| Norton Rose reaps rewards of comms upgrade
International law firm Norton Rose has signed a 1.9m contract with Affiniti to upgrade its communications network. The legal firm moved from six offices to a single London-based building in May this year and needed to consolidate its communications network. As part of the contract, Affiniti implemented online document collaboration to help speed up contract drafting for clients as its lawyers can work with colleagues around the world. Video and audio conferencing are also available on company laptops to improve communication. Got two seconds? Make your voice heard - take our latest poll. Anthony Salter, programme manager at Norton Rose, said the communications network integrates a host of features and capabilities which can help staff work more effectively and efficiently, without increasing costs.
Vuze to Comcast: It's not a fair race when you own the track
In a conference call, Vuze's general counsel Jay Monahan drew the starkest analogy. What Comcast is really doing, he said, wasn't at all comparable to limiting the number of cars that enter a highway. Instead, it was more like a horse race where the cable company owns one of the horses and the racetrack itself. By slowing down the horse of a competitor like Vuze, even for a few seconds, Comcast makes it harder for that horse to compete. "Which horse would you bet on in a race like that?" asked Monahan. Vuze offers its own video content distributed through P2P technology, and it sees services like Comcast's own video-on-demand offerings as a direct competitor. But smaller, independent publishers also value P2P technology because it allows them to "compete with the big boys" by offering high-quality video files in a way that would not be possible if a nonprofit had to pay directly for all the download bandwidth.
Uncanny device tracks Web experience
They know when a link whisks him to exactly where he wants to go, and when he becomes frustrated with a search. Now, businesses and organizations who want to read the minds of their Web users can tap into that same magic — for a price. Kent State University is turning its ScanPath eye tracking laboratory into an entrepreneurial venture, a way to make money to support programs at the School of Library and Information Science while giving graduate students a chance to help real companies. How it works Rosenberg, the lab manager, demonstrated the uncanny ability of the $60,000 system, which he believes to be the only one in an Ohio university, and one of only a few in the state. A tiny camera at the base of the monitor can track a pair of pupils 50 times per second, pinpointing the eyes' focus down to a single pixel on the computer screen.
Wikileaks restraining order a failure, judge says
Justice can move swiftly when it needs to; after filing the court case on February 6, 2008, lawyers for Baer had obtained a temporary restraining order against Wikileaks by February 15. In addition, they signed an agreement with Dynadot that would redirect the Wikileaks.org domain name to a blank page. The judge in the case granted these injunctions because no one from Wikileaks responded (the leadership of the site is anonymous, and even the location of its servers is opaque). The next hearing was held on February 29, but various news and civil liberties groups appeared in the meantime and pointed out the hugely problematic issues raised by the case. In addition, an Australian man now living in Kenya claimed to be the owner of the Wikileaks domain name and sent a lawyer to the court.
Umbria Announces Webinar on "Making Social Media Work"
Umbria CEO Janet Eden-Harris hosts Forrester Research Senior Analyst Peter Kim to conduct a webinar entitled "Web 2.0 Meets Marketing 2.0: Making Social Media Work" on November 7 at 3:00 pm EST. The webinar explores the importance and growing influence of social media, and how organizations can leverage social media to inform marketing programs including product development, advertising, and competitive analysis. To register for this webinar, visit http://www.umbrialistens.com/forms/landing/webinarNov7.php
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Brain-Reading Headset to Sell for $299
How about controlling games with your thoughts instead? Later this year, Emotiv Systems Inc. plans to start selling the $299 EPOC neuroheadset to let you do just that. The headset's sensors are designed to detect conscious thoughts and expressions as well as "non-conscious emotions" by reading electrical signals around the brain, says the company, which demonstrated the wireless gadget at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The company, which unveiled a prototype last year, says the headset can detect emotions such as anger, excitement and tension, as well as facial expressions and cognitive actions like pushing and pulling objects. The headset will be sold with a game developed by Emotiv, but it can also be made to work with existing PC games, the company said.
