Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Golden Frog Updates VyprVPN App to Version 1.0

GRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS--(Marketwire -02/22/12)- Golden Frog, the premier global software developer, announces today the update of their VyprVPN App from Beta to version 1.0. The VyprVPN App update includes numerous improvements to the user interface and functionality.

In November 2011, Golden Frog launched the VyprVPN App in its Beta form. Golden Frog's VyprVPN is a personal Virtual Private Network (VPN) service that provides a secure, encrypted connection to the Internet. VyprVPN utilizes PPTP, L2TP/IPSec and OpenVPN protocols to protect online privacy. In addition to unlimited speeds, unlimited IP address availability, and no download caps, the VyprVPN App lets customers easily switch between VPN protocols and North American, European and Asian VyprVPN server locations with a single click.

"The feedback we've received from customers has helped us to polish up virtually every aspect of the VyprVPN App with better performance, better usability, more security, and increased reliability," explains Philip Molter, CTO at Golden Frog. "We've made numerous improvements to the user interface and the 'under the hood' functionality that it only made sense to remove 'Beta' from the name altogether."

VyprVPN App improvements:

Native support for more languages Multitude of look and feel improvements Improved PPTP and L2TP stability Improved OpenVPN speed and reliability

Read the VyprVPN App change log to learn about all the improvements found in this update.

If you are already a Golden Frog VyprVPN customer, please download the latest version of the VyprVPN App for free. If you are not already a customer, we invite you to learn about VyprVPN and signup today!

For more information about Golden Frog and VyprVPN, please visit http://www.goldenfrog.com or email marketing@goldenfrog.com

You can stay up-to-date on VyprVPN by subscribing to the Golden Frog blog or following VyprVPN on Twitter, Facebook, or Google +.

About Golden Frog
Golden Frog is a global software developer of Internet applications focused on reliability, performance, and security. We care about the open Internet and create superior software and services that help people access its full potential. Learn more about Golden Frog at https://www.goldenfrog.com.

Golden Frog, Dump Truck and VyprVPN are trademarks of Golden Frog, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

Go here to see the original:
Golden Frog Updates VyprVPN App to Version 1.0

Alamo and National Car Rental License Brands for Cayman Islands Operations

Enterprise Holdings announced Feb. 15 that it is licensing its Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental brands to Eurocar Rentals Limited at the Owen Roberts International Airport in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. The airport operation is slated as a dual-branded car rental location at the popular Caribbean tourist destination for North American travelers.

“We are looking forward to working with Eurocar Rentals Limited in expanding the Alamo and National brands to Grand Cayman,” said Jerry Smith, vice president of franchise operations for Enterprise Holdings. “The National and Alamo brands will now be a part of a growing and thriving Cayman Islands community, and we will work to provide the superior service our customers have come to expect to new customers as well as our current loyal customers traveling out of the country.”
 
As a result of several initiatives underway to benefit the Cayman Islands tourism industry, the Owen Roberts International Airport is expanding to accommodate more aircraft and arrivals, including the Alamo and National location to provide visitors with an on-airport car rental option.

“Our close proximity to the United States means that many of the visitors to Grand Cayman are from North America and familiar with the Alamo and National brands.” said Matthew Bodden, spokesperson for Eurocar Rentals. “Through our partnership with Enterprise Holdings, we will be offering a wide selection of vehicles to thousands of travelers each year.”

The Alamo and National location offers daily, weekly and monthly rentals to meet customer demand, including economy, compact, and mid-size cars; convertibles and luxury sedans; and standard, soft top and large sport utility vehicles. The new location provides rental options to both domestic customers and international visitors coming to the island for business or leisure.

Currently, overnight visitors to Cayman Islands are at their highest levels since 2000. Trip Advisor recently voted the Cayman Islands as the No. 1 destination in the Caribbean, the No. 22 destination worldwide and No. 1 for best adventure tour and best beach resort. Additionally, domestic and foreign private developers are investing in the region to attract more visitors.

Follow this link:
Alamo and National Car Rental License Brands for Cayman Islands Operations

Community leaders talk state budget proposals, including the teacher-backed millionaires tax

SANTA CRUZ - Local union and education leaders are putting their weight behind the so-called millionaires tax, a proposed ballot initiative that would restore funding for education and essential services. The initiative, which supporters say is the only progressive tax proposal, would ask Californians who earn in excess of $1 million per year to pay 3 percent more in annual taxes.

The millionaires tax was widely discussed Tuesday evening at a forum held by the Women's International League of Peace and Freedom. Local economic, union and education leaders talked about how initiatives proposed to fix that state's budget will affect Santa Cruz.

Nora Hochman, a union leader for administrative workers at UC Santa Cruz, spoke adamantly about the need for the tax.

"Whether it's short-term rescue or long-term restructuring, something needs to be done," Hochman said. "We have a slim window of opportunity."

