Sunday, August 23, 2009

HPCs Supply Chain Management

Risk management and mitigation techniques have emerged as central elements of successful supply chain management strategies, especially for health and personal care. From fluctuations in fuel costs to the uncertain politics and economies of countries from which raw materials and component products are sourced, disruptions and delays of supply chain flows threaten the profitability of every firm competing in today's global business environment.

These risks are particularly poignant in the health and personal care (HPC) industry, where a single container of product may be worth millions of dollars and require stringent temperature control across a broad spectrum of environmental conditions. Disruptions in HPC supply chains often impact more than just the economic bottom-line; inability to get products to the right place at the right time in the right condition often has serious implications for personal and public health. Among the most prominent areas of risk for HPC supply chain managers are temperature control, fuel cost, and product flow visibility.

Many are tackling these problems by attempting to use operational techniques that help to minimize the risk associated with rising fuel costs. Some HPC firms are taking the opportunity to consolidate logistics decision and transportation freight flows not only across SBUs within their own organizations, but also across their supply chains by working with customers, suppliers, carriers and even competitors to align freight flows on both front and back haul lanes, thus optimizing the effectiveness of transportation assets and reducing fuel costs.

Best is to partner with a supply chain solutions company that specialize in value chain management or retail supply chain for the HPC industry. HPC firms can benefit from the expertise and experience of such specialized companies.

Email Archiving and its Importance

Recent research has shown that even though e-mail archiving was once thought of as being used only by public companies or financial services firms, proper e-mail archiving practices can benefit businesses of all sizes and industries. More and more businesses are now using archiving for storage management, to monitor employee communications and for disaster recovery.

Probably not a favorite use among employees, monitoring workers’ communication is usually used in legal proceedings which request e-mail evidence in association with an employees’ violation of corporate e-mail policies and misuse of business e-mail.

With e-mail archiving, alerts can be set up to notify your corporate HR department or compliance manager each time an e-mail with a suspicious “keyword” is sent. You can flag keywords such as “easy money,” “boss,” “medication,” “patient record,” “meds,” “SSN,” “ID number,” “client file,” “job,” “career” and “resume.” These words can be located in the subject, body or attachments of e-mails enabling action to be taken immediately after a violation occurs.

Current Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that went into effect in December 2006 require businesses involved in federal court cases to identify, preserve and collect electronically stored information. Most small and medium-sized businesses do not have a dedicated legal department. As a result, the responsibility to search for and retrieve the necessary data falls on the company’s IT staff. Because of this, it’s important for businesses of all sizes to enhance their e-mail retention strategies to mitigate risks by putting into place an e-mail archiving system.

Contact Email archiving solutions company or exchange email archiving company.

Advantages of Traffic Management and Load Balancing solutions

Traffic management services, load balancing solutions and implementation for enabling scalable, highly available server clusters. This service enhances availability and performance. Load balancing could be either among your servers within the datacenter or could be between geographically separated facilities.
Load balancing services ensure fast connection and fail safe 24x7 access to web sites and other critical Internet and Intranet applications that help you minimize response time while maximizing site availability. A good solution should support all Internet protocols and accommodate all operating systems. The load balancer determines which server in your network is the least loaded and routes requests to that machine. It intelligently assigns requests, so all of your servers can operate at their full capacity - you won't have some servers idle while others overloaded. This can dramatically improve your site's reliability and response time, reducing your need for additional web servers and enhancing the user experience. Designed to be highly-scalable, it maintains the same high-speed performance as you add servers to the system. You can easily build highly-available, fault-tolerant sites.
Consult a remote infrastructure management services or a managed hosting services company.

Advantages of Traffic Management and Load Balancing solutions

Traffic management services, load balancing solutions and implementation for enabling scalable, highly available server clusters. This service enhances availability and performance. Load balancing could be either among your servers within the datacenter or could be between geographically separated facilities.
Load balancing services ensure fast connection and fail safe 24x7 access to web sites and other critical Internet and Intranet applications that help you minimize response time while maximizing site availability. A good solution should support all Internet protocols and accommodate all operating systems. The load balancer determines which server in your network is the least loaded and routes requests to that machine. It intelligently assigns requests, so all of your servers can operate at their full capacity - you won't have some servers idle while others overloaded. This can dramatically improve your site's reliability and response time, reducing your need for additional web servers and enhancing the user experience. Designed to be highly-scalable, it maintains the same high-speed performance as you add servers to the system. You can easily build highly-available, fault-tolerant sites.
Consult a remote infrastructure management services or a managed hosting services company.

Advantages of Traffic Management and Load Balancing solutions

Traffic management services, load balancing solutions and implementation for enabling scalable, highly available server clusters. This service enhances availability and performance. Load balancing could be either among your servers within the datacenter or could be between geographically separated facilities.
Load balancing services ensure fast connection and fail safe 24x7 access to web sites and other critical Internet and Intranet applications that help you minimize response time while maximizing site availability. A good solution should support all Internet protocols and accommodate all operating systems. The load balancer determines which server in your network is the least loaded and routes requests to that machine. It intelligently assigns requests, so all of your servers can operate at their full capacity - you won't have some servers idle while others overloaded. This can dramatically improve your site's reliability and response time, reducing your need for additional web servers and enhancing the user experience. Designed to be highly-scalable, it maintains the same high-speed performance as you add servers to the system. You can easily build highly-available, fault-tolerant sites.
Consult a remote infrastructure management services or a managed hosting services company.

Advantages of Traffic Management and Load Balancing solutions

Traffic management services, load balancing solutions and implementation for enabling scalable, highly available server clusters. This service enhances availability and performance. Load balancing could be either among your servers within the datacenter or could be between geographically separated facilities.
Load balancing services ensure fast connection and fail safe 24x7 access to web sites and other critical Internet and Intranet applications that help you minimize response time while maximizing site availability. A good solution should support all Internet protocols and accommodate all operating systems. The load balancer determines which server in your network is the least loaded and routes requests to that machine. It intelligently assigns requests, so all of your servers can operate at their full capacity - you won't have some servers idle while others overloaded. This can dramatically improve your site's reliability and response time, reducing your need for additional web servers and enhancing the user experience. Designed to be highly-scalable, it maintains the same high-speed performance as you add servers to the system. You can easily build highly-available, fault-tolerant sites.
Consult a remote infrastructure management services or a managed hosting services company.

Spammers Want to go Multilingual Use Automated Translations Software

For years spammers relied on basic mass marketing concepts in an attempt to target everyone, everywhere, thereby sacrificing quality for quantity.
Things changed, at least for some of them. Realizing the advantages of market segmentation, certain spammers started segmenting the databases of harvested or emails based on their country of origin, followed by an attempt to go local in terms of spamming by using the native language of the prospective recipients.
Nowadays, spam is not just going multilingual; on demand translation services exclusively marketed to cybercriminals are prone to change the name of the game, allowing them to easily localize the messages for their upcoming malware/spam/phishing campaign to the native language of the targeted audience.
The ongoing localization as a trend was also confirmed in McAfee’s Global S.P.A.M Diaries experiment conducted in 2008 (page 12), where the same countries once again topped the charts for receiving most of the localized spam messages.
If automated translation could help spammer. It can help your marketing team too. Contact language translation online or online language translations companies.

World's Richest and the Richies

If you’ve calculated your net worth and find it negative or you look at your budget and get frustrated that you are having a hard time making ends meet, consider the following research study.
The richest 2% of the world's population owns more than half of the world's household wealth. It’s hard to believe this statistic, but it is true. Personal wealth, as opposed to income, is measured around the world by the United Nations. The findings are surprising, for what makes people "wealthy" across the world spectrum is a relatively low bar.
Research indicates that assets of just $2,200 per adult place a household in the top half of the worlds wealthiest. To be among the richest 10% of adults in the world, just $61,000 in assets is needed. If you have more than $500,000, you're part of the richest 1%, the United Nations study says.
Smart money management is the key. Manage your money well. Try online money management or personal money management software.

Benefits of Online Teaching

Teaching online provides faculty members with opportunities to teach certain groups of students whom they might not be able to reach in residential classes. Many professors were interviewed in this regard. A majority of the interviewed professors appeared to think highly of the online MBA students, and viewed working with them as one of the major benefits they received from teaching online. As one interviewee noted, “I just really enjoyed the group of students.” A few of the commonly encountered characteristics of the online MBA students are presented below.

