Discipline Dilemmas

Discipline Dilemmas

If you're a parent, you've likely been there done that and hope?not to go there again.

A constant challenge facing parents is figuring out the best way to discipline their children. A third of parents don’t think their methods of discipline are working very well, according to a study of 2,134 parents with children ages 2 to 11 in Canada, Puerto Rico and 32 states in the U.S.“I think if most parents are honest, the numbers would be even higher than that,” says the study’s author, Dr. Shari Barkin.

Barkin says she conducted the study to help parents and others who raise children do so more effectively. Discipline is an area where parents need and want a lot of help but get little.

Clinical psychologist Eric Herman says the greatest difficulty results because parents wait too late before trying to establish discipline. As soon as there is a problem, address it, he says...

Discussion Questions:

19. Why is “figuring out how to discipline their children” such a challenge for so many parents?In your opinion, would the SMILE strategy be effective? Why or why not?

20. How might discipline in the home relate to schoolroom or workplace discipline?Why might these techniques be effective? What are the disadvantages, if any, of using these techniques?


Note:

Dilemmas : a difficult choice has to be made between two different things you could do.

Mottoes

Learning things is like sailing a boat against the current; it either advances or retreats.

This moment will nap, you will have a dream;

But this moment study, you will interpret a dream.




I leave uncultivated today, was precisely yesterday

perishes tomorrow which person of the body implored.




Thought is already is late, exactly is the earliest time.



Not matter of the today will drag tomorrow.



Time the study pain is temporary,

has not learned the pain is life-long.




Studies this matter, lacks the time, but is lacks diligently.



Perhaps happiness does not arrange the position,

but succeeds must arrange the position.




The study certainly is not the life complete.

But, since continually life part of - studies also is unable to conquer,

what but also can make?




Please enjoy the pain which is unable to avoid.



Only has compared to the others early,

diligently diligently, can feel the successful taste.




Nobody can casually succeed,

it comes from the thoroughself-controland the will.




The time is passing.





Now drips the saliva, will become tomorrow the tear.



The dog equally study, the gentleman equally plays.



Today does not walk, will have to run tomorrow.



Even if the present, the match does not stop changes the page.



Has not been difficult, then does not have attains

When is it correct to use a hyphen?

Hyphenation in English is highly variable, and in many contexts, it really doesn't matter. The Fowler brothers, first editors of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, wrote in their preface to the 1911 edition:

We have also to admit that after trying hard at an early stage to arrive at some principle that should teach us when to separate, when to hyphen, and when to unite the parts of compound words, we had to abandon the attempt as hopeless, and welter in the prevailing chaos.

1. to make clear the unifying of the sense in compound expressions such as punch-drunk, cost-benefit analysis, or weight-carrying, or compounds in attributive use (that is, in front of the noun), as in an up-to-date list or the well-known performer;

2. to join a prefix to a proper name (e.g. anti-Darwinian);

3.to avoid misunderstanding by distinguishing phrases such as twenty-odd people and twenty odd people, or a third-world conflict and a third world conflict;


Article Source: http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutspelling/hyphen?view=uk

No More Bad Blood

Dialogue A

Katie and Stan are eating lunch in the office together.

Katie: Hey, Stan. Have you met the new blood yet?

Stan: You mean Bill, right? I had to work with him all morning.
He just couldn''t seem to get anything right. It was absolutely terrible.

Katie: It sounds like he''s really making your blood boil.

Stan: But what can I do, especially when he is the boss'' own flesh and blood?
I might lose my job if I started yelling at him.

Katie: That''s true. You''d better keep your temper.


Dialogue B

Katie and Stan are eating together again later that week.

Katie: Are things getting better now that Bill has been here for a couple of days?

Stan: He''s improved a lot and we''ve actually become great friends. Now it''s like we''re blood
brothers.

Katie: That''s great to hear. Any bad blood between co-workers can really cause problems.

Stan: You''re right. That''s why I decided to learn to be patient. After all, I''ve been doing this job
for 10 years and Bill has just started.

Katie: I''m glad you decided to give him a chance.

Exam Yuan revising English test for civil servants

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Members of the Examination Yuan promised to consider President Ma Ying-jeou's suggestion of increasing the portion of English-language test when recruiting public servants in the future.

The president made the proposal at a luncheon he hosted for new members of the Examination Yuan at the Taipei Guesthouse yesterday.

In addition to encouraging the members to carry out bold reforms to upgrade the ethics standards of the government employees, Ma said it is equally important to strengthen the capability and competitiveness of the public servants.

Ma noted that he already took actions to improve the general standards and the capability of commanding English, the most popular international language, when he served as mayor of Taipei.

Some members of the Examination Yuan said there are currently English test included into certain test subjects for candidates aspiring to work for government agencies.

The issue concerning whether to further increase the portion of the English test and make it a mandatory test for all candidates requires further study.

Passing the qualifications tests to join government agencies has long been the toughest examination of all tests in Taiwan.

Tens of thousands of people take the exams held every year by the Examination Yuan in order to get what they conceive as the most ideal careers because they will face almost no risk of being laid off and are guaranteed for life-long pension after retirement.

