Nifong Trial Verdict
September 30, 2008
Nifong Trial Verdict
Breaking News: Durham DA Michael Nifong was found guilty on 27 of the 32 ethical charges brought against him by the NC Bar. An AP report indicates the following:
Mike Nifong broke numerous rules of professional conduct during his disastrous prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players falsely accused of rape, committing “deceit and misrepresentations,” a disciplinary committee ruled Saturday.
Selected Videos:
David Evans Sr. State Bar Testimony
Mary Ellen Finnerty State Bar Testimony
Nifong Says He should Be Disbarred
Disciplinary Board Disbars Nifong
Duke Lacrosse Defense Attorneys News Conference
Selected articles:
Comments of Disciplinary Panel’s ChairmanThe New York Times
Bar Accepts Nifong’s Offer to Surrender Law License WRAL
N.C. panel disbars Duke prosecutor AP
Former Duke Prosecutor Nifong Disbarred June 18, ABC News
Bar strips Nifong of his law license Newsobserver
Findings KC Johnson
Duke prosecutor: He should be disbarred AP
Nifong Accepts Disbarment KC Johnson
Committee: Duke prosecutor broke rules AP
Verdict KC Johnson
Fundraiser Event - Final Update
About a week ago, an important fundraiser event was concluded by Ethical Durham in support of the lacrosse legal defense fund. Through that effort, a Chevy Tahoe 2007 was raffled off and $66,300 was raised for the defense fund. This was a major undertaking and it required a lot of coordination and effort by many individuals. Even the legal status of Ethical Durham had to be changed to be able to carry it out. All those hurdles were successfully crossed. Today, I would like to acknowledge major contributions made to this important fundraiser by several individuals and thank them. Without their contributions, the raffle would not have been possible.
First and foremost, our thanks go to Robert and Sally Fogarty for donating the Chevy Tahoe 2007. Their generosity is much appreciated by the beneficiaries of the legal defense fund. In fact, words are not enough to thank them properly. Many thanks for Ethical Durham as well! They worked tirelessly to make this a successful fundraiser. This was the group’s first serious fundraiser and they had to learn every step of the way. Despite that, they handled the event like professionals. Our hats are off to Ethical Durham and Stefanie Sparks in particular. Last but not least, thank you Mrs. Susan Wolcott and Mr. George Jennison for handling the overall coordination and logistics. Without your guidance and leadership the raffle would not have been a success.
This brings me to the next group of people who deserves a big thank you. That’s you, all the supporters and friends who purchased the raffle tickets. Thank you for purchasing those tickets. You could not have spent $100 per ticket for a worthier cause. Your support is much appreciated by those who will benefit from the defense fund.
Finally, I would like to congratulate the lucky winner of the raffle. I truly hope you will use your Chevy Tahoe in good times.
MA Scholarships, University of Kent at Brussels, Belgium
September 30, 2008
MA Scholarships, University of Kent at Brussels, Belgium
University of Kent MA Scholarships Available for January 2009
University of Kent’s Brussels School of International Studies
Deadline: 15 Oktober 2008
Applications are invited for two scholarships for politics students wishing to begin their studies at the University of Kent’s Brussels School of International Studies in January 2009.
Successful candidates will be registered at the University of Kent as full-time students on one of the five politics programmes offered at UKB (listed below) and will receive payment to cover 50% of their tuition fees (¤6845 in 2008/9).
These scholarships are open to students of all nationalities and are valid for the following programmes:
MA in International Relations
MA in International Conflict Analysis
MA in International Political Economy
MA in European Public Policy
MA in Political Strategy and Communication
In order to be considered for the scholarship, candidates must both apply for admission to one of these masters programmes and submit a separate scholarship application, no later than the closing date of 15 October 2008.
To submit an application for admission to an eligible MA programme, please follow the instructions as detailed on the following webpage: http://www.kent. ac.uk/brussels/ admissions/ .
Applicants should normally have obtained, or be about to obtain, a relevant undergraduate degree, with an overall First or Upper Second Class Honours result, or equivalent. No application for admission is considered complete until all supporting documents have been received by the university.
