Blog – Page 1101 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

comScore Reports Q3 2010 U.S. Retail E-Commerce Spending Up 9 Percent vs. Year Ago

*comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni to Present Update on Q3 2010 E-Commerce Trends in Upcoming Webinar*

RESTON, VA, November 1, 2010 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its Q3 2010 U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending reached $32.1 billion for the quarter, up 9 percent versus year ago. This growth rate represented the fourth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth following a year of flat or negative growth rates. (more…)

MasterCard and Amazon.com Present the 2010 Holiday Toy List

Technology

*Holiday toy shopping just got easier – customers get FREE Two-Day Shipping when they use their MasterCard*

SEATTLE, Nov 01, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com, Inc. today unveiled the annual 2010 Holiday Toy List (www.amazon.com/holidaytoylist), where customers can find this season’s hottest toys, video games, sporting goods, electronics, music, movies and books for kids. New this year, customers can get FREE Two-Day Shipping, or a $10 credit towards a future purchase for Amazon Prime members, when they use a MasterCard to purchase $75 or more in eligible items from the Holiday Toy List. Visit www.amazon.com/htl-promo for details.

“At Amazon we are focused on making holiday shopping simple and cost effective for parents, friends and family members,” said Sarah Wood, director of the Toy & Games Store for Amazon.com. “We know saving money is very important to our customers, and now when they use their MasterCard to purchase select items from the Holiday Toy List they can get faster shipping at no additional cost.” (more…)

Customer Spotlight: Windows 7 Platform to Push the Boundaries of Innovation for 3M

Technology

*Windows 7 streamlines PC management and boosts employee productivity, driving 3M’s decision to implement a companywide upgrade.*

Image credit: Microsoft

REDMOND, Wash. — Nov. 1, 2010 —

Microsoft Corp. today reported that 3M has deployed Windows 7 to nearly 7,000 of its 75,000 employees and plans a complete rollout over the next three years to help employees be more productive and IT resources be more efficient.

As a leading innovative company that produces products across diverse markets, 3M needed an operating system that allowed its employees to be productive, while at the same time tightening network security and reducing costs of PC management. Since deployment, 3M management has reported a sizeable decrease in computer startup time, greater ease in navigating on the company’s computers at work, advanced data protection and a lower cost of compliance. In addition, the new operating system deployment has enabled a shift in how 3M employees view the company’s IT efforts. (more…)

Haiti Quake Risk May Still be High

Environment, Science

The fault initially thought to have triggered January’s devastating earthquake in Haiti is likely still under considerable strain and continues to pose a significant seismic hazard, according to a study published online in Nature Geoscience Sunday.

U.S. Geological Survey geologist Carol Prentice led a team of scientists to Haiti immediately after the earthquake to search for traces of ground rupture and to investigate the geology and paleoseismology of the area. (more…)

Charges of Political Corruption Have Little Impact on Voter Opinion

Politics

Republican claims of political corruption in North Carolina’s Democratic Party have made little impact on public opinion among potential voters in the state, according to new polling data analyzed by North Carolina State University researchers. The findings show that highlighting actual corruption is not necessarily an effective electoral strategy. (more…)

A Wiki for the Biofuels Research Community

Environment

Blake Simmons (left) and Harvey Blanch of the Joint BioEnergy Institute led the development of a technoeconomic model for optimizing biorefinery operations. Image cedit: Roy Kaltschmidt, Berkeley Lab Public Affairs

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have created a technoeconomic model that should help accelerate the development of a next generation of clean, green biofuels that can compete with gasoline in economics and well as performance. This on-line, wiki-based model enables researchers to pursue the most promising strategies for cost-efficient biorefinery operations by simulating such critical factors as production costs and energy balances under different processing scenarios.

“The high production cost of biofuels has been the main factor limiting their widespread adoption,” says JBEI’s Daniel Klein-Marcuschamer. “We felt that a model of the biorefinery operation that was open, transparent about the assumptions it uses, and updatable by the community of users could aid in guiding research in the direction where it is most likely to reduce the production cost of biofuels.” (more…)

Nature’s Backbone at Risk

Nature

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— One-fifth of the world’s vertebrate species are threatened with extinction, but the situation would be worse if not for current global conservation efforts, a new study finds. (more…)

Mysteries of Unpredictable Tsunami Waves

Science

One of the most terrible consequences of offshore quakes is giant tsunami waves, sweeping everything on their way. Until now, scientists cannot answer a simple question: why in some cases they happen, and in others they do not? If it was established, then a tragedy like the one that has recently occurred in Indonesia could have been avoided.

An earthquake measuring 7.5 points, which occurred late on Monday, October 25 in Indonesia, caused a tsunami, which affected Mentawai islands in the western part of the country. Interestingly, the epicenter of the aftershocks of this earthquake was located 78 km west of the South Island Pagai of the Mentawai archipelago, at a depth of 20 km below the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Apparently, this is why the first few minutes after the earthquake the Indonesian government reported the tsunami threat, but later canceled the alert. (more…)