crossroads-webdesign.com

Private investigation has a lot of imagery and clichs attached to it. There is the “lone wolf” investigator who, for one reason or the other is unattached to the government. There is the trusty sidekick/chronicler who manages to either accidentally make discoveries which are crucial to the case or get himself into a situation where he needs rescuing. There is also the scene where the hapless client (often a beautiful blonde) goes to the office of the private investigator to seek his help. However, this last scene is slowly becoming obsolete simply because of the advent of online private investigation

2005 Overview:

After finally breaking the 86-year curse of Babe Ruth not to mention performing one of the most miraculous comebacks in baseball history vs. the Yankees, the Boston Red Sox entered the 2005 season hopeful their good fortune would continue. Even though Curt Schillings ankle wasnt 100% – the blueprint for 2005 began by adding newly acquired pitchers David Wells and Matt Clement to the starting rotation. But from the beginning of the season it was evident that Schillings ankle wouldnt cooperate as he started only 3 games prior to the All Star break. Thankfully for Red Sox fans no one was running away with the AL East just yet.

It wasnt hard for Boston to remain in the hunt for another AL East title especially with the lethal 1-2 offensive punch of Manny Ramieriz (.292 45 144) and David Ortiz (.300 47148) providing the bulk of the scoring. Outfielder Johnny Damon (.316 10 75) continued his impressive output as the Red Sox leadoff hitter while Trott Nixon (.275 13 67) and catcher Jason Varitek (.281 22 70) returned another season of impressive offensive numbers.

The starting pitching learned to live without Schilling with David Wells (15 7 4.45) assembling a decent season. Pitchers Matt Clement (13 6 4.57) and Tim Wakefield (16 7 4.15) also stepped up their game in order to keep the Red Sox and Yankees neck and neck until the last weekend series at Fenway. The Yankees won the season finale two games to one, leaving the Red Sox to face the Chicago White Sox in the Division Series. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, 2005 ended with a quick postseason departure as they were swept three games to none, losing game 3 in Fenway 5-3 to the White Sox.

Off Season Moves:

The chaos created by the initial departure of GM Theo Epstein proved beneficial for the Yankees who were able to snag free agent All Star Centerfielder Johnny Damon from under the Red Sox noses. Boston struck back days later completing a seven player deal with the Marlins netting 3rd baseman Mike Lowell (.236 8 58) starting pitcher Josh Beckett (15-8 3.37) and pitcher Guillermo Mota (2-2 4.70). Mota was later used to acquire outfielder Coco Crisp (.300 16 69 16 SB) who will be used to replace Damon in centerfield. Also picked up in the Crisp trade was reliever David Riske (3-4 3.10).

Other notable off season moves included trading Doug Mirabelli to the Padres for 2nd baseman Mark Loretta (.280 3 38) as well as sending infielder Edgar Renteria to the Braves for cash along with 3B Andy Marte. Additional moves included the Red Sox avoiding arbitration with infielder Tony Graffanino (.309 7 38) as well as adding pitcher Julian Tavarez (2-3 3.43) and outfielder J.T. Snow (.275 4 40).

2006 Analysis:

Expect the starting pitching for Boston to be stronger then last year with the addition of Josh Beckett and the anticipated rebound of Schilling. The Red Sox are also hoping that Wells will be more comfortable as the 3rd vs. number 1 starter – a role he was forced to assume when Schilling was unable to rebound from his 2004 ankle injury. The bullpen is upgraded with the addition of Tavarez and Riske. Expect Mike Timlin (7-3 2.24) Keith Foulke (5-5 5.91 15 saves) Jonathan Papelbon (3-1 2.65) and Bronson Arroyo (14-10 4.51) to pick up right where they left off last year.

Boston took it hard on the chin by losing Johnny Damon as his production and leadership will be missed but Crisp is a young player with a good deal of speed. Crisp posted career highs last year in runs (86), hits (178) and homers and the Red Sox are counting on him doing even more to fill the void left by Damon. Also expect Manny Ramieriz to be on the opening day roster as whispers of him leaving to the Orioles or Mets in some multi-team mega deal appear to be nothing more then fodder to sell newspapers. Few teams can manage Mannys contract and the Red Sox seem to unwilling to offer and financial relief to any teams who have shown interest in acquiring him.

So you have finally decided to backup those precious photos? There are a few ways to backup photos. In this article we will explain how you can backup your photos either yourself at home or by using an online backup service.

