QLD:Bligh confident about 100,000 new jobs

AAP General News (Australia)
08-08-2011
QLD:Bligh confident about 100,000 new jobs

BRISBANE, Aug 8 AAP - Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says she's "very confident" she
can meet her pledge to create 100,000 new jobs by the next state election.

The premier made the promise before winning the 2009 election and is still 23,300 jobs
short of her goal.

She told reporters on Monday she believed the target could be reached by the next election,
due in March 2012.

"I always knew it would be an ambitious target, but it's a very important one," she
told reporters in Rockhampton.

"We're very confident that our jobs programs and the developments that we've seen in
many parts of Queensland now will drive that number to 100,000 by the next election."

AAP jmm/gd/jl

KEYWORD: JOBS QLD

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Qld: Father of slain man criticises Beattie

AAP General News (Australia)
02-18-2005
Qld: Father of slain man criticises Beattie

The father of a man bashed to death in Brisbane over a pair of fake designer shoes
has blamed Queensland Premier PETER BEATTIE for failing to make the city safe.

23-year-old PAUL MARKHAM died on Monday from injuries sustained during the robbery
outside Brisbane's Embassy Hotel on Sunday.

An 18-year-old youth has been charged over the killing.

Mr MARKHAM'S father, ROY, phoned Brisbane's radio 4BC while Mr BEATTIE was on air today.

Mr MARKHAM says Mr BEATTIE is more concerned about catching speeders than stopping
violence and he should get his priorities right.

Mr BEATTIE says there's nothing more he can say to Mr MARKHAM other than the police
have done their job.

He says the biggest problem facing the sunshine state is the excessive drinking culture,
which leads to violence flowing on to the streets.

AAP RTV am/sc/lm/gjr ]

KEYWORD: MARKHAM (BRISBANE)

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED:Gillard backs women in combat

AAP General News (Australia)
04-12-2011
FED:Gillard backs women in combat

CANBERRA, April 12 AAP - Prime Minister Julia Gillard has backed the right of women
to fight and if necessary die for their country.

Ms Gillard said men and women were equal and nothing should be denied on the basis of gender.

"A few years ago I heard (former defence chief General) Peter Cosgrove say that men
and women should have an equal right to fight and die for their country," she told reporters.

"I think he's right about that and I think it's a good turn of phrase. It puts the
choice very starkly."

Ms Gillard said many Australian women loved their country and wanted to be in the defence force.

But she said physical and intellectual capability had to be judged for every job.

"But if a woman has the physical capability and intellectual capability to do a particular
job then I do not believe it should be denied her on the basis of gender," she said.

Women in combat is one of a raft of issues in a series of inquiries launched on Monday
by Defence Minister Stephen Smith following the Australian Defence Force Academy sex scandal.

Ms Gillard said Mr Smith had handled this matter appropriately and the inquiries were welcome.

"These reviews and inquiries have the full support of the chief of defence Angus Houston
and our service chiefs," she said.

"They are the right way to deal with this matter and its ramifications more broadly."

Ms Gillard said claims that Defence head Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston had threatened
to resign over his managing of the sex Skype incident at the Australian Defence Force
Academy had been expressly denied.

"So it's a little bit disappointing that these false claims are stil circulating in
the media," she said.

Ms Gillard said she would not be drawn on whether she held concerns about the culture
within defence.

"There's an Australian Federal Police investigation so in those circumstances I don't
want to speculate," she said.

"I believe all of these investigations and inquiries have to work through. I did last
week make very well known my view about any incident that robs a women of her dignity
and breaches her trust," she said.

AAP mb/sb/bwl

KEYWORD: DEFENCE GILLARD

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW:Inquiry in doubt after parly prorogued

AAP General News (Australia)
12-22-2010
NSW:Inquiry in doubt after parly prorogued

Critics have vowed to push ahead with a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry into
the state's 5.3 billion dollar electricity sale .. despite government attempts to kill
it off by shutting down parliament.

The future of the inquiry's been thrown into doubt after Premier KRISTINA KENEALLY
announced today that Governor MARIE BASHIR has prorogued parliament .. two months earlier
than expected.

Opposition Leader BARRY O'FARRELL immediately accused the government of trying to derail
the upper house inquiry ahead of the state election in March.

