MMOLEATHER BLOG

Xnnz Obama seeks to get back on track in Florida_3

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:11:00 +0000

“I campaigned on the promise of change — change we can believe in, the slogan went,” Obama said, recalling the days before his barnstorming 2008 campaign promises hit a brick wall of Republican opposition in government.

“Jobs must be our number one focus in 2010,” Obama said, and promised to redirect 30 billion US dollars from a Wall Street bailout fund to help small businesses get credit and create new positions.

Obama was to make a rare joint campaign-style appearance with Vice President Joe Biden,uggs sale, to unveil eight billion US dollars in funding for high-speed rail projects, part of a jobs push which is now the White House’s top priority.

The president, seeking to rescue his ambitious political program, vowed on Wednesday night in the key note address to Congress that he would not quit, and was determined to haul the American economy out of the mire.

He turned towards foreign policy only towards the end of an address dominated by economic challenges, almost as an afterthought, warning Iran would face “growing consequences” if it did not halt its nuclear program.

He demanded Congress pass a jobs bill and send it to his desk “without delay,” and warned that if lawmakers did not maintain the strength of his bid to crack down on Wall Street he would veto their efforts.

Florida, like swing states Ohio,The North Face Jackets, where Obama went last week, and New Hampshire, on his itinerary next week, has seen independent voters turn against the president after national unemployment hit 10 percent.

The administration had previously announced the eight billion dollar grant for high speed rail under the stimulus act, but will offer more details at a town hall meeting in Tampa, Florida.

Obama seeks to get back on track in Florida

STEPHEN COLLINSON January 29, 2010 - 7:54AM

President Barack Obama headed to Florida Thursday, hoping to use his defiant State of the Union address as a springboard for political recovery in an economically scarred electoral battleground.

In the 2008 election,ugg sales, victory in the key electoral state helped pave the way to the White House for Obama, and as recently as a year ago his approval ratings in the state stood at 64 percent in the same poll.

He also vowed he would not “walk away” from the stalled health care reform drive which dominated his first year in office.

In another bid to recapture the heady spirit of change which swept him to power, Obama said he would work with Congress to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law banning gays from serving openly in the US military.

“Right now, I know there are many Americans who aren’t sure if they still believe we can change — or at least that I can deliver it,” he said, and bluntly stated “change has not come fast enough.”

“Through the Recovery Act, we are making the largest investment in infrastructure since the Interstate Highway System was created,” Obama said, in an advance copy of his remarks.

A Quinnipiac University poll last month found 49 percent of voters in Florida, hard hit by the mortgage foreclosure crisis, disapproved of Obama’s performance and only 45 percent approved.

Obama’s agenda took a huge hit when Republicans seized a Senate seat in liberal Massachusetts last week, and the president is under intense pressure to show leadership and to restore his authority.

The administration says its 787 billion US dollars stimulus plan has saved or created up two million jobs, but with unemployment at 10 percent and set to stay high for months, a political rebound may be a long time coming for Obama.

The administration said the investment would create or save tens of thousands of jobs over time in areas like track-laying, manufacturing, planning and engineering, and rail maintenance and operations.

Obama said the US government must double US exports in five years to support two million more jobs, and to boost commerce with South Korea, Panama and Colombia, but stopped short of urging Congress to pass trade pacts.

“That investment is how we can break ground across the country, putting people to work building high-speed rail lines, because there?s no reason why Europe or China should have the fastest trains when we can build them right here in America.”

gfny Online resources for the aspiring novelist_44

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:10:00 +0000

Xlibris plans range from $299 for a basic, softcover book to up to $12,999 for a Platinum package, which includes marketing services, advanced image options, and copy-editing services. It’s the full package. But since there are several plans that provide ideal services for any budget, Xlibris is a fine option, if you’re looking to publish a book.

Lulu Lulu is a self-publishing platform for aspiring authors.

My top 3

Since the site was designed by authors, Xlibris is a little different than its competitors. When you sign up, you need to decide if you want to publish a black-and-white, color, or specialty book. From there,ghd hair, you can get down to the business of having it published.

Winning authors receive a certificate and a Web badge. If they’re lucky, an agent or publisher might like their idea, request to read the manuscript, and publish the book in hardcover.