  • Self-motivated. Many interviewees mentioned that the online MBA students were highly engaged and self-motivated in the learning process. As one professor argued, “MBA students are not just in the courses to complete the course. They are really in here because they want to learn a new set of materials.” This high drive exhibited by the online MBA students fueled the instructors as well. Put in another interviewee’s words, “their level of motivation helped keep my level of motivation high. It’s much harder, you know, when you’re staring at a class or dealing with a class, (wherein) you can’t get a response.” Many interviewees suggested that this characteristic of online MBA students, at least within this particular program, made online teaching “enjoyable” and “pleasurable.”
  • From diverse backgrounds and experiences. Some interviewees claimed that the students’ diverse backgrounds made online teaching more interesting. As one faculty explained, “they are from vastly different backgrounds and areas of the world, and they bring a lot to hear. They can make some very nice comments and it’s interesting reading their papers.”
  • More directly connected to the real world. Some faculty members noted that online MBA students tended to put what they learned from classes into practice more directly compared to residential students.Enroll with a top online MBA program or a online MBA degree program

Benefits of Online Teaching

Teaching online provides faculty members with opportunities to teach certain groups of students whom they might not be able to reach in residential classes. Many professors were interviewed in this regard. A majority of the interviewed professors appeared to think highly of the online MBA students, and viewed working with them as one of the major benefits they received from teaching online. As one interviewee noted, “I just really enjoyed the group of students.” A few of the commonly encountered characteristics of the online MBA students are presented below.
a. Self-motivated. Many interviewees mentioned that the online MBA students were highly engaged and self-motivated in the learning process. As one professor argued, “MBA students are not just in the courses to complete the course. They are really in here because they want to learn a new set of materials.” This high drive exhibited by the online MBA students fueled the instructors as well. Put in another interviewee’s words, “their level of motivation helped keep my level of motivation high. It’s much harder, you know, when you’re staring at a class or dealing with a class, (wherein) you can’t get a response.” Many interviewees suggested that this characteristic of online MBA students, at least within this particular program, made online teaching “enjoyable” and “pleasurable.”
b. From diverse backgrounds and experiences. Some interviewees claimed that the students’ diverse backgrounds made online teaching more interesting. As one faculty explained, “they are from vastly different backgrounds and areas of the world, and they bring a lot to hear. They can make some very nice comments and it’s interesting reading their papers.”
c. More directly connected to the real world. Some faculty members noted that online MBA students tended to put what they learned from classes into practice more directly compared to residential students.Enroll with a top online MBA program or a online MBA degree program

How to Achieve Good Delivery and Response for Your Email Lists

Mailing to email lists is certainly a good form of Sales leads generation. You might just randomly pick the emails from a business directory. But how do you ensure good delivery and response? Here are some tips:

Keep a Clean Mailing List: Be sure everyone on the mailing list has specifically requested info from or about your company. Also make sure you’re not mailing previously unsubscribed or bounced addresses. That went out of style a long time ago.

Treat Subscribers with Respect: Don’t mail subscribers too often and clutter their inbox with mail they don’t want. Set expectations at the time of sign-up: “This is what we’re going to send you. And we’re going to send it to you this often.” Also try to maintain a relationship with the subscriber. Don’t mail them sporadically once or twice a year and expect them to take action with your emails.
How often is too often? How sporadic is too sporadic? I would say once a week to once a month is a good range to keep in mind.
Design with Delivery in Mind: Don’t just put a big image together in Illustrator and think you’re good to go. Make sure the email is easy to read (consider paragraph length and fonts), that images are being used only to enhance the HTML / text content (not as the sole content), and that the email is something that the subscriber would expect to receive based upon their sign-up.

Automated Inventory System and its Advantages

Automating your inventory system, using both inventory management software and structural storage and retrieval systems, brings big benefits, particularly if your shop has adopted Lean principles to reduce costs and eliminate wasted steps in the effort to achieve greater productivity.

  • Automated systems don't have to be extensive, expensive or difficult to install. Many challenges to tracking inventory in fabricating shops or in small distribution centers can be met by initiating simple automation
  • It does more good with less- — more efficient order picking operations at less cost and with smaller staffs — and the right combination of equipment, software and processes can significantly improve storage and retrieval efficiency.
  • Automated storage and retrieval systems reduce redundant or non-essential handling, especially in applications requiring frequent reuse of stored items.

Automated industrial vending machines is your best bet to offer a cost-effective way to track inventories. Contact Inventory management system expert today.

Early Case Assessment Tools and its Importance

Early case assessment tools enable service providers to help customers cut the amount of data subject to expensive review and analysis during e-discovery.
The increased legal burden introduced by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is driving your customers to improve their legal risk management practices to contain costs related to e-discovery. Early case assessment (ECA) tools can support this goal, and storage service providers have a good opportunity to gain e-discovery business by selling and servicing early case assessment tools
For those involved in e-discovery, there are best practices to guide the process. The Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) lays out the phases of an e-discovery project. Two phases of the EDRM model -- review and analysis -- consume much of the e-discovery budget at companies involved in litigation. These two phases require specialized software and attorney interaction, work that's best left to companies such as Stratify Inc. or your customer's legal department.
So where do service providers fit into this equation? You can add value to the e-discovery process by reducing the amount of data that needs to undergo review and analysis. ECA tools are the mechanism to cut the amount of data to be reviewed.
Early case assessment can reduce legal risk exposure by offering a necessary view of the legal case information. Contact ediscovery solutions or ediscovery companies for more info.

Grooming Tips for Men

With the concept of ‘Metro sexual Man’, beauty care is no longer an alien concept for men. However the tendency is to forget about the men while talking about beauty care tips. So here are some beauty tips for men, as they also want to look nice and feel good.
Cleansing: Usually men possess oily skin type and therefore, they have many open pores too. When dirt comes in contact of those pores, you experience pimples and acne. You need good cleansing and the products should be chemical free. However, you may choose reputed companies too for such products. Daily after returning home apply the cleanser on the face. You can shop for beauty products or skin care products online.
  • Ezfoliating At least twice a week, give your facial skin exfoliation treatment. It will eliminate dead skin cells. Gently treat the face with a branded scrub. The process help you to get shaving more comfortably
  • Moisturizer and sunscreen: To protect the skin from wrinkles and skin cancer, pamper it with good moisturizer. Before buying it be sure about your skin type. Sunscreen is also important for saving the skin from any kind of sun damage. Before exposing to the sun, apply sunscreen and maintain the natural complexion and texture of your skin.
  • Male pattern baldness: Balding is a natural problem which is experienced by most of the men around the world. To protect your hair from this condition, you can take some Biotin. It is an effective B vitamins that offer you healthy hair, skin and nails. Ask your dermatologist about this supplement and regular pop it. Oats, salmon, soy milk, citrus fruits, brown rice are the foods which protect your hair from falling.
  • Other grooming tips for men
    Shave regularly. Apply good shaping cream and aftershave. It will improve your personality too.
    While choosing perfumes, consider your mood and the purpose for which you are going to wear it.
    Wear dress with proper ironing.
    Always trim the stray eyebrows.
    Engage in trimming unwanted hair from the body.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Choose good cases to protect your Ipod

Ipods are the best things you can get and it deserves protection. Be extra careful while choosing a protection for your Ipods. Here are some tips.
  • Vinyl and leather cases are popular these days. They range from monochromatic to multicolor patterns. They provide some drop protection. Scratch protection is not very good unless they have a clear window and lining to protect the screen. These cases go with fashion statement.
  • Silicon cases come in a variety of sizes, textures, shapes and colors. The best ones are tough. The low quality ones tear easily and often does not fit well the iPod like their better siblings.
  • It is worth paying more for quality. However, they do not offer much shock protection from that head-bump into the brick wall.
  • Hard cases are usually made of aluminum, titanium or plastic. They range from low to good than to superior quality. The aluminum and titanium cases offer better protection than the plastic. Nevertheless, some plastic cases are exceptionally strong and shock resistant. The key to good protection is how the case fastens. The aluminum case is useless if the latch won't lock properly.

One last thing: no matter what kind of case you choose, make sure access to the headphone jack, docking port, lock button, etc. is unblocked without removing the iPod from the case. Choose a good ipod case or ipod nano case.

