NEW YORK (AP) – It was supposed to be our IPO, the people's public offering.

Facebook, the brainchild of a young CEO who sauntered into Wall Street meetings in a hoodie, was going to be bigger than Amazon, bigger than McDonald's, bigger than Coca-Cola. And it was all made possible by our friendships, photos and family ties.

2. Arkansas Senators Participate in Online Business Forum - Monday, May 20, 2013

Arkansas’ two U.S. senators are participating in an online discussion with small-business owners about the Internet and economic development.

U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor’s office said he and Sen. John Boozman will participate in a Google Plus Hangout at 3:30 p.m. Monday. Talk Business editor Roby Brock will moderate the discussion.

3. RIM Unveils Cheaper BlackBerry - Wednesday, May 15, 2013

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Research In Motion unveiled a lower-cost BlackBerry aimed at consumers in emerging markets on Tuesday, and said it will offer its once-popular BlackBerry Messenger service on iPhones and devices running Google's Android software.

4. Hazlett Touts City’s Positives to World - Friday, April 19, 2013

Bob Hazlett, director of online marketing at the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau, is a proudly converted Memphian who promotes the city as a travel destination.

“I feel that if we can get someone to come to Memphis, they fall in love with the city,” Hazlett said. “I’ve lived in a couple of different places, and I think that for all of the bad things that are said about Memphis, there are so many positive things that are going on. It’s not a rhinestone, but it is a diamond in the rough. If you seek things out, the city will reveal itself to you.”

5. Facebook Unveils 'Home' for Android Phones - Friday, April 05, 2013

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) – With its new "Home" on Android gadgets, Facebook aims to put its social network at the center of people's mobile experiences.

If users choose to download Facebook's Home software starting on April 12, the social network will become the hub of their Android smartphones. A phone from HTC that comes pre-loaded with Home will also be available starting that day, with AT&T Inc. as the carrier.

6. Lofty Company - Thursday, April 04, 2013

For creating the overnight package-delivery business four decades ago, and for everything his company has done since, FedEx Corp. founder Fred Smith has been placed among an elite group of chief executives by the business magazine Barron’s.

7. Easter Travelers Won’t Face Road Work - Saturday, March 30, 2013

Tennessee transportation officials are shutting down highway construction for the Easter weekend.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation has told contractors and its own crews to knock off work no later than 6 p.m. Thursday, in anticipation of increased holiday travel.

8. Easter Travelers Won’t Face Road Work - Thursday, March 28, 2013

Tennessee transportation officials are shutting down highway construction for the Easter weekend.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation has told contractors and its own crews to knock off work no later than 6 p.m. Thursday, in anticipation of increased holiday travel.

9. Companies Need to Think Like Venture Capitalists - Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Last week we discussed the concept of the intrapreneur and our conviction that companies must add the pressures of failure and constrained resources to get ingenuity. Real entrepreneurs have vision, resilience and fortitude. Their natural drive, focus on survival and ability to pivot with the market is what generates market winners. It is the natural selection process at work. This is why VCs think the team is most critical, and companies looking to innovate should too.

10. Put Your Internal Team on Bootstrap to Drive Innovation - Wednesday, March 20, 2013

In 1992, The American Heritage Dictionary acknowledged the popular use of a new word, “intrapreneur,” meaning “a person within a large corporation who takes direct responsibility for turning an idea into a profitable finished product through assertive risk-taking and innovation.” This term and concept is enjoying a revival as current companies struggle to realize growth and innovation. Companies seeking growth typically design programs that are based in strategy-driven or intrapreneur-driven innovation.

11. Post-Trade Grizzlies Finding Identity - Friday, March 15, 2013

When Rudy Gay talked to Yahoo Sports about needing a change, about the trade from Memphis to Toronto being good for him, all the focus fell on the following quote about Memphis’s new ownership group:

12. Tennessee to Benefit From Google Settlement - Thursday, March 14, 2013

Tennessee will get an estimated $133,528 as part of an agreement reached with Google and 36 other states to revamp the online search giant’s privacy practices.

