The Little Online Auction That Could . . .

Going once, going twice . . . SOLD! — LD


OnlineAuction.com has become the second largest online auction site in the United States. To celebrate and to help continue this growth, they've announced a new YouTube contest with a $5,000.00 Grand Prize.

GRANTS PASS, Ore. -- Over the past weekend a small company in Grants Pass, Oregon has proven to be a real contender in the super-competitive online auction game. OnlineAuction.com (http://OLA.com) has come out of nowhere to emerge as the country's second largest online auction site ever, with more than 10,000,000 items currently listed. Wow!

This milestone has only been achieved before by mega-billion-dollar industry giant eBay.

Company spokesperson Valerie Fain says, "OnlineAuction.com owes its success to people across the country who are excited by fact that it's very inexpensive to sell items." At OLA.com there are different levels of membership, and for as little as $8 a month sellers may list as many items as they like with no worries of paying commissions. OLA's best value, the Founding Membership offers a free e-store, with a promise to the first million Founding Members that their membership rates will remain the same for life.

In the midst of this success, the company has announced a year-long contest guaranteed to push their numbers even higher. OnlineAuction.com is sponsoring a YouTube contest with a monthly prize of $100.00 for the best, most viewed video promoting OLA.com. And at year's end: A Grand Prize of $5,000 for one lucky winner! To learn more about this contest, go to OLA.com's home page and click on the YouTube icon.

As 'The Little Online Auction That Could', OnlineAuction.com is becoming a powerhouse in the online auction industry, and is picking up steam!

This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com.

SOURCE: OnlineAuction.com

Goodyear: Check Tread Before Driving Thru Snow

You do NOT seem like the winter type. Well, no, but in another life I wuz quite the icer. — LD
AKRON, Ohio -- Winter sports enthusiasts anticipate this time of year for the chance to ski, skate and sled, although motorists likely fail to share that enthusiasm.

For the largest tire company in North America, the objective remains to offer products to help drivers "Get There," whether they are heading out to tackle slick roads on their way to enjoying those winter sports, or simply trying to get to work or another necessary destination.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: GT) suggests that one of the best ways to avoid slipping and sliding in a vehicle this winter is to improve the contact points between the vehicle and the road surface. For many motorists, that means selecting new tires with improved tread grip.

In severe winter areas, motorists may opt for a seasonal changeover that employs true winter tires to combat the expected ice and snow. For most, however, the choice may be a year-round tire that features an aggressive enough tread to handle the occasional sloppy winter days.

Goodyear's line of Ultra Grip severe winter weather tires, according to Bob Toth, general manager of auto tires, are engineered to perform in cold temperatures and provide grip in snow and slush. Additionally, Goodyear's tires featuring TripleTred Technology, while not winter-specific products, still carry many of the same winter performance characteristics.

The Assurance TripleTred tires for cars and minivans, and Fortera TripleTred tires for SUVs, are year-round products that don't have to be changed over on a seasonal basis. While they feature a Dry Traction Zone and a Wet Traction Zone for driving when the roads are clear or wet, they also have an Ice Zone, which translates into more gripping power on icy or snow- covered roads. This zone is enhanced by the use of fiberglass fibers and volcanic sand in the rubber, which help to present microscopic pores that act as traction elements.

"When making the decision between purpose-built winter tires versus more versatile all-season tires, consumers need to consider what level of winter they might face," said Toth. "Based on past experiences, do they feel their winter weather is moderate enough to choose an all-season tire, which offers the convenience of no seasonal tire changeovers, or will they face severe winter weather, in which case a true winter tire would be better?"

Whatever tire is chosen, Toth offers advice for motorists who will be faced with potential slippery driving conditions this winter:


* Match your driving speed to the current conditions. If conditions are challenging due to a slippery road surface or reduced visibility, decrease your speed. A slower driving speed allows more time for a necessary response.
* Additional factors to consider when adjusting speed are the condition of the vehicle, its tires and your driving abilities. Always keep in mind the posted speed limits, and understand that those limits indicate the maximum speed when weather conditions are good.
* Plan ahead and try to anticipate potentially dangerous situations. When approaching a curve or potentially slick area of the road, use the brakes effectively. Begin applying the brakes before a curve and on a straight section of the road. Sometimes, taking your foot off the accelerator and allowing the vehicle to naturally slow without using the brakes is best.
* Be alert to other vehicles. Maintain enough distance between your vehicle and the one ahead of you. If someone else seems to be following too close to your vehicle, perhaps slow down to allow them to pass - rather than speeding up to achieve a distance between vehicles.
* If visibility is poor, remember to use your lights. This helps other drivers to see you when approaching or when following. You should always turn your lights on when your windshield wipers are operating.
* Set the vehicle interior to a comfortable temperature. This can be a challenge during winter when drivers and passengers may be wearing heavy coats in a vehicle, but it is imperative to be comfortable when driving. Comfort includes keeping the windows free of frost, ice and snow.
* Be as smooth as possible, avoiding sudden braking and steering responses. Always signal early when turning or stopping, in order to alert approaching or following drivers.
* Avoid overconfident driving, and avoid overestimating the vehicle's capability simply because it is equipped with anti-lock brakes, four-wheel drive, traction control, winter tires or other safety devices. Do not allow good judgment and smart driving to be overtaken by a false sense of security provided by vehicle technology.
* Before driving in inclement weather, be sure that your vehicle is properly maintained. Make sure your windshield wipers work properly; have the correct level of antifreeze for heating and defrosting the vehicle; keep plenty of gas in the tank; and always use required safety devices such as seatbelts.

"Preparation - of the vehicle and the driver - is the key for winter driving," said Toth. "When it comes to driving on the changing road conditions, ranging from dry, wet, icy and snowy, one of the most important factors to consider is the tires. It doesn't matter if it's a front-, rear- or four-wheel drive vehicle; it will perform better if the vehicle has good tires. For some, this means purpose-built winter tires. For most, all-season tires with plenty of new tread will do the job."

For more information about Goodyear's TripleTred tires, details about Goodyear, or to find the nearest Goodyear retailer, go to http://www.goodyeartires.com

Note To Editors: News releases and downloadable photos are available at Goodyear's media website, http://www.GoodyearNewsRoom.com

SOURCE: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

Sheryl Crow Readies 'Detours'

“All I Wanna Do . . .” Is listen to Sheryl Crow? — LD

Grammy Winner Finishes Her New Studio Album

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow will release her sixth studio album, Detours, on February 5, 2008. The album marks the return of producer Bill Bottrell, who previously worked with Crow on her breakthrough debut album Tuesday Night Music Club, which earned the singer three Grammy Awards, and sold more than ten million copies worldwide.

"This is the most honest record I've ever made. It's about being forced to wake up," says Crow. Lyrically the album is the most politically and personally outspoken record of her career, addressing the current state of the world from different perspectives as well as some of the personal challenges she's faced over the last several years. The album, which in the end remains spiritually hopeful, retains the raw freshness of Bottrell's Tuesday Night Music Club-production and subtly pushes the boundaries of her previous work into new musical territories.

Track titles include "Shine Over Babylon" (currently available on iTunes, and the centerpiece of the album in Crow's opinion), "Love Is Free," the Arabic-tinged "Peace Be Upon Us," "Lullaby for Wyatt" (from Grace Is Gone, starring John Cusack) and the stark folky album opener "God Bless This Mess."

Sheryl can be seen performing tracks from Detours on CNN's "Heroes" on December 6th and on CBS' "A Home for the Holidays" on December 21st.

SOURCE: Interscope Records

Western Writers Add Best Western Song Category

Go Western, young man. Yee-haa. Giddy-up! — LD

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Western Writers of America, a guild of 600 professional writers of Western literature, has added Best Western Song as the newest category to the Spur Awards.

The Spur Awards, given annually for distinguished writing about the American West, are among the oldest and most prestigious in American literature. Spurs are awarded for novels, short stories, articles, juvenile books, poetry, nonfiction books and screenplays for dramas and documentaries.

"When one thinks of the great American West, one naturally hears great music," WWA President Cotton Smith says. "Memorable words and music that tell us of this special place in America's heart. That is an important part of the Western experience and WWA wanted to honor it -- with the creation of the Songwriting Spur Award."