Data centers trends and challenges

With the explosive growth of Web 2.0, software-as-a-service (SaaS), cloud computing and other emerging Web-based applications, datacenter workloads have increased exponentially. The business opportunities that are created from the deployment of these new applications are substantial, but the demands they place on the datacenter are daunting. Challenges include:
Unprecedented data growth. Recent studies indicate that the amount of data managed by today's datacenters will quadruple every 18 months. To complicate matters, online users are getting much more sophisticated, and response time expectations are at an all time high. But with the large increases in data volume, user interaction times are actually increasing for many datacenters.
Severe capacity constraints. Datacenter managers are struggling to manage huge increases in rack, power and network utilization. They are constrained by limited datacenter power and space and are seeking cost-effective ways to expand capacity without increasing the datacenter footprint.
Increasing data complexity. Organizations have too much data to process in a time-sensitive and consistent manner. Information management requires extensive data partitioning and application-level mapping, caching, replication/recovery and load balancing. Existing data management tools are complex and existing commodity, non-application-specific hardware is difficult to use and manage.
Lack of scalability. Current datacenter environments lack the ability to scale effectively to manage peak demand. Even in multi-core server environments, many datacenters have already scaled to the point they are memory and disk bound.
Underutilized resources. Estimates of current datacenter equipment utilization rates run between five and 30 percent. Kilowatt-hours are very expensive and inefficient. Underutilized hardware translates into wasted capex and opex, as well as increased power consumption.
Severe budget constraints. Budgets are tighter than ever. Only solutions that are able to provide quick return on investment (ROI) are now being approved. Traditional approaches to datacenter expansion are no longer viable.
Corporate mandates to go green. According to the 2007 EPA Report to Congress on Server and Datacenter Energy Efficiency, the energy consumption of servers and datacenters has doubled in the past five years and is expected to almost double again in the next five years to more than 100 billion kWh, costing about $7.4 billion annually. Datacenter managers are working hard to save energy, reduce datacenter space requirements and protect the environment
To overcome these challenges consult a datacenter hosting service or managed hosting service.

The paradigm shifts to automated translation

Over the past two years, there has been a definitive shift in the demand and perspectives on automated translation, despite the fact that statistical machine translation (SMT) was a new methodology that would change the paradigm for machine translation, back in the fall last year. While the government was seeing success with statistical MT, translators felt threatened, language service providers were skeptical at best, the commercial enterprise saw little value in what any type of MT could provide.
This year it is evident the dark cloud over automated translation is starting to lift. Companies approached several times in the past are now talkingout of their own free will; translators are opening up to the idea of working with SMT and automated translation is the new buzz. Why the change?
We see several factors that are contributing to the shift:
  1. Global companies are feeling pressure to bring products to market faster, leading to greater demand for translation at lower costs
  2. Microsoft has developed and successfully deployed its own version of statistically based translation software (SMT) to translate knowledge base content resulting in an increase in user satisfaction – truly a compelling argument to consider SMT!
  3. Information is power – maybe a bit cliché, but exabytes of new digital data are being created annually and users want access to this information in their own language
  4. More countries are coming “online” and the language of the internet continues to diversify. Users that speak languages other than English are beginning to dominate the web
  5. Google keeps automated translation in front of web users with their own version of SMT.

Given these factors, it is clear that statistical MT can have a significant impact on global communications. So look out for more automatic translation software or online language translations this year.

Online MBAs are Well Recognised says latest study

A recent report from the US Labor Department Bureau of Statistics indicated that the need for well trained business managers is growing, and will continue to grow over the next eight years. The business degree should be highly marketable in the troubled economic environment, as organizations search for managers who are qualified and also have the skills and knowledge to steer through the recovering global economy.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual earnings of wage and salary general and operations managers most recently reported were $85,230. In addition, the median annual salaries in the industries employing the largest numbers of general and operations managers were:
  • Architectural, engineering, and related services $113,280
  • Management of companies and enterprises 105,130
  • Building equipment contractors 85,270
  • Depository credit intermediation 85,050
  • Local government 74,950

Accredited online Master in Business Administration degrees are now widely accepted by employers. Most programs are self paced.
Online distance learning MBA programs make it easy to meet your career goals. Study from your home, office, or anywhere in the world, anytime of the day or night, weekdays and weekends. You make your own schedule. The best part is you don't have to quit a good job, or neglect family responsibilities in order to earn your MBA. Find the best MBA programs or online MBA program.

Tips about Email blasts

Email blasts are still one of the best marketing tools with its simplicity, response and low cost. They are most effective for Sales leads generation. Like most good things there is a dark side.
  • First and foremost is SPAM, being called a spammer is one of the most nasty things you can all an Internet marketer. You want to insure your list has opted in. Do not use some small text at the bottom of an invoice or other doc. Don’t be sneaky, just be honest and up front.
  • Here is perhaps the most important missed understood part: fresh email lists. Keep your list fresh, remove old emails that are not up to date
  • On your website, always have a place to join your newsletter, product announcements or information request. Insure you can segment them out as well. For example if someone is interested in bricks don’t send them information about tires. However you may want to send them information on mortar or scaffolding. This will keep your list fresh and provide value to the prospect.
  • The last point, send information at least a couple of times a month. When the prospect signs up let them know that the emails will come daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Make sure what ever you say you can support but do not over commit.

Email blasts are simple but think it through and make it a standard part of your marketing plan.

Hair Color Trends for 2009

Blonde is always hot. Blonde is chic and glam. Blonde is too multifaceted a color to make you look plain and like everyone else around. There can never be two identical blondes. Especially in 2009. Natural blonde is hot this year. When you want to make it fancy, add rich highlights and lowlights, play with the contrast and shades of color.
Blonde is always hot. Blonde is chic and glam. Blonde is too multifaceted a color to make you look plain and like everyone else around. There can never be two identical blondes. Especially in 2009. Natural blonde is hot this year. When you want to make it fancy, add rich highlights and lowlights, play with the contrast and shades of color.
Always in vogue, brunette will get simple in 2009. Make sure you have your brunette hair look as natural as possible. 2009 is not about black, bright or stripy highlights, sorry. Think the classic brunette shade. However, absence of highlights doesn’t mean you can’t improve the color by adding darker shades to make it look deep and carefully groomed.
If you think you want something darker than just brunette but not as deep as ebony then your perfect choice is dark brown. Think chocolate. Like the color? Being hot in 2009, dark brown can make you look really beautiful, and what’s important, it’s good for almost any complexion.
This hair color is very strong in 2009. If you have a fair skin, you’re sure to look vamp. But be careful with makeup and outfits you wear in order not to look glum and tired. Generally, black is what you need to impress and turn heads anywhere you go!
Get your color, think about you style, and get your perfect look in 2009! Remember you’re beautiful, hot and head-to-toe perfect! As for hair color, you can always change it if you want. Hair color is just another accessory you have, make sure you wear it right!
Check out 2009 Teen fashion and buy beauty products.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Be Flexible and be at the Top

Better, faster, cheaper continues to be the mantra of a demanding marketplace and even the shortest product lifecycles continue to shrink. Couple these challenges with dramatic seasonal cycles of expansion and contraction (hockey stick) and you have just a few realities of the Technology sector. What is new on the horizon only appears to add risk to an already complex supply chain challenge. Things like protecting your IP (intellectual property) from being compromised in global regions that take a lax view of patent protection and dealing with the new reality that the spiraling cost of oil means that freight costs can no longer be buried into a purchase price. And do not forget all the new compliancy laws for manufacturing and legal disposition of electronic equipment (i.e. RoHS and WEEE.)
Unique challenges:
  • Short product lifecycles
  • Dramatic forecast fluctuations
  • Variable demand (expansion and contraction)
  • Seasonality/hockey stick
  • Compliance laws

All of this increased risk requires flexibility from technology companies to remain competitive. To achieve this one needs a standardized and documented world-class supply chain processes, technology and functional methodologies with good experience of providing cutting-edge supply chain services. Contact a supply chain solutions or a supply chain consulting companies.

Replication options for corporates

It’s inevitable that all companies prepare reports and other publications at various times throughout the year. Whether they're monthly, quarterly, or annually, these reports typically require the generation of a great deal of data. At the same time, the United States has recently instituted more stringent reporting policies for public companies, and the European Union is following suit.
Loss of critical data could mean fiscal, corporate-wide, and even personal disaster if it causes missed reporting deadlines. Your organization must plan how it will recover in time from a possible disaster to meet these deadlines.
Replication or SQL server replication is a great option to ensure little or no data loss occurs during a hardware system disaster. Hardware-based solutions protect against data loss, but this protection comes at a price.

However this protection comes at a price. That price means both a higher cost than most solutions as well as a performance impact on the production systems due to the "two-phase commit" method of data protection that nearly all hardware-based replication tools use.

