Insight to the Industry by www.rm-mi.net

 

4/3/2014

how to market yourself

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 10:23 am

[this article is from ::   ]


Savvy employees know that they need to go beyond just working
hard and hoping someone recognizes them for new opportunities
or promotions. It is critical that individuals, young and
old, learn to market themselves, which is one of the Career
Literacy
™ skills needed to be successful in today’s
workplace. Even students who seek internships and first jobs
can begin with the basics of marketing themselves and benefit
from being in the right place at the right time with the right
people. A famous quote supports this: “Luck is where
preparation meets opportunity.” Marketing yourself creates
“luck.”

What does “marketing yourself” really mean? What
are the benefits of marketing yourself as a competent resource
both inside and outside your organization? And what steps
do you take to market yourself?

When marketing yourself, think of yourself as the “product”
and what you can do as the “service.” It’s your
responsibility to identify what expertise you can offer to
your “customer.” For employees, your customer is
your manager and company, and for those in job search, your
customer is a potential hiring manager in another company.
The challenge is that the workplace and its players keep changing,
so the activities needed to build the relationships needed
for marketing yourself must be consistent and ongoing.

Sometimes when people hear the words “marketing yourself,”
they say it makes them feel queasy in the pit of their stomachs.
Often, it is because they think of marketing as pushing yourself
on other people, empty socializing, and superficial small
talk. On the contrary, effective marketing creates a pull
for your expertise. You establish yourself as an expert in
your area and people recognize you for your talents.

Developing the skills for marketing oneself has become increasingly
important as the complexity and change in the workplace has
accelerated. Even for talented, competent people, it’s a buyer’s
market. Individuals always benefit by making themselves more
attractive candidates, whether inside or outside their organizations.
Workers are more mobile, changing jobs, managers, employers,
and geographic locations frequently, so they constantly have
to educate others on their capabilities and experience. Jobs
disappear due to advances in technology, outsourcing, or off-shoring
options, so individuals are in the job market more often.
On the other hand, people skilled at marketing themselves
are first to hear news of emerging opportunities in their
company or field, like working on virtual international teams
or learning a new technology.

There is also a positive personal impact that results from
marketing yourself. You can accomplish your personal and professional
goals more easily and often faster. In addition, you can find
opportunities to contribute your expertise more quickly and,
in fact, have the opportunities find you. You will reap benefits
of increased visibility, employability, and career resiliency.
The process of marketing yourself creates options and choices
for you as well, because you hear about them sooner.

The process of marketing yourself can be similar to the kind
of marketing plan developed for a product or service. Here
is an eight-step Personal Marketing Plan Template, based on
a business marketing plan, to guide you:

1. Define your mission and the benefits you offer

  • Start with self knowledge: natural talents (aptitudes),
    interests, personality and values

  • Consider what role fits you best: generalist
    or specialist or a combination

  • Ask yourself, “What do I have to offer?”

2. Set your marketing objective: What exactly do you want
to achieve?

  • Be specific, make it measurable, make it realistic, and
    build in a timeline with deadlines.

3. Design performance measures: What will be the observable,
objective indicators that show that you are accomplishing
or have accomplished your goal?

4. Gather, analyze, and interpret information about your
situation using Career Vision’s “SWOT
Analysis”
. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities
and Threats. A SWOT analysis is a structured strategic planning
model often used for a project or business venture. The Career
Vision version of the SWOT analysis is designed for an individual
to use for career management and personal marketing purposes.

  • Identify your personal strengths and weaknesses: How
    do you stack up against your competition?

  • Identify external opportunities and threats: What trends
    may affect you and your career positively or negatively?

5. Identify your target markets: Who needs to know you, your
capabilities, and professional goals?

  • This may mean that you focus your efforts on key managers,
    mentors or human resources staff solely within your organization,
    or that you broaden your outreach through membership in
    professional organizations, depending on your goal.

  • Also include the geographic scope of where you want to
    market yourself, for example, the Chicagoland area? The
    Midwest? Nationally? Or internationally? You decide what
    is appropriate for you.

6. Develop your marketing strategy and activities aimed at
your target market

  • Volunteer for cross-functional teams and company-wide
    task forces

  • Share ideas and trend information with others and solicit
    advice from them

  • Take on leadership or committee roles in professional
    organizations

  • Attend conferences and continuing education events, even
    if you have to pay for them

  • Write articles for company or professional publications

  • Present to peers on topics related to your doing your
    jobs better

7. Define implementation strategies: What will you do, when,
what resources will you need, and what might be obstacles
to overcome?

8. Periodically evaluate marketing efforts and modify them
if needed: What’s working? What do you need to do differently?
Do you need to do more, or scale back your efforts?

After the first draft of your personal marketing plan is
committed to writing, discuss it with at least three people
you respect such as a mentor, colleague or spouse. Incorporate
their feedback and suggestions, and then begin to implement
your plan. As you make progress, evaluate your results and
revise your plan accordingly.

Perhaps the late Johnny Carson, comedian and long-time
host of “The Tonight Show,” sums up the benefits
of marketing yourself: “Talent alone won’t make you
a success. Neither will being in the right place at the
right time - unless you are ready. The most important question
is - are you ready?”


© Copyright 2007, Career Vision / Ball Foundation. Article
may be reprinted with permission.


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

10/9/2012

more than one best practice

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 7:14 am

When you google search for a map route especially if you are far away you get more than one route quite likely. Industry best practices are the same way. Suggestions to the endpoint.

Recently working on a project where the functional design analyst followed _best practices_  for WSDL data typing and directed the developers to tightly bind the data transformations to the existing data model. Problem with this best practice is that the data model is not optimal and at the architect level it is known to be in need of re-engineering to get close to an industry standard model for interoperability with other tool sets and solutions in the industry.

The problem on the ground and in the trench is that the speed to deliver has slowed down because while the translations are tightly coupled to the model their are undiscovered issues in data from system A, B and getting to C from size to data type errors.

To solve any problem in IT one needs to consider from a high level through to a low level what the best mix of pro and con will drive the project to a solution with the best path to endpoint.

There is a good article at IBM Developerworks site that talks about weighing the options on a granularity continuum.

So the endpoint and the best practice to follow… keep in mind to look at all the options before you jump on the highway and get stuck in traffic, to get to the endpoint sometimes the longest distance is the shortest time to get there.


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

7/16/2009

What is WEB 2.0

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 9:34 am

Tweets twits facebook social media ranking share links blog chat mobile phone applications and the tools list goes on.

