(PRWeb UK) August 8, 2009 — Put 30 of the most ambitious digital creative minds in the UK in a “shed” for three years, give them the task of inventing more personal, fun ways to communicate online and what do you get? The Winkball Project and its range of exciting new services, launched today (http://www.winkballproject.com).

The WinkBall Project has now launched a range of public and corporate services that enable people to communicate and broadcast using video. The first of these services to launch is WinkBall.com, which offers the public free video messaging, video blogging, public and private group video walls, and the new “Push to See and Talk” live messaging system.

The WinkBall Project have also developed a range of corporate communication tools including WinkBall Base, an internal video communications service that enables people working together - and their clients - to communicate within a private network. Furthermore, brands can also utilise WinkBall Broadcaster, a video message broadcasting, marketing and email campaigning service that can be used across WinkBall.com and WinkBall Base services.

At the end of video messages sent, or posted on blogs and walls is a five-second video display advertising space. This space is for advertisers to create Personalised Video Campaigns (PVCs) that take advantage of the web friendly five-second Web-Vert video format, devised and pioneered by Winkball following research undertaken at Goldsmiths. Web-Verts can be strategically placed on WinkBall communications to benefit from users’ heightened state of cognitive awareness when viewing video messages. Companies including Littlewoods and Traid are already using this innovative means of advertising to communicate their messages - without interfering with the user experience.

Established in 2005 and led by creative computer scientist Dr James Ohene-Djan of Goldsmiths College and online media pioneer Duncan Barclay, founder of Correspondent.com, the WinkBall Project mission is to allow everyone to communicate using the emotional power of video. The project team is based in London and is drawn from fields as varied as media communications, design, computing, business and anthropology - many of whom have graduated from London’s Goldsmiths University.

Co-founder Dr James Ohene-Djan said: “The WinkBall Project is all about putting the person rather that the technology at the centre of online communications. Good communication is emotional communication. 65% of all communication is body language; however this crucial information is lost in the current generation of text-based blogs, forums and email messages. We at the WinkBall Project are creating new technologies and services to change all that. The WinkBall Project is about seeing what people have to say, carrying a message with emotion, connecting with friends and engaging with the public all by communicating using video messaging.”

Duncan Barclay, who has been creating innovative media communication products since 1999 when he founded Correspondent.com, said: “The WinkBall Project is the most comprehensive and timely communications service we have produced yet. With ten years experience in media convergence we are well placed to take advantage of the switch from a text-based Internet to a new, video era to coincide with the launch of The Government’s Digital Britain Report earlier this year.”

WinkBall is one of the first UK companies providing services in line with the government’s Digital Britain initiative, enabling citizens to overcome the obstacles of effective digital communication. A successful public project has already been launched with the Information Communications Technology charity, Deafax, to encourage video communication within the UK deaf community.

The WinkBall Project has also been working on beta projects with a number of organisations including Littlewoods and desalination infrastructure company Subsea, which harness the emotional power of talking face-to-face to improve communication both internally and externally. WinkBall also carried out a successful beta project with The Daily Telegraph called ChristmaSee in December 2008, which encouraged members of the public to send video messages instead of Christmas cards. This project raised over £6,000 for various charities.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://uk.prweb.com/releases/2009/08/prweb2727994.htm

Birmingham, UK (PRWEB) July 20, 2009 — Packt Publishing has today unveiled ambitious plans to improve its support for Oracle documentation by announcing a long-term commitment to publishing in the area.

Professional documentation is regarded as an essential element to the growth and success of any technology and despite Oracle’s size and success, it is no different. Support from books, tutorials, and case studies can speed up adoption rates and cement long-term success.

Since 2006, Packt has developed and published a wide range of Oracle focussed books, including those on Oracle Modernization, BPEL, and ODP.NET. In doing so, Packt has established itself as one of the key publishers on Oracle technologies.

During 2009, Packt will publish more than a dozen additional titles. Since the turn of the year the company has released titles on Oracle Essbase, Oracle Utilities and Oracle VM Manager amongst others. James Lumsden, Packt’s Publisher, said: “Oracle titles represent a cornerstone of Packt’s Enterprise thinking. We understand the value, significance, and effectiveness of Oracle technologies, and aim to publish books that cover the full range of products.” He went on to explain that “from the Database to Applications, from Middleware to ‘Industry specific offerings, Packt is looking to become the first port of call for book buying Oracle professionals.”

