More owners of Toyota vehicles say recall repairs aren't working

More than 60 drivers have complained of sudden acceleration incidents despite the fact that their cars were repaired by Toyota Motor Corp. in the current recalls, new data released Thursday show.

The latest figure, released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, significantly increases the total number of complaints involving repaired vehicles, which was less than 10 on Tuesday. The new complaints allege several accidents and at least three injuries resulting from runaway unintended acceleration despite the vehicles' undergoing a series of modifications at Toyota dealerships designed to resolve the issue.

In response to the rising number of complaints, federal regulators said they would contact each motorist to find out more about what happened. NHTSA also said it would ask Toyota for similar complaints it may have received from customers. The agency does not normally verify individual reports, posted anonymously on its database.

"If it appears that a remedy provided by Toyota is not addressing the problem it was intended to fix, NHTSA has the authority to order Toyota to provide a different solution," the agency said in a statement.

Toyota said that it had begun its own evaluation of the complaints, and that it was too soon to release findings. Toyota is "doing everything it can to ensure that our customers are confident in their vehicles," the company said in a statement.

The automaker has maintained that sudden unintended acceleration in its Toyota and Lexus vehicles is caused by sticking gas pedals or floor mats that can entrap the pedal, and has issued nearly 10 million recall notices for vehicles worldwide to correct the problem.

The new complaints, however, are fueling skepticism from those who think the root cause may lie in Toyota's electronics.

"These reports are extremely troubling and reinforce the serious questions raised in congressional hearings about the true cause of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles," Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), vice chairman of the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee, said in letter Wednesday to the Department of Transportation and NHTSA.

If the allegations are true, he added, it could indicate "that Toyota electronics may be playing a role."

In its statement, Toyota said that the complaint evaluations it has already completed "have found no evidence of a failure of the vehicle electronic throttle control system, the recent recall remedies or the brake override feature."

One complaint involves a 2009 Matrix that was repaired Feb. 13 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Eleven days later, it spun out of control and hit a concrete median at 55 mph, according to the filing, which alleges an unspecified injury.

The owner of a 2007 Camry wrote to NHTSA saying that even after the recall repairs were made Feb. 27 at a dealership in Greensboro, N.C., the vehicle "experienced a sudden surge in acceleration twice."

The driver described racing from a standing start and also an event that occurred at highway speeds. The complaint suggests the problem is in the car's computer system.

The recalls, which affect a broad variety of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, also include the Pontiac Vibe, which was built in a joint venture between General Motors Co. and Toyota at a California plant until last summer.

One driver from Missouri complained to NHTSA of a 2009 Vibe that raced to 7,000 rpm uncommanded, causing it to lurch forward.

The owner took it to the dealership Feb. 19, where its accelerator was modified and driver's-side floor mat removed. Three days later, the complaint alleged, "the car malfunctioned again, causing a near collision."

Under its two continuing recalls, which affect about 6 million cars in the U.S., Toyota is replacing or modifying pedals, changing out floor mats, removing carpet padding and installing software designed to allow the brake to electronically override the throttle.

Earlier this week, Toyota said it had already repaired more than 1 million vehicles under the recall campaigns.

NHTSA said this week that it had received at least 52 reports of fatalities linked to sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

Ford Beating GM May Be ‘New Normal’ on Vehicle Lineup, Quality

Ford Motor Co. beating General Motors Co. in U.S. sales in February may signal a new automaker atop the industry as Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally pares operating costs and refreshes the vehicle lineup.
Monthly results released yesterday showed Ford topping GM in deliveries for the first time since 1998. Before that, the Dearborn, Michigan-based company’s last win was in 1970, based on Ford data. Both triumphs came when strikes idled Detroit- based GM, which has been No. 1 in U.S. annual sales since 1931.
“Ford’s advantage over GM could be the new normal,” said Shelly Lombard, a debt analyst for more than two decades who is now at Gimme Credit LLC in New York. “GM is still in turnaround mode and Ford is six steps ahead. Ford has the products, a new reputation for solid quality and management focus.”
Mulally, who joined Ford more than three years ago from Boeing Co., has championed redesigned sedans such as the Taurus, presided over a 47 percent cut in the North American workforce since 2006 and, unlike GM, avoided bankruptcy. The Ford brand rose to eighth place in 2009 from 23rd in 2001 in the initial quality survey by consumer researcher J.D. Power & Associates.
GM exited court protection last year with a plan to drop half its U.S. brands. The winding down of those units damped February results, and CEO Ed Whitacre reshuffled the sales team for the second time since December.
February Results
Ford reported a 43 percent increase in sales to 142,285 in February, topping the 33 percent average estimate among 5 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. GM reported sales of 141,951 units, a 12 percent gain that trailed the analysts’ projection of a 20 percent increase.
“It could be a turning point,” said John Wolkonowicz, an analyst with IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Ford’s U.S. market share was 18.2 percent, compared with 18.1 percent for GM, according to researcher Autodata Corp. in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
“We’re not measuring ourselves against any other company,” George Pipas, Ford’s sales analyst, said in an interview. “We’re measuring ourselves against the consumer.”
Jason Laird, a GM spokesman, said: “None of our internal benchmarks are against another company. And one game does not a season make.”
Toyota Motor Corp., which has been second in annual U.S. sales since 2007, said deliveries fell 8.7 percent to 100,027 after its global recalls. The drop at the world’s largest automaker was less than the 10 percent predicted by Santa Monica, California-based research firm Edmunds.com.
‘Nice Trajectory’
“The No. 1 spot is up for grabs now more than it has ever been,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of Santa Monica-based researcher TrueCar.com. “Ford clearly is going through a major recovery and has a very nice trajectory for sales growth. But GM and Toyota both clearly have a shot.”
GM’s February results showed the effect of the planned sale or shutdown of Saab, Hummer, Saturn and Pontiac as part of last year’s government-backed bankruptcy. Those four vehicle lines plunged 86 percent to 3,102, GM said.
Deliveries for the remaining brands, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC, rose 32 percent from a year earlier, GM said. Volumes more than doubled for the Buick LaCrosse sedan and Chevrolet Equinox SUV.
“We have not moved far enough, fast enough,” GM North American President Mark Reuss said on a conference call in announcing the creation of separate arms for sales and marketing in the region.
GM’s Changes
Susan Docherty, vice president for sales, service and marketing, was shifted to handle only marketing. Steve Carlisle, most recently executive director of Southeast Asia operations, became vice president of U.S. sales operations, GM said.
Docherty was given her previous duties on Dec. 4, three days after Whitacre, 68, added the CEO title to his job as chairman when the board ousted Fritz Henderson. Docherty and Carlisle will report to Reuss, who was appointed in December.
Whitacre has said he wants to defend GM’s market share as he tries to halt about $88 billion in losses from the end of 2004 through last year’s first quarter. He has said he hopes for a profit this year. Mulally, 64, steered Ford to net income of $2.7 billion in 2009.
The U.S. industry is still recovering from last year’s plunge to the lowest sales levels since 1982.
Sales Rate
February sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 10.4 million, according to Autodata. Snowstorms curbed showroom traffic across much of the U.S. last month. Manufacturers, dealers and investors use the sales pace to compare monthly totals by taking into account seasonal buying patterns. Annual U.S. sales averaged 16.8 million last decade through 2007.
Ford fell 19 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $12.22 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have climbed 22 percent this year.
Ford last outsold GM on an annual and quarterly basis in 1930, when founder Henry Ford and his son, Edsel, were running the company, according to Ward’s Automotive Reports.
Toprak, the TrueCar.com analyst, said Ford, GM and Toyota would jockey for the top spot in the U.S. throughout 2010.
“These three will be very close to each other for the remainder of the year,” Toprak said. “It will be a head-to- head-to-head competition for the foreseeable future.”
--With assistance from Bill Koenig in New York and David Welch in Southfield, Michigan. Editors: Ed Dufner, Jamie Butters
-0- Mar/03/2010 05:01 GMT
To contact the reporters on this story: Keith Naughton in Southfield, Michigan, at Knaughton3@bloomberg.net; Mike Ramsey in Southfield, Michigan, at mramsey6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at jbutters@bloomberg.net
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Obama cites GOP ideas as he preps health care plan

President Barack Obama embraced a handful of Republican health care ideas Tuesday to lure votes of Democrats wary of a more partisan approach as he prepared to spell out his final package for a sharply divided House and Senate, where its fate is unsure.
In a bit of political sleight of hand, Obama said he might include four GOP-sponsored ideas in his plan, even though virtually no one in Congress or the White House thinks it will procure a single Republican vote.

