tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17871118021299724412024-03-14T02:48:49.932-07:00Information Technology & World NewsTips-Trick, Computers, Tutorial, Internet, World News, Fun And FunnyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-83719546089295304392012-01-29T23:17:00.000-08:002012-01-29T23:40:33.006-08:00The Truth about WAZZUB or is Coca Cola really a scam?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">There are some articles out there on the Internet that state some “Facts” about our project and/or our company and then draw conclusions, most of them wrong. We do not have the time to answer on every single statement but we would like to give some general answers as follows:</div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b>1. Is WAZZUB a real company or a fake?</b></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">WAZZUB is a real company registered under the laws of Oregon, USA and running its headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. We are an early-stage startup company that is still before launch of their main website. That means, we are still in development and many things will change during pre-launch.</div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b>2. Is your “Headquarters” a real office or just virtual?</b></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">Our Las Vegas office is a real office. Right now (Mon, Jan 16, 12:30pm) there are 5 WAZZUB Team members present and working. We are using the services from Regus, that means, we have our own office space but we share receptionist area, conference rooms, kitchen and other services with other companies.</div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">Again, we are an early-stage startup and until we earn “real” money after launch we are on a budget. There is no need to invest into a fully owned office right now.</div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b>3. What about your registered office – there are a lot of companies registered at the same address - why?</b></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">For tax reasons most U.S. based companies have their companies registered in a different state than their HQ is located. There are special companies offering services as a registered agent but they are not involved in the actual business of the company. The name of our registered Agent is Cathy Halverson and she is the registered agent for several hundred companies. That does not mean that our company is related to any other company that is registered at this address and for sure it is no sign that we try to hide something or that we are a scam.</div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">By the way, the most famous “registered office” address is used by more than 200,000 businesses. This address has its own page at Wikipedia. Check it out: </div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1209_Orange_Street"><u><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue;"><span lang="EN">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1209_Orange_Street</span></span></span></u><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue;"></span></span></a><span lang="EN">.</span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">For example, Coca Cola is registered there, as well as General Motors, Google and Verizon. Nobody would conclude that they are hiding something or that they try to scam people. It is our goal to make WAZZUB one of the big brands on the Internet and, following the advice of our CPA and attorneys, we set up our company structure as it should be – right from the beginning.</div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b>4. Why did the data on the Whois database for wazzub.com and wazzub.info change twice within a few months?</b></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">When we found the perfect name for our project – WAZZUB – back in June 2011, the company was not yet founded; therefore one of our main investors registered the domains under his company name. After our company, GIT Global Investments Inc., was registered, we changed the Whois data including the address of our registered office. Now we opened our HQ and so we changed the Whois data to our operational address.</div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b>5. Who is the owner of your company?</b></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">WAZZUB is owned by several investors. Right now they are building the team of directors and managers that will run our project after launch. There will be a page with all the important members of our team after the team is completed. Our Marketing Director Gee DaCosta is not one of the initiators; he is the team member that is most important now - during pre-launch.</div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b>6. You can find some info about Gee and his history in the MLM and Network Marketing industry. Is he just hopping from business to business?</b></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">WAZZUB is not a network marketing company and it is not MLM. But we needed the skills of an experienced online marketer and Gee is the perfect match - and WAZZUB is the perfect business for Gee. He is very happy that he has found his “final” business and we know that WAZZUB will change the life of many, many others who are still on the search for the perfect internet opportunity.</div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b>7. You claim to have already invested more than $2 million into WAZZUB. Why is your pre-launch website and members’ area so “simple”?</b></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">The money has been invested into the main project, not into the pre-launch pages. We are totally overwhelmed by the hundreds of thousands of members signing up. Unfortunately, this huge traffic caused some “challenges” like a lack of server capacity and more than 350,000 verification and password emails to be sent out. Most of our bugs and glitches are caused by the huge number of members that like our project.</div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">If we would have a pre-launch website with a lot of flash and video content it would slow down our servers dramatically. That is why we just kept it simple.</div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">Our state-of-the-art home page that will be launched on April 9 is a totally different story. Secured by several pending patents, it will be a totally new way to surf the Internet. </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b>8. But there are so many search engines and home pages on the Internet. Is WAZZUB just another useless search engine?</b></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">Oh, WAZZUB is so much more than a search engine. Imagine this: you start your Internet browser and find yourself on the perfect home page. There is a powerful search engine, the latest news exactly on those topics you are interested in, <span style="font-family: inherit;">messages from your friends and family, the best deals on the Internet and useful links to your favorite websites. Imagine rec</span>eiving valuable gifts and bonuses, just for using this powerful tool as your personal home page.</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b>9. You promise to pay a lot of money to your pre-launch members. Where is that money coming from?</b></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">We will monetize our website exactly the same way as companies like Google, Facebook, AOL and Yahoo monetize their websites - by displaying ads and special offers. The big difference is that we share profits with our pre-launch members. 50% of all profits will be paid to our pre-launch members just by joining for free and setting up our page as their home page.</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b>10. Is there a risk when I join WAZZUB?</b></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 1.4;">We keep your data safe and never share it with third parties. You never have to pay us a single $ to get your share of our profits. Your only risk is investing time to invite other members. If nobody likes our final page we would earn no money and there would be no profits to share…BUT…</div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY"><div style="line-height: 1.4;">GUESS WHAT? - We know for <span style="font-family: inherit;">sure that won’t happen!</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 1.4; text-align: center;">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</div><div style="line-height: 1.4; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: lime; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">How to Verify Your Account When You </span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: lime; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: lime; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: white;">Received No </span></b></span><b style="background-color: lime; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: white;">Verification Email</span></b></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">When</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande',tahoma,verdana,arial,sans-serif; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">you are still waiting for your verification email please</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"> follow these easy steps to get your account verified:</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;" /></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">Step #1</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br />
Go to our login page at <a href="http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465</a></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"> and re-send verification email. If you do not receive new</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"> verification email within 10 minutes, go ahead to Step #2.<br />
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Step #2<br />
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Send an email from your registered email account to </span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">verification [at] wazzub [dot] com with subject </span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">"Verification"<br />
<br />
Our WAZZUB Support Team will send you a confirmation </span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">including your password within 48 hours. If you do not </span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">receive a confirmation within 48 hours please send us </span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">another email from your registered email account and </span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">name a SECOND email address where we can send the </span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">confirmation and password. The second email address </span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">should be a gmail address and it doesn't have to be </span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">registered with us. If you do not have no gmail account, </span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">you can easily open one at </span><a href="http://www.gmail.com/" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; line-height: 14px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.gmail.com</a></span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>P.S. For More DAILY News and Updates:</b></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Verdana;">Follow us on facebook:</b> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/WAZZUB-International/126710290771826" style="color: #4d469c; font-family: Verdana; text-decoration: none;">Click_Here-><b style="color: red;"><span style="color: blue;">WAZZ</span><i>UB</i></b>_Intl_facebook</a><br />
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Article From : http://heywazzub.blogspot.com/ </div></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-77207261925677311442012-01-29T20:45:00.000-08:002012-01-29T20:45:17.529-08:00Heard of The WAZZUB Free Money Giveaway?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="im"><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: #666666;">Welcome to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: blue;">WAZZ</span><span style="color: red;"><i>UB</i></span><span style="color: #666666;">! </span></span><span style="color: #666666;">The most exciting phenomenon on the Internet</span></b><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; line-height: 1.4;"><b><span style="background-color: lime; color: red; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3FqLioaWQU&feature=youtu.be">Win </a>$5,000 in Cash Prizes</span></b></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;"> </span>From now until April 9, 2012 </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Watch our w</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ebinar for Details:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://youtu.be/s3FqLioaWQU">Part I</a> - </b></span><b style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://youtu.be/QvxgIZL7LdQ">Part II</a> - </b><b style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://youtu.be/Fccpaz8XeQA">Part III</a></b></span></div></div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>THIS IS EXTREMELY TIME SENSITIVE!</b></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b>The gates are closing on April 9th, 2012 (midnight Eastern Time)</b></span></span></span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">So what should you do?</span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b><span style="color: #666666;">TAKE ACTION...Seize your future…Start promoting</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="color: #666666;"> </span><a href="http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">WAZZ</span><span style="color: red;"><i>UB</i></span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="color: #666666;"> </span></a><span style="color: #666666;">NOW</span></b></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.4;"><br />
</div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Here is what you need to share about<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_996452205"><b><span style="color: blue;">WAZZ</span></b></a></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465" target="_blank"><b style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: red;"><i>UB</i></span></b> </a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">:</span></span></span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> <span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"></span></span></span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: red;"><b><span style="color: red;">FREE FOREVER (<span style="background-color: yellow;">NO</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>FEES) +<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">NO</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>AUTOSHIPS +<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">NO</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>JOBS TO DO +</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">NO</span>THING TO SELL +<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">NO</span>THING TO BUY +<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">NOT</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>MLM </span></span></span></b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">NO</span>THING TO DOWNLOAD</span></span></span></b></span></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">= THE PERFECT INTERNET</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>OPPORTUNITY</span></span></span></b></span></span></span></div><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">~ </span></span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><a href="http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">WAZZ</span><i><span style="color: red;">UB</span></i></b></span></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b><i>,</i></b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is a Brilliant Concept; It has NEVER Been Done Before ~</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Make no mistake. </span></span><a href="http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">WAZZ</span><i><span style="color: red;">UB</span></i></b></span></a><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465" target="_blank"> </a>is a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b><i>multi-billion dollar</i></b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>project.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">It has been in the making since<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b><i>2007 with over $2,000,000</i></b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>already invested.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">It’s the new Internet Phenomenon; it's here to stay and you are one of the first </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b style="color: windowtext; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: red;">in the world</span></b></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to know about it. So, it's very important to understand what you have in your hands. This Baby WILL go VIRAL.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">~ Timing is Everything ~</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">You can set yourself up for life financially - for<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>F*R*E*E<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>-</span></span></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">and earn Massive Passive Residual Income every month like nothing else out there. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">~<span style="color: #ba0000;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span>This can happen at<span style="color: #ba0000;"> </span><b><span style="color: red;"><i>LIGHTNING SPEED</i></span></b><span style="color: #ba0000;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span>because it's always<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b><i><span style="color: red;">FR*E*E</span><span style="color: #ba0000;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span>for all</i></b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>~</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The more<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>F*R*E*E</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>members you invite, the more money you will make.</span></span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">You could earn about<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b><i><span style="color: red;">$1.00 per person</span></i></b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>in your<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b><i><span style="color: red;">"UNLIMITED" width x 5 generations-deep</span></i></b> </span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465" target="_blank"><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">WAZZ</span><i><span style="color: red;">UB</span></i></b></a></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465" target="_blank"> </a>family. (depending on the company growth)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
