Learn How To Make Money Freelance Writing Online

Learn How To Make Money Freelance Writing Online Learn How To Make Money Freelance Writing Online Learn How To Make Money Freelance Writing Online By Ali Hale The Internet completely changed the freelance writing landscape. For some people (those who were freelance writers before), these changes are scary. For others (those who are getting started), they are quite exciting. In my opinion there has never been a better time to be a freelance writer, and that is why we decided to launch the DWT Freelance Writing Course earlier this year. Today we are opening the doors to new students again (if you want to join us click on the link above). The course is a six-week program designed to teach you everything you need to know about making money freelance writing online. You’ll get written lessons every week (that you access on a special members’ site). They’ll cover: Week #1 Maximizing Your Productivity to Multiply Your Profits: During the first week youll learn techniques you can use to increase your productivity as a writer – if you can write fast without sacrificing quality, you’ll massively increase your earnings. Week #2 Website Setup, Promotion and Guest Blogging: Setting up your own freelancing website and building up your online writing credentials – essential if you want to be taken seriously and land online gigs. Week #3 Writing Content For The Web: Writing for the web is a totally different beast, and in this module youll learn techniques that can set you apart from other freelance writers. Week #4 Finding Clients and Developing High Paying Jobs: Finding great clients and high-paying jobs is probably the biggest challenge any freelance writer will face. The information provided in this module will help you overcome this challenge. Week #5 Running A Freelance Writing Business: Running your business effectively – because if you can’t communicate well with clients or if you miss deadlines, you’ll soon find yourself out of work. Week #6 Using Social Media To Promote Yourself: Social media is already considered an important part of modern marketing. In this module youll learn how to use it to promote yourself and land more clients. Three years ago my life changed forever when I left my day job to become a full-time freelance writer. Now, I get to do what I love all day long. This course teaches you exactly how I did it – so that you can do the same. And you won’t be alone. You’ll be taking the course as part of a whole group of writers (hundreds of them!). You’ll have a forum where you can get to know them – and where you can get advice and support directly from me, whenever you need it. So that everyone can go through the course together, though, we are keeping the doors open for 72 hours only, until midnight (GMT) this Friday, September 30. If this is what you’ve been waiting for click here to read all the details and join us. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Writing Prompts 101Expanded and ExtendedQuiet or Quite?

Perl Array chop() and chomp() Function - Quick Tutorial

Perl Array chop() and chomp() Function - Quick Tutorial chop(ARRAY); chomp(ARRAY); Perls chop and chomp functions can often be a source of confusion. Not only do they sound similar, they do similar things. Unfortunately, there is a critical difference- ​chop removes the last character of the string completely, while chomp only removes the last character if it is a newline. $myName Jacob\n; chomp($myName); Chomping $myName cuts off the last newline, leaving just Jacob. Once its been chomped, further chomping wont do anything at all. Chopping the name, however, will result in the last character being removed, leaving Jaco: $myName Jacob; chop($myName); Chomping and chopping an array results each element being acted on, and can be a real time saver. chop(ARRAY); chomp(ARRAY); So remember - Chop chops off the last character without question or regret. Chomp only removed the newline, leaving the string itself intact. Chomp does not remove all whitespace characters by default. In fact, by default, chomp only removes what is currently defined as the $INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR. If your goal is to trim all whitespace from the end of your string, try using a regex like this one submitted by a reader: $line ~ s/\s*$//g;

General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade Research Paper

General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade - Research Paper Example Such direct and indirect non-tariff barriers can be suicidal to the interests of an exporting firm. It cannot run its business and the same applies to the importing country; if the importing country has alternative sources of getting the same product, it can manage but the exporting firm has to change its business planning strategy and need to find out new locations to export is stock, which can be dead stock if no other foreign marketplaces an order for the same produce. Management has to be always on the alert to take bold decisions as per the new reality. Scope and horizon of GATT are necessary to know before knowing the basic principles of GATT. GATT 1947 rules were framed to be applicable in trade of goods only. GATT 1947 played a dominant role in minimizing tariff and non-tariff barriers in world trade but worldwide problems were surfaced where GATT could not play a positive role in resolving the issues. Certain areas of business were not part of the GATT responsibilities like trade in services and agriculture-related issues of continuous quarrels among nations. Trade in textile and apparel was left out of the GATT scope because of the politically touchy nature of these industries. Left out of the scope of GATT were intellectual property rights issues. GATT could not succeed in controlling â€Å"unfair trade† practices ((Schaffer et al., 2009, p. 297). GATT 1994 came in effect to address the limitations of the previous agreement on trade. GATT 1994 included two most important agreements on WTO Final Agreement representing the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations and the WTO Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization. GATT 1994 included other than the earlier provisions of GATT 1947, a number of multilateral trade agreements on particular issues ((Schaffer et al., 2009, p. 297).

