11 Things Small Business Owners Can Learn From Google

1. Encourage Input – Google team members live by a code of “tolerance and respect.” Once decisions are made, the company insists upon consensus and cooperation from everyone.

2. Think Lean – A typical employee-to-manager ratio in the technology industry is seven-to-one. Google averages 20 employees for every manager…the result of an inclusive culture.

3. Focus On The Numbers – Data rules at Google, as the company understands decision-making is easier when based on facts. Make sure your small business has strong data.

4. Share – On Fridays, Google has an “all-hands on deck” meeting – complete with refreshments – to disseminate information and solicit feedback.

5. Test – Employment candidates endure several levels of testing and eight or more interviews, being graded at every turn. Some of the brightest don’t get hired, if they’re not team players.

6. Improve On Someone Else’s Idea – Search engines, video file management, mapping, online auctions, e-mail…all of these existed before. Google just made them easier to use.

7. Play Big – Some say Google wants to control the Internet, because whoever does will rule the world. There is nothing wrong with aiming high, even if it’s a tad short of global dominance.

8. Don’t Fear Competition – Google wasn’t afraid to go up against Yahoo or MSN. If you believe in your small business, welcome all challengers…and don’t fear Goliath.

9. Recover – Did you know Google was supposed to be “Googol” (like the number)? Someone misspelled it on an application, so they went with it. Not a bad decision as it turns out.

10. Create An Experience – Google focuses on being user-friendly, utilizing its 82 million monthly visitors as a big testing ground, then adapting quickly to suggestions and feedback.

11. Be Innovative – Internet advertising (think: pop-up) was in decline until Google came up with a new approach. Look for new ways to do something old in your small business.

Copyright ฉ 2006 by Success Handler, LLC. All rights reserved.

The Coach, David Handler, is the founder of Success Handler, (http://www.successhandler.com), and specializes in helping small business leaders, franchisees and franchisors find clarity and take action. He understands the challenges of running a business, because he’s been there – as a small business owner, franchisee, franchisor, corporate leader and trainer. Much like sports coaches, his coaching will show you how to compete on a level playing field in your industry.

Starting a New Business - Your Business Framework - What Scaffolding Do You Need

When starting a business of what ever kind, large or small, there is a always a require framework or scaffolding that you have to set up. Not only does this make your business much more effective, but it also saves you from a lot of embarrassing and costly problems. Here is your framework:

1. Business Name. Choose an appropriate name that sums up what your business stands for. It has to be unique – try and ensure that a suitable domain name is also available as you will probably want a web site as well. The owner of an established web site might cause problems if you give your brick based business the same name – so be careful in your choice.

2. Your Business Entity. Obtain professional advice as whether to the best way to set up your business as a limited company, partnership etc. Then register your company.

3. Patents and Trademarks. If you have unique products then you need to ensure that you have registered your patents before your start trading. Similarly any product names, mottos, selling tags etc should be trademarked. Take professional advice on how to do this..

4. Licenses and Permits. Ensure that you have all the licenses and permits that you are legally required to have.

5. Insurance. You may think that you don’t need this but you do and will. So take out property, business, vehicle liability, staff and disaster insurance. A good broker can advise you.

6. Taxes. A necessary evil I am afraid. Register with your local tax collector. Set up a good accounting system and hire a good accountant.

7. Employment Laws. Establish what you local employment laws are and ensure that you adhere to them. Set up employee guidelines and handbooks. Make sure you hire and fire legally.

8. Banking. Visit your local banks and find the best business bank account and credit card for you business. Always keep your business and personal spending separate.

9. Business Plan. This is your carefully written plan on how you want your company to operate, what you want to sell, where and to whom. It includes your business and marketing strategy as well as your financial standing and projections. This is the foundation of your business.

10. Liquid Cash. Ensure that you have enough money to carry your through the first few months of your business as well as any foreseeable troublesome times ahead.

When you start up your business, remember to tick off the 10 items above and you will have a very sound start to your business.

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ฉ Copyright 2006 Biz Guru Services Ltd

Lee Lister writes as The Biz Guru, for a number of web sites including her http://www.clikks.com where she sells her informational products. With over 20 year’s management and business consultancy experience with businesses large and small as well as being a serial entrepreneur, she now helps others set up, develop and market their businesses.

If you would like more help and assistance in setting up your new business then visit http://www.startmynewbusiness.com for advice and assistance.

This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

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Seven Things Your Network Must Have

Small and medium businesses tend to use information technnology for what they percieve as being absolute necessities. That's not a bad approach but it can cause you to miss opportunities to grow your business and save money Without a budget that will support a chief technology office or experienced director of I.T. how do you know what you really need? We're here to help!

1. A reliable backup of your data

While it may seem obvious to most of the small and medium businesses we visit this is just not the case. Just having a tape drive and backup software is not enough. You should test your backup on at least a monthly basis. It doesn't need to be a complete restore all of the time, just pick out a few files and see if your I.T. staff can restore them. If you use outside consultants it's worth the money to have them come in and test your backup on a quarterly basis. It shouldn't take more than two or three hours and you'll sleep better.

2. Sales automation software

Not only does it allow your sales people to stay on top of potential leads, it helps you to stay on top of your sales people. For the SMB market there are dozens of applications that you can run locally on your network or you can use one of the on-line providers like salesforce.com.

3. A decent web site

It really doesn't matter if your business cuts grass or makes transmissions for tractors you should have a website. And don't let the secatary's sixteen year old son do it, get it done right. It doesn't have to be expensive. Sites like aliger.com have hundreds of templates specific to just about any business. They look great and they're easy to use.

4. Accouting software

Ok this is pretty much a no-brainer for any medium sized business and most small busineses. But even the really small businesses will benefit greatly from haveing an accounting package. Quickbooks is the old standard and still one of the best around. Your accountant will appreciate it too.

5. Computers less than three years old.

I know it may be running just fine but with the cost of new computers well below $1000 and the speed increases over the last few years you can't cost justify keeping around an old computer.

6. A document management process

This doesn't have to be a software application that costs thousands of dollars. But you should have a standard process for keeping critical or often used company documents in any easy to access location on your computer or preferably file server. It's one of the easiest ways there is to boost productivity and the bottom line. How many times have you spend searching for that old proposal to use as a template?

7. ERP Software

ERP is an acronym for Enterprise Resource Planning. What that really means is anybodies guess. For our purposes we're going to define it as software that is specific to your business and helps you to create and deliver your product or service. The reality of the situation is that it can be inventory management software, or a spreadsheet that shows the number of units shipped, or lawns cut. Be prepared to customize anything you buy off the shelf because it can be an aggravating process. But when you have it the amount of data available to you makes planning for the future a whole lot easier.

Eric Gurr
Senior Editor SMBresource
http://www.smbresource.com
To reach Mr. Gurr egurr@intralinkinc.com

Performance Measurement of your Businesses Suppliers

The question of how to manage and measure suppliers can be complex. An effective supplier can positively influence your bottom line whilst a bad supplier can cause manufacturing delays, impact on the customer and ultimately effect revenues. Supplier measurement doesn’t have to be difficult. By basing measurement around three basic principles businesses can begin to analyze their supplier base and begin to identify poorly performing suppliers that negatively impact their business. These measures are Quality, Cost and Delivery.

Quality.

Measuring the quality of a supplier refers to the quality of the goods or services supplied. For example how many rejections of products appear at goods receipt – are their consistent poor quality products received. Is the technical specification of your orders not met? Quality problems may be categorized depending on the nature of the problem, for example is the nature of the problem the goods themselves or accompanying paperwork?

Cost

Do your suppliers constantly increase their prices – are they inline with the volume of goods purchased. Are there any discounts received. How do their costs relate to the marketplace. Monitoring cost can be difficult – for example lots or batches purchased may vary, services may be subtly different. Monitoring costs however, is an important indicator of supplier performance.

Delivery

Do the suppliers always deliver on time – are you always having to hasten delivery? One quick way of measuring suppliers is to review their Delivery Schedule Adherence. Divide the number of on-time deliveries by the total number of deliveries in a period to obtain the Delivery Schedule Adherence percentage. Analyzing this figure across your supply chain will give you an average figure – how do individual suppliers compare – who are the worst suppliers? How can they be improved?

These are three simple ways to measure suppliers. Monitoring these elements over time will enable you to form a basic supplier measurement system that overtime will produce trends. Different organizations may apply different weighting to each measure – no business is the same but these three areas should form the basis for most supplier measurement systems.

Bizbodz.com provides articles, resources and tools to help your business. From General Management to Supply Chain bizbodz is there to help. Business Best Practice at your fingertips.

Succesful Management of a Diverse Workforce

Employees of the modern era consist of a community with different ethnic backgrounds which has led to new techniques for managing a diverse workforce. Not too long ago, the high profile projects were reserved for a select few people from a common background. Today, both men and women are equally represented and today’s new corporate employees are from places all over the world. New management techniques must be learned in order to ensure success. Ross Perot's old company, EDS, talks of using its experience in handling workplace diversity as a way of better understanding a globally diverse marketplace, and sees its CCI as part of such successful management (Grayson, 1993).