That’s according to Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper. The agreement stems from privacy complaints regarding Google’s collection of data from unsecured wireless networks nationwide while taking photographs for its Street View service between 2008 and March 2010.

13. Cracking the Facebook Code - Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Many small businesses devote time and resources to social media presence. Utilizing social media platforms to connect with your market is no longer “savvy.” It’s expected by today’s consumer. Used effectively, it is a dream come true for marketers. Brands can increase their messaging frequency while leveraging their audience to share content virally among their own connections, creating possibilities unheard of by traditional media channels.

14. Apple CEO Promises Investors ‘Great Stuff' to Come - Thursday, February 28, 2013

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) – Apple CEO Tim Cook sought to assure shareholders Wednesday that the company is working on some "great stuff" that may help reverse a sharp decline in its stock price.

15. Barnes & Noble Chair Wants to Buy Retail Business - Tuesday, February 26, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) – The last remaining national bookstore chain is being taken off the shelf and dusted off for sale.

Founder Barnes & Noble's founder Leonard Riggio disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday that he wants to acquire the company's stores and website, but not the business that makes the Nook e-reader or the company's college bookstores. No price was disclosed.

16. Can Big Data Pay Off Big? - Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Perhaps one of the most exciting advances in this decade is the emergence of big data, a collection of data sets so large they cannot be processed with standard database management programs. The analytics that companies glean from this data yield quantitative insight into business strategy that was previously unavailable. The world’s technological per-capita capacity to store information has roughly doubled every 40 months since the 1980s.

17. Apple is Biggest US Phone Seller for 1st Time - Monday, February 04, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) – The launch of the iPhone 5 and the declining popularity of non-smartphones have made Apple the biggest seller of phones in the U.S. for the first time, research firm Strategy Analytics said Friday.

18. Epic Marketing Failures of 2012 - Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Despite their considerable marketing budgets and extensive teams, some of the world’s most well-known brands made significant marketing missteps in 2012. Learn from these epic fails to protect your brand.

19. Status Quo: The Big Lie - Thursday, January 17, 2013

In a recent Let’s Grow column, we tackled the hard subject of cognitive biases. Yet, we did not touch upon the most prevalent and insidious bias in business. This big lie is that the status quo exists. Nothing stays the same. Companies who strive to keep things the way the presently are – one definition of status quo – live a lie that is not sustainable. They get fixed and rigid, locked into a certain way of counting on the world, and then they crumble and fall.

20. Online Reputation Could be Killing Business - Wednesday, January 16, 2013

A whopping 70 percent of consumers globally report trusting online reviews from strangers when making purchase decisions, according to Nielsen’s most recent Global Trust in Advertising study. In fact, four out of five consumers say they reverse their purchase decisions based on negative online reviews, according to a Cone study of online trends.

21. Google Emerges From Federal Probe Relatively Unscathed - Monday, January 07, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Google has settled a U.S. government probe into its business practices without making any major concessions on how the company runs its Internet search engine, the world's most influential gateway to digital information and commerce.

22. Nonprofit Tech Innovators Inspire New Philanthropy - Monday, December 31, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) – Scott Harrison knows his charity has funded nearly 7,000 clean water projects in some of the poorest areas of the world in the past six years. How many of those wells are still flowing with drinking water months or years later, though? That's a tough question to answer.

23. Software Industry Braces for New Phone Apps Rules - Wednesday, December 19, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) – A cellphone game for kids about U.S. geography, "Stack the States," gets rave reviews from parents. Its creator, Dan Russell-Pinson, considered making the 99-cent app better by adding a feature to allow children to play online against one another. But with the Federal Trade Commission issuing more stringent online child privacy rules, he's not even pursuing the idea.

24. Incentive Missteps Stymie Our Economic Prosperity - Saturday, December 15, 2012

We are in the midst of one of those tough and necessary civic debates – no, not the one about schools in our community.

We are asking some complex and proper questions about what should be offered and what should not be offered to attract business growth and jobs to the local economy.

