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The Benefits of a Rack Mounted Server for your Business
Ever considered owning a server? There are many benefits of owning one, but it's not without its falls. If you are serious about buying one for yourself or your company, then you are certainly willing and able to part with the huge amount of money these things go for.
Ever considered owning a server? There are many benefits of owning one, but it's not without its falls. If you are serious about buying one for yourself or your company, then you are certainly willing and able to part with the huge amount of money these things go for.
However, chances are you are not all that adept with the hardware or technical issues that come with running your own server. That is why I suggest considering getting yourself a rack mount server, especially if you are a beginner. This type of server will make your first experience a less daunting one.
Before we can dive into all the details and the major benefits of having a rack mount server, it's important to understand what a rack mount server is. By definition, a rack server is a device on a computer or a certain network, and it is used to manage network resources in an efficient manner. The server is made to be installed in a framework best known as a rack, which features multiple slots each designed to host a hardware unit. You can think of it as a spice cabinet where you can remove or replace parts as you need. So, if you need to set a couple of PCs in a much smaller and convenient space, a rack server will make the process a breeze suggests providers of industrial PCs' Chassis Plans.
Rack servers are used across the globe for various purposes. You will usually find them in companies that are tech-intensive such as multimedia companies that utilize video editing programs, 3D animation programs, and other applications. You will also come across rack mounted servers in both big and small internet service providers, Hosting companies, LAN houses and many other places. A rack server is made to fit an open personal computer in a closed cabinet. So, in addition to ease of use, this type of server saves you a tremendous amount of space.
Another attractive benefit of rack servers is security. The ability to keep a rack server inside a cabinet gives you an extra layer of protection from various elements such as pests, dust, climates, accidents and much more. These servers come in various sizes, which depend on the configurations and height. As per the definition of the EIA (Electronic Industries Association), the standard sizes are 1U, 2U, 3U, 4U, 5U, 6U, and 7U. The right size will depend on your needs.
When it comes to choosing a rack mounted server, ventilation is perhaps the most important thing to consider. Getting an expensive brand new rack mounted server will not be efficient in a poorly ventilated area. The last thing you want is a meltdown as this will set you back thousands of dollars. So, before you purchase and install this type of server, it's advisable to consult an expert and they will recommend the ideal ventilation system and give you tips on how to keep your server performing optimally throughout its lifetime. The storage space is another thing to consider and luckily, a professional will be able to guide you on that as well.
Overview of Identity and Access Management Platforms
The larger the company, the more information systems and staff members it has. This brings the issue of managing employee accounts and their access to enterprise systems to the fore. In a small company, this can be done manually by in-house system administrators.
In a large company, however, this presents a number of challenges: a large and ramified IT infrastructure makes manual management of identification and access a very labor-intensive process. We also need not remind you that the greater the human involvement, the higher the risk of errors, delays, information security incidents, and even intentional sabotage.
History is rife with examples where employees leaked confidential corporate information to competitors or intentionally harmed the employer after losing their job.
To avoid such unfortunate outcomes while maximally automating and streamlining access management, companies resort to identity and access management (IAM) systems. They help manage user accounts and their access to corporate systems, applications, and devices. This solves all of the above-mentioned and many other issues. Such systems are plentiful. Our overview covers some of them.
According to Gartner experts and industry pros, they rank among the best in this segment. You can also choose the one that suits you best using the selection tool we devised. It stands to mention that similar terms exist, such as Identity and Access Governance (IAG), Identity Management (IdM), etc. They actually refer to one and the same thing. For the sake of convenience, we use the term "Identity and Access Management" or its abbreviation "IAM".
If you dissect the anatomy of IAM systems, you will see that these are integrated solutions comprising many tools. They are responsible for various processes, among which several key ones stand out: single sign-on systems, multi-factor authentication and password management, access control and secure storage of user profile data.
Reliable credential management systems should handle these tasks without too much trouble. They include tools for gathering and logging information about user logins into corporate operating systems and employee access to devices (ranging from printers to servers and data repositories). They also greatly simplify and automate the configuration of accounts and provision of access to employees.
For instance, upon creating a new employee account, the administrator chooses his or her access level. Depending on this setting, the user can immediately use all information systems accessible at this level. The user can do so using his or her account password.
