PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Villanova University has canceled a workshop on personal narrative by a gay performance artist, saying his shows aren't in keeping with its Catholic values.

Artist Tim Miller, once dubbed the "patron saint of the gay performance world" by the Los Angeles Times, said he was scheduled to lead the five-day workshop for students in April but the university abruptly scrapped it on Sunday. He said his workshops focus on personal narrative and the students guide the direction they take but topics often include issues such as faith, sexuality, self and truth.

Miller said he thinks his being gay played into Villanova's decision to cancel.

"The thing that they worry about, I think, is that I am a gay person," he said. "Being a gay person with political opinions."

Miller said on Tuesday he has done similar workshops at Chicago's DePaul University, the nation's largest Catholic university, and other schools. He said Villanova, a Catholic private university with about 10,000 students just outside Philadelphia, did not tell him why it was canceling his workshop.

"This is not my first time at the dance," Miller said, noting the cancellation came after blog postings that were critical about him. "It's clearly homophobia and panic."

In a statement, Villanova said it had concerns that Miller's workshops "were not in keeping with our Catholic and Augustinian values and mission."

"Therefore, Villanova has decided not to host Mr. Miller on our campus," the statement said. "Villanova University is an open and inclusive community and in no way does this singular decision change that."

A spokesman said the university would not answer questions beyond the statement on Tuesday.

Miller gained notoriety in 1990 when he and three others had grants vetoed by the National Endowment for the Arts. His work is frequently provocative, and he has been arrested in the past for demonstrating for AIDS research funding. He said some of his performances have featured nudity but there has been no nudity for about a decade.

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Villanova University cancels gay artist's workshop

February 21, 2012, 6:28 PM EST

By Aaron Ricadela

(Updates with comments by CFO Gladden in 10th paragraph.)

Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Dell Inc. forecast fiscal first- quarter revenue that missed analysts’ estimates as lackluster demand from consumers and governments eroded growth at the world’s third-largest maker of personal computers.

Revenue for the period ending in April will decrease 7 percent to $14.9 billion, Round Rock, Texas-based Dell said in a statement today. That missed the average $15.1 billion estimate of analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The shares fell in late trading after the report was released.

Sales in the consumer division fell 2 percent last quarter, evidence that Apple Inc. is winning over buyers with its Mac and iPad devices. Revenue in the business that caters to governments slipped 1 percent amid “weakness” in purchasing by U.S. federal agencies and governments in Western Europe, Dell said.

“When do we see revenue growth for the company start to show up?” said Abhey Lamba, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. in New York, who initiated coverage of Dell this month with a “buy” rating. “They’ve been able to grow earnings because of cost management and supply-chain improvements. But you can do that for only so long. At a certain point, revenue needs to start growing or else earnings will come down.”

Dell is suffering from competition with Apple at the high end of the market and Lenovo Group Inc. and Acer Inc. at the low end, Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach Inc., wrote in a Feb. 15 research note.

Dell slumped 4.7 percent to $17.37 in extended trading after gaining less than 1 percent to $18.21 at the close.

Consumers’ Wallets Shut

Consumers are keeping their wallets closed amid a slow economic recovery or opting for iPads instead of traditional notebook computers. Global PC shipments last year declined 4.9 percent, the worst performance since 2001, according to research firm IDC. In addition, hard disk drive production was crimped after last year’s flooding in Thailand.

The supply disruption will continue into the period that ends in October, Gladden said on a conference call with media.

Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 8 operating system, due later this year, may provide a lift to consumer sales. Dell is also selling more of its own data storage and networking gear instead of relying on products made by such companies as EMC Corp.

Profit in the fourth quarter declined to $764 million, or 43 cents a share. Sales rose 2 percent to $16 billion, in line with analysts’ $16 billion estimate. Per-share earnings excluding certain items will exceed $2.13 in fiscal 2013, compared with analysts’ $2.06 estimate.