But Christian Democratic Party MP FRED NILE and the Greens have later obtained advice
from the clerk of the upper house that the inquiry can go ahead in January.

AAP RTV ab/tr/tm

KEYWORD: ELECTRICITY (SYDNEY)

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED:18th soldier killed in Afghanistan

AAP General News (Australia)
08-14-2010
FED:18th soldier killed in Afghanistan

Both Prime Minister JULIA GILLARD and Opposition leader TONY ABBOTT have briefly halted
electioneering to express their condolences to the family of Trooper JASON BROWN .. killed
in Afghanistan overnight.

The Australian special forces soldier was shot several times during a clash with insurgents
in northern Kandahar province .. taking Australia's death toll in Afghanistan to 18 since
2001 .. and seven so far this year.

Acting defence force chief Lieutenant General DAVID HURLEY says Trooper BROWN was participating
in an ongoing Australian and Afghan mission to disrupt insurgent activities.

No other Australian or Afghan soldiers were wounded.

Ms GILLARD .. who's in Ballina in northern New South Wales .. says Australia has lost
a brave soldier and the nation will mourn his loss.

In Perth .. Mr ABBOTT says the opposition continues to fully support the Australian
commitment in Afghanistan .. saying Afghanistan can never again become a safe haven for
terrorism.

AAP RTV mb/sw

KEYWORD: AFGHAN AUST (CANBERRA)

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Crean to visit Latin America

AAP General News (Australia)
04-06-2010
Fed: Crean to visit Latin America

CANBERRA, April 6 AAP - Australia's trade minister will this week travel to Latin America
to pursue opportunities with five countries.

Simon Crean will use his trip to Uruguay for the next Cairns Group meeting to also
visit Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

Mr Crean told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday there was huge market potential in the
region, with Australia already working with Chile to advance the Trans Pacific Partnership
(TPP) agreement.

The TPP would create a region-wide free trade zone in the Asia Pacific.

A business delegation will go to Mexico, Chile and Argentina to investigate opportunities
in mining and clean energy.

Mr Crean said the Cairns Group would discuss ways to progress the stalled Doha round,
which aims to free up global trade, but has not succeeded due to differences between rich
and poor nations.

AAP gd/sb/jlw

KEYWORD: TRADE AUST

2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Banks and retailers to front Senate inquiry

AAP General News (Australia)
08-24-2009
Fed: Banks and retailers to front Senate inquiry

Bankers and retailers will front the Senate inquiry into planned national consumer
credit laws .. in Sydney today.

The federal government has introduced legislation which aims to replace myriad state-based
laws with a national scheme .. making consumer credit regulation consistent across the
country.

The draft laws will impose tough new standards on bankers ..retailers .. and the finance sector.

AAP RTV rl/sw/

KEYWORD: CONSUMER (CANBERRA)

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Street racer's sentence 'inadequate', but not

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2009
NSW: Street racer's sentence 'inadequate', but not
BORKOWSKI

SYDNEY, April 15 AAP - An illegal street racer whose driving caused the deaths of an
elderly Sydney couple received a "manifestly inadequate" jail sentence, top judges have
ruled.

But the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal has decided not to increase the term of Robert
James Borkowski because the crown had not challenged the sentence imposed on his co-offender.

Borkowski, 38, was jailed for a minimum of six and a maximum of nine years by the NSW
District Court last November after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Alan and Judith
Howle.

The Howles, both aged in their 70s, were killed in July 2007 when Borkowski's Holden
Commodore slammed into their Toyota Camry in the western Sydney suburb of St Marys.

Police alleged Borkowski and co-accused Adam McDonald, 29, were involved in a street
race at speeds of up to 130km/h on the 60km/h stretch of the highway.

McDonald's car did not hit the Howles' vehicle, but ploughed into Borkowski's car after
the initial collision.

McDonald received a five-year minimum sentence with an eight-year maximum.

In dismissing the crown challenge to Borkowski's sentence on Wednesday, Justice Roderick
Howie concluded the very least sentence that could have been imposed on him was a minimum
of nine years and a maximum of 12 years.

