News

Sears Recalls Kenmore® Dehumidifiers Due to Fire and Burn Hazards

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firms named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.  It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20030904/USCSCLOGO)

Name of Product: Kenmore Dehumidifiers

Units:  About 795,000

Retailer:  Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart Corporation, of Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Manufacturer:  LG Electronics (Tianjin) Appliance Co., Ltd., of Tianjin, China

Hazard:  The dehumidifiers can overheat, smoke, melt and catch on fire, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries:  The firm has received 107 reports of incidents, with more than $7 million in property damage and three reports of smoke inhalation injuries.

Description:  This recall involves 35-, 50- and 70-pint dehumidifiers with a Kenmore logo on the front top of the unit, manufactured between 2003 and 2005. The dehumidifiers are made of white plastic and are between 21 and 24 inches tall, about 15 inches wide and about 13.5 inches in depth. They have fan and humidity controls on their top front panels and some models include remote controls. They come with front-loading water buckets. The model number can be found on the right side of the interior of the unit once the bucket has been removed. Recalled units have the following model numbers:

    35-pint (2004) - 580.54351400
    -----------------------------
    50-pint (2003) - 580.53509300
    -----------------------------
    70-pint (2003) - 580.53701300
    -----------------------------
    70-pint (2004) - 580.54701400
    -----------------------------
    70-pint (2005) - 580.54701500
    -----------------------------
Sold exclusively at: Sears and Kmart stores nationwide and Sears.com and Kmart.com from 2003 to 2009 for between $140 and $220.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately turn off and unplug the dehumidifiers and contact the firm to receive a Sears gift card for either $75, $80, $90 or $100, which may be used at any Sears or Kmart store or at Sears.com or Kmart.com. The gift card amount will depend on the capacity and year of the dehumidifier. In lieu of a gift card, consumers may request a check for the refund amount. All consumers with recalled units will also receive a $25 coupon that may be used at Sears Department Stores or Sears.com toward the purchase of a new Kenmore dehumidifier.

Consumer Contact:  For additional information, contact the Recall Fulfillment Center toll-free at (855) 400-4641 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT Monday through Friday and between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. CT Saturday, or visit http://www.Kenmoredehumidifierrecall.com.

Photos available at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12240.html

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about your experience with the product on SaferProducts.gov.

Firm's Recall Hotline: (855) 400-4641
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908

SOURCE  U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20030904/USCSCLOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Web Site: http://www.cpsc.gov

------=_Part_294489_10002160

Fast-growing British agency Make It Rain opens new offices in Los Angeles

LONDON, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Make It Rain, a successful London-based digital agency that specialises in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Paid Search (PPC) and Social Media, is expanding into the US market and opening a second office in Santa Monica, located in Southern California.

Founder & CEO, Justin Hayward, will be relocating to the new office to ensure the same high standard of service is received from the launch date of 1 September 2012.

Why expand into the US market?

Local Knowledge

Due to successful new business wins for both US and European campaigns in 2012, Make It Rain will provide specific local US knowledge in order to benefit existing US campaigns for their European clients.

Campaign Management

Make It Rain now has the ability to provide true 24-hour, 'hands-on' campaign management, due to the 8-hour time difference between their offices in the UK and US.  This will benefit both their US and European clients.

For US clients

They will be using their well-established experience and expertise of the European market to provide US-based companies with new opportunities to market their services successfully on both sides of the Atlantic.

Why Santa Monica?

There are several reasons why Santa Monica was chosen as a second office location for Make It Rain.

    --  Santa Monica is quickly gaining prominence and respect in the
        technological and digital industry.  It is now widely known as 'Silicon
        Beach.'
    --  Google, the technology firm most important to both SEO and PPC, has
        established a new campus in the area and owns more than 100,000 sq. feet
        of office space, attracting a wealth of new talent and is aiming to
        double this in the coming months.
    --  Make It Rain focuses on the Retail, Travel and Leisure sectors, which is
        a perfect fit with the companies located on the West Coast
Make It Rain USA

The new office will be officially opening on 1(st) September and is located at:

Yahoo! Center,

2500 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90404.

The new Make It Rain USA website will also be launching soon at: http://www.makeitrainUSA.com

The company already works with a number of well-established, USA-based clients as well as several on-going American campaigns for their European clients and has rapid growth plans for the new office.  Make It Rain USA is currently hiring new staff to help work on these campaigns and help the agency expand further into the US market.

If you are based in California and you are experienced in any aspects of digital marketing, in particular PPC and SEO, and are creative, driven and enjoy being part of a team then send your details and resume via the Make It Rain contact page to find out more about the exciting new roles available in Santa Monica!

Contact: Justin Hayward, Tel: 0203 178 6071, Email: hello@make-it-rain.co.uk

SOURCE  Make It Rain

Make It Rain

Websites Now Free For New Mexico Businesses

Google's New Mexico Get Your Business Online program makes it easy for New Mexico businesses to grow.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Google is announcing New Mexico Get Your Business Online. Google worked with local partners to design the program, which will help drive economic growth by giving New Mexico businesses the tools and resources to establish a website, find new customers, and grow their business. Increasing the number of small businesses online is one of the best ways to expand the New Mexico economy.

New Mexico Get Your Business Online is an easy and fast way for New Mexico businesses to get online. For the next year, participating New Mexico businesses can go to http://www.NewMexicoGetOnline.com to get a free website as well as free tools, training and resources to help their business succeed online. Google is partnering with Intuit to provide its popular Intuit Websites offerings for free including an easy-to-build website, a customized domain name and web-hosting for one year.

In addition, business owners from across New Mexico are invited to the kickoff event at University Arena (The Pit), 1111 University Blvd SE in Albuquerque on August 9th. Participants will learn how to build their own website, as well as attend sessions devoted to growing and promoting their business online.

Businesses simply limit their exposure to customers if they don't have a website. Small businesses need to be online because that's where their customers are. While 97% of Americans look online for local products and services, 53% of New Mexico small businesses do not have a website or online presence. In America today, no matter the size of the business, having a website is as vital as having a phone.

"In New Mexico, small businesses account for more than half of our private sector jobs and we must do everything possible to help them succeed and create more jobs," said U.S. Senator Tom Udall. "I applaud Google for bringing New Mexico Get your Business Online to Albuquerque. I encourage our small businesses to participate in this program which will show them the tools they need to grow their businesses by increasing their online profile through websites and marketing."

"Many small businesses are worried that getting online is expensive and time consuming," said April Anderson, New Mexico native and Industry Director, Retail at Google. "New Mexico Get Your Business Online breaks down the barriers to getting online and makes it fast, easy and free for New Mexico small businesses to get online."

"As a leading provider of small business solutions, we have witnessed the growth small businesses have seen from getting online," said Jennifer Creager, Product Manager at Intuit. "We are excited to offer Intuit Websites for free to all the wonderful small businesses in New Mexico and to help them create a customized presence that represents their unique brands."

"As part of America's SBDC Network I help businesses live their passion, create a business legacy and unleash their innovative spirit! I could not do this without the help of one of our business partners -- Google. Each year I attend training by Google at our national conferences and I continue to learn the future of Internet cutting edge technology," said Julianna Martinez-Barbee, Director of the New Mexico Small Business Development Center. "Google training gives a business all the tools needed to grow your business online and it's easy, I love the hands-on and instant results. The Google Tools for businesses, building a website, online marketing and how to promote your business online can help any business wherever you are at with your business. Thanks Google for helping me help businesses grow!"

Both the website and event registration are currently available. For further information, please visit http://www.NewMexicoGetOnline.com

SOURCE  Google

Google

CONTACT: Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group, +1-505-898-8689, Julianne Horn, The Garrity Group, +1-505-898-8689

Web Site: http://www.NewMexicoGetOnline.com

Questia Unveils New And Improved Website to Help Students Write Better Papers Faster

Questia Gives Away 1,000 Free Online Research Accounts to Celebrate the Site Relaunch, Just in Time for Students Going Back to School

CHICAGO, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Questia, the premier online library and research tool for students, announced today that they have unveiled their new website featuring an expanded library, improved navigation for finding research faster and an interactive reader that will make the research experience easier for students. To celebrate its site launch, Questia is giving away one thousand week-long access codes for free to the first thousand people to like them on Facebook, through the month of August. With school starting soon, go to facebook.com/questiaonlinelibrary to claim your code now before they run out.

Questia has for long been the premier online destination for credible books and peer-reviewed journals and articles on a wide range of subjects, integrated with citation and organizational tools. Students consistently have a difficult time finding trustworthy sources to use for research papers and projects, and professors continually struggle helping students properly cite these sources in their work.  Over the past 10 years, over 1 million students and researchers have accessed Questia to find quality sources and research, and write better papers faster.

Now, Questia has made the research paper process even easier by increasing the size of its online library by over 33 percent, developing search filters to narrow down exactly what you need from the sources professors trust, the addition of dictionary and thesaurus tools, and creating an intuitive new interface that integrates all your reading material and notes in one place. Plus, members will soon have access to their brand new research tutorials including videos and guides on how to write a professor approved paper. Visit http://www.Questia.com to experience the new Questia.

"We're providing a comprehensive set of tools and tutorials to make the research paper writing process easier for students," says Gary Jeppsen, Senior Product Manager of Questia. "With the combination of research topics to help students get started and generate ideas for their paper, the citable sources to reference in papers, and the research tools and tutorials to put it all together, Questia helps students write better papers faster."

Jeppsen continues, "We've created tools for making the research process more efficient so students can spend their time digesting the research and thinking; analyzing and interpreting information--maximizing their time spent learning."

Try Questia for free with your week-long access at facebook.com/questiaonlinelibrary.

About Cengage Learning and Questia

Cengage Learning is a leading provider of innovative teaching, learning and research solutions for the academic, professional and library markets worldwide. Questia, part of Cengage Learning, is the Web's premier online collection of copyrighted non-fiction books,  literature, academic journals and research periodicals for students and includes research tutorials, and integrated tools for note taking, organizing research, citing sources, creating footnotes and building bibliographies to help students write better research papers faster. For more information, visit http://www.cengage.com or http://www.questia.com.

SOURCE  Cengage Learning

Cengage Learning

CONTACT: Matt McCloskey, Director of Marketing, Questia, +1-312-994-3382, matt.mccloskey@cengage.com

Web Site: http://www.cengage.com

MobiTV Expands Data Center for Movie Delivery

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- MobiTV, a global leader in enabling delivery of live and on-demand TV Everywhere, announced today that it has extended its datacenter to manage all types of motion picture content for multi-screen delivery of high-quality services as part of its international expansion. Utilizing the latest in secure tiered storage and a 100 percent virtualized processing environment, MobiTV's new system is capable of ingesting and processing petabytes of data.

Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) has surveyed MobiTV's methods and technologies for securely ingesting, encoding and storing movies. The MPAA assessment opens the door for MobiTV to ingest media libraries from major movie studios, storing movie content in high-resolution formats for multi-screen delivery.

MPAA serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries. Its members include Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Paramount Pictures Corporation, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Universal City Studios LLC and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

MobiTV's platform leverages its own digital rights management (DRM), approved by major movie studios, to offer a secure content-delivery mechanism in a cost-effective, scalable manner. This implementation is designed to meet the highest security standards currently set by the content industry for high-quality delivery and distribution of content across multiple screens.

"To manage and prepare the high-quality source files for our partners we need an infrastructure capable of reliably and securely ingesting the file, encoding it and storing it for downloading or streaming," explained MobiTV CEO Charlie Nooney. "The extension of the data center, together with our policy-based DRM and MPAA's examination, showcases MobiTV's capabilities to carry out this process in a secure environment for service providers."

As part of MobiTV's ongoing commitment to delivering high-quality movie services for their partners, MobiTV joined the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem LLC (DECE) last fall, an open consortium of more than 70 companies dedicated to facilitating the development and operation of Ultraviolet services. More recently, MobiTV also announced a collaboration with Texas Instruments to enhance delivery of secure HD content on multi-screen devices by optimizing its technology on TI's OMAP(TM) platform, integrating MobiTV's digital rights management (DRM) solution and media playback technology with TI's M-Shield(TM) security solution.

About MobiTV, Inc.

MobiTV is a global leader in delivering live and on-demand video to any screen, connecting media reliably and securely anytime, anywhere, on any device. The company's end-to-end platform delivers a true TV everywhere experience that helps service providers reduce time to market and control costs associated with the deployment and operation of high concurrency, multiple platform services. MobiTV's connected media solutions solve the complexity of delivering video across networks, operating systems and devices while managing associated rights. The company efficiently optimizes for network conditions to deliver multiscreen media services that center on empowering the viewer. MobiTV's connected media solutions are tailored for IPTV operators, as well as mobile TV and over-the-top customers including AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Sprint, T-Mobile, TELUS, US Cellular, and Verizon among others. 

