Simply put, it has developed into the default solution for many information technology integrators and managed service providers in recent years — a network security function which integrates a wide variety of security services into a single device or service. The primary market of UTM providers is the small and medium-sized enterprises, single office/home office and enterprise segments.

Coined by IDC analyst Charles Kodology in 2003, UTM appliances typically consolidate firewall and VPN capabilities along with URL filtering, spam blocking, intrusion prevention, gateway antivirus, application control, and a centralized management, monitoring and logging function. Traditionally, these discrete functions were handled by multiple point solutions.

Lower up-front cost: Unified threat management (UTM) devices can support a 30/35 person office for around $2,000.

Lower maintenance costs: Since you’re buying just one Unified threat management (UTM) support agreement for all security services, you can significantly reduce the amount you pay for ongoing support.

Avoidance of multiple software installation and maintenance - Simplicity

If you have limited space for networking equipment, Unified Threat Management’s ability to fit all the services into a small, self-contained package can be really appealing. – Less space

Check Point 600 - Check Point 600 Appliances deliver proven enterprise-grade security in a simple, affordable, all-in-one security solution to protect your employees, your applications and your data from cyber-theft for small offices like yours. It has an appealing user interface, a lot of great security features, and is simple to manage and create new security rules.

The Check Point 600 Appliances are suitable for small offices of up to 100 employees and come in three models (620, 640, and 680) — Starting at $399.

Check Point 600 – Unified threat management (UTM) devices

Dell/Sonicwall Unified threat management UTM – Dell SonicWALL’s line of network security appliances incorporates the broadest level of protection available through Unified Threat Management (UTM). UTM combines multiple security features into a single platform to protect against attacks, viruses, Trojans, spyware and other malicious threats. Complexity is reduced and management is simplified because multiple layers of protection are delivered under this single management console — Starting at $1,500.

Dell Sonicwall Unified threat management (UTM)

Elitecore Cyberoam Unified threat management (UTM) - Elitecore Cyberoam Unified Threat Management appliances, available as hardware and virtual appliances, offer comprehensive security to organizations, ranging from large enterprises to small and branch offices. Multiple security features integrated over a single, Layer 8 Identity-based platform make security simple, yet highly effective— Starting at $1,563.

Cyberoam Unified threat management (UTM)

Tata Docomo Unified threat management (UTM) -  Tata Docomo’s unique identity-based UTM solutions authenticate a user by username, MAC ID, IP Address, and Session ID for strong protection against user-targeted attacks and are offered to the customers over and above the core services of Internet Leased Line.

Tata Docomo Unified threat management (UTM)

Fortinet Unified threat management (UTM) - Fortinet’s Unified Threat Management (UTM) security platform FortiGate provides you with the ability to protect your network with the fastest firewall technology on the market. You also have the freedom to deploy the wide range of security technologies available, to fit your dynamic network environment — Starting at $2,898.

Juniper Unified threat management (UTM) - Juniper Networks Unified Threat Management (UTM) offers comprehensive security against
malware, viruses, worms, trojans, phishing attacks, intrusions, denial- of-service (DoS) attacks, key loggers, spam, and other threats—all delivered on Junos operating system, reducing cost, complexity, and total cost of ownership (TCO) — Starting at $2,699.

Kerio Control Unified threat management (UTM) - Kerio Control is an award-winning UTM firewall designed to protect businesses from a comprehensive range of invasive and crippling corporate network threats — Starting at $1,625.

Sophos Unified threat management (UTM), Formerly Astaro Security Gateway - Sophos UTM integrates complete security software within a single appliance. Choose only the protection you need when you need it. And deploy it on the platform that best fits your business: software, hardware or virtual appliance. Each offers an identical feature set no matter if you protect 10 or 5,000 users. And our easy web-based management console enables easy, consolidated management of all your IT security — Starting at $2,780.

Sophos Unified threat management (UTM)

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The project was sponsored by the Chinese government’s 863 High Technology Programme – an effort to make the country’s hi-tech industries more competitive and less dependent on overseas rivals.

The US has the world’s second and third fastest supercomputers, Titan and Sequoia, while Japan’s K computer drops to fourth spot.

Supercomputers are used for complex work such as modelling weather systems, simulating nuclear explosions and designing jetliners.

Fastest supercomputers:

10) Tianhe-1A, National Supercomputing Center in China - Ranked #1 in November 2010, Tianhe-1A uses Intel Xeon CPUs and Nvidia GPUs across its 183,368 processing cores for a rating of 2.6 petaflops.

9) SuperMUC, Leibniz Supercomputing Centre in Germany - Using IBM iDataPlex servers, 300TB of RAM, and an InfiniBand interconnect, SuperMUC’s 147,456 cores achieved a speed of 2.9 petaflops. Energy costs are cut by directly cooling chips and memory with water at unusually high temperatures of 104 degrees fahrenheit.

8) Vulcan, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - This 4.3 petaflop system is based on IBM’s Blue Gene/Q supercomputing technology and has 393,216 cores. This supercomputer isn’t devoted solely to government use; Vulcan was recently opened to industry and research universities for collaborative projects.

