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Independent Study Demonstrates Productivity Gains and ROI of 243 Percent for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

*Data details extensive quantitative savings and efficiencies from implementation of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.*

REDMOND, Wash. — May 3, 2011 — Microsoft Corp. today released the results of a Microsoft-commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting, “The Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011,” May 2011. The Total Economic Impact^TM, a standard methodology developed by Forrester Research Inc., captures and quantifies the voice of the customer relative to technology investments. This study concludes that a 2,000-employee composite organization with an initial deployment of 50 users would experience a three-year, risk-adjusted ROI of 243 percent^* over a payback period of 4.1 months. Forrester Consulting credits the familiar, intelligent and connected experiences delivered by Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 as fundamental to the ROI and rapid payback period. (more…)

‘Ancient Bipedal Hominid Dubbed ‘Nutcracker Man’ Preferred Grass to Nuts’

Science

An ancient, bipedal hominid sporting a set of powerful jaws and huge molars that earned it the nickname “Nutcracker Man” likely didn’t crack nuts at all, preferring instead to slurp up vast quantities of grasses and sedges, says a new study.

The hominid, known as Paranthropus boisei, ranged across the African landscape more than 1 million years ago and lived side-by-side with direct ancestors of humans, said University of Colorado Boulder anthropology Professor Matt Sponheimer, a study co-author. It was long assumed Paranthropus boisei favored nuts, seeds and hard fruit because of its huge jaws, powerful jaw muscles and the biggest and flattest molars of any known hominid in the anthropological record, he said. (more…)

Yahoo! Sets Records With The Royal Wedding; Drives Largest Traffic Day for Single Event

Technology

Names Jai Singh Editor-in-Chief of Yahoo! Media Network

SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)— Yahoo! Inc. drove its largest traffic numbers for a single event last week when the world turned to the company for coverage of the Royal Wedding. Over a 24-hour period on Friday, April 29, 2011, Yahoo! drove more traffic and video to its coverage of the wedding than any previous event. (more…)

Bin Laden’s Attacks Among the Most Lethal: UMD Study

General, Politics

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Under Osama bin Laden’s leadership, al Qa’ida has been one of the most lethal terrorist organization in the world, responsible for more than 10,000 deaths and injuries in a dozen years – finds a new analysis by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland (START).

“Al-Qa’ida, the terrorist organization Osama bin Laden founded, was responsible for fomenting more mass casualty attacks than any other group in recent history,” says START Director Gary LaFree, a University of Maryland professor responsible for assembling the world’s most comprehensive unclassified terrorism database. (more…)

Orion Energy Systems Sees the Light, Moves Data to Windows Azure

Technology

*Energy-management company switches to cloud-based platform to provide customers with a robust, consolidated view of energy-usage data.*

REDMOND, Wash. — May 2, 2011 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that Orion Energy Systems is using the Windows Azure platform to host InteLite, a sensor-and-control solution designed to help Orion customers save energy and control lighting costs. This move will enable building managers to view energy-consumption data from multiple facilities on the Windows Azure platform, while providing Orion with approximately a $57,000 savings each year in hardware, labor and maintenance costs. (more…)

Eddies Found to be Deep, Powerful Modes of Ocean Transport

Environment, Science

*Study Finds Connection between Atmospheric Events and the Deep Ocean*

Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and their colleagues have discovered that massive, swirling ocean eddies–known to be up to 500 kilometers across at the surface–can reach all the way to the ocean bottom at mid-ocean ridges, some 2,500 meters deep, transporting tiny sea creatures, chemicals, and heat from hydrothermal vents over large distances.

The previously unknown deep-sea phenomenon, reported in the April 28 issue of the journal Science, helps explain how some larvae travel huge distances from one vent area to another, said Diane K. Adams, lead author at WHOI and now at the National Institutes of Health. (more…)

Scorpion Venom – Bad for Bugs, Good for Pesticides

Science

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Fables have long cast scorpions as bad-natured killers of hapless turtles that naively agree to ferry them across rivers. Michigan State University scientists, however, see them in a different light. (more…)

Taking Safety Personally

Environment, General

A year after the BP explosion and oil spill, those trying to find someone to blame are misguided, says psychological scientist E. Scott Geller, Alumni Distinguished professor at Virginia Tech, and author of a new paper published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Geller has spent much of his 42-year career developing interventions to keep people safe, particularly helping companies develop a culture that promotes occupational safety. (more…)