Fed:Oppn's super plan would cost up to $43bln:Sherry

AAP General News (Australia)
02-06-2009
Fed:Oppn's super plan would cost up to $43bln:Sherry

The federal government's accused Opposition Leader MALCOLM TURNBULL of being a budget
vandal for opposing its 42 billion dollar stimulus package .. while putting forward costly
alternatives.

One of Mr TURNBULL'S proposals is for the government to pay employees' superannuation
for a range of businesses.

Superannuation Minister Senator NICK SHERRY says Mr …

Salient Federal Solutions Participates in World IPv6 Day

Wireless News
06-13-2011
Salient Federal Solutions Participates in World IPv6 Day
Type: News

Salient Federal Solutions, a provider of Federal IT and engineering solutions, participated in World IPv6 Day to draw attention to the need to transition government networks to Internet Protocol version 6.

According to a release, during the event, Salient released free web-training videos to highlight the real security issues and risks associated with the transition.
"At Salient this is not a one-day event. We have been helping Defense and Intelligence agencies prepare for a secure and smooth transition to IPv6 for several years," said Salient's cyber security leader Lisa Donnan. "This series of web videos, coinciding with World IPv6 Day, will help spur agencies into action and give them a roadmap forward to a secure future."

The training videos Real World IPv6 Attacks and Securing Networks Against IPv6 Attacks explore existing and future threats.

Salient Federal Solutions is a provider of Federal IT and engineering solutions.

((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))

Copyright 2011 Close-Up Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
n/a

FED:Christians reminds PM of her promise

AAP General News (Australia)
12-03-2011
FED:Christians reminds PM of her promise

The Australian Christian Lobby says there's now a clear difference between federal
Labor and the Coalition, after the Australian Labor Party voted in favour of same-sex
marriage.

The ACL has again reminded Prime Minister JULIA GILLARD of her 2010 election promise
that the Marriage Act will remain unchanged.

ACL managing director JIM WALLACE says the Coalition's policy is that marriage is between
a man and a woman so that sets a clear distinction between the two main parties.

The issue was debated at Labor's national conference in Sydney today.

AAP RTV klm/crh

KEYWORD: LABOR GAY ACL (SYDNEY)

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

WA:WA Police crackdown on teenage sexting

AAP General News (Australia)
03-22-2011
WA:WA Police crackdown on teenage sexting

By Josh Jerga

PERTH, March 22 AAP - West Australian police are cracking down on teenagers sending
sexually explicit images of themselves via the internet and mobile phones.

In the past week six teenagers between the ages of 13 and 16 have been investigated
by police in relation to sending naked images or sexually explicit videos of themselves
to others.

Two girls and two boys, all aged 13, were cautioned this week by police after they
were found to have possessed and distributed several sexually explicit images of one of
the girls.

The images, which police say were in circulation for three weeks, were discovered by
teachers at the girl's school and resulted in her being bullied and teased.

Detective Senior Sergeant Lindsay Garratt said it was a classic case of the boyfriend
distributing the images of the girl to his friends after the pair had split up.

"Had teachers and police not intervened, there was a significant risk of these images
finding their way onto the internet and all over the world almost instantly, exposing
the girl to years of anguish," Det Sen Sgt Garratt said.

In another case a 14-year-old boy was cautioned after child exploitation material was
found on his mobile phone.

Det Sen Sgt Garrett, who is in charge of the Online Child Exploitation Squad, said
concerns were raised that the boy was sending images and videos of himself over the internet
and pressuring girls for sex.

A 16-year-old boy will face Perth Children's Court later this month after he allegedly
created a fake Facebook account to pressure girls to expose themselves

On two separate occasions the teenager pressured a 14-year-old girl and 15-year-old
girl to expose themselves on a web cam and perform sexual acts.

Police said one of the girls obliged after being threatened with violence when she
returned to school and the video file was later uploaded to Facebook.

The boy has been charged with one count each of encouraging and procuring a child to
do an indecent act and one count of distributing child exploitation material.

Det Sen Sgt Garratt said the trend, which has become known as sexting, may seem like
harmless fun but teenagers needed to be aware it could have serious implication from bullying
to affecting future employment and relationship.

"Young people also need to be making the link between the images they are creating,
and the supply to a market amongst sex offenders who are trawling the internet for sexualised
images of children for their sexual gratification," he said.

AAP jsj/jlw

KEYWORD: SEXTING

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

QLD:Floods will cost Qld: Fraser

AAP General News (Australia)
12-08-2010
QLD:Floods will cost Qld: Fraser

BRISBANE, Dec 8 AAP - Queensland's economic recovery will take a hit from wild weather
sweeping the state, Treasurer Andrew Fraser has warned.

Mr Fraser on Wednesday released updated figures showing last year's budget deficit
was lower than expected at $56 million.

He said the state's recovery was on track but warned it would be tempered by the costs
of bad weather, including the recent floods, which would have to be factored into the
mid-year budget review.

"There's no doubt that the floods will be expensive. They'll be expensive for the government
in terms of natural disaster relief payments to individuals, to communities, to councils,"

he told ABC radio.

"But they're also going to cost business a lot of money."

He said the impact of the recent flooding was a concern for the government, with many
mines resembling dams.

The treasurer said the lower than expected deficit for 2009-10 was good news.

"This is more than $230 million less than forecast at budget time," he said in a statement.

"This improved final result largely flows from a $200 million reduction in expenses
against budget."

He said about 80 per cent of the state was flood-declared at the start of 2010, causing
some delays in construction, with the capital outlays coming in at $16.6 billion for the
year.

"Our building program continues this year with the outlays representing delays in reaching
construction milestones - no projects have been cut and the program remains central to
our economic recovery," Mr Fraser said.

He said the Annual Economic Report 2009-10 showed how vital the state and federal governments'
building stimulus programs had been to the 2.3 per cent growth achieved last year.

"The fact is in the last financial year the only show in many towns was our building
program," he said.

Mr Fraser said the 2.3 per cent growth outcome was a solid result against the international
backdrop of the global financial crisis.

" ... the final result remains above the OECD average of 2.1 per cent for the last
two decades," he said.

The Report on State Finances, which included accounts signed off by the Auditor-General,
showed the long-term effects of the revenue wipeout from the 2008-09 State budget that
preceded the financial crisis, Mr Fraser said.

Stamp duty from property was down $1.4 billion, payroll tax was down $268 million,
gaming machine revenue was down $107 million and GST was down $785 million.

Royalties were also down $712 million.

But there was good news on the jobs front.

"Unemployment was forecast in the 2009-10 State budget to hit seven per cent this financial
year - today's report shows a final year-average result in 2009-10 of 5.7 per cent," he
said.

"Unemployment peaked at 6.0 per cent, below the forecast and today it sits at 5.5 per cent."

AAP tnf/dep

KEYWORD: ECONOMY QLD

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

VIC:Brumby sorry over Black Saturday

AAP General News (Australia)
08-01-2010
VIC:Brumby sorry over Black Saturday

By Greg Rule and Paul Mulvey

MELBOURNE, Aug 1 AAP - Premier John Brumby has apologised for the systematic failures
on Black Saturday, but continues to throw his support behind Victoria's emergency services
heads.

While backing his emergency chiefs despite the scathing criticism they received from
the bushfires royal commission, Mr Brumby for the first time issued an apology over the
fires which claimed 173 lives on February 7, 2009.

"I said that there were system failures on the day ... and for that all of us who were
involved, from me and everybody, are obviously sorry that those systems failed and I personally
feel the weight of responsibility to get the arrangements and systems right in future
so that we never again see a repeat of those circumstances of February 7," he told ABC
Radio on Sunday.