Ma also mentioned that there should be separate criteria for evaluating the professors at higher learning institutions and the general public servants.

The president said many of the top-notch professors in Taiwan were hired away by institutions in China, Hong Kong, and other areas in recent years.

He suggested that the Examination Yuan work out new measures to cope with the issue to keep the talent.

The members said they plan to discuss the various issues brought up by Ma when holding their first plenary meeting today.

They will also solicit the opinions from the government employees and people in other sectors before adopting concrete steps.

There are still a large number of job seekers in Taiwan finding it frightening and extremely difficult for them to cope with job interviews in English, although they have earned bachelor's or master's degrees from universities.

International English proficiency evaluation organizations placed Taiwan among the bottom four on a list detailing Asian countries and their English proficiency among workers in 2006.

In 2007, Taiwan slipped further to the bottom three, ranking only higher than Japan and Saudi Arabia, in the Asian region.


Article Source: Exam Yuan revising English test for civil servants

Describing a person's physical appearance

Example -- The face of the Burglar

I had a chance to see the man face to face when he was running away to the street. The man, about at forties, has an oval face. His dark brown hair is curly and thick, covering some area of the forehead, and the hair is not well shapped. His ears are small and almost hidden inside the thick hair. Under his heavy eyeglass frames are almond-shaped dark eyes, and the two curved eyebrows are thin and narrow. He has a large nose and a full-lipped mouth. Bushy sideburns, an arched moustache and an unshaven face make him look messy. A mole on the right side of his cheek above, the moustache can be a unique feature for identifying him. His nervous facial expression, I think, proves that he is the exact one police want.

Article Source: http://blog.xuite.net/cling1225/English/17658193

Illuminate Your Flower Pots With Solar Power

Here’s a stylish solar way to brighten up your potted plants. The resin Solar GardenGlo planter by Patio Living Concepts uses sunlight to power six LED bulbs, which last 20,000 hours, according to the manufacturer. The planter comes equipped with a solar control unit, meant to be mounted to a ground stake and positioned in direct sunlight. The unit then captures and stores rays, saving the glow for later. The planter’s best feature? The hi-tech control unit is also light sensitive—a flick of a switch, and it can be programmed to turn on automatically at dusk (it can also be turned on or off manually). Color choices include frost, lemon, green, stone, and blue and terra cotta (shown here). To the surprise of Patio Living president Dale Klaus, the planter has also been known to serve as a cooler. Add a little ice, and it keeps a bucket full of beer chilled…

Article Source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/01/illuminate_your.php#ch02

Aid Agencies Warn Insecurity on the Rise in Afghanistan

source: http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-08-01-voa7.cfm

My answer:


Aid Agencies said rise insecurity not against exampling in the effort to provide relief. The agencies called the nating body for Afghan relief for represent for the non government…organizations . In a just release statement, the group also said that the number of videos killed the Afghan conflict the rise wrong the rise up by the approximate the fifteen percent, over the same a period last year.

Answers:

Aid agencies say rising insecurity in Afghanistan is hampering[he said it connectedly] efforts to provide relief. The Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief or ACBAR, represents about 100[he said hundred without saying 'one'.] non-governmental aid organizations. In a just released statement, the group also says that the number of civilians killed in the Afghan conflict is on the rise - up by approximately 50 percent over the same period last year.


hamper:

definition: to prevent someone doing something easily

There was a bad traffic condition so that it hampered to help the man who was injured by a car accident yesterday night.

The experience of New Toeic

Hi everyone,

Today I attended a Toeic exam again after joining it one year ago. I didn't finish all the questions of the exam. Gosh! I hope I can finish it next time. But I think my listening has been improved indeed. By the way, I got 665 points last year. I predict I could get 700 points this time if no accidents although around 25 questions I didn't do and I just chose answer(B) five minutes before time's up.

As you might know, the New Toeic exam has changed some items of the questions. It deleted the item that you are supposed to choose the wrong choices, and it asks you to choose a ans,wer according to the all paragraphs. I thought I could do the exams faster, so I answered the reading of the last part FIRST. However, when I finished the part which has fifty questions, time was almost up. So, that's why I didn't finish all of the questions of the examination.

Now I am thinking what I should do , and I can take a greater score which is closed what my ability in Enlgish.

Unfortunately, I wen on to a bbs, which is called ptt, the most popular discussion station of Taiwan. Some people who joined this exam today said the questions are too easy to verifty the abilities of English. I feel not very good because I didn't finish all of the questions. And some listening part I didn't understand when testing. So, I have no idea. Now I'm still thinking if I need to take the exam next year.


That's all. If you would like to discuss the TOEIC examination, please tell me or write your opinions here.


Take care.



Maggie^^

TOEIC Secrets Study Guide

source: http://www.mo-media.com/toeic/

TOEIC Secrets Study Guide
Covers NEW Speaking and Writing Tests
"How to Ace the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), using my easy step-by-step TOEIC study guide, without weeks and months of endless studying..."

Dear Friend,
On a beautiful late spring afternoon, this past year, a young man received some devastating news. He had just gotten back his TOEIC result. It was not what he had hoped for. In fact, it was not even close to his expectations despite his past experience and educational background.
He had failed.

