The all-new 2012 outerwear line from American apparel maker The Otter Company, including its all-new Francestown Vests and Half-Sleeves, and Otter-Tech Wind Shirts, are ideal for extending early season sessions, when golfers are challenged by unpredictable, changeable spring weather.

The Otter Company has broken from the traditions that have bound weather-resistant active wear, said Martin Stebbins, the companys founder and President. Our 2012 outerwear collection features a series of styles and a selection of eco-sensitive fabrics including cottons, wools and eco-responsible man-made fabrics without sacrificing performance, function, style or fit.

Designed to extend golf sessions and seasons shortened by poor weather, the new spring 2012 collection includes five groups; the Francestown series, the Otter-Tech line, the signature Rain Sweater, the Storm Fleece line, and the Play-Through Series.

ACTION-Aimed Performance Design is the unique characteristic of every garment from The Otter Company. It incorporates construction details allowing for the un-encumbered motion demanded by weekend and full-time athletes alike. The collection also features traditional colors with bold accents and pops of color.

The Otter Company ECO-Aimed Performance Fabrics include materials that are renewable, sourced from recycled materials, or manufactured according to a series of standards that consider human and environmental safety. ECO-Aimed Performance Fabrics combine technical function, a high-level of performance and sustainable practices.

Francestown Vests and Half-Sleeves

Designed for athletes who prefer layered protection, the Francestown series is available in vested and half-sleeve styles. Constructed of a peach-finished microfiber, this lined piece provides a light-weight wind/water resistant final layer.

Material: 100% polyester. Sizes: S-XXXL: Mens colors; black, cobalt, wine; US SRP $ 79.00.

Otter-Tech Wind Shirts

Style, weather protection and conservation are combined in the Otter-Tech Wind Shirt. Featuring environmentally sound fabrics, the garment protects from blowing winds and squally weather. The garments four-way stretch fabric provides for a light-weight and non-restrictive playing companion.

Material: 100% polyester. Sizes: S-XXXL; Mens colors: black, Mars red, skydiver blue; US SRP $ 129.00.

The Otter Company spring 2012 collection is available at more than 100 golf retailers throughout the United States. To find a local retailer, or to order online, visit http://www.theottercompany.com

About The Otter Company

The Otter Company, headquartered in Birmingham, Mich., designs, manufactures and markets comfortable, technical and ecologically sensitive outerwear for sports people. We maximize playtime and extend golf sessions and seasons with garments that allow play earlier in the spring, later in the fall and in any inclement weather.

Inspired by the otter, whose fur is the thickest in the animal kingdom and is constructed in layers to trap air, generate warmth, and keep the skin dry the otter is comfortable at play in any climate. Otter garments emulate this brilliant natural design and the spirit of the otter its playfulness, its freedom, and its willingness to continue to enjoy itself when the weather is less than ideal. Weatherproof comfort. Its the otter’s way, and The Otter Companys pledge. http://www.theottercompany.com

Follow Otter on Facebook

The Otter Company Facebook page includes Wheres Otter? posts from New York (Times Square), Florida, Norway and England, as well as Elvis Presleys home Graceland, in Memphis, Tenn., and even the North Pole visiting Santa in December 2011. To learn the latest answers to Wheres Otter? visit The Otter Company on Facebook.

Contact Information:

The Otter Company

Martin Stebbins, President

mstebbins(at)theottercompany(dot)com

When it comes to efficient blogging with a professional mixture of SEO, TypePad is one of the most common names to appear. This is based on recent Internet statistics and recommendations from hundreds of users all over the world. A TypePad user can have access to important and optimized marketing tools for as low as twenty dollars per month. Recently, a lot of TypePad users have been visiting Chatwings website chat tool. These users were talking about the advantages of TypePad and some were ushering for lower pricing.

Chatwing is currently making a standard name in the chat live blogosphere, and it is gradually being recognized by a lot of bloggers and web surfers. One of the notable factors of Chatwing is its downright simplicity. Despite that, Chatwing appears as a professional solution for everyone. TypePad users can also use Chatwing to expand their social horizons. This fact was emphasized by Michael Diamond, one of the head developers of Chatwing. Recently, Michael Diamond held a short meeting with some TypePad users and he indicated the snowball marketing effect that Chatwing can bring for any business or advocacy. Some bloggers have even compared Chatwing to large chatrooms like Yahoo and MIRC.

TypePad and Chatwing can be a nice combo when it comes to professional services, Michael Diamond said in the latest meeting with TypePad users. TypePad deals with wonderful content, while Chatwing provides a highway of communication for people. Plus, Chatwing is integrated with Twitter and Facebook. The marketing possibilities are endless. Since Chatwing is a shout box widget, it can be installed to blogs and websites that allow custom designing. Installation is a breeze, and users can expect that the widget will go live in seconds.

Everyday, Chatwings blog chat box is generating more sign-ups than expected. This is because of recommendations coming in from various online communities. As a bonus, the Chatwing chat widget team keeps everyone updated with fresh and useful content in Facebook.

About Chatwing.com

Chatwing.com has developed live chat software for websites and blogs. It caters to different online communities due to its high rate of connectivity. Everyone can create a customizable live chat widget in 1 minute or less. Users have the ability to customize the size, color, and fonts of the chat product. The ability to chat via social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter enable Chatwing to offer a personal and unique real-time experience to all sites. Chatwing is 100% free and very easy to use.

Hold on to your fedoras.

GXS, a leading provider of B2B integration services, today announced that more than 150,000 businesses are now using the companys Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) portfolio, GXS Active Applications. The Active Applications suite of SaaS products provides better visibility and collaboration between customers, suppliers and business partners.