While offering an apology, Mr Brumby also offered his full support for the senior figures
whose leadership led to many of those system failures, according to the commission's final
report which was delivered on Saturday.

But Emergency Services Commissioner Bruce Esplin indicated he could be the third to
quit in the shadow of the royal commission.

He issued a prepared statement on Sunday, in which he said he was considering his future
following the commission's 900-page report which criticised his view that the declaration
of a state of emergency on Black Saturday was not required.

If Mr Esplin decides to resign from the position he has held for 10 years, his departure
would follow those of Country Fire Authority (CFA) chief Russell Rees and bushfire recovery
taskforce head Christine Nixon, who both quit in the weeks leading up to the report that
damned them.

Mr Brumby on Sunday singled out Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE)
chief fire officer Ewan Waller who the commission said relied too much on his subordinates
during the bushfire crisis.

"Ewan, like many people on that day, would have said `if I had the chance again, perhaps
I would have done things differently'," Mr Brumby said.

"But I am standing by Ewan Waller and, by the way, we are standing by those other individuals
who are named in the report."

But the premier appeared to stop short of such support for Mr Rees who recently retired
after being intensely criticised during commission hearings.

"Russell has of course departed so Russell is a private citizen and he is no longer
a member of the CFA and any comments Russell might like to make, Russell could make,"

Mr Brumby said.

Mr Rees is yet to respond to the report and is said to be holidaying interstate.

While Mr Rees remains silent, Mr Waller issued a statement on Sunday, welcoming the
report, but failing to respond to its criticism.

The commission said Mr Waller "did not descend into the detail of the fires" and he
and Mr Rees were both deficient in their roles.

But he says he won't comment publicly on the report until he's fully considered its findings.

"My role now is to embrace the lessons learnt, and continue to help lead DSE as we
build on the many improvements we've already made since Black Saturday," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Brumby said the government would act swiftly on the final report and
its 67 far-reaching recommendations, with its initial response issued within days.

Speaking at Whittlesea fire station, Mr Brumby said he travelled to the bushfire zone
to applaud the efforts of firefighters and tell them he carried "the fully weight of responsibility"

that Victoria never again suffered another Black Saturday.

AAP gfr/pmu/jfm/apm

KEYWORD: TEAGUE WRAP (PIX AVAILABLE)

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Keneally denies govt did not do enough to stop bus strike

AAP General News (Australia)
12-18-2009
NSW: Keneally denies govt did not do enough to stop bus strike

NSW Premier KRISTINA KENEALLY denies she didn't do enough to prevent bus drivers in
Sydney and Newcastle from walking off the job today.

She's told Macquarie Radio the government was working late into the night yesterday
to stop the strike .. making a last-minute offer of a three per cent rise backdated to
June 12 this year .. backed by a further three per cent rise from June 12 next year.

The opposition says Ms KENEALLY and the Labor government have been fighting amongst
themselves .. when they should have been dealing with this issue.

A 24-hour strike began from 4am (AEDT) .. causing 600 thousand commuters to make new
travel plans or stay home.

AAP RTV bc/wjf/wf

KEYWORD: BUSES KENEALLY (SYDNEY)

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

UK: 500 children a year abducted from Britain: report

AAP General News (Australia)
08-10-2009
UK: 500 children a year abducted from Britain: report

LONDON, Aug 10 AFP - Almost 500 children were abducted from Britain and taken abroad
last year, the Guardian newspaper said on Monday, highlighting Pakistan as a hotspot.

Other abduction hotspots included Australia, France and Egypt, the Guardian said.

An estimated 470 youngsters were abducted in the UK in 336 separate cases reported
to authorities in 2008, a 20 per cent increase on 2005 figures, according to data obtained
by the newspaper under freedom of information laws.

More children were taken illegally to Pakistan than anywhere else, with 30 cases, while
23 were taken to the United States, 22 to Ireland and 21 to Spain.

Abductions usually occur when marriages break down between couples of different nationalities,
and the parent not awarded legal custody kidnaps their children and flees abroad, it said.

The cases are not normally publicised because they are dealt with in the family courts
where reporting restrictions apply to any cases involving the welfare of minors.

The British government has little power to intervene in around 40 per cent of all abduction
cases as they involve children being taken to countries not a signatory to the Hague convention.

The international treaty obliges nations to promptly return children wrongfully detained
in their jurisdiction.

Cases involving non-treaty countries include Bangladesh, Iraq, Nigeria and Russia, it said.

AFP maur

KEYWORD: UK KIDNAP

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Australia pledges $5m cholera aid to Zimbabwe

AAP General News (Australia)
02-16-2009
Fed: Australia pledges $5m cholera aid to Zimbabwe

Australia will immediately provide an extra five million dollars to help Zimbabwe fight
a cholera outbreak which has left more than three thousand people dead.

Foreign Minister STEPHEN SMITH made the pledge during a phone call on Friday to congratulate
MORGAN TSVANGIRAI on becoming Zimbabwe's new prime minister.

Mr SMITH says the UN has reported 73 thousand cases of cholera and almost three and
a half thousand deaths in Zimbabwe.

The funding will go to the United Nations Childrens Fund .. with three million to be
used for its emergency water and sanitation program and two million to boost its medicines
support program.

AAP RTV kd/ka/

KEYWORD: ZIMBABWE AUST (SYDNEY)

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED: Govt denies it is cutting funding to public schools

AAP General News (Australia)
08-27-2008
FED: Govt denies it is cutting funding to public schools

By Julian Drape

CANBERRA, Aug 27 AAP - The Rudd government has rejected a new report which suggests
funding for public schools will be cut over the next four years, resulting in the loss
of 1,000 teachers.

The report, commissioned by the Australian Education Union (AEU), says under current
budget projections there'll be a 1.8 per cent decrease in real funding for public schools
by 2011-12.

In 2007-8, the commonwealth budget for government schools was $3.54 billion, but that
will drop to $3.48 billion by 2011-12, University of Sydney academic Jim McMorrow says
in Reviewing the Evidence.

"What kind of education revolution would cut money to public schools," AEU president
Angelo Gavrielatos told reporters in Canberra, referring to the Rudd government's name
for its education policy.

"(It's) a 1.8 per cent decrease in real funding for public schools during the life
of the next four-year agreement".

Mr Gavrielatos said that equated to the loss of 1,000 teachers, and called on the government
to immediately inject $1.5 billion into public schools to avert the funding slide started
during the Howard government years.

But Treasurer Wayne Swan said the federal government already was committed to increasing
education funding.

"We are already boosting funding for education, that's what our trades training centres
in schools are all about, that's what the digital revolution is all about," Mr Swan told
reporters.

"There is additional money flowing to schools."

Education Minister Julia Gillard said the government was elected on the back of policies
"to make huge new investments into education".

"We've already started rolling out our $2.5 billion investment in trades training centres
in schools, our $1.2 billion investment in the digital education revolution, and the list
goes on," Ms Gillard told ABC Radio.

"The last budget was a budget in which education was a centrepiece."

But Ms Gillard would not say whether the public school sector would be better or worse
off under Labor.

"We are in active negotiations about the schools funding agreement for the next four
years and those negotiations ... will be announced through the Council of Australian Governments
process," she said.

"I'm not going to allow an AEU report ... to derail that incredibly important set of
negotiations."

Mr Gavrielatos hit back saying if one "unpacked" Labor's big election initiatives "you
will find on a yearly basis the funding is very small".

"We should not be conned by announcement that talk about funding over 10-year periods," he said.

