Compass Project Launch | Strategic Business Consulting | Compass

October 7, 2011

Thank you to all of our wonderful clients and volunteers who attended the Project Launch on Wednesday!The energy in the room was amazing, we are very excited to be working with you this year! Below are just a few pictures from the Launch, please see our Facebook page for more!

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Compass Project Launch 2011

*To view all of the pictures from the event, see our Facebook page here: Compass? Fan Page

Source: http://www.compassdc.org/compass-project-launch/

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Apple's visionary Steve Jobs dead at 56 (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? Steve Jobs, the transcendent Silicon Valley entrepreneur who reinvented the world's computing, music and mobile phone industries and changed the daily habits of millions around the globe, died on Wednesday at the age of 56.

His death after a years-long battle with pancreatic cancer sparked an immediate outpouring of tributes as world leaders, business rivals and fans alike lamented the tragedy of his premature passing and celebrated his monumental achievements.

"The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented," President Barack Obama said in a statement.

Fans paid homage to Jobs outside Apple stores around the world, from Los Angeles to Sydney. Outside one store in New York City, mourners laid candles, bouquets of flowers, an apple and an iPod Touch in a makeshift memorial. In San Francisco, they held up black-and-white portraits of Jobs on their iPads.

Many websites, including Apple's own, were transformed into online memorials, a testament to the digital creativity that Jobs inspired.

"For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor," said Microsoft's Bill Gates, who once triumphed over Jobs but has seen his legendary status overtaken by the Apple co-founder in recent years.

Jobs was surrounded by his wife and immediate family when he died in Palo Alto, California, Apple said late on Wednesday. Other details were not immediately available.

Jobs stepped down as CEO in August and handed the reins to long-time operations chief Tim Cook. With a passion for minimalist design and a genius for marketing, Jobs laid the groundwork for the company to continue to flourish after his death, most analysts and investors say.

But Apple still faces challenges in the absence of the man who was its chief product designer, marketing guru and salesman nonpareil. Phones running Google's Android software are gaining share in the smartphone market, and there are questions over what the next big thing is in Apple's product line.

LEGENDARY ENTREPRENEUR

A college drop-out and the son of adoptive parents, Jobs changed the technology world in the late 1970s, when the Apple II became the first personal computer to gain a wide following. He did it again in 1984 with the Macintosh, which built on the breakthrough technologies developed at Xerox Parc and elsewhere to create the personal computing experience as we know it today.

The rebel streak that's central to his persona got him tossed out of the company in 1985, but he returned in 1997 and after a few years began the rollout of a troika of products -- the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad -- that again upended the established order in major industries.

A diagnosis of a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004 initially cast only a mild shadow over Jobs and Apple, with the CEO asserting that the disease was treatable. But his health deteriorated rapidly over the past several years, and after two temporary leaves of absence he stepped down as chief executive and became Apple's chairman in August.

Jobs' death came just one day after Cook presented a new iPhone at the kind of gala event that became Jobs' trademark. Perhaps coincidentally, the new device got lukewarm reviews, with many saying that it wasn't a big enough improvement over the existing version of one of the most successful consumer products in history.

Apple on Wednesday paid homage to its visionary leader by changing its website to a big black-and-white photograph of him with the caption "Steve Jobs: 1955-2011."

The flags outside the company's headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop flew at half mast. Employees left flowers on a bench and a mourner played music on bagpipes in an impromptu tribute.

Cook said in a statement that Apple planned to hold a celebration of Jobs' life for employees "soon".

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve," Apple said in a statement.

"His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts."

The announcement of Jobs' death came after almost all trading in U.S. stocks had finished for the day. Apple's stock was last quoted at $377.22, a tad lower than its Nasdaq close of $378.25.

Outside Jobs' house in Palo Alto, neighbors and friends left flowers and drew messages with markers on the sidewalk. "Thanks for changing the world," read one.

A low fence surrounded a lawn filled with apple trees.