Backing up to a DVD/CD

Backing up to a DVD/CD is done by using a DVD/CD writer and software that can burn files on such media. Usually using such solutions requires more technical know-how. Backing up to a DVD/CD is a cheap solution. You can buy such writer drives and software for under a $100 and each DVD/CD media should cost much less than a dollar. One such software that is used by many is from the company Roxio.
When backing up your photos to a DVD/CD please keep the DVD/CD in a safe place a good option would be somewhere out of your home maybe a family members home, with a neighbor you can trust or with a friend. Another thing to remember with DVD/CD backups is that when you take new photos you should remember to refresh your backups. Usually unless your photo album is very big the easiest way to do that is just to burn again you complete collection.

Backing up to an online backup service

As many other services backup also found its way to the Internet. A number of sites provide backup services today for everything from digital photo albums to your word documents. Those services usually charge a monthly fee in the $10 to $20 but some provide a more limited service for free. The idea behind the service is simple: instead of backing up to a DVD/CD you upload your photos to a site and create copies there. The site stores the backups in a safe place far away from your computer. If a disaster happens and you need your files you can simply download them back from the site or have the site send you a DVD/CD with the files (not all provide the latter option). A broadband connection is needed in order to use this option.

There are many advantages to using an online backup service. First they are usually very easy to use. Some provide software that you download and install on your computer. You point to the folder where your photos reside and the software takes it from there. It will make sure new files are uploaded to the backup service and that the backup is always fresh.

Examples of sites that provide such service are: Streamload that starts with a basic FREE 10GB space (approx 10,000 photos at 2 megapixels) and Xdrive that starts from 5GB for $10 a month.

Today, listening to music on compact disks and audio tapes is no novelty. Did we however think how the music got there? Recording music involves the storing of performances for later listening. This is what the musical bands and great singers do. Then, record labels like virgin records and Sony convert them into high quality tapes or cd’s for our pleasure in cars or where ever we go.

The first recording principal came about through a Swiss watch maker in 1796 when he proposed the first musical box. Then came the phonograph in 1877 by Edison. He constructed a cylinder with soft material like led or tinfoil. A stylus drew grooves across this material and through the depth of the grooves and calculated air pressure the recording was determined.

In 1896 however, Valdemar Poulsen demonstrated magnetic recording. In this process of recording sound, a tape is kept moving under a recording head. The head transfers electronic signals corresponding to the sound on to the tape. The play back head then re reads these tapes and recognizes the signals hence playing them back.

Magnetic recordings were however not popular and were inefficient in the beginning. People preferred Phonograph to Magnetic records. For example, in 1932 the BBC used a tape recorder. It was a huge machine using steel tapes. The tape had to be rotated at the speed of 90 meters under the different head, which meant that a huge amount of tape was required. Approximately tapes as long as 3 Kilometers weighing 25 KG were used.

However as the time passed, tape recorders became better. With the help of the Germans, a working tape recorder was finally demonstrated in 1938. After this, multi track recording was introduced. Les Paul, helped in this field. In this form of recording, multiple tracks can be housed on one tape.

All the great things were not happenings only in the magnetic recording field. In 1927 the JAZZ singer astounded people by being one of the first movies to use sound techniques. From now on, the process of recording sound on optical film began in earnest. The Jazz singer had used a process known as the vidaphone.

It was now time for the digital recorders. Introduced in the late 1970′s, these soon became popular. Soon, multi track recorders with stationary heads were being manufactured. The rotating head technology was used to record sound on to video tapes then in use. As time moved on, compact disks became more and more popular.

Using complex electronic techniques, these provided higher quality and far superior sound. Using Lazar for recording purposes, they were a new revolution displacing tape recorders and gramophones, which had come out in the 1960′s.

However, the wheel moved and we had the MP3 player which allowed us to download and listen to hundreds of songs from one simple and tiny portable device. Today, ipods are the order of the day, allowing you to carry and listen to thousands of songs in your pocket where ever you are.

The journey of recording music is fascinating and filled with great happenings. Today recording is used for storing music, books and great speeches. It has become an integral part of our lives. We don’t think of it when we flip the cd into our computers or cd players about the long struggle this technology had to make before it was in this state.

Although some medical scientists agreed upon the new features discovered and explained by Kanner, others didnt accept his ideas, claiming that autism couldnt be separated from other neurological disorders. Many medical scientists disagreed with Kanner and completely refused to see autism as a distinctive syndrome. This was due to the fact that Kanner failed to clarify various aspects of autism, leaving serious gaps in his research.

By contrast, scientists who accepted Kanners ideas quickly began to apply his model of diagnosis in their psychiatric practice. However, considering the fact that Kanners concept of autism was confusing, most medical scientists who adopted his theories applied the model of diagnosis too widely. Due to misinterpretation of Kanners ideas, more and more people who suffered from neurological disorders were inappropriately diagnosed with autism.

