Could Africa win 2010 World Cup?… From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: soccer scores. The blog is also related to: championship soccer.

Life is an interesting thing, full of paths that one doesn’t understand, much less thinks about before they transpire.  No matter how prepared you believe yourself to be, you will never be so prepared that you can expect whatever curve life will throw in your direction.  It’s impossible.  Eventually, something will arise and shatter the impenetrable castle you thought would keep you oh so safe from unfortunate events that could, theoretically, show up.

I hadn’t been well versed with this truth until last Sunday (November 29, 2009), when I skipped out of the worship service at my church.  It was probably wrong of me to do so, but I felt like contemplating my relationship with God without the assistant atmosphere of music.  So I walked back to the pavilion and paced here and there, turning over concepts in my head.  The main idea that kept returning again and again was how we, as humans, attempt to take advantage of God.

Now, God is omniscient, and thereby sees through us as if we were freshly cleaned windows.  But we forget this and try to get the better end of God’s bargain.  The common convert to Christianity comes to the faith based on the fear of eternal damnation in the fires of hell.  Damnation isn’t pleasant, and it’s the human nature to avoid pain, so getting away from an eternity of it is marvelous.  Jesus offered the ticket out, and so we, as see-through sinners took it and boarded the train.

But here is the point: how do we treat Jesus?  Is He simply the ticket out?  Our get-away car?  Our Get Out of Jail Free card?  So often, in our faith, we fail to move past the simple notion that our faith is the ticket aboard the Escape Hell Train.  This train, like other trains, makes stops, where we can board another train or maybe a boat or airplane.  But in our human complacency, we just sit in our seat, content not to move any further in our relationship with God.  We treat Him like a safety ticket as opposed to the loving, all-surpassing God He is.

Out of the infinite, mind-numbing hugeness of the universe, God has chosen to look at us.  To save us.  To come to our level, live a sinless life, and then die to rescue us from an eternity of torment apart from Him.  He loves us so much that he, God of the Universe, comes from His place in Heaven to know us by name.  But yet we’re content to simply sit where we are and refuse to follow Him.  To love Him.  If we’re particularly generous, we might let Jesus have the second priority on our list and not give Him further notion.

We don’t have it in us to adequately love Him.  To thank Him like He should be thanked.  In our salvation, we supposedly give God our lives – putting Him ahead of ourselves.  Giving ourselves to Him.  But we take ourselves back again to pursue our own interests, when He demands us to love Him with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths.  In short, He demands to be our number one priority, but again we fail to set aside ourselves for Him.

So, upon coming to this notion, among others, I laid my heart down to God, praying that He carve the path that I should follow to take steps to Him.  I prayed that He would take anything out of my life that would distract me from who He is, as I recognized that He is everything I need.  All I need.  If I have him, I am complete.  Fulfilled.  It was possibly one of the most sincere prayers I have ever prayed as I laid myself before God, surrendering all I was for His grace.  That I might learn to love Him as He deserves to be loved.

It’s ironic how answers to prayers work out.  I’d heard of God answering prayers in ways that you never expected, but I’d never truly experienced it for myself.  Also in this vein, I’d heard that God answers prayer remarkably fast at times.  Instantly.  But again, I’d never had it happen to me.  This time however, the answer to prayers came to pass mere hours later and left me gasping.

One of the worst things I could have ever imagined could happen happened.  It choked me.  I felt lost.  I felt like I had just been ripped away from God’s Will.  Apparently, though, we have an uncanny habit of trying to tell God what His Will is, only to be told otherwise.  Not that I hadn’t been doing God’s Will before, or that it had been remotely bad, but God decided that other things had to happen here and now.  I was left making hard decisions and battling what I wanted to feel rather than accept what God wanted me to do.

Perhaps He’ll give me back the precious gift He took away, and perhaps it will all work out again.  In any case, I have to abide in His Will, as that’s the place where I know I should be.  It’s just not comfortable sometimes.  But God works out all things together for good, and His plans are to prosper and not to harm us.  I don’t know what He’s doing, but He’s doing something.  His ways are higher than my ways, and His thoughts higher than my thoughts.  Whatever happens, it will be what God wanted.  It will be all right.

