DJ Next Level - www.djnextlevel.com
In Flower - www.inflower.us
Newlywed Lighting
Hilton Pasadena - www.hilton.com
Elaine Chou Makeup - www.echoumakeup.com
MyWedding Website - www.mywedding.com

Microsoft will provide hardware partners with media to let their customers downgrade from Windows Vista to Windows XP for six months longer than it originally planned, the company confirmed Friday.

The move comes even as Microsoft has just launched a $300 million marketing and advertising campaign to encourage people to buy Windows Vista. The company is also prepping Windows 7, the next client version of the OS, for release in the next 12 to 18 months.

Microsoft will give OS disks to OEMs and system builders so customers that purchase Windows Vista Ultimate and Business editions can downgrade to XP Professional if they so choose until July 31, 2009, Microsoft said through its public relations firm.

Previously, Microsoft planned to provide the XP recovery disks to partners until Jan. 31, 2009, although there is no deadline for downgrade rights, the company said. If a customer wants to downgrade from Vista to XP after the new deadline, they can contact Microsoft for a disk, the company said.

Competition with oneself issues aside, hats off to Windows XP for winning this prestigious award.

Neatniks! Come home, It's Clean!

Call (414) 745-6532

in the greater Milwaukee area

I just wanted to take the time to say, "Thanks." I've noticed that you really haven't been using me too much, and I couldn't be happier. I'm sure its because of all the other important things you have to worry about; work, kids, school, meals, etc. Of course, the house is looking a little unkempt.

Instead of using me, why don't you relax and let the professionals at NeatNiks! clean the house for you? You could go out, relax, or spend more time with the family! Let them use their sponges!

They give free estimates, too! I looked up their number for you. Its (414) 745-6532. Call today! And, thanks again.

Your sponge

I am most assuredly not for the kind of asinine, over-the-top enforcement that is the focus of this article from Make:.

Keene Valley resident Jerilea Zempel was detained at the U.S. border this summer because she had a drawing of a sport-utility vehicle in her sketchbook.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers told Zempel they suspected her of copyright infringement.

She was released after more than an hour in custody at the Houlton, Maine, port of entry from New Brunswick, Canada.

Her release came only after she persuaded border guards she was an artist doing a project that involved a crocheted SUV as a statement against America's dependence on oil and love for big vehicles.

"After going through my (laptop) computer, digital camera, cell phone, business cards, suitcase, reading materials, boxes of yarn and crochet tools, she returned with my sketchbook.

Zempel had drawn an SUV covered by a cozy, with its mirrors marked as "ears."

"My sketchbook puzzled her," Zempel said. "It was a cartoon sketch. They couldn't understand what I was doing. She said, "Just what were you doing in Canada? We think you're engaged in some kind of copyright infringement."

Aside from the clear moronic "copyright infringement" excuse, what really chaps my hide is the idea that these brain donors from U.S. Customs and Border Protection were concerned with copyright enforcement in the first place. Such an egregious violation of common sense, not to mention personal liberties, is surely not an actual CBP policy or directive. Is it? So I did a little digging and discovered this information about Intellectual Property Rights on the CBP web site.

CBP protects businesses and consumers every day by combating the trade in counterfeit and pirated goods through an aggressive IPR enforcement program. CBP targets and seizes imports of counterfeit and pirated goods, and enforces exclusion orders on patent-infringing and other IPR violative goods issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission.

So exactly what kinds of "counterfeit and pirated goods" and "patent-infringing and other IPR violative goods" are we talking about here. Well, there's also this report posted on the CBP web site that details exactly that.

Executive Summary

• The domestic value of goods seized for intellectual property rights (IPR)
  violations at the mid-year point of Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 increased by
  2.7% to $113.2 million (M) from $110.1M at the mid-year point of FY
  2007.
• The number of IPR seizures decreased by 1%, from 7,245 to 7,166.
  China was the top trading partner for IPR seizures at mid-year FY 2008
  with a domestic value of $96.7M, accounting for 85% of the total value
  seized. In FY 07, China accounted for 80% of seizure value.
• Footwear was the top commodity seized at mid-year FY 2008 with a
  domestic value of $40.3M, which accounted for 36% of the entire value of
  infringing goods.
• The categories of Handbags/Wallets/Backpacks, Cigarettes, and
  Sunglasses had significant increases in domestic value at mid-year FY
  2008 over mid-year FY 2007 values.