Closing the gap between rich and poor countries Essay

Closing the gap between rich and poor countries - Essay Example We have to create good jobs, here at home, for everyone who wants to work† (Closing the Gap Between Rich and Poor, 2012). Governments can play an important role in reducing inequalities within and among nations. BRICS countries such as Brazil, India and China are doing everything possible to reduce the gaps between rich and poor. In all these countries, antipoverty programs are implemented by the government to raise the standard of living of the poor class and also to abolish inequalities. This paper analyses the strategies implemented by the governments or countries to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. â€Å"The emergence of information, and more recently, mobile broadband telecommunication technologies, was accompanied by the hype that they could serve to close the economic, educational, digital, and social gaps of our planet among the rich and the poor regions† (Laouris & Laouri, 2004, p.254). However, it is necessary to develop infrastructure necessary to use these technologies effectively. It should be noted that poor countries or developing countries have less infrastructure facilities compared to developed countries and hence such countries are struggling to use the opportunities provided by modern technologies. â€Å"The International community (and especially the G8, the UN, and the EU) must engage in an orchestrated effort to bring technology closer to the poor countries. Moreover, the countries themselves must focus on development goals and transformation tasks that are easier to achieve, have lower costs, and faster implementation rates† (Laouris & Laouri, 2004, p.259). Poor countries have less resources to use the technology effectively. It is the duty of the international bodies to help such countries in developing infrastructure suitable to use technology properly. In order to reduce the gap between rich and poor, ‘developing nations need not only to understand the complex interrelationships between technolog y and development, but moreover, to demonstrate their commitment and will by implementing a well-thought and aggressive strategy† (Laouris & Laouri, 2004, p.254). In other words, visionary leadership or administration is necessary to implement modern technologies effectively to reduce the gap between the rich and poor. For example, India and Pakistan are two neighboring countries with democratic administrations. However, India is developing rapidly to become a superpower in the world whereas Pakistan is struggling to develop properly. This anomaly is existing because of the differences in leaderships of these countries. It should be noted that India is a secular democratic country whereas in Pakistan religion dominates over the administrative procedures. In other words, Pakistani leaders cannot function against the will of religion and hence they fail to implement necessary strategies to reduce the gap between the rich and poor. There might be lessons to be learned from experi ences gained in trying to close the gap within a community, that is, the gap between the rich and the poor within a country or the gap between different communities of one and the same country (Laouris & Laouri, 2004, p.258). It should be noted that in countries where one religion dominates other, administrations often neglect the needs of the minorities and give more importance to

Linguistics for Elementary Teachers Essay Example for Free

Linguistics for Elementary Teachers Essay After reading the first and second chapters, in How Linguistics are Learned, I am interested by what Lightbown and Spada (2006) argued. The authors claimed that â€Å"The development of bilingual or second language learning is of enormous importance† (p. 25). They argued also that acquisition of more than one language in our new global world is rewarding for bilingual individuals socially and economically. The authors stated that most children nowadays are exposed to more than one language during their early childhood and schooling time. Some may learn two languages at the same time ‘simultaneous bilinguals’ while others may learn the other language later ‘sequential bilinguals’. There are situations where children are cut off their family language while they are very young. They may stop speaking their family language. This might represent a reason for concern. Researchers have recently devoted a considerable amount of their time and energy to investigate children’s abilities to learn more than one language at early age. The goal is to help students to learn a second language at early age and facilitate that for teachers and educators. This subject matter is interesting and challenging to me personally because it is connected to my experiences as a teacher and principal of multicultural schools environment with language learning /acquisition and education. My first language is Arabic; English is my second language. I started learning English while I was at Middle school; I was 12 years old. I have been all my life in education. I worked a teacher and principal. I worked in Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Canada and the US. I have worked with students from different countries speaking different languages in multicultural schools environment. My current school is Annoor Islamic School (AIS) in Wichita, KS. It is a private school, Pre-K through 8th grade. Students enrolled are 157 from 20 countries and 90 % of them are bilingual or trilingual. Students speak more than five different languages at their homes in addition to English. Due to the fact that our school is an Islamic school all our students are Muslims. AIS provides higher quality of education for students. They learn, in addition to public schools’ curriculum: Al-Quran al-Kareem, Islamic Studies and Arabic Language. Teaching Arabic for the non-native Arabic speaking makes them trilingual. It may look difficult for students, but in reality they want to be able to read Al-Quran. Al-Ksareem. They are highly motivated to learn more about their religion and read Al-Quran Al-Kareem in the Arabic Language. Based on my experience and observations all these years as a teacher and principal, I found that my bilingual students have higher academic results compared to their non-bilingual counterparts. The same conclusion was confirmed by developmental psychologists’ research as Lightbown and Spada (2006) stated. I also found that bilingual students’ skills are transferrable. The skills and knowledge that bilingual students know through their first language are transferrable. They can present these skills knowledge in their new second language easily. At my current school AIS, students startlearning anther language at age 3-4 years old. I found it is important to start young students learning a language other than their own from at an early age. That’s when they pick up a language the fastest. It is important because we need to know more about other nations’ cultures and history to improve world relations.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby - Conflicting Ideals Essay