25. Invest in Your Career - Thursday, December 13, 2012

Ray’s Take The days of lifetime employment until retirement are gone for good – just like that traditional gold watch. Today, companies merge and splinter or boom and bust constantly. It’s no longer enough to be well prepared at the start of your career with a good education, you have to keep up your skills to remain valuable.

26. Tennessee Program Encourages Youths to Become Entrepreneurs - Thursday, December 13, 2012

NASHVILLE (AP) – At a time of high youth unemployment, a national entrepreneurial program has a solution for youngsters who can't find a job: make your own.

Lemonade Day teaches youths – from age 3 to 18 – to operate their own businesses through the real-world experience of a lemonade stand.

27. Government Investigating Makers of Cellphone Apps - Tuesday, December 11, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is investigating whether software companies that make cellphone apps have violated the privacy rights of children by quietly collecting personal information from phones and sharing it with advertisers and data brokers, the Federal Trade Commission said Monday. Such apps can capture a child's physical location, phone numbers of their friends and more.

28. Apple's Softer Side Emerges Under CEO Cook - Monday, December 10, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – "Those jobs aren't coming back."

That's what Steve Jobs reportedly told President Obama when asked at a dinner in early 2011 whether Apple would consider moving some of its manufacturing from China to the United States.

29. Google Enables Virtual Tour of Amro Music - Friday, December 07, 2012

Google has extended its Street View technology inside select shops and businesses around the country.

And the new feature, which allows users to search for a participating business and then virtually browse inside it, has started to show up in Memphis.

30. The Innovation Process: What’s the Secret Sauce? - Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Business banter talks a lot about “the process for innovation,” which is usually referenced in the singular and stated definitively, leaving most business leaders scratching their heads. It makes us think that there is one correct process, the secret sauce that top companies have and follow. There are actually thousands of innovation processes, none of which have been quantified or proven to be the most effective. There is no one size fits all.

31. Election Follows Script in County - Thursday, November 08, 2012

In Shelby County and Tennessee the presidential race stuck to the script both national campaigns expected.

President Barack Obama carried Shelby County and Republican challenger Mitt Romney took the state and its 11 electoral votes.

32. Memphis Chamber to Host New York Times’ Sanger - Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Next week, the Greater Memphis Chamber is hosting a conversation in Memphis with the chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times.

David Sanger, who’s also the author of the new book “Confront and Conceal” and who has been at the vanguard of reporting on issues related to Iran for the Times, will be here as part of the chamber’s regular “A Conversation With …” series.

33. Research Foundations to Find Best Match - Friday, November 02, 2012

Part three of a three-part series. Most grant-making foundations have a mission and vision. They make grants to nonprofits as a way of bringing their mission and vision to life. Your nonprofit may be just what a foundation is looking for. But how will you know? Foundation research is one answer. Marlene Lynn, professional proposal writer offers her expertise on this topic and related questions.

34. Success Found in Details - Friday, October 26, 2012

Part two of a three-part series on proposal writing Need money? Write a grant proposal. If only life in the nonprofit sector were so simple. Writing a proposal to a foundation is about much more than writing. Our conversation with professional proposal writer Marlene Lynn points out the important subtleties involved in securing foundation grant funds. For example, a well-written proposal is not necessarily a funded proposal. We asked Lynn about the difference between the two.

35. Weak Earnings Reports Pummel Stocks - Wednesday, October 24, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) — Nobody was expecting this round of corporate earnings reports to be great. But companies' underwhelming results are still rattling investors.

Stocks plunged Tuesday in one of the worst days on Wall Street this year. Big-name companies reported weak quarterly revenue and lowered their forecasts for the rest of the year.

36. Seeking Foundation Grants the Right Way - Friday, October 19, 2012

Part one of a three-part series on proposal writing. If there is a mythical “pot-of-gold” in the nonprofit world it is the foundation grant. Many start-ups – as well as established nonprofits – look to grants from foundations as a cure-all; the answer to all fundraising problems. You can spot this tendency when you hear phrases such as “Bill Gates has a foundation, let’s submit a proposal.”