To qualify for Best Western Song, the song must be released for the first time (in 2007) and available to the public with lyrics dependent in whole or in part on setting, characters, or customs indigenous to the American West or early frontier. A copy of the lyric sheet and medium must be submitted. Entries must be postmarked by December 31, 2007.

"It was an honor to serve on the team that created the rules for the Western Writers of America's Spur Award for songwriting," says Bobby Bridger, composer of A Ballad of the West. "Until now this genre of interpreting the history and culture of the American West has sadly been overlooked, and I am pleased the WWA has taken the first step to acknowledge the important contributions of balladeers and troubadours."

Winners and finalists will be announced in March and honored at the WWA convention, June 10-14, at the Chaparral Suites in Scottsdale, Ariz. Since 1953, Spur Awards have been given to writers such as Tony Hillerman, Larry McMurtry, Leon Metz and Elmer Kelton. Entries are open to WWA members and non-members. For further information contact Executive Director Paul Hutton, wwa@unm.edu or (505) 277-5234; http://www.westernwriters.org.

SOURCE: Western Writers of America, Inc.

Green Is the New Color of the Bottom Line

It isn’t easy being Green? Sure it is . . . & smart, too — LD

HARTFORD, Conn. -- "We believe design has enormous power and we are trying to use it to change the world," says Ian Yolles, Vice President of Brand Communications for Nau. "During Good And Green we will be sharing how the balance of beauty, performance and sustainability has driven everything we do as a company -- allowing us to not only generate a profit, but to contribute to positive, lasting and substantive change."

Yolles and other leaders in the fashion industry will show mainstream brands how to balance profitability and sustainability during Good And Green- The Green Marketing Conference, November 29-30, 2007, Chicago Cultural Center. Good And Green is designed to teach mainstream national marketers the techniques, benefits and bottom line impact of connecting with today's ecologically-concerned consumers through green marketing efforts.

Fashion has found success in blending "good-for-the-earth" business practices with state-of-the-art design and feels this way of doing business is key to a brand's current and future success. "We envision the eco movement as more than a trend. Eco has no "look" -- it is simply the way things should be done from now on," states Maria Intscher, Head Designer for Linda Loudermilk.

Good And Green attendees will have multiple opportunities to connect and learn from one another through solution-based workshops, drill-down discussion groups, insightful case studies and great networking events. A complete schedule and list of speakers is available at http://www.goodandgreen.biz.

Discovery Communications' Planet Green is the Exclusive Presenting Sponsor of Good And Green with Title Sponsors Bank of America, The Natural Marketing Institute, The Daily Green and Body + Soul magazine and Associate Sponsors 1% For The Planet, NatureWorks and Ketchum Public Relations. Fast Company is the Media Sponsor, Getty Images is the Imagery Resource, Earthsense is the Breakfast Sponsor, Nestle Waters is the Bottled Water Sponsor and NativeEnergy is the Official Carbon Offset Sponsor.

Good And Green is produced by PME Enterprises, Hartford, CT. Please visit http://www.goodandgreen.biz or call 860.724.2649 x 14 for more details and to register.

Contact: Patti Minglin -- 630-209-2524 -- pminglin@comcast.net

SOURCE: PME Enterprises

American Legion/Avue Launch Jobs Web Site for Vets

What’s the deal? Just tryin’ to help my fellow Veterans. — LD

Site Promotes "More Jobs, Better Jobs"

WASHINGTON -- The American Legion and Avue Technologies launched a joint Web site, http://www.vetjobs.us, to substantially increase employment opportunities in the federal government for America's returning veterans. The American Legion is the nation's largest veterans service organization, and Avue is the leading private-sector provider of human capital management services for federal agencies.

The new site will be free to all users and will not contain advertising of any kind. In announcing the site, the Legion and Avue emphasized that the traditional focus of federal agencies on placement numbers, without regard to the long-term quality of the job opportunity, has resulted in inferior job placement and career tracks for many veterans.

For example, while veterans have represented between 30 to 37 percent of new federal government hires during the past five years, only 14 percent and 26 percent of them, respectively, are placed in the two highest-paid labor categories.

The fact that veterans disproportionately take entry-level jobs for low wages, despite high qualifications, often means they will spend their entire career economically disadvantaged.

