Solar Security Films, Inc. has recently been awarded the fragment retention film project at Hill AFB, Ogden, Utah.

Solar Security Films, Inc was selected for award based on the companies vast experience and expertise in installing fragment retention film systems and thier unique ability to execute these projects with little to no distruption of DoD staff. The project is expected to take 4 weeks to complete.

Рано сутринта (към десет, десет и нещо) Огнян успя да ми изкара акъла с не-дотам добре анонсирани, мними промени в Гугъл. Пфиу… Въздъхвам облекчено.

Wow do I feel tired, sore and beat down today! After teaching my regular Jiu jitsu class today I attended a closed-door training session at Gracie Sydney Headquarters in Coogee. My coach Bruno Panno (head of Gracie Sydney), asked me to come along and is now holding these sessions every Wednesday afternoon from 2-4pm and what a great idea they are! No ego or fanfare , just a bunch of guys coming together to train and get better! I believe the only proviso is, that it is only open to Gracie Sydney Association (GSA) members from purple belt through to black belt!

www.graciesydney.com

After a great training session with a healthy mix of purple, brown and black belts I am reminded of one thing… I need to do some more gi training! As of late I have placed more of a focus on no gi training as the weather is getting warmer and one of my main training partners/coaches is overseas. But today as I worked hard to pass some of these purple and brown belt’s guards, it became painfully clear that training with the gi really does give you more options and obstacles to pass! I mean some of these purple and brown belt’s guard games were sweet, transitioning smoothly from closed guard to seated guard to spider guard to various styles of open guard. The possibilities and options with the gi are almost endless and I walked away thinking I need to work on a few things:

1. Passing that damn spider guard

2. It’s amazing how far a good solid game grounded in the basics takes you. Even when facing unfamiliar techniques and positions, if your basics are solid and you know how to use your weight and apply leverage you can wreak havoc on your training partner’s “new positions”!

3. Man those little guys are fast and dangerous!!! I need to work on using the gi to slow them down, control and contain their movements so that I can best put my skill set to good use and make them play my game!

4. I’m so disappointed that I missed Guilherme Mendes’s seminar on Monday night at VT1 Gym! Some of the stuff that Owen Gee Kee showed me today was mind-boggling… Particularly the way that they apply their same passing game from all different types of guards and positions!!!

Now that I think about it I really am amazed at how far  Jiu jitsu has come in Australia. I mean the standards of everyone training today was really high and a lot of that is due to the work done by Bruno Panno over the last 8 years! He really has created a great learning environment and I look forward to more of these sessions over the coming weeks, months and new year! There’s just so much more to learn that I am reminded of an old adage, “the more I learn, the more I realise that i dont know”. Anyway that’s it for today and if you’re ever in Sydney, Australia please feel free to drop in and train at Gracie Sydney!

Good luck with your training and Happy rolling!

Felipe

Jiu jitsu Kingdom

Even tho some girls in my class are all bitter to me because i’m talking to Doug. Even tho his ex girlfriend is calling me a s**t behind my back. Even tho i’m getting a bit of shit from many people at school for no reason, i’m still happy and smiling, smiling big!

Today when i got to my locker he was there to walk me to class like he did yesterday. He was hiding something behind his back, and i was like haha i can see that! So i opened it and it was a chocolate advent calendar! It’s so sweet of him =D He said the only condition was that i had to share every one of them with him. So we opened and shared the first one.

At lunch time he asked Eva if she wanted to exchange places, Eva sits next to me, so he could sit next to me. He said he had many plans for us this week since i’m not grounded anymore. He asked me if my mom was picking up from soccer practice and i said no, i was walking back home with the girls, and he asked if he could come to my practice and then walk me home. I said sure, and he hugged me…in the cafeteria…at lunch time…IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!

