Going Social To Get A Job

There was some period in the previous century where people, who had a job in a certain organization, would recommend their friends or well-known people to apply for a vacancy in the organization. There used to be a small invisible network of unemployed people, who would suggest each other to apply for vacancies as soon as they came to know about it.

Such thing is happening once again, but using computers and Internet connections. Moreover, we have a name for the network this time – Social Networking. Social Networking has become popular with online population these days. Many organizations are using these sites for marketing their products, people are using to expand their community, and the wise are using it for different other activities like searching for jobs.

If you have an account in a site like Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter, and do not know about searching jobs with it, no problem you still have time to start.

If you don’t have an account in any social networking site at all – still no problem. Choose one and create it now. Hurry! Jobs are waiting.

Nine Basic Steps In Recruiting Process

If you are responsible for the day-to-day operations in human resources department then you have knowledge about the business functions. Recruiting starts with finding the right talent. Managing employees is also a part of recruiting. The following are some basic steps in recruiting process.

Job Opening: Decide who is going to conduct recruiting process. Small companies manage recruiting themselves and large companies go or recruiting firms for the same purpose.

Job Description: You should prepare a job description for replacement position and give the correct job description to the candidates.

Pay: Be clear about your budget for hiring a person for particular posts. Keep in mind, the range of the pay scale.

Advertising the position: You should advertise your vacancy to the candidates through online job board or in print media. Also check for internal candidates whether they are suitable for the current position or not.

Screening Process: Screening Process includes several steps, design each step effectively based on the requirements of the posts for which the interviews are held.

Interviewing Questions: Along with screening process, candidates interviewing questions should be based on the job profile. Create open-ended questions.

Lists of Interviewees: Create list of interviewees and explain their role while recruiting the candidates.

Check Reference: Always check reference and assign this work to one person, apart from his regular duties.

Decision time: Time required for gathering the candidates, interviewing and selecting the appropriate candidates should be determined in advance.

New Guide on Medical Language Translation Published

Medical language is very critical to understand. They use some big complicated terms which make people more worried about their health problem than the intensity of the problem.

I once had a friend who consulted a doctor over some health problem. The doctor said that he is suffering from Dyspepsia and have to be treated with proper medication. Then started trouble; my friend that it is similar to some thing like cancer. He then started developing depression slowly. Even I was frightened with his situation until I confirmed it as some small indigestion problem. He still wasn’t ready to believe it and had to be taken again to the doctor to make him explain what the Dyspepsia is; and also to cure his depression.

This explains the importance of Medical language translator. The International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA) published a new guide for Medical Language translation, which can be downloaded from the website of IMIA.

Fear - The Success behind Failure

I see many people never trying anything in fear of failure. Even in the cases of silly situations like avoiding climbing a ladder in fear of falling, etc. Life is never predictable. If it is, then it is so boring.

It is common for any normal human being to make mistakes and learn from them. I have studied the success behind many successful persons. And I found one thing common in all of them, and that is overcoming fear of failure and giving their best attempt to what they thought would be successful.

I have even studied the success behind many persons who think themselves as ever-failures. I wondered how they could manage to live a vulnerable life in such depression. The common theme behind them was fear of failure. They have tried some works for two or three trials; when all of them failed they managed to create an impression in themselves that they are born failures and never attempted to do anything.

This fear is called Atychiphobia, and can be easily overcome by some motivation and lots of self-help.

Managing a Marketing Consulting Firm – Its Fabulous

Some of them have a doubt, how does a consultant go for marketing his or her services and products? How does one develop a marketing plan? What about networking? Can a firm providing marketing consulting services market themselves? The following information can be helpful in rectifying the above doubts.

I have collected this information from my friend who runs a marketing consulting company. Investing in their development is not an optional, it is crucial to business growth and profitability.

After deciding you are going for consultancy services, choose a web hosting service. There is wide variety of options for web hosting for your business. Firstly you have to find web host and are you willing to establish your presence on web, whether you want to do website on your own or by hiring a web designer?

Consultants and other companies often find opportunity in holiday times from their clients and gifts are presented to thank you for the past business. Networking is most important in personal marketing. They should know how to find the potential clients and make high effort in providing most significant business.

He said that after taking above necessary steps, it is fabulous experience managing a consulting firm.