Ever hear of the watch and the watch maker analogy for God? Web 2.0 is like that. The parts all in place do not make the end product. The thing is more than the sum of the parts. Have you ever heard of ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE? Pirsig wrote a cool story about motorcycles and road-trips.

It all boils down to #Quality. Quality is what make the sum of the whole bigger than the sum of the parts. Quality is #Soul. Soul is what makes people different from non-people. The differentiators are more than the details.

Does this sound a bit Jedi Knight like? A bit Buddhist-tic? Well it kindof is.

WEB 2.0 is  when the people looking at content, can share the content to other places of their choosing which becomes a viral marketing asset. WEB 2.0 is when people who are moved by your content can chat almost real time with others about it in the web space, places like chat boards, social media locations like FaceBook, and share/broadcast interest on Twitter. WEB 2.0 is giving the tools to the people who are looking at your content, so the people can take action. Now, not all action is happy and shinny sometime one invites pie in the face, rocks to the glass house, and mud in the eye moments.

I have heard it said… and referred to as ‘let the wookie win.’

This all still sounds like a lot of the hype, put the tools links the logos out there and you have WEB 2.0 yes? No.

Sorry folks, it is still the content. The content is king, the content that gets people excited enough to link share or comment is the 80% but the 20% that is still needed to make your stuff become WEB 2.0, take notes here, you have to keep the momentum going and not delay or get in the way.

If you are basing your strategy on WEB 2.0 as a marketing model… you have to micro manage your cats and your PR and your buzz and for each content set, have a plan of viral marketing push out to your favorites list to your champions to your biggest fans and yes even your biggest detractors… let the #Devils-Advocate get copy… press is press coverage is coverage and buzz is buzz.

So the Quality? the Soul? the Zen? The secret is you do not have complete control. You can not pre-concieve what you want it to look like what you are searching for… or it will never happen. You have to let the wookie win. For the parts to be greater than the sum of the parts, you have to release the cats, light the wild fire, jump off the cliff and have Faith that you can handle the next thing that happens.

WEB 2.0 is people INTERACTING with people because they are excited. The ability to share that excitement is WEB 2.0. It is not the tool, it is more than the tool.

One has to follow the recipe and then add a certain flair and get on the Group W bench and see if the soufle’ rises.


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

12/20/2007

What is PHI or Personal Health Identifier

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 10:49 am

HIPAA – PHI
LIST OF 18 IDENTIFIERS AND DEFINITION OF PHI

What is PHI?

Protected health information (PHI) is any information in the medical record or designated record set that can be used to identify an individual and that was created, used, or disclosed in the course of providing a health care service such as diagnosis or treatment. HIPAA regulations allow researchers to access and use PHI when necessary to conduct research. However, HIPAA only affects research that uses, creates, or discloses PHI that will be entered in to the medical record or will be used for healthcare services, such as treatment, payment or operations.

For example, PHI is used in research studies involving review of existing medical records for research information, such as retrospective chart review. Also, studies that create new medical information because a health care service is being performed as part of research, such as diagnosing a health condition or a new drug or device for treating a health condition, create PHI that will be entered into the medical record. For example, sponsored clinical trails that submit data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration involve PHI and are therefore subject to HIPAA regulations.

List of 18 Identifiers

1. Names;
2. All geographical subdivisions smaller than a State, including street address, city, county, precinct, zip code, and their equivalent geocodes, except for the initial three digits of a zip code, if according to the current publicly available data from the Bureau of the Census: (1) The geographic unit formed by combining all zip codes with the same three initial digits contains more than 20,000 people; and (2) The initial three digits of a zip code for all such geographic units containing 20,000 or fewer people is changed to 000.
3. All elements of dates (except year) for dates directly related to an individual, including birth date, admission date, discharge date, date of death; and all ages over 89 and all elements of dates (including year) indicative of such age, except that such ages and elements may be aggregated into a single category of age 90 or older;
4. Phone numbers;
5. Fax numbers;
6. Electronic mail addresses;
7. Social Security numbers;
8. Medical record numbers;
9. Health plan beneficiary numbers;
10. Account numbers;
11. Certificate/license numbers;
12. Vehicle identifiers and serial numbers, including license plate numbers;
13. Device identifiers and serial numbers;
14. Web Universal Resource Locators (URLs);
15. Internet Protocol (IP) address numbers;
16. Biometric identifiers, including finger and voice prints;
17. Full face photographic images and any comparable images; and
18. Any other unique identifying number, characteristic, or code (note this does not mean the unique code assigned by the investigator to code the data)

There are also additional standards and criteria to protect individual’s privacy from re-identification. Any code used to replace the identifiers in datasets cannot be derived from any information related to the individual and the master codes, nor can the method to derive the codes be disclosed. For example, the unique code cannot include the last four digits (in sequence) of the social security number. Additionally, the researcher must not have actual knowledge that the research subject could be re-identified from the remaining identifiers in the PHI used in the research study. In other words, the information would still be considered identifiable is there was a way to identify the individual even though all of the 18 identifiers were removed.

What is not PHI?

In contrast, some research studies use data that is person-identifiable because it includes personal identifiers such as name, address. However, it is not considered to be PHI because the data are not associated with or derived from a healthcare service event (treatment, payment, operations, medical records), not entered into the medical records, nor will the subject/patient be informed of the results. Research health information that is kept only in the researcher’s records is not subject to HIPAA but is regulated by other human subjects protection regulations.

Examples of research health information not subject to HIPAA include such studies as the use of aggregate data, diagnostic tests that do not go into the medical record because they are part of a basic research study and the results will not be disclosed to the subject, and testing done without the PHI identifiers. Some genetic basic research can fall into this category such as the search for potential genetic markers, promoter control elements, and other exploratory genetic research. In contrast, genetic testing for a known disease that is considered to be part of diagnosis, treatment and health care would be considered to use PHI and therefore subject to HIPAA regulations.

Also note, health information by itself without the 18 identifiers is not considered to be PHI. For example, a dataset of vital signs by themselves do not constitute protected health information. However, if the vital signs dataset includes medical record numbers, then the entire dataset must be protected since it contains an identifier. PHI is anything that can be used to identify an individual such as private information, facial images, fingerprints, and voiceprints. These can be associated with medical records, biological specimens, biometrics, data sets, as well as direct identifiers of the research subjects in clinical trials.

The table below summarizes the characteristics of research data that would be
considered PHI and research data that would be considered RHI (Research Related Health Information).