After practice, on our way back home, we were talking about the GSA club. A few days ago he told me he joined because he strongly belive we are all equal and deserve to be treated equally, i couldn’t agree more, and he said he had a strong point to be certain about it, but didn’t say what was it.
So we were talking about GSA club and he asked me why i joined. I said what i believe, that we’re all equal and its in our hand to make a change and make society treat all of us as equals, since we ARE equal. Then he told me why he joined. Apparently his uncle, his dad’s younger brother, is gay. They grew up in a very conservative town where no one was openly gay, actually his uncle didn’t even know how to call the attraction for boys he felt, or what was it. He tried dating girls, went through a lot of tough experiences, arguments with his family, losing some family members’ support, and was very unhappy that society didn’t accept him as he was. Then, many years ago, his uncle traveled to Europe (Holland), where gay marriage was legal, and homosexuals walked the streets as what they are, normal people like anyone else. His uncle was so shocked that he was accepted and treated like he deserved by complete strangers, foreigners, that he got depressed when he came back to America.
Now, after many years of battling against himself and who he really is, he is happily married (he got married in Holland), and just very happy, but not as happy as he could be if he had the same rights as straight people do. And this is Doug’s favorite uncle, so that’s why he joined the GSA.

I see us going somewhere, i really do. I don’t wanna anticipate anything, but i think its time i tell my parents about Doug. We’re nothing yet, not “officially” anyways, but i think i should let them know i have a “especial” friend, shouldn’t i?

You might have got the impression that I’m a fan of velcro in this project. I like what it offers as a material, and I like the playful nature of the ripping noise it makes, as well as the fact that varying the speed of removal simply makes more noise – a quick rip is louder, while trying to do it gently just makes the noise more prolonged.

However, I’m not blind to its flaws – it eats fluff, which degrades the quality of the velcro over time, and in relation to the previous concepts, could prove to be a problem. Also, at the price offered by a local craft store, it doesn’t seem particularly viable in cost terms.

As a result, I decided to take a careful look at whether or not the material is suitable to design with. First off, I looked at the price. Unable to extract information on the trade price of velcro from the shop, a look online reveals that it can be obtained considerably cheaper, especially when you factor in bulk buying:

1m of hook strip & 1m of loop strip, 50mm wide, self-adhesive

Retail price – £7.00 per metre
Bulk price – £1.10 per metre

Clearly, cost is not as much of an issue as initially expected. The retail markup is very high, and any mainstream production of the item would not utilise materials bought at retail price.

Secondly, I looked into the life-expectancy of hook & loop fastening (the generic name for Velcro). While it was difficult to find a reliable source, an article in Popular Science from July 1978 states that “Nylon fasteners have a cycle life of 10,000 openings and closings”. If an item’s enclosure is used 10 times a day, then the individual velcro piece will still last for just under three years, which isn’t unreasonable, given the low cost of replacement material.

The final issue is the fluff problem, and that can’t really be explained away – the hook side is very bad for attracting thread, hair, and anything else that happens to be blowing around. So, the only way to avoid that is to prevent the material – specifically the hook side – being exposed to dirty environments… can this be done?

As I mentioned, I’m still dabbling in a few different ideas for expressing my final concept. The concept itself is to use sound to alert staff members to the fact that someone has picked up one of the store’s high-risk items, but obviously there’s more than one way to do this.

From the previous post on the cutlery dispensers in the Ref, I’ve had a think about how similar dispensing technology could be used to attract staff attention. Storing high-risk items in a dispenser setup has a number of benefits:

• Simple to stock
• Allows stock to be stored neatly on the shop floor
• Simple for customer to access
• Does not impede customer’s experience
• Their use attracts the attention of the staff member

So, I began to think about the problem, again using spray cans as an exemplar product – it’s clear that this type of solution would be easy to tailor to a range of products of varying styles.

The sheet above basically shows a few quick sketches to try and thrash out how the paint can be displayed in various dispenser configurations. Three important points are highlighted here; it cannot be too complex, and ideally, it should be modular, to allow it to fit simply into the shop display – it should also offer some point where the release of a product creates an audible signal.

Using a rotating gate at the end of the dispenser, it’s possible to allow only one product to be released at a time, but in a manner that results in a prolonged sound from the release mechanism – a simple ratchet in the handle of the release creates noise as it turns. However, the manner in which stock is inserted creates an obvious flaw, as the gravity-fed method used here means the customer – and ultimately, thieves – can remove products from the top of the dispenser.