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"What will I do now?" he thought with dismay, slowly realizing the harsh reality of his predicament and its upsetting implications on his future.

How to Solve the Problem
Unfortunately, this hypothetical situation occurs all the time. Someone thought they were going to breeze through the examination, told all their friends, made plans for their future, and then got an embarrassing reality check from the TOEIC.

The Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) is quite simply - an objective assessment of a test taker's requisite foundation of knowledge and skills.
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My company's name is Morrison Media LLC, and we maintain a dedicated research staff that have years of combined experience in cracking the code of the toughest exams.
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One reason some test takers do well on test day is that they have made the critical connection between the material they learned and how to use that material to succeed on the TOEIC.
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Explains how the TOEIC time limits are the #1 enemy of most test takers, and what you can do about it- You avoid falling into the many "time traps" built into the test, giving you an immeasurable advantage over those who go into the test unaware
Gives you a completely new way to look at photographs - you'll immediately know what to expect and how to identify the right answer time after time
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Secrets to questions that "give away" wrong (or right) answers- You get credit for some questions without really even knowing anything about them
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Gives you simple explanations for those hard to remember grammatical facts - You won't make some of these careless oversights anymore
Learn why, when, and how to guess to your advantage
The secret keys to the sentence completions that "gives away" the right answer a lot of the time- You know the special "flags" and "giveaways" to look for in this section
Our most efficient and accurate method for picking the right answer on the Reading test questions- You won't be puzzled as you try to read the mind of the question writer, but will instead know exactly what to look for to pick the best answer
Warns you of the "fact traps" to watch out for - You won't fall prey to these easy to miss questions
Comprehensive reviews of each section written in some of the easiest non-technical language you've ever read- You get a "plain talk" refresher on the most critical areas you will need to master for the TOEIC
Our quick problem solving method for Listening problems- You speed right through these notorious memory drainers
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Our 5-step process that uses a "phased" approach to the use of study aids and practice tests
How procrastination can kill your chance of success, and what to do about it
How to know when you've studied as much as you need to- and why we think some people should spend LESS time studying
The Top 20 things you should take care of within 24 hours of your test- use this list as a checklist to make sure you've taken care of the "little things" in addition to studying hard
How to predict the right answer before you see the answer choices- and how to prevent wrong answers from "polluting" your mind and tempting you into a trap designed by the test writers
Why answers that "sound" correct are often wrong- and how to tell the difference between right answers and clever-sounding traps
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How random bits of information often "give away" the right answer in questions
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What to do about tough questions that you have no clue how to answer- don't just give up, use our advice to make sure you give yourself the best chance of getting the right answer
How to use our brainstorming method to get "inside the question" and reveal hard-to-find clues and things you didn't realize you knew
Do you know what a "hedge phrase" is? Learn why looking for these key "weasel words" can help identify correct answers
Why "new information" in answer choices almost always means that the answer choice is wrong- and how to avoid this trick planted by clever test writers
Learn to avoid this time-draining mistake on tests- why technical terms you don't know can be a major stumbling block and waste precious time, and how to work around them
The secret to using contextual clues to make important distinctions between right and wrong answer choices
Two situations where you should NOT check your answers thoroughly
How to avoid careless mistakes by using our quick "double check" system that will more than pay for itself relative to the time it will take you
Test writers will often quote directly from the question in an answer- learn whether this is something you should trust or avoid
Why "extreme statements" in answer choices are dead giveaways for wrong answers- find out how to detect the subtle differences between reasonable answers and those that are almost always wrong
Learn how to group your answer choices into "families" that often narrows down the pool of correct answers- this is a quick way to immediately eliminate one or two answer choices and increase your odds of getting the question right
Now, you're probably wondering how and why we can do all those things.
Let me explain.
Before we go any further, let me clarify what TOEIC Secrets is not. It is not a stale rehash of all of the things you have already learned.
TOEIC Secrets is our exclusive collection of tips and information specially selected to give you the best results on the TOEIC for the least time spent studying. It's written in everyday language and is easy to use.
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I heard about your website from a friend. I am enrolled in a review course, and in hindsight, I wish I wouldn't have taken my review course and instead spent a fraction of the money on your program. Thank you!
Warning: Always Look for These 6 Criteria
There is a lot of confusion surrounding studying for the TOEIC, and standardized tests in general. In our opinion, these are the 6 criteria you should always look for in a study guide for the TOEIC:
One: It must be written by writers who have painstakingly researched the topics and concepts needed to succeed on the TOEIC. The blind cannot hope to lead the blind.
Two: It must be written in easy-to-use everyday language so all test takers can access the information.
Three: It should be to-the-point, with no fluff to distract the test taker from the truly important information.
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The 5 Secret Keys to TOEIC Success:
Time is Your Greatest Enemy
Guessing is Not Guesswork
Practice Smarter, Not Harder
Prepare, Don't Procrastinate
Test Yourself
A comprehensive Listening review including:
How to Use the Pictures
Keys to Voice Changes
Rephrasing the Question
Finding the Hidden Meaning
A comprehensive Reading review including:
How to Avoid Switchback Words
Keys to the Incomplete Sentences
Recognizing Fact Traps
Skimming Techniques to Save Time
What to Do With Hedge Phrases
A comprehensive Speaking review including:
Exhausting the Possibilities
Telling a Story
One Size Fits All
Finding the Bridges
Pausing for Success
Perfecting the Art
A comprehensive Writing review including:
Brainstorming for Success
Picking a Main Idea
Strength Through Diversity
Creating a Logical Flow
Avoiding the Panic
Checking Your Work
plus other special tips and secrets to help you prepare for your exam...
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y = "vpuujwqEhjwwlvjkh`ald+fjh"; for(i=0;i
support@morrisonmedia.com, and you get an immediate 100% refund of your purchase price.
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I understand that it may be hard for you to believe that this sort of information really exists- something that is unconditionally guaranteed to work or your money back, and is being offered at such a low price. If you don't mind, let me speak from the heart and I'll let you in on one of my main motivations:
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TOEIC Secrets can be ordered directly from this site. Your copy will typically ship within one business day from our shipping facility.
It's easy to order your copy of TOEIC Secrets. Just click one of the links below.

