Triangulating Talent Management ~ Leadership, Strategy and ...

Over the course of my career, both in Corporate America and with investor-driven startups, I came to understand the driving elements of breakthrough performance. ?Elements that transcend markets, industries and technologies. ?What I observed, and wrote extensively about in my book, was that the companies that consistently over-achieved and outperformed their competition optimized and aligned leadership, strategy and organizational culture. ?As simple as this sounds it takes a concerted, mindful effort to coordinate and execute these mission-critical elements.

Adding to this challenge is the shift in the underlying driver of value creation in our ever-accelerating evolution from the Information Age to the Age of Ideas. ?Human creativity, in the form of commercially viable intellectual property, is now the source of value creation in our global economy. ?Today?s business leaders, for the most part, came up through the ranks optimizing processes, eliminating variability (think Six Sigma and TQM), and reducing costs. ?Optimizing processes requires technical skills and evolves around?good management. ?Optimizing human capital requires adaptive skills (the so-called?soft skills) and is driven by?inspirational leadership. ?The underpinnings of business success have shifted beneath our feet.

Taleo Research? published a white paper that supports this perspective. ?The study, entitled, ?Talent Intelligence ? Key To U.S. Business Success?, identifies that in today?s knowledge economy upwards of 70% of an organization?s value is based upon the skills and experiences of its associates. ?When we overlay other research from Gallup, McKinsey, and CEB, breathtaking opportunities for breakthrough performance and company valuation growth are revealed.

Employee engagement levels continue to hover around 30%, meaning that upwards of 70% of employees are sleepwalking through at least a part of their day. ?Realistically, what level of discretionary effort can we expect from the 70%? ?CEB?s Executive Guidance ? 2013 report revealed CEOs currently believe they will need to increase workforce productivity by 20% in order to stay competitive in the coming years (the CAGR of workforce productivity has been a little over 3% per year since 1993). ?The takeaways? ?The 30% of employees that are intrinsically motivated contribute the vast majority of company value and elevating the growth rate of productivity from 3% to 20% will require innovative thinking and new approaches to engaging and motivating the other 70% of associates. ?As daunting as this appears, the upside is nothing short of spectacular.

The fact is, robust Talent Management is central to success going forward. ?So where do we begin? ?Taleo identified the most important talent analytics and found they could be broken down into four major categories.

1.) Business Strategy ? Defining goals and aligning employees to achieve these goals.

2.) Retention ? Identifying and retaining high potentials and high performers.

3.) Leadership Development ? Identifying and developing leadership bench strength.

4.) Workforce Metrics ? Insights into the skills gaps to execute the business strategy.

Supporting my observations from twenty years of executive experience, Taleo?s report reveals leadership, strategy and organizational culture (a key to retention) are driving elements of Talent Management, which is now the driver of breakthrough performance.

It all begins with leadership, but what kind of leadership? ?In June, 2011, the McKinsey Quarterly? published a major study that identified the fact that only 1% of ?C? level executives and?one step down?executives measured ?excellent? in five out of eight leadership competencies. ?Ten percent scored ?above average?, leaving the vast majority of executives scoring average or below average. ?Strikingly, many of the competencies McKinsey was measuring back in 2010/2011 were more closely aligned with an approach to leadership that no longer resonates in our multi-cultural, multi-generational workforce.

Fortunately, CEB?s recent research has identified the key competencies high performers are demonstrating in today?s?highly volatile, fast-paced environment. ?Skills that include self-awareness and social/organizational awareness, adaptive, innovative thinking, as well as learning agility. ?Critical skills that don?t show up in McKinsey?s research. ?Critical skills that must be present if we are to reverse the employee engagement trends and achieve a 20% improvement in productivity. ?There?s lots of room for improvement here as well, as CEB reports that, on average, only 5% of workers demonstrate a well balanced blend of these skills.

We?ve coined a phrase to describe this approach to leadership. ?We call it?Affective Leadership, which is the leadership of engagement (the approach integrates research from many scientific disciplines including affective neuroscience; how our brains react and function under various, emotional stimuli and interpersonal relationships). ?An approach to leadership that is grounded in empathy and authenticity. ?In fact, the Creative Leadership Institute conducted an eight year study in which they identified the only competency that differentiated mediocre management from inspirational leadership was empathy. ?This is a learnable skill that requires a shift in perspective; from me to we. ?The path for cultivating empathy begins with the development of emotional intelligence competencies; self-awareness and social awareness; which leads to self-regulation and the emergence of strong relationship management skills.

This is the starting gate for capturing that 20% improvement in productivity. ?There?s a hidden workforce lying just beneath the surface in many organizations and it is through the process of implementing Affective Leadership that spectacular improvements in productivity, innovation and creative thinking will emerge. ?With this foundation of leadership in place, strategy becomes more mindful and adaptive, and the organization?s culture becomes much more supportive of open collaboration, communication and innovation. ?It is this approach to leadership that will set the tone and trajectory for success in the 21st Century.

? 2013, Terry Murray

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Source: http://terrymurrayblog.com/2013/01/31/triangulating-talent-management-leadership-strategy-and-organizational-culture/

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Food and Drink Venting your microwave meal. - ChiefsPlanet

Venting your microwave meal.

