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The 5 biggest mistakes companies make when implementing AI
Bad AI isn't a tech problem, it's a human problem.
When you add AI-powered customer service technology to your customer experience (CX) mix, you expect real results, and for good reason: A recent study found that companies that embrace AI to improve customer experience have higher customer satisfaction scores and generate more revenue than their underperforming competition.
But what happens when your expectations aren't met? Is the technology to blame? Your significant investment in AI technology doesn't guarantee a positive return. To be successful, your organization has to be ready, and everyone from the C-suite to the contact center has to be on board.
Join this VB Live webinar to learn about the five biggest mistakes companies make when they bring cutting-edge customer service technology to their workflows, and how to leap over these pitfalls and into real results.
Register now for free!
You'll learn about:
* What AI actually is (hint: it's not automation)
* The importance of buy-in from executives and agents
* How to approach AI implementation and measure success
* The impact of AI across the customer journey
* Akhil Talwar, Senior Product Lead, Bold360 by LogMeIn
* Michael Butler, Head of Customer Success, Ople
* Stewart Rogers, Analyst at Large, VentureBeat
More speakers coming soon!
Jun 19 2019
61 mins
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Artificial Intelligence
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Technology Marketing
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5 ways to keep your small business moving forward
Apr 22 2020
59 mins
VentureBeat x DocuSign
Digital innovations are more critical than ever for small businesses pivoting to address new challenges in a time when resources are limited and streamlined online communication becomes critical. Digital agreements, for example, can streamline current processes, so that you can focus on your employee and customer experience.
And in the long-term, digital solutions and business processes that speed up agreements, reduce costs, and increase efficiencies across every facet of a company will become embedded in doing business for greater efficiency. You'll ensure your small business strategy remains on the right track, and you can scale quickly once the economy rebounds.
To learn more about how these technologies are helping SMBs tackle challenges now and prepare for the future, don't miss this VB Live event.
In this webinar, you'll learn:
- How technology can help small businesses pivot their strategies
- Ways digital innovation is evolving business processes now and in the future
- How to transform the way you prepare, sign, act, and manage agreements
- How the right technology can help grow your business during uncertainty
- Leo Rodriguez, Director, Small Business Partner Marketing, DocuSign Inc.
- Laurie McCabe, Cofounder & Partner, SMB Group Inc.
- Stewart Rogers, Analyst-at-Large, VentureBeat
Watch now
5 steps to scale your SaaS model from early- to growth-stage
Apr 21 2020
60 mins
Sage Intacct x VentureBeat
How do SaaS companies scale? Automation is the key. It can significantly speed up quote-to-cash cycles and shorten your close cycles, free up cash to make investments, and help increase your valuation with more accurate forecasting. Plus, with cash flow improved, you can accelerate hiring, create and test new products, and more.
Key Takeaways:
* Seven mistakes to avoid when building an agile B2B subscription billing model
* Five steps required to align the team on your subscription financial processes
* Three tips for choosing the technology stack that will help you grow
* Mike Etheridge, VP Finance, Arena Solutions
* David Appel, Head of Software & SaaS, Sage Intacct
* Stewart Rogers, Analyst At Large, VentureBeat
Watch now
How personalized experiences are helping financial firms advocate for customers
Apr 16 2020
62 mins
Yodlee x VentureBeat
Right now, banks, credit card issuers, insurers, and wealth management firms have a unique opportunity to go head-to-head with digital disruptors by offering personalized insights and superior customer experiences. As we're all too aware, many Americans are struggling to find their footing in uncertain times. And the financial firms that put customer advocacy first through hyper-personalized digital financial experiences are paving the way for greater customer loyalty and engagement in times ahead.
Attend this live webinar and hear from guest speaker Alyson Clarke, Principal Analyst at Forrester, as she highlights some key findings from her recent report on customer advocacy in the financial services sector. Then during our panel discussion, you will learn of customer advocacy at leading financial service firms and why improving customer perceptions is not only good for your brand but good for your bottom line.
Attend the webinar to discover:
• How advocating for customers drives a sustainable competitive advantage
• Why the wealth management sector scored highest for customer advocacy in a recent Forrester survey
• How customer advocacy is linked to increased future purchase intent
• How to improve customer engagement through hyper-personalized digital banking experiences
Guest speakers:
Alyson Clarke, Principal Analyst, Forrester
Dustin Walsey, Co-founder and CEO, Buckle
Jim Del Favero, Chief Product Officer, Personal Capital
Katy Gibson, VP, Application Products, Envestnet | Yodlee
Evan Schuman, Moderator, VentureBeat
Watch now
Make employees your biggest cybersecurity asset, not your biggest risk
Mar 25 2020
62 mins
Tessian x VentureBeat
Despite the thousands of cybersecurity products available today, data breaches are at an all-time high. That's because businesses have been focusing exclusively on securing their networks, devices, and cloud applications. But, what about their people?
Employees can accidentally transfer thousands of dollars to a bank account or send 50,000 patient records in a single Excel file in one click of a mouse. In fact, misdirected emails were the leading cause of data breaches in 2019.
Traditional cyber security methods simply aren't equipped to account for the complexities of human relationships because human behavior can't be codified into "if-this-then-that" logic. Individual relationships change over time which necessitates a solution that can learn and evolve in tandem with the threats it detects without impeding on the productivity of users.
Stateful machine learning does just that.
Learn about developing a robust, people-centric approach to cybersecurity, the technologies that detect and prevent threats caused by human error, and more, when you join this VB Live event!
Attendees will learn:
- How stateful machine learning can accurately predict behaviors and detect possible human-made threats before they do damage
- How technology can prevent data breaches caused by people making mistakes, breaking rules, or being hacked
- How to empower employees to correct damaging mistakes before they make them
- Ed Bishop, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Tessian
- Joe Maglitta, Senior Contributor/Analyst, VentureBeat
Watch now
Subscription strategies to drive your competitive advantage
Mar 18 2020
61 mins
Recurly x VentureBeat
The subscription model has proven to be ideal for our digital, customer-centric economy. It offers sustainable recurring revenue and customer loyalty, plus a wealth of data to enable data-driven insights. But as consumer preferences and buying behaviors continue to shift, subscription businesses must evolve to remain competitive, or risk losing significant market traction.
It's time to step up your subscription game in 2020! Real world case studies will show you how it's done. Learn how hybrid commerce helps Urban Outfitters and BarkBox maximize revenue growth and brand value; how Output and Cinemark use machine learning and payments optimization to reduce churn and ensure business continuity; the way Unbounce is using subscription data to keep pricing and packaging competitive, and more, when you join this VB Live event.
Key Takeaways:
* How forward-looking businesses are using subscriptions to gain a competitive edge, including real-world case studies
* The latest subscription trends and technologies to leverage for accelerated growth
* Ways to build brand value and deepen customer loyalty, including hybrid commerce, alternative payment methods, frictionless trials, delighting customers, and more
* Emma Clark, Chief of Staff, Recurly
* Ken Fenyo, Consumer Markets Lead, Fuel, a McKinsey Company
Emma Clark is Chief of Staff at Recurly. In this role, she focuses on identifying new and emerging trends in subscription commerce as well as advising businesses on effective ways to optimize their subscription model. Emma's background is in data analytics and product management. Prior to Recurly, Emma was an analyst and product manager at JP Morgan Chase.
Ken Fenyo is a senior executive and advisor at companies ranging from startups to the Fortune 100. He has deep expertise in loyalty, e-commerce, digital marketing, and customer analytics in the retail, consumer goods, and technology industries.
Watch now
3 keys to moving toward white-box, explainable AI
Jan 29 2020
61 mins
Dataiku x VentureBeat
With black-box AI, people are refused or given loans, accepted or denied university admission, offered a lower or higher price on car insurance, and more, all at the hands of AI systems that usually offer no explanations. In many cases, humans who work for those companies can't even explain the decisions.
That's why white-box AI is now getting heaps of attention. But what does it mean in practice? And how can businesses start moving away from black-box systems to more explainable AI?
We'll delve into the three key components needed for white-box AI success: more collaborative data science, involving all teams from lines of business through IT; trust in data at all levels, including tools that
can be used to increase transparency in data processes; and the role of education and the democratization of data.
And we'll address why white-box AI brings business value in the first place and how it's a necessary evolution for AI. Not only do customers care about explainable results of AI systems, but internally, white-
box AI is less risky. Don't miss this VB Live event on how to move towards explainable AI.
Key Takeaways:
+ How to make the data science process collaborative across the organization
+ How to establish trust from the data all the way through the model
+ How to move your business toward data democratization
+ Triveni Gandhi, Data Scientist, Dataiku
+ David Fagnan, Director, Applied Science, Zillow Offers
+ Rumman Chowdhury, Global Lead for Responsible AI, Accenture Applied Intelligence
+ Seth Colaner, AI Editor, VentureBeat
Watch now
The event marketing opportunities you're probably missing
Dec 17 2019
60 mins
Cvent x VentureBeat
Your live events, the ones you host, and the ones you sponsor, can do so much more. How do you know the marketing spend you're investing is reaping sufficient ROI? And how do you measure the gains you're making over time?