GXS Active Applications portfolio products include Active Orders to track the status of orders as they traverse the supply chain, Active Logistics to provide real time visibility into the location of international container shipments and Active Invoices to ensure compliance with country-specific tax regulations. The Active Applications portfolio also includes the Intelligent Web Forms service, which automates procure-to-pay and order-to-cash processes for large enterprises. RollStream, the latest addition to the Active Applications suite, automates complex, multi-stage processes such as supplier information management and client on-boarding.

As companies continue to shift from traditional licensed, enterprise software towards the SaaS model, we are seeing a growing adoption rate among the manufacturing, retail and finance industries, said Steve Scala, senior vice president of corporate strategy and development. Many of our Trading Grid and Managed Services customers are choosing to leverage GXS not only for integration and connectivity, but for applications as well. Adding Active Applications offers these organizations insight into their financial and physical supply chain activity and access with greater speed and lower cost than comparable software models.

Traditional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications were designed to integrate the activities of a single organization. However, more and more large corporations today are outsourcing everything from manufacturing and logistics to sales and support. Increasingly dependent upon their network of business partners, these organizations need cloud-based applications that sit between enterprises. These unique challenges inherent within the supply chain make it perfectly suited to the SaaS model. Designed to scale to allow for more trading partners and equitably distribute costs, GXSs SaaS suite offers an advantage over traditional supply chain software by supporting multiple business communities rather than that of a single enterprise.

The 150,000 businesses using GXS suite of Active Applications represent a subset of the 400,000 companies connected to GXS Trading Grid and a few thousand of GXS’s 40,000 direct customers.

About GXS:

GXS is a leading B2B integration services provider and operates the worlds largest integration cloud, GXS Trading Grid

Website design for universities is becoming more and more important; as websites for universities need to work harder than ever before, providing resources, information and policies in the education sector. This is why a London based university approached Marketing Quotes, as they were needing help finding a high quality website designer that had designed websites for universities before. The new website is planned to have an intranet included, so that students can communicate with lecturers on a bespoke chat system, as well as providing updates and information about day to day university life, student matters and events.

A trustee of the university commented ‘we really did not know where to turn, there seem to be thousands of website designers around to choose from, how do you find a good one without spending days hunting. We also had no idea about website design costs, so did need a helping hand in finding a good designer at a good price. We had heard about Marketing Quotes on Twitter, that they help find industry experienced designers, so decided to give them a go, and are pleased that we did. The designer we selected is also based in London and they have designed sites for other universities, so it seems a good match.’

Anne Richards (who works at Marketing Quotes) added ‘we are pleased we can help, we know over 20,000 website designers, so can help save people a little time in finding a good designer that is experienced and not going to charge the earth. We did understand that a university website like this one is going to be a big job and need to have an intranet tapped on as well, so the needs for internal navigation systems, CMS facilities, internal e-mail and messaging, feedback systems, security are all involved – a big job, but one that the designer can cope well with.’

About Marketing Quotes – Marketing Quotes is a free service to UK businesses to help them get free advice and quotes from local marketing and advertising agencies that know their industry.

Cole Real Estate Investments (Cole), one of the nations leading investors in high-quality, income-producing retail, office and industrial real estate assets, announced the acquisition of Eastland Center, an 805,000-square-foot retail power center in West Covina, CA, for $ 147.0 million from The Westfield Group. The announcement was made by Thomas W. Roberts, executive vice president and head of real estate investments.

The center is currently 100% leased and is anchored by several prominent anchor retailers including Target, Burlington Coat Factory, Albertsons, Dicks Sporting Goods, Bed Bath & Beyond, Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less, Office Depot, DSW and PetSmart. In addition, the property includes several specialty retailers and restaurant tenants including Dollar Tree, Carters, Starbucks Coffee, BJs Restaurant and Brewhouse, and T.G.I. Fridays. Another major anchor retailer is currently under construction and the tenant will be announced soon.

This is an excellent addition to our growing portfolio of power centers, said Scott Holmes, senior vice president, acquisitions, multi-tenant retail, who represented Cole in the transaction. Eastland Center is anchored by a great mix of the nations top retailers, including Target, which has 15 years remaining on its lease. When you factor in the propertys highly visible location in a major market, the ability to own the entire center and being 100% leased, this is a prime example of the type of power center that we continue to target for acquisition.

Eastland Center was originally built in 1957 and has been redeveloped twice, in both 1979 and 1997. It consists of a two-story main building accessible from two sides at grade level, which houses the majority of the anchor and junior anchor tenants, an in-line grocery-anchored community center and eight other buildings that include several junior anchors, shop tenants and outparcels.

The property is situated on nearly 49 acres along a half-mile of frontage adjacent to Interstate 10, and passed by more than 230,000 vehicles per day. West Covina is located 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles within the San Gabriel Valley area. According to Claritas, there are currently an estimated 449,536 people and 126,121 households within a five-mile radius of the shopping center.

The Westfield Group was represented by Eastdil Secured.

About Cole Real Estate Investments

Founded in 1979, Cole Real Estate Investments is one of the most active acquirers of core real estate assets, managing one of the countrys largest portfolios of retail properties. Cole primarily targets net-leased single-tenant and multi-tenant retail properties under long-term leases with high credit quality tenants, as well as single-tenant office and industrial properties, using a conservative investment and financing strategy. At the end of March 2012, Cole-related entities owned and managed more than 1,650 assets representing approximately 61.5 million square feet of commercial real estate in 47 states with a combined acquisition cost of more than $ 10 billion.