Once you have submitted your application to study at the University of Kent’s Brussels School of International Studies (with all the required documentation) , in order to apply for the scholarship, you should send a letter/email to ukbschols2@kent. ac.uk confirming your wish to
be considered for a scholarship and explaining why you believe you should be awarded one. To help you decide what to write, you should be aware that the Scholarships Board is looking for academic excellence as well as academic potential. If it helps, imagine that you are standing in front of the members of the Board and have one chance to tell them about yourself and why you want the scholarship.
For politics students starting in January 2009, your scholarship application must be received no later than 17h00 CET on the closing date of 15 October 2008.
Successful candidates will be informed of the results by Friday 21 November 2008.
Beasiswa: Google Europe Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship 2009
Google has published information from Google Europe Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship 2009, which aims to promote women to results in the field of computers and technology as well as active role models and leaders. Scholarships are open to students that his last year bachelor’s degree or enrolled in master’s or doctoral degree (or equivalent) in 2009/2010.
Multiple scholarships will be awarded based on the strength of candidates’ academic background and demonstrated leadership. A group of female Bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD student finalists will be chosen from the applicant pool. The scholarship recipients, selected from the finalists, will each receive a €5,000 (or equivalent) scholarship for the 2009/2010 academic year.
In June 2009, all finalists will be invited to visit Google’s European Engineering Centre in Zurich for a networking retreat. It will include workshops with a series of speakers, panels, breakout sessions and social activities, and will provide an opportunity for all finalists to meet and share their experiences.
Eligibility requirements
Candidates must:
* be a female student entering her final year of a Bachelor’s degree, or enrolled in an a Master’s or PhD programme (or equivalent), in 2009/2010.
* be enrolled at a University in Europe. Citizens, permanent residents, and international students are eligible to apply.
* be studying Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Informatics, or a closely related technical field.
* maintain an excellent academic record (e.g. a First Class Honours degree).
How to apply
Please complete the online application form and submit the requested documentation by 26th January 2009. All application documents must be in English.
All applications will be acknowledged by email. Finalists will be notified in April 2009. Scholarship recipients will be selected from the finalists.
For more details information visit the website
Studying abroad is easier than you think
September 30, 2008
Studying abroad is easier than you think
Featuring programs in over 40 countries, UMKC’s Center for International Academic Programs held its Study Abroad Fair last Thursday.
This was the fifth annual year for the event.
International exchange students, Study Abroad advisors, program representatives, past Study Abroad participants and financial aid agents answered questions for the students, staff and faculty who attended the event held in Pierson Auditorium.
Opera star Carol Vaness visits Conservatory
Opera star Carol Vaness gave two master classes and a question and answer session here at UMKC last week.
The classes took place in White Hall, where ten students sang for Vaness and an audience of about 100 students.
Typically, a master class is when an expert musician listens to students perform and then either critiques or commends their performance.
Greek Life giving life giving food
September 30, 2008
Greek Life giving life giving food
Lambda Chi Alpha hosted its annual Watermelon Fest Saturday morning at the University Playhouse, mixing fun with charity and drawing a large crowd.
“This is a fantastic event,” said Zach Tebow, organizer and member of Lambda Chi Alpha. “I would like more people to come out to it.
If you missed it, you can still join me for a free Ziff-Davis webinar on encryption
September 30, 2008
If you missed it, you can still join me for a free Ziff-Davis webinar on encryption
Yesterday I told you about the Ziff-Davis Virtual Tradeshow Webinar that I was participating in. Well, the webinar seemed to go really well. I heard there were over 1,000 folks who registered. WOW! I’m not sure how many actually tuned in, but 98 percent of the attendees stayed until the Q&A session.
If you registered, but missed the webinar, you can still log back into the show at anytime over the next six months for on-demand viewing.
The format was excellent — exactly like an offline trade show — and it worked flawlessly. In retrospect, the 12 minutes I had to give my presentation wasn’t sufficient to come to grips with any subject, let alone something as unknown (to most folks) as encryption. But I did get some pretty good feedback from people who listened in.
It did get me thinking, though, that it might be worth the time and effort to set up an online seminar on security. What do you think? Is that something you might be interested in? Let me know.
