The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

PROFNET WIRE: BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY: Port Security/Housing Market

 ROUND-UP

  Port Security (continued, 1 expert)
  Housing Market (continued, 1 expert)

  LEADS

  1.  Automotive: Auto Industry Facing New Struggles
  2.  Business: Save Money by Conducting a Treasure Hunt of Existing IT
  Assets
  3.  Business: Concern About AT&T-Bellsouth Merger
  4.  Careers: Purpose Powers Our Careers
  5.  Personal Finance: Evaluating College Financial Aid Award Packages
  6.  Personal Finance: How New College Graduates Are Managing Money
  7.  Personal Finance: Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud Hurts Everyone
  8.  Personal Finance: ID Theft Protection Tools are Out There
  9.  Retail: Giveaways Bring Brisk Business
  10. Technology: Implicit Search Technology
  11. Technology: The Truth About RFID Technology, aka Spychips
  12. Tech: Adoption of 3D Facial Recognition Drives Civil, Commercial
  Markets
  13. Tech: AT&T-Bellsouth Deal's Effect on Telecom Equipment Manufacturers

  ROUND-UP: PORT SECURITY (continued)

ProfNet added the following to items posted previously at http://profnet.prnewswire.com/organik/orbital/thewire/lst_leads.jsp?iLRTopicI D=13263

1. IVAN ELAND, senior fellow at THE INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE: "Under pressure from Congress, Dubai Ports World has announced it will shift control of port operations to a U.S. company. This will have a negative effect on future foreign investment in the U.S. Our economy needs $3 billion daily in capital inflow. Foreign companies will not know if the deal they've spent so much time and money preparing could potentially fall through, or whether once they obtain U.S. assets, they will be able to find a buyer, should they ever want to sell. Even worse than the blockage of this specific deal is the proposal by some members of Congress to tighten the process for 'security review,' which will only deter future foreign investments." News Contact: Wendy Honett, whonett@independent.org Phone: +1-510-632-1366, ext. 119 (3/13/06)

ROUND-UP: HOUSING MARKET (continued)

ProfNet has added the following to items posted previously at http://profnet.prnewswire.com/organik/orbital/thewire/lst_leads.jsp?iLRTopicI D=9497

1. JAMES SACCACIO, CEO of REALTYTRAC, a leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, can discuss the rapidly changing real estate industry and offer expert commentary on foreclosures, For-Sale-By-Owners (FSBOs), Real Estate Owned properties (REOs) and more. RealtyTrac publishes the largest national database of pre-foreclosure and foreclosure properties, with more than 600,000 properties from over 2,500 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and AOL Real Estate. News Contact: Jennifer Olson, jennifer@atomicpr.com Phone: +1- 415-439-4209 (3/13/06)

LEADS

1. AUTOMOTIVE: AUTO INDUSTRY FACING NEW STRUGGLES. STEPHEN C. STAPLETON, bankruptcy attorney at COWLES & THOMPSON, P.C.: "Dana Corp. has joined a growing list of auto parts manufacturers that have sought bankruptcy protection, a move sure to increase pressure on the embattled domestic auto industry. For example, Ford could be asked to lend Dana money or pay higher prices for parts. Ford, GM and other U.S. automakers are laying off workers and closing plants in a last-ditch attempt to turn the industry around. And GM announced it will freeze traditional white-collar pension plans. American automakers aren't likely to go bankrupt anytime soon, but the ripple effect from recent events is reminiscent of what happened to the airline industry." News Contact: Alan Bentrup, alan@legalpr.com Phone: +1-800-559-4534 (3/13/06)

2. BUSINESS: SAVE MONEY BY CONDUCTING A TREASURE HUNT OF EXISTING IT ASSETS. ALEX ZATUCHNY, EVP of THE REVERE GROUP, an IT consulting firm: "Ever found some loose change in your sofa cushions? Business organizations can find tens of thousands of dollars worth of 'loose change' in their already existing IT assets if they just perform a treasure hunt in their organizations. Many organizations have invested vast amounts of money on IT software, and few have realized the capabilities of these powerful tools, such as lowering costs, improving strategy, increasing efficiency and what it means to their institutions in terms of solving complex business problems. Without a clear understanding of what 'treasures' they have, organizations and IT departments may end up wasting unnecessary money, time and effort on other software initiatives that will go against their current software they need to implement better." The Revere Group will demonstrate the idea of a treasure hunt in a free webinar March 23. News Contact: Elvin Yavuz, eyavuz@reveregroup.com Phone: +1-312-873-3463 Web site: http://www.reveregroup.com/events_detail.aspx?filter=&id=109 (3/13/06)