Conflicting Ideals in The Great Gatsby  Ã‚      Throughout the world, societies can become cruel and unjustified machines. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the morality of a society is clearly revealed through the choices and consequences its characters experience. The two societies within the novel, West Egg and East Egg, create an atmosphere of mixed ideals and morals, so completely opposite of each other. Three examples will be given to support the above thesis. Firstly, Jay Gatsby, arguably the main character, is involved in a number of criminal activities. Secondly, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, are a true symbol of how the morals of their society are revealed through their actions. Finally Nick Carraway, the narrator, is truly and innocent in a society gone mad. These three points will be elaborated below. Firstly, Jay Gatsby, formerly known as Jay Gatz, is a figure of the the corruption of the American Dream. He is an illegal bootlegger, an acquaintance of gamblers and con artists. His activities are constantly denounced by Tom Buchanan throughout the novel. His criminal activies reveal the morality of yesteryears society. His lavish and extravagant parties are another symbol of the morality of his society. Early in the evening, people are happy, dancing the night away, and are generally having a good time. But, the facade of the party quickly departs, and the true nature of these events are revealed. People get drunk, douse themselves in the pool to sober up, spouses fight and bicker over nonsequential items. And when all of this is over, the floor is covered with orange rings, spilled cocktails, along with other party nostalgia. All of this is a setup, so that Gatsby can get Daisy's at... ...saddened by the coldness of the people who do not care unwillingly to the funeral. Out of all the people who attend the parties, four join the funeral. So, the choices and consequences of Nick's experience clearly define the morality of the two societies. To sum things up, the morals of a society are revealed by the actions of its inhabitants. Firstly, Jay Gatsby, is involved in a number of criminal activities, and is the father-figure of the corruption of the American Dream. Secondly, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, are a true symbol of how the morals of the East Egg society are revealed by their actions. Finally, Nick Carraway, is truly an innocent in a myriad of scheming, cheating con artists. Therefore, their unjustified beliefs truly define the morality of a society which is clearly revealed through the choices and consequences of its characters from within.   