The move is aimed instead at wavering Democrats, especially in the House. Some of them might find it easier to vote for the health care package if they can tell constituents it had bipartisan elements that Republicans should have supported. Yet there is no guarantee that Democratic leaders will incorporate Obama's suggestions in revised legislation.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell warned that Democrats will enact their health care plan at their own political peril, vowing to make it an issue in every congressional race this fall.

In remarks at the White House on Wednesday, the president will describe the final elements of his proposal and then ask Congress to enact it, aides said. Obama was expected to reiterate why changing the system is so important and again explain what his plans would mean to families and businesses. The aides also expected Obama to talk about the Republican ideas he wants woven into the Democrats' plans.
He is expected to leave no doubt that, barring an unexpected change in Republican tactics, he wants Congress to pass the legislation using budget reconciliation rules, which prohibit Senate filibusters. Obama is unlikely to use those exact words, as Democratic leaders are emphasizing they want to pass a bill with simple majority votes in the House and Senate.
"He'll urge Congress to move swiftly toward votes on this legislation," said a White House official who described Obama's remarks on condition of anonymity to avoid upstaging the president.

It takes 60 votes to halt a filibuster, and Democrats can count on only 59 in the 100-member Senate.
In a letter to congressional leaders Tuesday, Obama said he would consider four ideas floated by Republican lawmakers: sending investigators disguised as patients to uncover fraud and waste in Medicare and Medicaid; expanding pilot programs to bring more predictability to medical malpractice lawsuits; increasing payments to Medicaid providers; and expanding the use of health savings accounts.
"I said throughout this process that I'd continue to draw on the best ideas from both parties, and I'm open to these proposals in that spirit," Obama wrote.
In a nod to his 2008 presidential rival, he said he had eliminated a special deal for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in Florida and other states that drew criticism from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
But Obama again rejected Republican appeals to restart the health care debate or dramatically scale back his proposals.
"Piecemeal reform is not the best way to effectively reduce premiums, end the exclusion of people with pre-existing conditions or offer Americans the security of knowing that they will never lose coverage," his letter said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the letter "brings us just another step closer to passing the bill." She said she hopes to incorporate some of the GOP ideas.
Republicans, meanwhile, made it clear the president's overtures will not win their hearts or votes.

Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican who proposed some of the notions Obama is weighing, said that "merely incorporating these ideas into the deeply flawed House and Senate bills will not bring us any closer to real reform."
In a letter to Obama, Coburn noted that opinion polls show extensive opposition to the Democratic plan. "An all-or-nothing reconciliation strategy will give the American people nothing," Coburn wrote.
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, after meeting with top Democrats in the Capitol, told reporters: "Reconciliation is a vehicle that's been used many times. This is a normal procedure."
The Democratic package would extend health coverage to 30 million uninsured Americans over 10 years, with a first-time mandate for nearly everyone to buy insurance. It would provide subsidies to help low-income people buy insurance, and it would impose several new requirements on insurers and employers.

It will be less expensive than the health care bill the House narrowly passed in November, and will contain no government-run insurance program to compete with private insurers.
Those changes might appeal to some of the three dozen Democratic House moderates who opposed the November version of the bill. The revised bill may die if none of those Democrats vote for it, because some Democrats appear likely to switch from yes to no because of a dispute over abortion funding restrictions.
Obama signaled a willingness to take a small step farther into the contentious issue of limiting lawsuits that allege medical malpractice. Plaintiffs' lawyers, a key fundraising source for Democrats, staunchly oppose such limits. But Republicans and many doctors have demanded them for years.
Obama's letter said he was open to appropriating an extra $50 million for pilot programs that experiment with specialized health courts rather than jury trials. A judge steeped in medical matters would hear evidence and render verdicts for patients alleging injuries from wrongful acts.
A plaintiff lawyers' group, the Center for Justice & Democracy, said it strongly opposes such health courts, calling them "anti-patient."
It was unclear Tuesday when the House and Senate might vote on the revised health care proposals. Some Democrats hope to do so before Obama leaves for a trip to Asia on March 20.

Data from a Democratic pollster has been circulating on Capitol Hill showing that opposition to the health care plan drops substantially when people learn more details about how it might help them. This is especially true of independent voters, who fear the plan involves too much government intervention until they learn more about it, the poll states.

Team Sea Dubai takes a serious option on the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy RC 44 match race

Only two flights could be completed today due to the lack of wind. Two teams conclude the day undefeated: Markus Wieser’s Team Sea Dubai - who hasn’t lost a single match in this event - and Paul Cayard’s Katusha, who recovers well after a bad day yesterday.February 23, 2010 – The wind was very light and fluky today for the second half of the match race event. Despite Peter "Luigi" Reggio’s attempts to close the contest, the last two flights will take place tomorrow, before the fleet race practice.Unbeaten after seven flights, Team Sea Dubai is almost certain to win the title. Indeed, the local team’s closest rival, Artemis, sits two points behind whilst the team from the Emirates won the direct confrontation this afternoon. All they have to do is cross the line and avoid any penalising collision.The match of the day, between Team Sea Dubai and Terry Hutchinson’s Artemis, delivered all its promises. The two boats started on split tacks at full speed and immediately engaged in a tacking dual. Just ahead of its opponent after the first cross, Hutchinson made a slight error of appreciation that allowed Team Sea Dubai to close the gap. The two teams then engaged in a dial up as they were nearing the windward mark. Markus Wieser came out of it better than Artemis and rounded the mark two boat lengths ahead. Hutchinson tried hard to come back during the rest of the race, but Wieser and his crewmembers held on tight and won the race."We focused on the basics", commented Hartwell Jordan, Team Sea Dubai’s mainsail trimmer and strategist. "Last night, we debriefed our first day and decided not to change anything and to carry on sailing for fun, without putting any unnecessary pressure on our shoulders. We felt comfortable with our course management and boat speed, so we didn’t feel the need to put a specific strategy in place. We just went for it as relaxed and focused as we could."Disappointed by his results today (two losses against TSD and No Way Back), Terry Hutchinson remained as positive as he could. "The day was good", he said. "We won our two starts and managed to keep the pressure all along. Unfortunately, we did some mistakes. In the first race, we went to the wrong side of the course and our timing was slightly wrong in the second one. I have the feeling that we bet ourselves more than anything else."Whilst Team Sea Dubai is almost certain to win the title, the rest of the podium remains open. Artemis is currently second with four points, followed by five teams on a tie in third with three points.Despite the winner being almost certainly known, the last two flights will definitely not be for the gallery!They said:Hartwell Jordan, mainsail trimmer and strategist, Team Sea Dubai: “We have changed the set up of our boat over the winter and we can feel the difference. We have also changed our mental approach: in the past, we sometimes felt intimidated by the level of our competitors. We are now more relaxed about this, and we try to manage the pressure more efficiently. We’ve also trained hard over the winter, which has allowed us to remember all the moves almost instinctively. As a consequence, we can now look out of the boat and concentrate on the regattas."Cameron Appleton, helmsman, Team Aqua: “This hasn’t been the most rewarding event for us so far and we’ve had a tough couple of days… We didn’t train like the others over the winter, but I don’t think it would have made a difference in this light wind. Our problem was mainly linked with timing; we didn’t take good starts and weren’t in the right rhythm."Rod Davis, helmsman, Ceeref: “It was good to win a race by one second against Team Aqua after having lost two matches by one second yesterday… It’s very strange, we are loosing against teams that we should beat (on the paper) and we are winning the toughest matches. It shows how tight the Class is. Any small team can challenge the best ones. The consequence is that we need to train harder in order to improve."Paul Cayard, helmsman, Katusha: “We were quite unhappy with our result yesterday, but the good thing is that the team stayed well together, and focused. We all knew that we could do a better job. We spoke about our races and decided to keep it as simple as possible and focus on getting a better result without changing anything fundamental in the way we sail. It’s just tough; the races are very close and difficult."Match-race, provisional results after seven flights:(Ranking, name of team, helmsman, No of victories / defeats, points)1) Team Sea Dubai (Markus Wieser), 6/0, 6 points2) Artemis (Terry Hutchinson), 4/2, 4 points3) CEEREF (Rod Davis), 3/3, 3 points3) BMW ORACLE Racing (Adam Minoprio), 3/3, 3 points3) Team Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (José Maria Ponce), 3/3, 3 points3) Team No Way Back (Pieter Heerema / Ray Davies), 3/3, 3 points3) Katusha (Paul Cayard), 3/3, 3 points8) Team Aqua (Cameron Appleton), 2/4, 2 points9) Team Austria (Christian Binder), 1/6, 1 point

As Economy Stumbles, Local "Currencies" Gain Traction

When Judith Lasker joined the Community Exchange program, a local currency organization in Lehigh Valley, Pa., she knew she was helping fellow members of her community. She just didn't realize how much.