The Reviewing the Evidence reports found government schools' share of commonwealth
funding declined from 43 per cent to 35 per cent under the Howard government and would
drop further to just 33.8 per cent by 2011-12 under Labor.

At the same time funding to non-government schools increased.

The government has pledged to keep the existing funding formula - which Dr McMorrow
said was "riddled with anomalies and flaws" - for the next four years.

Mr Gavrielatos did not believe the Rudd government intended to cut public school funding,
which was why, he said, it must now "introduce immediately new measures for additional
funding".

AAP jcd/jlw/srp/bwl

KEYWORD: EDUCATION LEAD

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Sydney one of the world's greatest cities: survey

AAP General News (Australia)
04-22-2008
NSW: Sydney one of the world's greatest cities: survey

SYDNEY, April 22 AAP - Sydney is one of the world's greatest cities, with residents
finding it a "pleasant, clean and charming" place to live, new survey results show.

A global survey of urban lifestyle trends in 14 cities interviewed 8,500 people, 630
who live in Sydney.

Results show the harbour city is among the top three of the world's "easy to live"

cities, praised for low levels of population density and closeness to nature, with residents
reporting they are optimistic and not very stressed.

The Veolia Observatory of Urban Lifestyles examined the relationship between city dwellers
and the places where they live, questioning residents from Alexandria in Egypt, Beijing,
Berlin, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Lyons (France), Mexico City, New York, Paris, Shanghai,
Sydney, Prague and Tokyo.

Chicago and Los Angeles were the other two cities ranked in the top three "easy to live" cities.

"The research found that Sydney is a pleasant city to live in," Veolia Environment,
which conducted the survey, said in a statement.

"(Sydney) is clean, relatively quiet and liked by residents.

"Sydneysiders claim to be satisfied with their living conditions, housing and area.

In particular, they appreciate the cultural and leisure activities the city offers, the
diversity of the people, and have an above average opinion of the city's safety and cleanness."

Furthermore, survey respondents associated Sydney with the word "happiness".

The survey found Mexico City "frightening", with residents reporting negative feelings
about safety and urbanisation.

Tokyo was labelled "cold", appreciated for its convenience but lacking friendliness.

In Australia, surveys were conducted with people living in the City of Sydney, aged
between 15 and 70.

AAP ad/imc/maur/bwl

KEYWORD: CITIES (WITH FACTBOX)

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:45, Dec 18

AAP General News (Australia)
12-18-2007
HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:45, Dec 18

CANBERRA - An Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) inquiry has found
no "obvious" evidence of price fixing in the unleaded petrol market. (Petrol Second Lead)

CANBERRA - Well, there is no cartel, no gaggle of dark suited oil men meeting in dark
alleys to fix tomorrow's petrol price. (Petrol News Analysis)

Petrol Nightlead to come with factbox

CANBERRA - The board of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) believes higher interest
rates may still be needed to address inflation concerns. (RBA Minutes)

CANBERRA - A new era of fiscal discipline is needed to help combat the challenge of
rising inflationary pressures, federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says. (Economy Swan. See also
Business exCanberra)

CANBERRA - Australia's corporate regulators remain "watchful and alert" to lingering
fallout from the US sub-prime market crisis, federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says. (US Subprime
Swan)

Economy Nightlead to come. See also RBA Minutes Economists and RBA Analysis on Finance wire

SYDNEY - Centro Property Group securities fell more than 50 per cent today amid concerns
about the firm's viability, as the property trust and investment sector continued to suffer
from negative investor sentiment. (Centro, to come with graphic)

Stocks Fronter to come

PORT LINCOLN - The Country Fire Service (CFS) failed to take adequate measures to minimise
the impact of the Eyre Peninsula bushfires that killed nine people, a South Australian
coroner has found. (Bushfires SA Inquest Lead)

Bushfires SA Inquest Nightlead to come

CANBERRA - A customs vessel armed with machine guns may be deployed to the Southern
Ocean as part of beefed-up federal government monitoring of the Japanese whale hunt. (Whaling
Aust Ship Lead (pix available). See also Whaling Watchers)

Whaling Aust Nightlead to come

BRISBANE - A Queensland police officer who opened fire on two teenagers, hitting one
in the leg, feared for his life as their car came within centimetres of mowing him down,
authorities say. (Shot Lead)

Shot Nightlead to come

SYDNEY - A surfer has been bitten by a shark at a beach north of Newcastle and treated
in hospital for a serious wound to the buttock, ambulance officers say. (Shark NSW Lead)

Shark NSW Nightlead to come

SYDNEY - Former Secret Life Of Us star Samuel Johnson has escaped conviction for a
drunken assault at a wedding reception, in which he stomped on a man's head. (Johnson)

Johnson Nightlead to come

SYDNEY - ANZ Banking Group Ltd has set itself an ambitious target of doubling its annual
profit to $8 billion in five years and expanding its Asian operations to account for 20
per cent of group earnings. (ANZ Nightlead)

ADELAIDE - Spinner Brad Hogg and speedster Shaun Tait have both been added to the Australian
cricket squad to play India in the first of four Tests at the MCG on Boxing Day. (Cricket
Aust Lead)

TO COME: Cricket Aust Nightlead, Cricket India Nightlead

SYDNEY - Skandia skipper Grant Wharington has accused UK super maxi City Index Leopard
of underestimating its Australian rivals ahead of this year's Sydney to Hobart. (Sail
SydHob Nightlead, to come with sidebar)

MORE nf

KEYWORD: HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Coonan imposes CDMA licence condition on Telstra

AAP General News (Australia)
08-06-2007
Fed: Coonan imposes CDMA licence condition on Telstra

The federal government says it'll impose a new licence condition on Telstra .. preventing
it closing the CDMA mobile phone network in the bush .. until it's proved the new Next
G network is up to scratch.

Communications Minister HELEN COONAN says Telstra has 30 days to comment.

Senator COONAN says she's proposing the condition .. after receiving complaints from
people about drop-outs and coverage difficulties from Next G.

She says Telstra originally planned to have Next G ready for performance audits this
month .. but that's been delayed until at least October.

AAP RTV pj/sb/tm/bart

KEYWORD: CDMA (CANBERRA)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Nationals call for fire inquiry

AAP General News (Australia)
02-13-2007
Vic: Nationals call for fire inquiry

Victoria's Nationals leader PETER RYAN says massive bushfires in his state could have
been lessened .. by better fire control strategies in the lead-up to summer.

The Nationals plan to move for an inquiry in parliament today into preventative burning
in state forests.

Mr RYAN wants a parliamentary committee to examine the effectiveness of prescribed
burning and permanent fire breaks .. as well as the impact of public land use and the
involvement of local communities.

He says people have told him there was a build up of fuel .. which combined with the
weather formed an absolutely enormous base for the holocaust there was.

The Great Divide north and south fires in Gippsland scorched 1.18 million hectares
over more than two months before being contained last week.

AAP RTV kl/gfr/cp/tm

KEYWORD: BUSHFIRES VIC RYAN (MELBOURNE)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Jana Wendt says she won't be going to 60 Minutes

AAP General News (Australia)
08-27-2006
NSW: Jana Wendt says she won't be going to 60 Minutes

JANA WENDT denies she'll return to 60 Minutes .. and is still to decide whether she'll
stay with the Nine Network.

The Sunday Telegraph reports Ms WENDT will be returning to 60 Minutes and won't be
joining a new-look panel-style Sunday program.

The presenter confirmed on air that this morning's appearance was her last on the Sunday
program .. but said the report about returning to 60 Minutes was wrong.