The concept of autism was finally clarified by Rutter in the late 70s. Rutter introduced new terminologies and developed new theories that would adjust the overall interpretation of autism. In an attempt to eliminate the confusion that surrounded the concept of autism, Rutter focused his work on improving Kanners model of diagnosis. Some of the new criteria introduced by Rutter in the process of diagnosing autism were:

- Onset of the syndrome in early childhood, by the age of 30 months;

- Abnormal social development (regarded separately from intellectual development);

- Slow and impaired development of speech (regarded separately from intellectual development);

- Poor adaptation skills, stereotype behaviors and insistence on routine.

While Kanner claimed that autism and intellectual retardation should be regarded as two separate, distinctive units, Rutter revealed that the concept of autism included some degree of intellectual retardation. Rutter refused to accept that autism should be diagnosed without measuring the levels of performance intelligence and proved that Kanners syndrome and impaired cognitive functions went hand in hand. While this fact may seem controversial and contradictory to Kanners findings, the truth is that the Austrian scientist failed to correctly measure the IQ levels of the subjects he studied. In fact, Kanner only discovered good memory and logical skills in his subjects, not accounting for other aspects of performance intelligence. Rutter explained that in spite of their good memory and good logical skills, most autistics present some degree of impaired mental judgment.

Rutters work had clarified many aspects of autism, enabling medical scientists to diagnose the syndrome in a more precise and approachable manner. Rutters improved model of diagnosis was a huge step forward in the practice of psychiatry, clarifying certain aspects omitted by his predecessors. Although there are still many uncertain aspects regarding the syndrome identified by Kanner, nowadays medical scientists are able to correctly diagnose children with autism.

Why do the Ironman Triathlon?

I’ve lost track of how many times over the years I’ve been asked why I commit so much of my time to preparing for yet another Ironman.

For a long time I found it difficult to come up with a reasonable response, because often I wasn’t sure myself. I think what makes it difficult, is goals change as the years pass and so would the answer to the question.

At first like so many others, I was “Ironstruck”. When I first saw this event I was drawn toward it and made the decision that I just had to cross that finish line. Despite the fact that I couldn’t swim a stroke and had never been on a racing bike I was compelled by some unseen force to do this race.

Once I consciously made the decision, there was no turning back and my life took on a new direction. It was easily the most important and life-changing decision I have ever made. It touched every single aspect of my life.

At 56 years old I don’t plan to do an Ironman every year from this point on. However I’ve learned from my long Ironman career how important maintaining a healthy lifetstyle is to a persons quality of life.

My plan is to do my next Ironman in my 60th year. There is no confusion “why” any longer when I am asked that question yet again.

By setting that goal, I realize that I will have to stay fit between now and then. It also means that when that starting gun goes off 4 years from now, I will be going into my 60′s in absolute peak condition. Most likely among the fittest 60 year olds in the world. Really not a bad group to be a part of at that stage in ones life. How that particular race turns out really has no bearing on anything. Just making it there is reward in itself.

I strongly believe that how successful or rich a person is doesn’t really make a whole lot of difference when a twist of fate strips it all away and makes people from all walks of life materially equal and dependent on their own physical strength, courage, and adaptibility in order to survive.

The world is changing and events like 9-11 and hurricane Katrina are examples of catastrophic events that knew no boundaries and in an instant left individuals with nothing but the ability they possessed within themselves to at least provide a fighting chance to survive.

Of course it doesn’t mean everyone has to begin training for the Ironman Triathlon– one of the most challenging events in the world. However, to meet the unexpected circumstance of an ever-changing world, it behooves all of us to take care of our physical well-being to the best of our ability. At any age and yes, even as we settle into the retirement years.

Perhaps the best way to explain what I mean is an example I used in a previous article.

Twenty years ago, had I found myself in the middle of a lake, 5 miles from shore with no lifejacket–I would have drowned in 2 or 3 minutes. Now it would be an opportunity for a long training swim.

The Ironman has given me that ability and that confidence. I owe this amazing event so much.

Movies are a big business and the internet is helping them along quite well. Thanks to the new technology that allows movies to be played on the computer you are easily capable of having an entire movie collection right on your desktop providing you have the right type of computer. The free movie download is something that entices a good many people to make the change to the internet format of movies and all that comes with it. Barring any unforeseen circumstances in the near future, people will spend a fair amount of time downloading their favorite films right onto their computers and then playing them on the DVD players and such that grace their entertainment centers. But there is the matter of copyright and piracy laws that you should be aware of. There is not always the legal right to be downloading a movie and you should be very careful of the people who offer them for nothing.