Current Challenges on Pension Schemes in US

A growing challenge for many nations is population aging. As birth rates drop and life expectancy increases an ever-larger portion of the population is elderly. This leaves fewer workers for each retired person. In almost all developed countries this means that government and public sector pensions could collapse their economies unless pension systems are reformed or taxes are increased. One method of reforming the pension system is to increase the retirement age. Two exceptions are Australia and Canada, where the pension system is forecast to be solvent for the foreseeable future. In Canada, for instance, the annual payments were increased by some 70% in 1998 to achieve this. These two nations also have an advantage from their relative openness to immigration. However, their populations are not growing as fast as the U.S., which supplements a high immigration rate with one of the highest birthrates among Western countries. Thus, the population in the U.S. is not aging to the extent as those in Europe, Australia, or Canada.

Also the condition of the historical data and its development into a secure database can be an expensive and labor intensive endeavor. Currently, the trend to develop on line electronic calculators that replace traditionally complex spreadsheet calculations performed by Actuaries and Analysts is the industry norm in records management.

Another growing challenge is the recent trend of businesses in the United States purposely under-funding their pension schemes in order to push the costs onto the federal government. Bradley Belt, former executive director of the PBGC (the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the federal agency that insures private-sector defined-benefit pension plans in the event of bankruptcy), testified before a congressional hearing in October 2004, “I am particularly concerned with the temptation, and indeed, growing tendency, to use the pension insurance fund as a means to obtain an interest-free and risk-free loan to enable companies to restructure. Unfortunately, the current calculation appears to be that shifting pension liabilities onto other premium payers or potentially taxpayers is the path of least resistance rather than a last resort.”

Effects on Brain Using Marijuana

Marijuana has a very negative impact on the human beings. It has its effect on the human beings both physically and mentally. Marijuana is one of the commonly used illegal drugs. Marijuana is made from the plant called Cannabis sativa. There is a chemical called “delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol” or “THC” in the drug. This THC is the chemical that makes the person using the drug to feel high. The consumption of marijuana is usually done through smoking. One who is addicted to consume marijuana should undertake marijuana drug test compulsorily. The following are some of the effects of the marijuana on brain.
Effects on brain

• Marijuana is a very powerful drug that initially causes pleasure. Its consumption then affects the brain cells that control the thinking, emotions, mood and the memory. The drug even has its effects on the pituitary gland and thereby regulates hunger, thirst and the release of sexual hormones.
• The drug has its effect on the synapses i.e. the brain connections and there by cause the person to get addicted to the drug.
• Long term use of the drug can even cause the brain to stop producing the chemicals which will be responsible for making the person feel good and then the person gets chemically addicted to the drug.

Drug testing in the United States is usually done by way of a urine test. The tester makes you go into the bathroom or "dry room", (no sinks and blue colored water to prevent diluting with water) expecting you to fill a cup up with your 94-98 degree urine. There is usually a temperature strip on the side of the sample cup these days to stop people from bringing in their non-drug using buddies urine to alter the test. The lab then quickly determines if you are clean with self test kits exactly like we offer. The other alternative they sometimes use is to send it away to get tested through GC/MS, which is really just a gas analyzing test that is a little more advanced. Only difference is they can see if you are using any urine or saliva drug test alternatives.

How To Take Responsibility For Life

You are completely responsible for your life. It is the guiding principle which you must embrace if you project for happiness and success in the life and work. I currently give lessons particular to a young woman, a director with a small company. I am struck, each time we meet, by her failure to take responsibility for what is happening in her work and life. Each problem is explained far with reasons approximately why it can’t affect the situation or the results.

The most important aspect of taking responsibility for your life is to acknowledge that your life is your responsibility. Nobody can live your life for you. You are responsible. Anyhow hard you try to blame others of the events of your life, each event is the result of the choices which you made and listen to the small voice in your head. And, observe you speak with colleagues, members of family, and friends. Do you intend yourselves to take the responsibility or to place the blame? The following are the three phases on how to take the responsibilities in life.