OK I guess I can see that. It's the CBP's job to protect the interest of American businesses. So a drawing of a SUV cozy would fall into the "All Other Commodities" category - which does, in fact, account for 9% ($6,576,378 US) of the commodities seized. Golly, I'm glad we've got the CBP watching our (businesses) backs to protect us from dangerous (to our wallets) IPR violators like Ms. Zempel. Are you kidding me? I'm starting to get the sneaking suspicion that this episode is only tangentially, through creative bending of overly broad policy (now where have we seen that before?), related to IPR enforcement. Could it be that CBP can now detain, harass, and otherwise violate the rights of anyone coming into the U.S. based on specious suspicions of "Intellectual Property Rights violations"? I sincerely hope not, but this episode is clearly evidence of exactly that.

I guess my next trip abroad I will have to make certain that I'm not in possession of such heinous "IPR violative" items as a hand sketched SUV cozy. Thanks CBP for your stellar vigilance. NOT.

In total, over the last 3 years whilst building HealthEngine I have been exploring how social and professional networking works. Trying to develop a better understanding of how individuals interact and network online; how individuals and groups develop 'trust' of each other and the web domain to which they are entrusting sometimes very personal information.

At the same time I have the great honor and privilege of 'networking' and interacting with a wide range of interesting, enigmatic, energetic and inimitable personalities. Slowly an Australian online networking community is beginning to develop but at a 'less trusting' and tentative rate then other countries.

Hopefully this experience will help me to develop online education learning initiatives with vibrant and interested people...time will tell. Today I want to highlight some of the 'professional' networking sites which have been the most benefit in creating and maintaining a circle of trust within a virtual community.

Advice to 'would-be' professional networkers, wishing to dip their toe in the world of pixelated communications is to

• Define your objectives and define your ultimate goals
• Prepare your websites, blogs, profiles and personas into a single document to ensure rapidity of data entry to networking profiles.
• Review your email contact lists or open up a 'new' gmail account specifically for your professional networking - many sites offer to import or review your contact list to send out invitations as part of the sign up steps - and if you forget to 'uncheck' the long list of contact names, you will end up sending out 500 invitations including 453 inappropriate invites to family members, 'help-desks', florists, hotels and the vicar 
• Bookmark your profile pages and login pages in a single toolbar folder or home page - I use Zeadoo.com as my homepage and have a professional profile bookmarking section to quickly access my sites to review invitations or conversations 2-3 times a week.
• Have fun

There is no moral obloquy to being associated with social networking sites - in fact this pullulating megalopolis in a pixelated world provides surprisingly sophisticated colloquy.

Naymz.com Professional style networking with minimal scope for social interaction. Simple Invitation system and meta-tag structure allowing easy review of people in your profession. I really like Naymz as a profile holding bay and web presence gallery - and find it simple and easy to use.

• Personal Profile Completion Time - 45 minutes
• Features: RepScore - World Map of Visitors to your profile (with IPs) - Reputation monitor - Great way to add RSS feeds from blogs - high Google presence
• Maintenance: Login three time per week to check messages, review invitations and update website feeds
• Spam Count: Low. Efficient and simple clearing system
• Solicitations: Infrequent and easy to clear
• Tips/Tricks: Maintain a RepScore 10 to take advantage of the visitor tracking and reputation monitor. Complete profile in full, ensure new web profiles are updated regularly and add RSS feeds for your blogs. You only get 10 referees to display - so make sure they have the highest repscore (10) in order to increase your profile points. Once signed in - immediately alter the email settings so you only get notifications once a week!

 LinkedIn.com The ultimate Professional Networking system. Many professional networkers use this site to gather 10-20,000 contacts! I use it as a secure way of maintaining a select band of trusted contacts and to maintain a 'CV' like professional profile - which I use in my email signature.

• Personal Profile Completion Time - 45 minutes
• Features: Comprehensive and professional layout. Respected professional network site. Q&A section with rapid fire answers from respected professionals. Groups functions.
• Maintenance: Login 1-2 times per week to check inbox, review invitations and update website feeds
• Spam Count: Low. Efficient and simple clearing system
• Solicitations: Infrequent and easy to clear
• Tips/Tricks: Try to maintain contacts as trusted networking contacts 

 Ecademy.com Huge network in the UK and Europe, in fact one of the biggest online networking sites in the world. Initially I found this site to lack intuition, have inadequate explanation and basically be a bit of a nuisance. I stopped attending the site and only partially completed my profile. Then after 3 months absence I got an invite from a trusted colleague and gave it another shot with great success. Have now made lots of great contacts in Australia and throughout the world. Use this to get help and advice for the HealthEngine website, get some support and to create a viral medium.