Characteristic HIPAA
PHI
RHI

Individually
identifiable ie.,
meets
HIPAA definition of IIHI

Yes
yes

Used for
support clinical
decision
making for an
individual,
or for payment
or
operations

Yes
No

Associated
with healthcareservice event

Yes
No

Need-to-know,
minimum necessary access control

Yes
Yes

Separation
of person identifiable and non-person
identifiable
data elements
wherever
feasible

No
Yes

Individual
authorization
(consent)
for creation and
use of
data

Varies by use
Yes

Business
Partneragreements for disclosures

Yes
No

Logs and
audit trails of use and disclosure

Yes

Consistent
with current best

practice
for research records

Right to
request amendment of records

Yes
At discretion of investigator

Table source: http://cphs.berkeley.edu/content/hipaa/WhatIsandIsNotPHI.pdf


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

12/17/2007

Reporting Analytics Project

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 3:57 pm
 
 
Denver, Co., December 17th  2007 – Leveraging 13 years of IT experience in business reporting and enterprise applications, development, implementation and migration projects, Justin Mead of Rocky Mountain Managed Information of Loveland Colo., has been contracted by Comsys on behalf of Sprint Nextel Corp. to help consolidate the Fortune 100 company’s call-center operation reporting. 

Starting on Jan. 2 as a Sr. Systems Analyst/PM with Sprint, Mead will:
- identify gap analysis of existing and new reporting efforts
- define requirements for new reporting efforts; and
- follow these processes through the full application development lifecycle (SDLC) from requirements definition, development, testing and on to implementation.

The contract is for 6 months, it likely will extend to 12+ months.  

This is the third contract that Mead has involving Fortune 100 clients. Sprint Nextel Corporation ranks 59th, McKesson came in at 16th and the Fair Isaac client held the ranking of 82nd of the top 100 business in the country. While the industry exposure Mead has had with these projects has ranged from Telecommunications, Healthcare, and Financial the common thread and Mead’s skill set have all been with in facets of reporting analytics. 

Technical solutions Mead will have involvement with while on the Sprint contract will be with in the Microsoft Solutions Framework with ASP, .NET, and SQL Server. 

“The contract opportunities in the greater Denver area are abundant.” Mead said. “I received many interesting offers and projects. I decided to go with Sprint because of the opportunity to take multiple sub projects through the full SDLC while engaged for the duration of the contract.”
 

Mead wanted to “extend thanks and gratitude” to all recruiters and agencies whom in the last 30 days worked tirelessly to locate an ideal situation where his skills as a Senior Business Systems Analyst with significant reporting functionality could be put into play to meet contracted goals.  

COMSYS IT Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: CITP) is a leading information technology services company in 52 markets across the U.S. and offices in Canada and the U.K. COMSYS currently serves more than 30% of the Fortune 500 and 60% of the Fortune 100 companies. With approximately 5,000 consultants in 52 markets in the U.S, Canada and the U.K. COMSYS can deliver services onsite, offsite or offshore. For more information, visit www.comsys.com. 

Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks serving about 54 million customers at the end of the third quarter 2007; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international walkie-talkie capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com. 

Rocky Mountain Managed information, (RM-Mi) has been managing Information since 2004 for it’s clients to provide a competitive business advantage whether it is in business systems analysis, data integration, application development, web hosting and site design or marketing and copy writing of presentations or technical documentation, RM-Mi offers diversified Information Consultant Services. 

Feel free to send inquiries as to the status of this project and or future projects to moreinfo@rm-mi.net and or for more information visit www.rm-mi.net.

 
 
 
 

Justin
Mead
303-588-1996

Rocky
Mountain Managed Information

::
Consulting Services since 2004 ::

www.rm-mi.net
Business Data Systems
Integration
Specification Design Analysis
justin@rm-mi.net
Fx: 970-669-4413

Profile on Linkedin
Profile on Yahoo

 

Get
Yahoo IM
- Add
Justin to your friend list


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

12/7/2007

Consulting on Business Intelligence and COGNOS

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 11:27 am

The other day I saw a posting on one of the COGNOS discussion boards and here is the reprint of the question and my answer…


http://businessintelligence.ittoolbox.com/groups/career/bi-career/cognos-consultancy-contractor-opportunities-training-career-1744246

Cognos Consultancy, Contractor Opportunities - Training- Career

Asked by David … on 12/2/2007 1:10:00 PM

Hi. Firstly I apologise if this is the wrong area to post this.I am an ex business manager.(A Man, taken 5 years out to bring up our two children while my wife pursues her career) 30yrs plus experience in a number of high tech industries in sales and marketing at a senior level(software / engineering/ semiconductors/ print/chemicals/lithography /electronics/++++) I have spent some time looking into Business Intelligence software and it seems Cognos is an excellent set of applications and solutions. They seem to have a comprehensive set of training tools both office and e based.

With determination and commitment would it be possible to embark upon the Cognos training as an individual and then be in a reasonable position to be considered as a Cognos consultant/ contractor upon completion.I am ore than willing to fund the invetment if there is a reasonable possibility of success.Business Intelligence seems to be an area that is ideally suited to my basic inquisitive and research orientated personality and I am in a good position with an MBA and a long business career to understand the requirements of customers across different functionalities.
Any help or advice is appreciated.

Dave

Reply from justin on 12/3/2007 8:17:00 PM

Dear Dave,

It really is a matter of what your business model is for yourself. If you are asking the question ‘can I take a series of courses and then position my self in the field as…’ the short answer is sure you can position yourself as Dorthy from OZ if you would like but the proof is in the pudding and to get repeat business and or referrals you will want to make sure you place your skills and experiences in the right manor.

Given your previous life in business with a mark/com and sales of technology it is feasible that you could place your self as a COGNOS trainer of the entry level UI tools but to go further then that you would need to distinctly need to re-evaluate what your position/business model is.

To be effective in BI, really takes time directly in the roles working up through the ranks of user, developer, back end architect before you get to consultant. As a trainer, the ones who have value are the ones who clearly have applied experience and can solve the trainees real-world problems during the classes. To be effective in BI as a consultant takes enough depth of skills / experiences to find creative solutions to very complicated situations.

Other wise you become Dilbert fodder.

It may be an easier pitch to go get PMI certified, start being a Project Manager and then focus on projects in the BI world and learn and gain experience from that angle to then be a Program Manager and or work to the consulting.

The real issue to learn how to solve is data. Data quality, what are the business KPI (key performance indicators) that are the reporting facts, to intimately understand the architectural affects of the system, to be able to translate business to technology and simplify technology keeping the eye on the ROI and deliverables.

