Monday, September 28, 2009

Removing an Ingrown Hair Is Painful

An ingrown hair is hair that tresses back and starts growing back into follicle or stays embedded in the skin. Ingrown hair creates irritations and painful while removing them. Ingrown hair looks ugly on hands if you stop removing them after few times of removal. If once you started removing the ingrown hair on hand, you should follow the process for ever. The following are few steps for removing the ingrown hair.

Identify the ingrown hair, most the ingrown hair presents on hands and on legs. Apply a warm, moist compress on the area for few minutes for soften the skin. Take a clean washcloth with very warm water and hold it on hands where the cream is applied. The cloth makes the hand cool and helps in soften the hair. Use a sterile needle for removing the hair out and don’t pluck the hair, if you do so the growth of ingrown hair increases.

Wash your hands where the ingrown hair is removed with warm water and moistures. Apply cold cream on the hands for extra protection or for avoiding the pain by plucking the ingrown hair.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Five Tips for Maintaining Healthy Heart

Heart disease is number one killer in United States and we spend billions of dollars on the alternative medicines each year. Top reasons to include alternative therapies to maintain healthy heart are discussed below.

First tip is to reduce stress, practicing meditation, yoga along with certain foods that support good health. Vegetables definitely promote wellness and antioxidants will help in improving heart health.

Try to take supplements than prescription drugs, reduce the cost of medicines. Supplements can help more to heart than the prescription drugs. Sometimes the outcome of using the either supplements or prescription drugs individual can result in same benefit but the cost involved with them has huge difference.

Regular check-up for heart problems can make us to think about the health of heart and can take some preventive measures to stop heart disease from attacking. Without any doctor’s advice, taking any alternative therapy may not be good for your health. Just because a therapy has given good results to your friend, may not true in your case.

Monday, September 14, 2009

New Year's Eve Safety Tips

Designated driver: Make sure to arrange a designated driver, or another safe form of transportation, before going out New Year's Eve. This will help prevent people from drinking and driving and ensure the safety of themselves and others that night.

Look out for others: When out at New Year's Eve events, make sure that others are also acting safely. If an individual is drunk, stop them from driving or leaving with someone they don't know. Prevent others from making choices that might put in danger or anyone else's safety.

Travel in groups: Traveling in groups is encouraged, especially for women, when going out to bars and parties on New Year's Eve. By attending events with friends, everyone will be able to look out for each other's safety.

Avoid driving: New Year's Eve is known for an increased number of people driving under the influence. To prevent a possible accident during this particularly dangerous time, people should make arrangements to avoid driving that day, especially between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. If driving cannot be avoided, individuals should make an effort to be strong, defensive drivers.

Be aware of surroundings: By being vigilant of what's going on around you, individuals can more easily recognize a dangerous situation and begin taking any preventive measures. If driving, be aware of how others are driving. Make sure to recognize if a person is driving under the influence, such as weaving across the road, swerving or abruptly turning and following other cars to closely.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Tips to Select an Internet Marketing Company

Internet is busy with various types of Internet marketing consultants, offering various plans and strategies. One can easily look up information on a particular Internet Marketing company and their history. While looking for firms, ensure that they have worked on a product or service similar to yours so that they have the necessary skill set available with them. Once you narrow down to a list of potential firms, contact them and ask them for brochures and references. Follow up with the references and ensure that they are genuine before deciding on the firm. You can also ask the firms to come up with a small demonstration of the idea and the plan that they have for you. However, something that can help you hunt for the right firm is the new concept of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It is the process of selecting best keywords coupled with an adequate on-page optimization technique along with other off-page optimization factors so that the business achieves better position in the search engine result pages for the selected words. With research confirming that 70-80% of prospective web customers’ use search engines or search directories to find relevant content, search engine marketing is the most widely used method and it is very effective too. Another smart move would be to add URL to Internet Marketing directory and Internet Marketing center. However, submitting the web site into search engines and directories can be a determining factor, the method followed to submit into these search engines is extremely important and calls for a fair amount of research.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Finding A Shop You Can Trust