Since February, Packt has published half a dozen titles in both hardcopy and eBook format. These titles include Oracle’s Hyperion Essbase 9: The Developer’s Guide by Sarma Anantapantula & Joseph Sydney Gomez. This book is a complete step-by-step guide covering timeless Essbase fundamentals, providing an immediate understanding of multidimensional database technology. Oracle 10g/11g Data and Database Management Utilities by Hector R. Madrid, which allows readers to master twelve must-use utilities to optimize the efficiency, management, and performance of your daily database tasks. Mastering Oracle Scheduler in Oracle 11g Databases by Ronald Rood, which is a practical guide for Database Administrators and Developers in setting up enterprise class job scheduling.

Further Oracle books from Packt include Oracle VM Manager 2.1.2 by Tarry Singh, a book which teaches users to manage a Flexible and Elastic Data Center with Oracle VM Manager. Processing XML documents with Oracle JDeveloper 11g by Deepak Vohra, which is designed to get users to create, validate, and transform XML documents with Oracle’s IDE and also Oracle SOA Suite Developer’s Guide by Matt Wright & Antony Reynolds. This book is focused on teaching users to design and build Service-Oriented Architecture Solutions with the Oracle SOA Suite 10gR3.

Later this year, Packt shall be publishing further titles, which will include: Getting Started With Oracle SOA Suite 11g R1, which is a hands-on tutorial written by Heidi Buelow, Manas Deb, Jayaram Kasi, Demed L’Her, & Prasen Palvankar. Oracle SQL Developer 2.1 by Sue Harper

Oracle Warehouse Builder 11g: Getting Started by Robert Griesemer and Create Internet-scale applications using Oracle’s high-performance data grid Oracle Coherence 3.5 by Aleksandar Seovic & Robert Varga

The full list of Packt’s published and announced Oracle titles can be found here: www.PacktPub.com/oracle-books.

Packt is currently looking for budding authors. If writing is something that appeals to you, please drop the company an email (author(at)packtpub(dot)com) and one of their experienced Acquisition Editors will be able to help advise what publishing opportunities exist, and how Packt can turn your book idea into a reality. In turn, you might want to take a look at their Author Website which explains more about the company, its existing authors, and how they develop books. The site is at: http://authors.packtpub.com.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/oracle/books/prweb2649354.htm

Durham, UK (PRWEB) July 9, 2009 — Many businesses now recognise the benefits of producing Webcasts to communicate and demonstrate content to investors, customers, prospects, partners, suppliers and employees but producing and managing these events is often challenging, expensive and the end result is of poor quality.

Webcast Manager empowers businesses to realise the commercial and business benefits of Webcasting and to integrate Webcasts with existing business processes. This self service solution is extremely cost effective for businesses to adopt and requires no technical investment or expertise.

“Webcast Manager changes the way that people create and manage and distribute their webcasts. It allows everyday business users to start using webcasts as an everyday business tool” says WorkCast’s Managing Director, Gerard Callaghan.

Delivered on the unique WorkCast platform, WebCast Manager brings additional new features and benefits to customers such as:
• Creating rich media content for use within webinars and webcasts
• Show any desktop application including PowerPoint’s and software demos as part of webcasts
• Schedule webcasts for any time, on-demand viewing
• Invite attendees to planned webcasts with 100% corporate branding
• Provide a 100% corporate branded webcast auditorium
• Access to attendee and viewer reports
• Manage a full archive of webcasts
• Allow viewers to access webcasts from multiple locations
WorkCast products empower enterprises by providing a professional quality Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to create, manage and stream presentations, product demonstrations and online meeting content as Webcasts. WorkCast make content creation simple by utilising phone calls for recording audio and capture content from presenters.
A 30 day trial of Webcast Manager is available from the following location - www.workcast.net/webcastmanager.html.

About The WorkCast Corporation Ltd
The WorkCast Corporation (http://www.workcast.net) is the a leading supplier of online webcasting solutions and services. The WorkCast Corporation is part of the Sunderland-based, Leighton Group, which has a long and successful history in the technology, software, new media and interactive communication industries. The Leighton Group has a strong portfolio of local, national and international clients such as British Airways, Sage, Adidas, Best Western, Toshiba and ITV.

About WebCast Manager
Webcast Manager is a unique technology which allows their Customers to remotely record many types of web meeting, presentation or even video conference. Audio can be taken from any phone bridge or if integrated, recorded directly from the web meeting. The entire meeting recording can then be utilised as a Webcast and can also be integrated into normal business processes and business communications.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/WorkCast/Webcast_Manager/prweb2607164.htm

Falmouth, Cornwall (PRWEB) June 30, 2009 — Employees from digital marketing company, Guava, visited University College Falmouth (UCF) for the second of many guest lectures at the Tremough Campus, to discuss the development of the internet, as well as the increasing importance of photographic images online with BA,(Hons) Press & Editorial Photography students.

