REDWOOD SHORES, CA--(Marketwire -04/23/12)- Incapsula, a cloud-based website security and performance service, today announced that it has expanded its service offering to provide enterprise-grade security and performance to small business and personal websites. The new service plan is expected to boost website speed and performance while offering protection against botnet attacks, comment spammers and other undesired automated traffic.

"Developers, bloggers and business owners need an affordable way to keep their sites up and protect them from the latest security threats without having to juggle a plethora of operations tools or become a security expert overnight. We believe cloud-based security services offer an easy and effective way to make websites faster and protect websites against hackers and bots," said Lawrence Pingree, Research Director at Gartner.

"We see increasing automation by hackers, which we believe has expanded the need for security," said Marc Gaffan, Incapsula co-founder. "And, while our research reflects that more than half a website's traffic comes from automated sources, some of which is aimed at trying to steal proprietary information and customer data, many website owners don't have the right tools or expertise to protect themselves. Incapsula's technology can be used by anyone with a website and a domain."

Incapsula's newest service plan -- Incapsula Personal -- expands the company's suite of offerings to small businesses and personal websites that are looking to add advanced protection against automated attacks while significantly improving their website's performance and reducing their server load. The new plan's features include:

In addition, Incapsula business customers can take advantage of Incapsula's enterprise-grade Web Application Firewall (WAF) for protection against sophisticated, human-generated attacks. Incapsula Enterprise customers, including hosting and service providers, can leverage dedicated throughput capacity, an enterprise SLA, product and security operations support and DDoS protection. Incapsula's basic technology is available to anyone for free. Pricing for paid plans begins at $9 per month.

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About Incapsula:Incapsula is a cloud-based website security and performance service, and a PCI certified cloud web application firewall and content delivery network for small and medium-sized businesses. With a simple DNS switch, Incapsula provides protection and improves the performance of websites without changing the site or installing any hardware/software. Incapsula goal is to provide peace of mind for website owners that their websites have protection against attacks, that their customers' information is safeguarded while their web pages are delivered at a high speed. Incapsula is a majority-owned subsidiary of Imperva (NYSE: IMPV - News), a leading provider of data security solutions. Website: http://www.incapsula.com

2012 Incapsula, Inc. All rights reserved. Incapsula is a trademark of Incapsula, Inc.

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Incapsula Makes Cloud Security Personal

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5_8mPHKme4

22-04-2012 22:31 "The California Kid," Mixed Martial Arts pioneer and former featherweight champ in World Extreme Cagefighting, Urijah Faber offers an unconventional and enlightening guide to mental dominance and personal success. Available wherever books are sold May 22nd, 2012.

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"Laws of the Ring" by Urijah Faber

FOSTER CITY, CA--(Marketwire -04/23/12)- Funambol, the leading provider of white-label personal cloud solutions for mobile providers, today announced that it was recently named the winner of the 2012 Mobile Merit Award in the Mobile Apps category for overall enabler. The Mobile Merit Awards recognize companies and technologies that shape the way the world communicates today. They connote the excellence achieved in the global mobile industry. Mobile Merit Award winners were determined based on industry impact, innovation, technologies, social importance, implementation and overall success.

"Funambol is thrilled to be recognized by the Mobile Merit Awards for best overall mobile apps enabler," said Amit Chawla, Funambol CEO. "The personal cloud market is exploding worldwide and our white-label solution for mobile providers is truly having a profound impact on the industry and users. The award is external validation of this and all of the hard work by the people of Funambol who are making it happen."

Funambol's white-label personal cloud solution, OneMediaHub, is similar to Apple iCloud except it works with all major smartphones, tablets and computers, including iPhone/iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, Windows and Mac. OneMediaHub differs as it enables mobile providers to go to market with their own brand, and to act as the digital locker for all of their users' digital assets, to reinforce customer loyalty. Funambol's solution is based on open source, allowing its customers to completely customize it for their needs and to provide differentiated cloud services for multiple market segments. For more information, visit http://www.funambol.com. OneMediaHub is available for demo use at https://onemediahub.com. For more on the 2012 Mobile Merit Awards, visit http://www.mobilemeritawards.com/.

About Funambol

Funambol is the leading provider of white-label personal cloud solutions for mobile providers. Funambol solutions have been deployed by many of the top companies in mobile, including operators, device makers, Internet portals and software companies. For more information, visit http://www.funambol.com.