Adapting the stand to a design that fits with the idea of modularity, it’s possible to see how a range of one product type could be displayed in a small space. However, stocking is again an issue, as front-loading displays will make customers who remove items to browse less likely to put the item back properly (if they are unsure how to re-insert it through the gate in the display, for example).

I have reservations about this idea. Whilst I accept that it is highly adaptable through a few design changes, stocking is still an issue, and to me, it seems a little bulky… Obviously at this time in the project, I need to decide quickly what my solution is, but I don’t want to dismiss a concept too quickly. If something comes out of this in the next day or so, then so be it, but I’m not going to force a compromised idea forward.

The Senate confirmed Dan Gordon as the administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Office of Management and Budget.  He comes highly recommended by Steve Kelman, a former holder of this job who was acclaimed as an innovator.

The procurement arena in federal agencies has been under a lot of attack in recent years with some calling it a “toxic environment.”  The Obama Administration has made contract reform one of its top management goals and it has issued lots of guidance in its first year.  In addition, the procurement community is facing major challenges in rebuilding itself in the wake of retirements and downsizing in the past decade.

But there are rays of hope! 

A recent article by Federal Computer Week’s Nick Wakeman, “Five Signs Procurement Is Ready for a Revolution,” cites John Nyce from Interior, who says “We are at a point where we can make some game changing decisions:”

• Shared services organizations that support procurement activities have to get better at serving their customers;
• The younger acquisition workforce expects technology to be there to get their jobs done;
• Market analysis information will now come from multiple sources;
• Agencies will have to be more efficient since there is a shortage of contract officers; and
• Communication is increasing across agency contract shops, allowing for cooperation and the sharing of best practices.

A good example is the growing, self-organizing community of procurement officers on GovLoop, “Acquisition 2.0,” where they are beginning to trade ideas for how to improve operations.  The GovLoop champion, GSA’s Mary Davie, says she was inspired to launch a site to collect good ideas, called the BetterBuyProject.com, and she says she’ll try out some of the ideas offered on the site, within her own agency to see if they merit broader attention.

While a small step, the willingness of the contracting community to step up to the plate is an encouraging sign.  Dan Gordon will have a pool of innovators to inspire!

I am still looking at the dispensing idea, but in the meantime, I got hold of some Velcro and decided to have a shot at mocking up one of my ideas to see how it performed. The model below is made of paper and Velcro strip, giving a rough idea of the concept.

The velcro is double-sided, so when the can is rolled up in the ‘blanket’, the surfaces bond together and hold the can tightly. Multiple units can be stored vertically above and below, with the idea being that only one item of each variety (colour, for example), is accessible to the customer.

The can protrudes from the end of the blanket, making it simple for the customer to quickly identify what colour of paint is which. However, the blanket obscures other data about coverage, ingredients or similar, so there is a need to allow access to this information, preferably without the need to remove the can.

So, given the product is wrapped in a re-usable adhesive surface, I decided to try the idea of removable tags. This means the display unit doesn’t have to be used specifically for one brand, one product, or one specific range of colours, but can be adapted to whatever is in it. In the example above, the label shows colour and info for the customer about obtaining more of the product, but the tab could encompass any information at all.

On asking one of my coursemates to have a try, it became apparent that the method of removal isn’t at all obvious – the product looks fixed aside from the clamps at the top.

Using a simple labelled pull tab, the customer is alerted to the method for releasing the product, which pulls the Velcro open, and allows the simple removal of the item from the display. The display then leaves a visible tab, showing the retailer what product needs to be replaced, and also indicates to the customer the missing item, should they wish to purchase one.

There are a few issues with this concept:

1. You can slide the can out sideways – Fairly obviously, the can is able to be removed by sliding it out sideways from the display. This circumvents the noise-producing aspect of the display, making it useless.
2. Re-stocking is difficult - In order to make sure the display functions correctly, it is necessary to tightly fasten the velcro around the item; it is fiddly to do this.

However, I’m already thinking about these, and am confident they can be overcome. With the deadline looming, I’m keen to pick a definitive solution, so keep reading for more updates, as and when they happen.

The Vacation is approaching and the last day of term is the 11th December, but not everything closes down and GSA and the College have a number of events coming up.