A free movie download can be gotten legally through a good many channels. That means that the download of the movie is free but not the site in general. Most often you will see that many of the sites that offer the free movie download do so by offering unlimited downloading for a flat monthly fee. This is opposed to the sites that charge per download and allow for you to rack up quite the large bill in the meantime. This is truly the only legal way to get a free movie download because the sites are required to pay a certain percentage of the money they take in to royalties. So that way they do not violate the many copyright laws that govern the whole movie industry.

There is a set fee for the free movie download sites and you can manage to get some of the sites for free if you know what you are doing. Many of these places will offer the first month for free and then require you to pay from there on out. So if you can manage to get all of the movies that you want in the first month then cancel the subscription then you will actually have gotten a free movie download. Not all of the sites allow for this though. Many of them have minimum times that you must be a member to get the free month. You should read all of the fine print before signing up for anything.

Congratulations, you have just acquired a wonderful new addition for your home! This new addition will not only add beauty to your home, but will also bring musical pleasure to you and your family. Now that you have your new piano, you will want to make sure that you are caring for it properly. Caring for your piano properly will not only ensure that it plays to its maximum potential, but will also ensure that the value is maintained and, in the case of a new piano, that your warranty is maintained. In this article, I will outline some tips on caring for your piano, including how often you should have your piano tuned, how to help maintain your pianos tuning stability, and how to safely clean and care for the exterior of your piano. I will also define piano tuning, and explain why it is necessary for your piano.

What is a piano tuning and why is it necessary?

There are over 200 strings in your piano, which are stretched at high tension across the frame of your piano. When a piano technician performs a piano tuning, he or she carefully adjusts the tension of each of the strings in the piano in order to ensure they not only sound in harmony with each other, but that they are also playing in standard pitch (when A sounds at 440 Hz).

While not having your piano tuned regularly will not in itself damage the piano, playing on a piano that is not in proper tune can be very de-motivating for anyone trying to practice on that instrument. It is common to hear children commenting to their parents that their piano at home does not sound or feel as good as their teachers piano. This is usually more due to the fact that the piano has not been regularly serviced, rather than that the piano at home is an inferior piano. Not having your piano tuned regularly also increases the risk that problems occurring in the piano due to environmental factors will go unnoticed. This could lead to more permanent and costly damage. In addition, it is more difficult to tune a piano that has not been regularly serviced.

How often should I have my piano tuned?

Generally a piano should be tuned twice per year in order to keep it in good playing condition. Please note that a piano will go out of tune whether it is played or not. A brand new piano or a piano with new strings on it will probably need to be tuned 3-4 times in the first year. This is because new strings tend to stretch as they are being worked in, causing the piano to go out of tune more often. A piano that is used quite often, such as one being used all day for piano lessons, or one being used by high level pianists who practice many hours a day, will need to be tuned every 2 3 months.

How can I ensure better tuning stability in my piano?

The biggest factor that causes a piano to go out of tune is the temperature and humidity in the room where the piano is located. In more hot and humid weather, the strings and moving parts on the piano will expand, causing the piano to play sharper than standard pitch. In more cold and dry weather, these parts will contract, causing the piano to play flatter than standard pitch. Unfortunately, the parts of a piano do not all expand and contract at the same rate. This not only causes the piano to go sharp or flat, but it causes the piano to sound out of tune with itself. If the room in which the piano is located is too dry, there is the risk of getting cracks in the sound board of your piano. This can seriously hamper the sound of the instrument. If the room is too humid there is the risk of problems such as sticking piano keys, caused by the swelling of the wooden parts of the piano, as well as a greater risk of rusting strings. While temperature alone does not generally affect tuning stability of pianos, fluctuations in temperature tend to cause fluctuations in humidity. It is therefore recommended that a moderate temperature be maintained in the house throughout the year.

If the temperature and humidity in the room are kept stable, the piano will stay in tune longer. A good way to monitor the humidity in the room is to use a humidistat. This can be purchased at your local hardware store and can be mounted on the wall. The ideal humidity for a piano is between 40 50%. In the winter, it is a good idea to have a small humidifier in the room, to control the dryness. Central air conditioning helps to control humidity in the summer. However if you do not have central air conditioning, a dehumidifier may be used. A humidifier or a dehumidifier should be placed in the room with the piano, but not directly beside it.