A manager in the modern corporate world must be skilled in knowing how to deal with the issues of a diverse workplace. In a small group, each employee may be from a different background so communication can be difficult. Communication is the essential tool to create and build a work team that can carry out both the values and instructions of your organization. Translating materials to include this employee population is not just good business, its essential to success. Cultural differences could lead to miscommunication. For example, looking at a person from an Asian cultural background directly in the eye is disrespectful, and therefore the Asian person will look and focus at a different point or object other than your face. (multilangual planet, 2006) A manager in today’s workplace must be skilled in knowing how to communicate with employees who are from different parts of the world. This form of effective communication is valuable because a department may have different employees from all over the world. Making a mistake in understanding communication could prove to be disasterous to the employee-manager relationship.

The specific word, diversity, was rarely used when people described their best, favorite, or most effective manager. However, fairness, respect, objectiveness, and listening recurred frequently. These attributes describe an effective manager and leader (Harris, 2006). Learning the professional goals of all your team members, creating opportunism for your employees to be exposed to corporate leaders they may not often get a chance to work with, fair delegation and objective performance evaluations are a few essential management practices. Some other excellent practices include making time to talk privately with each of your employees, asking your staff in private how they would like to be managed and spending some recreational time to talk to your staff during their lunch break. Taking some time to have a friendly exchange with an employee who may be under your supervision is a key element to building a succesful relationship between the manager and employee. These small interactons over a period of time shows the employee that the manager is interested in his life of a personal level. It is also importanat to know that it is not necessary to go out after work with the employees but a simple friendly exchange during the day will still go a long way to building a succesful department.

Working in a diverse workplace also has its fair share of pitfalls. Many of today’s companies will make sure that they have a person on staff that speaks another language in addition to English. Sometimes people that are descendents of foreign nationals have not had formal training in the language they have grown up speaking in their homes. They have learned the language in their house speaking with their parents, brothers and sisters but they do not have a formal education in that language in order to have good linguistic skills for reading and writing. This is not meant to imply that everybody who learns a language at home is not an adequate interpreter, but this is meant to raise awareness of this possibility. (multilangual planet, 2006) This is just one example of a pitfall that many organizations succumb to in the modern era.

There are a wide number of sources of barriers that can enter into the communication process. This can occur when people don’t know each other very well. In a work setting, it is even more common since interactions involve people who not only don't have years of experience with each other, but communication is complicated by the complex and often confliction relationships that exist at work. (interperator, 2006) It is important for a manager to understand when two or more employees may not be suitable to work in the same department or team together. This does not mean that one employee has to be let go because both may be of equal value to the organization. In most cases, good employees who may not be amiable towards each other at first will still understand to have a respect towards each other after some time. Howerver, understanding that there maybe a cultural or personality difference between different groups of employees is important to the health of the organization.

In order to have a successful workplace, management should ensure that these techniques are practiced. One important quality of management success is being a person that others want to follow. Every action you take during your career in an organization helps determine whether people will one day want to follow you. The key to successful managing is effective communication. Effective communication is an essential component of organizational success at any level. It is critical to understand and be aware of the potential sources of errors and constantly counteract these tendencies by making an effort to make sure there is a minimal loss of meaning in your conversation.
It is also very important to understand that a majoring of communication is non-verbal. Mastering some of these techniques will make it easier for successful management in a diverse workplace.
www.theeasynetwork.com

Sources:

1. CCI: The Strategic Management Tool, Grayson, David. Management Development Review. Bradford: 1993.Vol.6, Iss. 3; pg. 3, 4 pgs

2. Leadership & Management in Engineering; Oct2002, Vol. 2 Issue 4, p28, 3p

3. Public Personnel Management; Summer98, Vol. 27 Issue 2, p187, 14p, 2 charts

4. http://www.sideroad.com/Diversity_in_the_Workplace/managing-diversity-in-the-workplace.html

5. http://www.multilingualplanet.com/legal_resources.htm

6. http://web.cba.neu.edu/~ewertheim/interper/commun.htm

http://www.theeasynetwork.com

Viral Mehta

Presenting a New Technology to a Venture Capitalist

When presenting a Business Plan for a new Startup Technology Company to a Venture Capitalist you need to understand that they are looking for a one to three year kill. In other words they wish to fund a company that can be sold for 10 times or more their investment in three years.

They are not interested in a long-term investments, but rather a short-term three-year maximum turnaround. They will plan on selling their shares or their percentage of the company whether you like it or not. If you are an entrepreneur who has fallen in love with your own idea and wants to do this for the rest of your life then perhaps Venture Capital Cash is not a good idea for you.

When presenting your business plan you must also understand that the technology you are wishing to refine and bring to market needs to be 99% complete. They are not interested in research and development funding for anything that will take over five years. It is best to have technology that you have patents for and potential clients lined up.

Venture Capitalists are also looking for businesses in new technologies, which are desirable to large corporations so they can sell this technology along with the startup company. You should have prepared a two or three paragraph executive summary to pitch your idea to the venture capitalists if they seem interested then you should have a two-page executive summary and a non-compete clause that you can send along with it. Once they sign that and if they are still interested then you can see in your entire business plan to them and follow up in one week. Please consider all this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Stopping Locust Swarms; Warren Powers Technology and Concept

Can we stop the Locust Plagues in Africa, which continually threaten crop production in and around the Lake Victorian region? Can we use sound waves to disrupt these swarms? Is it possible to either get these locusts to stop or defeat them in flight?

Well one researcher and gentleman believes it is and his concept appears to be sound. Sound indeed is exactly what Warren Powers is suggesting. Using specially designed harmonic and acoustic systems to direct sound waves into the Locust Plagues.

Fact is with Warren Powers’ concept; we maybe able to be ready for the next big Locust Plague in Africa near Lake Victoria and put this problem behind mankind once and for all? Now then with Mr. Powers’ concept along with other technologies there is a good chance we can defeat the Locusts;

http://www.regional.org.au/au/gia/12/361deveson.htm

http://www.fao.org/news/2001/010601-e.htm

http://www.cnes.fr/html/_455_463_1545_4222_.php

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4128/is_200505/ai_n13636968

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=000E5E98-FBF6-1C5A-B882809EC588ED9F

They say that the Bio-pesticides work as they kill many locusts. Of course the natives eat them too. Meaning we end up poisoning Africans, who eat them. The problem is after the crops are devastating there is little to eat and thus the Africans eat them due to food supplies. Plus it is somewhat of a tradition, makes sense as they are high in protein?

http://www.ento.csiro.au/newssheet/0024newssheet/com0024.htm

There are lots of problems with crop failures in Africa and the birth rates are also too high. With droughts, wildfires and locust swarms feeding the continent is a real problem indeed.

http://home.att.net/~thehessians/newcropreport.html

So the answer appears to form a virtual sound swarming affect around a swarm of locusts to stop them, make them quit or kill them in route at a place and time of our choosing. Mr. Powers is definitely on to something and my question to the human race is two-fold. Are we willing to commit the necessary funds to dealing with the locust plagues here and now and develop Mr. Powers concept and technology. And are we as a species willing to commit to a full-scale military style delivery system to stopping an ominous locust plague while in route? Consider all this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Technological Determinism

Technological determinism is a theoretical and methodological set according to which the level of development of science, technology, information and technology of big scale production defines social and economical development as a whole. It is also defined as any large scale technological measurement that leads to any social change.

The main role in social and economical developments belongs to technology according to this concept. This definition appeared about a hundred years ago after great success in science and technology developments and their growing effectiveness in mass usage and production.

The term ‘Technological Determinism’ was first coined by Thorstein Veblen, an American economist and sociologist who lived from 1857 to 1929. Broken down into its constituents, “technology” means the practical application of science to commerce or industry, whilst “determinism” refers to a philosophical doctrine holding that all events are inevitable consequences of antecedent sufficient causes; often understood as denying the possibility of free will.

Theories related to determinism, for example: linguistic, genetic, biological and environmental determinism, have been around for a few centuries. But it was until the Industrial Revolution that scholars and sociologists started noticing the implications of technology on society. Technological Determinism has been often dismissed in the past, but in the society of the present, it has a gained newfound accreditation with the introduction of modern technology.

In 1950, the great Canadian economic historian, Harold Innis, wrote a book titled “Empire and Communications”. Innis noted that “the subject of communications… occupies a crucial position in the organization and administration of government and in turn of empires and western civilization” Beneath his discourse on various world chapters, Innis concealed the basics of a model showing how different communications technologies have affected cultures.

In another of his famous works, “Bias of Communication”, Innis writes that each civilization that has developed across history takes its form from a "bias" created by the prevalence of a type of communication.

Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) served on the faculty at Toronto with Harold Innis, and acknowledged Innis's contribution to his theory, but the two had little direct contact. McLuhan believed that the new electronic media have radically altered the way people think, feel, and act. He is probably best known for his phrase which he turned into the book title, “The Medium is the Massage” (now more widely quoted as the medium is the message).

His notion is that the message is greatly impacted by the system in which the message is delivered. What we say is of much lesser importance than how we choose to deliver it. His belief in technological determinism is obvious by his phrase, "we shape our tools and they in turn shape us".

It is Innis and especially Marshall who gave credence to the concept of technological determinism.
It is perhaps the evolution of technology after the invention of the telegraph which is especially fitting to the argument of technological determinism. The 20th century had impacts on the societal structure with every new technological advancement that took place. The inventions of the telephone, followed by the radio, then the television, have made uncountable changes in the ways society interact. The rate at which technology evolved in the last century had far exceeded that of any century before it, and just as accordingly, the rate at which the society had changed in the last century was unprecedented.

Messages were distributed farther, faster, and with less effort. News was packaged differently, and had a new emphasis, as did popular entertainment. These developments were paralleled and influenced by a century-long transition to a predominantly industrial economy, with its accompanying urbanization. One result was the emergence of “mass society”. This same period also saw the bicycle, automobile, and airplane emerge as significant modes of transportation. The sense of space they fostered, coupled with the increased speed of railway and steamship travel, led to World Standard Time via the creation of time zones, further shifting cultural identification away from the immediate and local.

The above is the basis for the technological determinism argument. Its basis is in the belief that technology is at the root of our social change. When technology advances, society follows in its shadow.

Technological determinism is a controversial concept. There are those who agree with it, and those who strongly oppose it as well. Even amongst those who agree with it, their views on the concept vary greatly.

It is true that technological determinism is a dominant force that shapes and changes society. It can either be seen as a threat to our own free will, or it can be seen as a guiding tool that leads us to more effective ways of communicating. It is a force that cannot be overlooked.

Nevertheless, it is impossible to justify the insistence that technology or media is the fundamental factor which propels society. But it must be admitted that the evolvement of technology has widespread consequences which cannot be denied. Any technological change which is large enough is likely to produce some social change.

Technology is just one of the many mediating factors in human behavior and social change. In the face of the evidence which can be drawn from the past century, I am compelled to believe in the theory of technological determinism. But as mentioned, there are different modes of determinism for this theory, and it is the “Soft technological determinism” which makes the most sense to me. It is less extreme and allows the possibilities of other factors to determine the trend of the future. It is my belief that after technology has permeated every section of our society, other factors will play a much bigger role than technology in the influence of our society.

Mary Anne Winslow is a member of Essay Writing Servicecounselling department team and a dissertation writing consultant. Contact her to get free counselling on custom essay writing.

Learn Technical English Fast Use ESP Workshops to Promote Reading Comprehension in LEP Learners

With the continuing expansion of English as an integral communications tool for education, science, technology, business and commerce, post-secondary education technical students are increasingly finding themselves in positions requiring them to manage high-technology studies in technical English. If you teach EFL, technical or business English, or teach a technical subject in English, you can use ESP workshops to successfully promote enhanced reading and comprehension in LEP learners.

A group of my Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students studying an Electronic Engineering class on antenna design had an American textbook in English, so it was necessary for me to convert chapters of the text into a series of ESP reading and comprehension workshops designed to allow the students to practice strategies for de-constructing the written text as an aid to understanding it.

A Series of Workshops

When my LEP Spanish-speaking Law faculty students were required to study aspects of Capital Punishment used in the USA, I again produced a series of materials as both written workshops and full multi-media presentations.

For my LEP Economics students to do comparative population studies of Colombia (population 44,222,000) with:

• South Korea (population 47,700,000)

• Poland (population 38,587,000)

• Argentina (population 38,428,000)

• South Africa (population 45,026,000)

• Ukraine (population 48,523,000)

A series of ESP workshops and multi-media presentations proved to be invaluable in promoting their reading and comprehension of their program’s technical materials in English. The process of creating effective ESP written workshops is not easy, but is well worth the effort required. It both benefits the learners in reading and comprehension of difficult written material and develops the resourcefulness and skills of the EFL teacher.

Preparing the Workshop

In preparing an ESP written workshop, the reading text is broken down into manageable segments which can be more readily understood by LEP learners. Students are taught to identify in context such elements as:

• Cognates - words which look the same in different languages; True Cognates have the same or similar meanings, usage and connotation in different languages while False Cognates have different meanings, usage and connotation in different languages

• Connectors - words that join simple and complex sentences with others. Examples of connectors are: and, but, or, so. They can be of different types, depending on their function. There are connectors which express addition, contrast, time sequence, choice, cause or result

• Referents - words that refer to others that have been used before. They are used to avoid word repetition. Commonly used ones include such parts of speech (words) as: pronouns, determiners, quantifiers and proper nouns

• Affixes – consist of prefixes and suffixes. A prefix is a syllable added to the front of a root word to make another word with a different grammatical function. A suffix is a syllable added to the end root of a word to make another word with a different grammatical function

In addition, a list of key, high-frequency vocabulary is prepared along with a glossary of technical terms which may prove to be difficult for the learners. Pre-reading activities, while-reading and post-reading activities are incorporated into the written workshop to complement and round out the total package. A variety of exercise types are used to provide in-context practice with the lexis and grammatical elements of the reading. Comprehensive support in the form of graphics, photos, diagrams and pictures are included, as are video, animation and sound files when reading and comprehension workshops are produced online in websites, blogs or class pages.

ESP written reading and comprehension workshops can be an invaluable aid for LEP learners who need to understand and apply technical material related to their field or study or employment. A good workshop may take from three to five hours to prepare, but is timeless and can be used and re-used for years. With regular and frequent practice in ESP workshop preparation, teachers can often reduce preparation time significantly. The benefits to the learners are uncountable.

If you’d like some examples of complete, prepared ESP written workshops, feel free to e-mail me for an immediate reply with samples.

Prof Larry M. Lynch is a certified English language teacher / trainer, bi-lingual copywriter, expert author and photographer specializing in business, travel, food and education-related writing in South America. His work has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape From America, Mexico News and Brazil magazines. He teaches at a university in Cali, Colombia. To read more or get additional original, exclusive language education based articles and content for your class room, news letter, blog or website contact him at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com.

Reverse Gears Functions and the Evolution of New Technology

Gears are an integral component of most mechanical devices that are in use today. Gears have wide ranging functions, but they are used for transmitting motion between two shafts. Moreover, they provide torque to a device that a fast spinning small motor cannot provide. Another important feature of gears is that they give direction to the process of rotation. This article provides information about just these types of gears, specifically reverse gears.

A pair of gears, one present on the counter shaft and the other on the output shaft are used to implement the process of ‘reverse’. As opposed to forward gears that are meshed together, there is some amount of space between the reverse gears. Another point of differentiation from forward gears is that reverse gears are joined to their shafts. There is no free rotation around the shaft. There might develop a scenario when a small gear that is known as the reverse idler is slid between the two gears. The function of this gear also called the idler gear is to mesh the two gears together. This enables it to change the direction of the rotation, but it does not hamper the gear ration in any way.

The method of working of reverse gears is not as complex as it seems. When the reverse gear is selected, the gear teeth of these gears are meshed. There is absolutely no aid from the mechanism that seeks to synchronize these gears. This is one of the primary reasons why the output shaft must now move, once a reverse is selected. That mean a car must be stopped when you want to select the reverse gear. Many automobiles have a mechanism wherein the input shaft also stops spinning when reverse gears are selected. This decreases the grinding that accompanies the selection of reverse when there is an inertial spinning of the input shaft.

Car companies do not necessarily uses the same reverse technologies across all makes. Advanced technologies make possible the use of sophisticated reverse gears in modern cars. Of course, these cars come with a hefty price tag. But, more often than not a mechanism is used which stop the transmission of the input shaft. If this is not done the vehicle produces a whining sound. This is why all car manufacturers use the idler that, as aforementioned, can be inserted between the two gears. This procedure reduces the accompanying noise to a great extent and in the service manual of many companies; you can find a mention of this system as a “noise reduction system”.

A new kind of reverse technology has entered the market in the recent times, called ‘spur reverse technology’. This technology has made a few improvements to the one that have been listed above. But, it has compromised on a few aspects like, robustness, engagements, and noise. But it has found acceptability because there is limited driving that takes place in reverse.

Trish is the author for http://www.sterndrive.info , Get more information on reverse gears.

Starting Information Technology Consultant Projects

The first step in information technology consultant projects is initial client contact. The client's first impression of you will help him decide if he is going to sign a contract, so the beginning consultations are critical.

The Beginning

Each projects starts well before the contract is signed. You need to figure out what your goals are during initial contact with the client, and plan out the first meeting with this prospect should be well planned so that a decision can be reached quickly and favorably.

Contacting the Client

Typically a client will make first contact with an information technology consultant by phone or e-mail. This moment is the first impression for the prospect of you and your company and should be treated carefully. If you can't make a connection during this time, there will never be a first meeting.