37. Mississippi Consumers Notified of E-Book Settlement - Thursday, October 18, 2012

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Officials say they're sending out notices to Mississippi residents who might have overpaid for e-books and are eligible for a share of a nationwide settlement.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says the state is getting $407,823 of the $69 million settlement with publishers Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Shuster.

38. Indie Memphis Festival Gets a Tech Feel - Friday, October 05, 2012

Based on a lineup the nonprofit organization released, this year’s Indie Memphis Film Festival will feel a lot like the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

It’s a reflection of the digital convergence of film, music and interactive media. Adding a kind of innovation and technology focus to the festival is something organizers have wanted to add for a while, according to Indie Memphis board president Iddo Patt.

39. Social Media Renders Rapid Judgment on Debate - Friday, October 05, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) – Big Bird is endangered. Jim Lehrer lost control. And Mitt Romney crushed President Barack Obama.

Those were the judgments rendered across Twitter and Facebook Wednesday during the first debate of the 2012 presidential contest. While millions turned on their televisions to watch the 90-minute showdown, a smaller but highly engaged subset took to social networks to discuss and score the debate as it unspooled in real time.

40. Indie Memphis Festival Gets New Tech Elements - Thursday, October 04, 2012

There’s a decided South by Southwest feel to this year’s Indie Memphis Film Festival, based on a lineup the nonprofit organization announced this week.

For the 15th annual festival, which happens Nov. 1-4, the festival has added new innovation and technology events on topics that range from design trends to digital storytelling, data management and the innovation economy. That’s in addition to screening the independent films and showcasing musical acts that are a staple of the event.

41. Indie Memphis Festival Gets New Tech Elements - Wednesday, October 03, 2012

There’s a decided South by Southwest feel to this year’s Indie Memphis Film Festival, based on a lineup the nonprofit sent out Tuesday afternoon.

For the 15th annual festival, which happens Nov. 1 through Nov. 4, the festival has added new innovation and technology events on topics that range from design trends to digital storytelling, data management and the innovation economy. That’s in addition to screening the independent films and showcasing musical acts that are a staple of the event.

42. One Quiet Truck - Friday, August 31, 2012

JUST SEND ONE QUIET TRUCK. My friend Joan White died a couple of weeks ago. You may not have known that.

In fact, if you aren’t a member of advertising’s old school fraternity, you may not know that Joan made the boys let the girls in and made the business, and us, better. In fact, if you aren’t a member of Temple Israel, you may not know how much she meant there, how her steady devotion gave steady evidence of, in the words of her rabbi, “a life worthy of living that enriched us all.” You may not know that she was Miss Holly to Mr. Bingle, trailblazer and mentor to generations of ad agency folks, and just the volunteer to talk to in the Temple Israel shop if you were looking for just the right menorah or kiddush cup. And because of her selfless work and life ethic, business women today will never have to know how tough it was in the ‘50s for a single Jewish mother from Chicago with a 2-year-old in tow to make it here.

43. How Google’s New Updates Impact Your Business - Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Earlier this year, Google rolled out its latest set of changes to the secret algorithm it uses to determine search rankings. While the public isn’t privy to the actual formula, the impact was a clear message to marketers to stop playing tricks to manipulate results and start developing websites that actually appeal to the public.

44. What Apple's Billion-Dollar Victory Means for Consumers - Tuesday, August 28, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Apple's $1 billion court victory over Samsung poses a lot of questions for consumers. Will Samsung phones still be available for sale? Will they be more expensive? Will owners of existing phones need to worry?

45. Changes In Buyer Behavior Critical To Biz Survival - Wednesday, August 22, 2012

A significant shift in buyer behavior has occurred over the last several years – a shift that has not only changed the very essence of the role of salesperson but how we market to consumers as well. The origin of this shift is three-fold – the role the Internet plays in informing buyers, a new paradigm in group decision-making, and an increasing expectation for a heightened customer buying “experience.”

46. Major Retailers to Launch Mobile App for Payments - Thursday, August 16, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – A bevy of big-name retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best-Buy Co. and Target Corp., are teaming up to create a company that will give customers another way to make purchases: with their cellphones.

