“It was a strange contraption that reminded her of the type of thing that acrobats use, yet more luxurious by far than a vaulting horse, with its thick padding of red velvet.”

Thus begins The Red Velvet Horse, a novel that focuses on the modern heroine April Ingram, who discovers an ancient erotic manuscript while working through inventory in her antique shop in Vancouver. The manuscript, a diary of Hannah Wilkes, tells the bawdy tale of a seamstress-turned-harlot who lived in the city near the end of the last century.

Two new websites keep readers up-to-date on all the news in the book world.

Fiction-news.com and nonfiction-news.com track new book releases, the latest on authors, how well books translate to movies, which books are topping the latest best-seller lists, and lots more. The book publishing industry is undergoing tremendous changes, including the advent of eBooks and self-publishing. These two sites track these developments and many more.

The publisher is David White, the publisher of a handful of research and homework help sites, including the award-winning Social Studies for Kids (http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com). A lifelong reader, White enjoys both fiction and nonfiction books and is fascinated by the lives and labors of authors as they create their masterworks. A published author himself, White is a freelance writer, editor, designer, and Web publisher who keeps up with news of all kinds and enjoys learning and helping others learn.

Written by Michael Bell, published author, past member of the EU's Economic and Social Committee, ex-public company chairman and educationalist, "The Futures of the Human Race" sets out to explore how humans and the society they have created may evolve during the next 100 years. There are many futurist writers, but little has been written on how such technological novelties as sentient robots will interact with our complex, deeply rooted psyches and the societal forms we inhabit.

In the last few hundred years, technology, and specifically the invention of printing, allowed the emerging nation state to assert its hegemony over almost all aspects of human life, subverting many of the social mechanisms that previously gave moral coherence to our existence.

BAM Racing is pleased to announce the official launch of its revolutionary new Diamond Sponsorship™ Program. The program leverages an innovative small business initiative and high-tech, patent-pending systems exclusive to the company. Diamond Sponsors receive affordable space on the No. 49 racecar along with complimentary turnkey activation components that sponsors paying millions would envy.

The use of technologically advanced programming and patent-pending systems exclusive to the Diamond Sponsorship Program makes possible low-cost, season-long space on the racecar for a limited time introductory price of $4,995. The program comes complete with high-tech turnkey marketing components for those who secure their sponsor space by the end of the year.

On October 23rd, AHC Healthcare Receivables Management will expand their West Coast operations as the doors open to their new office in Fresno, California. The office is located at 2550 West Shaw Avenue, the former site of Grubb & Ellis Pearson Commercial. The 12,600 sq. ft. building is designed to accommodate 125 employees, almost three times more than their previous location across the street.

“This is a very exciting time for us,” explains Vickie Clark, Vice President of Operations for AHC. “The San Joaquin Valley is unique in that it is the center of a strong healthcare based industry. It makes perfect sense to position ourselves where we regularly conduct business.”

Mic-O-Mic Americas will exhibit their award-winning LONPOS 303 Pyramid and Rectangle Game and their other specialty toys and games at the ASTRA Marketplace in Las Vegas June 24 - 27, 2007 (BOOTH 510).

The National Parenting Center says: "According to our testers LOPOS is one of the most addictive games their children have ever played with. Mixing a bit of brain twister to logic and spatial relationship games, LONPOS really wowed those who played with it. No matte ff9 r how proficient you are or become there are levels to the game that will challenge you just enough to pull you along to the next level. The fact that it is not gender specific was very appealing not to mention the fact that it is small and compact, fitting in its own case, making it perfect for travel."

Traveling is a passion for many and a necessity for others, and it's no secret that during this summer season, soaring gas prices will force some avid travelers to stay off the roads. But despite the record gas prices, millions of people will drive or fly to national and international vacation spots, reports Credit Diagnosis (SM), a leading security and privacy membership program offered by Adaptive Marketing LLC.

Credit Diagnosis Provides Tips on Spending Less While Traveling

These travelers are going away because they booked their trips in advance, because they haven't quite been affected by the slow economy, or simply because of business needs or simple pleasure. The reality is that all travelers need to be wary and spend their money wisely during their time away. According to Credit Diagnosis, financial alertness and security are necessary items to "pack" along for the road.