Business Intelligence Essay

1. Integration * 1.1 BI infrastructure * * All tools in the platform use the same security, metadata, administration, portal integration, object model and query engine, and should share the same look and feel. * 1.2 Metadata management * Not only should all tools leverage the same metadata, but the offering should provide a robust way to search, capture, store, reuse and publish metadata objects such as dimensions, hierarchies, measures, performance metrics and report layout objects. * 1.3 Development tools * The BI platform should provide a set of programmatic development tools and a visual development environment, coupled with a software developer’s kit for creating BI applications, integrating them into a business process, and/or embedding them in another application. The BI platform should also enable developers to build BI applications without coding by using wizard-like components for a graphical assembly process. The development environment should also support Web services in performing common tasks such as scheduling, delivering, administering and managing. In addition, the BI application can assign and track events or tasks allotted to specific users, based on predefined business rules. Often, this capability can be delivered by integrating with a separate portal or workflow tool. 1.4 Collaboration * This capability enables BI users to share and discuss information, BI content and results, and/or manage hierarchies and metrics via discussion threads, chat and annotations, either embedded in the BI platform or through integration with collaboration, social software and analytical master data management (MDM). 2. Information Delivery 2.1 Reporting * * Reporting provides the ability to create formatted and interactive reports, with or without parameters, with highly scalable distribution and scheduling capabilities. In addition, BI platform vendors should handle a wide array of reporting styles (for example, financial, operational and performance dashboards), and should enable users to access and fully interact with BI content delivered consistently across delivery platforms including the Web, mobile devices and common portal environments. * 2.2 Dashboards * This subset of reporting includes the ability to publish formal, Web-based or mobile reports with intuitive interactive displays of information, including dials, gauges, sliders, check boxes and traffic lights. These displays indicate the state of the performance metric compared with a goal or target value. Increasingly, dashboards are used to disseminate real-time data from operational applications or in conjunction with a complex event processing engine. * 2.3 Ad hoc query * This capability enables users to ask their own questions of the data, without relying on IT to create a report. In particular, the tools must have a robust semantic layer to allow users to navigate available data sources. These tools should include a disconnected analysis capability that enables users to access BI content and analyze data remotely without being connected to a server-based BI application. In addition, these tools should offer query governance and auditing capabilities to ensure that queries perform well. * 2.4 Microsoft Office integration * In some use cases, BI platforms are used as a middle tier to manage, secure and execute BI tasks, but Microsoft Office (particularly Excel) acts as the BI client. In these cases, it is vital that the BI vendor provides integration with Microsoft Office applications, including support for document and presentation formats, formulas, data â€Å"refreshes† and pivot tables. Advanced integration includes cell locking and write-back. * 2.5 Search-based BI * * This applies a search index to both structured and unstructured data sources and maps them into a classification structure of dimensions and measures (often, but not necessarily leveraging the BI semantic layer) that users can easily navigate and explore using a search (Google-like) interface. This capability extends beyond keyword searching of BI platform content and metadata. 2.6 Mobile BI This capability enables organizations to deliver report and dashboard content to mobile devices (such as smartphones and tablets) in a publishing and/or interactive (bidirectional) mode, and takes advantage of the interaction mode of the device (tapping, swiping and so on) and other capabilities not commonly available on desktops and laptops, such as location awareness. 3. Analysis * 3.1 Online analytical processing (OLAP) * * This enables end users to analyze data with extremely fast query and calculation performance, enabling a style of analysis known as â€Å"slicing and dicing.† Users are (often) able to easily navigate multidimensional drill paths. And they (sometimes) have the ability to write-back values to a proprietary database for planning and â€Å"what if† modeling purposes. This capability could span a variety of data architectures (such as relational or multidimensional) and storage architectures (such as disk-based or in-memory). * 3.2 Interactive visualization * This gives users the ability to display numerous aspects of the data more efficiently by using interactive pictures and charts, instead of rows and columns. Over time, advanced visualization will go beyond just slicing and dicing data to include more process-driven BI projects, allowing all stakeholders to better understand the workflow through a visual representation. * 3.3 Predictive modeling and data mining * This capability enables organizations to classify categorical variables and to estimate continuous variables using advanced mathematical techniques. BI developers are able to integrate models easily into BI reports, dashboards and analysis, and business processes. 3.4 Scorecards These take the metrics displayed in a dashboard a step further by applying them to a strategy map that aligns key performance indicators (KPIs) with a strategic objective. Scorecard metrics should be linked to related reports and information in order to do further analysis. A scorecard implies the use of a performance management methodology such as Six Sigma or a balanced scorecard framework. Market Leaders IBM. SAS. Oracle. 1 Oracle 1.1 Strengths * * In 2011, Oracle Business Intelligence Foundation Suite, with its principal component Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE), continued to execute on its stated top-to-bottom BI vision. This year, the products have the highest aggregate Ability to Execute scores. References depict a customer base that is Oracle through and through — 85% run Oracle Database as their data warehouse, nearly 75% run Oracle Applications, and a majority utilizes Oracle Fusion Middleware. Oracle is deployed most broadly (in respect of global deployment) of any vendor in this Magic Quadrant, with average user populations nearing 3,000 and data volumes of more than 5 TB, and it is considered the BI standard for nearly 70% of firms surveyed. While complex workloads are below average, the breadth of use scores in the highest quartile. * * During the Magic Quadrant evaluation process, Oracle announced and completed its acquisition of Endeca, a search-based provider of e-commerce and analytic capabilities. Customer surveys were conducted before the Endeca acquisition was completed; therefore, Endeca is not factored into the