47. 5 Best Practices For Leveraging Pinterest - Thursday, August 16, 2012

Part two of a two-part series Virtual scrapbooking site Pinterest has quickly taken the world of social media by storm, leaving some business owners and marketers scratching their heads about how exactly to leverage their time investment accordingly.

48. Google Buying Frommer's Travel Guides From Wiley - Tuesday, August 14, 2012

HOBOKEN, N.J. (AP) – Google is buying the Frommer's brand of travel guides.

Google Inc., which bought the Zagat restaurant review service in September, plans to use Frommer's guides to hotels and destinations around the world to complement the Zagat listings.

49. Google Cutting 4,000 jobs at Motorola Unit - Tuesday, August 14, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Google Inc. is making its largest round of layoffs ever as it announced plans to cut about 4,000 jobs at Motorola Mobility just three months after buying the struggling cellphone pioneer.

50. Google Agrees to Record $22.5M Fine on Privacy - Friday, August 10, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Google is paying a record $22.5 million fine to settle allegations that it broke a privacy promise by secretly tracking millions of Web surfers who use Apple's Safari browser.

51. 23andMe Seeks FDA Approval for Personal DNA Test - Tuesday, July 31, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) – Genetic test maker 23andMe is asking the Food and Drug Administration to approve its personalized DNA test in a move that, if successful, could boost acceptance of technology that is viewed skeptically by leading scientists who question its usefulness.

52. Focus Shifts Back to the US - Wednesday, July 25, 2012

After China’s deluge of economic information took the spotlight last week, investors this week shifted their gaze back to the United States for a couple of big ticket items.

First, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made his way to the place that is held in high esteem by the American public: Capitol Hill. He provided his semi-annual testimony to the legislators on Tuesday and Wednesday.

53. How Apple's Phantom Taxes Hide Billions in Profit - Tuesday, July 24, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – On Tuesday, Apple is set to report financial results for the second quarter. Analysts are expecting net income of $9.8 billion. But whatever figure Apple reports won't reflect its true profit, because the company hides some of it with an unusual tax maneuver.

54. Google Sells Small Tablet, Challenges Kindle Fire - Thursday, June 28, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Google is unveiling a small tablet computer bearing its brand in a challenge to Amazon's Kindle Fire.

The Nexus 7 is designed specifically for Google Play, the online store that sells movies, music, books, apps and other content – the things Amazon.com Inc. also sells for its tablet computer.

55. A Battle for Internet Freedom as UN Meeting Nears - Monday, June 25, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) – A year after the Internet helped fuel the Arab Spring uprisings, the role cyberspace plays in launching revolutions is being threatened by proposed changes to a United Nations telecommunications treaty that could allow countries to clamp down on the free flow of information.

56. Tech-Savvy Jostes Helps Grow Small Businesses - Friday, June 22, 2012

To Liz Jostes, a social media and small-business consultant, now is a great time to be a small-business owner.

Between search engine optimization, social media and other tech tools available today that weren’t around or weren’t as robust a few years ago, “the little guy” can compete on a wider playing field than ever before.

57. Privacy Gaffe Discovered in Internet Address Bids - Monday, June 18, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – The organization in charge of introducing new Internet addresses to rival ".com" briefly suspended access to some of the documents on its website after a privacy gaffe.

58. Apple Integrates Facebook Into iPhone Software - Tuesday, June 12, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Fresh off a disappointing initial public offering, Facebook is getting a big boost from Apple, which is building the social network deep into its iPhone and iPad software.

59. Nasdaq Sets Aside $40M for Facebook Investors - Thursday, June 07, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – The Nasdaq stock exchange said Wednesday that it plans to hand out $40 million in cash and credit to reimburse investment firms that got ensnared by technical problems with trading Facebook stock.

60. Google Page 1 Is Holy Grail - Wednesday, June 06, 2012

We all know intuitively that a strong search engine ranking can impact traffic to your website, but just how “make or break” is it? A whopping 75 percent of people don’t click past the first page of search results, and the top three results on page one, excluding paid ads, account for 60 percent of the clicks according to Sitepoint.com.