Hochman distributed a number of fact sheets on the proposal, which supporters estimate won't cost the average or typical taxpayer any extra money each year, unlike some of the other proposals on the table.

Gov. Jerry Brown's own proposed budget initiative, for instance, which would benefit education, public safety, social services and corrections, would temporarily increase sales tax by half a cent and increase tax rates on those with an annual income of more than $250,000.

In some years, voters have had the opportunity to vote on state ballot initiatives in June as well as in November, last year the state's Legislature moved all June ballot measures to the November ballot, according to Fred Keeley, the county's treasurer.

While Keeley was nuanced in his analysis of the various initiatives, cautioning that fixing the budget crisis on state and local levels is also a matter of finding the right mix of taxes. He said that if he could only pick one of the proposals, he'd go for the millionaires tax.

Francisco Rodriguez, a vice president with the local chapter of the California Federation of Teachers, a leading supporter of the proposal, also spoke in support.

"Our initiative is the only progressive initiative that taxes only those who can truly afford it," he said.

Rodriguez said that California Federation of Teachers began polling its members about the budget proposals in 2009 and then expanded to all voters.

"We've found that across the board, voters support education," he said.

One concern when it comes to ballot initiatives, particularly when there are several in an election year, is that you run the risk of voter fatigue, leaders cautioned. When faced with too many initiatives, voters may get fed up and vote for all, or none. That's one of the reasons Gov. Brown has pushed to shoot down measures that compete with his own $7 billion tax proposal.

Keeley is among the leadership of California Forward, a group that has successfully pushed prior initiatives and is pursuing another that would change how California handles its budget.

Follow Sentinel reporter Jessica M. Pasko on Twitter @jmpasko96

More:
Community leaders talk state budget proposals, including the teacher-backed millionaires tax

ICNL wins $1 million MacArthur Award to promote freedom of assembly around the world

The ICNL(International Center for Not-for-Profit Law) received $1 million from the MacArthur Foundation to advance its mission of creating a legal framework for the right of assembly and association in countries around the world.

What the work boils down to is this: promoting freedom of association and assembly. How it's done: by helping groups design laws that protect these freedoms.

Skip to next paragraph

"In too many countries we find that the legal framework actually restricts the ability of individuals to gather together to try to improve their societies," says Douglas Rutzen, president of The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) in Washington D.C. "We see in country after country the rights that we might take for granted in the United States are restricted."

The ICNL now works in more than 100 countries helping to establish the legal framework for enhancing individual rights. Last week the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation named the ICNL as one of 15 organizations in six countries that are receiving the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. The ICNL will be awarded $1 million. (A list of all the winners is here.)

Among the ICNL's accomplishments:

• Helping to organize a coalition of more than 7,000 organizations in Iraq to pass a law that supports freedom of association and assembly.

• Creating the idea for and helping to establish the first United Nations Special Rapporteur on the freedoms of assembly and association. A UN resolution was adopted in September 2010 and the UN Special Rapporteur now works to defend freedom of association and assembly around the world.

• Maintaining a database of 2,300 laws from more than 160 countries in 37 languages that can be used as source material to create new laws regarding civil freedoms.

The ICNL is currently working in Libya, in concert with the UN and other partners to expand the rights of citizens there. "In Qaddafi's Libya the death penalty could be imposed for someone who sought to set up an independent human rights group," Mr. Rutzen says.

In Mexico, the ICNL is helping local partners work to allow human rights organizations to receive tax deductible donations. In China, it's partnering with the Chinese government to create a legal framework for disaster response and clarify the role charities play in it.

"The magic of INCL is that we're really international," Rutzen says. "About 70 percent of our staff comes from the countries and regions in which they work. [For example] when you look at our Russian office, everybody is Russian."

The center is also active in Egypt, where nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are under intense scrutiny from the new government. "It's really about Egyptian groups and their rights to receive foreign funding," he says.

But the situation in Egypt has broader implications, Rutzen adds.

"Our concern is that this is just the beginning of what may be a prelude to a broader crackdown on Egyptian civil society organizations," he says. "We've also noticed the contagion effect – that when one country does this and gets away with it other countries become emboldened and start to pass restrictive laws as well.

"Just within the last couple of weeks we're seen crackdowns in places like Zimbabwe. There's a draft law in Bangladesh that just emerged. There's been a media campaign against civil society organizations in Venezuela. And the list goes on and on.

"So we think that there is now a broad movement among a number of countries to restrict civic space."

That "civic space" represents a whole host of associations that are not family or business relationships but are based on common interests – from a soccer club to a parent-teacher organization to human rights groups.

"It's that whole collection of nonprofit organizations that enrich our lives," he says.

• For more information about the work of the ICNL, including a video, click here.

• Sign up to receive a weekly selection of practical and inspiring Change Agent articles by clicking here.