Magic Quadrant evaluation of Oracle’s execution, but was considered as part of its long-term product vision. Relatively low numbers of existing references access hybrid data types using OBIEE. Gartner believes that this is a forward-looking acquisition that will have significant impact on the company’s business analytics future (see â€Å"Endeca Buy Extends Oracle’s Ability to Support and Discover Diverse Data† for a more detailed opinion of the acquisition). * * In October 2011, the company announced an engineered system — Oracle Exalytics In-Memory Machine — that leveraged assets across the Oracle stack. The integrated hardware/software analytics solution features a package of OBIEE with new in-memory capabilities (based on Oracle’s acquisition of TimesTen), optimized Oracle Essbase to support the range of traditional BI (reporting, dashboards and analysis), and dynamic planning, what-if and scenario analysis, as well as interactive visualization and data discovery capabilities. The system is designed to support high-performance BI and performance management use cases with the intention of improving the performance, scale and speed of reporting, analysis and planning applications. It is now generally available. * * References select Oracle primarily for functionality, enterprise application integration, and data access capabilities. Additionally, customers indicated that they valued the products’ ability to support large numbers of users. Like other megavendors, the product road map plays an important role in the evaluation process. Ease of use and cost do not factor significantly into the selection process. * * Oracle Business Intelligence Applications (OBIA) are predefined analytic applications for horizontal business processes such as finance, procurement and sales analysis. Customers and prospects find this combination of analytic applications built using the OBIEE toolset appealing, with many buyers selecting both at evaluation time. Additionally, the company also delivers vertical-specific analytic data models for industries such as retail and financial services for IT buyers looking to establish a common data model standard as the foundation for analytics. 1.2 Cautions * References rate OBIEE as difficult to implement, with only SAS Institute considered more difficult. Also, the product was rated as having lower than average ease of use scores. As ease of use for both developers and end users takes on an even more important role in business analytic deployments and evaluations, Oracle must explicitly address these issues or risk being marginalized in user-driven projects. The company has been slow to respond to the data discovery trend. However, some functions are now available in the Exalytics In-Memory Machine, and the Endeca acquisition will add more capabilities in this important area. * * Product functionality evaluation scores remain below average again this year, a trend that appeared in last year’s report. Additionally, customer support and product quality issues are rated below the average (in the fourth and third quartiles respectively) for all vendors in this report. In fact, both support and product quality were also noted as issues that blocked further deployments within customer organizations. This represents a slip from last year’s scores. While not huge red flag items now, they may become more problematic without dedicated company attention to address client concerns. * * Oracle customers use the product mostly for static report viewing, parameterized reporting and scorecard capabilities, leading to below average user complexity ratings. Slightly more than 25% of customers Gartner surveyed for this report run the most current version of the BI suite, which is significantly below average for vendors in this analysis. * * More than 10% of survey respondents indicate that they plan to discontinue, or are evaluating a discontinuation of, software use in the next three years — a relatively high response rate given responses from the prior year. This is above the average for all vendors in this research. 2 SAS 2.1 Strengths * * SAS gets high marks for its global footprint and broad industry initiatives. Unlike some other BI platform vendors, SAS focuses on advanced analytical techniques, such as data mining and predictive modeling, where references acknowledge it as a leader of the pack. SAS’s clients also have above average complexity scores (for the depth of use of different BI use cases) on larger than average data sources. SAS customers also access and interpret unstructured internal and external data more often than any other vendor’s clients surveyed for this Magic Quadrant. * * SAS’s solution-oriented analytic application approach to the market is a differentiator, giving the company the advantage of having a wide variety of cross-functional and vertically specific analytic applications out of the box for a variety of industries, including financial services, life sciences and manufacturing. While others are also adopting this approach, SAS remains in the lead. Customers also report an above average sales experience. * * The primary drivers for customers choosing SAS remain functionality and data integration. In addition, references reported that they select SAS because of availability of skills. In the past, we have heard concerns over a lack of available SAS expertise; we suspect that this improvement is linked to the aggressive stance the company has taken to forge substantial partnerships with services firms, specifically Accenture. This broadened ecosystem also expands SAS’ sales channels with multiple partners positioning SAS-based solutions to their customers. * * On the software partnership front, SAS has partnered with a number of database vendors (such as Teradata) to push the execution of its models directly into the database management system without moving the data. Not only does this reduce data duplication and movement, it also allows SAS users to leverage the power and scalability features of the database to run predictive models against very large datasets with high performance. * Overall, SAS has a wide and loyal user base, many of whom have built careers around these products. References have a solid, positive outlook for SAS’s success within their organizations, as well as in the market as a whole. The company recently reported double-digit revenue growth for 2011. 