7) Juqueen, Jülich Supercomputing Centre in Germany - Another Blue Gene/Q system, Juqueen’s 458,752 cores hit speeds of 5 petaflops. Using 2,301 kilowatts of power, Juqueen was rated the fifth most energy efficient Top 500 supercomputer last November.

6) Stampede, Texas Advanced Computing Center at University of Texas - With Dell PowerEdge servers powered by Xeon processors and an InfiniBand interconnect, Stampede scored 5.2 petaflops. It is one of the largest systems in the world devoted to open science research—any researcher at a US institution can submit a request to use some of its computing power.

5) Mira, Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory - This Blue Gene/Q system uses 786,432 cores to hit 8.6 petaflops. When it hits full production in 2014 Mira will offer more than 5 billion computing hours per year to scientists (counting time on each core separately).

4) K computer, RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science in Japan - Ranked #1 in the world in 2011, the K computer was made by Fujitsu. Delivering 10.5 petaflops with 705,024 Sparc cores, the K computer uses a six-dimensional torus interconnect called Tofu.

3) Sequoia, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - The world’s #1 supercomputer in June 2012, Sequoia is used by the National Nuclear Security Administration to conduct simulations aimed at extending the lifespan of nuclear weapons. The Blue Gene/Q system has nearly 1.6 million cores and hits speeds of 17.2 petaflops.

2) Titan, Oak Ridge National Laboratory - Titan was #1 last November with a speed of 17.6 petaflops. The system uses AMD-based Cray CPUs and Nvidia GPUs in its 560,640 cores. Rated the third most energy efficient supercomputer last November, Titan uses 8,209 kilowatts of power.

1) Tianhe-2 (meaning Milky Way-2) -  It was developed at China’s National University of Defense Technology and will be deployed in the country’s National Supercomputing Center before the end of this year — with a performance of 33.86 petaflop/s. Tianhe-2 uses Ivy Bridge-based Intel Xeons and Intel Xeon Phi for a total of 3.12 million cores. The computer uses 17,808 kilowatts of power and can theoretically hit speeds of up to 54.9 petaflops.

Google Android Keyboard – Not so shocking twist — it’s Outstanding! Google’s insane quest for Android (mainstream mobile operating system) perfection, the search engine giant,  has released it’s very own gesture based keyboard app. The Google Keyboard requires Android 4.0 or higher and is available for free in the Google Play Store now.

“Google Keyboard makes text input smart and easy. Glide through letters with Gesture Typing – just lift to finish a word, no spacebar required. Compose notes on-the-go with Voice Typing. With amazing word recognition and next-word prediction, Google Keyboard helps you type faster and more accurately on all your Android devices,” describes the app’s description.

SwiftKey 4 Keyboard - SwiftKey is one of the best-selling Android apps in the world. The app is packed full of features to help you type, from the award-winning prediction engine that learns how you write to predict your next word, to SwiftKey Flow, which lets you write whole phrases without lifting a finger.

TouchPal Keyboard for Android - TouchPal keyboard knows you better than before, word prediction and auto-correction based on your input context, TouchPal keyboard can even learn from your Twitter and SMS. TouchPal keyboard is smarter than ever.  TouchPal keyboard knows you better than before, word prediction and auto-correction based on your input context, TouchPal keyboard can even learn from your Twitter and SMS. TouchPal keyboard is smarter than ever.

Swype Keyboard for Android - Swype Keyboard for Android became famous as one of the first touchscreen keyboards to allow input by sliding your finger across the letters of the word.  Swype takes a little practice, but you’ll quickly the hang of it. And don’t worry about hitting every letter exactly. Swype is smart. It knows what you’re trying to spell. Trust in Swype.

I’ve already listed my favorite Android keyboard Apps, but now it’s time to check out yours. What is the keyboard Apps For Google Android-based Smartphones? (please comment below)

A campaign on the government’s online petition site, which over 114,000 people have signed: calling for it to be legal for US consumers to unlock their smartphone and tablet at the end of their contract with a carrier — and use the devices on the network of their choosing.

“If you have paid for your mobile device, and aren’t bound by a service agreement or other obligation, you should be able to use it on another network,” says White House senior adviser for the internet, innovation and privacy R David Edelman in a statement on the petition website.

“This is particularly important for secondhand or other mobile devices that you might buy or receive as a gift, and want to activate on the wireless network that meets your needs — even if it isn’t the one on which the device was first activated. All consumers deserve that flexibility.”

The Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, a Commerce Department branch that advises President Barack Obama on airwaves policy, will deal with the issue, Edelman said.

The FCC will look into “into whether the agency, wireless providers, or others should take action,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement posted today on the agency’s website.

On another note…here’s a cool infographic on A brief history of Samsung mobile phones

In 2012 Samsung is one of the top ten most valuable brands in the world. Since the start in 1938 with the production of noodles, Samsung has developed into one of the biggest smartphone manufacturers in the world. This infographic gives you a little taste of mobile phone development over a decade.

(Image credit)

In the summer of 2006, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman came knocking to Sandberg, then an accomplished senior Google executive, about being the LinkedIn’s CEO.