Driving an older member of the Community Exchange to a physical therapy appointment one morning, Lasker was touched by her passenger's story of how the exchange had changed her life.
"She said simply that she would have been forced to give up her home if not for the program," Lasker said.
Community Exchange is just one example of local, hours-based "currencies" that are growing in popularity nationwide. Today, there are close to 100 types of local currencies operating in the United States.
While some currencies are true to their name and are backed by federal dollars, others are simply a record of hours worked by contributing “time bank” members. “Whenever you have a shortage of money, people look to invent their own medium of exchange,” said David Boyle, fellow of the New Economics Foundation and Author of "Money Matters."
The earliest local payment system on record began in the1930’s, which isn't surprising; historically, local currencies have been most popular during times of economic crisis, and the U.S. then was in the midst of the Great Depression.

Today, the Community Exchange hours system has 450 members, though similar systems work with just 50 or more members. When one member does something for another, they get credit for the amount of time spent helpng. Each member’s time is worth the same, whether they’re giving tax advice or cooking dinner.
Because there is no set standard for what a local currency should be, many times the grassroots effort to start a program doesn’t gain the momentum it needs. The average success rate for local currency is around 20%, according to a study done by Professor Ed Collom at the University of Southern Maine, which looked at 82 such currencies.
“It’s difficult to keep going, because of the scale on which they are organized,” said Boyle. “You’ve got local people organizing it, and inevitably the workload gets out of hand.” Boyle sid that in order for a local currency to thrive it must be imbedded with another type of endeavor, like a local business or the local government.

The Community Exchange is joined with the Lehigh Valley Hospital, which offers the organization a headquarters for its members database and a place to work, free of charge. Although this offers stability for the Exchange, there is still a danger of members not treating it as a formal system, Collom said. There’s always the risk of it turning into a network of “friendly favors.”
“Once you make friends, it’s like, 'Oh, don’t worry, I don’t need that hour and a half,' he said. “It’s sort of a catch-22, because once the program is successful, the relationships are formed and the program doesn’t need to exist anymore. But until the program gets off the ground, those connections can’t be made.”

Of course, even local currencies with tangible bills aren’t foolproof.
“Counterfeiting is always a possibility,” said Susan Witt, executive director of the E.F. Schumacher Foundation and co-founder of BerkShares, the local currency in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts.
Counterfeiting has never happened before, thanks to security features on the bills, and the relatively small size of the circulation area, Witt said.
“If someone showed up with several fake 50s, it wouldn’t take long to figure out who they were,” Witt said.
Since 2006, BerkShares have been traded through 13 branches of 5 local banks. The exchange rate is 95 cents to every dollar. Accepted at just under 1,000 retailers in the region, $2.5 million of BerkShares have been issued from the bank, and $140,000 are currently in circulation.
Convincing local retailers to use the BerkShare hasn’t been tough, Witt said. Although there is a 5% discount to customers, it’s seen as a way to encourage citizens to shop locally. It also means merchants aren’t paying for processing of credit card fees, bounced checks, or waiting to collect on bills.

For merchants that accept BerkShares, there’s the possibility of having too great of a ratio of Berkshares to dollars. Should a merchant find they have too many to do business properly, they can go to a local bank and trade in their BerkShares for federal dollars.
With BerkShares, as with all local currencies, there are no coins allowed. Although local currencies are legal as long as there is an exchange rate with federal dollars so transactions can be recorded for tax purposes, coins are not allowed because they involve processing precious metals.
The main stumbling blocks for local currencies are maintenance and staff, Collom said. For BerkShares, grants to pay for printing of the currency and bank account setup was provided by a donor-directed fund at the Rudolph Steiner foundation in California.
The interest in local currencies will persist, even as the economy improves, Collom said, because local forms of payment tie into the “buy local” movement that has gained so much traction in recent years. “It all goes back to the idea of neighbors helping neighbors,” Collum said. “Whether they’re changing a lightbulb or helping their local florist stay in business, it's currency that can work.”
With the broader economy stil trying to find its feet, local currencies will continue to grow and flourish, according to Boyle.

“Typically, these things tend to happen in births of innovation and then its quiet again, and I think we are at the beginning of a birth at the moment,” he said.

The Internet is the most important things in the world

Most of the respondents also said the Internet would improve reading and writing by 2020, according to the study, conducted by the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University in North Carolina and the Pew Internet and American Life project.

"Three out of four experts said our use of the Internet enhances and augments human intelligence, and two-thirds said use of the Internet has improved reading, writing and the rendering of knowledge," said study co-author Janna Anderson, director of the Imagining the Internet Center.

But 21 percent said the Internet would have the opposite effect and could even lower the IQs of some who use it a lot.

"There are still many people ... who are critics of the impact of Google, Wikipedia and other online tools," she said.

The Web-based survey gathered opinions from scientists, business leaders, consultants, writers and technology developers, along with Internet users screened by the authors. Of the 895 people surveyed, 371 were considered "experts."

It was prompted in part by an August 2008 cover story in the Atlantic Monthly by technology writer Nicholas Carr headlined: "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"

Carr suggested in the article that heavy use of the Web was chipping away at users' capacity for concentration and deep thinking. Carr, who participated in the survey, told the authors he still agreed with the piece.

"What the 'Net does is shift the emphasis of our intelligence away from what might be called a meditative or contemplative intelligence and more toward what might be called a utilitarian intelligence," Carr said in a release accompanying the study. "The price of zipping among lots of bits of information is a loss of depth in our thinking."

But Craigslist founder Craig Newmark said, "People are already using Google as an adjunct to their own memory.

"For example, I have a hunch about something, need facts to support and Google comes through for me," he said in the release.

The survey also found that 42 percent of experts believed that anonymous online activity would be "sharply curtailed" by 2020, thanks to tighter security and identification systems, while 55 percent thought it would still be relatively easy to browse the Internet anonymously in 10 years

Microsoft phone system hits reset on digital music

To date, Microsoft's effort to address the digital music market has largely focused on its Zune player and Zune Pass subscription service, which have won favorable reviews but few customers. But with the recent unveiling of its Windows Phone 7 Series operating system at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona, Microsoft hopes to reboot its struggling digital music strategy.

Even the well-received Zune HD device, introduced last fall, hasn't been enough to convince music fans to convert to the Zune Pass. The company says it has sold only 3.8 million players since 2006, and NPD Group estimated in November that it has a 2 percent share of the U.S. portable media player market, compared with 70 percent for Apple's iPod.

So Microsoft has made it a priority to expand the Zune service to other platforms. In November, it added the Zune's video service to its Xbox Live network, consisting of more than 20 million worldwide users of the Xbox 360 gaming console. Since then, Zune communications director Jose Pinero says the number of daily HD video downloads and streams has doubled. Now, Microsoft plans to use its Windows Phone 7 platform to bring Zune to mobile customers.

"Anybody who gets a Windows Phone 7 Series phone is going to get a Zune within that device," Pinero says.

INTERNATIONAL PUSH

The most immediate impact this has is to expand the Zune service to countries outside of the United States and Canada, which are the only markets where the Zune is sold. While Microsoft will continue to sell the original Zune player in the States, Pinero says it doesn't plan to expand it to other countries, instead relying on the mobile phone software to bring the Zune service to those markets.

For this strategy to work, Microsoft will have to turn around its equally struggling mobile phone business. According to technology research and consulting firm Gartner, Windows Mobile handsets rank fourth in worldwide smart-phone sales, at 7.9 percent, as of third-quarter 2009, down from 11 percent a year earlier and behind Nokia, BlackBerry parent Research in Motion and Apple.

