers are remarkable for their comparatively low price, high quality of performance and direct admin cpanel, which will simplify and make more efficient the management of dedicated servers.

"At Triple Fiber Network we continue to demonstrate that we know what hosting solutions are required for successful online business and offer only the most efficient and proven services. To meet all requirements and satisfy our customers is the main priority for our company and to prove this, we start to offer new budget hosting solution, moreover, new budget dedicated servers are powered with direct admin control panel," says Dean McToner, the 3FN official representative. "We are convinced that many of our customers will find new budget dedicated servers as the most attractive dedicated hosting solution because of the highest quality and reliability, that are inalienable features of all 3FN services, and, of course, optimal price. The price for new budget dedicated servers will be in the range of $200-300 per month."

Triple Fiber Network frequently updates and modernizes all provided dedicated hosting services, and the most recent update of provided hosting services by the company is the new budget dedicated server. At present, the company offers new budget dedicated servers for $200-300 per month depending on dedicated server configuration. Furthermore, all provided budget dedicated servers are powered with direct admin control panel in order to improve dedicated server manageability. New budget dedicated server is the most comprehensive hosting solution for webmaster, who needs high-quality dedicated server provided with the most powerful tools, an efficient direct admin control panel and a full set of services on affordable price. Budget dedicated servers are offered as the successful combination of high productivity of services and affordable price.

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/3fn_offers_new_budget_dedicated_servers_with_direct_admin_cpanel.html

Vectoral Servers Partners with Netenberg

2008-08-10T06:21:00-04:00

LONDON, UK – (Gawkwire.com) Vectoral Servers (http://www.vectoral.info), a leader in European dedicated servers, today launched a new partnership with Netenberg to offer Fantastico De Luxe, a one-click script auto-installer that enables Web site owners to easily deploy and manage installations of dozens of business class Web applications.

With the partnership, Vectoral Servers will immediately implement Fantastico De Luxe on its entire cluster of cPanel-based dedicated servers. Clients will be able to access Fantastico De Luxe through cPanel and can use the software to easily install dozens of free applications, including content management systems, blogging platforms, customer support portals, discussion boards, photo galleries, and many more.

“Providing value-added features to our dedicated servers is important as we continue to improve our robust product line. Through this partnership with Netenberg, our clients are able to quickly and easily implement world-class Web applications and ultimately take their Web sites to the next level.” said Ekin Ersoy, Sales Director, Vectoral Servers.

Vectoral Servers will provide Fantastico De Luxe at no additional charge to its clients. The system will be automatically upgraded periodically to incorporate new scripts and provide the latest revisions to existing applications.

Dedicated servers from Vectoral Servers start at $29.95/monthly. The company offers a variety of hardware configurations, including both Intel and AMD-based chipsets. All servers are hosted in Vectoral Servers fully managed Frankfurt, Germany private data facility. http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/vectoral_servers_partners_with_netenberg.html

Rackspace prices IPO at $12.50 a share

2008-08-08T17:00:00-04:00

By Benjamin Pimentel & Dan Gallagher, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO- Rackspace Hosting Inc. late Thursday announced its initial public offering of 15 million shares of common stock at a price of $12.50 a share.

The (RAX, , ) IPO broke a record dry spell for venture-backed initial public offerings.

The San Antonio, Texas, company's IPO will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "RAX" on Friday. The company said it will offer 12.7 million shares in the IPO while the selling stockholders will offer an additional 2.3 million common shares.

Rackspace and the selling stockholders also have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 2.25 million shares "to cover over-allotments." ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/rackspace_prices_ipo_at_12_50_a_share.html

LinuxWorld: The Thrill Is Gone

2008-08-08T13:00:00-04:00

This year's LinuxWorld was mellow. So mellow that some vendors are wondering whether to comeback.

If not the lowest ever, attendance was certainly way down from previous years, when Linux generated industry excitement as the free, open-source operating system that could challenge Microsoft Windows. For most of the 10 years the show has been in existence, it attracted lots of startups and major vendors looking to make a bundle by building on top of Linux. ... Go to source

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

AT&T Launches 'Next-Generation' Utility Computing Service

2008-08-07T14:46:00-04:00

Dallas, Texas- (Gawkwire.com) AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today announced the global launch of AT&T Synaptic HostingSM, its next-generation utility computing service with managed networking, security and storage for businesses.

As part of AT&T's $1 billion planned global network investment in 2008, the new utility computing service combines technology acquired from USinternetworking (USi) with five "super IDCs" (Internet data centers) in the United States, Europe and Asia. AT&T has a total of 38 IDCs in its global Internet Protocol (IP) network.

The super IDCs will be located in Piscataway, N.J.; San Diego; Annapolis, Md.; Singapore and Amsterdam and will act as regional gateways to the AT&T network "cloud." They will support large-scale computing and applications on demand via virtualized servers and deliver services across AT&T's IDC hosting infrastructure. Over time, additional IDCs will be added to the regional network infrastructure to deliver "enterprise-class" cloud capabilities to companies in the U.S. and abroad.

A core feature of AT&T Synaptic Hosting is its next-generation utility computing platform. This enables the service to deliver a complete hosting solution with features that use the AT&T network to manage applications, compute resources on servers and store data. AT&T Synaptic Hosting also provides designated account support all backed by a single end-to-end, service-level agreement that is unique within the industry.

With this offer, companies will achieve greater flexibility, improved performance and cost savings. The computing platform enabling Synaptic Hosting will be extended to deliver similar benefits to other services in AT&T's portfolio, including unified communication, content distribution, dynamic backup and restore, on-demand retrieval of high-resolution images such as X-rays and CT scans and many other subscription-based software services.

According to a Gartner report on infrastructure utility (IU) services, "Although the IU is 5 percent of the data center outsourcing market, it represents a fairly sizable market of almost $5 billion in end-user spending."¹

"Today's announcement is yet another example of AT&T's commitment to deliver next-generation services and solutions to companies worldwide," said Ron Spears, group president, AT&T Global Business Services. "The AT&T global network, combined with our powerful computing platform, is driving the convergence of networking and hosting services in ways that are allowing companies to deliver end-user applications whenever and wherever they are needed — while paying only for the capacity actually used.

"In today's business environment, this kind of flexibility and cost benefit is urgently needed by companies that need their Web sites and end-user applications to perform flawlessly."

The official Web site of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) is powered by AT&T Synaptic Hosting. Teamusa.org is the USOC's new feature-rich Web site that connects fans of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams with America's athletes on their journey to the Olympic Games. The site features stories on U.S. Olympians and Paralympians and Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, athlete blogs and social networking tools.

"Fans of the 2008 Olympic Games expect to go online searching for a variety of content about the Olympic Games and athletes," said Damani Short, chief information officer at the USOC. "We anticipate rapidly increasing traffic up to and during the Beijing Olympic Games, tapering off in the months following the events. AT&T Synaptic Hosting is ideal for handling the fluctuating online demand associated with the Olympic Games."

AT&T Synaptic Hosting's utility computing features are an ideal solution for companies whose business needs are seasonal or unpredictable, or where end-user traffic spikes are a given. For example, the service allows online retailers gearing up for holiday sales, employers with annual open enrollment for employee benefits and game publishers running online games to manage their own applications — or let AT&T manage them — while paying only for the information technology (IT) capacity needed on a day-to-day basis.

In addition to utility computing features, AT&T Synaptic Hosting offers the following:
* A broad selection of dynamic storage and security features that enterprises have come to rely on to protect their data and assets.
* The ability to use AT&T's BusinessDirect® customer portal to easily manage capacity, complete maintenance and monitor network service and performance of their virtual IT environment.
* Personalized support from teams of designated hosting and application specialists who are experienced in the business and technical needs of the clients.
* Application monitoring and reporting capabilities that work with most client software available in the industry today.
* One end-to-end service level agreement that covers the customer's entire environment.