“In the summer of 2006, a tiny startup called LinkedIn was looking for a new CEO, and Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn’s founder, reached out to me. I thought it was a great opportunity, and after five years in the same position at Google, I was ready for a new challenge. But the timing was tricky. I was 37 years old and wanted to have a second child. I told Reid the truth: Regrettably, I had to pass. …”, according to Tom Gara at the Wall Street Journal. (Photo Credit: Drew Altizer)

And a few years later, Sandbergg headed off to another social networking company company… we all know… Facebook. How Would LinkedIn Be Different If Sheryl Sandberg Was CEO?

Internet users, who were logged into their Facebook accounts with Facebook Connect, the single sign-on tool Facebook uses to allow its accounts to serve as logins to other online services, when attempted to visit some of the Web’s biggest sites —- redirected away from their intended destination to an error message on Facebook.

According to Alex Wilhelm, the bug was “dragging people from around the Internet, from news sites, to Hulu, even from Facebook’s own status page, to a page that simply states “An error occurred. Please try again later.”

“For a short period of time, there was a bug that redirected people from third party sites integrated with Facebook to Facebook.com. The issue was quickly resolved,” the social networking website Facebook said.

It appears to suggest that the error lies in Facebook Connect, so what is Facebook Connect ?

Facebook Connect is a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) from Facebook that allow members to log onto third-party websites and apps using Facebook accounts, and share information with their friends on the social network.

But as The Next Web rightly points out, Facebook did not apologise for taking away millions of pageviews from its partners. Also, it did not say how it intends to never have this happen again.

Facebook Error Redirect Video

We’re offering up our predictions for the show on who will win and who should win?

Best motion picture — drama

There are 5 contenders “Argo,” “Django Unchained,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln” and “Zero Dark Thirty.” “Lincoln” is our favorite.

Best motion picture — comedy or musical

The contenders are “Les Miserables,” “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” and “Silver Linings Playbook.” “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” is our favorite.

Best director

The contenders are Steven Spielberg (“Lincoln”), Ang Lee (“Life of Pi”), Bigelow (“Zero Dark Thirty”), Quentin Tarantino (“Django Unchained”) and Ben Affleck (“Argo”). “Steven Spielberg” is our favorite.

Best screenplay

The contenders are Tony Kushner for “Lincoln” (based upon Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book), David O. Russell for “Silver Linings Playbook” (based upon Matthew Quick’s novel), Chris Terrio for “Argo” (based upon Joshuah Bearman’s article in Wired), Tarantino for “Django Unchained” (inspired by the 1966 spaghetti Western “Django”) and Mark Boal for “Zero Dark Thirty” (based upon his own reporting). “Tony Kushner” is our favorite.

Best performance by an actor — drama

The contenders are Daniel Day-Lewis (“Lincoln”), Denzel Washington (“Flight”), Joaquin Phoenix (“The Master”), Richard Gere (“Arbitrage”) and John Hawkes (“The Sessions”). Day-Lewis is our favorite.

Best performance by an actress — drama

The contenders are Chastain (“Zero Dark Thirty”), Marion Cotillard (“Rust and Bone”), Helen Mirren (“Hitchcock”), Naomi Watts (“The Impossible”) and Rachel Weisz (“The Deep Blue Sea”). Marion Cotillard is our favorite.

Best performance by an actor — comedy or musical

The contenders are Hugh Jackman (“Les Miserables”), Bradley Cooper (“Silver Linings Playbook”), Ewan McGregor (“Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”) and Bill Murray (“Hyde Park on Hudson”). Hugh Jackman is our favorite.

“Lifeless,” “disappointing,” “ordinary,” “dull” — Take a look at the image below, and decide for yourself.

—- let’s just say Kate might want to think about untagging this one

“We are pleased to announce that we have reconciled,” Vanessa Bryant’s Instagram post said. “We are pleased to announce that we have reconciled. Our divorce action will be dismissed. We are looking forward to our future together.”

Vanessa Bryant filed for divorce in December 2011, seeking to end a marriage that began in April 2001 and survived a sexual assault accusation against the five-time NBA champion guard. The Bryants have two daughters, Natalia and Gianna. Vanessa Bryant filed papers in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, California, in December of 2011 citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for seeking a divorce.

Good job Kobes!

- Sixteen states are reporting moderate levels.
- flu vaccine appears to be about 62% effective against the currently circulating strains
- The common signs of influenza are high fever, severe body aches, headache, being extremely tired, sore throat, cough, runny or stuffy nose, and vomiting and/or diarrhea (more common in children).

The American Red Cross issued the following press release this week on flu and flu safety tips:

- Cover the nose and mouth with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing, and throw the tissue away after use. If a tissue isn’t available, cough or sneeze into the elbow, not the hands.
- Wash hands often, especially after coughing or sneezing. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand-rub.
- Avoid touching the eyes, nose or mouth.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Stay home if sick.

Health officials recommend that people with the flu stay home for at least 24 hours after the fever is gone to avoid spreading the virus. Rest, liquids and over-the-counter medicines are common treatments. Antibiotics don’t work because it’s a viral illness.