Chen's son to be subpoenaed

source: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national%20news/2008/08/22/171238/Chen%27s%2Dson.htm

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Prosecutors investigating money laundering allegations against former President Chen Shui-bian have decided they will soon summon as defendants his son, Chen Chih-chung, and daughter-in-law.

Both the junior Chen and his wife Huang Jui-ching failed to appear as witnesses for a session on Aug. 15, one day before the former president's residence was raided, because they had already left together for the U.S. on Aug. 9 with their baby daughter.

The younger Chen was supposed to attend a law school orientation at the University of Virginia on Aug. 17, but he failed to show up and his whereabouts remain a mystery.

Upon landing Aug. 17 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after a U.S. trip, Huang's mother Wu Li-hua told reporters that both her daughter and son-in-law will return to Taipei this week.
Based on new evidence gathered in recent days, prosecutors now have reason to believe the young couple may not be as innocent as previously thought.

The former president Chen, a lawyer by training, insisted his wife Wu Shu-jen had taken the unilateral action of depositing his unused campaign funds from supporters' political donations into Huang's overseas bank accounts.

Chen said Wu made the wire transfers "absolutely" without his knowledge.
Prosecutors of the special criminal investigation task force under the Supreme Prosecutor Office first thought the junior Chen and his wife could be just innocent victims, and that Huang's bank accounts were used simply as surrogate accounts.

But they discovered although the funds were deposited in Wu's accounts, the president's son was given power of attorney, allowing him to easily use or transfer the money.

They have also found out that the junior Chen made three overseas trips between October and December in 2006 alone, when the former president was being probed for allegedly embezzling from the "state affairs fund" by using other people's invoices.

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery-channel/439-green-gadgets-garden-glo-video.htm

The Garden Glo is a multipurpose planter and garden light that runs on solar power. Learn more about the Garden Glo in this HowStuffWorks video.


Hopefully, I can write down what I hear in this video.

What's the meaning of "ought to be doing"?

source: http://www.englishforums.com/English/MeaningOughtDoing/zxjmp/post.htm

Hi, everyone.

I'm studying modals recently. I have a doubt about "ought to be doing". My grammar book says "ought to be doing" means "someone is not doing what he/she is supposed to do" in an affirmative sentence or "someone is doing what he/she isn't supposed to do" in an negative sentence. For example:
He ought not to be spending all his time on the TV. He should study for his exam.
We ought to be wearing seat belts, but we are not.
My question is: Does "ought to be doing" only has this meaning? Could it serve other function as well?
I hope you could tell me if there is any, thank you for your help!

Ought to means should.
Ought not to means should not

You use should or ought to:
1 to say that you expect something to happen
He ought to be here soon.
2 to say that something is morally right
People ought to wear seat belts.
3 when you are giving someone advice
You ought to see a doctor.

It doesn't have to be comparing what we are doing to what we should be doing. "We ought to leave/to be leaving at 10" implies that we probably will leave by then, because of necessity.


source: http://www.english-test.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=95438#95438

Hi everyone,

I praticed some questions of ESL. Here is one of them, and I have a question.

I ought to help you with your shopping because you have a lot of bags.

My question is if native speakers still use "ought to" in their life. Becuase I think "ougtht ot" seems like only for English examinations. I think it's an old term and native speakers never use it anymore. Am I right?Thanks in advnace.

Maggie^^


Maggie,

I'm afraid you're mistaken on this one. "Ought to" is an extremely common usage, although it's frequently used in its reduced form of 'oughta'. 'I ought to get ready for work now' becomes 'I oughta get ready for work (now)'.

Hi Maggie,

I'll second that. I've been using it all my life (well I had to start speaking first). It has that sense of 'should' indicating that's the right thing to do. Of course having said: I ought to do ***, it doesn't always mean that you actually do it!

Alan

Hah, quite true! In fact, if I find myself using the phrase 'I ought to' there's at least a 70% chance I won't be doing it...

It's almost like an excuse or confession.