Pretty much every microwave frozen meal I have says, "Slit the top film with a knife to vent." I look at it and then peel up the corner. I'm not going to get a knife out for that.

Is there a difference between peeling up the corner and slitting with a knife? Am I losing 20 or 30 International Flavor Units (IFUs - I just made that up) by not slitting it with a knife? It's so much easier to just peel the corner that I don't know why they don't just tell me to peel the corner. Do they perhaps have a partnership with the Big Knife companies?

Poll forthcoming.

Source: http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=269492

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Amazon Somehow Lost $39 Million Selling $61.09 Billion Worth of Stuff Last Year

The good news, if you're Amazon? You just sold $61.09 billion worth of stuff in 2012. That's roughly the GDP of Croatia! The less good for you but pretty funny for everyone else news? You somehow lost $39 million doing it. Business! More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/N3ukjbIm8ig/amazons-sales+to+earnings-gap-is-once-again-comically-huge

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The Grandma Chronicles: Board Games Zapped?Life, Monopoly ...

Do you love board games?? Haven?t been able to pass that love on to your grandchildren?? Here is something that may be able to change all that.? It the new line of traditional board games that are ?zapped.?? That?s right ? they?re zapped.? I like to write about toys that we, grandparents, remember but have been adapted so that they are still attractive.? These ?zapped? games integrate traditional board games with today?s technology.?

Hasbro has updated their popular board games by integrating them with an iPad app which gives them the zing they need to attract a new generation to board games.? I always loved board games and I played them with my family as a kid and with my kids.? I am introducing my grandson to several board games including the traditional Candy Land. ?No iPad versions for the preschool set, but these classic games for older kids with a ?zapped? iPad versioninclude Monopoly, Life and Battleship.? Here?s a picture of the Life board I took at Toy Fair last year.

What you do is this: 1.? Buy the Zapped version of the board game.? Download the free app at itunes.com onto your iPad.? Put your iPad in the center of the game board and start to play the game.? Where does the iPad come in?? Lots of ways ? You customize your game piece, the ?spinner? is a digital spinner ? not a cardboard square with a plastic arrow attached, and rather than a cute card there are America?s funniest home videos for each of life?s events.? And so grandparents, Life becomes ?interactive? in the way that word is used today ? you can interact with your iPad ? or your grandchild?s iPad.

If you are ready for the digital age but don?t want to be embarrassed because you might not ??get it,? ?this is a good place to start.? You don?t have to be a digital whiz to play ? it?s easy and fun.? Your grandkids will think it?s cool that you have a game for their iPad and you can introduce them to the old fashioned family ? intergenerational- fun of a board game.? It can be a real win-win.

I?ll be visitng this year?s Toy Fair in just two weeks and I can?t wait to see what?s new with this line from Hasbro.

Here, they are at Amazon:

Source: http://www.grandmachronicles.com/2013/01/board-games-zappedlife-monopoly-and-more.html

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NRA chief: More laws aren't a solution

National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre argued against increasing regulations on gun ownership during the Senate committee hearing on gun violence Wednesday.

"Proposing more gun control laws, while failing to enforce the thousands we already have, is not a serious solution to reducing crime," LaPierre said in his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals. Nor do we believe the government should dictate what we can lawfully own and use to protect our families."

LaPierre, whose organization has been on defense in the aftermath of a string of deadly mass shootings across the country in recent months, repeated his call for placing more armed guards in public schools. In December, 20 children and six adults were killed by a single shooter at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. LaPierre argued that similar tragedies could be avoided with more officers on campuses.

"It?s time to throw an immediate blanket of security around our children. About a third of our schools have armed security already because it works," he said. "And that number is growing every day. Right now, state officials, local authorities and school districts in all 50 states are considering their own plans to protect children in their schools."

In response to calls for instituting deeper background checks, LaPierre said gun sellers should be allowed to search for histories of mental illness in gun purchasers, but argued against background checks at gun shows.

"When it comes to the issue of background checks, let?s be honest?background checks will never be 'universal' because criminals will never submit to them," he said.

The hearing started out with a statement from former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who sustained a gunshot to the head in a January 2011 Tucson town hall shooting. Speaking slowly but forcefully, Giffords urged committee members to be "bold" and "courageous" in dealing with gun violence.

"This is an important conversation for our children. For our communities. For Democrats and Republicans. Speaking is difficult, but I need to say something important," Giffords said. "Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying. Too many children. We must do something. It will be hard, but the time is now. You must act. Be bold, be courageous. Americans are counting on you. Thank you."

After her brief appearance, Giffords was escorted out of the committee room.

Giffords' husband, NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, then testified, calling for action to increase background checks on gun purchasers and to remove limitations on public health organizations that collect gun violence data. He also urged the enactment of a federal gun trafficking statute that increases penalties on illegal guns purchases.

"Our rights are paramount. But our responsibilities are serious," Kelly said. "And as a nation we are not taking responsibility for the gun rights our Founding Fathers conferred upon us. Gabby and I are pro-gun ownership. We are anti-gun violence."