Software-based replication (also called host-based), exchange replication, exchange server replication is another option. At a lower cost and generally without a performance impact, these tools replicate at either the block- or byte-level using an asynchronous methodology.
If replication is too expensive, snapshot technologies are another option. Available choices include hardware-based solutions from your current vendors or software-based solutions from Microsoft and many third parties (depending on your operating system).
Snapshot technologies allow you to independently take point-in-time copies of data on a set schedule or on demand. While this method is still not as effective as replication, it allows you to rescue a much larger portion of your data after a disaster than a once-per-day tape backup alone. No matter what combination of solutions you choose, preparing to recover on a moment's notice during reporting periods is a vital part of modern business. Data loss isn't a good reason to miss reporting deadlines, and your organization could even incur stiff penalties and other repercussions for skipping reports.

How to Choose a Good Family Camping Tent

Tents are any day popular shelter for camping. However choosing one is not an easy task. One might easily get lost amidst the various options available. Research well, before you buy one. Shopping guide or shopping reviews will help you with your research.

There are a number of factors to look at when you start your research. First, find out the actual weight and size of the tent when it is packed up. This factor comes into play if you plan on hiking to your campsite. The last thing you want to do is buy a heavy tent and have to haul it for a long distance. Remember, you will have more than your tent to carry so weight is important. If you are planning on hiking for most of your outdoor adventures, you might want to look for an ultra-light tent. These tents are designed to be as light as possible and take up very little space in your pack.

Second, find out the floor space size and peak height of the tent. Both of these statistics are important on making the right choice. By checking the floor space you will make sure you will actually fit in the tent when you lay down. This factor is especially valuable if you are tall and don’t want to have your feet sticking out the end of the tent. The next factor is the peak height, which is the highest point in the tent. If you want some head room in the tent you will want to compare tents by this factor

Third, choose a tent that is a little bigger than your need. Also decide on how many rooms you need. There are multiple room tents.
Finally, try to determine how much you want to spend on your tent before you hit the store. Remember cheaper ones are not sturdy. It’s a onetime buy and is worth shelling out some bucks. Also factors like how many times you plan on going camping each year, needs to be considered. If you are only camping once or twice each year you might be able to get away with a cheaper tent. But if you plan on using the tent multiple times each year, you will want to invest in a quality tent.

Social Software Hype Cycle

Gartner maintains a series of well-followed reports, called Hype Cycles. The Social Software Hype Cycle highlights the most important technologies that support rich social interactions.
Here are the five stages of the hype cycle:

  • Technology Trigger: The first phase of a Hype Cycle is the "technology trigger" or breakthrough, product launch or other event that generates significant press and interest. A "technology trigger" is breakthrough, public demonstration, product launch or other event generates significant press and industry interest.
  • Peak of Inflated Expectations: In the next phase, a frenzy of publicity typically generates over-enthusiasm and unrealistic expectations. There may be some successful applications of a technology, but there are typically more failures.
  • Trough of Disillusionment: Technologies enter the "trough of disillusionment" because they fail to meet expectations and quickly become unfashionable. Consequently, the press usually abandons the topic and the technology.
  • Slope of Enlightenment: Although the press may have stopped covering the technology, some businesses continue through the "slope of enlightenment" and experiment to understand the benefits and practical application of the technology.
  • Plateau of Productivity: A technology reaches the "plateau of productivity" as the benefits of it become widely demonstrated and accepted. The technology becomes increasingly stable and evolves in second and third generations.

Innovation Management, Prediction management, idea management, social networking et al. are some of the technologies included.

On July 24, 2009, Gartner released its Social Software Hype Cycle, 2009. The report includes quite a number of technologies under the social software umbrella

Transformational Outsourcing for Healthcare Sector

Health organizations face the challenge of providing better service to a more discerning public, but without increasing costs. One solution is to optimize technology to enable more streamlined and automated business processes. Smart organizations are now outsourcing both technology and overlying business processes, freeing up their own specialized staff to concentrate on core business.
To achieve high performance through outsourcing, health providers are treating outsourcing not simply as a cost-cutting exercise, but rather as a means to access the deep industry and business knowledge that an experienced outsourcing partner like Accenture can bring.
A good transformational outsourcing for healthcare goes beyond the traditional focus on applications maintenance and infrastructure support to help improve health companies' supply chains, revenue cycles, human resources and care management processes—as well as facilitating new business initiatives, upgrading technical capabilities and integrating existing systems. Contact a transformational outsourcing company, application outsourcing or business process outsourcing services company for more info.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Automated translation and Government

Translation requirements are enormous for Government organization. They rely on translation software and human translation to:

  • Translate information from many languages into one language and then quickly identify relevant information for additional analysis as needed
  • Translate information from one language into many languages to quickly communicate information to others.

The need of the hour is a new translation solutions just to keep in pace with the multilingual environment. Government organizations must deploy solutions that facilitate mission critical decisions. This includes instant access to all relevant information and the ability to search for and quantify unstructured information in multiple languages. Adding an automated language solution within government organizations allows users to quickly translate websites, documents, blogs, and any written text. Multilingual search, resulting from the automatic translation of keywords, also helps users find and understand foreign language information in real-time. This fits government requirements perfectly as human translation efforts are focused on the analysis of relevant documents only.
Governments must also publish increasingly more content in a variety of languages. Without an automated solution, governments would need to hire an army of human translators to keep up with the ever-increasing volume of data that needs to be translated into a myriad of languages. They can look at Translation programs, language translations online or language software.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Data Protection Methods

Every business, big and small, encounters huge amounts of data based on the size of its business. The fate of each enterprise in the end depends on the data it collects, uses and transacts every day. With the explosion of data in today's world where Internet and technology are ubiquitous, data protection becomes paramount.
Data protection becomes very crucial for all enterprises as it will jeopardize their survival if crucial data regarding IP, future strategy, products, plans, customer records, financial information etc. is not protected. Once the data is lost it becomes extremely difficult and expensive to recreate the data and the company may not survive after that. Regulations by federal agencies like the SEC mandate companies in the financial sector to keep the data intact for many years. Similarly, healthcare institutions and hospitals are required to keep records regarding the patients for a period of time.
Some of the data protection methods include E-mail archiving, SQL replication, SQL high availability et al. The key with Data protection is about the speed at the time of need.

Returns Management is very vital

Boxes of returns wind up on warehouse shelves taking up valuable space and returning nothing to the supply chain. The churning nature of today’s market has made returns management a significant challenge especially with all the new legal disposition requirements.
During a physical inventory or warehouse cleanup, the entire heap of returned merchandise may be thrown out while management vows to process returned merchandise in a timely manner in the future.
We have found that the root of many organizations' problems with returns lies in the lack of a specific set of procedures related to these transactions. In this article we'd like to present a three-step process that you might be able to utilize in designing an effective returns program.
Determine What Can Be Returned. Most organizations limit returns to goods that are currently stocked. Any special order or discontinued products usually are not eligible for return. Customers should be told what items cannot be returned as they order or buy the products. This information should also be noted on all packing slips and invoices. Only designated members of management can override this policy. These decisions should be based on the specific customer's contributions to your company's profitability.
Process Returns like Any Other Stock Receipts. Returned material should not be dumped and forgotten. If possible, issues return material authorizations (RMA's) to customers. These documents list the items (and quantities of those items) that you have authorized to be returned by the customer. A copy of the RMA should accompany the physical return of the material. The RMA can serve as a packing slip to be utilized by your receiving people.
Calculate What It Costs to Process a Return. How much time does it take a receiving person to check in a line item on a material return? How much time does it take to return the material to its normal storage location? How much time does it take the clerical person to issue the credit memo? You can divide an employee's hourly wage (plus benefits) by the average number of line items he or she can process or put away in an hour.
Handling returns is not a pleasant task. But it can be kept under control by establishing some basic policies and procedures. By minimizing the time and effort necessary to perform this task, we can devote more effort to those activities that produce profits. You can consult a returns management or reverse logistics company.

How to choose a good Universal Remote Control

Losing your remote might restrain you from becoming a couch potato, but imagine the plight of your TV, VCRs, and DVDs which become absolutely useless without the remote. These days none of these electronic items come with manual controls and is dependent on remote for the controls. So losing your remote is almost a deadlock for these electronic goods.
A universal remote comes for your rescue. A universal remote is something that can work on your TV, Stereo or your DVDs. Here are some tips before buying an universal remote.

· Before you purchase a replacement universal remote, decide if you need an all-encompassing TV, VCR, CABLE controller or simply one that turns on the television.
· Another consideration when buying a universal remote control is the number of optional functions it provides. Some universal remote control units only provide the most essential functions of the devices they control, while others duplicate practically all of the advanced functions of the factory-issued remote control.
· If you own a popular brand name device, the chances are good you will be able to find the programming codes for the universal remote control fairly easily. If you own a lesser known brand, however, it may be better to select a more advanced universal remote control, since the lowest priced models may not be truly universal.
· Before buying a replacement universal remote control, consider the current habits of the main users. The elderly, or those with vision problems, might appreciate a remote control with larger numbers and luminescent buttons. Users who are technology-challenged may prefer a basic universal remote control over a multi-functional model with dozens of seemingly extraneous buttons.
Take these points into consideration before choosing a universal remote. You can seek help of a shopping guide or shopping questions before choosing one.