Placement of the Piano in the Room

Place the piano away from heating ducts, hot air registers and radiators. These items generally dry out the air around them, and can not only affect your tuning stability, but can also cause cracks in your piano’s soundboard. Try to keep the piano out of direct sunlight. Direct sunlight can damage the finish of the piano.

Also, be aware of how other items in the room will affect your piano’s sound. Items such as carpets and draperies tend to absorb sound, while wooden items tend to amplify it or make it sound more “live”. If you feel that the piano you have is either too loud or too muted, try adjusting the items that accompany the piano in the room.

Cleaning and Polishing Your Piano

Polishing the Piano: It is generally not recommended to use furniture polish on pianos. The best way to clean a piano is to use a soft cloth which has been slightly dampened and wrung out. A micro fibre cloth is useful for cleaning dust off high-gloss finish pianos. Micro fibre cloths can usually be found in the same section as home car wash accessories in your local hardware store. Piano polishes may be purchased from your local piano store. Some of these polishes are anti-static, and help to keep the dust off your piano.

Cleaning the Piano Keys: It is recommended to use a clean damp cloth to clean the tops of the piano keys. In cases where the keys are tougher to clean, a mild soap solution may be used. Make sure to thoroughly dry the keys after cleaning and do not let any water spill down the sides of the keys. Never use any chemicals or cleaning fluids on the keys.

Cleaning the Interior of the Piano: It is generally recommended that the inside of the piano be cleaned only by a technician. As there are many breakable parts on a piano, it is best to have a professional take it apart in order to avoid any damage. Dust buildup in the piano may cause the mechanisms to stick or work more slowly.

Taking the time to care for your piano properly and having it service by a qualified piano technician will not only keep your piano in optimal playing condition, it will also maintain the re-sale value of your instrument.

Hydropower has been a slumbering giant in the energy game. Since the 1960s, its use has actually gone down compared to other energy sources. This is beginning to change.

Hydropower As A Major Player In The Energy Game

Hydropower is the massive production of electricity through the conversion of kinetic energy in water into electricity. This is typically undertaken in the form of a dam on a river. Water is held back by the dam and then fed in a controlled manner through it. On its way, the water spins turbines that crank generators and produce electricity. Famous projects include Hoover Dam in the United States, Nasser Dam in Egypt and the new Three Gorges Dam in China.

The primary question with hydropower is why we do not use it more. In some countries, such as Norway, it is the primary source of energy production. It is popular because it is a clean energy platform that produces no emissions, pollution, heat or fuel consumption. As long as the river runs, the hydropower plant should function. In places like Africa, this has not always been a sure thing.

Compared to other energy platforms, hydropower is very efficient. Energy conversion rates are in the 80 to 90 percent range. The plants also have a long life as you can see with any dam, and maintenance costs are relatively low. Cost of energy production, thus, is lower or on par with other energy platforms including oil.

While hydropower seems like a slam dunk option as an energy platform, there are a few definite negatives. The initial cost of building a hydropower dam can be very large. Hundreds of millions of dollars can be required. Larger projects such as the Three Gorges dam run into the billions. These figures are staggering for smaller countries and even give pause to most first world ones. With the rising costs of fossil fuels, however, this is becoming less of an issue each and every day.

The other area that causes concern with hydropower dams is the environmental and human impact. Damming a river is no easy task and the impact is massive. To effectively work, a hydropower dam will reduce the flow of water to such an extent that tens if not hundreds of miles of land behind it will be submerged. In the case of the Three Gorges Dam, this led to the removal of entire cities, monasteries and massive changes to the landscape. There is no disputing this negative issue, but localized changes seem minor compared to the global impact of fossil fuel use.

There is not much glamour to hydropower, but it does represent one of the cleanest and efficient energy platforms available to us.

Basketball is a rough sport but people who regularly play the sport make it really fun to watch, not to mention very easy. If one looks a little bit closer, it has also technicalities and techniques. The object the game is to keep the ball in possession and score at the team’s basket. If the team has the basketball they should protect it from the opponent so that they won’t be able to steal it from them. This is called offense; the team who possesses the ball tries to keep the ball in their hands before they shoot and score.

Recently, a number of the world’s leading project management organisations have taken major initiatives to enlighten executive management about the strategic importance and benefits of project management. The focus is to move from individual project management to organisational project management, which these organisations maintain is a strategic advantage in a competitive economy.

In this article, Ed Naughton, Director General of the Institute of Project Management and current IPMA Vice President, asks Professor Sebastian Green, Dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Professor of Management and Marketing at University College Cork (formerly of the London Business School), about his views of strategic project management as a vehicle for competitive advantage.

Ed: What do you thing strategic Project Management is?

