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New search engines that don’t rely on keywords could revolutionize the way that users find information on the Internet.

(NewsUSA) - People now use search engines so often, the word “Google” has become a verb.

Search engines help students find statistics, cooks locate recipes, and politicos spot blog updates. But today’s most popular search engines still have limitations.

Search engines use words. But searching for one word or phrase might not yield every relevant result.

For example, Alexander the Great goes by other names -; Alejandro Magno, Büyük Iskender, Lissandru la Granni. A student typing the name “Alexander the Great” into a search engine might miss the information needed to give her project an “A.”

Instead of word-based search engines, companies want to develop entity-based Internet searches.

An entity-based search engine would recognize Lissandru la Granni as Alexander the Great, even if a surfer didn’t know to search for him under that name.

One Hungarian-based technology company, Power of the Dream Ventures, Inc., has developed an entity-based search engine that will start running in late 2008.

The search engine and integrated online content manager, iGlue, will not only make understanding information on the Internet easier, it will also help the Internet adapt to its users.

iGlue can manage entities, not keywords, that appear in Web content. It can find information about a topic even when Web sites present that topic in different terms.

Today, most Web pages connect through hyperlinks, which connect documents to documents. If a user clicks on a hyperlinked image, he won’t go straight to that picture on another page, but to an entire Web site.

iGlue uses a hyperdata model instead. Words, images and pieces of data can all be used to establish relationships among different information sources. Relationships among people, places and events become clear.

Users will not download iGlue but will access the program on the Web. iGlue will always be available in its newest version.

For more information, visit www.powerofthedream.com. Power of the Dream trades under the symbol PWRV on the OTCBB exchange.

Retirement homes, colleges opting out

The limbs are falling off the Baptist family tree.

When North Carolina Baptists meet in Greensboro this week for their annual session, they will begin to slough off three of their most cherished institutions, a process that began a decade ago when leadership of the organization became increasingly dominated by biblical literalists.

During meetings Tuesday and Wednesday, members of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina are expected to disengage from the group’s retirement homes, colleges and women’s missions organization. The changes are part of a larger realignment of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest denomination, with 16 million members organized in state conventions such as North Carolina’s.

For North Carolina Baptists, whose empire once included seven colleges and universities, a hospital, five retirement homes and a dozen children’s homes, it will mean a smaller operation that concentrates more on sustaining its 4,063 churches and creating new ones. Baptist conventions in other states are facing similar challenges.

“The old denominational systems are disconnecting,” said Bill Leonard, the dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem and a Baptist historian. “One of the amazing things is that it’s taken so long.”

Leonard attributes the fragmentation to several factors, including a decline in denominational loyalty and shrinking resources for big enterprises such as hospitals and universities. Another factor is the ongoing theological controversy, which resulted in the purging of Baptist seminary faculties alongside new tests of theological allegiance. In 2000, the national Southern Baptist Convention declared that only men can serve as pastors. Last year, the state convention banned gay-friendly churches.

Convention leaders insist they are not out to control the institutions’ theological purity.

“I think some of these institutions have panicked out of fear,” said the Rev. Allan Blume, the president of the convention’s board of directors. “It’s a fear that is unwarranted.”

The most recent defection is the Woman’s Missionary Union, which in August announced that it planned to leave the state convention’s Cary headquarters and continue its work at another location. Directors responded by recommending that the group’s nearly $1 million in support be cut from the 2008 collection but that the organization be allowed to raise money through a special offering taken up among churches.

“That recommendation is punitive,” said Ruby Fulbright, the executive director and treasurer of the Woman’s Missionary Union, an organization devoted to educating children and adults on the significance of missions. “They don’t understand or like our decision to leave the building.”

Debate over the fate of the missionary union is expected to be lively.

Delegates, who are called messengers, also will be asked to approve a series of measures to disengage with the Baptist Retirement Homes, which decided two years ago it wanted to go solo — mainly because its creditors demanded an independent trustee board. There are five Baptist retirement homes across the state, none in the Triangle.

Finally, messengers will vote on severing ties with the convention’s five remaining colleges and universities. Under the proposed plan, the five institutions would be allowed to start choosing their own trustees in 2009. Meanwhile, the state convention, which gives each school about $1.2 million a year, will begin phasing out its monetary contributions, eliminating them altogether by 2013. The plan must pass at two consecutive annual meetings.