• Listen to the voice in your head. Eliminate blame; eliminate excuses. If the blame track or the excuse track plays repeatedly in your mind, you are shifting responsibility for your decisions and life to others.
• Second, listen to yourself when you speak. In your conversation, do you hear yourself blame others for things that don’t go exactly as you want? Do you find yourself pointing fingers at your coworkers or your upbringing, your parent’s influence, the amount of money that you make, or your spouse? Are you making excuses for goals unmet or tasks that missed their deadlines? If you can hear your blaming patterns, you can stop them.
• Third, if an individual you respect supplies feedback that you make excuses and blame others for your woes, take the feedback seriously. Control your defensive reaction and explore examples and deepen your understanding with the coworker or friend. People who responsibly consider feedback attract much more feedback.

Apartment Rating Services

After your minneapolis apartment search and before moving into a new apartment community it's really important to do your homework. Unless you're truly familiar with an area, or know someone who is, it can be difficult to determine what kinds of things to ask about when researching a new apartment complex. Most developments will advertise what they are "required" to tell you about. They will offer potential residents the basics: square footage on units, utility information, price, and a host of other essential details.

In some cases, these developments will even offer you insight into what "kind" of community you'll be moving into. But even this information could be used to mislead potential residents into signing leases. Luckily there are web sites on line that are designed specifically for real residents to offer their three cents about the communities they have lived in. But how reliable are these web sites? And are they truly a great resource for someone who is thinking of moving into a new apartment complex?

Subjective Opinions
One of the main problems with public opinion-based rating systems is the concept of Subjective Opinion. People look for different things when searching for a place to live. Thus, descriptions like: noisy, clean, secure are all words that can be represented in varying degrees. Additionally, people have differing standards of "clean." Some people expect interiors and surrounding property to remain perfectly spotless at all times. Others may be tolerable of a "bit of debris" here or there. Furthermore, a person's sense of safety may be entirely contingent upon an apartment complex's security personnel. But for some, simply being located in a more remote suburban area may symbolize security. But a resident's perception of how dangerous other individuals are will certainly vary from person to person.

Bias
One thing to note on apartment rating websites is the ratio of good reviews to bad reviews. The problem with this particular review is that while the resident's experience may be true, it doesn't particularly reflect the kind of treatment that a future resident may have at the development. In fact, by the time future residents even read the review, that management employee may no longer be with the company. In essence, many disgruntled residents utilize this anonymous on line service to discredit individuals with which they have personal issues. Most people rarely ever seek out managers at restaurants or other businesses when their service is particularly good. Therefore, even the most luxurious apartment complexes found on web sites have a significant number of "legitimate" complaints.

Timing
It's also important to consider the timing between reviews for certain apartments in atlanta developments. One way to look into the switch is to examine the apartment communities that a company owns. Look at their locations, the demographic of people in the area, and the prices on units. These things can tell you a lot about what kind of values a specific company stands behind.

Adopting a child

While anyone can choose to care for a child in need for short or long-term periods, such as a foster care situation; adoption is a different situation that requires a much different commitment. Adoption is the legal act of permanently placing a child with a parent or parents other than the birth parents. In this process, the parental rights of the birth parents are permanently terminated. The adoptive parents then assume full legal responsibility for the child. The child, in turn, gains the same legal rights as that of a child born to the adoptive parents.

Adoption means that the connection between the child and the caregiver is legal and binding on both parties, not just convenient. It makes it a crime for the caregiver to abandon the child. It also makes it legal for the adoptive parents to make decisions that seriously influence the child's destiny: what type of religious education will occur; what schools the child will attend; methods of discipline that will be used, etc. A casual caregiver would not be subject to the same penalties under the law.

Adoption involves a great deal of paperwork, as well as the assistance of lawyers, social workers, and judges to finalize the process. It is a permanent arrangement just like a natural parent-child relationship. However, for most families, adoption is ultimately an act of love and the desire to enrich their family and the life of the child who becomes a part of that family.

Tips to protect your children from online

Having a computer can enhance our lives and the Internet is fast becoming an indispensable tool in not only adult’s lives but in the daily lives of children and teenagers. A little bit of safety can go a long way in terms of protecting our families.

