Networking giant Cisco led a $9.5 funding round of two-year-old application hosting firm SoonR. The move announced on Tuesday is the latest in a series of investments Cisco has been making in small Web 2.0 software firms.

Facing a changing marketplace where business and personal productivity applications increasingly exist on the web, network hardware giant Cisco has spent about $4 billion in the last year acquiring software firms such as WebEx and Reactivity.

In the last year Cisco has acquired about a half-dozen software and service firms, and earmarked another billion dollars to dole out venture funds on small firms mostly in Silicon Valley, but occasionally in China, India and Russia.

The company has invested heavily in software and services startups such as China Communications Services and Russian e-commerce firm Ozon, and has taken an equity positions in Albaba.com.

Business Briefs: Chamber organizes annual trade show

The Athens Area Chamber of Commerce will be hosting the annual Business Expo on March 27 at The Classic Center. Organizers for the 2008 Business Expo have adopted the theme "Let's Make a Deal" and will provide activities throughout the day. The day will start with a networking event, Business Before Hours, and end with award presentations at 4 p.m. The awards will include the annual Small Business Person of the Year.

Combat Training Solutions, a Stephens County company that manufactures simulated explosives for the military, announced that it plans to add more than 30 jobs and invest $1 million to expand a facility in Eastanollee.

Malware writers exploring Software as a Service model

The business of writing, buying, and selling malware has become increasingly commercial over the past few years, but a new report from online security firm Finjan sheds light on just how mainstream the crimeware business has gone. Earlier this month, the company discovered a small, standalone application gathering data on over 8,700 servers, including web sites from 2,500 North American companies and a handful of sites in Alexa's top 100 ranking. Potential buyers were able to log into the malicious server hosting the data-gathering service and evaluate any given web site's size and Google Page Rank to decide whether or not the site's FTP information was worth purchasing or not.

The concept of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is nothing new, but this is the first time anyone has organized the purchase of FTP login credentials, with additional tools available to help a buyer confirm he's making a smart purchase.

Witnesses Describe Shooting Scene

I have been reading alot of the posts and I am seeing alot of name calling and down right ugliness. This is not supposed to be how we act in hard times. We need to leave the investigating up to officials, and comfort eachother. We need to all remember that his friends didn't shoot anyone or do any harm, so the hurtful things that some of you are saying about them are very unnessesary. Hold on tight to the ones you love, and try not to let this murderer keep you from living your life. Love you all.
Posted by: Jarbeau Location: Bellevue on Dec 6, 2007 at 02:30 PM It is a shame to see what one person who has lost hope can do. We can analyze it and try to prevent these acts in the future but it is the price of a free society.
Posted by: Brian Location: Kansas City, MO on Dec 6, 2007 at 02:23 PM My thought's and prayers go out to the families, and the community.

Miscalculations dogged Romney from the start

Among my goals as a minister, businessman and community leader is to make our beloved nation better! As a young African-American man, I can relate to Michelle Obama's statement. As a registered member of the GOP, there is an aweful lot we as a party can learn from this spirit of optimism that is engendering the support of young Americans.

LeaseWeb Launches Windows Express Server

Business hosting provider LeaseWeb, in collaboration with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), has announced a new low-cost dedicated hosting service targeted at small and midsize businesses. LeaseWeb Dedicated Windows Express Server allows customers to be online within 24 hours with a proprietary start-up server and broadband package.

Billable-hours choice eases rate pressure

It ended up paying a price in recruiting, Cosgrove said.

Before the most recent raise went into effect on Sept. 1, the firm polled associates and partners on some new approaches.

When it offered a choice of hours to third-years, the class of 2005, three of the nine associates chose to work 2,000 hours, Cosgrove said. Realistically, these lawyers likely will bill more than 2,100 hours, making the difference between the lower tier and higher tier significant, he added.

First-year associates still do not have a billable-hour requirement. Second-years are expected to bill at least 1,850 hours, which means about 37 hours a week, assuming a 50-week work year. To bill 37 hours a week, lawyers generally have to work about 47 to 50 hours.

BRIEFLY: James Henry, a former Cook County Circuit Court judge, joins Meckler Bulger & Tilson as "of counsel." Henry, 56, who retired from the bench in October, will focus on pretrial remedies such as mediation and arbitration.

AmeriCommerce Shopping Cart Software Announces PayPal Certification

AmeriCommerce announces certified integration between the AmeriCommerce Shopping Cart Software and the new PayPal Express Checkout service. This new service adds to the existing PayPal payment methods AmeriCommerce integrates with including Website Payments Pro, Website Payments Standard, and the Payflow Pro gateway.
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Breaking News:

The week's second snowstorm could cover the region with twice as much snow as Tuesday's snowfall.The National Weather Service predicted four to six inches of snow would fall north of Dallas before midnight Thursday, causing hazardous road conditions, wrecks and city, school and county department closures all afternoon.In fact, the Melissa ISD decided to open school two hours late on Friday.Greg Patrick, a meteorologist with the NWS office in Fort Worth, said such heavy snow accumulation for the area is very unusual."It's really something," Patrick said. "It's kind of gotten into an active pattern where we've had some strong weather systems that typically move north of Oklahoma and have been moving from January and February moving across Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. Then this past week, this will be the second major storm system that's moved across North Texas."Patrick said a collection of colder air created the heavy snowfall."It basically has to do with where the cold air sets up, where the cold air and warm, moist air sets up," Patrick said.