America's most digital cities? Think Sun Belt

If you want to live in a "digital city," you might want to start looking to the Rocky Mountains or south of the Mason-Dixon line.


Florida. Arizona. Colorado. Southern California. To some of us, these might sound like vacation destinations or Sun Belt retiree getaways. But according to the Folsom, Calif.-based Center for Digital Government's 2006 "Digital Cities Rankings," these regions are home to some of the most technologically astute municipal governments in the country.


The center, a research and advisory group that looks at information technology policy within state and local governments, focused specifically on municipal efforts. Criteria examined for the study included the ability to pay utility bills, park fees and traffic citations online; the online availability of meeting minutes from city governing bodies; and the adoption or pursuit of wireless infrastructure in public spaces.


Rankings were divided into four categories based on population. For largest cities (250,000 or more residents), the winner was Corpus Christi, Texas. For cities with 125,000 to 249,999 residents, Alexandria, Va., and Madison, Wis., tied for first place.


The category for cities with 75,000 to 124,999 residents also saw a tie for the top spot: this time, it was between Ogden City, Utah, and Roanoke, Va. In the fourth category, consisting of cities with populations between 30,000 and 74,999, the top position was held by Delray Beach, Fla.


East Coast surprises


Of the 50 cities in all four lists (there were 10 ties) the regions most regularly represented were the "Sun Belt" of the South and Southwest--Tampa, Fla., Miami, Phoenix and San Diego joined Corpus Christi in the over-250,000-residents list--and Mountain West states like Colorado, which had seven municipalities on the list. The state with the most "digital cities," however, was Virginia. Eight municipalities from Old Dominion made the list, though none appeared in the most populous category.


One of the biggest surprises was that the northeastern United States, home to major cities like New York, Boston and Philadelphia, was left off the list almost entirely. The sole New England municipality to make an appearance on any list was Manchester, Conn., in the 30,000 to 74,999 category.


And aside from the District of Columbia and the eight Virginia cities, the mid-Atlantic was likewise left unrepresented. Equally surprising was the total absence of cities in the Silicon Valley region: the three California cities that made the list were in the southern half of the state.


But that doesn't mean that the San Francisco Bay Area is secretly behind the times. A potential reason for the area's absence could be that local technology initiatives are brought forth by corporations rather than government, like Google's local Wi-Fi in its hometown of Mountain View.

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Nigerian 'Black Money' Scam - You could be at risk

If you are one of those greedy americans who want to make something out of nothing then this is for you.

Read the e-mail exchange between a California heart surgeon and the Nigerian scammer 20/20 caught on camera.

-

Dear Timothy,

This sounds very interesting, now that you have let loose your little secret, maybe i should let loose mine too.

Right from the onset, i know you were trickish and so i was prepared too. I never trusted you to compensate me for all my effort. And so the real transaction went thus;

I place an instruction for my delegate to follow carefully, it takes only 3 hours for the delegate to have the entire funds cleaned up, after they must have smuggle the shipment into the U.S and beat the securities, and afterwards re-package it and deliver it to you. But I told them to send another suit case prepare it about a weight of $3.8M to you in California and have the real consignment load of US$15.2M hiden in their possession, and also the chemical intact. I did this so as to have you release some amount of money to me as my compensation, since i never and still do not believe you will give me a cent after you get your money. 35,000 was not too much but it seams you were quick in finding out that something is wrong somewhere and yes the above is it.

Now, 25,000 is not too much for my effort, and don't you tell me all those lies that you will give me 200,000 or more for every shipment thats a big lie and i know. Lets have the deal set. As you already have seen yesterday, your policemen could not arrest my delegate, you have no case on them except that you want to end up answering more querries with the Nigeria government, and i bet you if there is anyone that will go down in this case when we get to court that person is YOU. You have a deal with me, pay me my compensation and i will have the real funds release to you. I will tell you how to send my part to me. Just keep your own side of the promise and i assure that i will keep mine.