The lecture, by Mark Edmondson and Luke Richards, focused on the increasing dependency on Search Engine Optimisation to ensure businesses and individuals are visible online, as well as how correct use of social media networks such as Facebook, Flickr and Twitter are integral to establishing your professional self, business, or brand on the internet. They also discussed the increasing intelligence of search engines such as Google and Yahoo in terms of how well they can read photos and imagery.

BA(Hons) Press & Editorial Photography lecturer, Paul Sullivan said:
“The media landscape is changing so radically and so quickly because of the internet that anyone about to enter the industry needs to have a really good understanding of what’s happening now so they can prepare for what happens next. For a journalist or an editorial photographer, the story is still the most important thing, but learning about all the new and different ways of getting that story noticed and published and paid for is vital. The team from Guava showed the students how to make the most from the web rather than just be web users. It was an inspiring and really relevant session and we hope to invite them back soon.”

UCF’s BA(Hons) Press & Editorial Photography course is located in a bespoke two-storey Photography Centre that was designed in consultation with the industry. It includes hugely expanded digital and photographic facilities as well as specialist resources, such as the establishment of an electronic picture desk, all of which cements the College’s position as one of the top providers of photographic education in the UK.

The lecture followed a similar presentation earlier in the year in which Mark and Luke visited UCF’s MA Professional Writing students. Similarly, the lecture discussed text and communication on the web - and promoted the idea that by understanding the way websites refer and link to each other can increase you visibility on the internet, whether you’re a young author, a press photographer, or an already established business.

Luke Richards, from Guava, said:
“I’m pleased that UCF have been enthusiastic about what is a relatively new and unknown industry in Cornwall. I am also committed to the belief that students should have knowledge of the way the internet works and the way it is developing - and there has never been a better time for local digital businesses to establish relationships with universities and colleges in the region.”

Guava hope that these first two digital marketing lectures will spark the interest in the importance of digital marketing for other course subjects at UCF, as well as other higher education colleges around the county.

About Guava

For further information please contact:
Lucy Cokes
Guava
08700 630707
lucy.cokes@guava.com
Social Media Marketing, Search Marketing, Web Development, SEO, and PPC in the UK. Part of the pan-European Guava group with over 200 employees, the UK division is headed up by UK CEO, Graeme Radford with offices in Berkshire and Cornwall. Current Guava clients include Confused.com, Black & Decker and The Royal Mail.

About University College Falmouth

University College Falmouth is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the powers to award degrees in its own name. It has two campuses in Cornwall - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns, and jointly manages with the University of Exeter) - and a third campus at Totnes in Devon, following its merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008.

This merger created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth’s expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington’s expertise in Choreography, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing. The Devon-based courses will relocate to a new, high-specification Performance Centre at Tremough in 2010, paving the way for a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2012, that will be unique to the South West.

The College is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union, the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/07/prweb2593424.htm

London (PRWeb UK) June 15, 2009 — Former Cabinet Office Minister for Digital Engagement, Tom Watson MP will be joined by an international cast of legal, industry and social experts to review the growing impact of cybercrime against the individual during the http://www.digitalsafety.com[Digital Safety Conference being held in London on Friday June 19th.

Lead speakers include Tanya Byron, author of The Byron Review, Ed Mayo, Chief Executive, Consumer Focus, Hamish Brown MBE, Consultant to the Home Office, Dr Richard Clayton, Security Research, Cambridge University, Jayne Hitchcock, President, WHOA and Spyros Pappas, Attorney at Law, Brussels Bar who are amongst an impressive line-up of participants in an event that is intended to challenge the current thinking on cybercrime.

Conference director and founder Graham Brown-Martin, himself a victim of cybercrime, said, “well-intentioned organizations, both government and industry funded, whilst building awareness are regrettably either unable or unwilling to support victims”. Brown-Martin blames a lack of a coherent legal framework that is interoperable between different nation states and an unwillingness of industry players to break the status quo. “Put simply cyberspace is borderless our laws are not therefore a crime occurring across borders is almost impossible to prosecute through traditional enforcement channels. With initiatives such as Digital Britain this either has to change or we need to put health warnings on ISP packages, social media and other sites,” He added.

Discussions will cover cyberbullying, cyberstalking, identity theft, fraud and other abuses that are increasing rapidly as more people enjoy the benefits of digital technologies including the Internet, social media, online gaming, e-commerce, mobile phones and location based services.

The 2008 UK statistics* for cybercrime make grim reading:

• 34 million UK citizens are online
• 500,000 cases of cyberstalking
• 2.25 million cases of online harassment
• 40% of identity theft facilitated online
• 260,000 cases of online fraud

*source: Garlik

An estimated 92% of UK Internet time being spent on non-UK sites suggests that a large percentage of these abuses are occurring across borders and as a consequence are not being prosecuted whilst the victim is having to face the result of identity theft, financial fraud or reputation damage.