How do you find a shop you can trust to service your vehicle, one that will make you feel confident about your choice and provide quality repairs at a fair price? Here are some tips:
  • Start with the most obvious. Is the facility neat and clean? Are employees genuinely concerned with your questions and are their answers direct, to the point and reasonable?
  • Look at the credentials of the business and the employees who will service your vehicle. Most shops will post educational certifications or accomplishments and professional business affiliations in their waiting areas. Some affiliations to look for include trade association membership, such as the Automotive Service Association (ASA), and membership in the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Look for certification or education offered by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-CAR) and the Automotive Management Institute (AMI).
  • Ask about the equipment used to diagnose and perform the service. Is it up-to-date and are the technicians educated in the proper equipment use?
  • Make sure a written estimate is provided prior to letting the business begin the repair. A good rule of thumb is to request approval on any changes to the original estimate that exceed 10 percent.
  • Ask about the shop's warranty. Most automotive service facilities will warranty their parts and labor either in writing or in shop posted announcements.
  • Ask family, friends and neighbors for their recommendations. Word-of-mouth referrals are the shop's best form of advertising.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

California's Budget Crunch Affects College Sports

The budget crunch in California is about to affect collegiate sports in that state. Public universities are suddenly struggling to minimize the impact of the budget crunch, as the preseason practices for sports are about to begin.

There is a reduction of 20% in the state funding for the sports which made the Unions who represent the state faculty members and employees to accept cut their salaries of two days a month to help close a $584 million budget deficit. This results to a 10% pay cut and affect coaches and athletic administrators as well as professors and other school employees.

Schools in University of California and the Cal State systems are planning on how to deal with the budget problems which leads to in-season days off for some coaches, and athletic departments are trying to balance the coaches' furloughs with game and practice schedules and the needs of athletes.

Friday, June 26, 2009

How safer is it to send your kids fly alone

After the recent incident of two kids getting placed in wrong flights, I hope many parents are now concerned about sending their children unaccompanied.

The Airlines, which was responsible for this, aid that it is just a miscommunication among their staff. How terrible it would be if the minor girls had to pay off for the incompetence of these airlines guys.

This is the peak season where we can see many unaccompanied minors flying off and on. And parents will require some tips for sending their children to fly all alone. These are from The U.S. Department of Transportation.
  • Airlines do not allow kids under 5 to fly alone. The age policies differ from each airline. So check before you buy the ticket.
  • Try to book for a non-stop flight or direct flights, to avoid children missing due to changing planes and missed connections.
  • Try to arrange a communication option like mobile for the child and be in contact regularly.
  • Be in contact with the person who is supposed to pick your child from the destination place.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Chicago Agencies Cutting On Translation Services

According to statistics of 2005-2007, around 36.5% of residents in Chicago speak other languages than English, at home. It is this fact that built up a very good translation business market in Chicago. People proficient in English and two other languages used to get a translator job easily in various agencies of Chicago.

But these days the agencies of Chicago are into cost cutting measures. In this process, they are cutting their foreign language translation services at their offices. The cutbacks have started from the Chicago area medical centers, which cut their translation services. After these cutbacks, even other government agencies are also trying to cut on some of their translation services.

This definitely affects the capability to serve the non-English speaking citizens of the state. It may also affect the non-English speaking tourists, immigrants and refugees of the state. Whatever may be the impact on others, it is obvious that it is the non-English speaking people, requiring medical aid, who suffer a lot with the lack of translators.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Gems in Obama's Inaugural Speech

I have planned much over not missing the live telecast of President Obama’s inaugural speech. In fact I have tried to get the tickets of the inauguration but was not successful.
And finally the function started but I was waiting for Obama to speak addressing the US as well as the world as the 44th President of US. The speech started and I listened to it in silence. In fact everybody beside me heard it calmly.
The speech was great. I say it is one of the historic speeches and it is. The following is what I liked in Obama’s speech
  • America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents…
  • …challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many…But know this, America — they will be met…
  • …the question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works…
  • …a man whose father…might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath…
  • …Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true…

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Be Careful With Happy-Slappers

It is not just slapping that contributes to happy slapping. All those attacks that hurt a person physically as well as mentally come under happy slapping. The worst part is that the attack is broadcasted to many others. It hurts the reputation of a person.

I know an incident of a college student who attacked his professor. Another person, probably his friend, filmed all that attack and started broadcasting to all the college students. Their main intention was to hurt the reputation of that strict professor and send him out of the college. But what happened was entirely reverse. The professor was admitted in the hospital and he received much pity from all those who saw the video. Thus the matter went to the cops who hadn’t much problem to identify the face in the video. The two persons are still in the jail and I am sure they are out of their career.

Though happy slapping is treated as an offense in many countries, people still risk themselves for such violent acts. So be careful with such beings.