2.2 Cautions * * References report that SAS is very difficult to implement — it was the No. 1 firm in this category. Companies also indicate that the product is considered difficult to use for business users (it was ranked No. 2 in this category). Its dashboard capabilities were rated lowest of all the vendors in this research. SAS is very much aware of these criticisms, and in 2011 embarked on a major development initiative involving hundreds of resources to improve usability and implementation activities. While it is too early to see the results of these efforts in surveys, we expect to see improvement in these areas in next year’s reference assessment. If no improvement is noted, this will directly impact SAS’s Ability to Execute scores for 2013. * * SAS’s dominance in predictive analytics and statistics continues to be challenged on many fronts. In addition to the SPSS suite, IBM also acquired Algorithmics in 2011 to bolster its portfolio; we are seeing greater adoption of open-source â€Å"R† in some products and embedded predictive and statistical capabilities in others. New entrants to the BI platform Magic Quadrant Prognoz and Alteryx accentuate these capabilities as core components of their product suites. While SAS still remains the acknowledged front runner, buyers have more options now, and SAS must continue to defend its franchise. The company recognizes this and, for example, has reinvigorated its emphasis on placing its software products in higher education settings for student and teacher use. * * Customer references report that cost is the most common factor blocking further adoption. In fact, verbatim responses to the survey mention cost in many ways — leasing terms, expensive to maintain, ongoing costs and so on — and, again, the company is very much aware of this criticism. With more options now available, SAS should also remain responsive to customers and prospects in these areas. The average tenure of SAS’s reference customers that participated in this survey was five years. Over 10% reported that they are planning to replace or are considering replacing the software in the next three years. Despite SAS’s success and awareness as a leader in the predictive analytics space, the company is still challenged to make it onto BI platform shortlist evaluations when predictive analytics is not a primary business requirement. While a little less than 60% of references indicated that SAS was their company’s BI standard, functionality used in traditional BI areas (reporting, dashboards, OLAP and so on) was lower than for other BI leaders in this report. Like last year, ad hoc query remains the one exception, with clients aggressively using SAS BI for that component. 3 IBM 3.1 Strengths * * IBM maintains its leading position on the Completeness of Vision axis for this year’s Magic Quadrant. The company takes a holistic approach to what it calls Business Analytics and Optimization (BAO), combining comprehensive software, hardware and services in a coordinated market offering. IBM’s business analytics software portfolio includes a unified BI, analytics and performance management platform, and is complemented by IBM information management software and appliances (Netezza, for example). Services are made up of a consulting line of nearly 9,000 people, which is a growing part of IBM Global Business Services (GBS). IBM can offer both a tools-based and/or a solution-driven offering, along with significant vertical expertise, to customers and prospects. * In 4Q10, IBM introduced its latest business analytics platform, IBM Cognos 10. Throughout 2011, additional capabilities have been released and customer adoption has begun in earnest. Cognos 10 references who responded to this year’s Magic Quadrant survey painted a very interesting snapshot — on average nearly 4,000 users, over 12 TB of data, broad functional use, and very high platform integration scores, all at or near the top of all ratings for all vendors in this report. Overall, Cognos 10 references were significantly more satisfied than Cognos 8 customers, who were the majority of IBM’s survey respondents. While some indicated that upgrading from Cognos 8 to Cognos 10 had some complexity, the majority rated it as straightforward or very straightforward. This bodes well for IBM’s future ability to execute, providing the firm delivers superior service and support and problem-free software. * * The average tenure of IBM respondents was seven years, second highest of all vendors in this survey. Gartner often hears this long-standing customer commitment in inquiry, and this represents a strong customer loyalty factor. This year, less than 7% of references noted that they are planning to discontinue use of the software in the next three years (or are considering doing so), which is significantly lower than last year’s result. * * Advanced analytics is a particular IBM strength. The company’s SPSS software continues to advance nicely, readily allowing IBM to bid for predictive analytics and statistical use cases. Customers rated IBM’s predictive capabilities in the top quartile of all vendors. A secret weapon at IBM’s disposal — IBM Research — delivers another level of research and development prowess to the overall IBM value proposition. For example, Watson, the Deep Question and Answer system that interprets natural language and scores possible answers based on probability, is a visible example of IBM Research at work. While not a part of the Cognos 10 platform, it demonstrates the depth and breadth that IBM can bring to clients’ advanced analytic scenarios. * The top reasons why customers select IBM are functionality, ease of use for end users, and data access and integration. IBM’s road map and future vision weighed heavily in reference decisions. In 2011, IBM delivered a new Cognos 10 mobile application for the iPad that is included free in existing user roles. In early 2012 the company will introduce Cognos Insight, a personal, desktop BI product that enables independent discovery and â€Å"what if† modeling, while also providing full interoperability with the larger workgroup and enterprise solutions. 3.2 Cautions * Twenty-three percent of Cognos 8 references indicate that performance continues to be problematic (a persistent problem for the last several years), nearly three times the average response for other vendors evaluated in this Magic Quadrant. In contrast, Cognos 10 references reported below average performance concerns. This is a sure signal that IBM must encourage upgrades to Cognos 10 without technical and/or financial disruption. * Again this year, references consider the Cognos products more difficult to implement and use than those of competitors. While Cognos 10 was rated slightly below average, other IBM products (Cognos 8, SPSS software and Cognos TM1) were deemed significantly more difficult. These are cited as two major reasons that limit expanded BI deployments with Cognos 8. As such, improved system administration and end-user usability were major development themes of the Cognos 10 release. References indicate that Cognos software is used largely by a consumer/casual user population. Reporting is the most extensively deployed component, followed by ad hoc query and OLAP analysis. * * IBM’s customers also continue to have less than optimal customer experiences, with support and sales interactions, along with product quality, rated in the bottom quartile of all vendors reviewed in this report. References also rate product functionality slightly below the average for all vendors. The bright spot is that Cognos 10 references rated product functionality near the top of all vendors, and support, sales and product quality were rated better than for Cognos 8. These issues remain IBM’s Achilles’ heel, and will limit its ability to raise execution scores next year unless action is taken quickly. * * License cost continues to be another source of customer concern across all products in the IBM business analytics portfolio. Gartner client inquiry also bears out this concern. Higher than expected costs to upgrade from Cognos 8 to Cognos 10 have stalled some projects, but changes in configuration, user roles, and/or support costs appear to drive the increase. As a counterpoint, existing Cognos 10 users did not identify license cost as a concern.