Ms WENDT has declined to comment on other aspects of the Sunday Telegraph article ..

including a report that two of her own colleagues expressed a lack of confidence in her.

AAP RTV was/ibw

KEYWORD: WENDT (SYDNEY)

) 2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

SA: The main stories in the 1200 ABC SA news

AAP General News (Australia)
04-20-2006
SA: The main stories in the 1200 ABC SA news

ADELAIDE, April 20 AAP - The main stories in the 1200 ABC SA news:

- Another planeload of federal police reinforcements flies to the Solomon Islands.

- Australasian police meet in Canberra to discuss road safety issues.

- Australian share market lower in morning trade.

- Teenage boys sue a teacher and the education department in Victoria for failing to
protect them from sexual abuse.

- Australia to chase quick wickets to win the second cricket Test against Bangladesh.

- West Coast star Ben Cousins in doubt for this weekend's AFL round because of injury.

AAP tjd

KEYWORD: MONITOR 1200 ABC SA NEWS

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

AG

AG See Attorney General.

Manchester united in business.(Brief Article)

An IFA UK conference is set for Manchester, with the NW economy second only to London

In the first in a series of regional reviews, Money Marketing will set the key UK regions into context in terms of giving advice. This week, the North-west and Greater Manchester come under the spotlight

Manchester, which is the commercial, financial, educational and cultural capital of the UK's biggest economic region outside London, plays host to more than 80 of the Financial Times Top 100 companies.

There are around 2,399,781 economically active people employed within a 30-mile radius of Greater Manchester, which has a total population of 5,138,708.

Unsurprisingly, the average IFA client profile veers towards professionals, in particular, managers or directors of small business, and high-net-worth individuals.

The total number of directors in the North-west is around 26,000. In terms of turnover, there are two main groups. The first numbers big companies with over [pound]500m turnover, of which there are 87. The second group comprises 92 companies with a turnover of between [pound]200-[pound]500m.

When it comes to the future profile of clients, consensus among the IFA community in the area is that little will change. But the outlook is very different when it comes to the business that IFAs believe they will be writing in the future. The feeling is there will be a marked shift away from bread and butter pension business into a broader spectrum of income generating products, in particular, critical-illness cover and income protection.

A change to the way that IFAs are remunerated is also expected. Intermediaries are finding that clients are increasingly receptive to having commission rebated, offset against a monthly fee.

Money Marketing IFA UK is a regional trade event for the UK intermediary sector, which aims to help regional IFA communities build contacts with product and service providers operating in their area.

Each event incorporates a comprehensive conference programme tackling contentious and compelling industry issues, educationally orientated product seminars and interactive workshops.

The next event is being held on Wednesday, September 19 at the recently completed Manchester International Convention Centre. There will be over 80 exhibitors and 18 conference sessions. More than 1,000 IFAs are expected to attend.

The issues under discussion will include the challenges facing the new Financial Ombudsman Service, the polarisation debate, the next stages and the ways in which Aifa is working to influence the arguments, topping up pensions after April 6, 2001, how to ensure payback for your internet investment and bow to use worksite marketing to generate traffic to your website and how to convert site browsers into clients.

 IFA business Total number of IFAs working in the region 1,495                               Number of IFAs    % of                               writing business  total Critical illness              744               49.7% Group life insurance          542               36.2% Group personal pension        712               47.6% Group PHI                     423               28.3% Income drawdown               533               35.6% Individual personal pensions  952               63.6% Investment trusts             581               38.8% Life/term insurance           1041              69.6% Long-term care                478               31.9% Mortgages                     696               46.5% Occupational pensions         445               29.7% Offshore products             401               26.8% Peps/Isas                     744               49.7% Private health insurance      722               48.2% Personal pension transfers/ phased retirement             518               34.6% Private medical insurance     436               29.1% Single-premium bonds          892               59.6% Tax advice                    412               27.5% Unit trusts                   831               55.9% 

MONEY MARKETING IFA UK

September 19 Manchester

Speakers in the Porters Suite

Walter Merricks, Chief Ombudsman, Financial Ombudsman Services

Shona Adam, and Steve Minns, IFA Added Value Manager, Norwich Union

Jim Cronin, Associate Director, Allied Dunbar Assurance

Paul Smee, Director General, Aifa

Stewart Ritchie, Director (Pensions Development), Scottish Equitable

Tracey Merritt, Business Development Manager, Beale Dobie & Company

Christopher Butterwick, UK Sales Director, Standard & Poor's

Ian Grimsell, National Sales Manager, Tunbridge Wells Equitable

Harry Morgan. Director, Edinburgh Fund Managers

Speakers In the Palatine Suite

Phil Hollingdale, Director, Screen Pages Limited

Nicola Mitchell, Sales & Marketing Director, Assureweb

David Carrington, Sales & Marketing Director, freetrawl.com

Colin Preston, Head of National Accounts, Ifonline

Gary Shepherd, Sales Manager, 1st Software

Speakers In the Sidings Suite

Gareth Fatchett, Director, Proact Legal

Patrick Boreham, Associate Director, Alexander Forbes

Shane Elliott, Marketing Executive. and Simon Condor, Managing Director, Teather & Greenwood Tish Hanitan. IFAcare

CBQ Subsidiary, Quantum Net Technologies, Announces New Business Development Initiative.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

HUNT VALLEY, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 12, 2000

Seeking additional growth, company adds new staff and new

initiatives.

CBQ, Inc. (OTCBB:CBQI) subsidiary Quantum Net Technologies, a leading regional provider of Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and e-Business solutions, announced today that they are adding significantly to their technical business development staff to accommodate increased business in the growing IT space.

According to Company president, John Moran, Quantum Net Technologies has been providing end-to-end e-Business solutions since 1991, ranking third among regional e-Business service providers, with projected revenue of $12 million for 2000.

Seeking faster growth, Quantum is adding four more technical business development professionals in order to achieve the company's objective of becoming the number one end-to-end solutions provider (ESP) in the region. Leading the team as Director of Technical Business Development is Mark Butler, former Sales Manager of Hunt Valley-based Corporate Technology Group.

"Mark brings a proven track record of success to the team," said Quantum President, John Moran. "Within a short period of time Mark has brought in nearly half a million dollars in new business with major e-commerce players headquartered here in the mid-Atlantic region."

Three other seasoned professionals in the IT industry will join Mark on this new team. John Woodley, formerly of O/E Enterprise Solutions, brings experience in IT consulting and in building comprehensive network enterprise solutions, including Domino and Lotus Notes rollouts for companies such as Sylvan Learning Center.

Heather Kitsko comes to Quantum from IKON Technologies Corporation, where she helped her Fortune 1000 clients to address their technology training needs. Ms. Kitsko will focus on consulting with new clients on web-enabled software solutions as well as training and platform migrations.

Rounding out the new team is Wayne Richardson, a Cisco Certified Sales Expert from General Electric IT Solutions. The company believes Wayne's more than ten years of sales experience will add further depth to Quantum's technical business development arm.

The new technical sales team will add to the firm's base of business, supplementing its core custom software development and network engineering services as well as its Government business led by Frank Rochowiak. The company believes that the new team will allow Quantum to focus on bringing IT solutions to larger regional clients.

"Quantum is working with the early adopters of technology," said Mark Butler. "We are fully engaged and focused on new technology to allow our clients to be among the first benefactors of innovation."

About CBQ, Inc.

CBQ, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBQI) is a full service, end to end E-Business solution provider. Through its subsidiaries, led by Quantum Technology Group, Inc., CBQ provides custom web-based software, including web portal design and development, networking services and security, as well as many other web-based solutions. The company also provides information technology outsourcing resources to its clients.

