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Sunday, June 3, 2012
Wal-Mart CEO says co. committed to compliance
Walmart Stores Inc. associates from the United Kingdom cheer before the Walmart shareholders' meeting in Fayetteville, Ark., Friday, June 1, 2012. (AP Photo/April L. Brown)
Walmart Stores Inc. associates from the United Kingdom cheer before the Walmart shareholders' meeting in Fayetteville, Ark., Friday, June 1, 2012. (AP Photo/April L. Brown)
Jim Walton, left,, Alice Walton, center, and Robson Walton, right, greet each other during the beginning of the Walmart Stores Inc. shareholders' meeting in Fayetteville, Ark., Friday, June 1, 2012. The three siblings are the children of the late Sam Walton, founder of Walmart. (AP Photo/April L. Brown)
Entertainer Justin Timberlake, dressed in a grass skirt, poses for the audience during the Walmart shareholders' meeting in Fayetteville, Ark., Friday, June 1, 2012. Timberlake hosted the annual event. (AP Photo/April L. Brown)
Robson Walton, left, chairman of the board of directors of Walmart Stores Inc. and son of the late Walmart founder Sam Walton, shakes hands with actor Justin Timberlake, right, during the Walmart shareholders' meeting in Fayetteville, Ark., Friday, June 1, 2012. (AP Photo/April L. Brown)
Grammy award winning performers Taylor Swift, left, and Justin Timberlake, right, perform a skit with during the Walmart shareholders' meeting in Fayetteville, Ark., Friday, June 1, 2012. (AP Photo/April L. Brown)
FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. (AP) ? Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CEO Mike Duke said Friday that the retailer is committed to integrity in the wake of recent bribery allegations in Mexico.
Duke joined other executives including chairman Robson Walton, the son of founder Sam Walton, at the company's annual meeting on Friday in pledging that Wal-Mart will get to the bottom of the allegations.
This comes after the world's largest retailer has said that it is overhauling its compliance program and expanding its internal investigation into the accusations to other countries.
"We've all heard about the recent allegations about the company," Duke said to a crowd of about 16,000. "Let me be clear: Wal-Mart is committed to compliance and integrity everywhere we operate. I want to personally assure you, we're doing everything we can to get to the bottom of this matter."
The meeting could have been a triumphant moment for the world's largest retailer, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary and seeing its U.S. results make a comeback. But instead executives were forced to spend much of the meeting reassuring shareholders that the company will be able retain its integrity as it continues to expand globally.
The meeting, which capped a weeklong slate of events, follows a story by The New York Times in April that the world's largest retailer allegedly failed to notify law enforcement after finding evidence that officials authorized millions of dollars in bribes in Mexico to get speedier building permits and other favors.
Meanwhile, federal authorities in the U.S. and Mexico reportedly are investigating Wal-Mart for potential violations. Investors have filed lawsuits against top executives. And some shareholders have called for the removal of several board members, including Walton, CEO Mike Duke and former CEO Lee Scott.
Preliminary results from Friday show that all directors up for re-election were re-elected. Final results will be announced Monday. Descendants of Wal-Mart's founder own about 50 percent of Wal-Mart's shares, so activist shareholders have little chance of voting out the board members. But any lack of support for the leaders is a blow to the retailer.
Corporate governance executives say they'll be dissecting the final tally to see what percentage outside of the Walton family voted against re-electing the directors. Anything above 10 percent would send a clear message for change, says Michael Garland, who represents the New York City Comptroller's Office, which oversees the public pension funds of New York. The group, which owns 5.6 million shares of Wal-Mart, voted against five members of the board including Scott and Duke.
On Friday, the company went back-and-forth between addressing the allegations and talking about other things annual meeting, which was held in the basketball arena at University of Arkansas. That's about 30 miles from Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville.
The event opened with Walton walking on stage to a replica of his dad's first store. Walton then swapped stories with his siblings, Jim and Alice, about the early days of working with their father.
"It's a family business. It's just grown a lot," said Robson Walton. He also noted that his father didn't measure success by financial achievement, but rather by "the lives we improved."
Pop singer Justin Timberlake hosted the event, arriving in a hula skirt to symbolize of a story told about the founder dancing a hula on Wall Street after losing a bet. Musical interludes included performances by R&B legend Lionel Richie, singers Celine Dion and Taylor Swift, gospel jazz group Take 6 and Latin singer Juanes.
Protests were expected during the meeting but did not materialize.
"Some folks want to interrupt our meeting, but we're hoping they respect all of you," Walton said at the start of the meeting. "But don't be surprised if we do have some interruption."
Another interruption is the last thing Wal-Mart needs at a time when it's beginning to turnaround its business.