Friday, October 24, 2008

A Foundation to Encourage Firms That Support the Disabled People

If an organisation is started with very less capital and has achieved a growth when compared to other big organisations and encourages disabled employees, such organizations have a chance of getting O2 ability award. It is not about the number of employees in the organisation are disabled but it is about encouraging, putting high efforts for increasing their efficiency and trying to make them equal to the normal employees, this is what matters for receiving an O2 ability awards.

Organizations should not only be recognized with disabled employees but also put good flexible working arrangements and should organize disability awareness training program for the staff. The organizers of O2 ability awards are looking for the organization that can make better employment and enclosure of disabled people by providing practical reality everyday.

I think, O2 award is it is not just scheme award but it is an award that brings great visible issues for improving the efficiency of the disabled people. Announcing O2 award for the company will encourage it for making high efforts in improving its efficiency both in terms of disabled employee and goals.

Monday, October 13, 2008

US Navy Blames the Fire on Small Officers

None of us want to be blamed for any thing which is not our fault. We sometimes, even try to put our fault on other’s head, don’t we? Who gets blamed when something wrong goes in your house? It is the kids or some maids who will have to take up the blame. Nobody believes them even if they say it is not their mistake. Same thing goes in offices too. Say, are you ready to take up the blame if it is your mistake that ruined up your project? Most of them try to escape pushing it as their junior’s fault. Perhaps, US Navy is no exception for it too. There was a fire on deck of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier; and the higher officials are not ready to take up the blame. They blame the fire accident on the Navy crew.

It was an air-craft carrier named USS George Washington where the fire accident occurred as a result of careless storage of some 300 gallons of flammable liquid. Now isn’t it the duty of higher officials to look after the storage of such a big amount of hazardous things? But they don’t agree to it. They say it is negligence of the crew and also the fire fighting unit. Now it costs around $70 million to repair it. If Government is likely to take any action on those poor crew poor members, I say that they should start it with higher officials.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

How We Select Pet Insurance

Generally Pet Insurance offers coverage of your pet's medical expenses. You can buy pet insurance from a veterinarian or from an insurance company. Though pet insurance is a doubtful point as many people take it differently it rescues from fiscal burden by taking care of your pet's medical expenses when it went any treatment for accidents and illness. Sometimes, pet insurance covers vaccinations and preventive medications also. Usually pet insurance is beneficial as medical care for pet is very expensive on occasions like when it falls ill or when an accident occurs. It is a necessary provision for all pets and naturally this insurance covers medical expenses for animals like cats and dogs. There are some insurance companies that provide insurance for pets of exotic species also.

According to the cost of insurance the level of pet insurance coverage varies. There are several insurance plans for pets available in the insurance markets that are affordable. The basic coverage begins for one month between $ 10 and $ 15 per month and for wider coverage, plus a pet insurance can be chosen. Like other insurance, insurance for pets is also interested in the pet’s eligibility as the ability of the animal and its age. A pet insurance is typically designed for young pets and not available for older animals. But if you want to receive insurance for pets aged insurance costs will be much higher. There are insurance companies don’t offer pet insurance for dogs that are over 9 years. Pet’s insurance provider’s databases in order to avoid false allegations and to ensure that only pet are insured claiming the amount of insurance for treatment. A veterinarian provides identification to prevent false allegations. Some pet insurance providers offer more to ensure a pet and provide affordable insurance for pets.

Depending on your pet 'age and health, insurance coverage varies. When your animal is lost due to theft or your pet died, the pet insurance offers a new animal replacement. But the main advantage for owners of pets is the medical coverage provided in various forms by insurance companies. Before choosing a pet insurance, you should read all the terms and conditions set by insurance providers. But pet insurance procedure totally depends on your pet d 'state of health. To find the best insurance policy for your pet you can search the Web for insurance policies for pets and blankets. Pet’s online insurance offers an opportunity to identify the various insurance companies and their tariffs. This service allows you to make a detailed comparison of different insurances for pets and decide on the best insurance deal that’s adapted to your pet.

Monday, May 26, 2008

IBM Launches Carbon Management Tool

IBM wants to help your company to be environmentally green while making the green, and has released a tool that aims to help companies analyze and manage the climate impact of their supply chains. IBM's Research and IBM Global Business Services created the Carbon Tradeoff Modeler, a instrument that recommends best practices to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by analyzing packaging options, alternative operational processes, alternative transportation modes and energy sources, inventory policies, and sourcing policies. The tool can also count the tradeoffs between CO2 emissions reductions and other supply chain metrics including inventory levels and on-time delivery.

