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Headlines
A new study from consulting firm Diamond Cluster International seems to show that the peak in the outsourcing boom has come and gone. Results show that premature contract terminations, due to poor performance, have become increasingly prevalent.
The study found that 47 percent of buyers reported they had prematurely terminated at least one outsourcing relationship in the prior 12 months.

The IT community expressed concern last week over the FBI’s desire that Congress mandate that all future routing equipment must be manufactured to include back doors for law enforcement. Similar mandates have already been passed into law for telephone switching equipment, which require no warrant to activate, and hence can be secretly enabled at will.

It is widely believed among the IT community that adding these so-called “back doors” to the routing infrastructure would significantly diminish the security of most computer networks.

A Paralyzed man using a new brain sensor has been able to move a computer cursor, open e-mail and control a robotic device simply by thinking about doing it. The Brain Gate sensor, which involves implanting electrodes directly into the brain, was developed by Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc of Massachusetts. Three more spinal chord injury patients are scheduled to test the device over the next several months.

Google released its latest version of Google Spreadsheet on Thursday. Several new features have been added, such as the right-click initiated cell commands cut, copy and paste, and the ability to add cell borders. General load times are reported to be much improved as well.

July Promethean Review: Content Management Systems (CMS)
It used to be that content management systems were clunky and frustrating for the average webmaster. These days with the great gains in online programming platforms, especially Microsoft .NET, content management systems are much more desirable.

Promethius has spent the last two years building our own content management system from scratch. The resulting application, which we call “Pretty CMS,” is built on the .NET platform and gives us all the flexibility we need to meet the various needs of our customers. In fact, we find that every single CMS installation we do requires some sort of customization to accommodate a special feature or business rule that the client may have.

Because we built the system entirely in-house, it’s much easier for us to provide special customizations for our clients. We never have to worry about getting a hold of any source code. We wrote it all!

July Promethean Review: How to Protect Your Domain
Believe it or not, your domain name could easily be taken right from under your nose - even if it’s not set to expire for the next several years. We know, because this happened to a client of ours. Make sure to listen to the podcast or read the July issue of The Promethean to find out how you can guard against domain theft.

July Promethean Review - Fun Websites to Check Out
internetfrog - find out the true speeds you are getting from your internet connection.
future me - send a message to your “future self.”
blue ball machine - just plain crazy
lifehacker - tips and tricks for just about everything

Andrea Johnson stopped by to give us some insight into what the Running Company does to maintain such incredible customer loyalty. They leave no stone unturned in their quest to make sure that every last one of their customers have happy feet for a lifetime.

One difference new customers notice right away is the special process for finding just the right shoe to fit their needs. Each Running Company location uses video gate analysis, which involves making an in-store video of the customer running on a treadmill. The video is played back in slow motion to reveal the customer’s own bio-mechanics, which then dictates proper shoe choices.

Now that’s customer service!