Hailed by the Boston Globe as a kind of roving musical laboratory without walls, the international Silk Road Ensemble draws its members from countries as distant and diverse as China, India, Spain, South Korea, Iran, Japan, Switzerland, Israel, and the United States. With founder, artistic director and fellow Ensemble member Yo-Yo Ma, this eclectic group will gather at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts, to perform two concerts at Ozawa Hall on June 22 and 24, 2012. Performances begin at 8 p.m. on both evenings.

Returning to Tanglewood, for us, is like coming home, said Yo-Yo Ma. It was at Tanglewood 12 years ago that a group of musicians from around the world first came together to form the Silk Road Ensemble. Then we were strangers, and many of us had only the language of music in common. Over the years, weve returned several times to develop new music. So Tanglewood is, if you will, the Ensemble’s birthplace, and it remains an inspiration for us.

On both evenings the Ensemble will perform internationally inspired music by composers Giovanni Sollima from Sicily (Taranta Project) and Sapo Perapaskero from Romania (Turceasca). Rounding out the program will be music composed by performing members of the Ensemble: Shristi by Sandeep Das from India, who plays tabla; Mui

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) will host its Annual Capitol Hill Advocacy Day and Reception. Leaders from the zoo and aquarium profession will educate Members of Congress about the importance of AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums to their communities.

Zoo and aquarium professionals will inform Members of Congress about programs at their own institutions and encourage them to act on important issues affecting all AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums.

Following a day of Capitol Hill visits, AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums will introduce Members of Congress and their staff to special animal ambassadors at the Annual Association of Zoos & Aquariums Reception.

Note to Photo Editors: You DONT want to miss this!

175 million people enjoy the animals at AZA-accredited aquariums and zoos every year, said AZA President and CEO Jim Maddy. We always look forward to bringing that special experience to Capitol Hill.

WHAT: Annual Association of Zoos & Aquariums Capitol Hill Reception

WHO: Leaders from the zoo and aquarium profession and Members of Congress

WHEN: Wednesday May 9th, 2012 from 6:00 – 8:00pm

WHERE: Rayburn Courtyard and Cafeteria

CONTACT: Elise Waugh, AZA

(301) 562-0777 x236

About AZA

Founded in 1924, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation. Look for the AZA logo whenever you visit a zoo or aquarium as your assurance that you are supporting an institution dedicated to providing excellent care for animals, a great experience for you, and a better future for all living things. AZA is a leader in global wildlife conservation, and your link to helping animals in their native habitats. For more information, please visit http://www.aza.org.

A local McAllen Roofing Company has been helping homeowners and property owners get a new roof over their heads after the hail storm that hit on March 29th, 2012.

The damages from a violent storm that rocked the city on Thursday, April 29, could exceed $ 100 million dollars, according to the National Weather Service.

Baseball-sized hail pounded the northern end of McAllen and the storm dumped 4.37 inches of rain. Local schools were shut down, trees were stripped of their leaves and almost six inches of hail accumulated in some areas reported the National Weather Service.

Once the winds died down, the flash floods receded and power returned to 25,000 customers, huge damages still remained. Thousands of auto and home insurance claims have been filed as of April 1.

Roofs are some of the hardest hit surfaces; hail damage can severely impact the lifespan of the materials and the safety of the inhabitants inside. Fortunately, hail damage is considered an “Act of God” and is covered by most insurance providers.

Because roof damage can’t be seen from the ground, a trained expert needs to go up on your roof to examine the roofing material. “We have been doing this for hundreds of homeowners and have found substantial damage to most roofs. We will help contact your insurance company and ensure that you get the proper repair and insurance settlement that you deserve,” said Jeff Andrews with McAllen Roofing Company.

While insurance companies may send swarms of adjusters to high damage areas like McAllen, these companies have a for-profit agenda. They are infamous for disputing the cause of damage or the extent of existing damages.

“We are familiar with the insurance companies tactics that they may use to try to dispute the cause of damage. We also know that some adjusters may not be familiar with storm damage. We will physically show them exactly what the hail damage looks like right there on your roof,” said Jeff Andrews.

With over 11 years of roofing experience, McAllen Valley Roofing Co. is your best choice to getting your roof back to pre-storm condition. We are dedicated to each and every customer and strive to ensure your house or property is restored to a maximum value condition.

For a free roof inspection, McAllen Valley Roofing Co. can be reached at (956) 622-5948.

Anita Radosevich, Vice President of Career Ladders Inc of Sacramento California, has long been renowned for her ability to assist federal employees with understanding and successfully navigating the federal jobs application process.

Recently, Career Ladders Inc updated their catalog of training to provide opportunities for military who have returned from Iraq. To showcase the new training seminars encompassing a wide range of topics to assist with career development and job search. The most popular being “Veteran’s Preference Advantage.”

The new catalog of training was implemented and approved by GSA Advantage representatives. to help federal employees, students, and military people transition their career in the federal hiring system. It begins with an overview of how to evaluate a present career and locate federal job postings and job titles. An in depth explanation of how to write a federal resume is provided as well as understanding qualification standards. An explanation of the importance of integrating critical context and key words throughout the document is provided.

Career Ladders Inc is proud of the new catalog and hopes to reach all the corners of the earth where military are planning to retire or return home soon. Our Certified Job Search Trainers are ready to assist our military/veterans and hope to inspire specifically Veteran’s Affairs agencies to consider similar these outstanding new training programs. Other agencies will also benefit by providing employees who are in need of training because we are living in uncertain times. Everyone should always have a career plan of action in place. Career Ladders Inc can be reached by calling Anita Radosevich at 1-888-247-3786, GSA Schedule GS-02F-0167T. Our website is http://www.FederalResumeWriter.com.

