If it were not for QQ’s presentation, I would not have known Skype has changed tremendously since my last use two years ago. The interface and texture look more professional and the new functions like the ‘Share Screen’ are very interesting. I still have the exclusive video of her laughable parody to Skype’s call-in music. I’m sorry – I can’t post it up here – NSFW.

Great moves she had there but let’s not perish her image especially when internship commences next week. And we all know most likely, employers get curious sometimes. (:

Pat Law’s lecture let us in on a lot of exclusive websites. I have taken note of them – feel free to browse through:

Tweetica: http://tweetica.com

Twitalyzer: http://twitalyzer.com

Twitter Grader: http://twitter.grader.com

Alexa: http://www.alexa.com

URLfan: http://urlfan.com

Compete: http://compete.com

Popuri: http://www.popuri.us/

Wefollow: http://wefollow.com/

Tweetizen: http://tweetizen.com

MrTweet: http://mrtweet.net/

Twellow: http://www.twellow.com/

Muck Rack: http://muckrack.com/

Media on Twitter:  http://www.mediaontwitter.com/

Twitterfall: http://twitterfall.com/

Monitter: http://monitter.com/

Hashtag: http://search.twitter.com/

Daymix: http://daymix.com/

Whostalkin: http://whostalkin.com

SocialMention: http://socialmention.com/

MonitorThis: http://monitorthis.info/

BoardTracker: http://v2.boardtracker.com/

Omgili: http://omgili.com/

Technorati: http://technorati.com/

Google Blogsearch: http://blogsearch.google.com

Icerocket: http://icerocket.com/

Ping.sg: http://ping.sg

Blogarama: http://www.blogarama.com

PBWIKI: http://pbworks.com

Netivities: http://www.thedailyinfluence.com/

Google Reader: http://www.google.com/reader

Google Alexis: http://www.google.com/alerts

Alltop: http://www.alltop.com

Delicious: http://www.delicious.com

–

Now, that’s A LOT of links. Credits to Pat Law (and to me for painstakingly stressing my eyes over the two-megapixels pictures to figure out them).

1 Corinthians 9:24:27

Say to Archippus, “Take  heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.” Colossians 4:17

When I was in college, I ran on the cross-country team. In the final even of the season, the state’s small colleges competed against each other, with about 75 runners in the event. We ran the 5K course in the rain and mud on a cold November day.

As I neared the finish line, I spied a runner from one of the other schools just a short distance ahead of me. He became my goal. I ran as hard as I could and passed him just as I crossed the finish line. That last dash meant I finished 42nd, which seemed a lot better than 43rd! It meant our team finished one position higher in the final standings than the team represented by the runner I beat. The point? I didn’t give up — I ran all the way through the finish line.

This is probably what Paul  had in mind as he wrote to Archippus, one of his young ministry proteges: “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it” (Colossians 4:17). When we feel discouraged and want to quit, it’s good to remember that the Lord who entrusted us with the privilege of spiritual service will give us the grace and strength to carry out that service. Let us “run with endurance” (Hebrews 12:1) so that we will receive the “imperishable crown” (1 Corinthians 9:25). —bill crowder

Run the straight race through God’s good grace, lift up thine eyes and seek His face; life with its way before us lies, Christ is the path and Christ the prize. —monsell

Running with patience is perseverance in the “long run.”

An organization will not begin the transformation until it is aware that the quality of the product or service must be improved. Awareness comes about when an organization loses market share or realizes that quality and productivity go hand in hand. It also occurs if TQM is mandated by the customer or if management realizes that TQM is a better way to run business and compete in domestic and world markets.

Automation or other productivity enhancements might not help a corporation if it is unable to market its product or service because the quality is poor. The Japanese learned this fact from practical experience. They could sell their products only at ridiculously low prices, and even then it was difficult to secure repeat sales. Until recently, corporations have not recognized the importance of quality. However, a new attitude has emerged—quality first among the equals of cost and service—the customer wants value.

Quality and productivity are not mutually exclusive. Improvements in quality can lead directly to increased productivity and other benefits. The improved quality results in improvement in productivity, capacity, and profit. Many quality improvement projects are achieved with the same workforce, same overhead, and no investment in new equipment.

More and more corporations are recognizing the importance and necessity of quality improvement if they are to survive domestic and world-wide competition. Quality improvement is not limited to the conformance of the product or service to specifications; it also involves the inherent quality in the design of the system. The prevention of the product, service, and process problems is a more desirable objective than taking corrective action after the product is manufactured or a service rendered.

TQM does not occur overnight; there are no quick remedies. It takes a long time to build the appropriate emphasis and techniques into the culture. Over-emphasis on short term results and profits must be set aside so long-term planning and constancy of purpose will prevail.

