China sentences activist to 10 years over writings (AP)

BEIJING ? A court has sentenced a democracy activist in central China to 10 years' imprisonment for subversion, the third lengthy jail term handed down to a dissident in less than a month.

A relative who did not want to be named said Thursday that activist Li Tie was sentenced by a court in Wuhan city to 10 years in jail on Wednesday after being convicted of subversion based on articles that he had written.

The Chinese Human Rights Defenders group says Li said in court that he is innocent because the Chinese constitution protects citizens' right to freedom of expression.

In separate cases late last month, two activists were sentenced for posting essays on the Internet that the government deemed subversive. One received nine years in prison, the other 10.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_as/as_china_human_rights

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Iran says in touch with powers on new talks, EU denies it (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) ? Iran said on Wednesday it was in touch with big powers to reopen talks soon but the European Union denied this, and Britain said Tehran would have to show it was serious if it wanted to avoid more EU sanctions over suspicions it is seeking nuclear weapons.

A year after the last talks fell apart, confrontation is brewing as the EU prepares to intensify sanctions against Iran with an embargo on its economically vital oil exports.

EU diplomats said on Wednesday that member governments had also agreed in principle to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank alongside the planned oil embargo, but had yet to agree how to protect non-oil trade from sanctions.

Iran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, used for a third of the world's seaborne oil trade, if it cannot sell its own crude, fanning fears of a descent into war in the Gulf that could inflame the Middle East.

Iranian politicians said U.S. President Barack Obama had expressed readiness to negotiate in a letter to Tehran, a step that might relieve tensions behind recent oil price spikes.

"Negotiations are going on about venue and date. We would like to have these negotiations," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters during a visit to Turkey.

"Most probably, I am not sure yet, the venue will be Istanbul. The day is not yet settled, but it will be soon."

A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, representing the six powers, denied there were any fresh discussions with the Islamic Republic to organize a meeting.

"There are no negotiations under way on new talks," he said in Brussels. "We are still waiting for Iran to respond to the substantive proposals the High Representative (Ashton) made in her letter from October." Iran has yet to respond formally.

SERIOUS NEGOTIATIONS

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Iran had to be ready for serious negotiations. "It is significant that when we are discussing additional sanctions in the European Union an offer of negotiations emerges from Iran," he said.

"We will not be deterred from imposing additional sanctions simply by the suggestion there may be negotiations. We want to see actual negotiations," he told a news conference in Brazil.

"In the absence of such meaningful negotiations, of course, the pressure for greater peaceful but legitimate pressure will continue," he said, referring to a meeting on Monday of EU ministers that will discuss an oil embargo on Iran.

Iran denies wanting nuclear bombs, saying its enrichment work is for power generation and medical applications.

Washington has yet to respond to the Iranian suggestions of talks. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Wednesday only that the U.S. military was fully prepared to deal with any threats by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz.

Ashton wrote to Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili to stress that the West still wanted to resume talks but Iran must be ready to engage "seriously in meaningful discussions" about ways to ensure its nuclear work would be wholly peaceful in nature.

The Islamic Republic has insisted in sporadic meetings over the past five years that talks focus on broader international security issues, not its nuclear program.

PROTRACTED IMPASSE

The last talks between Iran and the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - along with Germany stalled in Istanbul a year ago, with the parties unable to agree even on an agenda.

Since then, a U.N. nuclear watchdog report has lent weight to concern that Iran has worked on designing a nuclear weapon. Washington and the European Union have turned to extending hitherto modest sanctions in place since 2006 to target Iranian oil.

EU foreign ministers are expected to approve a phased ban on imports of Iranian oil at the meeting on January 23 - three weeks after the United States passed a law that would freeze out any institution dealing with Iran's central bank, effectively making it impossible for most countries to buy Iranian oil.

"On the central bank, things have been moving in the right direction in the last hours," one EU diplomat said on Wednesday. "There is now a wide agreement on the principle. Discussions continue on the details."

Iran has said it is ready to talk but has also started shifting uranium enrichment to a deep bunker where it would be less vulnerable to the air strikes Israel says it could launch if diplomacy fails to curb Tehran's nuclear drive.

Western diplomats say Tehran must show willingness to change its course in any new talks. Crucially, Tehran says other countries must respect its right to enrich uranium, the nuclear fuel which can provide material for atomic bombs if enriched to much higher levels than that suitable for power plants.