Brown-Martin said “the financial impact of cybercrime has recently been valued at US $100 Billion per year, a figure that is larger than the worlds illegal drug trade. This has made for great headlines for those wishing to usher in a new wave of anti-privacy laws that crush civil liberties but the emotional cost of cybercrime attacks against the individual have yet to be tallied. My guess, given that we have already seen suicides, is that they will be higher still.”

Stephen Carrick-Davies, advisory board member, said “there’s a lot of talk in the
UK and other nations about online safety for children - but users of all ages need to feel secure in using new digital services. There needs to be more than talk, there needs to be action especially as new untried services and applications come on the market.”

Proceeds from the conference will be donated to http://www.victimsupport.org.uk/[Victim Support.

More information:

About Learning Without Frontiers

The Digital Safety Conference is being hosted by Learning Without Frontiers (LWF). LWF aggregates global thought leaders, innovators and practitioners from the education, technology and entertainment sectors and engages them in continuous dialogue about entirely new ways to improve learning and communication. The company hosts a number of large online communities and conferences including those dedicated to learning, teaching and mobile computing as well as gaming.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://uk.prweb.com/releases/digitalsafety/cybercrime/prweb2533434.htm

London (PRWeb UK) 20 May, 2009 — Award winning price comparison site, BeatThatQuote.com outperformed the competition to become the UK’s fastest growing price comparison site in Q4 of last year, according to new figures from Hitwise.com, the internet analysis firm. In 2008, Nielsen Online named BeatThatQuote.com as the fastest growing web site in all sectors for 2007.

Despite the credit crunch, the figures reveal that BeatThatQuote.com grew by 42.68% from September 2008 to December 2008: the highest quarterly increase of the top 10 financial aggregators by market share, (almost double that of the market leader, Moneysavingexpert.com Forums).

Commenting on the news, Founder John Paleomylites said, “BeatThatQuote.com’s strategy is to work with owners of the leading consumer facing web sites to monetise their traffic by powering an own branded price comparison service. Rather than put all of our eggs in our own brand basket, our growth and volume is boosted thanks to the strong consumer brands of our partners.”

The top 3 sites in the Hitwise financial aggregators category all experienced quarterly increases in market share from September to December. Commenting on the most competitive area of financial services searches, the Hitwise report states, “Over the past year financial aggregators have sent increasingly more traffic to the insurance industry and to each other as their popularity increases and consumers search for the best deals online.”

The Hitwise report only measures visits to the BeatThatQuote.com web site, it does not take into consideration the fact that the company provides its platform under a white label arrangement to 500 other consumer facing sites including major brand names such as Thomson, MSN, ITV Price terrier, Moneyfacts and Propertyfinder.

Notes to Editors

*Source: Hitwise UK Financial Services Quarterly Review Q1 2009

About BeatThatQuote.com

BeatThatQuote.com is a price comparison web site that helps people find the very best deals on a range of financial products and services that includes mortgages, credit cards, loans, home and car insurance, annuities and investments. Last year BeatThatQuote.com extended its offer to include utilities, travel and shopping price comparison.

BeatThatQuote.com is an independent company owned by the people who work there. In April 2008 it was voted number one in the ‘Start-Ups Top 100′ new companies. In 2006 it won the Growing Business Awards ‘Young Company of the Year’ award as well as being the NatWest Startups ‘Business of the Year’ and ‘Online Business of the Year’ winner. BeatThatQuote.com also reached the national finals in the Orange National Business Awards, and the HSBC Start-Up Stars Awards.

Independent net ratings agency Nielsen Online announced in February 2008, that BeatThatQuote.com was the UK’s fastest growing web site in 2007, beating Facebook into second place. In January 2008 Comscore noted BeatThatQuote.com as one of the UK’s top 100 most visited web sites.

For further information please contact
the BeatThatQuote.com press office:
Gong Communications
Kirsten Smith or Narda Shirley
020 7935 4800

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://uk.prweb.com/releases/2009/05/prweb2440414.htm

“Right now we are just using cherry tomatoes,” said Nikolaus Correll, a professor at MIT who, along with his students, is developing the robotic gardener. “But in the future I could see us doing all kinds of fruits and vegetables.”

The scientists work with small tomatoes because they have a small robot. It is based on the circular Roomba robotic floor cleaners, 12 inches diameter. On top of the Roomba sits the robotic arm and an on-board computer, in this case a small Dell laptop. A robotic arm, equipped with a camera and flat gripper, extends an additional 31 inches.

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