The Need of the Hour is Innovation Management Software

Boston Consulting Group calculated that leading innovators generate 430 basis points more in shareholder return than do average companies. While the strategic value of innovation excellence is clear, companies’ approach to it is not. Ad hoc, isolated efforts cause the good ideas to fall through the cracks, people with relevant knowledge to miss others’ ideas and difficulty in maintaining a healthy innovation pace. What’s needed is a common digital suggestion box that taps emergent contributions internally and externally.

The need of the hour is an innovation management platform that helps the companies to create, engage and grow innovation communities. Employees, customers and partners want a voice in companies’ innovation, and they are significant sources of ideas and perspective. So the innovation management software should also provide a dynamic, real-time environment for community interactions around ideas, surfacing the best ones through a powerful analytics engine. So choose good innovation software that would enable employee participation and customer participation.

Tips to choose the right employee for your job

A Dream job is when a right person with right talents is fitted into the right job. It’s more like a jigsaw puzzle which might get more complicated if done the wrong way. So here are some tips to get your person right.
· Make sure you know what the job entails and what sort of candidate you are looking for. Draw up a detailed job description.
· Decide the main purpose of the job and the key tasks this will encompass. This can then be broadened out to include areas of responsibility and the number of people they will supervise.
· Next, draw up a person specification. This should include the skills and knowledge required depth of experience and level of education.
· Be careful with personal criteria. These must only be of importance to the job - and must be equally applied regardless of age, sex, race or disability.
· Then you must decide the salary. Factors to bear in mind include pay scales, grades, the current market situation and other bonuses, such as a car. These tasks will help you form a mental image of the person you want to employ.
· Choose where you want to place the advert and make sure the application form is straightforward
· When the CVs start arriving, the task of coming up with a shortlist should be undertaken by two or more people - including the person who will be the new recruit's immediate line manager.
· Perform the required interview to find if the person will be suitable.
The whole process should also be viewed from the branding aspect for your company and can be outsourced to IT staffing or Technical Staffing companies.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Advantages of Glocal Postponement

In a global economy distant sources can provide low cost high quality components coupled with a staggering cost of ownership for those same components if not managed effectively. Companies often find themselves warehousing depreciating finished goods that are not generating revenue while at the same time housing sub-assemblies that could be. All solutions to resolve this dilemma cut directly into the bottom line. This is where the theory of Glocal Postponement can help. Glocal postponement is an important aspect of supply chain consulting.
Outsourcing your components to more economical global manufacturing sources while at the same time moving final assembly, configuration, test and packaging down the supply chain and closer to the consumers helps to minimize the increasing occurrences of demand volatility.
Glocal Postponement increases profitability of your supply chainsolutions by:
  • Reducing inventory overhead
  • Not reworking products with low demand into those with high demand
  • Substantially reducing excess and obsolete inventory.
  • Increased inventory turns
  • IP (intellectual property) protection
  • Reduced inventory Total Cost (warehousing, rework, freight, obsolescence, cost of capital, etc.)

Ask the supply chain solutions or supply chain consulting companies about this.

Virtualization and its Benefits

Virtualization is being increasingly used by IT departments for server consolidation and testing purposes. Virtual servers are used to reduce operational costs and to improve system efficiency. The growth in virtual servers has created challenges for IT departments regarding high availability and data protection. It is not enough to protect physical servers but also virtual servers, as they contain business critical data and information. Virtual servers offer the flexibility, but at the same time if a single physical server containing multiple virtual servers fails, then impact of data loss is enormous.
Virtualization Benefits

Companies are adopting virtualization at a rapid speed because of thetremendous benefit it offers and some of them include:
· Server Consolidation – Virtualization helps to consolidate multiple servers into one single physical server, thus offering improved operational performance.
· Reduced Hardware Costs – As the number of physical servers goes down, the cost of servers and associated costs like IT infrastructure, space etc. will also decrease tremendously.
· Improved Application Security – By having a separate application in each virtual machine, any vulnerability is segregated and it does not affect other applications.
· Reduced Maintenance – Since virtual servers can easily be relocated and migrated, maintenance of hardware and software can be done with minimal downtime.
· Enhanced Scalability – The ease with which virtual servers can be deployed will result in improved scalability of IT implementation.

Know more and read more on SQL server high availability and SQL server replication for virtualization.

Defined Standard eDiscovery processes

Controlling eDiscovery costs requires a holistic business approach to active litigation. For effective review oversight, corporations need to define process and monitor activity without interrupting law firms’ ability to execute. What is needed is a single system that provides centralized administration and distributed secure access while capturing process analytics. Standardization process is an important aspect.

In order to monitor across reviews, standards must be applied. This seems intuitive even without the oversight goal, since approaching each matter anew with different training, a different collections methodology, and different production authorization is inefficient and risky. Gaps in process can mean wasted time or worse, inadvertent production or summary judgment. So even without the goal of oversight, standardization makes sense. Consult internally or with lead outside counsel to define standards for all matters or per line of business, and then monitor these standards and their affect on review to produce real savings. Examples of standards include:

  • Consistent review technology – select a ediscovery software to reduce training costs and billable vendor evaluations and simplify administration and oversight
  • Chain of custody and media tracking – define set chain of custody and media tracking, then requiring adherence to eliminate spoliation on every matter
  • Security protocols – protect all cases from unintentional access
  • Review workflow – minimize gaps in review which may result in inadvertent productions or inefficiency
  • Production authorization – ensure each production has been checked for conflicts and consistency prior to shipping, regardless of counsel or case size

Standardization lowers costs and risk while improving the ability of internal project managers to manage more cases and outside counsel to spend less time managing review. You can try out eDiscovery companies with good eDiscovery softwares.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Choose the Right Teething Ring for you baby

Teething is certainly a painful process for your baby. When a baby begins teething, there is no set pattern on when it will begin, how long it will take and how painful it will be. However you can ease out your babies pain by helping him. Try giving him Teething rings, water filled and chilled rubber teething toys; mom and dad’s fingers can all provide counter pressure that can sometimes bring relief. Offering your baby a cold bottle of water can also help. If sucking on the bottle bothers your child, offer a cold cup of water. The water can also help replenish your baby’s fluid if they’re drooling a lot or have loose bowel movements.
Today there are many different types of teething rings available. Thankfully, they are free of lead! In fact, all rings bought in most western countries are nontoxic, so you can rest assured that no matter what kind you buy, it will be safe for your baby. Some are made of firm rubber (with or without bumps); others are filled with water and made to be chilled in the refrigerator. Don't freeze these types of rings or teethers because they become too hard and may harm your baby's gums. For those of you who consider your self as upper-crust (only kidding), you can buy silver teething rings. These can also be chilled in the fridge.
Clean teething rings, teethers, and toys after each use. Check the package label to see if the object is dishwasher-safe. It is highly recommended that after you clean your child's teething ring, you place it in a bottle sterilizer. Don't boil water-filled teethers because they may break open.
Never tie an object such as a teething ring or pacifier around your baby's neck. The cord could tighten and choke the baby or, at the very least, irritate his or her skin.
Check out for safe baby toys and baby apparels.

How to choose best car safety seat for your infant

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that all infants should ride rear-facing starting with their first ride home from the hospital. They should remain rear-facing until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer. At a minimum, children should ride rear-facing until they have reached at least 1 year of age and weigh at least 20 pounds.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that all infants should ride rear-facing starting with their first ride home from the hospital. They should remain rear-facing until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer. At a minimum, children should ride rear-facing until they have reached at least 1 year of age and weigh at least 20 pounds.
There are 2 types of rear-facing car safety seats: infant-only seats and convertible seats.