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.

7th in a new series of posts being featured in Diddlyi Magazine. The series will cover my Irish dance training for the 2009 Western Region Oireachtas.

Click here to read it

Telus is urging Industry Minister Tony Clement not to overturn the federal telecommunications regulator’s rejection of Globalive as a cellphone network operator.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ruled on Oct. 29 that Globalive isn’t Canadian-owned and -controlled, and prevented the company from launching its cellphone business. The commission’s decision conflicted with Industry Canada’s approval of Globalive’s ownership structure.

Telus is urging Ottawa not to ease telecom foreign ownership rules ‘ through the back door.’(Chuck Stoody/Canadian Press)

Telus said Wednesday that “changes to the foreign ownership rules must be enacted by Parliament not snuck in through the back door.”

The Burnaby, B.C.-based telecommunications company wants Clement to ignore calls to have the cabinet reverse the CRTC decision. Clement has asked for public comment on Globalive’s ownership by Wednesday.

Bloomberg quoted the chair of Globalive’s parent company, Orascom Telecom of Egypt, as predicting that Industry Canada would overturn the CRTC ruling. Naguib Sawiris was quoted Tuesday as telling reporters in Cairo that he believed “the ruling will be overruled.”

Confusion ‘embarrassing’ for Canada

Also Tuesday, the CEO of another new cellphone company, Public Mobile, said the confusion over telecom ownership rules is “embarrassing” for Canada.

Alek Krstajic said in a letter to Clement that he supports the CRTC decision, but he also said the situation is unfair to Globalive.

“Orascom should not be in the position where they believed that Industry Canada approval would translate directly to approval by the CRTC,” Krstajic said.

Globalive wants to be Canada’s fourth major wireless carrier, competing against Telus, Rogers and Bell. It has spectrum across Canada, except in Quebec.

Public Mobile is one of several new regional players. Other new entrants in the domestic cellphone industry include Quebecor Inc. and satellite radio player Dave Wireless Inc.

(With files from The Canadian Press)

Mortgage aid requests soarCRTC says no to Globalive

The Real Reason We Need U.S. Health Care Reform – Cost 

by Paul Zane Pilzer

Every U.S. entrepreneur is challenged getting affordable health insurance for themselves and their families. Congress and The White House seem completely out of touch with the real issue since most elected officials receive free lifetime care for themselves and their families. 

Note: If and when Congress passes a major health care reform bill, I will be posting an article on what entrepreneurs and small businesses should do to maintain affordable health care for themselves and their employees. 

The single most important problem with U.S. health care is that it costs too much. The U.S. spends much more per person than any developed nation and our population is the unhealthiest of any developed nation. 

There are hundreds of reasons U.S. health care costs so much relative to how little we get for our money. Some of these reasons include: 

1. We pay medical providers for each procedure (even if the procedure is fatal) rather than pay medical providers based on the outcome of each procedure or on the health of the patient. 

2. We have no caps on legal liability for medical mistakes–this causes medical providers to waste billions on tests and procedures of dubious value, some of them dangerous, just to limit court settlements. 

3. We have very limited competition–incredibly, it is still illegal for a health insurance company to sell coverage across a state line. 

4. We pay virtually anything for sickness industry costs once a patient is ill, but virtually nothing for wellness industry costs to keep patients healthy in the first place. 

5. Medical providers immorally charge different patients wildly different rates–from $10 to $100 for the exact same procedure or treatment, based on the network in which the patient is a member. These different rates are hidden from the public and, generally, the poorer you are the more you pay. 

Yet, incredibly, almost all the proposals now being considered in Washington do nothing to reduce or even slow the growth in health care costs. 

The reason is pork–more pork than we may have ever seen in our lifetimes. 

When the debate began earlier this year on how to reform U.S. health care, each medical provider special interest group lined up their favorite legislators to buy their support. Quiet backroom deals were made one-by-one. 

1. The AMA (doctors) was promised that nothing would be done to cut payments to physicians or tie doctor payments to performance. 

2. Trial lawyers were promised that no caps would be put on legal liability for medical mistakes. 

3. Big Pharma was promised that nothing would be done to their net revenues–even obvious fixes like giving Medicaid patients generic vs brand-name drugs were taken off the table. 

4. Inefficient, bloated local insurance companies were promised that they would not have to compete with larger, more efficient national insurers over state lines. 

5. Medical network providers were promised that there would not be “transparency”–the wildly-varying charges medical providers immorally charge each patient would never be disclosed to the public or to the patient. 