"Companies are looking to service providers to help them build and manage scalable next-generation infrastructure environments for their business-critical applications," said Melanie Posey, research director at the analyst firm IDC. "Given the increasingly dynamic nature of end-user requirements, businesses need flexible delivery platforms for their applications.

"This trend is driving the need for network cloud-based, on-demand capabilities such as utility computing. The challenge for service providers is to productize these capabilities in a way that enable businesses to easily tailor the solutions to serve their specific needs. Synaptic Hosting is one example of how managed services can be offered in a modular fashion, enabling efficient scalability and on-demand delivery."

More information on AT&T Synaptic Hosting is available at www.att.com/hosting.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/at_t_launches_global_next-generation_utility_computing_service.html

DomainPeople Launches 'The .Pro Red Carpet VIP Affair'

2008-08-07T13:00:00-04:00

Vancouver, BC- (Gawkwire.com) DomainPeople, the eighth official domain name registrar accredited by the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), announced today it will be accepting reservations for .Pro domain names from new registrants through August 31, 2008. The highly-anticipated relaunch date for .Pro has now been confirmed for September 8, 2008.

Dubbed The .Pro Red Carpet VIP Affair, this reservation period enables new customers to reserve their .Pro domain in advance of the formal relaunch on September 8, when the Registry will officially open registration.

While the domain extension .Pro -- the domain for professionals -- has been available since 2005, there were numerous limitations that made it difficult to obtain and as a result, the adoption rate was nominal. In April of this year, ICANN approved much more favorable terms and conditions for .Pro. This opened up registration opportunities by allowing virtually all professionals worldwide to register .Pro domain names.

While it is necessary for professionals to self-certify their credentials, the process has become much simpler, which means there are thousands of available .Pro names just waiting to be registered. To find out the specific criteria customers will need to self-certify their professional affiliation, refer to DomainPeople's .Pro FAQs.

"DomainPeople is excited to be one of the first registrars to offer .Pro under ICANN's newly expanded registration criteria," stated Liz Yeung, product management specialist for DomainPeople. "And through August 31, we're one of the very few offering the opportunity to reserve a .Pro domain before the relaunch begins."

During "The .Pro Red Carpet VIP Affair," all .Pro domain names can be registered for US $49.95 per year. DomainPeople will also offer all registrants a professional digital certificate that ensures secure online communication via the designated Web site.

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/373.html

Secondbrain Expands, Integrates Facebook and Others

2008-08-08T10:36:00-04:00

Oslo, Norway (Gawkwire.com) In its quest to create the world's largest and most compelling user generated content library, Norwegian startup Secondbrain further expands on Web functionality and community. Secondbrain's development team made groundbreaking strides to help people discover and organize their online content. The service just counted its 10000 user signup just prior to announcing the aggregation of ten more social media services, including FriendFeed, Facebook, Diigo, Reddit, Mixx, Tumblr, Qik, Goodreads and Behance.

This is just the beginning, as Secondbrain will be adding more services and features each week. The company believes that these new additions will encourage even more people to use its platform to organize content. Unlike services it's been compared to, Secondbrain goes far beyond simple social media aggregation. Instead of just featuring bookmarks, links and screenshots, Secondbrain enables users to develop tag-based collections of content, organize and search through libraries, network with people with similar interests and discover all new content. Secondbrain not only engages community users, but effectively and actively supports those services its users demand. With every incremental addition, the Secondbrain platform becomes more powerful and so do the services it supports.

The Secondbrain platform is richer, more compelling and more effective one than anything else presented by other online aggregation services. Users benefit because their profiles gather content from all social media services they use in a single place, regardless of the format in which this content is presented: text, bookmarks, slides, video, images and sound are all effortlessly integrated within the Secondbrain library. In effect, Secondbrain is a step closer to the true ideals of the Web 2.0 movement, thus transforming a cliché into a reality: the company offers a free, open platform where semantic content from all over the Web awaits a click of the mouse.

Secondbrain can be seamlessly integrated in Firefox, IE and other browsers and aggregates user content from other social sites in real time, without interrupting the user's Web experience. Being perhaps the Web's best candidate as a touted "all in one site", Secondbrain continues to break down barriers for users; "This is what being a true aggregator, library and community is all about" according to Secondbrain CEO Lars Teigen. He also had this to say about the vision Secondbrain is trying to relate to new users:

"When people think of a true 21st Century library, they think of all media, all knowledge and ease of access in one convenient place. This is what we are building at Secondbrain, not simply a lifestream or a broken collection of meaningless links, but an actual next millennium library - the largest one of its kind in the world!"

Launched in March 2007, Secondbrain spent time perfecting its platform in Alpha mode. Ready for the spot light, they launched Beta 2.0 in April 2008 enticing new user signups with what was a very popular and effective contest: Secondbrain's MacBook Air giveaway. Not many startups have gone so far as to reward users for their contributions so richly. Seed funded by Making Waves AS, Secondbrain is now expecting the next series of funding to accelerate its expanded development.

Secondbrain has also cemented its dedication to users with excellent support and prompt response to user feedback. Another Web 2.0 philosophy is alive and well within the Secondbrain community - the notion that user contribution is the key to perfection. The addition of these new services, and even the new landing page design that will welcome the Secondbrainiacs as of today, are all results of this interaction between site administrators and community.

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

Artmotion Offers Swiss Dedicated Servers

2008-08-08T08:00:00-04:00

ZUG, Switzerland - (Gawkwire.com)Offshore Web host Artmotion Ltd. (http://www.artmotion.eu) announced today the launch of its Switzerland-based Dedicated Servers, bundled with a hardware firewall and suite of security consulting services. The comprehensive service provides clients with an out-of-the-box, scalable solution to hosting offshore, with a variety of privacy, security, and tax advantages.

Dedicated Servers are available with either a Windows or Linux platform, and start at $189/monthly for 500GB of network traffic and 160 GB of hard disk space. All servers are hosted in Artmotion’s Zug, Switzerland datacenter facility, featuring more than 685 peering points and a fully English-speaking Level 1 technical support team.

Each Dedicated Server plan includes a robust security package, offering the protection of a dedicated hardware firewall and personalized security consulting service.

“When choosing to host servers offshore, a key part of the decision making process has to be guaranteeing adequate security, both physically and within the software environment. By integrating a security package in every Dedicated Server plan, we demonstrate our commitment to making the entire process easier for our clients to manage,” said Mateo Meier, CTO of Artmotion.

Switzerland, which declared its neutrality in the year 1812, offers international businesses a high level of privacy and is widely recognized for its financial stability, including a secure private banking system and the world's largest offshore financial center. The nation’s geographical location in central Europe also makes hosting servers ideal, as the location is immune from major natural disasters.

To learn more about Swiss Dedicated Servers from Artmotion, please visit http://www.artmotion.biz/en/server/.
To learn more about Artmotion, please visit http://www.artmotion.eu.

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

SpiralHost Partners with R1Soft

2008-08-07T21:11:00-04:00

COVENTRY, England - (Gawkwire.com) European Web hosting provider SpiralHost (http://www.spiralhost.com) announced today it has joined R1Soft’s (http://www.r1soft.com) Hosting Partner Program, an opportunity to help it market and implement the software company’s innovative data backup solution, Continuous Data Protection®.

SpiralHost currently offers Continuous Data Protection® to all customers as a free value-added service, dubbed Rest Easy™. The data protection technology from R1Soft is unique in its ability to provide real-time backup of data, virtually eliminating the threat of data loss in the event of a disaster. Through the R1Soft Hosting Partner Program, SpiralHost will receive access to priority technical support from R1Soft, a variety of sales and marketing resources, and expert assistance on effectively deploying the data protection solution.

“Providing a sound data backup solution for our customers is very important as our company competes in the world market. With R1Soft’s Continuous Data Protection®, we are able to affordably deliver on our promise to do everything we can to safeguard our customers’ data,” said Greg Bales, Managing Director of SpiralHost. “Our Rest Easy™ data protection service has already proven to be an enormous success and we look forward to offering continually more competitive solutions as the needs of our customers change in time.”