But those rankings remain fluid, as analysts expect global smart-phone sales to double in the next three years.

"There's certainly opportunity for Microsoft and other players in this market to grab share in the smart-phone space," says Sue Kevorkian, an analyst at tech market research firm

IDC.

Early reviews of Windows Phone 7 have been positive, with its simple interface and clean design winning high marks. But handsets featuring the new technology aren't expected to hit the market until the 2010 holiday season. By that time, Apple is expected to release an updated iPhone.

Zune will need to do more than piggyback on an innovative new mobile phone platform to generate the kind of momentum needed to elevate itself from the status of also-ran. It must compete with rival mobile music services sure to be created for handsets using Windows Phone 7, and the company hasn't yet detailed how developers will be able to integrate Zune functionality into their applications, if at all. Answers to those questions are expected in March at Microsoft's annual Web developer conference, Mix.

Zune will also need to increase its footprint to encompass more than mobile technology. That includes adding the music service to the Xbox Live network, as well as taking a larger stake of the subscription market and expanding that lackluster model beyond its current state.

Forrester Research analyst Sonal Gandhi estimates the entire U.S. music subscription market totals just 2.5 million users, and that includes not only Zune, Rhapsody, Napster and MOG, but also eMusic and those paying for the premium tiers of such streaming services as Pandora and Live365.

While Microsoft's recent moves may lend an important boost to Zune, the company will have to look beyond the subscription model if it is to have much of an impact on overall digital music revenue.

The Fed charges banks that borrow from the central bank itself for short periods.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday raised its discount rate to 0.75% from 0.5%, an effort to return its lending facilities to more normalized levels.
The Fed said the move, along with other recent modifications to its credit programs, does not signal a change in its outlook for the economy or for monetary policy, and the more important fed funds rate remains in its range of 0% to 0.25%.
The Fed usually changes the discount rate at the same time it does the fed funds rate, but after the unprecedented steps taken to combat the financial crisis, the Fed is eager to start bringing rates back to more traditional levels, and Thursday’s move is a start.
The discount rate is the interest rate the Fed charges banks that borrow from the central bank itself for short periods. Last week, Federal chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed was mulling a “modest increase” in the discount rate “before long,” saying the bump up “should be viewed as further normalization…in light of the improving conditions in financial markets.”
Futures on stock market indexes pulled back immediately following the announcement, with Dow futures down nearly 50 points. The Dow gained better than 80 points on Thursday. Treasury prices pulled back, sending their yields higher.
Also Thursday, the Fed said that effective on March 18, the typical maximum maturity for primary credit loans will be shortened to overnight, and raised the minimum bid rate for the Term Auction Facility [TAF] by a quarter percentage point to 0.5%.
“The increase in the discount rate announced Thursday widens the spread between the primary credit rate and the top of the FOMC’s 0 to 0.25% target range for the federal funds rate to one-half percentage point,” the Fed said. “The increase in the spread and reduction in maximum maturity will encourage depository institutions to rely on private funding markets for short-term credit and to use the Federal Reserve’s primary credit facility only as a backup source of funds. The Federal Reserve will assess over time whether further increases in the spread are appropriate in view of experience with the one-half percentage point spread.”
Thursday’s move comes as the Fed continues to assess a mixed bag of economic data. The employment picture remains muddled, unable to build momentum while other signs of economic life are emerging.
At the height of the global financial crisis, one of the first moves by the U.S. central bank was to reduce the spread of the primary credit rate over the FOMC’s target for the fed funds rate to half a percentage point from one percentage point.
The Fed also lengthened the typical maximum maturity from overnight to 30 days.
A few months later, in December 2007, the Fed created the TAF to improve the access of banks to term funding. Then, in March 2008, the Fed cut the spread of the primary rate over fed funds to a quarter percentage point and extended the maximum maturity of primary credit loans out to 90 days.
As the economy started showing signs of life last year, and credit markets appeared to be unthawing, the Fed started to reduce TAF auction sizes and last month started the process of normalizing the terms on primary credit by reducing the typical maximum maturity back to 28 days.

InsFocus Systems Expands Open Connectivity in Latest Version of Leading Insurance Business Intelligence Software

InsFocus Systems has just released version 1.91 of its category-leading InsFocus BI insurance business intelligence solution, an update that broadens connectivity to third-party systems and software through REST-based open design architecture.

(PRWEB) February 17, 2010 -- InsFocus Systems has just released version 1.91 of its category-leading InsFocus BI insurance business intelligence solution, an update that broadens connectivity to third-party systems and software through REST-based open design architecture.

While InsFocus BI is already at work in insurance companies worldwide, the 1.91 update’s emphasis on RESTful services will provide its data analysis and warehousing capabilities to a larger group of insurance professionals. Apart from being even easier to use than previous versions, InsFocus BI 1.91’s new REST-enabled data connectors cement its place as a centerpiece of open connectivity, collaboration, and decision-making power in an increasingly diverse insurance industry software ecosystem.

RESTful services, in which all communication is based on simple HTTP, have become the de facto standard for Internet services in recent years, as well as having gained considerable traction in enterprise settings. Offering communication via standard protocols, including XML, JSON, and HTML, links between InsFocus BI and third-party resources can be tested from any common Web browser, dramatically cutting intranet service development time.

Speaking of InsFocus BI’s new REST-based connectors, Hanan Taiber, CTO and R&D Manager of InsFocus Systems, says that “users can now ‘link’ to a query, meaning they can combine the results of any query in a Web browser, Excel spreadsheet, or in any other third-party application that leverages simple Web services.” Hanan also notes that users can choose whether to link to an ad-hoc query or to a library of existing reports.

Also new to InsFocus BI 1.91 is a report scheduler that allows authorized users to define when a given ad-hoc query or library report should be automatically run, whether monthly, weekly, or even several times per day. In addition, report results can be formatted as rich HTML or as text-based SMS messages for anywhere, anytime review.

“With InsFocus BI’s open and flexible architecture,” Hanan says, “companies can now easily automate historically resource-intensive functions, such as combining fixed and limited reports with current InsFocus BI data to create new and powerful ways to analyze data and drive profits.”

With every release, InsFocus BI offers greater value to insurance professionals. The 1.91 version continues that tradition, delivering an open framework that goes beyond standard reporting and analysis to support a wider array of functions, such as creating regulatory reports, integrating updated information into Excel spreadsheets used by analysts and actuaries, and automatically providing reports and SMS updates to company executives and agents.

“We are very excited about this new version,” says Uri Taiber, CEO of InsFocus Systems. “The system is now so open that it can easily serve as the base for integrating a wide range of formerly closed off business processes. With InsFocus 1.91, the promise of SOA – and higher ROI – is available to a greater number of insurance professionals than ever before.”

For more information on InsFocus Systems and InsFocus BI, please visit InsFocus Systems Homepage.

Contact:
Uri Taiber, CEO
InsFocus Systems, Ltd.
+972 3 9233766

About InsFocus Systems:
InsFocus is a leading provider of insurance business intelligence software. Leveraging decades of insurance industry experience paired with BI and DW expertise, InsFocus Systems brings advanced analytics to every part of the insurance business, including marketing, underwriting, reinsurance, actuarial, and accounting domains.

Building on its proprietary data model and extensive field experience, InsFocus has developed Structured Insurance BI Methodology. Using this methodology, InsFocus creates and deploys structured BI projects with a focus on predictable and accurate results, customizability, and user-friendliness. InsFocus is a Microsoft™ Certified Gold Partner, operating globally through local implementation partners.