‘Strong’ Business Demand

Business computing demand is “pretty strong,” Dell Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden said in an interview after the results. Sales to large corporations rose 5 percent, while the unit that sells to small- and midsized businesses got a 6 percent boost, the company said.

Dell’s stock has outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index this year, rising 24 percent, compared with an 8.3 percent rise in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Dell and rival Hewlett-Packard Co. are counting on sales of thin, lightweight laptops called “ultrabooks” to spur sales. Dell’s new ultrabook, called the XPS 13, starts at $999. It’s made of aluminum, carbon fiber and glass, sports a 13.3-inch screen, and will go on sale later this month.

The company is also diversifying beyond PCs. It bought computer networking company Force 10 Networks Inc. last August for an undisclosed price and storage maker Compellent Technologies a year ago for $856.1 million. On Feb. 2, it hired former CA Inc. CEO John Swainson to head a new software group.

Dell may be scouting for a software acquisition worth $1 billion to $3 billion, Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. said. Misek has a “hold” rating on Dell shares.

Computer and data-management software makers Quest Software Inc. and CommVault Systems Inc. are possible targets, he said. BMC Software Inc., which makes tools to manage servers, may be too large with is $6.4 billion market value.

Dell plans to hold a Feb. 27 event in San Francisco with CEO Michael Dell to discuss its data-center products.

--Editors: Tom Giles, Nick Turner

To contact the reporters on this story: Aaron Ricadela in San Francisco at aricadela@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

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Dell Misses Estimates Amid Sluggish Personal Computer Sales

A few weeks ago, a friend showed up for a run with a CamelBak — one of those humplike backpacks with a tube that allows you to sip liquid — and a belt containing food to eat along the way. Every 20 minutes or so as we ran, he stopped to eat and drink, sprinting afterward to catch up.

Now that is unusual, I thought. Does it really help to eat so often during a 16-mile run?

Certainly a lot of athletes believe they need constant nourishment. My friend and running partner Jen Davis, who has entered more races and run more than I ever have, once went on a 30-mile training run with a guy wearing a CamelBak and bearing snacks. He stopped every 20 minutes along the way and then, about halfway through the run, pulled out a turkey sandwich.

“I’m not sure if he ever actually ran an ultra race,” Jen said. “He may have gotten injured after carrying that heavy pack on those long runs.”

There is no end to the crazy foods people will eat at endurance events. At the J.F.K. 50-Mile in Maryland, boiled potatoes and chicken broth are provided at aid stations. At the Rocky Raccoon Endurance Trail Run in Texas, runners can choose rice and beans or pasta, along with snacks like pretzels, cookies and candy.

At a 100-mile bike ride my husband and I have done several times, pumpkin pie is offered about 25 miles from the finish line. (My husband tried it one year and felt ill the rest of the ride.)

For the athlete determined to munch on the go, there are shelves worth of prepackaged “energy gels” and bars, even jelly beans, promising to raise performance.

But most athletes are not running 30 or 50 or 100 miles, nor are they doing the equivalent amount of exercise in another sport, like cycling or swimming or skiing. So most of us really do not need to keep eating during a race to maintain energy and stamina, said Nancy Rodriguez, a sports nutritionist at the University of Connecticut.

Dr. Rodriguez reviewed published studies on nutrition and performance as part of a group of experts who wrote a position paper on the topic for the American College of Sports Medicine. Runners, for example, competing in a 5- or 10-kilometer race, she said, “don’t need the CamelBaks and don’t need to have that Hershey bar or Powerade or Clif shot.”

Even athletes who are fast and competitive may not always need to eat during a workout. There’s no set rule on what they should eat and drink before, during and after exercise, said Melinda M. Manore, a sports nutritionist at Oregon State University who was an author of the position paper.

“People have gotten the message that they have to eat something,” Dr. Manore said. They guzzle an energy drink or eat a sports bar, but that doesn’t help. And for the many who are trying to lose weight, the habit just adds extra calories.