Event marketing technology can help demystify the whole process — and they're the key to event marketing success. When you integrate your events into your overall marketing mix, each one becomes an opportunity to reach, engage, and convert new customers. They'll play a central role in driving adoption, boosting customer loyalty, and opening up brand new ways to upsell and cross-sell across your company.
To learn more about how to make event marketing a meaningful portion of your overall marketing budget, the event tools and tech that work with the marketing automation platform and CRM you already have, and how to win demonstrable results with every event, don't miss this VB Live event!
Register for free!
You'll learn how to:
-Pitch events as an important part of a holistic marketing strategy to leadership
-Run an integrated event marketing program and optimize it for success
-Capture the data that uncovers attendee behavior at events
-Patrick Smith, CMO, Cvent
-Sharon Summers, Director, Global Events, CPA Global
-Ivo Lukas, CEO/Founder, 24Notion
More speakers coming soon!
Watch now
End user computing trends, predictions, and best practices for 2020
Dec 12 2019
59 mins
Ruben Spruijt, Senior Technologist at Nutanix and former CTO at Frame
Nowadays business consumers expect a modern workspace to get work done, recruiting and retaining new talent has become a bigger challenge, and keeping employees engaged and productive has become more difficult than ever. IT departments are faced with an increasingly mobile workforce with devices that need to be updated, optimized, and secured no matter where they are in the world.
That's why Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) is disrupting end user computing and virtual desktop infrastructure, and companies like Google and Microsoft are getting into the mix. They're partnering with end user computing firms to create solutions that can run remote applications and desktops on any device, vastly improving the user experience and making the lives of your business consumers and IT department so much easier.
Data is centralized and infinitely more secure, the IT department can manage thousands of workspaces anywhere in the world from one console, and the end user's device, whether it's their own or corporate-owned is optimized, making the experience faster and easier to use than ever.
For a look at the latest developments in End User Computing (EUC), virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), and DaaS, the pros and cons of VDI versus DaaS, unique use cases and more, don't miss this VB Live event!
Registration is free here!
Key takeaways:
+ Tips and advice for VDI and DaaS success in 2020
+ How DaaS and VDI is evolving, and how to prepare your IT department
+ Pros and cons for Desktop-as-a-Service vs. VDI
+ Best practice for DaaS in public clouds and on-premises
+ Ruben Spruijt, Senior Technologist at Nutanix and former CTO at Frame
+ Stewart Rogers, Analyst at Large, VentureBeat
Watch now
The 3 product experimentation pitfalls & how to avoid them
Dec 11 2019
53 mins
Jon Noronha, Director of Product Management at Optimizely
To make the most of the products they design, product teams need to keep iterating, time and again. Experimentation is an incredibly powerful technique — the trick is choosing the right metrics to measure. Choose the wrong ones and you've A/B tested yourself into a hole, and sent your product in exactly the wrong direction. It's time wasted, opportunities wasted, and a big hit to your budget.
Join this VB Live event now and come away with a blueprint for avoiding the experimentation mistakes and faulty A/B testing habits that can lead product teams down the wrong path, the common errors product teams encounter, tips to avoid pitfalls, and more.
Registration is free here!
You'll learn about:
- The most common mistakes product teams make when running experiments
- Which metrics correlate best with your business's success
- Strategies to scale experimentation across multiple teams and squads
- How the world's top technology companies are able to experiment on all product decisions
-Jon Noronha, Director of Product Management at Optimizely
Watch now
How AI is transforming customer reviews into crucial business intelligence
Dec 3 2019
61 mins
Getting a ton of customer reviews is great. But if you don't have a way to analyze them for patterns and trends, you're missing out on some business-changing data. Artificial intelligence now offers a fast, efficient, and cost-effective way to unlock insights from your reviews, highlighting trends and customer pains automatically. That means you can focus your time on solving customer issues instead of chasing them down, and learn what it takes to delight, surprise, and keep your customers coming back.
Join this VB Live event to learn how AI, natural language processing, and machine learning can help you become more customer-focused, turn good feedback into great product, improve the areas that need your attention, uncover what really matter to your customers, and more.
Registration is free!
You'll learn:
* How to find themes in your customer reviews so that you can fix the real pain points instead of putting "band-aids" on each unhappy customer
* Steps to guide your business decisions around what your customers say they want, not what you think they want
* The importance of addressing your most common negative issues first to see an immediate change in your customer satisfaction level
* The concept of always improving your customer experience -- searching for trends in your good reviews to turn them into great reviews
* Ramin Vatanparast, Chief Product Officer, Trustpilot
* Chris Hausler, Senior Data Science Manager, ZenDesk
* Stewart Rogers, Analyst at Large, VentureBeat
Watch now
Startup strategies to win the war for talent
Nov 20 2019
61 mins
TriNet USA
Fast-growing companies need to scale, but that takes competing in the talent wars for highly specialized employees with tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon. There's no shortcut — you can win that war, but it requires strategic thinking and planning across multiple facets of the company, from the interview process, to your company culture, to technology platforms for HR, and more.
Join this VB Live event to learn how to ensure that your recruits never doubt that while the tech giants might have the brand recognition, they can't come close to what you offer in culture, quality of work, and more.
Key takeaways:
+ How to manage your company's explosive growth from the HR front
+ Actionable recruiting strategies to effectively hire the right talent
+ How to attract and retain a diverse and digitally skilled talent pool
+ What premium benefits potential employees want
The Speakers:
Joseph Furnari: CEO for HyreCar, Inc., a car-sharing for ridesharing marketplace that allows car owners to rent their idle cars to Uber and LYFT drivers safely, securely, and reliably. Prior to that, Furnari served as HyreCar's Chief Financial Officer. Previous to HyreCar, Mr. Furnari served as Vice President of Portfolio Management at The Palisades Group, LLC, where he managed a $5.2 billion portfolio of single-family residential whole loan pools. From October 2009 to April 2014, he served as Assistant Vice President of Securitized Products Valuation at Morgan Stanley, where he coordinated monthly independent valuations of securitized products. From April 2006 to October 2009, Mr. Furnari served as a Senior Analytics Analyst at JP Morgan Chase & Co.
David Hughson: As VP for the Technology Sector at TriNet USA, Dave helps tech startups get the HR services they need to manage their payroll and benefits, mitigate risk, and attract and retain a high-quality workforce.
Watch now
How criminals are playing the gaming industry and what you can do about it
Nov 19 2019
61 mins
Akamai Technologies
Online security threats are more pervasive than ever, and games have become a primary target for attackers. And why wouldn't they be? These days, there's real money to be stolen in the virtual world of gaming. Hackers reportedly stole 218 million personal player records from a major gaming company recently.
Game developers have to think about security from the start to go beyond the cat-and-mouse game with hackers. How do you protect your game and users from the wide variety of threats today? How will this be different in the future? And how do you integrate this security with the rest of the game to ensure good performance?
To learn how to avoid becoming the next victim in online security threats with gaming, don't miss this VB Live event.
You'll learn:
- How to protect your game and players from a growing amount of online security threats
- The latest trends in credential abuse and account hacks in gaming
- How web attacks are evolving and where they are headed in the future
- How to integrate security best practices with the rest of the game for best performance
- Jonathan Singer, Sr. Manager, Global Games Industry, Akamai Technologies
-Scott Adams, Founder & CEO, FraudPVP
-Lonnye Bower, COO, ProbablyMonsters
-Steve Ragan, Sr. Technical Writer, Akamai Technologies
-Dean Takahashi, Lead Gaming Writer, VentureBeat
Watch now
Stop chasing payments and increase your cash flow
Nov 14 2019
59 mins
It goes without saying that small businesses are more successful and confident when they get paid. Unfortunately, when it takes multiple steps to collect payments, you're simply adding friction that works against this. Multi-step, unintegrated processes can be error prone, leave you waiting for payments longer than you should have to, interrupt your cash flow, and impede the rest of your processes. It's old-fashioned, too.
Technology innovations today let you integrate your payments workflow into your customer funnel from start to finish. You can accelerate your agreement and collection processes, request payments easily from your customers, and get paid instantly.
Learn how to stand out from the crowd with better customer service by removing boundaries and friction in the payment process, eliminate clunky customer interactions, and spend more time servicing customers rather than collecting payments when you join this VB Live event!
You'll learn how to:
* Accelerate sales from quote to cash and eliminate the risk of nonpayment
* Provide the kind of customer service that helps you stand out from the crowd
* Connect payments and agreements into a single workflow
* Eliminate payment delays or failure to collect and the 10+ hours it takes to chase payments
* Chris Davey, Senior Director, SMB Marketing and Strategy, DocuSign
* Meghan Grady, Business Development, Product Partnerships, Stripe
Watch now
VentureBeat Live: 5 predictions for AI's impact on customer experience in 2020
Nov 12 2019
60 mins
VentureBeat & Bold360 by LogMeIn
As 2020 closes in, it's time to learn our lessons from the best and worst of 2019's customer experience trends, and then brace ourselves for the impact that AI and chatbot technology will have on customer experience next year and beyond.