PR Contact
Mary-Katharine Juric
Airfoil Public Relations
mobitv@airfoilpr.com
(650) 691-7306

SOURCE  MobiTV

MobiTV

Award-Winning Chef Laurent Gras Releases First Cookbook as Interactive e-Book

NEW YORK CITY, August 2, 2012/PRNewswire/ --

    ?

   
                                  LAURENT GRAS: MY PROVENCE
                                       by Laurent Gras
                                     with Mitchell Davis
                                  Release Date: August 2012

    New digital publisher Alta Editions is pleased to announce the release of LAURENT
GRAS: MY PROVENCE by award-winning chef Laurent Gras. This innovative digital cookbook
includes over 40 dishes from Gras's early years growing up and working as a young chef on
the Cote d'Azur.

    (Logo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120802/553874-a )

    (Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120802/553874-b )

    This interactive online digital cookbook presents readers with hundreds of gorgeous
high-resolution color photos, instructional videos and loads of chef tips. It also gives
readers who cook the dishes the unique opportunity to share their own stories and photos
directly inside the e-book.

    Gras is considered by many to be one of the most talented and dedicated chefs in the
world. Known for his creative and innovative cuisine, he has received three Michelin Stars
for his cooking at three different restaurants over the course of the past 20 years.
Rather than focusing on his restaurant cuisine, this cookbook finds Gras returning to the
flavors and memories of his youth. Readers will find:

   
    - classic Provencal recipes such as Ratatouille and Clams Mariniere,
    - creative preparations, such as Burrata Ravioli with Orange and Sage made with
      time-saving wonton wrappers instead of fresh pasta,
    - the Pork Chop en Papillote with juniper berries much like Laurent would
      collect on his family's property in France and use to flavor meat and game,
    - the Garlic Roasted Cote de Boeuf Laurent learned as a cook at the prestigious
      Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo,
    - Laurent's grandmother's Gateau de Galette, a gorgeous coffee-infused "cake"
      made with LU Petit Beurre cookies, chocolate and buttercream, like a French tirami-su.

    Gras's recipes are not meant just to provide readers with instructions for preparing
enjoyable meals, but also to act as template for how to become a better cook. The recipes
explain how to get set up in the kitchen and how to stay organized while cooking.
Accompanying step-by-step photos and videos provide a depth of information not available
in traditional cookbooks.

    Watch a brief video introduction to the book here:
http://bit.ly/AltaEdMyProvenceIntro

    This is the first title from digital publisher Alta Editions, a division of Jesta
Digital, a leading global provider of next-generation entertainment content and services.
Easily accessible to both experienced users and novices alike, LAURENT GRAS: MY PROVENCE
is a browser-based HTML5 e-book designed specifically for use on the iPad, yet can also be
viewed on any laptop or desktop computer. The next release in the series will feature a
New York City-based chef from Tuscany and is scheduled for release this October.

    "Using the much loved Time-Life Books Series from the 1960's and 70's as our
inspiration, we're publishing the Alta Editions Cooking Series to explore the foods and
stories that inspire great chefs," said Chris McBride, VP of Innovation for Jesta Digital
and Executive Producer of Alta Editions. "With each new edition readers will discover new
places, perspectives, and ideas in food and cooking."

    LAURENT GRAS: MY PROVENCE is available for $9.99 at http://www.AltaEditions.com.

    About the Author

    Laurent Gras's trajectory as a chef began in Antibes on the Cote d'Azur in France,
where he was born and raised within a family and culture focused on food. Early in his
career he worked with a remarkable group of great chefs including Jacques Maximin, Guy
Savoy, Alain Ducasse, and Alain Senderens. After attaining three Michelin stars at Alain
Ducasse's restaurants in Monaco and Paris, Gras moved to the U.S. where he received
widespread acclaim for his cuisine, first at Peacock Alley in New York City and later at
the innovative Fifth Floor restaurant in San Francisco. He was named "Best New Chef" by
Food & Wine Magazine and San Francisco Magazine. Gras's most recent restaurant, L2O, was
named "Best New Restaurant" by Esquire magazine in 2008 and earned three Michelin stars in
2011 in the first Chicago edition of the prestigious guidebook.

    About the Co-author

    Mitchell Davis is a cookbook author, food journalist, and Executive Vice President of
the James Beard Foundation with a Ph.D. in Food Studies from New York University. He is
the author of three cookbooks: Kitchen Sense (Clarkson Potter), The Mensch Chef (Clarkson
Potter), and Cook Something (Macmillan), as well as many articles about food and
restaurants that have appeared in GQ, Food & Wine, The Art of Eating, Saveur, and
Gastronomica. Davis also co-authored Foie Gras ... A Passion (Wiley) with Michael Ginor,
Andrew Coe, and Jane Ziegelman, which won the International Cookbook Review's Prix la
Mazille for Best International Cookbook of the Year. He is the host of Taste Matters, a
weekly radio program on the Heritage Radio Network, and has appeared as a judge and
culinary expert on Food Network's Best in Smoke and Throwdown with Bobby Flay and the
Cooking Channel's Food(ography).

    About Alta Editions

    Alta Editions is a new interactive e-book publishing group from Jesta Digital, a
leading global provider of next generation mobile content and services. The Alta Editions
Cooking Series launches a new title every quarter. Each edition in the series is written
by an acclaimed chef and is illustrated with beautiful photographs by an award-winning
photographer. Each e-book is fully interactive and allows readers to share their own
photos and experiences with the recipes. Alta Editions e-books are released in an HTML5
web app optimized for the iPad and desktop computers which enables them to provide a
unique, highly interactive experience to readers without requiring downloads or any
special software. Readers access the e-book by simply logging in at AltaEditions.com
[http://www.altaeditions.com ].

    About Jesta Digital

    Jesta Digital is a leading global provider of next generation entertainment content
and services for the digital consumer. For more than 10 years, the company has and
continues to develop exciting new products and services that deliver a seamless experience
via web or wireless connection on a significant range of devices in 18 countries. Jesta
Digital is home to established brands - Jamba, Jamster, iLove and Mobizzo - as well as
expansive integrated mobile subscription, payment and ad monetization technologies. Jesta
Digital is one of the largest companies in the digital entertainment sector delivering a
vast array of products and services to more than 170 million customers since 2000.

   
                                  LAURENT GRAS: MY PROVENCE
                                       by Laurent Gras
                                     with Mitchell Davis
                                        Alta Editions
                                         August 2012
                                           $9.99 US
                                 Interactive Digital Cookbook
                                 Hi-resolution photos, video

    iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple, Inc. registered in the US and other countries.

    MICHELIN and the MICHELIN Guide are trademarks of Michelin North America, Inc.

Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120802/553874-a
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120802/553874-b

Source: Jesta Digital

Media Contacts: For more information or to request a review copy of the book or an interview, please contact: Dalyn A. Miller (USA) at +1-617-504-6869 or via email at Dalyn@DalynMillerPR.com ; Julia Hornberg (Germany) at +49(0)30-695-38 120 or via email at Press@Altaeditions.com

Touch the Future of Education at SIGGRAPH 2012

Professional Benefits of Interactive Tablets to be Demonstrated in Booth #819 and Autodesk Education Summit; New Partnership with Digital-Tutors Announced

VANCOUVER, Wash., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- At SIGGRAPH 2012, August 5 - 9(th) at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Wacom(®) (Booth 819) will showcase the ways its Cintiq(®) and Intuos(®)5 tablets are helping educators enhance teaching and better assisting students to create professional portfolios that lead to exciting careers in animation, game development, graphic arts and design.

Visitors to Wacom's fully interactive booth will have access to Wacom's industry-leading interactive pen displays and tablets and will be treated to demonstrations of software applications from Autodesk(®), Corel(®) and Smith Micro(®). A favorite of students focusing on film, art and design, Wacom's full line of Cintiq tablets - including the recently released 22HD and 24HD touch models - allow users to work directly on screen as they enjoy unparalleled creative control, color performance and productivity. With this year's addition of multi-touch, the Cintiqs now offer a whole new avenue of expression for students looking to maximize their creative computing sessions.

Wacom's SIGGRAPH presence will also include education-focused demonstrations by Autodesk as part of their annual Education Summit, as well as the announcement of a brand new partnership with Digital-Tutor, the world's largest online CG training library.

    --  Autodesk Experts Link Cintiq to Education - Autodesk experts, Lee Fraser
        and Marcel de Jong, will demonstrate their skills on Wacom's Cintiq 24HD
        touch interactive pen display during Autodesk's Education Summit and the
        2(nd) Annual Student Experience. Both events will be held on Monday,
        August 6(th) at the JW Marriott in downtown Los Angeles. Including a mix
        of industry discussions, post-graduate tips and product demonstrations,
        each event will give attendees a first-hand look at how much control and
        precision the Cintiq adds to Autodesk applications and the artists that
        use them. For more information on Autodesk's education programs at
        SIGGRAPH 2012, please visit: http://area.autodesk.com/siggraph2012/edu.
    --  NEW! Wacom and Digital-Tutors' Partnership - At this year's SIGGRAPH,
        Wacom and Digital-Tutors will kick-off their partnership by providing
        free access to "Getting Started with Digital Painting in Photoshop" - an
        online course built around the Wacom Cintiq and Adobe Photoshop. The
        course will be free from August 6( )- 10(th). With this partnership,
        both companies are offering animators, artists and designers more
        opportunities to dynamically incorporate Wacom professional input
        devices into their daily workflow; they are also making it easier for
        students to understand the benefits of Wacom's digital pen so they can
        fully unleash the possibilities of working with a Cintiq or Intuos
        tablet. For additional details about Digital-Tutors and the course,
        please visit: http://www.digitaltutors.com/siggraph2012.
About Wacom

Founded in 1983, Wacom's vision to bring people and technology closer together through natural interface technologies has made it the world's leading manufacturer of pen tablets, interactive pen displays and digital interface solutions. The advanced technology of Wacom's intuitive input devices provide business and home users with the ability to explore digital content creation in a comfortable, natural way.

For more information, please contact:

Brooke Dale

Liaison

503.796.9822
brooke@liaisonpr.com

SOURCE  Wacom

Wacom

Web Site: http://www.wacom.com

"Everyday Matters" Brings Unique Resources to People Affected by Multiple Sclerosis

MS Community to Follow Journey of Five Americans with MS Using Positive Psychology to Achieve a Personal Goal

NEW YORK, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Five people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) have been selected from nearly 1,200 entries to receive one-on-one support as they set out to overcome a challenge that affects their everyday life.  Their journeys will be chronicled as part of Everyday Matters, a first-of-its kind program that draws on practical and scientific applications of positive psychology to engage and inspire those living with or affected by MS.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/players/English/55567-everyday-matters-multiple-sclerosis/

Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes people thrive. Research in this field has found a strong connection between an individual's mindset, social support system, and well-being.( ) Using positive psychology, these individuals will address key aspects of their lives: wellness, work/education, relationships, family, and empowerment. These five topics represent aspects of life that matter most to the MS community, according to a June 2012 poll by the National MS Society.

"We've only just launched and are already thrilled by the level of interest Everyday Matters has received from the community," said National MS Society President and CEO Cyndi Zagieboylo. "This interest underscores the desire people have to define how they want to live their lives, addressing aspects that are most central to who they are as individuals, rather than being defined by their MS."

Guiding Everyday Matters is renowned positive psychology expert Shawn Achor, author of the bestselling book, The Happiness Advantage.  "Our hope is to empower the MS community through simple techniques and inspiring stories," said Shawn.  "Each of these individuals brings their own background, experience and perspective to the program. We can all learn from them as they practice new strategies for approaching unique yet relatable goals."