Russia, a member of the six power group that has criticized the new EU and U.S. sanctions, said the last-ditch military option mooted by the United States and Israel would ignite a disastrous, widespread Middle East war.

"On the chances of whether this catastrophe will happen or not you should ask those who repeatedly talk about this," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow.

"I have no doubt that it would pour fuel on a fire which is already smoldering, the hidden smoldering fire of Sunni-Shi'ite (Muslim) confrontation, and beyond that (it would cause) a chain reaction. I don't know where it would stop."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking during a visit to the Netherlands on Wednesday, repeated his view that "Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, period."

Earlier in the day, his Defense Minister Ehud Barak said any decision about an Israeli attack on Iran was "very far off."

THREATS, FRIENDSHIP

China, which shares Russia's dislike of the new Western moves to stop Iran exporting oil, said U.S. sanctions that Obama signed into law on December 31 had no basis in international law.

Iranian politicians said Obama had written to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei responding to Tehran's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz if sanctions prevent it selling oil.

Several members of Iran's parliament who discussed the matter on Wednesday said it included the offer of talks.

"In this letter it was said that closing the Strait of Hormuz is our (U.S.) 'red line' and also asked for direct negotiations," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted lawmaker Ali Mottahari as saying.

"The first part of letter has a threatening stance and the second part has a stance of negotiation and friendship."

Washington has often said it has a dual-track approach to Iran, leaving open the offer of talks while seeking ever tighter sanctions as long as Tehran does not rein in its nuclear work.

But any fresh opening to Tehran might be a risky strategy for Obama in an election year as aspiring Republican presidential challengers compete over who is toughest on a country Washington has long considered a pariah state.

(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara, Chris Buckley in Beijing, Phil Stewart in Washington, Alexei Anishchuk in Moscow, Justyna Pawlak in Brussels, Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem, Fredrik Dahl in Vienna and Estelle Shirbon in London; Anthony Boadle in Brasilia; Writing by Robin Pomeroy and David Stamp; Editing by Jon Boyle)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/wl_nm/us_iran

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Book Review: Why Google for Business is Good Business ...

Chris Brogan Google+ for BusinessGoogle+ has been on the lips of every online marketing professional since early 2011. ?With a base that has now passed 62 million users?and the integration of Google+ into Google search,?it has become clear that Google+ is here to stay.

As this new social platform continues to evolve it may be difficult to keep up with the latest trends, changes, and tactics for creating an optimized and influential Google+ profile for you and your business. ?With recent events and the release of Chris Brogan?s new book ?Google+ for Business: How Google?s Social Network Changes Everything? Lee and I thought it seemed a good time to compile some helpful tips of our own and some from Chris?s new book to help professionals take some of the fear and uncertainty out of using Google+.

Author Information in Search Results

rel=author SERP

I?m sure over the last couple of months you?ve noticed author information included in Google search results. ?This feature displays a photo of the author as well as an opportunity to add them to your Google+ circles. ?Getting Author information to appear in the search results next to content that you create can be accomplished a few ways.

Google suggests adding your name and your email address to each article or blog post and then verifying that same email address within your Google+ profile. ?The other option is a good old fashioned link exchange between the content you create and your Google+ profile. Add a Google Profile button to your site or manually add the link using:?Google and replace the [profile_url] with the long id in your Google+ profile web address. Then make sure you link to the sites that you contribute to from your Google+ Profile in the area called ?Contribute to?.?Once you do that, there?s a form you need to fill out.

Google Plus for Search

Google Plus SOPA

Many SEO professionals and Marketers were up in arms after last weeks release of Google+ search functionality. ?It appears that Google is favoring it?s own content over others. ?Google does include information from some networks such as Quora or Flickr, but at this point is excluding popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. ?What does this mean for marketers?

Take full advantage of these changes and post useufl information on your Google+ profile or company page that are relevant to your business and the business problems of your customers. Engage with others and be useful and interesting so that as many other relevant users of Google+ add you to their circles as possible. The larger your network on Google+, the more likely your content will appear prominently in their search results.

?Where Google+ Fits in the Business Ecosystem?

