Jerry Lewis ousted from MDA telethon -- and comics are outraged

Jerry Lewis has been ousted from the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. telethon he has hosted for nearly half a century -- and the comedy community is outraged.  

On Wednesday night, the MDA released a statement saying it was severing its association with the 85-year-old performer. Lewis won't appear on this year's Labor Day weekend telethon.

The announcement provoked an outcry from the comedy community, even as the circumstances surrounding Lewis' departure remained mysterious.  Here’s what some of L.A.’s comics had to say:

Tom Arnold: "Younger comics were coming out [to the show] for Jerry Lewis. Jerry let them fly. They would use the word ‘genius’ -- and he certainly is. It’s been handled so poorly. To me, Jerry should be able to come back and say goodbye.... It's probably time for him to retire.  But he should get to say goodbye. They screwed up. If they'd promoted this as Jerry Lewis' final telethon they could've gotten guys like George Clooney, which would've opened the door to God knows who. It would've been a big deal and showbiz loves big deals."

Virginia Tech issues lockdown after report of man with gun

The university, site of a 2007 rampage, swiftly issues alerts and cancels classes after teens on campus report seeing a man they thought might have a gun. No gunman is found, and no one is hurt.

 Virginia Tech, the site of a 2007 shooting rampage that left 33 people dead, faced a scare Thursday as authorities ordered a campus lockdown after three youths reported seeing a man carrying what they believed to be a gun concealed by a cloth.

Alerts were issued. Classes were canceled. Students were urged to stay indoors. And for more than five hours, police from several law enforcement agencies scoured the campus, even releasing a composite sketch as they searched for the reported gunman.

No such man was discovered. Still, campus and police officials were pleased with the first major test of the university's revamped security measures.

Verizon iPhone 4 accounts for 32% of all US iPhone 4 traffic

After just four months on the market, the iPhone 4 on Verizon makes up nearly a third of the U.S. iPhone 4 market, according to one analytics firm.

Mobile analytics firm Localytics published a report on on Thursday charting the growth of the Verizon iPhone 4 since it launched in February, as noted by Brad Reed of Network World. The report compiles data from app usage during the last week of the month to reflect each carrier's market share.

As of July 1, Verizon's share of all U.S. iPhone 4 traffic stands at 32 percent, compared to AT&T's 68 percent share. According to the report, the carrier's presence quickly jumped to a 20 percent share shortly after launch before slowing down to modest gains in the spring. Then, in May and June, Verizon's share of U.S. iPhone 4 app usage experienced a spike in growth, growing from 25.9 percent to 32.3 percent.

What the difference one article can make

Article and press releases are ones of the most important marketing tools. Publication of articles and press releases helps to increase traffic on your site, get high rankings for it, attract more visitors and consequently increase your levels of sales.

In spite of the fact that articles and press releases are two different types of marketing tools, nevertheless some people still confuse them. So, if you would like to start writing press release and articles you should understand several basic elements about them. Article is an informative text on some subject which is published in the magazine, newspaper or book. What are the main features of the article? First of al the article should have a topic (as one should take into account the length of the article the number of words rarely exceeds 2-3 thousands, it is advisable to stick to one topic only). The topic must be interesting for your reader and must inform him about some subject (usually you can publish articles under a definite topic, so it would be easier for the reader to choose the subject he is really interested in). 

After you have chosen the topic, you can start writing the article. The typical format of the article consists of the following: the headline of the article (must be intriguing, attracting and appealing and induce your reader to read your article further); the body of the article (actual text that should comprise both factual and analytical material-ideally you should not only provide some facts but analyze them as well); conclusion (in this part your point of view must be stated or some advice on the possibility to resolve the problem should offered).

How does the press release differ from the article? Whereas the main purpose of the article is to inform public about some general topic, the main purpose of the press releases is to inform public about some events or developments in the company. As the press release differs in its format from the article so does the writing process. When one starts writing the article one should take into account several important points: the press release should inform about some event or developments, in short it should provide your readers with some news, the text of the press release should provide some information in easy to-read and informative way. One must understand that the reader is looking for the information about your company, not some exaggerated statements or advertisement. Finally, it should be issued up to some event. These are several important differences between the writing of the press release and the writing of the article. This article has highlighted most important of them.

Ethically Sourced Flowers

Flowers epitomise emotion and can have a very beneficial impact on people. They are sent to communicate their feelings to their nearest and dearest. Wouldn't it be even better if people were able to confidently buy sustainable, ethically-sourced flowers to communicate their feelings? After all, ethical commitment is an emotion as well! However, buying sustainable, ethical flowers is a niche activity in the UK, with only a handful of florists offering produce which is truly ethically sourced.

First of all, some numbers:

The total market for cut flowers and house plants in the UK is estimated to be £2.2 Billion and is expected to exceed £3 Billion by 2011. Despite the incursion of mutiple alternatives including gifts, chocolates and wines, people are still saying it with flowers, although the UK lags behind the rest of Europe in annual per capita spend on flowers.

There is a perennial debate regarding industry standards for flowers, as consumers have historically been confronted with confusing symbols of ethical quality. The Kenyan Flower Council which accounts for much of the imports into the UK, is governed by Fair Trade, which regulates the code of conduct for more than 1,000 farms in Kenya, although only about 25 large farms supply over 75% of Kenya's flower exports. Ever since its introduction to the flower industry in 1999, Fair Trade has done an excellent job of supporting more than 10,000 workers in developing nations, by setting ethical standards to improve working environments.