The following individuals will help to illustrate how positive psychology can help make a difference in the everyday lives of people living with MS:

    --  Sallie Harrison - Sallie is a fourth-grade teacher and mother of three
        from rural Oklahoma, who was diagnosed with MS in 2011 after years of
        unexplained symptoms. Sallie teaches children how to serve their
        community and make a difference in the world, but she worries that MS
        may compromise her ability to continue her career as a teacher.
    --  Brenda Martin - After single mom Brenda was diagnosed with MS in 2010,
        she made lifestyle changes and lost 100 pounds. Now she is turning the
        same drive toward meeting someone new, although, as she puts it, "the
        idea of actually dating scares me to death!"
    --  Jim Stoneberger - When Jim, a hard-working professional, husband and
        father from Maryland, was diagnosed with MS in 2010 his first question
        was, "How will this change who I am?" While he's had to adjust in some
        ways, Jim is learning to better manage his time and physical
        capabilities in order to spend more valuable time with his family -
        three children and a wife of 16 years.
    --  Connie Kirchner - Connie says her biggest obstacle is feeling good about
        herself while being in a wheelchair. But her idea is to help herself -
        and other women - learn how to dress in wheelchair-appropriate fashions,
        which would make her feel her life has a purpose.
    --  Elizabeth Pontillo - Just days before her 25th birthday, Elizabeth found
        out she has MS. She now wonders if the "full life with all of the
        trimmings" that she had planned will be possible, given her fatigue and
        other symptoms.
Michelle Clos, a life coach certified by the International Coach Federation who is living with MS, has personally benefited from positive psychology and will work hand-in-hand with these individuals through personalized coaching sessions designed with their unique goals in mind.

"I know first-hand that 'staying positive' can become that much more challenging after being diagnosed with a chronic and unpredictable disease like MS," said Michelle.  "Yet, I also know that it is possible. I have so much confidence in these five individuals and look forward to working with them each week toward achieving their personal goals, and showing the entire MS community what we can accomplish."

Each participant's journey is being chronicled in a video series produced by Kristen Adams, an Emmy-award winning producer living with MS, as well as through personal text, video, and photo journals showcased on http://www.everydayMSmatters.org. The site also offers toolkits and other resources related to positive psychology, wellness, work/education, relationships, family, and empowerment.

Everyday Matters is a joint program developed by the National MS Society and Genzyme, a Sanofi Company.

About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the body. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with the disease. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. and 2.1 million worldwide.

About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sureit doesn't. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS.  Last year alone, through our national office and 50-state network of chapters, wedevoted $164 million to programs that enhanced more than one millionlives. To move us closer to a world free of MS, the Society also invested $40 million to support more than 325 new and ongoing research projects around the world. We are people who want to do something about MS now.  Give what you know at http://www.MSconnection.org.

About Genzyme, a Sanofi Company
Genzyme has pioneered the development and delivery of transformative therapies for patients affected by rare and debilitating diseases for over 30 years. We accomplish our goals through world-class research and with the compassion and commitment of our employees. With a focus on rare diseases and multiple sclerosis, we are dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of the patients and families we serve. That goal guides and inspires us every day. Genzyme's portfolio of transformative therapies, which are marketed in countries around the world, represents groundbreaking and life-saving advances in medicine. As a Sanofi company, Genzyme benefits from the reach and resources of one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, with a shared commitment to improving the lives of patients. Learn more at http://www.genzyme.com.

Keri McDonough

Cohn & Wolfe

Phone: 212.798.9745

Keri.McDonough@cohnwolfe.com

SOURCE  Everyday Matters

Video:http://www.multivu.com/players/English/55567-everyday-matters-multiple-sclerosis
Everyday Matters

Web Site: http://www.everydaymsmatters.org

Key Curriculum joins forces with McGraw-Hill Education to bring the power of dynamic mathematics tools to all K-12 students

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Key Curriculum (Key) and its research and development affiliate KCP Technologies (KCPT) announce the sale of their technology assets to McGraw-Hill Education. This move is the logical next step after executives at Key announced the company would strategically "reboot" to focus on a product development roadmap that emphasized its technology assets--assets that include the widely popular The Geometer's Sketchpad(®) for grades 3-12, Fathom(® )Dynamic Data for grades 9-12 and TinkerPlots(® ) Dynamic Data Exploration for grades 4-9.

"Once we shifted the focus to our technology assets," said Karen Coe, Key's president and CEO, "a powerful road map emerged that was interesting to many potential partners. The best fit, though, was between McGraw-Hill Education and Key. McGraw-Hill Education has a very strong presence in the STEM disciplines and across all grade levels in K-12. Particularly appealing to us was McGraw-Hill Education's penetration into the elementary market with a range of programs. Recent research by our R&D affiliate KCPT, via their Dynamic Number project, has focused on using The Geometer's Sketchpad with students in elementary grades. It was a natural fit."

McGraw-Hill Education will immediately focus on leveraging Key's technology across its programs and developing new programs that will evolve as further advances in the technology are implemented. Beyond product development, the team at Key is thrilled to be working with McGraw-Hill's Sales, Marketing and Professional Development teams. "As a small education company it has always been a challenge to extend our reach into all grade levels in mathematics, yet our learning tools are just as relevant to students in elementary schools as they are to students in higher grades," said Coe. "It will be terrific to finally accomplish that reach through McGraw-Hill Education's channel." 

Key will continue to be based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Key Curriculum name--a powerful brand in mathematics education--will continue to be used. The Key Curriculum team, reporting to Christine Willig, senior vice president of STEM for McGraw-Hill School Education, will focus on developing standalone and integrated products for McGraw-Hill Education.

"Key Curriculum's dynamic mathematics products are unparalleled in the market and have long been recognized among math educators as being the finest math tools available," said Willig. McGraw-Hill Education will continue to sell Key Curriculum products as standalone solutions, regardless of the curriculum adopted by the institution. "Customers using McGraw-Hill Education's math programs can expect deeper integration between these products and Key Curriculum solutions in the future," said Willig.

"Strategically realigning Key to maximize the reach of our digital assets was just one part of the vision," said Coe. Milan Wielinga, Key's CFO and COO, commented: "When Karen and I embarked on this mission, our goal was to find a partner for Key/KCPT that would respect the legacy of the company and also embrace the future potential of it. We feel the team at McGraw-Hill Education led by Christine is exactly the right place for the technology to continue to thrive. We feel we have delivered Key into very good hands."

Both Key and McGraw-Hill Education believe the full integration will be complete by the end of 2012.

About Key Curriculum
Key Curriculum develops effective, high-quality mathematics instructional materials and software. In addition, Key Curriculum offers professional development workshops, online courses and webinars to provide educators with the training, experience and support they need to incorporate effective teaching strategies. The company was founded by mathematics educators in 1971 and is headquartered in Emeryville, Calif. For more information, call 800-995-MATH or visit http://www.keycurriculum.com.

About McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill Education is a content, software and services-based education company that draws on its more than 100 years of educational expertise to offer solutions, which improve learning outcomes around the world. McGraw-Hill is the adaptive education technology leader with the vision for creating a highly personalized learning experience that prepares students of all ages for the world that awaits. The company has offices across North America, India, China, Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning solutions available in more than 65 languages. For additional information, visit http://www.mheducation.com.

SOURCE  Key Curriculum

Key Curriculum

CONTACT: Karen Coe, Key Curriculum, +1-510-595-7000, ext. 152, kcoe@keycurriculum.com,  Emily Embury, C. Blohm & Associates, Inc., +1-606-216-7300, ext. 19, emily@cblohm.com

Web Site: http://www.mheducation.com

Bang & Olufsen Hears the Sound of Savings With Office 365

Luxury audio system maker expects to save 82 percent in IT operations with Microsoft solution.

REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Luxury audio and video systems maker Bang & Olufsen has adopted Microsoft Office 365 to unify its email, calendaring, collaboration and communication. The company wanted to upgrade its email system from the limitations of Lotus Notes to a less-expensive, easier-to-scale cloud solution: Office 365. The company now has all 2,000 employees using Office 365.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

"We investigated whether we should continue relying on internal servers or go with a cloud solution. And we realized that we could save money by going to the cloud with Office 365," said Ole Damsgaard, senior director of IT & Shared Service Centre at Bang & Olufsen. "It was easy to integrate Office 365 into our existing work environment and for our employees to start using it right away because they already know tools like Outlook and other Microsoft products."

Founded in 1925 in Struer, Denmark, Bang & Olufsen is world-renowned for its high-end TVs, loudspeakers, MP3 player docks and audio systems that are often built into luxury vehicles, including those made by Audi, BMW, Mercedes-AMG and Aston Martin.

Internal competition for limited IT resources kept pushing an email upgrade to the back burner. However, Damsgaard knew the company needed an up-to-date, top-of-the line email, conferencing and file-sharing solution.

"We're always in competition with other projects for funding," Damsgaard said. "We have a limited amount of resources and money. Often, upgrading our software is secondary to meeting other business objectives."

About 75 percent of Bang & Olufsen's employees work remotely. However, the email solution they were using, Lotus Notes, was only accessible to the 150 employees who had company-provided smartphones. The other 1,350 mobile workers were left without access.

Recommended by Proactive, Bang & Olufsen's IT provider, Office 365 was determined to be a cost-effective solution at a time when Bang & Olufsen had to decide between building its own IT environment -- complete with on-premises servers -- or moving to the cloud.

With Office 365, Bang & Olufsen will reduce travel and IT costs, improve access and ease of use, and enjoy email, calendars and conferencing that work better together:

    --  Less spending on travel and IT. Compared with an internally hosted
        solution, Bang & Olufsen is saving 82 percent on IT operations by using
        Office 365.
    --  Improved remote accessibility. With Office 365, employees can access
        email from virtually any smartphone, a remote PC or other mobile
        devices.
    --  Familiar, easy-to-use interface. Learning how to use Lotus Notes
        presented a challenge to most new Bang & Olufsen employees. Today, new
        staff members are typically already familiar with their Outlook email
        and require little to no training to use Office 365.
    --  Seamless integration among services. With Office 365, an employee can
        quickly check a colleague's calendar for availability, email an
        invitation and then click the URL in the invite to start the meeting.
"Our employees are used to using Outlook and other Microsoft products. It was easy to integrate Office 365 into our existing work environment and for our workers to start using it right away because they already know the tools," Damsgaard said. "And now, everybody who has a smartphone can very easily access their emails and calendars."

More Microsoft customer success stories are available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/presskits/customerspotlight.

More information on Microsoft Office 365 is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/office.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

SOURCE  Microsoft Corp.

Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
Microsoft Corp.

CONTACT: Rapid Response Team, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, (503) 443-7070, rrt@waggeneredstrom.com

Web Site: http://www.microsoft.com

ALOM Technologies Works with Ford Motor Company on Navigational Tool

FREMONT, Calif., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ALOM Technologies is working with Ford Motor Company to ensure that Ford customers can access up to date information on their MyFord Touch® connectivity systems.  As a global leader in supply chain management, ALOM supports Ford in managing duplication and packaging of the MyFord Touch navigational maps, and recently provided MyFord Touch performance updates on over 400,000 USB sticks for use by Ford customers.

ALOM supports Ford by providing full turnkey management and delivery including digital media procurement, printing and custom packaging, information upload, digital rights management and traceability, assembly and kitting.

Consumers, who received an updated navigational map as part of their MyFord Touch performance update, were given the opportunity to go online to an ALOM-hosted website for instructions on how to recycle their expired SD (secured digital) cards for charity. ALOM manages the website, the returns processing and the sale of the cards with net proceeds going to the consumer's choice of one of five Ford charities. 

"Ford Motor Company is an icon of American success.  We are proud to contribute to its leadership and innovation," said ALOM President and CEO Hannah Kain.  She founded ALOM 15 years ago as an intelligent source of integrated supply chain management and expert technological solutions.  ALOM's global team of credentialed strategists, engineers and specialists provide corporations with seamless support in responding to their customers' product and service needs. 

ALOM operates one of the nation's largest digital media duplication centers.  Its work with Ford and its suppliers in the U.S. and globally will contribute an estimated $20 million to ALOM revenue in 2012.

ALOM is certified as a Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), which named ALOM a 2012 WBE Star.

About ALOM:  ALOM is a global leader in supply chain management, serving as a partner to its Fortune 100 clients by expertly and seamlessly conducting their key business functions and enabling them to apply their resources to the crucial work of innovation. ALOM's prestigious customer base includes leaders in the IT, automotive and medical sectors, and utilities companies.

With 15 worldwide locations, ALOM supports its clients all along the delivery continuum of manufacturing and operations, product delivery and fulfillment, online customer interaction, and related support services. http://www.alom.com

SOURCE  ALOM Technologies

ALOM Technologies

CONTACT: Lynthia Romney, +1-914-238-2145 or +1-914-589-2140, romneycom@gmail.com

Web Site: http://www.alom.com

FiddleFly Named One of Website Magazine's Top 50 Mobile Movers and Shakers 2012

Mobile web building software ranks among the most influential companies in the mobile industry today.

