The Internet Diversion Portal

We know that humans bond in many ways. Often while sharing a common event of adversity in which they over come something. Sometimes thru laughter, jest or a humorous event? What if we could program artificial intelligent robotic androids to seek out anomalous events and spin them into jokes and display a sense of humor? This might help humans bond with their android assistants?

Some say this is impossible to program into an artificial intelligent machine? Impossible is a funny word, as 200 years ago someone might say that an artificial intelligent robot was impossible, but I do not think anyone is saying this now. I have to ask those programmers; How do you propose to bond an android robot if you cannot achieve this? And we all know that a very pleasurable bonding tool happens thru jokes, laughter and humor.

This will be a challenge for future robotic artificial intelligent programmers, personally I am not accepting their work until they get there and believe we must hold their feet to the fire until they do. We should not accept mediocrity in programming and must challenge our up and coming, often boastful programmers to put up or shut up.

To say “Humor is a sophisticated human trait” indeed, but Dolphins, monkeys and dogs do it. Surely we can design this too. I cannot allow the excuse of difficulty to shun such a responsibility of course and ask that you refrain from making excuses for programmers of artificial intelligence, we must have high expectations than this, we need humor from our robots. Consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Your business, no matter how small, needs an effective accounting management system to sustain its day-to-day viability and establish its long-term financial goals. But when you are already multitasking as the CEO, the manager, and the salesman, you don’t really have time to be an accountant too, do you? Yes, actually, you do.

With a good small business accounting software program, you can still manage your cash flow hands on, without spending too much time. A few clicks here and there, and you can forecast revenues, pay bills, and generate reports. But what functionalities should you look for in accounting software? What do you really need and what can you do without? Read on for some tips.

Look for user-friendly software. Choose accounting software with an interface that resembles its traditional paper counterparts so that you can immediately navigate your way around it. The more familiar the layout of the software is to you, the easier you can intuitively explore its functionalities.

Internet and e-commerce features can also be important. If your small business relies on sales and orders via the worldwide web, you definitely need accounting software that seamlessly connects to e-Commerce functionalities. Find something that you can easily hook up to your bank’s online payment portal, for example, so you can automatically track payments made to you and bills you have to pay.

Search for compatibility with frequently used programs. If most of your records are Windows based, find small business accounting software that easily synchronizes with Microsoft Excel and other Microsoft Office applications. Such a feature will let you integrate your existing records without the risk of corrupting data. There are also specialty accounting software programs available for other platforms.

Examine the professional reports included in the software. Beware of some software packages that can generate hundreds of kinds of reports – you probably won’t use more than half of them, so why pay the extra price? Concentrate on essential reports instead, such as statements needed for tax filing and time-billing reports, if you use such.

There are other extras worth considering. If your business is quickly expanding, it might be a good idea to invest in expandable, multiple-user accounting software that integrates payroll functionalities, inventory tracking, job costing, and other productivity features. These types cost a little more, but are definitely necessary for any fast-growing small business.

Accounting Software provides detailed information on Accounting Software, Day Care Accounting Software, Small Business Accounting Software, Free Accounting Software and more. Accounting Software is affiliated with Free Small Business Accounting Software.

In manufacturing and engineering industries, the major proportion of operating costs is composed of raw materials, accessories and other miscellaneous items, generally clubbed as ‘bill of materials’. The basic purpose of businesses is to satisfy customers by adding value to these materials. Purchasing is the link between these processes. Just as marketing is the face of a firm to customers, purchasing is to suppliers.

In spite of purchasing being the face to suppliers, it has not played a major role in the strategies of a firm as marketing. Purchasing has been a tactical part in the operations of a business. The role of purchasing is to identify suppliers, negotiate and finalize contracts for a specified period of time. As the end users have a major say in the selection of suppliers, purchasing is seen as a clerical job.

