Smarsh Introduces smarshEncrypt Email Encryption Solution for Tax Preparers

PORTLAND, Ore. – (BUSINESS WIRE) – During the long, demanding hours of the tax season, tax preparers are deluged in a constant exchange of sensitive information with clients. Private client information, such as social security numbers, travels [...]

Net Profit of Microsoft hits record, credit to Windows 7

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 29 — Microsoft on Thursday announced the net profit of its second quarter hit $6.66 billion, a record high. It said that the unprecedented revenue was driven by the immense demand of its new operating system, Windows 7.

The company told to the media its revenue surged 14% i.e. $19.02 billion in the [...]

China denies involvement in Google hackings

BEIJING — China sharply rebuked the United States on Monday, denying involvement in any Internet attacks and defending its online restrictions as lawful after Washington urged Beijing to investigate an attack against Google. The search engine giant announced on Jan. 12 that it would pull out of China unless the government relaxes its rules on censorship. The ultimatum came after Google said e-mail accounts of human rights activists critical of China had been hacked. Since then, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has criticized the censorship of cyberspace, drawing a strong counterattack from Beijing. The Foreign Ministry on Friday said her remarks damaged bilateral relations, while a Chinese state newspaper said Washington was imposing “information imperialism” on China. On Monday, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology went on the offensive again, saying the country’s anti-hacking policy is transparent and consistent. “Any accusation that the Chinese government participated in cyberattacks, either in an explicit or indirect way, is groundless and aims to discredit China,” an unidentified ministry spokesman said, according to a transcript of an interview with the official Xinhua News Agency posted on the ministry’s Web site. The increasingly heated environment is likely to pose challenges to negotiating an arrangement that would suit both Google’s and China’s interests. The company says it remains optimistic it can persuade China’s ruling party to loosen restrictions on free expression on the Internet, so it can keep doing business in the country. However, China’s government has given little indication it’s willing to budge. “Increasingly, the line emerging from the Chinese government is harder and less open to compromise,” said Russell Leigh Moses, an analyst of Chinese politics based in Beijing. “Hillary Clinton’s speech was seen by many officials here as the United States’ laying down a marker and put matters in a more confrontational mode.” The Communist Party’s official People’s Daily newspaper also accused the U.S. government of strictly controlling the Internet at home on Monday while urging other countries to build an “Internet freedom utopia.” “In reality, this ‘Internet freedom’ that it is marketing everywhere is nothing but a diplomatic strategy, and only an illusion of freedom,” the paper said. Xinhua also cited the State Council, China’s Cabinet, as criticizing what it called interference in the country’s domestic affairs. Internet control is considered a critical matter of state security in China. Beijing promotes Internet use for commerce, but heavily censors content it deems pornographic, anti-social or politically subversive and blocks many foreign news and social media sites, including Twitter and Facebook, and the popular video-sharing site YouTube. Google said it had uncovered a computer attack that tried to plunder its software coding and the Gmail accounts of human rights activists protesting Chinese policies. The company traced the attacks on its computers to hackers in China, but hasn’t directly tied them to the Chinese government or its agents. A Chinese Internet security official questioned the allegation, saying Google had not reported its complaints to China’s National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team. “We have been hoping that Google will contact us so that we could have details on this issue and provide them help if necessary,” Zhou Yonglin, the team’s deputy chief of operations, said in an interview with Xinhua posted on the team’s Web site. Zhou said the team logged attacks on 262,000 Chinese computers last year by hackers implanting malicious software such as Trojans, which can allow outside access to the target’s computer. More than 16 percent of the attacks came from computers located in the U.S., he said.