Google Plus Circles

Outside of the obvious need to have a presence in Google+ for search visibility, there are other good reasons for professionals to leverage the social network. In his book, Chris Brogan expresses that how a company uses Google+ for business is up to them, and that there are many opportunities to consider when building a Google+ strategy. ?The suggestions in the book are pretty much best practices for any kind of social network involvement and with all the attention being paid to Google+ the past few months it?s a good time to review. Some of the ways you may want to consider using Google+ for your business or professional online presence include:

  • Collaboration
  • Learning
  • Discovery
  • Community Building
  • Contests & Promotions
  • Customer Service
  • Engagement
  • Listening
  • Referrals
  • Sharing

?The Most Important Part of Your Profile: The Introduction?

Google+ Profile Introduction

Building out your Google+ profile is essential for how people perceive your brand. Google+ for Business puts special emphasis on creating a stellar introduction for Google+ profiles. ?The introduction field in you Google+ profile should include:

  • Professional Experience: ?give your potential customers an idea of what it might look like to work with them.
  • Personal Information: this will inform prospects what matters most to you outside of business.
  • Linking: do not stuff your profile with links but be sure to link to outside resources where appropriate.

?Posting to Build Connections?

G+ Ripples

If part of your marketing strategy is to connect with interesting or influential people, Google+ this is a good way to inspire creativity in your own content. ?Some helpful tips for creating content to drive connections would include:

  • Source information from websites that are not always sources. ?Posting interesting information from a more obscure sight is likely to catch the attention of new followers.
  • Original content that takes a different stance from the majority of users is likely to get you some attention.
  • Curiosity drives traffic, share some interesting knowledge that you have about something you care about such as music or film.

There is a wealth of information being created each day on optimizing, creating content, and socializing using Google+. ?Over the next few months Google will only continue to roll out changes to their Google+ platform and either by incentive or usefulness, Google+ will grow.

What are your most pressing questions about Google+? Has your business created a page yet? How are you getting your staff on board with Google+ profiles or are you focusing more on your brand page?

Be sure to connect with TopRank Online Marketing on Google+ here.

Source: http://www.toprankblog.com/2012/01/5-things-google-plus/

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Egypt tourism receipts slip nearly 30 pct in 2011 (AP)

CAIRO ? Revenues from Egypt's vital tourism sector plunged almost 30 percent last year, the government said Thursday, as unrest following the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak stunted economic growth and forced the country to turn to the International Monetary Fund for help.

The decline in revenues caused by near-daily protests and strikes underscores the challenges as Egypt's military rulers and the interim government plot a course toward handing over power to an elected civilian administration.

Tourism Minister Mounir Abdel-Nour was quoted by the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper on Thursday saying that the number of tourists who came to Egypt in 2011 dropped by over 33 percent ? to 9.8 million ? compared to 14.7 million in 2010. Revenues for the year clocked in at $8.8 billion compared to $12.5 billion in 2010.

Economic woes have led the country to turn again to the IMF after rejecting an earlier loan offer. Earlier in the week, an IMF delegation visited the country, and a formal request for a $3.2 billion support package was issued.

While many Egyptians were concerned that the potential loan would come with conditions imposing austerity measures, such as cutting subsidies on fuel and food, the IMF looked to allay those concerns by saying it wanted any Egyptian economic program being devised to have widespread public backing.

"The program developed by the Egyptian authorities and its key policies are currently being discussed with emerging political parties to ensure broad political support," Masood Ahmed, the IMF's director for the Middle East and Central Asia, said in a statement.

"This should help reduce uncertainty and boost confidence in the program's successful implementation."

Analysts, however, are skeptical that the IMF funds will be enough to cover Egypt's needs for 2012.

The country "will need at least double that amount to avoid a balance of payments crisis," said London-based Capital Economics in a recent research note. It estimated that Egypt will need roughly $11 billion in external financing in the coming year.

Capital Economics said that one potential sticking point could be that the IMF has indicated that any support package should be included as part of broader support from other donors ? meaning that it was not guaranteed that Egypt would be granted the loan.

Egyptian officials have complained for months that they have received little of the billions of dollars pledged in aid by donor nations last year as part of an effort to support the nascent democracies born of the Arab Spring uprising.

Ahmed said that the IMF mission also met with representatives of the Freedom and Justice party, the political wing of the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood. The party secured just under 50 percent of the vote in recent parliamentary elections, making them the single strongest voice in the incoming legislature.

Their strength has stoked worries that they could guide the country down an Islamist path, away from the Western-leaning platforms that provided investors with some semblance of reassurance under Mubarak's regime.