"He was special for the area, like part of the family," said Robert Blum, who brought flowers with his eight-year-old son, Daniel.

NET WORTH $7 BLN

Jobs, in his trademark uniform of black mock-turtleneck and blue jeans, was deemed the heart and soul of a company that rivals Exxon Mobil as the most valuable in America.

Forbes estimates Jobs' net worth at $7 billion. It was not immediately known how his estate would be handled.

His health had been a controversial topic for years and a deep concern to Apple fans and investors. Even board members have in past years confided to friends their concern that Jobs, in his quest for privacy, was not being forthcoming enough with directors about the true condition of his health.

Born in San Francisco, the Buddhist and son of adoptive parents started Apple Computer with friend Steve Wozniak in his parent's garage 1976.

Six years ago, Jobs had talked about how a sense of his mortality was a major driver behind that vision.

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life," Jobs said during a Stanford commencement ceremony in 2005.

"Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

(Additional reporting by Beck Diefenbach)

(Reporting by Poornima Gupta, Edwin Chan, Andrew Longstreth, Sarah McBride, Bill Rigby, Lisa Richwine, Liana Baker, Soyoung Kim, Nadia Damouni and Peter Lauria; Editing by Gary Hill, Tiffany Wu, Ted Kerr and Bernard Orr)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/digitalmusic/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111006/bs_nm/us_apple_jobs

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Steve Jobs: what we can learn from how he lived

Steve Jobs had vision and focus from an early age, and he took courses that piqued his interest ? even if they seemed offbeat. Steve Jobs also had an innate sense of a new emerging generation.

Steve Jobs would be proud.

Skip to next paragraph

Just like the inveterate tinkerer that he was, everyone from university-level educators to homeschooling parents have spent the better part of the past ?i? decade trying to figure out the secret to the Apple founder?s genius ? and how to teach it to, or maybe simply nurture it in, the next generation.

The key, say many who have spent both personal and professional time roaming the chapters of the Silicon Valley inventor?s life, is to appreciate his developmental years and grasp the principles that guided his mature efforts.

Certain traits drove his entire lifework, says Carmine Gallo, author of ?The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs: Insanely Different Principles for Breakthrough Success.? ?He had vision, passion, and focus, for starters,? he says, adding, ?These were obvious from his youngest years.?

Two things from his youth stand out, says Peter Atkins, former Microsoft general manager. Mr. Jobs grew up in Silicon Valley, he points out. ?[H]is adoptive father, Paul Jobs, worked with Steve in their garage taking apart various electronic devices,? he notes via e-mail. ?[T]his regular, coached exposure to how things work likely spurred Jobs' interest in computers ? and gave him a huge experience edge over most kids his age in understanding them.?

Then, when Jobs was 13, he was building some electronic devices, but did not have the required parts. ?Jobs, who must at that point already have had amazing self-confidence, called Bill Hewlett, the co-founder of Hewlett-Packard (which was based near his home),? says Mr. Atkins, who is the founder of Permian Partners, an Internet investment fund. Although Mr. Hewlett did not know Jobs, he talked with him and gave him the required parts ? and also offered Jobs a summer position at Hewlett-Packard, where he later met Steve Wozniak, with whom he'd found Apple.

Fast-forward to his young adult years, and more lessons emerge, says Mr. Gallo. Jobs dropped out of Reed College in Portland, Ore., instead attending classes that piqued his interest ? such as calligraphy. ?Jobs had no idea how this might fit into a future career, but he just understood that it was connected to his passion and interest. And so he pursued it with the same commitment and focus he would bring to his later creations,? Gallo says.

?So of course, look at where it ultimately led,? he notes. ?The Mac really introduced the idea that we should all have creative and beautiful fonts on our computers.?

Jobs also spent time on an Oregon commune with an apple orchard, where, according to Gallo, he birthed the name for his future firm. ?Wozniak came to pick him up from the commune, and Jobs told him he had the name for their company,? he says. ?It should be Apple, Jobs told him, because an apple is something everyone can understand.?

