(CNN) — When the news came, animal conservationist Susie Ellis was ecstatic. This wasn’t just an extraordinary pregnancy, but hope for the survival of a vanishing species.

Ratu, a Sumatran rhino, is pregnant and if all goes well, she will give birth at an Indonesian rhino sanctuary in May 2011. Her mate, Andalas, is the first of only three Sumatran rhinos born in captivity in 112 years. His offspring will be the fourth.

“This is a big step forward for the species,” said Ellis, executive director of the International Rhino Foundation, based in Yulee, Florida.

Sumatran rhino numbers have decreased by more than 50 percent over the last 15 years, Ellis said. They are the rarest of five existing rhino species, having dwindled down to 200 in the wild and 10 in captivity.

Every individual counts; every pregnancy is momentous.

Like other threatened animal species, Sumatran rhinos began disappearing because of human encroachment on their rainforest habitats and the practice of poaching. Rhino horns are commonly sold to make analgesics in some forms of Asian medicine.

But it has been difficult to boost the population, Ellis said.

Sumatran rhinos, also known as hairy rhinos because of their hairy body and tufted ears, are solitary animals that are rarely spotted in the wild. For a long time, researchers did not understand the rhinos’ breeding mechanisms.

One person who made headway is Dr. Terri Roth, director of Cincinnati Zoo’s Center for Conservation and research of Endangered Wildlife. It was under her guidance that Andalas and two other rhinos were born.

Roth was able to determine when a female was ready to ovulate so she could be introduced to a mate at an optimally fertile time.

That’s what happened with Ratu and Andalas.

Andalas, born at the Cincinnati Zoo in 2001, was raised at the Los Angeles Zoo. In 2007, the young pachyderm journeyed for 63 hours by plane, truck and ferry to the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, 250 acres in Indonesia’s Way Kambas National Park.

Ratu was born in the wild and had wandered into a village near the park. Ellis said villagers did not know what to make of her; some thought she was an overgrown pig.

After months of gradual introduction by scent, sound, sight and physical proximity, Ratu and Andalas mated.

Ellis and other animal conservationists recognize that breeding in captivity can never be a substitute for protection in the wild, but at this critical point in 50 million years of rhinoceros history, it’s essential to keep the species from extinction.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Ellis said about rhino recovery efforts. “Once they’re lost, they are gone forever.”

Source: CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/20/indonesia.endangered.rhino/index.html?hpt=T2

Everyone is going crazy about the facebook pages! I mean to be honest I never really thought about decorating our facebook fan page  until someone asked for my help to do theirs today. I just feel like it’s best to give minimal information then send them off to the real stuff (which is at your website). That’s my personal opinion, but then today I started to get into decorating our facebook. There are a few really cool applications for fan pages for businesses that I think is useful. Below are some tips and applications I think will be useful to those who are planning to create a fan page or fix theirs up.

1. If you have a blog (if not I highly recommend getting one as soon as possible), connect the RSS feed in through your facebook. This will allow facebook to publish your feed without having to post it yourself. You want to try and get your content to as many places as possible and this is a great way.

• How To Do This: Go to your fan page, click edit page on the left (under your picture), then go to the notes application (should already be there if not go to more applications and add that app to your page). On the right hand side click on ‘Edit Import Settings’, then just add your blog feed!

2. Another cool new feature is that you are now able to connect your facebook and twitter. This will save you time so you only have to post on one social networking site rather then two!

• How To Do This: search for the twitter application in the search bar. On the left hand side click Add To Page. Then go to your settings and sign into twitter and allow the application.

3. Some of these fan pages have additional pages that will allow you to insert HTML. This is useful if you want to add pages about your company, updates on a content, etc. The best application that I have found is fbml. It allows you just add multiple pages and insert whatever content you want.

• How To Do This: Go to the search bar and search for fbml. Then on find static fbml. Once you click on that you will see add to page on the left hand side (under the photo). Then go back to your fan page and go to edit page. Find the static page and click edit. Edit it to how you want it! Something that I found a little tricky was how to add more. What you have to do is go back to one of the Old pages you created with fbml and click add new page on the bottom. You will have to also store all your photos on an outside server (you might want to get a graphic designer & web designer involved)

4. A cool app for videos is Posted Items Pro. This will allow you to embed multiple videos from youtube, yahoo, and google videos onto your facebook page.

• How To Do This: Go to your facebook fan page, click on edit page (under picture), then go to add applications and search for Posted Items Pro

5. It’s important to find a way to get people to go to your facebook fan page. Setting up a contest, survey, giveaway, etc is a good way to get people. You will need to get a big fan base so place your facebook links on  your website.

Now the argument is wither facebook or twitter is better. Honestly they are both two completely different applications and I feel that they both have their own parts. Facebook will be able to give you more information then twitter, however twitter easier to get followers that aren’t part of your group of friends, family, coworkers, etc. So in the end I think they are both important!

When it comes to Main Street, finding a strip mall without two or three “For Rent” signs along it, is a rare occasion lately.   Sure, the sour economy has taken its toll on everyone from the local mom and pop shop to the Fortune 500s.  We know that unregulated big business brought down Wall Street.  But what broke the backbone of the US small business market? Why are small businesses everywhere continuing to fail?

I started to think about this after passing my town’s local pizza joint that recently became one of the many, “here today gone tomorrows” of our time.  Nonni’s had just revamped itself in hopes of generating more business – new flat screen TVs, a decorative paint job that put you right in the middle of southern Italy while indulging in your pie, and some fancy new furniture.  Unfortunately, the owner invested too much of his time and money in the wrong place.

Unless your over the age of 65 or just plain behind, you don’t use paper publications like the Yellow Pages to find what your looking for today.  Instead, we Google, Yahoo and Bing.  We use search engines that give us exactly what we are looking for (and more) in just seconds.  The problem, for many small businesses lining the sidewalks of Main Street, is that their products and services are not being captured by these search engines.  It’s surprising to see how businesses, from general stores to hair salons, don’t have websites (their most important store front and tool for moving up on the search engine ranks).

I understand they are called “small businesses” for a reason.  Localized, smaller centers of commerce and capitalism – plain and simple.  But today, thanks to technology and globalization, there’s really no such thing as being localized, especially if you want people to know you exist.  Bottom line, the small businesses who have remained too small (i.e., no websites or other forms of online advertising) well their time to get up to speed with the rest of the world has come.  Whether your a one man accounting firm or a 30 person nail salon – you need to advertise your services on the web.  The old pen and paper way of managing and publicizing your trade is out.

Let’s revisit poor Nonni’s to try and zone in on how this establishment could have potentially survived the technology tsunami and the recession.

1. If Nonni’s would have invested the $1,000 to $2,000 that originally went to flat screen TVs on a new website, they would have been able to establish a web presence, making it easier for customers to search for their services, order online and look up the shop’s phone number, address, menu, etc.

2. Having a website Nonni’s could have also hired or performed SEO on their website to help increase traffic to their site and essentially generate more business.

3. After getting more business/ revenue from their website, Nonni’s then could have gauged whether or not to invest in TVs and a new paint job based on whether their clients were coming in for pizza or ordering out.

4. After expanding and hiring a larger staff to deal with increased business, Nonni’s could have had a CRM or Customer Relationship Management designed to help more efficiently run their business.  CRM systems could be used to keep better track of inventory, staffing and employment needs like hours and payroll, as well as manage a client and customer list of emails and other contact info to email blast their customers about promotions, new events at the store, etc.

Lesson of the day: small businesses need to focus on their digital store front in order to keep their actual store front up and running in today’s day, age and economic times.