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Below is the monthly newsletter sent by Blurb. The verdict is in. Our new Premium Paper in lustre finish is a hit and we're so excited that we're back at you with another opportunity to try it. And we'll pick up the tab. All you have to do is place an order with two or more books before the end of May. When you do, tick the Premium Paper box, choose lustre (it has a hint of gloss) or matte finish, apply the code in the shopping cart and we'll cover the cost of the paper you choose. We're talking paper that's 35% heavier than our already great standard offering. Really good stuff. No need to wait. Treat your book like the first-class citizen of the coffee table that it is. Order copies of existing books or make a new one for those big events coming up. Graduation, Father's Day, your Photography Book Now submission…. you know what we're saying.     * USD $ coupon code: MAYPREMIUM     * GBP £ coupon code: MAYPREMIUM1     * EUR € coupon code: MAYPREMIUM2 ...

by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison "We all have passions. Some of us have been fortunate enough to pursue our passions as our professions. Most of us have not. But all too often those who are passionate about their work are frustrated with their employers and bosses. They are not satisfied. Far from it. They want to do more, but they feel held back. This manifesto is for them—the "passionate creatives" of the world. Together passionate creatives have more power than they realize. But that power comes from a surprising place." 

by Charlene Li "What's often missing when leaders try to decide how open they should be is a coherent open strategy, something I call ' open-driven objectives .' With an open strategy, decision shifts from if you should be open—because social technology demands a certain amount of openness—to how open you need to be to accomplish your overall strategic goals. In today's world, organizations and their leaders must be open or suffer the consequences—distrust, leaks, resentment, and institutional sclerosis." 

Agence France-Presse Nigeria president Umaru Yar'Adua has died , an official at his office confirmed late Wednesday. "It is true that the president is dead," an official at the office said. Yar Adua died between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. (2030 and 2130 GMT) Wednesday, according to a report on the website of Nigerian newspaper This Day. The president, whose failing health had forced him to relinquish power to his deputy Goodluck Jonathan in February, spent three months being treated in a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for an acute heart condition. Since his return to Nigeria in February, Adua, 58, had not been seen in public, but there was constant tension between his supporters and those of Acting President Jonathan.

news from Coffeecup Software: With more power, faster transfer speeds, and increased control, we know you're going to love it. Can you say multi-threaded batch transfers? Don't worry, you don't have to. We did everything possible to add more control, power, and speed without compromising Direct FTP's friendly face.  You can upload and download to your heart's content with greater speed and reliability than ever before. In fact, it's so easy to use that we're considering petitioning Wikipedia to put Direct FTP as the entry for "user friendly." We're user friendly too, so this upgrade is free for you. (Yay!) Go ahead, try it for yourself and let us know what you think. Also: If you look close, you'll see our new "check for updates" feature. Start smiling now, 'cause it means a whole lot of good stuff is coming your way soon! Go Get Your Free Upgrade! Want more good news? Who doesn't? Since we're all about user friendli...

By ROWENA JOY A. SANCHEZ, Manila Bulletin "The Back-up Plan" No hubby? Have a(n inseminated) baby! That was Zoe's (Jennifer Lopez) back-up plan for herself when things didn't work well on the love front. But as Fate always and never fails to play around hopeful and even not-so-hopeful hearts, she meets Stan (Alex O'Loughlin), a cheese maker whose name kind of rhymes with "The One." That, in a nutshell, is the premise of "The Back-up Plan," which is the singer-actress formerly known as J. Lo's comeback film. It may not be that gigantic of a comeback film for Lopez (whose last film was released three years ago), but "Back-up Plan" has got heart. Directed by Alan Poul and written by Kate Angelo, the rom-com, in spite of its simplicity and predictability, has a lot of "haha" and "aww" moments that proved to be quite appealing to female audiences. Motherhood must have served J.Lo well, as she portrayed...

By ROWENA JOY A. SANCHEZ "The Losers" As they say, don't mess with the losers, 'coz they've got nothing to lose. "The Losers" is another one of those comic book-to-big screen projects that seem to be a favorite in Hollywood productions these days. Though action-packed to the core, director Sylvain White surely didn't run out of ways to tickle the funny bones. Based on Andy Diggle's 32-issue comic book of the same name, the story looks into the lives of five US Special Forces soldiers (Clay, Jensen, Roque, Cougar and Pooch) who were assigned to a search-and-destroy-mission at a Bolivian jungle. However, they discover that the "destroy" part is actually for them, instigated by war-hungry man Max. Enter Aisha, a hot, mysteriously generous woman with a proposition: Help the Losers take revenge, get Max for her. Fast-paced shots and a thumping musical score fit the action-packed scenes perfectly. But it's the injection of fun in those ...

Local boxers continued their dominance by outshining their rivals last week in Mandaue City.    Other fighters in the winning bracket included Hipolito Banal, who was reported to be the son the late Hipolito Sr., and brother of AJ "Bazooka" Banal of Corella, Bohol . the younger Banal is raised in Barangay Ermita, Cebu City. Tagbilaran City boxers outclassed local pugs in the Mayor Jonas Cortes Boxing at the Park-Amateur Boxing Series at the Mandaue Plaza Square. The visiting boxers bagged four wins in the 36kg, 39kg, 46kg, and 48kg divisions to rule the event. Winners for Tagbilaran were Orville King Olaivar, Kenneth Gentallan, Jessel Magsayo and Bernard Torres.

For all who have ever had any dealings with the banks..... This is an actual letter sent to a Bank in the US. The Bank thought it amusing enough to publish it in the New York Times. Dear Bank Manager, I am writing to thank you for bouncing the cheque with which I endeavoured to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations some three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the cheque, and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honour it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire  salary, an arrangement which, I admit, has only been in place for eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account with $50 by way of penalty for the inconvenience I caused your bank. My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to re-think my errant financial ways. You have set me on the path of fiscal righteousness. No more will our relationship be blighted by ...

This is not an answering machine -- this is a telepathic thought-recording device.  After the tone, think about your name, your reason for calling, and a number where I can reach you, and I'll think about returning your call. Thank you for calling Soviet Embassy.  No KG...  Er, no diplomats are able to answer phone, so at sound of capitalist tone, leave name, telephone number, and short description of secrets you wish to sell. (In a bored voice:)  Heaven, God speaking... Lucifer speaking.  Who in hell do you want? Greetings, you have reached the Sixth Sense Detective Agency. We know how you are and what you want, so at the sound of the tone, please hang up. Sherwood Forest.  Which dear do you want? Hello, this is the Brown residence.  We're in the middle of a family fight right now.  Leave your name and number at the beep and whoever wins will call you right back. My wife and I can't come to the phone right now, but if you'll leave your name and number, we'll g...

A Zimbabwe politician has been quoted as saying that children should study this year's U.S. presidential election closely, because it shows that election fraud is not only a third world phenomena. In that spirit, consider the recent proceedings from a slightly different perspective: 1. Imagine that we read of an election occurring anywhere in the third world in which the self-declared winner was the son of the former prime minister and that former prime minister was himself the former head of that nation's secret police (CIA). 2. Imagine that the self-declared winner lost the popular vote but won based on some colonial holdover (Electoral College) from the nation's past. 3. Imagine that the self-declared winner's 'victory' turned on disputed votes cast in a province governed by his brother. 4. Imagine that the poorly drafted ballots of one district, a district heavily favoring the self-declared winner's opponent, led thousands of voters to vote...