My thoughts.

Justin Mead

Rocky Mountain Managed Information
:: Consulting Services since 2004 ::
www.rm-mi.net Business Data Systems
Integration Specification Design Analysis
3 0 3 5 8 8 1 9 9 6 justin(at)rm-mi(dot)net
Profile on Linkedin
Profile on Yahoo

 

Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

3/6/2006

Copyright issue REPRINT

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 8:47 am

From: Colorado Alliance of Illustrators [cai_network@msn.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 7:38 PM
To: cai_network
Subject: Call for Action to Prevent Orphan Works Amendment

Importance: High

This is an urgent issue that needs your attention if you have not already responded by contacting the committee that is currently deciding on the future of our copyright laws in America, your rights and future income as an artist!
 
-Colorado Alliance of Illustrators 

—————————————————

—– Original Message —–
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 2:44 PM
Subject: Hi
Hi Kiddos,

Hope you are all well in this world and making lots of wonderful art:)

I am writing you today about one of the most important issues of your whole
career! It’s a very long email, with excerpts from Brad Holland of the
Illustrators’ Partnership(IPA), and Lisa Shaftel of the Graphic Artist Guild
www.gag.org. Their posts and emails I’m forwarding explain the complexity of
this issue and help us understand how this soon to be voted on change to the
US Copyright law, the "Orphan Works amendment", will affect each and every
one of us!
 
In my workshops and classes over the years I have always told the story of
all the "Tribes" gathering on the Canyon rim to show all the Cowboy clients
that we are a force in numbers, standing for artists rights. I spoke of how
years ago I went to ICON 1, the first Illustrators Conference in Santa Fe,
because I knew the tribes were gathering there for change.

I was so inspired by the strong advocacy for our futures that I found there,
that I began my workshop series to help spread the word of artists rights
and fair treatment in art licensing contracts. We are all members of this
creative "Tribe" and right now I am asking each of you to step to that
canyon rim; to show that we can be vocal, as well as visual.

We can write letters and we can mail or fax them now to our lawmakers. At
the end of this email are addresses and #’s to do just that now, and I do
mean NOW! This change may become law because we are silent, thinking someone
else carries the banner today for us. Well YOU must carry the banner today,
because if this change to the US Copyright law passes, it carries a "Sunset
clause" that it cannot be reassessed for another 10 years!

The Judiciary committees are meeting on this matter next week, that’s why
you must take immediate action by letting as many lawmakers on the list know
of your protest to this change in the US Copyright Law now.

There is a sample letter in this email, but I encourage each of you to make
it your own, telling how this change will directly affect your career.

So grab a cup of your favorite beverage, sit down and read this long email
and join me at the Canyon rim of Vocal Visual Artists, my dears your voices
are needed NOW:) Thank You!

Best to you,
Cheryl

Cheryl Phelps
cheryl@cherylphelps.com

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS¹ PARTNERSHIP

No Time to Go Wobbly
Some people think the Orphan Works amendment is a done deal and say the
government should set up small claims courts to litigate the infringement
cases that will follow.

 The Orphan Works Report itself justifies this concern. It states that a
³reasonable search² for a copyright holder will have to be ³a very general
standard² defined ³by users, copyright owners and ultimately the courts on a
case-by-case basis…²(p. 98, emphasis added) That means that if somebody
infringes your work and you can¹t ³negotiate² a ³reasonable fee² after the
fact, you¹ll have to sue them.
 
 But copyright law is a Federal law. There are only 11 Federal Districts in
the country with approximately 100 US District Courts. Would you have to
travel to one every time you need to file a suit? If so, you wouldn¹t be
able add travel and lodging expenses to your claim. Nor could you add court
costs or attorneys¹ fees, even if you¹ve registered the work. That wouldn¹t
be permitted by the ³limitation on remedies.² The Orphan Works amendment
virtually guarantees that the cost of suing an infringer who won’t pay will
be greater than whatever you could get back from a lawsuit (and of course,
you might not win).
 
 By ³limiting remedies,² the Orphan Works amendment would create a no-fault
license to infringe. We¹ve asked Copyright Office attorneys how artists
scattered across the country can be forced to go to Federal Courts to get
minimum payment for infringed work. Their answer was they weren¹t sure, but
are considering establishing a copyright small claims court. But we don¹t
see how that resolves the jurisdictional problem: Are we supposed to
believe the government¹s actually going to set up a federal small claims
court in every city and town in America just to hear copyright cases? No.
And what if you live in one city and the infringer somewhere else?
 
 Another problem with relying on small claims courts is that awards are
limited to $2,000. That would cap the ³reasonable fee² the court could allow
for any usage - regardless of the commercial value of the usage and the
number of works infringed. Small claims judgments can¹t be enforced. And
since an infringer would only have to say he couldn¹t read your signature on
a picture to claim you were ³hard to locate,² judges in a majority of cases
might have to find for the infringer.
 
 The whole idea of legalizing infringement and making artists go to court to
get paid is absurd. The Orphan Works Report is a Rube Goldberg plan,
designed by legal scholars and Free Culture advocates who want to make the
public a generous gift of other people¹s work - and supported by companies
like Google who want a vast inventory of royalty-free images to sell access
to. The hope that artists will lie down and take this ­ if we can just get a
small claims court for city or state judges to administer federal copyright
law - is a thin sugar coating on a poison pill. It certainly isn¹t practical
and may not be legal. Rather than rise to the bait, we think artists should
oppose the Orphan Works amendment outright. This is no time to go wobbly.

 -Brad Holland, for the Board of the Illustrators¹ Partnership

 
To write Congress:  Follow the instructions Cynthia Turner has outlined on
the IPA website:
http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/04_forums/index.php  See forum
entitled: Write Congress: Questions and Answers.
 
You may post responses or ask questions on these forums.  First-time users
will be asked to register.
You do not need to be an IPA member to use the IPA public Town Hall Forums.

From www.theispot.com "What’s Up" post from Lisa Shaftel

The US Copyright Office released their report and recommendations of their
year-long study of the "orphan works" issue, and submitted the report and
recommended statutory amendment to the Senate Judiciary Committee on January
31, 2006.

This proposal is a disaster for visual creators. It is heavily slanted in
favor of users. If this statute is enacted as it is, it will ruin the
livelihoods of all visual creators who license usage and/or reproduction of
their works. The American Society of Media Photographers [ASMP], the IPA and
the Graphic Artists Guild are generating a grass-roots letter writing
campaign among other creators’ organizations to urge the Senate Judiciary
Committee to reconsider the Copyright Office’s recommendations. We need your
help!