Infant-only seats
• Are small and have carrying handles (and sometimes come as part of a stroller system).
• Are used only for travel (not for positioning outside the vehicle).
• Are used for infants up to 22 to 32 pounds, depending on the model.
• Many come with a base that can be left in the car. The seat clicks into and out of the base so you don’t have to install the base each time you use it. Parents can buy more than one base for additional vehicles.
Convertible seats (used rear-facing)
• Can be used rear-facing, then “converted” to forward-facing for older children. This means the seat can be used longer by your child. They are bulkier than infant seats, however, and do not come with carrying handles or a separate base.
• Have higher rear-facing weight and height limits than infant-only seats, which make them ideal for bigger babies.
If you have any more queries about infant car seat you can ask shopping questions to online shopping guide.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Rich internet application is beneficial for your company

Rich Internet applications (RIAs) are web applications that have most of the characteristics of desktop applications, typically delivered by way of standards based web browser plug-ins or independently via sandboxes or virtual machines.
RIA frameworks uses a wide range of controls to enrich user experience, allowing efficient interactions, better error and exception handling and most importantly user feedback. With RIA, you can build and maintain web applications without concern for browser, desktop, or even operating system compatibility. Furthermore, most of the most popular platforms are free and open source.
According to Forrester Research Data 27% of projects initiated by clients are RIA projects to achieve
• An enterprise level application.
• Video capabilities in their websites.
• Accessibility via mobile devices.
• Rich marketing collateral.
• Ubiquity, Industrial strength, Fancy animations.
• Finally, a Killer App.
Isn’t this cool!
Check out more information about RIA and Agile software development.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Tips to manage Nanny and Nanny cost

If you are a new parent and considering childcare options for your infant, you may be looking at hiring a nanny. Many daycares won’t take small infants, so your best option, if you don’t have family that can care for your child, may be a nanny. Before employing a nanny, you should plan the nanny’s job description so the expectations are clear.
• You should consider what qualifications you require – a college degree, number of years experience with kids, any special what qualifications you require – a college degree, number of years experience with kids, any special certifications, etc.
• Remember that higher qualified nannies expect a higher salary. Nanny costs range from $400 - $1000/week depending on your location. You should thoroughly check the references as well as his or her background to make sure they are legally able to work in this country.
• You should hire the nanny legally which means paying them a salary and withholding taxes. You will need to issue a W-2 and secure your own employer tax identification for reporting purposes.
• A nanny share, or "share care," is pretty much what it sounds like — instead of working for just one family, a nanny cares for the child or children of two or more families at the same time. Parents can share the services of a nanny and share the costs as well. Your child is more likely to get one-on-one attention than they would in a daycare setting.
• If a nanny comes to your house, your child spends her day in her own familiar environment. And because she's not around many kids, your child may not get sick as often as she might at a daycare center.
Another benefit to a nanny share is that you have other parents to help out.
• For example, if your caregiver gets sick, parents can negotiate who can stay home and you have other parents to help out. For example, if your caregiver gets sick, parents can negotiate who can stay home and watch the kids.
• You'll save money compared to what you'd normally spend on a nanny. A sample arrangement would be a nanny who charges $15/hr for one child or $10/hr per child for two children. The nanny benefits from a higher overall pay because she is caring for two children, but you benefit from having a dedicated caregiver who is actually costing you a bit less

Be wise while managing your expenses. Take smart decisions. You can take help of a budget planning sheet, or free budget planner.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

The weeks Box office Status

 

1. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” ($201.2 million)
2. “The Proposal” ($18.5 million)
3. “The Hangover” ($17.2 million)
4. “My Sister’s Keeper” ($12 million)
5. “Up” ($13 million)

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is now the proud holder of a five-day box office record of $201.2 million, but Optimus Prime still comes in behind Batman. Poor reviews aren’t keeping audiences away from the latest Michael Bay spectacle, which has continued to exceed expectations and break records every day that it’s in theaters.

“Transformers” had a Saturday haul of $39.5 million, and made an estimated $112 million just this weekend. Combined with its record-breaking Wednesday of $60.6 million, that’s enough to snag it the record of having the second best five-day haul, right behind “The Dark Knight” and its $203.8 million record. The numbers are pretty close though, and don’t be surprised if you hear about a Sunday night finish that knocks “The Dark Knight” down from its spot in the movie history books.

Spurred on by “Transformers,” the rest of the box office did pretty solid business. “The Proposal” benefited from being a popular film without giant robots, holding onto #2 with $18.5 million, bringing it to a tidy $69 million in wedding presents so far. “The Hangover” settled at #3 with $17.3 million, and it hasn’t quite cracked the $200 million glass ceiling set by blockbusters like “Star Trek” and “Up.” The Todd Philips’ comedy has grossed $183.2 million so far, and if it holds steady with these $20 million weekends, it’ll probably join that exclusive $200 million club.

“My Sister’s Keeper” is being considered a bit of a flop. The family drama debuted at #4 with a thin $12 million, meeting only the lowest expectations for New Line/Warner Bros. While studios were wise to offer some counter-programming, would a story about a sick child really have done well in the summer blockbuster season? How could Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin have taken on any of summer’s heroes, let alone the Autobots of “Transformers”?

You can watch free Movies online, You can see movies online.

Michael’s father Joe Jackson appears at BET awards

There was an unexpected but most welcome figure on the red carpet of Los Angeles's Shrine Auditorium for Sunday night's BET Awards: Michael Jackson's father, Joe Jackson.
Sporting a black hat, sunglasses and a dark suit – and set to make an appearance onstage during the three-hour ceremony – the patriarch of the Jackson family told about Michael: "I wish the world had recognized him when he was living. Right now, he's bigger than ever. But I wish he was here to see all this, to hear all this."
The memory of Michael dominated the gala. Host Jamie Foxx made his entrance in a red, leather "Billie Jean" jacket. "No need to be sad. We want to celebrate this black man," said Foxx. "We gonna go through all of Michael Jackson."
The host closed his opening monologue with his rendition of Jackson's signature Moonwalk. "I hope I can make it," said Foxx, adding that it was his first attempt at the fancy footwork since 1983.
Those also scheduled to tip their hats to Michael include Beyoncé, Ne-Yo, Maxwell and Bobby Brown, set to reunite with New Edition to perform a Jackson 5 medley.
Alicia Keys and Wyclef Jean are to receive Humanitarian Awards. Early in the ceremony, LeBron James, picking up his best male athlete trophy, told the crowd, "My heart and prayers go out to the whole Jackson family. What they did for us ... was amazing."

You can watch TV series and watch TV shows online

Plan for your emergencies

The importance of emergency funds has been stressed from time again. A typical popular financial advice suggests that one has to store 3-6 months worth of financial expenses.

More than the emergency fund, what’s important is the emergency plan. If do you have money is the first question, do you have access to that money an important one. So how do you plan for the emergencies? Here are some pointers.

• Have some instant cash at home: This exactly means, have some cash under your mattress. This means that you need access to cash right away for emergencies that do not give you time to stop at the cash machines. We are here talking about paper money. We are not referring to valuables like Gold which might be worth a million bucks but has no value during emergencies.
• Liquid Account: This is the next level of emergency fund. Do not lock all your money into deposits and investments. Have some liquid cash left for emergency and fast withdrawal.
• Credit: Credit cards could be a great savior during emergencies. But it’s not advisable to use them other than real bad emergencies. Make sure you don’t fall into credit card traps.
• Family and friends: Have a good network of family and friends whom you can resort to in case of emergencies. The thumb rule is if you have taken good care of the universe around you, the universe will return the favor when you are in need. Friends and family can provide powerful assistance, but if you don’t need it, don’t take it.

One needs to learn to reduce expenses in the time of emergencies. Proper money management is important during emergencies. You need learn to budget. Budget management is an integral part. You can take help of online money management in this regard.

How to choose a graduations school - some tips

The choice about your graduation school is a critical one. It can determine the direction of your career. Graduate study imparts students with a host of skills that are transferrable to a variety of positions and fields. You should be careful in choosing a graduation schools that offer strength, quality, commitment to supporting its students. So when you are choosing a graduation school, you should consider more than the contents of a course catalog or a student’s handbook.
Here are some tips that you can keep in mind.
• Other than the course catalog, you need to collect University’s catalog, department publication. These handbooks can be more easily kept current, and they may also provide useful information on local resources and culture.
• How many courses are required to complete the degree? What exams are required, and when must they be completed? Is there a thesis option for the MA? What additional qualifications (e.g., languages) are needed? What are the residency requirements?
• How often are the courses listed in the catalog offered? How many are typically offered each semester? Is the curriculum likely to change in the next two years? Which faculty members will be on leave in the next two years? Are there faculty members who are regularly gone? How frequently are there visiting scholars in the department?
• Are all graduate courses open to all students in the department, or are there restrictions? Can you take graduate courses in other departments, to pursue interdisciplinary interests? Must you take a certain number of courses in your own department each semester?
• Once you have entered a program, you should meet with an adviser or faculty member as soon as possible to receive a comprehensive description of your program, including course requirements, exams, deadlines, and expectations for the thesis or dissertation. You should receive a calendar outlining a typical graduate program.
• Consider fully the costs of graduate school and plan carefully, beyond the first year. Graduate student support falls into many categories, from tuition waivers and student employment to dissertation grants. Research into all these.
• You can also check on teaching assistantship. What are the responsibilities of a teaching assistant in the department? What is the average load for a teaching assistant? What is the annual stipend awarded for teaching? Does it include a tuition waiver? Does it include student fees? Do graduate students pay union dues or have other union responsibilities? Does the department award any book allowances? You can check on these points.
• What career placement services are available to graduate students? Do the department and career placement center help you pursue teaching positions at different kinds of institutions? You also need to take into account the percentage of the department's graduate students who were on the job market in the last three to five years and look into what positions they are in right now.
Graduate schools are training grounds for careers both within and beyond academia. Departments and institutions make available and support different kinds of opportunities for practicing the skills necessary for future success. It’s important that as students you make best use of the opportunities and resources given to you. If you fare well in your graduation, you can earn a good job and look at a best online MBA program or an online MBA program alongside with a job.