(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Online resources for the aspiring novelist

Are you the next Stephen King? There’s no way to tell, unless you write a page-turner. But writing that book can be difficult. So, you might be looking for some help publishing it, or you just might want some advice. In either case, the Web is a great place to find some help.

Scribd Scribd is a fine place for you to publish your original content. The site’s document reader enables you to easily upload your book for users to check out.

Scribd lists several books that are offered for sale on the site.

National Novel Writing Month National Novel Writing Month is a really neat service. For 11 months out of the year, it’s a place where aspiring writers can congregate, discuss books they love, and talk about what kinds of books they plan to write. But in November, it’s home to a flurry of activity.

(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Scribd is optimized for search engines, so all the content you upload to the site will be indexed by Google, Yahoo, and Bing. It could improve your chances of having your novel found. And since it’s extremely easy to upload a manuscript, you won’t have much trouble getting your story read by others. Even better, if you want to sell it, you can share the revenue with Scribd (you keep 80 percent of net sales) when you sell it through its store. Not bad.

(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.

After uploading a manuscript to Lulu, you can immediately start creating your book. You can decide what it should look like, get involved in the design process, and determine how it will be marketed.

Writerface is a great site to join for any aspiring author. The site is designed to help you connect with other writers around the world. It’s a great idea, but unfortunately, the site has a relatively small number of users, which will limit those connections a bit. That said, the community is quite active. Overall, Writerface has some potential. It just needs a bigger community.

2. Scribd: If you just want to get your manuscript out there without worrying about book fees, Scribd is the way to go.

During National Novel Writing Month, users write 50,000-word novels. As they hit different milestones, they update their profiles with information on how far along they are. When the story is complete, each qualifying manuscript idea will be added to the site’s Winner’s page.

That plan includes the ability to choose a hardcover and the option to have your book previewed by buyers. It’s a hefty price to pay, but it might be worth it, if you’re serious about selling your book. iUniverse even gives you the option of publishing your book in Amazon.com Kindle or Sony Reader versions. It’s a neat service.

iUniverse boasts several options for you.

doXtop lets you publish your content for all to see.

Writerface Writerface is a social network for writers,North Face Jackets Sale, editors, and authors. It’s a good place to share your work and get career advice.

3. National Novel Writing Month: A supportive group of authors combined with a challenge makes it a great service to try out.

Xlibris provides a nice bookstore to sell your titles when they're ready.

Lulu currently sells books through Barnes & Noble, Amazon,ugg store usa, and social networks. Whenever you sell a book, you receive 80 percent of the net revenue from the title. Lulu takes the remaining 20 percent. It’s not a bad deal. And since it’s so easy to create a book, it’s a fine option, if you don’t want to work with traditional publishers.

1. Lulu: If you’re looking to get published, Lulu is the best way to go about it.

(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

WeRead Being part of the social community is extremely important for authors. WeRead, which has an extremely active community, is a place for book lovers to congregate, share the books they’ve read, and discuss books they might have liked. And for authors, it’s also a place to connect with readers and discuss what they want in a book.

The site enables you to connect with readers to find out what they like and don’t like in a book. You shouldn’t have any shortage of users with whom to discuss literature.

(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Write that book

Uploading content to DoXtop is quick and easy. Simply pick the file you want to upload, choose your desired format, and you’re all set. What I like most about DoXtop is its many community features. You can discuss your content with readers, ask them to rate your book, or respond to surveys. It builds a readership around your content. It also helps you determine what readers are looking for. If you’re trying to deliver your manuscript to readers without printing a book, DoXtop is a fine solution.

Writerface will let you add events worth checking out.

The National Novel Writing Month even shows you where the most people have written.

iUniverse iUniverse is a self-publishing platform that goes one step further than simply allowing you to see your book in print. Unlike some competitors, it’s a supported self-publishing service, which means that you can have your manuscript edited, ask iUniverse to acquire an ISBN for you, and more.

DoXtop DoXtop allows you to upload documents (including books) that can be embedded into sites across the Web.

WeRead will let you discuss books on a number of topics.

Lulu is a great self-publishing platform.

Xlibris Xlibris is another self-publishing service that helps you get your book published without going through traditional avenues.

iUniverse offers a variety of plans for you to pick. You can get the basic plan, which costs $599. That gives you access to the service’s one-on-one author support. You’ll also get a custom cover, but you won’t be able to receive all the extras you’ll find in its Premier package ($2,099).