As for how the commune visitor became an epic entrepreneur, timing is everything, says Geoffrey Orsak, dean of Southern Methodist University?s Lyle School of Engineering in Dallas.

Jobs came out of a ?post-hippie, Bay Area culture that began to feel the growing pressure of actually finding a career when the poetry readings and protests started to wane,? he says via e-mail. A few miles south, a small informal gathering of tech tinkerers was emerging as the crucible of the new Silicon Valley, and ?Jobs was poised to become the coolest kid in the class,? he says.

He wasn?t a product of the cold-war generation that started HP and Intel, cemented in the notion of the orderly progress of both technology and society, Mr. Orsak says. Jobs had an innate sense of a new emerging generation whose members never saw themselves as consumers of technology, says Orsak. ?His strength was in pursuing his vision when others were headed in different directions,? he adds.

So, asks Orsak, how do we grow more ?mad thinkers? like Steve Jobs?

This is where many in higher-education circles have paid close attention, says Polly Black, director of the Center for Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. Wake Forest?s entrepreneurship program, she says, flows from Jobs?s extreme and passionate focus on ?making meaning, not money.?

The program is a minor, housed inside the liberal-arts curriculum, ?for a reason,? Ms. Black says. ?We want people to see the larger connections between ideas and disciplines.?

She is quick to add that the wedding of the practical and the visionary is inextricably tied to lessons from Jobs?s life. ?Jobs remained remarkably aligned with consumers, insisting their point of view came first,? she says, adding that his focus on consumer needs helped him create products that slid into the right place, just before consumers realized they needed that product.

Jobs surrounded himself with savvy people, says Black. ?Jobs had the vision but needed a team to help build it out,? she says, noting that he believed strongly in the team function at Apple and considered everyone an integral part of the company?s success. His final email, she says, started out: ?Team ...?

The Wake Forest program encourages students to work in teams made up of people whose strengths differ from one another, Black says. The university seeds start-ups on campus, she notes, which gives students an opportunity to safely experience another important life lesson from the Jobs narrative ? how to learn from failure.

?Jobs was fired from his own company,? Black says with a laugh, yet he never lost his focus or his passion and came back bigger than ever.

Jobs has been a great source of inspiration, says homeschooler Doug Newcomb, senior technology writer at Edmunds.com and father of two. But, he says, it can be tricky encouraging creativity while ensuring that his offspring don?t shirk their studies.

What I try to teach my kids, he says, ?is that [they] should work hard and stick with [their] vision no matter what the world says about it.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/vSomlHLoXLs/Steve-Jobs-what-we-can-learn-from-how-he-lived

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Knox: 'I'm really overwhelmed right now'

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NBC News

Amanda Knox makes a short statement at Sea-Tac Airport.

By msnbc.com's Kari Huus and Alex Johnson

Update 8:51 p.m. ET:?Amanda Knox's statement at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport:?

They're reminding me to speak in English.?

I'm really overwhelmed right now. I was looking down from the airplane, and it seemed everything wasn't real.?

I want to thank everyone who's believed in me, who's supported my family. My family is the most important to me, and I just want to go home.?

Thank you for being there with me.?

_____


Update 8:41 p.m. ET: The news conference is over. Amanda Knox spoke briefly, saying, "I'm really overwhelmed right now."

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She arrived in the briefing room to loud whoops from a crowd of supporters. She was?crying, with her hand over her mouth.

??Full coverage of the Amanda Knox case on msnbc.com

She then sat with her family, still crying and clutching a relative's hand.

_____

Kari Huus / msnbc.com

A supporter of Amanda Knox at the Seattle airport Tuesday evening.

Update 8:32p.m. ET: Amanda Knox and her family have arrived for a news conference at the Seattle airport. A groan went up from journalists when it was announced that no questions would be taken.

_____

Update 8:16 p.m. ET: The first Italian press to show up were Manuela Moreno, an anchor for Rai TV in Italy, and a producer who arrived with a producer this morning from New York, where they had been for the previous month.?