With the globalization and the resultant competition, pervasive presence of IT in every aspect of a business, firms realized the cost saving potential of purchasing. Firms have always realized cost savings from suppliers by strong negotiating skills, which was resultant of the power of that firm. But the new realization came from the opportunities provided by IT and globalization. Globalization made companies look for synergies with the suppliers, those who can work long term and provide considerable value as a result of collaboration.

The role of IT in purchasing has been to automate the process such as proposals, contracts, order management and financial settlement. As many businesses have already ERP systems to manage production schedule, inventory and sales forecast, the purchasing software can be integrated to gain greater efficiencies. Purchasing has also been extended to involve suppliers to mange inventory from the supply side by regularly replacing supplies.

Purchasing at a higher level of interaction has been made possible by web based technologies. Ecommerce allows companies to conduct auctions through the virtual medium. Web solutions obviate the need for separate infrastructure for purchasing software.

Purchasing software is provided by many ERP vendors as an integrated package. But this is affordable to large organizations due to cost. Small organizations avail of stand alone software for their purchasing needs.

Business plan software is something that often gets overlooked
and isn’t considered to be a necessity for some reason. In my
opinion, business plan software is essential, it is not a luxury.
I am a huge advocate of business planning. When people ask me if
they need a business plan, my response is, “Absolutely!” You see,
starting a business without a business plan is akin to starting
college without a degree plan. If you don’t know where you are
going, you won’t know how to get there. You will waste your time
and your money if you are not following a plan. It’s really that
simple!

So, you know you need a business plan, but what about business
plan software? For business planning, there are really three
alternatives: 1) crafting your own business plan from scratch; 2)
hiring a business plan writer or business planning consultant; or
3) using business plan software to write your own business plan.
Each of these alternatives has its own advantages and
disadvantages.

Writing your own business plan from scratch is certainly a
possibility. Doing so gives you the freedom to format and arrange
the plan in any way that you see fit. On the other hand, doing
financial projections, which are necessary for the purpose of
budgeting and financial planning, can be difficult to do without
a business plan program, or at least financial projection
software or spreadsheets.

Hiring a business plan writer makes sense for some people. A
business plan writer is generally well-versed in business
planning and will have insight that will assist you in preparing
a comprehensive business plan that takes everything into account.
The disadvantages to having your business plan professionally
written are the expense associated with the initial plan, and the
limitations that exist in regard to changing it as your business
evolves, which is something that business plan software empowers
you to do.

Business plan software is relatively inexpensive when compared to
hiring a professional business plan writer or consultant.
However, when compared to doing your own plan from scratch, it
may seem like an unnecessary expense. Business plan software does
have many advantages. A good business plan software package, like
Business Plan Pro by Palo Alto, has the headings and categories
for a business plan already set up for you. It also has guidance
throughout the business planning process that explains what to
include in each part of your business plan.

What I really love about Business Plan Pro is that it is so easy
to do financial projections using the business plan software,
whether or not you understand accounting. The main financial
sections include a section for start-up costs, one for income
projections, one for a proforma balance sheet, and one for a
projected cash flow statement. Information that input into one of
the financial forms automatically transfers calculations to the
other financial statement forms making the process of projecting
your financial plan a breeze.

Another huge advantage I see in regard to business plan software
is that when you use business plan software to create your own
business plan, you can make changes to it anytime you need to. It
doesn’t become a stale document that sits on the shelf and
collects dust. A business plan should be always evolving. You
should update your business plan frequently including new goals,
objectives and milestones. You should also adjust your financial
projections regularly for the purpose of budgeting. Business plan
software makes it easy to do.

If you choose not to use business software, and to create your
own business plan from scratch, you will need some guidance
unless you are a professional business planner yourself. The
Small Business Administration www.sba.gov has some excellent
resources and guides about business planning. If you choose to
hire a professional business plan writer, do review their
qualifications and references and make certain that you
understand exactly what is included in the business planning
services they are offering.

Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope,
fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketing
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or a website owner who wants to make more money from your
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Spyware is a term used to describe a broad category of malicious or privacy invading software. Spyware is very much like a virus in the way that it “infects” a computer’s operation and functioning without the owner/user’s consent. Spyware infects a host by a number of different ways. One way that spyware is distributed is by hiding it inside another piece of software. Disguising software in such a way is very sneaky but is usually not illegal. Often enough, when installing the original software there will be a contract that you must read and accept to continue. About 99% of people never take the time to fully read that contract because if they did, they would learn that the software they are installing would also be installing spyware to do a number of nasty things. Some of these things include: 1. Logging all of your passwords and user names and sending them to people that exploit that information. 2. Logging all of your websites that you visited and keeping detailed track records of your Internet usages. 3. Pop up advertisements unsuspecting in hopes to make a few bucks from your clicks. 4. Slow and bog up your Internet connection.

As you can see spyware is usually an undesirable piece of software. The sad truth is that over 75% of all Internet connected computers are infected with spyware. That number continues to grow because spyware often reproduces itself automatically by sending itself to other computers from infected hosts. Essentially growing exponentially out of control. Even major multi-million dollar businesses undergo a tremendous battle against spyware, spending thousands and thousands of dollars every year. The problem with this is that while battling against spyware they are actually attracting more of it. If only they would put the time, money and resources into having computer and network systems free and immune to spyware will they ever win the war against it.

Now this may sound unbelievable at first but if you look at how anti-spyware softwares, firewall softwares and computer security softwares all work, they work by protecting computers from previously made malicious software, not by preventing new ones from infiltrating. A firewall is designed to block access from places that it is told are unsafe or unrecognized. This might seem like a preventive measure but its not! – If you recall the earlier part of this article, one of the major ways you get infected with spyware is that it piggybacks on a “trusted” piece of software.

The author makes a living in the field of research and if you have found this article useful, try clicking on his specialist resource sites, www.help-with-spyware.info and www.removevirusinfo.info . For other more general information on this topic and others, try this site www.instant-knowledge.com .

Contact management is a modern way of managing your contacts. However, it’s not just an electronic address book that lists out your contacts such as phone numbers and addresses and appointments for the day. All this personal information can be integrated with e-mails and saved at one place so that you don’t have to waste time searching. You can store history of the interactions with contacts and keep track of all activities related to them. All this information can be kept absolutely confidential by using a password.
Contact management system can be of two types – a separate software product installed in the personal computer or a web-based application that can be accessed anywhere, anytime. The traditional method of installing software can serve the purpose if the nature of your work is stationary and is done from one primary computer. If you are logged on to the Internet most of the time and work at and away from office a web-based solution will offer you the flexibility you need.
Installing software is a one-time expenditure whereas web-based services may charge monthly subscription fees in addition to the initial lump sum payment. You’ll find this investment negligible compared to its advantages and the results you reap through an effective contact management system. Creating a systematic database of your contacts and updating the information regularly are the prerequisites for the success of the system. It is useful for both domestic users and business enterprises. Birthday and anniversary reminders come automatically and save you lot of embarrassment. On the professional front sales, marketing and customer care personnel are the major users of the system.
Marketing persons can send bulk personalized but professional messages like e-mails and news letters to the customers in the contacts list about new products and services and special offers. The communication can be sent with a link to company’s website and order form that can enable an immediate sale. The results can be amazing to unbelievable. This is the best way of cutting down the costs involved in direct marketing and there’s absolutely no need to hire a new sales team to reach more customers.
Customer care departments can maintain the history of all communication with customers for a systematic follow up. Since it is used extensively by businesses to interact with customers some call it customer relationship management system. Managers also use it to keep track of the employee information and to reach them. In one word, with an effective contact management system you can bid good-bye to the traditional paper-based system which is highly fallible.

Contact Management Software provides detailed information on Contact Management, Contact Management Software, Contact Management Systems, Contact Management Databases and more. Contact Management Software is affiliated with EDI Software.