Dr. Mehmet Oz administers a flu shot to CNN’s Piers Morgan:

Britney Spears’ representative Jeff Raymond , confirmed the news saying, “Britney Spears and Jason Trawick have mutually agreed to end their one-year engagement. As two mature adults, they came to the difficult decision to go their separate ways while continuing to remain friends.”

The ‘I Wanna Go’ singer said, “Jason and I have decided to call off our engagement. I’ll always adore him and we will remain great friends.”

While Trawick said, “As this chapter ends for us a new one begins. I love and cherish her and her boys and we will be close forever.”

Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker has just started the press conference with the news that a deal has been reached.  The full press conference is here.

Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, said markets should pay heed. “It will certainly reduce the uncertainty and strengthen confidence in Europe and in Greece.”

In Athens, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras welcomed it as a great victory. “As Greeks, we fought together. And tomorrow a new day begins for all Greeks.”

The so-called troika of the European Central Bank, IMF and the European Commission, which is the 27-country EU’s executive arm, have twice agreed to bail out Greece, pledging a total of €240 billion ($310 billion) in rescue loans — of which the country has received about €150 billion ($195 billion) so far.

Έλενα Λαγαρία

According to agwayclerk, a Redditor what makes “Mitt Romney pumping his gas” pic so interesting:

It is pretty amazing that in such a short period of time you can go from missing becoming the leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world by a couple % to pumping your own gas like everyone else.

Not that he couldn’t afford to have someone else do it but imagine Obama just casually strolling around a gas station by himself at night getting gas and a couple twinkies.

mkb95, Reddit

Annie Lennox has supported the following charities: 21st Century Leaders, 46664, Aberlour Child Care Trust, Amnesty International, Bottletop, Charity Projects Entertainment Fund, Children in Need, Clothes Off Our Back, Comic Relief,  Education Africa, Elton John AIDS Foundation, Feeding America,  Fund4Darfur, Global Fund, Grace House, Greenpeace, Healthlink Worldwide, Hear The World, INSP, Life College, Make Trade Fair, Nordoff Robbins, Oxfam, Peace One Day, Prince’s Trust, RADD, Red Cross, Save the Children, Soil Association, Sport Relief, Treatment Action Campaign, UNICEF, Whatever It Takes, Witness, Women for Women International, Women’s Fund for Scotland

Annie Lennox

2. Sir Elton John - Legendary singer Elton John ranks number two in the list of leading celebrity contributor’s to charity in the World. You can follow him on Facebook @EltonJohn, Twitter @eltonjohndotcom and official website. An English rock singer, Sir Elton John is one of the most successful artists of all time and sold more than 250 million records.  He has won Grammy Awards, Brit Awards, Academy Award, Golden Globe Award and Tony Award. You name it!!!

Elton John has supported the following charities- Aids Life, American Foundation for AIDS Research, American Foundation for Equal Rights, Andre Agassi Foundation for Education, Andy Roddick Foundation, Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Bridge School,  Caudwell Children, Children’s Tumor Foundation, Cinema For Peace, Elton John AIDS Foundation, Exploring The Arts, Food Bank For New York City, Gus Dudgeon Foundation, HELP USA, Hillsides, Joey Dipaolo AIDS Foundation, Kids, Love Our Children USA, mothers2mothers, Move For AIDS, MusiCares, National Youth Theatre, Oxfam, PDSA, RADD, Rainforest Foundation Fund, Riders For Health, Scope, Soles4Souls, Sporting Chance Clinic, Starkey Hearing Foundation, St. Francis Food Pantries and Shelters, STOMP Out Bullying, Terrence Higgins Trust, The Lunchbox Fund, The Rainforest Foundation, The Trevor Project, True Colors Fund, Volunteering England, War Child, Women’s Sports Foundation, World AIDS Day

Sir Elton John

3. Bill Clinton - Former President of the United States Bill Clinton is named as the “most trusted man in America”, American novelist and Nobel laureate Toni Morrison called Bill Clinton “the first Black president” — quite a lifetime achievement.

Bill Clinton has supported the following charities: 46664, Aid Still Required, ALAS, American Foundation for AIDS Research, American India Foundation, Apne Aap, Artists for Peace and Justice, Avoided Deforestation Partners, Bottletop, Bush Clinton Coastal Recovery Fund, CAMFED, CHOC South Africa, Chris Tucker Foundation,  Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, Clinton Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative, Conservation International, Cotlands, FC Harlem, Food Bank For New York City, Global Fund, Heifer International, HELP USA, Ithemba Trust, Jewish National Fund, J/P Haitian Relief Organization, K.I.D.S., Kiva, Make-A-Wish Foundation, MASSIVEGOOD,  MusiCares, Music Rising, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oceana, PeacePlayers International, Reach For A Dream Foundation, Red Cross, ROTA, Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, Save the Children, STILLERSTRONG, St. Mary’s Hospital, The Lunchbox Fund, The Rainforest Foundation, TJ Martell Foundation, US Doctors for Africa, Usher’s New Look Foundation, Walkabout Foundation, Walter Sisulu Paediatric Cardiac Centre for Africa, Yum-o!