• 5th December – Sinterklaas Party, a traditional Dutch holiday, in Grad Bar
• 11th December - End of Term Celebration in Grad Bar
• 18th December, 5.00 – Children’s Party in the Common Room (meet Santa)
• 18th December, 8.00 XMas Party in Grad Bar with mince pies and Xmas food
• 27th December 9.00 am Trip to the Trafford Centre

The University closes down from Thursday 24th December to Monday the 4th January in the main, but Porters will be on duty in Graduate College during the day for most of this time and Student Support and LUSU produce a guide to Vacation services which will be available in advance.

(LUSU Central is open over the vacation except 25th,26th, 27th December and 1st January)

They’ve recently got a new item in the Ref that caught my eye, which replaces an old system of stock display with a new one. The traditional tray with four compartments – the staple of school canteens the world over – has been replaced with a slick modern design…

Something I’d considered previously, is a similar idea that limits access to products. Although the benefit of hygeine is not really a consideration in relation to shoplifting prevention, other aspects of this dispenser include the fact that people can’t lift handfuls of the product at once, reducing costs for the food outlet, and that re-stocking is simpler thanks to the way in which you can drop refils in to the unit.

The cutlery is arranged into ‘clips’ of dozens of spoons, which are dropped into the dispenser as one unit. Every time someone pushes the handle below, one of the item drops out into the tray at the base. It’s a nice, neat solution to a problem…

Anyway, my idea was basically a similar system that stores several of the markers or paint cans – the items that I’ve been using as exemplar products – but limits access to more than one at a time. I’m developing the idea a little to incorporate a means of audible alert (as is the direction of my project at the moment), so I’ll post back later when I’ve done this, but in the meantime, the ideas that I came up with originally are below – click to see bigger…

So, I popped out yesterday and got hold of a clicker from the local pet shop (in Glasgow’s lovely Savoy Centre, for those who know it). I also managed to get bitten by a rat whilst I was there, which has put a major dint in my typing speed. Anyway – the clicker itself is designed as Wikipedia suggests, and looks like this:

The plastic casing is actually quite important – the metal inside is what creates the noise, with the flex between a convex and concave curve on the surface making the loud ‘click’, but the case makes it more audible than if the metal alone was used. At any rate, you basically just push the button with your thumb, and it clicks both on pressing, and on release too.

At its heart, the product works using a simple bit of spring sheet metal (similar to what’s used to make springs in clocks), and relies on the casing to amplify it, although it does also work on its own.

So can this be used to act as a sensory stimulant? Well, yes, put simply. It’s remarkably simple technology (a bit of bent metal), and is easy to make loud enough to alert staff (as many people in the studio will testify to, after yesterday’s experimentation). To that end, I started having a think about how it could be used with the spray can exemplar, and knocked up a basic idea or two.

Basically, the first notion was that the clicker could be incorporated into the base of a display stand. This would allow the product to be stored in a manner that saves space, allows easy access to any product, but alerts staff each time one is removed. However, it relies on the product being heavy enough to depress the clicker, which isn’t likely – even the small hand-held one needs firm pressure to depress it.

So, from that, I looked at placing it in a different position – as long as it clicks when the product releases, it doesn’t matter where it is in the stand (the click resonates through the structure of any hard surface the spring metal is attached to). Putting it on the side of the rack would allow the easy removal and re-insertion of products (important for stocking displays quickly), while the pressure of the product fitting snugly in its alcove would be enough to ‘prime’ the clicker, ensuring it releases when needed.

In terms of expansion into other product areas, the clicker can be varied in position and size in order to adjust to the display requirements of various items. Practically, it seems like a useful proposition… we’ll see where it goes from here though.

Had a thought about the noise production idea, revisiting something that had popped into my head a while back. During World War Two, paratroopers engaged in the invasion of Europe at the time of D-Day (Operation Overlord) used a series of answer and response challenges to identify friend from foe. Alongside spoken challenges (A friendly soldier responding ‘Flash!’ to another asking ‘Thunder?’), they were issued with a clicker device that allowed the same, but in a non-verbal manner.