"To achieve a carbon efficient supply chain, companies need to assess the CO2 emissions impact of their end-to-end operations," The product was borne out of results from IBM's 2008 Corporate Social Responsibility study and separate IBM research that showed that corporate social responsibility topped the list of concerns for chief executives. According to IBM, social responsibility is quickly becoming a revenue growth platform for businesses, as clients have been increasingly vocal about transparency and accountability issues from organizations they do business with. By using the automated Carbon Tradeoff Modeler, IBM said that companies can use carbon emission results in their CSR strategy, and flaunt the findings to boost their brand.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Tips For The Snowboarding Beginner

Snowboarding is a sport that has a lot of fun and extremely exciting to ride down the slopes, exploring limitless tricks and feeling the adrenaline pumping in your body. But most of the people are new to this game so I share some of the information snowboarding tips for who are the beginners for snowboarding.
  • Try to choose a board that's the right size for you. The board should be reaching somewhere between your chin and collarbone. For the beginner it's a good idea to get one that's a bit shorter and therefore easier to maneuver.
  • The equipment you choose depends on whether you are intending to do the "freestyle/freeride" style or "alpine/carving". The alpine board is of a thicker and heavier type to give a smooth ride, while the freestyle board is shorter and easier to maneuver.
  • The clothes you wear also have a great impact on your snowboarding pleasure. So try to wear clothes that comfortable loose. In this way you can move with ease but you don't risk having the clothes getting caught in anything.
  • Don't hold back on guard from the elements, get: goggles, good gloves, a hat or helmet and if you want extra protection for your tailbone and bottom pick up some protective pants.
  • When you are all set for the slopes, don't forget to start off slowly.
So follow these simple tips when you are practicing snowboarding this will give you a wonderful experience.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Tips To Create Search Engine Friendly Website

Every one try to build user friendly websites but it SEO looks not only "user friendly" but also "search friendly". Search friendly means that the search engines can crawl and spider your site unimpeded which will allow it to extract all of your content and in turn index it within the search engines database. So few worthy things you need to consider when you are building a user and search engine friendly web site.
  • Use as much text as possible in the form of HTML: Generally search engines love plain text. They are not able to read images, video files, audio files or flash, so try to not use too much of these in your site design. So try to use plain text.
  • Use understandable URLs: Because creating urls such as childsite/child-care-tips and NOT childsite/children/article-789609876R-RYTU. As you can see the first URL is not only "user friendly" but is also "search engine friendly" meaning that the search engines read more meaning and relevance into this URL than the second one.
  • Structure your site well: This means making your site as flat as possible. Instead of structuring your site in way that means a user has to click 10 times before reaching their target make the content a maximum of 4 clicks away or less.
  • Design your site for users: As much as possible treat the search engines as if they were human beings manually scouring your site for content to index. If it is easy for humans to find what they are looking for on your site.
  • Content: This is more important because search engine looks for good content so content is king so try to have the relevant content.
So, follow these simple important tips when you are creating search engine friendly website. At this time many Affordable search engine optimization companies offer these services at reasonable price so select best one.

Friday, April 11, 2008

History Of Rapping Music

Rapping is the rhythmic spoken delivery of rhymes and wordplay, one of the elements of hip hop music and culture. Even though the word rap has sometimes been claimed to be a backronym of the phrase "Rhythmic African Poetry", "Rhythm and Poetry", "Rhythmically Applied Poetry", "Rapping About Poetry," "Racing Always Pacing," or "Rhythmically Associated Poetry", use of the word to describe quick speech or repartee long predates the musical form, meaning initially "to hit". The word had been used in British English since the 16th century, and particularly meaning "to say" since the 18th century. It was part of the African American language of English in the 1960s meaning "to converse", and very soon after that in its present usage as a term denoting the musical style.

