http://www.big3news.net Covering The Stories That Matter Most. Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:46:47 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Covering The Stories That Matter Most. BIG 3 NEWS no Covering The Stories That Matter Most. http://www.big3news.net/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://www.big3news.net http://www.big3news.net/2012/02/04/love-at-first-site-christian-couples-online-romance-at-the-heart-of-new-dating-sites-xo-community/ http://www.big3news.net/2012/02/04/love-at-first-site-christian-couples-online-romance-at-the-heart-of-new-dating-sites-xo-community/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:29:43 +0000 Rusty Ray, Executive Editor http://www.big3news.net/?p=8903 http://www.big3news.net/2012/02/04/love-at-first-site-christian-couples-online-romance-at-the-heart-of-new-dating-sites-xo-community/feed/ 0 big3news,Christian couples,dating,datingsitesxo,matchmaking,relationships,romance Listen to preview:   - Long before the days of blazing fast Internet connections and one-on-one video calling, singles in search of soul mates connected by leaving wistful messages on bland profile pages that often went unchecked for weeks and mont... Listen to preview:   Long before the days of blazing fast Internet connections and one-on-one video calling, singles in search of soul mates connected by leaving wistful messages on bland profile pages that often went unchecked for weeks and months. Sometimes an email would show up in their inbox from people wanting to trade pictures and get to know them better. More often than not, the reply amounted to a rejection wishing them much luck, and sometimes not, with their search. For Emory and Suzana Rowland, looking for love online before it was popular – at a time when it carried the stigma of being primarily dangerous or outside the norm-- was an overwhelming process that they decided to leave up to God. “We were both strong Christians, considered ourselves serious Christians and followers of Jesus," Emory recently shared in an exclusive interview with Big 3 News. "We had both been praying about this. I just said, 'Lord, I'm asking you for a wife.'" Now, a decade later, the Rowlands hope to draw on their experiences and help singles  navigate a sea of online dating services with their own free community called "DatingSitesXO." God's timing The couple found love in 2002 on their first dating website -- a free Christian service called Cross Daily. Users could share their testimony and let others know where they stood spiritually. Emory, an SEO professional and online marketer from Georgia who had an avid interest in the Internet, got a message through his online profile at Cross Daily from Suzana, who worked for a computer company and lived in Indonesia at the time. "She said, 'I"m gonna shoot this guy a note and see what he's all about," Emory recalled. Unlike today's social culture, where people constantly check status updates on Facebook and Twitter, many users with online accounts didn't check them with regular frequency back then. Emory went four months before he decided to check his Cross Daily profile for messages. "I forgot to check this profile," Emory said. "I thought, 'I better go back and check. There was something there, this girl responded to me. I better shoot something back.'" Ironically, a frustrated Suzana had just closed her Cross Daily account when minutes later Emory's reply showed up in her Yahoo email account,which she had given him. "She literally closed her Cross Daily account and minutes later this email came through from me," Emory said. "That began our relationship." The couple started trading emails, chats, and phone calls. For an introvert like Emory who had trouble meeting people, the Internet turned out to be the perfect place for finding a mate. "I was really comfortable," said Emory, who believed a long time ago that online dating was going to be big. "We just both felt that God was bringing us together." Fear of flying If God was bringing them together, the vehicle He was using -- the Internet -- couldn't give Emory and Suzana the one thing that most relationships need to be successful: human interaction. With nearly a full day and more than 10,000 miles separating them, they decided to meet in person. "She tried to come here on a tourist visa and they laughed at her," Emory said. "It was not long after 9/11, and Indonesia was on a government list of countries that were at risk for terrorism." Finally, in 2003, they agreed to meet in Singapore where the couple got engaged during their two weeks together. The trip forced both Emory and Suzana to face their own apprehensions about seeing each other -- his fear of flying and her wondering what he was hiding. "I had a terrible fear of flying when I met her," Emory recalled. "I had to do some very, very deep praying and thinking like, 'Do