Today marks the official founding of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group as its new constitution goes into effect. The leadership of the Groups two founding organizationsthe Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) and the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN)deliberated separately and approved the constitution in recent days, to establish a single organization. The new constitution fully integrates the governance, administrative, and scientific components of ECOG and ACRIN, two respected National Cancer Institute (NCI)-sponsored cooperative groups that signed a letter of intent to merge in March 2011.

Group Co-Chairs Robert L. Comis, MD, and Mitchell L. Schnall, MD, PhD, issued a joint statement, saying, Building the most attractive scientific program is the motivation for all our efforts. With this constitution as the framework, ECOG-ACRIN establishes for the public and private sectors one organizational structure capable of studying the entire cancer care pathwayprevention and screening, surveillance, early detection, staging, diagnosis, treatment, follow-up, and survivorship. We are driven by a genuine belief that together ECOG and ACRIN will contribute more to oncology than either organization could individually. For example, our core pathology and imaging scientists, and their associated laboratories and extensive IT infrastructures, make it entirely possible for the Group to integrate large data sets required for biomarker-driven science. Thus, future ECOG-ACRIN studies will be informed more by process than the classic definition of disease, to allow our patients throughout North America and the world the best, most advanced clinical research opportunities.

Dr. Comis is the President and Chairman of the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups and Professor of Medicine/Director at the Drexel University Clinical Trials Research Center. Dr. Schnall is the Matthew J. Wilson Professor of Radiology and the Associate Chair for Research in the Radiology Department at the University of Pennsylvania.

The constitution establishes co-statistical leadership to oversee study design, data management, results analysis, and reporting of all Group studies. The co-statisticians of ECOG-ACRIN are Robert Gray, MS, PhD, and Constantine Gatsonis, PhD. Dr. Gray is Professor of Biostatistics in the Department of Biostatistics at Harvard University and Professor of Biostatistics in the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Gatsonis is the Henry Ledyard Goddard University Professor of Biostatistics and Chair of the Department of Biostatistics at Brown University. The combined, complementary excellence of their biostatistical academic programs makes ECOG-ACRIN well-positioned to implement a broad scientific program and a robust information technology platform to produce innovative study designs and cutting-edge statistical research.

The constitution adopts a hybrid membership structure that embraces both the ACRIN model of institutional participation in the scientific program on a study-by-study basis and the ECOG model of multiyear institutional memberships. The new Group comprises nearly 650 institutions with legacy affiliations, providing tremendous capabilities to carry out innovative research, whether a small focused study in a few centers or a large-scale population-based trial across multiple institutions.

Member institutions include NCI-designated Cancer Centers, Community Clinical Oncology Programs (CCOPs), and minority-based CCOPS, along with university medical centers, health systems, community hospitals, and small and specialty practices. Along with its predominant base of participating institutions in the United States, ECOG-ACRIN has research sites throughout the world.

ECOG-ACRIN research capabilities draw upon its multidisciplinary base of more than 6,000 individuals working in the member institutions: physicians, scientists, nurses, research associates, statisticians, and biomedical information technologists. Experts in the medical disciplines include those in cancer treatment (medical oncology, surgical oncology, pathology, and radiation oncology) and diagnostic imaging disciplines (radiology and nuclear medicine). Epidemiologists and experts in survivorship, patient-reported outcome measures, comparative effectiveness research, health economics, and health outcomes are also members. Patient advocates, many of whom are cancer survivors, are another vital component of the organization.

Joint clinical trials will soon be enrolling patients. More information is available at the Groups website, http://www.ecog-acrin.org.

According to telemedicine provider MD247 47 million U.S. residents are without healthcare coverage; of that number 8.7 million are under the age of eighteen. That is roughly the equivalent to the entire combined populations of Florida, New York, Minnesota and Iowa having zero preventative healthcare coverage. Considering the population density of cities like New York City at 8 million residents, or the relative perceived age of Floridians, the idea of the introduction of a virulent winter illness to the mix brings to mind a viral apocalypse. There is the potential for entire cities without young children, residents over the age of sixty-five, pregnant women and those who already have a compromised immune system. Telemedicine, as provided by MD247, has the ability to act as a supplemtal or enhancing layer of protection underinsured U.S. residents.

Telemedicine provider MD247 asks if something should not be done to help enhance, or safeguard the 47 million uninsured U.S. residents from illness?

Telemedicine provider MD247 asks if it is not preferable to supplement the health defenses for the 8.7 million defenseless children?

Telemedicine provider MD247 is a telemedicine based healthcare company which provides supplemental healthcare options to entire households at the rate of $ 1.64 per day. No matter if a household consists of one person, a nuclear family or a mix and match/cut and paste modern family MD247 only ever charges just a $ 1.64 per day. The MD247.COM membership is really pennies when compared to potential time lost at work, possible impingement on quality of life and the reality that both preventative and supplemtal healthcare can and will prevent potential self-imposed germ warfare.

For the MD247.COM telemedicine membership fee of $ 1.64 per day, which less than the cost of a meal from a certain fast food restaurants dollar menu, all members have access to discounted healthcare appointments; discounted vision and pharmacy discounts of up to 75%. Considering some common prescriptions have no generic equivalent, out of pocket costs without the MD247.COM supplemental pharmacy plan could exceed $ 100.00 for a simple inhaler. Coupled with 24 x 7 discounted access to certified registered nurses, and state licensed physicians, MD247.COM takes what could be a total $ 300.00(+) Urgent Care visit and turns it into a $ 55.00 exam and prescription . The big win comes for the MD247.COM member in savings, convenience and the best possible care available.

