PERSONAL: Born c. 1969, in TX. Education: Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, M.B.A., 1999. Hobbies and other interests: Golf.
ADDRESSES: Home—San Francisco, CA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Perseus Books, 387 Park Ave. S., 12th Floor, New York, NY 10016.
CAREER: Ernst & Young Information Technology Group, Senior Consultant; Platinum Concepts, Inc., San Francisco, CA, cofounder, 1999—. Speaker at business schools and conferences on entrepreneurship and start-ups.
The MouseDriver Chronicles: The True-Life Adventures of Two First-Time Entrepreneurs, epilogue by Kyle Harrison, Perseus Publishing (Cambridge, MA), 2002.
Also author, with Kyle Harrison, of bimonthly e-mail newsletter The MouseDriver Insider, 1999-2002. Contributor of articles to Web sites.
SIDELIGHTS: Even at the height of the dot-com boom of the 1990s, some highly educated young entrepreneurs were willing to take a chance and start old-fashioned consumer-product businesses. John Lusk and Kyle Harrison were the only ones of the 792 1999 M.B.A. graduates of the prestigious Wharton School to take that path, despite lucrative job offers from Internet startups and venture capital firms, and despite their own experience in management consulting. They eventually achieved modest success with their novelty product, the MouseDriver, a computer mouse shaped like the head of a golf club. Blessed with keen insight and communication skills, the two men then parlayed their modest business success into careers as motivational speakers, start-up consultants, and eventually authors.
Faced with the daunting challenges that confront every start-up, and lacking any hands-on experience, Lusk and Harrison started an e-mail newsletter, The MouseDriver Insider, to vent their emotions, share their experiences and seek advice and support. Mike Hofman later wrote in Inc. that the biweekly newsletter, "filled with observations that are profoundly mundane," quickly attracted a small but elite following among venture capital and investment banking firms, and became assigned reading in a few business schools.
The newsletter attracted enough attention to win its creators a cover story in Inc. that, in turn, led to contacts from several literary agents and, eventually, a book offer. The result, The MouseDriver Chronicles: The True-Life Adventures of Two First-Time Entrepreneurs, "takes the reader on an exhilarating ride of the development and debut of an original new product," according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer. A Strategic Finance contributor found it "a very good guide for other bright-eyed entrepreneurs with a good idea and little financing."
The book highlights the authors' sometimes unconventional approach. Lusk told BookPage.com interviewer Stephanie Swilley that they would "walk into a store, pretend like we were looking for gifts, find MouseDriver on the shelves and then scream and shout about how it was such a cool product." Aiming to appeal with self-deprecating humor, the authors contrast the lessons of business school with such realities as typhoons delaying shipment and distributors defaulting on payment. They describe how they were quickly forced to acquire practical skills in design, financing, manufacturing, marketing, sales, and customer relations. They provide both practical tips and emotional support for budding entrepreneurs. In fact, Lusk told Karin Pekarchik in Business Week Online that he would "like to see more emphasis placed on the emotional aspects of entrepreneurship in business school." He explained that the book was designed to help fill that gap, by presenting "a very realistic, honest, and authentic insight into what it's like to go through the entrepreneurial experience—the highs, lows, failures, successes, and emotions associated with it."
Despite inexperience and a series of errors and mishaps, the company eventually managed to break even, earning an annual income of six hundred thousand dollars on sales of fifty thousand units.
Booklist, December 15, 2001, review of The MouseDriver Chronicles: The True-Life Adventures of Two First-Time Entrepreneurs, p. 693.
Boston Globe, February 10, 2002, D. C. Denison, review of The MouseDriver Chronicles, p. G2.
Business Week, March 25, 2002, review of The MouseDriver Chronicles, p. 14E10.
Inc., February, 2001, Mike Hofman, "An American Start-Up."
Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 2001, review of The MouseDriver Chronicles, p. 1536.
Library Journal, February 1, 2002, Norm Hutcherson, review of The MouseDriver Chronicles, p. 111.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 21, 2002, review of The MouseDriver Chronicles.
Publishers Weekly, December 3, 2001, review of The MouseDriver Chronicles, p. 51.
Strategic Finance, March, 2002, review of The MouseDriver Chronicles, p. 21.
Texas Business Weekly, February 6, 2002, Tamara Young, review of The MouseDriver Chronicles.
USA Today, January 21, 2002, review of The MouseDriver Chronicles, p. B7.
BookPage.com,http://www.bookpage.com/ (February, 2002), Stephanie Swilley, "Driving It Home: Entrepreneurial Advice from the Mouse Men" (interview).