• Personal Profile Completion Time - 60 minutes
• Features: Great profile page editing function (able to put company logo and website hyperlinks), internet feeds, website and blog feeds (appear in NetNews) Comprehensive and professional layout. Respected professional network site. Well maintained blogs by business professionals on the site to review. Groups functions.
• Maintenance: Login 3 times per week to check messages, review invitations, reply to messages.
• Spam Count: Moderate. Not complicated to clear - but can be a little oppressive at times
• Solicitations: Frequent and can become oppressive
• Tips/Tricks: Listen to Thomas Power (founder) and his interview with Stan Relihan. Remember that if somebody sends you a message and you reply - then you are 'linked'
• Black star members pay a lot for the privilege and generally have a product to sell - Power Networker status (orange stars) can be attained by inviting 10 people and gives some improved messaging services. 

You could be in Nashville for Country Music’s Biggest Night™ Nov. 12 LIVE on ABC!

One grand-prize winner will rock the star-studded event with:
- A trip for two to the 2008 CMA Awards in Nashville on Nov. 12.
- Round-trip coach airfare for two.
- Three nights’ hotel accommodations.
- Invitation to a CMA Inside Event.
- One spa treatment for each guest.
- A makeover by a professional makeup artist before the show.
- The Mary Kay® Compact filled with gorgeous mineral color.

New media, open minds and challenging ideas. From 15 to 17 October 2008, the next generation of European journalists meets at the European Parliament in Brussels for the second European Youth Media Days. 200 youngsters from all 27 EU member states, chosen to be the most creative and motivated
amongst 1767 high-quality applications, have now been awarded with a place.

The European Youth Media Days 2008, to be opened in opt days by European Parliament Vice-President Alejo Vidal-Quadras, have started already: The recently selected 200 participants interact, debate and prepare their European media productions in the online community www.youthmediadays.eu. This also enables those who are not able to go to Brussels to stay in touch with their peers and share their thoughts
about Europe.

The hands-on workshops for creation of new European media formats – on air, online, and printed – are the core-element of three days EYMD 2008. Complemented by high-ranking-debates and events with the President of the European Parliament, political group chairmen, correspondents, and media professionals from across the continent the EYMD will provide insights into the Brussels sphere of media, culture, and politics. Moreover participants have the chance to share knowledge, improve media skills and gain a unique
international experience at the centre of European political life.
All EYMD press information and an accreditation form for journalists is available online at www.youthmediadays.eu.

PRESS CONTACTS
JANEZ VOUK
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR COMMUNICATION,
DRAFTING AND DISSEMINATION UNIT
Phone: +32 2 28 310 53, e-mail: janez.vouk@europarl.europa.eu
MAXIMILIAN KALL
Project Coordinator EUROPEAN YOUTH MEDIA DAYS
Mobile: +32 484 991 200, e-mail maximilian.kall@youthmediadays.eu

Try the following links:
- BBC Schools 1, BBC School 2 (for the 'eindexamen'-level)
- BBC Games
- Creative Chemistry (crosswords, word searches, etc.)
- Nobel Prize subjects (learn more about the Nobel Prizes in Chemistry)
- All sorts of chemistry (a.o. Java) Games
- Periodic Table of the Elements

Enjoy your chemistry!

Kijk ook eens op Noorderlicht en op Cradle2cradle of houd je zelf scherp via Netspanning.
Keep inspired!

Ritu opened the drawer fifth time since morning and sighed again. A long, big sigh!! She remembered her neighbour’s comments and she backed off. Her eyes glistened. She knew she was over reacting but she couldn’t help but feel down.

She was the most beautiful girl of her batch when she was in college. And her beauty was even more endearing for she was totally oblivious to the fact that she stole a lot many hearts on the campus when she smiled and jerked her head back to keep her hair in place. Not surprisingly, she was the most sought after girl!

When she got “attached” to Kartik a lot of alcohol flowed in the boy’s hostel...