Telecoms infrastructure

Telecoms infrastructure provider Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) will build a network operations center (NOC) in Latin America following a contract just signed with Latin American digital trunking operator NII Holdings (Nasdaq: NIHD), Jackson Brenner, NSN's head of NII business in Latin America, told BNamericas.
Under the terms of the five-year contract, whose value Brenner was unable to disclose, NSN will manage all of NII's network operations throughout Latin America, where it operates under the Nextel brand.
"We have a global NOC in Portugal and two in India, and now the idea is to establish a global operations center in Latin America, because of issues with language, etc. Initially we'd work with Nextel, and we have other managed services projects with Oi and TIM in Brazil," he said. "We still haven't defined where exactly, but because of the volume we're looking at the NOC will be located in Mexico or Brazil."
Nokia Siemens Networks will combine its expertise with the experience of NII employees that will transfer to the company to plan, design, build, maintain, optimize and operate NII's networks, with the goal of enhancing NII's operational efficiency. Some 1,000 employees of NII and its operating companies are expected to become NSN employees. According to Brenner, there will be no job cuts; "in fact, we're betting on expansion because the Nextel plan is also for growth, working with new technology and new networks."
"The idea of this business is to allow Nextel to optimize costs, where our experience with managed services will be applied to Nextel's operations. We'll also migrate their networks towards third generation. Nextel plans to migrate its network in all of Latin America. It already has the [3G] licenses in Peru and Chile and will do the same in other countries like Brazil and Mexico," he added. "They'll continue with iDEN technology, but are investing in 3G to complement their portfolio of services."
NSN will assume responsibility for day-to-day services, provisioning and maintenance for NII-owned networks, including operations, network planning and optimization, consulting and OSS/BSS integration as well as multi-vendor maintenance services. Nextel will remain with full control of its assets but focus on the commercial aspects of its business.
"This is one of the most complete cases of outsourcing that we've seen on a global level," said Brenner, adding that the deal does not affect in any way any possible commercial negotiations with other external companies. NII has chosen not to comment on Mexican broadcast giant Televisa's proposing to acquire part of Nextel Mexico's operations.
NII operates in Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Chile, and ended 3Q09 with US$2bn in cash and total debt of US$2.8bn. The company will have a conference call on Q4 results on February 25.

MANY GREEKaS BACK STRIKE

ATHENS--Greece proposed an overhaul of its near-bankrupt pension system on Tuesday by raising the pension age and banning early retirement, defying pressure from unions on the eve of a 24-hour strike to protest at austerity measures.
preparing a bailout package, Greece's Socialist government announced as part of an EU-backed deficit-cutting plan that it was studying proposals to raise the average retirement age to 63 from 61 by 2015.
Labour Minister Andreas Loverdos said the pension scheme would go broke within five years unless it was reformed. A new pension law would forbid any voluntary exit from the system and establish a new fund to manage its reserves of 30 billion euros.
"These reforms are not just tinkering, they constitute a major overhaul to make the system viable in the coming decades," Loverdos told the committee in charge of drafting the reform. "We're putting an end to early retirements. We are putting an end to clientelism."
last week reforming the pension system must be a priority for Greece -- the member state where public finances are most at risk from an ageing population, largely due to widespread early retirement by civil servants.
Experts say the system would go bankrupt within 15 years without drastic reforms. Analysts welcomed the proposals but said more action was needed to meet a target of cutting the deficit below the EU ceiling of 3 percent of GDP by 2012.
Last year, Greece's deficit spiralled to 12.7% -- the worst in the euro zone.
"It is an encouraging sign the government is trying to tackle the longer-term threats to the public finances," said Ben May of Capital Economics.
Prime Minister George Papandreou's government is due to announce details of crucial tax and wage reforms this week. Unions have threatened to intensify strikes if the Socialists stand firm on public sector wage freezes and tax hikes. The 24-hour strike by the ADEDY public sector union on Wednesday will ground flights, shut schools and government offices, and leave public hospitals operating on emergency staff, piling pressure on Papandreou to back down.
Analysts say the government has support to weather the ADEDY strike and another on Feb. 24 by the GSEE private sector union, but it likely will face public anger if its measures fail to produce effects. Greece has a history of violent street protest.
While polls have suggested most Greeks back the austerity drive, people in downtown Athens voiced support for the unions.
"I will certainly participate in the protests," said Spyros Fortis, 46, a lawyer. "I voted for this government but sadly they won't tax bankers or businessmen, only the poor ... We would have accepted the measures if they were just."
In a positive sign for the government, data on Tuesday showed January inflation easing to 2.4%, above the EU average of 1.0 percent but below economists' expectations. Analysts said this may ease pressure on wages.
Markets, meanwhile, rallied on reports ECB chief Jean Claude Trichet cut short a trip to Australia to attend a special EU summit this week, triggered talk of an EU bailout for Greece.
The news lifted Greek bank shares more than 5%, recovering almost all the ground lost on Monday, and also supported the euro, which hit nine month lows last week.
However, an ECB spokesman said Trichet had always intended to attend the Brussels meeting. The European Investment Bank -- which markets had speculated could take part in an EU bailout -- also said on Tuesday it could not take part in any scheme to help member states weather budget deficits.

The beam-column specimen

The beam-column specimen consisted of a 300 x 300 mm (11.8 x 11.8 in.) vertical element of height 1000 mm (39.3 in.), simulating the beam, anchored in a 300 x 400 mm (11.8 x 15.7 in.) base of length 1200 mm (47.2 in.), simulating the column. The tensile reinforcement of the beam consisted of two 16, 25, or 32 mm (No. 5, No. 8, or No. 10) bars anchored using standard hooks in the base column. The tension face clear concrete cover to the beam bar was 30 mm (1.2 in.). The reinforcement on the compression side of the beam consisted of two 10 mm (No. 3) bars in all specimens. In all specimens, the longitudinal reinforcement of the base consisted of two layers of three 25 mm (No. 8) bars. Whereas the bottom and top concrete cover to the longitudinal bars of the base was 30 mm (1.2 in.), the side concrete cover was 30 mm (1.2 in.) in the "confined specimens" and (30 mm beam bar size) in the "unconfined specimens." Transverse reinforcement was placed in all elements except at the anchorage zone to allow full examination of the effect of the FRP confinement. The center-to-center spacing of the base column transverse reinforcement was 75 mm (3 in.), and the spacing for the beam transverse reinforcement was 100 mm (4 in.) for the 16 mm (No. 5) bars, 75 mm (3 in.) for the 25 mm (No. 8) bars, and 50 mm (2 in.) for the 32 mm (No. 10) bars. The smaller spacing of beam stirrups for larger bar sizes is due to the greater shear forces that are expected to be developed in the tests. Schematic views of typical confined and unconfined specimens are shown in Fig. 1 and 2.
To ensure bond splitting failure before the tensile steel bars yield, the embedment depth of the tensile bars of the vertical elements in the base column, as measured from the interface to the outside end of the hook, was chosen in all 12 specimens to be shorter than the basic development length ldh for a deformed bar terminating in a standard hook, as specified by ACI 318-055
... (1)
where À is the coating factor, É is the lightweight aggregate concrete factor, fy is the yield strength of the anchored bars, fc?? is the concrete compressive strength, and db is the bar diameter. Both factors À and É are 1 in the study. The embedment lengths used in the study were 150 mm (5.9 in.) for the 16 mm (No. 5) beam bars, 150 mm (5.9 in.) for the 25 mm (No. 8) beam bars, and 200 mm (7.9 in.) for the 32 mm (No. 10) beam bars. The extensions of the hooked bars in the base column in the direction perpendicular to the bars were as per ACI requirements.
The wrapping configuration of all six FRP-wrapped specimens consisted of one continuous longitudinal sheet on either face of the column base and a 300 mm (11.8 in.) wide transverse sheet covering the 400 mm (15.7 in.) depth of the joint and extending 400 mm (15.7 in.) in the beam beyond the joint (refer to Fig. 3).
Materials