Rest Easy™ data protection includes three separate backup schedules for each Shared hosting account: Weekly backups store eight restore points for two months; Daily Backups store 14 restore points for two weeks; and hourly backups store 48 restore points for two days. Customers may specify which files should be backed up.

“SpiralHost has proven its commitment to data protection by rigorously deploying our solution on a variety of levels, especially with its progressive set of backup schedules. We are excited at the opportunity to more closely work with SpiralHost to make Continuous Data Protection® an important asset for their customers,” said David Wartell, Vice President of R1Soft division, BBS Technologies, Inc.

Shared Web hosting from SpiralHost starts at $8/monthly for 4 hosted domains and 1GB of Web space. Each plan includes a set of features for developers and businesses, including unlimited email accounts, domain aliases, and databases. All Shared hosting servers also support PostgreSQL, PHP, Perl, SSI, CGI, Python, Apache ASP, and a variety of Web applications.

In addition to Shared hosting, SpiralHost offers Reseller Hosting, domain name registration, and SSL certificates.

To learn more about SpiralHost, please visit http://www.spiralhost.com.
To learn more about Rest Easy™ from SpiralHost, please visit http://www.spiralhost.com/backup_system.php. http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/spiralhost_partners_with_r1soft.html

Bill Balderaz to be Featured Speaker on SEO and Online Marketing

2008-08-07T13:00:00-04:00

Columbus, OH- (Gawkwire.com) In the coming weeks, the founder of central Ohio's search engine optimization leader, Webbed Marketing, will be featured at several events aimed at informing audiences of viral and search engine optimization strategies.

Bill Balderaz, will open the whirlwind tour with an August 8th appearance on Blog Talk Radio's Epic Living hour. The show's host, Eric Pennington, hopes the conversation "will alert both individuals and corporations to the necessity of growing through viral marketing and by leveraging the power of online social networks." Pennington's weekly show airs on Friday at 12:30 PM.

Next up on the tour will be an August 26th conference aimed at informing Realtors about the fundamentals of search engine optimization and internet marketing. The presentation will cover the spectrum of search engine optimization and online marketing, including strategies for getting started and measuring the success of web based marketing programs. The event is sponsored by Dominion Homes, a central Ohio new home builder.

"In addition to informing central Ohio's Realtors about the advantages of online marketing, the conference will also provide tips on how Realtors can be more involved in online networking through social media outlets," Balderaz said.

On August 27th, Balderaz will speak at a breakfast with the Ohio Web Leaders. He and members of Webbed Marketing's team will discuss the current happenings in the search engine world. One of the hottest topics is the emergence of the new search engine, "Cuil."

Next on the tour, Webbed Marketing will be holding an informative webinar on August 28th. The webinar will focus on how to use new social media outlets, such as Twitter, to promote business. The webinar is scheduled from 1:00pm to 2:00pm.

Following will be an appearance at the IT Martini Hour to discuss search engine optimization, online marketing and viral marketing. The event will take place on September 18th at Park Street Patio. The IT Martini Hour targets IT professionals from all industries, but is also open to more communications driven professions, such as sales, marketing and PR.

Balderaz's next appearance will be a search engine optimization presentation at the 2008 MindLeaders International Users Conference. The three-day conference will be held October 5th through 8th in San Antonio, Texas. The conference promises two and one-half days of presentations, workshops and tutorials.

Webbed Marketing will be featured for a two-part presentation on search engine marketing and viral marketing strategy at the MindLeaders event.

Following the Mindleaders event, Balderaz will be a featured speaker at the New Marketing Summit in Foxboro, MA. The event will take place on October 14th and 15th and will cover the impact that new online tools are having on marketing strategy.

The final leg in the journey will be an appearance as the online marketing speaker at the 2008 Public Pension Financial Forum (P2F2) conference in Mobile, Alabama. The event will take place from October 19th through the 22nd. P2F2 functions to promote excellence in the financial operations of public pension plans. Balderaz will speak to the audience about the importance of positioning electronic correspondence in order to retain branding during the execution of viral marketing campaigns.

Balderaz, who founded Webbed Marketing in 2006, has been a featured speaker on topics related to Internet marketing at dozens of conference and seminars across the country. Central Ohio-based Webbed Marketing specializes in search engine optimization, search engine marketing and is an innovative leader in cutting edge areas of the online marketing industry, such as viral marketing, widget development and social media marketing.

"The media, customers, prospect, partners and online influencers-- the people we are all trying to reach -- use search and social networks to find products, services and sources," Balderaz said. "Corporations who harness the power of search and social networks are positioned well to thrive in the Internet age."

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

Black Hat: DNS Flaw Much Bigger Than Thought

2008-08-07T13:00:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Security researcher Dan Kaminsky Wednesday revealed details on the DNS vulnerability he discovered earlier this year, suggesting its potential impact is far more serious than just about anyone realized.

Speaking to a packed room of Black Hat conference attendees, Kaminsky, director of penetration testing for IOActive, said that in addition to being used for so-called cache poisoning attacks, the DNS vulnerability could also be used to exploit IPSec VPNs, SSL certification, automatic software update systems, spam filters and voice over IP systems.

But that's far from a complete list of the systems that could be affected, and Kaminsky repeatedly used the term "domino effect" in describing the vulnerability's far reaching potential to wreak havoc. ... Go to source

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

ICANN Highlights Domain Name System Vulnerability; Releases Tools

2008-08-07T10:32:00-04:00

By Caycee Boyce

MARINA DEL REY, Calif.- (Gawkwire.com) The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is raising awareness of a recently discovered vulnerability in the domain name system (DNS). This includes releasing an FAQ and an online tool for domain operators to test their domains.

Due to the distributed nature of the DNS, no one organization can implement a fix for this vulnerability. It requires the cooperation of all name server operators and DNS software vendors. However, ICANN sees an important goal in spreading awareness of the need to update Internet infrastructure to cope with the threat. The organization has been undertaking significant outreach efforts to top-level domain operators to advise them on the issue. It has also prepared an FAQ and online domain testing tool to raise awareness of the problem, and to encourage network operators to rectify or update their servers. ...Go To Source

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

Sun Fire X4600 M2 Server Is Industry's Fastest x86 Java Server

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

SANTA CLARA, Calif.- (Gawkwire.com) Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAVA) today announced the new SPECjbb2005 world record score, which beats all other x86 systems on the market. The Sun Fire(TM) X4600 M2 server, equipped with eight Quad-Core AMD Opteron(TM) model 8360SE processors and running the Solaris(TM) 10 Operating System (OS), posted an x86 World Record score of 683,542 SPECjbb2005 bops (85,443 SPECjbb2005 bops/JVM). In the benchmark results, the Sun Fire X4600 M2 server demonstrated that it is 53% faster than the Dell PowerEdge R900 and is able to perform 75% more Java business operations than the Dell PowerEdge R905 in the same physical footprint.

The SPECjbb2005 (Java(TM) Business Benchmark) measures the performance of a Java-implemented application server in the middle tier of a 3-tier architecture. It is based on the order processing application of a wholesale supplier and emulates the real-world server-side Java application while providing an accurate reflection of the business logic and objects relevant to the wholesale operation. The benchmark is designed to stress the implementation of the Java(TM) Virtual Machine (JVM) and the scalability of the system's processors and memory, and is often relied upon in sizing and scaling exercises done by potential customers.

“The SPECjbb2005 score on a Sun and AMD platform is a strong testament to the heavyweight performance of Sun’s unique 8-socket system design and the performance and scalability of the Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor,” said Margaret Lewis, director, Software Strategy, AMD. “SPECjbb2005 provides a relevant, useful metric for IT managers to evaluate how well their Java-based applications will run on this platform and with the selection of the Sun Fire X4600 M2 server, they will be selecting a clear winner.”

“This benchmark is a result of Sun's design innovation combined with AMD's fastest Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors,” said Arvie Martin, marketing manager of x64 systems, Sun Microsystems. “The newly available quad-core Sun Fire X4600 M2 server beats the x86 competition on this benchmark by a wide margin.”