Bill Clinton

4. Bono - The U2 rock star Bono has co-founded DATA, EDUN, the ONE Campaign and Product Red and was granted an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and  nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Bono has supported the following charities: 46664, ALAFA, Amnesty International, Charity Projects Entertainment Fund, Chernobyl Children’s Project International, DATA, EDUN, Every Mother Counts, Food Bank For New York City, Global Fund, Greenpeace, Keep A Child Alive, Live 8, Make Poverty History, Mencap, Millennium Promise, Millennium Villages,  Mulago Positive Women’s Network, MusiCares, Not On Our Watch, ONE Campaign,  Oxfam, (RED), Red Cross, Simon Community, The Lunchbox Fund, UNICEF, UN Millennium Project, War Child, Wildlife Conservation Society, Witness, Zero Hunger

Bono – U2 rock star

5. Brad Pitt - Four times Academy Award nominated, mega-star Brad Pitt is the latest big-name contributor to support gay marriage, has been named as one of the “world’s most attractive men”.

Brad Pitt has supported the following charities: African Children’s Choir, Alliance For The Lost Boys Of Sudan, American Foundation for Equal Rights, Ante Up For Africa, Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of Canada, Care to Learn, Child Find Ontario, Cure Autism Now, Daniel Pearl Foundation, DATA, Direct Change, Donate Life America, EB Medical Research Foundation, ENOUGH Project, Global Action for Children, Global Green, HALO Trust, Human Rights Watch, Jolie-Pitt Foundation, Live 8,  Make It Right, Make Poverty History, Millennium Promise, Millennium Villages, Mineseeker Foundation, Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation, Not On Our Watch, ONE Campaign, ONEXONE, Project A.L.S., Right To Play, Satellite Sentinel Project, Solar Neighbors Program, Sophie’s Gift, UNHCR, UNICEF, UN Millennium Project, World Food Programme, Yéle Haiti Foundation

Brad Pitt

1. Barack Obama - President of the United States Barack Obama was overheard telling outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, that he would have “more flexibility” to negotiate on a missile defence row after the November’s election, in a bilateral meeting in Seoul, South Korea, March 26, 2012.

“On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this can be solved, but it’s important for him to give me space,” Mr. Obama could be heard saying to Mr. Medvedev

“Yeah, I understand,” the departing Russian president said. “I understand your message about space. Space for you … .”

2. Nicolas Sarkozy  - Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was overheard calling Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu a liar.  He told U.S. President Barack Obama: ‘Netanyahu, I can’t stand him. He’s a liar.’

To make matters even worse, Barack Obama replied: ‘You are sick of him, but I have to deal with him every day.’

3. Gordon Brown - Former prime minister to Britain, Gordon Brown was caught on microphone describing a  female pensioner he had just spoken to as a “bigoted woman”.

4. Charles, Prince of Wales -  He was caught on camera branding an English journalist and correspondents for BBC News, Nicholas Witchell “awful” and claiming he “couldn’t bear that man”

“Bloody people. I can’t stand that man . He’s so awful, he really is.”

5. Britney Spears - The pop star Britney Spears was caught swearing in front of 170,00 fans at  Rio de Janeiro.  ‘Don’t tell me they’re just letting the audience just fucking stand out there like that. This is retarded.

‘They told me they were gonna do a vamp. Oh shit*. Oh, no. What are they doing? Oh, my pants are too short! I grew! I’m not just gonna stand out there.’ [image by carnivalridexx]

6. Ronald Reagan - Former President of the United State Ronald Reagan joked during a sound check prior to a radio address to the nation in 1984.

“My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes,”

7. George W. Bush – Former President of the United State George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney trashing New York Times journalist Adam Clymer.
Bush described Clymer as a “major-league asshole,” to which Dick Cheney responded, “Yeah, big time.” Later, Bush explained: “I said what I said. I’m a plainspoken fellow.” [image @The U.S. Army]

8. Barack Obama - in an interview with CNBC’s John Harwood – at a discussion of what Obama thought of Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards. When someone asked, “Why would he do that?”

President Barack Obama said “He’s a jackass.”

9. Jesse Jackson - on 6 July 2008, Jesse Jackson ( served as a shadow U.S. Senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997) whispering to a fellow guest: “See, Barack’s been, ah, talking down to black people on this faith-based… I want to cut his nuts off… Barack, he’s talking down to black people”

10. John Major - in 1993, former prime minister to Britain, John Major called some members of his Cabinet “bastards” and promised to “crucify” them, “I can’t stop people sleeping with other people if they ought not to.”

So if You Have Something to Share. Post a comment below!

1. Fifty Shades of Grey - It is one of the bestselling erotic novel by British author E. L. James. Its a story about a literature college student Anastasia Steele and young entrepreneur billionaire Christian Greyy. Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving.

Because of its highly graphic S&M scenes, it has been called the “Twilight for grown-ups” and “mommy porn,” . “Christian is fond of whips, and Anastasia is a willing submissive, guided by the “inner goddess” who narrates her sexual escapades.”

2. Lolita -  one of the most famous and controversial giants of 20th century fiction written by Vladimir Nabokov and published in 1955. story of a middle-aged literature professor Humbert Humbert’s obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet 12-year-old Dolores Haze.