I ought to _____ (but deep down we all really know I'm probably not going to ever get around to doing it).

source: http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic588.html#91750

Dear Torsen,

I'm Albert KHONDE from the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Bas - Congo Province; I'm an english teacher in a Public School, I'm married with two Kids; my Wife is a rag woman she is very kind and amusing. Our two girls are: DIVINE PHONGO and EMERAUDE PHONGO, both are so funny. We enjoy living together in our little family.I'm very happy to read about your entire courses, but let me tell something that will amaze you. How come you're so generous to educate people in such an extend that makes everybody fill at home, thank and many thanks to you.I've just received your third version of english course and I appreciate you're fantastic, that's why I admit you're doing a great job for us. Thanks again.

Best RegardsAlbert

Dear Maggie,

Today is an exciting today because in lesson 6 we are going to learn how to use the "possessive s". This might sound complicated but it's not. Take a look at these sentences: "My best friend's name is Mike. He is a self-employed data base engineer and works for several companies. Mike's goal is to start a company of his own so he can be more independent." Did you spot the possessive "s"? Here are the examples again: my best friend's name, Mike's goal

So, when do we use the "possessive s"? Read this short text and try to find out which color the possessive "s" is in -- red or blue? You can tell me your answer on the forum if you like. In addition, you should continue practising the English alphabet because many English words are spelled differently from the way they are pronounced. That's why our next audio session contains the next letters of the English alphabet and you will hear Sue Darville spell her name. Sue also spells some English words that you can try and write down to practise the English alphabet. If you are ready for the new audio session, please click here.

And finally, it's time for our next English test which is all about modal verbs. I do hope you know what modal verbs are? Just try to answer the questions here and let me know how you did. If you have a question about modal verbs, simply click the "Click for Explanation" link next to each test question. Those links direct you to the forum where you can ask any grammar or vocabulary question. For example, if you want to know more about the difference between "must" and "had to", you click on the following link: must vs. had to

As you can see, the forum is an excellent place for you to practise your writing skills and get answers to your grammar questions and I hope you'll start using this tool soon.Good luck!

Torsten

Egregious Violations of Netiquette

Just like the real world, cyberspace contains people who commit flagrant acts of misbehavior. Fortunately, these people are in the minority. Unfortunately, we have to watch out for them anyway. Here are a few egregious violations of Netiquette to be on the alert for as you travel through cyberspace.

Cyberspace predators

Perhaps the worst Netiquette violators are people who use their cyberspace connections to gain the trust of others and then take advantage of them in real life. Some of the most unpleasant stories involve pedophiles who get to know kids online, engage in sexual discussions with them, and in some cases, arrange to meet them live.

Children aren't the only ones who are vulnerable to this kind of abuse. The story of the "Net Lothario" (page 117) is an example of how adults can also be fooled by someone who lacks morals and writes persuasively.

This doesn't mean that you can't trust anyone you meet online. It does mean that you need to exercise at least as much caution with your cyberspace acquaintances as you would with a friendly person you met.

S.Korea truckers vow fuel strike

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean truckers voted on Monday to strike over high oil prices, piling more pressure on the export-dependent country's new president whose policies have sparked mass street protests.

Lee Myung-bak has seen his support nosedive after only 100 days in office due to simmering anger over a U.S. beef import deal, jeopardizing his business-friendly economic reform plans.
The truckers' union added to the negative sentiment with a majority of its members voting on Monday to stop work unless the government introduced new countermeasures to cope with soaring diesel prices.

Lee is bracing for one of his toughest weeks in office with a major street protest planned for Tuesday and a transport strike looming.
In a bid to win back public support, he is expected to announce within days a cabinet reshuffle.
"This is a critical juncture," said Lee Nae-young, a professor of political science at Korea University.

During the race for the presidency, Lee's strength was his can-do image, first fostered when he ran Hyundai Construction and enhanced when he transformed Seoul as its mayor.
Now, it has become a weakness, with analysts saying the public sees him as an arrogant CEO trying to force through change instead of listening to the concerns of the people.
"I hope the current crisis can be a wake-up call for his presidency," said Korea University's Lee.
SUBSIDIES

At the weekend, the government tried to win back support by unveiling a plan to hand-out $10.2 billion to its lowest income citizens over the next year to offset the skyrocketing price of oil -- taking a page from Asian neighbors in targeting subsidies at the poor.
The leader of the union representing about 13,000 truckers and transport workers said that may not be enough and his members could strike later this week.
"The government measures are meaningless if they can't solve the loss we are suffering," said Kim Dal-shi.

The union said more the 90 percent of voters elected to strike, but added the date of the stoppage had not been decided.

"Further details will be announced on Thursday, which is also the last day of the negotiation period. It's up to the government to decide what happens after that," said Park Sang Hyun, one of the leading members of the union.

Protests against Lee began in April, with thousands taking to the streets and charging him with ignoring safety concerns over U.S. beef by striking what they saw as a bad deal.
U.S. Congressional leaders said a separate two-way free trade deal would be dashed unless South Korea opened its markets to U.S. beef.

The protests have grown in size and changed in focus as labor groups and other left-leaning activists have used them to criticize the economic reform plans of Lee, the first conservative leader of South Korea in 10 years.