We believe Congress will push this legislation through fast- IN EARLY MARCH-
SO DON’T WAIT.

If you don’t have the time to write to them all, it’s most important to
write to the Chair, Senator Arlen Specter, Senators Hatch and Leahy because
they ordered the Copyright Office to conduct this study, and to the senators
from your home state- if one of them serves on this committee. That’s 4
letters minimum.

Senator Orrin Hatch
United States Senate
Committee on the Judiciary
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

SAMPLE LETTER, Please add your own info and print on your letterhead:

Dear Senator (Name Your Senator),

I am writing to express great concern about the US
Copyright Office’s on Orphan Works and Recommended
Statutory Language.

As a professional (Illustrator, Musician, Designer], I
believe that this proposed amendment to US Copyright
Law will cause irreparable damage, creative and economic,
to the livelihood of Americans.

From the perspective of creators, the recommendations
and proposed statute are greatly weighted in favor of
users.

Visual works- illustration, 2D and 3D fine art, and
photographs (prints and negatives)- are the least likely to
have the creator’s signatures on them.

It is entirely possible that a visual work created relatively
recently would be considered "orphaned" if there was no
creator’s name on it and a user has a difficult time
searching for the creator due to the obvious problems
with description as noted in the Copyright Office Report.

The proposed statute will create a vast amount of virtually
free visual works with no practical restitution available to
creators should they seek rightful financial compensation
from a user who refuses to pay.

The cost of actual damages in most instances will be far
less than the cost of pursuing a copyright infringement
lawsuit in court, and creators will give up and not be able
to retrieve even the fair-market licensing fees to which
said creators are entitled.

Visual creators are willing to accept the proposal’s terms
for non-profit users.

However, opening the door for unlimited for-profit or
commercial use without any oversight by the Copyright
Office is wholly unacceptable, in my humble opinion.

I support the proposed establishment of a "small claims"
court for creators to enable authors and creators to
economically retrieve licensing fees from users of their
orphan works should the user refuse to pay, as suggested
by the American Society of Media Photographers.

Finally, I believe that the 10-year "Sunset Clause" is too
long for reassessment of the economic impact of this
statute.

As an American citizen who makes their living providing
copyrightable product for the American marketplace I can
only think that in 10 years, if this Act becomes Law, there
will no longer be any visual creators in business: no one
will be willing to pay for our work.

Thank you for your time and attention to this issue.

Sincerely,
(your signature)
(type your name)
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary Members, February 2006

Senator Arlen Spector, Pennsylvania - Chairman
Washington DC Office
Senator Arlen Spector
711 Hart Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: 202-224-4254

Orrin G. Hatch, Utah
Washington DC Office
Senator Orrin G. Hatch
104 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-5251
Fax: (202) 224-6331

Senator. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa
Washington DC Office
Sen. Chuck Grassley
135 Hart Senate Bldg.
Washington, DC
20510-1501
202.224.3744

Senator Jon Kyl , Arizona
Washington DC Office
U.S. Senator Jon Kyl
730 Hart Senate Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4521
Fax: (202) 224-
PHOENIX OFFICE
2200 East Camelback, Suite 120
Phoenix, Arizona 85016-3455

Senator Patrick Leahy, Vermont-Ranking Democratic Member
Washington DC Office
Senator Patrick Leahy
433 Russell Senate Office Bldg
(at Constitution and Delaware)
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4242

Senator Mike DeWine, Ohio
Washington, D.C. Office
Senator Mike DeWine
40 Russell Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2315
Fax: (202) 224-6519
TDD: (202) 224-9921

Senator Jeff Sessions, Alabama
Washington, D.C.
Office of Senator Jeff Sessions
335 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-0104
(202) 224-4124 - Phone
(202) 224-3149 ­ Fax

Senator Lindsey Graham, South Carolina
Washington Office
Senator Lindsey Graham
290 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-5972 phone

Senator John Cornyn, Texas
Washington DC Office
Senator John Cornyn
517 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: 202-224-2934
Fax: 202-228-2856

Senator Sam Brownback, Kansas
Washington, D.C.
Senator Sam Brownback
303 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6521
Fax: (202) 228-1265

Senator Tom Coburn, Oklahoma
Washington DC Office
Senator Tom Coburn
172 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-5754
Fax: 202-224-6008

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts
Washington, D.C. Office
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202/224-4543

Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., Delaware
Washington, D.C. Office
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr.
201 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-5042
Fax: 202-224-0139
TDD: 202-224-5652

Senator Herb Kohl, Wisconsin
Washington, D.C. Office
Senator Herb Kohl
(2nd and C St., NE)
330 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-5653
Fax: (202) 224-9787

Senator Dianne Feinstein, California
Washington, D.C. Office
Senator Dianne Feinstein
United States Senate
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3841
Fax: (202) 228-3954
TTY/TDD: (202) 224-2501

Senator Russell D. Feingold, Wisconsin
Washington, D.C. Office
Senator Russell D. Feingold
506 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-4904
(202) 224-5323
TDD (202) 224-1280
Fax (202) 224-2725

Senator Charles E. Schumer, New York
Washington, D.C. Office
Senator Charles E. Schumer
313 Hart Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-6542
Fax: 202-228-3027
TDD: 202-224-0420

Senator Richard J. Durbin, Illinois ­ Assistant Democratic Leader
Washington, D.C. Office
Senator Richard J. Durbin
332 Dirksen Senate Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2152
(202) 228-0400 - fax

 

tle=”http://www.copyright.gov/orphan/comments/OW0500-Clingman.pdf” href=”http://www.copyright.gov/orphan/comments/OW0500-Clingman.pdf”>http://www.copyright.gov/orphan/comments/OW0500-Clingman.pdf


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

2/23/2006

How to enable Microsoft Access 2003 custom popup menu \’group by\’ properties to actually work

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 7:56 am

The problem is I keep loosing the Popup Toolbar (shortcut menu) ‘start group property’ when I create a custom popup menu. Even after reading a google search files…

[http://www.google.com/search?q=access+popup+menu+group&hl=en]

on search string (access popup menu group) … I had to read and reread the only one valid result I found multiple times to ‘get it’ so here is what I got…

 

First: To add the bars to custom popup menus and keep the group by property you create a custom shortcut toolbar.