Alpha Software: Coming soon to a campus near you
Campus Technology picked up the story about how Minnesota State University is using Alpha Five to help students in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Technology learn the critical databasing skills and tools they’ll need in the real world.
The full story ran yesterday, and you can read it here.
Free Forum Hosting Service
September 30, 2008
Free Forum Hosting Service
Have you ever join some forum?, group of people that have the same interest and join in specific website to know each others and sharing their experience. This is really happening right now. Many people will join this forum to get update information or just want to share something to others. You can also add pictures, music or anything in this forum. Forum in the Internet is kind of basic needs.
Nero 9.0.9.4b
September 30, 2008
Nero 9.0.9.4b
Simply Create, Rip, Burn, Copy, Share, Backup, Play, and Enjoy! Nero 9, the easy-to-use yet powerful multimedia suite, gives you the freedom to create, rip, copy, burn, edit, share, and upload online. Whatever you want – music, video, photo, and data – share and enjoy with family and friends anytime, anywhere. Nero 9 is the next [...]
Simply Create, Rip, Burn, Copy, Share, Backup, Play, and Enjoy! Nero 9, the easy-to-use yet powerful multimedia suite, gives you the freedom to create, rip, copy, burn, edit, share, and upload online. Whatever you want – music, video, photo, and data – share and enjoy with family and friends anytime, anywhere.
Nero 9 is the next generation of the world’s most trusted integrated digital media and home entertainment software suite. It features new cutting-edge functionality that makes enjoying digital media content simple. This easy-to-use yet powerful multimedia suite, gives you the freedom to create, rip, copy, burn, edit, share, and upload online. Whatever you want – music, video, photo, and data – enjoy and share with family and friends anytime, anywhere. With easy-to-use Nero StartSmart command center, your digital life has never been more flexible, feasible, and fun.
Nero 9 Highlights:
• Fast and easy rip, burn, Autobackup, and copy functions
• Backup files to CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray Discs*
• Create professional-looking DVD movies with integrated 3D menus
• Copy, burn, share, upload, and create music mixes like a DJ
• Convert music, photos, and DVDs to play on your iPod® and other mobile devices
• Quick photo and video upload to My Nero, YouTube™, and MySpace
• Watch, record, pause, and customize your live TV experience
• Play AVCHD and other HD formats
Creative Projects Are Easier than Ever
Using the intuitive Nero StartSmart command center of Nero 9, your digital life has never been more flexible, feasible, and fun. You directly access features and perform one-click functions such as Audio Ripping, Burning, Copying, and AutoBackup, with optimized performance for Windows Vista® with Nero DiscCopy Gadget and Nero Live (TV) for Windows Vista Sidebar.
Fully Enjoy Your Content at Home, Online and On-the-go
Whether it’s video, photo, or music, you can convert and share everything your imagination creates in your digital world. Convert & share multimedia files to play on iPod®, PSP®, and upload online your coolest photos and videos to share with online communities like My Nero, YouTube™, and MySpace.
Make Your PC a Dynamic Home-Entertainment Device
Experience TV from the comfort of your sofa with state-of-the-art TV technology, even for HDTV and DVB Radio. Pause, record, schedule, manage, and playback your TV shows.
Best in the Business Software Gets Better
The ripping and burning capabilities of Nero 9 are the most reliable in the industry. Burn and copy to CD, DVD, Blu-ray Disc – even copy movies*. With DVD-R Dual Layer and DVD+R Double Layer support, you’ll get more data on a disc than ever before!*
Trusted and Reliable – Backup, Restore, and Secure
Don’t lose your valuable memories and important files to life’s potential hazards, system crash, or risky hardware. Backing up, securing, and managing files and data is a point-and-click away.
Nero 9 is available in the following languages: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Czech, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Dutch, Portuguese (Brazil), English, Russian, Finnish, Spanish, French, Spanish (Latin America), German, Swedish, Greek, Thai,, Hungarian, Turkish, Italian
This Software requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 to run on Windows XP.