Giffords and Kelly founded a nonprofit, Americans for Responsible Solutions, to promote gun reform following the shooting that severely injured Giffords and 12 others, and killed six.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/gabrielle-giffords-expected-speak-senate-gun-violence-hearing-135409533--politics.html

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Stores Can Now Charge You Extra Just for Using a Credit Card

So here's something you should probably know. Starting this past Sunday, January 27th, retailers can now charge up to four percent extra on purchases made using a credit card. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/RE7LgGFM_e8/stores-can-now-charge-you-extra-for-using-a-credit-card

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'Storage Wars' Lawsuit: A&E Strikes Back at Claims Show Is Fake

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - A&E says in a legal filing that former "Storage Wars" star David Hester concocted a "tabloid-worthy drama" when he claimed the series was faked. In response to a lawsuit he filed last month in Los Angeles Superior Court, A&E said the complaint was groundless and a "transparent attempt to distract from the issues."

Hester alleged unfair business practices, among other claims. He said the show sometimes planted objects in the storage units that contestants bid on in hopes of finding discarded treasures.

A&E's response focused on its defense that the unfair business practices portion of Hester's complaint cannot go forward, partly because he cannot prove a probability of winning the suit. The network says he also cannot prove he suffered sustained injury.

Hester claimed in his suit that he was fired after he complained that elements of the show were staged. His lawsuit claims that, in one instance, A&E planted a stack of newspapers reporting singer Elvis Presley's death. In another instance, Hester said, a BMW minicar was found under a pile of trash.

In Thursday's motion to strike, however, A&E says that Hester was let go after the network complained that he improperly used its trademarks, and after Hester attempted to renegotiate his contract.

Now, A&E says, Hester is trying to obscure the facts by painting himself as a crusader for truth.

"In a transparent attempt to distract from the issues - and maximize any potential recovery - Plaintiff's complaint tries to convert a garden-variety breach of contract claim into a tabloid-worthy drama, in which Hester portrays himself as a crusading whistleblower," the response reads.

A&E also claims Hester is no victim, but in fact took part in "salting" storage units with valuable items.

The network is also seeking compensation from Hester for its attorneys' fees and court costs.

In his suit, Hester claims to have suffered more than $750,000 in damages from what he claims was his wrongful firing.

Hester's attorney has not yet responded to TheWrap's request for comment.

(Pamela Chelin contributed to this report)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/storage-wars-lawsuit-e-strikes-back-claims-show-180247453.html

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Green Blog: On Our Radar: Rising Floodwaters in Australia

Helicopter rescue crews try to reach hundreds of people trapped by rising floodwaters in the Australian state of Queensland after a cyclone and heavy rains. [BBC]

Enbridge takes issue with an Environmental Protection Agency proposal that it dredge 80 to 100 acres of the Kalamazoo River bed in Michigan to remove contamination from a 2010 oil spill from one of the company?s pipelines. [InsideClimate News]

Oil spills into the Mississippi River after two oil barges hit a bridge near Vicksburg, Miss. The Coast Guard says the source of the spill has been contained. [The Los Angeles Times]

Facing criticism over not rescuing a dolphin that swam up New York City?s toxic Gowanus Canal, the leader of a marine mammal rescue group says the animal?s best chance of survival lay in the group?s not intervening. The dolphin died Friday evening, about four hours after the group, the Riverhead Foundation, arrived at the scene. [The New York Times]

To the dismay of park officials, the swelling numbers of elk in the Grand Canyon seem to have lost their fear of humans. [Associated Press]

Source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/on-our-radar-rising-floodwaters-in-australia/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Congo deal delayed at African Union meeting

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) ? United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon says an agreement to end violence in Congo was delayed over "procedural issues."

Speaking at the African Union summit in Ethiopia, Ban told a news conference Monday that there are no fundamental differences holding back the agreement. A signing ceremony scheduled for Monday was canceled.

The peace deal is an effort at a large-scale political framework to end violence in Congo. Separate talks are taking place in Uganda between the rebel group known as M23 and Congolese officials. Jean Baptiste Rudaseswa, a lawyer for M23, said he was happy Ban's peace plan has so far failed because he said it risked destabilizing Congo further.

Ban said the U.N. is looking at establishing a "peace enforcement capacity" as part of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/congo-deal-delayed-african-union-meeting-133116555.html

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Poor Sleep Prevents Brain From Storing Memories

I like to follow these types of stories. I lost all of my memory one morning when I was 19. The cause isn't clear. I was in an underdeveloped country at the time, so the medical facilities didn't exist to determine what had happened. (It might have been a delayed effect of a car accident I was in two years earlier.) It's also probably important to note that my ability to form new memories was also severely impeded.

I wonder a little bit about what "moving" a memory means. At least in my amateur study, memories aren't complete entities (like a file, database, etc). They are mixes of memories, the awareness of what has occurred, and associations, our integration of what we already know with what we are remembering. That's part of the reason people can have such differing memories of a shared experience. Some of that is about how memories are retrieved. In my study and experience, they are retrieved by these associations we make. That's why memory tricks involve making varied associations -- to song, to a mental or physical image, etc. For people who haven't learned those tricks, an association can be as simple as "I remember we met in a bar..." then the rest of the picture is pieced together.