‘Avatar’ tops box office for sixth-straight week

LOS ANGELES — James Cameron’s “Avatar” is on a course to sink “Titanic” at the box office. No. 1 for the sixth-straight weekend with $36 million, the 20th Century Fox sci-fi spectacle lifted its domestic total to $552.8 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Avatar” raised its worldwide total to $1.841 billion. That’s $2 million shy of first place behind Cameron’s last movie, the 1997 shipwreck epic “Titanic,” at $1.843 billion. “It defies all superlatives,” said Chris Aronson, head of distribution for Fox. The studio said “Avatar” has hit $1.29 billion in international ticket sales, passing the $1.24 billion mark set by “Titanic.” The saga set on the alien world of Pandora is also en route to overtake “Titanic” in domestic sales. After 37 days in theaters, “Avatar” soared past “The Dark Knight” on Saturday to become the second highest grossing film. “We’re witnessing box office history,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com. “We’re watching all of these big records fall, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. ‘Avatar’ is dominating at a time where it has no big summer blockbusters to compete with it. It’s perfectly poised to keep breaking all these records.” “Avatar” is also positioned to win acclaim during awards season. While the computer-assisted performances didn’t earn any honors at Saturday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, it captured the best drama and director trophies at last week’s Golden Globes and is considered a likely best-picture front runner when Oscar nominations are announced Feb. 2. Screen Gems’ apocalyptic thriller “Legion,” featuring Paul Bettany as an Armageddon-fighting fallen angel, debuted behind “Avatar” at No. 2 with $18.2 million. Fox’s family fantasy comedy “Tooth Fairy,” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as a hockey player who spreads his wings as a magical deity, took flight in the No. 4 spot with $14.5 million. Warner Bros. grabbed the No. 3 position with “The Book of Eli” at $17 million in its second week, despite three other films debuting in wide release this weekend. The post-apocalyptic action flick stars Denzel Washington as a traveling prophet who battles a villainous gang leader played by Gary Oldman while protecting the last known Bible. The medical drama “Extraordinary Measures,” the first film from new distributor CBS Films, opened with a disappointing $7 million in the No. 7 position. The film features Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser as a doctor and businessman who collaborate to develop a drug that will treat a rare genetic disorder affecting children. “It did well in middle America,” said Steven Friedlander, head of distribution for CBS Films. “This is not a shoot-’em-up or fantasy film. It’s the true story of people doing courageous things, and it’s building good word of mouth. This is the kind of movie that plays well to a family friendly crowd who doesn’t need to see the movie the weekend it opens.” Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday. 1. “Avatar,” $36 million. 2. “Legion,” $18.2 million. 3. “The Book of Eli,” $17 million. 4. “Tooth Fairy,” $14.5 million. 5. “The Lovely Bones,” $8.8 million. 6. “Sherlock Holmes,” $7.1 million. 7. “Extraordinary Measures,” $7 million. 8. “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” $6.5 million. 9. “It’s Complicated,” $6.2 million. 10. “The Spy Next Door,” $4.8 million. — On the Net: http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