Business Week Online,http://www.businessweek.com/ (July 11, 2002), Karin Pekarchik, "What Drives the MouseDriver Guys?"
MouseDriver Web site,http://www.mousedriver.com/ (November 22, 2004).*
MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ --
Today, U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray announced the launch of its new http://www.piperjaffray.com site, a leading financial Web site. The new site captures the expertise of U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, reflecting the firm's leadership as "Guides for the Journey (SM)" in the financial industry. Experienced financial guides offer advice on personal finance, institutional investing and investments for businesses. Market commentary, proprietary stock and bond research and quotes are constantly updated to make the site a smart resource for investors. The site also offers educational resources important to every investor, from college planning tips, to the latest estate tax changes.
All four U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray divisions are represented in the new site -- Private Advisory Services, Equity Capital Markets, Fixed Income Capital Markets and Asset Management. "The new Web site puts our clients front and center, addressing their needs -- which is one of our firm's guiding principles," said Andrew Duff, President and Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. "In addition to putting clients first, the firm is dedicated to delivering the best advice and service in the industry by some of the industry's top talent. The Web site embodies these firm wide guiding principles."
Launch Dovetails with that of http://www.usbank.com
The new U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray site has a similar look and functionality of the new U.S. Bank site, http://www.usbank.com , re-launching simultaneously. U.S. Bancorp is the holding company for both U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray and U.S. Bank. The compatibility of the sites makes it easy for investors to access our full complement of banking and brokerage services.
New "Markets at a Glance" Feature
Among the new features of the site is "Markets at a Glance," offering timely stock information (quotes, charts and news). "Markets at a Glance" also includes a bond investment section with news, calendars and interest rate indexes, and daily, weekly and monthly market commentaries from our leading market strategists covering both the stock and the bond markets, as well as macro-economic viewpoints and asset allocation tips. Other features include proprietary equity and fixed income research including daily stock reports and credit market analysis.
Links to Related Sites
-- Full-Service Brokerage Site ( https://online.piperjaffray.com )
The new site continues to link to the firm's full-service brokerage site, https://online.piperjaffray.com , including online trading capabilities, which has earned industry recognition as a top site for investors. The former U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray individual investor services site ranked sixth in the summer/fall 2001 Gomez rankings of brokerage Web sites. There are more than 200 brokerage firm Web sites.
While the brokerage site will initially look the same as it has in the past, future phases include hosting a page of leading financial advisors so that clients can find an advisor in their area. Investors will soon be able to read through financial advisors' biographies to ascertain their experience and investment style, and select an advisor that suits them. Maps and driving directions to branch offices will facilitate an initial consultation, which U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray financial advisor's offer free of charge.
The new site is another in a series of client focused Internet enhancements. The following are descriptions of the other sites/links accessible from the new piperjaffray.com.
U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Asset Management ( http://www.faamonline.com )
A newly re-designed site for U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Asset Management ( http://www.faamonline.com ) launches at the same time as http://www.piperjaffray.com . The site features news and announcements; product information; investment philosophy; and information about the management team and staff. Institutional clients can access quarterly performance statements, daily portfolio holdings and transactions, and update their own user profiles. The site also makes it possible for users to update their own user profiles.
First American Funds ( http://www.firstamericanfunds.com )
Another Web site accessible from piperjaffray.com is a new site for First American Funds ( http://www.firstamericanfunds.com ) launched Sept. 27. The site provides descriptions of each First American Fund as well as daily updated net asset values for each of the funds. Additionally, fund performance is updated monthly on the site.
First American clients who have non-broker-controlled accounts can access information about their accounts, download applications and forms and get information about share classes and purchasing fund shares. Investor education and planning tools on the site help these clients plan their investments.
The site also makes it possible for clients who have non-broker-controlled accounts to purchase and exchange fund investments online, as well as access and download balances, transaction histories and tax summaries. Clients can also make address changes and checkbook re-orders and request duplicate statements, duplicate tax forms and agreement updates.
Equity Research ( http://www.gotoanalysts.com )
Gotoanalysts.com is the multimedia site for Equity Capital Markets that features industry insights, top picks, select research reports and market commentary from our equity analysts, fixed income analysts and market strategists. Gotoanalysts.com also offers free industry newsletters, web casts of investor conferences, daily reports from the morning meeting and much more.
Media Center (http://www.gotoanalysts.com/piperpublic/mediaroom/index.as )
The Media Center is a one-stop shop for members of the news media. It can be accessed through piperjaffray.com or the above URL. Media will find biographies, photos and research for the firm's four main business lines: Equity Capital Markets, Fixed Income, Private Advisory Services and U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Asset Management. Media may use the "register online" button to receive a username and password and access our research on this site.