</span></span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">If that doesn't seem like much, watch what happens...</span></span></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">You simply invite 5 friends to join for f*r*e*e-forever and they do the same 5 generations:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">1st. Generation 5 x $1.00 = $5.00</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">2nd. Generation 25 x $1.00 = $25.00</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">3rd. Generation 125 x $1.00 = $125.00</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">4th. Generation 625 x $1.00 = $625.00</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><u><span style="color: windowtext;">5th. Generation 3125 x $1.00 = $3,125.00</span></u></span></span></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Your Passive Income could be =<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b><span style="color: red;">$3,905.00 every month</span></b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>for doing NOTHING different than what you are currently doing every day.</span></span></div></div><div><div class="im"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Most people will invite more than 5 f*r*e*e members.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">What if everyone invited just 10 people? </span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b>That amount would EXPLODE to:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="color: red;"><i>$111,110.00</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>per month in passive residual income for LIFE!</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b><span style="color: red;">Here's the KICKER</span></b><span style="color: #ba0000;">:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span>It doesn't stop there. The more people you invite the more money you'll make. The number of people you can invite is<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b><span style="color: red;">UNLIMITED</span></b>.</span></span></div><div class="im"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Try 20 or 30 and see what happens...<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b><i>IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!</i></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">It's a fact that most people will join because it's<span style="color: #ba0000;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><b><span style="color: red;">UNIQUE,</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">it's<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b><span style="color: red;">POWERFUL</span></b><span style="color: #ba0000;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span>and it's<b><i><span style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>F*R*E*E</span></i></b>. Everybody loves<span style="color: #ba0000;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: red;"><b><i>F*R*E*E</i></b></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: red;"><b><i>.</i></b></span></span></span></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">~The sky truly is the limit here at</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465" target="_blank"><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">WAZZ</span><i><span style="color: red;">UB</span></i></b></a></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465" target="_blank"><b> </b></a>~</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="im"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">My recommendation:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b>Step 1</b> – go here and <b>sign up</b>: <span style="background-color: yellow;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465" target="_blank"><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">WAZZ</span><i><span style="color: red;">UB Free Money For you</span></i></b></a></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b>Step 2</b> – read all the <b>important facts</b> at: <a href="http://www.wazzub.info/facts.htm" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"></span></a></span></span><a href="http://www.wazzub.info/facts.htm" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="background-color: yellow;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465" target="_blank"><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">WAZZ</span><i><span style="color: red;">UB Free Money For you</span></i></b></a></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b>Step 3</b> – read “<b>How Is</b></span> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_996452175"><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">WAZZ</span><i><span style="color: red;">UB</span></i></b></a></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465" target="_blank"> </a>Different? </b><a href="http://www.wazzub.info/difference.htm" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"></span></a></span></span><a href="http://www.wazzub.info/difference.htm" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="background-color: yellow;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://signup.wazzub.info/?lrRef=fe465" target="_blank"><b style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">WAZZ</span><i><span style="color: red;">UB Free Money For you</span></i></b></a></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b>Step 4</b> – <b>invite</b> your friends and partners to become a part in this success story</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Hurry up, act now! </span></span></b></span><br />
<div><span style="background-color: yellow; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b><i><span style="color: red;">99.99% of the world doesn't know about this yet</span></i></b><span style="color: #0d0e00;">.</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Accept my positive vibrations of Succe$$ and Happiness :-)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">Together we activate the power of "We"!</span></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-4632687652165300592012-01-23T16:25:00.000-08:002012-01-23T16:25:01.901-08:00Ideas and Possibilities at IBC2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h2 style="text-align: justify;"></h2><br />
<div class="article_image" style="text-align: justify;"><img alt="Demonstration Area" border="0" height="143" src="http://www.ibc.org//g/2011/ArchiveID_1/hot_news_ideas_and_possibilities.jpg" width="250" /></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> IBC is big - big in terms of size, ideas and possibilities. That was the overriding impression of IBC from debutante and RTS Young Technologist of the year Peter Sellar who declared “The amount of technology and innovation on offer is astonishing.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Even trade show veterans would have to admit that IBC2011 was a bumper year, helped by the record attendance of over 50,000 professionals spread from right across the electronic media and entertainment industry, from student to ceo and Hollywood royalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> There’s no doubt that such a positive response indicates that IBC is bringing more of the right conversations to more people in a stimulating trading and learning environment. There’s also no doubt that these figures show the resilience of an industry rebounding back after three years in the doldrums.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> In a report unveiled in a free conference session at IBC2011, the IABM backed this up. Peter White, director general of the association, told delegates that despite some challenges there was a greater sense of optimism both from the demand side of the business as well as the supply side. The IABM predict that the industry would have passed its pre-recessionary levels in three years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> The can-do attitude that will see this industry survive and thrive was evident on the showfloor where 13 halls were packed with more than 1,300 exhibitors each with a multitude of exciting messages of innovation and problem solving ideas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Over $20m worth of business was signed during the show including 70 sales of Sony’s F65 CineAlta camera which is capable of capturing images at 4K resolution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> If it is ‘K’ you want then you need look no further than the astonishing Super Hi-Vision which contains sixteen times the amount of HD resolution and continues to be pushed as a broadcast format by NHK. Live Super Hi-Vision transmissions from a static camera overlooking BBC Broadcasting House in London were shown in the Future Zone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Picking up an IBC Conference award for a technical paper on Super Hi-Vision, the head of NHK’s R&D lab Dr Keiichi Kubot said significant progress had been made: “We have developed an 8-channel switcher and a slow motion replay system to sit alongside a camera and recording unit making a live production of sports events a possibility.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> A probability, because the BBC intends to transmit the Olympics to large screens around London next year using Super Hi-Vision, while FIFA is also mulling its use in Brazil two years later.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Understanding how consumer behavior impacts decision making right up the content production, distribution and manufacturing chain is of increasing importance to media organisations which is what a dedicated hall grouping developments in IPTV and mobile TV was designed to explore within the IBC Connected World.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> A special Demonstration Area within the IBC Connected World allowed attendees to understand more of the practicalities of how media can be delivered and consumed in and around the home on different screens and by different family members.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Linked Exhibition Business Briefings led by Ericsson, IBM, TV Genius, Harris and IBC Connected World Platinum Sponsor Cisco, delved deeper into key issues emerging from the “Connected World”. Ericsson’s head of TV Staffan Perhrson suggested in The Networked Society will be Televised that “We are all living through the early stages of an extraordinary revolution connecting not just people but communities, systems and intelligence. With everything connected our world changes. A connected world is just the beginning. We are on the brink of the Networked Society.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> The networked agenda was on the minds of the world’s three biggest standards organisations - the EBU, SMPTE and AMWA - when they met at IBC to formalise an agreement that will see them co-operating on future digital media-related standards.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> “The aim is to identify common points where we have issues to discuss and digital workflows are high on the agenda,” explained EBU deputy technical director and SMPTE engineering VP Hans Hoffman.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Part of its investigation will no doubt involve the way files are transported and stored, QCed, transcoded and mastered in off-site servers accessed only via the internet - in other words the Cloud.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> A flurry of announcements from the post production area (Hall 7) of IBC saw Cloud production gain traction. Sky Sports News announced it was the first European broadcaster to use the Axis Cloud-based graphics creation system from Chyron. Sky head of operations Darren Long was on site to highlight the deal. Quantel landed Rogers Media as the first customer of its Cloud edit and review service Qtube after the Canadian media company came to IBC2010 searching for such a solution; Digital Rapids and Building4Media were others taking production systems into the Cloud while Prime Focus launched the Domain Centric Cloud (DCC) platform, already operational in India, to a wider market.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> The latest figures from Cisco’s Visual Networking Index, as noted by EMEA president Chris Dedicoat at the IBC Leaders’ Summit, estimates that the sum of all forms of video (TV, VoD, internet, and P2P) will be approximately 90% of global consumer internet traffic by 2015. Even if those figures are out there can be no doubt in the power of video as a communications tool nor in the high importance of new tools to acquire images in the first place.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> At the coalface are producers and camera-ops who visited the IBC Production Village to try out the most cutting edge commercially available cameras, camera systems and accessories on the market. These include the Meduza 4K camera; 3Ality Technica rigs and Stereo Image Processors and high speed imagers from Vision Research. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Connecting the theory of how such cameras work on a showfloor with their practical use on live productions is where Inside Knowledge came in. This informal set of presentations adjacent to the IBC Production Village gave attendees a candid insight into how their peers had used technologies in anger. Combining overview and opinion into new technology with practical demonstrations of it in action is what IBC is all about.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> This union is celebrated at the annual IBC Innovation Awards, a red carpet event which this year featured breakthrough achievements in stereo 3D, global news production and next generation digital delivery.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> There can be few better places to sit back and simply marvel at the astonishing visual creations that filmmakers like Atlantic Productions’ ceo and executive producer Anthony Geffen or Avatar director James Cameron have musterered than the IBC Big Screen, host to the IBC Innovation Awards and this year home to some spectacular 3D treats.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Atlantic Production’s Flying Monsters 3D with Sir David Attenborough was lauded with an IBC Special Award for an outstanding use of technology in the service of creativity. He was on hand to show the full 60 minute programme as well as works in progress including Kew, a three part series about Kew gardens plant life which includes never before seen 3D timelapse photography.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Cameron delivered IBC a coup when he personally presented an 18 minute sequence from Titanic which has been given a 4K digital remaster from the original negative print and then a painstaking 2D-3D conversion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> The very vocal round of applause that this received from an audience that would normally consider themselves sceptics, showed not only their appreciation for the quality of this cinematic experience but also that they were among the first to share it. These things happen, only at IBC.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <a href="http://www.ibc.org/page.cfm/action=Archive/ArchiveID=5/EntryID=125" target="_blank">Hot News From IBC.org</a></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-53098734429058909662012-01-06T19:13:00.000-08:002012-01-06T19:13:57.203-08:00The risks of America's Asia strategy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="cnn_stryathrtmp"> <div class="cnnByline">By <strong>Andrew Billo</strong>, Special to CNN</div><div class="cnn_strytmstmp">January 6, 2012 -- Updated 1508 GMT (2308 HKT)</div></div><div class="cnn_stryimg640captioned"><img alt="President Obama discusses a new military strategy that includes a new focus on Asia." border="0" height="360" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120105081806-obama-pentagon-story-top.jpg" width="640" /></div><div class="cnn_stryimg640caption"><div class="cnn_strycaptiontxt">President Obama discusses a new military strategy that includes a new focus on Asia.</div></div><a href="" name="em0"></a> <div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"> <div><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></div><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><li>America is rightly focusing on Asia but it must recognize the risks, says Andre Billo</li>
<li>He says Asian nations fear China's power but appreciate its investments</li>
<li>U.S. is seen by these countries as a security counterweight to China, he says</li>
<li>Billo: U.S. must guard against risk of an incident being escalated into war</li>
</ul></div></div><div class="cnnEditorialNote"><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> Andrew Billo is a senior program officer at the Asia Society in New York. He previously lived in Vietnam, Singapore, Cambodia, and the Middle East and he specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. </em></div><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- The United States is sailing back into the Asia-Pacific region, but initial euphoria is being tempered by the dangerous realities of the work left to be done.<br />