During this first contact period, an information technology consultant is also interviewing the client; if he can't meet his needs, he shouldn't pursue the project. If the project seems feasible, the information technology consultant can get all the information required for the first meeting. You need to start to determine the problem and the reason the client is coming to you to determine an initially short plan.

First Meeting

The ultimate goal of a first client meeting is to build a relationship, which will require open and honest communication. You are not giving a presentation, rather listening to your client's needs and responding with the best plan for you as an information technology consultant based on the details you receive. Make sure the client knows he is of the utmost importance in this process.

This meeting also requires the presence of the major decision makers in the company. While this is not always possible, you should encourage it in future meetings to ease the process.

The final goal of the first meeting between a business and you as an information technology consultant is to get a decision about the project. You might not be needed at this time, or the client might want to move forward. A client might also need to meet again with decision makers on his own to make a final decision. Regardless, you need to get a solid commitment and, if necessary a scheduled meeting out of the client before you leave.

Preparing for the initial contact with a client will assure that the steps in the process towards signing a contract go as smoothly as possible.

Copyright MMI-MMVII, Computer Consulting 101. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Joshua Feinberg, co-founder of Computer Consulting 101, helps computer consulting business owners get more steady, high-paying clients. Learn how you can too. Sign-up now for your free access to field-tested, proven computer consulting secrets at Computer Consulting 101.

Influence of New Technology on Communication

We are living in the fast changing world where new technologies are being introduced regularly and new inventions amaze world society on the everyday basis. Although sometimes it seems that it is hard to astonish or surprise the new generation of technological miracles with anything. Most of us do not pay time or attention to how much influence these inventions and technologies have on our life, even though we all are regular users of them. New technologies are various and have different nature, and thus bear different impact on diverse spheres and aspect of our life. In the given essay one of such impacts will be discussed in detail.

New technology such as the Internet has impacted communication practices both ethically and unethically. There is not yet a common standard of ethical communication, however, Bretag suggested ethic as to “determine how right or wrong an action is by finding out how much actual good or harm it produces”. In line with this definition, White suggested the “Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics”, which is based on the Christian ethical code of conducts, to help guide ethical usage of computers in communication practices. This essay will discuss the impact of Internet on ethical of communication practices, particularly in the areas of security of communication, integrity of information, the exposure of corrupt information to minors, plagiarism in published materials on the Internet and the rights to privacy.

The Internet has transformed social and business ways of communication. Baase defines the Internet as the expansion of global communication information networks that allows computers to share information worldwide in many areas such as business, education and government sectors. According to Andersen, “as of 1997, an estimate of about 19.5 million people has already subscribed to the Internet”; and the number is still growing to date. Evidence suggests that the Internet has strong impact on communication practices and will continue to be stronger as more and more people are subscribing to this communication channel.

With an increasing growth in the number of subscribers, the Internet has given opportunities for the emergence of businesses; offering products and services. Data gathered by Andersen shows that almost 30% of the total subscribers had spent more than $50,000 in spring 1997 alone, on purchases done via this channel. In other words, the Internet is becoming an essential and significant network at present.

It could be argued that the development of technology has become the cornerstone of business communication. Baase confirmed that through E-Commerce, business transactions can be done effectively and instantaneously through the use of security code called Cryptography. Baase explained that funds transaction is processed and confirmed electronically by converting information into algorithm to prevent unauthorised viewing or alteration of information. This form of transaction provides integrity, efficiency, reliability and credibility to parties involved in the transaction. This form of communication is in line with the ethical code of conduct proposed by White as reliable.

On the contrary, Baase added that E-Commerce is not perfect; there are hackers who will unethically try to decode the algorithm to steal information or funds, which violate White ethical code of conduct for stealing. Bower and Hout stated that business communication is of paramount importance to the global economy by providing lucrative source of revenue and a larger customer base. Through the capability of e-commerce, companies can close business deals online; hence, reducing overhead in term of workforce, and this translates to higher profitability. Therefore, due to economic reason, there is a need for security on the Internet.

Unfortunately, according to Jerrett the Internet does not have a governing body. Ironically, groups of individuals or commercial bodies are the ones who developed the so called “ethical communication standards”. Paradoxically, there are variations in standards, yet it has lured myriad corporate subscribers investing millions of dollars on marketing and communication channel on this weak foundation as explained by Andersen.

Due to the lack of a proper governing body on the Internet, many other ethical issues have been raised. White “Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics”, stated the rights to privacy, particularly referring to a business tactic called “spam”, where a person is constantly bombarded advertisements, while trying to close the “pop up” windows, more and more of these advertisements seemed to find their ways to the monitors. This is an example of unethical communication practice where an individual’s right to privacy is violated.
Some of these advertisements contain obscene materials, which are not suitable for minors. There have been concerns about minors being exposed to advertisements selling violence, pornography and illegal drugs. Such lack of business communication ethic should be condemned. In line with this matter, an article by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) entitled Censorship in Law and Practice has succeeded to pass a new bill targeting obscene materials that are “harmful to minors”. Unfortunately, South Australia did not pass this law due to protests in the beginning of year 2000.

In addition, communication can be done anonymously in “chat rooms”, popularly know as ICQ and IRC. In these “chat rooms”, a person can take on a fictitious identity to “chat” and make friends in the cyber space. Beyond the entertainment of making friends, according to Jerrett, there are some unethical people pretending to be the opposite gender to lure unknowing prey for sexual activity. This form of unethical communication should be condemned, according to White this practice violates a person’s right to trust. There is a need to be truthful about the information expressed on the Internet.

In line with the violation of a person’s rights to trust and the lack of governing body on the Internet, Jerrett further expressed that anyone can publish information on the Internet; which compromises the integrity of ethical communication practice. In other words, a person should be sceptical about obtaining information from the Internet. In addition, publishing information without acknowledging others intellectual property is unethical, according to White is plagiarism.

In conclusion, new technology such as the Internet has improved the efficiency and effectiveness of communication by eliminating distant and time barriers. The Internet has also provided additional source of revenue to companies which is beneficial economically. However, the Internet has led to a new set of ethical issues in communication practices, which has strong impact on social and business communication. Due to the lack of governing body, ethical communication issues such as the security of communication, integrity of information, minors exposed to corrupted information, plagiarism and the rights to privacy have been discussed. When ethical issues with regards to communication practices have been addressed, Internet technology can better enhance our lives economically and socially in responsible ways.

The article was produced by the member of masterpapers.com.
Sharon White is a senior writer and writers consultant at term papers. Get some useful tips for thesis and buy term papers .

Solar Rebates

American’s love rebates. Whether rebates are offered on computers, software, cars or whatever, we snatch them up. If your considering going solar, you’ll be happy to hear rebates are available.

Solar Rebates

As most people know, a rebate is a give back by a company in exchange for the purchase of their product. Rebates usually come in the form of money if you send in a coupon, but can also come in the form of upgrades and add-ons.

The solar technology industry is so thick with rebate programs it is hard to see the forest for the trees. You can expect to find rebates being issued by the manufacturer of a product, the federal government, your state government and possibly even your country and town or city. In many locations, the local utility company may also give you a rebate on your bill for going solar. No other source or product line has as many rebates as the solar industry. Why? Because solar represents one of the cleanest and cheapest energy sources in our country. The powers that be want to promote it for monetary and environmental reasons, not to mention providing some relief to our overtaxed national electric grid system.

Buy down rebates are the most voluminous in the solar industry. With a buy down, a government agency will pay for a percentage of the solar platform you purchase. The specific amount of the buy down depends on factors such as what the platform is used for and the amount of electricity it produces. Trust me, your local solar vendor will be able to tell you in detail about the rebate since it is a good sales technique.

When investigating rebates for your solar purchase, it is important that you don’t stop at the first program. If a state has one rebate program, it will often have as many as eight others. You can often qualify for three of four, which can cut your initial costs by as much as fifty percent.

Rick Chapo is with SolarCompanies.com, a directory of solar energy companies. Visit us to read more articles on solar power and renewable energy.

E=mc2, Emotional ; Physical Gravity

The word "gravity" is a word coined by Sir Isaac Newton to describe an unseen force that attracts objects with mass to each other. As human beings living on planet earth we experience this force as one which constantly impedes us from floating away into the cosmos.

We have however heard of, and some of us may have even witnessed feats of levitation that appear to defy the "laws of gravity". How does one explain such violations of such a basic and fundamental "law" of the universe?

Well, as Einstein himself suggested, such anomalies often are the door to a more complete understanding of the reality we call our universe. In what follows I report on a case study with a new process called the Mind Resonance Process(TM) (MRP) which may begin to shed some light on this apparently "unusual" phenomenon of levitation and hopefully ignite research into
new areas of science that will help more fully elucidate our view of our reality.

I have described the MRP process in my book which one can find on my web site below and I have written extensively on it in other articles here hence I refer you to these resources for more information on the process itself.