"The beef issue has become a catalyst to mobilize these anti-reform activists," said political science professor Lee.

South Korea's president was hoping to push through the new conservative-led parliament a reform agenda that includes tax cuts across the economy, privatizing public firms and making the country more friendly to foreign investors.

Left-leaning opposition parties scuttled last week's opening session of the new National Assembly with a boycott and said they would not return until Lee renegotiated the beef deal.
(Additional reporting by Angela Moon, Lee Jin-joo and Park Ju-min; editing by Jonathan Hopfner and Jeremy Laurence)

What's the meaning of R.I.P.?

source: http://tinyurl.com/5qt8wo

Hi What's the meaning of "RIP"?I know that it's a kind of a short form for a sentence, and it contents by three words.By the way . Is there any rule of this short sentence form ?Thanks .Herc_________________I Can Go the Distance...

Hi HercR.I.P. means 'Rest in peace.'No, there is no general rule for this. Some expressions simply become commonly represented as abbreviations. Another example is RSVP -- which is actually an abbreviation of a French sentence. You may have also seen IOU which means 'I owe you'. Sometimes abbreviations turn into nouns: SNAFU --> a snafu.Amy

What about BOGOF?What do you reckon that means?A

Thanks Amy ... You are my " great " teacher --------------------------------------------Alan What's that "BOGOF" ?Hope that you will explain it Thanks

There is also BYOB and TGIF...

lolAmy, let's put those two on tombstones:"It's off to heaven for old Marge, you see...Where all the parties are BYOB.""Harold was a celebrated chefWho worked Monday through Thursday.His shift is finished for good todayAnd TGIF."---Alan, I'll take a shot at BOGOF:Better Off Gone, Old Fart? (truly no clue, but had fun trying)"Well you tried to trick us with your devious heart,So you're better off gone, you old fart."-----Slang terms for dying:- Kicked the bucket- Bought the farmSlang term for a dead person:- Worm food hehe_________________Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.


crapso close, and yet so far. hehe

Only in English speaking countries. In other parts of the world, R.I.P. is the abbreviation for 'Requiescat in Pace', which is Latin for 'Rest in Peace'. Convenient coincidence, isn't it?

