NaviSite Appoints Peter Castello Vice President of Client Management

ANDOVER, MA -- 02/14/08 -- NaviSite, Inc. (NASDAQ: NAVI), a leading provider of managed applications and hosting services, announced today that Peter Castello has been appointed the Company's Vice President of Client Management. Castello comes to NaviSite with more than 12 years of customer experience at AT&T, where he served as Vice President of Enterprise Accounts in New England, representing more than $250 million in annual revenue.
In his new role at NaviSite, Castello will be responsible for the nurture, retention and expansion of client accounts by enhancing service-levels and strengthening relationships. With NaviSite's broad portfolio of application management and managed hosting services, Castello will work to ensure that each customer is matched with the best combination of products and services NaviSite has to offer. Castello's appointment reflects NaviSite's commitment to superior customer service as well the goal of responding to each customer's changing needs and requirements.

"We are excited to have Pete join us to lead this key focus area of our business," said Mark Clayman, Senior Vice President of Hosting Services, NaviSite. "His demonstrated ability, industry knowledge and deep expertise in strengthening customer relationships will play an important role as he and his team focus on building and strengthening customer service and relations."

Prior to AT&T, Castello served as an Account Manager and Analyst for the Beneficial Insurance Group of the Beneficial Finance Corp. He holds an M.B.A. degree from Lehigh University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science from Pennyslvania State University. In addition, Castello has served as a board member of the AT&T Global Business Forum and the Leadership Development Program.

About NaviSite

NaviSite is a leading provider of managed applications and hosting services. Customers depend on NaviSite for application development, implementation and management on its web infrastructure platforms in 16 state-of-the art data centers supported by more than 700 professionals. NaviSite provides customized and scalable solutions leveraging its broad range of application development capabilities, packaged software implementation expertise, deep portfolio of best in class technologies and a full suite of web-hosting and internet infrastructure options. For more information, please visit www.navisite.com.

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Contacts:
Dennis Garrigan
NaviSite, Inc.
978.946.8727
dgarrigan@navisite.com

Gretchen Bender
Greenough Communications
617.275.6526
gbender@greenoughcom.com

Webplus, Inc. to Offer Free Online Store Trial to Those Looking For Web Store Hosting

Webplus, Inc., the leader in hosted ebusiness solutions, announced today that it has begun offering a free 30 day trial of its award-winning Webplus Shop online store creation software and web hosting. Prospective emerchants may go to Webplus Shop to begin setting up their very own web store instantly and pay nothing for the first 30 days. There is no obligation to continue beyond the first 30 days and the store is completely functional and able to sell products and accept orders during that period.

Aberdeen, SD (PRWEB) February 13, 2008 -- Webplus, Inc., the leader in hosted ebusiness solutions, announced today that it has begun offering a free 30 day trial of its award-winning Webplus Shop online store creation software and web hosting. Prospective emerchants may go to Webplus Shop to begin setting up their very own web store instantly and pay nothing for the first 30 days. There is no obligation to continue beyond the first 30 days and the store is completely functional and able to sell products and accept orders during that period.



Webplus Shop is the easy, affordable way to sell online. The proprietary software has been in development since 1996 and is able to sell anything from homemade socks to truck shocks online to a worldwide audience 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through your very own online store. Ecommerce hosting packages start at just $14.95 per month with no "percent of sale" fees. With Webplus Shop, small businesses can set up an online store in under an hour and begin selling online instantly with a professional looking website that sells product.

"The response that we've received to our latest release of Webplus Shop has been very encouraging in this time of economic uncertainty," said Bryan Kreich, COO Webplus, Inc. "Our 30 day free trial is perfect for those who are looking for other avenues to sell their products online without paying high listing fees and percentages of their online sales. We charge a flat rate based on the number of products that merchants wish to list for sale in their online store meaning that merchants keep 100% of their profits. Our customer support specialists are standing by for those who feel overwhelmed by taking their business and products online. Feel free to give us a call at 1-866-338-8883 and one of our representatives will be happy to walk you through the Webplus Shop Merchant Interface. With Webplus, we handle the technical side of things so that our merchants can focus on one thing, selling their products."

For more information on Webplus Shop or to begin setting up a free trial store, please go to Webplus Shop, email us at hosting(at)webplus.com or give us a call at 1-866-338-8883.

About Webplus, Inc.
Established in 1994, Webplus, Inc. is a leading provider of web based business solutions. Webplus, Inc. develops, markets, and supports the talentsoft line of development tools, middleware, and ecommerce solutions. Webplus's flagship products include Webplus a robust web application server and development language, Webplus Shop an ecommerce solution for small businesses, and Shipping Sidekick a shipping rate and transit time comparison software. Millions of copies of Webplus's software have been distributed to over 100 countries via online and traditional channels. Webplus's mission is to deliver affordable, simple, robust, and localized software solutions for Small-to-Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) through partnering with local solution providers and value-added resellers around the world.