• Keep the computer in a central area so you can see what's happening when your kids are using it.
• Choose a browser that's child friendly such as Yahooligans
• Install surveillance software such as the one located at emailspy.com to keep track of everything happening on the computer. This can provide you with details you can use to ensure safe usage of your computer.
• Post the rules for safe computer use near the computer so your child sees what's expected of him/her.
• Set times for usage such as set times per day when your child is allowed to use the computer so you know exactly how much time they are spending online and can track their activities appropriately.
• Tell your children they can only chat with people that they know and review their instant messenger buddy lists to determine who your child is speaking with.
• Review your child's 'myspace.com' or other similar sites to see what information they are posting about them to ensure their safety.

General Suggestions
Safety rule suggestions to be posted near your computer are:

• Don't chat with strangers
• Never give out your real name, address or phone number
• Do not send out pictures online
• Do not download files or programs without permission
• Do not use the web cam with strangers
• Only use Yahooligans (or other parent approved website) for Internet searches unless Mom or Dad is present before you click on a link
• Ask Mom or Dad before entering any online contest that requires personal details.

Children can benefit from help with their homework, fun and games and contest entries online. You need to be careful to overlook your children's activities. Children are trusting by nature and some predators gain children's trust by engaging in conversations with them over a long period of time before subtly asking for personal information and photographs. Many pedophiles will pose as children in chat rooms for long periods of time before making a move in order to secure your child's trust.

Earth, our home planet

Earth, our home planet, is the only planet in our solar system known to harbor life - life that is incredibly diverse. All of the things we need to survive are provided under a thin layer of atmosphere that separates us from the uninhabitable void of space. As far as I know Earth is made up of complex, interactive systems that are often unpredictable. Air, water, land, and life - including humans - combine forces to create a constantly changing world that we are striving to understand. Viewing Earth from the unique perspective of space provides the opportunity to see Earth as a whole. Recently I have found one website named thehomegalaxy.com when I am searching for space pictures where I have gained a lot of information about earth and space. And I would like to share some of the information with you. Scientists around the world have discovered many things about our planet by working together and sharing their findings. Some facts are well known. For instance, Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest in the solar system. Earth's diameter is just a few hundred kilometers larger than that of Venus. The four seasons are a result of Earth's axis of rotation being tilted more than 23 degrees. Oceans at least 4 km deep cover nearly 70 percent of Earth's surface. Fresh water exists in the liquid phase only within a narrow temperature span (0 degrees to 100 degrees Celsius). This temperature span is especially narrow when contrasted with the full range of temperatures found within the solar system. The presence and distribution of water vapor in the atmosphere is responsible for much of Earth's weather. Near the surface, an ocean of air that consists of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and 1 percent other ingredients envelops us. This atmosphere affects Earth's long-term climate and short-term local weather; shields us from nearly all harmful radiation coming from the Sun; and protects us from meteors as well - most of which burn up before they can strike the surface. Satellites have revealed that the upper atmosphere actually swells by day and contracts by night due to solar activity. From the vantage point we can be able to observe our planet globally.
Earth's land surfaces are also in motion. For example, the North American continent continues to move west over the Pacific Ocean basin, roughly at a rate equal to the growth of our fingernails. Earthquakes result when plates grind past one another, ride up over one another, collide to make mountains, or split and separate. These movements are known as plate tectonics. Developed within the last 30 years, this explanation has unified the results of centuries of study of our planet, long believed to be unmoving.

A Manicure

These days every body is concentrating mostly to look good. So a manicure for nails also adds a feature to look good. A manicure is a cosmetic beauty treatment for the fingernails and hands by a nail technician. A manicure treatment can be just for the hands or nails, or can be for both. A common manicure found is the filing, shaping of the nails and the application of polish. There are also manicure services that are specialties for the hands and feet. For the hands, the soaking of a softening substance and the application of a lotion is a common specialty. Another common specialty is applying this similar treatment of lotion to the feet, called pedicure. The word "manicure" derives from Latin: manus for hand, cura for "care".
Manicures often include the filing, polishing, and painting of fingernails. A manicure may also include the application of artificial nail tips, acrylics or artificial nail gels. Some manicures can include the painting of pictures or designs on the nails or applying small decals or imitation jewels.
In many areas, manicurists are licensed and follow regulation. Since skin is manipulated and is sometimes trimmed, there is a certain risk of spreading infection when tools are used across many people and therefore sanitation is a serious issue.