However, this user cannot access a server with confidential information using this account password. It is important to understand that an IAM system is not a solution that can be installed with a few clicks and be up and running immediately. Each company has its own unique IT infrastructure to which any platform has to be customized and integrated.
An IAM platform often comprises several standalone products that can be used collectively or separately. It all depends on the objectives and needs of the company. That's why technical aspects should be considered first when choosing a platform of this kind.
For instance, you should look at the degree to which a specific platform is compatible with the IT infrastructure: whether it has the appropriate connectors (modules that interact with corporate tools), the extension and scalability opportunities it offers, the number of supported accounts, and the cost of specific products.
It also would not hurt to check how user-friendly the system is. This is not limited to an intuitive interface and level of automation. You should look at how easy it is to add and delete new employee accounts, grant permanent or temporary access, and perform other common procedures. Most products let you evaluate their functionality by running a demo version.
Many products of this type are currently available on the market, both those by big-name vendors and lesser-known companies. You can compare the functionality of some of these tools and choose the best option for your business on ROI4CIO's comparison table of IAM platforms, search for it on their website.
Let us now examine specific solutions.
IAM Platforms
Oracle Identity Management
Oracle's solution is a comprehensive, integrated platform for managing data and roles both in an enterprise setting and in the cloud. Oracle Identity and Access Management is currently one of the most functionally advanced products on the market. It covers almost all aspects of identity management, access control, and directory services. It features over 20 tools, including solutions for managing privileged accounts, access from mobile devices, passwords, detailed reports, etc.
All basic identity and access management functions are also available through a multi-user cloud platform.
Oracle Identity and Access Management has an advanced analytical system. For example, it can find inactive accounts and detect unauthorized changes to access privileges by administrators of IT systems in an enterprise. It also displays current and historical data of audits of employee access privileges. You can also generate a report on the history of decisions to grant access privileges.
Keeping up with the times, the product developers implemented support of the Social Sign-on authentication mechanism for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn social networks, as well as Google and Yahoo accounts. This lets you logon to corporate resources using these accounts or simply import information from them when creating corporate accounts. This solution is fairly convenient in addition to being a time saver.
Okta Identity and Access Management
Okta offers a number of cloud products for comfortable management of user access and account credentials adapted to web applications. Based entirely in the cloud, this service is compatible with both cloud applications and the corporate IT infrastructure.
Okta offers a total of six products as part of its IAM platform. Worthy of special mention are a single sign-on system and a universal directory that offers access to all users, groups, and devices. It also comes with a multi-factor authentication feature and tools for managing access to the API and the company's life cycle.
Okta also offers its own APIs and off-the-shelf tools that can be integrated into applications. Okta tools are compatible with various types of directories, including Active Directory and LDAP, and can also be integrated with third-party identity and access management tools.
Okta products give administrators a very high level of control. They allow configuring a number of conditions for user integration into a particular system based on specific criteria, for example, whether or not the user has an existing account.
Administrators can also generate real-time security reports that help identify vulnerabilities or abnormal user behavior. Since the product is entirely cloud-based, its deployment and configuration takes the least possible amount of time. The tools are free to try for 30 days.
SailPoint IdentityIQ
This is an integrated identity and access management solution that uses role-based models, rules, and policies. In addition to access management proper, it offers detailed information about employee interactions with applications and data.
IdentityIQ also offers the essential controls and tools for unauthorized access prevention, as well as access-related risk analysis functionality. The product offers a single sign-on system for business application users. Both cloud and local services are supported.
In addition to IdentityIQ, SailPoint also offers a cloud platform called IdentityNow. Both have similar functionality and a very user-friendly and intuitive interface. Free trial versions of the products are also available.
IBM Security Identity Manager
IBM has been on the Gartner leaderboard for several consecutive years with its IAM platform. Its product, Security Identity Manager, is a role- and policy-based tool. It offers a very high level of automation. If configured properly, the involvement of administrators is minimal and comes down to creating user accounts and monitoring system performance. It is fairly easy to configure Security Identity Manager after the first launch using a Wizard tool.
The platform can be shared across multiple companies and projects at the same time. For example, it offers access to specific resources not only to the company's own employees, but also to business partners or third-party developers. It also offers an audit feature and detailed reports on user access. This ensures a high level of security and minimizes access-related risks.
The degree of risk is assessed with the help of AI. A great deal of attention is also devoted to management of privileged accounts.