HSC beam-column connectionsaa

aseaThe objective of the rerch reported in this paper was to evaluate the effect of CFRP sheets, externally confining HSC beam-column joints, on the bond strength and ductility of the mode of failure of hooked bars anchored in the HSC joints. To date, there has been no research work in this area. Previous research performed at the AUB indicated a positive contribution of external confinement of FRP sheets to the bond strength of tension lap splices in NSC and HSC beam structures. It was significant to investigate if such an improvement would extend to the bond performance of hooked bar anchorages and the ductility of the failure mode of HSC beam-column connections. Such improvement would encourage the use of CFRP technology in strengthening and retrofitting distressed HSC beam-column joints, especially in earthquake-damaged and blast-damaged reinforced concrete structures.
of the mode of failure of hooked bars anchored in the HSC joints. To date, there has been no research work in this area. Previous research performed at the AUB indicated a positive contribution of external confinement of FRP sheets to the bond strength of tension lap splices in NSC and HSC beam structures. It was significant to investigate if such an improvement would extend to the bond performance of hooked bar anchorages and the ductility of the failure mode of HSC beam-column connections. Such improvement would encourage the use of CFRP technology in strengthening and retrofitting distressed HSC beam-column joints, especially in earthquake-damaged and blast-damaged reinforced concrete structures.
EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM Twelve full-scale beam-column specimens were constructed and tested using the strong floor-reaction wall testing facility in the Materials Testing Laboratory at the AUB. The specimen simulated the rigid connection of a vertical cantilever beam to a base column. The variables were bar size: 16, 25, or 32 mm (No. 5, No. 8, or No. 10), anchorage mode of the beam bars in the beam-column joint, and whether the beam-column joints were externally confined with CFRP sheets or not. Specimens where the beam bars were anchored within the base column reinforcement cage are referred to as confined specimens, whereas specimens where the beam bars were anchored outside the column reinforcement cage are referred to as unconfined specimens. For each bar size and confinement mode of the beam bars, two companion specimens were tested, identical except for whether the beam-column joint was externally wrapped with CFRP sheets or not. The test specimens are identified in Table 1. The specimens are categorized in three groups each with a different bar size. A four-part notation system was used to identify the variables in each specimen. The first part indicates the anchorage confinement mode of the beam bars in the column reinforcement cage: U for unconfined mode (beam bars outside the column reinforcement cage) and C for confined mode (beam bars within the column reinforcement cage). The second part indicates the size of the beam bars: 16, 25, or 32 mm (No. 5, No. 8, or No. 10), the

In 2004, Hamad et al.1,2 reported

In 2004, Hamad et al.1,2 reported on the first two phases of this research program designed to examine the effectiveness of FRP sheets to confine steel reinforcement in tension lap splice regions anchored in high-strength reinforced concrete beams.1,2 Ten full-scale high-strength concrete (HSC) beam specimens were tested in positive bending. Each beam was designed with three 20 mm (No. 6) bars spliced in a constant moment region at midspan. The variables used in the investigation were the type of the unidirectional FRP U-shaped sheets wrapping the splice region (glass or carbon), area of the FRP sheets (one or two layers), and the design configuration of the sheets. Glass fiber-reinforced polymers (GFRPs) and carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) were used in this study. It was concluded that the presence of FRP sheets confining the splice region considerably increased the bond strength of the splices and improved the ductility of the mode of failure. Results were used to propose a new FRP confinement parameter Ktr,f that accounts for bond strength contribution of the FRP sheets to the overall bond strength of tension lap splices in HSC beams.2 The parameter Ktr,f takes into account the area of the transverse FRP in the splice region, effective stress in the FRP laminates, number of spliced bars, bar diameter, and the spacing between the FRP sheets.
Hamad et al.3 reported on the third phase of the AUB study to verify the trend of the results of the first two phases and the validity of the proposed confinement parameter Ktr,f , if normal-strength concrete (NSC) is used instead of HSC. Ten beams with a nominal concrete strength of 28 MPa (4 ksi) were tested in positive bending. Each beam was designed with a tension lap splice in a constant moment region in the midspan of the beam. The main test variables were the configuration of the unidirectional U-shaped CFRP sheets (one strip, two strips, or continuous strip) and the number of layers (one layer or two layers) of the FRP sheets wrapping the splice region. The test results demonstrated that FRP wraps were effective in enhancing the bond strength and ductility of failure mode of tension lap splices in NSC in a very similar way to HSC. In addition, the FRP confinement index Ktr,f, proposed previously for HSC, was proven to be valid in case of NSC.
Hamad et al.4 reported on the fourth phase of the AUB program to assess the effect of CFRP sheets in improving the serviceability and ultimate response of NSC and HSC beam anchorage specimens. Ten beam anchorage specimens were tested in positive bending in two series. To simulate the flexural cracks, two 50 x 50 mm (2 x 2 in.) pockets were introduced along the entire width of the beam. The tension reinforcement was unbonded between the two pockets and extended 150 mm (5.9 in.) outside the beam on both sides. The variables were bar size: 20 or 25 mm (No. 6 or No. 8), anchorage length, and the concrete strength: 28 or 56 MPa (4 or 8 ksi). For each bar size, anchorage length, and concrete strength, two companion specimens, which were identical except for whether the anchorage zone was wrapped with FRP sheets or not, were tested. The test results demonstrated that CFRP sheets were effective in enhancing the bond strength and ductility of anchorage zones in beam anchorage specimens where splitting failures were imminent.

Chat Instructions and the UR

Chat instructions and the URL for a mobile chat room segmented based on the mobile phone area code will be communicated via text to consumers several hours in advance of the State of the Union address. Upon entering the chat room, users will be able to interact with each other via SMS. To engage participants throughout the speech, Republican Party leaders and other well-known political celebrities will text everyone in all chat rooms.
Guests will include: Erick Erickson, editor-in-chief of the RedState.com blog; Former Congressman Tom Davis; Dana Perino, White House Press Secretary for former President George W. Bush; Rick Scott, private healthcare executive; Grover Norquist, president, Americans for Tax Reform; and Star Parker, founder and president of the Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education.
Following the State of the Union address, Text2Chat members may take part in the follow-up question-and-answer session, where Republican House Members will field user submitted questions via streaming video. Chat room participants will receive an alert at the end of the address directing them to a website where they can gain access to the streaming chat.
Prior to the State of The Union mobile program, the Text2Chat technology has not been used by any political party to engage the American mobile audience. With 276.6 million wireless subscribers in the U.S in 2009, according to CTIA – The Wireless Association, the connotations for future usage of this technology are powerful.
“While mobile political campaigns have grown in popularity over the past few years, we have yet to see someone fully harness the two-way communication component. Our experience tells us that Americans want a dialogue, not a monologue, when engaging online.” Randall continued, “As a campaign committee, our challenge is to make sure we are providing Americans meaningful ways to engage with us. We are hopeful that leveraging this technology will put us closer to our goal.”
To join the State of the Union Text2Chat, sponsored by the National Republican Congressional Committee, text UNION to 777218. Standard text message charges apply based on the user’s service plan.
National Republican Congressional Committee
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is a political committee devoted to increasing the 178-member Republican Conference in the U.S. House of Representatives. The NRCC's origins date back to 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and Senate formed a "Congressional Committee". Today, the NRCC is organized under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code. It supports the election of Republicans to the House through direct financial contributions to candidates and Republican Party organizations; technical and research assistance to Republican candidates and Party organizations; voter registration, education and turnout programs; and other Party-building activities. Visit the NRCC at www.nrcc.org, http://twitter.com/nrcc/ and http://www.facebook.com/NRCC.

National Republican Congressional Committee Hosts Live “Mobile-Chat” for Presidential State of the Union Address on Jan. 27

Americans Urged to Participate in First Nationwide Real-Time Chat on Policies Affecting Americans
WASHINGTON -- The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) will engage the American public with a live mobile chat during President Obama’s State of the Union address on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010, beginning 9 p.m. ET. This program – the first of its kind – will be hosted by the NRCC and will allow Americans to have a real-time discussion with high-profile Republicans and other concerned citizens about the policies that, if enacted, will affect them.
Using a technology called “Text2Chat”, consumers will text the keyword “UNION” to the short code 777218. After opting-in, members will receive a text message that reads: “Thank you for participating in NRCC’s State of the Union Text Chat. Look here on Wednesday 1/27 for the link to participate”. Any mobile phone user with an internet-enabled device, on any network, will be able to access the mobile chat rooms.
“The Text2Chat program permits people across the U.S. to get involved and have their opinions heard,” explained John Randall, eCampaign director of the NRCC, Washington. “It provides an opportunity for Americans across the country to talk and receive feedback about the pressing matters facing our country. We are interested in hearing what Americans are thinking across the country—not just telling them what we think they should hear.