Swimming Technique

The human body is 70% water and has a very similar density to water. While the lungs are filled with air, the body is slightly less dense than the surrounding water, and there is a net upward force on the body. Thus staying afloat requires only a slight propelling of water downward relative to the body, and transverse motion only a slight propelling of water in a direction opposite to the direction of intended motion. Propelling is accomplished by using the hands and forearms as paddles, and by kicking the legs and feet to push water away from the body. Since salt water is denser than fresh water, less effort is required to stay afloat in salt water than in fresh water.
Swimming styles have been developed based on the following principles:
Try to keep the legs straight. Dropped legs or a slanted torso dramatically increase drag. The hand should be extended forward of the head as far as possible. This increases the average length at the water line, substantially increasing speed. Recent research has shown that hand force applied to the water is generated by the rotation of the hips, and not by the muscles of the arm. The muscles that pull the arm through the water are attached within one inch of the top of the arm. With a 21" arm, the lever ratio is 1:20, which means that 100 lbs. of pull by the shoulder muscles produces only 5 lbs. of force at the hand as it pushes back against the water. The torque generated by the larger, stronger hip muscles, on the other hand, whips the hands through the water, much like golfers or batters whip their clubs and bats through the air with a fast turn of the hips. Elite swimmers who were able to make modest increases in the acceleration of their hips doubled their peak hand force output. The time spent on the side should be maximized so the shoulders do not break the water line and do not produce bow waves. This reduces the frontal cross-section, reducing drag further, and also increasing the ratio between the body's water-line-length and width. Similar improvements are possible by orienting the narrowest direction of head, hands, legs and arms into the water. The torso is by far the most critical. The motion of the hand, arm, and leg from the back to the front should be in the air for as much time during the recovery stroke as possible, and in the water, oriented as hydro dynamically as possible, because the returning appendage has to move at least twice as fast as the swimmer, and in the water generates eight times the drag of an equal amount of torso frontal area. Rotating the shoulders also adds power to the pull by using abdominal muscles to help pull the arm through the water. The basic "catch" of the water is not nearly as critical as the above items. Most swimmers simply grab water with their hand flat, or the fingers slightly spread, and then draw it smoothly down their body. None of the above techniques require improved strength. With strength training, the hands and feet can be extended further into the water, gaining more propulsion. For beginners, increased strength brings only small improvements if the above strategies are not optimal.
Another swimming technique that can help an athlete swim at a higher performance level is proper breathing techniques. Breathing correctly can make the swimmer swim faster and with less fatigue. Competitive swimmers take in one breath and gradually let it out over three to four strokes. As the race progresses and the swimmer become tired, less oxygen from those breaths reaches the muscles. It is possible to teach the body to run on less than normal levels of oxygen. Take a deep breath at one side of a pool, submerge fully, and kick like a dolphin. Try crossing the pool with one breath, and then extend the distance. Another way to practice endurance is by taking a breath and letting it out over six strokes.

Mass Marketing: Present and Future

Mass market is approach to advertising that attempts to reach every consumer, rather than targeting a particular market segment. A mass-market strategy is effective for products that appeal to a broad cross-section of consumers, like aspirin or orange juice. It is not appropriate for products with limited appeal, such as a gold club or sewing pattern. Mass marketing is a marketing approach in which the marketer addresses all segments of the market as though they are the same. The approach results in a single marketing plan with the same mix of product, price, promotion, and place strategies for the entire market. The appeal of mass marketing is in the potential for higher total profits.
In spite of the shift to market segmentation, mass marketing continues to be used in many situations and has potential for others. Products with broad appeal and few distinguishing characteristics—such as household cleaners, potato chips, and pain relievers—lend themselves to mass marketing just as they always have. At the same time, businesses that use mass marketing for their goods and services continue to look for ways to enlarge their markets by designing different appeals for non customers. Chewing gum, for example, is presented as an alternative to smoking. Utilities and credit cards offer special rates to entice potential high-volume customers. And discount retailers, such as Wal-Mart, match their mix of mass-marketed products to local customer bases. Some form of the approach will likely market any current or future product that has mass-marketable attributes. In addition, the Internet provides a new medium for mass-marketing initiatives, and newly opened international markets offer a possible arena for mass-marketing opportunities.