U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), provides a full range of investment products and services to businesses, institutions and individuals. U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray has a national reputation for its expertise in fundamental research and equity and debt financing. U.S. Bancorp offers a comprehensive range of financial solutions through U.S. Bank, U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Asset Management and U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. Securities products and services offered through U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, Inc., member SIPC and NYSE, Inc., a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp.
Nondeposit investment products are not insured by the FDIC, are not deposits or other obligations of or guaranteed by U.S. Bank National Association or its affiliates, and involve investment risks, including possible loss of the principal amount invested. Securities products and services are offered through U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc., member SIPC and NYSE, Inc., a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp. (5/99-0679)
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Lafe Low is executive director of the Adventure Club of North America and editor of ACONA Outdoor Adventure.
A media management system lets you turn digital data into digital assets.
Do the math. On average, a monthly, four-color magazine uses anywhere from 75 to 100 scans per issue. Over the course of an entire year, that adds up to more than 1,000 digital images, plus the final page-layout files. It you're a multi-title publisher, you'll be swimming in digital media by the end of your annual production cycle.
"Companies have so much digital content that they can't keep track of it, find it or use it," says Frank Leibly, director of Banta Corporation's Digital Content Management Solutions Center, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Banta's current client list includes catalogers, direct marketers and book publishers. Magazine clients, say company representatives, will follow shortly.) "I think we all assumed computers would make it simple to locate what we need, but that hasn't proven to be true. In some ways we're worse off than when we had piles of art boards. At least we knew where they were."
These image and text files can do a lot more than cause organizational headaches for production directors. With a media management system that catalogs and archives photos, illustrations and composed pages and lets users search and retrieve at will, you can turn digital data into digital assets. Asset management systems help increase workflow efficiencies between titles and mine new revenue streams from reprints and Web publishing.
Magazine publishing companies of all sizes are catching on to the concept of digital-asset management, hut as is often the case with the implementation of a new technology or workflow system, they are easing into the process gently. "We're going to approach this methodically' says Richard French, vice president of technology for the trade magazine division of NewYork City-based McGraw-Hill. Companies, which publishes 19 magazines and 31 newsletters. "We're making the transition from the Jaz Drive approach to Cascade's MediaSphere," he says. (MediaSphere can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000 per seat.)
It's more than a database
After conducting pilot projects--archiving the digital assets of Chemical Engineering (a monthly title) and Business Week--McGraw-Hill is ready to expand the use of its digital archives to some of its other publications. "We were reasonably happy with the results,' French reports "Now we re going to roll it out in a production sense. The next victim will probably be Aviation Week". According to French, Aviation Week is next on the block because as a weekly, it generates a significant amount of material that warrants being archived.
Digital-asset management systems, such as Cumulus from San Francisco-based Canto Software, MediaSphere from Andover, Massachusetts-based Cascade Systems, and MediaBank from Burlington, Massachusetts-based Archetype, Inc., function as elaborate image and graphic databases, each with a variety of special features and capabilities. Most products can archive and catalog virtually any format of graphics files, complete QuarkXFress page-layout files, text files or any other digital element that goes onto a magazine page, as well as audio and video files. Production users can search for archived images or page files using keyword or natural language database queries, so archive searches can be as broad or specific as needed. Digital-asset management systems also provide thumbnail views of images along with corresponding search data, as well as full-page views so queries can include not only the images on a page, but the content, too.
Frank Moldstad, editor of PG Graphics and Video in Santa Ana, California, calls tapping into the monthly's digital archive for Web-site content, "repurposing at its finest." Many of these products now include features specifically for Web publishing. Cascade provides an extension to MediaSphere called MediaSphere/W3 that functions as a content manager to facilitate repurposing archival material directly to a Web page, Canto's Cumulus Internet Image Server is its solution for Web-site publishing, and Archetype offers the MediaBank Web Interface for direct Web publishing.
What to look for
The ability to retrieve archived elements quickly and efficiently is an important consideration when evaluating a digital-asset management system. "If you don't know where things are, you might as well not keep them. You have to have them in an order you understand," says Moldstad.
Tom Reale, production systems analyst for Miller Freeman, based in San Francisco, organizes his digital archives by many criteria. His department handles the digital archiving for 65 percent of Miller Freeman s approximately 80 titles. "We can customize [the image catalogs],' he says, "and we can group like objects together for the high-tech titles, the healthcare publications, or the publications for the textile industry."