‘Inglourious Basterds’ wins SAG film award

LOS ANGELES — While Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock’s chances for Academy Award gold were advanced with their trophies at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the blockbuster “Avatar” may have felt a touch blue. The computer-assisted performances in James Cameron’s “Avatar” didn’t make the cut for SAG nominations. But the groundbreaking sci-fi film remains a strong best-picture contender for the Oscars in March. For Bridges of “Crazy Heart,” Bullock of “The Blind Side” and for SAG supporting-acting honorees Mo’Nique of “Precious” and Christoph Waltz of “Inglourious Basterds,” there’s reason to suspect the Oscar ceremony will be a happy rerun of Saturday’s SAG Awards and last Sunday’s Golden Globes. All four were recognized at the Globes, as well, while “Avatar” was named best drama and Cameron won as best director. He will face competition from director Quentin Tarantino, whose “Inglourious Basterds” won the SAG Award for best ensemble performance, which can be a precursor to the top Oscar award. Last year, SAG’s movie cast award was presented to “Slumdog Millionaire,” which went on to win the best picture Oscar. “It was an honor to be part of it, Quentin,” “Inglourious Basterds” cast member Eli Roth said in accepting the award for his fellow actors in the off-kilter World War II revenge saga. Bullock declined – strenuously – to look ahead. “Shhhhh. Shhhhh. Shhhhh,” Bullock said backstage when she was asked to speculate on her Oscar chances. She won for her portrayal of a tenacious real-life mom, Leigh Anne Tuohy, who helped a youth in need, future NFL player Michael Oher. “I would be a hostess or a waitress or a house restorer before I ever considered myself an actor, because I never thought I was good enough,” she added. Although respected by his peers, Bridges has largely been bypassed for major awards. “I love being an actor – pretending to be other people and getting into the shoes of other folks,” said Bridges, who plays a hard-luck, hard-living country singer in “Crazy Heart.” Waltz was honored for his role as an enthusiastically ruthless Nazi. Mo’Nique’s trophy came for her searing portrayal of an abusive mother in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire.” On the TV side of the SAG Awards, the cast of AMC’s 1960s Madison Avenue saga “Mad Men” won the trophy for best drama series ensemble for the second year in a row, while 19 cast members of Fox TV newcomer “Glee,” about misfits in a high school singing club, accepted the award for best comedy series ensemble. “Glee” claimed the best comedy series award at the Golden Globes. Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey of NBC’s “30 Rock” won for best acting in a comedy series, allowing Fey to get in a sly joke about NBC and its bitter late-night battle with Conan O’Brien in her acceptance speech. “I just wanted to take a moment to say to everyone at NBC, we are very happy with everything, and happy to be there,” she said. Both she and Baldwin won the awards last year. Golden Globe winner Michael C. Hall of Showtime’s “Dexter,” wearing a cap because of treatment he’s receiving for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, won best actor in a drama series. The award for best actress in a drama went to Julianna Margulies of CBS’ “The Good Wife.” Kevin Bacon won as best actor in a movie or miniseries for the war-themed drama, “Taking Chance,” while Drew Barrymore received best actress honors in the category for “Grey Gardens,” about eccentric relatives of Jacqueline Onassis. Betty White, 88, accepted a lifetime achievement award from Bullock for an enduring career that included “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “The Golden Girls,” and showed her sharp comedic chops. When Bullock joked that she finds White annoying, White shot back, “Isn’t it heartening to see how far a girl as plain as she is can go.” “I should be presenting an award to you for the privilege of working in this wonderful business all this time. And you still can’t get rid of me,” White told the audience. Actors in two highly critically acclaimed films went home empty-handed, including “Up in the Air” star George Clooney and the film’s supporting actresses, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick. The cast of “The Hurt Locker” also lost out. Clooney, however, was lauded by SAG President Ken Howard for helping organize Friday’s telethon to raise money for earthquake-devastated Haiti, a rare reference to the tragedy. Two honors not shown in the telecast went to stunt ensembles for the film “Star Trek” and the TV show “24.” — On the Net: http://www.sagawards.org

Air America is Dead.

Air America, the talk-radio network that helped boost the careers of liberals Al Franken and Rachel Maddow, said Thursday it was going out of business.
In a statement to employees of the New York-based network, Air America’s chairman, Charlie Kireker, wrote: “It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce [...]

Birdman Launching An Oil Business

Rap mogul Bryan ‘Birdman’ Williams and his brother Ronald ‘Slim’ Williams are venturing away from music – the siblings have launched their own oil and gas company. The Cash Money Records co-founders have created Bronald Oil & Gas, a combination of both of their first names, which will be rolled out across America.
The rapper, also [...]

Property Crash? What Property Crash?

Duke Warnier of Westbury Properties is going to talk us through how the economic upheaval of the past couple of years is affecting the local property market. Duke has been in the industry for many years, and his company, Westbury Properties manages a portfolio of some of the area’s premier real estate.
“The real estate market [...]

Getting a Mortgage as a Small Business or Self Employed

Getting a non-doc mortgage or loan used to be quite straightforward, and there were plenty of institutions who would give them. Since the economy and banking sector hit the floor, finance for most of us has been hard to get. Even though we bailed out the banks they are still being a bit slow to [...]

Unions don’t have to pay “Cadillac tax” on high-cost health-care plans thanks to Obama. Everyone else still expected to pay.

Just in case you had any doubts that obama was owned by liberal parasites, here is your confirmation.
Small business owners and other hard working Americans will be expected to pay this so-called “Cadillac tax” on their “high-cost” health care plans while the unions get a free pass due to the collective temper tantrum they [...]