A typical challenge faced by Flash developers like me is getting fonts to look like you want then to. For any project choosing the right font face and size is a process that requires both you and ultimately the client to see eye to eye.

In Flash MX and earlier versions fonts were by default anti-aliased, meaning that the edges of the text are smoothed. This is good when dealing with large type but it causes small text to appear blurry. Earlier versions of Flash also had other issues. For instance if one were to realign textfields around other objects fonts might come out of focus (because of positioning), and getting it right could take several tries.

More recently with the advent of Flash MX 2004 came the “alias text” option but, more importantly the TextField.StyleSheet() class. What is the TexFiled.StyleSheet() class? I’ll get to that but first let me tell you about this new “alias text” feature. The latter hides the anti-aliasing to make small text sharper and more legible yada, yada, yada. However, most often than not, fonts appear overly pixilated and cracked. In my opinion “alias text ” is nothing more than a little ransom note generator making every character appear as if it had been cut out of a magazine. Adding insult to injury if you are publishing for the Flash 6 player or earlier versions on Flash MX 2004 the “alias text” feature does not work on dynamic and or input textfields.

Moving forward with stylesheets. If you don’t already know something about CSS don’t fret the small stuff. Get to your favorite search engine and key in CSS (short for Cascading Style Sheets), and in seconds flat you will find hundreds of articles on CSS benefits, syntax, usage and whatnots. Very quickly, CSS is the language of style on the web and as opposed to other languages CSS is much easier to read and write. One of the reasons for this is you can pretty much read everything just as you would plain English, another is the ability to write everything in lowercase, something you could never getaway with in JavaScript.

CSS in ActionScript is relatively simple. The first thing we want to do is open the Action panel and create an empty style sheet object. Basically the idea is to load our style sheet information in there (font size, weigh, color etc.), and then assign that information to some text. Not only will you have more crisp and legible fonts but more importantly, this mean you can change details about your font in an entire Flash site by simply editing one file. Pretty powerful stuff huh? Very handy when clients decided they don’t like red anymore or call to tell you that the font is too small. In the past such changes could be very time consuming, requiring developers to go through the whole movie editing textfield after texfield one at a time; providing that the client was happy with the changes you’d might get lucky and only need to run around that track once.

In my line of work I convert pre-designed web sites (web templates) into a unique Internet project (web sites), in other words I work with pre-made website templates. The whole basis for using a website template is to develop fast and high-quality website in half the time that it would normally take a regular design studio to do the same. Utilizing style sheets with my Flash templates enables me to keep my production time at a minimum and ultimately the time I save will benefit my clients. For detail instruction on how to create a style sheet object in Flash MX 2004 simply open the help panel and search under the keywords “cascading style sheets”. In all fairness I must mention something about Pixel fonts. Pixel what? Pixel fonts are fonts specially designed so that every part of every character falls exactly on the monitor’s pixel. Pixel fonts are incredible at getting fonts at small sizes looking crisp and legible at any resolution. If you are wondering if Pixel fonts would display correctly on the end user’s computer or some other platforms that does not have these fonts already installed. The answer is yes, but Pixel fonts must be embedded to ensure they are displayed correctly on every computer. The downside here is that embedding these fonts means an increase in file size which in turn causes an increase in bandwidth needless to say bandwidth determines the rate at which information is sent.

Nevertheless if you want to use fonts that look crisp even at small sizes without the use of CSS, Pixel fonts are right for you. To buy and or read more about Pixel fonts checkout these website www.FontsForFlash.com and www.ductype.com.

In sum the choice is your, on smaller projects I would actually prefer Pixel fonts over cascading style sheets, I mean why bring a gun to the snipe hunt when all you need is my gunnysack. On the other hand you can do without a lot of unnecessary frustration going with CSS when working on larger projects.

Are you drowning in resumes? Is your phone constantly ringing with people (mostly unqualified) asking about open positions?

A lot of small business owners and human resources managers run into these issues. Yes, hiring new employees is your responsibility.