According to Wikipedia ( it’s not a dissertation, I’m allowed to read it!), it basically works as follows:

“They usually consist of a piece of thin metal held in a casing so that the metal is slightly torqued; depressing one end of the metal causes it to pop out of alignment and releasing it causes it to pop back into alignment, each time making a sharp click.

With some clickers, the user depresses the metal directly with thumb or finger; with others, a button extends above the surface of the casing so that depressing the button makes the metal click.”

So, can I use this in my solution? Well, I’m off to pick up one from a pet shop – they’re also used as dog training devices, as it happens – to give me the chance to play around with it.

You might remember a concept that I pulled out very soon after I completed the main research stage of my project, looking at attracting attention through noise. If not, take a look here: (click for a bigger look)

Essentially, the idea looked at the idea of attracting attention to a product as it is removed from display by a customer. Shop owners know the high-risk items within a retail environment, and act to protect them to the best of their ability (selective tagging, items close to the till etc.) – the idea is to replace traditional methods of knowing when anyone is interacting with them (EAS etc.) with another method that is equally, or more effective than what is available at present. The use of sound is ideal for this, as currently, electronic gates only alert staff once stock is on its way out the door – new concepts can bring the alert back into the retail environment, making it more likely that the shoplifter will be caught, and ultimately, that they will not attempt the theft in the first place.

Initially, the idea was based around the idea of the plastic ring system that holds six-packs of beer together – a customer would snap off a product from this ‘pack’ and the material would make a noise, alerting the staff to the interaction. However, before going too far with this concept, it became clear that this continual breaking of material presented sustainability and cost issues for the retailer, and was not ideal. As a result, a new material was sought, and balsa wood was considered as a result to the plastic of the initial concept.

This idea also addressed the concept of how products could be locked into the rack itself, utilising a simple fastening method that allowed tight fitting to the product, as well as the display itself. However, I still felt it was too wasteful – broken material is still produced as the items are sold. While the idea of sound as an alert method makes sense, it doesn’t make sense to substitute EAS tags (which are ultimately re-usable) for something that will deplete over time.

Considering this, the idea of noisy materials emerged as a direction for development – materials that can make a noise, but do not lose their functionality as a result. The clearest example of this is Velcro, which make a hell of a racket when you pull it apart, no matter what you do to try and stifle it (as highlighted by a course mate who talked about trying to open his bag during a presentation).

My primary idea on this looked at using tags on the products, allowing them to stick to a Velcro-surfaced rack, meaning they would make a loud noise every time they were removed from the surface. The main issue with this is the need for sticky velcro tags to attach to the product, which again produces waste – the tags are left on the product, costing the store money every time they have to put a new one on a replacement product.

The development of this removed the need to have sticky-backed Velcro tags on the product itself, thus removing any waste in the process of the removal of any item. The product is simply rolled up in a double-sided Velcro ‘blanket’ which is fixed to the display rack. The item is prevented from sliding out, using simple technology employed in Motocross goggles, which utilises the friction between rubber bands on the inside of the goggle strap, and the smooth surface of the helmet to effectively prevent movement – the bands can be seen on the strap in the image below.

This design then prevents the removal of the product from the display without making noise, and thus alerting the staff to the fact that someone is trying to take one of the product off the shelf. Legitimate customers can still access the product to view it, but a shoplifter, based on the research done to date, will not be keen to draw attention to themselves and will not attempt the theft. However, following discussion with another of my tutors, I’m keen to keep developing this idea, as the re-stocking ability of the concept is a bit clunky – each item has to be wrapped in the display ’strap’, and the volume of items of display is clearly limited by the system. Currently, I’m looking at other methods of utilising audible alerts, and will post back when I’ve got something new…

Bit of an over-enthusiastic name for the post, but what the hell…

As I said, there are two key methods that I’m looking at for the staff-alert branch of thinking – sight and sound. In terms of sight, I want something that really attracts attention, which is easier said than done. Why? Well, from trying to indicate to people doing presentations that they’re running over time through waving at them wildly, I know that movement is not a great way of diverting someone’s attention from what they’re doing. Equally, I’ve found that flashes of light are very good at alerting people to an event – I remember with glee when my friend was scared to death by someone in the back of his car taking a photo as he went past a speed camera (the flash was turned on…). Anecdotes aside, my initial view is that light is a good way of attracting attention for those occupied with something that’s occupying their attention.