Prof. Green: Strategic project management is the management of those projects which are of critical importance to enable the organisation as a whole to have competitive advantage.

Ed: And what defines a competitive advantage, then?

Prof. Green: There are three attributes of having a core competence. The three attributes are: it adds value to customers; it’s not easily imitated; it opens up new possibilities in the future.

Ed: But how can project management yield a competitive advantage?

Prof. Green: There are two aspects to project management. One aspect is the actual selection of the type of projects that the organisation engages in, and secondly there is implementation, how the projects themselves are managed.

Ed: Competitive advantage – the importance of choosing the correct projects – it isn’t easy to define which projects should be chosen!

Prof. Green: I think that the selection and prioritisation of projects is something that hasn’t been done well within the project management literature because it’s basically been assumed away through reducing it to financial analysis. The strategic imperative gives you a different way of prioritising projects because it’s saying that some projects may not be as profitable as others, but if they add to our competency relative to others, then that’s going to be important.

So, to take an example, if a company’s competitive advantage is introducing new products more quickly than others, pharmaceuticals, let’s say, getting product to market more quickly, then the projects that enable it to get the product more quickly to market are going to be the most critical ones, even if in their own terms, they do not have higher profitability than other sorts of projects.

Ed: But if we’re going to select our projects, we have to define what are the parameters or metrics we’re going to select them against that give us the competitive advantage.

Prof. Green: Absolutely. The organisation needs to know which activities it is engaged in, which are the important ones for it competitive advantage and then, that drives the selection of projects. Organisations aren’t very good at doing that and they may not even know what those activities are. They’ll think it’s everything they do because of the power system.

Ed: If a company formulates its strategy, then what the project management community says is that project management is the medium for delivering that strategy. So therefore, if the organisation is good at doing project management, does it have any strategic advantage?

Prof. Green: Well, I suppose that comes back to this issue of the difference between the type of projects that are chosen and the way you manage the projects. Obviously choosing the type of projects depends on being able to link and prioritise projects according to an understanding of what the capability of an organisation is relative to others.

Ed: Let us assume that the strategy is set. In order to deliver the strategy, it has to be broken down, decomposed into a series of projects. Therefore, you need to be good at doing project management to deliver the strategy. Now, the literature says that for an organisation to be good at doing projects it has to: put in project management procedures, train people on how to apply/do project management and co-ordinate the efforts of the people trained to work to procedures in and integrated way using the concept of a project office. Does taking those three steps deliver a competitive advantage for this organisation?

Prof. Green: Where project management, or how you manage projects, becomes a source of competitive advantage is when you can do things better than others. The ‘better than’ is through the experience and judgement and the knowledge which is built up over time of managing projects. There is an experience curve effect here. Two organisations will be at different points in the experience curve as to the knowledge they have built up to manage those bits of projects where the rule book is inadequate. You need management judgement and experience because however good the rule book is, it will never deal completely with the complexity of life. You have to manage down the experience curve, you have to manage the learning and knowledge that you have of those three aspects of project management for it to become strategic.

Ed: Well, then, I think there is a gap there that has to be addressed as well, in that we have now developed a competency at doing project management to do projects, but we haven’t aligned that competency to the selection of projects which will help us to give this competitive advantage. Is project management capable of being imitated?

Prof. Green: Not the softer aspects and not the development of tacit knowledge of having run many, many projects over time. So, for example, you, Ed, have more knowledge of how to run projects than other people. That’s why people came to you, because while you both may have a standard book such as the PMBoK or the ICB, you have developed more experiential knowledge around it.

In essence, it can be imitated a certain amount of the way, but not when you align the softer tacit knowledge of experience into it.

Ed: Organisational project management maturity models are a hot topic at the moment and are closely linked to the ‘experience curve’ effect you mentioned earlier – how should we view them?

Prof. Green: I believe in moving beyond painting by numbers, moving beyond the simplistic idea that an organisation is completely plastic and you can impose this set of procedures and skills and text book protocols and that’s all you need to do. In a way, exactly the same problem was experienced by the developers of the experience curve. If you show companies the experience curve on cost, it’s almost as though, for every doubling of volume, cost reductions occur without you having to do anything. What we know is though, that the experience curve is a potential of a possibility. Its’ realisation depends on the skill of managers.

Ed: Are senior executives/chief executives in the mindset to appreciate the potential benefits of project management?