For these veterans of the Amanda Knox drama ? they've been covering it since the news of the murder ? there's no surprise that even in relatively far-flung Seattle, press hunger for the story remains at a fever pitch.?

"I expected it, yes, because Amanda is young, beautiful and enigmatic. There are three young people, love, sex and a horrible murder in a small town. ... It has all the ingredients for a horrible story," said Moreno.

None of the same frenzy surrounds Knox's former boyfriend, Italian Raffaele Sollecito, whose conviction was also overturned. Moreno says she thinks this is because he is more "naive."??

"But she is like a sphinx," Moreno says of Knox. "No one knows what she thinks."??

Moreno sees no end to press interest in Italy for a long time, especially if she delays talking to Italian press.??

"It all depends on how long Amanda drags is out before talking ot the press. The sooner she does, the sooner she will get rid of us."

They hope to understand her better by seeing how she acts now that she is back in the United States. But if she is very elusive, they might end up camped in front of her house in West Seattle.?

"It could get quite obnoxious," says Morena.

? Kari Huus

_____

Update 8:09 p.m. ET: Amanda Knox's plane has landed safely at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

_____

Update 7:40 p.m. ET:?While there was a sense of relief and joy among supporters of Amanda Knox, she and her family face a host of challenges, NBC's Stephanie Gosk reports. The family has been nearly bankrupted by legal fees, and her grandmother says she's drowning in debt:

_____

Update 7:25 p.m. ET: While news crews make up most of the crowd at Sea-Tac airport waiting for Amanda Knox, a couple of civilians did make their way to the press area.

Kari Huus / msnbc.com

News crews jam Seattle-Tacoma International Airport ahead of Amanda Knox's arrival.

"I wondered why there weren't more people here," Rochelle Fitzgerald ? who landed in Seattle on her way back to Port Angeles, Wash., from Los Angeles ? said upon learning that Knox wasn't expected to land until after 5 p.m. local time (8 p.m. ET).

Fitzgerald just happened by coincidence to be in the airport as the press was setting up and she was hoping to catch a glimpse of Knox, who she said got a raw deal.

"All I can say is it's a shame when our American people go into another country, and the things that happen," she said. "I think it's a sad situation to go through that, and [Knox] needs all the support she can get."

??Full details and background on the Amanda Knox case

By contrast, Thomas Bakker of Seattle has been following the case from day one, and with a day off work, he took Seattle's light rail to Sea-Tac expressly for Knox's homecoming.

In Bakker's opinion, "after all is said and done, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time."?

"She kept mixing up her story at the beginning," he said, "and so that probably triggered the prosecution, who was able to go after her."?

? Kari Huus

____

Update 6:32 p.m. ET: Anne Bremner, a Seattle defense attorney who served as a spokeswoman for Friends of Amanda Knox, which raised money for her defense, tells Reuters that Knox is likely to make a brief statement thanking her supporters.?

NBC station KING-TV of Seattle reported that Friends of Amanda Knox would not be at the airport but would instead wait for Knox to decide when and where they would hold a celebration.
_____

Original post: Nearly a dozen TV satellite trucks are sitting outside the Seattle airport, part of a media maelstrom awaiting Amanda Knox's return home after she served four years in an Italian prison for a murder she was ultimately found not to have committed.

After four years in prison, Amanda Knox is a free woman after an Italian appeals court overturned her conviction for the murder of her roommate. NBC News' Keith Miller reports.

Knox's British Airways flight was on schedule for an estimated arrival at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport about 8:12 p.m. ET. When she lands, customs agents will meet her and her family, and then they will be whisked through a secure door for a news conference, said Perry Cooper, a spokesman for the Port of Seattle, which operates Sea-Tac.

Knox's parents and the family's legal adviser are expected to speak, but it isn't known whether Knox, 24, an exchange student at the University of Washington, herself plans to make any statement. They'll then be whisked away to depart privately.

Msnbc.com will stream the news conference live, probably beginning around 9 p.m. ET.