COLUMBIA, Md., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The mobile industry has quickly become one of the largest and fastest growing markets in history. Today there is perhaps no industry with a greater upside than that of mobile, a trend recognized by experts around the technology and business worlds. In the August issue of Website Magazine, that notion is recognized, and FiddleFly Inc. is proud to be included among the magazine's compilation of the top 50 most influential and important companies contributing to the growth and development of mobile today.

The Top 50 Movers and Shakers collection includes companies from all outlets of the mobile business. From app developers to service providers to mobile email services, the industry's heavy-hitters are all recognized. FiddleFly is among only a handful of mobile website building services featured in the collection and stands alone as the only company of its kind with a focus on customization and back-end support.

The honor for FiddleFly comes on the tail of yet another recognition in mobile web excellence from WebHostingSearch.com, which named FiddleFly its "Best Web Tool" for 2012.

About FiddleFly, Inc.

FiddleFly was founded in 2011 to develop the leading professional software platform for the creation of mobile-optimized websites. With a focus on complete customization, effective functionality, and unmatched support, FiddleFly has grown its network of affiliates to thousands of users in dozens of countries around the world. As its customer base evolves, so does the company, which is constantly producing innovative new software and offering cutting-edge services.

SOURCE  FiddleFly, Inc.

FiddleFly, Inc.

CONTACT: Mike DiMarco, Director of Media, miked@fiddlefly.com, +1-410-309-7422

Global Routing Gateway 'PayPipe' Accelerates Payment Handling Worldwide for the Entire Payment Market

MUNICH, Germany, August 2, 2012/PRNewswire/ --

    The electronic payment market continues to experience rapid growth. According to the
Capgemini market forecast, global transaction volume will reach over 30 billion
transactions in the e-commerce market alone by 2013 - compared to 17.9 billion in 2010.
Visa reports that in 2011 every seventh Euro in Europe was paid by card; in 2000 this
figure was every 18th Euro. More and more new and alternative payment methods are
appearing alongside with the growing popularity among customers of online shopping and
paying cashless at the POS. Moreover, these payment methods are tailored to specific user
profiles or adapted to country-specific characteristics on account of lower credit card
density, for instance. Market growth thus leads to greater complexity as well as a lack of
transparency. Merchants and online services are simultaneously fast-tracking their
international expansion. Consequently, payment service providers (PSP) need to expand
their service to include more international payment options and acquirers. However, their
connection to a PSP system is technically complex and, in most cases, requires several
months. The 'PayPipe' routing gateway operated by PAY.ON offers a global solution
addressing both challenges.

    'PayPipe' is a high-performance gateway that can be used by payment market
participants to handle their transactions across the world. The API provided allows
customers to connect automatically to all the systems currently operated by several
hundred payment providers - from PSPs, acquirers and scheme operators to risk management
providers and other financial institutions. These include over 100 different payment
methods with global, continental and national payment coverage - from credit and debit
cards (e.g. Visa, Mastercard, Maestro) and alternative payment methods (e.g. Giropay,
PayPal, Click&Buy, instant transfer) to region-specific systems such as WebMoney.
Transactions can be handled online via 'PayPipe' for all payment methods in all currencies
and across all systems. As the largest routing gateway, 'PayPipe' accelerates global
availability for all market participants like no other network.

    As a routing gateway, the added process-related value of 'PayPipe' lies in its
simplification of the entire transaction process. Instead of each provider having to set
up a separate interface as is customary, 'PayPipe', as the gateway, handles all
transactions for all business partners centrally via one API only. Customers therefore
derive significant cost and time-to-market benefits. Customer expenditure is thus limited
only to the selection of processing partners and includes the drafting of the respective
contract. Transaction senders (distributors, predominantly PSPs) connect to the 'PayPipe'
gateway within a week, including validation, certification, plausibility checks and
subsequent test runs, and are then able to handle transactions straight away. If
transaction recipients (suppliers such as acquirers, scheme operators) required by
customers are not yet part of the 'PayPipe' network, these are connected to the gateway by
the operator PAY.ON within six weeks. PAY.ON thus honours its service promise to make
connections faster than it is customary in the market.

    In addition to its functions and service, 'PayPipe' is a payment marketplace where
products and services are offered worldwide and can thus also be advertised across
national boundaries. Consequently, the 'PayPipe' provider portfolio includes, alongside
various payment providers, a large number of risk management providers, whose service
covers all risk and chargeback management interests. Customers receive support from the
'PayPipe' management team in their identification of the right strategic partners.
Customers also benefit from an efficient conclusion of contracts with respective partners
on account of their network affiliation.

    'PayPipe' supports and transfers all possible formats (e.g. XML, GICC, URL/via GET)
and transaction types (including pre-authorisation, capture, debit, credit, 3-D Secure,
refund, reversal) in the context of electronic payment handling. All 'PayPipe' systems are
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS v2) certified and are operated using
a high-availability infrastructure. As such, safe and reliable processing of payments is
guaranteed at all times. The 'PayPipe' routing gateway is available exclusively to payment
infrastructure providers such as PSPs, acquirers and scheme operators. PAY.ON's market
position is therefore neutral in relation to its customers as well as to merchants and
online shops.

    Highlights:

   
    - Largest routing gateway for all types of payment providers worldwide
    - One API for processing any number of payment partners
    - Specialist in payment processing and integration of payment market
      participants
    - Swift integration of customer systems into the 'PayPipe' gateway
    - Worldwide, transparent marketplace for payment products and services
    - Cooperation advice from 'PayPipe' management teams
    - Support and fulfilment of all payment and PCI-specific requirements

    Further information can be found at http://www.payon.com. [http://www.paypipe.com ]

    About PAY.ON:

    PAY.ON AG is the world's leading operator of payment infrastructure systems and
supplier of the white-label platform 'PaySourcing' and the routing gateway 'PayPipe'.
'PaySourcing' makes it possible for customers to outsource all relevant payment and
risk-management processes or procure them via cloud computing and thus become a payment
service provider themselves whilst saving costs, time and resources. 'PayPipe' is a
high-performance payment gateway that connects all payment market participants with each
other across the world via a single interface. Accordingly, 'PayPipe' accelerates global
availability for all market participants like no other network. 'PayPipe' allows
transactions to be processed online for all payment methods in all currencies and across
all systems. All PAY.ON systems are PCI-DSS-certified and thus guarantee compliance with
the security standards and requirements that apply to the international payment market.
Further information can be found at http://www.payon.com. [http://www.payon.com ]

   
    PAY.ON AG - Press contact:
    Wilhelm Fuchs
    Manager Global Press and Public Relations
    Phone: +49-89-45-230-562
    Email: press@payon.com
    URL: http://www.payon.com

Source: PAY.ON AG

Jingle Punks Launches Exclusive Music Library for Content Creators

25,000 Pre-Cleared Songs Available for Immediate Licensing Exclusively from Jingle Punks

NEW YORK, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Jingle Punks announced today the launch of an exclusive, pre-cleared music library that can be licensed to content creators via their revolutionary Jingle Player. This new 25,000-song collection affords clients the opportunity to immediately license pre-cleared music not available anywhere else.

"We've spent years building the best library in the business," said Jingle Punks co-founder and CEO Jared Gutstadt. "By creating a separate library where all music available for license is exclusive and pre-cleared, we're meeting client demand head-on. Clients can continue to enjoy the innovations of our Jingle Player while perusing our new collection for tracks that can be licensed instantly and used by the client exclusively. "

The new exclusive library will continue to employ the efficiencies of the Jingle Player, which include the ability to easily search for the music that fits each individual project. The Jingle Player makes the process of finding the right music for clients easier by categorizing and tagging all submissions before uploading the songs into the algorithm-powered database. Jingle Punks is launching its exclusive music library offering in addition to their standard library in order to provide clients the option of being able to search for music they can exclusively license and immediately obtain the rights to.

Since its 2008 launch, the New York and Los Angeles-based music licensing start-up Jingle Punks has built the freshest and most relevant audio library in the business. Their searchable database is a custom-curated collection comprised of submissions from thousands of artists, as well as their award-winning staff composers.

"Jingle Punks is admired in the Television Industry for its amazing collection of exclusive copyrights. We have a storied body of work from our talented composing team, the most sought after in the business. These original works and our collection of exclusive, curated tracks have long been a staple for content creators and producers," said Brian Wahlund, Jingle Punks' head of business development. "We are creating two libraries to best serve the marketplace. Both will be accessible to our clients through our popular Jingle Punks Player technology."

The exclusive music library launches with over 25,000 tracks, a number that will continue to grow. Additionally, upcoming functionality in the company's online player will include live music curation and on-demand custom music creation from the famed Jingle Punks collective. These upcoming features will be made available to all customers.

About Jingle Punks
Jingle Punks is a New York based startup that creates a bridge between musicians and producers who want to purchase and use their music. Jingle Punks represents the music label of the future by providing distribution and synch rights all while cutting down on distribution and overhead through the innovation of its Jingle Punks player.

Jingle Punks' client list has grown to include ABC, NBC, Comedy Central, VH-1, MTV, Bravo, TLC, Starz, History Channel, and A&E. Jingle Punks also services many of the industry's top advertising and branding agencies. Visit http://www.jinglepunks.com/ to see how their expertly tagged and categorized database of music is changing the industry.

SOURCE  Jingle Punks

Jingle Punks

CONTACT: Adam Berkowitz, berkowitz@sunshinesachs.com; or Dave Cirilli, +1-212-691-2800, cirilli@sunshinesachs.com

Web Site: http://www.jinglepunks.com

InfoSonics Launches the R800 Outdoor Tablet with Wi-Fi and 3G

SAN DIEGO, August 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- InfoSonics Corporation (NASDAQ: IFON) today announced the launch of its new verykool® R800 Outdoor Tablet with both Wi-Fi and 3G capability.

"The attractiveness of tablet computers is that they can be taken anywhere, including outdoor environments where they may be subject to the elements," said Joseph Ram, the company's president and chief executive officer.  "We designed the new R800 Tablet with an IPX5 rating for water and shock resistance, and with both Wi-Fi and 3G capability, to give consumers more freedom in taking the device outdoors.  Many of our customers are in Latin America or other emerging markets where humidity and heat is high and conditions can be harsh on electronic devices. We hope the R800 will appeal to consumers in those markets, including businesses needing a remote device for route personnel or data collectors.  It is compact, with a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen, up to 16GB of external storage and powered by Android 2.2 to accommodate the wide array of available applications.  R800 users can multi-task by using it as a cell phone with a Bluetooth or wired headset while working on a specific application or browsing the web.  We are pleased to be able to bring this solution to the market."

The Company noted the following additional details of the R800:

    --  3G HSDPA (7.2Mbps) Dual band (850/2100) and 2G GSM Quad band
        (850/900/1800/1900)
    --  SMS and MMS messaging plus push e-mail
    --  GPS and built-in e-compass
    --  2 megapixel rear camera plus front facing VGA camera
    --  Built-in FM radio and MP3 music player
    --  3500 mAh Li-Po battery
    --  USB port, 3.5mm audio jack and stereo headset included
The verykool® R800 Tablet is available now.  To learn more about the device, visit our verykool® website at http://www.verykool.net/Products/R800.

About InfoSonics Corporation

InfoSonics is a designer, manufacturer and provider of wireless handsets and related products to OEMs, carriers and distributors in Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific.  The Company designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells and provides after-sales support for its own proprietary line of products under the verykool® and other private label brands. Additional information can be found on our corporate website at http://www.infosonics.com and http://www.verykool.net.

Except for the factual statements made herein, the information contained in this news release consists of forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict.  Words and expressions reflecting optimism, satisfaction or disappointment with current prospects, as well as words such as "believes," "hopes," "intends," "estimates," "expects," "projects," "plans," "anticipates" and variations thereof, or the use of future tense, identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance and our actual results could differ materially from those contained in such statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, without limitation: (1) customer acceptance of the new R800 Tablet; (2) our ability to continue to differentiate our products, including the R800, from the competition; (3) extended general economic downturn in world markets; (4) inability to secure adequate supply of competitive products on a timely basis and on commercially reasonable terms; (5) inability to attract new sources of profitable business from expansion of products or services or risks associated with entry into new markets, including geographies, products and services; (6) significant changes in supplier terms and relationships or shortages in product supply; and (7) rapid product improvement and technological changes leading to changes in consumer demand for multimedia wireless handset products and features.  Reference is also made to other factors detailed from time to time in our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date of this release.