Dgfz Ole Miss to tweet its electricity use_75

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:10:00 +0000

Besides providing the community with a glimpse of how much energy university buildings can consume, the data will be archived for further analysis. The university hopes to determine how things like weather and the habits of its population effect power consumption, and what it can do to lower that consumption.

As part of a green initiative guided by its Office of Campus Sustainability, the university is installing SmartSynch’s SmartMeters to monitor and transmit data on the power consumption of lights, appliances, computers, and climate control systems in its buildings.

The SmartMeters contain software and hardware that give electrical meters their own Internet Protocol (IP) address and communicate data via the types of wireless networks used for cell phones back to a centralized virtual dashboard that can be accessed by utilities or customers.

I’m guessing that the University of Mississippi is no more wasteful than the next institution of higher learning. But if reader responses on past stories of energy consumption are any indication, the general public does not realize how much energy is collectively consumed.

Is it wise to let people observe (and pass judgment on) how much power a university’s old and new buildings consume?

In a software-driven world,ugg uk, it’s easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it’s cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN,ghd pure, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. E-mail her at candacelombardi@gmail.com. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET.

The University of Mississippi is already monitoring its historic Lyceum, the John Davis Williams Library, the Gillom Sports Complex, and some of its stadium facilities, and has plans to install SmartMeters in more buildings in the coming months.

Of course, maybe that is part of Ole Miss’ plan.

Lyceum's August 13 Facebook status: ",uggs for sale;(10.46kWh usage, 0.15 kWh peak) Bad day all around. Usage up 7.93% and peak up 6.67%."

(Credit:Facebook/University of Mississippi)

Monitoring buildings to determine usage patterns–such as the use of Sentilla devices at San Francisco’s Moscone Center to look at power and temperature changes during the JavaOne 2008 conference–has become a little more common in the last few years. But Ole Miss seems to be to be one of the first to put its community usage out there for all to see.

In the spirit of social-networking transparency, the ongoing collection of data for the university often known as Ole Miss will also be published in real time on public Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds. Each building will have its own Twitter channel and Facebook page. Details on where students, faculty, alumni, and others can subscribe will be posted to the school’s green initiative Web site, according to the University.

Ole Miss to tweet its electricity use

The University of Mississippi is letting the world in to observe its power consumption in real time.

SmartSynch CEO Stephen Johnston has insisted through several public statements that the biggest catalyst for conservation he’s seen is when people come face-to-face with their own usage data.

Tgrt Obama admits ‘mistake’ after shock election l

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:07:00 +0000

“The American people have made it abundantly clear that they?re more interested in shrinking unemployment than expanding government.

“If we’re having a problem in … Massachusetts, we’re going to have problems all over the country,” Weiner said on Fox Business channel.

It followed two stinging Democratic defeats in gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia where Obama won big in 2008, and comes as his personal approval ratings dip below 50 percent.

“This was in many ways a national referendum principally on the major issue we’re wrestling with here in the Congress,” said Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell.

“That I do think is a mistake of mine,” Obama said, diagnosing a mood of anger and frustration in the United States over the grinding and lingering impact of the worst recession for decades.

Obama admits 'mistake' after shock election loss

STEPHEN COLLINSON January 21, 2010

President Barack Obama said Wednesday he had mistakenly neglected his direct connection to the American people, after a stunning Republican election win shifted the balance of power in Washington.

New York Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner, meanwhile, said Democrats had no choice but to heed the message delivered by voters in Massachusetts.

“If there’s one thing that I regret this year is that we were so busy just getting stuff done and dealing with the immediate crises that were in front of us that I think we lost some of that sense of speaking directly to the American people,” Obama told ABC News.

That task became suddenly much harder when the Republicans snatched away the Democrats 60th Senate seat, allowing them to mount delaying tactics to slow and thwart White House bills.

David Axelrod,North Face Shoes Sale, Obama’s top political advisor, said that despite the election shock, the president believed middle class Americans were hobbled by a crisis in health care, and would not give up the reform fight.

Republicans, however, styled their triumph as a clear sign that Americans wanted Obama to put the brakes on his reform drive,buy ugg boots, and to ditch the effort to remake US health care and begin again.