After 5 years of marriage to Kartik and a baby later now when she looked at in the mirror she couldn’t recognize herself. Well, almost!! She has put on at least 15 Kgs post delivery! She still looked charming and beautiful with that sweet smile and cherubic face. It was just that she had filled up a bit on her curves.

She had become a woman!

But every now and then somebody would comment on how she used to look in her college days and how she has changed now. Most of the time she would just smile but sometimes she felt bad, sometimes she felt enraged and sometimes she went into depression.

Kartik was always on her side. If he was around he would shoot his favourite dialogue,

“If you want a wife, your children’s mother, a best friend, a professional, a girl-friend, a cook; all wrapped into one and still expect her to be toothpick thin then probably you are asking for too much from a human being!”

But it was not always possible to make others understand how one feels when they talk without thinking.

Today was one such day. Ritu loved chocolates and she was gifted one by her best friend today. As she was about to open it, her nosy neighbour came and commented on how much weight she has put on and how it is not good for her to have chocolates and other high calorie food! She pushed the chocolate in the drawer but couldn’t push the thoughts which were rummaging through her mind!

“Was it her fault that she was genetically prone to put on weight?

Was it her fault that she was suffering from Hypothyroidism?

Was it her fault that even after taking regular treatment she was unable to shed weight?

Was it her fault that she hardly got time to exercise on a regular basis from her multiple duties of being a wife, a mother and a working professional?

Was it her fault that she could not diet as she needed those calories to keep her going?

Was it her fault that Indian females were made to be a bit voluptuous compared to their western and eastern counterparts?

Was it her fault that media was wrongly portraying toothpick thin models and showing that was the way Indian ladies are suppose to look?”

As she stood in front of her drawer, looking at her bar of chocolate longingly, warmth enveloped her from behind. Kartik had come home early with a gift for her – a beautiful skirt and a T-shirt from the “All size” store... He knew she would look beautiful, as always, in those floral clothes!

Shawn, well known to many of you, is moving up in the company and switching desks soon. That leaves me without an assistant, and hence this post.

I'm looking.

The ideal candidate is completely wild about movies, TV, videogames, music, internet culture and books (theater, not so much). Experience on the desk of an agent, manager, development exec or attorney is a plus. You have to be smart, punctual, organized, good-humored, have thick skin, work well with colleagues and cater to the whims of the really famous and the self-important people that hover about them. My desk is busy, so being able to handle my schedule as well as the schedules of many clients is essential.

It helps if you want to work at an agency to be an agent, but it's not required. I've hired attorneys in the past and that's tended to work out well for everyone. A college degree is necessary, but where you went to school isn't that important. Attitude, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn count for a lot more.

Interested or know someone who is? You know how to find me.

UPDATE: Thanks to Julia Allison for mentioning my search on NonSociety - I've gotten some great resumes from her post. To clarify: the position is in Los Angeles and yes, it's EXACTLY the same as it appears in "Entourage".

Boston is buidling a new branch library in Mattapan, designed by William Rawn Associates, doubled the size of the Hyde Park branch, designed by Schwartz/Silver Architects, and Hartford's downtown library renovation was designed by FCHM-S; Fletcher, Harkness, Cohen, Moneyhun-Stopfel.

Fast forward a few years. The other day I attended the kick-off for the "National Cyber Security Awareness Month" this year at the national press club.  Suits from the non-profit org, Symantec, and DHS were on the panel. They talked about their plans to raise awareness (it seems to involve schools, but not much else?) and current threats (ye olde "insider threat" spiel. What a cop-out. Who are your insiders? Your users? Your business partners? Your supply chain? The wife and kids at home who are on the same network as your laptop? The starbucks-going-public? Wake up. You don't have an inside. But, I digress). 

Apparently this is the fifth year there has been an awareness month. Wow. I've certainly never noticed it before. Why is that? At first it seemed like the government just couldn't get its shiot together. But then you have to wonder two - why is this a government issue at all (why arent people self-organizing?) and is this limited to security awareness? Are we having these issues coming to social consensus elsewhere?

(Bear with me here, I havent completely thought this post out yet)

It really seems that the answer to the second question is a resounding yes.  We cannot seem to come to agreement on anything in the US lately...and when we do, it's a conclusion based on only the most oversimplified non-complex versions of "facts".  The reason the government is involved is because people throw up their hands and go "this is too much! help!"