SOURCE  InfoSonics Corporation

InfoSonics Corporation

CONTACT: Vernon A. LoForti, Chief Financial Officer, vern.loforti@infosonics.com, +1-858-373-1675

Web Site: http://www.infosonics.com

OLD BAY Brings Products to Life Through Blippar

OLD BAY engages fans with fun, interactive games and unique recipes when they download Blippar(TM) on their smartphone and "blipp" OLD BAY packaging

SPARKS, Md., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- OLD BAY, the iconic seasoning synonymous with good times and traditions, is reaching out to fans across the country on a whole new level with the help of Blippar, a new smartphone and tablet application. By downloading Blippar and blipping OLD BAY logos or packaging, smartphone screens will come alive with 3-D interactive games including Whack-A-Crab and Duckpin Bowling and unique OLD BAY recipes such as snack mix, crispy wings, shrimp scampi and more.

OLD BAY's launch of Blippar is part of the "Summer of Baytriotism," a regional celebration for those who love their hometown and will do anything to defend it. OLD BAY's usage of Blippar is the first use of this technology in the U.S. consumer products sector.

"OLD BAY is a brand that people are extremely passionate about," said Jill Pratt, vice president of marketing for McCormick & Company, Inc. (NYSE: MKC), parent company of OLD BAY. "Through Blippar, we are able to provide OLD BAY enthusiasts with engaging new digital content that allows them to further experience the brand.  Blippar is extremely popular in Europe, and OLD BAY is proud to be the first consumer product to use it stateside."

Engaging with OLD BAY through Blippar is easy:

    1. Download the free Blippar app from the App Store or the Android
       Marketplace: http://www.blippar.com/download.
    2. Point the smartphone or tablet camera at any OLD BAY can, logo or
       packaging, and blipp the OLD BAY image.
    3. Upon blipping, users will be offered:
        --  Unique OLD BAY recipes that are useful for home cooks and grocery
            store shoppers who are looking for dinner ideas.
        --  Exclusive OLD BAY games such as Whack-A-Crab, Duckpin Bowling and
            Baltimore-centric trivia.

To honor the birthplace of the seasoning, OLD BAY fans in Baltimore are provided with exclusive opportunities to blipp:

    --  The OLD BAY Garage - OLD BAY turned a popular Baltimore parking garage
        into a giant can of OLD BAY weighing in at 82 tons. When blipped, users
        are instantly directed to the OLD BAY Whack-A-Crab game and unique OLD
        BAY recipes.
    --  "Summer of Baytriotism" Coasters - Found in popular Baltimore taverns
        and restaurants, users who blipp the coasters will be directed to the
        OLD BAY Whack-A-Crab and Duckpin Bowling games and Baltimore-centric
        trivia. OLD BAY encourages social interaction and urges users to
        challenge friends, family and fellow dining patrons.

"OLD BAY is a great brand for us to showcase how Blippar can make a consumer product a source of marketing and consumer engagement" said Ambarish Mitra, co-founder and chief executive officer of Blippar. "Through our partnership, we've created some really innovative games and brand interaction tools."

Other U.S. brands that have worked with Blippar on European marketing campaigns include Domino's Pizza and Nike. To watch a video demonstrating features of the OLD BAY Blippar campaign, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQA3wLCaAOk&feature=youtu.be.

Note to Editors:

About OLD BAY

For more than 70 years, this distinctive blend of 18 herbs and spices has been a time-honored taste. Just as the recipe hasn't changed, neither has the iconic yellow and blue can. Once only enjoyed by a lucky few along the Chesapeake Bay, OLD BAY® Seasoning has gained fans all across the country. Best known as THE seasoning for shrimp, salmon, crab and other seafood dishes, these days, OLD BAY is used to flavor hamburgers, chicken, pizza, pasta, vegetable dishes and more. OLD BAY Seasoning is also available with 30% less sodium and has been the inspiration for 14 additional offerings. For information, recipes and the OLD BAY online store, visit http://www.oldbay.com and http://www.facebook.com/oldbay.

OLD BAY is one of McCormick & Company's (MKC) portfolio brands. As the leading global supplier of innovative flavor solutions, McCormick has built a portfolio of leading flavor brands that enhance people's enjoyment of food all around the world. Every day, no matter where or what you eat, you can enjoy food flavored by McCormick. McCormick Brings Passion to Flavor(TM).

CONTACT:  Kathleen Shaffer, +1-410-902-5053, kshaffer@mghus.com, or Laurie Harrsen, +1-410-527-8753, Laurie_Harrsen@mccormick.com

SOURCE  McCormick & Company, Inc.

McCormick & Company, Inc.

Web Site: http://mccormick.com

Psychic Friends Network To Launch PFN 2.0 Will Become First Psychic Service to Offer Full Call-In and Online Menu

PFN 2.0 social media beta test with Gen Y's "exceeds expectations in quality, response"

"PFN has now re-invented the industry that we originally invented." - PFN CEO Marc Lasky

LAS VEGAS, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Psychic Friends Network (OTCBB: PFNI) today announced that it has completed the beta test on its PFN 2.0 service menu and will now become the first psychic guidance service to offer full call-in, click-to-call, and instant message audio and video chat services.

The beta test "exceeded expectations in both quality and response," particularly with the under-forty target audience, according to PFN CEO Marc Lasky. And the new 2.0 PFN menu will be available worldwide within the next 30 days.

"This is a major breakthrough in the psychic service industry," Lasky said. "Up until now, psychic service providers had essentially stuck with the same menu of call-in services the Psychic Friends Network pioneered nearly two decades ago. In short, PFN has now re-invented the industry we originally invented."

Lasky believes the new PFN 2.0 "full-service" menu will hold special appeal for the "Gen Y" audience the Psychic Friends Network is committed to reaching. He expects the social media aspect of the 2.0 menu to attract an audience of upwardly mobile "Millennials" who have grown accustomed to using hand-held devices on a continuing basis. The 2.0 service menu will include apps and IVR features exclusive to PFN, while continuing to offer standard telephone call-in services for more traditional customers.

"Our PFN 2.0 beta test has confirmed what we suspected all along," said Lasky. "Today's Gen Y's communicate online at a rate that exponentially exceeds that of previous generations. And, they are far more prone to turn to spiritualism for guidance than traditional religion. The new 2.0 PFN service menu plays exceedingly well to both of those criteria for successfully cultivating and nurturing a Gen Y audience."

According to a recent study by Junco and Mastrodicasa, 94 percent of America's nearly 80 million Gen Y's own a cell phone, and a full 76 percent use instant messaging. Gen Y's spend an average of 38 percent more time on the internet than older adults and spend an estimated $1.5 billion annually online.

According to a Lifeway survey, 72 percent of the Gen Y audience 2.0 PFN is targeting say they are "really more spiritual than religious." Some 70 million Americans now turn to horoscopes on a daily basis for spiritual guidance. And according to allaboutfacebook.com, in October 2010, an "Astrology" application providing horoscopes was ranked on of the "Most Explosive Facebook Applications."

All of which would seem to bode well for the potential profitability of 2.0 PFN's strong pitch to the online audience.

"We know we are on the right track, and we're picking up speed every day," said Lasky. "We believe that while continuing to serve our traditional audience with the standard telephone call-in service, PFN 2.0 will revolutionize the psychic guidance industry with its new online technology."

The Psychic Friends Network, Inc. ("PFNI") is a marketing and entertainment company providing on-demand psychic advice as well as daily and weekly horoscopes. PFN connects customers with professional live psychic readers via telephone (mobile and landline) and through their newly developed state-of-the-art online platform enabling interaction with video chat, voice or text chat.?PFN pioneered the psychic industry with memorable television/radio marketing and infomercials generating nearly $1 billion in revenues. ?

To learn more about PFN corporate and investor relations, visit http://www.PsychicFriendsNetwork.com/investor-relations ??
To learn more about the PFN online operation visit http://www.PsychicFriendsNetwork.com ??
Or Contact Investor Relations:?+1-866-363-3984?
IR@PsychicFriendsNetwork.com?

SOURCE  Psychic Friends Network, Inc.

Psychic Friends Network, Inc.

Web Site: http://www.psychicfriendsnetwork.com/

University of Maryland Alumni Association Opens Online ShopRaising Mall(SM)

Supporters can Raise Money by Simply Purchasing Gift Cards for Everyday Items

COLLEGE PARK, Md., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- University of Maryland Alumni Association (UMDAA) representatives today announced a new way for its members to raise money for the association just by shopping. The UMDAA ShopRaising Mall has opened and is an online portal where consumers can shop for and purchase gift cards at face value. Five percent of every gift card purchase is then given back to the UMDAA.

At the ShopRaising Mall, consumers can choose from hundreds of gift cards from top brands including Chili's Grill & Bar ®, Lands' End, Lowe's® and Panera Bread®. All gift cards purchased are shipped for free to the recipients. UMDAA representatives say this is a very unique and convenient way for supporters to raise funds for the association.

"It truly is simple - you shop and you raise money," Robin Chiddo, the alumni association's director of affinity partnerships and corporate sponsorships," said.  "Our members are already spending at retailers, restaurants and other businesses. Through ShopRaising Mall, they can purchase cards to use for everyday activities such as gift giving, eating out, grocery shopping, home improvements and more. By using gift cards instead of cash or some other form of payment at these merchants, they can raise five percent for UMDAA. The money raised by our supporters through the ShopRaising Mall can really add up."

UMDAA partnered with Affinion Loyalty Group (ALG) on the development of the ShopRaising Mall. ALG is a leading loyalty program provider for many of the top financial institutions in the country.

"At ALG, we are proud to take the experience and partnerships we have developed in our more than 30 years in the business to create a product like the ShopRaising Mall," Scott Lazear, President of ALG, said. "We value the partnership with UMDAA. We hope all of their supporters will take the opportunity to start shopraising. It can have a huge impact on the association."

The UMDAA ShopRaising Mall can be found at umd.shopraisingmall.com.

University of Maryland Alumni Association

The University of Maryland, College Park, Alumni Association, Inc., is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, dedicated to building pride among Maryland graduates and supporting the University of Maryland in its pursuit of excellence. Thanks in large part to the support of its dues-paying members--some 30,000 strong--the association connects alumni to each other and to the university through professional development and social networking events, a vast alumni club and chapter network, an international travel program and myriad print and online media. Members' dues support the alumni student scholarship program and the development of career services for alumni.

Affinion Loyalty Group

Affinion Loyalty Group (ALG) is a leading loyalty program provider whose products and services touch more than 125 million consumers. With more than 30 years of experience, the company drives incremental revenue by increasing customer loyalty for its clients who include top financial institutions, hotel and airline companies, and automotive manufacturers. Headquartered in Richmond, Va., ALG is the loyalty division of Affinion Group, the global leader in customer engagement.

SOURCE  Affinion Loyalty Group

Affinion Loyalty Group

CONTACT: Robin Chiddo, +1-301-405-7204, rchiddo@umd.edu

Web Site: https://umd.shopraisingmall.com

Salesforce.com Positioned as a Leader in the Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation

The world's most successful brands including Groupon, HP and Kimberly-Clark have deployed the award-winning Sales Cloud and transformed how they connect and sell in the social era

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the enterprise cloud computing (http://www.salesforce.com/cloudcomputing/) company, today announced it has been positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the Leaders quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation, 2012, published July 18, 2012.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20050216/SFW105LOGO)

Comments on the News:

    --  "The social revolution has changed the way people engage customers and
        prospects, and ultimately the sales process," said Linda Crawford,
        senior vice president and general manager, Sales Cloud, salesforce.com.
        "With the Sales Cloud, companies can place customers and prospects at
        the heart of the sales process and gain deeper insight to win more
        deals."
According to the report, "Leaders demonstrate a market-defining vision of how technology can help top sales executives achieve business objectives. Leaders have the ability to execute against that vision through products, services and demonstrated, solid business results in the form of revenue and earnings. Leaders have significant successful customer deployments in North America, EMEA and the APAC region in a wide variety of vertical industries, with multiple proof points above 500 users. Leaders are often what other providers in the market measure themselves against."

Sales Cloud, the World's Leading Sales App Built for the Social Era

Salesforce.com is helping businesses embrace the power of the social enterprise by delivering innovative social and mobile cloud technologies that allow companies to engage with their customers and colleagues in entirely new ways. With the Sales Cloud, customers can leverage social intelligence from popular social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube to sell more effectively.  Salesforce Chatter, the leading enterprise social network, lets reps tap into the wisdom of the employee community to immediately harness the resources they need to close deals. And with Salesforce Mobile, reps can drive deals faster, anywhere, from any mobile device.