Front of T-shirt says, "Mamas for Obama know the power of voting"

Chicago, IL May 15, 2008 -- Women who support Barack Obama's presidential campaign, (Obama Mamas) finally have an Obama T-shirt to wear that not only promotes an essential message about the importance of voting ... it looks and feels great, too. This long-sleeve political T-shirt, printed 5a8 on front and back with original full-color artwork and violet lettering, is made of high-quality cotton that is super soft and contoured to fit a woman's body. The front of the shirt says, "Mamas for Obama Know the Power of Voting."

It's a question that many of us dare not ask ourselves, probably because the answer would be a resounding no. In fact, over one third of UK motorists fear they would fail their driving test, if they were made to retake it.

Saga Car Insurance Pass Driving Test

Until 2005, the British driving test remained largely unchanged for over 60 years, from when it was first introduced in 1935. Since then, the cars we drive, the way we drive and the roads upon which travel around the country have changed. Let's be honest, we didn't even have a motorway until 1959. Now look at us. Where would we be without our complex network of 3 and 4 lane carriageways?

The U.S. government celebrates and remembers the service of American men and women with holidays such as Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Independence Day. Tragically, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been unable to meet its vital obligation of assisting veterans with the medical, financial and emotional issues they face. In "Veterans Unclaimed Benefits: The Insiders Guide", author Mike Riedel uses plain language and powerful insight to explain how to take full advantage of VA benefits, programs and services and what the governments laws, rules and regulations really mean to the average veteran.

Dev4Dev, a software development company, announced the release of a new .NET product for developers called FormsUI. FormsUI is a .NET 1.1 assembly collection of several useful controls for use in a Windows Forms environment. With the purchase of a valid license, all the controls have royalty-free distribution with your compiled application. FormsUI contains the following controls:

CoolButton - Tired of the boring button control that comes with Visual Basic.NET? Now you can replace it with our CoolButton control with multiple styles and configurations that mimic more user-friendly buttons. CoolButton has many styles including toolbar button, OfficeXP, standard, and hover. It supports transparency, and can also be configured to show a button with an extra drop down button, allowing multiple things to be accomplished by using the same control. This is a port of our VB6 version.

In an independent survey of users of online classifieds, 5a8 auctions and social networking sites commissioned by Rapleaf (http://www.Rapleaf.com), buyers said that posted ratings are the most important factor in determining their level of trust in sellers. “I like to see seller ratings and reviews,” said one buyer. “The social proof is very valuable.”

Among buyers, 67% selected ratings of the seller as “very important”, with an additional 25% labeling it “somewhat important”. The reputation of the site itself, rather than of the individual seller, was also an important factor for determining trust, with 63% rating it as “very important”. The payment method being used was a close third. Other factors considered included the quality of the ad, an e-mail or phone call with the seller, endorsements and testimonials, web research of the seller, and intuition/prayer/gut reaction.

JobTonic invites users to refer a friend for a job and earn up to £1000 if they're successful. The UK's only home grown job referral website is growing fast with over 600 jobs now online, most offering a substantial reward to the person referring the right candidate.

JobTonic's revolutionary approach offers an alternative to the recruitment agency, passing a reward to the referrer. With some agencies charging up to 30% of first year salary for placing candidates, JobTonic believes a referral from a friend is as good and deserves a cash reward. The site also allows jobseekers to perform a job search and apply directly for jobs online.

John Bergfeld, MD, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Director of Operating Room Management, will join three other North American physicians as a 2009 American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) Hall of Fame inductee. Dr. Bergfeld will also be receiving the Robert E. Leach, MD, Mr. Sports Medicine Award, one of AOSSM's highest honors. The award ceremonies will be taking place July 10 and 11th at the AOSSM Annual Meeting in Keystone, Colorado.

AOSSM Logo

Dr. Bergfeld began his sports medicine career nearly 40 years ago while training at Temple University and then during his residency in orthopaedics and general surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He also served his country as the Chief of Orthopaedics at the U.S. Naval Academy and as a general surgeon on the USS Dubuque in 1972.

Steve Myers has been Director of Software Development at Andromeda Software, a high-end graphics software development firm in West Lake Village, California, for the past 17 years. Although the company uses an outside IT contractor to manage their network, Myers has always been in control of the company's IT decision-making.

"We used to use Symantec's Corporate Edition Anti-Virus on our workstations," noted Myers. "But when our licenses ran out, we were told by Symantec that we would have to switch to the pricier Symantec Endpoint Security solution. We're design software people, not security experts, so we figured we could trust their recommendation and we went ahead and upgraded our workstations to the new product. That's when we started to see problems."