Contact Information
Bryan Kriech
1-866-338-8883
bryank(at)webplusshop.com

Memo Pad: VF Supports The Writers By Not Partying...

VF SUPPORTS THE WRITERS BY NOT PARTYING: The Hollywood writers' strike may be close to ending, but Vanity Fair has canceled its famed Academy Awards party. "After much consideration, and in support of the writers and everyone else affected by this strike, we have decided that this is not the appropriate year to hold our annual Oscar party," the magazine said in a statement on its Web site. "We want to congratulate all of this year's nominees and we look forward to hosting our 15th Oscar party next year."

The timing surprised some, as close watchers of the Writers Guild of America strike — enacted more than 90 days ago — have been more optimistic this week about a resolution, though doubts remain.

In mid-December, editor in chief Graydon Carter told WWD of the party, "We're going ahead as planned, although we have made provisions for a shorter-than-usual ceremony. Since it's all hypothetical at the moment, it's difficult to comment further."

Sources close to the magazine said many staff members had urged Carter to cancel the event, but that he had still hoped the strike would be settled in time. Said a spokeswoman for Vanity Fair, "I think Graydon talked to a lot of people in L.A., and the feeling was that even if the strike is over, life won't go back to normal in Hollywood, and we didn't feel it was appropriate to throw a big party given that fact." Were the strike to be resolved in time for the Oscars to go on, the party would still be off.

One thing is clear about the timing of the announcement: it's just in time for the newsstand date of Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue today. In that issue, the strike topic is tackled by columnist Michael Wolff. — Irin Carmon

EARLY VOTER: Earlier this week, WWD grilled editors on how they planned to juggle civic, sartorial and sporting responsibilities on Tuesday, but Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour's plans were an unanswered question until the day of. "I voted at seven this morning, after my tennis game," said Wintour from the front row of the Badgley Mischka show. She voted for a Democrat, she said, but declined to specify which one — perhaps in light of Wintour's stern rebuke of Sen. Hillary Clinton in her editor's letter this month after the candidate backed out of appearing on Vogue's cover. (Overheard a few rows back at the show: "I want to be Hillary Clinton's stylist!")

Blackboard Q4 Profit Surges; Revenues Up 23%; Sees Q1, FY08 EPS Below Wall Street View [BBBB]

2/5/2008 7:34:21 PM Tuesday after the bell, Blackboard Inc. (BBBB), a developer of online learning resources and Web-based academic forums announced that its fourth quarter profit surged from the year-ago period and handily topped Wall Street's profit target helped by a revenue growth of 23%. The company forecast its first quarter and full year 2008 earnings below analysts' estimates. Following the tepid outlook, the shares sank over 9% in after-hours.

The company's net income for the quarter climbed to $4.2 million or $0.14 per share from $201 thousand or $0.01 per share in the same period last year.

On a non GAAP basis, the education software provider's adjusted net income for the latest reporting period, excluding the amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets was $7.67 million or $0.25 per share, in comparison with $3.41 million or $0.12 per share in the same period a year before. On average, eight analysts polled by Thomson FirstCall expected the company to earn $0.24 per share for the quarter.

Total revenues for the quarter, comprising of Product revenues and Professional services revenues, rose to $63.2 million from $51.42 million in the year-ago period and surpassed analysts' consensus revenue estimate of $62.61 million. The company attributed the increase in revenue to the growth in its annual licensing of enterprise level products to global academic institutions as well as continued strong growth in its global ASP hosting business.

Product revenues, which form a major part of total revenues, were $57.36 million in the latest fourth quarter, compared to $46.79 million in the year earlier period. Professional services revenues for the quarter increased to $5.84 million from $4.62 million in the same period a year before.

For the year ended Dec.31, 2007, BlackBoard recorded a profit of $12.86 million or $0.43 per share, compared to a loss of $10.74 million or $0.39 per share in 2006.

On a non-GAAP basis, the company's adjusted net income rose to $26.25 million or $0.87 per share from $1.60 million or $0.06 per share in 2006.

The company's total revenues for the year surged to $239.45 million from $183.06 million in 2006. Wall Street analysts expected the company to earn $0.87 per share, on revenues of $238.79 million.

Seeking to move into the fast-growing alert and notification market, in January, Blackboard agreed to acquire privately-held NTI Group, Inc., for $182 million. NTI Group is a provider of mass messaging and notifications solutions for educational and government organizations via voice, email, SMS, and other text-receiving devices. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008 upon regulatory approval.