Miller Freeman's archives are also categorized by copyright status Reale anticipates that the company's digital archive will eliminate certain time-consuming processes required to verify copyright. "We have them stored by articles we own and articles for which copyright needs to be confirmed. That will eliminate what is now a manual process" he says.
Reale has been using MediaSphere for nearly two years and is especially proud of the archiving and storage capabilities the system provides for Miller Freeman s geographically diverse publications. "We've got publications in San Francisco, Laguna Beach and San Mateo, California, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Lawrence, Kansas, and Dallas, Texas," he explains. "All of the data from those titles are warehoused in our San Francisco location using a wide area network [WAN]."
Since Reale s department ramped up production over the past year, he says they are now storing Quark files and high- and low-resolution images. "We can store anything they throw at us," he boasts.
Reprints and new editions
If reprints are a part of your current revenue mix, a digital-asset management system can pay for itself with increased reprint sales. "A reprint can be a couple of things' says McGraw-Hill's French. "Manufacturers will come to us and say, 'I love the article you wrote about us I want 5,000 copies to pass out at a trade show' That's our traditional reprint business."
However, a well-organized digital archive also facilitates selling reprints directly to general retail customers. Although French sees this as a limited avenue of reprint sales, it has the potential to grow through the careful management of digital assets Having the ability to produce and sell reprints directly cuts out the middleman, he says.
Miller Freeman is streamlining the process of preparing archival material for use on the Web. "We're looking to help production users build a bridge to HTML [hypertext markup language]," says Reale Soon, magazine archives will be available in HTML Reale adds "Are we 100 percent there yet? No Are we going to get there in about four months? Yes."
Once the material is ready for use as Web-page content, individual magazines take the ball from there. "We're using it as an in-house facilitation process. It's up to each publication whether or not they want it to be a revenue generator, and whether or not they're going to leverage this media. This gives them content back in the form that they need it," he says.
Profit from efficiencies
Besides the revenue potential of reprints and Web pages, a well-organized archive can save a magazine money by streamlining daily operations. Philip Morrongiello, photo editor for Woman's Day, is using Canto's Cumulus primarily as an image bank, although he plans to expand the archive to include entire Quark pages with all their respective elements.
'The designers and production staff at Woman's Day use Cumulus as a resource. Any designer who needs to view unpublished or previously published images can search through the archive using general or specific keywords.
'The designers can browse through [the images] themselves instead of coming over to my desk," explains Morrongiello. Such increased access to a magazine's image bank can improve the editor's or the designer's creativity as well as his or her productivity. "This could radically change the nature of the way people do things," he continues. "An editor working on a story about coughing could see every visualization of coughing we've done over the years."
Morrongiello thinks the easy-to-install Cumulus, at a price of $2,000 for a five-user package, can certainly save his department money. 'The IS guy was in and out of here in three hours, and we're all on our way," he says.
Media partnership
More publishers are starting to see the importance of maintaining a digital archive and are taking steps toward establishing their own, but prepress suppliers and printers can also become partners, creating and maintaining publishers' archives. "It's been a real explosion," says Leonard Bacharach, director of marketing for New York City-based Applied Graphics Technologies (AGT), which does digital prepress, imaging and archiving for clients such as Time Inc, Conde Nast Publications, McGraw-Hill and US News & World Report "[Publishers] realize that maintaining a digital archive is a tremendous advantage," says Bacharach. AGT has an on-site digital-asset management service called Digital Link, based on a proprietary system developed by the Digital Imaging Service division in Rochester New York.
With any new technology application, apprehension about its ease of use can be a major obstacle to its widespread acceptance. That apprehension toward most digital-asset management systems is misplaced, according to Morrongiello. "It's really blowing my mind," he comments. "I'm still really overwhelmed by what [Cumulus] can do, and it is really not that complicated. Most people won't even consider using it because they think it's going to be a hassle, but at the very least, you will end up with a well-organized catalog."
Hate that old wireless router that keeps dropping your connection? TP-LINK invites you to film the most creative way to destroy it
CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif., July 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- TP-LINK, a global provider of networking products, today announced a new contest for those fed up with inconsistent wireless Internet connections. For all those times you wished you could throw your router off a high building, blow it up or take a sledgehammer to it...now's your chance. The three most creative videos of killing your old router will win great prizes from TP-LINK.
In this day and age where a stable, fast wireless connection is the key to most Internet activities at home, in cafes or at work, nothing can be more frustrating than errors leading to spotty or dropped wireless connections. Add to that the unpleasant experience of inconsistent technical support and the anger can reach a boiling point.
