Close to 1,000 high technology, and life science innovators, venture capital firms, government agency representatives and corporate investors will meet in San Francisco May 1-2 at The Venture Forum's (http://www.theventureforum.com/) annual event to connect early stage innovators with funding sources. Since its inception 13 years ago, The Venture Forum has facilitated $600 million in venture capital, corporate and government investment, thereby helping innovators move high-value technologies closer to commercialization.

The 2007 forum will feature companies that are part of Larta's Global Bridge Program, a fully customized and comprehensive training and networking creation program that fosters scientific, technological, and economic cooperation between the U.S. and other countries. Global Bridge companies are organized by pavilions, highlights include:

New Zealand

New Zealand's Foundation for Research, Science & Technology (...

Close to 1,000 high technology and life science innovators, venture capital firms, government agency representatives and corporate investors will meet in San Francisco May 1-2 at The Venture Forum's (http://www.theventureforum.com/) annual event to connect early stage innovators with funding sources. Since its inception 13 years ago, The Venture Forum has facilitated $600 million in venture capital, corporate and government investment, thereby helping innovators move high-value technologies closer to commercialization.

The 2007 forum will feature companies that are part of Larta's Global Bridge Program, a fully customized and comprehensive executive training and networking creation program that fosters scientific, technological, and economic cooperation between the U.S. and other countries. Participating Global Bridge companies are organized by pavilions. Highlights include:

New Zealand

New Zealand's Foundation for Research, Sc...

Fifty-Plus.Net International Inc.(TSX VENTURE: FPN) is pleased to announce the launch of its beta version blogging tool for the www.50Plus.com website. The site has been designed so that its audience, primarily those over the age of 50 have a safe, secure environment to socially network with others in this demographic. The beta release was launched quietly at the beginning of September to obtain initial user feedback and implement improvements and user suggestions in the subsequent broad release, expected shortly.

The site has been designed to be easy for an older audience to use, yet incorporates some newer search techniques such as the "Topic Cloud", which displays text in varying font sizes to illustrate the relative popularity of certain blog topics. Users can create their own blogs, post pictures, reply to other bl...

Lambda OpticalSystems, the leading provider of all-optical switching solutions, today announced that its LambdaNode™ 3000 Optical Cross Connect (OXC) system will be part of the GMPLS (Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching) interoperability public demonstration at The International Conference on IP + Optical Networks (iPOP 2006) this week. The LambdaNode 3000 OXC is part of a multi-vendor network at the event and will demonstrate interoperability with high speed core routers and ROADMS (reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers), in conjunction with Lambda's partner, Itochu Techno-Science Corporation (CTC).

"We're pleased to be able to demonstrate the ability of the LambdaNode 3000 intelligent OXC to interoperate with several major networking vendors," said Irfan Ali, Lambda's president and CEO. "The LambdaNode 3000 OXC incorporates an all-optical fabric with dynamic GMPLS control plane for metro and long-haul locations, gives carriers faster provisioning of wavelength,...

At the Capitol today, the Internet Keep Safe Coalition and Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) announced the launch of a new, interactive tutorial designed to help educate parents about online security for children. The tutorial, Parents' Top 10 Technical Questions: What Every Parent Must Do to Keep Children Safe Online, is part of a new Parent Resource Center on iKeepSafe.org that provides parents with valuable information on how to keep their children safe online from a variety of Internet threats and risks, such as cyber-predators, online fraud and viruses.

The Coalition also awarded today the 2006 Internet Keep Safe Award to Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas) and Bob Bennett (R-Utah) for their exceptional contribution to protecting the children of America online. This award is given annually to public figures who have shown an extraordinary commitment to pro...

Prevari, a Security Risk Management product company today announced the official release of its newest version of the Technology Risk Manager (TRM) product line, now available on the Microsoft .Net platform. TRM 3.0 now accepts external technology feeds from multiple technology scanners and delivers a quantitative risk index based on the technical, administrative and physical controls of an IT environment. This new product enables executive management with the ability to objectively understand the state of IT risk and make business decisions based on ROI and acceptable levels of risk specific to business functions.

Business leaders today normally rely on qualitative data and the subjective opinions of staff and consulting security experts rather than using business metrics to make predictive decisions regarding how IT risk impacts organizational risk. Rather than focusing on historical events around threats and vulnerabilities, TRM offers a repeatable and defensible approach to ...

Data Domain, the leading provider of capacity optimized storage (COS) solutions, announced today that it has established new operations in Japan to support accelerating market traction in the Asia Pacific region for its next generation data protection solutions. With the launching of its Japan-based operations, the company has also added new sales and support infrastructure to build upon its success in the region.

"Data Domain's growth trajectory in the Asia Pacific region is mirroring its success in the US and European markets," said Frank Slootman, president and CEO of Data Domain. "As such, we have further deepened our commitment to the region with the addition of staff and a new facility in Tokyo. Data Domain has enjoyed a sustained pattern of growth in this market by working in close partnership with key regional IT reseller/distributors, such as Tokyo Electron and CTC. The Asia Pacific market represents a tremendous opportunity for both Data Domain and its partners, so we...

Enigma Semiconductor, an emerging technology leader in next-generation switching silicon, today announced Ian Ferguson, 40, has joined the company as vice president of marketing. This strengthening of Enigma's management team comes on the heels of Enigma's designation as a finalist in Red Herring's Top 100 Innovators award program.

At Enigma, Ferguson will manage the strategic direction for the company's HybriCore semiconductor products, as well as manage partnerships and OEM customer relationships. The HybriCore Architecture™ was announced last fall, capable of delivering more than 280 Gbps per switch for two terabits of full duplex, non-blocking traffic across the system backplane. Developed with the high demands of triple play applications in mind, the HybriCore architecture provides network system developers with the ideal core switch fabric for the next generation of ultra high-density networks.

"With significant engineering progress and increasing customer traction ...

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MALL OF AMERICA -- Two of America's beloved Lennon Sisters, Kathy and Janet, will launch their eagerly anticipated "BEST PALS" line of dolls and music CDs Sunday, August 13, in the Rotunda at Mall of America with a media conference and live music performance. The "BEST PALS" soft cloth rag dolls are exact replicas of the original dolls created and hand sewn by their maternal grandmother Nana and mother Sis Lennon for Kathy and Janet when they were 6 and 3 years old, respectively.

"We have always called each other 'Best Pals' and were inseparable growing up. We played cowboys and dress-up together. But our favorite time was to play with our handmade rag dolls. Our dream is to bring the joy and magic that these dolls gave us to today's children and for generations to come," said Kathy Lennon.

Accompanying the high quality "BEST PALS" dolls are two newly recorded "BEST PALS" music CDs featuring the incomparable harmonies of Kathy and Janet Lennon; "BEST PALS: Kathy & Janet ...