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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50334379/
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Monday, December 31, 2012
Breitbrat Mike Flynn: Obama Scuttled the Cliff Deal With Mockery (Little green footballs)
Friday, December 28, 2012
5 Real Estate Trends to Look For in 2013
Predicting trends during volatile economic times in American is no easy task. However, we are going to give it our best shot. We strongly believe these are the five real estate items we should keep an eye on in 2013:
Demand for Housing Will Continue to Surge
The housing market has turned the corner and there is no reason to believe that buyer demand will not maintain momentum throughout 2013. Household formations shot up to boom-time levels in 2012 and are projected to increase at even a faster rate over the next twelve months. A lack of inventory will be more of a challenge to sales increases than will a lack of demand.
Generations X and Y Will Prove They Believe in Homeownership
Contrary to what many have hypothesized over the last few years, young adults (18-35 year olds) are just as committed to homeownership as previous generations. Recent studies have shown:
- 43% already own a home
- 72% see homeownership as part of their personal American Dream
- 93% of those currently renting plan to buy a home
This, along with the increase in household formations mentioned above, makes us believe that 2013 will be the year that many of these young adults will jump into homeownership.
Prices Will Continue to Increase
Pricing of any item is determined by supply and demand. Demand for housing will remain strong throughout 2013. At the same time, the supply of homes ready for is shrinking in many parts of the country. Outside of a few states that still have challenges with large inventories of distressed properties (NY, NJ, CT, IL for example), prices will appreciate nicely.
Even in the areas that are still dealing with high percentages of foreclosures and short sales, prices will not tumble dramatically. The increase in demand will absorb much of this inventory. In these areas, prices will either flatten or perhaps soften to a small degree.
Move-Up Sellers Will Return in Great Numbers
Perhaps what many will find as the biggest surprise of 2013 will be the return of the ?move-up? seller. Over the last several years negative equity has prevented many of these sellers from moving up to the house of their dreams. However, with prices recovering, more and more of these sellers will realize that now may be their greatest opportunity to make the move to a lifestyle they always wanted.
With home prices expected to increase and more stringent mortgage qualifications (QR and QRM) scheduled to be announced this year, we believe that the first half of the year will bring many of these sellers/buyers to the market.
The Consumer Will Demand That Their Agent Be an Expert
Real Estate professionals who have invested the money, time and energy to truly understand what is happening and why it is happening will separate themselves from their competition and do very well this year.
Those who take that next step of learning how to simply and effectively communicate the market to their clients will be seen as experts. These industry leaders will dominate their markets.
This blog will help you with the ?what and the why?. If you?are truly committed to being recognized as an expert, go?here.
Source: http://www.kcmblog.com/2012/12/27/5-real-estate-trends-to-look-for-in-2013/
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Executive Interview: Greg Rogerson, J.G. Petrucci Co. | Commercial ...
Executive Interview:
Greg Rogerson, Principal
J.G. Petrucci Co.
Greg Rogerson is a principal of J.G. Petrucci Co., Inc. (?JGPCO?).? An attorney, Greg oversees the negotiation of all contracts, leases and municipal approvals for each JGPCO project.? As such, he effectively directs and manages all legal and financial transactions pertaining to acquisitions, leasing and commercial development, including complex zoning and land use approvals.? Greg has also developed great insight into the unique issues involved in the re-development of brownfield sites in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, which has become an important area of focus for the company.? In all, Greg has overseen the acquisition and disposition of more than $350 million worth of real estate transactions.?
?Mr. Rogerson received his law degree from Temple University School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Delaware, where he was a three-year letterman in football. He is a member of the New Jersey Bar and resides in Bucks County, PA with his wife and three (3) children.? In his spare time Greg enjoys golf and coaching his children?s sports teams.
*?
Q: How did you get your start in the real estate business?
Jim Petrucci hired me right out of law school. My legal background helped a lot in the complex world of real estate development.
Q: What is your favorite part of your job? What do you find most challenging?
My favorite part is the redevelopment of obsolete brownfield sites and turning them into productive commercial projects that provide jobs and a stable rateable for the community. The most challenging aspect of this industry is the entitlement process in high barrier to entry markets.
Q: How have economic conditions affected J.G. Petrucci?s strategies? Have you widened or narrowed your focus due to present conditions??
We are more conservative with use of debt. We remain opportunistic, but underwrite each project more conservatively.
Q: J.G. Petrucci has experience with a variety of property and development types. Since the recession began, has any particular market or property type surprised you with its performance (for better or worse)?
The multi-family developments have performed extremely well because the market has neglected new residential rental products for the better part of the last 30 years. Suburban office is very weak. I believe this is a function of the changing nature of the work place for corporations.
Q: Tell us about your work with brownfield sites. What challenges and opportunities do you see with such projects? How has your background in law helped with your work on such projects?
Every project we work on has a brownfield component. Environmental conditions create imperfection in pricing, creating potential for value if you are able to mitigate the conditions efficiently. Brownfields are a highly regulated aspect of the business and my legal background helps navigate through the many layers of legal requirements.
?Q: How about green technology and the LEED certification process? What challenges and opportunities come with sustainability-focused projects?
Green technology is here to stay. We incorporate more and more eco-friendly elements to our projects every time we have the opportunity. The challenge of LEED certification is incorporating these important concepts but maintaining a project budget. Many projects are expensive and have to be incorporated carefully over time.
Q: Your clientele includes both private companies and government entities. Are there unique challenges when working with members of the public sector?
The majority of our clientele is on the private side, however, when we do work with public entities we find them to be very inefficient.
Q: In what ways do you imagine the industry will be different 10 years from now?
Offices will continue to contract as technology improves and there will be more need for urban development near public infrastructure.
Q: If you didn?t work in the Mid-Atlantic market, what region would you be interested in exploring?
Possibly Chicago and the Midwest region of the United States.
*
About J.G. Petrucci Company:
?J.G. Petrucci Company, Inc. (JGPCO) has been developing and building first class commercial and industrial real estate since 1987. We are a full-service design/build specialist, owner and developer of industrial, office, healthcare, retail and multi-family properties. JGPCO?s?core markets are Central New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania.??
Source: http://llenrock.com/blog/executive-interview-greg-rogerson-j-g-petrucci-co/
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Health & Fitness: The Most Effective Eczema Natural Remedies
Many people are turning to eczema natural remedies due to their effectiveness in relieving the discomfort caused by this condition. In addition, the natural solutions are a better option when it comes to treating and preventing skin diseases and disorders from occurring in the future. Eczema is normally characterized by dryness of the skin, inflammation, a persistent itch, and reddening of the skin. If left untreated, the condition worsens rapidly.