I wonder sometimes if my having to learn different ways of "remembering" things will allow me to maintain a higher level of memory functioning into my elder years. I have to be very aware and purposeful about what I remember. I was in college when I lost my memory, so I had to learn very quickly how to perform in school without being able to learn in the conventional sense (I could not remember the beginning of a semester by the time it ended). So I focused much more on the integration of memories into my existing awareness (aka forming associations between new experiences and prior knowledge.) I still have a very poor memory retrieval in the classic sense, but I can still learn lessons well. It has just required a much higher level of sentience with regards to how memories are stored and what I hope to gain from a memory in the long term.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/LYNseFnfWgU/story01.htm

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DIY Cr?me Fra?che Adds a Creamy Kick to Sauces, Desserts, and Scrambled Eggs

Cr?me fra?che, a cultured heavy cream, is a staple in French cuisine, and is often used in many sauces since unlike many dairy products it does curdle when heated. It is less sour and thicker than U.S.-style sour cream.

European labelling regulations don't allow any ingredients other than cream and bacterial cultures to be used in authentic cr?me fra?che, but if you're fresh out of bacterial cultures you can add two tablespoons of organic yogurt or buttermilk to one cup of heavy cream and leave it out for 12-24 hours until it reaches the desired consistency. This recipe comes from culinary weblog Blue Kale Road and was used as a topping for a Chocolate Espresso Souffle but cr?me fra?che is also used in chef Gordan Ramsay's famous scrambled egg recipe that we've previously covered.

Don't forget to refrigerate your cr?me fra?che after it is ready?it'll keep up to a month that way.

Chocolate Espresso Souffles with Homemade Creme Fraiche | Blue Kale Road via Punk Domestics

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/s6JuN935-Q0/diy-creme-fraiche-adds-a-creamy-kick-to-sauces-desserts-and-scrambled-eggs

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ShelterBox Expands Reach in Syrian Refugee Crisis, Response Teams En Route to Jordan

International disaster relief organization, ShelterBox, is en route to Jordan after the government released an urgent appeal for aid as an ?unprecedented? amount of Syrian refugees continue to enter the country.

Sarasota, FL (PRWEB) January 25, 2013

International disaster relief organization, ShelterBox, is en route to Jordan after the government released an urgent appeal for aid as an ?unprecedented? amount of Syrian refugees continue to enter the country.

ShelterBox responds following disasters such as earthquake, flood, tsunami, hurricane, cyclone or conflict by delivering boxes of aid. Each box contains a disaster relief tent, stove, water filtration system, blankets and other items necessary to help families live independently and with dignity in the months following disaster.

Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh released a statement Thursday, requesting international aid after 20,000 Syrians crossed into the country in a single week. Judeh described the influx as ?unprecedented, larger than any other time in the last two years.?

In response to the country?s appeal, members of the highly trained ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) are en route to Jordan to assess the need for emergency shelter and other aid.

Although ShelterBox had prepositioned its aid with the Jordanian Red Crescent in December 2012, the need for additional emergency shelter and supplies is imminent.

ShelterBox first responded to the Syrian refugee crisis in October 2012, by delivering 500 boxes of winterized aid to the Domiz refugee camp in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. By December 2012, ShelterBox aid was also distributed in Syria, to a total of 710 families living families living in the Al-Salameh camp near the Turkey border.

An additional SRT is currently in Lebanon, awaiting the arrival of ShelterBoxes and assessing the need for more, in response to the Lebanese government?s request for aid earlier this month.

ShelterBox is also responding to the typhoon in the Philippines, bushfires in Australia and flooding in Nigeria.

ABOUT SHELTERBOX USA

Since 2000, ShelterBox has provided shelter, warmth and dignity following more than 200 disasters in over 85 countries. ShelterBox instantly responds to earthquake, volcano, flood, hurricane, cyclone, tsunami or conflict by delivering boxes of aid. Each iconic green ShelterBox contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, stove, blankets and water filtration system, among other tools for survival. ShelterBox?s American affiliate, ShelterBox USA is headquartered in Sarasota, Florida. Individual tax-deductible donations to ShelterBox USA can be made at http://www.shelterboxusa.org, 941-907-6036 or via text message by sending SHELTER to 20222 for a one-time $10 donation.

Erin Holdgate
ShelterBox USA
(941) 907-6036 100
Email Information

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/shelterbox-expands-reach-syrian-refugee-crisis-response-teams-011645295.html

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Learn About Some Neat Website Hosting Tricks Here - Internet ...

TIPS! You should avoid registering your domain name through your host, in case they decide to keep it in the event you ever cancel your plan. This places the control of your domain in your hands, rather than your host?s.

Are you interested in sending emails on an automated basis to your clients? If you select a good website hosting service, this is possible. The tips that follow will help you choose a hosting plan that lets you do this and much more quickly and easily.

TIPS! When you are purchasing a web host?s services, make sure the method of payment is a reliable and safe one. Paypal and direct payment by major credit card give you layers of consumer protection that paying by check or money order may not provide.

