Tech-savvy travelers are also taking matters into their own hands and using social media tools such as blogs, location-based technologies, and instant messaging services to respond to emergencies.

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Historically microcontroller firms such as Microchip, Atmel, stmicroelectronics and NEC have created their own architectures and design tools.

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The critical point is to leverage mergers and acquisitions as tools to accelerate strategic shifts, not as answers on their own.

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Houston InterWeb Design's flagship software, SiteBlazer, allows anyone to create and update their own Web site without needing any knowledge of programming tools such as HTML (hypertext markup language), he added.

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Under his watch, RISD graduates will be schooled in finance and have the tools to build their own businesses or sell their art as a differentiating factor for businesses and earn a worthy return on their services.

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They are hoping these tools will make the platform interesting on its own as they build their user base.

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And as with Facebook and Google, advertisers are increasingly doing their own work, too, using automated tools for targeting and buying advertisements.

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"SimCity Social will entice a new generation of urban planners with its easy-to-use tools that allow anyone to expand and grow their own unique sprawling metropolises and watch as it comes to life in fun and unexpected ways, " said Jami Laes, Vice President of Global Studios for Playfish.

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