A detailed audit and reporting feature is also available for them. In the event of unauthorized access, safeguards are in place to minimize potential damage caused by intruders. This is accomplished using a standalone tool called IBM Security Secret Server.
The solution can be rolled out both on enterprise hardware and in the cloud. The cloud offers access to many popular SaaS applications.
Microsoft Identity Manager
Microsoft Corporation is renowned for its software and cloud services. It is therefore no surprise that it also has something to offer in the realm of identity management.
Microsoft Identity Manager manages account access to applications, directories, databases, etc. It uses sets of policies, rules, and roles, and also provides user integration between dissimilar systems. This makes them accessible from a single location under one user account.
The product offers powerful tools for managing passwords and multi-factor authentication as well as privileged accounts. It comes with Azure Active Directory. This cloud-based solution enables comfortable interaction with cloud applications and provides a high level of security.
Support of mobile devices is another strong suit of this platform. This is made possible by a standalone tool called Enterprise Mobility + Security, which offers control and identification of mobile device users and provides reliable protection of data and applications on them.
CA Technologies Identity and Access Management
The platform offered by CA Technologies comprises five products. The core product is called CA Identity Suite. As its name suggests, the product is responsible for identity and access management. The product supports local and cloud applications, can be integrated with various IT systems and scaled up or down depending on the current needs and changes in the enterprise infrastructure.
Identity Suite offers convenient reports and risk analysis, making it possible to neutralize or minimize risks on the go. Role- and policy-based management is also supported.
The tools called CA Advanced Authentication and CA Single Sign-On support advanced authentication and single sign-on. Both tools provide a high level of security when used with web and mobile applications, while significantly simplifying access for employees (and customers and partners, if necessary).
In addition to these tools, CA Technologies offers a directory management tool called CA Directory and a security tool for applications called CA Rapid App Security. This tool grants access to applications after matching data on the device, the user account, and the application itself. The arsenal of Rapid App Security also features many other tools such as fingerprint or face scanners.
Ping Intelligent Identity Platform
The platform by Ping Identity is an integrated solution that can operate both as a regular corporate application and as a cloud service.
A hybrid usage model is also possible. Intelligent Identity Platform offers plenty of tools for effective identity and access management. They include sign-on and multi-factor authentication, support of policies, detailed reports with risk assessment, etc.
A great deal of attention is also devoted to access security. It is provided using not only standard methods and policies but also the company's brand-name proxy server (in the case of a cloud-based solution) or a configured corporate proxy.
The Ping cloud offers thousands of pre-configured applications accessible through this cloud.
The platform also offers convenient management of directories, supports all common types of devices, and provides AI-powered security.
NetIQ Identity & Access Management
NetIQ's versatile platform comes with the tools that cover all basic identity and access management needs of employees. Its policies are equally productive in local, mobile, and cloud environments, and the high level of security makes the workflows reliable and safe.
The NetIQ product supports multi-factor authentication and single sign-on in addition to providing a powerful password management tool. Detailed reports are available to system administrators. A particular focus is on privileged user accounts with a high level of access, since they can be compromised and exploited to harm the company.
All of these tools are available to customers as standalone solutions. Their functionality can be tested during a free trial period.
Brief Summary
We wish to thank contributor: Vladyslav Myronovych. In summary, he says: IAM platforms do not necessarily fall into the category of essential tools. Still, they can be a big help to the company's IT department.
Such systems can significantly reduce the time of forced interruptions of workflows, caused by delays in providing access or other similar issues. This in turn boosts the overall productivity of employees.
Keen to read another tech security article recommended by Vladyslav? Read on: The advantages of Next Generation Firewalls.
The 4 Benefits of Outsourced IT Services
The global outsourced service market is valued at approximately $85.6 billion. Two-thirds of this market is devoted to outsourced IT services.
While it's evident that companies are spending hugely on IT outsourcing, does it really work for all companies?
What about the risks and costs involved?
If you're still unsure about outsourced IT services, here are four facts that'll lead you to the right direction.
1. Outsourced IT Professionals are Experts and Always Available
While an in-house IT team may know the ins and outs of your company, they may not be well-versed with new technological trends.
An IT specialist knows the ins and outs of the latest business technologies. Top IT companies usually provide a professional team, and not a "one-man-band". Thus, by outsourcing IT, you'll be harnessing the collective expertise of several specialists.