Just because a web host company is free, does not mean you should rule it out entirely. Some free hosts will add their own banners to your site and make it look unprofessional; but search out those who do not. Free hosting could save a good chunk of money in hosting costs each year.

TIPS! Figure out the schedule your web host uses to do maintenance. Ideally, you want maintenance to occur once in a month or less.

When choosing a web host, make sure you find one that will quickly respond to your inquiries. Your host should always inform you of expected updates, maintenance and downtime. Make sure you have a way to stay in contact.

TIPS! Browse through web hosting directories. They list nearly all that is out there, enabling you to figure out which ones fit you best for price and features.

When deciding on a web host, choose a provider that tracks your traffic statistics for you. A good way to double-check the traffic numbers provided by your hosting service is to install a visitor counter on your landing page. Use this information to tweak the way that you reach out to the intended market for your business.

TIPS! Do you only have dial-up Internet service? Then don?t host your site. You?ll need a fast and reliable connection for hosting.

Some web hosting sites are free and can help you save money and cut costs, but these usually come with a catch. This usually means that they will put advertisements on your site, and you will have a limited amount of space to store your website. Free web hosts generally don?t work out if you want to host a business site. The ads and limited storage space can make the site appear unprofessional.

TIPS! Most of the applications and add-ons your host will offer will be useless to you, so don?t include them in your comparisons unless you have a concrete use for them already. You may see offers for unlimited storage, which can seem attractive, until you realize you have little data storage need.

Pay attention to the reputation of the companies you consider. Make sure you read all the articles you can about the web host to learn what kind of reputation they have and what services they will provide reliably. Others make promises they cannot deliver on, and should be avoided.

TIPS! If you are certain you will be using the same host for several years, try finding one that may give you a discount for years of continuous business. This could end up saving you a lot of money.

If you wish to experiment with new software, look for a plan with a VPS or virtual private server. VPS plans will let you have control over everything that has to do with your web site, this includes all of your software installations and deletions, it is like you have your own server. Before you sign up for a VPS plan, make sure you are familiar with all the aspects of server administration.

TIPS! Make a hard copy backup of your website data, whether your web host requires it or not. It is very important that you do this, not just for compliance, but mostly because you want to have your data backed up and safe.

Ultimately, your web host should be capable of supporting multiple programming languages, including current ones, and any that could be used in the future. It will be a hard task to start up your website, if you are trying to run it using a language that your hosting company doesn?t support. You should also keep in mind potential future languages you wish to use, otherwise you won?t be able to add them to your site. Switching web hosts can take a lot of work.

TIPS! Be wary of web hosts with a price that seems too good to be true. If you are tempted to choose a cheap host, find out why the price is so low.

Are you looking at free web hosts? One thing that many free web hosts do not provide is content backup. This means you?ll need to make your own arrangement for backing up your site. If you choose not to do this, a problem with the site could result in substantial data loss.

TIPS! You need to protect what you invest into your site by buying your domain name outright instead of registering it through your host. Even though this may be convenient for you, it can put your ownership of a domain name in jeopardy if something goes wrong for the host.

The first things you need to determine are disk space and bandwidth needs for your website. Both these factors will depend solely on the site you?ve designed. There are plenty of web hosting providers that can offer you unlimited bandwidth and file storage space. Failing to account for adequate capacity in these important functions will cause your website to load slowly and cost you customers.

TIPS! Make sure any web host you sign up with has multiple Internet links. With only a single connection, you run the risk that whenever it goes down, so does your website.

As you now have seen, these companies will offer different things, if you pick the right one you will get the most out of it. Use the tips above to find the right hosting company and get ready to take your online business to the next level.

Make sure to visit often learn more about web hosting Delray Beach, FL area.

Here is some more explanations of aspects of internet marketing, seo aka search engine optimization, website design, etc that may help you! Thanks for visiting Targeted Internet Marketing! If it gets too technical just come on back.

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Source: http://aaatargetedinternetmarketing.com/web-hosting/learn-about-some-neat-website-hosting-tricks-here/

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Stephen King writes post-Newtown essay on guns

BANGOR, Maine (AP) ? Horror writer Stephen King is seeking to provoke a discussion on gun control and gun rights following the school shooting massacre in Newtown, Conn.

The Maine native is a gun owner. He calls for three "reasonable measures" to curb gun violence in an essay titled "Guns," released Friday as a Kindle single through Amazon.

King says he wants background checks on all gun sales and bans on high-capacity magazines and military-style weapons like the rifle used in the Newtown shooting, which killed 20 children and six school officials.

King describes a pattern of mass shootings in which anger and frustration give way to political rhetoric before discussions of gun control "disappear into the legislative swamp." He says on his website: "If this helps provoke constructive debate, I've done my job."

___

Online: http://www.stephenking.com/index.html

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-01-25-School%20Shooting-Stephen%20King/id-2e614ccd7ce24fbf8402f52e8506a1b0

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Kentucky School News and Commentary: Congressional Inaction ...

This from Education Week:

Crush of Education Laws Awaits Renewal in Congress

The new, still-divided Congress that took office this month faces a lengthy list of education policy legislation that is either overdue for renewal or will be soon, in a political landscape that remains consumed with fiscal issues.