Why is it too much?

A combination of too much data and a lack of common interests and needs on a geographical basis.  A geographically federated state system assumes that people nearest each other have the most in commun wrt value systems, needs, desires, beliefs, culture, etc.  Do we have that now? Somewhat...but not nearly, IMO, as much as we used to and maybe not as much as we need to.

Look at it this way:  If 30% of people in one area agree on something, but so many other people disagree that the 30% is a majority, it's the 30% that gets represented ultimately. That's expected and fine when it happens on some issues. But what happens if interests and values have become so diversified within geographic voting/opinion districts that this kind of discord is the norm?  We may be vastly over-normalizing our opinions to the point where they're not meaningfully reflective of reality and no one will ever happy with the results.  We're essentially making decisions based on noise.

Related to voting, and more pertinent, is that we're not having nearly as many -conversations- or -dialogue- between people based on geo-centric shared interests. Rather, we're talking over the internet and national TV. People with shared interests are collaborating around the world. Virtual communities of interest have become as normal in many areas as real ones. 

This is where Neal Stephenson's franchised governments start to come into play.  States are usually formed around a group of people in one "place" with shared values and interests. If we virtualize and abstract out "place", what do we end up with?

Can we or should we reorganize voting/opinion districts around these opt-in shared communities? You choose which group to join and be a part of.  Everyone in said virtual community votes and that virtual community subsequently votes in large polls/electrions the way its community voted.

Would that work? Would it help? Is that where we're headed?

This post obviously needs to be fleshed out in a lot more detail, but I really dont have the time. Just thinking out loud :)

Jermain Taylor's amateur career was stacked with accolades beginning with the 1996 Under-19 Championship; he then won a pair of PAL Championships and National Golden Gloves titles and finished 2nd and 3rd at the 1997 and 1998 U.S. Championships respectively.

Jermain Taylor then progressed to the next level in his amateur career by winning a bronze medal at the 1998 Goodwill Games. Jermain Taylor also competed in the 1998"Boxer of the Year" award in Texas, coming in an impressive 6th out of 452 entries.

Jermain Taylor was the 1st boxer from Arkansas ever to compete in the Olympic Games. The progression of fights to qualify for a spot on the US Team was as follows:

Defeated Fritz Roberts (Virgin Islands) TKO 2
Defeated Luis Sierra (Puerto Rico) TKO 3
Defeated Scott MacIntosh (Canada) on points
Defeated Hely Yanes (Venezuela) on points
Competing at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Taylor ended up winning the bronze medal.

The progression of fights at the Olympics was as follows:

Defeated Dmitry Usagin (Bulgaria) RSC 1
Defeated Scott MacIntosh (Canada) 23-9
Defeated Adnan Catic (Germany) 19-14
Lost to Yermakhan Ibraimov (Kazakhstan) RSC 4

Amateur highlights:

1998 United States Amateur Light Middleweight Champion.

Results included:

Defeated Yamar Resto on points
Defeated Philip Thrasher on points
Defeated Chris Lords on points
Defeated Anthony Hanshaw on points

1999 United States Amateur Championships at Light Middleweight.

Results were:

Defeated Santiago Rodriguez WDQ 3
Defeated Peter Manfredo Jr TKO 2
Lost to Anthony Hanshaw on points
1999 National Golden Gloves Champion at Light Middleweight.

Results were:

Defeated Jason Aaker by split decision
Defeated Peter Manfredo Jr on points
Defeated David Leal on points
Defeated Dorian Beaupierre on points
Defeated Anthony Hanshaw on points

Since early in his professional career, Jermain Taylor had been touted by many as being the heir apparent to middleweight king Bernard Hopkins. Jermain Taylor dominated all of his opponents at the beginning of his career, scoring wins over respectable fighters such as Raul Marquez and William Joppy (although both were at the end of their careers). On 19 February, 2005, Jermain Taylor defeated the previously unbeaten Daniel Edouard via TKO in round 3. With this win, Jermain Taylor earned a title bout against Bernard Hopkins, who had unified the four major world middleweight titles and was rated by Ring Magazine as the #1 "pound for pound" boxer in the world.