Additionally, most IT firms offer dedicated 24/7 support plans for uninterrupted operations. In comparison, an in-house team is only available on a "nine-to-five" basis. Some of the members may also go on holidays several times a year.
2. Outsourcing IT is Cost-Effective
While cost may not be the main advantage of outsourcing, it's an important deciding factor. This is especially true for start-ups businesses on a tight budget.
Hiring an in-house IT team may seem like a more affordable option for many. But if you factor in some volatile costs, outsourcing will prove to be the cheaper option. These costs may include software licenses, maintenance costs, hardware expenses, and cloud service subscriptions.
What's more, outsourcing allows you to have a more consistent budget.
3. Outsourced IT Services Offer Better Security
Different businesses face different kinds of cybersecurity threats. An in-house team is more likely to make a few security mistakes. This can put your crucial business data at risk.
Hackers will use black hat and social engineering tactics to steal your data. Since IT companies have dealt with many cyber-attacks, there are familiar with these techniques. This puts them in a better position to protect your business against digital threats.
They'll also use infrastructure that's compliant with state cyber laws. For instance, if you're in Houston, IT companies like Marimon IT Solutions, SITSL, and Preactive IT Solutions are well-versed with the do's and don'ts of cybersecurity in the state.
4. Outsourcing IT Promotes Resource Optimization
Outsourcing IT services will help free your employees to do what they do best. For instance, if your in-house IT team specializes in building mobile apps, you'll be wasting their potential if you assign them unfamiliar tasks such as repairing hardware problems. And that's where an outsourced team comes in.
Outsourcing IT will also allow you to pay attention to other sectors of your business.
Leverage the Benefits of Outsourced IT Services
The main purpose of hiring outsourced IT services is to eliminate the stress that comes with managing your business' IT system. A good IT company will help you grow and give you a competitive advantage. More importantly, your day-to-day business activities will run smoothly.
For more IT security insights for your business, check out this quick guide.
3 Benefits of IOT for workforce productivity
In the past, one of the many snags firms faced in making informed decisions was in timely communication. After all, technology wasn't as evolved as it is today. Project managers, in particular, felt the pinch of imprecise data, delayed responses, decisions being overruled and their teams' contributions getting overlooked.
Things have thankfully changed, with the Internet of Things (IoT). An IoT network is quite simply, a web of connected devices that captures, processes and stores information. It further centralizes this data, thus saving precious hours in finding the right and relevant information. After all, when you know where and how things are filed away, your workload becomes considerably lighter, letting you multitask while remaining deadline-driven.
One of the reasons IoT enjoys immense popularity is that the host of sensors, barcodes and algorithms within the network render it robust from unlawful data tampering. This way, you're assured stays safe, and correct. What's more, when it comes to managing remote teams, a connected workplace makes it easier to coordinate face-time and facilitate team collaborations. Let's see how and where the benefits of IoT start to show up!
1. Assigns skilled staff to the right projects
No artificial intelligence application works correctly without the right human-driven capabilities, which explains why the search for competent workers never truly ends. But how would you know the work you assign your staff are making use of the right skills?
The answer lies in a resource management tool, which profiles your existing workforce by their availability, capabilities, location and experience. This is critical to feasible projects, because you need to confirm two things before saying yes to new work;
- You have the right quality and quantity of staff and
- That they have the bandwidth and knowledge to take it up.
The speciality of a resource tracking and planning software is that it syncs electronic employee records into an IoT network, giving you the upper hand in deciding the right fit for work, in terms of the type and quantity of competent staff.
This way, you optimize schedules such that your staff get to be productive without feeling overwhelmed or undervalued. There is the notion that staff who put in more hours or stay back late are more productive but nothing could be further from the truth. What renders true workforce efficiency is a workload smoothened out using an IoT connected network. Besides giving team-based views and acute insights into project demands, an IoT network gets both sides of the workforce equation right, guaranteeing uncompromised work quality for upcoming projects.
2. Unifies conversations for informed judgment calls
Excellent communication skills is a non-negotiable at work. In fact, communicating and making informed decisions is a package deal when you're a seasoned manager. For one, a project is backed financially which requires you to keep investors and clients informed of business activities at all times. And for another, you need to keep both your customers and employees engaged.
This is where the Internet of things come in. While retail stores worldwide are already relying on it to react and respond to changing consumer needs, an IoT connected workplace internally also gives you the opportunity to empower your employees, who are a vital organizational asset. For starters, a smart office gets people up and moving, and has the potential to influence how employees perceive each other and their work environment.
