Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq :ADBE) today announced that the E-3A department of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), with its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, plans to adopt Adobe Flex software and Adobe LiveCycle Data Services ES for its new Mission Support System (MSS). The system will help improve NATO’s operational readiness, by reducing the time to prepare for missions, and improve the delivery of information to flight crew members.

Adobe Flex technology is an open source development framework for fast, end-to-end development of rich Internet applications (RIA) that run identically on all major browsers and operating systems. Applications developed with Flex provide a more visual and interactive user experience, helping users to more quickly and easily assimilate information. With Adobe LiveCycle Data Services, applications can be developed that automatically synchronize data between client and server, provide real-time data push and publish/subscribe messaging, and enable collaborative and occasionally disconnected applications.

By delivering the new system as an RIA, NATO crew members will be able to put together mission briefs aggregated from over 80 different data sources, including information such as flight numbers, details about the region and routes to take refuge in case of an emergency. Mission briefs are highly visual electronic maps that show all the information they need to analyze, develop and deliver in preparation for a mission.

“We are always looking for ways to improve our efficiency, but only invest in technology that has proven to be reliable”, said Steve Lusardi and Gerry Van Tol, project officers for NATO. “Adobe Flex is accepted worldwide and provides us with a new opportunity to automate the flight preparation process and save valuable time. It goes without saying that it is crucial for the NATO crew to have access to relevant information. The visual electronic maps present all the information in an intuitive manner which makes the MSS very user-friendly.”

The multi-million dollar agreement consists of software licences, support and consultancy.
About NATO

NATO is an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe. The fundamental role of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries by political and military means. A number of strategic forces and aircraft make up the fleet of AWACS within NATO. The E-3A Component of AWACS is the world’s only integrated, multi-national flying unit, providing rapid deployment, airborne surveillance, command, control and communication for NATO operations.

Now, there’s a new service called SugarSync that keeps your files replicated and synchronized across all your computers, whether they are Windows PCs or Macs. It even offers limited file synchronization on certain smart phones. The service is from a Silicon Valley company called Sharpcast and is available at sugarsync.com.
Walt Mossberg says with the exception of a few limitations, SugarSync is a terrific product for keeping your files synchronized across multiple computers — PCs and Macs — and even on certain smart phones.

Not only does SugarSync place the latest version of every file you designate for syncing on all your chosen computers, but it also creates an archive of these files on a special, password-protected Web page. That way, you can access the latest version of any file even when you are at a public or borrowed computer that lacks the SugarSync software.

I have been testing SugarSync on five different computers — three Windows PCs and two Macs — as well as on a Treo smart phone. I tried syncing everything from Excel spreadsheets to Word documents, from photos to songs to PDF documents.

TechCrunch
Personal Technology - WSJ.com

Discounting the ongoing recount movements in Michigan and Florida, which could throw those states’ delegates back into the mix and Hillary back in the overall lead, the Senator from Illinois has momentum (two straight wins in Wyoming and Mississippi) and a clear delegate lead as we head into Pennsylvania in less than a week.

The past is often a good predictor of the future, and recent (very) historical indicators point to an eventual Obama-McCain title fight, with early odds giving Obama the slightest of edges. Let’s look at a couple of these indicators, one pertaining to the Democratic narrative, and the other to the general election, that let us make such a bold prediction:

Trend One: Obama continues to rake in the cash – lots of it

Sure, Hillary had a strong February, with a $35million fundraising haul. But Obama took it to another level, raising a record $55million during those same 29 days. $45million of that total originated online, including 90 percent coming by way of incremental, individual donations of $100 or less. We think this Internet thing may catch on, after all.

(more…)

An effective brand/response campaign combines branding ads across television, radio, print and online media channels, and joining them with response vehicles such as direct mail and e-mail. A successful marketer ties it all back to a centralized prospect database. The database connects these individual media channels into a closed-loop marketing system, adding power without increasing the media expenditure. It’s like fitting a Harley cruiser with a turbojet engine.

A well-executed brand/response campaign builds awareness, identifies qualified prospects and then leads them along the purchase path with a series of communications designed to educate and inform. Each message includes a purchase incentive and purchase mechanism. Over time, prospects progress from general interest, to desire, to conviction, and finally to buying your product or service. This approach recognizes the disparate levels of interest and purchase conviction among prospective consumers. It treats each one accordingly, without letting qualified prospects fall through the cracks because of some ill-suited, one-size-fits-all approach. (more…)

Today, we’re talking with Giovanni (Gio) Galluci, Search and Social Media Evangelist. Gio writes strategy for new developments in social media, search and technology, and functions as top level contact to assist clients, staff and partners in determining technology and media requirements and solutions for DexterityMedia. You can follow the link to view the website. Gio created DexterityMedia, social media website directory, socialtrackr.com, and posts almost daily on his blog, TheAgencyBlog.com.