Sales Lead Management Association Declares October 11-17, 2009 to be National Sales Lead Management Week

June 10, 2009--Los Angeles, CA--James W. Obermayer, co-founder of the Sales Lead Management Association, announced today that SLMA has declared the week of Oct 11-17, 2009 as National Sales Leads Management Week Obermayer stated, “In light of the millions of inquiries which are the result of billions of marketing dollars spent on marketing, this week will be dedicated to the subject of properly managing sales leads.”
SLMA co-founder Mark L. Friedman urges the press to focus on how companies manage sales leads. “This should be a time of on-line seminars and articles, to discuss how inquiries and ROI are measured. If they can make a play and a movie about sales leads (Glengarry Glen Ross) I am sure it is of interest to business leaders.”

Support for National Sales Leads Management Week
Dan McDade, President of, PointClear said “If it has been tough to measure the value of the marketing spend and the percentage of leads accepted and closed is lower than it should be and investments in marketing automation have not paid off, take advantage of “National Sales Lead Management Week” to fix those problems. It starts with stopping unproven marketing programs that resulted in mediocre outcomes. It means closing the loop on leads passed to sales by enforcing pass back or “no lead left behind” efforts that will shed bright light on the lack of lead traction.”
Jim LaBelle, the President of, LEADTRACK said: “The emphasis this week should be to encourage marketing and sales management to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing investments. The recession is not the time to cut back, but to focus our efforts to optimize every precious sales inquiry. The common issue is the lack of a process to manage sales inquiries and measure marketing investments. Without a process it is impossible to measure how the combined effort of sales and marketing contributes to the bottom line.”

SLMA Challenges Corporations
The Sales Lead Management Association challenges marketing and sales officers to create events around lead management. Ideas on how to bring attention to this subject appear on the SLMA website: www.salesleadmgmtassn.com
About the Sales Lead Management Association
The SLMA is an association with the mission of helping companies becomes successful in the critical business process of Managing Sales Leads

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Importance of digital archiving

21st century is aptly called the digital world. Vast majority of the new created materials or information are all digital. As a writer types his thoughts into the digital format, a digital book published which is sold and circulated digitally. Our everyday newspaper is slowly transforming into a epaper medium. Even our personal photos are shot, preserved and circulated digitally over the internet. With digital data and digital information swarming into our everyday life, the biggest challenge today is to maintain these digital objects.

The belief that digital objects can be managed with the same methodologies developed over the years for physical objects is misconstrued. While digital objects are easier to copy, transfer and re-package, they present new risks and challenges, and are not inherently easier to preserve, or give access to, over the long term.
"Digital archiving" is defined as the long-term storage, preservation and access to information that is "born digital" (created and disseminated primarily in electronic form) or for which the digital version is considered to be the primary archive. The concept of digital archiving, digital document solutions and digital publishing solutions are gaining lot of momentum in this digital age, where litigation issues and confirming to industry standards are very critical.

Challenges and issues regarding the long-term viability of and access to digital collections are common to all collecting domains. In doing so, the wider society benefits by being assured that digital records:
• are preserved and protected
• are accessible over the long term
• hold governments and organizations accountable
• meet legal obligations relating to the records.

Patenting and translation

Internet has grown beyond boundaries, languages. It has shortened the intellectual distance between countries and has given rise to the concept of globalization. With the growth of internt, worldwide patent information has also become easily accessible. Since patents are granted for innovations, patents reflect economic growth of a country by illustrating creative activities and displaying the knowledge power of that particular country or region. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to promoting an international intellectual property system, asserts that patent activities reflect up-to-date changes of worldwide industries, and as a consequence, good-quality information is essential in the understanding of current developments (WIPO, 2007h).

With the number of worldwide patent filings on the rise, there is a growing demand for patent translations in order for the patents to be filed in foreign patent systems for patent right protection and international visibility. The similarity between patents and translations is that both contribute to internationalization by the increasing number of worldwide patent filings and the increasing use of international patent systems (Tsai, 2007) such as Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). PCT is a 'simpler, easier, and more cost-effective' (WIPO, 2006b, p. 3) way by filing one international patent in one language. The language used in the application should be acceptable to the receiving office or else translations of the application documents should be provided.

Translating patent documents into one of the publication languages enhances the effectiveness of processing applications in both the international and national phases. You can use language translation software or automated translation program The improved search environments enable patent Offices and International Searching Authorities to easily access patent documentations for patentability evaluation of the invention. Translations of patent application documents further foster visibility by disseminating information to a wider readership throughout the world. The published international application thus serves as both a legal document that specifies rights protected in the Contracting States, and an information source that introduces new technology (Tsai, 2008).

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Online MBA makes sense now

The slowdown can be hard on your career plans and your education plan. Higher education makes your ‘recession proof’. It’s probably the best time to opt for an online MBA degree program.
Recession or the downturn is certainly not here to stay. Do you remember the dot-com collapse? People who lost their jobs took the opportunity to go back to school, retrain, and to broaden their skills. Without exception, people who went through those tough times look back and say that it was, in reality, a great motivator. They diversified their skills and had an opportunity to gain self-confidence, new experience, and a belief in their own abilities. So remember
• Having a degree means more money especially when the economy bounces back.
• Higher levels of education means less unemployment
• You might even impress your boss with your best online MBA program, and he might want to take you back.
• Taking courses prepares you for the future and helps you feel in control of your destiny.
Paying for college and budgeting time both require solid, responsible planning. Your family members will see that you make your education a priority. Perhaps you have to sacrifice now, but it will pay off with big dividends in the future.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Interesting tips to decorate your baby room

As you are anxious expecting your baby, you can make the wait exciting by decorating your baby’s room. You can start off a little early so that you can research well into what will fit your baby’s nursery the best. Here are some tips.
• If you know the sex of the baby, you could go with pink or blue accordingly for the nursery, but if you are not sure about your baby’s sex, its better to go with neutral colors or themes like cartoon characters, animal theme etc.
• Make you don’t keep any tiny pieces or small parts in the room. Make the room totally baby proof. Remember your baby will ultimately come in contact with everything in the room.
• Beddings are also another item that you'll have to choose very carefully. Your baby will spend a lot of time exposed to the material of the bedding, so hypoallergenic and antibacterial properties are a big plus. Choose baby toys that are made of good plastic.
• Your little one won't be staying little forever, so plan your nursery for your baby's development eight to ten years down the road. That means putting in a lot of storage compartments, leaving generous amounts of room and refraining from installing anything that's too permanent.
• Today’s brands of eco-friendly furniture, designer accessories and custom made bedding may not be visually attractive; buy may help your baby’s health. By using eco friendly furniture, you can avoid toxic chemicals that can lead to allergies or skin irritation. You can try organic home decor products.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Father’s Day gift Ideas

An interesting revelation was made during a student’s research about Mothers day and Fathers day. It was found that mother’s day celebrations lasted for about two hours longer than father’s day celebrations. Yet mothers were less satisfied than the fathers about the celebrations. This simply reveals that fathers are easy to satisfy than the mothers.

Other findings of the research were

· in activities and the giving of gifts, families underscored the traditional notions of mothers as nurturers and fathers as providers, even when both parents work outside the home and advocate an equal division of domestic labor

· most of the ways Mother's Day is celebrated—taking Mom out to dinner, releasing her from household chores for the day, and visiting other family members—are tied to the traditional notions of mothers as parents and nurturers

· Fathers, on the other hand, were less likely to be taken out to dinner or to visit family, and their gifts revolved around either work—neckties—or individualistic personal pursuits—golf clubs and fishing rods

· Disappointment was more common among mothers than fathers, with the cause usually family-centered: an inappropriate gift, a fight, a cranky child

Keep these findings in mind an impress your father on the father’s day with an appropriate father’s day gift. You can even check out father’s day sales.