Originally posted here:
ICNL wins $1 million MacArthur Award to promote freedom of assembly around the world

NHS 'will be Cameron's poll tax'

22 February 2012 Last updated at 17:42 ET

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

David Cameron produces Labour briefing on NHS bill during PMQs

Labour leader Ed Miliband has told David Cameron he risks making NHS reform "his poll tax" - in noisy Commons clashes over the health bill.

Mr Miliband repeatedly accused the PM of refusing to listen to medics' concerns about the controversial bill.

But the government defeated, by a majority of 53 votes, a Labour bid to make it release an internal register of risks linked to the bill.

Mr Cameron said Labour refused to publish a register when in power.

The two leaders clashed at Prime Minister's Questions, ahead of the Labour-led debate calling for the publication of the government's risk assessment of the impact of the NHS shake-up in England.

Some 246 MPs voted for Labour's motion, compared with 299 who voted against following the Commons debate.

Four Lib Dem MPs - Andrew George, Mike Hancock, Greg Mulholland and John Pugh - voted with Labour and against the government.

'Not fit'

The controversial Health and Social Care Bill has passed through its Commons stages but has been amended several times by the House of Lords.

Crossbencher Lord Owen is expected to put down an amendment to the bill which would delay its passage through Parliament until after a Freedom of Information ruling on the "transition risk register" on 5 and 6 March.

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

This will become his poll tax. He should listen to the public and he should drop this bill”

End Quote Ed Miliband Labour leader

In the Commons, Mr Cameron said Labour frontbencher Andy Burnham had blocked the publication of a risk register in September 2009 - when he was health secretary.

Mr Cameron said it showed Labour "absolutely revealed as a bunch of rank opportunists, not fit to run opposition and not fit for government".

But Mr Miliband accused the PM of having excluded the "vast majority" of health workers from a "ridiculous summit" on the Health and Social Care Bill on Monday.

Having previously said he wanted to listen to NHS workers "now he can't even be in the same room as the doctors and nurses" - suggesting he had "lost the confidence of those who work in the NHS".

He told the PM "nobody believes him and nobody trusts him on the health service" and claimed the bill had become a "symbol of his arrogance".

Referring to the hugely controversial policy seen as helping hasten the end of Margaret Thatcher's leadership of the Conservative Party, Mr Miliband added: "This will become his poll tax. He should listen to the public and he should drop this bill."

Lib Dem rebels

The government is appealing against a Freedom of Information ruling that it should be published in the public interest.

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

You don't save the NHS by opposing reform, you save the NHS by delivering reform”

End Quote David Cameron

Labour chose to use its opposition day debate to demand that the government "respect" the information commissioner's ruling and publish the report.

The vote is not binding but does increase pressure on the government.

An early day motion on the same issue has been signed by 15 Lib Dem MPs, including Duncan Hames - an aide to Energy Secretary Ed Davey. However, only four of the signatories chose to vote against the government.

Shadow health secretary Mr Burnham told MPs there had been "crucial differences" between the document whose publication he had blocked in 2009 - the strategic risk register - and the one Labour was now pressing the government to publish.

He said he had not initiated what he described as the biggest ever top-down re-organisation of the NHS at a time of its biggest ever financial challenge - and the information commissioner had not ruled in 2009 that the paper should be published.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has said it would be "completely misleading" to publish the register, which was put together before changes were made to the bill and had been intended as an "internal mechanism".

Past requests

In the Commons he quoted back Mr Burnham's own words from 2007, when he was a health minister, following a similar request for a risk register to be published - when Mr Burnham said that it would "be likely to reduce the detail and utility of its contents" which would "inhibit the free and frank exchange of views about significant risks".

Mr Burnham repeated that it was not a "comparable situation" as it had referred to a different document.

He claimed regional and local risk registers, which have been published, were "appalling and shocking".

Among them was a warning by South Central Strategic Health Authority, which said "the pace and scale of reform, coupled with savings achieved through cost reduction rather than real service redesign could adversely impact on safety and quality".

One of the Lib Dem rebels, Andrew George, said he acknowledged that if the register was published it was "unlikely to change a single mind on the issue".

But he said it was better not to take on the biggest reorganisation ever of the NHS "in the dark".

The bill has also been criticised by various bodies representing healthcare professionals.

'Delivering reform'

Lib Dem activists are preparing an emergency motion for their party's spring conference next month, urging the party to work towards defeating the bill, amid reports that grass roots discontent on the issue is now greater than that over student tuition fees in 2010.

But Mr Cameron said on Wednesday the bill would "abolish the bureaucracy that has been holding the NHS back".

He argues reform is needed to deal with the challenges of an ageing population and the rising costs of medical treatments and long-term conditions.

Accusing Labour of opposing changes it had once backed, he said: "You don't save the NHS by opposing reform, you save the NHS by delivering reform."

The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said that while both coalition partners were insisting the bill would continue, there were clear differences in tone from the two sides about the possibility of further concessions.

View original post here:
NHS 'will be Cameron's poll tax'