So join us for a tour of the most under- and over-hyped customer experience trends of the year, plus the best examples of how AI and CX/customer engagement made an impact in 2019. Then we'll take a look at the future: How AI and machine learning technology will make chatbots more sophisticated, change how brands and customers interact, impact the customer service journey from start to finish, and more.
Help us make some wild predictions about the future of AI-powered customer service, learn why Gartner thinks now is the time to start investing in chatbot technology, get a perfect line of sight into the biggest challenges and opportunities for CX in 2020, and more when you register now for this VB Live event.
Registration for free!
You'll learn about:
-The future of customer engagement
-The challenges, opportunities, and trends in universal accessibility
-How digital technology and AI impacts in-store experiences
-Finding the happy medium of personalization
-Why privacy and security is a customer service issue
-Katherine Hird, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Bold360 by LogMeIn
-Ken Dodelin, VP Conversational AI Products, CapitalOne
-Prince Arora, Director Product Management, Albertsons Companies
More speakers coming soon!
Watch now
How AI-powered search is boosting efficiency for the digital workplace
Oct 29 2019
61 mins
Your employees have a full spectrum of content and data both sourced within and external to the enterprise. It can be an overwhelming amount of information, easy to get lost in. And that can slow down the process of making profitable business decisions. AI-powered smart search is the key to harnessing that data. Machine learning can connect employees to the info they need right when they need it, eliminate unproductive, dead-end hunts by surfacing more valuable, more relevant data, and let employees and teams in every department combine those new capabilities into real-world, high-value solutions for complex problems of every size.
With data eating the world, search will surround everything we do. User needs and expectations are evolving fast, so enterprise search technologies need to keep pace and stay robust. Join this VB Live event to learn how machine learning and search combine to complement traditional workflows and boost efficient data discovery and insight, what operationalized AI means, and how it applies to search and machine learning, and more.
You'll learn:
* What operationalized AI means
* How search and machine learning align to drive efficiency and Opex (operational expenditure) savings
* How search and machine learning can create revenue opportunities
* Success factors for operationalized AI and top lessons learned
* Simon Taylor, Vice President Worldwide Channels & Alliances, Lucidworks
* JP Sherman, Enterprise Search & Findability Expert, Red Hat
* Richard Isaac, CEO, RealDecoy
Watch now
How desktop-as-a-service makes complex IT architecture simple
Oct 24 2019
60 mins
Nutanix Xi Frame
As private and public clouds get less expensive, they're expected to completely replace on-premises computing to make IT cheaper, easier to run, and more secure. But right now, most enterprises still have their feet in both worlds, using hybrid systems that are intended to make the lives of the CIO and the IT department easier. Unfortunately, the complexity often just adds additional cost and reduces business value.
So how do you harness the power of a hybrid system, with any cloud provider? Desktop-as-a-service is a virtualized interface that makes the complexity of your software completely invisible to your users, and allows IT to spin up a desktop instance with one click. It's a world where IT is no less complex but a lot easier to use -- and your users are far more productive.
Learn more about how to address the complexity of your tech infrastructure and desktop-as-a-service when you join this VB Live event!
Register for free now!
In this webinar, you will discover:
-The concept of desktop-as-a-service including how it works, what it is, and where to get it
-How things have become complex, and how to measure complexity for your enterprise.
-How to understand the business value of dealing with complexity
-Steps toward mapping out a course of action
-Jon Eugenio, Principal Solutions Architect, Nutanix Xi Frame Team
Watch now
Why AI success takes real internal disruption first
Sep 26 2019
62 mins
Most enterprises consist of a series of functional silos, and that may have worked until now. Artificial intelligence has changed the playing field dramatically, becoming a driving force for companies to approach customers and markets in new ways, address internal and external pain points, and gain competitive advantage.
But to harness AI as a transformative technology for your company, you need to depart from a siloed model to a horizontal approach. By automating diverse but connected processes, AI and machine learning opens up new opportunities for cross-functional optimization, knitting together and optimizing silos, and creating new efficiencies that were not possible before.
To learn how to squeeze out the promise of AI with a truly horizontal approach, build a strategic vision around elevating every part of your enterprise, and truly transform your business, don't miss this VB Live event.
You'll learn:
● How to identify areas of opportunity and look at how each of these areas connect
● How to put necessary support in place to make AI meaningful
● How to ask the right questions about your data
● How to collect the required datasets to truly transform your businesses
● How to anticipate the user experience
● How to create a rally point around what it means to employ this type of technology
● What decisions are required to implement at scale
● John Fremont, Founder & Chief AI Officer, Hypergiant
● André Cunha, Digital Innovation Manager, Nestlé
● Joe Maglitta, Senior Contributor/Analyst, VentureBeat
Watch now
Why financial services companies need to invest in voice and chat
Sep 24 2019
62 mins
Envestnet | Yodlee
Amazon Alexa, Apple's Siri, and Google Assistant are changing the way consumers live and how brands engage with people. Witnessing the rise in popularity of voice-enabled digital assistants, many financial service providers are planning on incorporating or have already added this new technology into their systems. But while investment in voice assistants continues to grow, questions remain on how much these technologies can drive digital engagement, streamline customer communications, and build revenue.
Don't miss this chance to join our discussion on voice and chat technologies and find out how they can be effectively utilized to create a more engaging and meaningful customer experience.
Join our webinar to learn:
• How conversational technologies are changing the financial services landscape
• What to look for in a voice-enabled solution
• Why context is key for the future of voice-enabled digital assistants
• Ways voice and chat can power financial wellness
• Tips for capitalizing on conversational interfaces to improve customer loyalty
• How Envestnet | Yodlee data accuracy helps power AI-enabled voice and chat solutions
• Juan Romera, Head of Business Development, Abe.AI
• John Kelly, Client Partner, Financial Services, LivePerson
• Geoff Hauge, Partner, Edgile
Watch now
The audience, 5G, AR and mobile trends shaping the next generation of gaming
Sep 4 2019
61 mins
Treasure Data
The gaming industry has gone through dramatic changes in the last 10 years, but there are four trends that are likely to change things even further: the increased power of mobile gaming, the integration of AR in real-world environments, the growth of streaming audiences eclipsing player growth and 5G networks.
In this session, we'll take a look at the history of gaming and the trends, products and moments that have driven the industry forward to this point. We'll then look at how these four trends, supported by AI and data, are likely to impact the future of gaming.
Registration is free.
What this webinar will cover:
*A historical look at gaming revenue and the impact of mobile networks
*Analysis of gaming demographic shifts, and what could happen when "peak millennial hits peak gamer"
*Inside data on esports, streaming audience growth, and what we can learn from "stick and ball" revenue models
*Predictions on the next generation of gaming experiences, and when these trends will converge and disrupt the industry
*Marc Cook, Solution Account Director, Treasure Data
*Nick Thomas, VP Commercial Partnerships, Hatch
*Bryan Fries, VP 5G Strategy, Sprint
*Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, GamesBeat
Watch now
Building a world-class sales organization
Aug 27 2019
60 mins
Dell for Entrepreneurs
The quality of your sales force has a direct, accumulating, impact on your business as you grow – and building it from the ground up is the way you turn your business into a world-class sales organization. But it's not just about how many clients you're speaking to or closing, but how many clients feel like your sales team partners with them as true advisors.
Join this VB Live event to learn the essential strategies and key best practices for small and mid-sized companies to not just keep up with your competition but pull ahead.
Register for free now!
Attend this webinar and learn:
* How to effectively hire and train a top sales force
* What the smartest sales quotas look like, and how to set them
* How to create and implement business management systems
* What motivates sales teams, and how to take advantage
* What an effective sales culture looks like and how to build one
* Burt Powers, Senior Director of Dell Small Business Sales
* Stewart Rogers, Analyst At Large, VentureBeat
Watch now
News. Events. Insight.
Founded in 2006, VentureBeat is the leading source for news and perspective on technology innovation. Our news, analysis, and events provide deep context to help executives, entrepreneurs, and tech enthusiasts make smart decisions. We aim to inform and inspire. Led by founder and CEO Matt Marshall and a team of experienced journalists, VentureBeat covers a range of technology trends — from artificial intelligence to virtual reality, small business to enterprise, health tech, cloud, games, and more.
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The Bayshore Industries BS-15 is a state of the art, unique, and affordable free standing fireplace. The full black steel construction with stainless steel protection fire fender finish of this free standing fireplace is a guaranteed eye catcher. The design fits well with both contemporary and transitional styling. The combination is sure to match almost any decor and add a rich fiery ambiance to your home. This piece can go anywhere in any room. This free standing fireplace will hold up to 3 cans of gel fuel providing a rich fiery glow perfect for relaxation. Each can lasts up to 3 hours on a single burn and puts off up to 3,000 BTUs. This free standing fireplace also makes a convenient and unique space for burning and displaying candles simply by placing the included snuffer cover on top of the gel fuel can openings.
- Burns up to 1 Gel Fuel bottle
- Size: 40.6" x 13" x 26.8"
- G.W.: 57.3 lbs
- Burns up to 1 Gel Fuel bottle