Skin inflammation, accompanied by flaking, persistent itching and red patches is very common in patients suffering from eczema. For you to effectively deal with the condition, you must find a solution that will provide fast relief from the discomfort, as well as address the underlying causes. Corticosteroids have been in use for many years to treat these ailments. However, these drugs only offer temporary relief.
Many eczema sufferers usually visit dermatologists and other skin specialists with the hope that they will find simple, yet effective cures that they can use in the comfort of their homes. However, they may be surprised to discover that their efforts are in vain. Home treatments such as moisturizers, balanced diet, Blueberry leaf lotion, emollients, herbal baths, and Lactobacillus Acidophilus provide a simple solution for them.
Appropriate skincare is necessary if one wants to prevent this condition. For instance, ensuring that the skin is moist and supple prevents skin irritation and itching. To achieve this, one is required to use a variety of skin moisturizers such as creams and lotions on a regular basis. These products consist of high quality moisturizing regimens that will help to keep the skin healthy at all times.
A change of diet is a great way of dealing with this condition, owing to the fact that everything that one eats affects his/her overall well-being. According to recent research studies, a diet with high acidic content has a direct link to the occurrence of eczema in many patients. For this reason, health experts recommend the consumption of natural kelp supplements, whose alkaline content neutralizes the acidity.
Natural remedies containing Blueberry extracts are some of the best skincare products that you could use to treat your condition. The active ingredient in these products is the Chlorogenic acid that is found in Blueberry leaves. It contains antimicrobial agents, which are very beneficial in dealing with skin disorders. You can use the Blueberry leaf lotion to provide rapid relief from skin inflammation, swelling and itching.
Emollients are some of the best home treatments for this condition. These creams seal and moisturize the skin to prevent moisture from escaping from its layers. They have some of the greatest properties that prevent the skin from flaking and itching and in effect, make it supple and moist. Unfortunately, many people are not aware about these products, even though they can work wonders for them.
Skin conditions are known to cause low self-esteem and lower one's confidence. If left untreated, most of the skin diseases cause discomfort and discoloration, and become very hard to treat. Skincare specialists recommend the use of eczema natural remedies and products such as lavender, chamomile, oatmeal and herbal baths because they are easily accessible and can be administered in the comfort of one's home.
Source: http://health-and-fitness-way.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-most-effective-eczema-natural.html
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Ex-Audi designer becomes first foreign president of Kia Motors
SEOUL (Reuters) - Peter Schreyer, known for his design contributions to the iconic Audi TT, became the first foreign president of Kia Motors Corp as the South Korean carmaker enters the next phase of its branding transformation.
Schreyer, who joined Kia from Volkswagen AG
The promotion is a clear sign of Kia and Hyundai Motor's ambition to outdo German rivals Volkswagen and BMW
"We should not have let him go," Volkswagen's Chairman Ferdinand Piech told Automotive News in an interview in November.
Born in Germany in 1953, Schreyer was reportedly brought in by then Kia president Chung Eui-sun - the only son and heir apparent of the 74-year-old Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-koo.
Before joining Kia, Schreyer thought Kia's designs were "neutral."
"I thought I wanted to give Kia a character and a family feel... If you come to a country and you see a Kia, you should recognize it immediately, like you recognize a BMW or Mercedes immediately," he said in an interview with Reuters in March.
Schreyer went on to create a "tiger-nose" grille for Kia, previously known for its nondescript but value-for-money image.
In one stroke, the former Audi designer gave a distinct face to Kia models ranging from the small Picanto to the Forte and Optima sedans.
Kia, acquired by Hyundai Motor in 1998 during the Asian financial crisis, has been expanding sales at a faster pace than Hyundai Motor in markets such as the United States and Europe.
Combined, Kia and Hyundai Motor rank fifth in global car sales.
Inspired by Schreyer's success, Hyundai Motor poached ex-BMW designer Christopher Chapman to head its U.S. design centre this year.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Kia's transformation is yet complete.
K9, Kia's first rear-wheel drive luxury sedan, is not doing well in South Korea. Sales reached 405 vehicles in November, less than a quarter of a sales target of 2,000 a month.
"Kia is in a situation where Audi was 30 years ago, and even longer," Schreyer said during a lecture at Yonsei University in Seoul in May.
This is "an adventure, positive adventure," he said, wearing his signature black suit and horn-rimmed glasses.
He also said that Kia, which jointly conducts research and development with Hyundai Motor, needs to further improve its technology.
"BMW is famous for engines. This is the core of BMW, the path they will not leave. They're investing a lot in technology," he said at the lecture.
Schreyer said in March he does not plan to leave Kia.
"I kind of feel that I belong to Kia," he told Reuters.
(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Ryan Woo)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-audi-designer-becomes-first-foreign-president-kia-091200325--finance.html
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China Vows to Clamp Down on Trademark Trolls
Proposed changes to the law would affect firms such as Proview, which sued Apple for the use of the iPad name.
China has stressed its plan to change laws in order to combat "malicious" trademark registrations, which have allowed companies to misuse names and brands.
The proposed changes were announced after international companies and well-known individuals complained to the region's authorities. The country's legislature will discuss the amendment this week.
One of the more famous cases pertaining to the matter is China-based Proview suing Apple for the use of the name "iPad". It's a dispute, however, that ultimately led to Apple settling for $60 million.
Other cases include Michael Jordan, who sued a Chinese sportswear company for making use of his name, as well as French luxury brand Hermes International who has also submitted trademark complaints.
Should the amendment proposed by China come into fruition, it would offer more power to trademark holders by allowing them to ban the unauthorized use of their logos and name or ones that bear a similar resemblance.
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Contact Us for News Tips, Corrections and Feedback
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Source: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/China-Trademarks-Trolls-Patents-Apple,19998.html
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Business Dvelopment Executive / Managers, Bangalore
Urgent Requirement for The Profile Of Business Development Executive/Manager for Bangalore Location In Publication & Event Industries.
Your profile will be to develop and manage customers by getting in touch with Government, defense, Institutes and Corporate sectors alike and take complete charge of all the marketing and sales activities in the field and you will also be responsible for achievements of targets that you accept from time to time.
1.? Maintain proactive relationship management with assigned client base.
2.? To handle corporate clients both in Institutions as well as in MNCs and take complete charge of all the marketing and sales activities in the field and will also be responsible for achievements of targets that you accept from time to time.
3.? Assisting in development of new markets and new products and also be associated with the search and development of new marketing strategies.