For more information on Quantum Technology Group, visit www.qnettech.com. ChinaSoft, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of CBQ, Inc. that is a joint venture partner with CCSoft Technology Developing, Ltd, Beijing, China. Its services include Software Development for Enterprise computing and Internet development. For more information about CCSoft, visit www.ccsoft.com.cn.

China Partners is a subsidiary that is developing an Internet portal between the United States and China to facilitate international trade and investment opportunities between private sector companies and the private sector and government owned industries in China. For more information on CBQ, Inc., visit www.cbq.com.

China Wireless, Inc. is an early stage subsidiary that is developing telecommunications projects in China.

This news release may include forward-looking statements related to CBQ Inc. that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, quarterly fluctuations in results, the management of growth, market acceptance of certain products and other risks. These forward-looking statements are made in reliance on the "safe-harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

For further information about these factors that could affect CBQ's future results, see the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Prospective investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from management expectations.

Virtual Technology Sets Industry Precedent With E-Commerce Solution.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 11, 1998--

VTC Enhances On-line Consumer Shopping and Prepares for Rapid

Growth Through the Implementation of an Innovative E-commerce

Management System.

Virtual Technology Corp.(OTC:VTCO) is innovating the way consumers buy computers over the Internet through the implementation of a customer centric solution from Sagence Systems, TechBuy. TechBuy is the first, fully-integrated, e-commerce business management system that has been designed specifically for computer product resellers.

From VTC's Web site http://www.virtual-world.com Internet consumers will be able to experience true electronic commerce and "one click" purchasing.

TechBuy allows customers to check real-time availability and pricing of thousands of computer products we offer from multiple distributors. What's more is, that TechBuy supports Virtual Inventory, meaning that our customer's product orders automatically generate a purchase order to one of our primary distributors. Then the product is drop shipped directly to the customer as the appropriate invoicing and secure credit card transactions are performed.

"TechBuy manages the orders that come through the Internet and/or phone, the drop shipment from the primary distributors, all the way through the back-office accounting transactions. Manual data entry by our staff is kept to a minimum, keeping our cost of sales down," said Greg Appelhof, president of Virtual Technology.

TechBuy is the first computer reseller management solution that fully-integrates an e-commerce front-end with a comprehensive back-office accounting suite. TechBuy also enables Virtual Technology to interface directly with their key distributors inventory systems for real-time product availability, pricing and the placing of orders.

"Through the implementation and use of TechBuy, we are poised for rapid growth and will be able to maintain our operating expenses and increase our margins. Our customers will benefit from streamlined purchasing, more detailed product information and industry reviews, in addition to the most secure transaction processing systems available today." said Ken Israel, founder and "chief virtual officer" of Virtual Technology.

TechBuy is developed and supported by Sagence Systems, a Newport Beach, Calif., company that specializes in client/server and Internet solutions for computer product resellers and distributors. Sagence Systems is an affiliate company of GDI. GDI has been providing cutting-edge technology solutions to midmarket for more than 12 years.

Virtual Technology Corp. is one of the leading Internet resellers of computer hardware and software technology. The company specializes in Speed, Power and Graphics products from over 1200 vendors including IBM, HP, Compaq, Hitachi, Sony and Epson, to mention a few.

The company is one the top advertisers on the Internet with premier positions and portals in CNET (CNWK- computers.com) and ZDNET (ZD- zdnet.com). The company trades on the National Over the Counter Bulletin Board under the symbol VTCO.

Statements regarding the company's anticipated performance are forward-looking and therefore involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to market conditions in the Internet services industry, competitive products and technologies and other factors that are set forth in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

WHARTON RESEARCH DATA SERVICES ANNOUNCES THE ADDITION OF THE WRDS SEC ANALYTICS SUITE.

PHILADELPHIA, Penn. -- The following information was released by The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania:

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania announced today that Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) has created the WRDS SEC Analytics Suite, allowing for researchers to effortlessly retrieve and export customized subsets of the most common SEC filing reports. WRDS is the leading, comprehensive, internet-based data research service used by academic, government, and corporate firms.

The WRDS SEC Analytics Suite allows for advanced data-mining - allowing you to parse and extract any entity reported to the SEC's EDGAR database since 1994. WRDS SEC Analytics Suite is positioned for broad business usage from due diligence and forensic accounting to disclosure research and investment management.

"WRDS' researchers can build custom-tailored data sets, searching across multiple entity filings in one easy process. Researchers also benefit from the powerful combination of being able to link their customized filings extract with prominent accounting and financial market databases, including Capital IQ's Compustat, CRSP, Thomson-Reuters' IBES, IVES' Audit Analytics, and NYSE Euronext's TAQ," said Robert Zarazowski, WRDS Senior Director.

About WRDS

Wharton Research Data Services is the leading, comprehensive, internet-based data research service used by academic, government, and corporate firms. WRDS provides the user with one location to access over 200 terabytes of data across multiple disciplines, such as Finance, Marketing, and Economics. WRDS provides flexible data delivery options, including a powerful web query method, and provides researchers with the ability to reduce their research time and execute strategy development on the powerful WRDS Cloud. Developed in 1993 to support faculty research at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, WRDS has since evolved to become the leading business intelligence tool for a global research community of 30,000 users at over 300 institutions in 27 countries. http://wrds.wharton.upenn.edu

About the Wharton School

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania- founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school - is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The School has more than 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 9,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of 88,000 graduates.

REPORTERS arriving for the Welsh [...]; SPORTS AGENDA Always out in front.(Sport)

REPORTERS arriving for the Welsh Open at Celtic Manor last night were astounded to find there was no broadband internet coverage. Particularly because the Ryder Cup venue's billionaire owner, Sir Terry Matthews, made his fortune in telecommunications.

sport@dailymail.ie

OnCure Holdings, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2011 Conference Call.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- OnCure Holdings, Inc. (the "Company") today announced it will conduct a conference call to discuss its first quarter 2011 results at 10:00 a.m. MDT / 12:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 17, 2011.

The call will be broadcast live over the Internet and can be accessed on the Company's Web site at www.oncure.com. To listen to the live webcast, please visit the site at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the call in order to register, download and install any necessary audio software. A replay of the call will also be available for 90 days on the Company's Web site.

For those unable to participate during the live broadcast, in addition to the posting on the Company's Web site, a telephone replay will be available beginning May 17, 2011, at 1:00 p.m. MDT / 3:00 p.m. EDT, through May 31, 2011, at 9:59 p.m. MDT / 11:59 p.m. EDT. To access the replay, dial (877) 870-5176 and use passcode 4441070. International callers should dial (858) 384-5517 and enter the same conference ID number.

About OnCure Holdings, Inc.

OnCure Holdings, Inc. operates radiation oncology treatment centers for cancer patients. Oncure Medical Corp. ("Oncure"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of OnCure Holdings, Inc., contracts with radiation oncology medical groups and their radiation oncologists through long-term management services agreements to offer cancer patients a comprehensive range of radiation oncology treatment options, including most traditional and next generation services. Oncure currently provides services to a network of 14 medical groups that treat cancer patients at its 37 radiation oncology treatment centers, making it one of the largest strategically located networks of radiation oncology service providers. Oncure has treatment centers located in California, Florida and Indiana, where it provides the medical groups with the use of the facilities and with certain clinical services of treatment center staff, and administers the non-medical business functios of the treatment centers, such as technical staff recruiting, marketing, managed care contracting, receivables management and compliance, purchasing, information systems, accounting, human resource management and physician succession planning. For more information, please visit www.oncure.com.

Sonaecom approves first dividend in history.