Jermain Taylor fought Bernard Hopkins for the undisputed middleweight championship on 16 July, 2005. Jermain Taylor was more active than the slow-starting Bernard Hopkins early in the fight, missing many of his punches but still winning the early rounds on the official score cards. While Bernard Hopkins gradually became more active and maintained his defense, Jermain Taylor continued to fight aggressively and won some of the middle rounds. Over the last 4 rounds, however, Bernard Hopkins became the aggressor and battered Jermain Taylor, shrinking Jermain Taylor's lead on the scorecards. Nonetheless, Jermain Taylor survived the late surge and won the fight by split decision to become the new undisputed middleweight champion.

On 3 December, 2005, Jermain Taylor won the rematch against Bernard Hopkins again by a unanimous decision. All 3 judges scored the bout 115-113.

On 17 June, 2006, Jermain Taylor faced off against the number 1 contender, Winky Wright at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. Winky Wright surprised many by taking the fight to Jermain Taylor from the starting bell. From early on in the bout Winky Wright was able to trap Jermain Taylor in the corners and land combinations. The bigger and stronger Jermain Taylor, who threw more punches, owned the center of the ring. Jermain Taylor's trainer, Manny Steward, urged Jermain Taylor to stay off the ropes. At several points, Jermain Taylor seemed close to overwhelming Winky Wright with power punches, but Winky Wright always responded with a flurry of his own to keep the match close. Midway through the bout, Jermain Taylor's left eye started to swell dangerously.

By the end of the 11th, the fight was close, with Winky Wright holding a slight edge coming off a strong round. In the 12th, he seemed to have Jermain Taylor off guard with quick footwork and strong boxing, but Jermain Taylor rallied back. The match was scored 115-113 Jermain Taylor, 115-113 Winky Wright and 114-114, and Jermain Taylor retained his middleweight title. After the fight, an incensed Winky Wright left the ring quickly. When Larry Merchant managed to interview him later, Winky Wright made it clear that he felt he had done enough to win. "He didn't do nothing in the 12th," he said. "The fans saw I won that fight." Jermain Taylor was complimentary of his opponent, saying that he did not think he had hurt Winky Wright, whose jab was faster than the champ expected. But, he added, "If he wanted the title so bad, he should have fought all 12 rounds."

On 9 December, 2006, Jermain Taylor fought Kassim Ouma at the Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The match was made because Winky Wright pulled out of a 2nd December rematch, that had been previously scheduled. Fighting in front of 10,119 in attenance, Jermain Taylor repeatedly drilled Kassim Ouma with vicious shots that included numerous uppercuts that repeatedly jolted the undersized Kassim Ouma. Nevertheless, Kassim Ouma never backed off his attack against Jermain Taylor. Jermain Taylor suffered a deep cut in the corner of his left eyelid from an accidental clash of heads in the 5th round, and despite blood periodically flowing for much of the bout, Jermain Taylor continued to hammer away and score the win by unanimous decision.

On 19 May, 2007, Jermain Taylor fought Cory Spinks in Memphis, Tennessee. Jermain Taylor won by split decision over Cory Spinks to retain his title.

On 29 September, 2007, Jermain Taylor fought undefeated Caucasian Kelly Pavlik in Atlantic City. Jermain Taylor dropped Kelly Pavlik in round 2 and came close to scoring a stoppage, yet Kelly Pavlik bravely made it through the round and was able to get back into the fight. Coming into round 7 Jermain Taylor was leading on all 3judge's scorecards but lost his title to Kelly Pavlik when the referee stopped the fight after Jermain Taylor was suddenly knocked out late in the round. In post-match interview, Jermain Taylor said "I thought I was losing so I wasted a lot of energy trying to finish him off", indicating an agreement with Kelly Pavlik who also thought he was winning on the judges' scorecards. For the fight against Kelly Pavlik, Jermain Taylor was trained by Manny Steward.

There was a rematch clause in the contract of the Pavlik-Taylor fight, if Jermain Taylor lost. An above-middleweight rematch took place on 16 February, 2008 in Las Vegas with Jermain Taylor losing by unanimous decision.

Jermain Taylor will fight Jeff Lacy on 15 November in a WBC super middleweight eliminator on HBO.

Jermain Taylor is known to be a huge fan of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. Jermain Taylor gained immense popularity in the state for frequently mentioning how proud he was to be from Arkansas, and has visited the Arkansas campus to talk to various sporting teams. Jermain Taylor now sports a large Razorback on the back of his boxing robe, and "ARKANSAS" is spelled out prominently on his boxing trunks.