Going to apartment for the first time

One can easily shift their homes from one place to another. But it will become very hard to stay at the place, which is not adjustable. That’s why you need to follow basic things especially when you are going for Minneapolis apartment search,

• The environment and neighbors should be good and should provide safety.
• You should be clear about how many rooms you want;
• Cost or rent of the apartment should be reasonable.
• How big the rooms should be in the apartment.
• Rooms should be so spacious that even the heavy furniture should fit in it.
• Guest rooms and exercise or musical equipment should fit if any.
• After the entire above task has been done next step would be shopping that is you need to purchase all the necessaries you need for the home.
• The first comes furniture, bed or mattresses.
• Sofas: They're especially essential for when you have guests over.
• Acquire some bowls, cups, plates, forks, spoons, and knives--disposable or permanent.
• Air coolers, washing machines dressing equipment, dining tables’ chairs etc.,
• Curtains, lights and shower rings.

These are some of the tips to be followed when you are planning to go to the apartment for the first time.

Car Auctions

I was searching a car in good condition to buy which could support my first car. One of my colleagues suggested me to go for the auctions where I could get new vehicles at cheaper price. I found some information in Internet, which could be helpful to anyone who is planning to buy a second car.

A Car dealer auction is a specialized form of auction. Millions of vehicles are sold at dealer auto auctions every year. These auctions are restricted for the general public and only licensed dealers can participate. Prices of vehicles sold at dealer auctions tend to be lower than those advertised on any dealer’s lot. Sellers forgo a potentially higher sticker price to take their inventory to a dealer auction where it will be auctioned off for thousands less than retail for a number of reasons.

Maintaining aging inventory costs dealers both money and reputation. However, old or otherwise unattractive inventory accounts for a minuscule portion of the cars sold at dealer auctions. Most vehicles sold are off-lease returns, replaced rental fleets, company cars, repossessed vehicles and trade-ins. Types of auctions are

• Off-lease: vehicles returned to the financial institution at the end of a lease term.
• Off rental: rental companies normally replace their fleets once a year, releasing a flood of late-model cars to the secondary market.
• Company/fleet cars: companies of varying sizes own or lease cars, trucks or vans that they typically keep for two or more years, although it is not uncommon to see current year models sold at the auctions.
• Repossessed: financial institutions for delinquency or another reason for recall can voluntarily or involuntarily repossess vehicles.
• Trade-in: dealer inventory that is aging or does not meet their profile (e.g., an old Toyota Avalon that was traded in for a new CLK350 Cabriolet at a Mercedes-Benz franchised dealership). Traded-in cars may have useful extras and sometimes even after market modifications.

There are special auctions for these types of vehicles (salvage, rebuilt or junk vehicles), sold mostly by insurance companies. Other types of auctions specialize in the sale of police or government cars; some of those actually allow public access.

The Academy Awards

The Academy Awards will be at the lime light after the new year celebrations are over. The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is among the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremonies in the world.
The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held on Thursday, May 16, 1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood to honor outstanding film achievements of 1927 and 1928. It was hosted by actor Douglas Fairbanks and director William C. DeMille. Most recently, the 79th Academy Awards ceremony was held on Sunday, February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood to honor outstanding film achievements of 2006. It was hosted by day-time television talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.
The 80th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, February 24, 2008, and will be hosted by Comedy Central's The Daily Show host, Jon Stewart. AMPAS, a professional honorary organization, maintains a voting membership of 5,830 as of 2007. Actors constitute the largest voting bloc, numbering 1,311 members (22 percent) of the Academy's composition. Votes for Oscars have been tabulated and certified by the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (and its predecessor Price Waterhouse) for the past 72 annual awards ceremonies.
The official name of the Oscar statuette is the Academy Award of Merit. Made of gold-plated britannium on a black metal base, it is 13.5 in (34 cm) tall, weighs 8.5 lb (3.85 kg) and depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style holding a crusader's sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes. The five spokes each represent the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers and Technicians. MGM’s art director Cedric Gibbons, one of the original Academy members, supervised the design of the award trophy by printing the design on scroll. In need of a model for his statue Gibbons was introduced by his then wife Dolores del Río to Emilio "El Indio" Fernández. Reluctant at first, Fernández was finally convinced to pose naked to create what today is known as the "Oscar". Then sculptor George Stanley sculpted Gibbons' design in clay, and Alex Smith cast the statue in tin and copper and then gold-plated it over a composition of 92.5 percent tin and 7.5 percent copper. The only addition to the Oscar since it was created is a minor streamlining of the base. Approximately 40 Oscars are made each year in Chicago, Illinois by the manufacturer, R.S. Owens. If they fail to meet strict quality control standards, the statuettes are cut in half and melted down.
The root of the name "Oscar" is contested. One biography of Bette Davis claims that she named the Oscar after her first husband, bandleader Harmon Oscar Nelson. Another claimed origin is that of the Academy’s Executive Secretary, Margaret Herrick, who first saw the award in 1931 and made reference of the statuette reminding her of her Uncle Oscar. Columnist Sidney Skolsky was present during Herrick’s naming and seized the name in his byline, "Employees have affectionately dubbed their famous statuette 'Oscar'" (Levy 2003). Both Oscar and Academy Award are registered trademarks of the Academy, fiercely protected through litigation and threats thereof.
As of the 79th Academy Awards ceremony held in 2007, a total of 2,663 Oscars have been awarded. A total of 290 different actors have won an acting Oscar (including Honorary Awards and Juvenile Awards). Of these, 144 are still alive today.

