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Anchors Away With RFID Smartbuoys
A new electronic mooring system billed as a boon for pampered boaters is also good for the environment since it eliminates the need for dropping a coral-killing anchor. The Italian-engineered MarPark system, launched on an experimental basis last summer in a few protected areas in Liguria and Sardinia, lets boaters cruise into idyllic bays and hook a rope with a rubber ring to a smartbuoy. Simple as that, they're safely harbored, no anchor necessary. And that's just the start. If they've reserved a water taxi or need supplies or services, a microchip in their SeaPass ring relays that info to an onshore service center. A text message reassures the skipper via mobile phone that all systems are go. Like many inventions, MarPark (mare means sea in Italian) was born out of frustration.
SBA Business Matchmaker (Small Businesses)
The U.S. Small Business Administration, SCORE and Business First have teamed up to present the 3rd Annual Western New York Small Business Expo and Matchmaker event. This unique opportunity will allow small businesses to meet with prime contractors and government agencies. The Matchmaking will take place in 10 minute sessions. Small businesses will have the opportunity to meet with agencies and primes and to introduce them to their products and services. Included in your registration is the opportunity to take advantage of a FREE Pre-Matchmaker Training Session (Highly recommended). This Selling to the Government/Primes training session will take place Thursday, April 17, 2008 at the SBA's offices, Niagara Center, 130 South Elmwood Avenue, Suite 463, Buffalo, NY 14202.
AP Poll Method, Questions and Results
The Associated Press-Ipsos poll on the 2008 presidential race was conducted Dec. 3-5 and is based on telephone interviews with a nationally representative random sample of 1,009 adults. The sample included 469 people who identified themselves as Democrats or who lean toward the Democratic Party, and 376 people who identified themselves as Republican or who lean toward the Republican Party. Digits in the phone numbers dialed were generated randomly to reach households with unlisted and listed landline numbers. Interviews were conducted in both English and Spanish. As is done routinely in surveys, results were weighted, or adjusted, to ensure that responses accurately reflect the population's makeup by factors such as age, sex, region and race. No more than one time in 20 should chance variations in the sample cause the results to vary by more than plus or minus 3.1 percentage points from the answers that would be obtained if all people in the U.S.
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