TP-LINK wants to provide you with an outlet for that pent up aggression. "Kill Your Old Router" aims to kill two birds with one stone: providing a safe outlet to release your frustration and introduce you to a more reliable wireless router such as the 300 Mbps Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit Router from TP-LINK.
To enter the "Kill Your Old Router" contest, simply do the following:
1. Film a short video clip (no more than 30 seconds) of a creative way that you use to destroy your old router. (Remember to dispose of it safely!)
2. If you haven't already, "Like" the TP-LINK Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/tplink
3. After "Liking" the TP-LINK Facebook page, you'll find the "Kill Your Old Router" contest page with instructions on how to upload
That's it! If your video is creative enough, it just might be selected as one of the winners. The Grand Prize is a new Nintendo Wii along with a TP-LINK 300 Mbps Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit Router. The runner up will receive an Ultimate Wireless N Gigabit Router (300 Mbps) from TP-LINK. Third place will receive a Wireless N USB Adapter.
Submissions will be accepted until midnight August 21, 2011 Pacific Time.
About TP-LINK
TP-LINK is a global provider of networking products, available in over 100 countries with tens of millions of customers. With the number one market share in China, TP-LINK is committed to innovative R&D, effective production and strict quality management. TP-LINK provides wireless routers & adapters, wireless access points, 3G routers, ADSL modem routers, Powerline products, IP cameras, print servers, SOHO/SMB routers and SOHO/SMB switches. Visit us at http://www.tp-link.com/en/.
Media Contact: Edward@firecrackerpr.com, 1-888-417-4687 ext. 1, www.firecrackerpr.com
SOURCE TP-LINK
Level 3 Commits to Increasing Presence and Operations for Pittsburgh Enterprise Customers at Local Appreciation Event
PITTSBURGH, June 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) announced that it is hosting a customer appreciation and awareness event today in Pittsburgh to highlight its commitment to expanded operations in the city and Western Pennsylvania. This event reflects Level 3's ongoing commitment to enhancing its presence in local markets throughout the country, with the goal of providing its customers with a world-class customer experience.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110523/LA06722LOGO)
Emphasizing this commitment, the company plans to add additional capacity to the network in the region and expand the number of businesses that are directly connected to the Level 3 fiber network. Level 3 currently has approximately 2,000 route miles of fiber in the Western Pennsylvania market with over 1,000 miles of that in the greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area, passing within reach of thousands of local businesses. Level 3's efforts in Pittsburgh provide its customers with access to the full suite of Level 3 services, enabling them to quickly and easily increase their bandwidth as business needs grow.
In support of this effort, Level 3 continues to grow its local workforce in Pittsburgh to combine in-depth knowledge of the Pittsburgh marketplace with broad technical expertise in advanced telecommunications services. Through a combination of its existing extensive backbone network, metro fiber-optic footprint and a locally focused sales, operations and customer support team, Level 3 provides greater opportunities for its customers to take advantage of Level 3's broad portfolio of communications solutions.
"After working with multiple national carriers, Sierra Data Centers moved to Level 3's network services in late 2009. Since adding Level 3 to our infrastructure, we have taken it from a 98 percent up time to a 100 percent up time, never experiencing a single outage for our Level 3 configuration," said Bruce Freshwater, chief technology officer for Sierra Data Centers. "Now, with their even greater focus on Western Pennsylvania, we would highly recommend Level 3 for everything from the small office environment to advanced enterprises and datacenters; there is no better provider available."
"Pittsburgh is home to a diverse enterprise marketplace, and we're focused on continually improving our customers' experience there," said Stan Stanek, Level 3's General Manager for Western Pennsylvania. "Level 3 is dedicated to providing its customers with an experienced local sales, support and operations team that is committed to solving business challenges with advanced network solutions, thereby enabling Pittsburgh to meet the rising challenges of an interconnected global marketplace."
About Level 3 Communications
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) is a leading international provider of fiber-based communications services. Enterprise, content, wholesale and government customers rely on Level 3 to deliver services with an industry-leading combination of scalability and value over an end-to-end fiber network. Level 3 offers a portfolio of metro and long-haul services, including transport, data, Internet, content delivery and voice. For more information, visit www.Level3.com.