Size: 370 MB
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Registry Fix Pro 6.3
September 30, 2008
Registry Fix Pro 6.3
Registryfix will scan your system registry and hard drive for invalid file and system references. These invalid references may cause system instability, PC errors, constant crashes, and general system slowdowns. Download Mirror Rapidshare
Registryfix will scan your system registry and hard drive for invalid file and system references.
These invalid references may cause system instability, PC errors, constant crashes, and general system slowdowns.
Answering Service
Run better performance of business by providing answering service to your customers. You can get some help from the service provided online in the website at mapcommunications.com. They have been the leader in providing the service for business. You can now provide better service for your customers with accurate response and answers for their demands. Go to the website to see the full list of the
The Power of Testimonials
September 30, 2008
If a business has happy customers and a lot of return clients, it should have testimonials. You wouldn’t hire a contractor to remodel your house without checking references. Therefore be proud of the work you do and get some testimonials. Customer testimonials will help increase sales as well as boost the confidence of potential customers.
The Difference Between Good and Better
In order to have testimonials work for you and increase your client base, you must be careful how you phrase them. Testimonials are a marketing effort, which means that they need to be geared toward making your company look spectacular. For example, instead of writing “I love their vitamins”, write “Taking these vitamins everyday gives me lots of energy and keeps me feeling great all day long.” The latter testimonial is a lot more eye-catching and will be more effective in gaining a customer’s confidence than the former. Ask customers who are willing to write testimonials to be specific.
Cherry Pick Your Testimonials
If you don’t have any testimonials, check your company’s email inbox for customers who sent compliments. If you can’t find any ones you like, look at your client list and find out who is buying your products and at what frequency. Call or email a handful of your best customers and ask them to write a specific testimonial. Have them send a picture as well. This will give potential customers further reassurance of the validity of the testimonial.
Testimonials will not only improve your business, but will also improve your company’s image as one that values customer satisfaction. So make the effort to get some strong testimonials.
Four Tips for Effective and Eye-Catching Locations
1. Once you have the testimonials, you need to figure out where to put them on your site. Placement is key, particularly when using flash. You want your testimonials to give maximum impact. The most common place on a website is for them to have their own navigation button titled either “Testimonials” or “Rave Reviews”. This way more testimonials can be viewed on their own page.
2. Another option is to use flash testimonials on a sidebar on the homepage along with the customer’s name, job title and company or logo. If you are using the testimonials in the masthead, they should rotate every 7-10 seconds then stop after all testimonials are shown. You don’t want a testimonial to be so distracting that it takes the emphasis off of the content and what you are selling or offering. By having the flash cycle stop, you are allowing viewers to see the testimonials and then freely look at the content without the excess flash.
3. An alternative way to present testimonials is to sprinkle them throughout the site, highlighting them within the content using graphics, such as a color block background, upper and lower bar, etc. These visual stops are equally effective in reinforcing your credibility and can act as an additional selling point for specific products or services.
4. If you have the option for audio or video testimonials, this can be very effective in boosting your company’s credibility. Audio is easy to record using Audio Acrobat. Video, on the other hand, requires more thought to positioning and angles. If you are at a trade show or with a client, you may want to pre-plan these testimonials for more impact.
Remember that in order for a testimonial to be effective, it needs to be specific, believable and placed in a credible location. With these three tips in mind, your testimonials will build customer confidence and web success.
This post provided by the Web Success Team. Contact the Team today and we’ll show you how to beef up your online marketing efforts make your website capture more buyers and generate more income for your products and services. http://www.websuccessteam.com
Top Ten SEO Myths - Mr SEO
September 30, 2008
Top Ten SEO Myths - Mr SEO
Ever wonder what the biggest SEO myths are? I have taken the most prevalent myths that seem to be constantly resurfacing and examined them for you. This is a must read for anyone looking to hire an SEO firm or someone looking to do SEO for themselves.
Myth #1 All meta tags are of equal importance
Some meta tags are useful while others are not. I have stated this many times. Search engines are relying more and more about what is on the website than what the tags are telling them. The description tag is used by some (but not all) search engines. The same goes for the keyword tag. Keyword tags are used more by spammers and people using software to find you as a link partner than the search engines. In my opinion, the only tags you should concentrate your efforts on are the robot tag and the description tags.