An IoT network amped up with instant messaging dashboards, for example, lets team members added to the channel pull up relevant conversations concerning actions, decisions and responses.
It saves time by bringing everybody on to the same page, from work done and changes requested to extensions granted and pending tasks. While water-cooler breaks and hallway conversations is a great talking exercise, what really keeps the lines of communication open is an online forum that digitizes conversations. This way, tasks stay on track with employees who spend their time on the clock productively.
3. Generates accurate effort estimates for project hours
One of the benefits of an IoT network is that it lets you estimate and forecast the supply of employees to foreseeable demand.
The booked versus actuals report is a feature typical of a resource planning tool. It weighs the number of planned hours for work against the actual hours your staff took or would take, to complete it. The intelligence within this report concerns your employees' billable hours and the efforts invested. You can subsequently adjust your estimates such that
- If actual hours exceed originally planned hours, you can find and deploy better qualified staff in the future.
- If planned hours turn out to be more than actual hours, you can maximize all hours billed by your staff.
The advantage of embedding this within an IoT connected workplace is that you aren't forced into a trade-off between skilled staff and complex work. In fact, your ability to generate precise effort and cost estimates actually strengthens, enabling you to stick to the budget when exploring newer work prospects.
The smart office today
A smart office makes it easy to stay organized and time-efficient. For one, it connects technology, people and the environment. Not only do you equip your workforce with the tools that boost their productivity but also give them flexible work options such as remote work and part-time hours.
After all, the option to work from home not only brings down stress levels but also lets remote teams maintain a healthy work-life balance, giving them one more reason to be productive. Corporate offices today are even benefiting from smart assistance, reduced energy bills and increased security, paving the way to a conducive, flexible and agile work environment .
Thanks, Aakash Gupta, who has several articles on workforce efficiency and enterprise resource management to his credit and you can find him on LinkedIn.
4 Online Threats to Your Business to Be Aware Of
Cybercrime has changed criminal activity. No longer are heists solely performed by rogues attempting to break into a building for money or jewelry.
Nowadays, business theft is likely to come in the form of a cyber attack, with a hacker attempting to gain access to their target's funds or data via a cyber-portal, which they can often do with ease.
Sadly, malicious cyber attacks are a genuine threat to companies of all sizes and in every industry. To ensure your business never becomes a cybercriminal's latest victim, here are the four online threats to your business to be aware of.
1. Phishing Scams
Phishing scams are one of the most common data security issues many companies face, and they can grant a cybercriminal with access to:
- Usernames
- Account passwords
- Credit card information
Hackers will commonly pass themselves off as a legitimate source to fool their victims and encourage them to provide sensitive data.
The best defense against a phishing scam is cybersecurity training. Your employees often pose the biggest risk to your business when it comes to this hacking tactic, which is why you must educate your staff on the signs of a potential threat and introduce strict cybersecurity policies for them to follow.
2. Docker Exploitation
Many organizations have invested in container authorization tools to deploy their applications successfully.
While these tools are ultimately improving the working lives for many DevOps engineers, they could pose a serious cybersecurity risk if left vulnerable, as a hacker could remotely execute a code on a server and gain full control of a production container cluster.
Thankfully, there are ways to detect and prevent Docker exploits with StackRox, as they will test the product against realistic vulnerabilities using algorithmic-based automatic anomaly detection, without the need to configure complex, unreliable rules.
3. Session Hijacking
As millions of online consumers communicate with companies on different servers located across the globe, cybercriminals can potentially listen to a conversation before stealing sensitive data. To do so, they might embark on SQL injections or man-in-the-middle attacks.
Businesses must, therefore, implement various measures to secure future communications and protect both their safety and their customers' data.
For example, they could incorporate cryptographic protocols, such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) to create safe and secure communications between a company's servers and their client web browsers.
4. Ransomware
Ransomware is a powerful type of malware that attempts to gain access to a computer, before locking out a user and demanding money in exchange for the recovery key to regain access to a network and data.
It is becoming a popular option with cybercriminals due to the invention of cryptocurrency, which can prevent law enforcement from tracking a payment.
The 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack is a prime example of the power of the malware, as it led to the infection of approximately 300,000 computers across the world in 150 countries, with the total damages reportedly reaching billions of dollars.