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Funambol Named Recipient of 2012 Mobile Merit Award

Croda's new chief executive, Steve Foots, is focued on evolution not revolution.

You know the advert. The one with the pretty girl and the perfect lipstick. She (SNP: ^SHEY - news) flashes a naughty smile into the camera before flicking her sleek, glossy hair in a perfect swoosh.

Then the advertiser stakes its claim its shampoo, the one the pretty girl uses every day, makes a womans hair bouncier and glossier than ever. Its just about then that we all roll our eyes and quietly mutter under our breath.

Well, its time to stop being quite so cynical. Unless Ive been horribly hoodwinked, that claim hasnt just been made up by a bunch of sharp suited mad men.

You see, in a laboratory 20 miles from Doncaster, theres a man in a white coat. In front of him a false head of hair hangs on a metal wire attached to a rudimentary engine and a video camera. Hes filming that swoosh. Flicking the hair from side to side, treating it with the shampoos 'active ingredient and flicking it again. And there really is a difference.

This, to use the Croda vernacular, is claim substantiation. Thats what were about. Our job is to find the next big claim: to meet unknown needs, says Steve Foots, a relaxed 43-year old who is Crodas new chief executive. We dont really think about chemicals, we think about effect.

Its hardly what comes to mind when you think of a chemicals company with 3,200 staff and 17 factories that has just joined the FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) . But at Croda HQ theres no sign of industrial sized tanks or hoses. The companys 1bn of annual revenues, Foots is keen to make clear, are built on value not volume. Some of its products are shipped to clients in test-tubes, others make up just 0.1pc of your average shampoo bottle. This is the world of speciality chemicals.

The companys customers across consumer care, healthcare and cropcare range from Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG - news) and Unilever (Other OTC: UNLNF.PK - news) to fertiliser makers and engine manufacturers. The focus is on providing chemicals to make products work better. Anything from face cream to engine oil lubricant.

Croda makes the building blocks for health and personal care items such as lipstick

Crodas strategy has seen it hone in on such niche areas, allowing it to raise profit margins with each new product iteration. A product tweak, a new hair straightening claim and the customer pays up. That approach has allowed Croda to increase margins in consumer care to an eye-watering 32pc, provoking consternation among analysts. They have all of these boffins working away, continually improving products and were all left rubbing our eyes in wonder, says Charles Pick, an analyst at Numis. The big question around Croda is where the margin ceiling is.

Original post:
Croda's Steve Foots: a man with the right chemistry for success

Croda's new chief executive, Steve Foots, is focused on evolution not revolution at the speciality chemicals group.

You know the advert. The one with the pretty girl and the perfect lipstick. She (SNP: ^SHEY - news) flashes a naughty smile into the camera before flicking her sleek, glossy hair in a perfect swoosh.

Then the advertiser stakes its claim its shampoo, the one the pretty girl uses every day, makes a womans hair bouncier and glossier than ever. Its just about then that we all roll our eyes and quietly mutter under our breath.

Well, its time to stop being quite so cynical. Unless Ive been horribly hoodwinked, that claim hasnt just been made up by a bunch of sharp suited mad men.

You see, in a laboratory 20 miles from Doncaster, theres a man in a white coat. In front of him a false head of hair hangs on a metal wire attached to a rudimentary engine and a video camera. Hes filming that swoosh. Flicking the hair from side to side, treating it with the shampoos 'active ingredient and flicking it again. And there really is a difference.

This, to use the Croda vernacular, is claim substantiation. Thats what were about. Our job is to find the next big claim: to meet unknown needs, says Steve Foots, a relaxed 43-year old who is Crodas new chief executive. We dont really think about chemicals, we think about effect.

Its hardly what comes to mind when you think of a chemicals company with 3,200 staff and 17 factories that has just joined the FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) . But at Croda HQ theres no sign of industrial sized tanks or hoses. The companys 1bn of annual revenues, Foots is keen to make clear, are built on value not volume. Some of its products are shipped to clients in test-tubes, others make up just 0.1pc of your average shampoo bottle. This is the world of speciality chemicals.

The companys customers across consumer care, healthcare and cropcare range from Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG - news) and Unilever (Other OTC: UNLNF.PK - news) to fertiliser makers and engine manufacturers. The focus is on providing chemicals to make products work better. Anything from face cream to engine oil lubricant.