3. Portnoy’s Complaint - a masterpiece written by Philip Roth, defined Jewish American literature in the 1960s. controversy over its explicit and candid treatment of sexuality, including detailed depictions of masturbation. Portnoy’s Complaint – “A disorder in which strongly felt ethical and altruistic impulses are perpetually warring with extreme sexual longings, often of a perverse nature.”

4. Tropic of Cancer - published in 1934 in Paris, famous as “notorious for its candid sexuality”, a novel written by Henry Miller. It was banned in the United States till 1961.

Some famous Quotes from Tropic of Cancer:

“Everybody says sex is obscene. The only true obscenity is war.” ― Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

“I have found God, but he is insufficient.” ― Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

“Do anything, but let it produce joy. Do anything, but let it yield ecstasy.” ― Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

“People are like lice – they get under your skin and bury themselves there. You scratch and scratch until the blood comes, but you can’t get permanently deloused. ” ― Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

“But it’s just because the chances are all against you, just because there is so little hope, that life is sweet over here.” ― Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

“The essential thing is to WANT to sing. This then is a song. I am singing.” ― Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

“Paris is like a whore. From a distance she seems ravishing, you can’t wait until you have her in your arms. And five minutes later you feel empty, disgusted with yourself. You feel tricked.” ― Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

“To have her here in bed with me, breathing on me, her hair in my mouth—I count that something of a miracle.” ― Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

5. Lady Chatterley’s Lover - often associated as “explicit descriptions of sexual intercourse” written by D.H. Lawrence, adulterous affair between a sexually unfulfilled upper-class married woman, who is wife of Sir Clifford Chatterley(returns from the war paralysed from the waist down) and the game keeper who works for the estate owned by her wheelchair bound husband.

6. Fanny Hill – Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure or famously known as Fanny Hill by John Cleland

7. Peyton Place – a novel on Sex, lies and betrayal by Grace Metalious published in 1956.

8. The Story of O – is about love, dominance and submission written by Anne Desclos under the pen name of Pauline Réage.

9. Fear of Flying – published in 1973 by Erica Jong, a timeless tale of self-discovery, liberation, and womanhood of Isadora Wing and her desire.

10. Couples – written by by John Updike, a story of ten young married couples in a seaside New England community who make a cult of sex and of themselves – seductive, savagely graphic portrait of love, marriage, and adultery.

Why do I hate junk mail so much? The clue’s in the name – it’s junk. I get up early, work hard all day and come home tired and hungry, looking forward to a pleasant evening with my wife, and I have become increasingly frustrated with having my precious evening eaten into by spending the first 10 minutes opening adverts from insurance companies, recycling pizza and curry menus (and yes, they all go straight in the recycling box), and my pet hate, having to get over the guilt trip I get every time I recycle one of those irritating catalogues which a neighbour delivers through the door once a month with a note pleading with me to give it back, not to leave it out in the rain, but that I should remember three weeks Thursday that they’ll be coming round at half past eleven to collect it. Then they don’t turn up. Yes, I’m afraid if you work for one of these companies, you’ll lose your catalogue if you put it through my door.

What’s the “benefit” in all this junk? Nothing at all. I love cooking, and I know the local restaurants which I like so I don’t need to hear about others which are most likely less good. The insurance companies which write to me promising to save me money are invariably more expensive than my renewal price each year, and on the off chance that I do decide to give one a try, that’s another 45 minutes of my life gone while I wait for someone to answer the phone, hear meaningless spiel to which I never listen, then sit for 10 minutes on hold because they can’t find my car on the system. It’s junk because it brings no additional value to me at all.

“Where’s the sales lesson in this,” I hear you mutter. “This guy just got out on the wrong side of bed this morning,” you bemoan. Well here’s the lesson: what’s junk to me is not necessarily junk to the people who send it. I’m sure they feel there’s tremendous value in sending me the latest menu for a Chinese takeaway 8 miles away. The problem is, they fail miserably to convey this sense of value to me as the receiver.

Every single contact you have with your prospects or customers absolutely must bring value to the receiver of the communication. Sure, many of us learnt that during cold calling training years ago. You remember – don’t talk about yourself, talk about your prospect; prospects like talking about themselves; don’t present your cure until you feel your prospect’s pain. Lots of salespeople forget these basic lessons. Frequently I’ll receive a knock at the door from someone who spends 3 or 4 minutes telling me how great his roof insulation is before he even gives me a chance to tell him I have some. Or perhaps I’ll get a call at work from some training salesperson telling me how great their training is and how it’ll make me lots of money. How do they know how much money it will make me when you haven’t even asked how I train my staff currently? These are basic sales lessons which people frequently forget.

But the harder one is the follow-up call. This is where junior salespeople in my team frequently come unstuck. You’ve done some great prospecting, found a need, given a solution and the prospect stalls you for some reason. Often I’ll listen to calls of junior team members which go something like:

• Seller:                     “Hello, it’s John from ABC company. How are you today?”
• Prospect:               “I’m well thanks John.”
• Seller:                    “I wonder whether you’ve had a chance to review the proposal I sent over?”
• Prospect:               “Sorry I haven’t yet – leave it with me for a couple of weeks…”

This sort of exchange is over almost before it started and gets repeated again and again and again, often to the same prospect each time. What’s the problem here? Who’s the benefit for? In the salesperson’s mind, the benefit in proceeding with the sale is probably shared: commission for the salesperson and a great product for the prospect. But where’s the benefit for the prospect in this call? You’re their telephone junk mail. They’ve wasted 2 minutes of their time just to be told to hurry up by some commission-chasing salesperson and they’ve received absolutely no benefit at all. You’re irritating, and they wish you’d go away.