"We view quality civilian job opportunities and career growth to be perhaps the most critical issue that faces the more than 250,000 veterans exiting the military each year, and we are very enthusiastic to offer a solution that we believe will result in not only more jobs, but better jobs for veterans," said Marty Conatser, national commander of The American Legion.

"Avue is the perfect partner for this project because Avue is not only the leading technology platform for information and outreach on federal jobs, it is also committed to supporting veterans, and its system is the only one that automatically ensures veterans preference is correctly applied in every hiring action," Conatser explained.

"We are pleased to be able to join with The American Legion to ensure that veterans receive the very best in information and advice to maximize long-term career growth, identify local opportunities, improve compensation, and help ease the transition from military to federal civil government employment," said Linda Brooks Rix, Co-CEO of Avue.

The new joint American Legion/Avue program can be visited on the Web at http://www.vetjobs.us. The Web site is expected to be one of many future partnering efforts on behalf of veterans between Avue and The American Legion.

The American Legion was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, Americanism, and patriotic youth programs. The Legion's 2.7 million wartime veterans work for the betterment of their communities through more than 14,000 posts across the nation.

Learn more about The American Legion by visiting http://www.legion.org on the Web.

Founded in 1983, Avue Technologies is the recognized market leader and technology innovator in public sector management platforms (PS/MP). The company provides the public sector with integrated technology and service solutions that dramatically increase enterprise-wide visibility and management effectiveness, workforce productivity, and manager and worker satisfaction. Avue is a privately held company headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., with offices in Washington, D.C., and Victoria, B.C. Learn more about Avue Technologies at http://www.avuetech.com.

SOURCE: The American Legion

'iFly Hollywood' Launching Skydiving Wind Tunnel

I fly . . . There I am . . . gonna hit the ground! — LD

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- Universal CityWalk takes extreme to a new level with the introduction of "iFly Hollywood," L.A.'s first ever indoor extreme sky-diving wind tunnel elevating "sky-divers" to new heights of up to 30 feet and suspending them mid-air at wind speeds of more than 125 miles-per-hour and affording them a 360-degree panoramic view of the landmark pedestrian promenade.

Housed in the world's tallest and most technologically advanced indoor vertical wind tunnel, "iFly Hollywood" breaks new ground as the only facility to be constructed out of one solid sheet of clear acrylic, adding a totally new open air dimension to the free-fall sport.

The "iFly Hollywood" experience replicates the extreme sport of sky-diving by employing two colossal electric fans, the equivalent of over 800 horse-power, to give guests of all ages an authentic and intense free-fall sensation.

Certified sky-diving instructors provide individualized training prior to each sky-diving adventure that focuses on safety and a series of hand signaling to communicate within the wind tunnel. Guests will don authentic sky-diving sports gear, sans parachute, and become acquainted with sequences of awesome aerial body maneuvers to elevate the sky-diving experience. Each "iFly Hollywood" flight session equates to one actual sky-diving jump. Participants are presented with a Certificate of Completion following their flight.

For additional information and details on pricing and special package options, visit http://www.iFlyHollywood.com. Information about Universal CityWalk can be found at http://www.CityWalkHollywood.com.

Universal Studios Hollywood, The Entertainment Capital of L.A., includes a full-day, movie-based theme park and Studio Tour; the CityWalk entertainment, shopping and dining complex; the Universal CityWalk Cinemas; and the Gibson Amphitheatre concert and special event venue. Universal CityWalk features over 60 entertainment-themed restaurants, nightclubs, shops and dynamic entertainment options. Universal CityWalk Cinemas, offering the best movie-going experience in Los Angeles, features 19 screens including one of Southern California's largest IMAX(R) venues and newly renovated stadium-style seating. The theme park features such groundbreaking attractions as "Revenge of the Mummy(TM) -- The Ride," "Shrek 4-D(TM)," "Jurassic Park(R) -- The Ride," the world-renowned Studio Tour, which takes guests behind-the-scenes of such landmark TV and movie locations and sets as Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds," and the upcoming Spring 2008 new mega-attraction based on the blockbuster hit movie and TV series, "The Simpsons."

Universal Studios Hollywood (http://www.UniversalStudiosHollywood.com) is a unit of Universal Parks & Resorts, a division of Universal Studios, a part of NBC Universal. NBC Universal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi Universal.

SOURCE: Universal Studios Hollywood