"For some reason, which the crown prosecutor appearing on the appeal could not explain,
the Director of Public Prosecutions did not appeal against the sentence imposed upon McDonald,"

he said.

If the Appeal Court now increased Borkowski's sentence, he would have a "justifiable
sense of grievance" with the sentence imposed on his co-offender, he said.

AAP mss/evt/maur/bwl

KEYWORD: increased

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Man arrested over teenager's shooting death

AAP General News (Australia)
12-09-2008
NSW: Man arrested over teenager's shooting death

SYDNEY, Dec 9 AAP - A man, believed to be the father of a teenager charged with his
best friend's murder, has been arrested by police in relation to the same shooting.

Josef Cruickshank, 14, was shot during a sleepover at a rural property on Silverdale
Road at Orangeville, in Sydney's south-west, about 10.15pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

His 14-year-old friend, who called triple-0 after the shooting, has been charged with his murder.

Police said a 40-year-old Orangeville man went to Camden Police Station about 2pm (AEDT)
on Tuesday, where he was arrested. They would not confirm the man's relationship to the
charged boy.

The man was being questioned in relation to the shotgun used in the fatal shooting,
smh.com.au reported.

Police said no charges had yet been laid.

AAP kd/evt/nf/de

KEYWORD: SHOOTING

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Forest fight over climate change

AAP General News (Australia)
08-06-2008
Forest fight over climate change

Scientists believe trees could hold the key to tackling climate change .. but can't
agree whether the planet benefits from leaving them in the ground or chopping them down.

Conservationists and the forestry industry have gone head-to-head over how Australia's
native forests can best be used to fight global warming.

Both sides agree that forests .. which consume carbon when they grow .. could be central
to Australia's efforts to cut carbon emissions.

Conservationists say native forests should be left in the ground .. locking up carbon.

But the industry says logging native forests then replanting them will do more to fight
climate change.

Greens leader BOB BROWN disagrees .. saying the climate benefits from new plantations
is nowhere near the destruction that cutting down native forests is wreaking day by day
in the forests of Australia.

AAP RTV ca/srp/cjh/bwl/wz/fdf

KEYWORD: CLIMATE (CANBERRA)

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Qld: Review of sex cases to be released after Aurukun appeal

AAP General News (Australia)
02-12-2008
Qld: Review of sex cases to be released after Aurukun appeal

BRISBANE, Feb 12 AAP - A review into sex offence sentences in far north Queensland
indigenous communities will not be released until an appeal into a gang rape case involving
a 10-year-old girl is heard, the state government says.

Barrister Peter Davis has been reviewing sex offence sentences in Cape York indigenous
communities over the past two years.

Queensland Attorney-General Kerry Shine last year asked for the investigation after
public outrage over the gang rape of a 10-year-old girl at Aurukun.

Cairns-based District Court judge Sarah Bradley did not record convictions against
six juveniles and gave three others aged 17, 18 and 26 suspended sentences over the 2006
rape.

Mr Shine is appealing the sentences, and told state parliament today that the case
was scheduled to be heard in the Court of Appeal tomorrow.

He said he received Mr Davis's report yesterday, but it could not be publicly released
until the Aurukun appeal was heard.

"As the appeal is yet to be heard, I have received correspondence from Mr Davis and
from the solicitor-general Walter Sofronoff QC, who will conduct the appeal on my behalf,
asking that the details of the report not be made public until after the Court of Appeal
has handed down its decision," Mr Shine said.

"Messrs Davis and Sofronoff have asked that I do not release the report so as to jeopardise
the appeal through the release of information which may impact upon it."

Mr Shine said the state government's response to the gang rape case had been "open
and accountable", but it could not prejudice the trial.

"We have no interest in withholding details of the Davis report for any longer than
they need to be and they will be released at the first opportunity available," Mr Shine
said.

AAP rm/pjo/cjh/bwl

KEYWORD: AURUKUN

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

VIC: Main stories in today's Melbourne newspapers = 2

AAP General News (Australia)
08-25-2007
VIC: Main stories in today's Melbourne newspapers = 2

THE AGE

Page 1: The abortion pill RU486 will be available to Victorian women within weeks;
High school students could spend their gap year working in the US before returning to
Australia for university under a proposed visa deal.