The president said that he had assumed that if he concentrated on making good policy decisions,mbt masai shoes, voters would understand them, but instead they had become consumed by a “feeling of remoteness and detachment” from Washington.

The Massachusetts result made for a dismaying first anniversary of Obama’s first year in office.

“It’s not an option simply to walk away from a problem that’s only going to get worse,” he told MSNBC.

Obama’s aides meanwhile insisted his historic health reform drive was not dead, after Massachusetts voters handed the late Edward Kennedy’s former Senate seat to Republicans, casting deep doubt over the president’s sweeping agenda.

Obama’s admission was a far cry from the euphoria of his inauguration exactly one year ago, which drew a crowd of several million people, and the nationwide feeling of hope and change sparked by his 2008 election victory.

“They?re tired of bailouts. They?re tired of the government spending more than ever at a time when most people are spending less. And they don?t want the government taking over health care.”

The special election upset in liberal Massachusetts on Tuesday was seen by some observers, and Republicans, as a referendum on Obama’s first year and his embattled effort to pass historic health care reform.

The shifting congressional mathematics, cast doubt over whether Obama will be able to enact big ticket items like global warming legislation, financial regulatory reform and immigration reform this year.

“I think the president has to come down off the mountain a bit and help us sell to the American people these changes we’re trying to make.

Several leading Democrats, including Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey said it was time for a “breath” to consider options on health care.

As he absorbed the stinging blow from voters, which sent shock waves through the Democratic Party in a key election year, Obama admitted that his need to tackle a flurry of crises had weakened his bond with US voters.

McConnell also saw the election as vindication for his party’s strategy of branding Obama as a traditional big-spending liberal who wants to expand the size of government.

In his interview, Obama cautioned that Democrats should not try to “jam” the legislation through in the short period before Republican senator-elect Scott Brown can get to Washington.

9rnt On2 shareholders unhappy with Google deal_477

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:06:00 +0000

On2 declined to comment, and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit, which was filed Monday in Delaware Chancery Court,timberland winter boots, seeks class action status and a permanent injunction against the deal. The suit, first reported by the New York Post, also seeks an accounting of all damages caused by the defendants Google and On2’s board of directors.

The deal,paul smith store, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, still needs the approval of On2 shareholders, but the board has yet to announce a date for the vote.

Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. Before joining CNET News in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers. E-mail Steven.

Google’s acquisition of video-compression software company On2 Technologies is being challenged in court by On2 shareholders dissatisfied by Google’s $106.5 million offer.

The lawsuit also alleges that On2’s board agreed to provisions that prohibit the company from entertaining other offers.

On2 shareholders unhappy with Google deal

On2’s video-compression technology is used in Adobe’s Flash software and the Hulu video site, among others. The company licenses various “codecs”–the software used to encode video so it’s compact enough to squeeze down a narrow Internet pipe, then to expand it at the other end.

Under the terms of the stock swap,Paul Smith NeckTies, which was announced earlier this month, each share of On2 will be exchanged for 60 cents’ worth of Google common stock–a 57 percent premium over On2’s closing stock price on the last trading day before the announcement. The complaint notes that On2’s stock traded at 65 cents in May and reached as high as $1.16 in 2008.

Mjml Open source, not $19 billion, may be best hea

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:05:00 +0000

There are other open-source answers to the U.S. health care problem,uk ugg boots, including the federal Connect project and Axial Exchange, which was set up by former Red Hat executives to commercialize these federal efforts. But none is more proven than VistA, which has successfully served U.S. veterans for many years.

Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco,buy ugg boots, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay.

Better quality health care at a much lower price. What’s the punchline?

Open source, not $19 billion, may be best health care stimulus

The federal economic stimulus package provides $19 billion to upgrade the U.S. health care system to digital records. It’s a nice gesture, but the U.S. federal government has already developed a robust medical ERP system that could significantly improve U.S. health care. It’s called VistA. It’s open source.

Open source might prove to be the wrong answer to the health care mess. But given the VA’s success with VistA, President Obama should be spending pennies on the stimulus dollar with VistA before he looks elsewhere for solutions. It’s already written. By all accounts, it works well.

At first glance, there is none. VistA works, and works well, particularly when packaged and delivered by companies like Medsphere, perhaps the most prominent advocate for the open-source health care ERP system.