The colleges are Campbell University in Buies Creek; Chowan University in Murfreesboro; Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs; Mars Hill College in Mars Hill; and Wingate University in Wingate. Wake Forest University and Meredith College split from the convention years ago.

The state convention’s top executive put a positive spin on the colleges’ departure.

“It’s moving from a relationship of obligation to a relationship of cooperation,” said Milton Hollifield, executive director-treasurer of the state convention.

Read More:News & Observer

WHEN: 7 p.m. todayWHERE: Cameron Indoor Stadium

TV/RADIO: ESPN2/WDNC-620, WRBZ-850

RECORDS: NMSU 0-1, Duke 1-0

TICKETS: Duke’s season is sold out.

KEY MATCHUP

NMSU’s Justin Hawkins is an athletic wing that Duke’s DeMarcus Nelson will try to wear down.

Mark Menzies, a former assistant to Rick Pitino, is in his first season with New Mexico State. Duke has never played the Aggies. The Devils will have more talent but will still be looking to force turnovers and execute efficiently on the fastbreak.

SOURCE: News & Observer

Apex, NC – The Carolina RallySport team of driver Matthew Johnson and co-driver Jeremy Wimpey repeated as Rally America Production GT National Champions with a dominating class win at the Lake Superior Rally in Michigan. Held on October 26 and 27 on the scenic upper peninsula of Michigan, the “oldest, meanest, and toughest” round of the Rally America series is a true challenge to rally competitors and their machinery. Known for abrupt weather changes, the rally can feature sun, rain, fog, and even snow—often on the same weekend. Fortunately the weather was relatively mild this year, but there were still plenty of other drama.

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SOURCE:CarolinaNewsWire

Baker won sheriff’s post in ‘78, set mark for service

RALEIGH - When John Baker Jr. was a child, his father was hired as Raleigh’s first black police officer. The son vowed that one day he would become sheriff.

It was a pretty heady dream for an African-American boy growing up in the segregated South during the 1940s and 1950s. After a career as an NFL defensive lineman, Baker achieved it.

He was the first elected black sheriff in North Carolina since Reconstruction.

Baker, 72, died in his sleep Wednesday morning, said his pastor, Marion Robinson of St. Matthews AME Zion Church. Robinson said Baker had been sick for several months. He declined to discuss the nature of the former sheriff’s illness.

Baker, a hulking man, gravel-voiced but soft-spoken, was sheriff for 24 years, from 1978 to 2002. Along the way, he modernized the Sheriff’s Office. He started the county’s gun permit system and formed the first sheriff’s homicide unit. He also hired more patrol officers and was instrumental in getting the $56 million Wake Public Safety Center built in downtown Raleigh.

Before becoming sheriff, Baker was a college football All-American at what is now N.C. Central University from 1954 through 1957. He was selected in the fifth round of the NFL draft by the then-Los Angeles Rams and went on to play 11 seasons with the Rams, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Detroit Lions. He was elected to NCCU’s inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.

Ferocious on the field

Herman Boone, 72, a college teammate, said Baker “terrorized all of North Carolina” during his high school football days. Baker carried that ferocity with him to college and pro ball. But off the field, Baker was “just the nicest guy God ever created,” said Boone, of Alexandria, Va.

“He would take your head off in a moment’s notice and at the end of the play give it back and warn you not to come that way again,” Boone said. “Off the field, other than his size, you would have never known he was a football player. He was like a big teddy bear.”

In 1964, Baker’s ferociousness on the field helped produce an enduring image of the game — New York Giants quarterback Y.A. Tittle kneeling on the field with blood on his helmetless head, after being tackled by Baker.

After his football days, Baker took his calm, tenacious spirit to the political arena. His first foray into politics came in 1975 when he served as an aide to U.S. Sen. Robert Morgan. One year later, he worked as deputy state chairman for Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign.

Blacks in politics

When Baker was elected sheriff in 1978, he followed a vanguard of young and ambitious black politicians who were elected during the post-civil rights era, including Raleigh’s first black mayor, Clarence Lightner, in 1973.

Still, when Baker was elected, the idea of a black lawman serving in a predominantly white capital city in the South was a “major rallying point” for African-Americans in Raleigh and throughout Wake County, said Ralph Campbell, a former state auditor.