What they need depends on what they ate before they started and how hard their workout is going to be, among other things, she explained. “If you can run six-minute miles or five-minute miles and you are going out for an hour, you do not need to be eating an energy bar during the workout,” Dr. Manore said.

Moderate athletes need to eat and drink after the workout, she said, but a healthy meal with plenty of fluids is sufficient. Indeed, for most of them, the most common error is to eat too much.

Dr. Manore follows her own advice. She hikes for an hour in the hills every morning, four to five miles. All she has before she goes out is a cup of tea with milk.

But anyone exercising for two hours or more does need to get carbohydrates, the muscles’ fuel, according to the position statement. That means eating before, and perhaps during, the workout.

Those who try to skimp can end up with a poorer performance, said Dan Benardot, a sports nutrition researcher at Georgia State University. A long workout, like a run that lasts more than two hours, is “an enormous drain on blood sugar,” he said.

If the body runs out of glucose for fuel, it will start breaking down muscle, which is counterproductive. Dr. Benardot’s research indicates that athletes do best when they never let themselves have more than a 400-calorie deficit during the day. That is, if you expend 1,500 calories on a two-hour run, you offset it with at least 1,100 calories in food that day.

That means it is a disadvantage to eat most of the day’s calories at one time — at night, for example. But athletes should make dietary changes gradually so their bodies can adapt to more frequent fueling, he said. Those who try sudden changes sometimes pay a price.

Dr. Benardot tells the story of a distance runner who was doing well and felt great the morning of a big marathon. Before the race began, she saw her chief competitor put packs of a sugary gel into her running bra to eat during the race.

The distance runner did the same, even though she had never before eaten during races or long runs. It was a disaster: She had diarrhea during the event.

The gels “were anything but a competitive advantage,” Dr. Benardot said.

“You have to let your body adapt,” he added. “And you have to find out what works for you.”

This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 21, 2012

Earlier versions of this post misspelled the surname of a sports nutrition researcher at Georgia State University. He is Dan Benardot, not Bernadot or Benradot.

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Personal Best: Workouts May Not Be the Best Time for a Snack

VA performance dashboard failed to protect personal data, OIG says

The Veterans Affairs Department wrongly allowed more than 20 employees and contractors access to veterans’ sensitive personal and financial information in a recent information technology dashboard project, according to a new report from the Office of Inspector General.

The security violation occurred in the VA’s Systems to Drive Performance Dashboard while it was in development last year, Belinda Finn, assistant inspector general for audits and evaluations, wrote in the Feb. 13 report.

“We determined that more than 20 system users had inappropriate access to sensitive (dashboard) information,” Finn wrote.

The VA dashboard was being created to track cost accounting data. The agile development project was being managed by the VA’s assistant secretary for management, and the dashboard development group consisted of members of the management office, Office of Information & Technology and the contractor.

In March 2011, the development team populated the dashboard with veterans’ personally-identifiable information, including birth date, age, sex, race, ethnicity, county of residence, zip code, and financial information.

For the next 35 days, “more than 20 system users had inappropriate access to the sensitive data hosted in the Systems to Drive Performance development environment,” Finn wrote.

The report did not indicate how many veterans’ personal data was vulnerable, or what actions had been taken to inform them, if any.

In mid-April, access was terminated for most dashboard users, she added.

In addition to allowing the inappropriate access, the VA did not handle the user access requests consistently, and did not report the unauthorized access as a security violation as required, Finn added.

The problems were attributed to lack of awareness, failure to implement existing policies and poor oversight, Finn wrote.

“Project managers were not fully aware of VA’s security requirements for system development and had not formalized user account management procedures,” the report said. “Inadequate Information Security Officer oversight contributed to weaknesses in user account management and failure to report excessive user privileges as security violations. As a result, VA lacked assurance of adequate control and protection of sensitive STDP data.”

Finn said the improper access qualified as a security “event” but there was no evidence of a breach.