Page 2: Sir Henry Bolte, Victoria's longest-serving premier, is believed to have dreamt
of ending his days sitting in the House of Lords.

Page 3: Gaming giant Tabcorp and the Western Bulldogs and fighting over plans to move
48 poker machines, which could derail Whitten Oval's $21.5-million redevelopment.

World: Iraqis are continuing to flee their homes as American troops grow in number.

Finance: Chris Corrigan is accused by the competition watchdog of aiding price fixing
at wharves in four cities.

Sport: Two AFL players have allegedly tested positive to illegal substances at a club.

AAP jat/rs

KEYWORD: MONITOR FRONTERS VIC 2 MELBOURNE

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Qld: Beattie accepts blame for level five water restrictions

AAP General News (Australia)
04-10-2007
Qld: Beattie accepts blame for level five water restrictions

BRISBANE, April 10 AAP - Queensland Premier Peter Beattie says he is prepared to accept
the blame for the introduction of tough new water restrictions in the state's south-east.

The water saving measures took effect across 12 parched south-east council areas today
as the state battles its worst drought on record and water supplies continue to plummet.

Residents will no longer be able to wash their cars, caravans and boats at home, while
bucket watering of gardens has been scaled back under the new restrictions.

Mr Beattie today said while no one could have predicted the drought and its ramifications,
he understood people were angry about the latest water restrictions.

"I accept full responsibility and the buck stops with me," he said.

"If people are angry about this they should blame me and no one else, and I'm happy
to accept the blame.

"But what I need to do is provide people with water, and what I am doing is asking
Queenslanders in the south-east corner to fight the drought with me."

However, Mr Beattie rejected claims he did not do enough to build water infrastructure
to counter the drought long before it took hold.

"If the weather patterns had continued as they were and we hadn't had the worst drought
on record, then there would never have been the political will from councils to allow
us to do what we're doing," he said.

"If we had tried to build all these pipelines and take over (water management) as much
as we have from local authorities and turn responsibilities and direct them to do things,
there would have been a war."

The government is in the process of building an $8 billion water grid, which includes
a recycled water pipeline and a desalination plant, to ease the water crisis.

Opposition Leader Jeff Seeney said the grid was too little too late.

He said the new water restrictions were the culmination of nine years of failure by
the Beattie Labor government to provide any new water infrastructure.

"The government likes to blame the drought (for the water crisis) but ... we've always
had droughts in south-east Queensland and we always will," he said.

"The problem now has become a major crisis for the people of south-east Queensland
and they should never forget that level five water restrictions are Peter Beattie's fault."

Meanwhile, Mr Beattie said an audit of water infrastructure in south-east Queensland
would be released later this month.

The audit will help the government determine how it will take over water management
from local councils.

AAP rm/srp/mn

KEYWORD: WATER QLD

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Victorians brace for monster bush inferno

AAP General News (Australia)
12-08-2006
Vic: Victorians brace for monster bush inferno

Victorians in the state's east and north-east .. have been warned not to leave evacutation
too late .. as five menacing fires threaten to merge into a monster inferno.

Flames have already gutted almost 150 thousand hectares of bushland in the Mansfield
.. King Valley .. Heyfield .. Buckland Valley and Bairnsdale areas.

With tomorrow's forecast of northerly winds and temperatures of up to 37 degrees ..

there are fears individual blazes could combine into a 100 kilometre fire front.

Country Fire Authority chief RUSSELL REES says late evacuation can be deadly.

And spokesman JOHN SCHAUBLE says many people who die in fires are those who try to
leave too late in a car.

AAP RTV nl/mj/dk/jjs/tm

KEYWORD: BUSHFIRES VIC (MELBOURNE)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: AFL players to be fined over weekend brawl

AAP General News (Australia)
08-02-2006
Vic: AFL players to be fined over weekend brawl

MELBOURNE, Aug 2 AAP - Two AFL Collingwood footballers will each be fined $5,000 by
their club for their involvement in a weekend brawl.

The Collingwood Football Club today said Chris Tarrant and Ben Johnson were involved
in an alleged assault in Port Melbourne early on Sunday.