Croda makes the building blocks for health and personal care items such as lipstick

Crodas strategy has seen it hone in on such niche areas, allowing it to raise profit margins with each new product iteration. A product tweak, a new hair straightening claim and the customer pays up. That approach has allowed Croda to increase margins in consumer care to an eye-watering 32pc, provoking consternation among analysts. They have all of these boffins working away, continually improving products and were all left rubbing our eyes in wonder, says Charles Pick, an analyst at Numis. The big question around Croda is where the margin ceiling is.

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Steve Foots: Croda's man with the chemistry for success

Results, results, results.

Amidst a world of less expensive, all-in-one big-box gyms, and coming out of a recession that knocked many small businesses out for the count, the key to success for small gyms and personal training facilities in the East Valley, their owners say, is just that the personalized results they can offer their clients.

John Allen, owner of John Allens Arizona Body Sculpting and Personal Training, and Tammi Jacobs, owner of Results Health and Fitness, are examples of small gym owners succeeding in a tough economy.

Allen has been doing business in the Valley for almost 30 years and points out the reason his company has been so successful: We have that personal touch with the client that the big gyms dont.

Jacobs, also a longtime personal trainer, says the attention and structured workouts really are effective in helping members achieve tailored results. For Jacobs, dedication to one-on-one time spent with a client is paying off in a big way.

Our general memberships have doubled in the last four months and we are located across the street from a 24 Hour Fitness and two miles away from a Mountainside Fitness, Jacobs said.

The increase in memberships can partially be linked to the new facility that Results Health and Fitness moved into across the street from its old locationin Chandler. Its now at 930 E. Pecos Road.

But the ability to speak knowledgeably to an individual about what it takes to get in shape and, more importantly, stay in shape, is another key component to the success of a small gym.

We guide the member through whatever their fitness levels are, through a lot of personalized attention and a lot of activities, Jacobs said. Theyre (personalized workouts) always evolving and changing.

Allen is a former football player who had his career cut short due to injury, but made the most of his talents by becoming a personal trainer more than 35 years ago. He does a lot of corporate training and has trained star athletes, such as the Major League Baseball all-time homerun leader Barry Bonds, and the Cardinals all-time leader in receiving yards, Larry Fitzgerald.

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Owners cite client ‘results’ as key to small gyms’ success

The world of marketing is changing, and companies are no longer targeting demographics based solely upon their age or level of personal income. Instead, contemporary marketers are taking stock of their consumers' behavior, aspirations and values, while also evaluating exactly how much of their capital can be classified as disposable. It is this shift that has made tweens one of the most influential social demographics in 2012, and one which is worth $43 billion annually. So, which modern franchises have managed to exploit this market and how have they achieved their success?

The Twilight SagaOf course, while the tween demographic has become increasingly influential in the worlds of film, literature and music, marketers must remember that it is parents who are the real buyers. Boasting an average weekly allowance of $12, young consumers in the U.S. are reliant on their elders for the vast majority of their disposable income. Parents also have a significant influence in dictating exactly what their children buy. Any franchise aimed at the tween market must appeal to the interests of young consumers while appeasing the potential concerns of guardians.

One franchise to ultimately achieve this balance was "The Twilight Saga," which has generated more than $1 billion in book sales and film revenue since the first book was published in 2005. The franchise had sold more than 100 million copies of its four-book series by the end of 2011, and its latest film release "Breaking Dawn: Part 1" earned a staggering $283.5 million during its run. With the final film of the franchise set for release in November of this year, it will add significantly to its box office haul.

Harry Potter"Harry Potter" remains one of the few film and literature franchises to generate a higher revenue than "The Twilight Saga," although it has benefited from a greater exposure and a more prolonged period within the marketplace. While the "Harry Potter" franchise came to life 15 years ago in 1997, "Twilight" has only been generating revenue since 2005 and can therefore claim to have achieved a more instant market impact. That said, the "Harry Potter" films and series of books are more suited to the younger members of the tween demographic, guaranteeing it an increased share of the market.

This is certainly reflected in the franchise's level of popularity, with its series of seven books having sold more than 450 million copies worldwide. The final volume, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," became the fastest selling book of all time after more than 11 million copies were purchased within 24 hours of its initial release. Before the release of its eighth and final film in July 2011, the franchise had also achieved worldwide box office takings of $6.4 billion. The final installment subsequently earned $476 million in global ticket sales during its opening weekend.