Top 20 Best CRM Software in 2019 for Small Business And Startups
Competition is getting fiercer in the global market. Companies are trying to put their best foot forward for surpassing their competitors. In this highly competitive environment attracting and retaining customers has become a challenging task. Which is why most of the companies are taking the help of a CRM tool to serve the customers in the best possible way.
CRM industry has seen exponential growth in the last few years. New players are constantly entering this market and trying to establish a strong foothold in the industry. Therefore, you'll see a long list of CRM vendors while searching online. You'll find everything from expensive tools with dozens of plans to customizable solutions with excellent features. From these ample options available, you need to filter and find the best for your organization.
Tough job- isn't it?
Fright not, to help you I have listed the best CRM software for 2019. Businesses of all sizes have used these tools.
We will go through the pros, cons and prices of each CRM tool to make the right decision. See which tools are tailored for the enterprises and which you should be using for your small business or startup.
Let's ponder over the fundamentals first before getting to the CRM software list of 2019.
The basics
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. Yes, it is a quite self-explanatory term. It means a software that helps you in managing and optimizing relationships with your valuable customers. It helps in managing your contacts data up-to-date, tracking interactions with prospects and streamlining the entire sales process.
"Corporations invest in sophisticated CRM, or Customer relationship management, programs to effectively oversee their relationship with their customers at every point during the buying process"- Marc Ostrofsky
Why should small business invest in a CRM?
The more knowledge you have about your customers, the better you can serve them. With a specific CRM for small business you can analyze the customer requirements and understand what they exactly need. CRM solution supports you in the journey of converting leads into sales. It is the best way to gain greater insights into customer behavior, buying trends, customer interaction and potential future requirements of the customers.
With a CRM tool you can:
- Track deals and identify risk in real-time
- Find out prospect's needs and expectations
- Store all customer data and notes in one place
- Access vital details of the customer from anywhere
- Create custom fields to gather specific details about your customers
- Prioritize high-value opportunities
- Identify satisfied customers and convert them into brand promoters
- Automate most of the reductant tasks
- Spot hot deals and convert them quickly
To explore more benefits of this excellent technology, refer the blog" How businesses benefit from CRM system?"
Statistics about CRM
Here are a few crm statistics that you should know:
- 91% of companies with 10 or more employees have a CRM system.
- 64.2% of companies, rate CRM tool as impactful or very impactful.
- 75% of sales honchos said that a CRM could be a beneficial tool in boosting sales figures.
- CRM offers an average ROI of $8.71 for every dollar spent.
- A study by Nucleus Research states that CRM increases sales by 29% and sales forecast accuracy by 42%.
Top CRM tools for 2019
Based on the reviews written on various reviewing sites I have compiled these top 20 CRM software for 2019.
1) Salesforce
Starting with a price of $25/user, Salesforce is easy to setup and can be placed in the cloud so easy to access. It has a wide spectrum of features and can be integrated with thousands of third-party applications. Salesforce is customizable to fit almost every use case and is secured, having granular security options. This CRM tool also caters multiple industries
One of its biggest downfalls is that it requires you to spend extra for advanced features. The tool is also slightly complex and requires specialized resources. The new update changes the tab orders and complicates the dashboard escalating the difficulty level. Finally, the customization toolkits can be challenging to use especially if you're new to the concept.
Bottom line:
Salesforce is a power-packed solution that shows the quickest way to solve a business problem. However, this high-end CRM can be a little expensive for small businesses; it is an ideal solution for large-scale enterprises.
2. Insightly
Insightly's price starts from $29/user. It is easy to use and invite new users. Along with this, its neat dashboard can be used for quick lookups and it also offers training videos to familiarize new users with various functionalities. It has excellent lead and pipeline management. Finally, the tool has a strong support team for instant help and provides wide options to import data making migration hassle-free
On the downside, Insightly has limited reporting capabilities and you must pay more to get highly useful features. Moreover, the visual impact is also missing which can effect the effectiveness of the software.
Bottom line:
Insightly is an intuitive tool tailored for multi-level organizations. It has a broad range of features that helps in managing both marketing and sales. Insightly offers a free version, but that doesn't consist the vital functionalities needed to ease sales and marketing process.