“While we did not discover indications of actual information security breaches and recognize the system is not publicly accessible via the Internet, project management should have reported excessive user permissions as a security event in accordance with VA information security policy,” she wrote.

Finn recommended that the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology, and the Assistant Secretary for Management ensure that all project managers receive training on protecting sensitive information, along with two other recommendations.

VA officials agreed with the findings and recommendations.

About the Author

Alice Lipowicz is a staff writer covering government 2.0, homeland security and other IT policies for Federal Computer Week. Follow her on Twitter: @AliceLipowicz.

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VA performance dashboard failed to protect personal data, OIG says

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09-02-2012 15:21 bit.ly - Since 1992 "Jim's Jems" has been helping people create more health, wealth and happiness in their lives. Subscribe now and receive the special report, "Design Your Destiny" and be invited to subscriber only tele-seminars and special events in 2012, and more.

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By John Casteele - February 19, 2012 | Tickers: DPS, PEP, KO | Comments

John is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is generally a solid performer, so long as the company doesn't decide to drastically change the formula of its carbonated namesake. The beverage company has been making a strong showing as of late, beating analyst estimates and increasing sales volumes worldwide. As if that wasn't enough, Coca-Cola also increased its quarterly dividends for the 50th year in a row and announced a new plan intended to cut costs by $350 to $400 million by 2015 even as commodity and fuel costs continue to rise. In short, things are pretty refreshing with Coca-Cola right now.

It's no surprise, of course, that the company is already making plans to try and ensure continued growth and international exposure in the coming year. One key component to this plan is the 2012 Olympics in London; Coca-Cola has already started its Olympics-targeted "Move to the Beat" advertising campaign, launching the first ad last week. Some may find the ad familiar as the teens invited to the event it was filmed at were encouraged to share their photos and videos via Twitter and other social media sites; this isn't necessarily a bad thing, of course, as Coca-Cola has used familiarity with characters such as their famous polar bears to give its advertising a gentle nostalgia while drawing people in with curiosity about how the new commercials will be different than what they've already seen.

This isn't to say that other beverage companies such as PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) aren't looking for ways to increase profits in the new year, of course. The problem for these companies comes from the fact that Coca-Cola has a lower price-to-earnings ratio and is the dominant force in the beverage industry; while neither is a slouch when it comes to sales, Coca-Cola makes more profit from each sale and makes more sales than either company to boot. Competitors aren't likely to even compete with Coca-Cola when it comes to Olympics-focused exposure since the company has been associated with the Olympic Games for 84 years... longer than any other company when it comes to continuous sponsorship. Coca-Cola is almost as much a part of the Olympics as it is a part of the ideal vision of America.

Coca-Cola's plans for the future don't stop with the Olympics, of course. The cost-cutting measures announced recently are part of a plan extending to 2020, indicating that the company has its eyes clearly on the future of its product. While the company may experience its share of ups and downs during that time, it didn't earn the title of "world's most valuable brand" by folding under pressure. If its cost-cutting plan is successful and doesn't compromise the price or integrity of the 500 drink brands produced by the company then Coca-Cola may have a very bright future indeed.

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Coca-Cola Thirsty for Success in 2012

Office for Financial Success reopening begins Missouri Saves Week

The Office for Financial Success aims to minimize financial stress for MU students after graduation.

By Katie Yaeger

Published Feb. 21, 2012

Justin Pierce/Staff Photographer

Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies Jim Spain presents Gov. Jay Nixon's proclamation for Missouri Saves Week at the Office for Financial Success's grand reopening ceremony in Stanley Hall.

(View large image browser)

With a new location and a newly remodeled space, the Office for Financial Success is open for business.

The office held its grand reopening ceremony at 10:15 a.m. Monday in Stanley Hall after remodeling began this past fall. Formerly located in the basement, the office now resides on the first floor with the Personal Financial Planning Extension and MU Center for Economic Education offices.

"(The office) is more visible for students," Office for Financial Success Director Ryan Law said. "We'll be able to offer services better up here since more students will see our offices and know that we are here to serve them."