The discounter had struggled during the U.S. economic downturn as its core low-income customers were hard hit by joblessness and other challenges in the weak economy. At the same time, its namesake U.S. unit had veered away from its "everyday low prices" strategy and got rid of popular merchandise.
But Wal-Mart last year began adding back 10,000 products and refocused on keeping prices low. Its strategy is just beginning to pay off.
Wal-Mart reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit. Its U.S. namesake unit, which accounts for 60 percent of net sales, turned in its best performance in three years. And its shares have recovered to trade around $65 after falling by more than 7 percent right after the bribery allegations surfaced.
But the accusations still threaten to distract the retailer at a critical time when it's trying to continue its momentum. For its part, Wal-Mart officials have said in recent weeks that the accusations haven't impacted its plans for growth in the U.S. or overseas.
________
AP Retail Writer Mae Anderson contributed to this report.
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Backing Up Your Files | Computers and Technology
Sooner or later, something terrible will happen to your hard drive. That?s not a very happy thought, but the good news is you can survive a hard drive failure with only minimal inconvenience ? if you back up your files.
Hard Drives Are Not Forever
They can fail without warning, a virus could wipe out your data, fire or flood could damage the drive, or it might even get stolen. You might accidentally delete a file or an entire folder of important files with an errant click. And it?s not only emergencies that make backups important? if you buy a new computer, a backup can make it much easier to copy your files from the old computer to the new one.Backup Strategies
Do you need to backup all your files, or just certain ones? That depends on how you use your computer, how important your data is, and how much you want to think about backups. If your drive fails, you can reinstall the operating system and all your software. But the data you?ve created and stored (word processor documents, spreadsheets, emails, photos, music, etc.) may not be replaceable.
So at a very minimum, you should decide which are your most important files and make backups. Here are some easy ways to back up a set of files:
* Attach the files to to an email and send them to friend. Or open a free web-based email account, and send the files to yourself.
* Copy them to another computer on your home or office network.
* Upload them to your website, or free web space.
* Burn them to a CD.
* Copy them to a flash drive or external hard drive.
Do this often ? daily, weekly or monthly ? you decide based on how often you update the files and how critical it is to have access to the most recent data in the event your hard drive crashes and burns. But be warned that recovering from a hard drive failure will be a nuisance if you opt to backup only your data files. It will take quite a few hours to re-install your operating system and all the software that you had. If you downloaded software, you might have lost the license or registration keys along with your data, too.
Backup on Auto-Pilot
I strongly advise automated full system backups, because EVERYTHING is safely squirreled away, and restoring
your data can be accomplished with a few clicks. You could back up your data on a bunch of CDROMs, but you?d need a LOT of them to back up a modern hard drive, which can store 100GB or more. CD-ROM disks hold about 700MB of data, so even with compression you?d need over 100 of them to get the job done. Not very convenient, especially if you ever need to restore the data.
Since hard Disk drives are cheaper than ever, I recommend you get an external hard drive and use it as a backup device for one or more computers. You can buy a large capacity external drive for well under $1 per gigabyte. The Iomega 33xxx series and the Maxtor OneTouch get high marks from reviewers and users, but other manufacturers such as Seagate and Western Digital make good products as well. Look for a drive that supports a USB 2.0 connection, or the faster FireWire hookup if your system supports it.
Backup Software
Backup software is also recommended, to help you automate the process of making automatic full or incremental backups, and to restore just one deleted file or the entire drive. A good backup program will even allow you to store multiple versions of a file, so you can go back in time and restore a file to the way it was a day, a week or a month ago.
I use Acronis True Image (Windows) but have heard great things about Retrospect (Windows/Mac), which comes free on the Maxtor OneTouch drives, and SmartSync (Windows).
Losing data that you?ve spent countless hours creating is one of the most frustrating things that can happen to a computer user. When it comes to backups, don?t think too hard about whether or not it?s worth the trouble. It takes only a little time and money to set up automatic full system backups that give you peace of mined and protection from data disasters.
BOB RANKIN? is a tech writer and computer programmer who enjoys exploring the Internet and sharing the fruit of his experience with others. His work has appeared in ComputerWorld, NetGuide, and NY Newsday. Bob is publisher of the Internet TOURBUS newsletter, author of several computer books, and creator of the http://LowfatLinux.com website. Visit Bob Rankin?s website for more helpful articles and free tech support.
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Saturday, June 2, 2012
Wal-Mart chairman: Integrity 'is our business'
FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc executives told shareholders they would not stand for unethical behavior at the world's largest retailer, whose shares have soared to 12-year highs as strong results more than offset concerns about bribery allegations.