In my work with MRP I generally assist individuals to release negative beliefs, memories, emotions, perceptions and behaviors from their bio-field. In this process a recurring experience of individuals is a feeling of lightness and buoyancy. Now although this is considered to be solely a feeling experience by most it has been my experience that in some cases this has been associated with a) rapid and seemingly unexplained weight loss and b) spontaneous experiences of levitation of body parts i.e. arms and hands.

I must qualify by saying that in none of this is there any hypnotic suggestion given or implied and the clients are always fully conscious. As some may know supposed feats of levitation are apparently the result of hypnotic suggestion. These however appear to be related more to mind control of peripheral muscle systems and can therefore be easily accounted for.

With MRP clients also experience a sense of "emotional lightness". What this means is that the "grave" feelings that are associated with the negativity they previously carried in their bio-fields and hence in their bodies gave them a feeling of being "weighted down"! When this negativity is released they spontaneously feel "lighter" both emotionally and physically!

Additionally they almost regularly report a sense inner radiance, which is apparent to others as well, and a feeling of increased energy or vibration in their bodies.

In summary what appears to be happening according to these accounts is a conversion of matter into energy. Now I know that this will be met with skepticism and I accept that. I do however wish to ask that you notice how you feel inside as a result of my having said what I have said so far and notice whether at a feeling level you resonate with what has been said?

So in summary what appears to be happening through the MRP process is the following:

1. Negativity is released from the bio-field and the body.

2. This negativity accounts for feelings of "emotional gravity" which essentially feels similar to the sensation of "physical gravity" i.e. the former is associated with feelings of being weighted down, feeling de-energized or drained, feeling immobilized and feeling heavy.

3. As the negativity is released with MRP, the feelings of emotional gravity disappear.

4. Individuals also report feeling "lighter" both emotionally and physically.

5. Occasional reports of levitation and significant weight loss (i.e. up to 45 lbs in one week in one case in a client who was on no special diet, exercise program or weight loss prescription)

My hypotheses are as follows:

1. Emotional gravity and physical gravity are one and the same thing.

2. Physical gravity is the result of the sum total effect of all negativity stored in the collective human bio-field on this planet.

3. As an individual experiences the MRP process what actually happens is that their physical density decreases and their energy density increases. This would account for the observations noted above.

4. It is my feeling that there is no limit to the amount of negativity that an individual can release from their bio-field. In other words, I feel that "all" matter in the physical body can be converted into energy and hence the state of our bodies can be "re-converted" into what I feel is their natural state; an energy body.

On closing I ask you to notice how you feel inside at this moment. I think that if you are in tune with your heart you will almost certainly feel a deep resonance with what has been said.

If you would like to know more feel free to visit the web sites below:

Dr. Nick Arrizza is trained in Chemical Engineering, Business Management & Leadership, Medicine and Psychiatry. He is an Energy Psychiatrist, Healer, Key Note Speaker,Editor of a New Ezine Called "Spirituality And Science" (which is requesting high quality article submissions) Author of "Esteem for the Self: A Manual for Personal Transformation" (available in ebook format on his web site), Stress Management Coach, Peak Performance Coach & Energy Medicine Researcher, Specializes in Life and Executive Performance Coaching, is the Developer of a powerful new tool called the Mind Resonance Process(TM) that helps build physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being by helping to permanently release negative beliefs, emotions, perceptions and memories. He holds live workshops, international telephone coaching sessions and international teleconference workshops on Physical. Emotional, Mental and Spiritual Well Being.

Business URL #1: http://www.telecoaching4u.com

Personal URL: http://www.telecoaching4u.com/Spirituality_And_Science.htm

Product Positioning for Enterprise Software and Information Technology Companies

Good marketing positioning is like good lying. No, we’re not suggesting that you lie when creating your company and product positioning. Anything but, in fact. But, it’s remarkable how much the properties of good positioning resemble the properties of a good lie.

Like an effective lie, an effective positioning statement should be:

1. Believable. A lie that no one believes is rather pointless, isn’t it? Well, the same is true of your company or product’s positioning. If it’s not believable, then it’s useless. Ensure that the key elements of your positioning statement are rooted in truth, and that the assertions that you’re making about your company’s or product’s capabilities will pass the sniff test of a jaded observer who has seen it all before when it comes to the outlandish statements that a lot of software and information technology companies insist on making.

2. Consistent. A weak lie won’t stand up to scrutiny when judged on its consistency. Internal consistency – that is, ensuring that the various elements of the lie, or positioning statement, are not in direct conflict with one another - is very important to making sure that the listener won’t just turn off their eyes and ears to your message.

3. Simple. Remember being a kid and trying to tell a lie your Mom? You’d concocted a story so convoluted and complex that it was impossible to remember as you recounted it. A positioning statement is the same way. If it’s so complicated that even you and your sales reps can’t remember it, you’re guaranteed that your customers won’t either.

4. Compelling. What’s the point in telling someone something that isn’t interesting and doesn’t apply to them? If you’re taking the risk of lying, tell a lie that is at least somewhat captivating to the listener. In the case of your company or product’s positioning, it should mean something to your target audience. Which means you better have done your homework into their hot buttons beforehand. What’s important to them? What’s not? What benefits can they not do without? Find out, and ensure that your positioning hits those notes.

Keep these caveats in mind when it comes time to position or reposition your company or product, and we can assure you that your audience will sit up and take notice.

Ash Seha is a partner at The Launch Factory LLP, a consultancy specializing in marketing, sales, and product management strategy for software and IT companies. Their expertise, garnered from such IT highflyers as i2, webMethods, SAP, and Baan, is focused on breaking the growth bariers that stand between high-growth software and IT companies and their revenue and marketshare goals.

Science Can't Explain Everything!

You will know that if you have spent at least some time reflecting on the world around you, some things cannot be explained in purely scientific terms. Armies of scientists and researchers swarm in labs around the world trying to take the mystery out of every bit of wonder we witness.

What is it that attracts us to a future partner? Scientists will say...tiny, odour sensors in our noses!

What causes shimmering lights in the night sky? Scientists say...sun spots affecting the earth's electromagnetic field.

It is true (I guess) that those things come about due to some sort of cause and effect from physical laws we have devised.

But it takes so much of the magic and mystery out of our lives.

Maybe it's a sunspot...but can I see a sunspot and predict the result? No I can't...All I can see is the mystery and beauty of the results. Can't I just spend some time enjoying the wonder of it?

If I managed to see my future partner across a crowded room and feel an instant 'twinge' does it make it any less magic? Is it worth reflecting on how, despite being born at opposite ends of the earth, we found ourselves in the same place and time at a random event that saw two worlds collide? I think it is. Because no event is a result of just one other event. It is always a combination of physical law and mysterious circumstance.

So is it so surprising that we can divine mysterious things in our gardens?

Take the case of companion planting, particularly in a vegetable garden. Companion planting is when the health and yields of particular plants can be improved by planting specific other plants near them. For instance, peas love being near beans, corn, carrots and cucumbers, but really hate being near onions. Potatoes enjoy the company of beans, peas and cabbage but are unhappy near tomatoes.

Any number of botanists will tell you that there are 'reasons' for this. Some attract the sort of bugs another needs, some have a scent that disturbs the progress of others. But wait a second...doesn't this sound just a little bit like personality?

Is it not possible that some plants just generally get along better with others because... what? They get what they need from them? They enjoy their company? Sound like another species you might be familiar with??

Companion planting is not considered 'scientific' because the results are not consistent and not always provable. Companion guidelines are based on observation and anecdote. Some combinations work better in the northern hemisphere than the southern hemisphere (True! Well, at least, anecdotally it's true). Some plants react contrary to expectations. But could that be due to something else??

The difference between male, female and neutral plants can be startling. You will know yourself that sometimes, two plants started at the same time or from the same magnificent parent plant will turn out completely differently. So now, not only do we have to contend with personality, we have to contend with the sex of a plant.

I know what you're thinking. Well, I think I know what you're thinking...how do you tell the sex of a plant? It's very unscientific, but so far, pretty reliable in its results. Hold a pendulum over the plant. This can be a needle on a thread, a seashell on fishing tackle, a necklace, whatever. The pendulum will move of it's own accord to indicate the sex of the plant.

Try it. The really healthy plants will be female (positive). They will make the pendulum move in a clockwise circle over the top of it. The male (negative) plant will make the pendulum move from side to side. If the pendulum doesn't move at all, the plant is neutral or the soil is lifeless. Forget it. Nothing is going to come out of that.

It's called dowsing and is the same method that has people finding water using a Y shaped pointed stick. Scientific? Nope. Does that mean it doesn't work? Not at all.

So here we are with two startling propositions. That your vegetable plants have both a sex and a personality that will determine at least in part, how they turn out despite your input. Geez, that's starting to sound a lot like my kids! (who will turn out very different from me, despite the magnificent parenting stock!!)

What does it mean for you as a gardener? The same thing it means for you as a parent.

Nurture your plants. Give them everything you think they will need to succeed.