Systems Theory Overview

Systems theory is one of the most influential concepts that the modern day has ever seen. Ideas from systems theory have grown with diversified areas, exemplified by the work of Béla H. Bánáthy, ecological systems with Howard T. Odum, Eugene Odum and Fritjof Capra, organizational theory and management with individuals such as Peter Senge, interdisciplinary study with areas like Human Resource Development from the work of Richard A. Swanson, and insights from educators such as Debora Hammond. As a transdisciplinary, interdisciplinary and multiperspectival domain, the area brings together principles and concepts from ontology, philosophy of science, physics, computer science, biology, and engineering as well as geography, sociology, political science, psychotherapy (within family systems therapy) and economics among others. Systems theory thus serves as a bridge for interdisciplinary dialogue between autonomous areas of study as well as within the area of systems science itself.
In this respect, with the possibility of misinterpretations, Bertalanffy believed a general theory of systems “should be an important regulative device in science,” to guard against superficial analogies that “are useless in science and harmful in their practical consequences.” Others remain closer to the direct systems concepts developed by the original theorists. For example, Ilya Prigogine, of the Center for Complex Quantum Systems at the University of Texas, Austin, has studied emergent properties, suggesting that they offer analogues for living systems. The theories of Autopoiesis of Francisco Varela and Humberto Maturana are a further development in this field. Important names in contemporary systems science include Russell Ackoff, Bela Banathy, Stanford Beer, Mandy Brown, Peter Checkland, Robert Flood, Fritjof Capra, Michael C. Jackson, and Werner Ulrich, among others.
With the modern foundations for a general theory of systems following the World Wars, Ervin Laszlo, in the preface for Bertalanffy's book Perspectives on General System Theory, maintains that the translation of "general system theory" from German into English has "wroth a certain amount of Havoc". The preface explains that the original concept of a general system theory was "Allgemeine Systemtheorie (or Lehre)," pointing out the fact that "Theorie" (or "Lehre") just as "Wissenschaft" (translated Scholarship), "has a much broader meaning in German than the closest English words ‘theory’ and ‘science'". With these ideas referring to an organized body of science and "any systematically presented set of concepts, whether they are empirical, axiomatic, or philosophical," "Lehre" is associated with theory and science in the etymology of general systems, but also does not translate from the German very well; "teaching" is the closest equivalent. While many of the root meanings for the idea of a “general systems theory” might have been lost in the translation and many were led to believe that the theorists had articulated nothing but a pseudoscience, systems theory became a nomenclature that early investigators used to describe the interdependence of relationships in organization by defining a new way of thinking about science and scientific paradigms.
A system from this frame of reference is composed of regularly interacting or interrelating groups of activities. For example, in noting the influence in organizational psychology as the field evolved from “an individually oriented industrial psychology to a systems and developmentally oriented organizational psychology,” it was recognized that organizations are complex social systems; reducing the parts from the whole reduces the overall effectiveness of organizations. This is at difference to conventional models that center on individuals, structures, departments and units separate in part from the whole instead of recognizing the interdependence between groups of individuals, structures and processes that enable an organization to function. Laszlo explains that the new systems view of organized complexity went "one step beyond the Newtonian view of organized simplicity" in reducing the parts from the whole, or in understanding the whole without relation to the parts. The relationship between organizations and their environments became recognized as the foremost source of complexity and interdependence. In most cases the whole has properties that cannot be known from analysis of the constituent elements in isolation. Bela H. Banathy, who argued - along with the founders of the systems society - that “the benefit of humankind” is the purpose of science, has made significant and far-reaching contributions to the area of systems theory. For the Primer Group at ISSS, Banathy defines a perspective that iterates this view:
The systems view is a world-view that is based on the discipline of SYSTEM INQUIRY; Central to systems inquiry is the concept of SYSTEM. In the most general sense, system means a configuration of parts connected and joined together by a web of relationships. The Primer group defines system as a family of relationships among the members acting as a whole. Bertalanffy defined system as "elements in standing relationship."
Similar ideas are found in learning theories that developed from the same fundamental concepts, emphasizing that understanding results from knowing concepts both in part and as a whole. In fact, Bertalanffy’s organismic psychology paralleled the learning theory of Jean Piaget (Bertalanffy 1968). Interdisciplinary perspectives are critical in breaking away from industrial age models and thinking where history is history and math is math segregated from the arts and music separate from the sciences and never the twain shall meet. The influential contemporary work of Peter Senge provides detailed discussion of the commonplace critique of educational systems grounded in conventional assumptions about learning, including the problems with fragmented knowledge and lack of holistic learning from the "machine-age thinking" that became a "model of school separated from daily life." It is in this way that systems theorists attempted to provide alternatives and an evolved ideation from orthodox theories with individuals such as Max Weber, Emile Durkheim in sociology and Frederick Winslow Taylor in scientific management, which were grounded in classical assumptions. The theorists sought holistic methods by developing systems concepts that could be integrated with different areas.
The contradiction of reductionism in conventional theory (which has as its subject a single part) is simply an example of changing assumptions. The emphasis with systems theory shifts from parts to the organization of parts, recognizing interactions of the parts are not "static" and constant but "dynamic” processes. Conventional closed systems were questioned with the development of open systems perspectives. The shift was from absolute and universal authoritative principles and knowledge to relative and general conceptual and perceptual knowledge, still in the tradition of theorists that sought to provide means in organizing human life. Meaning, the history of ideas that proceeded ere rethought not lost. Mechanistic thinking was particularly critiqued, especially the industrial-age mechanistic metaphor of the mind from interpretations of Newtonian mechanics by Enlightenment philosophers and later psychologists that laid the foundations of modern organizational theory and management by the late 19th century. Classical science had not been overthrown, but questions arose over core assumptions that historically influenced organized systems, within both social and technical sciences.