61. Wal-Mart's Proxy Vote Shows Dissent Against Execs - Tuesday, June 05, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Wal-Mart's final shareholder vote for its board of directors showed unprecedented dissent against key executives and board members, including CEO Mike Duke, in the wake of allegations of bribery in Mexico.

62. Home Browsers - Monday, June 04, 2012

Amid the fast-pace world of the real estate business, having technology on your side is not only beneficial, but often necessary.

Due to the rising popularity of smartphones, real estate apps and the Web, homebuyers are doing their homework on neighborhoods, schools, amenities and crime well before they pick up the phone and seek professional advice.

63. Memphis-Based EVS Harnesses the Cloud to Protect Businesses - Friday, May 25, 2012

Electronic Vaulting Services, a Memphis-based technology company founded by Gayle Rose, has grown considerably since opening its doors in 2005.

64. Jury: Google Didn't Infringe on Oracle Patents - Thursday, May 24, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A federal jury in San Francisco has decided that Google didn't infringe on Oracle's patents when the search company developed its popular Android software for mobile devices.

65. Google Completes Motorola Deal, Heralding New Era - Wednesday, May 23, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Google has completed its $12.5 billion purchase of device maker Motorola Mobility in a deal that poses new challenges for the Internet's most powerful company as it tries to shape the future of mobile computing.

66. Jury’s Out On Facebook Advertising - Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Business owners and marketers around the globe are clamoring to assess the viability of Facebook advertising. After all, Facebook has amassed over 900 million active users in eight short years, making it easy to see what all of the fuss is about.

67. Facebook Stock Climbs in Public Debut - Monday, May 21, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Facebook updated its status to "public company" on Friday.

After an anxiety-filled half-hour delay, its stock began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market for the first time as investors were finally able to put a dollar value on the company that turned online social networking into a global cultural phenomenon.

68. One of The Oldest New Problems - Monday, May 21, 2012

One of the most significant problems I hear about in my consulting practice is: “I never have enough time to get everything done.”

I thought of that comment the other day when I was looking for a solution to one of my problems. Here’s a recap of the steps I took to solve the problem: I jumped on Google and found a chat area on the topic I was exploring.

69. Facebook Set to Price Initial Public Offering - Friday, May 18, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Facebook's initial public offering is shaping up to be one of the largest in history. It's expected to be a big payoff for a company that started out eight years ago with no way to make money.

70. Facebook Investors to Cash Out More Shares - Thursday, May 17, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Insiders and early Facebook investors are taking advantage of increasing investor demand and selling more of their stock in the company's initial public offering, the company said Wednesday.

71. Renshaw Property Mgmt. Launches Rental App - Thursday, May 17, 2012

Memphis-based Renshaw Property Management recently launched an app seeking to simplify the renting process by allowing users to filter the company’s available properties by price, neighborhood and home features.

72. Poll: Half of Americans Call Facebook a Fad - Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Half of Americans think Facebook is a passing fad, according to the results of a new Associated Press-CNBC poll. And, in the run-up to the social network's initial public offering of stock, half of Americans also say the social network's expected asking price is too high.

73. Facebook Raises IPO Price as Offering Nears - Wednesday, May 16, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Facebook on Tuesday increased the price range at which it plans to sell stock to the public, as investor enthusiasm in the offering continued to mount and boost the potential value of the world's most popular social network.

74. Revolving Door: Yahoo Ushers Out Another CEO - Tuesday, May 15, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Yahoo still has credibility issues, even after casting aside CEO Scott Thompson because his official biography included a college degree that he never received.

75. Buffett Says Investors Shouldn’t Act on Headlines - Tuesday, May 08, 2012

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett said Monday that Europe will have a hard time resolving its fiscal problems because of the structure of the European Union and this weekend’s election results in Greece and France.

76. Yahoo CEO Faces Calls for Ouster After Inaccuracy - Monday, May 07, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson faces calls for his ouster after just four months leading the troubled Internet company because of inaccuracies with his academic credentials.