MD247.COM (MD247; MD24/7; MD/247; M.D. 247; MD 247) is a Largo Florida based telemedicine supplemental healthcare service provider. In addition to supplemental telemedicine services, MD247.COM provides discounted pharmacy programs, discounted in person healthcare visits and discounted veterinary services for the four-legged family members. MD247.COM can be located online at http://www.md247.com, can be contacted by email at cs(at)md247(dot)com or can be reached by telephone at 866-232-1343.

LASIO

Oregon Hot Tub, a HotSpring Spas dealer selling new and used hot tubs with stores in Portland and surrounding areas like Hood River and Oregon City, Beaverton, Bend, Clackamas and Vancouver, WA is participating in National Arthritis Awareness Month by publishing tips for arthritis pain sufferers and providing free test soaks in new or used hot tubs in any of their 5 showrooms.

Living with arthritis is difficult, making even the simplest activities seem overwhelming, said Sue Rogers, president of Oregon Hot Tub. With millions of Americans dealing with some type of arthritic pain on a daily basis, the challenge is in learning how to more effectively manage pain. While different types require different treatment, exercise, adequate sleep and hot tub hydrotherapy can help relieve pain and make life more comfortable.

1 – Adequate Rest – Sleep is the bodys time to repair, nourish and rejuvenate. It plays a critical role in immune function, metabolism, even learning. In addition to providing the necessary downtime for essential body parts to function properly, it gives overused and stressed joints the chance to rest by taking pressure off joints. And while balancing activity with rest can be difficult, its essential for promoting repair and learning how to manage arthritis pain more effectively.

2 – Exercise – The benefits of moderate exercise for arthritis are twofold. First, moderate exercise at least three times per week is an effective way to maintain a healthy body weight- something that is critical for reducing arthritic related joint pain. The extra weight puts too much stress on the joints further agitating already stressed joints. Second, an exercise routine helps keep joints flexible and resistant to pain. Its true, the more the body moves, the less joints and muscles become fatigued or overstressed. Besides, eating healthy and staying active is the best way to protect against diabetes, high blood pressure and numerous other issues.

3 – Hot Tub Hydrotherapy – Sitting in a hot tub filled with warm, bubbly water for even a few minutes can significantly reduce the pain and discomfort of arthritis. Basically, the pain of is a result of pressure placed on the joints. Theyre overworked, stressed and in desperate need of a break. The heated water from a hot tub relaxes and targets the muscles surrounding the joints, increasing circulation.

The result? Improved flexibility, increased mobility and decreased pain. Plus, as an added benefit, soaking in a hot tub before going to bed prepares the body for a more restful, deeper sleep. And sleep is the perfect time to give the body the chance to repair damaged cells and provide much needed nourishment.

To encourage people to check the benefits of soaking in a hot tub to help relieve the pain of arthritis, for themselves, Oregon Hot Tub is providing free test soaks at all their showrooms. We do recommend however that people wanting to schedule their free 30-minute soak call us ahead of time to reserve their spot, commented Dave Doornink, marketing manager.

Consumers wanting to find the Oregon Hot Tub location nearest them are encouraged to visit the company website for more information. The website address is http://www.OregonHotTub.com

About Us

Oregon Hot Tub has been the #1 selling hot tub company in Portland and only features the highest quality and most leading-edge products at our five convenient locations. We have a dual philosophy: incomparable customer service and professional advice from our knowledgeable staff prior to your purchase and incomparable support for you and your product post-purchase. All this combined is why we are known as the one friends recommend. To learn more, pick up a copy of our free report 5 Critical Questions You Must Ask Before You Invest in a Hot Tub or Spa. Just give us a call at 503-533-5603 or go to http://www.OregonHotTub.com

Regardless of their differing levels of knowledge and experience, success for all triathletes begins with the planning process. In the forthcoming “Complete Triathlon Guide” (Human Kinetics, 2012), USA Triathlon says that planning helps triathletes identify clear goals, understand their current level of readiness, and establish an accurate training regimen. Planning also requires triathlon enthusiasts to take a realistic look at their current position on a frequent basis throughout the season, acquire new information, and then make decisions on the way they are going to train.

According to Sharone Aharon, a contributor to “Complete Triathlon Guide”, the gold standard of developing an annual training plan and avoiding the pitfalls of poor planning is periodization. This refers to dividing a certain amount of time, in this case the training year, into smaller, easier-to-manage phases. The most common periodization refers to three segments of time that repeat themselves and differ by size:

1. Macrocycle.

This is a long stretch of training that focuses on accomplishing a major overall goal or completing a race. For example, if the Chicago Triathlon is your most important race of the season, the time from the first day of training at the beginning of the season until that race will be considered your macrocycle, says Aharon.

A macrocycle is then made up of several small- and medium-size phases and covers a period of a few weeks to 11 months. For most athletes, especially beginners, a macrocycle covers the entire racing season, focusing on one big race for the year and the development of their basic physical and technical skills.

2. Mesocycle.

This is a shorter block of training within the macrocycle that focuses on achieving a particular goal. It usually covers 3 to 16 weeks and will repeat a few times, each time with a different training objective or goal. Coaches often use three mesocycles, or phases, within the annual training plan: preparatory, competitive, and transition.

The preparatory phase establishes the physical, technical, and psychological base from which the competitive phase is developed. The competitive subphases are dedicated to maximizing fitness for ideal performance; coaches refer to these as build, race, or peak phases. The transition phase, finally, is the rest and rejuvenation phase in between training cycles or seasons. Keep in mind that the level of the athlete will also influence the length of each phase, Aharon comments. A beginner most likely will have a very long preparatory phase, up to 22 weeks, to develop a strong foundation that will enable him or her to endure the load of progressive, more advanced training.