Like a new college student heading off to school, it is increasingly apparent that gaining admission was the easy part: To graduate requires a full commitment, and there are a number of hurdles along the way.<br />
Already, tough decisions are being made with respect to the United States' global defense strategy, which now recognizes that costly wars with little economic return are no longer viable. Yet while the United States increasingly seeks to obtain a greater share of the Asia Pacific's economic growth, it similarly sees its military presence in the region as critical for maintaining security.<br />
<div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr cnn_strylccimg214"> <img alt="Andrew Billo" border="0" class="box-image" height="122" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120105105312-andrew-billo-left-tease.jpg" width="214" /> <div>Andrew Billo</div></div></div>Barack Obama reaffirmed this strategy at the Pentagon on Thursday, stating that "budget reductions will not come at the expense of this critical region."<br />
Importantly, the United States' strong military and diplomatic re-engagement with Asia-Pacific countries, particularly those in Southeast Asia, has not fallen on deaf ears in China.<br />
Sharing his concerns with respect to increasing international influence on domestic affairs, Hu Jintao warned in a January 1 statement, "Hostile international powers are strengthening their efforts to Westernize and divide us."<br />
Adding to the tension of the United States' newfound strategy are the political transitions that will, or are likely to occur, in 2012. The U.S. presidential election, presidential leadership change in China and South Korea, and now the volatile political transition in North Korea will encourage tough rhetoric from politicians with respect to international relations in order to appease constituencies. Strong words present a serious challenge to stability in the Asia-Pacific, particularly as the United States ramps up its military presence.<br />
The starting point in the run-up to the United States' East Asian convocation was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's October 11 article, "America's Pacific Century," published in Foreign Policy. She identified five areas for re-engaging the region, including bilateral security, deepening working relationships, multilateralism, trade and finally, human rights and democracy.<br />
The areas Clinton outlined for re-engagement are also important to Asia-Pacific states, and particularly the relatively small Southeast Asian nations.<br />
Yet while trade relations with the United States are vital for sustaining Southeast Asia's significant economic growth, the greatest gains from increased cooperation with America will come in the form of military protection. Across the region, governments are increasingly concerned with China's military might, as much as they are happy with China's economic investments. Teaming with the United States is a sensible insurance policy.<br />
But the United States' increased military presence in the region, which will include marines in Australia, naval ships in Singapore and increased military cooperation with the Philippines and Vietnam, while having the potential to lend stability, also raises the stakes as to what could go wrong.<br />
Now, more than ever, with impending political change on both sides of the Pacific, politicians are keen to assert themselves as strong on defense and as advocates of their respective national interests.<br />
One instance in which heightened regional tensions are especially evident is with the increasingly frequent spats over energy reserves in the South China Sea, an area recognized by the Philippines as the "West Philippine Sea" and by Vietnam as the "East Sea." The lack of consensus with respect to a name for the same body of water evidences how possessive governments are of this energy-rich area.<br />
Regarding their maritime claims, Philippines Secretary for Foreign Affairs Albert Del Rosario stated in December that the United States is increasingly willing to assist the Philippines' efforts to develop a "minimum credible defense posture" with respect to the disputed territories.<br />
However, recent and planned U.S. military actions in the Asia-Pacific could be construed by China as exceeding a "minimum," and incidents such as one in October 2011, in which a Philippines naval vessel bumped into a Chinese fishing boat alleged to be encroaching on the former's territorial waters, now have a greater potential to escalate.<br />
Ultimately America needs to recognize and respect the accomplishments China has achieved in its own backyard, in spite of the country's shortfalls in winning over the trust of its neighbors.<br />
After directing its attention largely elsewhere for most of the last decade, America has pragmatically recognized that its own long-term security, whether at home or abroad, is tied closely to the Asia-Pacific region's economic progress.<br />
East Asian countries have shown they are willing to offer the United States opportunities for investment in return for security assistance. But without effective dialogue with China in particular, the risk of military escalation is much more real. The United States just exited one costly war and is ramping down another; it therefore needs to ensure it doesn't lose sight of its economic priorities in the Asia-Pacific, and the best way to do this is through more effective dialogue with China with regard to its military intentions.<br />
<div class="cnn_strycbftrtxt"><br />
</div><div class="cnn_strycbftrtxt"><i>The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Andrew Billo.</i></div><div class="cnn_strycbftrtxt"><br />
</div><div class="cnn_strycbftrtxt"><i>" What Your Comments...?? " </i></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-8531382703097045182012-01-06T18:55:00.000-08:002012-01-06T18:55:18.992-08:00Today's best American cars<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h2>In case you haven't noticed, Detroit's been turning out some very good cars, lately. Here's a sampling.</h2><div class="header"><div class="slidehed">Subcompact: Chevrolet Sonic</div><div class="pagination"><div class="label">1 of 10</div></div></div><div class="slideimg fullimg" style="width: 620px;"><img alt="Subcompact: Chevrolet Sonic" height="420" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2011/autos/1111/gallery.best_american_cars/images/chevy-orange.jpg" width="620" /><div class="caption"><div class="innershell"><a href="http://autos.aol.com/redir.adp?_e_t=ap&_a_v=2.0&_a_i=100000165x1132652650x1078506518&_url=http:%2F%2Fautos.aol.com/cars-Chevrolet-Sonic-2012/overview/">Check out the Chevrolet Sonic on AOL Autos</a></div></div></div><div class="dataField"><b>Base price:</b> $13,735 - $18,495</div><div class="dataField"><b>Fuel economy:</b> 26 City / 35 HWY</div>For starters, the Sonic has the two attributes every small car must have: fun and fuel economy.<br />
On top of that, it's more functional and has better visibility than the Ford Fiesta. For maximum enjoyment, get the turbo-charged engine with the six-speed manual transmission. But, really, the non-turbo and automatic are just fine, too.<br />
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<div class="header"><div class="slidehed">Compact: Ford Focus</div><div class="pagination"><div class="label">2 of 10</div></div></div><div class="slideimg fullimg" style="width: 620px;"><img alt="Compact: Ford Focus" height="420" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2011/autos/1111/gallery.best_american_cars/images/ford-focus.jpg" width="620" /><div class="caption"><div class="innershell"><a href="http://autos.aol.com/redir.adp?_e_t=ap&_a_v=2.0&_a_i=100000165x1132652650x1078506518&_url=http:%2F%2Fautos.aol.com/cars-Ford-Focus-2012/overview/">Check out the Ford Focus on AOL Autos</a></div></div></div><div class="dataField"><b>Base price:</b> $16,500 - $22,700</div><div class="dataField"><b>Fuel economy:</b> 26 City / 36 HWY</div>The Focus is comfortable, very fuel-efficient and fun to drive. Ford's been working to fix the car's one major flaw: an automatic transmission that loves to race but that can make you seasick in ordinary driving. Software changes should help with that.<br />
The Focus is available in both hatchback and sedan styles, but the hatchback is most functional and looks best, as is usually the case with small cars.<br />
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<div class="header"><div class="slidehed">Mid-size: Ford Fusion</div><div class="pagination"><div class="label">3 of 10</div></div></div><div class="slideimg fullimg" style="width: 620px;"><img alt="Mid-size: Ford Fusion" height="420" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2011/autos/1111/gallery.best_american_cars/images/ford-fusion.jpg" width="620" /><div class="caption"><div class="innershell"><a href="http://autos.aol.com/redir.adp?_e_t=ap&_a_v=2.0&_a_i=100000165x1132652650x1078506518&_url=http:%2F%2Fautos.aol.com/cars-Ford-Fusion-2012/overview/">Check out the Ford Fusion on AOL Autos</a></div></div></div><div class="dataField"><b>Base price:</b> $19,850 - $29,000</div><div class="dataField"><b>Fuel economy:</b> 22 City / 32 HWY</div>If people bought cars based on merit alone, the Fusion would probably be the best-selling passenger car in America. It's more dependable than either the Honda Accord or Toyota Camry, according to Consumer Reports surveys. It's also better to drive and it looks handsome inside and out.<br />
Ford needs to watch its back, though. Chevrolet has a new Malibu coming out for the 2013 model year and, from the looks of it, it could be a serious contender.<br />
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<div class="header"><div class="slidehed">Performance coupe: Ford Mustang GT</div><div class="pagination"><div class="label">4 of 10</div></div></div><div class="slideimg fullimg" style="width: 620px;"><img alt="Performance coupe: Ford Mustang GT" height="420" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2011/autos/1111/gallery.best_american_cars/images/ford-mustang.jpg" width="620" /><div class="caption"><div class="innershell"><a href="http://autos.aol.com/redir.adp?_e_t=ap&_a_v=2.0&_a_i=100000165x1132652650x1078506518&_url=http:%2F%2Fautos.aol.com/cars-Ford-Mustang-2012/overview/">Check out the Ford Mustang on AOL Autos</a></div></div></div><div class="dataField"><b>Base price:</b> $29,310 - $38,310</div><div class="dataField"><b>Fuel economy:</b> 17 City / 26 HWY</div>Years of refinement have given us a Mustang that's loads of fun to drive with just enough practicality to make it an easy-to-love daily companion. The Camaro comes close but, in the end, it's a car you'll probably own a few years before deciding you want to move on to something more normal.<br />
The Mustang, on the other hand, has the makings of a lifelong addiction.<br />
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<div class="header"><div class="slidehed">Large car: Chrysler 300</div><div class="pagination"><div class="label">5 of 10</div></div></div><div class="slideimg fullimg" style="width: 620px;"><img alt="Large car: Chrysler 300" height="420" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2011/autos/1111/gallery.best_american_cars/images/chrysler-300.jpg" width="620" /><div class="caption"><div class="innershell"><a href="http://autos.aol.com/redir.adp?_e_t=ap&_a_v=2.0&_a_i=100000165x1132652650x1078506518&_url=http:%2F%2Fautos.aol.com/cars-Chrysler-300-2012/overview/">Check out the Chrysler 300 on AOL Autos</a></div></div></div><div class="dataField"><b>Base price:</b> $27,170 - $47,170</div><div class="dataField"><b>Fuel economy:</b> 18 City / 27 HWY</div>When the 300 was first introduced for the 2005 model year, it created a sensation. But, over the years, as the Chrysler Group tumbled toward bankruptcy while competitors came out with improved cars, it had started to fall a behind.<br />
Now Chrysler's introduced a new, re-engineered 300 and it's right back to the front of the line. And not just among domestics, either. The available 5.7-liter V8 provides potent performance, now combined with even better handling and braking plus a truly high quality interior. If you want to spend a little less on fuel, Chrysler's new V6 still offers plenty of go on less gas.<br />
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<div class="header"><div class="slidehed">Small SUV: Chevrolet Equinox</div><div class="pagination"><div class="label">6 of 10</div></div></div><div class="slideimg fullimg" style="width: 620px;"><img alt="Small SUV: Chevrolet Equinox" height="420" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2011/autos/1111/gallery.best_american_cars/images/chevy-equinox.jpg" width="620" /><div class="caption"><div class="innershell"><a href="http://autos.aol.com/redir.adp?_e_t=ap&_a_v=2.0&_a_i=100000165x1132652650x1078506518&_url=http:%2F%2Fautos.aol.com/cars-Chevrolet-Equinox-2012/overview/">Check out the Chevrolet Equinox on AOL Autos</a></div></div></div><div class="dataField"><b>Base price:</b> $23,450 - $30,890</div><div class="dataField"><b>Fuel economy:</b> 22 City / 32 HWY</div>Easy on gas, pleasant to look at and nice to drive if, perhaps, a smidge underpowered, the Equinox is nearly the ideal compact SUV. With plenty of passenger space and flexible cargo room, few customers will want anything larger.<br />
Ford will soon be coming out with its all-new Escape, though, which looks like it could have the Equinox on the run. We'll just have to see.<br />
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<div class="header"><div class="slidehed">Three-row SUV: Dodge Durango</div><div class="pagination"><div class="label">7 of 10</div></div></div><div class="slideimg fullimg" style="width: 620px;"><img alt="Three-row SUV: Dodge Durango" height="420" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2011/autos/1111/gallery.best_american_cars/images/dodge-durango.jpg" width="620" /><div class="caption"><div class="innershell"><a href="http://autos.aol.com/redir.adp?_e_t=ap&_a_v=2.0&_a_i=100000165x1132652650x1078506518&_url=http:%2F%2Fautos.aol.com/cars-Dodge-Durango-2012/overview/">Check out the Dodge Durango on AOL Autos</a></div></div></div><div class="dataField"><b>Base price:</b> $28,995 - $42,995</div><div class="dataField"><b>Fuel economy:</b> 16 City / 23 HWY</div>Technically speaking, the Durango is a crossover, but it's designed for people who want a real SUV, not a gigantic station wagon. Properly equipped, the Durango can tow and haul with the best of them and it also gets fuel economy only slightly lower than much weaker competitors.. And it does this all that while being surprisingly capable on curvy roads.<br />
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<div class="header"><div class="slidehed">Three-row SUV: Dodge Durango</div><div class="pagination"><div class="label">7 of 10</div></div></div><div class="slideimg fullimg" style="width: 620px;"><img alt="Three-row SUV: Dodge Durango" height="420" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2011/autos/1111/gallery.best_american_cars/images/dodge-durango.jpg" width="620" /><div class="caption"><div class="innershell"><a href="http://autos.aol.com/redir.adp?_e_t=ap&_a_v=2.0&_a_i=100000165x1132652650x1078506518&_url=http:%2F%2Fautos.aol.com/cars-Dodge-Durango-2012/overview/">Check out the Dodge Durango on AOL Autos</a></div></div></div><div class="dataField"><b>Base price:</b> $28,995 - $42,995</div><div class="dataField"><b>Fuel economy:</b> 16 City / 23 HWY</div>Technically speaking, the Durango is a crossover, but it's designed for people who want a real SUV, not a gigantic station wagon. Properly equipped, the Durango can tow and haul with the best of them and it also gets fuel economy only slightly lower than much weaker competitors.. And it does this all that while being surprisingly capable on curvy roads.<br />
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<div class="header"><div class="slidehed">Truck: Dodge Ram</div><div class="pagination"><div class="label">9 of 10</div></div></div><div class="slideimg fullimg" style="width: 620px;"><img alt="Truck: Dodge Ram" height="420" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2011/autos/1111/gallery.best_american_cars/images/dodge-ram.jpg" width="620" /><div class="caption"><div class="innershell"><a href="http://autos.aol.com/redir.adp?_e_t=ap&_a_v=2.0&_a_i=100000165x1132652650x1078506518&_url=http:%2F%2Fautos.aol.com/cars-Dodge-Ram%201500-2011/overview/">Check out the Dodge Ram 1500 on AOL Autos</a></div></div></div><div class="dataField"><b>Base price:</b> $20,810 - $45,810</div><div class="dataField"><b>Fuel economy:</b> 14 City / 20 HWY</div>You can bat around towing and hauling numbers all you want but, if you're one of those folks who drives a truck every day, workday and weekend, here's your new best friend. The Ram may not be the strongest truck, but it has the best looks, the nicest, most comfortable interior, the coolest option packages and the best ride and handling qualities.<br />
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<div class="header"><div class="slidehed">Green car: Chevrolet Volt</div><div class="pagination"><div class="label">10 of 10</div></div></div><div class="slideimg fullimg" style="width: 620px;"><img alt="Green car: Chevrolet Volt" height="420" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/galleries/2011/autos/1111/gallery.best_american_cars/images/chevy-volt.jpg" width="620" /><div class="caption"><div class="innershell"><a href="http://autos.aol.com/redir.adp?_e_t=ap&_a_v=2.0&_a_i=100000165x1132652650x1078506518&_url=http:%2F%2Fautos.aol.com/cars-Chevrolet-Volt-2012/overview/">Check out the Chevrolet Volt on AOL Autos</a></div></div></div><div class="dataField"><b>Base price:</b> $39,145</div><div class="dataField"><b>Fuel economy:</b> 35 miles e-range, then 35 City / 40 HWY</div>With prices starting at about $34,000, after a $7,500 federal tax break, the Volt actually turns out to be a pretty good value. With the ability to drive 35 miles on a charge -- less than most people drive in a typical day -- you could go without using any gasoline for weeks. Mile for mile, electricity is much cheaper in most places.<br />