4.? Provides feedback to sales management and business owners to ensure company's solutions continue to meet client needs.
5.? Develop a situation analysis of your company including its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to assist in the development of a strategic plan for the future of the business.
6.? Maintains prospect database
Interested Candidates can mail their CV at genesisprivilege@gmail.com or can call on +91-7795190530, +91-9535235688 for prompt response.
Thanks & Regards
Arvind Sanjay Rao
Dir. Business Development
+91 9535235688/ +91 7795190530
Telecommuting is ok.
yes -- OK for recruiters to contact this job poster.
yes -- Phone calls about this job are ok.
yes -- Reposting this message elsewhere is OK.
Source: http://bangalore.locanto.in/ID_148390531/Business-Dvelopment-Executive-Managers.html
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Wednesday, December 26, 2012
7 Benefits of Real Estate As An Investment | Living Cashflow 101 ...
Image Courtesy of Sujin Jetkasettakorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Let me begin by saying that real estate as an investment?is the best to make in your entire lifetime.
Depending on how you perceive real estate as an investment, that may raise your eyebrows and cause you to be skeptical or you may agree and slowly nod your head.
Maybe for you, real estate is slow, takes a lot of capital and too risky an investment.
You prefer to keep it safe with time deposits or bonds. Or maybe try out your luck with mutual funds or even stocks.
Go ahead and do that for now but by the end of this post, I?ll show you why real estate is the best investment to make in your entire lifetime.
I?ll show you why time deposits, bonds, mutual funds or stocks don?t come close to real estate?s ability to automatically grow your wealth and give passive income.
In the end, that?s what you really want isn?t it? To be wealthy and not have to work or worry about your finances especially on your retirement.
Don?t get me wrong, I don?t hate time deposits, bonds, mutual funds or stocks. They have their purpose. I have them too.
But for automatic wealth-building and generating passive income,?real estate is the best investment for that. Here are 7 reasons why.
#1. Real Estate Appreciates In Value
The first benefit of real estate as an investment is appreciation. Land appreciates in value over time because of the limited supply of land. Like Oprah Winfrey said, ?They don?t make dirt.?
Land appreciates at roughly the same rate as inflation.
Inflation is the rate that the price of goods increases. It eats the value of your money by lowering the amount of goods it can buy. Your 100 pesos in 2015 will buy considerably less compared to your 100 pesos now.
You know that. Remember the jeepney fare 5 years ago or the price of a Big Mac meal? Your money now can?t buy the same things as 5 years ago. You can?t see inflation but your wallet can feel it.
Because of inflation, cash, time deposits and bonds turn into depreciating assets.
Cash actually loses value over time unless it?s invested.
The same with time deposits (TDs) and bonds. Although, TDs give interest, the interest on a time deposit is always lower than the inflation rate.
With bonds, even if the interest rate is higher than inflation, it?s not rolled over so the principal amount will always remain the same and will have a lower value when the bond matures.
I don?t know about you but I?d rather invest in an appreciating asset.
What all this means is real estate is your best weapon against inflation.
Not only that, real estate is your best weapon for growing your equity. You don?t have to do much for the value of the land to go up.
You don?t wait to buy real estate. You buy real estate then you wait.
#2. Real Estate Is Negotiable
The next remarkable benefit of real estate as an investment is you don?t have to pay the asking price.
That?s right, you can haggle the purchase price of real estate!
If you like haggling in Greenhills and Divisoria, you?ll love this even more.
Most of you don?t think it?s possible to bring down the price of real estate because you only look at properties being sold by real estate developers. Usually, there?s no haggling with developers. When they set a price that?s it. You can get small discounts with their promotions but who wants small discounts?
I would suggest that you only buy properties that is at least 20% below market value. Negotiate the price down to 80% of the market price or even lower.
You can?t do that with cash, time deposits or bonds. No one in their right mind will give you 80 pesos in exchange for 100 pesos.
Same thing with mutual funds or stocks. The value that you put in the beginning is what you get.
But with real estate and a little negotiating skill, you can get free money in the form of equity. If you buy a Php5,000,000 worth of real estate at 20% discount then you have a Php1,000,000 bonus in free equity!
Who wants free money, raise your hands?
#3. Leverage ? Using Other People?s Money To Buy Real Estate
You also don?t need to pay the full negotiated price yourself.
You can make a small downpayment and get financing from a bank, a lender or a partner to pay off the balance. This is called leverage.
You can?t leverage the price of time deposits, bonds, mutual funds or stocks. You have to pay the full price yourself. No bank will lend you money to buy TDs (which is ridiculous), mutual funds or stocks.
This is what gives real estate speed. You may think real estate as an investment is slow because you?re thinking you need to save up to pay off the full price. Not so, you can use leverage to quickly buy properties then turn around to resell them or rent them out.
It gets better because when you rent out property, you don?t have to pay the monthly payments out of your own pocket because you get it from the property?s rental income.
This allows you to get more real estate with the cash that comes in from your job or business.
#4. Real Estate Gives Passive Income
You can get true financial freedom with real estate because it gives passive income. Passive income is income that you don?t have to work for.
You get this by renting out your property. Once a tenant has been secured, all you need to do is encash their rental checks every month.
TDs, bonds and stocks also give passive income. But you have no control over the income you receive from these instruments.
With real estate, you can increase rents every year or every other year. You can also improve the property in many different ways and get even more rental income.
Control is such a nice thing. You can whine about inflation and the rising cost of living if you are a TD, bond or stock investor.
If you?re a real estate investor, you just smile, raise your rents and blame it on inflation when your tenant reacts!
#5. Real Estate Gives Tax Advantages
We all have to pay taxes eventually even for investments. However, real estate as an investment has certain advantages that are not present in other investments.
- You can depreciate the value of the structure on your property and deduct it from your taxable income. This lowers your tax and increases your cashflow.
- In the same manner, you can deduct a portion of the interest payments of your mortgage from your taxable income again to lower your tax and increase your cashflow.
- If you are a VAT entity, you can deduct the VAT that you paid (also called input VAT) from the VAT that you pay to the BIR. Meaning, you make money from VAT and increase your cashflow!
- You can also get chunks of tax-free cash without ever selling your property. You do this by refinancing your mortgage or getting an equity loan. Since this cash is not income, you don?t have to pay taxes on it while you still keep the asset!
Interest income from deposits and some bonds are taxed at 20%. It?s deducted even before you get it. And you can?t do anything about it.
#6. You Control The Real Estate You Own
You control your destiny in real estate.
As you have seen in advantage #4, you can control the income that you get from your rental property.