Friday's annual shareholders meeting was the first time that Chairman Rob Walton, a son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, publicly addressed the issue of possible bribery in Mexico. Both he and Chief Executive Mike Duke were named in an April New York Times report which suggested that Wal-Mart executives knew of bribes paid to officials in Mexico and squelched an internal investigation.
Despite the scandal, Wal-Mart's meeting served largely as a 50th anniversary party. The upbeat event was hosted by actor, singer and entrepreneur Justin Timberlake and featured performances from Taylor Swift, Lionel Richie, Celine Dion and other entertainers.
"Acting with integrity is not a negotiable part of this business. It is our business, we will not tolerate violations of the FCPA or ethical wrongdoing of any kind," Walton said, referring to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits bribing foreign officials.
The New York Times reported that management at Wal-Mart de Mexico , or Walmex, allegedly had orchestrated bribes of $24 million to help it grow quickly and that Wal-Mart's top brass had tried to cover it up. Now, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and government agencies in Mexico are investigating the allegations while Wal-Mart conducts an internal probe.
The allegations in the New York Times piece also have spawned 11 derivative lawsuits, which seek recovery for the company rather than shareholders, and one securities lawsuit, Wal-Mart disclosed in a regulatory filing hours after the events finished on Friday.
"Let me be clear: Wal-Mart is committed to compliance and integrity everywhere we operate," Duke said in a forceful tone.
"If you work for Wal-Mart, there is no gray area between right and wrong. It's either the right thing to do, or it shouldn't be done at all."
Large pension funds and a scrappy group of employee shareholders were among those who had called for the removal of leaders such as Walton and Duke from the board for their alleged connection to the bribery scandal. But that attempt failed; every company nominee was elected. The number of shares voted for and against each of 16 board members will be disclosed on Monday, Wal-Mart said.
"We have seen what happened with Mexico, when some people were so focused on growth at any cost they forgot our code of ethics," said Jackie Goebel, 60, a company employee for 24 years.
Goebel belongs to the Organization United for Respect at Walmart, which is affiliated with a major grocery union and spent the last couple of days encouraging stockholders to vote against Duke and Walton.
Shareholders who tried to oust board members knew their efforts would only be symbolic since the Walton family controls roughly half of the retailer's 3.4 billion shares.
Voters also defeated three shareholder proposals.
The meeting was largely upbeat and nostalgic. To start the early morning affair, the children of founder Sam Walton -- Rob, along with his younger siblings Jim and Alice -- spoke about the work they used to do in the stores when the chain got its start.
After the family's comments, Timberlake came out on stage in a hula skirt. Sam Walton donned such an outfit on Wall Street in 1984 after losing a bet, an event memorialized in a photo shown on the large screens at the meeting.
BRIBERY SCANDAL REMAINS A CONCERN
Wal-Mart has repeatedly said that it would not comment on the specific allegations until the investigations are complete.
"The executives have delivered a consistent message throughout the week about integrity, as well as the opportunity for growth," said Stewart Samuel, senior analyst with IGD, a global food and grocery research firm.
The company did not take investor questions during the meeting. A question-and-answer session held following the formal shareholders meeting was not open to the media.
Some shareholders believe that current board members, including Walton, Duke and former CEO Lee Scott, knew about the Mexico bribery and should have taken corrective action years ago. Several large U.S. public pension funds, including the California Public Employees' Retirement System, said they had planned to vote against certain board members.
Change-seeking shareholders had said the outcome of the election would not discourage them. No protests were seen at the meeting itself, though some had been planned in other parts of the country.
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," said Carlton Smith, 51, who works in a Paramount, California, store and owns Wal-Mart stock. "We'll be back."
One difference from the previous three annual meetings was that Wal-Mart did not announce a new share repurchase plan. The company still has $9.7 billion remaining under last year's $15 billion program.
Wal-Mart stock, holding near 12-year highs, slipped 0.4 percent to close at $65.55, while the broad Standard & Poor's 500 stock index <.spx> fell 2.5 percent amid concerns over a disappointing U.S. jobs report and other weak global economic signals. Wal-Mart shares traded at $53.66 a year ago.
"Many companies are still struggling, but not your company," said Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley, adding that sales, operating income and earnings per share are all growing.
Some 14,000 employees and shareholders attended Friday's festivities, held in the arena named after James "Bud" Walton, who helped pay for the basketball facility's construction and was Sam Walton's brother.
(Editing by Andre Grenon, Michael Perry, Lisa Von Ahn and Phil Berlowitz)
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Friday, June 1, 2012
After Trip to ISS, SpaceX's Dragon Capsule Returns Safely To Earth
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Exclusive: Channing Tatum Takes It Off In 'Magic Mike' Clip
Steamy teaser debuted Thursday night during Movie Awards Sneak Peek Week.