Knox was initially sentenced to 26 years in prison after she and her then-boyfriend were convicted in 2009 of sexually assaulting and killing her British roommate, Meredith Kercher, in 2007. An Italian appeals court overturned the convictions Monday, setting off a media frenzy in Italy and the U.S. alike. The prosecutor said he would appeal the ruling, and Kercher's family was left without a resolution to her killing.?

Knox's case generated enormous interest and sympathy in the U.S., but NBC News'?Claudio Lavanga reported from Perugia that as?soon as the verdict became clear Monday, the air filled with ?cries of "Shame, Shame." The Knox family, pelted with heady insults when they emerged from the court, had to be whisked away by security.

? Full details and background on the Amanda Knox case

Carlo Dalla Vedova, one of Knox's Italian attorneys, said Knox is weak, stressed and scared after her ordeal.

"She hasn't got so much sleep, and this week has been extremely heavy on her," Dalla Vedova said in an interview with NBC's TODAY:

Carlo Dalla Vedova, one of Amanda Knox's attorneys, says his client's exoneration is the "end of a nightmare" for the American student.

? Alex Johnson

Source: http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/04/8151446-knox-im-really-overwhelmed-right-now

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Springer and the Korean Physical Society sign co-publishing agreement

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 4-Oct-2011
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Contact: Renate Bayaz
renate.bayaz@springer.com
49-622-148-78531
Springer

Society journal offers high-quality physics research with worldwide source and scope

Springer and the Korean Physical Society (KPS) will collaborate to publish the society's official publication, the Journal of the Korean Physical Society (JKPS), beginning in 2012. It is dedicated to disseminating and publishing significant and original research results in all branches of physics from scientists based in Korea and around the world.

The Journal of the Korean Physical Society is an international journal focusing on high-level research results in physics, including condensed matter physics, atomic and molecular physics, nuclear physics, elementary particle physics, and optics, fluid and plasma physics among many others. The broad diversity of research fields contributes to the further development of physics. Besides original articles, the JKPS publishes review papers, letters, brief reports, and comments contributed by scientists from all over the world. Special issues are devoted to current research in a particular area of physics.

Starting with Volume 59, Issue 1, 2012, Springer is responsible for the distribution of the printed version of the JKPS to subscribers outside of Korea and will make the electronic version available worldwide. The journal appears twenty-four times a year.

"I am very glad that starting in 2012, the Korean Physical Society will publish the Journal of the Korean Physical Society jointly with Springer, a world-renowned publisher in science. I strongly hope that this collaboration will transform the JKPS into an even better and more international journal and improve its impact factor. I encourage researchers worldwide to contribute their works to JKPS," said Dr. Dong Ho Kim, Editor-in-Chief.

Mark de Jongh, Senior Publishing Editor and coordinator of the Korean Society journals publishing program for Springer, said: "We at Springer are very proud to co-publish the Journal of the Korean Physical Society. The Korean Physical Society is one of the leading academic societies in Korea and has a strong tradition in physics. We are looking forward to working with the society to increase the international visibility of the journal, as well as receiving more valuable submissions from international authors."

###

The Korean Physical Society was founded in 1952. Since then the KPS has dedicated itself to developing research in physics and to promoting the application and the extension of such research. As a result, the KPS has progressed steadily to become one of the most influential academic societies in Korea with eleven divisions, seven regional branches, and about 6,000 members. On the international level, the KPS has reciprocal membership agreements with seven foreign physical societies, including ones in Japan and the United States.

Springer (www.springer.com) is a leading global scientific publisher of books and journals, delivering quality content through innovative information products and services. It publishes close to 500 academic and professional society journals. Springer is part of the publishing group Springer Science+Business Media. In the science, technology and medicine (STM) sector, the group publishes around 2,000 journals and more than 7,000 new books a year, as well as the largest STM eBook Collection worldwide. Springer has operations in about 20 countries in Europe, the USA, and Asia, and more than 5,500 employees.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 4-Oct-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Renate Bayaz
renate.bayaz@springer.com
49-622-148-78531
Springer

Society journal offers high-quality physics research with worldwide source and scope

Springer and the Korean Physical Society (KPS) will collaborate to publish the society's official publication, the Journal of the Korean Physical Society (JKPS), beginning in 2012. It is dedicated to disseminating and publishing significant and original research results in all branches of physics from scientists based in Korea and around the world.