You don?t have to complain that inflation is eating your interest or dividends. Or that rates are going down ever closer to zero.
In fact, inflation is an excuse to increase your rent, so inflation is not your enemy but your friend!
You do not have to pray that the rural banks which hold your TDs don?t go bankrupt.
You do not have to rely on the stocks that you picked to always go up every year, which is actually improbable.
And you don?t have to worry about scammers like Aman Futures or Multitel running away with your money because you own and control the investment.
Control is a good thing especially for real estate investors, don?t you think?
#7. Real Estate Is Unmatched With Synergy
These 6 advantages taken one at a time already give real estate as an investment a distinct advantage over others.
Taken together, they make real estate the best investment vehicle for any investor.
By combining these advantages, you get an asset that you can easily afford, automatically builds wealth and gives passive income for a very long time.
Take this simple example.
- You found a condo unit being sold for 3.5M while other similar units are being sold for 4M. You negotiate the price down to 3M. You get a 25% discount from market value.
- You make a downpayment of Php500,000 while your bank gives you a loan for Php2.5M payable over 10 years at 8% interest.
- You rent it out for Php30,000 per month. You get a deposit of Php60,000 and post-dated checks of Php30,000 for 1 year. You pay the bank an additional Php300+ per month to cover the monthly amortization.
- Your tenant renews and as a sign of goodwill, you don?t increase the rent. But you get an additional 12 checks of Php30,000.
- On the 3rd year, you increase the rent by Php1,500. The rent now covers the whole monthly amortization and you get Php1,100+ passive income.
- On the 10th year, you?re faced with a dilemma. Should you sell for Php5M (the ongoing market rate) and make 10x your initial investment of Php500,000? or should you continue to collect the rent which is about Php36,000 in monthly rent now that the loan is fully paid? Should you get an equity loan for Php2.5M so you can still keep the asset and just buy a new car? Oh, the choices you have to make.
In this example, we combined appreciation, negotiation, passive income, leverage and control to create an asset that will either multiply your initial investment 10x or give you passive income for a long time.
That?s just 1 property. How many properties like this could you add in 10 or 15 years?
These are the reasons why the rich get real estate as an investment .
These are the reasons why real estate is the best investment you can ever make.
Do you agree now? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.
This is the first post in a series on ?How To Invest In Real Estate.? In the next updates, we?ll explore the different pitfalls, strategies and tactics in real estate investing. To get the whole series, subscribe to Living Cashflow 101.
Source: http://www.livingcashflow101.com/2012/12/benefits-real-estate-investment/
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Netflix is down: AWS outage takes down service on some devices ...
Netflix is down for some customers this Christmas Eve, thanks to a outage of some of Amazon?s cloud infrastructure. However, there?s good news: You may be able to watch your holiday movie, after all.
Updated: Netflix is inaccessible for users on some devices on Christmas Eve, thanks to an outage of Amazon?s 9s AMZN) AWS cloud infrastructure. There is no word from Amazon when the issue will be fixed. Netflix officially acknowledged the issue on Twitter:
However, there?s some good news for affected users: Netflix Cloud Architect Adrian Cockroft reported on Twitter that the service is only affected on some devices, while others are working fine. In other words: If Netflix isn?t streaming on the device of your choice, try accessing it via other means before you give up. Cockroft tweeted Monday afternoon:
First reports about a Netflix outage popped up online around 1 p.m. PT. Shortly thereafter, Amazon started reporting that some of its Elastic Load Balancers are down. The company?s last status report, issued at 4:15p.m. PT, reads:
?We continue to experience increased errors for Elastic Load Balancing API calls in the US-EAST-1 region and continue to work towards resolution.?
We will update this post as soon as we know more.
Update 1 (5p.m.):?A Netflix spokesperson emailed us the following statement:
?We are experiencing a partial outage late this afternoon (Pacific Time) that affects a number of streaming devices. Our team is working hard to address the problems and get the service fully up and running again.?
There are some reports of users who are able to use Netflix with their PCs without any issue.
Update 2 (5:10p.m.):?It?s worth noting that AWS East, which is at the heart of this outage, has had multiple serious outages over the last several months.
Also, wondering what a Elastic Load Balancer actually does, at least when it?s working? Amazon has a somewhat technical explainer on its website. (thanks Susan!)
Update 3 (5:20p.m.): Users on Twitter are reporting that the DramaFever streaming service is down as well, and the DramaFever.com website is currently inaccessible. It?s unclear whether this was caused by the same AWS outage.
Update 4 (6:10p.m.): ?DramaFever has confirmed that it is affected by the same AWS issue as Netflix.
Update 5 (6:45p.m.): Amazon?s latest update on the situation, time-stamped 5:49p.m. PT, doesn?t sound very promising:
?We continue to work on resolving issues with the Elastic Load Balancing Service in the US-EAST-1 region. Traffic for some ELBs are currently experiencing significant levels of traffic loss.?
Update 6 (9:32p.m.):?Roku has confirmed that its service is also affected by the outage, with Roku players complaining about Internet connectivity issues. A spokesperson sent me the following statement:
?Confirmed that the AWS outage is affecting services for some Roku users. Our technical folks are actively monitoring the situation.?
Meanwhile, Amazon is still having issues, and Netflix remains unavailable for a large number of users.
Update 7 (11:30p.m.):?Amazon now says it is ?in the process of recovering the service? and Netflix?s Adrian Cockroft is reporting on Twitter that things are looking up for users of the service:
Update 8 (12/25, 9:40a.m.): The outage is officially over. Here is what Netflix tweeted earlier this morning:
Source: http://gigaom.com/video/netflix-down-xmas-eve/
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Illinois Town Hosts Community Health Fair | Eat Healthy Blog
(PRWEB) October 19, 2012
Elmwood Park, Illinois, hosted a community Health and Fitness Fair this week for local residents. Following the fair, Massage School San Diego, an avid supporter of healthy living and San Diego massage schools, has created a tip guide to help readers better reach their health and fitness goals.
The Parks and Recreation Department in Elmwood Park, Illinois, spearheaded a Health and Fitness Fair at the community recreation center earlier this week. During the fair, residents could receive free blood pressure testing, vision screenings, blood typing, flu shots, posture analysis, body mass index measuring, chair massages and more. Participants could also learn about self-defense, personal training and other fitness activities. Over 200 residents attended the fair, and each received a health pledge card, free T-shirt and a wristband.