According to a recent customer survey, Sales Cloud customers experienced a 32 percent average increase in sales productivity, a 30 percent average increase in social leads and a 27 percent average increase in revenue. Among mobile users, customers are also seeing a 28 percent average increase in team productivity and an average 23 percent decrease in sales cycles.[1]

Recent Momentum for Salesforce CRM (Sales Cloud and Service Cloud):

    --  For access to a complimentary copy of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for
        Sales Force Automation, 2012, please visit:
        http://bit.ly/GartnerSFAMQ_Salesforce
    --  This positioning by Gartner follows salesforce.com's recognition as a
        Leader in the Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Service Contact Centers,
        2012, (G00228462).
    --  Salesforce.com, including the Sales Cloud, was just announced in CRM
        magazine's August 2012 edition as the winner of the 2012 Market Leader
        Awards for the Enterprise Suite CRM, Midmarket Suite CRM, and Sales
        Force Automation categories.
    --  Salesforce Service Cloud was recently recognized as a winner of two CRM
        magazine 2012 Service Leader Awards in the Customer Case Management and
        Web Support categories.
    --  Salesforce.com customers Symantec Corporation and Corel were among the
        winners of the 2012 Gartner & 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Awards in the
        customer service category.
    --  Corel and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, also a salesforce.com customer, were
        recently named winners of the 2012 CRM Service Elite Awards by CRM
        magazine.
Follow @Salesforce on Twitter and Suggested Tweet:

If you'd like to tweet about the Sales Cloud's leadership position in the Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation, 2012, here is a suggested tweet to send to your followers:

    --  Click to tweet: .@Salesforce Sales Cloud positioned as a Leader in the
        @Gartner_inc Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation 2012!
        http://bit.ly/MuXCsV
Additional Resources:

    --  Like the Sales Cloud on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SalesCloud
    --  To see a demo of the Sales Cloud, visit:
        http://www.facebook.com/SalesCloud/app_202355726525588
    --  For more information about the Sales Cloud, visit:
        http://www.salesforce.com/sales-cloud/overview/
About the Magic Quadrant:

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Salesforce.com:

With more than 100,000 customers, salesforce.com is the enterprise cloud computing company that is leading the shift to the social enterprise. Social enterprises leverage social, mobile and open cloud technologies to put customers at the heart of their business. Based on salesforce.com's real-time, multitenant architecture, the company's platform and application services allow customers to:

    --  Create employee social networks with Salesforce Chatter, Salesforce
        Rypple and Salesforce Force.com.
    --  Develop customer social networks with the Salesforce Sales Cloud,
        Salesforce Data.com, Salesforce Service Cloud, and Salesforce Site.com.
    --  Connect with customers on public social networks with Salesforce Heroku
        and Salesforce Radian6.
    --  Empower small business to become social enterprises with Salesforce
        Desk.com and Salesforce Do.com.
    --  Extend a company's social enterprise with apps from the leading
        enterprise app marketplace, AppExchange.
    --  Run apps on Database.com, the first social enterprise database.
Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase salesforce.com applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce.com has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM." For more information please visit http://salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.

[1] Salesforce.com Customer Relationship Survey dated March 2012, by an independent third-party, MarketTools Inc., on more than 5,500 customers randomly selected. Percentages based on each customer's unique usage of the Sales Cloud and mobile.

SOURCE  Salesforce.com

Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20050216/SFW105LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
Salesforce.com

CONTACT: Phil Novack, salesforce.com, +1-415-836-3727, pnovack@salesforce.com

Web Site: http://www.salesforce.com

Level 3 Expands Network to Eastern Washington Communities In Response to Customer Demand, Regional Data Center Growth

Brings Diverse and Scalable Connectivity to East Wenatchee and Quincy

BROOMFIELD, Colo., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) today announced that it has expanded its global fiber network backbone to the cities of East Wenatchee and Quincy in Washington state. The expansion was completed in response to customer demand in the region for increased capacity capabilities.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111004/LA77008LOGO)

Data center growth throughout Eastern Washington is changing network requirements, and customers increasingly require more robust network backbones that are capable of handling the increased capacity. The expansion to East Wenatchee and Quincy involved extensive analysis and planning, and Level 3 already has multiple customers leveraging the additional connectivity.

Level 3's network expansion to Eastern Washington communities involves more than 200 miles of advanced fiber cable and connections to five customer data centers. The expansion offers customers network diversity from regional incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) and access to a scalable fiber-optic backbone, which boasts a comprehensive suite of wavelength services. Available wavelength capabilities include gigabit Ethernet (GbE), 40 gigabits per second (Gbps) Ethernet, or 40G, and future capabilities for 100G support. The expansion also enables customers to benefit from Level 3's international network footprint, which regional ILECs have traditionally been unable to offer.

"Level 3 has long been dedicated to expanding its network in response to customer demand and where it sees substantial opportunity for market growth," said Paul Savill, Level 3's senior vice president of Core Product Management. "Eastern Washington is a key region for Level 3 in terms of growth, and we are delighted that our expanded capacity in the area will enable businesses to improve efficiency and expand, all while leveraging Level 3's advanced, international fiber network."

For more information on Level 3's advanced network services, visit http://www.level3.com.

About Level 3 Communications
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) provides local, national and global communications services to enterprise, government and carrier customers. Level 3's comprehensive portfolio of secure, managed solutions includes fiber and infrastructure solutions; IP-based voice and data communications; wide-area Ethernet services; video and content distribution; data center and cloud-based solutions. Level 3 serves customers in more than 450 markets in 45 countries over a global services platform anchored by owned fiber networks on three continents and connected by extensive undersea facilities. For more information, please visit http://www.level3.com

© Level 3 Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Level 3, Level 3 Communications, Level (3) and  the Level 3 Logo 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.  Any other service names, product names, company names or logos included herein are the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. Level 3 services are provided by subsidiaries of Level 3 Communications, Inc.

Website Access to Company Information
Level 3 maintains a corporate website at http://www.level3.com, and you can find additional information about the company through the Investors pages on that website at http://lvlt.client.shareholder.com/.  Level 3 uses its website as a channel of distribution of important information about the company. Level 3 routinely posts financial and other important information regarding the company and its business, financial condition and operations on the Investor Relations web pages.

Visitors to the Investors Relations web pages can view and print copies of Level 3's SEC filings, including periodic and current reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, as soon as reasonably practicable after those filings are made with the SEC.

Copies of the charters for each of the Audit, Compensation and Nominating and Governance committees of Level 3's Board of Directors, its Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Ethics, press releases and analysts and investor conference presentations are all available through the Investor Relations web pages.

Please note that the information contained on any of Level 3's web sites is not incorporated by reference in, or considered to be a part of, any document unless expressly incorporated by reference in that document.

Forward-Looking Statement

Some statements made in this press release are forward-looking in nature and 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. Important factors that could prevent Level 3 from achieving its stated goals include, but are not limited to, the company's ability to: successfully integrate the Global Crossing acquisition or otherwise realize the anticipated benefits thereof; manage risks associated with continued uncertainty in the global economy; obtain additional financing, particularly in the event of disruptions in the financial markets; manage continued or accelerated decreases in market pricing for communications services; maintain and increase traffic on its network; develop and maintain effective business support systems; manage system and network failures or disruptions; develop new services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; adapt to rapid technological changes that could adversely affect the company's competitiveness; defend intellectual property and proprietary rights; obtain capacity for its network from other providers and interconnect its network with other networks on favorable terms; attract and retain qualified management and other personnel; successfully integrate future acquisitions; effectively manage political, legal, regulatory, foreign currency and other risks it is exposed to due to its substantial international operations; mitigate its exposure to contingent liabilities; and meet all of the terms and conditions of its 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
    JonPaul.McLeary@Level3.com Mark.Stoutenberg@Level3.com
SOURCE  Level 3 Communications, Inc.

Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111004/LA77008LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
Level 3 Communications, Inc.

Web Site: http://www.level3.com

Cloudant Data Layer as a Service Scores Big for Big Win Sports Mobile Games

Indie developer Hothead Games extends popular sports franchise with Big Win Baseball using Cloudant's managed NoSQL data layer to store and distribute game data for worldwide player competition

BOSTON, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Cloudant today announced that independent developer Hothead Games has expanded its use of the Cloudant Data Layer managed cloud database service to support the growth of its hugely popular series of Big Win Sports mobile games. Already proven to store and distribute game-state data for millions of head-to-head Big Win Soccer and Big Win Hockey matches around the world, last month Hothead Games launched Big Win Baseball, also powered by the Cloudant global data layer as a service. With Cloudant, Hothead moves the job of database operations and scalability to the cloud so the development studio can focus on coding its next big game. An infographic on the launch is available at https://cloudant.com/how-to-win-big-in-the-app-market/.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120509/NE04144LOGO )

Cloudant helped Hothead Games scale its application data literally overnight. When Big Win Soccer became a featured app in March 2012 and usage soared, Hothead Games moved their data onto the Cloudant cloud database service in a matter of days. Over the next 16 weeks, Hothead Games launched Big Win Hockey and Big Win Baseball, and the number of Big Win games played per day rose significantly. To help support the explosive popularity of the games, big data experts at Cloudant monitored the Hothead Games data layer performance and gradually scaled it from a 6-server Cloudant database cluster to a 60-server cluster running on a global network of SoftLayer data centers. Offloading database operations to Cloudant enabled Hothead Games to stay focused on developing new games.

"Our code makes hundreds of millions of database transactions a day. It's critical to our business that every single one of those works reliably and is super fast," said Joel DeYoung, director of technology at Hothead Games. "Leaving the database administration and performance tuning details in Cloudant's hands has freed up our team to focus on what matters most: making a great experience for our users. A good data layer is one that you barely notice is there, and working with the big data experts at Cloudant has made that a reality for all our Big Win Sports titles."

Mobile is the future of gaming. Consumers will spend $112 billion on video game-related purchases by 2015, according to a Gartner Research report, "Gaming Ecosystem, 2011." The report forecasts that mobile gaming will undergo the fastest rate of growth in this period, rising from "15 percent in 2010 to 20 percent in 2015." As tablet and smartphone applications generate more revenue through in-game purchases and advertising, the amount of data they generate will also increase to unprecedented levels.

"Anyone serious about producing a big-time mobile game has to be deeply invested in the business of large-scale data management if they plan to grow their app worldwide," said Cloudant CEO Derek Schoettle. "Big Win Sports has been a huge success for Hothead Games, and being able to handle their impressive growth of game data is a compelling example of the power of Cloudant."

About Hothead Games

Hothead Games is an award winning, independent games development studio founded in 2006. Focused on developing and publishing high quality games for mobile gamers, Hothead has developed games for Apple's App Store, Google Play Store, Amazon Appstore, Barnes and Nobles Nook App Store. Our games include Scarface, Sea Stars, Zombie Ace and the Big Win Sports series.

Official Website | Facebook | @HotheadGames

About Cloudant

Cloudant provides developers of large or fast-growing Web and mobile applications with the world's first globally distributed "data layer as a service" for loading, storing, analyzing, and distributing application data. The Cloudant Data Layer is a managed service that helps developers to eliminate the delays, costs, and distractions inherent in working with databases and their administrators, while providing unmatched scalability, availability, and performance. This capability accelerates time-to-market and time-to-innovation, because it frees developers from the mechanics of data management so they can focus exclusively on creating great applications. Cloudant is privately held and backed by top-tier investors including Avalon Ventures and Y Combinator. For more information, visit https://cloudant.com/.

Media:
(781) 418-2442
cloudant@daviesmurphy.com

General inquiries:
info@cloudant.com

SOURCE  Cloudant

Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120509/NE04144LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
Cloudant

Web Site: https://cloudant.com

Barefoot World Atlas App

Barefoot World Atlas iPad App Now Also Available For iPhone And iPod Touch

LONDON, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Touch Press and Barefoot Books are pleased to announce that a universal edition of their best-selling children's iPad app, Barefoot World Atlas, is now available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Barefoot World Atlasis a magical 3D globe that offers hours of fun, allowing users to explore more than 700 countries and regions in the world with guidance from geographer and BBC presenter Nick Crane. As athletes from more than 200 nations compete in London, children can read hundreds of interesting facts and even check out the latest medal scores of every country.

The iPhone and iPod touch version of Barefoot World Atlasprovides the same responsive spinning-globe navigation as the iPad version, with an evocative, rich musical soundscape that constantly changes depending on where you visit in the world. Additionally, the new universal edition is fully translated into Spanish and Catalan in partnership with La Galera.