The Hunger GamesThe latest franchise of this type to hit the market is "The Hunger Games," although this slightly bucks the trend as a tween marketing prospect. To begin with, the first film had several scenes cut in a bid to appeal to the tween demographic. Despite this, it has still courted controversy due to its bloody content and apocalyptic nature, which has divided guardians and parental experts on whether it is suitable for younger viewers.

Such publicity and controversy appears to have had no adverse effect on the burgeoning franchise, however, as the opening film made the third best cinema debut in history. It earned $155 million during its opening weekend in North America, which also established a record for a non-sequel film. Despite less impressive ticket sales in countries such as Great Britain, Germany and Russia, "The Hunger Games" still managed to earn $214.3 million worldwide in just a few days. This success on the big screen has also had a dramatic effect on the franchise's book sales, with the number of copies sold soaring from 23.5 million to 36.5 million thanks to the additional publicity.

The Bottom LineThese franchises prove the lucrative nature of the tween market, and how the right concept can generate billions of dollars through book sales and big screen releases. Not only this, but the diverse nature of these three franchises shows that there are several ways to tap into this market and secure a significant share of the tween demographic.

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Franchises That Have Tweens To Thank For Financial Success

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Shutterfly, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFLY - News), a leading Internet-based social expression and personal publishing service, today announced that it has appointed John Boris as senior vice president and chief marketing officer and that Peter Elarde has been named senior vice president, new business initiatives. Boris and Elarde will report to Shutterfly's president and chief executive officer, Jeffrey Housenbold. Their appointments are part of a broader evolution of the companys organizational structure that reflects its multi-brand strategy. In January, Shutterfly named Karl Wiley, Greg Hintz and Cindy Wang as general managers of Shutterfly, Tiny Prints and Wedding Paper Divas, respectively, to lead strategy for those operating units.

"I am thrilled to welcome John to the Shutterfly Team, said Jeffrey Housenbold, Shutterflys president and chief executive officer. John brings proven leadership experience at marquee brands like Lonely Planet, Zagat, and 1-800-FLOWERS.com. His track record of deepening consumer engagement and brand loyalty will ensure thatour customers will continue to be able to share, extend and cherish their everyday memories across the Shutterfly family of brands."

As Shutterflys chief marketing officer, Boris is responsible for all facets of the companys marketing efforts, including customer acquisition and retention, business development, brand marketing, creative services and corporate communications.

Boris brings more than 15 years of business, marketing and strategy planning experience toShutterfly. He has held leadership roles atZagat Survey,1-800-FLOWERS.com andFresh Direct. Most recently, he was executive vice president and managing director of Lonely Planet Americas, where he oversaw all aspects of the companys business in the Americas including retail sales, B2B, marketing and public relations, business development, online, mobile, logistics and back-office. Boris earned a Bachelor of Arts fromMiddlebury College and an MBA from theStern School of Business atNew York University.

In his new role as senior vice president, new business initiatives, Peter Elarde is responsible for evaluating, incubating, and developing new growth initiatives for the company, including the new Treat greeting card business.

Elarde, who joined Shutterfly in 2001, has held several roles at the company. Before serving as chief marketing officer he was vice president of the services business and vice president of product marketing. As chief marketing officer, Elarde helped expand Shutterflys online marketing, direct mail, and social media channels and extend its leadership in personal publishing with the introduction of simple path and custom path Photo Books. He also managed the successful integration of Tiny Prints and Wedding Paper Divas marketing activities to create a multi-brand marketing organization.

About Shutterfly

Founded in 1999, Shutterfly, Inc. is an Internet-based social expression and personal publishing company and operates Shutterfly.com, Tiny Prints.com, Weddingpaperdivas.com and Treat.com. Shutterfly provides high quality products and world class services that make it easy, convenient and fun for consumers to preserve their digital photos in a creative and thoughtful manner. Shutterfly's flagship product is its award-winning photo book line, which helps consumers celebrate memories and tell their stories in professionally bound coffee table books. Shutterfly was recently named one of the top 25 Best Midsized Companies to Work For by the Great Place to Work Institute. More information about Shutterfly (NASDAQ:SFLY - News) is available at http://www.shutterfly.com.