If you need to drive farther, you're not stuck. Running on gasoline-generated power, the Volt gets fuel economy that's still better than most compact cars.<br />
Worried about replacing the battery? It's under warranty for at least eight years and it's expected to last much longer. <br />
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By <a href="mailto:peter.valdes-dapena@turner.com">Peter Valdes-Dapena</a>Peter Valdes-Dapena <a class="soc-twtname" href="https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=cnnmoney">@CNNMoney</a><br />
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" <span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps">You</span> <span class="hps">want to</span> <span class="hps">try one</span> <span class="hps">of</span> <span class="hps">the car</span> <span class="hps">..</span><span class="">??? "</span></span><br />
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-58331079382721417822012-01-06T18:41:00.000-08:002012-01-06T18:41:35.099-08:00Europe's debt crisis: 'No clear end in sight'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="byline">By Ben Rooney</span> <a class="soc-twtname" href="https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=cnnmoneymarkets">@CNNMoneyMarkets</a> <span class="cnnDateStamp">January 6, 2012: 5:17 AM ET</span><br />
<div id="ie_dottop"> <a href="http://money.cnn.com/news/international/europe_debt_crisis/index.html?iid=EL"><img alt="The debt crisis in Europe will continue to dominate markets in 2012 as governments and banks face big refinancing needs and investor confidence remains low." border="0" height="307" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/2012/01/06/markets/europe_debt_crisis/europe-outlook.gi.top.jpg" width="475" /></a>The debt crisis in Europe will continue to dominate markets in 2012 as governments and banks face big refinancing needs and investor confidence remains low.</div><div id="fb-recommend"><span></span></div>NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Last year was supposed to be the make or break year for Europe's debt crisis. Neither happened.<br />
That means the chronic uncertainty that investors grappled with for most of 2011 is likely to continue, if not intensify, in the first half of this year.<br />
"There are a myriad of factors, both political and economic, that could hit confidence," said Grant Lewis, head of research at Daiwa Capital Markets in London. "Given this backdrop, continued uncertainty is inevitable."<br />
Despite an explosion of political summits last year, there is still no definitive solution to the crisis, which has become the single biggest threat to the global economy and the bane of financial markets around the world.<br />
While a <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/19/news/international/draghi_euro_breakup/index.htm?iid=EL">break-up of the euro</a> currency union still seems unlikely, investors are not willing to rule out the <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/09/markets/euro_breakup/index.htm?iid=EL">nightmare scenario</a> completely.<br />
"The chances of break-up remain low, but non-negligible for sure," said Lewis. "That is not something that we would have said 12 months ago."<br />
Eurozone leaders have taken steps toward a more binding fix for the <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/09/news/international/european_summit_debt/index.htm?iid=EL">political and economic problems</a> at the root of the crisis. But they have yet to put the measures into practice, something that has proven difficult because of <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/09/news/international/europe_debt_crisis/index.htm?iid=EL">competing national interests</a>.<br />
To make matters worse, the eurozone economy appears to have <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/15/news/international/europe_gdp/index.htm?iid=EL">slipped into recession</a> at a time when governments across the continent are embarking on new austerity regimes. This sets up a difficult <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/16/markets/europe_crisis/index.htm?iid=EL">balancing act for policy makers</a> as they confront the need to cut spending and boost economic growth simultaneously.<br />
"As we start the New Year, the investing landscape doesn't look all that different," said Kevin Giddis, director of fixed-income at Morgan Keegan. "To put it charitably, economic conditions in Europe remain tenuous, with no clear end in sight."<br />
<h2>Europe: Still a huge pain in the neck for investors</h2>The lack of a comprehensive solution has prompted warnings from credit rating agencies about <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/16/markets/europe_downgrade/index.htm?iid=EL">more government downgrades</a>, which could continue to be a drag on sovereign <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/05/markets/bondcenter/french_bonds_downgrade/index.htm?iid=EL">debt markets</a>.<br />
Italy and Spain both need to issue hundreds of billions of euros worth of bonds to refinance existing debt and raise cash. Italy is expected to issue some €245 billion of bonds in 2012, up from €223 billion in 2011, according to HSBC. Spain will be coming to market with €87 billion of debt next year.<br />
<a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/09/news/international/italy_crisis_bail/index.htm?iid=EL">Italy is particularly worrisome</a> because its €1.9 trillion debt burden makes it too big to bail out. But as the third-largest economy in the eurozone, Italy is also too systemically important to fail.<br />
While Italy and Spain have dominated headlines, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/05/news/international/greek_default/index.htm?iid=EL">Greece</a> remains the most at risk of a default. And that could force it out of the currency union.<br />
"The risk of Greece leaving is very serious," said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank. "But beyond Greece, all other countries will be kept in the eurozone by forceful intervention if need be."<br />
Greece is due to receive a second bailout package this year, but there is widespread disagreement over whether the requisite austerity will cure the nation's debt problems or push it's economy deeper into recession.<br />
At the same time, the role private sector investors will play in the restructuring of Greek debt -- a key condition of the second bailout deal -- hasn't been fully worked out.<br />
In October, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/26/news/international/european_union_crisis_summit/index.htm?iid=EL">banks and investors agreed</a>, in theory, to voluntarily reduce the value of Greek government bonds by 50%. The talks have yet to be finalized, but negotiators representing <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/03/markets/greek_debt/index.htm?iid=EL">Greek bondholders</a> said earlier this week that progress has been made.<br />
Meanwhile, the financial 'firewall' that is supposed to prevent the crisis from spreading is still a work in progress. And few investors expect much progress on fundamental reforms such as issuing common debt in the form of <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/22/markets/bondcenter/eurobonds/index.htm?iid=EL">Eurobonds</a>.<br />
<h2>European recovery? Wait till 2013 (at least)</h2>If it seems like investors have been fretting over Europe for a long time, that's because they have. <br />
But after being in crisis mode for nearly two years, some investors are sounding more optimistic about the second half of 2012.<br />
"A lot of fear and negativity has been injected into European assets, and the prices are certainly much more attractive than they have been historically," said Lawrence Creatura, a portfolio manager with Federated Clover Investment Advisors. "But investment returns from this point could go either way."<br />
The <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/21/markets/world_markets_ecb/index.htm?iid=EL">European Central Bank</a> recently pumped some €500 billion into the banking sector, and will offer more long-term loans in February. That helped ease fears of an immediate <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/22/news/international/euro_credit_crunch/index.htm?iid=EL">credit crisis</a>, but European banks are facing <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/08/news/international/european_banks/index.htm?iid=EL">new capital requirements</a> this year and the wholesale funding market remains chilly.<br />
The <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/09/news/international/european_summit_ecb/index.htm?iid=EL">ECB is widely seen as the only European institution</a> with the financial strength to restore confidence in the bond market, and many investors believe it will eventually step in to prevent the crisis from spiraling out of control. Many investors also say that Germany, Europe's largest economy, won't allow the euro union to fail.<br />
<br />
" What's Your Comments ...? " </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-89978463040689704692012-01-06T18:37:00.000-08:002012-01-06T18:37:24.329-08:00Worries grow as China land sales slump<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="cnn_stryathrtmp"> <div class="cnnByline">By <strong>Simon Rabinovitch, </strong>FT.com</div><div class="cnn_strytmstmp">January 6, 2012 -- Updated 0245 GMT (1045 HKT)</div></div><div class="cnn_stryimg640captioned"><img alt="A real estate agent walks outside his shop in Beijing on November 12, 2011. " border="0" height="360" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/111118061624-china-real-estate-story-top.jpg" width="640" /></div><div class="cnn_stryimg640caption"><div class="cnn_strycaptiontxt">A real estate agent walks outside his shop in Beijing on November 12, 2011. </div></div><a href="" name="em0"></a> <div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"> <div><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></div><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><li>Land sales slowed sharply in China last year, according to a series of industry reports </li>
<li>highlights the deepening woes of debt-laden local governments that depend on land auctions </li>
</ul></div></div><strong>(Financial Times)</strong> -- Land sales slowed sharply in China last year, according to a series of industry reports that highlight the deepening woes of debt-laden local governments that depend on land auctions as a crucial revenue source.<br />
While the falling sales are still far from reaching crisis point, analysts say, authorities are increasingly under pressure to choose between costly help for the worst-hit cities and an unpalatable relaxation of policies aimed at preventing a dangerous property bubble.<br />
Nearly 900 land auctions failed in 2011, about three times more than in 2010, Centaline, a real estate company, said. Meanwhile, government revenues from land sales fell 13 per cent in 130 big cities to Rmb1,900bn ($300bn), according to the China Index Academy, a property research group.<br />
Official data about how the land market performed in 2011 will not be published until later this month, but the industry numbers leave little doubt that there has been a serious downturn since 2010, when land sales surged 70 per cent.<br />
Although weaker sales were expected as a consequence of the government's sustained campaign to cool the once-bubbly property market, the deterioration appears to have been quite sudden, accelerating at the end of the year.<br />
Centaline noted that one-third of the failed auctions -- when bids either failed to materialise or were too low -- occurred in November and December. Huang Yu, vice-president of the China Index Academy, told state media that the national land market was entering a "deep freeze".<br />
The failed auctions have been a nationwide phenomenon. Guangzhou, a booming metropolis near Hong Kong, has fared particularly poorly, suffering multiple failed sales since November. Shanghai, China's aspiring financial centre, also attracted no buyers at one auction last month.<br />
Wen Jiabao, China's premier, has repeatedly said that Beijing will not relax its clampdown on the property market until prices have returned to reasonable levels. Prices have started to edge down in recent months, but analysts think the correction will have to intensify before the government eases its restrictions, such as limits on the number of homes people can buy.<br />
The slowdown comes at an uncomfortable time for China's local governments, hitting them just as the mountain of debt that they racked up over the past few years starts to come due.<br />
"If this continues, it will be a major blow to the financial situation of the local governments," said Ran Tao, an economic professor at Renmin University in Beijing. "They have become increasingly reliant on land sales for financing, especially for their investment in infrastructure and industrial parks."<br />
Local governments owed Rmb10,700bn at the end of 2010, and 53 per cent of that must be paid back before the end of next year, according to the national audit office.<br />
Analysts have said that the debt load is manageable -- it amounts to just about a quarter of gross domestic product. But the shortfall in land revenues will make life more difficult for local governments.<br />
Guan Qingyou, a researcher at Qinghua University, calculates that land sales formed 74 per cent of their revenue base in 2010, up from 10 per cent in the late 1990s. The central government has been gradually implementing tax reforms to give provinces and municipalities additional revenue channels, but direct transfer payments will be needed to plug most of the hole for the time being.<br />
As for the maturing loans, Chinese economists have suggested that local governments be allowed to roll over at least some of their debt to make the repayment burden more manageable. The risk, however, is that this simply pushes the day of reckoning further into the future.<br />
In the meantime, to try to revive land auctions, local governments have started to cut prices and break plots into smaller pieces.<br />
Some of their actions have run contrary to Beijing's cornerstone policy of building up more public housing for poorer citizens. The China Real Estate Information Corporation noted that several municipalities had suspended a requirement that developers buying land must also build a certain amount of affordable housing on it.<br />
The decline in land sales revenue would have been even worse but for a commercial property market that has been much more robust than the residential market. But analysts warn a growing supply glut in the commercial sector could soon change that, adding to the problems facing local governments.<br />
<br />
" You Know About That's ...???" </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-44102374138482816702012-01-06T18:27:00.000-08:002012-01-06T18:27:43.968-08:00Cracking the Code to get a job<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="byline"><span class="cnnBlogFiledBy">Posted by: </span><br />
<a href="http://business.blogs.cnn.com/tag/cnn-correspondent/" rel="tag">CNN Correspondent</a>, <a href="http://business.blogs.cnn.com/tag/maggie-lake/" rel="tag">Maggie Lake</a></div><strong>New York (CNN) –</strong> Wished you had paid a little more attention in computer class? Learned to do more than just surf Facebook? You are not alone.<br />
While companies and governments have been shedding jobs and paring back benefits, tech job openings continue to soar. According to Fortune magazine, software developers who specialize in applications will rise by over 30% by 2018. Jobs for computer system analysts will jump 20%.<br />
And the pay is good – average salaries are around $94,000 a year.<br />
<span id="more-11735"></span><br />
That is good news for the hoards of young people who are already in the process of switching their college major from art history to computer science, but what about the rest of us?<br />
Zach Sims thinks he has the answer. Or at least some much needed help. Anxious to upgrade his own considerable computer skills, the 21-year-old Connecticut native teamed up with a Columbia University friend Ryan Bubinski and started <a href="http://www.codecademy.com/">Codecademy</a>, a free website which teaches the basics of writing computer code.<br />
In the first four days of 2012 alone, the site has signed up more than 130,000 new users.<br />
"I think we knew that programming was going to be the new version of literacy but at the same time it's pretty staggering to see the number of people who have signed up," said Sims.<br />
You need to have Google Chrome or Firefox to access the site, but once you are on it, it is completely free and extremely easy to navigate. The site is designed so that people with no experience in coding can use it, but it is also easy enough to jump ahead if you have some background and just want to improve on your skills.<br />
Sims makes no bones about the fact that this site isn't going to suddenly make you a computer expert or guarantee you a job. But it can help you gain the knowledge to build a website to support your small business.<br />
Codecamy has only been up and running since August, but Sims said he is committed to keeping the site free to users and wants to avoid turning to advertising to raise revenue. Instead, he hopes to a team up with corporations who may want to use the site to recruit.<br />
As you can see from the piece we shot, my first attempt was a little rocky, but I am going to try and do the course. It may not get me my next promotion, but I hope it will help me better understand the gadgets which have become indispensible to me.<br />
Are you interested in trying it? Let me know what you think.<br />
<br />
" You Want Know Thats? i think You Must Try for You Challenge :) " </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-71493440930754236162012-01-06T18:15:00.000-08:002012-01-06T18:15:01.461-08:00U.S. Navy rescues Iranian sailors<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="cnn_stryathrtmp"> <div class="cnnByline">From <strong>Larry Shaughnessy</strong>, CNN Pentagon Producer</div><div class="cnn_strytmstmp">January 6, 2012 -- Updated 2151 GMT (0551 HKT)</div></div><br />