Robyn Dalby-Stockwell, Director of Alonah Reading Cambridge and well known synthetic phonics expert, has now made home taught reading for preschoolers and older children cheap and easy. Her four book fast phonic reading course has just become fully downloadable.

Robyn says. "I know that parents struggle to buy materials for home schooling.

My mini-course Lift-Off With Fast Phonics teaches the basics of my full four book course and is now downloadable for just $8.

My full four book Alonah Reading Course is now downloadable for half the price of the hard copy version.

SimSci-Esscor (http://www.simsci-esscor.com) exhibited here today its complete Upstream Optimization Suite (UOS) for the oil and gas industry. The UOS is a set of integrated software tools providing multiphase flow modeling, transient multicomponent simulation, and strategic optimization of oil and gas production operations. These tools help integrate field-wide production analysis from sandface-to-surface facilities, increase asset-wide production, improve well design and performance, and integrate full-field reservoir modeling.



“The Upstream Optimization Suite helps upstream processors balance both availability and utilization of upstream assets to attain a true competitive edge in an increasingly dynamic marketplace. It enables use of advanced techniques, for example, that can model and simulate cost and output of a single well, an entire field, or multiple fields, supporting both immediate and long term performance and business improvements,” says Shaun Wright, Invensys vice president for upstream global solutions.



The UOS Suite supports oil and gas upstream asset management through the following three software programs:

PIPEPHASE version 9.0 transient multicomponent simulation tool, which automates design and analysis of oil and gas wells, production networks, and processing facilities. Its PRO/II interface is the first commercially released software tool linking a pipeline-network simulator with a steady-state flowsheet simulator, allowing for rigorous modeling of the interactions between piping/production networks and associated processing facilities.

TACITE transient multicomponent simulation software, which facilitates visualization, design, and control of upstream assets through accurate prediction of the propagation of liquid slugs that occur during transient flow conditions in a multiphase pipeline.

NETOPT strategic optimization software, which helps define an optimization strategy for a wide range of oil and gas field operations, including maximizing production of the overall asset or minimizing of capital expenditures over the life of a field.

In addition to the UOS suite, SimSci-Esscor also offers upstream producers a process engineering design and operational analysis toolset (Process Engineering Suite), advanced process control (APC) and on-line optimization applications (On-Line Performance Suite), dynamic simulation and high-fidelity control system emulation (Dynamic Simulation Suite), an engineering data and document-centric database management system (Comos FEED), dynamic plant operator training solutions (Operator Training Simulators), and advanced real-time SCADA processing that supports complex remote applications.

CROWNS ONLY DENTAL (www.crownsonly.com) today announced it will offer select franchise opportunities in strategic markets throughout the United States. CROWNS ONLY DENTAL has developed a unique model for delivering targeted dental services which maximizes patient satisfaction while reducing patient cost.

"Our goal at CROWNS ONLY DENTAL is to deliver the highest quality dentistry at significantly reduced costs to our patients. We do this by focusing all our efforts on two critical services: crowns and bridges. Too many people are being faced with having to choose between poor quality work and high priced work, particularly in states that border Mexico where crowns and bridges are less expensive but may also be of lesser quality. We want patients to get great work at great prices. We can do this with our unique mix of proprietary practices, purchasing power, and streamlined focus. Now patients no longer have any reason to consider getting critical dental work outside of the country or from low quality providers," commented company President Dr. Scott Wilson.

PremiumPearl.com, the leading San Francisco-based online seller of pearls, is thrilled to have its jewelry named a "Top Pick" by renowned television fashion stylist, Lloyd Boston. Boston chose one of Premium Pearl's Akoya earrings, describing them as "soft and wedding appropriate."

Yan Berry, creative director at PremiumPearl.com, says "I've always had tremendous respect for Lloyd Boston. His sense of style is impeccable and we are thrilled to have our jewelry represented on his site."

The earrings Boston selected are from Premium Pearl's Akoya collection. Berry, who flies around the world to personally choose all of her company's pearls, says that the Akoyas typically come from Japan and are available in many different hues and sizes.

Self-proclaimed as Colorado's one and only Christian reggae rapper, "Prince Trog" announces the release of a new book focusing on the struggles some women face in relationships riddled with social and physical problems.

Adultery, Pornography, Domestic

The book, Adultery, Pornography, Drugs and Domestic Abuse...Why would you want to be with a Fool like that? advises women to avoid the dangerous pitfalls of a physically abusive relationship or one that contains unfaithful men, drugs and pornography.