Read advice books as required, but understand that observation will be your best guide.

Do not despair. Do not give up. It's about the journey, not the destination.

Understand that not all things can be understood. Sometimes, it's just the wonder of nature.
Enjoy yourself.

Judy Williams (http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com) splits her time between being a big time media executive and alternative lifestyle earth mother. This accurately reflects her split 'Gemini' nature. She refuses to give up on the notion she can have it all.

Science For Kids Is there a Doctor in the House

From a young age, children are curious about their bodies. As they learn to talk, toddlers find joy in being able to point to, and identify, their own various parts. Teaching kids about their anatomy is a fun and easy activity that can be done in the home with very accessible materials - themselves!
Not only does this become an educational endeavor, but, in the event of an accident, a child will be able to describe where he/she has been hurt.

Pre-school children probably have a pretty good idea of what makes up their outsides. Because of repeated quizzing by parents -Where are Luke’s teeth? Where’s his nose?, etc., three year olds are well versed in their overall make up. There are songs that can help with this, too. One very popular tune for toddlers and pre-schoolers: "Head and shoulders, knees and toes...eyes, ears, mouth and nose," calls attention to the total body and to its facial components.

Lessons in joints, like elbows, ankles and wrists can also be absorbed by the pre-school set. As your child gets a little more capable with more complex vocabulary, try substituting the real anatomical names for these body parts in the song: "Cranium, humerus, patella, phalanges", etc. It’s silly, but you can all get a laugh and learn at the same time.

Inside your child, there is another world worth exploring! Children 3-5 years of age can appreciate that their brain, the part that makes them smart, sits inside their head and looks something like a cauliflower.

In their chest to the left, they will note, is found their heart which makes an interesting beating sound. Inexpensive stethoscopes, that really work, can be purchased in most finer toy stores and children love to listen to everybody’s heart with these.

Older children can appreciate that they breathe with help from two sacks, in their chest, called lungs.

Also, tap on your five year old child's knees, elbows, skull and so on, and explain that those hard things are called ‘bones’ and that they help in standing up straight. Remind them to drink lots of milk to keep these bones strong.
You get the idea. Even if your own education did not include a course in anatomy, you’ll find that you know more about it than you think! So, pass it on to your children. They’ll love learning what makes them tick!

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Dr. Elva O'Sullivan's education includes a B.Sc. (Hons) in Chemistry from University College Dublin, Ireland and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Clarkson University, New York. In addition to her broad teaching experience she has extensive applied industrial experience and has worked at W. R. Grace, Wyeth, American Cyanamid Company and BASF Corporation, the world's leading chemical company.

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India as an Offshoring Destination A Historical Perspective

As debates rage on across the globe on the economics of Offshoring work to India in the IT & ITES space (BPO), it is time to view outsourcing from the right perspectives. The Cost perspective is often harped upon by both Indian companies and their offshoring clients. However the root of Indian competitiveness in this space is not often discussed. This article only offers that historical perspective on why India is suited to be BPO Hub of the world.

"Off shoring" is the system of packaging a set of your organization’s tasks and hiring another company situated in another country to perform these tasks for you as a Billable Service. The service providing company provides you a dedicated workforce to perform these tasks for mutually agreed cost and quality terms.

Why India?

The crux of "Off shoring" is "COST" and better operating margins for the companies’ off shoring to India, China or any other country. But "COST" and "PREDICTABLE & CONSISTENT QUALITY" would be more like it.

India has an edge because you have decent quality English speaking people who are willing to do routine work (“Grunt Work”) at a highly competitive price. As long as it maintains that edge, remains consistent and predictable, India has a place as the Software backyard and the BackOffice of the world. A large IT Manpower pool and dominance of English in higher education system only helps to build India as a preferred choice for "Offshoring".

The reason why India is able to have such consistent IT & ITES workforce has nothing to do with India becoming a big power in the IT Space or brilliance of Indian Programmers or the fantastic engineers of our IITs. It is a consequence of our McCaulay System of Education which over 170 years old .

McCaulay & India

Thomas Babington McCaulay (1800-1859) was posted in India in the first half of the 19th Century (1835 -1837) under Governor General William Bentick when India was just brought fully under the control of the British Empire. The British throne exercised control on India through its agency the British "East India Company". The Company waged bloody battles for most part of the 18th Century in India to control political power and every possible resource in India. From 1784 onwards there was a "Board of Control" with members from the House of Commons which defined the relations between the Crown and the Directors of the East India Company.

Coming back to McCaulay; Thomas Babington McCaulay, a master of English prose and literature, was elected twice as the member of the House of Commons, and served as one of the commissioners of the Board of Control for 18 months (1831-1832) whereon he got involved in Indian affairs. The British crown wanted to appoint a person who was not in the offices of the East India Company as a member of the Supreme Council in India. In 1833 McCaulay was appointed to the Supreme Council of India and traveled to India. By the time he sailed backed in 1837, he laid the foundation for two of the most important systems which would change India as a country - the Indian Penal Code and the education system.

The foundation for English Education

In one of his speeches to the House of Commons in 1833 before coming to India, McCaulay outlined his plan for perpetuation of British governance in India through representative institutions of the government similar to the European model of governance. This institutional framework designed to manage the British supremacy required to be staffed with people who understood the language and the systems. So came up the need for training Indians to occupy these positions. McCaulay was of the opinion that Indians were perfectly in position to be trained to staff a new system of governance. To quote McCaulay "That the average of intelligence and virtue is very high in this country is matter for honest exultation. But it is no reason for employing average men where you can obtain superior men. Consider too, Sir, how rapidly the public mind in India is advancing , how much attention is already paid by the higher classes of the natives to those intellectual pursuits on the cultivation of which the superiority of the European race to the rest of mankind principally depends. . . ." . This observation made 172 years back is relevant even today and will find a familiar echo with many supporters of Offshoring to India.

McCaulay outlaid the plans for Indian Education System in the McCaulay' Minute of Education which was reviewed and passed by Governor General William Bentick in 1835. William Bentick agreeing to McCaulay’s view concurred that the true objective of the British government should be the promotion of European Literature and Culture in India thus laying the foundation for a permanent position for use of English Language in Indian Education. Today English has come to stay in Free India. Whether the supporters of Indian languages like it or not, it is impossible to replace English as the medium of instruction in higher education, language of governance and the language of technology long after McCaulay and the British have gone. The medium of instruction in Colleges and Universities across India is English and will remain so for a long time in future.

It is this very foundation of English based education rooted in history that makes it easier for Indians to be a preferred choice for BPOs and offshoring work from US other English Speaking countries.

The root of Indian Work Ethic
The other important perspective which often is ignored is that McCaulay education plan was not just about teaching English to Indians. It was propagating a system of governance and making Indians suitable to occupy positions in the Institutions which represented this system.

To quote "We will create a system of education that will not change their color but will make them 'white' in their thoughts.” (There is no record to show McCaulay actually used these exact words but he must have said something on similar lines). Here we have to remember that in 1830s - "white" meant largely European. At that time Europe was in the post Renaissance era where most of the foundations for what would come to be called modern science and technology was already laid. The use of mechanization was dawning upon the modern world; this would eventually lead to the Industrial Revolution and the birth of the factory system which is the rock bed of any economy even to this day. McCaulay's remarks on "white in thoughts" should be viewed from this perspective. McCaulay would never have realized that one day this bridge built to advance British dominance in India would also help free India to be able to do business and be on par with technological advances of other erstwhile British Colonies.

By the beginning of 19th Century the British dominance in India was complete. What was earlier a conglomeration of princely states with independent rulers had to be brought under a single system of governance. While the military power which helped British gain control over India in the 18th century was important, it would not help maintain a civil framework and also allow for the British rulers to discharge the fundamental duties of any ruler - to collect taxes and maintain law & order. They needed a framework of administrative and judicial institutions in India. The senior positions in these Institutions would for almost a century later be the exclusive preserve of the British, it did not make economic sense to employ British for staff positions in the offices of the government and many civil institutions. The only option was to train Indians for these positions. In a country as complex and elaborate as India it meant creation of an elaborate education system which would ultimately enable Indians to exploit job opportunities being thrown up by the British Indian Government.

The British Indian Government offered Indians the first real opportunity to be exposed to western Work Ethic. Some of the precepts of this Work Ethic would be

(a) Employment based on Qualification

(b) Fixed Work Timings,

(c) Designations associated with Job Roles

(d) Defined nature of Work

(e) Documenting work activities

(f) Job Hierarchy and promotion based on Seniority (it would still take sometime for Indians to break the Glass Ceiling and become officers in British Indian Government) and most importantly

(f) Fixed Monthly Salary.