The effect of this approach is that the prospect begins to resent you. They may even like the idea of your product, but go with another provider who doesn’t pester them so much.

The solution, is to always (always, always, always!) give the prospect some value when you pick up the phone. Leave them feeling that they’ve gained something out of the exchange, and they’ll see you as a business partner rather than a pestering salesperson. They’ll smile when they hear you on the phone, because they’ll expect something good from the conversation. The same goes for emails. It doesn’t really matter what value you bring, as long as it’s relevant. It could be a useful article which is relevant to their situation, it could be a verbal summary of what’s going on in their industry at the moment from your point of view. It could be a brief consultation on the phone about a problem they’ve got, or it could even be to ask the prospect’s advice on something, making them feel important.

It doesn’t matter what the value you bring is, but remember: every single contact with a prospect or current customer, should carry new value for the receiver. Otherwise you might just find they put a metaphorical notice in their window refusing junk mail. Ever wonder why you get through to so many voicemails, secretaries, receptionists? Caller-ID…

Written by Neil Shorney, divides his time between helping businesses to achieve their full potential through his company, Naturally Sales Ltd, edited by Megan Batchelor, image by Entressen kirjasto , vauvau  and Evil Erin.

The Mythologies:

Rising customer satisfaction scores are positively correlated with increases in sales. Sometimes this is true, but just as often rising satisfaction scores are inversely correlated to actual sales. For example, as sales go down, stores are less crowded and store employees have more time to spend with customers, and often retail prices fall as sales go down. All of these factors can result in rising satisfaction scores — while sales are falling. Retailers, in particular, can “happily’’ go out of business amid a rising tide of customer satisfaction scores.

It costs less to keep your current customers than to attract new customers.  This is usually true, but not universally true. Keeping existing customers can become very expensive at times. Some customers are too costly to keep. The key is to focus on attracting and keeping the strategically profitable customers.

Companies should always strive to maximize customer satisfaction ratings.  Companies can achieve the highest possible customer satisfaction scores by raising product quality, offering unlimited service, and lowering prices. But these actions will lead to bankruptcy. No, the goal should not be to maximize customer satisfaction. The goal should be to optimize customer satisfaction so that the company’s long-term profits are maximized.

One magical question is the ultimate measure of customer satisfaction and the ultimate predictor of future success (the so-called Net Promoter Score).  The Net Promoter Score is derived from a “would you recommend this product/service’’ question. Levels of recommendation, unfortunately, vary greatly by type of business and product category. You may recommend a car dealership or a restaurant (high-interest categories) but not mention a drugstore, gas station, bank, or funeral home (low-interest categories). A better strategy is to tailor the customer satisfaction questions to your  industry, your product/service, and to your business goals. Use multiple questions that measure satisfaction from
different perspectives. Don’t buy into the illusion of universal truth. Don’t fall for simple answers to complex questions.

Customer satisfaction scores are all-important, the ultimate determinant of a store’s or a dealer’s evaluation by senior management. Many senior executives are not aware that satisfaction scores vary by different regions within the U.S., vary by the demographic makeup of a retailer’s customers, and vary by age of the store. These variances make it very difficult to compare the satisfaction scores from one store to the next, or across different parts of the country. Few
companies use sophisticated modeling to adjust for all of these natural variances to level the playing field.

It’s all about the “customer experience,’’ as though customer experience is a magical, ethereal, transcendental idea. Duh? What is so revolutionary about the notion of understanding customers? Haven’t good companies been providing good “customer experience’’ since (and before) the coming of the Industrial Revolution? Isn’t marketing research about understanding how customers think, feel, behave, and react — at all of the touch points? Might customer experience just be a new name for something good companies have been doing all along?

Key Questions 
 
Okay, so it’s easy to poke holes in the rhetoric surrounding customer satisfaction and loyalty measurement, but here are some of the questions to think about as you contemplate a customer satisfaction monitoring program:

• What are the objectives and goals of a customer satisfaction or customer loyalty program? Is such a program likely to achieve its goals?
• What are the relevant questions, the metrics that make sense for your industry and your company?
• How much measurement is enough? Are surveys once or twice a year sufficient to accomplish your goals? Not every company needs to continuously measure customer satisfaction.
•  How do you interpret the results? Can the results be organized, weighted, normalized, analyzed, etc., so that the ratings are fair and useful?
• Is a customer satisfaction program really worth the money it will cost?

Best Practices

Let’s assume you have done your homework and answered the above questions honestly, and feel that a customer satisfaction and loyalty program makes marketing sense and economic sense for your company. You have clearly defined the objectives for the program. What are the best practices to help ensure that your company gets the most out of its customer satisfaction and loyalty program?