“‘Cause we are broken/What must we do to restore our innocence?/And all the promise we adored/Give us life again/‘Cause we just want to be whole/Tower over me/Tower over me/And I’ll take the Truth at any cost.”
- “We Are Broken” by Paramore

- Ian

http://www.perlhowto.com/iterate_through_a_hash

I posted a blog about our ring road project and how we were going to use Top Gear as the influence. After the meeting where we discusses our idea with out tutors we decided that it was too challenging to do with the time span and could be hard to make it interesting. We all went away and came up with various ideas each. When we next met up we discussed our ideas and one of my ideas was chosen. I had said about doing a nightmare scene where the person wakes up in the Allen Terry. After we did some story boarding we began to film. We are filming at night to enhance the nightmare genre. We are uploading the footage we have so far today and then we are going to decide what else we need to film.

I did my ELP test today for advantage, i passed with 82%, it was mainly common knowledge i thought!

xxx

A factor that is driving the trend towards automating the sales department is the extent to which speed has become a strategic advantage in the selling process. Once, it was acceptable for salespeople to promise to get back to customers with answers to questions. Increasingly, those salespeople are finding that by the time they get back to their customers with the necessary information, the sales opportunity has evaporated. The ability to respond to customers quickly is crucial to success, and the tolerances are narrower than ever before.

Similarly, the ability to compress the sales order cycle is becoming an extremely significant factor in a competitive situation. Your customers, who are under the same competitive pressures as you, are placing more and more emphasis on increased cash flow and reduced inventories. Reducing your sales order cycle from four days to two can make an important and measurable difference, certainly enough of a difference to determine whether or not you get the order.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

(Photo by Palmgoon)

Aah, video games–the life force of our children and maybe even our husbands? The driving force behind our mom’s high-pitched voice when trying to overpower the sound of our roaring car in the racing game.   But did you ever think what good can it do to you, excluding  the extreme pleasure you feel when you tease those people-that-cannot-beat-you-but-shout-at-them-furiously-when-they-do?

The greatest enemy that a gamer has would be the “Mom” — yes i’m talking about your mother.  She would always tell us to stop playing and go study instead; that it would fry our brains and make us dumb; that it would turn us into couch potatoes; do something productive like mow the lawn; throw the trash out; and that it is not good for our health –Any excuse that she can think of just to separate the game console from us.  I know that mother knows best but I do not think “mom” knows anything about video games.  Sorry mom, but you are so wrong.

Well here are some things that you should know in case this kind of thing happens to you.

Did you know that playing video games that are created these past few years can actually be beneficial to us? The best video game console for me would be Wii. This does not only enhances your flexibility, it can actually let you lose weight and stay fit while enjoying beating those nasty aliens! They have designed this game in a way that it lets you be on the game and lets you experience everything the character in the game is having. In fact, they even designed a console that would let you get out of the couch and do some *yawns* , yes… exercise! Wiifit allows you to do yoga stretching and aerobic workouts while having fun! Now that is the kind of game that I’m sure “mom” would love to have and spend time with. 

Show this video to your mom:

Wii also have sports games that would entertain Dad! A great family bonding without really spending much, like you do when you actually do it outside. Although, going outside and playing sports is the best thing, this is the second best thing! 

If your mom tells you to do something productive, tell her that you can earn money from playing video games.  The pay differs depending on your skill as a gamer.  You can have jobs as “game testers” or be a champion gamer and get the prize. Who says you can’t earn by playing games?  If you are into online gaming, there are a lot of competitions that are being held all over the world as well and Korea is one of the most active host.  You would even get to tour around the world for free, imagine that!

Now, if you want to be fit and rich…GO PLAY VIDEO GAMES!

made by well good gun bad shiping on airsplats terms though but overall good gun 430 fps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJzoYRQvCA8&hl=en

Visit : Best HDTV For You Convection Oven

For generations, most people never sought specialized knowledge after completing school. What they learned about business, managing, selling, or their profession was acquired on an accidental hit-or-miss basis.