Jermain Taylor is married to former Louisiana Tech and former WNBA player Erica Taylor. Jermain Taylor is a graduate of McClellan Magnet High School, Class of 1997.

Jermain Taylor was also a playable boxing character in the video game Fight Night Round 3.

Jermain Taylor struggles with stuttering, mainly when he gets nervous, such as when doing numerous interviews as a boxing champion.

Keep visiting: www.lifechums.com more celebrities featuring shortly ................

Basically, I was approached a few months ago by a senior editor of Symantec's online magazine "Norton Today" because they were interested in doing a piece on Art and Security. I was approached because of my old work in security data visualization and the fact that'd I'd started to rework and hang the pieces in art shows like Artomatic and My Space on 7th.

Anyway, the interview went really well (in addition to being a lot of fun) and it's now online at:

http://nortontoday.symantec.com/features/articles/art_of_security.php

They used a few older images in their Flash slideshow (My fault - I didnt get them newer images in time).  These were the originals we used at NetSec to do analysis and which have been in a number of presentations (and were in the batch I sent to ArcSight as examples when they were still developing Interactive Discovery, iirc).   

You can find the "art" versions that I've hung up in galleries at the following link:

http://sintixerr.wordpress.com/art-versions-of-data-visualizations/

I'm still interested in working more of these, but have been moving from graphing - which was a necessity of the business at the time - into a broader field of ontological information/concept representation in art.

(This is in addition to my media experimentation with / interest in projection. I think Id like to merge these two tracks together in the future, but havent gotten there yet.)

Our "Digital Drapery Documentation" ensures that your decorators original design concepts are preserved during the process. Photography, along with accurate pre and post dimensional measurements guarantee that the "after" will look just like the "before" - only fresher, cleaner and brighter! Our licensed Adjust-A-Drape Process eliminates or minimizes shrinkage. 

Exposure to humidity, oxygen and sunlight can cause permanent damage and color changes, and weaken threads, especially those in folds closest to the window. In cases where the linings of draperies are too sun-burned or yellowed for restoration, but the drapery fabric remains intact, we can custom install replacement linings to make the draperies as good as new! 

Cleaning on a regular basis–we recommend every 2 to 4 years – is important to prolonging the life of your draperies.

Hallak will keep your drapes looking beautiful!

Resulta que jo treballo en una associació d'empreses i fem un newsletter mensual en què expliquem les nostres novetats. I resulta que en l'edició de setembre hi havia un text breu referint-se a una de les moltes companyies que són associades de nosaltres: una de molt important en el seu camp, a nivell estatal. El text era de quatre línies i quan l'estava redactant vaig decidir, com faig sempre -i ha de fer qualsevol professional, de forma gairebé automàtica-, utilitzar diferents fòrmules sinonímiques per no repetir el nom de l'empresa. Una d'elles feia referència a l'origen geogràfic de la mateixa.

Resulta que el capo d'aquesta companyia pateix de trastorns intestinals greus cada vegada que sent l'adjectiu que vaig utilitzar referint-se a ells, i el dissabte passat va decidir transmetre el seu enuig al nostre director general. Què va fer ell? ¿Aconsellar a la persona en qüestió l'ingrés inmediat en un frenopàtic, perquè segurament és una malaltia mental no reconéixer que has nascut en un lloc determinat -i la dolència encara és més greu si t'avergonyeixes d'aquest fet-? No. ¿Baixar-se els pantalons amb l'impresentable en qüestió, però fer creure posteriorment als seus treballadors que els ha defensat? Fred, fred... Sí que es va baixar els pantalons. Però va decidir transmetre fidelment la humiliació sodomita patida en forma d'enculades a tort i a dret. En una paraula: bronca.

He de dir que en 10 anys de contacte amb el periodisme, i havent treballat en vàries empreses de diferent tipus i condició, mai no m'havia trobat amb una situació així. És de pixar-se de riure i indignar-se al mateix temps. Des d'un punt de vista comunicatiu, totes les empreses tenen línies vermelles. I el periodista les interioritza i s'autocensura. No és que això m'agradi, però entra dintre de les regles del joc que has d'acceptar inevitablement. Ara bé: que una organització hagi de censurar-se perquè hi ha una altra empresa, indpendent de la primera, el president de la qual es molesta perquè s'utilitzi un adjectiu abosultament neutre... I que a sobre això sigui motiu de sermó... Això no és comunicació empresarial.... És surrealisme. Està jutificat que busqui una nova feina, oi? Doncs això.