A student-run organization, the Office for Financial Success provides free individual financial counseling services for MU students, faculty and staff. Topics discussed include budgeting, paying loans and establishing credit.

"It's a low-pressure environment, a student-to-student relationship and we're just here to answer questions and provide the help needed," Office for Financial Success President Thomas Duffany said. "You don't have to have specific questions. If you want to know something about a general topic, we'll help with that as well."

The Office for Financial Success hosts seminars and prepares presentations to provide groups such as Freshman Interest Groups with basic financial planning information. The office also partners with Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, coordinated by MU Extension, to provide free tax preparation. They have already filed more than 250 tax forms this year and annually average more than 1,300 tax forms.

Being in the same office with Personal Financial Planning Extension staff and the MU Center for Economic Education will make it easier for the Office for Financial Success to provide services not only to MU students, faculty and staff but also to people statewide, Law said.

"All three offices can now team up better to provide more comprehensive, integrated services across campus, the community and the state of Missouri," he said.

The reopening ceremony featured Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies Jim Spain reading a proclamation from Gov. Jay Nixon declaring the week of Feb. 20 as Missouri Saves Week. The reopening kicked off the celebration around the state.

Missouri Saves Week is part of America Saves Week, a national campaign in which nonprofit, corporate and government institutions collaborate to help others save and build wealth, said Brenda Procter, Consumer and Family Economics State Extension specialist.

"We promote solid savings behavior and asset building," she said.

This is the first year MU Extension has celebrated Missouri Saves Week.

"Our faculty is fully aware people are not saving enough to prevent financial emergencies, so we're excited to be part of Missouri Saves and help people develop strategies for saving," she said.

MU Extension is sponsoring events this week across the state to help individuals save and build wealth. Events include a workshop series and radio and social media efforts designed to help Missouri residents with their finances.

Law said during this financial recession, the average amount of student loan debt is $24,000, and some students are graduating with even greater student loan balances, credit card debt and auto loans.

He said the Office for Financial Success hopes to minimize financial stress for MU students after graduation.

"If we can help students be smart about their finances and graduate without a lot of debt, they're going to be farther ahead when they enter the workforce and begin to work toward their financial goals," he said.

Duffany, who learned the importance of having an emergency savings fund after purchasing a car, said planning ahead can help guide decisions and make handling finances easier for students still in school.

"(Financial planning) applies to students even though we don't think how it can benefit us now," he said.

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Office for Financial Success reopening begins Missouri Saves Week

There's a perception among job seekers that material posted on Facebook and other social networking sites can only hinder their chances of employment. A dumb comment that can never be erased. That photo of you -- bleary-eyed -- building a beeramid with other naked people.

Those can certainly be stumbling blocks. But new research shows that a quick review of a Facebook profile can actually provide a better prediction of job success than standardized tests used for years by human resources departments around the world.

A study soon to be published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology found that a 10-minute review of a Facebook page can yield not just red flags but also provide an unvarnished look at a job candidate and some strong clues to that person's character and personality.

Donald Kluemper, a management professor at Northern Illinois University and one of the lead researchers on the study, said that companies have used personality and IQ tests for ages to gauge the potential of job candidates. As it became clear that more companies were scanning the Internet for information on job applicants, Kluemper and his team set out to establish how much reliable data can be gleaned from such sources.

"Hiring specialists were just trying to eliminate someone who was doing something inappropriate," Kluemper said. "What we did is try to assess the personality traits in a similar way that they might be assessed by a standardized test."

Several "raters" were given two hours of training on how to evaluate a Facebook page and answer specific questions relating to personality. They would then spend five to 10 minutes evaluating pages; a total of 274 were reviewed.