The Brotherhood has sought to allay those concerns. Mohammed Gouda, an economic expert with the FJP, was quoted Wednesday by the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm as saying that the party's economic plan to revive the Egyptian economy is tied to a respect for economic freedom and to creating a state that supports competition.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_egypt_economy

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The Fink?s Royal Rumble Memories: 1998-2002

The Royal Rumble has been one of WWE?s most unusual and unpredictable events. From what I would call the ?best seat in the house,? I?ve witnessed - and on many occasions introduced - a number of defining occurrences through the years. Therefore, as we celebrate the 25th edition of this long-running WWE staple on Jan. 29, WWE.com revisits some of the magical moments that took place over the past 24 Royal Rumbles - some from the Royal Rumble Matches themselves, others?from clashes that took place in?the titularly named pay-per-view?event.

?

1398293903001|01:14AUSTIN "2:16"?
1/18/98 - San Jose, Calif.

Do you know the way to San Jose? ?Stone Cold? Steve Austin did! Continuing to ride the crest of a wave of surging popularity, Austin eliminated The Rock to win his second consecutive Royal Rumble Match and punch his ticket for an opportunity at the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XIV.

1399913407001|00:55NO PEOPLE'S EYEBROW IN "QUIT"
1/24/99 - Anaheim, Calif.

"I Quit!" A term that no competitor in WWE would ever want to utter while competing in the field of battle. However, those two words were seemingly uttered three times by Mankind, as he was dethroned as WWE Champion by The Rock in their ?I Quit? Match. In the process, The Brahma Bull became a two-time WWE Champion.

?

1381490056001|00:58JERICHO WINS 3-FOR-BRAWL
1/23/00 - New York, N.Y.

Madison Square Garden was the setting for the first of Chris Jericho?s victories to become an undisputed champion. In a Triple Threat Match, Y2J and Chyna, co-holders of the Intercontinental Championship, along with Hardcore Holly, battled it out tooth-and-nail, with the brash, cocky Jericho coming out on top.

?

1381604768001|01:3411 ELIMINATIONS FOR KANE
1/21/01 - New Orleans, La.

One of the greatest feats ever in the history of the Royal Rumble Match took place in New Orleans, when an upstart Kane entered the match at No. 6 and eliminated 11 Superstars during the course of his time in the ring. It?s a record that stands to this day!

?

?

1381544111001|01:06THE HUNGER GAME
1/20/02 - Atlanta, Ga.

Making his in-ring return after recovering from a debilitating quadriceps injury, a determined Triple H was more than ready to play the game in the Royal Rumble Match. Despite skeptics and naysayers' predictions, The King of Kings emerged victorious in the longest 30-Man Royal Rumble Match in WWE history.

?

More Royal Rumble Memories: 1988-1992 | 1992-1997

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/royalrumble/2012/finkel-royal-rumble-11-15

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DA: Homeless killings suspect stalked victims (AP)

SANTA ANA, Calif. ? A 23-year-old Iraq War veteran charged with the stabbing deaths of four homeless men in a rampage that terrorized Southern California had selected additional victims, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Former Marine Itzcoatl Ocampo chose the final victim because the man appeared in a news article about police warning homeless men to be careful, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said.

All four victims were stalked and the killer looked for the right opportunity to execute them, he said. At least three of the victims were stabbed more than 40 times.

The district attorney said a panel will be convened to decide whether to seek the death penalty.

The charges include special allegations of multiple murders and lying in wait and use of a deadly weapon. The minimum sentence if convicted is life in prison without parole.

Rackauckas said prosecutors have no indication that Ocampo is mentally ill.

"It will be proven that the defendant planned all of his murders in advance, that he stalked his victims, that he looked for the right opportunity to execute them," Rackauckas said.

Ocampo's family said he was a troubled man when he returned from Iraq. Ocampo's own father is also homeless.

The killing spree began in December, raising concerns that a serial killer was preying on the homeless. Police and advocates then went on nightly patrols to urge them to sleep in groups or seek shelter.

Police arrested Ocampo when bystanders chased him down after 64-year-old John Berry was stabbed to death outside a fast-food restaurant in Anaheim, about 26 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Anaheim Police Chief John Welter said Berry had filed a report with authorities saying he believed someone was trying to follow and stalk him. Welter said, however, that authorities were working through nearly 600 leads and tips but had not gotten to that report.

"It is unfortunate that we didn't get to him before the suspect did," Welter told reporters.