“I still have the T-shirt and campaign button around here somewhere,” Campbell said. “The button was shaped like a star — which everyone cherished — that said ‘Baker Backer.’ After that, John became a political icon.”

His tenure was not without controversy. Baker, a Democrat, clashed with the Republican-dominated county Board of Commissioners during the 1990s, particularly over the size and budget of his office.

In 1996, Baker ran newspaper ads accusing county commissioners of not heeding the public’s concerns about crime by refusing his requests for more deputies. Baker wanted the county to pay for the ads; the commissioners refused, saying the ads were a political swipe at them. The News & Observer eventually sued the county and Baker to collect $7,600 for the advertisements. Baker and the commission settled their differences and the bill was paid

Read More:News & Observer

Raleigh, NC – During its Annual Meeting on Tuesday, October 9th, State Employees’ Credit Union’s (SECU’s) Board of Directors honored E. Victor Maafo and Thomas C. Ellis, long-time Credit Union advocates and Durham Advisory Board members, for their dedication and commitment to the credit union movement. Mr. Maafo was on hand to accept his award. Tom Ellis, who was honored posthumously, was represented by many family members, including his daughter Phenie Bowen, who accepted the award on his behalf.

Award presenter and Immediate Past Chairman of SECU’s Board of Directors, David King commented, “Both of these recipients have served as true advocates for State Employees’ Credit Union, exemplifying credit union membership and ownership. On behalf of SECU, the Board of Directors expresses sincere gratitude and appreciation to Mr. Ellis and Mr. Maafo. Their work to educate others on the Credit Union movement has not only been a ‘calling’ but an inspiration!”

Read More:CarolinaNewsWire

(ARA) - When it comes to buying a used car, you should not only bring in outside, professional expertise, but make a professional out of yourself, too.

By combining a physical inspection from a licensed mechanic (which you should always try to do), with the information directly available to you as a consumer, such as vehicle history reports, you can empower yourself with the knowledge and confidence you need to make the best decision possible.

No one will dispute that fact that uncertainty is the most prominent and unwelcome part of the used car-buying process. Since the first Model T rolled off the line, people have been fixing and selling vehicles without disclosing their full, and sometimes checkered, pasts. And, be it your first or 14th used car purchase, the questions always loom: Am I buying a problem vehicle? Has it been in an accident? How do I know this isn’t a lemon?

In this information age, you can arm yourself with the same information and techniques professionals use to answer these questions, and make an educated and confident used car purchase. These techniques include:

1.) Pedals and Steering: Examine the pedals for wear. While the paint and interior are often updated to make a car appear less worn, sellers rarely replace pedals. Also, with the engine off, jiggle the steering wheel back and forth. There should be less than 1 inch of play and no clunking noises. If there are, the car may need a steering gearbox, rack or other front suspension repair such as tie rod ends.

2.) Frame Damage: Never buy a frame-damaged car. Check the radiator core support, which connects the front fenders and holds the top of the radiator and includes the hood latch. It should be bolted, not welded on either side. Inspect the bolt heads at the top of the fenders inside the hood; scratch marks indicate that the fenders have been replaced or realigned after a crash.

Uneven tire wear is another indication of possible frame damage. When cars are involved in a major collision and frame damage occurs, the frame often remains slightly off keel and the tires will show this hidden problem.

3.) Paint: Carefully check the paint job, taking note of any rust spots, dents or scratches. Look at the sides of the car from end-on for waviness, which indicates paint work. Run your finger along the edges of the joints between panels; roughness indicates residue left from masking tape, uneven gaps between door, hood, and trunk panels and their openings indicate possibility of a major repair. Consider bringing a small magnet with you. If the body of the car is steel, then a failure of the magnet to stick can indicate the extensive use of body compound to conduct a repair. When using this trick however, keep in mind that many newer models use fiberglass for certain body panels.

4.) Fluids: Remove the oil filler cap. Check for signs of thick, dark sludge, which may indicate the vehicle didn’t receive frequent oil changes. Look at the condition of the coolant in the overflow tank; filthy brown coolant means a rusted cooling system and possibly a leaky head gasket. Pull the transmission dipstick; the fluid should be pink or red. An old car may have dark transmission fluid, but the oil should not look or smell burnt. Check underneath the vehicle for fluid leaks.