I look forward to your swift corporation

Mr. Ebi


----- Original Message -----

From: CBN foreign Payment office

To: Timothy Sloan

Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 11:34 AM

Subject: Re: The real truth

Timothy,

Friday is too long a time to wait. I have just got you informed of my proposal it is now either you take it or leave it. And believe me if i hear a word of this issue on the news. Then we go to court and you will have to testify of all the exibits in your possession and how you came about them.

All you said is no threat to me at all, i am well and ready for which ever mode you choose. And if you choose my proposal, of paying for all my services to you then no more tricks from either of us ok.

Mr. Ebi

---------------------------------------------------

Timothy Sloan wrote:

Mr. Ebi:

I can't wait for court. also I understand that Homeland Security is going to question "Davidson" and Donkor. I can't wait until they tell all about your role in the scam. I will testify in any court.

You have two more days then is my turn to show you what the US citizen - Timothy Sloan - is like.

I wish that the EFCC was involved now, but I can wait.

Tim Sloan

Dear Timothy,

I have read your last emails contents and i think you are really getting more naughty for my liking. I will await every other steps you are willing to embark upon, but if i were you, i will look back in the days and consider the first inception stages of this transaction and your claims of this payment. I am only trying to help you out in a situation where it was realised and detected that you were being misled and was atually on the contrary lane of securing this payment. Now, the issue on ground is that; i wanted my own part of the deal upfront and there you go, barking like a wounded lion.

How dare you? Now let me come to inform you of certain facts you have failed to understand and realise in the fullest phases and that is; no one has scammed you nor played a fast one on you, mind you; but this is not to stop you from undertaking any means of action you wish to embark upon. All i am only trying to portray here is for you to clearly understrsand the fact that you can not have any testimony in the court of law about the inception initial stages of this payment which i want to assure you is still very intact but like you also know, this is a world full of uncertainities.

DO NOT blame me for any action or step i have taken in like measure, but the fact remains; you still have to come to terms with my requests and lets get this going the expected way and method. I want you to be fully rest assured that, your payment will be well sorted out and delivered to you, NOT DARKENED, NOT BLACKENED as i can see now that you are probably ready to receive the entire payment either darkened or in its normal form, whatever...

Now lets face this squarely, and concentrate more on actualising the proposed aim. You go ahead and tell me how you want this done and let me also inform you that the part compensation sum of US$25,000 is nothing to you to part with if only you can still recall back that your forwarded informations of your equity line of credit contains very close to a tune of half a million dollars and nothing was tempered with, so if i was a scam artist, i would have gone ahead to prove to be one at the time the informations was being forwarded to me on trust by you.

Meanwhile, i will like us to talk like REAL MEN and lets get this well sorted out once and for all. I will be waiting for your swift reply in these regard.

Mr. Ebi

---------------------------------------------------

Timothy Sloan wrote:

I am acting like an intelligent man now. You have 24 hours then it will be on international news. Your name in bright lights.

Tim Sloan


From: CBN foreign Payment office

To: Timothy Sloan

Sent: Friday, December 08, 2006 6:00 AM

Subject: Re: Lets act like REAL MEN and not TODDLERS.

Timothy,

Maybe you think i am pleading or trying to beg not let the news out, then you get it all wrong, go ahead and publishg whatever you like, the EFCC knows me and my office, but in addition tell them its the CBN deputy governor on international operations you can check on the website to see me and my office, i bet that you will blame yourself at the tale end.

If you refuse to abide by my own terms, then believe me you are the LOOSER, whether or not your story get to the news does not make any differences or get you your money. And once i nullify the payment it will be erase and gone forever, that means you looose both the fund and what you have invested in the transaction from inception. I know some currupt officials brought this information of this payment to you and wanted to use you to get this money, it does not belong to you in anyway, otherwise you are standing to claim funds that does not belong to you, i only wanted to assist you since the documents (some furge documents too) but are in your name as next of kin to David. But i need my share of it then you can have the fund. There are many foreigners who are rich today in this manner and that is one of the reason the EFCC was introduced to scare others and to retrieve this funds from any foreigners it can be trace to. Think about it.