There are a couple of ways ‘in’ to the control you need to get to. One way is by clicking into :TOOLS:CUSTOMIZE:> to get this window


 
Click on [New] and call it something, this case I used Custom 2
Then you will see this little popup show on your screen, you need to select items you want on the popup menu by going to the Commands tab and click and drag what you want into the popup window. Once you have the items you want, click [Properties] to get the following window.


 
You will see I added a few odd things, sort, open favorites, home, output to notepad, analyze , and analysis with excel. Now, on the [Type] properties, change that to POPUP and then [Close] and you will get a box telling you this thing will disappear and here comes the tricky part.
Notice on Image01 that item [Shortcut Menus] is selected, make sure you also have this selected now on your customize screen. This will bring a menu up on your monitor.
Now, go to the [Commands] tab and click the [Rearrange Commands] button and looking at this next image for guidance…


 
You see the Customize screen, showing the Commands view and the Rearrange Commands button.. that you just clicked to get the stuff on the right… click the Toolbar radio button and scroll down to your menu you created, in this case it is [Custom 2] and note that the controls you will see are the ones you added.
Now you may have gotten this far but by the MSDN describes this ‘creating a custom shortcut menu for access differently… the same way I self stumbled into and found. What I wanted to do was to group my controls and every time I tweaked the property to show this, it would not stick… So here is what you do, come into the process as I have described above and then…
Like in the image03 view above, click on where you want to add a group line, like to show it above [open hyperlink] and above [output to notepad] select the control and click the [Modify Selection] button.

 

See here, I have a line now above the [Open Hyperlink] and I am about to add one above the [Output to Notepad] by selecting the ‘modify selection’ and selecting the [begin a Group] property.
Now to make it show up on your form… in Design mode select Properties for the form and  as you see in the image05 below, on the Other tab, select the drop down of your custom menu you just made, in this case, Custom 2, on the Property ‘Shortcut Menu Bar’ and of course your ‘Shortcut Menu’ must be enabled.

What you will see now when you right click in form view mode of your form is your popup menu with the pesky group by lines showing.
 

 tada!

Justin Mead
Rocky Mountain Managed Information
©2006 RM-Mi all rights reserved
http://www.rm-mi.net/whitepapers/HowtoEnableCustomPopUpMenuGroups.htm


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

2/22/2006

How to enable custom popup menu group by properties to actually work, no thanks to MSDN how to searches.

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 8:07 pm

I keep loosing the Popup Toolbar (shortcut menu) ‘start group property’ when I create a custom popup menu. Even after reading a google search files…

[http://www.google.com/search?q=access+popup+menu+group&hl=en]

on search string (access popup menu group) … I had to read and reread the only one valid result I found multiple times to ‘get it’ so here is what I got…

 [this paper available at
[http://www.rm-mi.net/whitepapers/HowtoEnableCustomPopUpMenuGroups.htm]
with pictures that spell out and show how to]

First: To add the bars to custom popup menus and keep the group by property you create a custom shortcut toolbar.

There are a couple of ways ‘in’ to the control you need to get to. One way is by clicking into :TOOLS:CUSTOMIZE:> to get this window

 
Click on [New] and call it something, this case I used Custom 2
Then you will see this little popup show on your screen, you need to select items you want on the popup menu by going to the Commands tab and click and drag what you want into the popup window. Once you have the items you want, click [Properties] to get the following window.

 
You will see I added a few odd things, sort, open favorites, home, output to notepad, analyze , and analysis with excel. Now, on the [Type] properties, change that to POPUP and then [Close] and you will get a box telling you this thing will disappear and here comes the tricky part.
Notice on Image01 that item [Shortcut Menus] is selected, make sure you also have this selected now on your customize screen. This will bring a menu up on your monitor.
Now, go to the [Commands] tab and click the [Rearrange Commands] button and looking at this next image for guidance…

 
You see the Customize screen, showing the Commands view and the Rearrange Commands button.. that you just clicked to get the stuff on the right… click the Toolbar radio button and scroll down to your menu you created, in this case it is [Custom 2] and note that the controls you will see are the ones you added.
Now you may have gotten this far but by the MSDN describes this ‘creating a custom shortcut menu for access differently… the same way I self stumbled into and found. What I wanted to do was to group my controls and every time I tweaked the property to show this, it would not stick… So here is what you do, come into the process as I have described above and then…
Like in the image03 view above, click on where you want to add a group line, like to show it above [open hyperlink] and above [output to notepad] select the control and click the [Modify Selection] button.

 
See here, I have a line now above the [Open Hyperlink] and I am about to add one above the [Output to Notepad] by selecting the ‘modify selection’ and selecting the [begin a Group] property.
Now to make it show up on your form… in Design mode select Properties for the form and  as you see in the image05 below, on the Other tab, select the drop down of your custom menu you just made, in this case, Custom 2, on the Property ‘Shortcut Menu Bar’ and of course your ‘Shortcut Menu’ must be enabled.

What you will see now when you right click in form view mode of your form is your popup menu with the pesky group by lines showing.
 

 tada!

Justin Mead
Rocky Mountain Managed Information
©2006 RM-Mi all rights reserved


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

2/19/2006

Code source described in WIRED piece

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 12:42 pm

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70219-0.html

By Dylan Tweney | Also by this reporter
02:00 AM Feb, 17, 2006

For most people, open source is a synonym for free software. But for programmers, open source is about sharing code, building on the work of others and not having to reinvent the wheel — at least, that’s the ideal. In practice, code reuse remains very low, because it’s often too hard for programmers to find relevant bits of code for their applications.

A new search engine for programmers promises to alleviate that problem by making it easier to find and share code. That in turn could increase programmers’ productivity and give a fresh boost to the open-source movement.

Krugle, which launches officially next month, indexes programming code and documentation from open-source repositories like SourceForge and includes corporate sites for programmers like the Sun Developer Network. The index will cover around 100 million pages of what company founder Ken Krugler terms the "technical web" — high-quality technical pages for professional programmers. (By contrast, Google’s index covers about 11 billion pages.)

"This winds up being a window on all the open-source code in the world," said Krugler, who estimates the Krugle index will contain between 3 and 5 terabytes of code by the time the engine launches in March.

The new service joins other source-code search engines like Koders and Codefetch, but Krugle intends to differentiate itself by allowing developers to annotate code and documentation, create bookmarks and save collections of search results in a tabbed workspace. Saved workspaces have unique URLs, so developers can send an entire collection of annotated code to a co-worker just by e-mailing a link.