But it's tough to say whether there will be much action on all that outdated legislation?including the No Child Left Behind Act, which has awaited reauthorization since 2007. The cast of characters in Washington is virtually unchanged since before the 2012 elections?which left President Barack Obama in the White House, Democrats in control of the Senate, and Republicans in control of the House of Representatives.

So far, that's led to a serious legislative logjam on everything from a limited bill renewing education research programs to the budget of the entire U.S. government.

And one education bill?the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant program, which governs some key early-child-care grants?hasn't gotten a makeover in more than a decade and half. It was last reauthorized in 1996, when President Bill Clinton was running for his second term.

"This is unprecedented," said Jack Jennings, who served as an aide for Democrats on the House Education committee from 1967 to 1994. Mr. Jennings said that when he worked on Capitol Hill nearly two decades ago, lawmakers kept to a schedule, tackling big reauthorizations, such as for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act or the Higher Education Act, roughly every two years. That "discipline" is gone, he said.

He blames both parties in Congress for the lack of movement. Republicans, he said, have been adamant about a limited federal role in education, making compromise difficult. And Democrats could have passed a renewal of the ESEA law?and other key education legislation?in 2009 and 2010 when they controlled both houses of Congress and the White House, he added.

"Congress should be ashamed of itself," said Mr. Jennings, who founded the Center on Education Policy, a research and advocacy organization, after leaving the Hill and is now retired. "The same people who neglect their legislative duties bewail the sad state of American education."

The appropriations committees?which control funding?typically continue to finance education programs, even after their authorizations have long expired, noted Mr. Jennings. The problem, he said, is that programs can become outdated, then viewed as ineffective, and finally, slashed, as Congress looks to trim spending. Without authorizing legislation, he said, "there is the potential for major disruption."

Vic Klatt, who worked for years as a top aide to Republicans on the House education committee, said he couldn't remember a time when the congressional education to-do list had been this lengthy. Lawmakers' inaction means that the Obama administration "has been able to get away with doing whatever they want, whenever they want," said Mr. Klatt, who is now a principal at Penn Hill Group, a government-relations firm in Washington.

Searching for Stability

An obvious case in point: Because of congressional inaction on the ESEA, the administration has issued waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act, the law's current iteration, allowing states to get out from under key mandates in exchange for embracing the administration's education redesign priorities.

But the waivers don't provide enough predictability for states, most of which are in the midst of moving toward new academic standards, assessments, and teacher-evaluation systems, said Peter Zamora, the director of federal relations for the Council of Chief State School Officers. He also noted that another federal debt-ceiling fight is in the offing, and automatic spending cuts of 8 percent for key federal programs loom.

"It becomes particularly challenging for practitioners to plan, if you don't know what NCLB will look like, or what your federal funding will look like," he said. "We're urging Congress to reassert itself and provide some stability."

It's unclear just how much the administration will push for an ESEA renewal in the coming Congress. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told the CCSSO in a November speech in Savannah, Ga., that the administration needs to see interest from Congress before it leads on ESEA renewal.

The House and Senate education committees approved bills in the previous Congress to update the law. While both measures would have given considerably more flexibility to states in creating accountability systems, the two chambers clashed on critical issues such as the role of the federal government in school improvement, teacher effectiveness, and the scope of the Education Department.

Still, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., the chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, have each listed ESEA renewal as a top priority for the new year.

And both lawmakers say they're optimistic that the new Congress will be a productive one for education.

"Traditionally, this has been an area where we can find bipartisan agreement, and I hope that will continue in the new Congress," said Sen. Harkin in an email.

An aide to Sen. Harkin said lawmakers' current workload is typical of recent Congresses, in which reauthorizations of major laws often go through several iterations before they are finally passed. The aide cited the ESEA bill, approved by the panel in fall 2011, as an important step forward in renewing the law, but wasn't ready to say which portions of that legislation would serve as the basis for a new measure this year.

The Senate committee will begin the renewal process by taking a closer look at waiver Implementation, likely through a hearing, a Harkin aide said.

And Mr. Kline appears ready to roll up his sleeves."Clearly, we have our work cut out for us in the 113th Congress," he said in an email. "I hope my committee colleagues and I can work together in a bipartisan fashion ... on these important issues."

Get in Line

Meanwhile renewals of more narrowly tailored laws?such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act?are likely to languish behind the ESEA, since the main K-12 law sets the stage for other policy negotiations.

"ESEA holds everything up," said Lindsay Jones, the senior director of policy and advocacy services at the Council for Exceptional Children, a Washington-based organization that focuses on students in special and gifted education.

A delay in updating the IDEA, which was last renewed in 2004, leaves unsettled policy questions that are likely to be dealt with in the overhauls of both laws, such as how districts should approach assessments for students in special education.

And an unsettled ESEA reauthorization is also bogging down the renewal of the Education Sciences Reform Act, or ESRA, which governs the Institute of Education Sciences and is seen as a companion bill to the ESEA.

States and districts are "really moving the ball forward in areas where there's not a lot of research," such as school turnarounds and assessments, said Mr. Zamora. "We would like to see ESRA better aligned to state practice."