The Barefoot World Atlas App is available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at http://www.itunes.com/appstore.

The universal update is launching at a new promotional price of US $4.99 / EUR3.99 / UK £2.99.

Screenshots: http://www.touchpress.com/press
Barefoot Books: http://www.barefootbooks.com

Apple is a trademark of Apple, Inc.

SOURCE  Barefoot Books

Barefoot Books

CONTACT: Touch Press - UK, Fiona Barclay, +44 7818 424487, fiona@touchpress.com; Barefoot Books - US, Leah Lesser, +1-617-995-4630, leah.lesser@barefootbooks.com; Barefoot Books UK, Nick Band, +44 17844 71454, nick.band@barefootbooks.co.uk

Web Site: http://www.barefootbooks.com

CakeHealth Integrates with GoodRx To Help Users Find The Best Deals On Prescription Drugs

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, CakeHealth announced integration with GoodRx, a website and mobile application that help consumers find the lowest prices on prescription drugs. With the ePharma Summit West ending last week, the news couldn't come at a better time.

Recently, the healthcare manager unveiled Version 2.0 and has seen huge spikes in traffic. The startup is now focused on listening closely to their super users and shaping the product to address their needs.

"With rising health costs, our users are constantly searching for ways to save on healthcare. And while they can't shave costs on necessary surgery or exams, they can find deals on prescription drugs, saving them thousands of dollars in the long run," says Rebecca Woodcock, Founder and CEO of CakeHealth.

When a user logs into Cake, they can visit the Claims View to access the widget. After clicking on a pharmacy claim in their medical history, they will see the GoodRx tool at the bottom of their detailed view, ready to help them find the best prescription costs in their neighborhood. In the near future, the companies will integrate their products more deeply to provide consumers with quick feedback on their prescription drug purchases.

We're pleased to be partnering with CakeHealth," says Doug Hirsch, CEO of GoodRx. "We share a common goal of empowering consumers to make the best use of their healthcare dollar. This partnership is a big win for consumers."

In addition to GoodRx, the CakeHealth team is working on a number of strategic partnerships, as well as a few exciting features that cannot be disclosed at this time. The site currently supports Aetna, Anthem, Blue Shield of California, Cigna, Oxford, UnitedHealthcare, Delta Dental and VSP at this time, but will be serving additional insurance carriers in the near future.

About CakeHealth
CakeHealth is a free tool that helps users stay on top of their medical bills. The site makes it easy to understand your health costs, track your deductible and find ways to save. Founded in 2010, ­­­The CakeHealth site, fully encrypted, ensures security and privacy. The company launched to the public at TechCrunch Disrupt in September 2011 and is located in San Francisco, California. For more information or to sign up, visit http://www.cakehealth.com.

About GoodRx
CakeHealth believes all Americans are entitled to affordable prescription drugs. The company offers a website and mobile application to provide Americans with current prices for virtually all prescription drugs at most local and mail-order pharmacies. In addition, GoodRx provides comprehensive information on available discounts, coupons, savings tips and patient assistance programs. GoodRx has won a Webby award and has been positively reviewed by Consumer Reports, The Los Angeles Times, Forbes, CBS and more. GoodRx can be found at http://www.goodrx.com.

SOURCE  CakeHealth

CakeHealth

Web Site: http://www.goodrx.com

HireVue Redefines Technical Talent Recruiting with Acquisition of CodeEval

Top Programmers and Developer Candidates Are Easily Sourced and Evaluated Through Integration of CodeEval and HireVue On-Demand Digital Interviewing Platform

SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Regardless of industry, it is hard to deny the increasing global demand for technologically savvy talent. In order to provide employers with a specialized tool for connecting with and properly assessing tech job candidates, HireVue, the leading on-demand digital interviewing platform provider, announced today its acquisition of San Francisco-based CodeEval, whose web-based solutions help employers identify and evaluate technical talent.

Through HireVue's digital interview platform, employers are able to review candidates on-demand before they come in for time-consuming, and often costly in-person interviews. With HireVue, employers can review exponentially more candidates in shorter periods of time and efficiently screen out those that may not be the best match for the company's open positions based on knowledge, skills, behaviors and cultural fit. Interview responses can be watched from any computer, or web-enabled digital device such as iPhone, iPad or Android-powered mobile device.

With the addition of CodeEval, HireVue will offer a fully integrated global solution to find and assess IT and technical professionals by giving the employer the ability to create programming and coding challenges as part of the interview and evaluation process. The system enables non-technical hiring managers and recruiters to be able to review and evaluate the programming responses based on accuracy, creativity, timeliness and authenticity - without having to include more tech-savvy personnel in the process until necessary.

"Sometimes the need for highly technical talent exists where you'd least expect it - from banks and retailers to healthcare providers and even school districts - more and more, the global economy functions on the backs of IT professionals," said David Bradford, chief executive officer, HireVue. "The integration of the CodeEval system with our HireVue platform allows even the least technically inclined people to easily and effectively evaluate technical candidates and match the right people with the right jobs and put people to work!"

The CodeEval integration comes with coder and programmer challenges that can range from company-specific apps to simple coding algorithms.

"Companies can choose from a library of unique coding challenges in 13 programing languages or even create their own so it's totally customizable," said Jimmy John, founder at CodeEval. "The challenges can be kept private as part of targeted interview screening, or made open to our CodeEval Developer Community of more than 12,000 developers." 

The system also helps teams source top developers by creating coding competitions with prizes and leaderboards than can be published to social networks, corporate career sites, job boards and private talent communities. Combined, HireVue and CodeEval connect developers and employers and deliver a more holistic view into technical talent. Employers can quickly determine if candidates can code, as well as how they code, while gaining quicker insights into broader skills, behaviors and abilities critical to the job. HireVue's digital interview platform also includes interview guides, question libraries, real-time evaluation, collaboration and feedback tools to provide improved visibility into candidates while reducing guesswork, time and hassle.

"Technical challenges are key to our engineering hiring process. CodeEval has streamlined our screening process by introducing talented developers who have worked to solve our challenge at introduction, " said Lisa Pogue, director of human resources at BitTorrent. "Through CodeEval we have been able to hire key positions with talented engineers and continue to look to CodeEval and now HireVue for top-notch developers."

CodeEval currently supports 13 languages, including: C, C++, Java, Python, Perl, Ruby, PHP, JavaScript, Clojure, Scala, C#, tcl and Objective C, and is currently implemented with more than 100 companies including Warner Brothers, BitTorrent and eBay, joining the more than 400 companies that currently use the HireVue platform to optimize their global hiring processes. CodeEval is part of the incubator program at San Francisco-based i/o Ventures, whose partners have managed some of the world's top internet companies.

Through the terms of the acquisition, HireVue has acquired CodeEval's assets and its team of employees, and will fully integrate both the technology and the staff into the HireVue network over the next 60 to 90 days.

For more information, visit: http://www.hirevue.com/codeeval.

About HireVue
HireVue is an amazing new way to interview - on demand! Users simply browse, watch, rate and share the interviews they want, on their own time - just like streaming their favorite movies - even from a smart phone. Recognized by HR Executive Magazine as a Top HR Product of 2011, HireVue's Digital Interview Platform(TM) also helps improve interviews of all types, including in person, phone and video interviews. Digital question, feedback and collaboration tools remove hassle and make interviewing up to ten times faster and nine times cheaper. Join HireVue customers like Starbucks, Nike and Walmart who are making interviewing awesome. http://www.hirevue.com

Keep a pulse on emerging trends in digital interviewing by following HireVue's social channels: http://www.twitter.com/hirevue, http://www.facebook.com/hirevue, http://www.youtube.com/hirevue

About CodeEval
CodeEval is a platform used by developers to showcase their skills. Developers can participate in app building competitions and win cash/prizes. They can also solve programming challenges as a way to impress employers with their technical skills. Employers can use CodeEval as a way to enhance their brand by launching competitions/programming challenges and as a means to get introduced to the best developers.

About I/O Ventures
i/o ventures is an early stage venture capital firm that focuses heavily on its mentorship from world-class entrepreneurs. i/o offers a collaborative work space in San Francisco's Mission District and it's partners and mentors have started and ran some of the top internet companies. Ashwin Navin (co-founder and former President of Bit Torrent), Paul Bragiel (co-founder and former CEO of Lefora), Dan Bragiel (co-founder of Lefora), Aber Whitcomb (co-founder and former CTO of Myspace), and Jim Young (co-founder of Hotornot.com) are i/o's principles. More information is available at http://www.ventures.io.

Media Inquiries:
Krys Card Grondorf
Atomic for HireVue
714.558.7668
krys@atomicpr.com

SOURCE  HireVue

HireVue

Web Site: http://www.ventures.io

ANV Security Group's Board Authorizes Stock Buy-back

SHENZHEN, China, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- ANV Security Group Inc. (OTCBB:ANVS) today announced the company's Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program. Under the program, ANV Security Group is authorized to repurchase up to 10 million of its outstanding shares of common stock from time to time over the next 12 months in open market or privately negotiated transactions depending on prevailing market conditions and other factors. The repurchase program may be suspended or discontinued at any time. All purchases will be executed in accordance with federal securities regulations.

"At our current market valuation, we feel that the shares of the Company are highly undervalued," said Wilson Wang, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of ANV Security Group. "We are making excellent progress in rolling out our technology within the China market and expect significant positive financial results in the coming quarters."

About ANV Group

ANV Security Group, Inc. (ANVS) was formally established in 2006 and became a public company in 2009 through a reverse merger transaction. Registered as a Nevada corporation, the Company currently trades on the OTCBB exchange under the stock symbol "ANVS". In 2010, the Company moved its headquarters from Vancouver, Canada to Shenzhen, a Special Economic Zone, in Southern China, where it continued to focus on research and development of its technology platforms and service solutions.

As a research and development company, ANVS developed and patented the world's first large-scale cloud-based intelligent video and security alarm technology, having been issued its patent in October 2009 (US2009/0265747A1). The patent and technology enables multi-platform security monitoring and alerts that are scalable for multinational enterprises and even home usage. Any triggered alarm instantly alerts users via SMS, e-mail, telephone, mobile phone, or a combination of any, worldwide, and captures the event images in video surveillance servers. 

In 2011, ANV Security Group launched Global Intelligent Eye (GIE) to be a cost effective digital security monitoring solutions service provider for customers large and small. Tested in Canada and launched in China, GIE is focused on customer support and backend service for its multi-platform security monitoring and alerts in real-time through the internet or 3G networks. Customers are able to use a desktop computer, laptop, smartphone, or any other internet enabled device to visually monitor their locations where ANV devices have been installed.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release and the statements of representatives of ANV Security Group, Inc. (the "Company") related thereto contain, or may contain, among other things, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein are "forward-looking statements," including any other statements of non-historical information. These forward-looking statements are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "projects," "may," "could," "would," "should," "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "intends," "plans," "ultimately" or similar expressions. All forward-looking statements involve material assumptions, risks and uncertainties, and the expectations contained in such statements may prove to be incorrect. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including factors and risks discussed in the periodic reports that the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission (http://www.sec.gov). All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. The Company undertakes no duty to update these forward-looking statements except as required by law.

Additional information is available at http://www.anvsecuritygroup.com

    Contact: Investor Relations
    Humayun Shakeel
    Office: 86-755-86656426 Ext 8024
    Mb: 0086-1326-7000-919
    IR@anvsecuritygroup.com

SOURCE  ANV Security Group, Inc.

ANV Security Group, Inc.

Web Site: http://www.anvsecuritygroup.com

Activision Reveals Final Dates For Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3 Season Of Content

Collection #3: Chaos Pack Releases on August 9 with New Special Ops Chaos Mode; Collection #4: Final Assault Closes the Season on September 6 with Five All-New Multiplayer Maps

Season Will Have Delivered Fans Unprecedented Value of 29 Pieces of Content

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3 Season of Content wraps up with the last two Content Collections - Collection #3: Chaos Pack and Collection #4: Final Assault - set to release on the Xbox 360 on August 9 and September 6, 2012 respectively.  The Call of Duty:MW3 Collection #3: Chaos Pack, will introduce  gamers to the brand new Special Ops Chaos Mode, in addition to offering three all new FACE OFF Maps and four new Special Ops Missions.  The final Collection #4: Final Assault will be released on September 6 and deliver five all-new Multiplayer Maps. 