By Jocelyn Vena
Channing Tatum in "Magic Mike"
Photo: Warner Bros.
Channing Tatum, along with co-stars Matt Bomer and Alex Pettyfer, get their groove on to "It's Raining Men" in a brand-new, exclusive clip from "Magic Mike," which we premiered Thursday night (May 31) as part of Movie Awards Sneak Peek Week.
Tatum not only debuted the teaser, he also sat down with MTV News' own Josh Horowitz and dished on playing the title character. The Steven Soderbergh-directed flick opens June 29 and goes inside the world of hard-bodied male strippers.
In the clip, the guys are decked out in raincoats as they dance with umbrellas. The fellas shake, shimmy and, of course, strip — actually they tear off their clothes — to the iconic disco tune. But the highlight of the scene is probably when Tatum gets his dirty dancing on and humps the stage while the club's female patrons swoon and scream.
But that's not it for Sneak Peek Week: On Friday night, Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta will join us for a chat about the big-screen adaptation of "Rock of Ages," which also stars Tom Cruise, Mary J. Blige, Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones and more. Check back in at 11 p.m. ET Friday for our live Q&A with the actors. Fans can get in on the action on Twitter using the hash tag #MTVSneak or by tweeting your favorite movie-related drawings from OMGPOP's "Draw Something" app to @MTVNews.
And the fun doesn't end there. The 2012 MTV Movie Awards go down this Sunday, with Russell Brand hosting and feature performances by Fun., the Black Keys, Martin Solveig and Wiz Khalifa. It all goes down from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California at 9 p.m. ET.
Head over to MovieAwards.MTV.com to vote for your favorite flicks now! The 21st annual MTV Movie Awards air live this Sunday, June 3, at 9 p.m. ET.
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Search Engine Optimization in the Mobile Internet World | Facebook ...
Search engine optimization is currently being tested in mobile commerce. Retailers and other online businessmen expect a lot from the surge of interest in mobile commerce. On the other hand, search engine optimization professionals are doing all they can to make sure everything is perfect or that everything is working according to plan. The mobile internet world is fast expanding and adjustments have to be made regarding SEO. The SEO strategies and techniques before will not surely apply given the blatant differences between mobile phones and desktop/notebook computers. While free Facebook templates designers are struggling to make sure they can provide internet users and website owners with the most relevant templates to bring their businesses online and to provide the best website browsing experience, search engine optimization experts are formulating methods and strategies to bring the mobile website much closer to the target clientele as much as possible. What are some items to be considered in mobile commerce SEO?
First and foremost, the question is ? how can you make a product description simple? Product and service description then compose of roundabout explanations so that one can insert as many keywords as possible. The resulting article is saturated with keywords and repetitious explanations. While such a strategy is working in terms of SEO for traditional websites and considered as tolerable because of the strategy. However, one cannot be wordy when it comes to content generation or search engine optimization given the small screen sizes of tablets and smart phones. Choose the most relevant and the most appropriate words for your product promotion. If five words is enough or twenty characters can do, then do it. If you have to conduct an extensive research before you would make a good product description, then you have to do it. If the motto then was ? no space wasted, it is different this time because of mobile commerce and the motto is ? save space as much as possible. Click here.
The second one is an excellent suggestion found at searchengineland.com. According to the writer, the mobile commerce search engine practitioner should at least get some knowledge about ?marketing lingo? for mobile commerce. SEO is adjusting to the screen size difference and words are now being used for advertising purposes and such words were not commonly used in traditional search engine optimization.
Third, website owners must also learn how to utilize two screen pages for advertising purposes.? The screen pages are the ones we need to promote the website. If one screen is not enough, then make sure you can present the remaining on a second screen. The trick here is that ? you should remember the not-more-than-two-screen-rule. Recall that website advertisements should never appear like an eBook.
Search engine optimization will continue to evolve as we change our notion of website marketing thanks to the emerging trend in ecommerce. One should never give up in his quest to perfect his marketing strategies despite the changing technology. What if we reached a point where everyone is using holograms? Well, search engine optimization and website advertising will also change. One cannot say that there should be a plug in the changes. He should at least perfect his marketing techniques, adjust search engine optimization and take advantage of the technology rather than running away from it. ???????? .
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http://searchengineland.com/tips-for-optimizing-content-in-mobile-commerce-seo-103058
http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/2012/05/22/mobile-seo-builds-brand-awareness-keeps-top-of-mind-luxury-daily
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