If the logjam breaks, it could offer an opportunity to harmonize different, but related, pieces of legislation, said Lisa Guernsey, the director of the Early Education Initiative at the New America Foundation, a think tank in Washington.

For instance, she suggested that Congress may want to consider renewing related legislation in batches, dealing all at once with the three measures that touch on early-childhood education?Head Start, Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, and ESEA.

'Unprecedented' Logjam

Longtime Capitol Hill aides from both sides of the political aisle can't remember a time when Congress was this jammed up.

The 113th Congress, which took office this month, has a long to-do list when it comes to education legislation. Among pending renewals:

? Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act: Governs vocational education programs and is the largest federal program for high schools. Last renewed in 2006.

? Child Care and Development Block Grant Act: Governs major child-care grants. Last renewed in 1996.

? Education Sciences Reform Act: Governs the Institute of Education Sciences. Last renewed in 2002.

? Elementary and Secondary Education Act: Governs Title I and other key K-12 education programs. Most recent iteration is the No Child Left Behind Act. Last renewed in 2002.

? Head Start Act: Governs a nearly $8 billion program that offers early-childhood education services to low-income families. Last renewed in 2007.

? Higher Education Act: Governs teacher education programs, as well as student financial aid and college-access programs, including GEAR-UP and TRIO. Last renewed in 2008.

? Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Governs special education programs. Last renewed in 2004.

? Workforce Investment Act: Governs job training programs. Last renewed in 1998.

Source: http://theprincipal.blogspot.com/2013/01/congressional-inaction-still-holding-up.html

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The Decades That Invented the Future, Part 10: 1991-2000

A look at the tech of the past that shaped the lives we lead now.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/3WWNHgcxTLo/

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Plan will tackle deficiencies noted in special ed report ...

SAU 21 superintendent says ideas will be unveiled in March

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NORTH HAMPTON ? SAU 21 Superintendent Robert Sullivan is in the process of putting together a plan for addressing the recommendations made by a consultant who studied the special education programs available at the North Hampton School.

Sullivan indicated the first of the proposed action plans will be available for School Board review in March.

"We'll put together a plan of action that will be the framework of what we will be bringing you," the superintendent told members of the School Board on Jan. 17. "That way you can say 'yes' to us going forward (with ways of addressing recommended changes to the school's special education program) and let us know if something you would want to see addressed is missing (from the plan)."

Board member Tamara Le said that parents of students with special needs at the school have indicated to her that they are eager to be part of the plan's development.

"Several parents have reached out to me and asked to be part of the plans (and) actions, particularly the communication group," Le said.

Creating better communications at the school was one of the issues highlighted as significant in the report prepared for the board by Dr. P. Alan Pardy and Elaine McNulty-Knight, and released to the public in December. There were problems noted with a lack of adequate communication from the school to parents of children receiving special education services, and between the administration, classroom teachers and those supplying those services.

"Several mentioned that they felt their children were receiving services as expected and many noted that the best 'strength' of the school is the quality of the staff," the report said of the 25 percent of parents of students with IEPs (Individual Education Plans) interviewed for the study. "For a number of parents, however, there was dissatisfaction expressed with regard to communication from the school to them regarding their child's program and progress."

The board decided to hire Pardy to conduct the review in July of last year. It was touted as a way to ensure that the school was providing special education services that coincided with what parents wanted to see for their children.

"We're seeing throughout the district, the SAU, the state and the country that there does seem to be an increase in concerns among parents about whether special education programs are meeting student needs," School Board Chairman David Sarazen said at that time. "We wanted to be proactive on our side (and) check to see what we're doing correctly and what can be done better."

There is a financial incentive for meeting parental expectations, as well, in the form of reduced legal action and settlement costs. From 2008 through the end of the 2012 school year, the district spent almost $157,000 on legal fees dealing with three complaints from parents contending that the school was not doing enough for their special needs children.

So far, for the 2012-13 school year, approximately $98,000 has been paid in legal fees, or almost five times what was budgeted for this cost. SAU Business Manager Bill Hickey told the board last week that the majority of those funds were spent to pay settlements to resolve legal actions taken by parents of special education students against the school.

While the Pardy study concluded that the district "did not violate any substantive provisions of the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) or the New Hampshire special education rules," it indicated that better communication may have forestalled some of the legal actions taken against the school.

"North Hampton's recent experience with complaints, due process hearings, mediations and one federal civil court appearance indicate the dissatisfaction of a small number of parents, and it may indicate that communications and negotiation patterns need to be improved," the report concluded. "At the very least, the school might want to look at these cases with the intention of learning what not to do in the future."

In total, the report presented 17 recommendations to the board. The issues involved ranged from communications, to data collection procedures, to the need to create "clear standards" for when and how to implement interventions and supports for struggling students, to questions concerning whether the school's "full inclusion" model is appropriate for North Hampton. That model is reflected in a policy that states that "classroom teachers accept that it is the expectation, not the exception that some students will require accommodations and modifications to access the general curriculum (and that) all students have membership in their community."

However, this approach, which often requires special education providers to work to supply specialized services within a student's regular classroom environment, may have to be re-evaluated, the report indicated.