The benefit of this idea is that the retail worker can see when an item is being meddled with, even if the store layout prevents a direct line of sight, and even if they are surrounded by customers. However, there are problems – the need for a power source would make the numerous display units (especially for items like marker pens) completely unmanageable, and only items with a direct line of sight to the ceiling would be able to operate like this. That said, the idea isn’t without its merits, and I’ll be looking to see if there’s an angle that can eliminate these problems.

The majority of shoplifting solutions (I use the term reluctantly) are based around the idea of identifying those who are guilty. The result of this is to subject all those people who are good, honest shoppers, to the same level of control that the thieves experience. Is there perhaps an opportunity to then grant those people who are proven as trustworthy more freedoms, rather than reducing the freedoms of those who are proven to be troublesome? Stakeholders indicate that they know who the troublemakers are, so is focusing on the identification of criminals just money for old rope?

This idea (click the picture for a larger look), is simply based around the notion that good people have nothing to hide. If you were offered a card that meant a discount across stores, in return for shopping with your identification known to the store (in the form of an ID card), would it be preferential to offer greater access to these people, rather than limiting the access of criminals? If you look at my links, you’ll see articles that relate to my thinking on this (UNight and The Scotsman article on a similar idea for shoplifting in Lothian).

In its most basic form, the card would allow access to locked cabinets of high-value or high-risk items, due to the fact that the store can track who is accessing them through the identification scheme. If goods are stolen, the theft can be simply traced back to the person who last accessed it. Theft is deterred through this risk of simple identification, and customers who are not out to steal are rewarded with a more streamlined shopping experience. The main issue, and it’s a pertinent one, is that the issue of identification is not popular amongst the general public at present, thanks to preconceptions about the Government’s ID card proposals. However, it has worked well with a local nightclub group, who have worked with Strathclyde Police to collect customer ID information, in return for supplying a discount card that facilitates free entry to their venues…

So, as promised, let me bring you up to where I am.

My last discussion with my tutor added to my thoughts on where I’m going with this project. Whilst my thoughts from talking with the various stakeholders involved with this project ultimately led me to focus on an individual aspect of shoplifting, his suggestion of a consideration on the entire shopping experience made me consider this aspect – what if the way we’re shopping is the reason that shoplifting is rife?

From this, I began to look at the example he raised – the idea of a small business owner asking him to leave his bag at the till while he browsed. My immediate reaction was to strike this down as a bad interaction; something that design could solve. However, beyond that, it’s clear that there are positives to this concept:

1. The shopper gets to drop their bags off when they’ve been shopping all day
2. They don’t need to struggle with their purse etc. when paying
3. The shop owner knows they’re not able to conceal anything
4. The idea that their bags are in the custody of the shop acts as a deterrent to casual theft

Thinking of an example, we already use this in our retail experience. When shoppers in supermarkets finish their shopping, they often pop into the cafe for a fish tea, or similar. In order to prevent a maelstrom of trolleys, the supermarket provides lockers to place this shopping in. The customer feels happy knowing their shopping is secure – the supermarket is happy knowing that there’s not a sea of wire-mesh wagons littering their shop floor. Perception is everything – the customer believes it’s done for them, the store knows it’s done for their sake (of course, this is just my humble opinion).

Ultimately, I’m not a huge fan of this idea. It’s a clunky solution that requires a major shift in the manner in which customers shop, and from speaking to individuals, does not seem like a popular concept. For the shop, it would require some level of investment in staffing levels (to act as ‘cloakroom’ attendants), or technology, to act as an automated method of storing customer belongings, taking up an area of the store. While it could work in larger premises, it’s not a solution that would benefit the majority of small retailers, and that’s my area of focus.

Check out my work-through at any rate, it’s a basic concept, but it gives you an idea of what I was thinking (click to see larger).

It’s been quite a busy fourth quarter, so here is a quick update on GreenSource.

The GSA startup continues to take up the bulk of my time, primarily with site modifications based on subscriber and advertiser/sponsor feedback. Due to where we are in the Proof of Concept, the site that the public can access is very limited (with few updates) and will remain so until the first quarter of 2010.