In response to Elmwood Parks Health and Fitness Fair, Massage School San Diego has created a tip guide aimed to help readers achieve their health and fitness goals more successfully:
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NuVo P200 Wireless Player
NuVo's new Wireless Audio System delivers streaming audio anywhere in your home?even to multiple rooms simultaneously. The P200 ($599 list), the company's wireless stereo amplifier and media hub, supports dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi and MIMO for truly reliable performance, and is capable of transmitting up to 16 simultaneous streams at 600Kbps each. It's also a stereo amplifier, giving you the ability to hook up any pair of passive speakers that could very well sound much better than any AirPlay or Bluetooth speaker.
Used as intended?in multiple rooms, with?the GW100 Gateway (which is required for wireless use),?multiple P200s, and multiple sets of speakers?the whole system is very expensive for the average music listener, and it has a few issues as well. But if you're an audio component fan interested in top-quality wireless streaming throughout your home, and you have the means, read on.
Design, Amplifier, and Main Setup
The NuVo P200 measures 1.65 by 9.02 by 5.0 inches (HWD) and weighs 2.5 pounds. It's made entirely of black plastic, with a vertically curved edge on one side and a horizontally curved edge on the other. The front panel is clean save for four capacitive buttons, which control volume, muting, and Bluetooth functions, plus a combination power and status LED. The back panel houses standard-size 3.5mm input and output jacks, a 3.5mm setup mic port that the manual says is for "future use" only, and four gold 5-way binding posts for connecting speakers. There are also USB 2.0 and Ethernet ports, plus a hardware power switch that, thankfully, doesn't send a loud thump through your speakers when you switch it on.
Inside is a 60-watt-per-channel stereo amplifier that works with 8 ohm and 4 ohm passive speakers. There's Audyssey-powered dynamic volume processing onboard for balancing day and night listening at lower levels, as well as bass and treble adjustments with 12 dB of range in either direction. I tested the P200 with a pair of Klipsch HD Theater 600 satellites and their companion 100-watt, 8-inch powered subwoofer. I hooked up the satellites to the P200 via its five-way binding posts, and then used a 6-foot stereo Y-cable (which is not included) to connect the stereo 3.5mm mini-jack line out on the P200 to the pair of stereo RCA inputs on the powered subwoofer.
The setup process is a little confusing. First, you hook up your speakers, plug the P200 into the wall, download the NuVo Player iOS or Android app on your mobile device, and follow the on-screen instructions. From the app, you can begin setup of a new system or join an existing system you're expanding.
Unfortunately, while the P200 supports Wi-Fi, you need the $199 NuVo GW100 Gateway in order to use the P200 wirelessly. Otherwise, you must use the included Ethernet port and connect it to your router. I tested the P200 with the GW100, which came with no instructions. Basically, you just connect the main port (not one of the four LAN ports) to an existing free port on your router with the included Ethernet cable. The app found it immediately. Next, I powered on the P200, waited for the solid green LED light indicating ready status, and then tapped Next in the app. Then I paired the P200 with the GW100 by holding down the Volume Up and Mute buttons as indicated. From there, I was off and running.
Sound Quality and Music Source Setup
As a general rule, sound quality from the built-in amplifier was uniformly excellent, with a clear soundstage and plenty of gain. I wouldn't have any reservations about powering a full-range pair of floorstanding speakers with the P200. That said, audiophiles may wish to bypass the P200's internal amp and employ the line out for use with an external integrated amplifier or preamp/amp combo. Even better, I didn't experience any audio dropouts while sharing music from a variety of sources, even on our extremely saturated PCMag Labs Wi-Fi networks.
The real purpose of the NuVo system is to enable multi-room wireless streaming, and with multiple sources of music. For that, you may find that a single P200 isn't enough; you can put one in each room, along with an appropriately sized set of speakers, and then control the whole shebang using the app's visual interface. This is the kind of setup where the NuVo system excels, thanks to its reliable wireless performance.
(Next page: Other Features, Product Line, and Conclusions)
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/S9uEKQ9-c_g/0,2817,2413360,00.asp
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Thursday, December 6, 2012
Forecasting Denial: Why Are TV Weathercasters Ignoring Climate ...
Waves crash over a seawall as Hurricane Sandy hits Winthrop, Massachusetts.
Darren McCollester/Getty Images
December 5, 2012 4:30 PM ET
It's been a busy year for TV weathercasters: July was the hottest month ever recorded in the United States, unprecedented wildfires scorched the West, the worst drought in 50 years parched two-thirds of the county. Then, in October, Hurricane Sandy slammed into New York and New Jersey. Yet the cause of much of the meteorological mayhem ? global warming ? was rarely mentioned on air. The reason: There's a shockingly high chance that your friendly TV weatherman is a full-blown climate denier.
Take David Bernard, the handsome young chief meteorologist at the CBS affiliate in Miami. In a rapidly warming world, Miami is at huge risk from rising seas and increasingly intense storms like Sandy. But rather than alerting viewers to the connection between extreme weather and the rising concentration of climate-warming pollution in the atmosphere, Bernard spent his time last summer posting 131 pictures of Dolly, his Boston terrier puppy, on his Facebook page. In Bernard's view, climate change is nothing but a plot perpetuated by crazy liberals intent on bringing about, as he put it in one tweet, "global wealth redistribution." In June, during a month when more than 700 heat records were broken across the country, Bernard tweeted that the Earth is "cooling" and defended the Heartland Institute, a right-wing think tank that has compared those who believe in global warming to mass murderers. As for Hurricane Sandy, which climate scientists believe was spiked by rising sea surface temperatures, it was just part of a natural cycle: "We have seen storms like this over and over again," Bernard said.
Bernard is not only a top weathercaster in a major media market ??he's also a rising network star. A few years ago, he scored a national gig with CBS as a severe weather consultant, commenting on everything from hurricanes and tornados to heat waves and drought. "It's like CBS deciding to cover a public health crisis by relying on a doctor who doesn't believe in germs," says Daniel Souweine of Forecast the Facts, a group that tracks TV weathercasters.
And Bernard is far from alone: A recent study found that more than a quarter of TV meteorologists call global warming a "scam," while less than a third believe that climate change is caused by human activity. In fact, some of America's most outspoken climate crackpots are TV weather guys. John Coleman, a co-founder of The Weather Channel who now tracks storms for KUSI-TV in San Diego, has called global warming "a fictional, manufactured crisis," and aruged that "stamping out the global warming scam is vital to saving our wonderful way of life." Anthony Watts, a former weathercaster in Chico, California, runs a leading climate disinformation site called "What's Up With That?" And Joe Bastardi, the chief forecaster for the meteorological service Weatherbell, routinely misrepresents climate data during his appearances on Fox News.