subset: commoncrawl


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< Architectures | ARM
Fedora ARM Remixes
Some ARM devices are not officially supported by Fedora because of proprietary drivers and firmware that do not meet the Fedora guidelines. Below includes a list of devices and links to unsupported Fedora Remixes.
Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi is supported by work done at Seneca College in Toronto, Canada. You can find more information by visiting their site, including links to current release images
Allwinner A10
Hans de Goede has released an Allwinner A10 remix supporting a variety of devices including the Gooseberry development board, Mele, Mini-X, mk802 and mk802ii and more. It can be downloaded from:
For a list of all supported boards and full installation instructions see the README.
Samsung Chromebook
There is not currently a finished remix for this device, but very alpha instructions for building your own are available at Architectures/ARM/Samsung_Chromebook_2012. You might also try Darryl Pierce's instructions on his blog.
Creating your own Remix
Anybody can create a remix of Fedora 18 for their ARM device. Generally all that is needed is an appropriate kernel for the hardware in question. See Architectures/ARM/Installer for an introduction into building images based on a kickstart file. You can also download a tarball of a generic root filesystem for use with your own custom kernel:


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[Page 45]
|Map of Council of 4 Lands 1667-1764
Main Jewish Communities in Poland and Lithuania under the jurasdiction of the autonomous Jewish organization
of the Council of Four Lands and the Council of Lithuania. After I. Halperin, Pinkas Va'ad Arba Arazot (1945).
JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of
the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material
for verification.
JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.
Brest Lit(owsk), Belarus Yizkor Book Project JewishGen Home Page
Copyright © 1999-2019 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 18 Aug 2005 by LA


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|Skip Navigation Links
|Exit Print View
|System Administration Guide: Oracle Solaris Containers-Resource Management and Oracle Solaris Zones
1. Introduction to Solaris 10 Resource Management
2. Projects and Tasks (Overview)
3. Administering Projects and Tasks
4. Extended Accounting (Overview)
5. Administering Extended Accounting (Tasks)
6. Resource Controls (Overview)
7. Administering Resource Controls (Tasks)
8. Fair Share Scheduler (Overview)
9. Administering the Fair Share Scheduler (Tasks)
10. Physical Memory Control Using the Resource Capping Daemon (Overview)
11. Administering the Resource Capping Daemon (Tasks)
13. Creating and Administering Resource Pools (Tasks)
14. Resource Management Configuration Example
15. Resource Control Functionality in the Solaris Management Console
16. Introduction to Solaris Zones
17. Non-Global Zone Configuration (Overview)
18. Planning and Configuring Non-Global Zones (Tasks)
19. About Installing, Halting, Cloning, and Uninstalling Non-Global Zones (Overview)
20. Installing, Booting, Halting, Uninstalling, and Cloning Non-Global Zones (Tasks)
21. Non-Global Zone Login (Overview)
22. Logging In to Non-Global Zones (Tasks)
23. Moving and Migrating Non-Global Zones (Tasks)
24. Solaris 10 9/10: Migrating a Physical Solaris System Into a Zone (Tasks)
25. About Packages and Patches on a Solaris System With Zones Installed (Overview)
26. Adding and Removing Packages and Patches on a Solaris System With Zones Installed (Tasks)
27. Solaris Zones Administration (Overview)
28. Solaris Zones Administration (Tasks)
29. Upgrading a Solaris 10 System That Has Installed Non-Global Zones
30. Troubleshooting Miscellaneous Solaris Zones Problems
31. About Branded Zones and the Linux Branded Zone
32. Planning the lx Branded Zone Configuration (Overview)
33. Configuring the lx Branded Zone (Tasks)
34. About Installing, Booting, Halting, Cloning, and Uninstalling lx Branded Zones (Overview)
lx Branded Zone Installation Methods
zoneadmd Zones Administration Daemon
zsched Zone Scheduling Process
Branded Zone Application Environment
About Halting, Rebooting, Uninstalling, and Cloning lx Branded Zones
About Cloning an lx Branded Zone
Booting and Rebooting lx Branded Zones
35. Installing, Booting, Halting, Uninstalling and Cloning lx Branded Zones (Tasks)
36. Logging In to lx Branded Zones (Tasks)
37. Moving and Migrating lx Branded Zones (Tasks)
38. Administering and Running Applications in lx Branded Zones (Tasks)
The zoneadm command described in the zoneadm(1M) man page is the primary tool used to install and administer non-global zones. Operations using the zoneadm command must be run from the global zone. The following tasks can be performed using the zoneadm command:
Verify a zone
Install a zone
Boot a zone
Display information about a running zone
Halt a zone
Reboot a zone
Uninstall a zone
Relocate a zone from one point on a system to another point on the same system
Provision a new zone based on the configuration of an existing zone on the same system
Migrate a zone, used with the zonecfg command
For zone installation and verification procedures, see Chapter 35, Installing, Booting, Halting, Uninstalling and Cloning lx Branded Zones (Tasks) and the zoneadm(1M) man page. Also refer to the zoneadm(1M) man page for supported options to the zoneadm list command. For zone configuration procedures, see Chapter 33, Configuring the lx Branded Zone (Tasks), and the zonecfg(1M) man page. Zone states are described in Non-Global Zone State Model.
If you plan to produce Solaris auditing records for zones, read Using Solaris Auditing in Zones before you install non-global zones.
Note - Once the zone is installed, all software configuration and management has to be done by the zone administrator using Linux tools from inside the zone.


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Executive Keychains
Sort By:
To leave a lasting impact on high-level contacts, consider giving each of them engraved keychains, imprinted with your company name and logo. Recipients will appreciate receiving these sophisticated and refined products and will in turn associate your brand with these highly sought-after attributes. Additionally, as these products are incredibly affordable, distributing them at internal office events or even at trade shows can leave a lasting impression without costing a fortune. As their name suggests, these products are often customized using laser decoration techniques. Utilizing this technology will allow recipients to be able to read your logo clearly thus easily remembering your company the next time they are looking to do business. No matter how you choose them distribute this item, giving an engraved keychain in a unique shape is a great way to draw attention to your brand.


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Angels: A Novel (Paperback)
The most critically acclaimed, and first, of Denis Johnson's novels, Angels puts Jamie Mays -- a runaway wife toting along two kids -- and Bill Houston -- ex-Navy man, ex-husband, ex-con -- on a Greyhound Bus for a dark, wild ride cross country. Driven by restless souls, bad booze, and desperate needs, Jamie and Bill bounce from bus stations to cheap hotels as they ply the strange, fascinating, and dangerous fringe of American life. Their tickets may say Phoenix, but their inescapable destination is a last stop marked by stunning violence and mind-shattering surprise.
Denis Johnson, known for his portraits of America's dispossessed, sets off literary pyrotechnics on this highway odyssey, lighting the trek with wit and a personal metaphysics that defiantly takes on the world.
About the Author
Denis Johnson is the author of The Name of the World, Already Dead, Jesus' Son, Resuscitation of a Hanged Man, Fiskadoro, The Stars at Noon, and Angels. His poetry has been collected in the volume The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly. He is the recipient of a Lannan Fellowship and a Whiting Writer's Award, among many other honors for his work. He lives in northern Idaho.


text:
Subscribe to Christianity Today
Stranger in a Strange Land: John Wilson
What Time Is It?
In a "Letter from the Editor" in the January/February issue, I talked about sorting through stacks of folders stored at home, piles of books, miscellaneous articles, ephemera of all kinds, trying to restore a measure of order. That Sisyphean project continues. Not long ago, I came across a printout of a web-exclusive piece posted on December 18, 2006, on "The Year in Books." A few of you may recall seeing it at the time; if so, I hope you'll forgive me for bringing it to light here. As I read it over, it seemed, in an odd way, timely.
Hmmmm. If talking about The Top Ten Books of 2006 and the Book of the Year is an act of hubris, any pretension to survey "The Year in Books" is utter folly—unless writer and readers conspire genially as we do, say, when we suspend disbelief on beginning to read a novel or settling in our seats at the movies.
It happens that, in certain years, a book which has made a modest entrance turns out to shed light on many other books that might seem to be unrelated. So from the very first sentence you find yourself engaged in a kind of double reading, as you attend to the immediate context in the book you hold in your hand and at the same time begin to register connections branching off here and there and every whichway.
"Someone, sitting in a cave, punctures holes in a bone drained of marrow, raises it mouthwards, and blows—into a flute. Breath becomes sound, and time, through that sound, is given a shape. Being sound and shaped time, music begins."
Those are the enticingly musical first sentences of A Concise History of Western Music by Paul Griffiths (Cambridge Univ. Press), which doesn't merely pile century upon century but rather tells a coherent story, the theme of which is music's evolving engagement with time (so, for example, the development of Western musical notation moved in parallel with increasingly sophisticated devices for measuring time).
In this issue—see ...
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Frontline For Dogs Up To 10Kg
Frontline Flea Treatment For Small Dogs
Have you got an itchy pet? If so then you should read the below:
Frontline Plus for Dogs has something no other flea and tick preventative can offer:
4-stage killing power. This means it kills all 4 stages of the flea cycle – adult, egg, larva, pupa – giving your pet complete protection against this nasty parasite. FRONTLINE products also offer essential tick prevention for dogs and cats.
* For paralysis tick control on dogs FRONTLINE PLUS must be applied every 2 weeks. For paralysis tick control on cats use FRONTLINE SPRAY every 3 weeks.
When your pet gets infested with fleas, they can do more than just irritate your dog or cat's skin, they can also transmit diseases to pets and people. Once fleas enter your home and your pet's environment, their 4-stage breeding cycle can take hold, making it very difficult to get rid of them! Here's how to break the flea life cycle and prevent these unwanted visitors from infesting your pet and home.
Application / Dosage - How to apply Frontline Plus to your dog:
1. Select the correct pipette size for the weight of your dog.
2. Remove a pipette from the foil-backed holder.
3. Hold the pipette by the edges with the label facing toward you.
4. Break off the tip of the pipette at the pre-cut line.
5. Choose an area where licking cannot occur, such as the back of the neck or at a point between the shoulder blades.
6. Part the coat so the contents can be applied directly to the skin when the pipette is squeezed.
7. Place the tip of the pipette on the skin and squeeze several times to empty its entire contents directly onto the skin.
8. Please read the FRONTLINE PLUS label for full administration details and safety directions.
There are two types of ticks in Australia that can affect your pet – the very dangerous paralysis tick, and the brown dog tick. Both types can cause death in dogs or cats, so it's vital that your pet is regularly guarded against these nasty parasites.
Size: For use in small dogs up to 10kg


