Adobe Systems plans by the end of May to unveil the latest version of Acrobat Connect Pro, which can handle Web conferencing as well as conduct corporate trainings and manage academic courses.

Web conferencing is increasingly being touted as a “green” tool that reduces the costs and carbon emissions of business travel.

Users of Connect can chat during on the internet meetings, which can be recorded and archived with audio, video, and transcripts of chats intact. Among the very special features are whiteboarding tools and the capability for groups of users to separate into virtual breakout rooms. There’s also integration with third-party IM applications.

Audio recording options grant precise controls for presentations.

(Credit: Adobe)

Connect can work in any Flash-enabled Web browser. There’s no need, for instance, to enable Java or to monkey with administrator privileges.

Adobe AIR enables Flash presentations from Connect to be played on the desktop away from the browser, which could come in handy for business travelers who fly frequently. The files can also be viewed on Flash-enabled mobile phones.

Adobe Presenter, also receiving an update, adds a tab of functions to Microsoft PowerPoint 2007. It lets users create presentations rich with audio, video, and animations, which can be integrated with Acrobat Connect.

Adobe says it has 72 percent of the market share for “eLearning”. Among the competitors to Connect–which starts at $42 per month–are WebEx, which Cisco Systems bought last year, and LiveMeeting, which Microsoft is selling to direct retailers.

Fore more visit Source: [webware]

Share This

Share This

Oh, Valley gossip: VentureBeat speculates we might soon hear about some massive company buying business social network LinkedIn. The evidence? A board meeting that “went way over the scheduled time,” and sources who state “good news” is on the way. Even VentureBeat admits it’s a stretch, but asserts that “something’s up.”

LinkedIn isn’t commenting. VentureBeat later added a note suggesting that the “good news” might be additional funding, not an acquisition.

Along with Digg and Plaxo, LinkedIn is one of those social-media companies that people just like to talk about–particularly when it comes to buyers. All three companies are independent, potentially appealing to both technology and media companies, and are currently too small for IPOs but big and influential enough so that an acquisition would be a big deal for the industry.

In Monday’s VentureBeat report, the only clue we’ve toward a prospective buyer is that it probably isn’t News Corp., which was reportedly interested until it opted for a major media acquisition, Newsday, instead. (VentureBeat explains, “Its stockholders would likely look down on yet another purchase.”) LinkedIn co-founder and board chairman Reid Hoffman, meanwhile, has said that the company will likely pursue an IPO before 2010 unless the right “suitor” makes a deal he can’t refuse.

Fore more visit Source: [webware]

Share This

Share This

If you thought Google’s capacity for high design didn’t go far beyond its primary-colored logo, think again.

The iGoogle personalized home pages have …

Source [The social]

Share This

Share This

You’ve cooked up a tasty meal of fresh, local ingredients. Maybe you even relaxed with a glass of organic wine. Now it’s time to clean up after dinner.

What if your charmingly retro home or tiny apartment doesn’t include an automatic dishwasher? Can hand-washing the dirty pots and pans still be earth-friendly? Sure, but it takes a little elbow grease.

An oft-quoted study from the University of Bonn, Germany, found that people who hand-washed dishes used 27 gallons of water and 2.5 kWh of water-heating energy on average to clean 12 place settings.

This was dramatically less efficient than the dishwashing machines tested — they used about 4 gallons of water and 1 to 2 kWh of energy.

But if you just can’t afford an Energy-Star machine right now (or, like me, your 1940s kitchen is too narrow for one to fit into!), you can still learn to wash dishes better.

First, install an aerator on your faucet. These affordable little devices turn a wasteful sink into a low-flow water saver, and you won’t really notice any lack of drippage. Put one in the water closet sink too, while you’re at it. It’ll cost you maybe $3 per faucet.

Next, scrape your dishes after eating, instead of rinsing. You shouldn’t need to soak them unless food has burned on. And try not to let food sit and dry on dishes, if possible.

When it’s time to wash a load, do it efficiently by using dishpans or getting a plug for your sink. If you wash dishes with the faucet running, you might as well pour money down the drain. Your water bill goes up, valuable resources are lost, both you and the planet suffer. Who wants that?

Wash the dishes in a pan of hot water and rinse in a pan of cool water. Or if you have a double sink, use plugs and fill up the sinks.

One eco-bonus that hand-washing has over the machine is that many of the detergents for automatic dishwashers still contain phosphates. Dishwasher detergents are one of the last types of cleaning products in the U.S. still allowed to include this harmful agent. Liquid detergents used for hand-washing dishes are usually phosphate-free, so they don’t gunk up our waterways.

For more visit Source:[green.yahoo]

Share This

Share This

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve reported Monday that more banks are tightening lending standards on home mortgages, other types of consumer loans and business loans in response to a spreading credit crisis. The Fed said t the percentage of banks reporting tighter lending standards was near historic highs for nearly all loan categories. The survey, conducted […] For more visit Source:www.investment-blog.net

Share This

Share This