US Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, left, answers a question while British Home Secretary, Charles Clarke watches in the background during the concluding Ministerial press conference on the final day of the UK Presidency G8 Justice and Home Affairs Ministers meeting in Sheffield, England, Friday June 17, 2005. Britain currently has the chair of the G8 and will host a leaders summit in Gleneagles, Scotland early in July 2005. (AP Photo/Jane Mingay)
The U.S. attorney general defended the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay on Friday, saying the U.S. government would evaluate the detention center but had no immediate plans of shutting it down.
Alberto Gonzales was speaking on the final day of a summit that drew interior ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations.
President Bush's government is under growing pressure to evaluate the usefulness of the U.S. prison camp in eastern Cuba, where some 520 men accused of links to Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime or the al-Qaida terror network are being held.
Some have been held for three years without charge.
"We have Guantanamo because there are people that are captured on the battlefield, and we need to hold them somewhere so they do not go back and fight against American soldiers or the soldiers of our allies fighting in Afghanistan," Gonzales said.
"There are no present plans to close Guantanamo, but we continue to look at every activity that we are engaged in, in the war on terror, to make sure that we are doing everything we can to effectively protect the people of the United States," he said.
Gonzales has been criticized for approving an August 2002 memo while he was White House counsel that said laws prohibiting torture do "not apply to the president's detention and interrogation of enemy combatants." The document also said "injury such as death, organ failure, or serious impairment of body functions" must occur for an incident to qualify as torture.
The men being held at Guantanamo Bay are considered enemy combatants, a classification that gives them fewer legal protections than prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions.
Among other issues discussed at the two-day summit was terrorism and the leaders agreed to launch a study on the motivation of terrorists and their recruitment.
Ministers from Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Russia, Japan, Italy and Canada also agreed to set up an international database to help tackle child pornography on the Internet, and develop another database to tackle human trafficking.
SAN DIEGO -- At Oracle AppsWorld 2002, Tomax Corporation announced the completion of tests verifying the ability of the Retail.net(R) application suite to support over 1,000 thin client point-of- sale (POS) devices from a single database server. This is a convincing demonstration of the retail-in-realtime(TM) strategy -- deploying a web-based architecture across a retail enterprise to simplify IT infrastructure maintenance and capture significant cost savings.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020109/TOMAXLOGO )
Tomax conducted scalability testing to benchmark the Retail.net Customer Management solution under conditions far more demanding than most retail environments experience. Specifically, the test was designed to examine the capability of Retail.net Customer Management to support large numbers of POS devices processing transactions concurrently. The results demonstrated the ability of the Retail.net suite to deliver prime-time applications to retail chains of any size.
"Retailers know they need to thin down the store, but they have real concerns about the ability for a WAN-based solution to scale. These performance results demonstrate that the largest retailers in the world can now deploy a thin solution like the Tomax Retail.net suite with confidence," says Virgil Fernandez, Chief Technology Officer for Tomax.
Oracle(R) technology played a key role in this success. In the test, the Retail.net application leveraged the Oracle database and application server combination for POS item lookups as well as transaction posting. Utilizing Oracle's shared server capabilities, the database was configured to initialize 20 servers with the option to have as many as 300 servers running at any one time, each server having the ability to support up to 1,000 POS devices. The solution completed the test with no degradation due to transaction volume.
To learn more about this achievement, visit www.retail.net/news/POSTest . About Tomax
Tomax Corporation is a leading provider of web-based solutions for retail operations and multichannel management. Tomax Retail.net(R) software enables retailers to create a retail-in-realtime(TM) infrastructure across the enterprise, supporting associates in stores and customers at the point of sale, kiosk, and online. Four primary components are available: Customer Management, Transaction Management, Portal/Workflow and Workforce Management. Retail.net components can be hosted by Tomax or the retailer and can be rapidly deployed and modified to support comprehensive requirements. Over 100 branded retail chains, in a variety of retail markets and representing thousands of stores, rely on Tomax solutions, including Franklin Covey, Ultimate Electronics, Gateway, Kroger, Snyders Drug Stores, TJ Maxx/Marshalls, WH Smith, and Benjamin Moore & Co.
About Oracle
Oracle Corporation provides the software that powers the Internet. For more information about Oracle, please call 650/ 506-7000.
Forward Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, management's beliefs, and certain assumptions made by us. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will" and variations of these words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various factors.
The ability of retailers to fully and successfully deploy the Retail.net solution and the retail-in-realtime approach is uncertain and dependent on various factors outside of the control of Tomax, including, but not limited to the size and sophistication of the retailer's operations, technical personnel, and specific implementation environment. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.
Tomax, Retail.net and retail-in-realtime are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Tomax Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. Certain other product names, brand names and company names may be trademarks or designations of their respective owners.
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Contact: Ravi Bagal of Tomax Corporation, +1-801-415-6428, rbagal@tomax.com
Website: http://www.tomax.com/
CHICAGO, March 1 /PRNewswire/ --
The tremendous growth in sources of investment and money management information has not decreased the need for professional advice among the nation's wealthiest households, according to a new report by Spectrem Group. In fact, says Spectrem, it may have contributed to increasing the demand for personal advisors.