Collingwood chief executive Greg Swan today told reporters the club was "not thrilled"

by the events and would not rule out sacking the pair if they were found guilty of their
involvement in the incident.

He said the match committee would decide whether the players would line up in this
weekend's match against the Adelaide Crows.

MORE xlc/ce/tnf/sd

KEYWORD: BRAWL CLUB

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Govt to work on taxi driver safety following 5th attack

AAP General News (Australia)
02-12-2006
NSW: Govt to work on taxi driver safety following 5th attack

The New South Wales government says it'll work with unions and the taxi industry to
improve the safety of taxi drivers .. following the fifth attack on a Sydney cabbie in
two weeks.

A spokesperson for Transport Minister JOHN WATKINS says they'll consider any proposal
.. that'll legitimately improve safety for drivers.

A 42-year-old taxi driver was allegedly punched in the head and had the keys to his
cab stolen in Maroubra early this morning .. by a man on a bicycle.





It's the latest in a spate of attacks on Sydney taxi drivers .. including the death
of YOUBERT HORMOZI .. who was beaten and left for dead on a street in Canley Heights last
month.

Two 14-year-old girls have been charged with his murder.

AAP RTV acb/smb/tm/ibw

KEYWORD: TAXI (SYDNEY)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Brogden attempts suicide

AAP General News (Australia)
08-31-2005
NSW: Brogden attempts suicide

SYDNEY, Aug 31 AAP - Disgraced former New South Wales Liberal leader JOHN BROGDEN has
attempted suicide.

Network Nine said Mr Brogden was receiving treatment but his condition was understood
not to be life threatening.

His office refused to comment.

The former state Liberal Party leader was rushed to Royal North Shore Hospital by ambulance
in the early hours of this morning.

The state opposition leader resigned in disgrace on Monday for a racial slur against
the wife of former premier BOB CARR.

Mr Brogden, one of Australia's most senior Liberal leaders, admitted he had acted inappropriately
at a Sydney function by referring to Malaysian-born Helena Carr as a "mail-order bride".

He also apologised for pinching a female journalist on the bottom and propositioning
another at the same function.

And early today, new claims of inappropriate behaviour by Mr Brodgen were made in Sydney's
Daily Telegraph newspaper.

AAP wz/hu/ r

KEYWORD: BROGDEN ATTEMPT LEAD

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Australian tourists tell of luck, survival and tragedy

AAP General News (Australia)
12-30-2004
Fed: Australian tourists tell of luck, survival and tragedy

There've been emotional reunions at Australian airports with scores of survivors of
the Indian Ocean tsunami, which has killed more than 80,700.

Almost all had watched people die and many had escaped death themselves.

One Sydney woman was lucky to survive when the tsunami flung a car on top of her as
she walked along a Thai beach.

DIANNE BOARDMAN and her husband LES were strolling along the shore just hours after
arriving on the holiday island of Phuket when they noticed the waves.

Mr BOARDMAN says he held onto a stranger's arm but the man was swept away.

Canberra woman SEELI PACKIANATHAN and her three daughters also arrived home from Sri
Lanka yesterday, grieving over the loss of several relatives who drowned in their coastal
home.

She says she's lost many of her cousins and their children.

AAP RTV mp/dk/ved/gjr/jo

KEYWORD: QUAKE AUST SURVIVORS (MELBOURNE)

2004 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Bernoulli, Jacob

Bernoulli, Jacob ( Jacques) (1654–1705; b. Basel, Switzerland; d. Basel, Switzerland) A Swiss mathematician. Jacob Bernoulli is best known to statisticians for his Ars Conjectandi (The Art of Conjecture), a treatise on probability, published posthumously in 1713, in which he derived the form of the binomial distribution. Jacob was the uncle of Nicolaus Bernoulli. At the University of Basel he studied philosophy and theology according to his parents' wishes, whilst studying mathematics and astronomy for his own satisfaction. After graduation Jacob travelled around Europe studying with fellow mathematicians. In 1683 he returned to the University of Basel to teach mechanics. He studied and published in many areas of mathematics, including, in 1689, a statement of the law of large numbers.

j2 Global Communications Licenses Its Patented Technology; Agreement Signals Early Results of j2's Patent License Program.