U.S health care reform started out with a noble goal–get health insurance coverage for the millions of Americans who want coverage and are currently slipping through the cracks for two primary reasons: (1) They have a pre-existing medical condition and reside in a state with poor state-guaranteed coverage; or (2) They cannot afford coverage but are either not poor enough to join the 45 million Americans receiving Medicaid or not old enough to join the 47 million Americans receiving Medicare. 

Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, just after the House has passed its version of health care reform. we have been sold out. 

We, the American people, deserve better. 

I talk to small business owners where ever I go, where ever I shop, and whomever I speak with, and while it remains true the economy is far from recovering, we have not yet bottomed out and have a ways to go, there are many examples of business owners doing better.
It is impossible to generalize as each situation tends to be unique but overall I can take a few lessons away from these conversations as follows:

1. It’s not about the growth within the market place, that is not what is happening, it is about one businesses grabbing an additional share of a smaller market, that IS what is happening with many of those who are successful. It appears to be a matter of doing a better job of adjusting to the existing market and attracting more of the remaining business that is available.

2. It is also about the consumer believing he/she is getting a fair deal, good value and quality merchandise. Everyone is involved in adjusting their consumerism attitude where we collect goods to feel better. Now they are buying what they want and need but far more selectively, and shopping for a good experience which includes many aspects, price, guaranty, shopping experience, a deal, whatever it takes.

3. Not everyone has lost their job, not everyone is dealing with reduced pay. There remains a huge market of well off, successful consumers who have more than enough disposable income to continue to afford their wants and needs and purchasing whatever they choose whenever they want to, and these people remain available to market to and earn from. It is not just the high end; it is throughout the maize of consumers. While many are losing their jobs the remainder, the vast majority are doing fine, even better, in many cases better than before. They may have changed their buying attitude but they are available for the right pitch.

4. With so much of the competition being weeded out through closings, the last man standing theory is putting the remaining small businesses into a better and better light. A huge wave of buying local, buying from smaller stores and regaining the quality relationships that were universal is returning. The shopping experience has changed and quality relationship building is back in the mix, trust is being reestablished. This is where small business can out-compete large box stores and take back a percentage of the market they lost to them previously. Reconsider the customer shopping experience received when working with your business.

5. The objective now is to lead, not follow. You cannot succeed if you are responding to your competition, you can win if you are out in front, taking the lead and forcing your competition to respond to you. It’s time to put on your happy face and rock and roll, the market is yours for the taking, it’s a hard job but what other choice do you have?

The tide is turning against the big box stores and the weaker small stores. Stand out and take the lead, you will be rewarded.

No time for excuses, the opportunity, as always, exists for those who dare to excel.

6th in a new series of posts being featured in Diddlyi Magazine. The series will cover my Irish dance training for the 2009 Western Region Oireachtas.

Click here to read it

Where government-owned companies compete with privately owned companies, the private companies sometimes complain that the government companies have unfair advantages. Some of the complaints are 1) government-owned companies can cut prices unfairly because they do not have to make profits; 2) they get cheaper financing; 3) they get government contracts; 4) they get export assistance; and 5) they can hold down wages with government assistance.

Another huge advantage state-owned companies have over privately owned business concerns in the form of direct subsidies, payments by the government to their companies.

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

An average eigth grade middle school math student

can compete

with a typical high school sophomore math student.

Today in prayer, with so many Oaks Staff members and OSL students gathered together, I couldn’t help but be moved. I think there is something very, very special about a group of people unified in one purpose, especially when that purpose is to reflect on the one true God and to worship Him.

I wonder sometimes what life would look like if we could keep this type of mindset throughout the rest of our activities and interactions of the day. It seems we are in a war against each other, in a battle where both sides are losing, and I think it is time to lay our weapons down. I yearn for a church that isn’t divided, that fights the same fight on the same side. We are growing weary, and some of us have given up altogether.

With unity, there is power and there is purpose. I think a truly unified church would be pleasing to the Lord, and that he would love to pour blessings down on a people who seek not to fight and war and compete but who wish to see His kingdom advance in the most powerful way possible.

Vietnam’s Miss Sport 2007, Tran Thi Quynh, will travel to China for Miss International 2009, to take place in Sichuan Province from November 13 to 28.

Vietnam’s Miss Sport 2007 Tran Thi Quynh

The contestant, 23, from the northern city of Hai Phong, graduated from the Faculty of Sport at Hanoi National University of Education. She has also been a volleyball player for four years.

Miss Quynh, who was also runner-up in the Miss Hai Phong 2006 beauty pageant, is a traffic reporter for Voice of Vietnam.