For more details on this benchmark, visit: http://www.sun.com/servers/x64/x4600/benchmarks.jsp

The Sun Fire X4600 M2 server with Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors packs the power of eight processors into a compact 4RU, energy-efficient system, offering up to twice the compute density of competitive servers. The scalable Sun Fire X4600 M2 server, working with VMware software and the Sun StorageTek(TM) 6540 array, delivers one of the most effective consolidation and virtualization platforms available. Customers can also deploy Sun(TM) xVM Ops Center to more reliably manage operating system updates in both physical and virtual environments. In addition, the Sun Fire X4600 M2 server's extreme energy efficiency and scalability features make it an ideal platform for small and medium businesses. For more information on the Sun Fire X4600 M2 server, please visit: http://www.sun.com/x4600

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/sun_fire_x4600_m2_server_is_industry_s_fastest_x86_java_server.html

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ready to Race No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet

2008-08-07T08:05:00-04:00

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.- (Gawkwire.com) NASCAR's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., is set to drive the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International during the NASCAR Zippo 200 Nationwide Series race Saturday. He's looking to make it Go Daddy's second win in a row after Ron Fellows' victory at the NAPA Auto Parts 200 last weekend.

Earnhardt designed the sleek black, orange and green Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS. Earnhardt debuted the Go Daddy-sponsored car in April, finishing seventh at the O'Reilly 300. The first win in Go Daddy’s inaugural season came last weekend when elite road racer Ron Fellows drove the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet through Montreal's rainy Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course.

“I’m looking forward to driving the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet again,” Earnhardt said. “After Ron's victory last week at Montreal, we know our road-course cars are really good, and we expect another good run this weekend.”

Go Daddy, the world's largest domain registrar and the largest paid Web hosting provider in North America, signed a deal with JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports late last year. Hendrick and JR Motorsports officially combined operations for the NASCAR Nationwide Series after the 2007 racing schedule.

"I love the fact Dale Earnhardt Jr. designed the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet," said GoDaddy.com CEO and Founder Bob Parsons. "Dale Jr. is a fierce competitor. He's the most popular NASCAR driver for good reason -- he's fun to watch and really knows how to thrill the fans!"

This won't be the last ride of the NASCAR season for the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet. Next up, Mark Martin, the all-time leader in Nationwide Series wins, gets behind the wheel at the Carfax 250 in Michigan Aug. 16. Martin concludes the season in the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Sept. 27 at the Kansas Lottery 300.

Meantime, over on the IndyCar League this Saturday, Go Daddy will be the broadcast sponsor for the Meijer 300 race at Kentucky Speedway. You can expect to see GoDaddy.com branding on everything from broadcast segments to aerial and in-car views during the ESPN2 broadcast, and Go Daddy Girl Danica Patrick will be vying for IndyCar's checkered flag again.

Earlier this year, Danica Patrick made history as the first woman to ever win an IndyCar race. Go Daddy made Internet history in June with a historic milestone, registering an industry-record 30 million domain names.

For more about how to create your own Web site or secure a domain name, visit www.GoDaddy.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/dale_earnhardt_jr_ready_to_race_no_5_godaddy_com_chevrolet.html

Steve Jobs Admits MobileMe Not Up To Appleâ€™s Standards

2008-08-05T04:41:00-04:00

By Nicholas Deleon

Steve Jobs has admitted that the MobileMe launch was “not up to Apple’s standards.” That’s in reference to all the problems the service has had since it launched last month.

Jobs admitted as much in an internal e-mail sent to Apple employees, which Ars Technica got a hold of. He said MobileMe shouldn’t have been launched on the same day as iPhone 3G, Firmware 2.0 and the App Store. ...Go To Source

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

Windows Firewall: It's a lose-lose proposition

2008-08-05T14:38:00-04:00

By Dennis O'Reilly

Sometimes you just can't win. That's the way it is with the Windows Firewall. The one in XP can't monitor connections from your PC to the outside world--which is how botnets, Trojans, and other malware operate. The firewall in Vista can block outbound connections, but this feature is off by default, and it's practically impossible to create filters to block selective outbound links.

On the one hand, Microsoft claims that you don't need outbound filtering if you use the Windows Defender anti-spyware app to keep the snoops off your PC in the first place. On the other, it sells the $50-per-year Windows Live OneCare service that does let you filter outbound connections selectively. Go figure. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/reviews/windows_firewall_it_s_a_lose-lose_proposition.html

Google to get aggressive with Apps suite

2008-08-06T10:33:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Google plans to aggressively add new applications and capabilities to its Web-hosted Apps software suite for businesses and will likely leave the price unchanged as it builds out the service, a company official said Tuesday.

The comments signal a move that will likely heat up the competitive fire between Google and Microsoft in the market for office productivity, communication, and collaboration software.

Google, a recent entrant to this market, has opted to provide its suite via a SaaS (software as a service) model, a newly popular approach in which vendors host the software and data, and deliver it to customers via the Internet. ... Go to source

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

DigiumÂ® Announces Keynote Speakers for Expanded AstriCon â€˜08

2008-08-06T10:25:00-04:00

HUNTSVILLE, Ala.- (Gawkwire.com) Digium®, Inc., the Asterisk® Company, recently announced that Brian Aker from Sun Microsystems/MySQL and Stefan Öberg from Skype are slated as keynote speakers for AstriCon ‘08. AstriCon, the world's largest, most informative gathering of expert developers and users of the popular Asterisk telephony platform, also announces expanded track sessions to this year’s conference.

Aker, an open source hacker who has worked on various Apache modules, the Slash system and numerous storage engines for the MySQL database, currently serves as the Director of Architecture for MySQL AB. He plans on speaking on the topic of “The Parallel Evolution of MySQL; One Foot in the Commercial World and the other in the Open Source Community.”

Öberg is vice president and general manager for Skype Telecom and Skype for Business. He has previously served in different positions at Tele2, the Swedish telecom operator, initially in Sweden and later in Estonia and Russia. Öberg is also the founder and chairman of Trigger Software, a wholly owned subsidiary to Tele2. His keynote will focus on VoIP for Business.

The contrast between the Skype network and software model and the open source nature of Asterisk and its underlying VoIP protocols may be a controversial topic, but one worthy of exploration. AstriCon is pleased to have secured Öberg as a keynote speaker, and it is certain that his insights will provide an excellent basis for discussions and deliberations well beyond the boundaries of the conference.

Digium, who is the creator and driving force behind Asterisk, anticipates that AstriCon '08 will be the largest and most successful event to date. This year the conference has expanded to five tracks with more than 60 topics to offer attendees more variety and options during this two-day event. These tracks include a business track, technical/introductory track, a carrier/large scale track and two advanced technical tracks.

“Digium is dedicated to making AstriCon into the largest, most exciting Asterisk community event,” said Mark Spencer, creator of Asterisk and Digium’s chief technology officer. “Every year we look forward to offering both experts and those new to Asterisk insight to the new frontiers of our application by providing expert speakers and a variety of informative tracks. Plus, I’m always looking forward to late nights at the Code Zone portion of the conference where we get some really great ideas, innovation and code from our developers and users.”

AstriCon is the pioneer and longest-running event devoted to all things Asterisk, one of the most influential open source projects today. Attendees will learn about trends in Asterisk use, the growing Asterisk ecosystem, the newest applications and a wide range of technical topics from Asterisk developers, users and entrepreneurs.

AstriCon will be held from September 23-25 at the Renaissance Glendale Hotel & Spa in Glendale, Ariz. FierceVoIP and TMCnet will serve as media sponsors and Polycom and Sangoma will be the platinum sponsors for the event. There is a pre-conference tutorial day on September 23rd with various introductory as well as developer tracks. Registration is open at www.astricon.net.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/digium_announces_keynote_speakers_for_expanded_astricon_08.html

MEDIA ALERT: Data Domain to Present at Next Generation Data Center Conference

2008-08-06T09:52:00-04:00

SANTA CLARA, CA (Gawkwire.com) - Data Domain (NASDAQ: DDUP), the leading provider of Deduplication Storage systems, today announced that Principal Systems Engineer and Storage Architect Devin Hamilton will present to attendees of the second annual Next Generation Data Center™ Conference & Expo (NGDC™) at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. Hamilton's session "Data Deduplication: Methods for Achieving Storage Efficiency," will be held on Wednesday, August 6 at 3:00 p.m. PT.