Interop Technologies Wins Contract to Provide Turnkey SMSC and Device Management Solutions to PC Management

4G-Ready SMSC 4.0 and Ground-Breaking SCOPE™ “One-Click Fix” DM Solutions Support Regional Operator’s Growth
FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Interop Technologies, the premier provider of core wireless solutions for messaging, device management, and gateway connectivity, today announced that PC Management has purchased Interop’s turnkey Short Message Service Center (SMSC) 4.0 and SCOPE™ Device Management solutions including support services.
Headquartered in Bonita Springs, Florida, PC Management is a regional wireless operator and a mobile and convergence applications services provider. The company plans to deploy the solutions in 1Q 2010. The Interop SMSC 4.0 solution enables PC Management to offer advanced messaging services and generate additional revenue. The SCOPE™ solution provides PC Management with convenient, subscriber-focused technology to manage customer devices on its networks. Interop also is providing PC Management with custom development services, as well as application and administration training for its employees.
The reliable Interop SMSC 4.0 Series solution fully supports the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)/Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) framework for messaging while maintaining seamless interoperability with legacy handsets and networks. The highly modular, scalable, and extensible solution enables PC Management to expand its messaging customer base and deliver 4G messaging services today.

Three US label converting companies have won the distinction of being among the "Best of the Best Workplaces in America" for 2009, as judged by the Printing Industries of America (PIA). They are Smyth Companies, St. Paul, MN; Tailored Label Products, Menomonee Falls, WI; and Label World, Rochester, NY. A total of 37 graphic arts companies, both members of PIA as well as non-members, were selected by a committee of human relations experts from within the industry. The program is designed to recognize graphic arts companies for their outstanding human relations efforts which contribute to a successful workplace. Entries are judged on management practices, work environment, training and development opportunities, recognition and rewards, workplace health and safety, health and wellness, financial security, and work/life balance. The awards are presented on two levels: Best Workplaces in America, and Best of the Best. A total of 21 companies received the designation Best of the Best, while 16 earned Best Workplace honors. Label World has won Best of the Best for seven out of the past eight years, and has also earned a Best Workplace award. For Tailored Label Products, this marks the fourth year of recognition. "We have our team's best interest each and every day," says President Mike Erwin. "As I have heard most of my business life, if you take care of your people, the rest will take care of itself. That includes providing supportive leadership, sincere recognition, and reliable business execution." "Being recognized with this award publicly confirms what our company privately practices every day," says John Hickey, CEO of Smyth Companies. "I am very proud of Smyth's employee-focused culture, as it reflects what is truly meaningful to ownership and management at Smyth. All our stakeholders are rewarded for this focus."

That view is not universally shared by the great American public, however. Industry officials say that while many are keen to downsize, this shift from large to smaller cars is motivated more by fuel prices than by concerns about the environment.

Volkswagen is cautious about introducing new technology too quickly
"Consumers are being very careful about how they spend their money," observes automotive consultant Michael Robinet of CSM Worldwide.
Tighter emission regulations are also driving change. President Obama recently said the industry must build cars that deliver an overall average of 35.5 miles per US gallon (42.6 mpg imperial) by 2016, rather than by 2020 as previously planned.
"The composition of our market is going to change quickly because of the federal mandate," predicts David Zuchowski, vice-president of Hyundai in the US.
"Our industry is going to become more like the European industry in the next couple of years, with more smaller cars."
But the shift away from big "gas-guzzlers" could take a long time, Edmunds.com automotive analyst Jeremy Anwyl says.
The number of electric or petrol-electric hybrids sold in the US "will still be modest" for some time yet when compared with overall sales figures, he reasons.
Risk of failure
Volkswagen's research and development chief Ulrich Hackenberg agrees, describing rival carmakers' electric vehicle launches as "hype".
"Some manufacturers are already releasing their e-cars on customers," he says. "We are only using test fleets."
The X Prize organisers feel the conventional automotive industry could do more to speed things up.
"We hope automakers will take another look at our mission and see just how closely it aligns with their goals of bringing new, affordable and fuel-efficient technology to drivers," says Mr Diamandis.
And there are good reasons why the industry is moving slowly, according to HSBC analysts Horst Schneider and Niels Fehre.
"Unreliable or unsafe technology would damage the image of electric vehicles and of their manufacturers," they say.
We can understand the wait-and-see stance of the mass-market leader, Volkswagen."

Toyota recalls 2.3m US vehicles

Toyota is recalling 2.3 million cars in the US to correct sticking accelerator pedals, just the latest in a string of recalls the firm has had to announce.
Company spokesman Brian Lyons said the move was due to the vehicles' pedal mechanism becoming worn and, in some cases, getting stuck.
It is not yet known if the recall will affect Toyota cars in other countries.
Back in October, Toyota recalled 4.2 million cars in the US due to pedals getting lodged under floor mats.
Rare instances
The models affected by the latest recall include the 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra, and the 2008-2010 Sequioia.
Toyota confirmed that accelerator pedals in the affected cars could "in rare instances, mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position".
It said it was a separate issue to the problem of loose floor mats, and that that recall of affected vehicles is continuing.
In August of last year, Toyota recalled 690,000 cars in China due to faulty electrical window switches.

Former champion Justine Henin fought back from a set down to see off Russian Alisa Kleybanova 3-6 6-4 6-2 to reach the Australian Open fourth round

Former champion Justine Henin fought back from a set down to see off Russian Alisa Kleybanova 3-6 6-4 6-2 to reach the Australian Open fourth round.
Henin, in her first Grand Slam event after a 20-month retirement, lost the first set, but levelled the match after a crucial break at 2-3 in the second.
Despite letting a 3-0 lead slip, the 28-year-old quickly secured the win.
Meanwhile, eighth seed Jelena Jankovic made a shock third-round exit in a 6-2 6-3 loss to 31st seed Alona Bondarenko.
Belgium's Henin, who has only just returned to the sport, looked a little weary at the start, which was not surprising considering her three-hour epic victory over fifth seed Elena Dementieva in the second round.
The former number one was swept all around the court in the opening set and after being broken at the start of the second a swift exit seemed the most likely outcome.
However, Kleybanova, 27th seed, allowed her opponent to break back and lost the set with a sloppy double fault.
With the crowd growing more noisy, both players raised their game and it was the Belgian who thrived on the atmosphere and took full advantage of the tiring Russian by flying into a 3-0 lead.
The topsy-turvy nature of this match continued with Kleybanova clawing back two successive games, but a very determined Henin stayed focused to complete a fine recovery and register her 500th career win.
The Belgian's next match will be against compatriot Yanina Wickmayer for a place in the quarter-finals.
Wickmayer beat Italy's Sara Errani 6-1 6-7 6-3 in her third round tie

EVALUATING SOFTWARE

Regardless of the approach, organizations should evaluate audit software based on their defined needs and requirements. In general, organizations must weigh their choices against a mix of criteria such as capabilities and features, ease-of-use, service needs, vendor record and expertise, and cost.
"You have to mix it all together and establish your own priorities about what needs to be done and at what cost," consultant Tongren says. "This comes out in questions related to risk management, which means that the process becomes more organizationally dependent."
Product features are a large concern, because they determine whether a particular tool will be able to perform the types of analyses that auditors need. In fact, respondents to the Internal Auditor survey cited features as their No. 1 criterion for audit-tool selection. One crucial feature is the software's ability to process and analyze the volume of data that auditors need. Another is its ability to extract data from the organization's databases and data warehouses.
According to Lanza, the majority of leading off-the-shelf audit packages share most of the same features and perform most of the same analyses. Here, ease-of-use--the second-highest concern among respondents to the survey--may be an important distinguishing factor to help auditors perform data tests and produce reports.
There are greater features differences among more specialized tools, Lanza says. This is particularly true of newer categories of tools like Sarbanes-Oxley products.
J.D. Edwards' Bigler is currently reviewing responses from a request for proposals for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance tools. In addition to requirements such as ease-of-use and database and operating system compatibility, Bigler's key criterion is that the software be Web-enabled, so that the company's various offices can document controls and provide financial reporting, operations, and compliance data online in real time and auditors can review the company's internal controls.
"There are so many people who need to contribute information," Bigler explains. "It's a lot easier if we can allow them to update their information over the Web, as opposed to trying to get input from other offices via e-mail or some other less effective/efficient method."
Tongren says vendor record, reputation, and expertise are key software-selection criteria. Internal auditors need to know what type of service they will receive from vendors, particularly for complex enterprise systems. They also need to know that the vendor is a viable company that will be around to provide service, updates, and upgrades in the future.
In addition, Tongren says internal audit departments need to work with vendors who understand the organization's particular requirements. The vendor's audit expertise is also important, because it shapes the analytical assumptions that are built into the software. This is particularly necessary for small organizations that are more reliant on the software and for products such as risk-management systems. "If you have very specific requirements, and they aren't understood by the vendor, you start out with a high potential for problems such as false assurance," Tongren says