(ADPnews) - Apr 28, 2011 - Portuguese Internet and telecoms operator Sonaecom (ELI:SNC) yesterday approved the first dividend in its history.

The firm will pay gross EUR 0.05 (USD 0.074) per share on the 2010 earnings results. Thus, Sonaecom will distribute a total EUR 18.3 million among its shareholders. The figure translates into a payout ratio of 44%.

The payment was voted at the yesterday's general meeting.

Sonaecom's parent group and main shareholder Sonae SGPS (ELI:SON) will receive EUR 9.7 million of the total sum. France Telecom (EPA:FTE) and Portuguese commercial bank Millennium bcp (ELI:BCP) will pocket EUR 3.6 million and EUR 625,000, respectively.

Sonaecom CEO, Angelo Pauperio, admitted that there are conditions for the start of a regular dividend distribution practice.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.486)

Canadian Service Provider SaskTel Calls on eSecuritel for Cell Phone Insurance Program.

Relationship with SaskTel Marks First eSecuritel Offering in Canada

ATLANTA, Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- eSecuritel today announced the availability of its cell phone insurance program in Canada with SaskTel, the leading full service communications provider in Saskatchewan.

After a competitive and thorough analysis, SaskTel chose eSecuritel's offering to ensure its subscribers have access to a cell phone replacement offering with competitive premiums and deductibles, and instant gratification on phone replacement via a quick and efficient claims process and in-store fulfillment.

The program, which marks the first time SaskTel is delivering a cell phone insurance option to its customers, provides a proven means for delivering a strong retention program that helps to increase subscriber satisfaction. SaskTel customers who sign-up for the eSecuritel cell phone insurance offering gain protection and peace of mind through a program that furnishes subscribers with a replacement device if their existing handset is lost, stolen, damaged or suffers electronic issues after the original manufacturer's warranty has expired.

"SaskTel is pleased to offer our wireless customers this comprehensive plan in partnership with eSecuritel that provides both insurance and extended warranty coverage for SaskTel devices," said Ron Styles, SaskTel President and CEO. "This plan is affordable and offers customers protection from the high cost of replacing lost, stolen, damaged or malfunctioning wireless devices."

SaskTel was also attracted to eSecuritel's Web-based Handset Issue Tracking System (HITS(TM)) technology, which brings the service provider a highly automated, transparent software platform that streamlines the process related to filing and ultimately fulfilling a claim. SaskTel will utilize the HITS platform based in Canada to provide an additional measure of security in protecting customer data.

"Our expansion into Canada through the largest and fastest growing wireless service provider in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan provides a nice compliment to our successful 10 year track record in the United States," said David Leach, CEO of eSecuritel. "As companies such as SaskTel continue to seek ways to better support their customers' needs - not just at the time a contract is signed but for years beyond - they'll find that a strong cell phone insurance program ensures customer satisfaction as well as increased revenue generation."

About SaskTel

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corporation (SaskTel) is the leading full service communications provider in Saskatchewan, with $1.15 billion in annual revenue and more than 1.4 million customer connections including more than 560,000 wireless accesses, 543,000 wireline network accesses, 225,000 Internet accesses and 83,000 Max(TM) (TV) subscribers. SaskTel offers a wide range of communications products and services including competitive voice, data, Internet, entertainment, national security, messaging, cellular, wireless data and directory services. In addition, SaskTel International offers software solutions and project consulting in countries around the world. In 2009, SaskTel contributed more than $651 million to the Saskatchewan economy through dollars spent with Saskatchewan-based suppliers and sponsorships to non-profit organizations. SaskTel and its wholly-owned subsidiaries have a workforce of approximately 4,800 employees. Visit SaskTel at www.sasktel.com.

About eSecuritel

Founded in 2001, eSecuritel, the expert in comprehensive cell phone insurance and replacement programs, delivers an unparalleled customer experience for subscribers and profitability for carriers and dealers. Unlike other services where only malfunction is covered, eSecuritel provides phone protection for new, used, or prepaid wireless devices against loss, theft and accidental damage as well as mechanical/electronic failure and malfunction. As the cornerstone to our services delivery, our Handset Issue Tracking System, or HITS(TM) technology, easily integrates with a carrier's or dealer's systems, managing all aspects of the mobile phone insurance program from subscriber enrollment to claim fulfillment. It removes the burden of program management, making it possible to deliver faster adjudication and replacement services to subscribers. For more information, visit http://www.esecuritel.com.

SOURCE eSecuritel

Trillium Ports its Communications Source Code Software to the ISI pSOSystem Real-Time Operating System.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 27, 1998--

Offers Fast Integration for Telecommunications and Networking

Equipment Manufacturers

Trillium Digital Systems Inc., a leading provider of communications software solutions, announces the porting of its communications protocol software to the popular Integrated Systems, Inc. (ISI) pSOSystem real-time operating system (RTOS).

Available in early October, Trillium's System Services Interface to pSOSystem (Trillium's SSI) completes the integration of Trillium's broad range of communications software products with the pSOSystem RTOS, significantly reducing the system level work of telecommunications and networking equipment manufacturers.

The solutions provided by RTOS vendors enable telecommunications and networking equipment designers to integrate the hardware and software components of their products more quickly, helping them to meet stringent time-to-market requirements.

Facing increasing pressure to get their telecommunications products to market sooner for applications such as telephony and the Internet, equipment manufacturers are requiring a greater degree of integration for the RTOS and the communications software they build into their equipment. Trillium's SSI provides this integration for equipment manufacturers using the pSOSystem RTOS and any of Trillium's communications software.

"As one of the most widely used real-time operating systems, pSOSystem offers a modular, flexible architecture that enables equipment designers to select the components they need for their specific project," said Joe Addiego, vice president of marketing for Integrated Systems Inc.

"The integration of Trillium's broad range of communication solutions with pSOSystem will provide a powerful product development environment for our customers, enabling more rapid, cost-effective design and manufacture of telecommunications and networking products. This will allow equipment designers to focus their efforts toward adding their own proprietary value to the products they design."

"The converging nature of telecom and datacom embedded solutions puts additional emphasis on the embedded software integration of RTOSs -- especially those having communications industry leadership such as pSOS -- with communications protocols," stated Paul Zorfass, principal embedded analyst with IDC/FTI (Framingham, Mass.).

"In particular, Trillium's SSI is an important example of APIs that are being developed to facilitate this process in an RTOS market that is expected to grow at the compound annual growth rate of 29% through the year 2001."

Trillium President and CEO Jeff Lawrence said: "Providing a high level of integration between the RTOS and the communications software is becoming a basic market requirement, given the rapidly growing and changing market for enterprise and public network equipment. With this new product, we are very pleased to introduce a more complete solution for our customers using pSOSystem.

"Now, our customers will be able to integrate pSOSystem with all of Trillium's software more quickly and easily. In addition, Trillium also offers a range of integrated source code software products, which further speeds time to market by simplifying the portation work required for use of the software on various reference hardware platforms."

About Trillium Software

Trillium offers the industry's broadest range of standards-based communications software for Signalling System 7 (SS7), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), V5, Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN), Frame Relay, Internet Protocol (IP), X.25/X.75, fault-tolerance/high-availability and interworking technologies.

All Trillium portable source code software products are designed using the Trillium Advanced Portability Architecture (TAPA), a proven set of architectural and coding standards that ensure that the software is completely independent of the compiler, processor, operating system and architecture of the target system so that system designers have maximum flexibility.

For information on obtaining Trillium's System Services Interface to pSOSystem, contact Trillium's marketing department by telephone at 310/442-9222 or by email at marketing@trillium.com.