This excerpt from the study shows the type of indicators they were looking for:

"Those high in agreeableness are trusting and get along well with others, which may be represented in the extensiveness of personal information posted. Openness to experience is related to intellectual curiosity and creativity, which could be revealed by the variety of books, favorite quotations or other posts showing the user engaged in new activities and creative endeavors. Extroverts more frequently interact with others, which could be represented by the number of SNW (social networking websites) friends a user has."

The researchers followed up with the job candidates after six months and got performance reviews from the supervisors of 69 of them, about 25 percent of the original group. Across the board, the study found that these relatively quick Facebook evaluations more accurately predicted success than standard tests.

"I think one of the differences is that you change the frame of reference," Kluemper said. "You're asking the rater, 'Is this person a hard worker?' On a personality test, the employee would be asked, 'How hard a worker are you?' One of the criticisms of self-reporting personality testing is that it can be faked. On a Facebook page, that's a lot harder to do."

I find this study fascinating and a harbinger of what's to come as our online lives continue to bleed into our professional ones. Companies will undoubtedly grow more strategic in the way they evaluate people, and to ignore potential gold mines of information would be absurd.

Kluemper stressed in the study and the interview that companies cannot just run out and start trying to do this kind of evaluation. There are myriad legal issues to consider. Kluemper noted, "Every question that you can't ask in a job interview is on Facebook."

I spoke with Max Drucker, chief executive and president of the California-based Social Intelligence Corp., which contracts with companies to run social media background checks on job candidates. By using such a company, employers are exposed to only the parts of a person's online profile that can legally be used in hiring decisions.

Drucker said it's no secret how much companies have begun using the Web to screen applicants. A Microsoft survey released last year found that 70 percent of recruiters and human resources professionals have rejected candidates based on information found on the Web.

But Drucker said this new study demonstrates the wealth of information, beyond just negatives, that can be mined online.

"If it's a marketing or PR or sales job, having a strong online presence may be an indicator of success," Drucker said. "If a person is applying for a technical job, participation in industry blogs or other technical locations may give a more three-dimensional view of what this job applicant is like."

But caution is more than highly recommended.

"If employers are going to use publicly available social media, I would encourage them to obtain consent from the job applicant first," Drucker said. "They also need to provide the candidate with an opportunity to dispute any disqualifying information that comes up, and they should have clear criteria for what they're looking for online."

Job seekers must be careful as well. It has become a mantra among career experts: Don't put anything online that you don't want an employer to see. Yet according to another recent Microsoft survey, only 44 percent of adults think about how online activity might affect their reputations.

It would be refreshing if people could start viewing their online profiles as an asset and be less scared about what employers might find and more proud of what they have to offer. It's also my humble guess that, as time goes on, employers will be less inclined to ding job applicants for minor online indiscretions and more apt to view the whole of what's out there.

But we're not there yet -- by a long shot.

Kluemper calls the information that people leave online "behavioral residue." Given that most of us exist on terrestrial and virtual planes, it seems fair -- and I'd bet more often than not beneficial -- that we be judged both by what we bring to the table and what we leave behind.

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Study Searches for Facebook Markers of Career Success

By Christopher French - February 19, 2012 | Tickers: CTXS, VMW | Comments

Christopher is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) believes that it can see the future, and it’s in the clouds. Or at least the virtual space that we are all being urged to put our trust in, for it is here that Citrix is making a play. It believes that the concept of the ‘personal cloud’ for businesses, where each employee has a cluster of applications, data, and friends, will see it be a market leader in a multi-billion market by 2015.

In its efforts to gain a foothold in this space, Citrix has acquired ShareFile for an undisclosed sum. The company has 2 million business users from 14,000 corporate customers and counts Pepsi, MetLife, and T-Mobile amongst them. It also bought AppDNA, an application management and compatibility specialist amongst other smaller acquisitions. It also has a new partnership with Cisco, aimed at the large-scale desktop virtualization market.

