According to a report on NYDaily Citigroup posted a $5.11 billion quarterly loss Friday and said it will cut another 9,000 jobs after suffering billions of writedowns tied to mortgages, other debt and the slumping economy.

The loss was larger than expected and reflected more than $16 billion of writedowns and credit-related costs at the nation’s largest bank. It compares with year-ago profits of $5.01 billion. Revenues fell 48% to $13.22 billion.

Looking for a site to buy gold and silver well this one just maybe a great site. Read more

Business is about people. The right personnel can make all the difference to the growth of a company. Read more

Puneet Mehrotra Published in Hindustan Times on 2nd April 2008

The news is finally out. Google has entered into the core territory where tech giant Microsoft has long ruled, the desktop. What this means is that a suite of software comparable to Microsoft’s Office suite is now downloadable and free for all those who hold Google accounts. Read more

Redmond, Washington, United States, Wednesday, April 02, 2008 — After more than 14 months of intensive review, a Joint Technical Committee of the International Standardization Organization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has concluded its formal process to evaluate Ecma International's submission of the Draft International Standard (DIS) 29500: Office Open XML (Open XML).

While the final vote has not yet been announced formally, publicly available information appears to indicate the proposed Open XML standard received extremely broad support. According to documents available on the Internet, 86 percent of all voting national body members support ISO/IEC standardization, well above the 75 percent requirement for formal acceptance under ISO and IEC rules. In addition, 75 percent of the voting Participating national body members (known as P-members) support standardization, also well above the 66.7 percent requirement for this group. Open XML now joins HTML, PDF and ODF as ISO- and IEC-recognized open document format standards.

"With 86 percent of voting national bodies supporting ratification, there is overwhelming support for Open XML. This outcome is a clear win for the customers, technology providers and governments that want to choose the format that best meets their needs and have a voice in the evolution of this widely adopted standard," said Tom Robertson, general manager of Interoperability and Standards at Microsoft Corp. "The input from technical experts, customers and governments around the world has greatly improved the Open XML specification and will make it even more useful to developers and customers. Once it is formally approved, we are committed to supporting this specification in our products, and we will continue to work with standards bodies, governments and the industry to promote greater interoperability and innovation."

The open standard has gained broad adoption across the software industry for use on a variety of platforms - including Linux, Windows, Mac OS and Palm OS. Hundreds of independent software vendors and platform providers around the world - such as Apple Inc., Corel Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., Microsoft and Novell Inc. - are developing solutions using Open XML that offer real value for IT users around the globe. Independent research has concluded that use of Open XML is likely to expand further over time.* Thousands of companies have expressed support for Open XML and its ratification by ISO (http://www.iso.org) and IEC at http://www.openxmlcommunity.org.

Those working with Open XML can attest to the benefits of this open file format in the areas of file and data management, data recovery, interoperability with line-of-business systems, and the long-term preservation of documents. The formats are optimized for the level of precision and detail that facilitates carrying forward billions of existing files. Open XML file formats are uniquely capable of integrating other types of systems and data with Open XML documents, while maintaining a clean, simple separation of presentation (Open XML markup) and data (custom schemas and instances thereof). This means that organizations can use Open XML formats to report information from other applications and systems without having to translate it first, which is a key innovation for developers seeking to incorporate real-time business information into their documents, or those who seek to "tag" documents with their own categorization system to improve their understanding of the documents' contents.

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According to a story in WSJ Virtual words gets another life literally! Not long ago, companies were racing to set up storefronts and showrooms in computer-generated environments such as Second Life. Few found big profits.

But commercial interest in such simulations seems to be morphing, not diminishing. Rather than selling goods and services to users — who typically take on animated shapes known as avatars — companies are turning to virtual offices and landscapes as tools for employees and business partners to collaborate and learn. Read more

Gone are the days when 30 minutes of backup was considered a great backup plan. Laptop batteries have gone a sea change from the time they were introduced in the market. Read more

Stocks, money and profits. Sounds the three magical words. Read more

Talking about oral chelation therapy it is basically the solubilization of a metal salt by forming a chemical complex or sequestering. One way of doing this is with EDTA salts as discussed in the previous story. Read more

As man progresses his mind is increasingly getting overworked. Sadly his body is grossly underused. Little physical activity combined with work tensions and the heart simply is unable to take it any longer. According to a study over 37% of Americans are overweight The fitness levels are simply not happening. The fact is that cardio activity simply needs to be happening and there is an urgent need of it. According to fitness guru Paige Waehner, Before we talk about how much cardio you should do, you should at least know why it's so important. Cardiovascular exercise simply means that you're involved in an activity that raises your heart rate to a level where you're working, but can still talk. According to her you need cardio if you want to get your weight under control and get your stress to a tolerable level. As far as therapy is concerned for those with cardio problems there is good news. The good news is that there is a safe, fast and cost effective way to clean your veins and arteries is through EDTA Chelation Therapy. The way it works is Liquid EDTA (Ethylene Diamine Tetra-acetic Acid) is absorbed directly into the bloodstream. It then begins to chelate toxic and heavy metals, along with excessive mineral deposits. When metals and minerals remain in the bloodstream, they accumulate and harden, causing poor circulation. By cleansing the body’s arteries and veins, the blood flow is increased .