3. BUSINESS: CONCERN ABOUT AT&T-BELLSOUTH MERGER. THOMAS J. BLILEY, JR., former chairman of the House Commerce Committee and leading author of the Telecommunications Act of 1996: "I hate to say it, but poor Judge Greene is probably spinning in his grave. It took us a decade in Congress to bring real competition to the marketplace after the judicial breakup of AT&T's monopoly. Well, it's Groundhog Day. We can only hope that Congress, the Justice Department and the FCC are going to look out for America's business and residential consumers." News Contact: Deborah Danuser, deborah.danuser@sightlinemarketing.com Phone: +1-202-342-8415 (3/13/06)

4. CAREERS: PURPOSE POWERS OUR CAREERS. RANDY SIEGEL, The Career Engineer, POWERHOUSE COMMUNICATIONS, is a recognized communications trainer who helps businesspeople discover more meaning in their work and lives: "Polls show Americans are no happier today than they were 50 years ago despite an overall better quality of life. The trappings of success -- wealth, titles and recognition -- are threadbare if we have no purpose. In short, purpose is the rudder that guides our lives and the fuel that powers our careers." Siegel works with clients to develop an infrastructure strong enough to support their job search or advancement using a proprietary process he developed that examines personhood, purpose, persona (personal branding) and presence. News Contact: Michelle Tennant, michelle@tennant.org Phone: +1-828-749-3200 (3/13/06)

5. PERSONAL FINANCE: EVALUATING COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID AWARD PACKAGES. MARTHA HOLLER, spokesperson for SALLIE MAE: "The arrival of a school's financial aid award package is the moment of truth for families of college- bound students. A financial aid award package can include a combination of grants, scholarships, work study or student loans. All financial aid award packages are not created equal. It is important to compare award packages on an apples-to-apples basis so you can make an educated decision." Holler can provide tips for understanding and evaluating financial aid award packages and meeting the gap between aid offered and cost of attendance. News Contact: Erin Korsvall, erin.korsvall@slma.com Phone: +1-703-984-5136 (3/13/06)

6. PERSONAL FINANCE: HOW NEW COLLEGE GRADUATES ARE MANAGING MONEY. DR. GARY BERG, chair of ARGOSY UNIVERSITY/ATLANTA's College of Business and Information Technology, can comment on the importance of a college graduate's fiscal responsibility as he or she enters the "real world": "Students discover credit card financing early on, leading to the notion of looking in a wallet and knowing you have the power to charge more than you should. Graduates know that bankers have the money they need, and often the loans they have taken out to pay for their education. But bankers and accountants aren't responsible to pay back the loans -- the graduate is." News Contact: Mark C. Toth, mtoth@edmc.edu Phone: +1-412-995-7263 (3/13/06)

7. PERSONAL FINANCE: REAL ESTATE AND MORTGAGE FRAUD HURTS EVERYONE. RALPH R. ROBERTS, president of RALPH ROBERTS REALTY, and a recognized authority on real estate and mortgage fraud, is available to discuss what the FBI calls one of the fastest growing white-collar crimes in the United States today: "Every day, in every city and town across the country, real estate industry professionals and consumers alike participate in fraudulent real estate transactions. Many are fulfilling a carefully orchestrated scheme, while others are sincerely unaware that their actions could bring them indictments, convictions, fines and significant time spent in jail. They believe what they're doing is legal and condoned because 'so many established people are doing the same thing.' The key to preventing and detecting real estate and mortgage fraud is knowledge and education. Committing fraud is no accident, so neither should stopping it be one." News Contact: Mikal E. Belicove, mikal@belicove.com Phone: +1-317-201-928 (3/13/06)

8. PERSONAL FINANCE: ID THEFT PROTECTION TOOLS ARE OUT THERE. STEVEN CAMP, attorney at GARDERE WYNNE SEWELL LLP: "Consumers who research identity theft solutions will find there are tools available to help protect their personal information. A handful of states have laws allowing restricting access to credit reports, which is particularly useful when an ID thief tries to open a new account, but the business won't do it without first seeing the credit report. Federal law also lets theft victims put a 'fraud alert' in their report to put potential lenders on notice. Additionally, consumers should shred sensitive documents, get a locking mailbox, carefully review monthly bank and credit-card statements, and periodically review credit reports." News Contact: Rhonda Reddick, rhonda@legalpr.com +1-800-559-4534 (3/13/06)