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As holiday traditions go, it's among the most traditional.
The NFL head coaching rumor cycle starts, and Brian Schottenheimer's name floats to the top.
The Rams offensive coordinator was mentioned during last week's Rams-Vikings broadcast as a potential candidate for head coaching jobs, but he said he's happy in St. Louis.
"At the end of the day I think I have a great job," Schottenheimer said, via Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I work for a great organization. I know I work with the best head coach in the National Football League in Coach [Jeff] Fisher. Got a really young football team that's building something special, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it, . . . and hope to be here for a long time."
His name has been a fixture in recent offseasons, and he interviewed for the Jaguars job this offseason. He said he's allowed himself to get excited before, but wants to keep things in perspective.
"Well, first off I know Brian's ready," Fisher said. "He's ready to handle the job and he's capable. I think he'd do a great job at it. Certainly, he's been around the game for a long time. He's got a great pedigree, and this is the time of the year when people start throwing names out there."
And until he gets a chance to follow in his father's footsteps, the constant speculation will continue.


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For almost as long as there have been cars, there have been emblems to identify who made them and what model they are. Some of these emblems are as cool and classic as the cars they identify while others are little more than plastic text with a sticker on the back. This weekend we want to know what vehicle you think wore it's model name best. What car has the coolest model emblems?
My pick is the Corvette Sting Ray emblem seen above. They are as beautiful and simple as the second generation Corvettes that wear them. The fact that I lust after a midyear 'vette is certainly part of the reason this emblem immediately came to mind, but it's placement, size and design are what pushed me to pick it as the coolest. I can only someday I have one sitting in my garage—attached to the car it left the factory on.
What car has the coolest model emblems?
Photo Credit: Hugo90


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A Houston-area resident and Army veteran joined a 50-person protest of CIA Director nominee John Brennan on Capitol Hill.
Ann Wright, a former colonel who served for 29 years, was the first of four members of Code Pink to interrupt Brennan's opening statement at a Thursday afternoon Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. Wright and members of her group attacked Brennan for his support of drones and targeted killings against Al-Q'aida.
"A former military, these are dangerous for our own military," Wright said before the hearing.
Wright said that though drones may be effective in killing terrorists, they come at the price of aggravating citizens in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen. She cited the recent killings of US soldiers by the Afghanis they were training as an example—the "green-on-blue" violence.
Wright said she worked for the State Department after the Army, totaling 40 years in the government. She resigned in the 2003 in response to the planned invasion of Iraq. She later protested then-president Bush outside his Crawford home.
"The good will after 9-11 dissipated really quickly," Wright said.
Though Wright said she is retired, she devotes time to political activism, including the Houston Peace and Justice Center. Wright said she splits time in The Woodlands and Honolulu.
Code Pink is a liberal anti-war organization. However, the Obama administration's use of drones in targeted killings has received backlash from across the political spectrum.
Wednesday, Texas on the Potomac reported on Texas Sen. John Cornyn's request that the Obama administration release all legal justifications for targeted killing. Cornyn's request came in the wake of a leaked Justice Department memo legally justifying targeted killings of Al-Q'aida members.
The memo cited a September 2011 Brennan speech at Harvard as a legal and practical argument for expanding targeted killings beyond what it called "hot battlefields" or regions with an active US presence such as Afghanistan. According to the memo, targeted killings are used when an individual presents an "imminent threat" to the US. An example of this use was the targeted killing of Anwar Al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, two US citizens living in Yemen. The U.S. said they were Al-Q'aida recruiters.
At the Harvard speech, Brennan said fighting Al-Q'aida is unlike fighting a traditional army, because they do not wear uniforms nor do they mass at the border of a country.
"Nonetheless, it possesses the demonstrated capability to strike with little notice and cause significant civilian and/or military casualties," Brennan said at Harvard.
Brennan had to wait patiently as the protest interrupted his opening statement. Committee chairwoman Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Cal., instructed security to remove the protesters.
Brennan continued his opening statement, with an adjustment.
"Some of our government's current counterterrorism policies and operations have sparked widespread debate, domestically, and internationally," Brennan said, adding, "And in this room."
The Senate committee questioned Brennan on various issues, including his opposition to waterboarding and leaks to the press on covert CIA information. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., brought up his concerns over targeted killings.
"It's the idea of giving any president unfettered power to kill Americans without checks or balances," Wyden said.
Brennan responded, saying there is a misperception that targeted killings are done to punish terrorists.
"We only take such actions as a last resorts—to save lives," Brennan said.


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The Smurfs' Village is a game for the iPhone and other Apple gadgets that's free to download. But once you start playing the game, you can easily start spending money, big money, on game add-ons. Buying 50 Smurfberries might cost you $4.99 while a wagonful of them costs $100. These pricey power points speed up play and help you build a robust village.
As a writer over at Mashable describes: "Instead of waiting 12 hours to grow watermelons, you can grow them instantly by using one of these berries. Of course, the best way to get your hands on one is to purchase them."
Usually iTunes purchases require a password but, until just recently, if you entered your password in the past 15 minutes you weren't required to enter it again to buy the Smurfberries. Yes, warnings popped up telling you about the purchase (thanks to consumers who complained)—but kids ignored these and racked up big bills on their parents' credit cards.
Last year the Washington Post reported on an 8-year-old girl who amassed a $1,400 bill on her mom's credit card. Ouch!
Smurfs' Village, developed by San Francisco-based Capcom, isn't the only game with in-app purchases. There are others such as "Tap Zoo" and "Bakery Story." With these you can also easily spend $100 with a few taps of your finger.
Now some parents are angry and they're suing Apple, according to BBC News.
Apple is asking for the case to be dismissed. They recently added a feature that allows parents to disable in-app purchases. Also, in a recent update to iOS Apple added a requirement for users to re-enter their passwords before making an in-game purchase.
The BBC adds: "In-app payments have been the subject of scrutiny in the US. Last year, the practice was investigated by the US Federal Trade Commission which ruled developers must do more to warn parents about the content of their games."
But parents are saying this isn't enough. Kids often know their parents' passwords and can still make in-game purchases. Also, according to the BBC, "The group of parents, led by attorney Garen Meguerian, said children were still encouraged to buy items by the games' addictive nature, and parents might not be fully aware of the financial implications."
Do the parents have a case?
These games are clearly designed to trick consumers into spending money, but I think parents need to be aware of this and be tuned into what kids are doing with their Apple gadgets. You can't just hook your kid up with Smurfs' Village and expect the game to be "safe" because it has a kid-friendly name. As parents, it's our responsibility to read the game description, which will tell you about in-game purchases. And if a game offers in-app purchases, then that game probably isn't a good one for kids. And most importantly parents shouldn't be giving their kids their passwords!
That said, I hope the US Federal Trade Commission continues to closely watch these gaming companies and restrict their ability to deceive and rip off customers. Charging $100 for a wagon of virtual Smurfberries is downright ridiculous.


text: Our nearest planetary neighbor is about to put on a brilliant dusk showing. The planet Venus reaches greatest elongation, or its maximum separation from the Sun as observed from the Earth on August 19th. From there, it will begin a long dive towards inferior conjunction with the Sun on October 28th, slendering in phase from half-lit to crescent and increasing in angular size as it does so. Venus is now the brightest object high in the west at dusk. Tonight on August 13th, a nice grouping of Venus, Mars, Saturn and the three day old Moon occurs after sunset.