Implementing data deduplication technology requires careful consideration of the scalability, performance and functionality of the intended solution within its target environment. This session will review various deduplication technologies available and the implications associated with each.

Hamilton has over thirteen years of experience in the storage industry and has extensive experience implementing deduplication storage systems into a variety of data center and distributed enterprise environments. Hamilton also serves as co-chairman of the Storage Network Industry Association's Data Management Forum Data Protection Initiative.

The Next Generation Data Center™ Conference & Expo focuses on new technologies and their impact on the data center, covering mission-critical applications and the technology supporting those applications including storage, servers, networking and communications. NGDC will be taking place from August 4-7, 2008.

Registration: For additional event information or to attend the conference, visit www.ngdcexpo.com Data Domain Exhibitor Booth: 1220 ger's Franchis

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

Former Adobe Systems CEO Bruce Chizen Joins Voyager Capital's Advisory Board

2008-08-06T03:45:00-04:00

MENLO PARK, CA- (Gawkwire.com) Voyager Capital, a leading West Coast venture capital firm, today announced that Bruce Chizen, former CEO of Adobe Systems, has joined the firm's Advisory Board.

As CEO from 2000 to 2007, Chizen transformed Adobe Systems into one of the world's largest and most diversified software companies in terms of revenue, global reach and breadth of products. During his tenure, Chizen tripled revenue and turned a company known mainly for its popular design products into one of the most significant forces in the software industry. Chizen also led the company's expansion into new markets, including the enterprise, knowledge worker and consumer.

"Bruce brings invaluable experience in building successful high growth companies, as well as excellent perspectives on the digital media and software sectors," said Bill McAleer, managing director at Voyager Capital. "He will be a tremendous asset to the firm as we continue to expand our West Coast franchise."

Prior to becoming CEO of Adobe Systems, Chizen was executive vice president of worldwide products and marketing. At Adobe since 1994, he was previously vice president and general manager of both the professional graphics division and Adobe's consumer division.

"Voyager Capital is well positioned to leverage the major technology sectors on the West Coast including Silicon Valley; Seattle, Washington; and Portland, Oregon," said Chizen. "I welcome the opportunity to help develop innovative strategies that will accelerate the firm's momentum."

From 1980 to 1983, Chizen worked in Mattel Electronics' merchandising group, helping grow it to a $500 million business. In 1983, Chizen joined Microsoft Corporation, eventually becoming the company's eastern region sales director. In 1987, he joined Claris Corporation, a subsidiary of Apple Computer, Inc., as a founding senior manager and later held positions as vice president of sales and worldwide marketing before becoming vice president and general manager of Claris Clear Choice.

Chizen holds a bachelor's degree from Brooklyn College, City University of New York. He currently serves on the boards of Synopsys, Inc. and Oracle Corporation, as well as a number of non profit boards. Bruce also recently joined as an observer on the board of directors of Elemental Technologies, a Voyager Fund III portfolio company in the digital media sector.

For a complete list of members of Voyager Capital's Advisory Board please visit: http://www.voyagercapital.com/team/advisory-board.php.

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

Webcast on Spam and Malware Threats

2008-08-04T05:23:00-04:00

GREENBELT, Md.- (Gawkwire.com) Presidio Networked Solutions,
the leading provider of professional and managed services for advanced IT
Infrastructure Lifecycle solutions, will present an informational,
hour-long Webcast called "Internet Security Trends and Threats," on August
14. The Webcast, also featuring IronPort, will offer enterprises,
government agencies and other businesses new strategies for battling spam
and malware.

What: Webcast: Internet Security Trends and Threats
When: Thursday, August 14
Time: 1:00 pm EDT, 10:00 am PDT

Registration for the event can be found at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/459184312

Content: Understanding the Internet security trends and threats that
organizations face daily is the first step to engineering a solution that
can effectively protect the organization. Together, IronPort and Presidio
will address the following:
- Planning the best approach to reducing spam and malware's strain on
the network.

- How to deliver significantly higher throughput than competitive
alternatives and translate that throughput into fewer spam servers
and reduced power and space requirements.

- How to drop most of the spam traffic at the network connection level
before the spam engines need to process it.

- Using edge filtering to stop more malicious and suspicious content
from entering an organization's network, requiring less storage of
unnecessary data.

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

Sybase Announces Availability of PowerBuilder 11.5

2008-08-05T11:13:00-04:00

LAS VEGAS- (Gawkwire.com) Sybase, Inc. (NYSE:SY), a leading provider of enterprise infrastructure and mobile software, today announced the planned availability date of Sybase® PowerBuilder® 11.5, the premier 4GL rapid application development (RAD) tool. The latest release of PowerBuilder continues Sybase’s longstanding commitment to simplify complex data access, manipulation and presentation through its patented DataWindow® technology, especially for developers looking to deploy PowerBuilder applications to the .NET framework.

“Sybase has long been a leader in development tools and continues to address the market need for open, agile tools that are easy to use and enable true Rapid Application Development,” said Gregory Heiner of United Insurance Group. “PowerBuilder is a road-tested tool that has the speed and flexibility to solve the challenge of developing business critical applications, all the while leveraging existing developer skill sets and ensuring we are at the forefront of new development technologies.”

Key New Capabilities and Developer Benefits Include:
- PowerBuilder for .NET — continuous, timely updates in tandem with releases of Microsoft® technologies for .NET, including support for Strong Named Assemblies, access to .NET static, primitive and enumerative classes, and support for IIS7.

- New DataWindow Innovations — developers can create even more visually appealing, data-driven applications with advanced 3D chart rendering, special gradient and transparency features, support for PNG files, and the addition of Rich Text Edit style for columns.

- New Native RDBMS Drivers — new native driver support for SQL Server® 2008 and Oracle® 11g facilitates utmost developer efficiency and productivity.

- Flexible Deployment Options — PowerBuilder 11.5 will include an Application Server Plug-in for third party application server deployment directly from the PowerBuilder IDE. Now, PowerBuilder objects can be deployed to JEE application servers where they will act just like EJBs. Furthermore, PowerBuilder 11.5 will also include award winning PocketBuilder for agile Windows Mobile® development and deployment.

- Simplified Security — will enable delivery of applications that meet today’s protection, compliance, and integrity needs with support for the US Federal Desktop Core Configuration (FDCC), a security standard where users are restricted to work only in a standard user context without elevated system administration privileges. In addition, PowerBuilder 11.5 comes with support for CAS (Code Access Security), which allows .NET applications to run in partially trusted zones.

“With this release, we remain committed to creating the simplest and most cost effective path possible for developers to create and deploy applications from PowerBuilder to the .NET framework,” said Dimitri Volkmann, senior director of product management, Sybase. “Although other tools offer enhancements or plug-ins, it’s often in a piecemeal fashion, requiring different options to deliver what’s comprehensive and inherent to PowerBuilder in the box.”

In related news, Sybase today announced that PowerBuilder won Visual Studio Magazine’s Readers Choice Merit Award. Please see press release at www.sybase.com/press.

Product Availability
PowerBuilder 11.5 is currently scheduled to be available on September 12 with new licenses starting at $2,995 and updates to PowerBuilder 11.0 starting at $1,495. It will also include free versions of the PowerBuilder Application Server Plug-in and PocketBuilder for Windows Mobile. For additional product information or to place an order, please call 1-800-8-SYBASE or visit www.sybase.com/powerbuilder.