Since my last post, I’ve relocated to Pepper Pike, OH (a southeast Cleveland suburb). This move will help me take a more hands-on role with the POC for this metro area, as well as lend some assistance to senior parents.

My IT and OCM consulting engagements also continue, as more companies are challenged by the economy to do more with fewer resources.

If you are in the Greater Cleveland Area and wish to learn more about GreenSource and how we’ll be expanding post-POC (or just wish to network with another IT Exec), drop me an email.

Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions!

Improper payments by federal agencies has increased 36% in the past year according to an article in Government Executive.  Improper payments increased to $98 billion in FY 2009  up from $72 billion in FY 2008.   Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director, Peter Orszag said the increase was caused by better measurement of improper payments, and increased federal expenditures due to the stimulus.

A large portion of the increase came from programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.  However other departments also contributed to this growth including the Department of Homeland Security.

It is expected that President Obama will issue an executive order sometime next week to include three components for addressing these improper payments:  “increased transparency and public participation, accountability at the agency level and incentives for compliance.”  Agencies will be expected to reduce improper payments on a year-over-year basis (currently they are only required to track these numbers).

IMPLICATIONS FOR CONTRACTORS

Currently, vendors receiving accidental overpayments (and discovered by the government) are only required to pay back the government without interest or penalties.  The new executive order is expected to subject contractors to suspensions, fines and other penalties if contractors do not disclose overpayments.  

-LBB

To receive our FREE REPORT “Five Sales Rules to Break When Selling to the Government,” email info@galainsolutions.com or visit http://galainsolutions.com/economicstimulus.html and complete the form. 

Today we are working with Evolve – a service based at Glasgow School of Art to help students and alumni with their professional practice. Evolve collaborates with the Careers Service at GSA and Scottish Institute for Enterprise to bring the students and alumni of GSA competitions, events and seminars to help them with the transition from students and graduates to members of the creative industries!

Please do say hello if you are going !

TechDex (apps|provider|hardware|var)

Central Business District

Systems Management – Willamette Park | 6400 SW Macadam | 1,973 SF sublease

OTR – Congress Center | 1001 SW Fifth Ave | 2,167 SF

GeneralBizDex (consulting|finance|insurance|legal|other)

Central Business District

Haglund & Kelley Law – 200 Market Bldg | 200 SW Market St | 8,573 SF

Westside

Global Logistics – Sunset Business Park | 9400 SW Barnes Rd | 3,006 SF

Richard Manos – Creekside Corp Pk | 8705 SW Nimbus Ave | 1,846 SF

Bridgewater Group Advisors – 9570 SW Barbur Blvd | 1,652 SF sublease

Dr. Kevin Lews – Crimson Corner | 1895 SE TualatinValley Hwy | 1,451 SF

Michael V Wells Insurance – Raleigh View | 7412 SW Bvtn Hills Hwy | 1,640 SF

Eastside

Fidelity National Title – Lloyd 700 Bldg | 700 NE Multnomah | 4,355 SF

Western States Inc - Omark Business Ctr | 5687 SE International Way | 2,300 SF

Paramount Bldg Solutions – Omark Business Ctr | 5687 SE International Way | 1,785 SF

Pacific NW Ironworks – Columbia East | 10011 SE Division St | 1,684 SF

C&P Attorneys – Sunnybrook Corp Ctr | 9200 SE Sunnybrook | 2,539 SF

Vancouver

APC Enterprises – 6400 NE Hwy 99 | 1,700 SF

MediaDex (traditional|digital|research)

OPUS Solutions – Nimbus Bldg 10 | 9309 SW Nimbus | 25,148 SF

Central Business District

McClenahan Bruer Communications - Water Tower | 5331 SW Macadam | 5,536 SF

Eastside

Inkwell Creative – Swan Island Ind Ctr | 6870 N Fathom | 9,858 SF

Moso Graphics – Airport Ctr II | 5541 NE 122nd | 6,420 SF

GovDex (government agencies)

Eastside

GSA - Airport Biz Ctr | 6135 NE 80th | 9,068 SF

Building Sale

The 6,854 square foot Rose Festival Building, located at 5603 SE Hood Avenue, was purchased by BG Pacific Holdings.