However, it is certainly not your only responsibility. You can’t always spend as much time dealing with prospective employees as you might like. Somebody has to finish the payroll, handle all the benefits claims, schedules and everything else that’s on your plate everyday. People would certainly notice how much you have going on if they didn’t receive their paycheck on time or get their vacation time!

A lot of small business owners and hr managers are now choosing a new option to help them deal with all the hassles of advertising positions, pre-screening employees and setting up interviews. Some virtual assistant companies are now offering these services.

Hiring a virtual assistant (VA) or virtual hiring assistant can be a very cost-effective and efficient way to handle all the tasks filling a position requires.

Virtual assistants can assist you in the hiring process at any and all levels. You decide what steps you’d like to outsource to them and how involved you’d like them to be in the process.

Four of the most common hr services virtual assistants provide in this area are:

1)Placing Employment Ads- Not only can this save you time, but if you find a virtual assistance provider that regularly provides hr services, it can save you lots of time researching the best places to place your ads. You can use your virtual assistant not only as a service provider but also as a consultant. Ask them if they’ve placed ads for similar positions in the past and where they got the best results.

2)Handling All Initial Responses- This is one area where you can really decide to what degree you want your virtual assistant involved. Most VA’s who provide this service can set up unique response e-mail box when posting your jobs with autoresponders. They can also set up an incoming phone number that they can answer to deal with all the initial inquiries.

3)Pre-Screening Applicants- Most you have probably experienced being overwhelmed with resumes and applications. They can come in such a flurry that its hard to even distinguish those who are actually qualified from those who simply aren’t. Your virtual assistant can filter through the resumes for you based on criteria you provide or even perform pre-screening phone interviews with questions you provide.

4)Reference checks- Actually getting in touch with your prospective employee’s references can be an on-going hassle and game of phone tag. A virtual assistant can dedicate a lot more time to being available for references to call back because they aren’t tied down to all of the responsibilities you have at the office. They can check personal and professional references for you.

A virtual assistant can really simplify your hiring process. If you are a small business owner or hiring manager who is always strapped for time, you may want to explore this option.

Dana Wallert is the owner of an online virtual assistance company. She has many years experience in sales and marketing, as well as office management. Find more about Dana and sign up to receive her free monthly newsletter at DW Office Solutions – Virtual Assistant Services.

CAD services have been a major sector where Indian outsourcing firms have drawn prominent track of success. Documentation, design and AEC firms in the United States, United Kingdom and European countries are utilizing the Indian talent. These firms are enjoying the benefits of not only the cost effective production but the expertise that India has developed in over 2 decades of experience.

Geographic information system or GIS evolved in late eighties when the whole world started computerized their mapping data. From land usage to tele-communication and road networks to risk management studies , every unit and department had started the computerization of the vital data for better analysis and reporting. Since the job was a real challenge for its magnitude, better production capabilities and cost effectiveness were the main issues to deal with. India CAD firms are considered and soon the GIS was a major CAD INDUSTRY in India and the global outsourcing destination. Some firms even setup their own production houses in New Delhi, NCR and Indian regions. GIS boom in India provided tremendous employment opportunities.

While this GIS conversion or digitization was on peak, Other sectors as building industry, building services, architectural records and mechanical engineering documents were next to look to India. The raster to vector technology was used vastly for quicker production. Not later than this, the 3D parametric services were outsourced too in early nineties. The whole CAD industry was growing with better profits to their western counterparts. The industry went on peak by year 2000 an never looked back again.

The present scenario is that engineering document are being drafted in India. The architecture design and detailing sector is evolving dramatically. The major architecture firms have started accepting design assignments from American and European architecture firms. The conceptual designs are provided to Indian architecture firms to elaborate and produce the complete set of design documents. Even services and presentations are being prepared in India. Architectural rendering firms in India have their parallel existence. It is most likely that soon the complete architecture services would be available under single roof in the near future.