According to Blackboard, for fiscal year 2008, the effect of acquisition on its non-GAAP adjusted earnings, excluding the impact of purchase accounting adjustments on deferred revenues and non-recurring merger-related costs is expected to be slightly accretive and is anticipated to be dilutive on a GAAP basis.

Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2008, the company expects non GAAP adjusted bottom line, excluding the amortization of acquired intangibles and the associated tax impact, to range between a net loss of $500 thousand or $0.02 per share to net income of $300 thousand or $0.01 per share. Wall Street analysts have consensus earnings estimate of $0.20 per share for the quarter.

On a GAAP basis, for the first quarter of 2008, the company sees a net loss in the range of $5.7 - $4.9 million, resulting in a GAAP net loss per share of $0.18 - $0.16.

Blackboard forecast its revenue for the quarter to range between $64 and $66 million. On average, 9 analysts polled by Thomson FirstCall have a revenue consensus estimate of $64.61 million.

For the full year 2008, excluding the amortization of acquired intangibles and the associated tax impact, the company expects non GAAP adjusted net income of $18.8 - $22 million, resulting in non-GAAP adjusted net income per share of $0.58 - $0.68. The company's full year 2008 earnings forecast is well below Wall Street's expectation of $0.96 per share.

On a GAAP basis, the company sees a net loss for the full year 2008 in the range of $4.0 million or $0.12 per share to $800 thousand or $0.02 per share.

Blackboard anticipates revenues for the year to range between $306 and $314 million, well above the analysts' revenue consensus estimate of $281.41 million.

Blackboard's financial guidance for the first quarter and full year 2008 reflects the inclusion of the NTI Group Inc. starting January 31, 2008, the effective date of the acquisition. The company said that its 2008 revenue related to NTI deferred revenue will be about $12 million lower than what NTI would have recognized as an independent company. NTI's revenue for 2007 is expected to be approximately $30 million, which would represent an annual growth rate of more than 50% over 2006.

When former NTI clients pay annually on their license agreements, Blackboard will recognize revenue for the fair value of these agreements over the term of the renewal, which is generally one year. Blackboard said it's 2008 results will also be negatively impacted by approximately $5 million in merger and integration related expenses from the NTI acquisition.

The stock is in Bearish phase and has gained 10.7% from its recent low of $30.90, which was reported on Jan.22. BBBB currently trades below its 50-day moving average of $38.16 and 20-day moving average of $35.

BBBB closed Tuesday's regular trade down 2.03% or $0.71 at $34.21 on a volume of 295,531 shares. In after-hours, the stock shed another 9.24% or $3.16 and was at $31.05.

Q&A: IP Version 6

On 4 February a milestone was reached in the net's move to a new addressing system based on a technology known as IP Version 6 (IPv6). Here we attempt to explain what it is and why it is important.

What is IPv6?

The IP in IPv6 stands for Internet Protocol and this is one of the foundational technologies that helps keep the global network running.

Every computer connected to the net has a unique IP address which ensures that it can be found if it is requesting data or sending it out.

Servers that host websites may have many IP addresses for the different sites they hold.

For instance, the IP address for news.bbc.co.uk is 212.58.226.75. Typing the numbers into a browser address bar will get you to the same place as typing the words.

Similarly, when you switch your home computer on and connect to the net it gets allocated an IP address so data you request, such as a video stream, reaches the right machine.

IPv6 is the sixth version of the internet protocol. The current version, IPv4, was dreamed up long before the modern boom in web use which has meant that the pool of unique addresses that it provides for is running out.

How does IPv6 help?

It helps simply because it has a vastly larger pool of unique addresses available.

The upper limit of addresses possible with IPv4 is 4,294,967,296. This seems a lot but, for a variety of reasons, only about 14% of this total is currently unallocated.

Estimates vary about when the pool will run out but most experts believe we only have three or four years left before the pool runs dry.

Just as phone numbers regularly need to expand to cope with growing numbers of users so the net has to expand to cope with its growth. IPv6 is the way that addresses get expanded.

How many addresses can IPv6 support?

The short answer is: lots. The long answer is: an unimaginably huge amount.

It has been calculated that the IPv6 address space can handle about 340 trillion, trillion, trillion addresses. That's enough for every person on the planet to have trillions of IP addresses without any fear of that pool being exhausted.

What happens when IPv4 addresses run out?

The average user will not notice much difference. However, it could put a brake on expansion of the web but already many technical work-arounds are being used to overcome the shortage.

It could be possible to develop even more ad hoc fixes but IPv6 is preferable because it removes the need for these short-term fixes and makes administration of large networks more straightforward.

Can I get an IPv6 address?

If you run your own website you can ask your hosting company about them to see if you can get one for your site. Many net hosting and domain firms are starting to offer them alongside IPv4 addresses.