9. RETAIL: GIVEAWAYS BRING BRISK BUSINESS. PEARL MINTZER, president of New York-based L & M MARKETING and a veteran designer and retail marketing expert, says big retailers have themselves to blame for sagging sales: "The big stores are too slow to pick up trends before they peak. Gift-with- purchase giveaway promotions spur sales only when they are on-trend, and large American retailers move so slowly they often miss the trend, and promos fall flat. Speed is of the essence." Mintzer says she also sees other reasons for continuing sluggish retail sales. News Contact: Jacqueline Herships, jacquelineh@bycommunications.com Phone: +1-973-763-7555 (3/13/06)

10. TECHNOLOGY: IMPLICIT SEARCH TECHNOLOGY. DR. JAY BUDZIK, CTO of INTELLEXT and co-inventor of the company's Watson search tool, can provide journalists with industry insight on the rapidly changing online search market and the emerging trend of implicit search techniques: "The market for contextual, implicit search technology is relatively small right now, with larger companies such as Google and Yahoo dominating the field with manually used search boxes. We believe, however, that the adoption levels for implicit search tools will begin to rise as more people realize that this technology can do the same thing for their computers that TiVo did for their televisions. Implicit search tools automatically search for relevant information based on whatever someone is doing on a computer. There is never a need to manually type a search, and information is always on hand should someone need it. So as Web 2.0 becomes more of a reality, the standard for online search will begin to shift from a reactive/pull to a proactive/push model." News Contact: Jeremy R. Adams, Jeremy.Adams@edelman.com Phone: +1- 312-233-1226 (3/13/06)

11. TECHNOLOGY: THE TRUTH ABOUT RFID TECHNOLOGY, AKA SPYCHIPS. NICHOLAS CHAVEZ, president of RFID LTD in Denver, can discuss the pros and cons of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which uses an implanted chip to trace whereabouts of inventory and human beings using radio frequency: "RFID is the new technology that already has made bar codes obsolete. Some people have become needlessly alarmed because RFID chips can be implanted under the skin and trace humans. Those with an open mind can learn why there really is nothing to fear." An executive for IBM at age 17, Chavez became a leading entrepreneur by his mid-20s. News Contact: Scott Lorenz, scottlorenz@comcast.net Phone: +1-734-667-2098 (3/13/06)

12. TECHNOLOGY: GOV'T ADOPTION OF 3D FACIAL RECOGNITION DRIVING CIVIL, COMMERCIAL MARKETS. GRANT EVANS, CEO of A4VISION (Applications for Vision): "Timely convergence of multiple factors position 3D facial biometrics for adoption across many markets. More than 140 countries have mandated biometrics -- facial and fingerprint -- in National ID and ePassport programs. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) specifies only 3D for facial recognition. 3D facial recognition implementations in airports, frequent traveler programs, ePassport and National Identity programs are imminent. 3D facial recognition is very fast, non-invasive and requires minimum cooperation. Except for new speed at security checkpoints, users may hardly notice the technology. U.S. and international production standards are forthcoming." News Contact: Suzanne Matick, smatick@earthlink.net Phone: +1- 831-479-1888 (3/13/06)

13. TECHNOLOGY: AT&T-BELLSOUTH DEAL'S EFFECT ON TELECOM EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS. BROOK BROWN, partner at MCGINNIS, LOCHRIDGE & KILGORE, L.L.P.: "Investigators will likely consider whether the combined entity would adversely affect competition in telecommunications services, but also in design and development of equipment for telecom and Internet Protocol (IP) services. The combined entity may wield considerable control over equipment markets. In the past, a substantial concern of the courts was the combined Bells' effect on equipment markets, which could stifle innovation and competition." News Contact: Deborah Danuser, deborah.danuser@sightlinemarketing.com phone: +1-202-342-8415 (3/13/06)

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PRNewswire -- March 13

IN: AUT FIN TRN
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NOTE TO EDITORS: The following experts have provided direct contact information: Martha Holler, Sallie Mae, martha.holler@slma.com Phone: +1-703-984-5178 Ralph P. Roberts, Ralph Roberts Realty, +1-586-751-0000