"Despite the proliferation of magazines, TV and radio programs and Internet-based services offering investment news and information, we've seen a steady increase among the affluent in their reliance on advisors," said Judy Danielson, a director of the Chicago-based strategic consulting and research firm. Between 1998 and 2000, the use of professional advisors jumped from 61% to 74% among high net worth households -- those with $1 million or more of net worth, according to the study.
"Clients may be more informed about investment options, but they want help discerning the best choices. Like the role played by a personal shopper in a department store, they want their advisors to point them to the best choices to make their decision process simpler," Danielson said. "While we are not going back to the days of advisor dependence with an abdication of decision- making to the advisor, a new, advisor-assisted model has emerged," Danielson added.
Spectrem's 2000 Affluent Market Research Program-A Portrait of Wealth in America, studied the financial preferences and practices of the nation's 19 million households with incomes of $100,000 or higher and/or net worth of $500,000 or more (excluding primary residence). This group includes 6.3 million households with a net worth of over $1 million. These investors, while representing only about 6% of total U.S. households, currently control nearly 60% of the country's $18.6 trillion in investable assets.
An increasing number of affluent households have turned to independent advisors in recent years, the study notes. Today, over one-third of affluent investors consider an independent, such as a Registered Investment Advisor or Certified Financial Planner, to be their primary financial advisor, equaling the number who use a full service broker in this capacity. Why the interest in independents? "First, the importance of a prominent brand name in selecting an advisor is diminishing," says Danielson. "When choosing an advisor, high net worth households first look at the name and reputation of the advisor rather than the brand name of the company or firm the advisor works for. "
But the real story behind the success of independent advisors lies in their ability to develop deeper relationships and increased loyalty with their clients, she says.
"Independent advisors are perceived to listen to the needs of their clients and tailor investment recommendations specifically to those needs. And, as the independent advisors' recommendations have generally delivered good performance in the market, their clients are likely to act on these recommendations in the future."
Spectrem's Affluent Market Research report contains a broad range of additional information on the profile, attitudes and buying behaviors of affluent households.
Spectrem Group (www.spectrem.com) is a national provider of strategic consulting, market research and M&A advisory services to financial institutions. Headquartered in Chicago, Spectrem has offices in New York, Los Angeles and Hartford. Spectrem is an NFO WorldGroup company. NFO WorldGroup (www.nfow.com) is one of the world's leading providers of research-based marketing information and counsel. NFO is one of The Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG)
CONTACT:
Jeffrey Close
Spectrem Group
860.688.8821
jclose@spectrem.com
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 16, 1999--
Acquisition Further Strengthens its Position as the Leading
Network of Community Web Sites
FortuneCity.com, the largest and fastest growing international network of native language Web-based communities on the Internet, today announced the acquisition of Citeweb, one of the oldest and well-known community sites in France. Citeweb is already ranked as a top 25 French web site, according to the Media Metrix report for September 1999.
Launched in 1995 by three French students, Citeweb has grown organically to become one of the best-known destination sites among France's Web community. With more than 30,000 active users, Citeweb has a strong reputation for offering innovative tools and services for Web site builders.
"Citeweb currently records 12 million page impressions a month and has 30,000 registered users, making it a great asset for FortuneCity," commented President and CEO of FortuneCity, Peter Macnee. "It is well known that the largest Internet properties in each market command a high percentage of the advertising revenue. The combined reach and traffic of the two companies moves us further up the premier league of French Internet sites and into a similar position to our German and US operations.
Peter Macnee, President and CEO of FortuneCity.com said, "The acquisition of Citeweb is in line with FortuneCity's global expansion strategy. As an addition to our French native language Web site, FortuneCity.fr, Citeweb strengthens our presence in this market. They are a well-known and popular site within the local Internet community and currently a top-25 Web property in France. The clear synergies between FortuneCity.fr and Citeweb will enable us to seamlessly integrate Citeweb into the FortuneCity portfolio. We anticipate that Citeweb will significantly add to our 5.1 million unique monthly US visitors."
About FortuneCity.com
Founded in 1997, FortuneCity.com Inc. www.FortuneCity.com (Neuer Markt: FCT) is one of the largest and fastest growing international networks of native language Web-based communities on the Internet. The FortuneCity network, first to expand internationally, includes sites in English, German, Italian, Spanish, French, Swedish, Dutch and Portuguese. FortuneCity citizens are empowered to build their own free home pages, developing virtual homes where they can share ideas and experiences with members and visitors from around the world, join special interest groups and have a direct impact on the development of their community. FortuneCity.com was recently ranked 25th largest Web property in the United States according to the July 1999, Media Metrix. FortuneCity also operates the online community site AcmeCity.com in a 50/50 joint venture with Warner Bros. Online, a Time Warner Entertainment Company.
About Citeweb
Citeweb was launched in 1995. The site is a free web space provider similar to FortuneCity in style and content. It offers new as well as standard tools for web site building, for example, 400 pages of customisable, dynamic IP addresses and counters. It also gives its registered users the option of having a CGI script on the server as well as the ability to track links made to their home pages. Citeweb currently has 30,000 registered users and achieves 12 million page impressions per month and was recently ranked as a top 25 site in France by Media Metrix.