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While North Carolina regulators are starting a series of hearings into a request by Duke/Progress Energy Carolinas to raise electricity bills, it will not affect New Bern residents, said the city�s utilities director.
While North Carolina regulators are starting a series of hearings into a request by Duke/Progress Energy Carolinas to raise electricity bills, it will not affect New Bern residents, said the city�s utilities director.
Progress Energy Carolina, which is now merged with Duke Energy and supplies power to Eastern North Carolina, is proposing to raise rates 14 percent for residential customers.
The N.C. Utilities Commission has scheduled hearings across the state starting this month. Residents in Eastern North Carolina may attend a hearing in Snow Hill on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. in the Greene County Courthouse at 301 N. Greene St.
The hearings will continue through mid-March as regulators get information from the electricity company's nearly 2 million North Carolina customers, according to the Associated Press.
Jon Rynne, New Bern utilities director, said New Bern residents get electricity from the N.C. Municipal Power Agency and will not be affected by the proposed rate increase.
�It doesn�t mean anything to us because we are not retail customers of (Progress Energy Carolina),� Rynne said.
The proposal would only affect people who buy retail from Progress Energy Carolina, Rynne said.
New Bern, which is part of ElectriCities� N.C. Municipal Power Agency, has a contract with the Progress Energy Carolina to buy power wholesale that is set until 2031, he said.
The only way rates would go up in New Bern is if NCMPA raises the rates.
�They have already let us know during the 2015-20 period they are expecting an increase that will affect our costs,� Rynne said.
�About 75 percent to 80 percent of (New Bern�s) budget goes to power supply costs,� Rynne said. �If (NCMPA�s power rate) goes up, there�s not a whole lot of places we can find that type of money to offset that new expense.�
Historically it has to be passed on to the customers, he said.
Jeff Brooks, spokesman for Progress Energy, said although the majority of utility customers in New Bern get their electricity from the municipal agency, there were some residents in Craven County who the proposed rate increase will affect.
�Anybody who gets a Progress Energy power bill,� Books said. �If the bill comes from the city of New Bern, the proposed rates do not apply.�
Electric bills will increase an average of $15 per month for customers who use 1,000 kilowatts per hour, Brooks said.
About 80 percent of the money form the proposed rate increase would be used to modernize three natural gas facilities in Goldsboro, Wilmington and Rockingham, he said.
�Part of our plan is to retire many of our older, less efficient coal plants and replace them with clean burning natural gas units,� Brooks said.
After the public hearings in March there will be an evidentiary hearing in Raleigh with Duke/Progress Energy Carolina defending its proposal to the N.C. Utilities Commission. If the commission agrees with the power company, the new rates could go into effect early this summer, Brooks said.
During the hearings this spring, utility customers will get notices on their bills that the power company under Duke Energy plans to change its name to Duke Energy Progress, Brooks said.
Eddie Fitzgerald can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @staffwriter3.


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Fidelity is a clean and elegant responsive Joomla Template built with business or portfolios in mind. Fidelity comes packed with dozens widgets and an intuitive admin option panel.
Fidelity is built on Warp framework, which gives the theme an immeasurable weight of flexibility and agility, fast loading – using built in compression of files, data URIs and gzip minification and that's not all; We've topped it up with a splash of 3 beautiful colors and a bonus Kunena forum theme.
Template Features
- Works with the latest version of Joomla
- Responsive Design
- Unlimited Color Styles
- 60+ Admin options
- Kunena Forum Styling
- 50+ module positions
- K2 Blog Styling
- Widgetkit lite
- Flexible columns and template widths
- Portfolio/Gallery up to 5 Columns
- Cross browser compatibility
- 10 Preset pages
- CSS3 Tags for blog
- Multiple Page Layout Combination
- Custom module variations
- Accordions and Tabs
- Module Popup Widget
- Instant ajax Search
- Block title color spans
- Custom 404 Error page and offline page
- Easy shortcodes plugin
- Extensive and robust typography
- Joomla template overrides
- Built on Warp framework
- Warp Framework, Widgetkit Lite, UIkit by Yootheme
- Illustration by Isaac Montemayor
- rokCandy by Rockettheme
- stock images from Photodune
The demo images have been replaced with placeholder images.


text:
Whatever your thoughts on his candidacy for the Deadspin Hall of Fame — and I'm fully aware that our comment ombudsman loses his mind every time Kige comes up — you have to admire that, along among all SHOTY and H of F nominees, only Kige has openly lobbied for induction. It's warms my heart every time I think about it. In case you didn't remember the campaign video:
By now, I certainly hope you've seen all the videos. I still love that the shows have a full production staff. They're so good that you don't even notice all the CGI. But is he a Hall of Famer? Seventy five percent is the threshold for induction. Vote below: Polls will be open until next Monday afternoon. Vote as if tomorrow does not exist.


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NEW YORK — Bob Giardina is no stranger to Town Sports International, New York. The new CEO, appointed by the board last month, is actually the former CEO who left for health and personal reasons in 2007. But during his 36-month absence, TSI experienced a recession and dropping stock prices. Last month, TSI's board of directors voted out Alex Alimanestianu, who had been CEO during Giardina's absence, and wooed back Giardina.
Alimanestianu will continue to serve on TSI's board. The board also voted to replace Jason Fish as chairman of the board with Thomas Galligan.
TSI would not comment for this story, but one industry insider says that the fact TSI's board made a change was not a surprise.
"The company has been dramatically underperforming under Alex's leadership," he says. "The stock has been hammered, and the direction they've taken the company hasn't worked."
TSI's stock was trading at around $22 in April 2007, but it dropped to around $16 right before Giardina's departure. During Alimanestianu's time as CEO, the stock price dropped even further to below $3 right before he was voted out. Right after Giardina's return, it jumped up to $3.86.
By comparison, the other publicly traded company in the industry, Life Time Fitness, Chanhassen, MN, was trading at about $51 in April 2007, around $58-$61 in October 2007, and as of late March, it was at around $27.
The industry insider says that the board made a good decision when it brought back Giardiana, but it could take him a year or two for the company to begin performing well again.
"If Robert can turn the company back to what it once was, it means good things for the industry because their stock will enhance, they'll perform better and that will be better for all of us," he says. "If Robert can't turn it because it's too deep of a mess, it means it's the status quo, it's the same as it is now."
Giardina served as CEO of TSI from January 2002 through October 2007. He originally joined TSI in 1981 and served as president and chief operating officer from 1992 to 2001.
Giardina's return came suddenly for Hydromassage, the company where he had been CEO for the past six months. Paul Lunter, president of Hydromassage, Clearwater, FL, says that once Giardina told him that TSI was trying to get him back, it didn't take long for the move. In fact, Lunter didn't even have time to find a replacement for Giardina before he left.
"Town Sports was in need of his assistance to make some changes in the company," Lunter says. "He was instrumental in their growth for the past 17 years, so he was an obvious replacement."
The vote to replace Alimanestianu came on the same day that TSI released its fourth quarter 2009 and year-end 2009 financials. Alimanestianu and Dan Gallagher, CFO, went over the financials with shareholders and analysts in a conference call conducted just prior to the vote.
The financials show that TSI's revenue decreased 7 percent to $114.3 million in the fourth quarter compared to the fourth quarter 2008 revenue of $122.9 million. For the year, revenue fell 4.2 percent to $485.4 million compared to 2008 revenue of $506.7 million. Comparable club revenue decreased 7.1 percent in fourth quarter 2009 compared to the same period last year and 5.6 percent for the year compared to 2008.
Alimanestianu blamed the lower revenue on lower membership numbers. The total member count decreased 4.7 percent to 486,000 as of Dec. 31, 2009, compared to Dec. 31, 2008. Membership attrition averaged 3.6 percent per month in the fourth quarter and 3.8 percent per month for the year. That was higher than the 3.4 percent per month attrition average in full year 2008.
However, TSI lost fewer net members in fourth quarter 2009 than it did in the third quarter. In January, TSI had a net member gain, although the snowstorms in the Northeast caused the company to lose some of those gains in February, Alimanestianu said in the call. However, he said that he expects memberships to increase in a quarter-over-quarter basis by the fourth quarter of this year.
"But that growth won't be sufficient to prevent a decline in revenue and profitability for the full year," Alimanestianu said in the call. "However, a higher member count at year-end 2010 will set the stage for year-over-year growth in revenue and profitability in 2011. Of course, we are doing all we can to accelerate improvements in 2010, but by virtue of the subscription nature of our business model, revenue growth may well lag behind other consumer-facing businesses, like retailers and restaurants."
Now, the company will look to Giardina to make sure that membership growth picks up and is followed by revenue increases.