By its conclusion, the season of content will have delivered an unprecedented depth and variety of content to fans worldwide - including 29 pieces of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 DLC (including three free maps) and introducing the new multiplayer FACE OFF and all-new Special Ops Chaos Mode and delivering Special Ops Missions in DLC for the first time in franchise history.

Call of Duty: MW3 Collection #3: Chaos Pack offers extensive solo and co-op gameplay for the Special Ops enthusiast, featuring four brand new Special Ops Missions - Vertigo, Arctic Recon, Light 'Em Up and Special Delivery - and FACE OFF maps - Vortex, U-Turn and Intersection. Introducing a new way to play Call of Duty®, Special Ops Chaos Mode delivers a frenetic form of combat that demands players to outlast waves of enemies, while chaining kills on maps littered in power-ups to achieve the highest possible score on fan-favorite multiplayer maps Resistance, Village, Underground and Dome.

The final act of the Call of Duty: MW3Content Season,Collection #4: Final Assault, is tailored toward hardcore multiplayer fans, and features five all-new multiplayer maps. "Gulch" sends combatants into a forgotten mining town with mine shafts and equipment sheds for cover.  In "Boardwalk," fun in the sun on the Jersey Shore means facing enemies on the beach.  "Offshore" and "Decommission" will test players' sea legs on deadly oceanic oilrigs and among a maze of rotting ocean liners respectively. Rounding out the collection is a trip to the French Quarter in a war-torn New Orleans, where "Parish" pits players against one another amidst the city's rubble.

Both Collection #3: Chaos Pack and Collection #4: Final Assault will release first on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 1,200 Microsoft Points, or $14.99.  The Collections will be released on other platforms shortly thereafter. The DLC included in the Collections will be made available to Premium Elite members at an earlier date; for current release dates for Premium Elite Members, go to http://www.callofduty.com/mw3/contentcalendar.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is published by Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), and co-developed by Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software.  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is rated "M" (Mature) by the ESRB for Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence and Strong Language. For more information go to http://www.callofduty.com/mw3 or check out @InfinityWard or @SHGames on Twitter.

About Activision Publishing, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, mainland China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, http://www.activision.com. 

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including with respect to the release date of Call of Duty: MW3 Collection #3: Chaos PackandCall of Duty: MW3 Collection #4: Final Assault, are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, MODERN WARFARE, and CALL OF DUTY MW3 are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.

Xbox 360 is either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

SOURCE  Activision Publishing, Inc.

Activision Publishing, Inc.

CONTACT: Joshua Selinger, Senior Publicist, Activision Publishing, Inc., +1-310-255-2000, ext. 5287, joshua.selinger@activision.com

Web Site: http://www.activision.com

Vineyard Networks Joins EEMBC to Develop Deep Packet Inspection Benchmarks

EL DORADO HILLS, Calif., Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC) today announced that Vineyard Networks, a leader in next-generation Deep Packet Inspection technology, has joined the consortium's DPIBench working group. The working group is focused on creation of a comprehensive, credible, and equitable benchmark suite to measure the performance of firewall and Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliances. Vineyard Networks' membership in EEMBC will allow the company to utilize DPIBench, to validate performance of its solutions.

EEMBC was formed in 1997 to develop meaningful performance benchmarks for the hardware and software used in embedded systems. EEMBC benchmarks help ensure predictable performance of embedded processors and systems in a range of applications and disciplines. DPIBench is a complete system benchmark that measures throughput and validates the efficacy of DPI appliances.

"As a leading developer of DPI technology integrated with leading firewall and UTM appliances to networking and telecom vendors around the world, Vineyard Networks is a valuable addition to our membership," said Markus Levy, EEMBC President. "Vineyard Networks' experience in this industry will help ensure that DPIBench delivers rock-solid performance testing and validation."

"Development of a validated method for measuring DPI throughput is a critical industry need. Currently, most vendors use proprietary benchmarks to establish their metrics, making it impossible to reliably and consistently compare DPI solutions," said Josh Zieske, Vice President of Technical Operations for Vineyard Networks. "We look forward to contributing our expertise to help EEMBC standardize its DPIBench. Our work together will go a long way towards helping our customers build next-generation firewall solutions, Layer 7 WAN optimization controllers and application delivery controllers on a variety of routing, switching and wireless platforms."

About EEMBC
EEMBC, the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium, develops industry-standard benchmarks to test embedded processors and systems such as smart phones and network firewall appliances. EEMBC's benchmark development work is supported by yearly member dues and license fees. Further information is available at http://www.eembc.org.

EEMBC, CoreMark, and BrowsingBench are registered trademarks of the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium. All other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners. For more information, visit http://www.eembc.org.

About Vineyard Networks
Vineyard Networks delivers next-generation Deep Packet Inspection technology to network infrastructure vendors around the world. Vineyard's NAVL DPI engine is an OEM solution powering today's application aware platforms, from next-generation Firewalls to Mobile Telco Gateways. NAVL inspects and analyzes network data in real-time providing accurate detection of today's most popular applications with the ability to extract metadata and application attributes from the network traffic. For more, please visit http://www.vineyardnetworks.com.

SOURCE  EEMBC

EEMBC

CONTACT: Markus Levy, EEMBC, +1-530-672-9113, markus.levy@eembc.org

Web Site: http://www.eembc.org/

Calgary Scientific Launches PureWeb® 3.1

Now with downloadable STK trial to better support mobile, cloud, and Web-based enterprise application development

CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Calgary Scientific Inc., a company known for creating transformative technology that reshapes industries, introduces PureWeb® 3.1 to the enterprise software market. The PureWeb platform transforms enterprise-class desktops, workstations, and traditional rich client-server applications into Web-enabled, mobile and cloud-accessible applications. They can then be enabled for real time multi-user collaboration, delivering the security and performance, which users expect. One of the significant enhancements in version 3.1 is a 60-day downloadable Software Transformation Kit (STK) that allows developers to fully test-drive the platform. Developers will be further supported by a new online PureWeb Developer Community, providing documentation and specs, technical support and a community blog outlining industry trends, case studies, and other tips on how to use PureWeb.

PureWeb has been helping software vendors and integrators save development costs, preserve their development investment, drive incremental revenue, and deepen user loyalty for more than three years. Proven initially in the medical industry, PureWeb has supported corporations in the simulation and training, aerospace, and retail industries by extending the reach of big data, visually rich applications to the Web, cloud, and mobile devices, all without compromising high security standards.

Other 3.1 enhancements include:

Flex client STK - new options for deploying any application to devices using Flash®, including the option to utilize the Adobe® Flash Builder product to create "write once" applications for iOS, Android and BlackBerry devices. This is in addition to existing native support for iOS, Android and other mobile platforms.

Acetate functionality - ability to direct the attention of remote participants with either a mouse or ink -- further enhancing user collaboration capabilities announced last year.

Unicode Support - improved support for applications using any language in international deployments, making global software expansion easier.

"The PureWeb platform brings tremendous value to legacy applications and applications that haven't even been developed yet," says Glen Lehmann, Vice President of Products at Calgary Scientific. "In the enterprise software world, if you aren't mobilized and capable of operating in the cloud, you are lagging the marketplace. Industry is aggressively seeking solutions to mobilizing big data applications without compromising security, and PureWeb uniquely solves those issues with its patented architecture. PureWeb is a proven path to more revenue and reduced costs and now we are delivering it in ways that make it even easier for developers. PureWeb is also the most potent weapon in the software arsenal for developers looking to come out on top in the ever-growing collaboration capability battle."

Visit the Developer Site at: http://www.developer.getpureweb.com/.

About Calgary Scientific Inc.
Calgary Scientific is dedicated to providing advanced Web-enablement, mobility and visualization solutions for industries looking for secure access to their data or graphics intensive applications, while using their existing systems. Calgary Scientific began developing technology for the medical industry -- a sector with the most rigorous demands for access, visually rich data, privacy, security and scale. With our FDA-cleared ResolutionMD(TM) technology, we have proved our ability to revolutionize healthcare, and now with the unique power of the PureWeb® software platform, we are doing the same for other industries. For more information on Calgary Scientific, go to http://www.calgaryscientific.com or http://www.getpureweb.com. Or follow us on Twitter at @calsci and @getpureweb.

Press Contact: 
Jenn Poole
Calgary Scientific
Marketing Communications
Jenn.Poole@calgaryscientific.com
(+1) 403.608.5228

Investor contact:
Byron Osing
Calgary Scientific
CEO and Chair
Byron.Osing@calgaryscientific.com
(+1) 403.767.7959

© 2012 Calgary Scientific Inc., ResolutionMD, PureWeb and the Calgary Scientific logo are trademarks of Calgary Scientific. All other third-party company names and products are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

This press release was issued through eReleases® Press Release Distribution. For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE  Calgary Scientific Inc.

Calgary Scientific Inc.

Web Site: http://www.calgaryscientific.com

Founded by Enlight Biosciences, KNODE partners with AstraZeneca and Other Partners

- KNODE - Developing Innovative Web-based Solutions for Accessing Experts and Their Knowledge -

BOSTON, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Enlight Biosciences LLC today announced that its newest portfolio company, Knode, has formed strategic partnerships with AstraZeneca and other industry and academic partners. As an Enlight partner, AstraZeneca will collaborate in the development of KNODE's innovative web-based solution for providing a comprehensive view of life science experts and their work.

"Faced with a vast body of scientific information, we expect KNODE will provide an efficient platform to access and mine a broad range of data to identify expert sources across topics and relationships that provide our R&D scientists unique insight into emerging science and opportunities," said John Reynders, Vice President, R&D Information at AstraZeneca. 

According to David Steinberg, KNODE's CEO, "KNODE is preparing to launch a dynamic and automated search platform to help individual researchers, academic institutions and companies to discover new connections to foster community and the exchange of scientific knowledge within and beyond their organizations. It's a next generation networking platform, connecting you with the right experts at the right time."

"The creation of KNODE emerged from Enlight's unique understanding of the challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry," said Enlight's Chief Business Officer, Baruch Harris, Ph.D. "We are excited to be working with AstraZeneca and our other pharma partners to further develop and apply KNODE'S unique approach to defining scientific expertise and provide our partners with a clear view of the R&D landscape."

Enlight was created by PureTech Ventures in partnership with major pharmaceutical companies and academic luminaries to proactively address critical unmet industry needs. Enlight has publicly announced the formation of two other companies in addition to KNODE - Entrega and Endra. Entrega is developing a proprietary delivery technology to enable the oral administration of proteins, peptides and difficult-to-deliver small molecules. Endra has commercialized a breakthrough preclinical imaging technology that combines the properties of light-based (optical) imaging with ultrasound to enable advanced live-animal imaging for preclinical research. 

About KNODE

KNODE's web-based life science solution provides a comprehensive view of experts and their content. KNODE is working with some of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and researchers to foster the critical network connections that make teams successful. Combining advanced semantic and topic extraction algorithms and a deep biomedical domain expertise, KNODE's solutions address some of the toughest problems of scientific communication and knowledge sharing.

About Enlight

Enlight is a unique entrepreneurial partnership with major pharmaceutical companies and leading academics, focused on pioneering breakthrough innovations for drug discovery and development. Our partners are able to foster the development of high impact enabling technologies and platforms and focus their investment into the innovations that will directly address their most pressing common needs. Enlight was co-founded by PureTech Ventures and academic luminaries led by Dr. H. Robert Horvitz, Enlight's SAB Chair, Nobel Laureate, Howard Hughes Investigator, and Koch Professor of Biology at MIT; Dr. Sam Gambhir, Chair of the Department of Radiology and Chief of the Division of Nuclear Medicine, Stanford; Dr. Rakesh Jain, Cook Professor of Tumor Biology at MGH and Harvard Medical School; and Dr. Raju Kucherlapati, Cabot Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Millennium and Abgenix. Enlight's team also includes an experienced senior pharmaceutical executive, Dr. Bennett Shapiro, PureTech Ventures Senior Partner, former Executive Vice President of Basic Research and Worldwide Licensing at Merck & Co., Inc.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business with a primary focus on the discovery, development and commercialization of prescription medicines for gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory and inflammation, oncology and infectious disease. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. For more information please visit: http://www.astrazeneca.com.

SOURCE  Enlight Biosciences LLC

Enlight Biosciences LLC

CONTACT: Enlight Contact: Baruch Harris, Ph.D., Chief Business Officer, +1-617-456-0981, bharris@enlightbio.com; or AstraZeneca Contacts:  Elinor Graveson, +44-(0)7920-845-188, or Andrea Conners, +44-(0)20-7604-8221