Rapping can be delivered over a beat or without supplement. Stylistically, rap occupies a gray area among speech, prose, poetry, and song. Rap is derived from the griots (folk poets) of West Africa, and Caribbean-style toasting. It also has precedents in traditional Celtic music. Modern rap battles, for occasion, bear a striking resemblance to the Limerick Game, a traditional Gaelic drinking game in which people compete for notoriety by making up abusive limericks about each other the loser having to buy the next round of drinks. Likewise, puirt a beul, a form of Scottish mouth music was incorporated into Appalachian music and is an early ancestor of modern mouth percussion, or beatboxing. The influence of Scottish and Irish music on hip hop is not direct, since virtually all of the originators of hip hop culture were African American, but were transferred indirectly by way of American roots music. Roots music was created out of the mixture of African and Celtic music in the American South and is typified by the combination of African rhythms, Gaelic melodies, and vocal improvisation. It forms the basis of virtually all American musical styles from bluegrass to the blues, jazz, rock, funk, and country. Hip hop grew out of this same tradition; stripping down the melody, emphasizing the rhythm, and incorporating mouth music, battling, and vocal improvisation.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Drivers of Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management
Knowledge Management programs are typically tied to organizational objectives such as improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, developmental processes, lessons learnt transfer and the general development of collaborative practices. Knowledge Management is frequently linked and related to what has become known as the learning organization, lifelong learning and continuous improvement. Knowledge Management may be distinguished from Organizational Learning by a greater focus on the management of knowledge as an asset and the development and cultivation of the channels through which knowledge, information and signal flow.

Drivers of Knowledge Management
There are a number of claims as to the "drivers", or motivations, leading organizations to undertake a knowledge management program. Popular business objectives include gaining a competitive advantage within the industry and increasing organizational effectiveness with improved or faster learning and new knowledge creation. As knowledge management programs can often lead to greater innovation, better customer experiences, consistency in good practices, knowledge access across a global organization, and other organizational benefits, many knowledge management programs will usually set some of these as end objectives as well. The government sector represents a highly active area,

Some typical considerations driving a Knowledge Management program include:
  • Making available increased knowledge content in the development and provision of products and services
  • Achieving shorter new product development cycles
  • Facilitating and managing organizational innovation and learning
  • Leveraging the expertise of people across the organization
  • Increasing network connectivity between employees and external groups with the objective of improving information flow
  • Managing the proliferation of data and information in complex business environments and allowing employees to access appropriate information sources
  • Managing intellectual capital and intellectual assets in the workforce (such as the expertise and know-how possessed by key individuals) as individuals retire and new workers are hired.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Renters insurance for a tenant

After your minneapolis apartment search is completed and you got a good apartment for a rent you have to take the renters insurance. In most cases, a landlord's insurance covers only structural damage to the building itself and many landlord policies don't even go that far if the damage is caused by a tenant. If you leave the tub running and it turns your floor into cardboard and dribbles downstairs, damaging your neighbor's couch, you may be liable for the whole drippy mess. If your building went up in flames, your landlord's coverage would include repairs, but only to the building, not to the possessions of tenants. It includes medical coverage for others, on-premise or off-premise. Assumptions were that the house contained a smoke alarm and fire extinguishers. For lower rates, you can raise the deductible; for more protection, you can pay more for replacement cost coverage, in which reimbursement is based on today's replacement cost rather than original value. Renter's insurance extends beyond on-premise theft and hazards. If your suitcase is stolen while you're on vacation, you'll likely be covered. If you're prone to barroom brawls—well, you need more help than renter's insurance, but you'll probably be covered if you hurt someone. Speaking of injuries, you'll also likely be protected if someone slips and sprains their ankle at your annual dance-a-thon; you may even receive compensation for legal defense costs in the case of a lawsuit. You might be surprised at how quickly all those books, CDs, and kitchen appliances add up. Most people own more than $20,000 worth of property. Make an inventory of your possessions prior to contacting an insurance carrier for a quote. List each item along with its year of purchase and what you think it would cost to replace it today. You should not feel that you are in a great building and don’t need security. Even though if you are in great dallas tx apartment you have to take renters insurance for your convenience.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

How to smoke a cigar

The first step is selecting the right cigars to "practice" with.
  • You should start by choosing several different single cigars at your local tobacconist.
  • Do not buy a box of cigars until you have sampled a few singles, first.
  • Choose mild cigars, which are recommended for beginners, since the more full-flavored cigars would most likely taste too strong to a new smoker.
  • Mild cigars are also the least expensive, so you won't have to worry about ruining an expensive cigar by lighting it incorrectly, or by cutting too much off the closed end.
  • Once you have determined which type of cigars to purchase, then gently squeeze the cigar to determine if there are any hard or soft spots.
  • You don't want to take a chance on buying a cigar with a bad draw, or worse yet, one that is plugged and not smoked.
  • Reputable tobacconists will usually replace a plugged cigar. Also, inspect the wrapper for cracks or discolorations.
  • You have to Protect & Smoke
  • If you do not yet own a humidor, do not buy more cigars than you can smoke within a couple of days.
  • Never leave an unprotected cigar exposed to the elements, as it will quickly dry out.
  • You can temporarily store cigars in a Tupperware or similar container.