Fourth quarter earnings were better than expected, with revenues up 17% from the same period last time round and earnings per share of $0.58, beating market estimates of $0.50. It gave guidance for 2012 of $2.72 per share on the bottom line, though it did pull back its first quarter earnings forecast to around $0.50 per share against market expectations of $0.56. It was this reticence on earnings growth that caused the shares to slide on the day of the announcement, falling around 4% to $65. This reticence was caused by management conceding that acquisitions made are unlikely to add to the bottom line until the second half of the year. The company is concentrating on building its capacity for increased offerings to potential customers.

Since then, in a little more than two weeks, shares have moved up to $75, bouyed by a positive technology market and increasing customer favor toward the cloud solution. Shares of Citrix competitor VMware (NYSE: VMW) are trading at $99 on a price to earnings ratio of 59. Citrix shares trade on a price to earnings ratio of 40, with a forward price to earnings ratio of 24 (VMware’s forward price to earnings ratio is 32.5).

Operating margins at both companies stand around 19%, though VMware has a far bigger bagful of cash -- $4.51 billion against Citrix’s $740 million. Citrix has no debt, while VMware has $450 million of debt.

While VMware’s business model may be a little more advanced than Citrix’s, and evidenced by the market’s higher rating, both face incredible challenges. Citrix’s ability to acquire more capacity without moving into debt is now limited. However, perhaps the biggest challenge will be to live up to market expectations in the face of increasing competition in the marketplace. While there are new, small companies looking to make it big in the cloud on almost a daily basis, the competition from Microsoft (and its Sharepoint ad Office 365 offering) and Google (and its Google Docs) should not be underestimated.

Citrix shares have reached what was a strong level of resistance in November. With analysts’ median 12-month price target at $80.33 in sight, and management softening of earnings expectations, I think the recent run-up in share price could be part of a last hoorah before the price falls away again. For me, there is more downside risk than upside potential.

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21 February 2012 Last updated at 19:01 ET By Katia Moskvitch Technology reporter, BBC News

As she takes off her shorts, multiple Olympic medallist and Slovenian athletic sprinter Merlene Ottey carefully checks her leg.

The object of her close attention is a tiny patch stuck to the skin.

Inside it, there is a miniature biosensor that monitors her muscle fatigue levels during training and competitions.

The data is then transmitted wirelessly and in real time to a team of scientists and coaches, who analyse it and come up with ideas to help her prevent injury and improve performance.

To help get rid of those extra seconds, vital in athletics. To win.

Ms Ottey trains hard, and regularly - but as the 2012 London Olympics come into focus, the time athletes have left for training is inevitably slipping away.

Muscle issues

The 52-year-old has been on the track for several decades, and although she hopes to qualify to take part and do her best in the upcoming Olympics, her body is understandably different from what it used to be.

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

Biosensors are a new frontier in sports - now we can get the data from performing athletes wirelessly, continuously and in real time”

End Quote Dr Leslie Saxon USC Center for Body Computing

"I cannot train like 15 years ago - I have been training for more than 30 years, and my muscles have gradually become less balanced," says the athlete, who has previously represented Jamaica at the Olympic Games.

That is why monitoring her body's response during extreme effort is important - and this is where technology comes into play.

Sports and technology have long been merging to help athletes, with engineers developing the most aerodynamic bobsleigh shapes, or using the best materials to create the fastest bicycle.

But recently, one more factor has emerged - bioscience.

It allows researchers to get really up close and personal with an athlete's body reactions, providing a much better understanding of physiology and biomechanics.

And although sensors measuring, say, heart rate, have existed for some time, and are even available commercially from sports companies such as Nike, the most recent developments are really cutting edge, says Dr Leslie Saxon from the University of Southern California's Center for Body Computing.

"Biosensors are a new frontier in sports - now we can get the data from performing athletes wirelessly, continuously and in real time," she says.

"We can record things like acceleration and position, heart rate, respiration and fatigue, combine the measurements, and mash them up using sophisticated statistics and analytics, to get a complete picture of an athlete's fitness, and more insight into what his or her body metrics look like during a performance.