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Shutterfly Expands Management Team for Future Innovation and Growth

Theyre pampered, privileged, indulged part of the cultural elite. They spend all their time smoking pot and sipping absinthe. To use a term thats acquired currency lately, theyre entitled. And theyre not after all real Americans.

This what we hear about artists, architects, musicians, writers and others like them. And its part of the reason the struggles of the creative class in the 21st century a period in which an economic crash, social shifts and technological change have put everyone from graphic artists to jazz musicians to book publishers out of work has gone largely untold. Or been shrugged off.

Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen write anthems about the travails of the working man; we line up for the revival of Death of a Salesman. John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson hold festivals and fundraisers when farmers suffer. Taxpayers bail out the auto industry and Wall Street and the banks. Theres a sense that manufacturing, or the agrarian economy, is what this country is really about. But culture was, for a while, what America did best: We produce and export creativity around the world. So why arent we lamenting the plight of its practitioners? Bureau of Labor Statistics confirm that creative industries have been some of the hardest hit during the Bush years and the Great Recession. But when someone employed in the world of culture loses a job, he or she feels easier to sneer at than a steel worker or auto worker. (Check out, for example, the unsympathetic comments to a Salon story about job losses among architects, or the backlash to HBOs Girls, for daring to focus on young New Yorkers with artistic dreams and good educations.)

The musicians, actors and other artists we hear about tend to be fabulously successful. But the daily reality for the vast majority of the working artists in this country has little to do with Angelina Jolie or her perfectly toned right leg. Artists in the Workforce, a National Endowment for the Arts report released in 2008, before the Great Recession sliced and diced this class, showed the reality of the creative life. While most of the artists surveyed had college degrees, they earned with a median income, in 2003-05, of $34,800 less than the average professional. Dancers made, on average, a mere $15,000. (More than a quarter of the artists in the 11 fields surveyed live in New York and California, two of the nations most expensive states, where that money runs out fast. The report has not been updated since 2008.)

What does it mean in America to be a successful artist? asks Dana Gioia, the poet who oversaw the study while NEA chairman. Essentially, these are working-class people a lot of them have second jobs. Theyre highly trained dancers, singers, actors and they dont make a lot of money. They make tremendous sacrifices for their work. Theyre people who should have our respect, the same as a farmer. We dont want a society without them.

Many of them, in fact, are effectively entrepreneurs, but have little of the regard of the lavishly paid, mythically potent CEO. A working artist is seen neither as the salt of the earth by the left, nor as a job creator by the right but as a kind of self-indulgent parasite by both sides. Why the disconnect?

Theres always this sense that art is just play, says Peter Plagens, a New York painter and art critic. Art is what children do and what retired people do. Your mom puts your work up on the refrigerator. Or the way Dwight Eisenhower said, Now that Ive fought my battles, I can put my easel up outside.

The reality is different. An ecology of churches, chamber series, libraries, on-call studio work and small and mid-size orchestras that neither pay a salary nor offer medical coverage keep musicians like Adriana Zoppo going: A hardworking freelance violinist who performs across Southern California, shes played, over the last year or so, at a church chamber series, on American Idol, a Glenn Frey standards record and a scene of background music for Mad Men, and with her own Baroque chamber group. Shes also a regular player in the Santa Barbara Symphony, for which she drives 100 miles each way for four rehearsals and two concerts a month. I just do a lot of driving, like every freelancer I know, she says; every week, students come to her apartment for lessons. The economy and the loss of audience and donors mean her work is down by about a third. Theres more and more time between jobs.

Its even tougher, she says, for people who rely on the movie studios. Even before the economy went down, studios started doing more outside California; a lot of it is in Eastern Europe. For those who made their living playing on records and movie soundtracks, All of a sudden, theyre making about 60 percent of what they did. What I see is a lot of people looking for things outside music a lot of people have gotten real estate licenses. I know people whove added massage therapist. Some have dropped medical coverage they cant afford, taking their chances.

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I’ve got “baby fever”

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KLjwz3Pbi4

23-04-2012 00:02 This video demonstrates the 'My Resources Centre' of Chifley's student learning management system 'eCommunities'. Chifley Business School's MBA is one of the largest distance MBAs in Australia with 500 current students from 30 countries and over 11000 graduates since 1989.

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Chifley Student Ecommunities Demo - Video