Krugle also contains intelligence to help it parse code and to differentiate programming languages, so a PHP developer could search for a website-registration system written in PHP simply by typing "PHP registration system."

Greg Olson, a co-founder of early open-source success story Sendmail and a consultant with the Olliance Group said Krugle will make it easier to reuse program components — something that the open-source movement has long promised, but never effectively delivered on. (Olson advised Krugle on the startup’s open-source usage.)

"It’s so cumbersome now to use tools like Google to search for code that the majority of programmers just write their own code," said Olson — even if they know that an open-source component is probably available that would meet their needs. "If you can’t find the pieces, it’s too frustrating to try to reuse components. But if you can reuse components, you can get a factor-of-10 improvement in productivity."

Simon Phipps, the chief open-source officer for Sun Microsystems, said Krugle could be useful as a learning tool, but the many different licenses that apply to open-source code are a potential stumbling block. In addition to the widely used Gnu Public License, Mozilla Foundation projects have their own licensing terms — and copyright holders may retain some rights even in otherwise publicly available open-source code, said Phipps.

"Let’s say you turn up a bit of code that’s licensed under the GPL … if you use it, that means your whole project needs to be licensed under the GPL. I hope that people are aware of these issues, because the licensing situation could get pretty hairy."

Krugle will make money from advertising on its free, public search engine. The company is also planning to create an enterprise edition, due in 2007, to facilitate code-sharing within companies.


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

1/17/2006

Maps the interface of the future

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 11:40 am

There is a growing trend to use maps as the interface for many things. Such as Nextel ( http://www.nextelpartners.com/ ) phones having integrated partnerships with GPS and AVL solutions

(http://eastbay.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2004/11/29/story7.html?page=1)

(http://www.cloudberry.com/company-partners.php)

(http://www.cloudberry.com/cloudberry-overview.php)

Articles such as (http://www.wired.com/news/wireservice/0,70020-0.html?tw=rss.technology) that talk about the reality of satellite images being darn crisp, about Amazon and msn maps having links to ground based images of streets where the whole interface is likely to overtake the yellow page reality.

http://nationalatlas.gov/HELP/doqhelp.html

http://earth.google.com/
http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/

http://maps.a9.com/

http://www.frappr.com/

Services like FRAPPER that allow you to link things directly into the map points, whether it is research sites, business units, competition, or people who like to ride mountain bikes… this is all possible and just a click away where as five years ago, took a lot of integration with ESRI tools and map layers…

There will be a growing trend to localize how people find or list the services they offer. So if you are a Therapist, muffler shop, custom printing, or any kind of business… if you are the first one to get listed on these sites or incorporate your online presence with map interfaces…

You will have a competitive advantage for a while and that is good.

http://local.live.com/
http://www.microsoft.com/mappoint/default.mspx


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

1/9/2006

How do you find sources of knowledge on the web?

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 11:31 am

Found a real good site the other day…. http://www.knowthis.com/ 

It contains current links to magazine articles, is clearly organized and is full of tutorials and pertinent information that is very useful in directing the thought process and shaking the tree of ideas for new apples to fall.

Go ahead and take a look about…


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

4/19/2005

Why Hire a Consultant or HOW TO Hire a Consultant

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 10:01 am

The list of web site links (URLS) and summary of each article follows:

1>> http://www.nase.org/sea_janfeb01/feature4.asp
Whatever type of business consultant you decide to hire, you need to choose carefully. And you need to know how to get the most from the consultant you select. The Institute of Management Consultancy (http://www.imc.co.uk/) offers these nine rules for choosing and using business consultants effectively.
.

2>> http://www.idealist.org/is_cons/helpcons.html
part a> A good consultant, looking at your situation objectively, should be able to identify and implement the solution to the problem more quickly and efficiently than you or your staff. The trick is knowing what types of problems warrant a consultant’s services. Here are basic guidelines:
part b> Develop objectives that identify: The
RFP provides basic information about your organization, and the project or problem you would like the consultant to address. The RFP should establish a general format for the proposals, which will allow you to evaluate and compare consultants equally and efficiently. The following is a proposed format for an RFP, which can be modified to fit the needs of your agency.
part c> How to manage a consultant
Insist on a work plan from the consultant Give the consultant sufficient information to get them up to speed Request that the consultant provide progress reports on the project as follows: …
.

3Þ http://www.icca.org/10tips.asp
10 Tips for Hiring a Computer Consultant As business-related technology becomes increasingly sophisticated and complex, many business owners, office managers and systems operators are turning to independent computer consultants to develop high tech business solutions that keep a company ahead of the competition and ensure their operation has the tools and training needed to run smoothly and efficiently.
.

4Þ  http://www.planning.org/consultant/choose.htm
Choosing a Consultant
This is a revised and edited excerpt from Selecting and Retaining a Planning Consultant:
RFPs, RFQs, Contracts, and Project Management by Eric Damian Kelly, FAICP. It is Planning Advisory Service Report No. 443, published by the American Planning Association in February 1993.
.

5Þ How To Hire.pdf
How to Hire a Management Consultant and Get the Results You Expect The inspiration for this manual came from a similar one developed in 1979 for the Small Business Association of New England by Stewart A Washburn CMC, FIMC, for The New England Chapter of The Institute of Management Consultants USA (IMC USA). Richard C.TenEyck CMC, FIMC, edited the initial manual for national publication. He later served as Chairman of IMC USA.
Despite numerous fads and changes during the ensuing years, no significant portion of the original content changed. This attests not only to the fundamental nature of the material, but also to the dedication of members of IMC USA to building the management consulting profession.


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

3/3/2005

Microsoft Access Performance issues

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 12:22 pm

How-to articles - Performance
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/ph/2509?sid=49
___________________________________________________

dy>
Information about query performance in an Access database
Describes the tips and the techniques that you can use to improve the performance of your queries in Access 2000 databases, in Access 2002 databases, and in Access 2003 databases.
How to keep a Jet 4.0 database in top working condition
By default, Microsoft Jet is the database engine that is used in Microsoft Access. This article describes best practices that you can use to help keep your Jet database in top working condition. This article describes databases that are running in…
Defragment and compact database to improve performance
Explains that you can defragment your hard disk and compact your database to imporve the performance of Microsoft Access

___________________________________________________

These are an example of searching for ways to optimize an Access Application for a client. The location to goto and search Microsoft for information? That place is known as the Microsoft Knowledge Base (http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1) and can be very helpful. It also can be very confusing. The reason is partially due to asking the right questions sysndrome. I have seen people spend most of a day trying to find answers at the big M and not find really what they needed.