Now that’s changed. Today there are seminars, workshops, short courses, and conferences where you can learn the latest techniques and knowledge about anything you need to know. These sources of specialized knowledge have three advantages over conventional education. They are taught by experts, not be people whose only qualification is a degree. Second, the subject matter relates directly to your needs. Irrelevant information is avoided. And third, you’ll acquire as much useful information from other attendees as you do from the instructors. Specialized learning meetings attract only sharp people eager to make more money and enjoy greater success.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

Apparently I have enough time to update my post tag list, nothing new in the land of N yet, trying to figure out how I’m going to interlink all of my story’s into movuies and stuff.

You now have the opportunity to take advantage of a truly unique offer that doesn’t come along too often.

Here’s the deal …

I recently released a valuable and unique product consisting of three proven squeeze page templates which also include professional, high-quality audio …

This is a brand new template package – and ALL the work has been done for you – all you do is insert YOUR own copy, and add YOUR autoresponder info.

• HTML
• High quality headers & footers
• Professional audio narrated “generic” squeeze page greetings
• Flash is done (and included)
• All media and images files are embedded and ready to rock!
• Play / Stop / Rewind / Fast Foward buttons are also included

THREE COMPLETE SETS are included!

• Different graphics
• Different color schemes
• Different audio files

Continue Reading…

The multi-domestic strategy is appropriate for innovations that depend on understanding local customer preferences, tastes, expectations, distribution channels, and local government regulations than they do on the technological knowledge on which they rest. This strategy is appropriate when the need for market information is high while that for technological information is low. Makers of packaged consumer goods (detergents and cereals) such as Unilever have pursued this strategy. Firms that pursue the multi-domestic strategy have self-sufficient units in each country to better discern and meet local customer preferences and tastes. On the other hand, if technological information requirements are high relative to market information requirements, a firm may want to pursue a global strategy. Firms can locate their facilities either where the environment is most suitable for technological innovations or at home where they have some endowments that give them some advantage. From there they develop products for world markets. If both market and technological information demands are low, a firm can operate using the international arrangement. It can take advantage of whatever home capabilities it has to develop products for its home market. Once the products are successful at home, it can then transfer the capabilities and the innovation to overseas. If both market and technological information needs are high. The transnational arrangement is best. In this mode, firms have access to the best sources of innovation, and the technological knowledge and the market knowledge that underpin them, worldwide.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, Lectures, Line of Sight.

Nations are built not with bricks and stones but with the capacity to create and apply knowledge. The result of knowledge creation and application in manufacturing and management practices is well demonstrated by Japan. Today we are witness to many industrialized economies that are strengthening their manufacturing activities simply by adopting these techniques.

The distinguishing characteristics associated with Japanese manufacturing techniques include an emphasis on designing and redesigning processes to optimize efficiency and a strong commitment to quality.

The manufacturing techniques that Japanese companies practice provide a competitive advantage and outstanding economic performance. The key for success is an understanding of the broad context of manufacturing culture, infrastructure and environment. These sound manufacturing and business techniques created and adopted by leading Japanese manufacturers have turned out to be the secret of their market leadership in many industries.

Following are a few of these concepts, which can help in managing any business set-up in a better way:

• Kaizen is one such technique, which in Japanese means ‘improve.’ This is commonly recognized as practices focusing on continuous improvement in manufacturing activities, business activities in general, and even life in general, depending on interpretation and usage. By improving standardized activities and processes, Kaizen helps in eliminating waste.
• Another management Japanese technique is the 5-S. It is a technique used to establish and maintain quality environment in an organization. It has five elements: Seiri (sorting out useful and frequently used materials and tools from unwanted and rarely used things); Seiton (keeping things in the right place systematically so that searching or movement time is minimized); Seiso (keeping everything around you clean and in a neat manner); Seiketsu (standardizing the above principles in everyday life) and Shitsuke (inculcating good habits and practicing them continuously). The 5-S practice helps everyone in the organization to live a better life.
• Kanban and ‘Just in Time’ are two other practices in inventory management practices that were pioneered by the Japanese automobile manufacturers, such as Toyota. Quality improvement, on the other hand, is the result of lower proportion of component scrap since the components spend less time in the supply chain.
• Poka-yoke is a process improvement focused on training of workers for mastering the increasingly complicated tasks to selectively redesign the tasks so they could be more easily and reliably mastered. It involves designing a foolproof process to eliminate the chance of errors.
• Jidoka is a practice by means of which an individual worker runs several machines simultaneously. Japan thus designs such machines that eliminate both error and the need for constant supervision.
• Muda is another technique that reduces wasteful activity in service processes. It ensures process efficiency and effectiveness.
• Mura curiously combines rigidity and flexibility and thus teaches service process improvement.
• Reducing Muri means reducing physical strain. In services process improvement, Muri applies to convoluted and unnecessary routings, physical transfer, and distances paper files may have to travel for a process to complete.
• Genchi Gembutsu means going to the actual scene (genchi) and confirming the actual scene (gembutsu). Observation of service processes at the point where it is actually delivered may unearth a host of problems such as lack of training, unnecessary steps, or a number of other areas that would benefit from small but significant process improvement ideas.