The Vietnamese contestant, together with her fellow competitors, will participate in environmental activities, charity work supporting disadvantaged children and visit Chinese historical sites during the contest.

More than 70 contestants from around the world will compete in the 49th Miss International pageant.

Related articles:
Tran Thi Quynh Crowned Miss Sport Viet Nam 2007
Lan Huong to take part in Miss Model pageant
Northern beauty to represent VN in world pageant

Bookmark & Share

The EarthCare Challenge, presented by Hickory Springs, is making the call for “eco-oblivious” contestants! This first-of-its-kind nationwide contest that will chronicle–in a reality game show environment–the challenges of six contestants aspiring to live more sustainable lifestyles. The contest will take place entirely on the Internet on social networking communities Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and EarthCareInside.com.
One lucky grand prize winner will receive an earth-friendly home furnishings makeover for their home, valued at $5,000! On December 1, Hickory Springs will announce six regional finalists who will embark on a 45-day Green Makeover. The contestants’ progress will be chronicled through social media sites, while the public will be invited to participate by voting for their favorite contestant and becoming a fan of designated sites for a chance to win special discounts and prizes.

The winner will be selected in January 2010 by Hickory Springs, and will be awarded their own personal collection of eco-friendly furnishings for their home!

Entering The EarthCare Challenge is easy! There are two ways to do it:Facebook with a short paragraph describing why you are “eco-oblivious” and want to live a more sustainable/green lifestyle. Make sure to include a photo or two about the areas of your lifestyle needing an eco-friendly makeover. See sample topics below.Facebook or YouTube channel. Use your digital camera, camera phone, web cam; the length is up to you. See sample topics below.

1. Photo Entry
Email EarthCare or post to them on

OR

2. Video Entry
Shoot a quick video to post to either the company’s 

Sample Topics for your Entry
Feel free to work with these or make up your own:

• Open your fridge. Test your “locavore” count – how many locally sourced products can you identify?

• Are your household cleaners begging for an eco-overhaul? Amass them and take a photo.

• “Show and Tell” one green item that you love. Could be anything from all-natural laundry detergent to the bicycle that helps you lower your carbon footprint

• What does the “recycling hub” of your home look like? What do you recycle?

• Talk about your favorite method of transportation.

The contest is open to U.S. residents ages 21. For rules and entry information, visit EarthCareInside.com. Or, learn more about the contest on YouTube.

Organic Amenity Home offering 20% off adorable baby gear and more (Gallery) Soft, natural, eco-friendly fibers are a must-have for baby’s soft skin. Beautiful, timeless design often comes with a steeper pricetag, so a… Keep Reading »
Finding a green job: Tips for breaking into the industry Green jobs are hotter than ever. If you’ve never worked in a green industry or you’re trying to reinvent your skillset to woo prospective employers,… »
10 Tips for choosing eco-chic furnishings: Gorgeous, conscious, earth-friendly style Obsess about style, yet crave functionality? Greening your home shouldn’t mean giving up your aesthetic, or necessarily even adopting a new… »
Cost saving E-Cloth microfiber cloths offer best green household cleaning Several months ago, I was asked to test the E-Cloth, a series of job-specific microfiber towels that require only water to clean every surface inside… »
6 Biodegradable cleansers go for a test-run A simple change in cleaning product is a painless way to help the environment while safe-guarding your family’s health; Across the board, prices… »
A green approach to laundry–whiter whites and making it yourself With a busy family of four, the laundry certainly piles up. I’ve always used eco-friendly products, and I have a front-loading HE machine (which uses… »

From my experience as a college athlete at Tiffin University I have noticed that it takes a lot of practice if you want to compete at a high level.  Therefore I agree with some of the previous posts where players say it takes more than the twenty or eight,  hour a week limits created by the NCAA.  The players say that if you want to be good then you have to put in more time.  However, they also say that this is work that is not done with the coaches and it is not mandatory.  Rather it is work done by asking coaches what needs to be worked on to become a better player and once that is figured out it is on the player themselves to do that in their free time.   I agree with this completely, that players need to do extra things such as lifting, agility, watch more tape to make themselves better and this is all stuff that can be done without the help of coaches.  I also disagree with these allegations placed on the University of Michigan because most players do put in more time and that is only because they want to be better and they want to win.  I know from experience that coaches keep track of time spent practicing so that the limits are not exceeded.  However, I also know from experience that I have put in the extra time  by myself so that I could become a better player and I will continue to do so, so that I can become the best player I can possibly be.

5th in a new series of posts being featured in Diddlyi Magazine. The series will cover my Irish dance training for the 2009 Western Region Oireachtas.