Galluci is on the faculty of xTrain providing training on podcasting and social media, and is a speaker at various industry events including ad:tech, FlashForward, Got Social Media?, Search Engine Watch Live! eMarketing Summit, and macworld.

Good morning, Gio.

Gio: Good morning.

Delia: Do you feel that social media will still be the hot topic of 2008?

Gio: Absolutely! In fact, I think that 2008 is going to be somewhat of a honeymoon for social media the same way that search enjoyed its day in the sunshine a couple of years ago. So, there’s so much stuff that encompasses the phrase or the term, social media. In particular though, I think, we’re looking at a very, very hot year for video. And that just comes from consumer-generated content and how marketers can use it, and technologists can use it as well as social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Bebo and places like that. (more…)

What does any of this mean from an online marketing standpoint? Well, it’s a mixed bag. Candidates are surely spending loads of cash on display advertising and socking away tens of millions of monthly impressions. At the same time, they’re investing in website development that’s allowing online visitors to view candidate videos, make instant campaign donations, sign-up for local volunteer efforts and meetings, and otherwise jumpstart viral campaigns that run less on money and more on word of mouth. In a phrase, the 08 online campaign season is shaping up to be consistently unpredictable.

Overall, there are two important lessons to be learned.

Lesson One: A wave of political advertisements, paid and otherwise, are flooding the ether. (more…)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYEf8XZKlUU

As with paid search, these sites operate with auction-based format, so click costs vary significantly depending on the number of advertisers interested in placements. While there may be upwards of 20+ advertisers bidding for placement, you need not be in the top bids to receive exposure The ads do rotate so a lower bid means you will likely get fewer impressions but since most of the top-tier sites within the network (e.g. Forbes.com, BusinessWeek.com) get millions of impressions per day it is possible to run an effective and cost efficient campaign without bidding for the top spot.

In some cases ad length is slightly longer (50 character headline, 100 character ad) than paid searches 35-character per line. Ads are often featured towards the bottom of the page and typically there will be 4 or 5 ‘sponsored listings’ displayed

Caveats
Be aware that, like with paid search, not every program at the same cost-per-lead (CPL ) so campaign structure, site selection and ad text are important factors in the success of these campaigns. Since CPL is a function on your CPC and Conversion rate, careful monitoring of your CPC is essential. Some of the ad networks do not provide conversion data requiring you to track these internally then reconciling to determine the number of leads and the cost for that lead.

Most PPC ad networks are set up so that you campaign is set to a fixed monthly budget rather than a daily budget. Since there is no guarantee or limit on the number of clicks you will receive as you campaign launches, it is recommended that during the first week of a campaign you adjust the bids on a daily basis in order to manage to your monthly budget.

Recommended PPC Networks
Below are a few of the better PPC networks currently available to advertisers.

Industry Brains www.IndustryBrains.com:
Industry Brains offers placements on top-tier sites, including Forbes.com, USAToday.com and BusinessWeek.com

CPC on IB can vary greatly, a minimum bid typically ranges between $1 and $2 and maximum bids can run as high as $15. It is possible to manage a successful campaign with an average bid of between $3 and $4.

Industry Brains works off of a set monthly budget rather than a daily budget, so careful monitoring of campaign spend is required to ensure your budget is not used up prior to the end of the month.

Quigo (AdSonar) www.Quigo.com
Quigo’s AdSonar (which was recently acquired by AOL) offers a variety of targeting options. In addition to specific site placements, you can target locally (geo-targeting), by area of interest or by site content or topic.

Quigo works on a daily budgeting model and minimum bids on their network start about $0.35 and go up from there. The average bid on most of their sites is slightly over $2 but can be as high as $5 for very competitive slots.

Pulse360 www.pulse360.com
Pulse360 offers a variety of targeting options; site-specific, content, local, regional, demographic and behavioral. They have some very reputable sites in their network including WSJ.com, Fox.com, etc.

Each of these networks listed above offer online registration and typically requires pre-payment of your monthly budget or some funds on account before they will allow your ads to run. As you establish a campaign history they are likely to extend credit terms and offer access to an account rep that can assist with account set-up and act as a point of contact.

To download the free PDF, go to: blog.dfwsem.org/archives/51-essential-tools-for-the-search-engine-marketer