So include this information and these items:
Tell…
1) Who — The principal players and their titles
2) What — What exactly is new or has taken place?
3) Where — Your company headquarters and the location of your news.
4) When — The date your news occurred, your product was/will be released.
5) Why — Why is this news important to your company/the industry. why this event took place [perhaps relayed in a quote from a company principal].
6) How — Delve into details about the event, how it came about. Or how a new product works or what it looks like.
Add…
7) A human voice — Include a quote or two from a company principal about the product or event or new hire. Here you can feel free to boast, make value statements or get emotional.
8) Hyperlinks to additional information available elsewhere online
Attach…
9) Artwork [jpeg files] to illustrate your story. If the files are above 3-4 megabytes, sign up for Dropbox and share the file in the cloud. BTW, don’t send pdf files as graphics–the resolution is too low. [IMO, including artwork with your release increases your chance of getting coverage.]

PS: Write simply and clearly. Don’t lard your prose with superlatives or big words when small ones will do. The ‘unbiased media’ is going to edit those phrases out anyway. If you want to say you’re better than competitors or make other value statements, best to do that in direct quotes from company principals.
Connect with Barbara at Google+

Excerpt from Inc magazine, “Say hello to your new brain”:

Libin began to think about what a better electronic memory would be like. You could put in information in any form, be it a typed document, a handwritten note, a photo, a webpage, a spoken conversation. And you could instantly get the information into any of your devices on the fly without worrying about how to organize it. “When people want to capture a thought, they don’t want to stop what they’re doing,” he says.

More important, you would be able to find whatever it is whenever you need it, as effortlessly and intuitively as we now dig up stuff via Google.

Congratulations, Marc!

Pearl Harbor Survivors march in 1995 Veterans Day Parade | New York

The attack precipitated U.S. entry into World War II, “the deadliest conflict in human history.”

The United States suffered 2,459 casualties during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. More than 50 million people are believed to have perished during World War II, the deadliest conflict in human history.

San Jose Mercury News: “Pearl Harbor attack, 70 years ago, still fresh in the memories of old sailors“

As the sole support of his widowed mother and siblings, my dad didn’t sign up for duty till a couple of years after December 7, 1941.

When he did, it was into the Army Air Corps [precursor to the Air Force], where he was stationed in Hawaii. To this day he can’t stand the taste of coconut or pineapple.

As a sergeant in charge of a repair crew, he was tasked with maintaining and repairing the newest aircraft in the American arsenal, the B-29 “Superfortress,” which was built for high-altitude, long-distance bombing missions in the Pacific Theater.

My father’s B-29 repair training consisted of being handed a product manual “the size of a phonebook.” He figured it out.

His crew didn’t do a maintenance check on the Enola Gay the day in 1945 it landed at the base. “No one was allowed near” the bomber, which was closely guarded on a distant part of the airfield, and the crew sequestered–till the day it took off to drop its cargo hold of atom bombs on Japan.

When the war ended, my dad got married, moved to the suburbs and had four daughters.

We never had much money. But he was and still is a master of mechanical invention. He fixed everything at the house himself–or it didn’t get fixed. He drove a succession of beater cars, always secondhand. The ones he took long distances to work at a factory job in central New Jersey came to resemble battered tin cans before he was done with them. But he kept them running for 250,000 to 300,000 miles each.

Long may you run, dad, as you drive your latest “beater” to deliver Meals on Wheels each week to the old folks.

Love you, dad, happy Veterans Day!
–Barbara

Marc interviews grandpa–transcript

Sleep Tips from the Better Sleep Council:
It’s important to make an overall commitment to healthy, restorative sleep. Here are some tips from the Better Sleep Council for maintaining a healthy sleep cycle and ensuring the best night’s rest:

• Make sleep a priority by keeping a consistent sleep (bedtime) and wake schedule, including weekends
• Create a bedtime routine that is relaxing. Experts recommend reading a book, listening to soothing music or soaking in a hot bath.
• Transform your bedroom into a haven of comfort. Create a room that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool for the best possible sleep.
• Evaluate your mattress and pillow to ensure proper comfort and support. If your mattress is five to seven years old, it may be time for a new one. In general, pillows should be replaced every year.
• Keep work materials, computers and televisions out of the bedroom; it should be used for sleep and sex only.
• Exercise regularly, but complete workouts at least two hours before bedtime.
• If you sleep with a partner, your mattress should allow each of you enough space to move easily. Couples who’ve been sleeping on a “double” (full size) may think they have enough room, until they learn that each person has only as much sleeping space as a baby’s crib!
• Avoid nicotine (e.g., cigarettes, tobacco products). Used close to bedtime, it can lead to poor sleep.
• Avoid caffeine and alcohol (e.g., coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate) close to bedtime. It can keep you awake.
• Finish eating at least two to three hours before bedtime.

Even people who exercise daily can increase their risk of cancer by remaining sedentary for extended periods of time, researchers said Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Institute for Cancer Research focused on food, nutrition and physical activity.

Story Karen Kaplan in LA Times, Nov. 4: Don’t just sit around — it may increase your risk of cancer .