This is a glimpse of manufacturing techniques that Japan has so intellectually created and so profoundly practiced in its manufacturing systems that even with no natural resources, it has acquired the status of one of the most industrialized nations. Can we learn from Japan?

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, Lectures, Line of Sight.

The Competitive Advantage of Nations is an internationally acclaimed work in Management literature by Michael E. Porter which talks about the determinants of a nation’s competitiveness and the ways in which they work with the companies already existing in the country itself to create a national advantage.

Porter created a diamond model which essentially points out four determinants of national competitive advantage – Firm Strategy, Structure & Rivalry, Demand Conditions, Related & Supporting Industries and Factor Conditions. Firm Strategy deals with how the companies within a country are created, managed and essentially how they function, and the nature of domestic competition. Demand Conditions, as the name suggests, talks about the magnitude of demand for the products of various companies in the home market. Related & Supporting Industries refers to the presence of ancillary units to various production units. Factor Conditions refers to the availability and quality of the factors of production.

Porter has given numerous examples of each of the above stated determinants of national strategy. If looked at in isolation, each one can account for the success or failure of industries at once. As a combination, the understanding of these determinants is pivotal for the development of a nation’s industries. What porter has consistently pointed out is the role of government as an agent for propagating change. Governments, on their parts, need to encourage the setting up of various industries and then further encourage them to continually innovate their offerings, and most importantly, stimulate demand for the products in concern. Porter talks about deregulation of industries and how it can prove to be a double edged sword. If an example from India is taken from one of the fastest growing sectors in the country – the Auto sector, one can clearly see the evolution that the country has witnessed in the past 15 years. Post-Liberalisation, the consumer Automobile (Four-Wheelers) industry, which was dominated by the partly Government owned Maruti-Suzuki, and privately held smaller firms Hindustan Motors and Premier, has been on a continuous surge for the past 10 years. This surge is not just in the number of cars sold within India, it extends to the development that has taken place in the sector. From a country which had barely 5 four wheelers to choose from in the later 1980s, we are now at a stage where choices are practically limitless, and not just in absolute terms, also within segments. If one looks at the process, it is clearly understandable that foreign players haven’t been successful unless they’ve set up their production facilities within the country because of the existing duty structure (120% Customs Duty on imports). Companies from the Korean giant Hyundai to the German marquee Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) have set up their production facilities in the country because of the support available from the related & supportive industries, the existence of demand and availability of cheap factors of production. In fact, because of the inherent advantages offered by the country, Hyundai Motors India has actually converted India into its global production hub for two of its internationally successful models – the Hyundai i10 and Hyundai i20. This essentially points out the competitive advantage that India holds for Automobile manufacturers, which becomes a win-win situation where in the manufacturers have the advantage of low-cost production without compromising quality, and the country gets the advantage of the internationally updated product offerings and further enhancement of the sector.

However, the competitive advantage of a nation is highly dependent of that of other nations. It is evident that Hyundai would not consider India for a high-end automobile because the country simply does not offer an advantage over the company’s existing facilities in its own homeland South Korea, which is precisely why the high-end Hyundai’s are still produced there and then sold globally.

Reference:

The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Michael E. Porter