Prof. Green: Until recently, project management has promoted itself in technical terms. If it was promoted in terms of the integration at general management, at the ability to manage across the functions lending technique procedures with judgement, then it would be much more attractive to senior managers. So, it’s about the blending of the hard and the soft, the techniques with the judgement and the experience that makes project management so powerful. If senior managers don’t embrace it at the moment, it’s not because they are wrong. It’s because project management hasn’t marketed itself as effectively as it should’ve done.

Ed: Do we need to sell to senior executives and chief executives that it will deliver competitive advantage to them?

Prof. Green: No, I think we need to show them how it does it. We need to go in there and actually show them how they can use it, not just in terms of delivering projects on time and within cost. We need to demonstrate to them how they can use it to overcome organisational resistance to change, how they can use it to enhance capabilities and activities that lead to competitive advantage, how they can use it to enhance the tacit knowledge in the organisation. There is a whole range of ways in which they can use it. They need to see that the proof of the outcome is better than the way they’re currently doing it.

When you purchase a new car you may get a roadside assistance package included but if you have a used car you typically wont have roadside assistance and the benefits it provides, such as towing services. Not to worry, there are many companies offering memberships that will give you peace of mind.

Parts do wear out over time. Thats why one of the biggest concerns a driver has is the fear of a breakdown that will require towing. As we all know these events always occur at the most inopportune time or when we dont have the extra cash to cover a towing bill. By becoming a member of one of the many auto clubs that offer services, youll have peace of mind that when disaster strikes youll be covered.

AAA, or American Automobile Association, has divisions throughout all of North America. For a nominal yearly fee youll be provided with all kinds of services for you and your vehicle. Youll have full roadside assistance. Whether you run out of gas, lock your keys in the car, get a flat tire, or break down, youll be covered. Planning a trip? If you need maps AAA will provide them. And if youre thinking about taking a vacation to a sunny tropical destination, AAA has full travel services and can offer you some great prices.

Good Sam is another auto and RV club that offers excellent services to its members. Its a camping club, motor home club, and RV club all combined into one. For under $80 a year you get a full year of roadside assistance for your RV, and all the cars, vans, and trucks in your household. You get a full year of emergency towing services, lockout services, and trip interruption services as well as emergency medical referral services.

Drivershield costs under $70 a year and offers a 24 hour toll free hotline for emergency towing, roadside assistance, and locksmith. It also offers a lifetime collision repair warranty thats good from coast to coast as well as 50% off at thousands of motels, hotels, and dining locations across the country.

If you ride motorcycle and want the same type of protection for your bike as you have for your car, Bros Club Cycle Services is worth exploring. For less than $100 you will get a two year membership which will give you 24 hour a day 365 day a year emergency roadside protection, which includes a network of more than 40,000 flat bed service providers across the US, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Youll get towing services, flat tire assistance, dead battery assistance, and you can even purchase your motorcycle insurance at a discount. You also get some great discounts at motels, hotels, dining locations, and parts providers.

Its a given. At some point in your travels you are going to require towing services. So why not consider a membership in one of the many national auto club programs that will give you peace of mind?

Everybody loves bowling. It is the game where a person can experience fun and excitement. The game is played by aiming and rolling the ball down a lane in an attempt to knock down all the pins.standing at the other end of the lane (target). When the attempt was good enough to knock down all the pins that is when it is called a strike. If there are pins left standing and they are knocked down with another roll of the ball, he made is a spare. Most beginners tend to make a low score because their attempts railed on the lane and did not knock down any pins.

The Jets earned an AFC Wild Card spot in the playoffs, the number 5 seed and surprised most who predicted a less then stellar year. The Jets, however, did lose to the Patriots in the playoffs. No one saw head coach Eric Mangini’s first season going as well as it did, but this year the team is hoping it can make another run into the playoffs, especially since they only lost one starter. But the Jets face a tougher path through the regular season with a difficult schedule. In the 2007 schedule the faces the Jets they will find a whopping seven games against teams that made the playoffs in 2006, thanks mostly to them drawing the NFC East which fielded three playoff teams last season.

Catching Dungeness on the Oregon Coast is a year-round sport in the estuaries, coastal rivers and tidal bays. In theDungeness Crab on the Oregon Coast ocean, crab season is closed from August 15th through November 30th. The best weather to go in is mild to sunny weather. Sustained rains bring fresh water. They are salt-water creatures and heavy rains force them out to sea because of the sudden lack of salt water.

To stay on the right side of the law, you need to get yourself a license if you are 14 and over. The licenses are not that expensive (call the local chamber of commerce for prices) and they are available for three day or year long. This is for both in-state and out-of-state residents.