One trick is to GOOGLE a little first. (http://www.google.com/) By doing this you are actually looking for hints on how to phrase your question. Put in all the words you think may work, see what you get. Put in two words, see what you get. Put in three words, try that. Keep in mind that your goal is to find out how to ‘ask the question.’

Now, you may find your answer on Google, and or you may find links back to Microsoft’s Knowledge Base. The key here is to try different angles to the same problem.

You will get the best results that way.

LUCK!


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

3/1/2005

BI is about reporting in business

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 11:37 am

Business intelligence

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_intelligence

Business intelligence is the process of gathering information in the field of business. Information is typically obtained about customer needs, customer decision making processes, the competition and competitive pressures, conditions in the industry, and general economic, technological, and cultural trends. Business intelligence is carried out to gain sustainable competitive advantage, and is a valuable core competence in some instances. Every business intelligence system has a specific goal, which is derived from an organisational goal or from the Vision statement. Goals could be short term (e.g.: quarterly numbers to Wall Street) or long term (shareholder value, target industry share / size etc).

The term was first used by Gartner and popularized by analyst Howard Dresner. It describes the process of turning data into information and then into knowledge. The intelligence is claimed to be more useful to the user as it passes through each step.

Industrial espionage is a type of business intelligence that uses covert techniques. There is a gray area between "normal" business intelligence and industrial espionage.

Business performance management is a software oriented business intelligence system that some see as the new generation of business intelligence though the terms are used interchangeably by most in the industry.

The first probable reference to Business intelligence is made in Sun Tzu’s "Art of War" where he claims that to succeed in war, you should have full knowledge of your strengths/weaknesses and full knowledge of your enemy’s strengths/weaknesses. Lack of either one might result in defeat. BI is the art of wading through tons of data overload, sieving through data and presenting information - both internal (from operational systems) and external (market intelligence) - on which management can act or build strategies.

More information found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_intelligence


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

defined

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 11:35 am

Medical informatics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_informatics


Electronic patient chart of a HIS
Electronic patient chart of a HIS

Medical Informatics is the name given to the application of information technology to healthcare. It is the:

"understanding, skills and tools that enable the sharing and use of information to deliver healthcare and promote health" (British Medical Informatics Society).

Medical informatics is often called health informatics or biomedical informatics, and forms part of the wider domain of eHealth. These later-generation terms reflect the substantive contribution of the citizen & non-medical professions to the generation and usage of healthcare data and related information. Additionally, medical informaticians are active in bioinformatics and other fields not strictly defined as health care.

Aspects of the field

A HIS's automatic immunization data entry in the patient's admission module.
Enlarge
A HIS’s automatic immunization data entry in the patient’s admission module.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Immune_auto.jpg

These include:

  • architectures for electonic medical records and other health information systems used for billing, scheduling or research.
  • decision support systems in healthcare
  • messaging standards for the exchange of information between health care information systems (e.g. through the use of the HL7 data exchange standard) - these specifically define the means to exchange data, not the content
  • controlled medical vocabularies such as the Standardized Nomenclature of Medicine, Clinical Terms (SNOMED-CT) or Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) - used to allow a standard, accurate exchange of data content between systems and providers.
  • use of hand-held or portable devices to assist providers with data entry/retrieval or medical decision-making

More information at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_informatics


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

About Data

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 11:34 am

Database

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database

A database is an information set with a regular structure.

Any set of information may be called a database. Nevertheless, the term was invented to refer to computerised data, and is used almost exclusively in computing. Sometimes it is used to refer to not yet computerised data, but usually in the process of planning its possible computerisation.

Software created to manage generalised databases is usually called a database management system or DBMS. Several software architectures are possible: For smaller single user databases often all functions are managed by one program. In larger and multiple user databases usually a number of programs are involved and most commonly a client-server architecture is adopted.

The DBMS front-end (i.e., the clients) is concerned mainly with data entry, enquiry and reporting. The back-end (i.e. the server) is the set of programs that actually control data storage, responding to requests from the frontend. Searching and sorting is usually performed by the server. There are a wide variety of database implementations, from simple tables stored in a single file each to very large databases with many millions of records, stored in rooms full of disk drives or other peripheral electronic storage devices.

Databases resembling modern versions were first developed in the 1960s. A pioneer in the field was Charles Bachman. Two key data models arose at this time: the network model (developed by CODASYL) followed by the hierarchical model (as implemented in IMS). These were later usurped by the relational model, which was contemporary with the so-called flat model designed for very small tasks. Another contemporary of the relational model is the object-oriented database (OODB).

While the relational model is based on set theory, one proposed modification suggests fuzzy set theory (based on fuzzy logic) as an alternative.

More information at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Welcome to Consulting

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 11:32 am


Consultant

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consultant

A consultant is a professional that provides expert advice in a particular domain or area of expertise such as accountancy, information technology, the law, human resources, marketing, medicine, finance or more esoteric areas of knowledge, for example engineering and scientific specialties such as materials science, instrumentation, avionics, and stress analysis. See related Certified Management Consultant and MBA.

How a consultant works

Often the consultant provides expertise to customers which only rarely or occasionally require this particular type of knowledge, thus providing an economy to the client.

More recently the term is also used somewhat euphemistically to mean a person that is only temporarily employed by a company and working under the company’s direction in a skill area that the company already has, in other words as an adjunct to the company’s core set of employees. This usually implies that the consultant is more expendable when the demand for that particular skill diminishes.

Often a consultant is not an independent agent but is a partner or an employee of a consultancy, that is a company that provides consultants to clients on a larger scale or in multiple, though usually related, skill areas.

A consultant giving career advice and training to an individual or a team is a Coach (see Coaching)

Consultants are very pervasive in upper management in most industries. New trends are spread through corporations by the efforts of consultants, such as Six Sigma.

There are also independent consultants/directors who are interim executives or non-executives with decision-making power under corporate policies/statute. They sit on boards or committees.

Why Hire a Consultant or HOW TO Hire a Consultant

More information at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consultant


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

1/20/2005

Welcome!

Filed under: — Justin Mead @ 6:55 am

Root … the source … the first entry. In Root you will find generalities about the industry of Informatics Business Systems and Business.

Welcome.


Warning: include(/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening '/var/www/siteblog/SiteBlog_bundle/wp-comments.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/share/php:/usr/share/pear') in /var/www/siteblog/blogs/insight.rm-mi.net/index.php on line 108