77. Are Websites Still in Vogue? - Friday, May 04, 2012

In the world of Facebook and Twitter we sometimes forget the value of the trusted website. Can’t we say it all in 140 characters? Or a photo? Will the website go the way of the covered wagon?

78. Conference Aims to Lift City’s Tech Tide - Wednesday, May 02, 2012

The Macon campus of Southwest Tennessee Community College is about to become tech central.

Doors will open at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, May 12, for TechCamp Memphis, a daylong conference that will feature educational presentations in the campus’ Bornblum Library. The event will focus primarily on three areas – application development, content creation and Internet/social media marketing.

79. B&N, Microsoft Team Up on Nook, College Businesses - Tuesday, May 01, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Books and bits united Monday as Microsoft provided an infusion of money to help Barnes & Noble compete with top electronic bookseller Amazon. In exchange, Microsoft gets a long-desired foothold in the business of e-books and college textbooks.

80. Conference Stresses Power Of Social Media - Tuesday, May 01, 2012

The Memphis-based Alliance for Nonprofit Excellence is gearing up for its seventh annual conference, and this year’s theme focuses on ways nonprofits can harness the power of social media and build connected communities in this fast-paced information age.

81. Cloud for Good Connects Nonprofits With Technology - Monday, April 16, 2012

From an office on the second floor of the EmergeMemphis building at 516 Tennessee St., a small company called Cloud for Good is harnessing the power of cloud technology to help nonprofits develop customized, cost-effective solutions, advance their missions and raise the social return on their investments.

82. Many Questions Raised Before Going Public - Monday, April 16, 2012

As Facebook prepares for its multibillion-dollar initial public offering (IPO) next month, it sheds light on how companies – including local ones – decide whether to go public or not.

Memphis-based pharmaceutical company GTx Inc. went public in 2004 and local paper producer Verso Paper Corp. held its IPO in 2008, but the overall number of publicly traded companies both locally and nationally has dropped over the past two decades.

83. Events - Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd will receive a note on the Beale Street Brass Note Walk of Fame Wednesday, April 11, at 11 a.m. inside Alfred’s, 197 Beale St. The event is free and open to the public. Lloyd and his New Quartet will perform at Rhodes College Thursday, April 12, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the McCallum Ballroom of the Bryan Campus Life Center. Tickets are $15. Visit alumni.rhodes.edu/charleslloyd for details and tickets.

84. New HR Firm Shifts Focus to ‘People Capital’ - Monday, April 09, 2012

Human resources professionals no doubt groan at the stereotypes of them portrayed in popular culture such as on TV shows like “The Office.”

On that show, the character of Toby Flenderson is an HR representative played with the sleepy-eyed, lifeless personality of a wet blanket.

85. Facebook Leaning Toward Nasdaq, Reports Say - Monday, April 09, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Facebook will list its shares with Nasdaq, according to media reports.

That would be a big win for the Nasdaq, which competes fiercely with NYSE Euronext Inc., especially for an initial public offering as large as Facebook's, pegged at $5 billion.

86. MasterCard, Visa Warn of Cardholder Data Breach - Monday, April 02, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – MasterCard and Visa said Friday that they had notified issuers of its credit cards of a potential breach of the security of customer accounts. Visa blamed a third company for the error.

87. Fed. Drug Trial Moves to Conclusion - Thursday, March 22, 2012

It may have been one of the more unusual PowerPoint presentations. Closing arguments in the Craig Petties drug organization trial in Memphis federal court began Tuesday, March 20, with the presentations most associated with corporate workshops and seminars adapted to summarize what has been a complex set of events covering seven years.

88. Apple's Next Hot Release: The Dividend Check - Wednesday, March 21, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Apple made computers sexy. Can it do the same for the musty old dividend?

Issuing a regular payment to your stockholders after years of just amassing cash used to be an admission that your company has run out of creative ideas to grow profits.

89. Apple's Market Clout Likely to Draw More Scrutiny - Tuesday, March 13, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – In everything it does, from product design to business deals, Apple strives for as much control as possible.

But as the world's most valuable company sets out to define and dominate the rapidly evolving markets it created with the iPhone and the iPad, Apple is likely to face antitrust regulators who want to curb its power.