Monday, February 18, 2008

E-mail: a powerful means of communication

Communication by word of mouth or a written are outdated and replaced with the electronic media of communication. In my view one of the good and powerful modes of communication is E-mail. E-mail is a system for sending and receiving the written or text messages electronically. The advantages of emails are as follows:

Email is Fast:
Mail is delivered instantly, from your office to anywhere in the world. No other method f delivery can provide this service.

Email is Easy:
You can manage your business and your customers effectively by using E-mail. Scope of immediate feedbacks is more.

Email is Inexpensive:
Compared to telephone calls, faxes, or any other postal or courier service, Email is less expensive.


Email is Easy to Filter:
The subject line on an Email makes it easy to prioritize messages. The reader can identify critical correspondence quickly and dealt with it immediately.

E-mail Transmission is Secure and Reliable:
The level of security in transmitting Email messages is very high, and the industry continues to strive to develop even tighter security levels.

Email is private:
Emails are private means of communication as they are password protected.

Conclusion
Email is an Internet marketing tool that is fast, easy to use, inexpensive and effective. Email levels the playing field between the big corporations and small businesses. Anyone can use Email as the method of delivering the message there are no such restrictions.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Leadership Defined

Leadership is the process of guiding the behavior of others toward the achievement of some common objectives. It is encouraging people to get things done – readily! To a standard and quality above their norm to achieve a shared stretch goal. As an element in social interaction, leadership is a complex activity involving a process of influence; actors who are both leaders and followers, and a range of possible outcomes – the achievement of goals, but also the commitment of individuals to such goals, the enhancement of group cohesion and the reinforcement of change of organizational culture.
What is Leadership? Three simple one-line answers by Paul Taffinder
· The easy answer: leadership is getting people to do things they have never thought of doing, do not believe are possible or that they do not want to do.
· The leadership in organizations answer: leadership is the action of committing employees to contribute their best to the purpose of the organization.
· The complex (and more accurate) answer: you only know leadership by its consequences – from the fact that individuals or a group of people start to behave in a particular way as result of the actions of someone else.
Effective Leadership as a Source of Competitive Business Advantage, Leadership is imperative for molding a group of people into a team, shaping them into a force that serves as a competitive business advantage. Leaders know how to make people function in a collaborative fashion, and how to motivate them to excel their performance. Leaders also know how to balance the individual team member's quest with the goal of producing synergy – an outcome that exceeds the sum of individual inputs. Leaders require that their team members forego the quest for personal best in concert with the team effort.Super-leaders help each of their followers to develop into an effective self-leader by providing them with the behavioral and cognitive skills necessary to exercise self-leadership. Super-leaders establish values, model, encourage, reward, and in many other ways foster self-leadership in individuals, teams, and wider organizational cultures.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) is an organization dedicated to scholarship and the advancement of learning. It serves as a nationwide honor society for the United States. James Bowdoin, John Adams, and John Hancock founded the Academy in Boston during the American Revolution. Their objective, as stated in its charter, was to "cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people." Robert Treat Paine and 58 local community leaders to charter the organization in 1780 joined them. Other prominent men soon joined, and early members included Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. With over 170 Nobel Laureates on its membership roll, in terms of prestige, a Fellowship or a Foreign Honorary Membership of the Academy is regarded as second only to the Nobel Awards; in recent years, most Nobel Prize recipients were elected to the Fellowship prior to becoming Nobel laureates as perusal of the list of Nobel Laureates and current membership of the Academy would reveal.