If you own a PC running Vista or a Mac with OS/X installed then you could already be using IPv6. Both operating systems can handle IPv6 addresses and will use them if they are presented to them.

However, at the moment few sites have got an IPv6 address so that ability of those operating systems may never have been called upon.

What happened to IPv5?

Work was started on the protocol but it was going to be put to very different uses to its forerunner. It was developed as a better way to handle video, voice and distributed simulation over the net and was known as the Internet Stream protocol.

Sadly, by the time it had proved its usefulness and won a formal designation of IPv5 work was long advanced on what would become IPv6 and a decision was taken to pursue that.

Do Super Bowl ads get you to spend money?

Super Bowl advertising since the first big game in 1967. Although the average numbers watching at any one time (blue) have flattened in recent year, the price of buying TV air time for advertising has continued to increase drastically even when the prices are adjusted for inflation (yellow). Will the jacked up prices pay off for advertisers?

The Super Bowl is no longer just an annual Sunday affair of guttural cheers and gorging of snack food. It's a "veritable selling season," as one researcher called it, for mega advertisements.

Thirty-five advertisers this year will shell out about $3 million per 30-second television ad — that's $100,000 per second, nearly double the price a decade ago.

Myspace, Facebook Active-X control vulnerable to attack

A recent flaw in the "Image Upload Tool" by Aurigma allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code on victim’s computer. The tool is currently repackaged and used by Facebook and Myspace.
The Active-X control, written by imaging software company Aurigma, allows users to upload images to the hosting site from Internet Explorer. From the security site Securnia:
The vulnerability is caused due to a boundary error in the Aurigma.ImageUploader.4.1 ActiveX control (ImageUploader4.ocx) when handling strings assigned to the "Action" property. This can be exploited to cause a stack-based buffer overflow by assigning an overly long string to the affected property.
The flaw was originally discovered by Elazar Broad. In his release to the Full Disclosure mailing list, Elazar says that he found the vulnerability in MySpaceUploader.ocx version 1.0.0.4. Experts expect that this may exist in earlier versions as well. Based on my research and testing, a malicious site could install or initiate the vulnerable Active-X control in a victim’s browser. During this, a parameter would be set to a long "payload" containing specific instructions on code to execute. The execution of this code could cause anything from deleting files, to giving the attacker command line access.
Code invoking the vulnerability is now being circulated publicly, and researchers say that it is only a matter of time until attacks are put into place. The risk is described as "Highly Critical". Developers have been notified, and users are suggested to enable the "kill-bit" for the affected CLSIDs. This would disallow these Active-X controls from installing or operating.
It is unknown at this time exactly how many sites are affected, and what versions of the Aurigma software are vulnerable.
var sc_project=3378986; var sc_invisible=0; var sc_partition=37; var sc_security="747efe5b";

A 1-2-3 on starting your Web site or new job

Here's to your amazing new wine collection and your newfound ability to talk to anyone, anytime, about anything -- pandas, cigars or mashed potatoes! From starting a Web site to starting a new job, our experts tell you how to reignite your life, your passion and your mojo.
So, why don't we, uh, start. Learn the finer points of starting ...
A wine cellar
Every well-prepared hostess should have a well-stocked wine cellar -- but the seemingly infinite options can be paralyzing. So ...start sipping! Lyle Fass, wine director for Crush Wine & Spirits, makes suggestions on how to get your cellar off the ground.
Become a regular. Find a shop where you feel comfortable, and start buying by the case so you can try a variety of wines. Most retailers will put together mixed cases, and many even offer discounts on them. Ask for the salespeople's guidance. Once you form a relationship with the staff, they'll be full of suggestions every time you come in.
Age wisely. If you plan on aging some wines, ask the salesperson which ones will actually improve over time -- most bottles are best opened within a year of their release (not necessarily the year in which the grapes were harvested). One exception is champagne -- almost all vintage champagnes age beautifully.
Pick some sure things. There's no need to get obsessed with buying only the "right" years -- while some are certainly better than others overall, good winemakers will turn out a good product in any year. A few guidelines can get you started, though: Consider vintages of 1995 and 2000 in Bordeaux; 1997 in Piedmont and Tuscany; 2001 and 2002 in California.
Maintain a little variety. The goal is to stock your cellar with wines you love. If your tastes are rather narrow, however, include a few other options for the benefit of guests. For example, even if you drink only reds, keep a few whites in your collection. And always have a couple of bottles of champagne on hand for impromptu celebrations.
Provide a stable home. Ideally, wine is stored at 54 degrees and 70 percent humidity. Realistically, as long as you avoid wide fluctuations in temperature, your collection will be fine in any kitchen cabinet. Most basements are also a good bet -- as long as the wines aren't stored near the dryer or water heater. Always store bottles you plan to keep for more than six months on their sides so their corks don't dry out.