Click here to read it

My first teaching job out of college was at a small, private, college prep school. I worked for a very wise headmaster. The principal at a local public school was interviewed in the paper and was comparing her school to our school and slamming us in the process. She said things that weren’t true. She said things that were true, but being small and never able to get our hands on the public money she was receiving, we’d never be able to compete. I was highly irritated that our school was getting such bad press as a result. We were a great school! How could she say these things?

Our headmaster said to me in his very best Michael Douglas (Wall Street) voice, “Jane, Competition is good!”

Competition keeps us on our toes. It ensures that we’re striving to be better.  As long as it doesn’t overtake our sensibilities, competition encourages us to be the best we can be.

Unless you have a son like mine.

Because we homeschooled our daughter for 4 years everyone just assumed we would homeschool the boys. Nope. Ain’t gonna happen. I knew this from the time they were infants. They are 10 months apart in age and ever since #2son was born #1son would do everything in his power to outshine him. Competitive doesn’t even begin to describe.

And after these few days of staying home from school I’m convinced we made the right decision. And I’m even more pleased with the school we chose for them.

We chose to go the Montessori route. It is a non-competitive, child-centered, (mostly) self-directed way of learning. I put the word mostly in parentheses because many people think my kids just wander around a classroom and spend the entire day playing with beads if they want to. The teacher in a Montessori classroom is a guide and makes sure that my boys work on a little of everything. Not a problem in #1son’s case. He races to complete everything he can get his hands on before anyone else.

Which posed a problem missing this many days of school. The first day he was out he asked me about 20 times, “How many days am I going to be home from school?” I smiled. “Until you’re better,” I’d say. My ego stroked. He loves being home with Mommy, I thought.  My sweet little boy and I are going to have such great bonding time these next few days. But the next morning he woke up and said he’d had a bad dream. “I dreamt I missed FOUR WHOLE DAYS of school!” Trying to coax the reason out of him, and fulling expecting to further feed my ego, I asked why he was so anxious about not going to school? “Because!” he declared, “I’m not doing my work! Ethan and Liza will fill their cubbies up before me! I haven’t finished my chart! My chart will be empty when I get back! What if Jayden gets to learn a new lesson before me? I HAVE to get back to school!!!”

So much for wanting to be home alone with Mommy.

Luckily, his dear, sweet, teacher called us yesterday afternoon to check on him. I told her his concerns. She asked me to put him on the phone.

I don’t know what she said to him but it worked. He calmed down. His competitive spirit is now in a weakened but healthy state.

Yes, competition is good. But we all have a stockpile of memories or situations when competition is paralyzing, cruel or unkind. The trick is to live in the balance. 

It looks like #1son and I have our work cut out for us!

An industry’s key success factors (KSFs) are those things that most affect the ability of industry members to prosper in the marketplace—the particular strategy elements, product attributes, resources, competencies, competitive capabilities, and business outcomes that spell the difference between profit and loss. Key success factors concern what every industry member must be competent at doing or concentrate on achieving in order to be competitively and financially successful. KSFs are so important that all firms in the industry must pay them close attention—they are the prerequisite for industry success. The aswers to three questions help indentify an industry’s key success factors:

• On what basis do customers choose between the competing brands of sellers?
• What must a seller do to be competitively successful—what resources and competitive capabilities does it need?
• What does it take for sellers to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage?

Determining the industry’s key success factors is a top priority. At the very least, managers need to understand the industry situation well enough to know what is more important to competitive success and what is less important. They need to know what kinds of resources are valuable. Misdiagnosing the industry factors critical to long-term competitive success greatly raises the risk of a misdirected strategy—one that over-emphasizes less important competitive targets and under-emphasizes more important competitive capabilities. On the other hand, a company with perceptive understanding industry KSFs can gain substantial competitive advantage by training its strategy on industry KSFs and devoting its energies to being better than rivals on one or more of these factors. Indeed, KSFs represent golden opportunities for competitive advantage—companies that stand out on a particular KSF enjoy a stronger market position for their efforts. Hence using one or more of the industry’s KSFs as cornerstones for the company’s strategy and trying to gain sustainable competitive advantage by excelling at one particular KSF is a fruitful approach.

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

I like Compete.  I use their free analytics services and don’t mind receiving their marketing emails about their premium offerings.

Here’s an email I received from them today, though.  Doh!

I don't think this is the core message which Compete wants to convey

The problem, of course, is that gmail (like many email platforms) suppressed Compete’s embedded images by default.  It was only after I clicked to enable images in the email that Compete’s intended message appeared:

That's more like it

The lesson of course is that you should prepare for this and know in advance how your email will look with the images suppressed.  It’s sort of like those classic Mad Magazine “fold-in” puzzles.