This would be the first exposure of Indians to a new work ethic which they imbibed for over a century and would eventually build what is known as the Indian Middle Class. More than anything else, the last precept was a major attraction for a large majority of Indians. For somebody who could not suffer the vagaries of an agrarian life or did not have acumen of a trader, a job with a government institution offered opportunity for a decent livelihood as long as you had western education, communicated in English, where disciplined and obedient. That, being a part of the government increased your social standing was only a bonus. This was the primary reason Indians immediately gravitated towards this new work ethic and the education system which was the stepping stone for this opportunity. Today a large part of Indian government, trade, business and Industry still runs because of this Work ethic.

The Work Force to Staff Offices

McCaulay's contribution through his education plan, more than teaching English, was to create a system which would churn out disciplined, obedient and productive staff to man the offices of the British Indian Government.

For more than 170 years later this system of Education has remained largely unchanged. It is too elaborate and too complex for anybody to change. The precepts of the system are so fundamentally strong that it would be impossible to change. Only new layers of Higher Learning have been added to the existing system through the IITs, IIMs and other Institutions of higher learning. But the Core of the education system, the Work Ethic it imbibes and the predictability of work force it produces is the same for the last couple of centuries. Individuals vary in the degree of their learning depending on the opportunities presented to them and their individual competencies. This self sustained system of English based Western Education and Work Ethic which offers Predictability of the work force are fundamental reasons which will help India to be a preferred choice for off shoring work and establish itself in the BPO Sector. China has only now realized the importance of using English as the business transaction language and is all set to teach English to its populace with vigor. Lower Employment Cost is no doubt a distinct advantage, but a history and system which is designed to produce predictable people to handle office jobs in English is a supremely distinct advantage.

The Flip Side

This 200 year old system of Education and all its associated values has its flip side. As I have stated in the above passages, irrespective of the nature of higher learning, the core of the educational system is to produce a work force which is predictable and obedient. The Work Ethic for which the British set the foundation has predictability, obedience and repetitiveness as cornerstones. This makes a large part of the Indian workforce very good at predictable and carrying out defined activities.

Questioning things the way they are done, trying to change the rules of the game, Innovation and Creativity are something which cannot be expected out the products of this system. This is primarily the reason that even in the IT space we have a very large number of IT Services and ITES companies. The largest number of CMM Level 5 Companies (CMM is all about Consistency!) but not a single IT Product company. The situation is no different in traditional manufacturing sectors. TATAs being able to design and manufacture a passenger car named - Indica was considered a breakthrough in the Indian industry, which almost 50 years after Independence was stilling producing vehicles on western and Japanese designs. Coming out with a new product in IT or any other Industry requires individuals who are not only Innovative and Creative (Latest buzzwords) but are strongly committed to Question the very existence of things as they are now. There are no doubt positive movements towards this direction, but it will be a while before our education system can produce such individuals.

Vijay V Bhat, Mechanical Engineer and MBA from Symbiosis Centre for Management & HRD,India, currently employed as a Consultant with Infosys Technologies Ltd. The views expressed here are his and does not represent his employer. He has previously worked with manufacturing and automotive companies in India in the sales and marketing arena. He has also taught students in the Engineering and Management fields in Indian Colleges.(Also Visit :http://www.competeindia.blogspot.com)

Implanted Chips in the Brain by 2025

If we consider the long history of modern humans and their adoption of technologies and then consider the most recent hyper-advances in technology in the present period in BioTech, Computer Sciences and NanoTech, it would be silly for anyone to assume that we would not have an implanted device in humans at the time they got a Social Security Card. You see 2025 is not that far away in terms of the human endeavor.

We must realize that many human societies and civilizations maybe forced to have these devices inside their bodies and grow up with them and have no choice and thus learn to trust them within, this will occur long before 2025. The individual will of the American ideal may provide itself to be a longer hold out in the adoption of subdermal, under skull, brain and body chip implants.

As far as the technology itself; it will get smaller, more robust and better able to detect brain waves, human intent and even eventually transfer thought all the size of something less than a dime in total. These chips will have such things as add on memory, PhD in many subjects in an all-in-one chip. If you consider such concepts and take them out 100 plus years we may see that we start to lose our ability to speak. So in the far future we may not even need vocal cords and they will evolve out of the species. You see, currently humans are losing their sense of taste and smell. By 2012 or 2015 this technology will be available and humans may chose to adopt it and some may wish to have an implant brain chip.

By 2035 all those other add-ons of the chip, including brain learning while sleeping will also be available as well. Sounds like it could be a very nice SciFi novel indeed for now, but soon it will be a reality and a concept you do not even have to think about because it will already be along side of your brain thinking with you? Think on this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Preparing for a Career in Information Technology

So you want to work in the Information Technology field? In this article i'll provide some advice to those seeking employment in this field. Keep in mind these are my opinions, others may agree or disagree.

Mechanic or Engineer?

The first question to answer is which direction do you want to go? Typically there are two types of IT Staff. Those who administer and and those who create. What do I mean by this? Ask yourself if you'd rather sit in a cube and write software, create and maintain databases and develop applications, or would you rather install software, manage an e-mail system or create a network or remote access solution.

The two areas are usually comprised of employees with very different mind sets.

The administrators tend to follow a career path that goes something like this. IT Intern or PC Technician performing break/fix tasks on PC's. As they advance they may manage the larger rollout of operating systems or software applications. Keep in mind the focus is on more mechanical or problem solving tasks. Later in their career they may move on to network or server administration. The larger the impact of a mistake the further up the ladder in their career. Eventually they may manage a team of other administrators or perform some consulting services.

The engineers typically come from computer science backgrounds. They may have learned programming of various languages in college. The particular language is not important only the fact that they are creating or maintaining applications for systems and databases rather than focusing on the workings of the system its self. Many of these employees are introverts. They would prefer to work within their group and make a cube or office their home. The administrator would be perfectly happy being "visable" within the company.

Education

First let me say that a four year Bachelors degree is valuable to anyone seeking employment in the IT industry. Not sure what direction you want to go? Get a basic Business BA because it will teach you how a business operates and get you the open door to most job interviews. More accurately it will prevent you from being excluded simply because you do not have a degree. If you are the administrator type i'd also recommend a basic BA unless you find a program that has the current skills you are seeking. Mainly a variety of desktop and server operating system and networking skill path focusing on TCP/IP , DNS, WINS, DHCP and routing.

If you are on the applications path than a Computer Science major is going to get you headed in the right direction. Often companies hire right out of college because they have been teaching login and application development for decades.

Those looking into administration can count on resuming their education either by self-study using technical books, certification paths, home built networks and lastly for those with the money private non-accredited coursework at various ATEC's

Once your in your in. Until your in your way out....

When I got into this field ten years ago I took a pay cut to move from my sales position to my PC Technician position. This is because it is VERY difficult to get hired if you've never been hired. There are so many great applicants that there is no reason to take a chance on someone who only can tell you what they know. Multiply this statement X 10 with the economic downturn after the dot com boom. So get whatever resume worthy experience and references you can as fast as you can. To land even the most entry level job you'll need it.

How to get experience?

Internships are a great way to get in the door anywhere. These are positions that everyone understands and they are the mark of a hungry student. If you can get an internship (preferably paid) at a company so much the better. If you can't start volunteering for any organization that will take your skills. Churches and schools or charity's are a good start. The key is to get something on your resume that says you've been in the business.

Self Employment

The IT world is great for the self employed. For those who want to accept side work there are many ways to find it and you can do as much or little as you want. When your first starting out why not perform PC Technician or entry level web or application development and get paid? Individuals are more likely to hire you for a few hour of work and you'll gain business skills and have yet another thing to add to that resume. Remember the key is to walk into your first interview as if you've been in the biz.

Conclusion

In closing keep in mind, know your direction, get an education, and its never too early to start building that resume. Good Luck!

About The Author

John Gall works as a full time IT Manager in Minnesota and is self employeed as a Consulant for Gall Consulting http://www.gallconsulting.com; jgall@gallconsulting.com

Six Rules for Great IT Project Success

Project delivery makes IT organizations credible. When IT “gets it right” at the project level, its ability to impact the financial results of a company increases and its leadership in providing strategic direction improves. Good project delivery is the key to unlocking the door from the back-office to the boardroom.

And yet, according to a recent survey by Accenture, only 29% of IT projects are considered successful. The average cost overrun is 56%; the typical delay is 84%. After decades spent learning and implementing project management methodologies, measurements and controls, the success rate of IT projects is no better than when a single computer took up an entire room.

Now, despite the need for companies in the 21st century to innovatively embrace technology to compete, CIO’s still find themselves hearing second-hand about their company’s strategy while line-of-business executives embrace the “IT as a commodity” philosophy.

For IT to contribute to a company’s bottom-line, IT executive teams need to ensure project alignment with business strategy. Projects, and particularly large-scale programs of multiple projects, need to be run flexibly, with an eye toward the larger business picture.

The following pages present six straightforward principles – culled from our experience with Fortune 100 companies, ten person firms, mid-sized businesses and not-for-profit organizations – to turn your project into a bottom-line success.

ONE: Use Occam’s Razor

Big projects are seductive. They are also inherently risky, costly, complicated and come laden with poor track records.