"A full and open discussion ...; of the 'full inclusion model' is suggested," the consultants recommended. "There were several comments from general education staff stating uncertainty about how to provide services to students with disabilities and the difficulty of scheduling specific services around classroom instruction."

The North Hampton School has failed to make adequate yearly progress goals under the federal No Child Left Behind Act for a small group of special education students for the past two years. That, however, was not the impetus for the independent review of the special education program that began in August, Sarazen and Principal Peter Sweet have said.

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Source: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20130125-NEWS-301250364

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Carbonite Currents (beta)

Everyone and his brother seems to be getting into the folder and file syncing business of late. Dropbox, SugarSync, and Microsoft have been in the game for nearly a decade. The recent trend started with Microsoft's folding its Mesh syncing product into SkyDrive, followed by Google Drive, both arriving last April. More recently, we've seen online backup services such as our Editors' Choice SOS Online Backup, with its launch of the security-focused FileLocker syncing service. And online backup providers IDrive and Mozy have offered syncing services for over a year. Now it's Carbonite's turn. And the noted online backup firm takes a decidedly unique approach to syncing that may be just what the doctor ordered?at least for people with very simple file access and versioning needs.

Signup and Setup
Currents' setup is just about the easiest of any syncing service's, and it doesn't require you to create a separate syncing folder. Clients are available for Windows, Mac, iOS & Android. You can sign up for a free beta test account at labs.carbonite.com. The tiny 6MB Windows installer installs Microsoft .NET 4.0 if that's not already on your system. (The Mac installer is small, too, at 8.4MB) After you OK a second User Access Control dialog, the Currents signup window appears. After initial installation, the Mac and PC interfaces are identical. A simple email address, confirmed password, and agreement to the terms of service are all that's required to create an account.

As with FileLocker, the only Currents password strength requirement is that it be six characters long?you can't even open an Outlook.com account with that kind of password weakness, so this raised a security red flag for me. But the knowledge base for Currents states that the service "encrypts your files on your computer before sending a copy of them to our secure online servers. Your data is then sent to us using a secure SSL connection?" This is actually pretty impressive, since competitor FileLocker only pre-encrypts files you've included in folders you've designated as "UltraSafe."

If you already have a Carbonite account with the email you use, you can't create a new Currents account with that address, but you can log into Currents with the existing account. Next, you'll get a confirmation email to verify your account so you can get going with Currents. Once this is done, you'll see an explanatory graphic, telling you pretty much to keep calm and carry on working on your documents as you normally do.

The graphic also says that the last 30 days of your work will be continuously synced, that you can access them from anywhere you have Currents installed, and that you'll be able to share everything with friends and coworkers. That 30 days is a big differentiator from FileLocker, which saves all your changes indefinitely. But as I saw later, a Currents Premium version will extend this, when the service is fully launched. No pricing details yet.

What's Being Synced?
But the big mystery of where your files can be located isn't covered in this introductory panel. Tapping Next answers that?anything you save to Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Music, or Movies will by synced by default. As with FolderShare and SugarSync (but unlike SkyDrive or Google Drive, which keep a single uber-syncing folder to which you can pile on subfolders), you can designate any folder on your PC for syncing. To my surprise, I was even able to specify external and network drives. Next, the setup wizard starts "gathering your stuff from the past 30 days."

The program's window is divided into two panels, which at first were empty for me. On the left a manageable three buttons looked like a document, a group, and a settings gear. In fact, the only option when you click Settings is to go back to the synced folders selection page. At the bottom of the right panel was an orange "Open" button. Finally, the panels populated with some file entries. When hovered over, the line for each presented three green buttons?Share, Versions, and Comment. In keeping with the service's simplicity, its window isn't resizable.

As you use Currents, your most recently edited file moves to the top of the list, which seems pretty helpful. When I signed into the same account on a Mac on which I'd set up Currents, the same list appeared, except when I clicked on a file entry, the right panel displayed a preview of the file?even documents?rather than just a huge icon my Windows installation. One thing I noticed was that when I signed into Currents on the Mac (which I hadn't used in a long time), that computer's Documents and Desktop files weren't synced, though the settings seemed to indicate that they would be. A little more experience with the service cleared all this up, as you'll see presently.

Even on the first PC, only four documents were synced, though the settings indicated that everything in my Desktop and Documents would be synced, and there were far more files in those places. What's going on here? Then it struck me: they really mean that part about the 30 days. The service is only concerned with files you've accessed in the last 30 days. Other syncing services simply cover all documents in the folders you designate. But Currents doesn't care about files you haven't touched in the last 30 days. Those files will remain on their original PC or Mac locations, but won't be available remotely. This could be a problem if you simply have a set of files or folders you want remote access to or to share to collaborators, but haven't edited all the files in the past month.

If you're just concerned with files you're currently working on, Currents is an appealing choice. It doesn't require you to save your work document to a specific syncing folder as DropBox and SkyDrive do. But the only way to include a file among the synced is to open and edit it. I wish I could drag and drop files or folders onto Currents' window to add them to what's synced. A right-click choice in Windows Explorer or Finder would work too. But neither of these choices was in the cards.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/TnYaYdKzsgg/0,2817,2414688,00.asp

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