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/sybase_announces_availability_of_powerbuilder_11_5.html

Industry's First LEED Platinum Pre-Certified Data Center

2008-08-05T10:26:00-04:00

SAN FRANCISCO, CA- (Gawkwire.com) Advanced Data Centers (ADC), a leading owner and developer of corporate data centers, announced today that its McClellan Park data center has received Platinum Pre-Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council under the LEED® Green Building Rating System™. The McClellan Park facility, located in Sacramento, California, is the industry's first and only LEED Platinum pre-certified data center.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally accepted benchmark for design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their building's performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

"At a time when data center energy demand is accelerating, we are significantly reducing energy usage and impact on the utility grid at the McClellan Park facility," said Michael Cohen, President of Advanced Data Centers. "We will continue to design environmentally responsible data centers and consider LEED as a baseline for our facilities going forward."

The McClellan Park data center will have a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.1, while the average data center typically ranges from 1.8 to 3.0. PUE is a measure of the energy efficiency of a data center. A 1.1 PUE reduces the energy required to operate the data center by over 50 percent and lowers the total cost of data center ownership to the customer. "The reduction in energy usage significantly reduces the facility's carbon footprint and impact on the utility grid," added Bob Seese, ADC's Chief Data Center Architect.

"The energy use of the ADC data center meets a recently considered impossible to achieve PUE of 1.1. With an energy savings of $1 million to $2 million per year this project stands to be the largest energy savings achieved ever in Sacramento and indeed the rest of California," said Peter Rumsey, President of Rumsey Engineers. "ADC has taken a leadership role in designing one of the country's lowest energy data centers. This is the key component of the LEED platinum certification and more importantly in making this facility the lowest carbon-emitting data center of its kind in California."

Key environmental performance characteristics that contribute to the McClellan Park data center include:

-- Sustainable site development: Built on a "brownfield" site; capturing
    100% of rainwater runoff from building; use of shade and reflective
    materials to reduce "heat island" effect; commuter alternatives program for
    building occupants
-- Water savings: Utilizes recycled (gray) water and captured rainwater
    for landscaping, restrooms and cooling tower backup; installing low- and no-
    water fixtures in restrooms; reuse of cooling tower "blow-down"
-- Energy efficiency: Reduction in cooling costs through careful airflow,
    and water-flow design and the use of outside air to cool 75% of year
-- Materials selection: Use of recycled non-toxic, and locally
    sourced/manufactured materials; recycled over 95% of demolition debris
-- Maintenance: Utilizing non-toxic low-VOC chemicals for facilities
    maintenance and routine personnel training in maintenance procedures
-- Indoor environmental quality: Using low-VOC materials, finishes,
    adhesives and sealants; provide day-lighting for building occupants

Advanced Data Center's LEED Platinum pre-certified data center is located on the former McClellan Air Force Base, a 3,000+ acre business park located in Sacramento, CA that now serves as a state-of-the-art corporate and industrial office park.

"ADC is joining our growing roster of green businesses at McClellan Park. As one of the largest redevelopment projects in Northern California, McClellan Park is one of the leading recyclers of buildings, and rather than sending the waste to the landfill, we reuse concrete and asphalt from our demolition projects. We are also cleaning and recycling contaminated land and have attracted numerous businesses that are involved in green activities. McClellan Park is the epicenter of green development in the Sacramento region and is actively seeking environmentally conscious tenants. Our tenants include solar manufacturing, hybrid automobile battery testing and repair, paint recycling and soon will include some of the areas greenest buildings like ADC," said McClellan Park President Larry Kelley.

Customer demand to host IT infrastructure in a state-of-the-art green data center has led several companies to express interest in deploying their mission critical applications in the McClellan facility. The ability to host infrastructure in a facility that is virtually safe from all major disasters and within driving distance of the San Francisco Bay Area has proven to be a highly differentiated asset. ADC is now accepting LOIs to secure space for companies which are looking to build out or expand their operations.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/industry_s_first_leed_platinum_pre-certified_data_center.html

DiscountASP.NET Partners with Richer Components

2008-08-04T03:10:00-04:00

Pasadena, CA — (Gawkwire.com) DiscountASP.NET today announced that Richer Components’ award-winning component, RichTextBox, and their new RichMessageBoard for ASP.NET, are available on DiscountASP.NET webservers at no additional cost.

The DiscountASP.NET and Richer Components partnership provides ASP.NET developers with access to leading ASP.NET components for building next-generation web applications. Customers can develop web applications using the component evaluation version on their local development environment and upon uploading to DiscountASP.NET webservers, the components will be fully functional.

Under this partnership, DiscountASP.NET customers can also receive a 15% discount on any purchase of Richer Components component suite.

"We now offer the latest RichTextBox and the new RichMessageBoard components on both our Windows 2008 hosting and Windows 2003 hosting platform.” said DiscountASP.NET's Vice President of Marketing, Takeshi Eto. "Our goal is to work with leading component vendors to offer best of breed components on our ASP.NET web hosting environment, so that our customers have the tools to take their web applications to the next level.”

RichTextBox can be used to add WYSIWYG textboxes to ASP.NET web applications giving users Microsoft Office style text and HTML editing capabilities with spell check and multilingual support. The new RichMessageBoard allows developers to drop in forums, comments, and ratings to any website page enabling a Web 2.0 experience. Both components also support a wide variety of backend database options.

“Our team has made significant updates to the Richer Components component suite and we wanted to work with an ASP.NET hosting leader to help bring them to market,” said Allen Anderson, COO at Richer Components, Inc. “We also wanted to test our components on the new Windows 2008 hosting platform and DiscountASP.NET allowed us to experience deploying and using our components just as one of our customers would experience. We are thrilled to partner with DiscountASP.NET.”

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

Domainer's Magazine Raises the Bar in the Domain Media Industry

2008-08-04T10:31:00-04:00

Matamoras, PA - Domainer's Magazine, the original premier print magazine for the domaining industry, is pleased to announce that they have raised the bar yet again in the domain media industry. They have launched a new website that allows viewers to post their own articles, comment on articles and view real time auctions from several top auction houses in real time. The newly updated site will include industry news, press releases, and articles that will be updated daily or as needed. Industry experts, web gurus, journalists in the technology sector and even greenhorn domainers are encouraged to submit articles online. If they are relevant they'll go on to be published at DomainersMagazine.com and may even be included for future print editions of the Magazine. For those who are more inclined to read the publication, for a very limited time DomainersMagazine.com is offering a free six-month print subscription valued at over $20 to a select number of individuals on a first come first serve basis.

Domainer's Magazine co-owner Jerry Nolte Jr. states he is excited at the opportunity for viewers to contribute their news on the industry in real time and to allow their advertisers to benefit from many new advertising opportunities that are available to them. Mike St. John, co-owner of the publication and resident "techie", is excited to offer a state of the art website to match the domaining industry itself.

About Domainer's Magazine: Domainer's Magazine was designed to provide valuable insight and thought leadership into the domaining world. It is the original print magazine that targets this industry--which is becoming noted by some of the leading financiers of our time. Their goal is to continue to be a world-class publication that is the eyes and ears of the domainer. For more information on Domainer's Magazine visit http://www.domainersmagazine.com or contact Cindy Nolte at 914-443-3202. It is a sister company to iMonetize.

About iMonetize: iMonetize.com was founded in 2005 and is one of the fastest growing full service domain management, Meta-PPC optimization companies. It provides a suite of services for domain holders, expired domain speculators, registrars and web hosts to maximize revenue while accurately analyzing performance and origin. iMonetize provides the most user-friendly and detailed domain name statistics in the industry in most cases all the way down to the individual domain level. For more information on iMonetize visit http://www.imonetize.com or contact Joe Callan at 570-491-2959.

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

Dog-Gone It! Go Daddy Makes Giving Away Money Look Fun!!!

2008-08-04T10:35:00-04:00

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Saturday, Go Daddy delivered big dollars for Arizona animals. Go Daddy, known for helping people get online with Web sites and domain names, donated $50,000 to help Arizona pets during the Arizona Humane Society's annual telethon.