If you've ever wondered why many Americans are so ill-informed about the risks of climate change, here's your answer. "For most Americans, TV weathercasters are as close as they are going to get to real scientists," says Heidi Cullen, the former on-air climate expert at The Weather Channel who is now chief scientist at the website Climate Central. "They are ideally positioned to help people understand that global warming is not a far-off, distant thing ??that is happening all around them, right now, and it is affecting their lives." But by failing to inform viewers about the realities of climate change, TV weathercasters neglect their scientific responsibility on a nightly basis.
Weathercasters argue that it's tough to cram complex climate science into a three-minute broadcast.? But enlightened weathercasters, such as Jim Gandy at WLTX in Columbia, South Carolina ? hardly a hotbed of environmentalism ? manage to do it very well.? Gandy pioneered short segments called "Climate Matters," which are two or three minute segments that focus on the science behind issues like heat waves and explains to viewers why global warming is likely to lead to, say, more poison ivy in their backyards. "If you do it right, you can build an audience for this," Gandy says. "Climate science doesn't have to be alienating or scary to audiences."
The biggest problem is that most weathercasters are not scientists at all ??they just play one on TV. Only half of on-air weathercasters have advanced credentials ??often in "broadcast meteorology," a dumbed-down, made-for-TV version of the degree. The rest, like The Today Show's Al Roker, are just? TV stars with colorful personalities. And thanks to increasingly sophisticated forecasting technology, you don't need to know much about cloud dynamics to get the job done. "I've never known a meteorologist to get promoted for his or her forecasting skill," says a former network news producer who asked not to be identified.
Nor do weathercasters need to know much about how greenhouse gases are altering the atmosphere to get a coveted stamp of approval from the American Meteorological Society, the gold standard for weathercasters. "There is no requirement for the AMS certification to know anything about climate science," says Jeff Masters, the co-founder and chief meteorologist at Weather Underground, an Internet weather site that is known for its aggressive coverage of climate change. In fact, the AMS itself has been slow to embrace the latest science on global warming. In public statements, the society has long played up uncertainties and natural causes for the earth's warming. Only last August did the AMS finally admit that warming is "unequivocal" and that human beings are "the dominant cause."
Another problem is corporate politics. "Most local TV stations are owned by large corporations like Gannett or Scripps," says Terry Kelly, a former weathercaster and CEO of the forecasting company Weather Central. "Many of these owners have a conservative political bent, and tend to be climate skeptics." At some, like Fox News, the influence is explicit. Others, like the Weather Channel ??which is co-owned by Mitt Romney's old firm, Bain Capital ??avoided dealing with the issue by simply shutting down its entire climate unit in 2008. "The influence is rarely direct," says a weathercaster who works for a Scripps-owned station. "But it's just clear that if you want to say or do something about climate change, you need to be very careful, because you are likely to hear about it from upstairs."
Smaller, privately-held stations can be even worse. Stan Hubbard, whose Hubbard Broadcasting owns 12 stations nationwide, calls global warming "the biggest fraud in the history of America." His job, Hubbard says, is to make sure that "both sides of the argument have equal opportunity to be heard" ? meaning that even widely debunked climate deniers get plenty of air time on his stations. Not surprisingly, the chief meteorologist at Hubbard's flagship station in Minneapolis, Dave Dahl, echoes his boss's views, suggesting that global warming is a "political theory" pushed by grant-hungry scientists.
It's not always a matter of ideology, though. Many broadcasters are simply afraid that any talk of global warming will dampen ratings and scare off advertisers. "Talking about climate change is kryptonite for TV meteorologists," says Paul Douglas, a veteran TV weathercaster and reformed climate skeptic who is now the chief meteorologist at Alerts Broadcaster, which specializes in severe weather alerting services. "They tend to abhor anything that might turn viewers off and make it harder for them to renegotiate a big, fat, six-figure salary. By even bringing up the topic, you know you're going to alienate the percentage of the audience who still link global warming with Al Gore and conspiracy theories. Why run into the buzz saw of denial? It's easier to stick to safe topics, like dew point and hot weather survival tips."
In the long run, of course, avoiding the reality of global warming is a losing strategy ??both for TV weathercasters and their millions of loyal viewers. "The simple fact is, the climate is going to get warmer and warmer as we put more heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere," says Jeff Masters of Weather Underground. "As that happens, the weather is going to get more extreme. People who talk plainly and credibly about climate change are going to be more successful and draw bigger audiences. Weathercasting is not an industry that can bet its future on denial."
To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here
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Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Video: The Romneys shop at Costco
>>> remember during the campaign when the romneys said they were dedicated costco shoppers and some people doubted it because of their extraordinary wealth? well, mitt and ann romney trying to go unnoticed as normal civilians. they went to costco today and they shopped like costco veterans. they knew their way around and tooled around with their cart and unloaded everything in the car like every day costco shoppers, they always insisted they were. joe biden did the same thing a week ago, only in a suit and with the secret service who tags along everywhere he goes.
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50078956/
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Cash For Structured Settlement - Find ,Buy, Sell or Gain Funding ...
The main reason that people seek out to sell a structured settlement is so that they will be able to have a lump sum of money at once. Some people are trying to get out of debt and others want to have money for an investment. They may be looking to buy a home, a new vehicle, or even to buy a business so that they can make a return on the money they use for starting it up.
Whatever the reasons behind it may be, there is a right way to go about how to sell a structured settlement. You need to do your homework and find out what is offered out there. Don't be in a rush to just give it over to anyone or you can end up getting scammed or losing too much money.
When you sell the settlement you will get a lump sum that is less than what the overall structured settlement would be over the time frame that has been outlined. You want to compare rates to find out where you can get the best overall deal. Of course some stipulations of a structured settlement state that it can't be sold so make sure you don't have such confinement before you even start to look for a buyer.
Once you find a buyer that seems good, check out their reputation. Find out how long they have been in business, look at any claimed filed with the BBB, and read independent reviews online too. Those will be from people just like you who have worked first hand with that business. Find out how the process went for them when they sold a structured settlement so you can void common pitfalls.
Make sure you carefully read through all of the terms and conditions for the sell of your structured settlement too. Find out what the tax repercussions will be, how much money you will get, and when that money is going to be available. It may be a good idea to have a financial advisor review it for you before you sign on the dotted line.
The ultimate information resource for everything relating to structured settlements can be found at?PurchaseaStructuredSettlement.com?where both selling an annuity income stream and?buying structured settlements?is covered in detail. Check it out now and learn how to get the best prices for buying or selling or just get your questions answered.