Roses ‘n’ Razzies
ROSE (roz) n. One of the most beautiful of all flowers, a symbol of fragrance and loveliness. Often given as a sign of appreciation.RASPBERRY (raz'ber'e) n. A sharp, scornful comment, criticism or rebuke; a derisive, splatting noise, often called the Bronx cheer.We hereby deliver: ROSES to volunteers who helped our neighbors in the North Santiam Canyon cope with the snowiest winter in more than 50 years. Although our local 2.25 inches of snowfall for January seemed like a lot to us, it was nothing compared to the more than 100 inches that fell in the past few weeks in Idanha and Marion Forks.It hasn't snowed that much in the mountains since the early 1950s. There to help the residents keep warm, fed and safe and dig out were scores of volunteers.The Oregon National Guard's 1249th Engineer Battalion and the 142nd Civil Engineering Squadron sent, according to their own press release, "nearly three dozen citizen-soldiers and airmen with heavy equipment to the cities in eastern Marion County along U.S.
McCann Associates' Measured Success(TM) Selected as Finalist In 23rd ...
McCann Associates has been an integral part of the employee selection process for decades. With the advent of our online assessment technology, we are pleased to carry McCann's long-standing tradition into a new era, and serve a greater industry base." The CODiE Awards program has carried forward the vision of showcasing the software and information industry's finest products and services. The program continues a tradition of honoring the best software, content, and education technology industries. The 23rd annual CODiE Awards Gala will be held on May 20 at the Westin Street Francis Hotel in San Francisco during the annual SIIA Annual Conference. ABOUT MCCANN ASSOCIATES McCann Associates has designed and delivered custom-developed, high-stakes, and diagnostic professional assessments for public and private organizations since 1959, with an emphasis on employment screening and career advancement evaluations for public safety occupations.
Travel magazine boosts Biloxi
More than a million people should see Biloxi is "Alive and Thriving" when they read a two-page article in the March issue of Budget Travel magazine. "While this Mississippi city will never forget Hurricane Katrina, its residents are ready to embrace a bright, shiny future," the article begins. Readers will see photos of the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art pod pavilion on the beach along with the casino strip, Mary Mahoney's, Emeril's Gulf Coast Fish House and Hard Rock Casino. They'll learn the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport has more direct flights now than before Katrina, and that the Biloxi Bay Bridge again connects Biloxi with the live-music bars in Ocean Springs like the Julep Room Lounge. "It's good for everybody," said Marjie Gowdy, director of the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art, who received a copy from the publisher.
CHP, Sheriff's Office get tasers
With the recent purchase of tasers, some law enforcement officers in western Nevada County have cultivated a strong respect for the pain stun guns can inflict.
"It's the worst pain I've ever felt in my entire life," said CHP Officer Earl Cummins, shaking his head. "It's like a full body cramp, but worse."
Cummins volunteered to be a guinea pig at a training session Tuesday for Grass Valley California Highway Patrol officers where they learned to use seven new stun guns, purchased by the state of California at $788 each.
When Cummins was tased, he dropped to the ground, fellow CHP Officer Dina Hernandez said.
"I will never, ever, ever, ever do it again," Cummins said. "After they did it, all I could think about was, 'please don't let them do it again.' But then it's over."
The taser attacks a person's central nervous system, shooting 50,000 volts of electricity.
AMD devises telehealth kit for first-responders
N. CHELMSFORD, Mass. AMD Telemedicine (www.amdtelemedicine.com), a telemedicine equipment leader, announced that it has created a Deployable Telemedicine Kit and is working to identify disaster organizations, first-responder teams and medical facilities around the world that would be able to deploy and/or utilize this type of medical equipment in the event of a disaster.
With the kits, healthcare providers in the field would have the ability to send photo images of inner ear/nose/throat, trauma to extremities, soft tissue injuries, captured ultrasound images, digital 12-lead electrocardiograms, digital lung capacity reports, and heart or lung sounds.
The specialist in the field would then send the information to a medical specialist via satellite, Internet, or Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN), providing an evaluation and/or consultation for these remote victims using live videoconferencing or store and forward applications.
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