5.) Vehicle History Report: Beyond your own firsthand detective work, checking a car’s vehicle history is one of the most important things you can do before making a purchase. Vehicle history reports like Experian’s AutoCheck (www.autocheck.com) pull data from various sources, including state department of motor vehicle records, auto auctions and dealers.

AutoCheck now features the AutoCheck Score, which assigns each vehicle a numeric score based on that vehicle’s specific history. In much the same way as a credit score distills large amounts of information into a simple, easy-to-understand numeric score, this first-ever vehicle score makes it easier to understand the vehicle’s full history and compare that car against the average score of similar vehicles.

Vehicle history reports factor in reported events such as title and registration information, accident, auction data, the vehicle’s emission history, whether it’s ever been repossessed or stolen, whether the vehicle has ever been a government car, police car or taxi and whether it’s ever been leased. The AutoCheck Score does the analysis for you, helping you easily understand what a vehicle history report really says about that used car.

Becoming a savvier car buyer will not only allow you to make a better investment, but it can also protect you and your family from an unsafe vehicle. Gone are the days of simply kicking tires and staring blankly under the hood. With a little research and some careful inspection, you can steer clear of problem used vehicles.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

(ARA) – He’s the man credited with leading NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick into victory lane at this year’s Daytona 500, but how much do you know about crew chief, Todd Berrier? Turns out he has racing in his blood.

“My dad raced when I was growing up and, even from a young age, I knew it was something I really wanted to do,” says Berrier, who got his start working on Busch Grand National cars at a local track where he learned the ins and outs of what it takes to win.

Here he shares some thoughts on an incredible career:

Q: How does it feel to be the crew chief for a Daytona 500-winning car?
I have to admit it was pretty cool to win. Not many people get a chance to work on a car that runs in the Daytona 500, much less win the whole thing. But after a little while of enjoying the win, it was back to the grind. We had to focus on our upcoming projects and winning the Daytona 500 just made me want to win the next race even more. There’s no better feeling than that!

Q: How would you describe your job?
The bulk of my job used to focus on maintaining and modifying our cars while also helping to develop new strategies and ideas. But because the cost and logistics of what we do are much more complex than they were even three years ago, my job is now focused on logistics and planning for the team. We approach every decision from a business-minded angle, so it’s important that we’re fully utilizing our resources to obtain the best possible advantage over the competition.

Q: What’s the single biggest challenge to being successful in NASCAR?
The biggest challenge in NASCAR is the time commitment to the job, whether you’re a crew chief, driver, or part of the pit crew. I’m in our facilities every day except the days we are at the track. That ends up being Monday through Wednesday, with half a day on Thursday before we travel to the race. We’re also on the road every Thursday through Sunday for 38 weeks, with an additional ten test days spread out throughout the year. When things might not be going as well as you’d like, you really have to get in there and focus on what’s going right. This is a demanding job but it can also be very rewarding.

Q: What does a typical day look like for you during the race weekend?
Well, that’s not exactly an easy answer as there are no “typical” days when it comes to racing. On Thursday afternoons we leave the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) facilities and fly to the race location. We have just enough time to check into the hotel and then it’s lights out because we know we have a long couple of days ahead of us.

The team will get to the track early on Friday morning so we can settle into the garage area and get the car ready for inspection. After we go through inspection, the first practice session of the day takes place, with our qualifying runs scheduled at around 3 p.m. After we’ve qualified for the race on Friday, we have two Saturday practice sessions to test our modifications and make sure everything is running like it should be.

Then it’s on to Sunday, the most exciting (and longest) day of the weekend. It all starts at 6 a.m. when we make any last minute adjustments before our pre-race inspection. The races typically start at around noon and can last up to four hours. Cars that finish in the top five must go through a post-race inspection to make sure everyone was playing fair. Once the inspection is over, we load up the truck and race to the airport to catch the first flight home. It makes for a long weekend but it’s always a fun one.

Q: As part of the sponsor relationship, is Shell or Pennzoil providing special fuel or motor oil for the race team?
RCR not only has a new sponsor in Shell but a new technical partner as well, with Pennzoil supplying motor oil and lubricants products for all RCR vehicles. We work with Shell and Pennzoil engineers and scientists to develop and race some of the most technologically advanced motor oils. The fuel we use on the race track must be provided by NASCAR’s official fuel supplier.