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND REGULATORY concerns are among a number of forces putting pressure on organizations to establish stronger internal controls ov

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND REGULATORY concerns are among a number of forces putting pressure on organizations to establish stronger internal controls over financial records and systems. Consequent y, internal audit departments are turning to audit software tools to help them meet the tighter deadlines and stricter requirements imposed on their companies by laws like the u.s. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. * Sarbanes-Oxley, enterprise risk management (ERM), increased reliance on enterprise software systems, and other factors are making chief audit executives (CAE) and internal audit managers more interested in using computer audit tools, according to the 2003 Internal Auditor software survey. Compared to last year, more survey respondents reported that their audit departments were using software for data analysis, fraud detection, control self-assessment (CSA), continuous monitoring, and workpaper automation. (See The IIA's Web site, www.theiia.org, for last year's survey results.)
Now that audit software tools are becoming more necessary, audit professionals must determine what types of software best fit their requirements, while avoiding the common pitfall of buying products that may not fit their audit environment. This can be a daunting task given the ever-growing assortment of commercially available audit packages, which must be weighed against using general-purpose software such as database or spreadsheet programs and developing in-house, tailor-made solutions from scratch.
To ease the decision-making process, we've gathered advice from several experts and surveyed practitioners on their product choices and selection criteria. The survey results and expert advice may help auditors make better-informed software decisions and increase the odds of finding the right tools for their department.
NEEDS SHOULD DRIVE SELECTION
Experienced information technology (IT) auditors say an organization's specific needs should guide audit software selection, just as they would for any other software tool. However, it's tempting for audit managers to think buying software will solve their problems. According to the experts, internal auditors often fail to use audit software correctly because they choose the wrong tools for the job.
"A lot of software companies are saying that you need their software to ensure Sarbanes-Oxley compliance," says John Tongren, managing partner of audit consulting firm Tongren & Associates in Norton Shores, Mich. "The assumption is that the software is doing things correctly. Does the internal auditor know enough about the organization's requirements to make sure that the software is doing what it really should be doing?"
The most difficult task for some audit shops is defining their specific requirements, according to Dave Coderre, audit principal with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Ottawa, Ontario. "Auditors may not know what is possible," he says. "And they may only be looking at automating what they currently do manually, and that's a limited view."
ERM is a leading reason that organizations are using audit software, particularly CSA and risk management/ analysis tools, according to the Internal Auditor survey. For many internal audit organizations, audit tools are a low-cost and automated way to meet their increased governance and risk management responsibilities.
In the past three years, auditors at Denver-based business software maker J.D. Edwards have been acquiring new tools to help the company with a variety of audits. J.D. Edwards has only a nine-person audit shop to serve a company with offices in more than 20 countries, but like many technology companies, it relies on software to enhance the capabilities of auditors and do more with minimal personnel, says Senior IT Audit Manager Mark Bigler.
"Instead of adding bodies, we've tried to get smarter and taken more of a risk-based audit approach using automated tools," Bigler says. "We're using tools that help us identify potential problems on the front end, as opposed to detecting them on the back end." Bigler says the company is currently shopping for risk management and internal controls-related software, along with forensics software, and is developing its own tools to perform software license audits at client sites.
According to audit consultant Tongren, before audit departments can determine their audit software needs, they must first define:
* THE AUDIT MISSION, OBJECTIVES, AND PRIORITIES. Corporate governance and risk management issues have given internal auditors new responsibilities and requirements. Auditors must work with senior management and the corporate board to determine how audit software will help them meet these responsibilities and which responsibilities are most important. Auditors also need to know how much freedom management will give them to conduct different types of audits that software tools may facilitate.
HBOS PLC, the result of a merger between Bank of Scotland and Halifax PLC, chose to upgrade its audit management software last year to align with the bank's new group internal audit minimum standards methodology. The new methodology reinforces a risk-based approach to audits and is used in conjunction with a risk assessment model that identifies risk at the group, divisional, and enterprise-wide levels, according to Bob Holroyd, HBOS senior audit manager for quality assurance and continuous improvement

HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT THEIR JOB

TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT THEIR job, internal auditors must be able to write, speak, and listen effectively. Of these three skills, effective listening may be the most crucial because auditors are required to do it so often. Unfortunately, listening also may be the most difficult skill to master.
Effective listening is challenging, in part, because people often are more focused on what they're saying than on what they're hearing in return. According to a recent study by the Harvard Business Review, people think the voice mail they send is more important than the voice mail they receive. Generally, senders think that their message is more helpful and urgent than do the people who receive it.
Additionally, listening is difficult because people don't work as hard at it as they should. Listening seems to occur so naturally that putting a lot of effort into it doesn't seem necessary. However, hard work and effort is exactly what effective listening requires.
Internal auditors must listen to explanations, rationales, and defenses of financial practices and procedures. They are constantly communicating with fellow employees whose backgrounds range from accounting to finance to marketing to information systems. In addition, explanations by fellow employees of any "unusual" practices often pose a significant challenge to an internal auditor's listening skills. Auditors can use the following techniques to improve these skills.
1. CONCENTRATE ON WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING. When listening to someone, do you often find yourself thinking about a job or task that is nearing deadline or an important family matter? In the middle of a conversation, do you sometimes realize that you haven't heard a word the other person has said? Most individuals speak at the rate of 175 to 200 words per minute. However, research suggests that we are very capable of listening and processing words at the rate of 600 to 1,000 words per minute. An internal auditor's job today is very fast and complex, and because the brain does not use all of its capacity when listening, an auditor's mind may drift to thinking of further questions or explanations rather than listening to the message at hand. This unused brainpower can be a barrier to effective listening, causing the auditor to miss or misinterpret what others are saying. It is important for internal auditors to actively concentrate on what others are saying so that effective communication can occur.
2. SEND THE NONVERBAL MESSAGE THAT YOU ARE LISTENING. When someone is talking to you, do you maintain eye contact with that person? Do you show the speaker you are listening by nodding your head? Does your body language transmit the message that you are listening? Are you leaning forward and not using your hands to play with things? Most communication experts agree that nonverbal messages can be three times as powerful as verbal messages. Effective communication becomes difficult anytime you send a nonverbal message that you're not really listening.
3. AVOID EARLY EVALUATIONS. When listening, do you often make immediate judgments about what the speaker is saying? Do you assume or guess what the speaker is going to say next? Do you sometimes discover later that you failed to interpret correctly what the speaker was telling you? Because a listener can listen at a faster rate than most speakers talk, there is a tendency to evaluate too quickly. That tendency is perhaps the greatest barrier to effective listening. It is especially important to avoid early evaluations when listening to a person with whom you disagree. When listeners begin to disagree with a sender's message, they tend to misinterpret the remaining information and distort its intended meaning so that it is consistent with their own beliefs.
4. AVOID GETTING DEFENSIVE. Do you ever take what another person says personally when what her or she is saying is not meant to be personal? Do you ever become angry at what another person says? Careful listening does not mean that you will always agree with the other party's point of view, but it does mean that you will try to listen to what the other person is saying without becoming overly defensive. Too much time spent explaining, elaborating, and defending your decision or position is a sure sign that you are not listening. This is because your role has changed from one of listening to a role of convincing others they are wrong. After listening to a position or suggestion with which you disagree, simply respond with something like, "I understand your point. We just disagree on this one." Effective listeners can listen calmly to another person even when that person is offering unjust criticism.
5. PRACTICE PARAPHRASING. Paraphrasing is the art of putting into your own words what you thought you heard and saying it back to the sender. For example, a subordinate might say: "You have been unfair to rate me so low on my performance appraisal. You have rated me lower than Jim. I can do the job better than him, and I've been here longer." A paraphrased response might be: "I can see that you are upset about your rating. You think it was unfair for me to rate you as I did." Paraphrasing is a great technique for improving your listening and problem-solving skills. First, you have to listen very carefully if you are going to accurately paraphrase what you heard. Second, the paraphrasing response will clarify for the sender that his or her message was correctly received and encourage the sender to expand on what he or she is trying to communicate.