Leading marines

Identify the author's mission (task and purpose) in writing this book. The author's purpose in writing this book was to explain the role of the ‘leader' in the Marine Corps. To accomplish this the author used examples of corps values, ethos, individual courage and unit spirit. 2. What part of the book was the most effective in accomplishing the author's mission? What part of the book was the least effective? The part of the book that I think is most effective at accomplishing the author's mission is chapter three: Challenges. Friction dominates war, it makes simple tasks hard'. The author touches on how friction affects us anywhere from the marine-air- ground task force down to the most forward fghting positions and how getting over the brick wall that is adversity is key to being able to lead marines. 3. What does the author assume to be true in order to accomplish his mission? Does the author validate these assumptions in the book? The author really shows the importance of th e lessons we learned in boot camp and OCS as the basis of what is needed to accomplish any mission.The author validates these assumptions as he goes back to what we learned in training as xamples of how we should carry ourselves as leaders and Marines. 4. The part of the book that is most relevant to what I / we do is: The part of the book that is most relevant to what â€Å"we do is chapter three. The author talks about Friction and overcoming challenges in everyday life such as physical challenge and the importance of being combat effective. This is relevant to me because I think physical fitness is key to anyone in the Marine Corps who wants to be a leader. . Identify the author's specific and implied conclusions. What I took as an implied conclusion was that there's a bigger purpose for veryone and you won't know what that purpose is unless you take risks to find that purpose. What part ot the book was the most ettective in accomplishing the author's The part of the book that i s most relevant to what l/we do is chapter three. The ground task torce down to the most torward tgnting positions and now getting over purpose. 1.Identify the author's mission (task and purpose) in writing this book. ground task force down to the most forward fighting positions and how getting over The part ot the book that is most relevant to what I / we do is: 6a. With respect to the author's conclusions (either specified or implied), I / we ccept or agree with the following: I agree with the implied conclusion that the fundamentals of leading marines is engraved in each of us as marines in boot camp or OCS and that those fundamentals are the basis of being a leader and a Marine. b. With respect to the author's conclusions (either specified or implied), I / we reject or do not agree with the following: There was nothing that I did not agree with. 7a. This book made a favorable impression on me and it will change the way I approach: This book will definitely make me think back to the basics when I am approached with adversity.

Free Essays on Civilizations

CIVILIZATION The term â€Å"civilization† means an advanced state of intellectual, cultural and material development in human society, marked by progress in the arts and sciences, the extensive use of record-keeping, including writing and the appearance of complex political and social institutions. The following elements make up a civilization: Cities - Man becomes settled. Cities and towns are built, become larger and densely occupied dwelling areas are accessed by winding streets and irrigation systems are developed to cultivate the land and grow food. There is a general improvement in the standard of living so man stays home more. Specialization of Labor – Overpopulation encourages man to find new food sources, hence, he becomes a food producer. This gives birth to the Agricultural Revolution. Also, the domestication of animals is known as the Pastoral Revolution. Some people are farmers but a significant portion of the population could now become non-agriculturists and become specialists in other vocations. Weaving, pottery making, metal-work, trade and construction are a few examples of specializations of labor. Writing - Not only is a common language being shared, token and ball systems are replaced by flat tablets which have desired information inscribed on it by way of appropriate symbols written with sticks. This form of writing was replaced by using a durable reed stylus known as Cuneiform. However, it was hard to draw pictures with these reeds so symbols were invented for every vowel-consonant combination, known as Phonetic symbols. Without writing, it would be impossible to record history. Organized Government – Priests stood at the top of these highly theocratic societies. Organized warfare between nomadic people and settled people commences due to Nomadic people yearning to have what settled people have attained. Now development of armies and militia are required to keep order. M... Free Essays on Civilizations Free Essays on Civilizations CIVILIZATION The term â€Å"civilization† means an advanced state of intellectual, cultural and material development in human society, marked by progress in the arts and sciences, the extensive use of record-keeping, including writing and the appearance of complex political and social institutions. The following elements make up a civilization: Cities - Man becomes settled. Cities and towns are built, become larger and densely occupied dwelling areas are accessed by winding streets and irrigation systems are developed to cultivate the land and grow food. There is a general improvement in the standard of living so man stays home more. Specialization of Labor – Overpopulation encourages man to find new food sources, hence, he becomes a food producer. This gives birth to the Agricultural Revolution. Also, the domestication of animals is known as the Pastoral Revolution. Some people are farmers but a significant portion of the population could now become non-agriculturists and become specialists in other vocations. Weaving, pottery making, metal-work, trade and construction are a few examples of specializations of labor. Writing - Not only is a common language being shared, token and ball systems are replaced by flat tablets which have desired information inscribed on it by way of appropriate symbols written with sticks. This form of writing was replaced by using a durable reed stylus known as Cuneiform. However, it was hard to draw pictures with these reeds so symbols were invented for every vowel-consonant combination, known as Phonetic symbols. Without writing, it would be impossible to record history. Organized Government – Priests stood at the top of these highly theocratic societies. Organized warfare between nomadic people and settled people commences due to Nomadic people yearning to have what settled people have attained. Now development of armies and militia are required to keep order. M...