Always begin with some type of qualitative research (focus groups, depth interviews, online forums, ethnography) to better understand your customers, their perceptions, their experiences, their language, their fears, and their issues and concerns. If you don’t really understand your customers’ feelings, knowledge levels, and perceptions, and don’t understand how customers interact with your company, it’s almost impossible to design a good customer satisfaction and loyalty monitoring program. The qualitative research will make it possible to design a very good survey  questionnaire. In fact, the qualitative research should be repeated every two or three years as a safety check to ensure that your satisfaction program remains relevant and on track.

Sampling

Who do you survey? If you only talk to your current customers, you may be overlooking a sea of dissatisfied former customers. Generally, the best practice is to focus your surveys on your current customers, but include cells of infrequent customers and former customers. If you conduct your surveys as visits or transactions occur, your sample will tend to be biased toward heavy users. This can be a good thing, since heavy users account for a large share of your business, but it can overstate your customer satisfaction scores because you are conducting a high share of surveys among your most loyal customers. It’s like preaching to the choir.

Questionnaire Design   

The first rule is “do no harm.’’ That is, your attempts to measure customer satisfaction should not lower your customers’ satisfaction. This means that questionnaires should be simple, concise and relevant. Use very simple rating scales (2-point, 3-point, 4-point scales). Short word-defined scales (e.g., Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor) are easy for customers to answer, and the results are easy to explain to executives and employees.  Moreover, short scales work well on PCs, tablet computers and smartphones. Long, complicated scales should be avoided. The questionnaire should almost always begin with an open-ended question, to give the customer a chance to tell his/her story. An opening question might be: Please tell us about your recent experience of buying a new Lexus from our dealer in north Denver?

The questionnaire should always be pretested with 20 to 30 depth interviews. It’s also best practice to do 500 or 1,000 surveys, as another type of pretest, and factor analyze the answers. Often this will allow you to shorten the final questionnaire by eliminating redundant questions or attributes.

Survey Data Collection

The method of data collection should be tailored to the customer base. Mail surveys work extremely well for automotive purchases, for instance. Telephone surveys are widely used because interviewers add a personal touch and can ensure that any problems are immediately addressed by the correct person or department. Online surveys are probably the most widely used survey method for customer satisfaction. It’s often the least expensive, if customers’ email addresses are systematically collected.  Smartphones and tablet computers increasingly offer new ways to survey customers.  Complaint-tracking or problem-tracking (types of customer satisfaction research) can be conducted via QR codes, IVR (interactive voice response), or survey invitations on invoices, sales receipts, paper coffee cups, etc.

Analysis

This is where most customer satisfaction measurement systems fail. If you are comparing different stores, or different geographical areas, you should normalize the survey results to make the comparisons fair and accurate. If you are looking at results for a particular store or division over time, you must be wary of seasonal variations. When the weather is very hot, or very cold, customers might tend to be more irritable. During the Christmas season, everyone tends to be emotionally stressed and satisfaction scores can go down. The use of advanced statistical methods is essential.

The best practice is to build relevant and useful mathematical models to compensate for data biases and distortions, link together important measurements in sophisticated ways, and derive simple composite results that everyone, even senior executives, can understand and use.

Benchmarking is important. You should collect customer satisfaction data for your major competitors, if possible, so that you have a relevant measuring stick to analyze your own satisfaction data.

Economic Sense

Meeting the needs of customers and providing great service doesn’t guarantee business success, but it sure improves the chances of winning. There are no simple, universal truths about customer satisfaction measurement and management. Each company is unique and must think carefully about its business model and its objectives to design a customer satisfaction and loyalty program that really works and makes economic sense.

Jack White will return to the UK and Ireland next month when he brings his ‘Blunderbuss’ tour back to Europe.

Jack White will play:

O2 Arena Dublin (October 31)
London Alexandra Palace (November 2, 3)
Bridlington Spa (4)
Blackpool Empress Ballroom (6)
O2 Academy Birmingham (7)
Edinburgh Usher Hall (8)

Below are a few selected Tweets from the freaked out fan of Jack White fans:

https://twitter.com/Pickelmouth/statuses/252257972804272128

https://twitter.com/nycmusiclover/statuses/252250915724201984

https://twitter.com/JKush28/statuses/252238527075594240

https://twitter.com/ceoworld/status/252344232952610816

https://twitter.com/jeremycurrent/statuses/252238570289512449

https://twitter.com/stacypalmeri/statuses/252238948636700672

https://twitter.com/SmithAsmith4712/statuses/252237808725540864

https://twitter.com/griffimx/statuses/252237560636645376

https://twitter.com/carissa_viera/statuses/252238193867505665

https://twitter.com/KerithBurke/statuses/252237430252519427

https://twitter.com/esontons/statuses/252236824859254784

https://twitter.com/jeremycurrent/statuses/252236055116406784

image by by theogeo

Robin Williams

Robin Williams Model

Robin Williams Model

Robin Williams Model

Robin Williams Model

[Image by courtesy of art_print, ztams.com , tvlistings.zap2it.com, nearlyvintage.tumblr.com  and fanpop.com .]