<strong>(CNN)</strong> -- U.S. sailors from a carrier strike group whose recent presence in the Persian Gulf drew the ire of Iranian military officials have rescued 13 of the Middle Eastern country's sailors from a hijacked fishing boat, a military spokesman said Friday.<br />
The destroyer USS Kidd came to the aid of the ship Thursday in the North Arabian sea, near the crucial Strait of Hormuz, according to the Navy.<br />
The rescue prompted the captain of the freed ship to offer his "sincere gratitude," according to Josh Schminky, a Navy Criminal Investigative Service agent aboard the Kidd.<br />
"He was afraid that without our help, they could have been there for months," Schminky said.<br />
The rescue Thursday came two days after Iran said the United States should not send any more warships into the Persian Gulf.<br />
The USS John Stennis Strike Group, which includes the Kidd, moved out of the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz last week, prompting Iranian Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi to warn that "there is no need for the forces belonging to the countries beyond this region to have a presence in the Persian Gulf," according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.<br />
"Their presence does nothing but create mayhem, and we never wanted them to be present in the Persian Gulf," Vahidi said.<br />
According to the Navy, a helicopter from the Kidd spotted a suspect pirate boat alongside the Iranian vessel. At the same time, the Kidd received a distress call from the captain of ship, the Al Molai, saying he and his crew were being held captive by pirates.<br />
A team from the Kidd boarded the Al Molai, took 15 suspected pirates into custody and freed 13 Iranian hostages, the Navy said.<br />
The suspected pirates, mostly Somalis, were taken to the Stennis to be held until a decision is made about prosecution, Pentagon spokesman Capt. John Kirby said Friday.<br />
Pirates hijacked the Al Molai 40 to 45 days ago, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement. The crew was "held hostage, with limited rations and we believe were forced against their will to assist the pirates with other piracy operations," according to the statement.<br />
The Navy team provided food, water and medical care to both the suspected pirates and the crew of the Al Molai after securing the ship and ensuring everyone was safe, Schminky said.<br />
The crew had "been though a lot," he said.<br />
"We went out of our way to treat the fishing crew with kindness and respect," he said.<br />
Secretary of State Leon Panetta called the USS Stennis later Friday to congratulate the strike group commander, Rear Adm. Craig Faller, and his team on a "well executed effort," the Pentagon said.<br />
"He said the team did exactly the right thing, and that he's proud of what they were able to do," Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a release.<br />
He quoted Panetta as saying, "When we get a distress signal, we're going to respond. That's the nature of what our country is all about."<br />
<div class="cnn_strycbftrtxt"><br />
</div><div class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">CNN's Charley Keyes contributed to this report.</div><div class="cnn_strycbftrtxt"><br />
</div><div class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">" I think That's Hot News For Me, How about You...?? " </div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-41139193256455308402010-02-10T17:55:00.000-08:002010-02-10T18:17:37.427-08:00What Is Google Buzz?<p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZUwzPGdObLIk2vkbtPUk9-5J044QaLKvcG_Oi3XMiJPRvdpHsV2dMvVN8YD42GbUuyak8v5YolRPAm0RAWrwobKgFWiakSs7lg3haFBktxQ8uIX7D4KxAW3kKWP4o4THU5H6XP5VA-U/s1600-h/500x_gbuzznew.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ZUwzPGdObLIk2vkbtPUk9-5J044QaLKvcG_Oi3XMiJPRvdpHsV2dMvVN8YD42GbUuyak8v5YolRPAm0RAWrwobKgFWiakSs7lg3haFBktxQ8uIX7D4KxAW3kKWP4o4THU5H6XP5VA-U/s320/500x_gbuzznew.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436803925483263986" border="0" /></a></p>So what exactly is <a linkindex="64" class="autolink" title="Click here to read more posts tagged #googlebuzz" href="http://gizmodo.com/tag/googlebuzz/">Google Buzz</a>? Used on a PC or mobile, Buzz reminds us of an RSS combined with all of your social networking—all within the existing Gmail and Google.com infrastructure. <p><!-- videoId: yi50KlsCBio --><script type="text/javascript"> newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/yi50KlsCBio&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} ); </script></p><div id="obj_9258"><object classid="" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" height="412" width="500"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yi50KlsCBio&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yi50KlsCBio&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="412" width="500"></embed></object></div><p> <img src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2010/02/yi50klscbio_01.jpg" style="display: none;" class="embeddedVideoThumbnail" /><!-- /videoId: yi50KlsCBio --></p> <h1>Buzz's five key features include:</h1> <p>• Automatic friends lists (friends are added automatically who you have emailed on Gmail)<br />• "Rich fast sharing" combines sources like Picasa and Twitter into a single feed, and it includes full-sized photo browsing<br />• Public and private sharing (swap between family and friends)<br />• Inbox integration (instead of emailing you with updates, like Facebook might, Buzz features emails that update dynamically with all Buzz thread content, like the photo viewer we mentioned above)<br />• "Recommended Buzz" puts friend-of-friend content into your stream, even if you're not acquainted. Recommendations learn over time with your feedback.</p> <p>Google Buzz is available today, and it should creep up as a new tab in Gmail any minute.</p> <div class="GalleryPreview"> <div id="AjaxImagePosts" class="gallery-thumb-wrapper"> <a linkindex="66" class="imagewidth_548" href="http://gizmodo.com/5467875/google-buzz-gallery/gallery/1" title="" id="img1015090148"> <img src="http://cache-01.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/gallery_buzz1.jpg" longdesc="" alt="" title="" class="gpreview-img" width="116" /> </a> <a linkindex="67" class="imagewidth_544" href="http://gizmodo.com/5467875/google-buzz-gallery/gallery/2" title="" id="img1015090162"> <img src="http://cache-02.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/gallery_buzz2.jpg" longdesc="" alt="" title="" class="gpreview-img" width="116" /> </a> <a linkindex="68" class="imagewidth_546" href="http://gizmodo.com/5467875/google-buzz-gallery/gallery/3" title="" id="img1015090176"> <img src="http://cache-03.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/gallery_buzz3.jpg" longdesc="" alt="" title="" class="gpreview-img" width="116" /> </a> <a linkindex="69" class="imagewidth_546" href="http://gizmodo.com/5467875/google-buzz-gallery/gallery/4" title="" id="img1015090190"> <img src="http://cache-04.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/gallery_buzz4.jpg" longdesc="" alt="" title="" class=" gpreview-last" width="116" /> </a> <a linkindex="70" class="imagewidth_548" href="http://gizmodo.com/5467875/google-buzz-gallery/gallery/5" title="" id="img1015090204" style="display: none;"> <img src="http://cache-05.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/gallery_buzz5.jpg" longdesc="" alt="" title="" class="gpreview-img" width="116" /> </a> <a linkindex="71" class="imagewidth_549" href="http://gizmodo.com/5467875/google-buzz-gallery/gallery/6" title="" id="img1015090218" style="display: none;"> <img src="http://cache-06.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/gallery_buzz6.jpg" longdesc="" alt="" title="" class="gpreview-img" width="116" /> </a> </div> </div> <h1>But What About My Cellphone?</h1> <p>Of course, Buzz also works on mobiles right from Google.com on Android and iPhone browsers, and it locates your position from a one button press. From here, Buzz can tailor your feed to their information on things like businesses and restaurants. More on mobile Buzz <a linkindex="72" href="http://gizmodo.com/5467878/google-buzz-on-phones-is-actually-kind-of-ridiculous-in-a-good-way">here</a>. [<a linkindex="73" href="http://www.google.com/buzz">Google Buzz</a>]</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-34017251855406018252008-04-13T22:11:00.000-07:002008-04-13T22:19:07.466-07:00We need a Magna Carta moment on information<div style="text-align: justify;">Michael Cross<br />The Guardian, Thursday March 20 2008<br /><br />One casualty of last November's missing-disc fiasco was a government strategy for sharing citizens' personal data between departments. It was scheduled to appear on November 22, just two days after Chancellor Alistair Darling told Parliament the HMRC had lost the details of 25 million people. Unsurprisingly, the data-sharing announcement was buried in a deep vault under Whitehall where it has languished ever since.<br /><br />It can't stay there indefinitely. Huge chunks of the government's programme to reform public services depend on the presumption that information gathered by one public body is made available to others in the interests of efficiency, customer-centricity and detecting fraud.<br /><br />Until now, government policy has assumed that data-sharing enjoys public support. Many public service managers can tell of citizens being amazed that data are not shared, even when failure to do so costs lives. Ordinary citizens don't differentiate between different arms of the state, the argument goes.<br /><br />I'm sympathetic to this assumption. However, it is untenable in the current climate. Ordinary citizens clearly do care what officialdom does with their data, and don't necessarily view the NHS or their local authority as a branch of the state. Last week, the British Computer Society (BCS) released a poll showing two-thirds of Britons say their trust in the government to look after personal data has fallen in the light of recent revelations. At the same time, parliament's joint committee on human rights painted a picture of a government with a frighteningly gung-ho attitude to new data-sharing procedures. Its report criticised the approach of passing laws containing very broad enabling provisions, while relying on secondary legislation, generally unscrutinised by parliament, for data protection safeguards.<br /><br />Even more than the data loss fiascoes, this is a symptom of a government out of step with growing public awareness of the power of information. If IT-based reforms - let alone schemes like the ID card - are to retain credibility, the government must recognise these concerns.<br /><br />New guidance on officialdom's management of personal data is expected to appear shortly. A seminar organised by the BCS last week suggested it could start by embedding the importance of personal data in Whitehall's own criteria for success or failure. All IT-based changes should have a privacy impact assessment; this should be carried out regularly as part of "gateway" reviews of major projects. Meanwhile, "capability reviews" should test government departments' ability to handle information safely (possibly instead of current criteria such as their ability to "ignite passion, pace and drive" - I'm not making that up).<br /><br />Meanwhile, ministers could send a signal to society by giving the Information Commissioner real powers to spot-check organisations for data protection breaches, and to put unauthorised snoopers in prison. (Incredibly, the government is contemplating backtracking on tougher sentences, apparently under pressure from media organisations worried about their executives going to jail.)<br /><br />Citizens need to be brought in to the equation, too. This means gaining more informed, active consent before information is shared - and creating workable procedures through which individuals can revoke that consent. Vitally, citizens should have an automatic right to correct data about themselves.<br /><br />The whole information relationship between citizens and the state needs to be put on a new ethical basis. What we need, someone told the BCS, is a Magna Carta moment. I agree.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">© Copyright :</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"> http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/20/politics.intellectualproperty</span></span><br /></div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-17223465517659100812008-01-01T23:04:00.000-08:002008-01-02T00:12:16.627-08:00Top five outsourcing trends for 2008<div align="justify">Watch out for social responsibility, global talent wars and shakeup of power</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">POUGHKEEPSIE, USA: Socially responsible outsourcing, global competition for talented employees and a power shift among outsourcing players will be among the key trends in the coming year, predicts the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP).<br />Among the top five outsourcing developments to watch for in 2008 forecasted by IAOP Chairman Michael Corbett and Managing Director of Thought Leadership Jagdish Dalal are:<br />Socially Responsible Outsourcing<br />Outsourcing increasingly will be recognized for the value it brings to communities around the globe and companies engaged in outsourcing will be acknowledged for being good corporate citizens.<br />“With the shaky US economy, presidential elections looming and a heightened awareness of how everyone’s actions impact the environment, outsourcing is poised to go politically correct in 2008,” Corbett said.<br />Companies providing, using and advising on outsourcing will become known for adhering to and advancing the highest ethical standards, contributing to communities, bettering the environment, and expanding career opportunities and training for employees, he predicts.<br />IAOP recognizes outsourcing leaders for their contributions to business and society through its “Outsourcing Hall of Fame” award program that has inducted senior executives from such leading companies as Capgemini, Procter & Gamble, Accenture and Applied Materials.<br />Outsourcing Professionals Wanted<br />Outsourcing professionals will be sought after, valued and compensated for their important role in business. Today, more than 150,000 professional are involved in the $6 trillion global outsourcing industry and these numbers and the professionalism of the industry is only expected to continue to grow.<br />“The C-level suite is recognizing the importance of outsourcing,” Dalal said. “More and more outsourcing professionals will sit at the executive table with senior executives and define the very shape of business.”<br />IAOP continues to see strong interest in its outsourcing certification program. Teams of professionals and individuals from companies around the globe are receiving the industry’s first and sole professional certification – the Certified Outsourcing Professional (COP).</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">Global Talent Wars<br />Attracting, developing and retaining talented employees will become a major challenge for both outsourcing service providers and businesses building their internal capabilities as outsourcing increases in developing countries, especially India.<br />“The global talent wars will further widen the economic gap between the cost of talent management and expected cost baseline,” Dalal said in looking ahead.<br />Power Shifts from Dominant Players<br />Outsourcing industry leadership will move from a small group of U.S.-based service companies who have dominated the industry since its inception, including IBM, EDS, CSC and Accenture, to include foreign companies that are growing, such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro.<br />“The landscape is shifting, with large U.S. companies becoming major ‘offshore’ players while offshore players are establishing U.S. footholds through acquisitions and by establishing their own facilities,” Corbett said.<br />IAOP is seeing this trend in its annual ranking of the world’s best outsourcing service providers, Global Outsourcing 100. For the past two years IBM has remained at the top of the list but increasingly, Indian-based companies are rising in the top 10 ranks.<br />Globalization: A Race to the Finish Line<br />While businesses race to build their global talent portfolio, the best will all have their basics in place by the end of 2008. What was until just recently a new strategy for companies to offer competitive differentiation is now required of all. Any company not already well into the outsourcing game is at serious risk in today’s economy.<br />“Although the ink may be barely dry on the first revision of Tom Friedman’s book, The World is Flat, the globalization end-game is already in sight,” Corbett said.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Copyright @ www.ciol.com</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-67146578163259159922007-11-25T05:09:00.000-08:002007-11-25T05:25:56.094-08:00INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATION ISSUES IN INDONESIA<div align="justify">By: Budi Rahardjo, Bana G. KartasasmitaInstitut Teknologi Bandung2000</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><br />The convergence of computing, communication, and contents has been discussed in many references. We witness the explosion of the Internet which combines computing (web servers, browsers), communication (inter networking between computers, servers, and devices) and contents (web sites). Now, cellular phones are being used as a platform to browse the Internet. In short, the three Cs cannot be separated.<br /></div><div align="justify"><br /><strong>Internet Explosion Creates Opportunities and Challenges<br /></strong>The Internet creates new opportunities and challenges. New businesses like Amazon, Yahoo!, eBays, America Online, and many others dominate news and stock markets. These type of business would not exist without the Internet. It is said that Information Technology (IT) has enormous and profound socioeconomic benefits to the US [1]. Now, the wave that was started in Silicon Valley is coming to Asia. And it is moving fast. New Asia cybermoguls were born; Masayoshi Son (Japan), Richard Li (Hongkong). How about Indonesia? Who is the king of IT?