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To be really successful in both search and social my strong opinion is that you need to do research. Not just on which rankingfactors are important, but, maybe even more important, on your target audience.
Whenever I do training sessions I tell my students to find and research this target audience, find out who they are and what they do.
Research who will potentially be visiting your site, who has the need for your products and who is potentially going to be your 'brand advocate' by spreading your content around the web.
To find these target audiences is one thing, the next thing is to actually tailor your content so it will appeal to them. Appeal so they will find it and appeal so they will act on it. To be able to tailor that content its important to figure out for example what people are searching for. The question my students always ask me: "Where do I start and is there a tool for that?".
There are many tools and some of them are right on your doorstep. Google for example offers plenty of tools for this type of research. For example the Google Adwords Keywordtool, Google Trends and Google Insights.
Since Google updated Google Think Insights last week all these tools are 'under one roof' and contain a lot more data. And it has gotten even more interesting because there are more features and more countries available. Time to take a look at how the new Google Think Insights and how it can help you do research.
First: What did Google change?
Before we start on the tools a quick update on what changed. Many of you might already be aware of the Google Insights and Google Trends tools: they give you quick insights in the behavior of searchers. Now Google has changed a few things on Google Insights.
Research data
They are placed on one website: Think Insights Now. And many of them are aimed at local targeting:
- You can access the research library of studies and whitepapers from across 21 different countries.
- You can use the Insights MENA tool to explore the media habits of consumers in the Middle East
- The Insights Africa tool gives you information on North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.
You can also Watch new videos on the consumer journey, with information on behaviors such as "research online, purchase offline" (ROPO).
Take a look at the introduction video Google made:
More local data
The most important change is that Google recently updated the Google Insights tool to include data from more than 21 countries. You can now filter your target audience much better on geographic location and seeing local trends and popularity.
A wealth of tools
Now to the tools. On the Thinkwithgoogle site you can find many tools. We'll be focussing on the "Real-Time Insight Tools" from Google which can help you enhance your research on your target audience. There is the well known Adwords Keyword Tool as well as Insight for search, but there are a few there which can be very helpful.
Let's take a look at a few of the tools:
Doubleclick Adplanner
An interesting tool is the connection Google has with the Doubleclick ad planner. It gives you some interesting statistics on sites and their visitors. Take a look for example at some of the data it is providing about State of Search:
It even gives you information on competitors, which sites did visitors of State of Search visit as well?
YouTube Trends Dashboard
The YouTube Trends Dashboard lets you select a country or region within the US and an age group and it will then show you the most popular videos for that selection.
You can even filter them down to male or female, and make a distinction between most shared and most viewed videos. It can help you figure out what kind of videos you need to produce to reach your target audience or to get enough shares.
The 'compare' tab even gives you some great insights in differences between these groups or locations. You can even show which videos are unique and which are common.
See for example the differences between females in the age 18-24 in the UK, Sweden and France:
YouTube Comment Search
Related to the YouTube Trends is the YouTube Comment Search. A nifty tool which does what it says: it let's you search through the comments on YouTube. You can sort on rating or time.
This way you can find potential influentials who are active on YouTube. Need someone who has a strong opinion on Apple? Do a search for "Apple Macbook" and you will find some interesting videos and potential connections right there.
What do You Love
The "What do you Love" tool is mostly used as a 'fun' tool which allows you to see related content around the topic you are interested in and also a quick overview of more tools you can use to do research around a specific topic. It allows you to go to Image Search, Trends, Gmail, blogsearch and news or check for patents and set up alerts for example.
Again, links to valuable information, if you use it correctly. To really get a benefit from this one you really need to think about what topics you will put in there, make it specific.
Google Correlate
An interesting one also is Google Correlate. This lets you find search patterns which correspond with real-world trends. This is the tool with which Google can predict the outbreak of the flu for example.
Here for example you can do a search for "Eurovision" and set the location to "UK". You can see which terms correlate with that and you can see when these terms are 'hot' or not. Interestingly enough it gives you dates here, but also possibly related events.
This tool is useful for keyword research as well as finding out related topics which could potentially give you even more exposure.
Google Trends
Google Trends is probably very familiar for many, but if it's not be sure to check this one out because it can give you extensive information on topics, when these topics are searched for and in what regions.
A search for "Cookie Law" for example shows us that mainly in the last few weeks people have been searching for the topic and also mainly in Kensington and London.
But it can be even more useful if you start looking at products. A search for 'umbrella' tells you the best place to be selling them in the UK could very well be Teddington, strangely enough just before the summer…
And what about the contact lenses James Murray wrote about recently? Well Google says James was right, October it is:
Next to these Insights tools the site offers even more:
Benchmark tools
Here you can find a lot of information on benchmarks done in several different areas. You can find articles about benchmarks on response rates, rich media an video for example. Strangely enough the tools don't seem to be working at the moment.
Mobile Planet Tool
Finally the Mobile Planet Tool, which gives you insights into the behavior of target audiences on their mobile phones. You can easily create your own charts here by filtering specific data.
See for example this chart which I created within seconds about the online browsing behavior of the Dutch on their mobile phones in 2011:
Where to start?
So there are many many tools out there, and the ones above are just the ones Google is giving you to do research on your target audience.
Playing with these tools can be a lot of fun and before you know it you've spent an entire day just trying out stuff. Which is something you should definitely do one day, if you have the time.
But before you do that you should really first think about who your potential target audience really is. Who are your clients, your potential clients and those who could be talking about you. Then figure out where they could be and research them specific.
If you just dive in you might drown in the enormous amount of data. But if you think first, these "Think Insight" tools are a great next step.


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Buffets and Hutches | 5001-0021-12
Interested in purchasing this product? Please Contact Us for more information.
Home Styles Small Server with Wood Top and Two Door Hutch is constructed of hardwood and wood products in a white finish with a natural wood top. Features include two utility drawers, two wood framed cabinet doors with an adjustable shelf for plenty of inside storage, and brushed steel hardware. Hutch features two wood framed, Plexiglas doors with an adjustable shelf inside for plenty of storage. Size: 31.25w 15.87d 71.5h


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We are still dispatching orders
Klarna Pay in 3 Now Available
GymPro vivid poly tracksuit is the ultimate in luxury training garments. With its tapered fit and design it can be worn casually or as a training top. Its luxury fabric feels soft and sleek against the body with ribbed cuffs and waistband for a secure feel.
We recommend turning inside out and washing on a maximum 30 degree cycle to maintain the life and quality of our luxury garments. Please refer to care label for further instructions.
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I've been lucky enough to meet Adam, and his enthusiasm and passion for his brand is so impressive that I had to buy some! I started with the nude stringer, nude backless hoodie, camo leggings, airtech vest and bralette .... not only is the quality and fit amazing, they wash really well, and the technical side is simply brilliant - which is hard to achieve and still be great value for money!
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Table of ContentsPart 1: Introduction and Functional Specs
Part 2: MongoDB setup
Part 3: Java classes
Part 4: XML configuration
Part 5: HTML Files (with AJAX)
Part 6: Running the Application
- Spring core 3.1.0.RELEASE
- Spring Data MongoDB 1.0.0.RELEASE
- MongoDB (server) 2.0.2
- MongoDB (Java driver) 2.7.2
- See pom.xml for details
To access the source code, please visit the project's Github repository (click here)
Functional SpecsBefore we start, let's define our application's specs as follows:
- A CRUD page for managing users
- Use AJAX to avoid page refresh
- Users have roles. They are either admin or regular (default)
- Everyone can create new users and edit existing ones
- When editing, users can only edit first name, last name, and role fields
- A username is assumed to be unique
Here's our Use Case diagram:
DatabaseIf you're new to MongoDB and coming from a SQL-background, please take some time to read the following resource SQL to Mongo Mapping Chart. It's a comparison between SQL and MongoDB.
We have two collections (tables in SQL): user and role. The user collection contains personal information of each user; whereas the role collection contains role values for each user where a value of 1 represents an admin and a value of 2 represents a regular user.
Here's the Class diagram:
User documentBelow is the JSON structure of the User document after Spring Data MongoDB has created the collection:
{ "_id" : "" , "_class" : "org.krams.domain.User" "firstName" : "" "lastName" : "" "username" : "" "password" : "" , "role" : { "$ref" : "role" , "$id" : "" } }Notice the role property is a reference to a Role record as indicated by $ref: role property.
Role documentBelow is the JSON structure of the Role document after Spring Data MongoDB has created the collection:
{ "_id" : "" "_class" : "org.krams.domain.Role" "role" : "" }
ScreenshotsLet's preview how the application will look like after it's finished. This is also a good way to clarify further the application's specs.
The Activity diagram:
Entry page
The entry page is the primary page that users will see. It contains a table showing user records and four buttons for adding, editing, deleting, and reloading data. All interactions will happen in this page.
Edit existing record
When user clicks the Edit button, an Edit Record form shall appear after the table.
When a user submits the form, a success or failure alert should appear.
When the operation is successful, the update record should reflect on the table.
Create new record
When a user clicks the New button, a Create New Record form shall appear after the table.
When a user submits the form, a success or failure alert should appear.
When the operation is successful, the new record should appear on the table.
Delete record
When user clicks the Delete button, a success or failure alert should appear.
Reload record
When user clicks the Reload button, the data on the table should be reloaded.
When user clicks the Edit or Delete button without selecting a record first, a "Select a record first!" alert should appear.
NextIn the next section, we will study how to setup a MongoDB server both in Windows and Ubuntu. Click here to proceed.
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As many as 14 people were hurt and two are in critical condition after calls flooded into 911 with reports of multiple people stabbed. NBC's Janet Shamlian reports.
At least 14 people were hurt Tuesday in a stabbing spree at a Texas community college apparently carried out by a student who was later taken into custody, authorities said.
At least two victims were in critical condition. It was not immediately clear how severe the other injuries were. The stabbing happened at the CyFair campus of Lone Star College, in the Houston suburb of Cypress.
Cody Duty / Houston Chronicle via AP
Dylan Quick, right, a suspect in the multiple stabbings on the Lone Star CyFair campus, is escorted by a Harris County Sheriff's Office investigator on Tuesday.
Law enforcement officials have identified student Dylan Andrew Quick, 20, as the suspected assailant, and the Harris County District Attorney's Office has filed three charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Bond has been set at $100,000 for each charge, but more could be filed, officials said.
Quick used a "razor-type knife" in the attack, according to a statement from the Harris County Sheriff's Office. He told authorities he had fantasies of stabbing people to death since he was in elementary school, and indicated he had been planning the attack for long period of time.
The school said the attack happened "in and around" its health science building.
Memorial Hermann Texas Trauma Institute said it had two patients in critical condition and six in all, including four flown there by helicopter. Three patients were upgraded to good condition Tuesday evening and one had been discharged.
A spokeswoman for another hospital, North Cypress Medical Center, said it had taken six stabbing victims who were in stable condition.
Two other victims were treated at the scene and declined to be taken to the hospital, the sheriff said.
The school closed for the day and ordered students to find shelter somewhere safe. Campus police caught the suspect, the Harris County Sheriff's Office said. The school will open Wednesday for regularly scheduled classes. Counselors will be on hand to speak with students and employees.
The stabbing happened just after 11 a.m., a college official said. The school had warned students that a second suspect might be at large, but sheriff's officials said later that they believed they had the only suspect in custody.
Lone Star College student Kayla Brightkrite was walking down an empty hall on her way to class Tuesday when a teacher quickly pulled her into his classroom, she told NBC News in an email.
Johnny Hanson / Houston Chronicle
Life Flight personnel rush a stabbing victim off a helicopter at a Houston hospital after a stabbing spree Tuesday near Lone Star College in Cypress, Texas.
She initially had no idea an attack had taken place until other students quietly huddled in the room told her.
"I asked a guy what was going on and they said a kid had just been stabbed in the neck down the hall from them and they heard someone scream, 'Oh my God! Call 911!'" she recalled.
Brightkrite stayed in the classroom for nearly 45 minutes until school officials said they could exit out the back of the building.
In the parking lot, she saw a man in handcuffs being put in a police car. "He looked at me and once he got into the car, he gave me a large demented smile," Brightkrite said
In January, three people were shot at a separate campus of the same college. A federal official said that those shootings appeared to be gang-related. A 22-year-old man was charged with aggravated assault.
The Lone Star system of colleges has 90,000 students in all.
Related content:
This story was originally published on Tue Apr 9, 2013 8:38 PM EDT