But off the track, I’m always looking to get the most out of my vehicle so I use Shell. In fact, a lot of the guys on the team drive cars that recommend higher-octane fuel so we use Shell V-Power because it’s a premium fuel with added cleaning power, five times the cleaning agent required by federal government standards, in fact. We also like that it’s in part a direct result of the technical collaboration between Shell and Ferrari in Formula One.

For more information about the benefits of using Shell V-Power over any other conventional fuel, log on to www.shell.com and type “V-Power” into the search box.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

It backed $40,000 worth of kind acts

If you found an envelope of money on your car seat last week, or if someone anonymously paid for your lunch in the fast-food line, you might have been a beneficiary of the Bless Back Project.

Elevation Church in south Charlotte — with no home of its own — paid for $40,000 worth of kind acts around the city last week.

The church, celebrating services today as always on high school campuses, gave the equivalent of a typical Sunday collection back to its congregation last week.

When Pastor Steven Furtick instructed members to pluck from the collection bowls, filled with envelopes containing $5, $10, $20, $50 or $100, some people didn’t believe it. One person at each of the five services even got an envelope with $1,000.

Members looked at Furtick as if to say, “What’s the punch line?” he recalled. “Then the creative wheels started turning.”

The money isn’t to keep, Furtick told them. Instead, members were to go out and do something random for someone else.

Get inventive, he said, and tell us about it.

For Furtick, unleashing more than 2,000 members on an unsuspecting city, in an idea borrowed from a Cincinnati church, seemed a perfect match for Elevation. The Southern Baptist church worships in non-traditional ways. Before and after Furtick’s sermons, the church’s loud rock band plays praise music.

Elevation ranks eighth on a list of the fastest-growing churches in America compiled by Outreach magazine, which writes about “outreach-oriented” churches.

Now, examples of the church’s Bless Back Project are filling its Web site, www.blessbackproject.com.

Some kicked in hundreds of their own dollars, or combined their envelopes with others for more impact.

One couple spent more than $400 of their own money to buy Wal-Mart gift cards for teenage moms. Another group of friends pooled envelopes to get $70 in groceries for a co-worker staying in a pay-by-the-week motel.

“Now we are ready for our next challenge,” wrote one family, which kicked in its own money to send $160 to a woman with a sick husband. “Bring it on, Elevation. Let’s DOMINATE.”

Church, charity first

This isn’t the way churches usually launch fundraisers, and Furtick wasn’t initially sure his two-year-old church, which does not even have land or its own building, should kick off its first capital campaign with a mega-giveaway.

“I had to pray about that one for weeks,” said Furtick, 27, who preaches from the auditorium stage at Providence and Butler high schools in jeans and close-cropped dyed blond hair. “It was a very difficult financial move for us to do.”

The move also models his message to set aside money first to give to church and charity.

Furtick, from Moncks Corner, S.C., said he was inspired at 16 to start a church. He and his wife, Holly, live in Matthews with their 2-week-old son, Graham, named in honor of Billy Graham, and 3-year-old son, Elijah.

Read More: News & Observer

The Peak, an annual publication produced by the Apex Chamber of Commerce, will unveil a whole new look this year with a vibrant, newsstand-quality magazine that showcases the best of Apex through its people, places and progressive business climate. With all new original photography and editorial features, the 2008 publication will focus on specific areas of education, the arts, sports and recreation, health care, commerce and quality of life. With the help of Calliope Publishing, the Apex Chamber will offer a magazine perfect for promoting the community to prospective residents, new businesses and visitors. “The Peak 2008 will illustrate the unique family focused quality of life we enjoy here in Apex as well as promoting our economic strength.” Chamber President Brenda Steen said. “We are excited about the new look and feel of The Peak magazine and are confident that it will be a highly effective marketing tool that will capture the audience our members most want to reach.”

Located at 220 North Salem Street, the Apex Chamber of Commerce currently boasts a membership of over 540 area businesses. To learn more about the Chamber and its activities in the community visit www.apexchamber.com Apex Chamber of Commerce Contact: Brenda Steen, 919-362-6456, Brenda@apexchamber.com

SOURCE:CarolinaNewsWire