VistA was developed by the U.S. Veterans Administration and the medical professionals involved in its extensive hospital network. Read: doctors developing software for other doctors.

One company,mbt review, Software Revolution, claims that the MUMPS-based VistA code could be converted to Java at a cost of $125 million. If even remotely true, that could well prove to be a much smarter investment than $20 billion in stimulus money. Heck, given how easily billions are being spent in Washington today, $125 million is pocket change.

Follow me on Twitter @mjasay.

Though some suggest the specialized knowledge needed to program in MUMPS is a selling point, let’s put it this way: in the programming universe filled with PHP, Java, .Net, and other constellations of programmers, MUMPS is like a single Red Dwarf. It’s not going anywhere except into oblivion.

It’s already paid for.

Scratch the surface, however, and you quickly run into a major problem with VistA: MUMPS (Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System). MUMPS is the archaic programming language in which VistA was written, and which perpetuates its inflexible architecture.

It just needs to shake the MUMPS out.

This bottom-up development effort appears to be working: the VA hospital system consistently delivers superior care at less cost, as noted by ZDNet. As a volunteer at my local VA hospital, I get to see it firsthand.

Kuzs Nortel CEO said to be leaving soon_588

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:54:00 +0000

Nortel Networks CEO Mike Zafirovski, who led the company into bankruptcy protection earlier this year and oversaw the sell-off of its wireless assets to Ericsson,ugg uk, will reportedly leave Nortel within weeks, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing “people familiar with the matter.”

(Credit:Nortel Networks)

Nortel CEO said to be leaving soon

Nortel Networks CEO Mike Zafirovski

Once a giant in wireless gear, Toronto-based Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and the U.S. earlier this year. And just last month, Ericsson cast the $1.13 billion winning bid in an auction for Nortel’s wireless assets,timberland custom boots, picking up its cash cow, it’s CDMA and next-generation LTE wireless technologies. That purchase virtually ensured that Nortel would be selling off the rest of its businesses,timberland high top boots, instead of reorganizing into a smaller company, making Zafirovski’s departure someone inevitable.

Reuters is reporting that Nortel representatives on Friday appeared before a Canadian government committee to answer questions about the sale to Ericsson, which was opposed by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, also of Canada. “It covets Nortel’s next-generation LTE–or “long-term evolution”–wireless assets, which are being licensed as part of the Ericsson transaction. It has argued it was effectively prevented from bidding on them by Nortel,” Reuters says.

Michelle Meyers is an associate editor who tracks online happenings in media, entertainment, and politics. E-mail Michelle.

Nortel representatives did not immediately respond to e-mail seeing confirmation of and comment on the report.

CNET News reporter Marguerite Reardon contributed to this report.

Zafirovski was hired in 2005 to help turn around the company, much like he had done for Motorola’s cell phone division. Initially, he had some success building profits from selling wireless gear to U.S. operators. Under his leadership, Nortel invested in new technology, and the company was preparing for the next wave of wireless networks. But then the economy tanked, and phone companies started to pull back on spending, which resulted in a sharp revenue drop for Nortel.

sbpw Nokia gets into the Netbook game_197

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:53:00 +0000

(Credit:Nokia)

The Booklet 3G also runs Windows–as to whether it’sWindows 7, Nokia isn’t announcing yet, but that’s a pretty safe assumption with Microsoft’s OS just around the bend.

An HDMI port Wi-Fi 3G (obviously) An SD card reader A-GPS and maps integration A Webcam Bluetooth And, according to Nokia, a 12-hour battery life

Called the Booklet 3G, it has a clear design relationship with its phone line, while still being an honest-to-goodness laptop (as opposed to some sort of smartphone hybrid). Running an Atom Z530 processor instead of the more common N270, it also has:

The other unique feature worth discussing is the Booklet’s integration with Nokia’s Ovi tools, including the company’s maps, music store, and cloud-based Ovi Suite. Nokia isn’t revealing yet how much software it’ll be adding to the Windows cocktail,mbt sneakers, but it would be a great idea to add as much of their mobility-assisting software as possible.

Nokia gets into the Netbook game

The Nokia Booklet 3G is a full-fledged Windows Netbook.