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Accounting Education
accounting, classification, analysis, and interpretation of the financial, or bookkeeping, records of an enterprise. The professional who supplies such services is known as an accountant. Auditing is an important branch of accounting.
The Role of the Accountant
The accountant evaluates records drawn up by the bookkeeper and shows the results of this investigation as losses and gains, leakages, economies, or changes in value, so as to reveal the progress or failures of the business and also its future limitations and possibilities. Accountants must also be able to draw up a set of financial records and prescribe the system of accounts that will most easily give the desired information; they must be capable of arriving at a comprehensive view of the economic and the legal aspects of a business, envisaging the effect of every sort of transaction on the profit-and-loss statement; and they must recognize and classify all other factors that enter into the determination of the true condition of the business (e.g., statistics or memoranda relating to production; properties and financial records representing investments, expenditures, receipts, fiscal changes, and present standing). Cost accounting shows the actual cost, over a certain period of time, of particular services rendered or of articles produced; by this system unprofitable ventures, services, departments, and methods may be discovered.
Development of Modern Accounting
Although there were stewards, auditors, and bookkeepers in ancient times, the professional accountant is a 19th-century development. Unlike those precursors, modern accountants usually do not service a single client or employer; instead they offer their expertise, for a fee, to several individuals and businesses. The profession was first recognized in Great Britain in 1854, when the Society of Accountants in Edinburgh was given a royal charter. Similar societies were later established in Glasgow, Aberdeen, and London. In the United States the first such professional society was the American Association of Public Accountants, chartered by the state of New York in 1887.
All the states and Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia now have laws under which an accountant who fulfills certain educational and experience requirements and passes an examination may be granted the title Certified Public Accountant (CPA). CPAs have organized into state and national societies. The bodies representing the accounting profession in the United States are the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, which is the contemporary successor organization of the American Association of Public Accountants, and the American Accounting Association, organized in 1916. In the United States, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, an independent nongovernmental organizaiton sponsored by financial-reporting industry groups, is the main institution responsible for establishing accounting standards and rules. The International Accounting Standards Board develops standards and rules that are accepted by many nations.
With the growth of corporate activity in the 20th cent., the field of accounting has increased greatly in importance and has seen many improvements in theory and techniques. The chief causes of changes in accounting methods have been more complex tax laws and regulations and the need to keep uniform accounts for possible governmental or public scrutiny. Contemporary accounting firms also have taken on managerial functions and are no longer concerned simply with ascertaining and reporting financial condition but also with advising a client how to act on this information; they also consult on information-technology systems and other services. This has greatly increased the potential for conflicts of interest, because the services provided to clients by accounting firms must be evaluated in their audits and because the fees paid by a client for such services may be more important to the accounting firm than that paid for an audit, potentially undermining the independence of the audit. As a result, in 2000 the Securities and Exchange Commission specified the types of services accounting firms could provide without compromising their independence as auditors.
A series of revelations concerning accounting firms' failure to detect or publicly challenge irregularities or fraud when auditing the finances of a number of corporations led Congress to establish (2002) the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The board is appointed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and has the power to register and regulate accountants and firms that act as auditors. It sets standards for audits and is responsible for reviewing audits and disciplining accountants and accounting firms.
See N. A. H. Stacey, English Accountancy, 1800–1954 (1954); M. Backer, ed., Modern Accounting Theory (1966); L. Goldberg and V. R. Hill, The Elements of Accounting (3d ed. 1966); J. D. Edwards, History of Public Accounting in the United States (1960); A. J. Briloff, Unaccountable Accounting (1972); M. Chatfield, A History of Accounting Thought (1977).


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Stealth Inflation: Honey, They Shrunk Your Lunch
Scott Toilet Paper
Dworsky first documented Scott's disappearing toilet paper sheet back in 2006. Though the packaging boasted "now improved," it didn't mention that the sheet length had gone from 4.0 inches to 3.7 inches. Then, last fall, the width shriveled from 4.5 inches to 4.1 inches. When Dworsky inquired about it, a company spokesman said it was a move to make Scott "comparable with other brands" and "a slight improvement to make it thicker." Yet the new "thicker" package weighed five ounces less than the old. In total, the roll is 25 percent smaller today than the 2006 version.
Photo: MousePrint.org


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A new Korean conflict could bring thousands of civilian fatalities. That's a sobering prospect, but President Obama and other Western leaders must not give North Korea any concessions until they bargain in good faith.
North Korea evidently has felt left out of world headlines of late.
So the repressive regime of this isolated nation has decided to remind the United States and South Korea, its two hated enemies, that it is still relevant. In the process, the family dictatorship has also reminded Americans, including President Barack Obama, that trouble thousands of miles away can upset global stability.
The North Korean government in Pyongyang threatened South Korea, and warned their rival to the south not to take part in any new sanctions against North Korea. The threat carries some weight because, while no grave threat to the United States, North Korea has considerable weaponry fixed upon our top two allies in the Far East, South Korea and Japan.
A new Korean conflict could bring thousands of civilian fatalities. That's a sobering prospect, but President Obama and other Western leaders must not give North Korea any concessions until they bargain in good faith.
What started this latest round of saber-rattling was the United Nations' condemnation of the North's ballistic rocket launch in December. But it's the threat of new sanctions that has North Korea angry. The U.N. expanded existing sanctions, according to Reuters, but did not install new ones.
North Korea reacted harshly to the specter of new sanctions, saying it would conduct new nuclear tests. North Korea conducted such tests in 2006 and 2009. The dictatorial regime also said it would target and confront the United States.
Continuing the tantrum on Friday, the North Korean government threatened South Korea, and warned their rival not to take part in any new sanctions.
The ongoing drama on the Korean peninsula is bad for world stability, and North Korea's strongest ally, China, is beginning to understand this. China's state media wants North Korea to get over its anger.
Yet some of the Chinese state media's proclamations are clueless about what is truly at stake here: preventing a bloody second Korean war that could go global.
China and the United States have made great strides since normalizing relations in the 1970s. The two nations are the world's most important economic superpowers. A conflict in the Koreas could throw the globe into chaos and recession. And it could cause hundreds of thousands of deaths.
North Korea must be guided to the negotiating table by the United Nations and especially by its ally, China. North Korea must stop experimenting with nuclear weapons and rockets, and focus instead on economic development, feeding its people and normalizing relations with South Korea, Japan and the United States.
A great deal depends on North Korea finally joining the community of civilized nations.


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Bellshare has been kind enough to kick in tons of apps for our readers to end our Birthday week. We have a total of 700 copies of their apps up for grabs so we'll make a bunch of readers very happy. Its plain and simple and breaks down like this:
- 50 copies of BerryWeather
- 50 copies of BerryReader
- 100 copies of BeBuzz
- 100 copies of BerryPopup
- 200 copies of BerryMail
- 200 copies of SmartAlerts
That's a lot of apps! Bellshare has some of the best BlackBerry utliities out there, so if you haven't checked them out before, you certainly need to. Drop a comment on this post to be entered to win!
Contest: To enter to win one of Bellshare's apps just leave a single comment on this post. Contest ends Sunday March 13th at midnight PST.
View all Bellshare apps in the CrackBerry App Store


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Wood efficient in quality start vs. Rox
DENVER -- The last time Travis Wood faced the Rockies last Wednesday at Wrigley Field, he set career highs in pitches (119) and strikeouts (11). But his pitch count got out of control as he threw 82 pitches through four innings.
On Tuesday, Wood was much more efficient, needing 74 pitches through six and posting his 10th quality start. But he did not get a decision in the Cubs' 6-5, 12-inning win over the Rockies. Wood was sitting on the couch in the visitor's clubhouse when Javier Baez hit his game-winning home run in the 12th.
Cubs manager Rick Renteria said he did not pull Wood because of the over-work from his previous outing, but because he wanted a hitter in the seventh with the bases loaded and one out. Pinch-hitter Chris Valaika delivered a sacrifice fly to give the Cubs a 4-3 lead at that time.
"They brought Valaika in and he did his job and they scored a run, so I can't complain," said Wood, who is batting .262 this season. "I was able to get some quick outs and could've gone deep in the ballgame."