(c) Level 3 Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Level 3, Level 3 Communications and the Level 3 Communications Logo are either registered service marks or service marks of Level 3 Communications, LLC and/or one of its Affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Level 3 services are provided by wholly owned subsidiaries of Level 3 Communications, Inc. Any other service names, product names, company names or logos included herein are the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statement
Some of the statements made in this press release are forward looking in nature. These statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs. These forward looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside Level 3's control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. The most important factors that could prevent Level 3 from achieving its stated goals include, but are not limited to, the current uncertainty in the global financial markets and the global economy; disruptions in the financial markets that could affect Level 3's ability to obtain additional financing; as well as the company's ability to: increase and maintain the volume of traffic on the network; successfully integrate acquisitions; develop effective business support systems; defend intellectual property and proprietary rights; manage system and network failures or disruptions; develop new services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; adapt to rapid technological changes that lead to further competition; attract and retain qualified management and other personnel; and meet all of the terms and conditions of debt obligations. Additional information concerning these and other important factors can be found within Level 3's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important factors. Level 3 is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
| Contact Information | |
| Media: | Investors: |
| Jon Paul McLeary | Mark Stoutenberg |
| 720-888-3244 | 720-888-2518 |
SOURCE Level 3 Communications, Inc.
BATON ROUGE, LA -- The following information was released by the Louisiana Department of Revenue:
Protect tax records and financial documents from storms, floods, and other emergencies, the Louisiana Department of Revenue advises taxpayers.
The 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season began on June 1. The National Weather Service says there is a 65 percent chance of an above-normal season. Early preparation is the key to making sure your family, property, and important personal records remain safe.
Keep Documents Secure
Water damage poses a particular threat to paper records. In advance of a storm or flood, protect these documents by placing them in airtight containers and moving them out of harm's way.
Use Paperless Media
Most bank statements and other financial documents are available as electronic records from your financial institution. Preserve these data by burning them to CDs or saving them to portable memory drives.
Scan important paper records such as W-2s, payroll records, and tax returns into an electronic format. Many commercially available home printers include easy-to-use scanning features.
In addition, some web-based e-mail services such as Google's Gmail or Microsoft's Hotmail offer free online document storage. You can upload your electronic records directly from your home computer and download them again from any machine with Internet access.
Document Valuables and Business Equipment
Compile a room-by-room list of your belongings or business equipment. Photograph or videotape the contents of your home or business, especially items of high value.
Having a visual record of your valuables can provide proof for an insurance claim. It can also help to verify a loss claim on state and federal tax returns.
In the event of a disaster, the Department of Revenue can provide information on potential tax deductions or credits, filing extensions, and other tax-related matters. Bookmark www.revenue.louisiana.gov as the source for state tax-related information.
NASHVILLE, TN -- The following information was released by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA):
The deadline to apply for participation in Tennessee's third-ever managed elk hunt is approaching. Sportsmen have until midnight (CDT) on May 31 to submit their application to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
The third elk hunt will be held Oct. 17-21, 2011 at the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area, located off I-75, north of Knoxville. Once again, there will be five Elk Hunting Zones designated at the WMA.
Persons may apply at any TWRA license agent, TWRA regional office or online at www.tnelkhunt.org. Mailed applications will not be accepted.
As in the previous two hunts, five individuals will be selected to participate. Four of the participants will be selected through a computer drawing conducted by the TWRA. Nonresident applicants will be restricted to no greater than 25 percent of the drawn permits.
The fifth participant will be the recipient of a permit that is donated to a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) which this year is the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation. The permit will be auctioned on eBay. The auction period will be announced at a later date. Fund-raising proceeds are designated for the TWRA Elk Program.
There is no application fee for current Tennessee Annual Sportsman License holders, Lifetime Sportsman License holders, or an Annual Senior Citizen Permit (Type 167). All other applicants will be charged a $10 non-refundable permit fee, a $2 internet usage fee (if applying online). For those applying at a license agent, there is a $1 agent fee in addition to the $10 non-refundable permit fee.
The successful applicants will be announced at the June meeting of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission. Successful applicants will not be allowed to reapply for an elk quota hunt permit for 10 years following a successful draw.