Caltech Industrial Relations Center excels at educating executives in technology-related firms. From classes on leadership development to entering markets in China or outsourcing work to India, their impressive catalog of courses is created to help businesses of any size stay in step with innovative trends, decrease costs, and maximize resources in a time of economic uncertainty. 

Part of keeping down expenditures is increasing efficiency by making sure all of the departments in your company are integrated and striving toward the same goals. Courses in strategic planning help executives learn to make goals, draw up plans for reaching those end results, and following through to make it happen. 

While this may sound like common sense, there is far more than meets the eye when it comes to deliberately implementing innovative ideas and moving a company in a direction that is sometimes shockingly new. It requires a keen eye for identifying strengths and weaknesses and a decisive hand at excising processes that do not work well and ineffective products that no longer meet customers' desires. (Also important is keeping a current knowledge of the customers at whom your products and services are aimed!) Following the market and current trends is a must, as is following technology developments and, if profitable, building alliances to foster cost-effective research and development. 

Competition is hot and today's executives must be willing to arm themselves with the necessary knowledge available for keeping their companies growing and successful. Strategic planning techniques can offer clear vision and smart goals for the future. Taking advantage of a professional course is a great way to acquire these skills and learn how to implement them.

You will then spot the slow movers, and perhaps even those passing down too quickly. If they are moving slowly you can lubricate them before they get stuck. If they are too fast, then perhaps they are missing some qualifying stages without you noticing so check up on their sales records and analyse their progress.

And so it goes on, until as many prospects as possible fall out the bottom as fully-fledged customers. You can specify as many levels in your funnel as you want, but each must have a set of rules that qualify entrants to move on. These should be fixed rules and not up to sales personnel making concessions.

Along with the rules to move down from each level in the funnel, you are advised to have remedial action procedures in place, so once a bottleneck occurs, everybody knows the correct way to free it. These remedial are the lubrication I have referred to, and should be customer friendly and simple to implement.

If applied correctly, a sales funnel is an excellent and professional way to keep tabs on how prospects are faring on their route to becoming established customers. It can identify weaknesses in your sales structure and procedures. If you throw every prospect into your funnel, then you can get a good analysis of the effectiveness of your company in converting them to customers, and also identify the weakness in your sales procedures.

Recently I came across this amazing hack in Make:. It shows you how to backup a RFID passport. Actually it goes way beyond that - you can actually alter the information on the RFID chip.

THC/vonJeek proudly presents an ePassport emulator. This emulator applet allows you to create a backup of your own passport chip(s).

The government plans to use ePassports at Immigration and Border Control. The information is electronically read from the Passport and displayed to a Border Control Officer or used by an automated setup. THC has discovered weaknesses in the system to (by)pass the security checks. The detection of fake passport chips does not work. Test setups do not raise alerts when a modified chip is used. This enables an attacker to create a Passport with an altered Picture, Name, DoB, Nationality and other credentials.

The manipulated information is displayed without any alarms going off. The exploitation of this loophole is trivial and can be verified using thc-epassport.

Yikes! You mean to tell me that I could be anyone I want to be on my ePassport? Including Elvis? Cool. Actually totally UNcool. According to the U.S. State Department, the purpose of the RFID chips is as follows.

The U.S. Electronic Passport (e-passport) is the same as a regular passport with the addition of a small contactless integrated circuit (computer chip) embedded in the back cover. The chip securely stores the same data visually displayed on the photo page of the passport, and additionally includes a digital photograph. The inclusion of the digital photograph enables biometric comparison, through the use of facial recognition technology, at international borders. The U.S. e-passport also has a new look, incorporating additional anti-fraud and security features.

So I'm wondering how exactly all this "biometric comparison through the use of facial recognition" and "anti-fraud and security features" are supposed to accomplish anything when I can alter the information to be whoever I want to be and the mechanism to authenticate and validate those credentials cannot detect the alteration. I guess the bright side is that we only have to pay $25 more than we did before this swell technology was implemented. Given the events of recent weeks that's a bargain!

So I guess that I'll just give the ePassport the consideration it deserves when someone suggests using it as a secure credential. Unless it's Elvis - and then I'll definitely ask for help with a cool weekend project I read about in Make:.