3. Microcycle.

This is the basic training phase that repeats itself within the annual plan. It is the smallest training period and is structured according to the objectives, volume, and intensity of each mesocycle. The microcycle is probably the most important and functional unit of training, since its structure and content determine the quality of the training process.

A microcycle can last for 3 to 10 days but typically refers to the weekly training schedule. The progression of the microcycles within the mesocycle has to take into consideration the important balance between work and rest, stresses Aharon. Too much work without appropriate rest will lead to overtraining and injuries. On the other hand, too little work with too much rest will lead to underperformance.

For the first time with “Complete Triathlon Guide”, USA Triathlon, its elite athletes, and the nations most respected coaches share their secrets, strategies, and advice for every stage, every event, and every aspect of the worlds most demanding sport. For more information on “Complete Triathlon Guide” or other triathlon resources, visit http://www.HumanKinetics.com.

FedSolutions, the IT Management and Consulting firm, is proud to announce that they have achieved the Microsoft Gold status in the competency for Virtualization as part of the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN). This recognition helps position FedSolutions as one of the premier IT support and consulting firms in the Eastern region.

We are proud to call ourselves partners of Microsoft, and this achievement highlights our commitment to the Microsoft Partner Network and to the Microsoft Core Technologies, said Redha Morsli, President of FedSolutions.

The Gold Competency in Virtualization enhances FedSolutions capability to provide certified expert services to their clients. Gold Competency positions FedSolutions as a leading IT consulting firm for companies interested in specialty virtualization projects based on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V technology, Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Microsoft application virtualization, Microsoft enterprise desktop virtualization, and Microsoft virtual desktop infrastructure. The gold competency also allows FedSolutions to provide expert solutions for IT support and management clients that are looking to leverage virtualization to promote operational harmony.

FedSolutions is part of a small group of less than ten companies in the Washington D.C. metro area to have earned this Gold Competency, and because of this, we can show our current and future clients that they are receiving a highly skilled and certified expert service, said Morsli.

Achieving this gold level requires significant commitment and solution depth. It is a testament to our capabilities and to our growing experience that spans a decade. FedSolutions looks to add more gold level competencies to further demonstrate their commitment to the Microsoft Partner Network and the Microsoft core technologies.

FedSolutions provides IT Management and Consulting solutions that help organizations leverage technology to achieve their business goals. Based in downtown Washington, D.C., our objective is to enable organizations to achieve their mission by successfully leveraging technology. We see IT as a strategic means for our clients to achieve a competitive advantage. Whether providing IT Support & Management services to small and midmarket organizations or expert IT Consulting services to technology professionals, we view our focus as creating smart and simple IT solutions that promote operational harmony. To learn more about our passion for technology, visit http://www.fedsolutions.com.

Contact:

Chuck Barfield

FedSolutions

(202) 730-9701

cbarfield(at)fedsolutions(dot)com

Kingspan Insulated Panels North America, a global manufacturer of insulated metal panels for building construction, has announced that they will feature their Legacies Are Built design competition at the national AIA Convention (booth #505). In addition to a showcase of the winning designs from the 2011 competition and an opportunity to meet the winner, the intern and architectural student L. Michael Lu, Kingspan will announce the details of the 2012 competition, which includes the addition of a design professional category.

With a focus on the use of sustainable materials for a variety of building types, the Legacies competition challenges contestants to create a paper craft model that represents a building utilizing Kingspans Benchmark Designwall series as the building envelope. Submissions are grouped by categories including Commercial, Institutional, Industrial, Retail and (low-rise) Corporate.

As a global leader in the development of cutting-edge insulated panel and roof systems, Kingspan is constantly challenged to create products that push the envelope both technically and aesthetically, said Andrea Peters, marketing director at Kingspan. The Legacies Are Built competition is an invitation to both student and design professionals to also push the envelope to create smart, design-driven buildings that are sustainable, energy-efficient and visually appealing.

Voting for the entries is open to all, and will be conducted beginning in August online at http://www.legaciesarebuilt.com. When the contest is closed, the top five entries from both the professional and student categories that have received the most votes willgo to a final round where a panel of architects, university faculty and industry experts select the competition winners.

Winners will be announced at Greenbuild Expo in San Francisco this November, where the winning designs will be on display. Prizes for the student winner include a $ 5,000 scholarship towards tuition fees, while the professional winner receives a fully loaded workstation valued at $ 5,000, which includes an Apple

Keeko, a free social media exchange community, unveils its latest video to help users understand how the service works and how users can take advantage of the platform. The video which can be seen on the Keeko homepage briefly explains how straightforward and easy the social media tool works.

We want to present Keeko as a fun and exciting social media exchange community, says Business Development – Managing Director, Jonathan Kennedy, so, what better way to do that than present the service in a creative and entertaining manner in less than two minutes time.

Videos can be very engaging. Our latest video can help us effectively get our message across users and online businesses, Managing Director, JP Bisson, adds. With the new video, we are expecting a significant increase in the number of our community users.

As of press time, the social media community has over thirty-six thousand users.

Formerly called Koaky, Keeko is an online service that offers users free Facebook fans, likes, and Twitter followers. A great platform to help businesses build online presence and boost online marketing efforts, Keeko eliminates time-consuming and strenuous manual following on social media networks. Simply by redeeming accumulated points gained through site usage, users can have people following their networks in no time.