Digital Audio Player

More commonly referred to as an MP3 player, a digital audio player ("DAP") is a portable handheld electronic device that stores, organizes and plays audio files. Some DAPs are also referred as portable media players as they have image-viewing and/or video-playing support. Most DAPs are powered by rechargeable batteries, some of which are not user replaceable. Listening to music stored on DAPs is typically through earphones connected with a 3.5 mm jack. Internal speakers and docking stations are also available.
Digital audio players are generally categorized by storage media:

• Flash-based Players – These are non mechanical solid state devices that hold digital audio files on internal flash memory or removable flash media called memory cards. Due to technological advancements in flash memory, these originally low-storage devices are now available commercially ranging up to 16 GB. Because they are solid state and do not have moving parts they require less battery power and may be more resilient to hazards such as dropping or fragmentation than hard disk-based players. Basic MP3 player functions are commonly integrated into USB flash drives.
• Hard drive-based Players or Digital Jukeboxes – Devices that read digital audio files from a hard disk drive (HDD). These players have higher capacities currently ranging up to 160 GB. At typical encoding rates, this means that thousands of songs – perhaps an entire music collection – can be stored on one player. Because of the storage capacity, devices that also display video and pictures are often hard disk drive based. Such multi-media devices are usually called portable media players (PMPs).
• MP3 CD Players – Portable CD players that can decode and play MP3 audio files stored on CDs.