Trillium Digital Systems is a leading provider of communications software solutions for computer and communications equipment manufacturers. Trillium develops, licenses and supports standards-based communications software solutions for SS7, ATM, V5, ISDN, Frame Relay, IP, and X.25/X.75 technologies.

Trillium is also developing solutions for fault-tolerance/high-availability, interworking, wireless, mobility, Software on Silicon, Java and other emerging technologies. Trillium has licensed its source code software to more than 200 companies worldwide for use in a broad range of switching, network access, service platform, operating system and test equipment products.

Trillium provides its products in the C programming language, along with documentation, training and support as standard deliverables. Trillium was founded in 1988 and is commemorating its 10th anniversary. Additional company and product information is available on the Web at http://www.trillium.com.

NOTE: Trillium and Trillium Digital Systems are registered trademarks of Trillium Digital Systems Inc. Software on Silicon and TAPA are trademarks of Trillium Digital Systems Inc. Other trademarks are trademarks (registered or otherwise) of the respective trademark owners.

pSOSystem is a trademark of Integrated Systems Inc.

CONTACT: Trillium Digital Systems Inc., Los Angeles

Kim Billingsley, 310/442-9222

Fax: 310/442-1162

kim@trillium.com

or

KVO Public Relations

Mary Bradburne, 650/919-2053

mary_bradburne@kvo.com

WebCrawler Partners With MapQuest to Integrate Regional Maps With Searches To Provide Better 'Navigation' for Users and Targeted Advertising Products

Represents First Time Web Users Can Access Geographic and Local Content

                     Information With a Single Smart Search 

SAN FRANCISCO and DENVER, Dec. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- WebCrawler(TM), one of the most popular search services on the Internet, and MapQuest Publishing Group, a business unit of GeoSystems Global Corp. and the leading provider of interactive mapping on the Web, today announced a partnership to offer consumers WebCrawler Maps, a more accessible and intuitive means for locating city information on the Web. WebCrawler's smart search process is now fully integrated with MapQuest(TM) (http://www.mapquest.com) interactive maps, enabling users to access city maps for over 22,000 US cities with keyword search results. While other search services offer interactive maps, only WebCrawler (http://webcrawler.com) has integrated the mapping function directly into keyword results.

"WebCrawler's alliance with MapQuest is part of our overall strategy to help our users find 'just what they're looking for' by anticipating consumer needs and delivering more intuitive results to their search queries", said Adam Hertz, director of product development for WebCrawler. "Instead of making users find our mapping feature, we've integrated it with our smart search process. It's like building in reliable serendipity."

"WebCrawler is a valuable new partner for MapQuest," said Perry Evans, president of MapQuest Publishing Group. "WebCrawler will help introduce many Web consumers to the power of interactive mapping as they search destinations in the U.S. Through our alliance, we've opened a new dimension to navigating the Web and targeting consumers for advertising. This highlights the true power and value of interactive mapping."

The new service offers a unique marriage of geographic and content-based information to search engine users. Whether planning travel itineraries, job hunting or researching a relocation, consumers can streamline their searches and gain deeper geographic context and understanding.

When a WebCrawler user enters a word(s) into the standard query box, the search engine automatically matches the entry against a MapQuest place-names database. If a word matches a map-enabled city name, the keyword results page will include a hypertext link to a MapQuest map of that specific city along with traditional WebCrawler search results.

Once in the map view, which is embedded within the WebCrawler site, users can zoom down to a street view or up to state or national views. They can also pan to browse areas beyond the city as well as pinpoint street addresses with a "Find an Address" feature. To explore the destination more fully, users can jump directly from WebCrawler into the MapQuest site and interact with a large database of local/regional places of interest (POI) information.

WebCrawler has also created WebCrawler geo-banners, a geographically intelligent advertising program utilizing MapQuest's place-names database. This is one of the most innovative ad products available on the Web, allowing advertising to be more relevant to consumers by providing regional context as defined by Nielsen Designated Marketing Areas (DMA's). Charter advertisers signed on to take advantage of the new geo-banners include Chase Manhattan Bank and Southwest Airlines.

About MapQuest Publishing Group

MapQuest Publishing Group is a business unit of GeoSystems Global Corp., the information publishing industry's leading supplier of geographic information products and services. Receiving over three million hits daily, MapQuest (www.mapquest.com) is the most popular interactive mapping service on the Internet and is among the top sites worldwide for daily traffic. Both Java- and ActiveX-enabled, MapQuest is a dynamic Web site that offers consumers the ability to search for over three million locations worldwide, find businesses, obtain driving directions and travel information. MapQuest Publishing Group offers a range of business services for Internet publishers that want to integrate interactive maps, routing and travel planning into their Web sites.

About WebCrawler

WebCrawler is one of the highest trafficked sites on the Internet and was the first full-text search service available on the Web. WebCrawler is available at http://webcrawler.com or for AOL members at keyword: WebCrawler. WebCrawler offers a simple and intuitive interface, yet delivers extremely high quality results with state-of-the-art technology. For recommendations on the best the Web has to offer, users simply type in the subject they wish to search, or browse WebCrawler Select(TM) for high-quality, editorially selected starting points.

This announcement is the first since Excite, Inc. announced its agreement with America Online, Inc. to acquire the WebCrawler search and directory service by early 1997.

About Excite

Based in Mountain View, Calif., Excite Inc. is the leading Internet navigation network. Excite Inc. services include Excite Search (http://www.excite.com), Excite Reviews (http://www.excite.com/reviews), Excite City.Net (http://city.net), Excite Live! (http://live.excite.com), Exciteseeing Tours (http://www.excite.com/), WebCrawler (http://webcrawler.com), and Magellan Internet Guide (http://www.mckinley.com). Excite Inc. has strategic relationships with America Online Inc., Tribune Company, CUC Investments Inc., Apple Computer Inc. and Netscape Communications Corp.

NOTE: MapQuest is a trademark of GeoSystems Global Corp. Excite and WebCrawler are trademarks of Excite, Inc. All other company, brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.

SOURCE GeoSystems Global Corp.

     -0-                             12/30/96 

/CONTACT: Joan Blake, Communications Manager of MapQuest Publishing Group, 303-312-0218, jblake@mapquest.com; or Nicki Dugan, Account Associate, Niehaus Ryan Group, 415-827-7062, nicki@nrgpr.com, for MapQuest; or Adam Hertz, Director of Product Development of WebCrawler, 415-356-5446, adam@webcrawler.com; or Bill White, Sr. Vice President, Marketing, of Excite, 415-943-2882, bwhite@excite.com/

CO: GeoSystems Global Corp.; MapQuest Publishing Group; WebCrawler; Excite

Inc. ST: California, Colorado IN: MLM SU: PDT

RB-KW -- SFM003 -- 7478 12/30/96 08:00 EST http://www.prnewswire.com

IBM broadens ThinkPad Pentium line.

SOMERS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 4, 1995--IBM today added new Pentium(a) models to its award-winning line of ThinkPad(b) notebook computers.

Three multimedia ThinkPads -- 755CD, 755CDV and 755CV -- have been upgraded with 75MHz Pentium processors and faster built-in 28.8 kbps modems. The company now offers five Pentium-based ThinkPads.

"IBM offers an extensive line of Pentium-powered ThinkPads, ranging from reliable workhorse notebooks to our most advanced multimedia models," said Per Larsen, IBM's director of worldwide brand management for mobile computing. "Pentium power and faster communications make these award-winning 755 models the most desirable notebooks for presenting on the road, working in the office or just enjoying a video game with your children."