"This provides a complete view of what factors influence the performance - and that has to do with what you'd eaten and how much you'd slept the night before."

The data is then used to develop a more personalised approach to training, enhancing performance, as well as to predict what might put an athlete at risk, facilitating the very early diagnosis of, for instance, cardiac arrest.

And biosensors also help prevent injury and extend an athlete's career, adds Dr Saxon.

Tech and talent?

One of the companies developing biosensors in Europe is a Slovenian firm TMG.

Its head of R&D Srdjan Djordjevic says that although talent is still vital, it is simply not sufficient anymore.

"Technology, such as better diagnostic tools, is important - not just to improve performance directly, but also to find less destructive ways for adaptation, which means less injuries and other problems such as overtraining," he says.

In the past few years, TMG's sensors in the areas of muscle diagnostics, training optimisation and injury prevention have helped athletes of different levels - from local clubs to national teams and Olympic Committees - in football, athletics, cycling, basketball, alpine and cross country skiing.

Merlene Ottey, being a Slovenian athlete, uses their sensors regularly, but TMG also has international partners - for example, UK Sport.

This public body that directs the development of sport in the United Kingdom has teamed up with a number of organisations on a project called ESPRIT - the Elite Sport Performance Research in Training with Pervasive Sensing.

"Sensor technologies are becoming smaller and more sophisticated, allowing us to better understand how an athlete is responding to training over time and thus giving us a better insight into what it is important for them to maximise their development," says Scott Drawer from UK Sport.

"Sensors can measure forces, speeds and angles, and now we are beginning to understand how the physiology also impacts on some of these outcome measures.

"The real edge will be how all the data is pulled together in an integrated way to understand the individual.

"Projects with rowing, skeleton, hockey, cycling, rugby, wheelchair racing, shooting have had an impact."

'Continuous readout'

Queen Mary, University of London, has decided to take part in the ESPRIT project.

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An athlete under duress is more like a patient undergoing shock state, therefore the body is in extreme conditions”

End Quote Pankaj Vadgama Queen Mary, University of London

Professor Pankaj Vadgama, one of the leading researchers, develops tiny needle-based biosensors for detection and monitoring of oxygen, glucose and lactate - to make sure that the levels, and therefore the athletes, are all right.

Just recently, in December 2011, his research reached an important milestone - the group started first-ever human trials.

"An athlete under duress is more like a patient undergoing shock state, therefore the body is in extreme conditions," he says.

"We've learned over the last twenty years that physiological parameters such as oxygen in the breath and heart rate, give very valuable feedback on the performance status of an athlete.

"But what we haven't been able to get until now is continuous readout information - that's the novelty value and the unusualness of want we do."

There have been a number of serious challenges in developing the biosensors, explains Prof Vadgama.

Continue reading the main story London 2012 - One extraordinary year

For instance, the team has found that glucose and lactic acid can best be measured invasively - by sticking a needle with special enzymes on its tip under the skin.

These needles have to be as non-disturbing as possible, explains the researcher, as running with a needle stuck in your body could be understandably unpleasant, to say the least.

So the scientists made them very tiny, only a couple of millimetres long.

And to ensure that the body does not reject the needle as it would a splinter, the team uses special biocompatible and communicative materials.

Fan experience

But besides helping athletes, the data from biosensors can also be used for something completely different.

For instance, says Dr Saxon, her department has already started experimenting with getting the sensors' readings… to fans.

"You can use that same data that you're collecting to measure athletic performance, health, wellness and prevention, to create an immersive fans' experience," she says.

"What if I record my own heart rate while watching my favourite football player play, looked at my response and compare it to his response on the field?

"You can do a lot of fun things with this data."

And it is happening elsewhere, too - Formula 1 fans, for instance, can watch video clips on YouTube of F1 drivers during a race, and see their heart rate readings.

"As this technology matures, there will be more and more biosensors out there," says Dr Saxon.

"It is truly the next frontier in sports and technology."

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Biosensors measure sporting success