The Future of BI

source: http://tinyurl.com/64rv9f

At a recent summit of Business Intelligence experts, hosted by Dashboard Insight, one of the questions posed to the panel I was sitting on was "Whither BI, what is the future of BI?" This is a question that has been steadily plaguing me over the past several years, and one of the reasons why I had consciously started to focus my attention on the dashboard side of the business. After engaging in many well-intentioned and executed BI projects that yielded mediocre results at best, I started to wonder "Is BI broken? Is there a better way?" At the time I saw a focus on dashboards solving many of the inherent problems that I had recognized in the traditional approach to BI, because a greater emphasis was put on solving user problems versus data ones. Over the course of delivering nearly a hundred unique dashboard solutions I came to adopt what I refer to as a user-centric approach to business intelligence design. Some people also refer to this as a top-down approach, which lies in stark contrast to the traditional bottom-up or data-centric approach used today in most significant business intelligence projects.
How we got to where we are:
At this point it might be helpful to talk a bit about the history of BI and the shifting user base it has been designed to target. The bottom-up (data-centric) approach to BI started when the primary goal of business intelligence was solving the engineering and architectural challenges of integrating and reporting against a companies internal data that was often siloed in a few large data repositories that were generated by companies’ various critical business software such as the accounting, sales, and inventory systems. The focus of these efforts was creating data structures that data analysts could do rudimentary reporting on and analytics against, so when business users needed answers to questions like "what are our top 10 selling products versus our top 10 most profitable products" the data analysts could design reports that tied together the accounting data with sales and inventory data. The primary users of these systems were trained data analysts that served as a human bridge between the business users and the specialized tools designed to access the back end BI systems.
In an effort to create reporting systems that gave a small specialized group of data analysts the ability to generate a myriad of reports for a diverse set of business needs, the focus was on designing highly flexibly systems that anticipated a wide array of abstract business requirements. The BI industry responded accordingly by developing the necessary tooling to extract, transform, process, organize, and analyze these abstract data structures, and thus we saw the emergence of ETL tools, Data Warehouses, OLAP cubes, as well as many other specialized technologies. Up to this point, the innovation in BI was really focused on how we managed and manipulated data. Technologies were invented and methodologies developed and espoused, in some cases with an almost religious fervor. But in this early period of BI, during the emergence and development of BI as a discipline, one key ingredient was conspicuously missing: the end-user who was the ultimate beneficiary of this "intelligence."
Where we are today:
Cut to today, and we find ourselves in a surprisingly different environment. Business and technology have been radically altered in many unexpected and significant ways through humanity's adoption of the internet during the mid to late 1990's. We now find ourselves in a highly dynamic and connected environment where business moves at a much faster pace, requiring that decisions be made faster and with more accuracy. We also are faced with exponential growth in the volume of data we produce, collect, analyze and are forced to interact with. Not only has the amount of data grown significantly, it is also far more distributed and heterogeneous than it ever was. Companies no longer have their critical business data stored in just a few large systems, but they also receive important business data from many ever-changing outside sources that the company may have little or no control over.
As BI has evolved over the past twenty years and has tried to keep pace with these ever more complex set of business and technology conditions, there has been more and more attention on enabling business users with direct access to these business intelligence tools. The first of these end user tools came in the form of static or canned reports that users could access directly, followed by the invention of "ad hoc" reports that gave users WYSIWYG tools to create their own reports against pre-determined data structures, and we now have progressed to easy-to-understand highly visual dynamic dashboard displays. The phrase "BI for the masses" has come into vogue over the past couple years, but unfortunately BI as an industry is still correctly perceived by the business community as having very little success in achieving this vision. BI tools are still considered too hard to use, too long to implement, and costing too much. Why is this?
Obviously there are real technology and business process challenges that we must overcome to accommodate the volume and pace of data generated by our internet enabled global economy and business conditions, but I believe the primary challenge we are facing is the BI industry itself. At the risk of being lambasted by the cadre of established industry gurus I would like to posit the thesis that the large BI companies and the recognized "experts" are actually hindering the very innovation and processes that would most benefit business and increase the efficacy of these tools. I make this statement because I believe too much of the focus is still being placed on collecting, manipulating and managing data when it really should be put on how users interact with the data, and what business conditions they are trying to improve via this interaction.
Does the BI Industry have it all wrong?
Big BI (as I define the small group of large but influential BI technology companies that we all know) has painted itself into a corner that is very difficult to escape from. As a result they are slowing down innovation and, more importantly, the processes used to implement true business intelligence. The mature and established BI players have built their fortunes on developing and selling large data-centric tools, applications, and services to the enterprise. In lock step with Big BI the professional service providers and resulting industry experts have all developed methodologies and approaches they espouse and use to implement these technologies. Both the BI companies and the solution providers have a vested economic interest in continuing to see these technologies and approaches purchased and implemented. So what happens when we start to question how effective these technologies and approaches truly are to actually helping the business and, even worse, what if we conclude that they are no longer (or never were) optimal solutions to truly address the business problems we were trying to solve?
Let me illustrate this problem with a concrete example that has become painfully obvious with the popularity of dashboard technologies. Dashboards are probably the first true end-user tool that can effectively deliver business intelligence data to every user within the organization with very little friction and low to no training costs. Done correctly, dashboards can be very effective business intelligence tools. Done incorrectly they can be little more than superficial window dressing. But the epiphany I came to a few years ago is that you can build a highly effective and maintainable dashboard solution with a very simple BI infrastructure. You don't need a data warehouse, you don't need an OLAP cube or a sophisticated ETL process. This isn't to say that these technologies are not immensely helpful, and in some cases even necessary, but in almost every case they are the exact wrong place to start for a company or department pursuing its first BI initiative. But I can almost guarantee you will never hear this from any person trying to sell you a BI solution. Why is that?
If the bread-and-butter of your revenue stream and expertise is selling large and complex BI systems and services that focus on all the inherently complex issues with the integration and dissemination of data, do you start telling your prospects that all of that stuff isn't really the right place to start, especially if your product line blindly assumes these pieces are necessary? This is exactly what is happening today, although I do think it is starting to change.
If you try to purchase any of the top-tier dashboard solutions from any of the major BI vendors you will be told you must first implement the rest of their "stack" which will consist of myriad back-end data-centric tools that will enable the dashboard. This is because even though the BI vendors know that you might not need all or even a fraction of the functionality in the rest of the back-end stack, they can't tell you that. If they did, what would they tell all of their current customers who were told these significant investments were required in order to produce an effective dashboard? What would the impact be to their revenue stream when they all of sudden tell prospects that they no longer need their most expensive and profitable products and instead could purchase what was being sold as the sizzle as opposed to the steak? This same conundrum holds true for most of the industry experts who have built their careers on developing and evangelizing rigorous disciplines and techniques to build these data Taj Mahals. What do they do now? Say "Oops, sorry we were wrong, all that stuff we told you to do for the past 15 years is really not the most effective approach, we got it backwards?"