Go Daddy also used its expertise to organize online donations, helped answer phones and kept the live event's Web site running smoothly. If you watched the telethon you know Go Daddy donated in "GoDaddy-esque" style too - having their CEO's own dogs deliver the donation on live television.

"Max and Chief are quite the dynamic duo," said Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons, referring to how his own dogs rode in a customized Go Daddy remote control car to deliver the special envelope.

This is the third consecutive year Go Daddy co-sponsored the telethon to help animals.

"Members of our organization are still talking about what a huge help Go Daddy was to us from the start," said Tim Crum, Executive Director of the Arizona Humane Society. "One year, Go Daddy jumped in to save the telethon's online component, the next year they helped to significantly increase our online contributions and this year they helped us reach our goal in donations."

While many companies are cutting back resources these days, Go Daddy is expanding its workforce, recorded an Internet-first for number of domain name registrations and made more charitable donations already this year than last.

In 2008, Go Daddy has helped disadvantaged children, Parkinson's research, domestic violence victims, homeless teenagers, flood victims and now abandoned pets, which might otherwise have to be euthanized.

In a typical year, the Arizona Humane Society shelters nearly 50,000 animals. The annual telethon not only raises much needed money for these animals, but also provides educational programs, including how to better care for your pet, fight animal cruelty and adopt a pet.

To learn more about the Arizona Humane Society please visit: www.AZHumane.org.

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/dog-gone_it_go_daddy_makes_giving_away_money_look_fun.html

Dedicated Server Web Hosting Company, UK2, Completes WingSix Acquisition

2008-08-04T10:29:00-04:00

The transfer will be immediate and transparent to WingSix customers. The WingSix brand will continue to be marketed and positioned as a high-end hosting service focused on customer service.

Marc Bollinger, General Manager for WingSix, commented, ''WingSix customers have intense loyalty to the brand, due to the excellent service they consistently received. We're excited for the opportunity to continue the outstanding service and support and further develop the WingSix brand.''

Jordan Lowe, President of ServerCentral, noted, ''After reviewing all of our options, UK-2 was the best fit for our customers, offering a high standard of care in customer service, and a local Chicago-based team.''

Having provided hosting under the ServerCentral name since 2000, ServerCentral consolidated its hosting assets under the WingSix brand in 2005. WingSix supports thousands of web hosting, reseller, and virtual private server customers in 50 countries worldwide.

ServerCentral is a managed datacenter solutions provider specializing in bandwidth-intensive colocation applications. With datacenters strategically located worldwide, the company serves a diverse roster of clients, including content delivery companies, web hosting and application service providers, hardware vendors and enterprise-level clients.

UK-2 Group, a British hosting firm, provides domain name registration and web hosting services to many customers through its family of hosting brands - UK2.net, US2.net and Resell.biz. The group operates its services out of several state of the art, multi million pound data centers and are committed to providing reliable, secure and great value products and services underpinned with excellent support. UK2-Group is also a major shareholder in the merged Redbus Interhouse and Telecity Group, the leading European data centre provider.

To learn more about UK.Net, please visit: www.uk2.net.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/dedicated_server_web_hosting_company_uk2_completes_wingsix_acqui.html

Search Engine Marketing Firm iProspect Study

2008-08-04T10:25:00-04:00

BOSTON, MA - Search engine marketing firm iProspect today published the iProspect Search Engine Marketing Integration Study. Sponsored by iProspect and conducted by JupiterResearch, the study reveals that 45% of search engine marketers do not integrate their search marketing efforts with offline channels. In addition, it also uncovers a big disconnect between search engine marketer strategy and search engine user behavior.

While the concept of integrating search with offline channels is far from new, the findings from this new study seem to indicate otherwise. In fact, the study finds that just over half of search engine marketers (55%) intentionally integrate their efforts with at least one offline marketing channel. Specifically, that integration most often takes place with direct mail (34%) and magazine/newspaper advertising (29%), while both television (12%) and radio advertising (12%) trail behind.

When compared to the iProspect Offline Influence on Online Search Behavior Study, these results take on new meaning. Published in August of 2007, the study revealed that two-thirds (67%) of search engine users are driven to search by an offline channel, and that 39% of those offline-influenced search users ultimately make a purchase from the company that prompted their initial search. Moreover, it also shows television advertising to be the leading offline channel that drives users to search (37%).

"Despite such a clear demonstration of the power of integrating search and offline channels," said Robert Murray, President, iProspect, "surprisingly, the strategy has yet to gain widespread adoption. Unfortunately, by failing to integrate their efforts with offline, search marketers are essentially ignoring the very channels that drive users to search. Obviously, there is a big disconnect between search marketing strategy and search engine user behavior."

But the subpar state of integration revealed in this study can be attributed to a lot more than search marketer failure, as obstacles abound. The study shows the lack of integration can be attributed to a number of factors, including: lack of budget (19%), lack of human resources (15%), not considered (13%), lack of senior management buy-in (11%), and separate people managing search marketing and offline channels (11%).

"There's no question about the combined power of search and offline channels -- that is well established," said John Tawadros, Chief Operating Officer, iProspect. "What's missing from this equation is the right environment. To truly push integration forward - and fully reap its benefits -- it is incumbent upon the CMO to break down the silos, eliminate the obstacles that plague its progress, and create a culture that rewards integrated efforts."

The study also discovered that when search marketers are optimizing various digital assets (press release, images, video, etc.), they give priority to images (58%) more than press releases (32%) or videos (20%). However, findings from the iProspect Blended Search Results Study (April 2008) show that when measured by their propensity to click on these asset types within the blended organic search results of Google, Yahoo!, and MSN, search engine users attributed importance to these forms of digital content in the following order: news (36%), image (31%), and video (17%).

"While search marketers are diversifying their digital content portfolios with videos, press releases, and images to remain competitive in the blended search landscape," said Murray, "their lack of alignment with user behavior suggests that they are missing the mark. Again, this speaks to the big disconnect between search marketer strategy and search engine user behavior. To fully capitalize on their efforts, search marketers need to take user behavior into consideration at all times."

Other key findings from the study include:

The two integration techniques most frequently employed by search marketers are: prominently including the company Web address (84%) and the company name (66%) in offline marketing initiatives.
Only 26% of marketers utilize the same keywords in offline campaigns as are used in search marketing campaigns in their integration efforts.
Nearly a quarter (24%) of companies DO NOT participate in offline marketing at all.
About iProspect

iProspect is the Original® Search Engine Marketing Firm. The company helps many of the world's most successful brands maximize their online marketing ROI through natural search engine optimization, paid inclusion management, pay per click advertising management, shopping feed management and numerous other related services. By dramatically increasing business results for clients, iProspect helps to create search marketing heroes every day.

Proper attribution requires that the study is clearly identified as the iProspect Search Engine Marketing Integration Study.

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

AT&T may hold on to exclusive iPhone deal until 2010

2008-08-02T12:40:00-04:00

By Aidan Malley

Tucked away amid discussions of AT&T's pleased reaction to the iPhone's results, USA Today surprisingly mentions that the American cellular service provider didn't simply agree to switch from a monthly revenue sharing model to a heavily subsidized approach without first setting some conditions.

As struck before the original iPhone's launch, Apple's initial agreement for iPhone exclusivity had AT&T serve as the only US network for iPhones until 2009, or roughly two years after customers' contracts began. But to greenlight the subsidy -- which is described as "painful" and damaging in the short term -- AT&T allegedly insisted on an extension of the deal until 2010, when T-Mobile and other carriers could start offering the device.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/at_t_may_hold_on_to_exclusive_iphone_deal_until_2010.html

Lawmakers demand info on Web tracking practices

2008-08-02T12:05:00-04:00

WASHINGTON: A congressional committee wants the largest US telecommunications and Internet companies to explain whether they target online advertising based on consumers' search queries and Web surfing habits.

In an expanding inquiry into the state of consumer privacy on the Internet, House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders sent letters Friday to more than 30 companies, demanding to know whether they track where their users go online and use that information to deliver personalized advertising.