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- j2 Global Communications, Inc. [NASDAQ: JCOM], the provider of outsourced messaging and communications services, today announced that it has secured an agreement with Bigfoot Communications (Hong Kong) Limited, the operator of Bigfoot.com, granting Bigfoot a non-exclusive, world-wide, license to key patents in the field of message transport from the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to email. The license permits Bigfoot to provide Hong Kong and mainland China-based outsourced messaging and communications services to businesses and individuals around the world. The license agreement provides for quarterly royalty payments to j2 based upon revenues generated by Bigfoot.

In February 2002, j2 initiated an aggressive patent license program and began offering license agreements to suppliers of various products and services in the field of messaging, communications and document handling. The license agreement announced today represents the early results of this program.

Richard Ressler, Chairman of j2, commented, "We are extremely pleased to work with Bigfoot. This agreement affirms the value our technology brings to providers of messaging, communications and document-handling products and services. We implemented a licensing program to help expand these industries as a whole and to earn a fair return on our significant investment in these inventions. We intend to expand our licensing program as we continue to invest in new technologies."

Joe Mercado, President of Bigfoot Communications (Hong Kong) Limited, added, "Recently, Bigfoot launched a new version of its Website, http://www.bigfoot.com/, reflecting its focus on communications services. We believe that unified messaging is rapidly becoming one of the most important services available to corporate and individual consumers on the Internet, and therefore are quite excited about this licensing arrangement with j2. After evaluating j2's intellectual property, it became clear to us that we could not become a meaningful participant in the international messaging, communications and document handling marketplace without licensing j2's key patents."

With this licensing agreement, Bigfoot.com will add unified messaging to the existing suite of communications services offered by Bigfoot to the 2.1 million members of "Bigfoot For Life," an email forwarding and spam protection service that allows users to keep the same email address for a lifetime.

Companies interested in licensing j2's messaging, communications and document handling technology can contact EKMS, Inc. EKMS is an intellectual- property management consulting firm and exclusive licensing agent for the j2 patent portfolio.

                      EKMS, Inc.                      675 Massachusetts Avenue                      Cambridge, Mass. 02139                      Attn: Stephen Meuse                      Tel: 617-864-2100                      Fax: 617-864-7956                      Email: smeuse@ekms.com   About j2 Global Communications 

Founded in 1995, j2 Global Communications, Inc. provides outsourced, enhanced value-added messaging and communications services to more than four million customers around the world. j2's network spans over 600 cities in 18 countries on five continents. The Company offers its patented services and software through three distinct sales channels: Web, Corporate and Licensed Services, and markets those services under the eFax(R), jConnect(R), Hotsend(R), Papermaster(R), Protofax(R) and Documagix(R) brands. j2's industry accolades include the Deloitte & Touche Fast 50 and Fast 500 Awards, Forbes Best of the Web Award, PC Magazine's Top 100 Websites Award, British Telecom's Tech Award and many others. For more information about j2, please visit http://www.j2global.com/ .

About Bigfoot Communications

Bigfoot Communications (Hong Kong) Limited owns and operates www.bigfoot.com, which offers a variety of telecommunications services to both individual and corporate consumers internationally. For many years, Bigfoot(R) has offered email forwarding, redirection, consolidation and spam protection to its approximately 2.1 million members of its "Bigfoot For Life"(SM) service, while also allowing members the convenience of one email address for a lifetime. Bigfoot(R) also now offers (or will shortly make available) a suite of communications services, including short message service (SMS), domain registration, a no hassle conference call function and, now with the licensing arrangement with j2, unified messaging. For more information about Bigfoot, visit www.bigfoot.com or contact us at info@bigfoot.com.

    j2 Contacts    Christine Brodeur or Robert Karpman     Jeff Adelman    Socket Media, Inc.                      j2 Global Communications, Inc.    310-829-0556 or 310-829-0586            323-372-3617    c.brodeur or r.karpman@socketmedia.com  press@j2.com 

"Safe Harbor" Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

Certain statements in this Press Release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward- looking statements. These factors and uncertainties include, among other items: Ability to obtain telephone numbers in sufficient quantities on acceptable terms; subscriber growth and retention; uncertainties regarding the protection of proprietary technology or infringement of intellectual property of others; the risk of adverse changes in the U.S. or international regulatory environments surrounding unified messaging; and other factors set forth in j2's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting j2, refer to the Annual Report on Form 10-K/A filed by j2 on April 30, 2001 and the other reports filed by j2 from time to time with the SEC, each of which is available at http://www.sec.gov/.

MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT - Click Here

http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X68669093

Contact: Christine Brodeur, +1-310-829-0556, c.brodeur@socketmedia.com, or Robert Karpman, +1-310-829-0586, r.karpman@socketmedia.com, both of Socket Media, Inc., for j2 Global Communications, Inc.; or Jeff Adelman of j2 Global Communications, Inc., +1-323-372-3617, press@j2.com

Website: http://www.bigfoot.com/

Website: http://www.j2global.com/

DrFirst.com Joins iPhysicianNet to Offer Physicians Free Computers, High-speed Internet Connection and Electronic Prescriptions.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BW HealthWire)--Jan. 16, 2001

DrFirst.com and iPhysicianNet have signed a co-marketing agreement under which the iPhysicianNet network for electronic video detailing will be offered to over 800 qualifying physicians in the Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. areas.

Along with DrFirst's Electronic Prescription Management System (Rcopia), these physicians will also be offered iPhysicianNet's high-speed Internet access and a physician-focused video computer for e-Detailing.

"We are pleased to be working with the company that created 'e-Detailing' to offer our clients best of breed technology along with the obvious benefits of free computers and high-speed Internet access," said James F. Chen, CEO and Chairman of DrFirst.com. "The combination of DrFirst and iPhysicianNet's solutions results in a win-win scenario for both busy physicians and pharmaceutical companies as well as for office managers, pharmacies and patients."

"This partnership presents a tremendous opportunity to leverage the newest technologies and sales channels, " said Ernie Zaik, Vice President of Physician Recruiting & Relations at iPhysicianNet, "We look forward to combining the accessibility of Rcopia's online prescription system with the convenience of Web-based detailing to make a powerful impact on the pharmaceutical side of the healthcare community."

About DrFirst.com

DrFirst.com provides membership-based communication and business productivity solutions for physicians, dentists, and healthcare organizations through the Internet on an Application Service Provider (ASP) basis.

The platform for DrFirst's products and services is its Secure Message Exchange network, which allows its members to communicate securely within their practices and with colleagues, labs, pharmacies, hospitals, and other business partners outside their practices.

Members also access DrFirst's software applications, including its electronic medical records, practice management solution, and Rcopia, its electronic prescription management system, through the network, which can be accessed by traditional desktop computers and handheld devices. More information about DrFirst.com can be found at www.drfirst.com.

About iPhysicianNet

iPhysicianNet created the e-detailing, and is unique in providing its live, face-to-face video detailing system. The iPhysicianNet system utilizes a network of video conferencing equipped personal computers operating through high-speed telecommunications lines to provide physicians with access to live interactions with pharmaceutical companies, the Internet, e-mail, medical news, and continuing medical education resources.

The company, formed in 1996, is headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ. For more information, visit www.iPhysicianNet.com.

For further information:

John F. Bartos, Jr. Vice President of Business Development DrFirst.com, Inc. 3206 Tower Oaks Boulevard Suite 310 Rockville, MD 20852 301/231-9510 (ext. 109)

Gold Systems, Inc. Announces Alliance With Lucent Technologies Enterprise Networks Group to Provide Expanded International Support.

Business Editors

BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2000

Lucent Licenses Gold Systems Vonetix(TM) Server For Its

CONVERSANT(R) Interactive Voice Response System To Enable

Voice-to-Web Applications

Gold Systems, Inc., an independent provider of automated self-service solutions for Fortune 1000 businesses, today announced it has formed an alliance with Lucent Technologies Enterprise Networks Group to provide expanded international support to Lucent. Gold Systems also will supply its Vonetix(TM) server for Lucent's CONVERSANT(R) Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System.

For Lucent's Enterprise Network Group in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Gold Systems will provide full-service offerings, including pre-sales support, natural language speech recognition (NLSR) application development, and products and services. "By joining forces, we can quickly deliver self-service solutions to Lucent's international clients to help them better serve their customers who demand access to information - at any time and from anywhere," says Terry Gold, CEO of Gold Systems Inc.