Friday, June 12, 2009

The latest on FICO credit scores

Fair Isaac Corp., maker of the popular FICO credit score, is rolling out its new-and-improved scoring model, dubbed FICO 08, with Equifax Inc.–the second of the three major credit reporting bureaus to start offering the score to lenders.

Some lenders, generally smaller ones who can switch over their systems more quickly, are already using the FICO 08 score with TransUnion LLC, which began offering the score to lenders in January, says Tom Quinn, vice president of global scoring at FICO. Larger lenders will take longer to switch over. No word yet on when Experian Group Ltd.–which has been in litigation with FICO–will join the other two.

But with two of the three major credit bureaus starting to make FICO 08 available to lenders, it’s likely that some consumers could start seeing changes in their FICO scores.
But regardless of whatever version of FICO that lenders are using, there has been a “noticeable movement into lower scores,” given the economic slowdown and rise in delinquencies, says Quinn. The silver lining is that some consumers’ scores are improving as they pay down their balances, avoid applying for new credit and continue to pay their bills as agreed.

You can improve your FICO score by better managing your money. Try bill management or budget calculator.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Survey shows that companies are still struggling with ediscovery practices

A global survey undertaken by HP found that less than half of business decision-makers have a high confidence level in the quality and accessibility of information within their organisations.

Most organizations remain ill-equipped to manage information for electronic discovery requests in a timely and cost-effective manner. This is due to the lack of a proactive strategy, solutions and funding to properly address requests.

When asked which “information-centric” projects they would spend on in the next two years, respondents noted document workflow transformation, records management and e-discovery/compliance.

However, companies are still struggling with these fundamental requirements, primarily because they don’t understand the requirements for responding to ediscovery requests. In addition, they lack the funding for the right technology

More than half of respondents from small and medium-sized businesses cited a lack of understanding of e-discovery requirements as the main reason for not establishing an effective e-discovery strategy. They also noted the lack of a business case.

Of the respondents surveyed, nearly 80 percent recognized a need to address at least three types of electronically stored information with an e-discovery solution: emails (89 percent), office documents (78 percent) and data in databases (72 percent).(2)

As much as 80 percent of content within organizations today is “unstructured,” or information that is not held within a database.

Very few organizations said they would be looking to address multimedia information sources through ediscovery solutions. This raises the question of how organizations would deal with the complexities of an e-discovery request that includes other forms of unstructured content including text messages, video, audio and social media content.

The survey included telephone interviews with 142 business and technology executives in organizations with more than 10,000 employees in the US, UK, Australia and Singapore. Interviews spanned industries such as manufacturing, finance, wholesale, retail, construction and government.

HP also conducted an online survey on the barriers, priorities and requirements associated with establishing an e-discovery strategy. Respondents were predominantly senior executives based in the United States.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Credit card pay back methods

Here are the two best methods for paying off your credit cards.
1. Highest interest rate first. Paying off the credit card with highest interest rate will save you money in the long run, especially if the highest interest rate credit card also happens to be the card with the highest balance. When the highest interest rate card also has the highest balance, it will take the longest to pay off. It's easy to lose motivation paying off your debt when it takes too long. That's why the "lowest balance first" method might be a better choice.
2. Lowest balance first. There are immediate tangible benefits to paying off the credit card with the lowest balance first. The first balances are easier and quicker to pay off. When you finally pay off a bill, the feeling of accomplishment is motivation to keep you going.
Pick the method you're going to use to pay off your credit cards. Then write your debts down in the order you're going to pay them - either from highest interest rate to lowest interest rate OR from lowest balance to highest balance. Write down the interest rate, balance, minimum payment. Then, allocate your entire net income (income - expenses) to paying off the credit card on the top of the list. You'll send the minimum payment to all your other credit cards.
Once you've completely repaid the first credit card, cross it off the list and focus on the next card on the list. As before, pay your entire net income to that card. Keep doing this process until all the cards have been paid off.
The most important part is that you need to budget your money carefully. You can opt for a Free budget software or a personal budget calculator.

Top 5 modern Lead generation tools

Relationship marketing
Relationship marketing is the approach underlying all of the "sales-lead-generation-success" methods. Sales lead generation using this method simply refers to cultivating a personal, sales-winning relationship with your prospects. Keeping in touch with prospects via a series of ongoing communications and offers throughout your prospective customers' consideration processes lets you pick up sales others leave on the table.
Complementary partner referrals
By joining forces with complementary partners, you can instantly multiply your sales lead generation pool and make it easier for companies to engage in doing business with you. Of all the sales lead generation programs, complementary partner referral programs generate the highest quality B2B sales leads.
Internet marketing and search engine optimization
Business buyers are more sophisticated and getting harder to reach than ever. Studies show that about 90% of business buyers start with research on the Internet. Therefore, it's critical to have a well-tuned sales lead generation program that includes Search Engine Optimization (SEO)/Internet marketing strategies to attract prospects at the beginning of their buying cycle.
Telemarketing
Even though many people despise the thought of telemarketing, it is very effective for sales lead generation when executed properly. Telemarketing is a personal marketing and sales lead generation technique that offers a cost-effective, efficient alternative to field selling, but it can be significantly more expensive than direct mail email. By including telemarketing in your B2B sales lead generation marketing plan, you can reach up to thirty decision-makers a day at a cost of $15 to $20 per contact. In contrast, with field sales, you can reach only four or five decision-makers a day at an average cost of $392 or more per contact. Direct mail may cost as little as a dollar, and email is often much less. However, if you consistently prospect for and nurture leads via phone, you will consistently generate qualified sales leads.
Email publications
By creating your own email newsletter, you could send out industry news and tips to suspects in your market. Since you will be on your prospects' minds more often than your competition, eventually, your sales leads will turn into actual sales.

Friday, May 8, 2009

eDiscovery the need of the hour

Wake-up call regarding digital data is one that we have been hearing for at least a decade. But its increasing relevance to litigation and electronic discovery is something new for any organization’s general counsel. With the significant changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) that went into effect December 2006 and subsequent change to the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE), taking control of e-Discovery has become a truly urgent concern. These changes have dramatically impacted the way all companies manage legal discovery and the enormous volume of digital data it encompasses.

E-Discovery solutions is all about managing electronically stored information (ESI). Managing ESI is an enterprise-wide activity that requires uniform records management policies and the technology infrastructure to automate and enforce them. There were plenty of compelling reasons to develop these policies and infrastructure before the FRCP changes. But now it is imperative because the cost and risk to your company of failure to do so is enormous.

e-Discovery management enables corporations to apply the principles of process efficiency to every stage of discovery— making it a repeatable business process. A repeatable business process is reasonable and defensible, which is exactly what companies need to be compliant with FRCP guidelines. Beyond FRCP compliance, e-Discovery management also reduces the costs of e-Discovery, minimizes its disruptive impact to an organization’s core business, boosts responsiveness, and reduces the risk of inadvertent production.

Localizing marketing campaign materials

Mass marketing today is replaced by mass personalization. With globalization, marketing gurus have realized the need for localization especially of marketing materials. Marketing campaigns are today brought down to the neighborhood, and are personalized to the customer taste.
Consider this, in the US alone, over 100 languages are spoken. Spanish is by far the most common language amongst non-native English speakers in the US. Of these 100 languages, there are 11 languages that correspond to populations greater that 500,000 people in the US. Communicating with the US Hispanic market in Spanish is not a courtesy; much of the Spanish speaking population in the US is not fluent in English. In fact, almost 50% of this population identifies itself as having limited English skills. This means that nearly 14 million people may not fully understand a marketed message if it is not also provided in Spanish.
According to a recently published Common Sense Advisory survey, nearly three out of four participants surveyed agreed that they were more likely to buy if the marketing materials are in their own language. Global consumers also indicated that they are willing to pay more for products with information in their own language. Nearly three out of four participants surveyed agreed they are more likely to buy products if after sale support is in their own language.
So localization of marketing campaigns cannot be dismissed. Translation or localization of marketing materials is not required by law, but rather demanded by the reseller of a product or service.
Planning a multilingual project can challenge even the most experienced companies. Finding qualified subject matter linguists, available engineers to deal with potential internationalization and localization issues, and the right talent to publish multilingual content are all crucial to the success of a localization project. You can also try machine language software or use language translation software.