The Journal of the Korean Physical Society is an international journal focusing on high-level research results in physics, including condensed matter physics, atomic and molecular physics, nuclear physics, elementary particle physics, and optics, fluid and plasma physics among many others. The broad diversity of research fields contributes to the further development of physics. Besides original articles, the JKPS publishes review papers, letters, brief reports, and comments contributed by scientists from all over the world. Special issues are devoted to current research in a particular area of physics.

Starting with Volume 59, Issue 1, 2012, Springer is responsible for the distribution of the printed version of the JKPS to subscribers outside of Korea and will make the electronic version available worldwide. The journal appears twenty-four times a year.

"I am very glad that starting in 2012, the Korean Physical Society will publish the Journal of the Korean Physical Society jointly with Springer, a world-renowned publisher in science. I strongly hope that this collaboration will transform the JKPS into an even better and more international journal and improve its impact factor. I encourage researchers worldwide to contribute their works to JKPS," said Dr. Dong Ho Kim, Editor-in-Chief.

Mark de Jongh, Senior Publishing Editor and coordinator of the Korean Society journals publishing program for Springer, said: "We at Springer are very proud to co-publish the Journal of the Korean Physical Society. The Korean Physical Society is one of the leading academic societies in Korea and has a strong tradition in physics. We are looking forward to working with the society to increase the international visibility of the journal, as well as receiving more valuable submissions from international authors."

###

The Korean Physical Society was founded in 1952. Since then the KPS has dedicated itself to developing research in physics and to promoting the application and the extension of such research. As a result, the KPS has progressed steadily to become one of the most influential academic societies in Korea with eleven divisions, seven regional branches, and about 6,000 members. On the international level, the KPS has reciprocal membership agreements with seven foreign physical societies, including ones in Japan and the United States.

Springer (www.springer.com) is a leading global scientific publisher of books and journals, delivering quality content through innovative information products and services. It publishes close to 500 academic and professional society journals. Springer is part of the publishing group Springer Science+Business Media. In the science, technology and medicine (STM) sector, the group publishes around 2,000 journals and more than 7,000 new books a year, as well as the largest STM eBook Collection worldwide. Springer has operations in about 20 countries in Europe, the USA, and Asia, and more than 5,500 employees.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/s-sat100411.php

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Mango rollout going smoothly, now available to half of all Windows Phones

Bring. It. On. Rolling out a phone update tends to take a few weeks before it's available to everyone, so we were expecting Windows Phone to have its share of hiccups when doling Mango out to several different models simultaneously across the globe. As it turns out, Redmond's just as surprised at its silky smooth outcome as everyone else; in fact, it's going so well that the team's decided to open the floodgates ahead of schedule and make the refresh available to no less than half of all Windows Phone devices. According to Microsoft, the update still isn't ready to be unleashed to the masses because it's still "collecting and analyzing installation data from [their] smaller operators, and need to watch it a bit longer." The team also mentions that this information gets collected as more users download their updates, which means the fate of the unlucky half rests solely on the fortunate 50 percent. Those of you who can download Mango and still haven't, think of the tremendous power -- and awesome responsibility -- now resting in your tiny hands.

[Thanks, Stephen]

Continue reading Mango rollout going smoothly, now available to half of all Windows Phones

Mango rollout going smoothly, now available to half of all Windows Phones originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/tFE3aa8D86U/

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The Disney Princess Dolls Are A Great Gift For Girls Of All Ages ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Little girls and women that are children at heart will invariably have a ball using the Disney princess lifelike dolls. There is no gift want it in the world and there's something for every girl and girl at heart.