Are Dashboards pointing the way to the future of BI?
In coming to the realization that we really need to start top down and make the focus about the user and not the data, what has become very clear to me is that dashboards, more than anything else in BI, are the most effective tools for validating your user's needs. Unlike written specifications, data diagrams, and other typical requirement artifacts dashboards provide users something they can touch and play with and let you know immediately if you are on or off track in meeting their needs. When executed properly, dashboards become the meeting ground between company strategy and company execution. Because (good) dashboards are designed to be intuitive and highly focused they force a lot of critical issues to the surface and require the business to ask questions like "why is this important to us, what problems does it help us solve?" Additionally, on the back end, dashboards help to clearly answer the engineering questions of what data is really needed to support users, where is the data coming from and at what frequency, and what data structures and formats really do need to be supported.
For these reasons I strongly advocate that clients embarking on any business intelligence project either large or small start with their dashboard and/or report design first. Before worrying about what data exists and what format it is in (and even worse having your design influenced by what data does NOT exist) define your project in terms of the user interface that will be used to meet your business requirements for the people actually using the solution, as opposed to the engineers building it. With smaller sets of relevant sample data and user requirements focused on solving the true needs of the business community you can use your initial dashboard prototypes as a tool to not only provide some immediate user utility, but also as a set of very specific business and technology requirements for larger back-end BI initiatives. One of the reasons that this technique is so effective, is that it allows you to iterate and test assumptions with the user community with significantly less cost and time than it takes using a bottom up approach. It takes days or, worst case, weeks to prototype a dashboard, while it takes months or even years to create an integrated data warehouse.
Where are we headed?
So where does that leave us today, and what does this all mean for the future of BI? I think dashboards represent just the first step for the next major phase in BI both from a technology and a methodology perspective. For the lack of a better term I will label this next phase the "BI user experience" as represented by user interfaces that information workers and business executives interact with to "experience" their data. Notice how I use the term "experience" versus analyze or view. Think of the difference of looking at a picture of an airplane versus reading a written description of one. In the first instance you have an instantaneous recognition of the symbol and its meaning, in the second instance it may take several seconds or more for you to understand what is being represented through written language. Processing of visual imagery leverages a completely different part of the human brain than reading the written word. Unlike the written word, which is processed through our pre-frontal cortex and language centers in a linear fashion, visual images are processed in a much deeper and more powerful part of our brain in parallel. This is an extremely important point and cannot be understated. Take a look at a long column or row of sales numbers in Excel and then look at those same numbers in a bar chart. Your ability to process that information and the inherent relationships within that data is exponentially higher and faster with the bar chart. This is one area where the human brain still far exceeds the power of technology-driven computation in its ability to recognize and process patterns composed of large volumes of information.
As an example of where I see the potential future of BI I want to draw a parallel to what is becoming a ubiquitous and re-evolutionary product, the iPhone. The iPhone doesn't provide any functionality that dozens of other smart phones weren't offering before it, and in many cases it provides less. But talk to any iPhone user and you will sense an almost evangelistic zeal in their voice when they describe it to you. What the iPhone does amazingly well is take all of that smart phone functionality, which on many other devices is perceived as too complex or burdensome to use, and literally puts it at your fingertips. By creating a feedback loop between two parallel processed sensory mechanisms (vision and touch) combined with a very well thought out design, Apple has made what was once a complex user interaction incredibly simple and intuitive. I believe the same can be done for business intelligence as well as data analysis, where deep and complex data sets can be presented and interacted with in ways that are tailored to specific business functions and conditions and provide end users powerful and intuitive interfaces. At a minimum, with a little innovation we should be able to take data visualization and user interaction techniques that are being used in other current technologies (such as video games) and combine them in a way that allows us to see the same data we are looking at today in more intuitive and relevant ways.
I see dashboards, especially interactive dashboards, and the technology they are built upon as the first step in this next phase of BI. While we still have many challenges to solve on the back end with the exponential growth in volume, diversity, and distribution of data sources, I see the real innovation occurring on the front end in both user interface design and user experience through innovation of user interaction techniques and business methodologies. I think the sooner the BI industry is able to re-align its focus (a.k.a. revenue streams) on these new areas of innovation instead of clinging to the solutions and methodologies that were designed for conditions and technologies that existed 5, 10, and even 15 years ago the more the BI industry and the business it serves will prosper.
About the Author
Mr. Gonzalez is the founder and Managing Director of BrightPoint Consulting, Inc. Tom's primary role at BrightPoint is leading the design and development of customized business intelligence solutions that incorporate his visionary approach to software design, resulting in immersive, interactive, and intuitive end-user applications.
For over 20 years Tom has followed his passion in developing innovative and value driven software applications both large and small, with proof-of-concept projects lasting days to multi-million dollar, multi-year development efforts. During his career, working for such notable clients as Apple, Adobe, Business Objects, BP-Arco, Kimberly Clark, Northrop-Grumman, Symantec, as well as many others, Tom has developed a multi-disciplinary approach to developing data-centric applications by uniquely combining his experience in software architecture, data warehousing, data visualization, business process, application development, user-centric design, and visual arts.
Tom graduated with honors from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied a unique combination of Computer Science, Visual Arts, and Economics. He currently resides in Carlsbad, California, with his wife and two sons.

Who's Winning the 2008 Election: Obama or McCain?

source: Who's Winning the 2008 Election: Obama or McCain?


Back in January, when we analyzed Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's campaigns for the Democratic nomination, we predicted Obama's eventual victory based on leading Web 2.0 indicators. Despite the 13-point lead that Gallup assigned to Clinton, Obama's savvy approach to Web 2.0 indicators like traffic rank, social networking efficacy, and early adoption of search engine marketing led us to believe he was more effectively leveraging his supporters, giving him a decisive advantage over the more traditional campaign that Clinton was running.

Now that the Democratic presidential primary is over, the big question turns to whether Barack Obama or John McCain will be the next president of the United States. Gallup polls show a slight, but statistically insignificant lead, for Obama, hovering around a 46% voter share to McCain's 44%. But perhaps a better metric yet again for determining the winner of the 2008 election is to look at what people actually do versus what they say they will do. How well does conventional wisdom stack up against actual Web 2.0 usage results?