William of Occam, a 14th century logician, wrote “Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.” Albert Einstein restated this as “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” Apply their advice. Break up large projects into simpler, smaller projects or phases. Delineate each phase by its ability to provide an immediate and direct business benefit.

This approach has five benefits:

1. Requirements are simplified. With tighter constraints, requirements gathering quickly centers on the most crucial. Time-box the remainder as “nice-to-have.” Done well, requirements will be easier to understand, have clear connections between them, and should be easier to complete.

2. A crystal clear focus is easily achieved when working on smaller, simpler phases.

3. A succession of success can be built by rapidly delivering smaller project phases for people to easily see what they are getting for their money, time and effort.

4. Smaller phases are simpler to manage, perform quality and compliance checks on, fix, tweak or debug, and modify as environmental factors demand.

5. Phased projects are more easily paused (or halted altogether) as business conditions change. Personnel can then quickly pick up other activities.

TWO: Buffer Consistently

Critical Chain Project methodology suggests minimum 20% buffers in your project schedule. Many Finance organizations expect a 10-15% cost buffer over initial estimates on major projects. And in his book Slack (2001), Tom DeMarco points out that to be their most effective, people need approximately 20% slack or downtime during their workday.

Ironically, many project managers set up a 20% buffer in their schedules and a 10% fudge factor in their budgets yet leave their people a 0% buffer. Thus, before scope “creep” or other project changes or problems, the chances for success have been cut by one-third.

Tackle this head-on with third grade math: prior to establishing a budget or plan, assume a 6-hour workday (20% buffer) at 15 project-focused workdays a month (after factoring in vacation, illness, holidays, company meetings, etc.); in other words, 90 hours of project work a month per team member.

THREE: Prioritize the Soft-Side

Because projects are run for and by people, the primary role of the project leader is managing the “soft” people issues. The mistake most IT organizations make is to use the project leader to manage schedules, track metrics, control costs, assign resources, handling reporting and so forth. Instead, our experience has shown that successful project leaders focus first on five tasks:

1. Run “interference” for the project team(s). Projects can quickly become politically complicated. By minimizing the impact of politics on the project team members, the project leader reduces the risk of delay and scope “creep.”

2. Determine the right people to be involved, from project team members to pilot users.
3. Make the final decisions on internal project issues. When money, time and resources are constrained, management by committee is not conducive to tactical success.

4. Focus on specific goal-oriented completion of the project. Projects become imbued with changes, vague expectations, egos, etc. by project members, customers and project sponsors. The project leader must continually ask, “why.” Press for specific answers on how the change, the additional goal, etc. get the project closer to completion. Ultimately, the business needs the project completed to reap the benefits.

5. Perform quality checks at a regular interval on the schedule, the budget and the expectations of everyone involved. These are not detailed-oriented checks, but rather 10,000-foot reviews. Pick 3 random items and delve more deeply by probing with five or more questions each.

FOUR: Communicate to Ensure Accountability

According to Labformatics, one of the top reasons that IT projects fail is lack of responsibility over the project by both project teams and the customers. Take a page from the nonprofit marketplace and utilize three communication tricks to continually draw in end-users and sponsors.

First, build a simple, no frills website focused solely on the project itself. The site should contain the following:

• project goal(s)

• personnel involved

• timeframes (and current status)

• costs and allocations (i.e. “coding of purchasing interface”)

• meeting minutes

• requirements documents

• project team checklists.

You can also post the original business case as well.

Second, regularly distribute a short e-mailed newsletter with quick 8-12 word updates and links to the project website for more information. At minimum, the project update must address two ever-present questions:

• “when are we getting the business benefits from this project?”

• “how much is it costing us?”

Consider using the “5-15” rule: the update should take you no longer than 15 minutes to write and take the reader no more than 5 minutes to read.

Third, set up an unstructured blog environment for the project team members. This is critical if your project is being worked on by virtual or remote project teams, or is in 24-hour shift mode. The goal of the team blog is simple: keep everyone informed.

FIVE: Apply the Pareto Principle

In the 1800’s, Vilfredo Pareto discovered that a small portion of any activity produces a majority of the results. Now called the 80/20 Rule or the Pareto Principle, its application in the IT world is essential to project success. The Pareto Principle is intuitively being applied when you hear the phrase “good enough.”

In essence, if approximately one-fifth of the project will produce about four-fifths of the benefits, then identifying the essential one-fifth of the project will allow you to quadruple your results.

There are two techniques to determine which efforts produce 80% of your results:

1. Ask your customers and your team, “what of our efforts are producing most of the results for you?” Be ruthless; eliminate or postpone every trivial task that does not directly contribute to the delivery of the business benefits of the project.

2. Post the project goals in your office, in presentations, on your project website, etc., and turn attention to them at every question or change. Ask, “how will this improve our delivery of the benefits of this project?”

SIX: Use Two Linear Betas

All good IT projects have a beta phase. The mistake many project managers make is to set up a group of users or IT personnel as a beta rollout group without keeping in mind the ultimate project goals. To improve your results, set up two sequential beta rollouts.

Beta 1 is strictly for IT personnel who support the various departments that will be using the system (for instance, IT department liaisons). They will provide your project team with a mix of real-world testing and tweaking while gaining valuable experience and comfort with the new system.

After the project team has had a chance to address the issues from Beta 1, set up the Beta 2 group: users from each of those departments. Preferably, select two users from each department, one who has and one who has not historically been friendly to IT projects. The latter represents the one-fifth of users that provide you four-fifths of your results.

Final Thoughts

The more projects you complete successfully, the more credibility you gain. Delivering high levels of business value will bring you, and your business, the success it deserves.

Are you ready?

Copyright 2006 John Avellanet

John Avellanet is the managing director & principal consultant of Cerulean Associates LLC, a Virginia-based IT management & compliance consultancy focused on helping clients improve their bottom-line results with project assurance, program management, and IT and compliance strategies aligned with business initiatives.

New Technology of Tapes Coming Up in the Future

As Robert Frost makes clear in his famous poem, "The Road Not Taken," picking one path over another can make all the difference. While Frost had other topics in mind at the time, his point is nonetheless applicable to today's companies that are using or considering linear tape formats such as DLT, S-DLT and LTO as their data storage solution.

Legacy formats such as Digital Linear Tape (DLT) were a reasonable data storage AITernative in the past, but a combination of new business challenges and new technology choices are driving many companies to rethink their tape storage path. For example, conventional DLT systems are approaching the end of their useful life cycle, with no well-defined way to add capacity without upgrading to a new format. While Super DLT (SOLT) and Linear Tape Open (LTO) systems do have roadmaps to the future, neither format offers a compatible solution that can span the gamut of storage needs, from the entry or workstation level up to the "Super Drive" level. In addition, upgrades require a media change, making long-term use of linear solutions more cumbersome and less flexible.

Perhaps, as Frost suggests, it's time to consider a different path. Advanced Intelligent Tape[TM] (AIT) data storage solutions from Sony provide a broader range of capacities, increased performance, better reliability, easier maintenance and a more strategic path to the future than the AITernatives. Organizations choosing the AIT path will find themselves with a more flexible and integrated tape storage format that can span backup needs from individual PCs, to workgroups, to the enterprise.

AIT is a proven storage technology with years of successful enterprise deployments behind it. First appearing in 1996, AIT is a compact, helical scan 8MM tape format in a 3.5-in., half-height form factor. With its high capacity (up to 100GB per cassette), speed and reliability, AIT is emerging as a more strategic tape storage path compared with linear formats such as DLT, S-DLT and LTO. Consider the following advantages of AIT:

* Reliability -- Consistent operation and assured reliability are two critical components for a tape storage system. AIT-3 drives are designed for a mean time between failure (MTBF) of up to 400,000 hours (compared with DLT's 250,000 MTBF rating) and a 100% duty cycle.
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Role of Information Technology

The flow of information has changed the way we live in today world. Information is the backbone of every system. Every morning when we read a newspaper having out so much information we came to know the latest happening in the world (of course in details), yeah you are right even the internet edition also. This is just a very basic example of IT.

All our Railways, Air and even sea networks are connected with the help of IT. The information is very vital for running these smoothly. Even if we have do not have information for one minute it may result into a big disaster.

We can take the example of banking. It is very to transact any amount of money from part of the world to other with help of e-commerce. We can purchase anything online with help of debit and credit cards. This has made our lives more and more simple.

Now days if we want to buy to something and are not getting it nearby store then we can simply search for that thing on internet and then order it on the internet. We will get it delivered at our doorstep with just few clicks of mouse.

Similarly if we want to travel around the world we can book airline tickets online and even book rooms for our hotels (of course at competitive rates).

People are working on the internet without really having to go outside to their workplace.

IT has changed the whole scenario.

Companies can share technologies online

Even the doctors can guide the other doctors while operating on a patient with the help of Information Technology.

A whole new world is coming in our way.

We love IT.

Cyber Force is always with YOU.

Website: http://www.cyberforce.info