---TWRA---
ISLAMABAD: NADRA Technologies Limited (NTL) and Ufone have signed an agreement to give customers more options and places to pay their utility bills at more than 11,000 U-Shops around the country. December 29 (THE NATION): Deputy Chairman NADRA Tariq Malik and President Ufone Abdul Aziz signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate the masses, says a press release issued here on Wednesday. The Deputy Chairman NADRA on this occasion complimented the Ufone management for their initiative and customer care preferences while entering into agreement with NTL. He further emphasised that e-Sahulat platform was a tip of the iceberg and NTL was in process of transforming this platform into National Smart Service Platform for e-commerce. Through this Smart Service Platform, organisations can utilise e-Sahulat touch points for cash in and cash out transactions under branchless regulations issued by the SBP. This arrangement will help commercial banks and Telcos to extend branchless banking concept through e-Sahulat without raising any infrastructure thereby saving capital and operational cost. It is expected that this arrangement once put in place will facilitate general public especially in rural areas with solutions housed in congenial environments, while exposing the public to state-of-the-art-technology. Abdul Aziz, CEO Ufone, said that Ufone was constantly looking to better the lives of the people of Pakistan by providing the best quality and most innovative services in the country. This partnership with NADRA would help give customers more options and places to pay their utility bills at more than 11,000 U-Shops around the country, he added. The NADRA Technologies Ltd (NTL) has undertaken an innovative approach to develop a billing switch to provide an integrated system response to clients for payment of utility bills through alternate channels like mobiles phones, internet, ATM, bank branches and telcos outlets. In this connection NTL and Ufone have signed an agreement under which NTL has offered their billing switch to Ufone facilitating the payment of utility bills through U-shops and other outlets.
(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)
Army Contract Follows Successful Tests of Two ATK Alternative Warhead Designs for GMLRS Work to be Performed at ATK Facilities in Plymouth, Minnesota and Rocket Center, West Virginia
MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alliant Techsystems was awarded a $4 million Integration and Demonstration (I&D) contract by the U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command. ATK was one of three companies awarded an I&D contract to develop an alternative warhead for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS). The I&D phase will span 17 months and conclude with a live-fire test at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, where the Army will down-select a design to proceed into the engineering and manufacturing design and demonstration (EMDD) phase.
During the I&D phase ATK will perform engineering trade studies, component and system optimization, simulation and analysis, preliminary design, and warhead fabrication and testing. The ultimate goal is to develop a drop-in replacement for the currently fielded Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munition (DPICM) warhead for the GMLRS.
In 2008, ATK self-funded the development and testing of two GMLRS warhead configurations to demonstrate different technical designs. Both configurations were successfully tested and the best design was selected for the I&D phase. ATK's innovative design uses commercial grade components to meet mission requirements, lower technical risk, match current warhead flight characteristics and not modify the existing delivery system.
"ATK's GMLRS alternative warhead design is a prime example of our ability to develop innovative and advanced technical approaches to deliver safer, more effective and affordable products for our warfighters," said Bart Olson, vice president and general manager of ATK Tactical Propulsion and Controls division. "ATK's self-funded demonstration program allowed us to enter this competition with a design that meets mission requirements, reduces the likelihood of battlefield unexploded ordnance, and meets our customer's cost goals."
Design, development, analysis, and simulation work will be performed at ATK's Plymouth, Minnesota facility. Warhead production will occur at our ATK's Alleghany Ballistics Laboratory in Rocket Center, West Virginia.
ATK is a premier aerospace and defense company with more than 18,000 employees in 22 states, Puerto Rico and internationally, and revenues of approximately $4.8 billion. News and information can be found on the Internet at http://www.atk.com/.
Certain information discussed in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although ATK believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Among those factors are: the challenges of designing and developing warheads; changes in governmental spending, budgetary policies and product sourcing strategies; the company's competitive environment; the terms and timing of awards and contracts; and economic conditions. ATK undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For further information on factors that could impact ATK, and statements contained herein, please refer to ATK's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Media Contact: Investor Contact: Rod Gibbons Jeff Huebschen Phone: 410-864-4932 Phone: 952-351-2929 E-mail: rod.gibbons@atk.com E-mail: jeff.huebschen@atk.com
CONTACT: Media, Rod Gibbons, +1-410-864-4932, rod.gibbons@atk.com, or Investors, Jeff Huebschen, +1-952-351-2929, jeff.huebschen@atk.com, both of ATK
Web Site: http://www.atk.com/
FORT WAYNE, Ind.--Feb. 17--Patterned velvets, silks and tapestries will join the familiar cotton print handbags at Vera Bradley Designs Inc. for its fall collection.
The new look is courtesy of a new designer, Sonja Benson, who joined the Fort Wayne accessories company this winter. Vera Bradley bought Benson's 4-year-old enterprise, Femtio, a maker of dressy and just plain funky handbags.
Terms of the purchase, Vera Bradley's first acquisition, were not disclosed.
Benson started talking to Vera Bradley's owners, Pat Miller and Barbara Baekegaard, last summer. She was looking for advice on expanding her company, not looking to sell it.
"When Sonja saw Vera Bradley firsthand and we met Sonja face-to- face, our minds started branching out in all directions," Miller said.
"I felt like we all clicked together," Benson said.
Benson's bags have little in common with the traditional Vera Bradley line, except that they're fabric. A former art director and executive with major advertising agencies -- and a seamstress from a young age -- Benson makes bags of rich fabrics with often fanciful trims.