<br />While it creates opportunities, the Internet explosion also creates challenges. Limitted human resources, too many standards, and unknown law and regulations are examples of those challenges. The pace of the Internet growth creates the need for capable professionals in a short period of time. Even in Silion Valley, (IT) professionals are in demand. It seems that a machine that can produce these professionals is badly needed. Universities with other educational and training institutions can fill this function if they are given the right direction.<br />Standard is another challenging area. The problem with standard is that there are too many standards. Standards are crucial to technological progress [2]. An important issue related to standards is the use of open standard or proprietary standard. An example of this is the battle between Microsoft and the Departement of Justice, in which Microsoft is accused of using its defacto standard to create monopoly.<br />Advances in communication and computing broke the barrier of time and space, in which many laws and regulations are based on. Which law would we use if a crime is done by an Indonesian, on a server located in the US, owned by a European company, affecting its clients in Australia? Cybercrime needs cyberlaw.</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong>Indonesian Issues<br /></strong>Issues in Indonesia are similar to the global issues, with the addition of lack of technology transfer and unclear road map. We will touch this.<br />Being a large and populated country, Indonesia is a potential market. However, this market may not ready to accept technological advances. The Internet, for example, has been in Indonesia for serveal years. Yet, its growth is not exponential as in other countries. Currently there are 46 Internet Provider Service (ISP) licenses. About 35 ISPs are in operational. The number of paid (dialup) subscribers is 250,000, while the total users (including users behind corporate firewall) are 500,000. MARS Indonesia survey reported that the Indonesian Internet user’s growth is 23% yearly.<br />The Internet wave is now coming to Indonesia. New portals are being built every week: detik.com, plasa.com, satunet, astaga!, and web88888. Venture captials are entering Indonesia.<br />Human resources opens an opportunity to supply the global demand with (IT) professionals. The challenge involves increasing the number and quality. Lack of English capability makes it difficult to compete with resources in India, or even China. We need strategies to grab the opportunities that lie ahead such as by linking ourselves with global players in education, research, training institutions, and worker placement offices. This is then follwoed by the development of world-class science and technology universities. And finally, we can send technology professionals abroad to play in the major league (which we call a “brian reserve” programme, not brian drian).<br />Technology transfer is an obstacle to many developing countries. While we are still trying to understand or master a technology, developed countries have moved on to another and more advance technology. Access to technology know how, which translates to information, is important. Fortunately, the Internet opens this possibility. Thus, access to the Internet is crucial.</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong>Road Map<br /></strong>The geographical diversity of Indonesia forces us to master telecommunication technology. Related technologies that are crucial the the nation are wireless, satellite, remote sensing, GIS, GPS, and Geosatellite.<br />Wireless networked digital devices are products of a new paradigm for computing and communication. They create new business opportunities. Witness the growth of cellular phones in the world. New technologies, such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and Bluetooth, are being developed. They, again, create even more opportunities. The Europeans are ahead in the technology, and Japan is ahed in its appliactions (such as the NTT Docomo I-mode). Thus, link and collaboration with them are extremely important.</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong>Concluding Remarks<br /></strong>This paper briefly discusses the opportunities and challenges in front of us. We cannot let these opportunities slip away. Link and collaborations with global players are very important. Initiatives such as Bandung High-Tech Valley [3] must be empowered. We need to achieve something real.</div><div align="justify"><br /><strong>References<br /></strong>1. Subcommittee on Computing, Information, and Communications Research and Development of the National Science and Technology Council’s Committee on Technology, “High Performance Computing and Communications: Information Technology Frontiers for a New Millennium,” April 1999.<br />2. Linda Geppert, and William Sweet, “Technology 2000 Analysis & Forecast,” IEEE Spectrum, pp. 27-31, January, 2000.<br />3. Bandung High Tech Valley web site: http://indonesia.elga.net.id/bhtv</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-68536534322605871932007-11-25T04:58:00.000-08:002007-11-25T05:06:35.595-08:00The Digital Divide<p align="justify">The Digital Divide is a manifestation of the tendency of technology to follow those with the access, and the skills to use it. Over time, this can lead to imbedded assumptions that tend to exclude people who lack capability to respond in appropriate ways.<br /><br />For instance, the assumption that everyone who is eligible to work at a certain company has core IT skills may drive an employer to post job openings, accept resumes, schedule interviews, and extend offers only via the Web and e-mail. This could prevent individuals who lack these core skills or who lack access to IT infrastructure, from even learning about potential employment opportunities or the skills needed to gain employment with the firm.<br /><br />In our public schools, the good news is many states have been very active in building out infrastructure – financing statewide networks and installing cable and fiber. I’m proud to say that in Washington state, thanks to a good technological employer base, excellent schools, and a healthy state budget, the K-20 network ensures that every grade and high school has high quality Internet access, and all 33 community and technical colleges, and the public 4-year universities all have at least one T1 connection.<br /><br />However, other states have further to go, and even with infrastructure, most states have serious problems in attracting and retaining the necessary technical support personnel, and in training teachers and students in the uses of technology in ways that both groups become naturalized to technology.<br /><br />We’re all encouraged by the occasional stories of “whiz kids” making $60 Grand per year while still in high school, designing corporate Web sites – and we have indications that computer penetration in homes in the US will equal penetration of televisions and radios not too long after the new Millennium.<br /><br />While that’s pretty good news, it applies to North America. The figures for Europe are comparable. I had occasion to host a visit from China that came to NWCET to learn about technical education in the Washington community colleges – they have leapfrogged the infrastructure problems in many cases – remote villages that don’t even have running water are talking on cellular phones! Yet, much of the world still lacks infrastructure. And the two major drivers of Web expansion – commerce and information transportation – may not be too useful to populations still struggling with basic human needs.<br /><br />We face the prospect of a country and a world differentiated by access to and facility with the digital domain. Information technology literacy is the “3-Rs” of the new millennium.<br /> Telecommunications technology promises to make high quality connections available to virtually every point on the globe – so we will build this high speed highway to even the remotest points on t he planet – what wonderful possibilities – if we make sure everyone knows how to drive!</p><p align="justify"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Copy right :</span></em></p><p align="justify"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Speech of Peter Saflund to the Rural New England Information Technology Project at Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, MA, August 6, 1999.</span></em></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-47079402546790591532007-09-26T13:14:00.000-07:002007-09-26T13:15:43.976-07:00Red Hat Net Surges On Growing Linux Subscription Revenue<div align="justify">By <a href="mailto:cbabcock@cmp.com">Charles Babcock</a> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/;jsessionid=OOO5FVNKJGRJSQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN" target="_blank">InformationWeek </a></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><a class="iAs" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; CURSOR: hand; COLOR: darkblue; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.informationweek.com/management/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=OOO5FVNKJGRJSQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=202101642#" target="_blank" itxtdid="3802314">Red Hat</a> net income surged as revenue continued to grow year over year in the second quarter ended Aug. 31, according to CFO Charlie Peters.<br />Revenue totaled $127.3 million, up 28% from the same quarter a year ago and up 7% from the first quarter. Subscription revenue was $109.2 million of the total, up 29% from a year ago and 6% over the previous quarter. The figures show a growing demand for Linux as a subscription service. Deferred revenue, part of which is still-to-be collected subscription commitments, amounted to $377 million, an increase of 33% over the year-ago period.<br />Net income for the quarter was $18.2 million, up 64% or 9 cents per share, compared with $11 million or 5 cents per share for the same quarter a year ago. The adjusted results were in line with earnings estimates on Wall Street, according to Thomson Financial. Red Hat shares, which had closed Monday at $19, were down slightly to $18.89 by the close of trading Tuesday.<br />Peters said he projects revenue of $131 million to $133 million in the third quarter of the fiscal year, with earnings of 18 cents per share, according to Reuters.<br />During the quarter, Red Hat released JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 4.2, its JBoss <a class="iAs" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; CURSOR: hand; COLOR: darkblue; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.informationweek.com/management/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=OOO5FVNKJGRJSQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=202101642#" target="_blank" itxtdid="3802542">application server</a> and middleware suite integrated for migrating legacy applications to an open source code operating environment.<br />It also released the beta version of an integrated set of Eclipse-based open source development tools, and certified its 3,000th application to run on Red Hat Linux.<br />Red Hat also announced Tuesday the appointment Mark Cook as VP of finance and controller. He was previously Red Hat's treasurer. Paul Argiry replaced Cook as the treasurer, joining Red Hat from the position of senior director of corporate finance at Jabil Circuit. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-50861125098537541752007-09-26T13:10:00.000-07:002007-09-26T13:11:12.167-07:00AMD Bets On 2nd 'Black Edition' Gaming Chip<div align="justify">By <a href="mailto:antoneg@pacbell.net">Antone Gonsalves</a> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/;jsessionid=OOO5FVNKJGRJSQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN" target="_blank">InformationWeek </a></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday introduced its second Black Edition processor, a lower-priced dual core gaming processor targeted at enthusiasts looking to set their own clock speeds.<br />The AMD <a href="http://game.amd.com/us-en/unlock_athlonblack.aspx">Athlon 64 X2 processor 5000+ Black Edition</a> is available with a customizable clock multiplier, enabling amateurs and enthusiasts to maximize the performance of their desktop computers. For upgrading machines, Black Edition processors can be combined with the AIT Radeon HD 2000 series graphics processor and the AMD 580x or upcoming AMD 700 series chipsets.<br />AMD in August introduced the 6400+ Black Edition as the highest frequency processor from AMD to date at 3.2GHz. The Black Edition series provides channel partners with customizable chips to provide a broader range of performance in mainstream and gaming machines. Chips are also targeted at users of digital media applications and photo editing.<br />The <a href="http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_9485_13041%5E13043,00.html">Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processors</a> include AMD's HyperTransport technology, which provides I/O communication up to 8Gbytes per second. Other high performance features include a 64Kbyte Level 1 instruction and data caches per core, and up to 1Mbyte of Level 2 cache per core.<br />The new 5000+ Black Edition is available to channel partners for $136 in batches of 1,000 units.<br />AMD this month announced plans to ship in the first quarter of next year <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201807118">a triple core processor</a> for the desktop. The new Phenom microprocessor would be in addition to the quad-core desktop chip AMD plans to ship this year. The Phenom microprocessors are native multi-core chips, which mean the cores are on a single die of silicon. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-62029389052076588242007-09-26T13:03:00.000-07:002007-09-26T13:04:52.990-07:00Open Source Developers Shun GPLv3, Survey Says<div align="justify">By <a href="mailto:paulmcd@cmp.com">Paul McDougall</a> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/;jsessionid=OOO5FVNKJGRJSQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN" target="_blank">InformationWeek </a></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Fearing the restrictions it places on their work, the majority of <a class="iAs" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; CURSOR: hand; COLOR: darkblue; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.informationweek.com/software/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=OOO5FVNKJGRJSQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=202101921#" target="_blank" itxtdid="3802340">open source</a> software developers do not plan to publish code in the next year under a controversial new license authored by the main governing body for open source and free software, according to a survey released Wednesday.<br />In addition, more than 40% of those surveyed said they won't ever publish their work under Version 3 of the General Public License, which was released <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=200001747">earlier this year</a> by the Free Software Foundation. "GPLv3 is controversial because it imposes restrictions on what you can do with programs," said John Andrews, CEO of survey taker Evans <a class="iAs" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; CURSOR: hand; COLOR: darkblue; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.informationweek.com/software/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=OOO5FVNKJGRJSQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=202101921#" target="_blank" itxtdid="4332979">Data</a>, in a statement.<br />Evans Data is an independent market research firm that conducts studies on a broad range of issues affecting the IT industry.<br />The survey found that only 6% of the 380 open source developers polled by Evans Data have adopted GPLv3 since it was published in June. Some 66% said they will not adopt it within the next year, and 43% said they will never use GPLv3.<br />Among the high profile developers that have previously said they are unlikely to adopt the new license is Linux kernel creator Linus Torvalds.<br />GPLv3 has produced a rift in the open source community between idealists who believe all software should be free of charge and free to use, and pragmatists who want to see open source software make further inroads into commercial use.<br />GPLv3 embodies the former point of view in that it stipulates that companies that use software covered by the license place no restrictions on end user access to the software. That has prompted some companies, including Tivo, to indicate that they may seek alternatives to the open source software used in their products.<br />Tivo does not allow end users to tamper with the digital rights management software embedded in its digital video recorders. Such a prohibition runs counter to the terms of GPLv3. The license also prohibits commercial distributors of software covered by GPLv3 from selectively striking patent deals with some end users and not others.<br />The stipulation was specifically intended to prevent Microsoft from making patent protection agreements such as the one it inked with Novell in 2006.<br />Microsoft claims that Linux and other open source programs violate its patents, but has offered indemnification to Linux distributors if they sign licensing pacts.<br />In addition to Novell, Linux distributors <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199901347">Xandros</a> and Linspire have entered such arrangements with Microsoft.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-76402647429209763302007-09-26T12:56:00.000-07:002007-09-26T12:57:58.953-07:00HP Boosts Voodoo Notebook Speed<div align="justify">By <a href="mailto:antoneg@pacbell.net">Antone Gonsalves</a> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/;jsessionid=OOO5FVNKJGRJSQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN" target="_blank">InformationWeek </a></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday introduced a speedier version of its Voodoo high-performance notebook.