LANSING - The Michigan House overwhelmingly passed legislation Tuesday ending the health care benefits lawmakers receive once they reach age 55, but Democrats backed away from earlier statements that the bill would affect those currently serving. Instead, in passing HB 4194 on a 103-1 vote, the bill would end the benefits for people starting with
LANSING - Both Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison saw increases in customers seeking power from competitors sufficient to bring the utilities to the statutory caps on competition during the past year, the Public Service Commission said in a report issued Tuesday. The report also showed Michigan commercial power prices had dropped relative to other states
LANSING - Changes to cable television regulations have meant more communities with competitive programming providers, but also more communities with no provider, according to a report released Tuesday by the Public Service Commission. The report said the number of complaints, and the types of complaints, held steady in 2009 from 2008. Cable competition appeared to
STAMFORD - A lot has happened in a year within the social software and collaboration space. And analyst firm Gartner says companies quickly need to develop best practices for embracing social networking with a maximum of safety. "The growing use of platforms such as Twitter and Facebook by business users has resulted in serious enterprise
BIRMINGHAM - The attacks against Google emanating from China and the subsequent speech by the US Secretary of State on Internet Freedom have exposed cyber security issues to a wider audience in recent weeks. Perhaps predictably some old ideas are creeping up that should be slapped down quickly. Myth number 1. The US engages in
DAVOS, Switzerland - The world needs a treaty to prevent cyber attacks becoming an all-out war, the head of the main UN communications and technology agency warned Saturday. International Telcommunications Union secretary general Hamadoun Toure gave his warning at a World Economic Forum debate where experts said nations must now consider when a cyber attack
ROCHESTER HILLS - MichiganMall.com announced a partnership Tuesday with Workfly, a community Incubator in Pontiac, creating one central location for businesses to post and update Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter accounts and YouTube presentations. "MichiganMall.com, working with Workfly will complete the full circle approach to connect local, county and state into one nicely wrapped social media package",
ANN ARBOR - NanoBio announced Tuesday that a sixth U.S. patent covering its nanoemulsion technology has been awarded. The patent encompasses composition of matter claims for the company's lead anti-infective and vaccine product candidates. "We are very pleased with this patent award in that the new claims circumscribe all of NanoBio's anti-infective and dermatological products,
AUBURN HILLS ? ERP software provider Plex Systems said its total revenue grew 14 percent in 2009 over 2008, and its profitability by 21 percent year-over-year. But the private company declined to disclose figures for revenue and profitability. The company also announced that 29 new customers chose Plex Online, the leading software as a service
LANSING ? Gov. Jennifer Granholm unveiled a reform plan Friday with a major focus on curbing the cost of state employees' retirement and health insurance benefits that, in concert with legislative reform proposals, indicates 2010 could see the long-anticipated reshaping of government. In the first of what she said would be three major speeches in