With the globalization of pharmaceutical manufacturing and the increasing prevalence of drug- and biologic-device combination products, the FDA recognized the importance of harmonizing the Pharmaceutical CGMP regulation to the extent possible with other widely used quality management systems, including ISO 9000, non-U.S. pharmaceutical quality management requirements, and FDA’s own medical device quality system regulations.
In August 2002 the FDA launched a new initiative, Pharmaceutical CGMPs for the 21st Century: A Risk-Based Approach. The goals of the initiative are to focus on the greatest risks to public health in manufacturing procedures, to ensure that process and product quality standards do not impede innovation, and to apply a consistent approach to these issues across FDA.

In September 2004 the PAT (Process Analytical Technologies) document was issued by FDA to encourage early adoption of new technological advances in industry and to ensure that regulatory review, compliance, and inspection policies are based on state-of-the art pharmaceutical science.

In September 2006, the FDA issued the guidance document, Quality Systems Approach to Pharmaceutical CGMP Regulations. This guidance is part of FDA’s CGMPs for the 21st century initiative, and is intended to serve as a bridge between the 1978 CGMP regulations and current understanding of quality systems.

STAT-A-MATRIX is uniquely qualified to help organizations understand, establish and implement management systems that assure compliance with these regulatory initiatives. STAT-A-MATRIX has worked with numerous FDA-regulated organizations to develop quality systems that stress quality management, quality assurance, design control, and the use of risk management tools, in addition to the fundamental quality control requirements in FDA CGMPs.

STAT-A-MATRIX pharmaceutical industry specialists can help your organization understand and comply with the complex requirements of FDA’s CGMPs for finished pharmaceuticals (21 CFR Parts 210 and 211), PAT initiatives, ISO quality systems, and the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) guidance documents.

From the various ideas that I’ve had about this problem, one thing keeps coming into my head, based on the idea I had earlier that looked at the idea of sound in the retail environment.

Speaking to the various different stakeholders I’ve met, and also looking at other research material online, one of the biggest deterrents amongst shoplifters appears to be based around the presence of staff. Equally, staff feel most comfortable about loss prevention when their high-risk items are within sight. This allows them to see when people are interacting with them – regardless of whether this is in a criminal manner, or a legitimate one. For a legitimate customer, the presence of staff is ultimately useful in their shopping experience (as long as the interaction does not stray into a cack-handed instance of a store detective following them).

So how can I make the most of this?

Having a think about the sensory interactions that a store employee may use to become aware of a shoplifter – or suspicious behaviour in general – it’s clear that there are two main senses involved in the process. Excluding taste and smell (unless someone is willing to counter that store detectives can actually smell the fear of a potential criminal), touch relies too much on the close proximity of a shoplifter – something that is very much avoided by thieves. Realistically, sight and hearing are what retail staff rely on the most, and increasing the range and ability of these senses should ultimately improve their perception of what’s happening on the shop floor. (Click the image to enlarge)

So with these two senses as the primary methods of increasing awareness amongst staff, what is their role in aiding loss prevention?

Predictably, previous methods of preventing theft in retail environments have focused on both these areas before. In relation to hearing, EAS systems utilise loud alarms to alert staff to the theft of items from the store, while CCTV systems augment the visual perception of the staff, allowing the recording of theft, and ultimately allowing the identification of individuals who are stealing from the store. However, the reality of both these systems is a costly one. Both require staffing to allow them to function at their best (CCTV requires monitoring to ensure criminals are caught in the act, whilst EAS needs security staff to catch those leaving without paying). In both instances, staffing is the key to their function, and security-specific staffing is not preferable amongst small businesses. Additionally, EAS only allows identification of theft upon leaving the store, which is too late to prevent it happening.

The point of all this? Well, it’s clear that the solutions that exist in this area, at present, offer partial coverage utilising relatively high-tech equipment. Given my aim of low cost, low tech solutions for small business who cannot justify these methods, it seems clear that there is the opportunity to alert staff to potential loss without relying on electronics. How can I stimulate sight and hearing in a manner that fits with my brief?