I really want to do this?'" As for Suzana, she was most worried about a picture Emory had shared with her early on. "The picture I shared with her, it turns out she thought, 'why is he not smiling?'" Emory said. BIG 3 NEWS no 1:07 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/30/health-it-incentives-reward-doctors-hospitals-that-adopt-electronic-patient-care-records/ http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/30/health-it-incentives-reward-doctors-hospitals-that-adopt-electronic-patient-care-records/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:41:32 +0000 Rusty Ray, Executive Editor http://www.big3news.net/?p=8906 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/30/health-it-incentives-reward-doctors-hospitals-that-adopt-electronic-patient-care-records/feed/ 4 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/26/romney-vs-gingrich-republican-front-runners-battle-it-out-in-florida-primary-debate/ http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/26/romney-vs-gingrich-republican-front-runners-battle-it-out-in-florida-primary-debate/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:05:59 +0000 Rusty Ray, Executive Editor http://www.big3news.net/?p=8862 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/26/romney-vs-gingrich-republican-front-runners-battle-it-out-in-florida-primary-debate/feed/ 0 big3news,candidates,CNN,debate,Florida,Jacksonville,primary,Republican Listen to preview:   It may have been smiles early on in the Sunshine State, but less than fifteen minutes into the Florida Republican Primary debate, the candidates sparred over such topics as illegal immigration, Listen to preview:   It may have been smiles early on in the Sunshine State, but less than fifteen minutes into the Florida Republican Primary debate, the candidates sparred over such topics as illegal immigration, supporting democracy in Latin American countries, and reforming the private mortgage industry. Hosted by CNN, the Florida Republican Party and the Hispanic Leadership Network at the University of North Florida, the two-hour debate between Texas Congressman Ron Paul, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum underscored the tension between the candidates in the lead up to the vote on Tuesday. Romney demonstrated a noticeable aggressiveness and went on the attack early against front-runner challenger Gingrich. Both Paul and Santorum, who have not committed as many resources to Florida, struggled to stay in the conversation. In a state crippled by 9.9% unemployment -- with some estimates of real unemployment at 18% -- and a housing market the worst on record, the candidates tried to distinguish themselves as the candidate best able to defeat President Barack Obama and provide solutions to the nation's economic problems. "The freedom message and the Constitution is very appealing to people of all beliefs," Congressman Paul said when asked by moderator Wolf Blitzer why he is the one person likely to beat Obama. Romney outlined his business experience as the primary advantage he would have over the President in the general election. "If you want to change Washington, then you're going to have to bring someone in from the outside," Romney said. Living up to his "grandiose" characterization by other candidates, Gingrich pledged to run an American campaign with big ideas. "I believe that what we need this fall is a big-choice election," the former Speaker said. For his part, Santorum continued to appeal to conservative laborers who traditionally vote Democratic. "I want to win the industrial heartland," Santorum stated. "Get those Reagan Democrats." Although former President Ronald Reagan was only referenced a handful of times, the controversy in the last twenty-four hours of the news cycle focused on Gingrich's claims to be the heir of the Reagan legacy. The news aggregate website The Drudge Report had no less than 14 links to negative news stories about how Gingrich frequently criticized the Reagan legacy. In one article, a Reagan "insider" was quoted as saying Gingrich, as a Congressman during the Reagan Administration, "voted with the caucus, but his words should be remembered, for at the height of the bitter struggle with the Democratic leadership Gingrich chose to attack . . . Reagan." Published by the conservative National Review, the article was written by Elliot Abrams, a man who plea bargained to lesser charges of lying to Congress during the height of the Iran-Contra affair. During tonight's debate, Blitzer asked each candidate which of them could claim the Reagan mantel. "I was just starting out," Romney acknowledged. "I became more conservative as I was governor (of Massachusetts)." "I am vastly closer to Reagan," Gingrich remarked, while thanking the former president's adopted son, Michael, for his endorsement. Gingrich also said Nancy Reagan, during his time as Speaker