Legally, you can only keep the males. The females must be let go. You can determine a male from a female by checking their underside. Males have thin tail-like piece while the females have a round, wide piece. It’s pretty easy to tell them apart once you see them both. The measurement of the crab will also determine a keeper. As long as the male crab measures five and three forths inches across the back of the shell, not including the points, consider him dinner!

Now, the adventure begins! Crabs are usually caught by using crab rings or crab pots. You can have up to three of these devices per person. Lower the baited (use chicken, fish, turkey, etc) rings or pots into the water, wait about 5 – 7 minutes, pull them up and see what you have. If you come up empty handed, move them to a different spot and try again. The ideal spots are ones with very little current. You can leave the crab pots in the water for a bit longer than the rings. The local bait shops in town will be able to hook you up with the gear you need. Once caught, they need to be cooked as soon as possible, preferably within the hour. The catch limit is 12 per day.

Once you taste a juicy, Dungeness crab, you will think you have died and went to heaven!

This food group includes milk, cheese, yogurt and fromage frais. Calcium fortified soya alternatives to milk can also be included. This group does not include butter, eggs and cream as these fall into other food groups.

Try to eat 2-3 servings a day. A serving of milk is a 200ml glass, a serving of yogurt is a small pot (150g), a serving of cheese is 30g (matchbox size). Choose lower fat versions whenever you can, such as semi-skimmed milk, low fat yogurt and reduced fat cheese.

These foods provide:

Calcium: needed for development and maintenance of healthy bones
Zinc: required for tissue growth and repair
Protein: needed for growth and repair, and also a source of energy
Vitamin B12: required for blood cells and nerve function
Vitamin B2: needed for the release of energy from carbohydrates and protein
Vitamin A: (in whole milk products) for growth, development and eyesight

Healthy eating tips

Choose low fat milk i.e. semi-skimmed or skimmed milk
Choose low fat yogurts and reduced fat cheeses

Meat and Alternatives

This food group includes meat, poultry, fish, eggs and alternatives (see below). Meat products include bacon, salami, sausages, beefburgers and pat. Fish includes frozen and canned fish such as sardines and tuna, fish fingers and fish cakes.

Proteins are required for growth and repair. Proteins contain Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen and sometimes Sulphur. Proteins are very large molecules, so they cannot get directly into our blood; they must be turned into amino-acids by the digestive system. There are over 20 different amino-acids. Our bodies can turn the amino-acids back into protein. When our cells do this they have to put the amino-acids together in the correct order. There are many millions of possible combinations or sequences of amino-acids; it is our DNA which contains the information about how to make proteins.

Choose lower fat versions whenever you can. Some meat products, e.g. beefburgers and sausages, can be high in fat. Trim visible fat off meat where possible. The Government recommends that we eat two portions of fish each week, one of which should be an oily fish (e.g. salmon, mackerel, trout, sardines or fresh tuna).

Dressing up to go a party is one thing but having to imitate and dress up as someone else or an object is another matter. A Fancy Dress party can only mean one thing and that is fancy dress costumes where you are required or expected to duplicate an image or a look alike figure of someone famous etc. Looking good is our main priority when attending parties but when it comes to attiring and adorning ourselves as an alias will no doubt take a lot of careful planning?

Fancy Dress parties are very popular and very successful to say the least in providing entertainment for all the guests who make the effort to dress up. If you have been invited to a Fancy Dress party then you may have problems wondering who or what to go as. Do not fret there are some fabulous websites online to go in search of for ideas for fancy dress costumes.

If you find this an ordeal trying to select an outfit then make it more interesting by asking friends around to help you choose or even make the outfit of your choice. Remember fancy dress parties are fun – so whatever the finished costume looks like it will not really matter because this is fun stuff – just as long as you joined in and participated in making an effort is enough. However should this be a competition for the best turned out person in fancy dress costume – then matters change.

Unique ideas are going to get you noticed and surely put you in the running of claiming the first prize. A little honest cheating may help you take the award of the best dressed person in fancy dress costume. How you ask, well let me tell you, your first move is a little research to find out about the host of the party and their likes and dislikes in music – movies or even Disney characters and take it from there – for example if the party host is a she and loves cuddly bears then Winnie the Pooh it is

If this fancy dress occasion is being held for a man and his love is of the ocean and water sports then you know the ideal costume that will win the fancy dress competition hands down and that is the bathing costume like that on a Baywatch babe – this idea is for women only unless the male host happens to bat for the other side.

There are so many Fancy Dress options and ideas to choose from – take a trip to your local department store that deals in fun occasions and browse around and by doing this you may just come up trumps – there`s an idea Donald and his wife.

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Hans_Wagner

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Titus_Hoskins

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Leon_Edward