Among the companies receiving the letters were Google Inc, Yahoo Inc, Microsoft Corp, AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp, Qwest Communications International Inc, Verizon Communications Inc, Time Warner Inc's AOL unit and Time Warner Cable Inc. The companies were given a week to respond.

The letters build on an earlier probe by the committee into ``deep packet inspection'' technologies, which can track where people go and what they do on the Internet.

The committee already has been investigating Embarq Corp., an Internet service provider based in Overland Park, Kansas, that has been testing technology to track the online behavior of its customers and then serve up targeted ads based on their presumed interests. And both the House and Senate Commerce Committees have been looking into a small Silicon Valley startup called NebuAd Inc., which developed personalized-ad technology that Embarq and other Internet service providers have used.

But the latest letters broaden the inquiry to encompass much bigger and better-known players on the Internet. The letters seek details on how many consumers have been tracked, whether those people have been notified and whether they were given the option to ``opt out'' of it. The committee also wants to know how the collected information is used and how it is gathered for example, whether the companies aggregate data from different online applications.

Ari Schwartz, vice president of the Center for Democracy & Technology, a civil liberties group, said he is optimistic that the congressional inquiries could lead to general privacy legislation that would safeguard consumer data gathered both online and offline.

``It's important for Internet users and American consumers in general to understand what information is being collected about them and how it's being used,'' he said.

The letters were signed by Michigan Democrat John Dingell, chairman of the committee; Joe Barton of Texas, its top Republican; Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey, who chairs the panel's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet; and Cliff Stearns of Florida, the subcomittee's top Republican.

``Privacy is a cornerstone of freedom,'' Markey said in a statement. ``Online users have a right to explicitly know when their broadband provider is tracking their activity and collecting potentially sensitive and personal information.''

Several companies contacted by the committee said they intend to respond to the letter. In a statement, Yahoo added that its approach to advertising allows it to provide free, personalized content that consumers want as well as ads relevant to them.

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

YouTuber 'Trashman' charged over threats to poison baby food

2008-08-02T11:57:00-04:00

Posted by Caroline McCarthy

Anton Dunn, a 42-year-old from Manhattan who goes by "Trashman" on YouTube, has a moderate following on the video site, but probably not for the right reasons. Earlier this year, some of the tabloid press picked up on a video he posted in which he claimed to have purposely infected more than 1,500 women with the AIDS virus. He has also claimed to have killed two people.

Some found his videos funny, but others were offended and plenty of "response" videos pepper the site.

Then, in a series of videos from April to July, he allegedly detailed the workings of a plan to poison Gerber products, which ultimately resulted in his arrest. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Dunn is charged with sending threats in interstate commerce and falsely claiming to have tampered with a consumer product. The charges could result in up to 10 years in prison or heavy fines.

Critics will likely say it's a case of authorities overreacting to a case of over-the-top, look-at-me comedy. But the Trashman videos, in which Dunn wears masks to disguise his identity and rants in a humorless tone, don't look like they were made to make people laugh.

Other YouTube members quickly posted videos of local news reports detailing his arrest.

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

Yahoo Investors want change, higher stock price

2008-08-02T11:52:00-04:00

The fireworks show at Yahoo's annual shareholders meeting wasn't quite as bright as expected. CNET's Kara Tsuboi talked to dissatisfied shareholders after the Friday morning meeting in San Jose, Calif., and got an earful about their frustration with CEO Jerry Yang, Yahoo's stock price, and the general direction of the company.

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

IBM Unveils Plans for $360 Million Data Center

2008-08-01T15:14:00-04:00

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC - IBM announced today plans to build a $360 million state-of-the-art data center at its facility in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina. The data center will include new technologies and services that will enable IBM to deliver Cloud Computing capabilities to clients.

Cloud computing uses advanced technologies and global delivery mechanisms to enable individuals to access information and services from any device with extremely high levels of availability and quality of experience.

IBM will renovate an existing building on its RTP campus in North Carolina to create one of the most technologically advanced and energy efficient data centers in the world. The new data center will be the first in the world to be built with IBM's New Enterprise Data Center design principles. Clients using this center will have unparalleled access to massive internet-scale computing capabilities, while gaining the cost and environmental protection advantages of IBM's industry-leading energy efficiency data center design.

Data centers are the backbone of information technology (IT) infrastructure for businesses and other organizations, with powerful servers and storage systems running business-critical technology including software applications, email and web sites. IBM owns and operates more than eight million square feet of data center space -- more than any other company in the world.

This new RTP data center is a key component in IBM's Project Big Green initiative to dramatically increase energy efficiency in the data center, as companies face escalating energy costs and the requirement to handle a rapidly rising amount of data.

"This announcement further demonstrates IBM's commitment to our state and to our people," said Gov. Mike Easley. "I look forward to maintaining this partnership with IBM for years to come."

"This new data center is part of IBM's commitment to construct the world's most advanced data centers," said Bob Greenberg, general manager of IT Optimization and North Carolina Senior State Executive at IBM. "This is the latest example of IBM's deep history of innovation in North Carolina. When we open for business in late 2009, the new IBM data center assures that Research Triangle Park will be a strategic location for our outsourcing business for many years to come. I'd like to thank the State of North Carolina, Durham County, the Durham Chamber of Commerce, and Duke Energy for their outstanding support that helped make this project possible."

"IBM's innovations have been a cornerstone of the Research Triangle Park and Durham County, and this new state-of-the-art data center certainly continues that outstanding legacy," said Ellen W. Reckhow, Chairman of the Durham County Board of Commissioners. Durham County approved allocating $750,000 in economic development incentives for IBM's new data center.

Technology features and details on the new RTP data center

The new RTP data center will use many of the technologies from IBM's Project Big Green initiative to sharply reduce data center energy consumption. Following the first phase of 60,000 square feet of raised floor data center space, this site can potentially be expanded in standard modular increments. In IBM's new Data Center Family of services, design is typically performed in advance on an entire project, so the additional capacity can be added as client demand dictates. With a modular approach, it's easier to grow the space and defer significant capital costs.

Along with the recently commissioned Boulder data center, the new RTP facility will be IBM's first truly adaptive data center, where facilities equipment is designed to adjust its operation to the needs of IT equipment in the data center. These data centers will be specially designed for a heterogeneous mix of computer hardware and software.

IBM will also incorporate its High Density Zone solution into the data center design. This will enable IBM to support the latest water-cooled equipment and energy requirements, as well as to optimize its infrastructure for traditional and new air-cooled equipment.

Some other key design features:

-- IBM goals include reusing 95 percent of the original building's shell,
    recycling 90 percent of materials from the original building, with 20
    percent of newly purchased material to be from recycled products.
-- IBM plans to install high density computing systems utilizing
    virtualization technology, which reduces energy costs by running multiple
    software applications on the same servers. This technology, along with
    IBM's Cool Blue portfolio of energy efficient technologies and a modular
    data center design, will allow the RTP facility to offer IBM's clients up
    to three times more computing capacity per square foot than the average
    data center.
-- The data center will leverage an industry-leading integrated cooling
    system allowing it to respond to varying cooling requirements of the IT
    equipment in real time.
-- During colder months, the data center can switch to free-cooling mode,
    utilizing a water economizer to dramatically reduce energy consumption.
-- The data center's mechanical system design is 50 percent more
    efficient than the industry average, equating to a reduction of
    approximately 31,799 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
-- The facility is planned to be partially powered by alternative energy
    sources, resulting in a targeted reduction of approximately one million
    pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
-- The data center will provide dual-site backup and recovery offerings
    from IBM's Business Continuity and Resiliency Services, in conjunction with
    IBM's recently enhanced Boulder, Colorado data center.
-- The facility will use energy efficient lighting, and all critical
    systems will be monitored and alarmed to security and maintenance 24x7x365.
    These technologies, in conjunction with the energy efficient design and construction, will allow IBM to reduce its overall carbon footprint compared to standard data centers.

More information about IBM can be found at www.ibm.com.

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