of the House in the 1990's, said the conservative torch had been passed from Barry Goldwater to Ronald Reagan, and to Newt Gingrich and the Republicans in Congress. Among the other topics covered and the candidate's responses: Illegal immigration: Santorum said, "We are a country of laws," while Gingrich and Romney argued over campaign ads that alleged Gingrich referred to Spanish as the  "language of the ghetto." Romney initially said he had no knowledge of the ad, and CNN later confirmed that the ad was put out by the Romney campaign, including the tag line, BIG 3 NEWS no 9:59 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/25/facebook-censors-ad-promoting-trash-ebook-one-of-many-obstacles-for-self-published-author/ http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/25/facebook-censors-ad-promoting-trash-ebook-one-of-many-obstacles-for-self-published-author/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:14:22 +0000 Rusty Ray, Executive Editor http://www.big3news.net/?p=8502 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/25/facebook-censors-ad-promoting-trash-ebook-one-of-many-obstacles-for-self-published-author/feed/ 0 advertising,big3news,eBook,facebook,publishing,social networking,Thom Simonson,trash Listen to preview:   - It's often said don't judge a book by its cover. - For one New York author, that's exactly what happened when social networking giant Facebook rejected an ad promoting his new electronic short story -- or eBook -- called... Listen to preview:   It's often said don't judge a book by its cover. For one New York author, that's exactly what happened when social networking giant Facebook rejected an ad promoting his new electronic short story -- or eBook -- called "Trash." To be fair, "Trash", a fictional work by 40-year old Thom Simonson, sounds like...well, just that -- a trashy story complete with what even the author calls a "provocative" cover of a nearly nude woman covering her breasts. The eBook cover image was incorporated in the banned social website ad. "Thanks for advertising with Facebook," stated an Oct. 4 email from the Facebook Ads Team to Simonson. "We have reviewed your ad(s) and determined that one or more of them do not meet our guidelines." Although Facebook referred Simonson to several resource links on the company's website, they failed to provide a direct appeal process and advised as the only option to change the ad image and re-submit it. "The image included in your ad is not suitable to appear on Facebook," the company said. A review of Facebook's published advertising guidelines includes a section on Community Standards. "Ads may not contain adult content, including nudity, depictions of people in explicit or suggestive positions, or activities that are overly suggestive or sexually provocative," the company explains. The controversial image was also blocked by Facebook on Simonson's personal profile, but according to the author was left up on the page he created promoting the eBook. A double standard? For Simonson, the issue isn't about disputing the characterization of the image, but rather how Facebook unfairly singled his ad out for rejection while allowing similar images to be displayed by the site's more mainstream accounts such as Maxim and Victoria's Secret. "I started looking at other things, people that tend to use sexuality in frivolous ways in order to advertise and I came up with Facebook pages that had full-breasted women who were scantily clad," Simonson said recently in an exclusive interview with Big 3 News. "I felt that was kind of a double standard. The issue there seems less like the Community Guidelines and more about, 'well, these guys definitely have bigger advertising budgets.'" Simonson argues that the cover image he used is relevant to the content of his eBook, and Facebook erred during the ad review process. Big 3 News contacted Facebook for a response to Simonson's concerns, but as of press time the company has only responded with an automated message. "Thanks for contacting Facebook," the company said in response to our Jan. 21 interview request. "We understand that you may be on a deadline and will do our best to respond as quickly as possible." Simonson has no plans to resubmit the ad with a different image. Trending eBooks Beyond the cover of "Trash", where the electronic pages are laid bare, it's obvious the teaser image is a creative branding technique employed by Simonson to entice readers to something meatier (more on the story below). Independent authors like Simonson have a daunting task in the digital age -- not only do they craft their stories but they must also act as editors and publishers while finding a way to distribute their content. This includes obtaining a copyright and ISBN number for their work, finding a cover image that they own the rights to or have purchased online, and uploading their content to online distributors like Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. "All that stuff is on me," Simonson explained. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK & SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS. However, most online distributors offer a user-friendly, step-by-step process for making the content available to consumers. "It really is as simple as writing your story in a word document, and then uploading to them," Simonson explained. "The online forms that Amazon and Barnes & Noble use are pretty step-by-step. BIG 3 NEWS no 1:11 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/24/president-obama-america-is-back-and-anyone-who-says-america-is-in-decline-doesnt-know-what-theyre-talking-about/ http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/24/president-obama-america-is-back-and-anyone-who-says-america-is-in-decline-doesnt-know-what-theyre-talking-about/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 03:56:19 +0000 Rusty Ray, Executive Editor http://www.big3news.net/?p=8799 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/24/president-obama-america-is-back-and-anyone-who-says-america-is-in-decline-doesnt-know-what-theyre-talking-about/feed/ 1 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/24/gps-tracking-of-citizens-vehicles-chills-freedoms-threatens-to-alter-relationship-between-citizens-govt-supreme-ct-rules/ http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/24/gps-tracking-of-citizens-vehicles-chills-freedoms-threatens-to-alter-relationship-between-citizens-govt-supreme-ct-rules/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:30 +0000 Rusty Ray, Executive Editor http://www.big3news.net/?p=8769 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/24/gps-tracking-of-citizens-vehicles-chills-freedoms-threatens-to-alter-relationship-between-citizens-govt-supreme-ct-rules/feed/ 0 big3news,Constitution,Fourth Amendment,privacy,search and seizure,supreme court Listen to preview:     - In a unanimous decision viewed as a victory for individual privacy and Fourth Amendment protection, the United States Supreme Court on Monday said cops cannot track suspects’ vehicles with global positions system (GPS) de... Listen to preview:     In a unanimous decision viewed as a victory for individual privacy and Fourth Amendment protection, the United States Supreme Court on Monday said cops cannot track suspects’ vehicles with global positions system (GPS) de... BIG 3 NEWS no 1:11 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/23/nasa-captures-raging-eruption-on-the-sun-as-scientists-say-earths-temperature-tied-to-solar-cycles/ http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/23/nasa-captures-raging-eruption-on-the-sun-as-scientists-say-earths-temperature-tied-to-solar-cycles/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:56:33 +0000 Rusty Ray, Executive Editor http://www.big3news.net/?p=8753 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/23/nasa-captures-raging-eruption-on-the-sun-as-scientists-say-earths-temperature-tied-to-solar-cycles/feed/ 0 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/22/a-letter-from-the-heart-to-this-day-there-are-times-i-feel-lost-almost-like-a-spectator-to-my-life/ http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/22/a-letter-from-the-heart-to-this-day-there-are-times-i-feel-lost-almost-like-a-spectator-to-my-life/#comments Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:05:57 +0000 Rusty Ray, Executive Editor http://www.big3news.net/?p=8722 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/22/a-letter-from-the-heart-to-this-day-there-are-times-i-feel-lost-almost-like-a-spectator-to-my-life/feed/ 0 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/16/roman-king-orders-slaughter-of-infants-in-jewish-coastal-provinceabies-in-jewish-coastal-province/ http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/16/roman-king-orders-slaughter-of-infants-in-jewish-coastal-provinceabies-in-jewish-coastal-province/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 03:17:01 +0000 Rusty Ray, Executive Editor http://www.big3news.net/?p=8477 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/16/roman-king-orders-slaughter-of-infants-in-jewish-coastal-provinceabies-in-jewish-coastal-province/feed/ 1 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/15/huffington-post-religion-writer-calls-for-different-jesus-in-dark-timesr-different-jesus-in-dark-times/ http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/15/huffington-post-religion-writer-calls-for-different-jesus-in-dark-timesr-different-jesus-in-dark-times/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:18:29 +0000 Rusty Ray, Executive Editor http://www.big3news.net/?p=8458 http://www.big3news.net/2012/01/15/huffington-post-religion-writer-calls-for-different-jesus-in-dark-timesr-different-jesus-in-dark-times/feed/ 4