Evans Surname Meaning and Family History

Evans Surname Meaning and Family History Evans is a patronymic surname meaning son of Evan. The given name Evan derives from the Welsh name Ifan, a cognate of John, meaning gracious gift of Jehovah. Within the United Kingdom, Evans is the 8th most common surname, being most common in the city of Swansea, Wales. It is ranked as the 48th most common surname in the United States. Surname Origin:  Welsh Alternate Surname Spellings:  EVINS, EVENS, EVAN, EVIAN Famous People with the Evans Surname Walker Evans -  American photographerArthur Evans  - English archaeologist and curatorLee Evans  -  African-American track-and-field greatEdith Evans  -  English stage and screen actressMichael Evans - British stage and screen actor Where is the Evans Surname Most Common? The Evans surname is the 656th most common surname in the United States, according to surname distribution data from Forebears.  The name  is especially numerous in North and South Wales and in the adjacent English counties of Shropshire and Monmouth.  Evans ranks as the 5th most common surname in Wales, the 10th in England, the 20th in Australia and the 47th in the United States. Surname distribution maps from  WorldNames PublicProfiler  also demonstrate the popularity of the Evans surname in Wales and England, followed by Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States (especially Georgia, Mississippi, and Utah). Genealogy Resources for the Surname Evans 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their MeaningsSmith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census? Evans Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as an Evans family crest or coat of arms for the Evans surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male-line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted. Evans DNA ProjectMore than 570 members have joined this project for the Evans surname (and variants) to  work together to find their common heritage through DNA testing and sharing of information. Evans Family Genealogy ForumThis free message board is focused on descendants of Evans ancestors around the world. Search the forum for posts about your Evans ancestors, or join the forum and post your own queries.   FamilySearchExplore over 9.7 million  results from digitized  historical records and lineage-linked family trees related to the Evans surname on this free website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. GeneaNet - Evans  RecordsGeneaNet includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the Evans surname, with a concentration on records and families from France and other European countries. The Evans Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse genealogy records and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the Evans surname from the website of Genealogy Today. Sources Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998. Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997. Glossary of Surname Meanings Origins

Business ethic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business ethic - Essay Example 56). This paper will discuss and comment on these views on ethics so that we can understand their importance and implications to the society’s well-being. Utilitarian view of ethics is based on one cardinal principle; that good is to be done to the majority. It is a mixture of both beneficial and evil deeds in the view that the majority of the people to be happy, then some must be sacrificed. This is because whatever gets to impress one person might be annoying to the other. However, something might impress many people, but annoy a few. In this case, the unimpressed minority have to be sacrificed. The rule of utilitarian ethics goes beyond personal action. In my view, it is simply about maximizing on the moral and minimizing on the bad. I believe that such a view of ethics is fair and applicable since it would be impossible to impress all the people in a society. Individualism refers to protection of self-interest; therefore, individualism view of ethics refers to where one is responsible to its environment based on a long term self-interest that is being pursued. In individualism, one seeks tom impress the whole population because whatever is in store depends mostly on the whole population in question. This type of social ethics is not appropriate in the world because it promotes conformance to acceptable social behavior, as long as there is something one hopes to gain (SOURYAL, 2010, p. 67). If there is nothing to gain then it means that one has no obligation to be friendly to the environment. One can also stop being true to the environment immediately. In summary, this is an unfair ethical practice since it is not guaranteed to the subjects. Human rights are the governing rule that define what a person is entitled to, and any person who crosses the set parameter is viable to punishment by law. Moral rights ethical view seeks to protect the fundamental