Today is your day, maybe after your story gets on the ABC news and still does not profit you anything, then you will calm down and talk to me like some one who is ready.

believe me, suppose you quietly pay the 25,000 usd, i would have instructed Mr. Davidson to have your funds release to you in clean stage, it would have surprise you so much. But you went and invited some unvited guest into our quiet deal. The door is still open to you. The only reason i will not tamper with the fund is simply because your payment was approved and it should not be touch until you get the whole amount counted it and satisfactory to you then sign the receipt order documents. I cannot trust that once you get the money you will give out a cent, i know you guys i have read a lot of books about surgeons and how heartless they can be.

Well, when you get ready let me know.

Mr. Ebi

Timothy Sloan wrote:

You know this is pathetic.

I will never pay you anything, I promise to talk to the EFCC, I promise to continue to talk to the authorities until Davidson and Donkor are deported or arrested and put in jail.

If I had a choice I would go to Nigeria and "talk" with you face to face. You are the Looser in this affair.

Pay me my money or do not email me back --

You will get what you deserve - and I hope that I am there when you do !!

Timothy J. Sloan, M.D


----- Original Message -----

From: CBN foreign Payment office

To: Timothy Sloan

Sent: Saturday, December 09, 2006 3:41 AM

Subject: Re: Lets act like REAL MEN and not TODDLERS.

Dear Timothy,

Try and understand the position of things, you have no case with Davidson and Donkor but me, if there is justice then already the two men are free men, and there is no lenght you can go, they know nothing about our deal. And for me i can face you even in court, i have enough evidence to send you to jail. If i go down believe me you go down aswell.

So my advice; lets cut all this out, and talk about the transaction.

I am about having the shipment returned back, but not to Nigeria, because i want to sign all papers link to this payment attesting that it has been 'APPROVED AND PAID' I am still being careful so that you have nothing to get me into trouble. while at the same time need my own share of the deal.

Coming to Africa will do the two of us a lot of good, that way you get your money release in good condition and you give me mine on the spot. So you make sugestion, but whatever you sugest it has to be 50 to 50 chance between the two of us.

Mr. Ebi


----- Original Message -----

From: Timothy Sloan

To: CBN foreign Payment office

Cc: --------

Sent: Saturday, December 09, 2006 6:02 AM

Subject: Response

Sir:

After viewing the report yesterday on 20-20 I have no doubt that you are from day one a 419 scammer. Because you will not pay me for the money that I lost, I will continue on until people like you are either behind bars or dead.

I will find a way to advertise in the newspaper - with your name and all the particulars I know about you and Donkor and Davidson.

I am not the "fool" anymore.

Tim Sloan

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Today in history - Dec. 12


The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 12, the 346th day of 2006. There are 19 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Dec. 12, 1906, the Senate confirmed Oscar Straus to be President Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of Commerce and Labor; Straus became the first Jewish member of a presidential cabinet.

On this date:

In 1787, Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1870, Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina became the first black lawmaker sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 1897, "The Katzenjammer Kids," the pioneering comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks, made its debut in the New York Journal.

In 1913, authorities in Florence, Italy, announced that the "Mona Lisa," stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris in 1911, had been recovered.

In 1917, Father Edward Flanagan founded Boys Town outside Omaha, Neb.

In 1925, the first motel — the Motel Inn — opened in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

In 1937, Japanese aircraft sank the U.S. gunboat Panay on China's Yangtze River. (Japan apologized, and paid $2.2 million in reparations.)

In 1963, Kenya gained its independence from Britain.

In 1985, 248 American soldiers and eight crew members were killed when an Arrow Air charter crashed after takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland.

In 2000, a divided U.S. Supreme Court reversed a state court decision for recounts in Florida's contested election, transforming George W. Bush into the president-elect.

Ten years ago: Hollywood power broker Michael Ovitz resigned as Walt Disney Co.'s No. 2 executive.