Her bags are shaped as pouches, envelopes and mini-backpacks instead of the traditional, rectangularly shaped bag that is Vera Bradley's trademark.
She's now experimenting with some of Vera Bradley's signature prints in those styles, as well as developing styles in other fabrics for a fall line the company will introduce under a new name.
The acquisition is a first for Vera Bradley, which Miller and Baekegaard began in 1982. It also will take them into a new distribution system, the accessory market, rather than the gift market which has been the Fort Wayne company's focus. Vera Bradley bags, luggage, clothing and accessories are sold throughout the United States and internationally.
Benson didn't worry about distribution at first. She opened her own retail stores, first in Rockport, Mass., then in Port Townsend, Wash., where she moved in 1993. Femtio bags also are sold in boutiques on the East Coast and in Florida and Aspen, Colo.
The retail shops also gave Benson immediate customer feedback, which in turn guided her designs.
Benson began the business at her son's suggestion that she could earn money from her sewing hobby. She had used leftover fabric from the gowns she sewed for her daughter's wedding party to make bags for the bride and her attendants. The raves those bags drew were the basis for her first successful designs.
Femtio -- Swedish for 50 -- came from the 50 friends who invested in the company to get it going.
At first Benson bought fabric at retail stores and sewed all her creations. But early on she began attending fabric shows in New York to order from manufacturers.
She hired an outside sewer when she moved to Port Townsend: "We'd start at 7 o'clock in the morning and sew until 6 and sew like madwomen," she said of their marathon, once-a-week sewing sessions.
She was considering growing her company when, at a wedding last year in Connecticut, she met Baekegaard's son. Learning about Femtio, he said, "You should meet my mother," Benson said.
Benson wanted to discuss overcoming her production limits with the veterans at Vera Bradley last summer. Instead, the conversation turned to bringing Benson and her designs within the Vera Bradley fold.
Vera Bradley had started talking about bringing out velvet or dressier bags five years ago, Miller said, but never followed through. "Fortunately, we found someone who already had developed a beautiful bag," she said.
Benson will devote full-time to design. "This is what I love to do -- and what I'm good at," she said.
"Sonja has unlimited wonderful ideas, and we seem to know how to manufacture," Miller said.
Added Benson, "This gives us both a chance to do what we like to do."
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Visit News(at)Sentinel, the World Wide Web edition of The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind., at http://www.fortwayne.com/ns
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(c) 1997, The (Fort Wayne, Ind.) News-Sentinel. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News.
NETWORLD+INTEROP, ATLANTA, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Netscape Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: NSCP) and Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HWP) announced today that HP will make Netscape's server family of software products available to HP customers and for internal use at HP. As part of this agreement, HP will ship and support the Netscape Communications Server(TM), Netscape Commerce Server(TM), and Netscape Proxy Server(TM) to its customers on the HP 9000 servers and workstations platform for use on enterprise networks and the Internet.
"Hewlett-Packard is excited about its relationship with Netscape, the industry leader in Internet solutions," said Wim Roelandts, senior vice president of HP's Computer Systems Organization. "By offering Netscape's full suite of server software on the HP-UX platform, we can provide customers with the building blocks for enterprise applications on internal networks and electronic commerce applications on the Internet."
"The combination of HP's leading UNIX systems-based product family and Netscape's premier web server technology will result in world-class solutions for commercial customers," said Jim Barksdale, president and CEO at Netscape. "Users who are looking to build web based-applications can now get integrated Netscape and HP solutions, combined with HP's superior service and worldwide customer support capability."
Netscape's full line of open software includes four families of products: Netscape Navigator(TM) client software, Netscape server software, Netscape Internet Applications(TM), and Netscape development tools. The products deliver encrypted communications, advanced performance, and point-and-click simplicity to companies and individuals who want to create or access information services on enterprise networks and the Internet.
HP 9000 servers and workstations, based on HP's industry-leading HP-UX operating environment and PA-RISC technology, provide the high-performance and systems-management capabilities required by data center environments as well as graphics solutions that lead the industry in performance, scalability and functionality.
Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global manufacturer of computing, communications and measurement products and services recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 99,900 employees and had revenue of $25 billion in the 1994 fiscal year.
-0- 9/27/95
/CONTACT: Rosanne Siino of Netscape Communications, 415-528-2619/
(NSCP HWP)
CO: Netscape Communications Corp.; Hewlett-Packard Co. ST: California IN: CPR SU: PDT
DS-LW -- SJ003 -- 0769 09/27/95 08:31 EDT