The future looks promising for CAD firms in USA and European countries and the Indian CAD sector. Everyone seems to be enjoying better business and fruitful profits. Author is
available to discuss you CAD outsourcing requirements.

Author is the CEO of Architectural Rendering firm known as http://www.virses.com which provides outsource architectural renderings to real estate, visualization, media and architectural firms. He can be contacted at harjeet@virses.com. This article can be distributed freely as long as it is not modified and includes author information.

When you buy a computer you’ll notice they all come
pre-loaded with Microsoft Internet Explorer as the
default browser. Everyone knows Bill Gates runs the
Internet, right? Wrong! When it comes to browsers for
surfing the Web, there are plenty of other choices…
if you know where to look for them. So if you thought
you were stuck using I.E., let’s have a look at some
of your other options.

1) Safari: http://www.Apple.com/safari

Safari is the browser of choice for most Mac users.
Faster than Internet Explorer (at least that’s the
claim), it contains a built-in Google Search, tabbed
interface to browse multiple sites at once, automatic
form completion and more. Free to download.

2) Mozilla: http://www.Mozilla.org/products/mozilla1.x/

Also known as “Sea Monkey,” Mozilla is open source soft-
ware, so it’s free. Mozilla is for Windows,Linux or Mac
users. Browse several sites at once with the tabbed
interface, block pop up ads and it even includes
IRS Chat and a built-in Email client with Spam filters.

3) Opera: http://www.Opera.com

For Windows, Linux and Mac users alike. There are two
versions; one free (which is ad supported) or for 39.00,
you can lose the ads. Opera is very fast with a built-
in email client that includes anti-spam filters. It
also contains the usual pop up blockers and a nice
little zoom function.

4) OmniWeb: http://omnigroup.com/applications/omniweb

An award-winning Web browser strictly for Mac users.
Cost is 29.95. Features include ad blocking, history
searching, website change notifications, even speech
recognition. This is one powerful piece of software.

5) Netscape Navigator:
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/default.jsp

Although Netscape doesn’t have the market share it
enjoyed in the “old days”, it’s still alive
and well. Netscape 7.1 is based on Mozilla 1.4;
both programs are almost identical. Free to download.

6) FireFox: http://www.texturizer.net/firebird

Firefox (aka Firebird) is actually a stripped down version
of Mozilla and built for speed. It’s only a browser with
no built-in email client, so if you need email you’ll
want to download its companion, Thunderbird, at
http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird

Those who love Mozilla will find many of the same
features here. With Firefox you can block pop ups,
customize the toolbars, even change its appearance
with the use of themes. For Windows, Linux and Mac
users. Free.

These are the heavyweight alternatives to MS Internet
Explorer, but if you’re looking for something a bit
different you’ll want to take a look at some
of these browsers:

1) Avant Browser: http://www.AvantBrowser.com

A tabbed browser that’s really fast and allows you
to view multiple websites in a split window interface.
Free.

2) SlimBrowser: http://www.FlashPeak.com

A Windows-based browser with a price tag of zero.
It’s easy to customize the look of this browser
with the use of skins. Includes a spell checker,pop
up killers, and a tool for filling in forms. Also
includes a language tab for translating different
languages.

3) MyIE2: http://www.MyIE2.com

Fashioned after Internet Explorer, this tabbed browser
is served up at no charge, but they do ask for donations
if you’re feeling especially charitable.

4) NetCaptor: http://www.NetCaptor.com

Built on top of I.E.’s interface (without the security
flaws), it’s another tabbed browser for power users. Free
version is called “Personal Edition,” which contains
sponsored ads or you can upgrade to “NetCaptor Pro” for
only 29.95.

If you’re not happy with Internet Explorer, or maybe
you’re just ready to try something new, download one
of these browsers and take “her for a spin.” Like a
new Car you just meant to take for a “test drive,” you
may fall in love and decide to keep it permanently.
Stranger things have happened!

Merle has been “working” the Net for over
8 years and has a Special Gift just for you.
Download my FREE E-book “50 Easy Ways to
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