<br />The Envy M:152 is the first Voodoo PC to feature Intel's latest Centrino Duo processor technology, which includes the Core 2 Duo mobile processor, the PM965 Express chipset, and the Wi-Fi Link 4965AGN. The system is also available with Intel's Core 2 Extreme X7800 CPU.<br />The Envy weighs 7 pounds with a battery, and sports a 15.4-inch 1680 x 1050 matte-finish display. Targeted at gamers, content creators, and mobile enthusiasts, the PC is one of <a class="iAs" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; CURSOR: hand; COLOR: darkblue; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.informationweek.com/hardware/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=OOO5FVNKJGRJSQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=202102002#" target="_blank" itxtdid="3802434">HP's</a> quietest Voodoo notebooks to date, the company said. The new machine also has a built-in 2.0 megapixel Webcam and a microphone.<br />"The Envy M:152 combines the best in processing power and performance with a hot design and the latest in wireless technology," Rahul Sood, chief technology officer for HP's global gaming business unit, <a href="http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2007/070926b.html">said in a statement</a>.<br />In boosting graphics over the Envy M:151, the new notebook supports Microsoft's DirectX 10, the latest graphics technology in <a class="iAs" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; CURSOR: hand; COLOR: darkblue; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.informationweek.com/hardware/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=OOO5FVNKJGRJSQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=202102002#" target="_blank" itxtdid="3802204">Windows Vista</a>, and features the Nvidia GeForce 8600GT 512-Mbyte video card. Other features include support for Bluetooth wireless technology for connecting to peripherals, a fingerprint reader, and up to 4 Gbytes of memory when used with the Windows Vista 64-bit operating system.<br />Pricing for <a href="http://www.voodoopc.com/sellpage/sellpage.aspx?spid=82">the Envy M:152</a> starts at about $3,300.<br />HP's Voodoo computers stem from the company's <a href="http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2006/060928c.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN">acquisition nearly a year ago</a> of Canada-based VoodooPC, which HP operates as a separate business unit under its personal systems group. CTO Sood is the former co-owner of VoodooPC.<br />HP bought VoodooPC after Dell's acquisition of gaming PC maker Alienware. In buying the high-performance PC makers, the two computer rivals were laying stakes in the small, but influential, market for machines that target gaming enthusiasts and power users. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-47049670302669099982007-09-26T12:49:00.000-07:002007-09-26T12:53:55.330-07:00Cisco boosts IP NGN carrier ethernet portfolio<p align="justify">Cisco today announced its ME 3400 24FS, an enhancement to the Carrier Ethernet portfolio of its IP Next-Generation Network (IP NGN) architecture. The ME 3400 Series is designed to enable operators to deliver the “Connected Life,” extending fiber-to-the-home apartment buildings and other multi-tenant units, allowing deployment of more services more quickly - with lower operational expenses and faster time-to-market, Cisco said in a statement.“With the target to cover two million households for triple-play services on our Carrier Ethernet network, quality of experience is of utmost importance. Given the growth of traffic and subscribers, working to ensure it is an ongoing challenge,” said Ricky Wong, chairman of HKBN. “These new innovations from Cisco will allow us to build on the capabilities of our existing network to help ensure that we are able to serve of customers needs now and well into the future,” he added.The Cisco ME 3400-24FS Series switch is a cost-optimized platform with a smaller form factor to deliver fiber-based networks to residents of multi-tenant units (MTUs). Its higher density is ideal for building basements and it enables pay-as-you-grow capabilities for low-population areas. It also features extended in-building reach with new flexible port options including fiber and copper and greater visibility and control of bandwidth for customized service bundles. Using the ME 3400, providers are able to offer pinpoint troubleshooting, delay-free access to personalized content and advanced entertainment service delivery unrestrained by distance, Cisco statement added.Cisco has further enhanced the IP NGN Carrier Ethernet design to bring SONET/SDH service level agreements (SLAs) to Ethernet, designed to enable extension of 50ms recovery from the core to the customer.</p><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify">© CyberMedia News</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-37125798327880155162007-09-26T12:35:00.000-07:002007-09-26T12:46:01.038-07:00The horror: 'Ghost servers' that haunt your bottom line<div align="justify">By Darrell Dunn</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">The problem may not rival the movies Poltergeist or The Amityville Horror for sheer terror, but CIOs and data center managers are still well advised to deal decisively with so-called ghost servers. Like celluloid zombies, these forgotten pieces of equipment are dead when it comes to improving the bottom line, but they are very much alive when it comes to eating up IT budgets.The unproductive -- and usually undocumented -- servers take up valuable real estate, consume increasingly expensive electricity and, in some cases, absorb ongoing maintenance and lease payments. "You can find ghost servers in a lot of enterprises," says John Phelps, an analyst at <a title="Gartner Inc." href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/inform.do?command=search&searchTerms=Gartner+Inc.">Gartner Inc.</a> "And the larger and more diverse the company, the harder it can be to have a single group or technology platform that provides control over all corporate assets." Sun Microsystems Inc., through case studies of two large corporate data center operations and anecdotal analysis of efforts with many customers, believes that 8% to 10% of all servers in large corporations have no identifiable function. In the two data center studies, 150 ghost servers were found in an installation of 1,800 servers, and 354 ghost servers were found in an installation of 3,500 servers. One of the companies studied was Sun itself. Sun used system performance tools to monitor CPU utilization and I/O and network traffic, collecting the data over the course of a month, and sorted out machines with zero utilization. Sun removed the questionable servers from operation for 90 days to determine any impact. At the end of the period, it found that 60% of the servers could be permanently decommissioned, says Mark Monroe, director of sustainable computing at Sun. The company now conducts quarterly reviews of utilization rates. "It's hard to get people to admit they have unused infrastructure," Monroe says. "It's expensive, wasteful, and having a CIO admit he's got millions of dollars of idle assets lying around could get a guy fired. I think we can remove some of the stigma by talking about the facts, and having people realize it's worse just to leave them lying around." Corporations need to admit "they are like everyone else" and try to reduce the number of idle machines to 3% or less, "which is three times better than the industry average," he says. The cost of running a server for three years exceeds its original acquisition cost, so keeping the ghost servers around has an easily measured effect in energy savings. Identifying and eliminating wasted resources are key components of green or "eco-computing," Monroe says. The good news: Advances in asset management and configuration software can help businesses find and shut down these useless machines. And more companies are being proactive when it comes to adopting policies in this area. A survey of more than 300 businesses in the U.S. and Europe conducted by Gartner in 2006 found that 74% of respondents said they have a formal software and hardware asset management program. More advanced autodiscovery capabilities and more efficient, effective and accurate search engines mean "there has recently been more focus on discovering the lost and unidentified equipment, especially in industries where security concerns are growing," says Richard Ptak, analyst at Ptak, Noel & Associates. "Every major company I've ever dealt with has had the problem to some level."</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">When BlueCross BlueShield of Florida (BCBSF), which provides insurance services for nearly 9 million people, decided to build a new data center in 2005, the company also felt it was time to get a comprehensive look at its asset inventory, says Paul Stallings, senior manager for provisioning services. In addition to the new and existing data centers, BCBSF also has about 10 smaller server rooms in various locations around the state. The server room equipment was being managed by different departments within the insurance provider, and each had a different way of tracking and documenting assets, Stallings says. Using Aperture Technologies Inc.'s VISTA tool beginning in late 2005, BCBSF began documenting its IT resources under a single umbrella. "There were definitely undocumented assets," Stallings says. "When you have seven or eight teams managing the hardware, each using a different process, there was really no way to get a systemwide understanding of what we had in our various data centers." By getting a complete view of its asset inventory, BCBSF has been able to create a formal decommissioning process. When a system needs to be retired, a workflow ticket is automatically generated. The IT department can then start to reclaim floor space, remove cabling and place old servers in pool of equipment that can be either redeployed or completely removed from the environment. As one of largest IT services providers in the world, Fujitsu Services operates seven Fujitsu-owned data centers in the U.K. with more than 200,000 sq. ft. of floor space, and manages 11 customer-owned facilities. As a result of its outsourcing business, the company has acquired data center facilities and IT equipment from a variety of sources, and much of the equipment came with no asset or configuration management process in place, says Mark Scott, global data center delivery manager at Fujitsu Services. The company had previously used a configuration cataloging system that recorded only the location of equipment on the floor, but it did not provide any insight into specific use of the equipment. In attempt to get a comprehensive inventory and create an asset management strategy that would allow it to maximize existing data center space and continue to grow, Fujitsu Services began working with Aperture to deploy its VISTA data center resource management system in 2005, and the company began to see a variety of issues that were wasting resources. "We found we had IT equipment on the floor that people within the company had thought we had gotten rid of years ago," he says. "We looked deeper and found out we were also still paying lease and maintenance on the equipment. We even found that we were paying lease and maintenance on equipment that been removed from our data centers." By extending the asset management systems across its entire U.K.-based data center operation, Fujitsu Services has reduced its operational costs and then passed the savings on to customers, Scott says.<br /><br />Since customers are generally charged for the floor space they use within the data centers, the removal of unproductive equipment has allowed Fujitsu Services to reduce specific hosting charges for those customers. So, for example, if Fujitsu can reduce the footprint by 10%, Scott says that 10% savings can be passed along to the customer. The company is also developing the ability to invoice for the actual power required by individual customer installations, versus the current practice of invoicing for power based on the floor space used by the servers. "We also found lots of badly installed equipment," Scott says. The poor installation processes had led to what he characterized as vulnerabilities that meant his company had difficulties meeting customer uptime requirements. "The result was really that we had actually built vulnerabilities into the operation. It was a real wake-up call. We now have a complete vulnerability check and can control installations from the beginning to end." Alticor Inc., the parent company for such businesses as Amway Corp., Quixtar Inc. and Access Business Group LLC, handles IT demands for affiliates all over the world, says Randy Gast, supervisor of server technology at Alticor. The company uses a combination of management tools to keep track of its software and hardware assets, including BMC Software Inc.'s Remedy service management and <a title="Hewlett-Packard Company" href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/inform.do?command=search&searchTerms=Hewlett-Packard+Company">Hewlett-Packard Co.</a>'s Systems Insight Manager. Using the software, Alticor early last year found that more than 200 servers, or about a third of its 650 x86 processor-based servers, were running at utilization rates of 10% or less, Gast says. Even scarier, these underused servers had accumulated without IT knowledge, over the previous three years as new equipment was bought to handle individual applications or affiliate requirements. Working with virtualization specialist VMware Inc., Alticor has embarked on an effort to consolidate the unproductive system and increase overall utilization rates to between 60% and 70%, Gast says. To date, Alticor has consolidated 150 of the unproductive servers onto seven servers using virtualization software. Alticor has donated the majority of the servers it has taken out of operation during the consolidation effort to charitable organizations. Servers that were too old to be used by groups such as local schools and churches have been sold for scrap. "Using Remedy, we can track the lease agreements for our hardware, when they start and expire, and use it to have automatic triggers that let us know we need to consider replacing certain equipment," Gast says. That said, there is generally a great deal of inefficiency regarding how customers get rid of old gear. "A lot of businesses don't have a disposition strategy, primarily because it's easier to buy" new servers than dispose of the old ones, says Daniel Ransdell, general manager of <a title="IBM Corporation" href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/inform.do?command=search&searchTerms=IBM+Corporation">IBM</a>'s Global Asset Recovery Solutions business unit. "Even if you've unplugged the equipment and stuck it in some closet or corner, the business is losing the opportunity to recoup value. Servers aren't like fine wine. They don't get better with age."<br /><br />Energy cost is the major issue that is changing attitudes inside corporations. In August, the Environmental Protection Agency published a report that documented data center power usage. According to the report, data centers in the U.S. consumed about 60 billion kilowatt-hours in 2006, or about 1.5% of total electricity consumption in the country. The <a title="U.S. Environmental Protection Agency" href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/inform.do?command=search&searchTerms=U.S.+Environmental+Protection+Agency">EPA</a> points out that data center energy use has doubled in the past five years, and is expected to double again in the next five years to an annual cost of about $7.4 billion. The EPA says existing technologies and strategies could reduce typical sever energy use by 25%, and even greater savings are possible using more advanced technologies. Rockwell Bonecutter, head of data center technology and operations at <a title="Accenture Corporation" href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/inform.do?command=search&searchTerms=Accenture+Corporation">Accenture Ltd.</a>, believes that a large percentage of the ghost server problem was alleviated when most businesses engaged in extensive Y2k efforts within their infrastructure. In the intervening years, however, there has been a significant growth of systems that operate at 5% utilization or less, often because of poor communication and asset management within the company. "When it comes to servers that nobody knows about that are sitting for years and nobody has touched, there are probably examples in every IT environment, but it's obviously impossible to measure what you don't know exists," Bonecutter says. "What we have found is that it is not unusual to find that 40% of all servers on a floor could be consolidated and virtualized out of the environment." Consolidation through virtualization has also led to the new phenomena of virtual ghost servers. The ease and quickness with which virtual servers can be created can often leave servers cluttered with numerous poorly documented virtual machines created for short-term or abandoned projects. With tools allowing businesses to get a more holistic view of their assets and policies in place to guide a formal decommissioning process, businesses can now reduce the risk and associated costs of ghost servers, without the need to call on the aid of another great Hollywood institution, Ghostbusters. </div><div align="justify"> </div><br/><div align="justify">Darrell Dunn is a freelance reporter in Fort Worth, Texas, with 20 years of experience covering business technology and enterprise IT. Contact him at <a href="mailto:darrelldunn@sbcglobal.net">darrelldunn@sbcglobal.net</a>.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-35587153584970605982007-09-08T16:56:00.000-07:002008-12-10T04:16:16.736-08:00The One TeraByte Hard Disk<div><br /><br /><br /></div><div align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkmKdLxk7GwcvwDyI5O82DYvSfkVekLBByOpICMc6tEh7j6Z8m_RbzkHQY7B0IAI3CV-FnS1Db8xgm6CRmyuadwWsa8iJOHLvAoyWpy9CVEy-rmG2DllkYBEnbdqi1schFGqiY-uaapg/s1600-h/clip_image002.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107988718249501250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkmKdLxk7GwcvwDyI5O82DYvSfkVekLBByOpICMc6tEh7j6Z8m_RbzkHQY7B0IAI3CV-FnS1Db8xgm6CRmyuadwWsa8iJOHLvAoyWpy9CVEy-rmG2DllkYBEnbdqi1schFGqiY-uaapg/s400/clip_image002.