90. Stunt Marketing Breaks Through Promotion Noise - Wednesday, March 07, 2012

With the explosion of social media, the sheer volume of marketing messaging vying for the attention of your customers is astounding. In fact, buying behaviors have fundamentally changed as a result.

91. Engage Social Media for Restaurant Success - Monday, March 05, 2012

Let’s be blunt: If a restaurant does not utilize every available form of social media, it risks losing a competitive edge. And just having a website doesn’t count anymore, especially a website that doesn’t do anything for the customer and isn’t up-to-date. A restaurant must maintain an active and reactive website, Facebook page and Twitter account, and it doesn’t hurt to post videos frequently to YouTube.

92. Apple Market Value Hits $500B, Where Few Have Gone - Thursday, March 01, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Apple's market capitalization topped $500 billion Wednesday, climbing to a mountain peak where few companies have ventured – and none have stayed for long.

Apple was already the world's most valuable company. The gap between it and No. 2 Exxon Mobil Corp. has widened rapidly in the past month, as investors have digested Apple's report of blow-out holiday-season sales of iPhones and iPads. And, more recently, Apple has raised investors' hopes that it might institute a dividend.

93. Local QR Real Estate Usage Grows Slowly - Tuesday, February 21, 2012

First seen in Japan in the mid-1990s, quick response codes could add momentous efficiency in the residential real estate world, allowing virtual tours of houses to take place on mobile devices.

But only 14 million American mobile device users have interacted with a QR code, according to recent study by digital business analytics firm comScore Inc. That means less than 5 percent of the American public has scanned a QR code.

94. Yelp Looking for $12 to $14 per Share in IPO - Monday, February 20, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Online review service Yelp rated its own business Thursday, setting an IPO target of $12 to $14 per share that could value the 7-year-old company as high as $840 million.

95. Demand Media Stock Soars as Q4 Results Renew Hope - Monday, February 20, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Demand Media Inc.'s stock soared by 31 percent Friday after the online content publisher's fourth-quarter earnings and outlook for this year gave investors hope that it is starting to recover from diminished traffic that had stemmed from changes to Google's Internet search formula.

96. Review: Netflix and Hulu's New Scripted Originals - Monday, February 13, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Within just over a week, Netflix and Hulu are both debuting their first stabs at original scripted programming.

The shows amount to a milestone in Internet television, an early sign of the leveling between broadcasting and streaming. Programming options between TV and the Web are increasingly separated by little more than the "video source" button on your remote.

97. Facebook Surrenders Its Privacy in IPO Documents - Friday, February 03, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Facebook is baring its business soul.

The unveiling came late Wednesday when the company that depends on people to share their lives online filed its plans to raise $5 billion in an initial public offering of stock. It's a revelatory moment that prospective investors, curious competitors and nosy reporters have been awaiting for two years. During that time, Facebook established itself as a communications hub and emerged as a threat to the Internet's most powerful company, Google Inc.

98. Status Update: Facebook to Go Public, Raise $5B - Thursday, February 02, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Facebook made a much-anticipated status update Wednesday: The Internet social network is going public eight years after its computer-hacking CEO Mark Zuckerberg started the service at Harvard University.

99. Tech Companies Team Up to Combat Email Scams - Tuesday, January 31, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Google, Facebook and other big tech companies are jointly designing a system for combating email scams known as phishing.

Such scams try to trick people into giving away passwords and other personal information by sending emails that look as if they come from a legitimate bank, retailer or other business. When Bank of America customers see emails that appear to come from the bank, they might click on a link that takes them to a fake site mimicking the real Bank of America's. There, they might enter personal details, which scam artists can capture and use for fraud.

100. Report: Facebook IPO Filing Could Come Next Week - Monday, January 30, 2012

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Facebook could file regulatory papers as early as Wednesday for its highly anticipated initial public offering of stock, according to a newspaper report.

The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, said Friday that the social-networking company could raise as much as $10 billion in an offering that would value the company at $75 billion to $100 billion.