Source: http://findstructuredsettlements.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-to-successfully-sell-structured.html
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Nigeria scraps stamp duty, VAT on share trades
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's finance ministry has scrapped stamp duties and VAT on stock market transaction fees, which between them come to 12 percent in some cases, seeking to boost capital markets, the minister said on Monday.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala also said the government had written off around 22.6 billion naira in margin loans owed by stock brokers, after a financial crisis in 2009 triggered a state-backed bailout.
"These constitute a major disincentive to invest in the Nigerian capital market," she said, announcing the removal of duties and tax.
A 2009 crisis nearly led to the collapse of nine banks and prompted the central bank to intervene with a $4 billion bailout package. The stock market plunged 60 percent in the one year. But this year, it has been one of the world's best performing.
A state-backed "bad bank", AMCON, relieved them of their non-performing loans and nationalised three of the banks. The rescue left it nominally owed hundreds of billions of naira by various firms, including 84 stock brokers.
"This forbearance (on debt) will be accompanied with sanctions to discourage excessive borrowing behaviour by capital market operators in the future," Okonjo-Iweala said.
These included full disclosure to the regulator of any deals worth more than 25 million naira, no debt financing of more than 100 percent of capital and forbidding traders under debt relief from taking positions on their own accounts for at least a year.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nigeria-scraps-stamp-duty-vat-share-trades-053453759--business.html
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Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Plastic bulb promises truer light
3 December 2012
Last updated at 00:05 ET
US researchers say they have developed a new type of lighting that could replace fluorescent bulbs.
The new source is made from layers of plastic and is said to be more efficient while producing a better quality of flicker-free light.
The scientists behind it say they believe the first units will be produced in 2013.
Details of the new development have been published in the journal Organic Electronics.
Continue reading the main story?Start Quote
End Quote Prof David Carroll Wake Forest University Brighter whiteWhat we've found is a way of creating light rather than heat?
The new light source is called field-induced polymer electroluminescent (Fipel) technology. It is made from three layers of white-emitting polymer that contain a small volume of nanomaterials that glow when electric current is passed through them.
The inventor of the device is Dr David Carroll, professor of physics at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. He says the new plastic lighting source can be made into any shape, and it produces a better quality of light than compact fluorescent bulbs which have become very popular in recent years.
"They have a bluish, harsh tint to them, " he told BBC News, "it is not really accommodating to the human eye; people complain of headaches and the reason is the spectral content of that light doesn't match the Sun - our device can match the solar spectrum perfectly.
"I'm saying we are brighter than one of these curlicue bulbs and I can give you any tint to that white light that you want."
Continue reading the main storyLighting up the world
- Lighting accounts for around 19% of global electricity use
- A worldwide switch to low-energy bulbs could save the output of around 600 power plants
There have been several attempts to develop new light-bulbs in recent years - Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) have come a long way since they were best known for being indicator lights in electronic devices. Over the past decade, they have become much more widely used as a light source as they are both bright and efficient. They are now often used on large buildings.
Light not heatAnother step forward has been organic LEDs (OLEDs) which also promise greater efficiency and better light than older, incandescent bulbs. Their big advantage over LEDs is that they can be transformed into many different shapes including the screens for high-definition televisions.
But Prof Carroll believes OLED lights haven't lived up to the hype.
"They don't last very long and they're not very bright," he said. "There's a limit to how much brightness you can get out of them. If you run too much current through them they melt."
The Fipel bulb, he says, overcomes all these problems.
"What we've found is a way of creating light rather than heat. Our devices contain no mercury, they contain no caustic chemicals and they don't break as they are not made of glass."
Prof Carroll says his new bulb is cheap to make and he has a "corporate partner" interested in manufacturing the device. He believes the first production runs will take place in 2013.
He also has great faith in the ability of the new bulbs to last. He says he has one in his lab that has been working for about a decade.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20553143#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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Movie Review: Killing Them Softly & Anna Karenina | Gay Richmond ...
Brad Pitt keeps his clothes on, and a mustachioed Aaron Johnson
Killing Them Softly
Director:?Andrew Dominik
Writers:?Andrew Dominik?(screenplay),?George V. Higgins(novel)
The last film by writer/director Andrew Dominik was ?The Assassination of Jesse James?,? which was wonderful in every way. This follow-up has very little to recommend it. The plot revolves around two low-rent criminals, who stage a heist, which necessitates having a hit man (Brad Pitt) brought in to clean things up. Unfortunately, most of what everyone does is talk?endlessly. There is a slowmo death that?s spectacular and a stark, brutal beating, but the rest of the time, it?s talk: sometimes indulgent and affected, other times just wordy (esp. James Gandolfini?s scenes). All that being said, Dominik?s willingness to experiment and fail miserably keeps him on the list of directors to watch.
GAY ANGLE: Pitt sports an unflattering look and keeps his clothes on.
?
?
Anna Karenina
Director:?Joe Wright
Writers:?Tom Stoppard?(screenplay),?Leo Tolstoy?(novel)
Joe Wright, director of this version of the Tolstoy classic, has chosen to emphasize the theatrical nature of the period by setting most of the locations in a theatre: on stage, backstage and in the house. This sometimes creates a flowing, dancelike style that harkens to Luhrmann and Fellini. It also gets in the way of creating a cohesive and moving experience. Some of the scenery and all of the costumes are stunning. The performers do nicely, but the fervor that should drive the drama is uneven.
GAY ANGLE: Aaron Johnson, who was so hot in SAVAGES is mustachioed and nerdy looking in this.
Source: http://www.gayrva.com/arts-culture/movie-review-killing-them-softly-anna-karenina/
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Virginia Tech engineer defines the globalization rubric for construction
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 3-Dec-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Lynn Nystrom
tansy@vt.edu
540-231-4371
Virginia Tech
Imagine going in for a performance evaluation and the only object in the room is a report saying your work is not up to par. No explanations are provided, and no one is available to you to ask how to improve your efforts.
This feeling of frustration is one many construction companies face in their efforts to go global.
Looking into the abyss of globalization for the design and construction industry and the potential difficulties of cross-cultural partnerships is John E. Taylor http://www.cee.vt.edu/people/taylor.html, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech. Taylor has created a unique lab at Virginia Tech that conducts experiments and develops simulations that examine, model and improve systemic change in engineering networks of industrial and societal importance. One of the key areas of research his Civil Engineering Network Dynamics Lab http://www.cend.cee.vt.edu/index.shtml investigates is the impact of globalization dynamics on design and construction project performance.