Join this exclusive community Keeko. Visit their website at http://www.keeko.com to start getting more fans, followers and likes.

About

Keeko is a wholly owned company by Clicking Labs. With dedication and perseverance they were able to bring together a diverse team of web professionals to provide internet businesses with creative web marketing strategies. Founded in Ottawa, Canada, the company has expanded operations to Cebu, Philippines in early 2011 to better serve its clients.

Brazilian Hair styling techniques and Brazilian Virgin Hair techniques are the main areas of expertise of a new expert who has just joined Elite virgin hair Ltd. This new expert will be writing a variety of articles over the coming weeks on the Companys website.

Julia Courtney, one of the Directors at Elite virgin hair Ltd. said that this new Brazilian Virgin Hair expert has a wealth of experience in her field and we are really glad to have her on board. She has worked as a hair stylist specializing in Brazilian Hair for a number of years now. She will be writing articles on how to style Brazilian virgin Hair and regular Brazilian Hair over the coming weeks complete with full illustrations on her different styling methods. We hope that our readers will appreciate the time and effort that she is going to for us.

News of the appointment of the Brazilian Virgin Hair expert has spread to a number of sites online that are in the hair dressing sector and the team at Elite virgin hair Ltd. say they are very pleased about this development because they want as many people as possible to come and check out the articles their this new expert writes over the coming weeks. According to Karl Menver, Director of marketing at Elite virgin hair Ltd., we love publicity from sites in the same niche as us.

In addition to appointing this new expert on the site the team at http://www.elitevirginhair.com/brazilian.html have also announced this week that they are providing free shipping on all their products this month.

Metal rocker Willie Basse is joining Slash, Rob Zombie, Megadeath, Chickenfoot, Queensryche, Chevelle and more than 60 of rocks hottest bands at Rocklahoma (http://www.Rocklahoma.com), one of the USAs biggest rock festivals, in Pryor City, OK, for two shows on Friday, May 25 and Saturday, May 26. But Basses performance-with-a-purpose will also raise funds and food for Feed America-NOW, his 501c3 non-profit corporation that collects and redistributes food through local food banks to feed local people in every city that Basse visits.

On May 26, Basse, the former frontman of the pioneering metal band Black Sheep whose past members include Slash, Paul Gilbert (Racer-X), Randy Castillo (Ozzy Osbourne) and James Kottak (The Scorpions), will perform with his namesake Willie Basse band featuring guitar virtuoso Patrick Abbate from Italy. On May 25, Basse will perform with SNEW as they debut Pull My Stinger, their new single recorded by Ken Scott (The Beatles, David Bowie).

The massive, three-day festival is expected to draw more than 60,000 rock fans, but Basse isnt just bringing his Sunset-Strip style of rock-and-roll to the festival. Hes also asking fans to bring cans of food to his show for Feed America-NOW.

As the economy continues to leave Americans impoverished, hunger is now a reality for one in six adult Americans and one in five American children who go to bed hungry every night.

Come hungry for rock and roll, but leave fulfilled, Basse explains. The face of Americas hungry is changing. Today, there are many hard-working families who are having trouble making ends meet. But by donating funds and food, we all have the power to make a difference. We all have the power to be an everyday hero.

Following Rocklahoma, Basse and SNEW will perform in Lake of the Ozarks, MO (May 28); Kansas City, MO (May 29); Lincoln, NE (May 30); Denver, CO (May 31); Salt Lake City, UT (June 1) and Las Vegas, NV (June 2).

For more information, visit http://www.WillieBasse.com or http://www.FeedAmerica-NOW.org.

Press Contact:

Lee Runchey

Vice President

Chrome PR

info (at) ChromeLA (dot) com

(310) 271-7100

Yandy.com, online retailer of lingerie, costumes, clothing, swimwear and more, is offering customers the chance to win a $ 1,000 Yandy gift card, for one week only in May.

The $ 1,000 Yandy gift card give away contest begins on Monday, May 14 and runs through Monday, May 21, 2012. Customers can enter to win the mega gift card several ways and earn more points, or entries, but utilizing the different entry options Yandy has provided. Customers will earn one point simply for logging in and entering the contest. Additional points can be earned as follows:

Ask photographer Robert B. Warren the inspiration behind his new photo collection, A Series in Nature II (published by Trafford Publishing), and the skilled shutterbug will give you three: the incredible beauty of land, sea and nature.

Long an admirer of natural beauty, Warren showcases his attunement with the outdoors in A Series in Nature II. Filled with vibrant, full-color photographs, the book chronicles a culmination of seven years of traveling and photographing Guatemala and the Western United States, including Hawaii.

An excerpt from the preface:

In nature the concept of duality can be seen in its symmetry: from the molecular level in the blueprint of life: DNAs alpha-helical structure, and in the mirror image structures of organic chemicals called stereochemistry. All life is made of chemicals. Even in the processs of life, cellular division we see symmetry in meiosis and mitosis.

Warren hopes this new collection will inspire others to explore the outdoors.

Most people either dont notice nature or their lives are removed of nature, says Warren. I hope this book brings some sense of peace and inspiration to readers.

About the Author

Robert B. Warren was born in Washington State and raised in the Hawaiian Islands. He began seriously photographing wilderness in 1971. His subjects are predominantly found in nature and his photographs are almost entirely unenhanced images.

Trafford Publishing, an Author Solutions, Inc. author services imprint, was the first publisher in the world to offer an on-demand publishing service, and has led the independent publishing revolution since its establishment in 1995. Trafford was also one of the earliest publishers to utilize the Internet for selling books. More than 10,000 authors from over 120 countries have utilized Traffords experience for self publishing their books. For more information about Trafford Publishing, or to publish your book today, call 1-888-232-4444 or visit trafford.com.