"We're looking forward to working with Gold Systems in an expanded capacity on the international front," says Sheila Walth, Lucent Enterprise Networks Group Offer Manager, CONVERSANT IVR System. "In addition, incorporating Gold Systems' Vonetix server on the CONVERSANT has strengthened our ability to provide complete CRM solutions, including voice access to Internet content, for our customers."

To support multimedia self-service applications such as accessing Web content through voice response, the Lucent Enterprise Networks Group has incorporated the Gold Systems Vonetix server on the latest version of the CONVERSANT platform. The Vonetix server provides a Web interface for the CONVERSANT that enables developers using Lucent's Voice@Work Windows-based development tools to create IVR applications that access HTML and XML Web data. Because the Vonetix server supports established and emerging Web technologies, companies now have greater flexibility when creating multimedia self-service applications for their customers.

In a separate news release today, Lucent's Enterprise Networks Group announced new features for its CONVERSANT system, including incorporating the Gold Systems Vonetix server into its IVR platform.

The Vonetix server, which enables the IVR platform to communicate directly with Web sites, eliminates the need for companies to maintain or develop multiple back-end interfaces to applications and databases for automated telephone access. This lets businesses quickly extend their current Web offerings to customers via telephone access, significantly broadening their reach while preserving their infrastructure investments.

For example, customers that purchase a company's products online now can conduct those same transactions over the telephone. According to the Yankee Group, an IT research firm, there are an estimated 832 million installed phone lines and 469 million wireless subscribers in the world, and they project nearly 1.3 billion wireless subscribers by 2005. In comparison, approximately 200 million people have Internet access from a PC.

Gold Systems' Vonetix server is platform-independent and integrates voice applications across a wide range of markets and technologies, such as voice-to-Net, mobile commerce, wireless access protocol (WAP), NLSR, XML and VoiceXML. Future versions will be Java-based and will support Java APIs common to today's enterprise software.

The Vonetix server will soon accommodate a full suite of popular connectivity sources through standalone plug-ins, such as JDBC, CORBA, Siebel, SAP, PeopleSoft, VoiceXML and new APIs as they emerge, preserving companies' investments in their existing systems.

About Gold Systems Inc.

Gold Systems Inc. is an independent provider of automated self-service solutions for Fortune 1000 businesses. Founded in 1991, Gold Systems helps companies communicate easier and more effectively with their customers through speech recognition, interactive voice response and computer telephony integration applications, and wireless technologies. Gold Systems counts 11 of the Fortune 20 as clients, and was named to the 1998 Inc. 500 and Deloitte & Touche Fast 500 lists of fast-growth, privately held companies. Information about Boulder, Colo.-based Gold Systems can be found at www.goldsys.com or by calling 303-447-2837.

About Lucent Technologies Enterprise Networks Group

The CONVERSANT Interactive Voice Response System is part of Lucent Enterprise Networks Group's Customer Relationship Management Solutions, which comprise a broad array of systems, software and professional services that help companies deliver on their commitments to customers. They include multimedia customer care and computer telephony applications, customer relationship management software and predictive dialing solutions.

By the end of September, Lucent Technologies intends to spin off its enterprise communications systems, business cabling and LAN-based data networking businesses, including CRM Solutions, into a separate $8 billion company focused on delivering next-generation communications networks for enterprises. The new company will be the worldwide leader in messaging and call centers, the U.S. leader in voice communications systems, and will have the largest sales and services force in the industry.

Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, NJ, USA, designs and delivers the systems, software, silicon and services for next-generation communications networks for service providers and enterprises. Backed by the research and development of Bell Labs, Lucent focuses on high-growth areas such as optical and wireless networks; Internet infrastructure; communications software; communications semiconductors and optoelectronics; Web-based enterprise solutions that link private and public networks; and professional network design and consulting services. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit its Web site at www.lucent.com.

Vonetix is a trademark of Gold Systems Inc. CONVERSANT is a registered trademark of Lucent Technologies.

All other company and product names may be trademarks of the company with which they are associated.

NOTE: Vonetix is pronounced vo-'ne-tiks.