Taylor has identified two key advancements for companies to become and stay globally competitive: a Global Self-Assessment Tool or G-SAT and the hiring of a person to span the cultural boundaries.
The Construction Industry Institute, the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation are funding his work in this area.
Construction companies face the usual obstacles of corporations trying to tap into markets across the world, but they also face some of the most unique challenges. This isn't just collaborating with a new office or setting up conference calls to discuss sales pitches, factory output, or brand advertising. Global construction takes on the routine problems and juggles the batons of complex political interests, soils and terrain, and owner's desires, while on a metaphorical fire of cross-cultural partnerships.
Taylor worked with Gerald Schacht of Abbott Laboratories and Rob Smith of CH2M HILL, co-chairs on the G-SAT project. They also collaborated with John Messner of Penn State University. Their work is empowering engineering and construction organizations in the evaluation of their globalization progress, tactics for further globalization, and prioritization of those tactics, Taylor said. The G-SAT also creates a metric to measure and compare the globalization efforts of companies and tracks their progress over time. G-SAT is offered in Excel and after taking several hours to complete the first time, is relatively easy to update, allowing companies to easily track the progress of their globalization plans.
In a different study, Taylor and collaborators Sirkka Jarvenpaa and Elizabeth Keating from the University of Texas at Austin with funding from the National Science Foundation studied three companies with offices in the Romania, Kolkata, and Mumbai. Each firm is collaborating with a different engineering office in the United States. Through these long-term case studies they developed several recommendations for the construction industry.
Taylor suggested collaborating firms give more attention to recognizing misalignment between the two groups of project managers and engineers and identifying compromises to find common ground between cultures and practices. He also advised that there is a need to better understand and manage expectations of the other cultural group's behavior, outlook, communication, values, and historical leadership styles.
The team developed several solutions ranging from better use of conferencing and work flow management software to improving individual and team awareness of behaviors that are interpreted as disregarding and disrespectful. A cross-cultural necessity for positive feedback was found to be important and it was noted that the amount and manner communicated affected how positive it was. Taylor also indicated that this holds true for cross-generational interactions as well as cross-cultural.
Taylor and his team quantified the importance of having a person act as a "cultural boundary spanner." This team member has spent a few years in both countries and is knowledgeable concerning both cultures. As they hypothesized, the cultural boundary spanner became the center of team-based communication and a key to achieving efficient cross-cultural team performance, Taylor said.
In a series of experiments, Taylor and the team were able to show that multicultural teams with a cultural boundary spanner are able to initially outperform other multicultural teams by 33 percent and a cultural boundary spanner enabled a multicultural team to perform as well as a domestic group with the same culture and language after several project interactions.
Another crucial finding was that, as multicultural teams adapt, their performance rapidly improves and can even possibly outperform a homogenously cultural and lingual group, said Taylor.
###
Written by Neal Moriconi
[ | E-mail | 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.
Public release date: 3-Dec-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Lynn Nystrom
tansy@vt.edu
540-231-4371
Virginia Tech
Imagine going in for a performance evaluation and the only object in the room is a report saying your work is not up to par. No explanations are provided, and no one is available to you to ask how to improve your efforts.
This feeling of frustration is one many construction companies face in their efforts to go global.
Looking into the abyss of globalization for the design and construction industry and the potential difficulties of cross-cultural partnerships is John E. Taylor http://www.cee.vt.edu/people/taylor.html, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech. Taylor has created a unique lab at Virginia Tech that conducts experiments and develops simulations that examine, model and improve systemic change in engineering networks of industrial and societal importance. One of the key areas of research his Civil Engineering Network Dynamics Lab http://www.cend.cee.vt.edu/index.shtml investigates is the impact of globalization dynamics on design and construction project performance.
Taylor has identified two key advancements for companies to become and stay globally competitive: a Global Self-Assessment Tool or G-SAT and the hiring of a person to span the cultural boundaries.
The Construction Industry Institute, the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation are funding his work in this area.
Construction companies face the usual obstacles of corporations trying to tap into markets across the world, but they also face some of the most unique challenges. This isn't just collaborating with a new office or setting up conference calls to discuss sales pitches, factory output, or brand advertising. Global construction takes on the routine problems and juggles the batons of complex political interests, soils and terrain, and owner's desires, while on a metaphorical fire of cross-cultural partnerships.
Taylor worked with Gerald Schacht of Abbott Laboratories and Rob Smith of CH2M HILL, co-chairs on the G-SAT project. They also collaborated with John Messner of Penn State University. Their work is empowering engineering and construction organizations in the evaluation of their globalization progress, tactics for further globalization, and prioritization of those tactics, Taylor said. The G-SAT also creates a metric to measure and compare the globalization efforts of companies and tracks their progress over time. G-SAT is offered in Excel and after taking several hours to complete the first time, is relatively easy to update, allowing companies to easily track the progress of their globalization plans.
In a different study, Taylor and collaborators Sirkka Jarvenpaa and Elizabeth Keating from the University of Texas at Austin with funding from the National Science Foundation studied three companies with offices in the Romania, Kolkata, and Mumbai. Each firm is collaborating with a different engineering office in the United States. Through these long-term case studies they developed several recommendations for the construction industry.
Taylor suggested collaborating firms give more attention to recognizing misalignment between the two groups of project managers and engineers and identifying compromises to find common ground between cultures and practices. He also advised that there is a need to better understand and manage expectations of the other cultural group's behavior, outlook, communication, values, and historical leadership styles.
The team developed several solutions ranging from better use of conferencing and work flow management software to improving individual and team awareness of behaviors that are interpreted as disregarding and disrespectful. A cross-cultural necessity for positive feedback was found to be important and it was noted that the amount and manner communicated affected how positive it was. Taylor also indicated that this holds true for cross-generational interactions as well as cross-cultural.
Taylor and his team quantified the importance of having a person act as a "cultural boundary spanner." This team member has spent a few years in both countries and is knowledgeable concerning both cultures. As they hypothesized, the cultural boundary spanner became the center of team-based communication and a key to achieving efficient cross-cultural team performance, Taylor said.
In a series of experiments, Taylor and the team were able to show that multicultural teams with a cultural boundary spanner are able to initially outperform other multicultural teams by 33 percent and a cultural boundary spanner enabled a multicultural team to perform as well as a domestic group with the same culture and language after several project interactions.
Another crucial finding was that, as multicultural teams adapt, their performance rapidly improves and can even possibly outperform a homogenously cultural and lingual group, said Taylor.
###
Written by Neal Moriconi
[ | E-mail | 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/2012-12/vt-vte120312.php
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