The modern academy is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It sponsors conferences, organizes research projects, and publishes a quarterly journal, Daedalus. Today's Academy has 4,000 fellows and about 600 foreign honorary members. Throughout the academic year, members are invited to regularly scheduled talks and meetings in Cambridge and at regional centers headquartered at the University of Chicago and the University of California, Irvine.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Educational Attainment In The United States

The educational attainment of the US population is similar to that of many other industrialized countries with the vast majority of the population having completed secondary education and a rising number of college graduates that outnumber high school dropouts. As a whole the population of the United States is becoming increasingly more educated. Post-secondary education is valued very highly by American society and is one of the main determinants of class and status. As with income, however, there are significant discrepancies in terms of race, age, household configuration and geography. Overall the households and demographics featuring the highest educational attainment in the United States are also among those with the highest household income and wealth. Thus, while the population of the US is becoming increasingly educated on all levels, a direct link between income and educational attainment remains. Educational attainment is one of the primary indicators of social class in the United States. While the American social class system is vaguely defined concept with many contradicting theories, educational attainment emerges as one of the top measurements of social class. Not only is a high educational attainment a status symbol by itself but it also is very closely related to the other two main indicators of social class: occupation and income. A graduate degree and the roughly seven to eight years of post-secondary education serve as the main requirement for entering "The professions" and becoming part of the professional middle class. Education is a major key in becoming a more privileged member of the American middle class. Overall, educational attainment is the main entrance barrier into more privileged parts of the middle class as it is not only of high value but is also the requirement for becoming a professional and earning the corresponding income. The only exception are entrepreneurs who can rank anywhere in the class system but are usually not referred to as professional middle class unless they are of the professions.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Qualifications For President Of The United States

The President of the United States of America (sometimes abbreviated as POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president is at the head of the executive branch of the federal government, whose role is to enforce national law as given in the Constitution and written by Congress. Article Two of the Constitution establishes the president as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and enumerates powers specifically granted to the president, including the power to sign into law or veto bills passed by both houses of Congress. The president also has the power to create a cabinet of advisors and to grant pardons or reprieves. Finally, with the "advice and consent" of the Senate, to make treaties, appoint federal officers, ambassadors, and federal judges, including Justices of the Supreme Court. As with officials in the other branches of the United States government, the Constitution restrains the president with a set of checks and balances designed to prevent any individual or group from taking absolute power.
Article Two of the Constitution sets the qualifications required to become president. Presidents must be:
  • Natural-born citizens of the United States
  • At least thirty-five years old
  • Must have been resident in the United States for at least fourteen years
Citizens at the time of adoption of the Constitution were also eligible to become president, provided they met the age and residency requirements. While not an official requirement, the vast majority of presidents had prior experience as vice presidents, members of Congress, governors, or generals; in addition, thirty-one of forty-two presidents served in the military, all but one of them, James Buchanan, as an officer. During the electoral process, experience or lack thereof is often given as a point in a presidential candidate's campaign.
Candidates usually must receive the backing of a major political party. This is not strictly required in order to be considered as serious candidate. Third-party candidate Ross Perot received nearly 19% of the vote in the 1992 election.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Keys To Great Management

What great managers do? How do they do it? How do great managers release the potential energy of their people? How do they select a person, set expectations, motivate and develop each and every one of their employees? When you look through the eyes of great managers you realize that each element ever so slightly, but so significantly, misses the mark. Conventional wisdom encourages you to:
  • Select a person based on his experience, intelligence and determination.
  • Set expectations by defining the right steps.
  • Motivate the person by helping him identify and overcome his weaknesses.
  • Develop the person by helping him learn and get promoted.
From the outside it seems to be nothing wrong with this advice. Indeed, many managers and many companies follow it seriously. But all of it misses. You cannot build a great team simply by selecting people based on their experience, intelligence and determination. Defining the right steps and fixing people's weaknesses are not the most effective ways to generate sustained performance. And preparing someone for the next rung on the ladder completely misses the essence of "development."

Remember the revolutionary insight, common to great managers:
  • People don't change that much.
  • Don't waste time trying to put in what was left out.
  • Try to draw out what was left in.
  • That is hard enough.
If you apply their insight to the core activities of the catalyst role, this is what you see:
  • When selecting someone, they select for talent, but not simply experience, intelligence, or determination.
  • When setting expectations, they define the right outcomes but not the right steps.
  • When motivating someone, they focus on strengths but not on his weaknesses.
  • When developing someone, they help him find the right fit but not simply the next rung on the ladder.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Questions to Ask a Landlord

Let me share some literature that I’ve collected at time of renting an Atlanta apartment. These questions are prepared to ask my landlord and I am successful in implementing them to find my right apartment. I hope this will help you finding your right apartment.