Welter also said Ocampo had twice gone through motorist checkpoints set up by police to seek potential information about the killer from members of the public, but there was nothing that drew their attention to Ocampo.

The weapon was described as a 7-inch, single-edge blade made of heavy gauge metal.

The blade went through bone without chipping or breaking the blade, Rackauckas said.

Julia Smit-Lozano, the daughter of one of the victims, told the Orange County Register (http://bit.ly/zRNO6m) that prosecutors said her father, Paulus Smit, 57, was stabbed more than 50 times outside a library in Yorba Linda on Dec. 30.

Authorities have provided no information on the evidence against Ocampo, or a possible motive. But Anaheim Police Chief John Welter has said investigators are confident they have the man responsible for the murders.

Ocampo is being held in isolation in an Orange County jail, is wearing a protective gown and is being monitored 24 hours a day, said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

"Obviously he has some psychological problems just by the nature of the crimes, so they don't want him to hurt himself," Amormino said.

Ocampo's father, Refugio Ocampo, said his son was deployed to Iraq in 2008 and came back a changed man. He said his son expressed disillusionment and became ever darker as he struggled to find his way as a civilian.

After he was discharged in 2010 and returned home, his parents separated. The same month, one of his friends, a corporal, was killed during combat in Afghanistan. His brother said Ocampo visited his friend's grave twice a week.

Like the men Ocampo is accused of preying on, his father is homeless. His father lost his job and ended up living under a bridge before finding shelter in the cab of a broken-down big-rig he is helping repair.

Just days before his arrest, Itzcoatl Ocampo visited his father, warning him of the danger of being on the streets and showing him a picture of one of the victims.

"He was very worried about me," the father said. "I told him, `Don't worry. I'm a survivor. Nothing will happen to me.'"

Itzcoatl Ocampo lives with his mother, uncle, younger brother and sister in a rented house on a horse ranch surrounded by the sprawling suburbs of Yorba Linda.

At the home, his mother, who speaks little English, tearfully brought her son's Marine Corps dress uniform out of a closet and showed unit photos, citations and medals from his military service.

The son followed a friend into the Marine Corps right out of high school in 2006 instead of going to college as his father had hoped.

His family described a physical condition Itzcoatl Ocampo suffered in which his hands shook and he suffered headaches. Medical treatments helped until he started drinking heavily, they said.

A neighbor who is a Vietnam veteran and the father both tried to push Ocampo to get treatment at a Veterans Affairs hospital, but he refused. Refugio Ocampo said he wanted his son to get psychological treatment as well.

In addition to Berry and Smit, James Patrick McGillivray, 53, was killed near a shopping center in Placentia on Dec. 20 and Lloyd Middaugh, 42, was found near a riverbed trail in Anaheim on Dec. 28.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120117/ap_on_re_us/us_homeless_homicides

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24 million customer accounts hacked at Zappos (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Online shoe retailer Zappos told customers this weekend that it has been the victim of a cyber attack affecting more than 24 million customer accounts in its database.

The popular retailer, which is owned by Amazon.com, said customers' names, email addresses, billing and shipping addresses, phone numbers and the last four digits of credit cards numbers and scrambled passwords were stolen.

But it said the hackers had not been able to access servers that held customers critical credit card and other payment data.

"We were recently the victim of a cyber attack by a criminal who gained access to parts of our internal network and systems through one of our servers in Kentucky," Zappos chief executive Tony Hsieh said in an email to staff which was posted on the company's blog on Sunday.

"We are cooperating with law enforcement to undergo an exhaustive investigation," he added.

Zappos said it was recommending that customers change their passwords including on any other website where they use the same or similar password.

The company, which is well known for its customer service, said due to the high volume of customer calls it is expecting it will temporarily switch off its phones and direct customers to contact via email.

(Reporting By Yinka Adegoke)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120116/wr_nm/us_zappos_hacking

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Check Point's Q4 profit tops estimates (Reuters)

TEL AVIV (Reuters) ? Internet and network security provider Check Point Software Technologies beat forecasts with a jump in fourth-quarter profit and forecast growth in 2012 in line with analysts' estimates.

Its shares were up 6.1 percent at $54.00 on Nasdaq on Tuesday.

Chairman and Chief Executive Gil Shwed said there were many reasons to believe that awareness among enterprises of the need for network security would continue to grow.