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify"><strong>IMAGINE ONE THOUSAND</strong> thousand thousand thousand bytes. A terabyte, if you will. But more than just that—a milestone in storage capacity that hard drive manufacturers have been chasing for years. After more than a decade of living in a world of gigabytes, the bar has finally been raised by Hitachi’s terabyte-capacity Deskstar 7K1000.<br /><br />Being first to the terabyte mark gives Hitachi bragging rights, and more importantly, the ability to offer single-drive storage capacity 33% greater than that of its competitors. Hitachi isn’t banking on capacity alone, though. The 7K1000 is also outfitted with a whopping 32MB of cache—double what you get with other 3.5″ hard drives. Couple that extra cache with 200GB platters that have the highest areal density of any drive on the market, and the 7K1000’s performance could impress as much as its capacity.<br /><br />Has Hitachi achieved a perfect balance of speed and storage with its Deskstar 7K1000? We’ve tested it against nearly 20 competitors—including its closest 750GB rivals from Seagate and Western Digital—to find out.<br /><br /><strong>When a terabyte isn’t</strong><br />By now I’ve no doubt been heckled by someone insisting that the 7K1000 doesn’t actually offer a full terabyte of storage capacity. This person probably sounds like the comic book guy from The Simpsons, but don’t dismiss him. He has a point, sort of.<br /><br />According to the International System of Units (SI), a terabyte consists of 1,000,000,000,000 bytes—10004, or 1012. Windows confirms that the 7K1000 delivers 1,000,202,240,000 bytes, which is more than it needs, so what’s the comic book guy on about? </div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107989598717796946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVd-K6FuMtciRuFtplgOvbrTdHaj7n4aJRZWRpcOJT21TNoHpyeEC63RkCQIJPLLf_sFftRAi83gJgFTHznNQqNk_x3IwHAVB8mjMeiB6thU7C2hFHBPbB1dGbvPg2kBgAPq21vW659I/s400/clip_image.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify"><br />Look a little closer, and you’ll see that while the 7K1000 does indeed offer over a trillion bytes, that capacity only translates to 931 gigabytes. For an explanation of why, we have to delve into the always exciting world of numerical systems. SI units are built on the same base 10 decimal system we’ve been using since grade school. Computers, however, use a binary base 2 system. So, while a kilobyte in decimal is 1,000 bytes, a kilobyte in binary translates to 1,024 bytes. A binary terabyte, then, is not 1,0004, but 1,0244, or 240.<br /><br />Multiplying that out, a binary terabyte yields 1,099,511,627,776 bytes, which is why the 7K1000 falls short of a thousand gigabytes. The drive would actually need 1,024 gigabytes to achieve terabyte status in the binary world. This translation problem isn’t unique to the 7K1000, either. Virtually all hard drives advertise their capacities in SI units, so their actual capacities fall short of binary expectations.<br /><br />Back in the day, the gap between decimal and binary capacity wasn’t big enough to ruffle feathers. Gigabyte drives were only “missing” 24 megabytes, and that was easy to swallow. However, higher capacities widen the disconnect between decimal and binary, leading the terabyte 7K1000 to pull up 69GB short. If you take out multimedia files, 69GB is probably more than enough capacity for what most of us have on our hard drives, so it’s hardly a drop in the bucket.<br /><br />To help ease the confusion surrounding the PC’s base 2 binary system, various standards bodies are pushing a set of alternative binary prefixes. A terabyte would remain one trillion bytes, while “tebibyte” would denote 1,099,511,627,776 bytes. Needless to say, that hasn’t caught on yet. However, as growing hard drive capacities increase the amount of space “lost” in binary to decimal conversion, the tebibyte’s time may come.<br /><br /><strong>The drive</strong><br />Now that we have the math sorted out, it’s time to take a look at the Deskstar. Not that there’s much to see. </div><br /><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107991892230333026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbAE4uShPPV-qCWU48VmVnN1nVwEJNizDikG2hIu9ivyLZAL_AzlDWupHyge7w2ht_8Ob8L45_-KGG9da5fN948xvW3tsETHOyx5bHdHoAkEmqY_hB00Gm_ExHsyGaKLHgARTabV6aqcM/s400/clip_image1.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><div align="justify"><br />The 7K1000 looks like just about any other desktop drive. Only a couple of characters on the label serve as evidence of its monstrous capacity. Hard drives don’t need to score high on artistic impression, of course, but I’m continually surprised to see manufacturers wrapping their flagship products in the same generic skin as budget models. You’d think the reigning capacity king would have a little more flair, but there’s nothing to visually set the 7K1000 apart from other Deskstar models or even competitor drives. </div><div align="justify"><br /><em><strong>Maximum external transfer rate 300MB/s<br />Buffer to disk transfer rate 1070Mbps<br />Read seek time 8.5ms<br />Write seek time 9.2ms<br />Average rotational latency 4.17ms<br />Spindle speed 7,200RPM<br />Available capacities 750GB, 1TB<br />Cache size 32MB<br />Platter size 200GB<br />Idle acoustics 2.9 bels<br />Seek acoustics 3.0-3.2 bels<br />Idle power consumption 8.1-9.0W<br />Read/write power consumption 12.8-13.6W<br />Native Command Queuing Yes<br />Recording technology Perpendicular<br />Warranty length Three years<br /></strong></em><br />To see what makes the 7K1000 special, you have to dig into the drive’s spec sheet. Terabyte capacity is obviously what makes this drive unique, but how it gets there is also important. The 7K1000 uses five platters to achieve its industry-leading capacity, perpendicularly packing an impressive 200GB onto each disk. These 200GB platters give the 7K1000 a higher areal density than competing drives that typically feature 188GB platters, and since higher areal densities can lead to better performance by allowing the drive head to access more data across the same physical area, the Deskstar is nicely set up for speed.<br /><br />Copious amounts of cache should also help the 7K1000 in the performance department. Serial ATA hard drives typically come with either 8MB or 16MB of onboard cache, but the Deskstar packs a whopping 32MB thanks to a single Hynix memory chip. Hitachi didn’t add capacity to the Deskstar by turning the drive into a clumsy minivan, then; they built the hard drive equivalent of an Audi RS4 Avant. </div><div><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107992089798828658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-UFKLZkKGY6I0_YwHn-YjSxG4HRP-XkV37h7ulN-IRy8mL89N4Klh0j8kYZHMwSUIutC67NcB_u0UNAWa1Owb_l33PHcLFcEuWTONxjKcwPCFoQUAm6fio34jKM-KTLJplzXRz4l8imU/s400/clip_image2.jpg" border="0" /> <div>With the 7K1000 breaking new ground in cache size and capacity, it’s almost amusing to see the drive hanging onto an old-school molex power connector. Power plug flexibility isn’t a problem, of course, and it may actually come in handy for those looking to deploy the drive in extremely large storage arrays, since power supplies typically only come with a handful of SATA power connectors.<br /></div><div>A RAID array might be a good idea if you actually have a terabyte’s worth of data you’d like to store on the 7K1000. That’s a lot to lose, and despite the fact that Hitachi covers the drive with a three-year warranty, that warranty will only get you a replacement drive if yours fails—it won’t restore your data. by Geoff Gasior </div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-81239724566278588772007-08-20T23:21:00.000-07:002007-08-20T23:24:47.948-07:00Skype's Outage Explanation and the Questions Left Hanging<div align="justify">Posted by Jim Courtney on August 20, 2007 04:29 AM Permalink</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">First, having been through similar crisis experiences (but not affecting such a massive number of users), we should congratulate the Skype team, especially the developers, on their dedication and determination to not only find the problem late last week but also to ensure it does not repeat itself. I certainly appreciate that they at least put out regular information updates but also that their priority had to be resolving the technical challenge at hand. On the other hand, four years of continuous operation with few, if any, outages while building and scaling to support as many as 10 million concurrent users online does have to be some kind of record.<br />Personally all my Skype services and devices, including IM+ and iSkoop on the Blackberry as well as a couple of PC Free phones I am evaluating, are working again and have been up since about 2130 GMT Friday.<br />Skype has provided a high level explanation of what happened August 16 such as to deny Skype access to the majority of their users. Since then the Internet has been ripe with attempts to explain what happened, from Russian conspiracies to VoIP architecture issues. But, as Skype readily admits, it was a software problem within their own p2p architecture that caused the problem. But along with their explanation arise some questions:<br />"The disruption was initiated by a massive restart of our user’s computers across the globe within a very short timeframe as they re-booted after receiving a routine software update." Which software update? Upgrades to Skype 3.5? Was their any role in the release of the Skype bugfix release to 3.5.0.214? Or on a more extensive scale, was it caused by the latest Windows security software upgrade which automatically generated a reboot of your PC resulting in massive Skype logins? (Someone has actually noted that the next Windows patch update is due out on Tuesday, 9/11.)<br />Update: the original explanation post has been updated to read:</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><em>The disruption was triggered by a massive restart of our users’ computers across the globe within a very short timeframe as they re-booted after receiving a routine set of patches through Windows Update</em></div><div align="justify"><em></em> </div><div align="justify">"This caused a flood of log-in requests, which, combined with the lack of peer-to-peer network resources, prompted a chain reaction that had a critical impact." What action has been taken to ensure the lack of peer-to-peer network resources has been addressed? Without getting into a war of words, can Skype provide a response to the SightSpeed comments on the Skype p2p architecture? Is Skype going to "seed" a network of SuperNodes to provide the backup peer-to-peer resources necessary to prevent such an outage going forward?<br />As a one time manager of a telemarketing team, I had to deal with a (pre-VoIP) telecom infrastructure that would occasionally suffer from server/PBX crashes; every hour off the air meant thousands of dollars of lost business. (And the problem largely rested with an inherited, but poorly laid out, internal wiring mesh/mess.) Many small-to-medium businesses are starting to use Skype as a business-critical resource and third parties are making significant investments in "Extras" to build on Skype for business. What assurance can be given to businesses that they will not encounter this problem again? Does Skype need to set up a premium business service that provides additional resources to prevent such an outage at least for businesses?<br />And, as an entity of a public company, eBay needs to reassure their shareholders (and analysts) that Skype remains a viable business for their investment. Perhaps a Skypecast or use of highspeedconferencing.com to do this (provided such a service meets SEC regulations for information dissemination)?<br />With no claim to a monopoly on questions that arise, these are the immediate ones that occur to me as I read the Skype explanation post.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Copyright <a href="http://skypejournal.com/">http://skypejournal.com</a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-3266548739902830152007-08-20T23:06:00.000-07:002007-08-20T23:08:08.357-07:00Bug hits Skype's peer-to-peer network<div align="justify">By John Blau, IDG News ServiceAugust 16, 2007</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">A software bug has affected Skype's peer-to-peer network, preventing users in some parts of the world from logging on to its widely used VoIP service.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">The company, a division of eBay, initially referred to the incident as a peer-to-peer network issue but has since determined that it's a software issue, according to a company blog.<br />The blog, updated at 14:02 GMT, said the company expects to have the problems resolved within 12 to 24 hours. It advises users to leave their Skype client running so that they can be logged back in once the issues are dealt with. The blog also said that downloads of Skype have been temporarily disabled and that the company hopes to make them available again as quickly as possible.<br />The problem appears to be affecting users particularly in Europe, according to blog postings.<br />Users in the United States don't seem to be having problems.<br />Skype officials were not immediately available for comment.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-60197475977870392172007-08-20T23:03:00.000-07:002007-08-20T23:05:52.334-07:00What happened on August 16<div align="justify">On Thursday, 16th August 2007, the Skype peer-to-peer network became unstable and suffered a critical disruption. The disruption was triggered by a massive restart of our users’ computers across the globe within a very short timeframe as they re-booted after receiving a routine set of patches through Windows Update.<br />The high number of restarts affected Skype’s network resources. This caused a flood of log-in requests, which, combined with the lack of peer-to-peer network resources, prompted a chain reaction that had a critical impact.<br />Normally Skype’s peer-to-peer network has an inbuilt ability to self-heal, however, this event revealed a previously unseen software bug within the network resource allocation algorithm which prevented the self-healing function from working quickly. Regrettably, as a result of this disruption, Skype was unavailable to the majority of its users for approximately two days.<br />The issue has now been identified explicitly within Skype. We can confirm categorically that no malicious activities were attributed or that our users’ security was not, at any point, at risk.<br />This disruption was unprecedented in terms of its impact and scope. We would like to point out that very few technologies or communications networks today are guaranteed to operate without interruptions.<br />We are very proud that over the four years of its operation, Skype has provided a technically resilient communications tool to millions of people worldwide. Skype has now identified and already introduced a number of improvements to its software to ensure that our users will not be similarly affected in the unlikely possibility of this combination of events recurring.<br />The Skype community of users has been incredibly supportive and we are very grateful for all their good wishes.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Copyright about.skype.com</div><div align="justify"><em>(Posted at 5:35 AM GMT, updated first two paragraphs at 11.45 AM GMT)</em></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1787111802129972441.post-1940810464877045422007-08-20T22:56:00.000-07:002007-08-20T23:03:01.144-07:00Skype says crash followed Windows security update<div align="justify"><em>By John Blau, IDG News ServiceAugust 20, 2007</em></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">The widespread failure of Skype's Internet telephony service last week happened when millions of Windows users tried to log in to the system at the same time, after downloading a software update from Microsoft and rebooting their machines, Skype said Monday.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Users encountered problems logging on to Skype's VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) service early Thursday morning, leaving them unable to connect until Saturday.<br />Skype said that the load placed on its system as computers rebooted after receiving a routine set of patches from Microsoft's Windows Update service revealed a previously unknown bug in the Skype software.<br />Although the Skype network has a built-in self-healing function, the bug within the network resource allocation algorithm prevented the function from working as designed, according to the company.<br />Skype has identified the bug, which was a design error and not caused by hackers, it said. The company has already introduced "a number of improvements" to its software to help resolve the problem.<br />However, Skype provided no details on why Microsoft's monthly Windows upgrades have not caused problems in the past, nor whether future upgrades could trigger a similar network outage.<br />Knowing exactly what happed to the Skype network is difficult because the company uses proprietary technology and says little about it in public.<br />While analysts agree that Skype has a relatively good service track record, the company needs to be careful that outages of this type don't repeat themselves.<br />"They'll get away with this one or maybe even twice but if it becomes a succession of events, then people will say it's not for me," said Mark Main, senior analyst with Ovum.<br />The outage, Main added, is not beneficial to the goals of Skype's parent company, eBay, which has said that it wants the VOIP operator to make more money from existing customers rather than enlarge its customer base.<br />Ian Fogg, senior analyst with Jupiter Research, said Skype needs to act quickly to regain customer trust. "Peer-to-peer VOIP companies like Skype need to take another look at their engineering resources and slightly take the foot off the pedal and make sure that what they do is reliable," he said.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">http://360.yahoo.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0