Business Matters
  • When is rent due? Is there a grace period?
  • What are the late fees? When do they take effect?
  • How should I pay rent? Can I pay with cash? With a credit card?
  • Is rent collected at the office?
  • Are any utilities included in the rent?
  • Do I need to set up my own electrical or other services?
  • Are utilities charged to individual apartments or averaged between residents?
  • How long have you been in business? Do you manage other properties?
  • Where can I submit a complaint about management or maintenance, if I have one?
  • Are there any move-in specials on rent? Any special gifts for new tenants?
  • Do I get reduced rent if I refer a friend?
Maintenance Issues
  • How large is the maintenance staff?
  • How do I file a request for maintenance services?
  • How long does it usually take for services to be completed?
  • How does management staff handle complaints about maintenance?
  • What are your most common maintenance requests?
  • When is the last time the unit I’m looking at was updated or remodeled?
  • What modifications do you make to units between tenants?
  • How do you handle pest control? What are your most common pests?
  • Does maintenance ever enter apartments without giving notice?
Community Affairs
  • What types of people live in the complex?
  • Does management organize any community events? What types?
  • What facilities are offered (pool, gym, business center)? What are the hours?
  • Do I need passes to use these facilities? Can my guests use these facilities?
  • How can I submit a request to have the facilities cleaned or updated?
  • Is there a community bulletin board or other way for residents to communicate?
  • How can I report problems with another resident? How do you handle such issues?
  • What is the most common complaint by residents about other residents?
  • Are there many children in the complex? Are they well attended?
  • Are there community baby-sitting services?
Parking Problems
  • How is the parking situation?
  • Do residents have assigned spots?
  • Do I need a parking pass?
  • Can I get covered parking? A garage?
  • Are car break-ins a problem?
Safety Issues
  • How safe is the apartment?
  • Is the community gated? Does the gate open with a code, a card, or another method?
  • Have you had any break-ins in the past year? How did you address them?
  • What is the most common safety complaint of residents?
  • Does the door have a deadbolt? Can I have one installed?
  • How can I verify that you’ve changed the locks between residents?

Monday, December 10, 2007

How to prepare for Christmas

On Christmas Day, people gather with family and friends to enjoy a festive meal and exchange gifts as they celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Now Christmas fever was started so be prepare for celibate the festival. These are some tips to prepare for Christmas.
  • Send Christmas cards to family, friends, and your well wishers wishing them a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
  • Try to set up live Christmas tree in your home and decorate it with ornaments and lights. If it’s not possible set up artificial one.
  • Try to decorate and lights on the outside of your house and on your outdoor shrubs and trees.
  • Buy gifts for family and friends especially for children and give them under the tree.
  • Ask your children to write down a wish list of the toys they would like to receive.
  • Share the list with Santa Claus so he can fill their requests. Expect him to arrive on Christmas Eve in a sled drawn by reindeer, carrying a red sack filled with gifts.
  • Play some popular Christmas music ("Silent Night" and "Deck the Halls") in your house it gives holiday spirit.
  • Prepare Christmas feast with foods such as turkey, ham, cakes, stuffing and vegetables; serve mince pie for dessert. Include other favorite recipes from your childhood holiday meals and children’s favorite dishes.
  • Attend church on Christmas Eve with your members and friends.
  • Try to help poor people on Christmas Eve. Donate a toy for a needy child, or give food to a food drive or homeless shelter so others can enjoy a holiday meal.
  • Spend full day with your family members and enjoy a lot.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

‘SHE’ is Your Target!!!

She here means your lady prospect or customer. She is the key member though she is not paying. She is the one who is using it and she is the one who has to be convinced with your displays, especially if they are jewelry. Her interests may not me known to you, but she can be ‘trapped’ with what you have. It is about paying attention to what works for her and continually adapting what your store has to offer, how it is organized, and the degree to which your staff is trained. A woman will seek your advice as to what's new, what works, and what to avoid. If she trusts your honest opinion, even if it doesn't result in a sale that day, she'll return regularly. Work at making her shopping experience convenient. Pay close attention to her entire buying experience. She wants detailed information about product benefits and ingredients. They will pay up to 20 percent more for a product or visit a store if they feel that the business owner is trying to make the world or the community a better place. The biggest complaint women have is that they never have enough time. Their responsibilities leave them feeling rushed and pressured a lot of their day. If you save them five minutes, they'll be singing your praise all day. She will return more frequently to your store if you sell these characteristics and attend to a woman's style of buying. This is called branding.