Myth # 2 You should submit your site to search engines weekly or monthly.Honestly, I never submit any site more than 1 time and sometimes I don’t even do that. If you submit your site once, you’re good. The engines will come back on their own. You can sometimes speed up the process of getting your site indexed by linking it to a high traffic or high PR site. The search engines will find the URL to your site and index it automatically.
Myth # 3 SEO is too expensive
Actually, SEO is probably the most cost effective form of online marketing. Organic SEO is cheaper to set up and maintain than a PPC campaign or banner advertising. With PPC and banner advertising, you pay for clicks or impressions. With SEO, all clicks are FREE. You simply pay for the set up and monitoring of your site’s pages.
Myth # 4 PPC is more effective than natural SEO
In the short term…true. In the long term…false. Why, you ask? Organic SEO is preferred by traffic over 5 to 1 to PPC. People trust organic searches to return relevant results. People also know that the ads to the right of the page are sponsored ads. They have long ago figured out that anyone can bid on any term they want, as many often do, without even a hint of relevance. So, long term SEO structuring can indeed be more effective than PPC, especially when considering the preferences of search traffic. A top 5 ranking may take some time to get, but once you are there (and provided you can maintain it), you will get better results than from a PPC ad.
Myth # 5 Hiring an SEO specialist “in house” is cheaper
The problem with hiring someone in house is, they are paid hourly or by salary. Most SEO firms (Mr-SEO included), charge per item or project. It doesn’t matter how long it takes us, you pay a one time charge. When you hire a firm, it’s like having a team of SEO experts on your payroll. Paying a flat rate saves you money and speeds up the time it takes to complete a job. Additionally, most SEO firms (again, Mr-SEO Included) have specialists who write, submit, redesign sites, post pages, etc… Hiring one person who can do all these things competantly is highly unlikely.
Myth # 6 I can only optimize my homepage for keyterms
You can and should optimize every page on your site. Each page should have it’s own keyterms, with no more than three phrases per page (preferrably one).
Myth # 7 All I need to do is write content with the correct keyword density and my site will rank well
Wrong…especially if you want to rank on Google. You will need off site SEO as well as onsite SEO. Keyword density may work on MSN (for now), but it will take more than that to rank well for all search engines.
Myth # 8 I shouldn’t aim for the most competitive keywords and phrases
If the keywords you are competing for are very competitive, should you optimize your site for them? Of Course! I would optimize for some high, medium and low competitive keyterms. Cover all your bases. The worst case is that you won’t rank well for the high competitive keyterms and that’s ok. You can always work to improve them. Don’t shy away from top keyterms just because they are competitive. You may never know how close you could rank for them unless you try.
Myth # 9 Only work with companies that give you a guarantee
Guarantees would be nice if they were worth the paper they are printed on. In fact, most guarantees from SEO firms have the same stipulation in them. This stipulation usually states that as long as they get one of your keyphrases to the top of any major search engines, they have fulfilled their end of the agreement. This is irrelevant to the competition of the term. In other words…it’s easy to be number one for terms no one is competing for. Don’t be deceived by high rankings listed on SEO sites as they can be misleading.
Myth # 10 SEO requires a 1 year commitment on my part
It certainly shouldn’t. Don’t lock yourself into a year contract with any company unless you already have an established, favorable business relationship. SEO, in most cases, should be performed on a month to month basis with a mutual understanding of the objectives and relative timetable. Often, both the long and short term maintenance contracts that many firms insist on including with each job are unnecessary. As an example…If you have a new site optimized, especially right after an update, you may not see results for three months. Why pay for maintenance in the interim time? Additionally, you may not be happy with the results of an SEO firm or even the level of service. A long term contract may only ensure that you receive a full year of bad service. So, don’t lock yourself in with a year contract, at least until you are comfortable with who you are dealing with.
Hopefully, I put a few common SEO myths to rest. Feel free to contact me with questions you may have regarding these or other SEO myths you want more information on. If you post this article on your site you must link back!
Joe is an SEO expert. His SEO/SEM firm has helped many companies increase there organic placement. He also writers articles and creates a weekly podcast on SEO.