Five years ago: A bus ambush killed 10 Jewish settlers, prompting Israeli warplanes to strike back; Yasser Arafat bowed to long-standing Israeli demands by ordering closed the offices of the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Gerardo Hernandez, the leader of a Cuban spy ring, received a life sentence in federal court in Miami for his role in the infiltration of U.S. military bases and the deaths of four Cuban-Americans.

One year ago: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to block the imminent execution of Stanley Tookie Williams, rejecting the notion that the founder of the murderous Crips gang had atoned for his crimes and found redemption on death row. During an impromptu question-and-answer session before the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, President Bush estimated 30,000 Iraqis had died in the war.

Today's Birthdays: TV host Bob Barker is 83. Former New York City Mayor Edward Koch is 82. Singer Connie Francis is 68. Singer Dionne Warwick is 66. Rock singer-musician Dickey Betts is 63. Actor Wings Hauser is 59. Country singer LaCosta is 56. Gymnast-turned-actress Cathy Rigby is 54. Actress Sheree J. Wilson is 48. Singer-musician Sheila E. is 47. Rock musician Eric Schenkman (Spin Doctors) is 43. Rock musician Nicholas Dimichino (Nine Days) is 39. Actress Jennifer Connelly is 36. Actress Madchen Amick is 36. Country singer Hank Williams III is 34. Actress Mayim Bialik is 31. Model Bridget Hall is 29.

Thought for Today: "To escape criticism — do nothing, say nothing, be nothing." — Elbert Hubbard, American author and publisher (1856-1915).

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New Year, New Resolutions

As 2006 draws to a close, folks will inevitably ask you, "So, do you have any new year's resolutions?" Don't panic if you don't have an answer; Yahoo! HotJobs does. In fact, we've got five.


1. Resolve to make more money.


Make 2007 the year that you give your bottom line a much-needed boost. Set a goal to increase your income by a certain amount. If it's not possible to get a raise that meets your expectations, earn the extra money elsewhere. Get a part-time position. Start a home-based business. Become a seller on eBay.


2. Resolve to get a promotion.


There's no time like the present to move up the corporate ladder. Use the first weeks of the new year to speak with a human resources representative and your manager about your desire to advance. Ask for advice on earning a promotion as well as information about any openings they can anticipate.


3. Resolve to learn a new skill.


What skills do you lack that could be holding you back at work? Could you move up quicker if you knew QuickBooks? Or Flash? Or Spanish? Investigate evening and weekend courses or at-home options and pursue a skill that will help you excel in your profession.


4. Resolve to expand your network.


Your professional opportunities are really only as good as your network. If you neglected your network in 2006, use the early part of the new year to reach out to people you haven't spoken with lately. Not sure what to say? How about simply wishing them a happy new year and asking what they're looking forward to in 2007.


5. Resolve to update your resume.


Having a current resume at the ready is imperative in the age of email and instant messaging. If you hear about a job opening, you don't have a few weeks to get your resume into a recruiter's hands; you have a few hours. Revise your resume at the beginning of the year - and be prepared to respond to any opportunity that comes your way.

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The Big Lie About the Middle East

Tell James Baker: Arab nations don't care about the Palestinians.


No sensible person is against peacemaking in the Holy Land. Applause and hopefulness would seem the reasonable reaction to the Iraq Study Group's recommendation that the Bush Administration "act boldly" and "as soon as possible" to resolve the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. But as a front-row observer of similar efforts over the past 15 years, I could muster neither response. In lumping the Iraq mess in with the Palestinian problem--and suggesting the first could not be fixed unless the second was too--the Baker-Hamilton commission lent credibility to a corrosive myth: that the fundamental problem in the Arab world is the plight of the Palestinians.


It is a falsehood perpetuated not just by the likes of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, who came late to the slogan after their actual beefs--Saddam with his neighbors; bin Laden with the Saudi royals--gained insufficient traction in the Arab world. The mantra is also repeated like an axiom in the U.S.--in parts of the State Department, in various think tanks, by editorial writers and Sunday talk-show hosts...............

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