Source: http://particulararticles.com/shopping-product-reviews/the-disney-princess-dolls-are-a-great-gift-for-girls-of-all-ages

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Integrated Business Planning driven by Strategic Planning | Fact ...

This week?s post is on Strategic Planning.? This is the last component of the four key components of integrated business planning.? Like project planning from the previous post, strategic planning focuses on the ?grow? and ?transform? business functions.

As a way of background, for the past 25 years I have worked within companies, as well as alongside them as a consultant to facilitate the creation of their strategic plans.? Early on this process was very loosely defined and resulted in a lot of good ideas. The executive team felt good about the plans, but unfortunately, in most cases those plans failed.? They typically failed for any number of reasons including:? it produced a nice fancy document no one wished to keep up to date and revise;? it was poorly communicated beyond the executive team so it had little support;? the vision was documented but the projects to accomplish were not planned, quickly forgotten or they were killed in the next budget revision and went unfunded; no one established the criteria to measure the progress of the plan and hold individuals accountable and departments for their part of the plan.

In the mid 90?s I was introduced to the Balance Scorecard Methodology, developed by Drs. Kaplan and Norton.? At that time the Balanced Scorecard Methodology focused on strategic measurement.? Over time that method has transformed based on how companies use it to a strategic planning methodology.? When that happened, my world became clearer.? That ever evolving process suddenly became well defined process.? All the information I had tested and tried using other strategic planning methods became noise.

Just to give you an idea how it has evolved, the slide below shows a timeline of the books written by Drs. Kaplan and Norton and just viewing the titles alone, you can feel the transformation from strategic measurement to strategic management.

Timeline of Books written by Drs. Kaplan and Norton on the Balanced Scorecard Methodology

Timeline of Books written by Drs. Kaplan and Norton on the Balanced Scorecard Methodology

I don?t have the space in this post to dig in any detail to the process of the balanced scorecard methodology, but I would like to offer you a free book:? ?The Execution Premium? by Drs. Kaplan and Norton. This will provide detail on both the process and case studies of organizations that have successful implementing the balanced scorecard methodology for strategic management. ?Click on this link and it will take you to a page to register.

The book has some tremendously helpful takeaways for strategic planning, including:

  • Clarity of vision ? using strategy maps and theme reports help companies focus on what is important to their business
  • Communication ? it provides a methodology to get everyone in the company focusing on how their job contributes to the overall plan.
  • Measurement ? When you hold people accountable for realistic goals and objectives and their measurement is clearly defined, magic happens.? The model I use for sales reps is telling them what they need to do and how they are compensated and they achieve it.
  • Converting ?transform? and ?grow? projects to action ? by linking the action plans defined during the process to the financial plans.

I know there are those opposed to this methodology, claiming it doesn?t work or perhaps it failed for them but I think the key is it gives you a place to start and a process to follow, over time you will keep what works for you and tweak what doesn?t work within your organization?s culture.

My next post will focus on the challenge of integrating these four areas in a corporate environment.

Source: http://www.fact-based-decisions.net/?p=719

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Real Estate Management: Wondering ... - Real Property Management


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Question by Rae T: Wondering about opinions of local real estate agents/brokers in Central CT (Meriden, Southington, etc?)?
I?m about to start a course to become an agent and trying to figure out which broker to go through ? just wondering about what experiences people have had ? either as a buyer/seller or as an agent. Right now my choices are William Raveis, C21 Access America, and possibly Prudential? Any thoughts or info is appreciated. Thx :)

Best answer:

Answer by Rick
I went through Raveis to buy my current house in Middletown and thought they were okay. The agent really makes the experience, not the broker. Anyway, Raveis offered a website and toll free number with free access to all buyers for a year I think. You could get referrals for home services, discounts, etc., which was pretty helpful and unique. They said they had a difficult screening process so they stood behind their referrals to deliver quality services.

I know an agent that works for ReMax in Eastern CT and she really enjoys it ? plus she?s doing very well after only a few years in the business.

I hope that helps.

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