Not a week goes by without another electronics giant deciding to hop on the overcrowded Netbook bandwagon. Still, it’s unusual when a phone manufacturer decides to cross over. Nokia, long rumored to be getting into 3G mini-laptops or “smartbooks,” has finally announced a very real 10-inch Netbook.

No price or launch date has been announced yet. Nokia plans to reveal a lot more on September 2.

Would you buy one of these?

Scott Stein, a New York Jets fan and CNET senior associate editor, has written about tech, entertainment,ghd iv styler, video games, and viral culture for outlets including Laptop, Wired, Maxim, Esquire Online, Asylum, and Men’s Journal. He also appears on the Digital City podcast. In his spare time,mbt review, you might see him performing improv in New York City (when he’s not being a dad).

Xtiv Nonprofits next to test Facebook payment plat

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:53:00 +0000

The social network already uses “credits” to sell in-house and branded virtual gifts, a change it made last November (gifts had originally been listed in U.S. dollars). The extension of the system to third-party developers on Facebook’s platform has been talked about for quite some time now but finally appears to be nearing a wider launch.

Facebook first offered “charity gifts” for a 48-hour window to commemorate the milestone of 200 million members. A total of 16 nonprofits and advocacy groups participated in the initiative.

“I just received confirmation yesterday that…we’re going to be reopening up charity gifts in the Gift Shop,” said Zuckerberg (who is, yes,ugg shop, the sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg). “We are exploring ways for developers to use the Gift Shop to offer…virtual, real, and charity gifts.”

Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer,Paul Smith Casual, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline.

Nonprofits next to test Facebook payment platform

NEW YORK–Four nonprofit organizations will be participating in a test of Facebook’s “credits” platform, marketing and outreach director Randi Zuckerberg said on Friday morning at the Social Good Conference presented by social-media blog Mashable.

This will be rolling out next week with four test partners–Project Red, Kiva,uggs on sale, Toms Shoes (which is not a non-profit, but a for-profit retailer that donates a pair of shoes for every pair sold), and the World Wildlife Fund–Zuckerberg said, and pending its success, “we may open to everyone really soon after that.”

The blog Inside Facebook reported last week that four online gift and greeting companies–American Greetings Interactive, GreetBeatz, Someecards, and Real Gifts–would be selling virtual gifts in the Facebook gift shop as part of a test of the new “Pay with Facebook” virtual currency.

8qnf NORAD’s alternate command center illustrated_

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:49:00 +0000

When I visited, I was allowed the rare privilege of bringing a camera with me, and I took a lot of pictures. But the pictures were mainly of the infrastructure of Cheyenne Mountain, and I wasn’t able to see the alternate command center (ACC).

Either way, you can tell that the ACC is a place that has the ability to run serious exercises, and, in the case of a real emergency, is capable of being used as NORAD’s main nerve center. Let’s hope that’s never necessary.

Daniel Terdiman is a staff writer at CNET News covering games, Net culture, and everything in between. E-mail Daniel.

Now,mbt shoes sale, the Air Force has provided me with this photo, of the ACC, which, since my very first step when planning Road Trip 2009 was to see about arranging a visit to Cheyenne Mountain,chi flat iron, is a fitting way to formally close the book on the project.

(Credit:U.S. Air Force)

During my recently completed Road Trip 2009 project, one of the biggest highlights was my visit inside the Cheyenne Mountain Complex at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station. Recognizable from the movie, “War Games,” and the “Stargate” TV series, the complex was long popularly known as NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

But in 2008, NORAD officially moved to the nearby Peterson Air Force Base. Still, even to this day, it maintains an alternate command center at Cheyenne Mountain that it shares with U.S. Northern Command, or USNORTHCOM.

NORAD's alternate command center illustrated

NORAD’s alternate command center, at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, near Colorado Springs, Colo. While NORAD’s main operations recently moved to the nearby Peterson Air Force Base, it still maintains the ACC at Cheyenne Mountain.

The ACC, as seen in this photo, has certainly been “scrubbed,” meaning that personnel in the room were very careful to ensure that nothing sensitive was visible in the shot. Still, you can get a sense for what goes on in the room today. To be sure, it looks very little like the giant command center that was made so famous in “War Games.” Yet in today’s world, where everything is smaller, more compact, and more efficient than back in the early 1980s,Paul Smith Hat, it’s no wonder that a facility like this would have the feel of an office full of cubicles.

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