White Horse CTO Joe Davis will present a session at PDX Webvisions 2012 entitled, Location, Location, LocationWhat Are We Forgetting?? Although many mobile sites and apps are now using location-aware features, Davis will discuss the world of largely untapped options, as well as their creative business uses.

Davis presentation will explore how latitude and longitude can be combined with time of day, sunrise/sunset calculations, weather reports, phases of the moon, alignment of the planets, biorhythmic patterns, proximity to family and friends, etc., in order to generate meaningful lifestyle applications and immersive gaming experiences.

In the mobile age, awesome-ness occurs at the junction of technology, data, and context, said Davis. For far too long, location-based applications have not been properly utilizing data and context in order to create truly compelling experiences.

Joe Davis is CTO and Technical Director at White Horse. He has spent the last decade and a half challenging the web to do more, do it faster, and make it more meaningful. He has worked on projects for companies such as Microsoft, Intel, and Coldwater Creek. His presentation of Location, Location, LocationWhat Are We Forgetting?? will be at Friday, May 18, 2012, 1:30pm, room D137/138 at PDX Webvisions.

About White Horse

White Horse is a 32-year-old, woman-owned digital agency that designs and builds user-focused Web and mobile experiences. Our single-minded focus on gaining a deep understanding of the end-user experience, then aligning design, technical, and business processes, allows organizations and departments to meet user needs and create lasting value. Our forward-looking processes ensure the digital experiences we deliver will meet the demands of always changing technologies. Our services include digital strategy, user research, Web design, mobile design, social media strategy, technical integration, .NET Applications, user testing, Android, iPhone, and Windows 7 applications, and enterprise and open-source content management systems. For more information, visit http://www.whitehorse.com.

Alice Dev Team is pleased to announce the launch of their new utility MenuMate v.1.0. This program, released for Mac OS, is designed to help users get access of an apps menu bar item whenever it is necessary. MenuMate provides a simple solution for users who tired of straining their wrist from mousing back to the menu bar all the time, especially if a user has a big screen, twin screens or a tablet+screen combo.

All you need to do is assign a hotkey or mouse button (other than left or right) to it. If you have a Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad, you can use Magic Prefs (free) to create a virtual centre button for them. To access MenuMate’s preferences, just click on the octopus icon in the menu bar, says Stanislav Kuptsov, CEO of Alice Dev Team. Waste less time get more work done!

Anyone who switches from other systems to the Mac has a problem: the menu for the applications is not longer located where it was, but rather all the way at the top of the desktop. This means that the mouse has to travel a long way, since the important commands are not always immediately accessible. Understandably many people that switched are irritated by that.

The app MenuMate will remedy the problem. It will ensure, that the menu of active apps opens exactly where the cursor is located. Something thats easy to get used to, especially since the tool shows its advantage instantly: all important software functions are immediately available without having to memorize hotkeys or do extensive navigating with the mouse.

MenuMate hooks itself right into the Macs menu bar. The icon has to be accessed only once, in order to configure the app. The right and left mouse button may not be assigned to the tool. This, naturally, leaves only the other mouse button the middle one. Once the tool has been assigned, MenuMate may be used immediately.

MenuMate is available for purchase from the Mac App Store at http://itunes.apple.com/app/id518594271 or from Alice Dev Teams website at http://alicedev.com/menumate

About Alice Dev Team

Headquartered in the Russias beautiful city of Novosibirsk, the heart of snow-covered Siberia, Alice Dev Team is a premier Mac development company. They design and develop utilities, useful tools, entertainment, and social apps for Mac, iPhone and iPad. Alice Dev Teams goal is to create apps that bring you joy, put a smile on your face and perk up your mood!

For more information, please visit http://alicedev.com

With an overwhelming request from automotive dealerships for profitable supplemental insurance products that provide additional streams of revenue for the dealer, JFA Nationwide Enterprises, Inc. has expanded its south Florida sales office to serve its customers throughout the Southeast and nationally.

JFA Nationwide Enterprises, Inc. offers automotive dealerships supplemental insurance products including: Gap, Etch, Tire/Wheel, Dent/Ding, Windshield Repair, ID Theft, Paint/Fabric, Key Replacement, Roadside Assistance, RV Gap, and RV Tech Support, among many other products and services.

The Company offers 64 products, at the lowest industry rates, and prides itself as being known as a leader in customer care, support and training. JFAs products provide dealers with ancillary revenue streams to increase profits.

JFA Nationwide Enterprises is an affiliate of one of the largest suppliers of auto-related supplemental products that serves over five million worldwide customers annually.

JFAs management team is led by Joseph Azalino (President), a 30 year veteran of the automotive and financial services industry. Mr. Azalino began his financial services career with Marine Midland Bank (HSBC) in the mid-1970s directing the banks Special Lending Division for the East Coast region. Under his leadership, Mr. Azalino and Marine Midland Bank provided financial solutions to hundreds of automotive, yacht and RV dealerships.

The Companys National Sales Manager is Jim ODonnell. Mr. ODonnell has worked in various administrative, sales and customer support positions within the automotive industry for over 20 years.

For sales and customer service inquiries, please call 561-633-0056.

JFA Nationwide Enterprises, Inc.

9055 Long Lake Palm Drive

Boca Raton, Florida 33496

Mobile/Direct Line: 561-633-0056 (Jim ODonnell)

Mobile/Direct Line: 561-703-6373 (Joseph Azalino)

email: azzy269(at)yahoo(dot)com