IBM's ThinkPad 755CD, 755CDV and 755CV are the most comprehensive multimedia notebooks available today. The 755CV and 755CDV feature IBM's unique "see-through screen" which doubles as an overhead projection panel when used atop a standard overhead projector.

The ThinkPad 755CD and 755CDV come standard with removable CD-ROM drives, game port and the unique capability to capture video and still photos from camcorders and other devices. All three notebook models feature color, active matrix, anti-glare screens; stereo speakers; simultaneous LCD and television set (NTSC and PAL formats) output; built-in digital answering machine and speakerphone; dual high-speed infrared ports; and TrackPoint(b) III -- IBM's widely acclaimed mouse-replacer that has spawned a host of imitators. The ThinkPad 755CDV even offers a wireless remote control.

Pricing and Availability

The ThinkPad 755CD, ThinkPad 755CV and ThinkPad 755CDV are available today through IBM Business Partners and authorized resellers as well as the IBM PC Direct(1) catalog (800-772-2227). The notebooks come standard with 810 million-byte or 1.2 billion-byte removable hard drives and 8MB RAM. PC Direct prices for the new Pentium-processor equipped ThinkPads are $5,449 for the ThinkPad 755CD; $5,949 for the ThinkPad 755CV; and $6,649 for the ThinkPad 755CDV. Reseller prices may vary.

(a) Trademark of Intel Corp. (b) Trademark or registered trademark of International Business

Machines Corporation

(1) Trademark of Ziff Davis Corp. Used by IBM under license.

EDITOR'S NOTE: IBM news releases are available on the Internet, via

the IBM Home Page at HTTP://WWW.IBM.COM

The IBM Fax Information Service allows you to receive facsimiles of

prior IBM product press releases. Simply dial 1-800-IBM-4FAX and

enter "99" at the voice menu.

CONTACT: Brodeur & Partners

Jonathan Gandal

914/697-9711

or

IBM PC Company

Mike Corrado

914/766-3419

Grimsley deserves his pay.

Byline: Phil Rogers

CHICAGO _ Signing Russ Ortiz was hardly the only mistake the Arizona Diamondbacks have made since Ken Kendrick's group bailed out the overextended owners who hocked the franchise's future to win the 2001 World Series.

Kendrick's group, which former agent Jeff Moorad and general manager Josh Byrnes now run, blew it just as badly when it said the club won't pay Jason Grimsley after releasing him.

Because Grimsley was nailed for accepting shipments of human-growth hormone at his house _ not the perfect crime _ he deserved to be hammered. He thought the right thing to do was to ask for his release, letting his Diamondback teammates avoid the distractions he would bring and a thankful management was happy to grant him his wish.

But unlike the NFL, when a baseball team releases a player with a guaranteed contract, it pays the freight. That means Grimsley is due the rest of his $825,000, even if it hardly can be said he earned it.

But Kendrick decided to make a self-righteous statement about not paying cheaters. Well, then he shouldn't have signed one.

Kendrick said, "This guy did no less than steal from us." Would he have felt that way if Grimsley had pitched well, helped Arizona make the playoffs and avoided detection as a growth hormone user?

Don't think so.

You can bet Grimsley will file a grievance to reclaim his salary, with the players union strongly arguing his case. It's hard to see how the Diamondbacks have a leg to stand on with this one.

"The Diamondbacks' (attempt not to pay) Grimsley is a clear violation of the Basic Agreement," the union's Michael Weiner said.

It might have been different if they had dumped Grimsley for violating some sort of specific or general clause in his contract, but they didn't. They simply released him, the way they might have done if his earned-run average had been 40.88 instead of 4.88.

Some fights aren't worth fighting _ and this is one of those. Give him his money like it was the consolation prize on a game show and move on.

While battling with Grimsley over relatively chump change, the Diamondbacks are preparing to pay Ortiz the remaining $22.5 million on the four-year, $33.5 million deal they gave him after the 2004 season. In his short time in Arizona, the 32-year-old right-hander has gone 5-16, including only one victory in his last 19 starts. His career has been downhill since 2002 and `03, when he made eight 120-pitch starts for Dusty Baker in San Francisco and five for Bobby Cox in Atlanta.

For Arizona, this was a blockhead contract to start with, but Ortiz was in the right place at the right time. There's no easier mark than a new owner trying to make a good impression, and that's what Kendrick was after Arizona lost 111 games in 2004.

In addition to Ortiz, Arizona also traded for Javier Vazquez and signed Troy Glaus, Craig Counsell and Royce Clayton that winter. Counsell is all that is left from that fivesome.

The Diamondbacks believe they have a chance to win the National League West this season and decided they couldn't keep running Ortiz to the mound. The money they're paying him will become baseball's all-time biggest severance, replacing the $15.7 million Anaheim handed Kevin Appier on July 30, 2003.

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(c) 2006, Chicago Tribune.

Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

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PHOTO (from KRT Photo Service, 202-383-6099):

Jason Grimsley

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Educate, Inc.'s Third Quarter Financial Results Conference Call Available on the Web.

Educate, Inc. invites interested shareholders, investors and consumers to listen to its Third Quarter Financial Results presentation to securities analysts live on Thursday, October 28, 2004 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. R. Christopher Hoehn-Saric, Chairman and CEO, Kevin Shaffer, CFO and Peter Cohen, President and COO will be hosting the call.

    What:   Educate, Incorporated's presentation of Third Quarter Financial            Results.     When:   Thursday, October 28, 2004 at 10:00 a.m. EST     Where:  http://www.educate-inc.com/     How:    Live over the Internet:  Log on to the Web at            http://www.educate-inc.com/            Click on "Investor Relations" and follow the directions to listen            to the call.             Domestic: 1-800-467-8998            International:  1-312-461-9134            Access code: 855551   

If you are unable to listen to the live web cast, the presentation will be archived on the website http://www.educate-inc.com/.

About Educate, Inc.

Educate, Inc. is a K-12 education services company that delivers site-, school- and home-based education solutions as Sylvan Learning Centers, which operates a network of centers providing supplemental, remedial and enrichment instruction in the United States and Canada; Catapult Learning, which provides supplemental education programs primarily to students in schools; and eSylvan, which provides live, online tutoring via the internet.

CONTACT: Kevin Shaffer of Educate, Inc., +1-410-843-2156

Web site: http://www.educate-inc.com/

Quick healer: Sullivan plans fast return to ice.

Byline: Bob Foltman

DETROIT _ Less than 24 hours after being helped to the dressing room, Steve Sullivan was on the ice Tuesday, saying he thinks he'll be in the lineup Wednesday night when the Chicago Blackhawks face the Detroit Red Wings.

"In my mind, I would like to play," Sullivan said.

Sullivan went crashing to the ice after banging his right knee into the back of Hawks defenseman Stephane Robidas' leg with three minutes left in a 7-4 loss at St Louis Monday night. Sullivan was on the ice for minutes clutching his knee before being helped off.

Doctors determined Sullivan suffered a deep bruise and there was no ligament damage.

"It's a matter of my pain threshold and how much I'm able to take," Sullivan said. "The biggest thing is the stiffness."

When the incident occurred, Sullivan, like most people who saw it happen, feared the worst.

"When I saw it on tape, it looked a lot worse than it was," he said.

Sullivan said it was good his leg was in the air when he made contact rather than being planted on the ice.

"If I had any weight on that knee, I'm sure I wouldn't be here right now," he said.

After struggling most of the season, Sullivan is riding an NHL-high seven-game point streak with a goal and eight assists in that span. He leads the Hawks with 28 points.

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(c) 2004, Chicago Tribune.

Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.