"But we can't forget there are unfavourable economic factors," Shwed told a news conference. "We expect to see similar growth rates to what we forecast last year."

Israel-based Check Point said it continues to take market share from competitors such as Cisco Systems and is expanding its addressable market.

The company's software blades architecture -- independent, modular software building blocks that prevent network intrusion and are bought on an annual subscription basis -- is selling strongly and boosting deferred revenue growth, he said.

Check Point also launched new appliances, which combine hardware and software, that have been well received in the market, he added.

"As cyber-attacks and security risks reach new levels of sophistication, customer expectations for their security infrastructure also increase," Shwed said.

Check Point has high hopes for its anti-bot software blade, which it plans to launch in early 2012. Bots are hard-to-detect pieces of software that invade networks.

CYBER WARFARE

Shwed said most of the cyber attacks experienced in Israel in recent days have been from bots. Check Point's new technology will help prevent such attacks.

Hackers disrupted online access to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, El Al Airlines and three banks on Monday, just days after an unidentified hacker proclaiming Palestinian sympathies posted the details of thousands of Israeli credit card holders on the Internet. [ID:nL6E8CG26X]

"What happened yesterday was an attack by thousands of computers around the world, some even in Israel," Shwed said, explaining that hackers from abroad manipulated computers in Israel without their users' knowledge by using bots.

Armed with nearly $2.9 billion in cash, Check Point is continuing to buy back shares and look for acquisitions.

"The Check Point story remains on very solid ground, and we believe its high-end appliances could become a growth driver in 2012 and beyond," Oppenheimer analyst Shaul Eyal said.

The company posted fourth-quarter earnings per diluted share of 84 cents, up from 73 cents a year earlier. Buoyed by gains across all key business activities, revenue rose 12 percent to a record $356.8 million.

Check Point had been forecast to earn 82 cents a share on revenue of $355.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"Significant strength in deferred revenue should more than quell any concern investors have over only $1 million in upside to street consensus," Citi analyst Walter Pritchard said in a note to clients.

For the first quarter Shwed forecast revenue of $305-$315 million and earnings per share before one-off items of 69-73 cents. The company is forecast by analysts to earn 72 cents on revenue of $313.6 million.

For all of 2012 he sees revenue of $1.345-$1.395 billion and EPS ex-items of $3.10-$3.20. It is forecast to post revenue of $1.381 billion and adjusted EPS of $3.16.

(Additional reporting by Steven Scheer)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/software/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120117/wr_nm/us_checkpoint

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Cee Lo's 'Anyway' Is 'A Little Dark,' Wallpaper. Says

Party starter worked with Weezer singer Rivers Cuomo on sultry single.
By Gil Kaufman


Cee Lo Green
Photo: Jay West/ Getty Images

You've probably heard Wallpaper.'s music on "Jersey Shore," and maybe you saw him tagged as one of Buzzworthy's 11 artists to watch in 2012.

The brainchild of rapper/songwriter/remixer Ricky Reed began as an attempt to bring some lighthearted fun to dance music with songs like "F---ing Best Song Everrr" and "#STUPiDFACEDD." But after gaining attention with a sax-blasting remix of Das Racist's "Combination Pizza Hut & Taco Bell," remixes of songs by Passion Pit and Local Natives, and an album and EP of party-starting originals, he's hooked up with two music legends for a deceptively tossed-off-sounding song called "Anyway."

"The hook wasn't right, you know, and every song needs a great hook, so who better than [Weezer singer/songwriter] Rivers Cuomo to come in and finish it up for us?" Reed said of his collabo with the geek-rock icon on Cee Lo Green's recently released sultry single. The tune — co-produced and co-written by Wallpaper. — appeared on the platinum edition of Green's Lady Killer album, released last month.

Getting to share a writing credit with Cuomo was yet another career highlight for Oakland, California's Reed, who signed with major label Epic Records late last year after a meeting with Epic CEO and "X Factor" judge L.A. Reid.

"It's a little dark," he said of the Green song, in which the singer recounts his many flaws. "In the co-write, I did a lot of the verse lyric, then Rivers came in with this really sentimental hook, which is kind of what the song needed. ... It needed to balance out. If there's anybody to be sentimental, it's Rivers, and if there's anyone to be f---ed up, it's me."

What do you think of the collaboration? Let us know in the comments!

Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677415/cee-lo-wallpaper-anyway.jhtml

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