3. Salesmate
Salesmate is one of the software with lowest prices with $12/user. It is sasy to use and affordable and can be customized sales pipeline fitting unique sales process. Salesmate also eliminates manual work by providing seamless automation. It also has a built-in virtual phone system. It can also be synced with Google apps(G-Suite) and allows user to create unlimited customer reports.
Salesmate has a great mobile apps that is quick and responsive. The app is also well-designed and customizable dashboard. It provides daily reminder for completing tasks on time and is easy for lead nurturing and management. The app is also having excellent tracking and analytics capabilities. The app also provides extensive visibility into each stage of sales pipeline and integrates with a wide spectrum of third-party apps
There aren't a lot of cons to the salesmate software. The only two are that the outgoing emails sent through system do not create contacts directly and it lacks marketing automation features
Bottom line:
Salesmate is an intelligent CRM software for small business and startups with wide spectrum of vital features to improve your sales process. It amalgamates ease of use with excellent customer relationship management functions. It is affordable and perfectly suits the on-the-go working environment.
4. PipelineDeals
PipelineDeals software starts from $25/user. The software has a simple interface and powerful sales engagement features. Users can also access and add contracts from anywhere. Another feature that sets it apart is that it offers real time deal status update and allows users to set workflows and automate tasks.
The software has limited integrations with third-party applications and lacks click to dial options.
Bottom line-
PipelineDeals is a well-designed tool that helps companies in streamlining operation and standardizing processes. It easy to set up and use. PipelineDeals helps businesses of all types in effectively managing and maintaining strong customer relationships.
5. Hubspot
Hubspot starts from $50/user (for marketing hub & sales hub – $400 for service hub). It eliminates manual work by providing seamless automation and automatically logs every interaction. The software also provides educational support and allows users to schedule interaction with contacts. It integrates with various applications and platforms and has excellent tracking and analytics capabilities.
Hubspot needs a 12-month contract to work. It doesn't have A/B testing is the basic or pro package. While HubSpot does offer a wide range of tools, most of them are free on other platforms
Bottom line-
Hubspot is renowned for its marketing automation tools. The user can easily generate campaigns and instantly get relevant information about any specific company by just adding the company's name. It is convenient to use; businesses can find everything they need in one place.
6. Pipedrive
Pipedrive's price starts from $12.50/user and it provides clear overview of sales. It can be easily integrated with third-party business systems and aids in picking and focusing on the right deal with an organized timeline. The software also offers customization for unique business needs.
Furthermore, all conversations and related information about a contact is stored in centralized repository. The software also allows users to import data and sync emails and provides timely notification about each event. Finally, it is recommended because it enables projection of sales revenue
Pipedrive doesn't have the necessary features for sales other than pipeline in the basic plan and filtering data becomes cumbersome at times.
Bottom line:
Companies of any size can use Pipedrive. It supports over 100+ apps and integrations. Pipedrive makes work easier and faster. Businesses can easily set up customizable pipelines and manage their leads efficiently.
7. Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM starts from $12/user. It has a wide spectrum of customization options and offers compelling reports and visualizations. It allows users to customize the look and feel of the page. The CRM tracks customer interactions and allows mass updates. It is also easy to create quotes with this software and integrates well with G-Suite apps.
It becomes complicated to integrate the CRM with Zoho's other suite of software products and additional purchases are essential to make the solution robust.
Bottom line:
Connecting with customers across multiple channels gets easier with Zoho CRM. It is simple yet highly effective CRM. Zoho is fast to deploy. It aids businesses in streaming their marketing, sales and inventory management functions with a bunch of software products.
8. Vtiger
Vtiger's price starts from $10/user and it loads faster due to less complicated functionalities. Users can create new workflows by setting up conditions, alerts, and actions and can effortlessly create or edit modules with drag-and-drop tools. The software offers open source add-ons for Microsoft Outlook and the vital data is stored in secured data warehouse. Finally, it offers uninterrupted access to data
Vtiger's installation is a bit tricky and the notifications on mobile app are sometimes delayed
Bottom line:
Vtiger is an open source CRM that aids companies in getting organized and managing sales as well as support for rendering excellent buying experience to their customers. It helps the companies in getting better by providing in-depth analytics.
9. Capsule
Capsule's price starts from $18/user/month. The software is flexible and easy to get started. It allows users to categorize data using tags and contact lists can be created and used to send group email. Capsule supports integration with leading small business solutions and allows users to track the progress of their tasks and projects
There's a huge gap between free and professional account and the storage limit needs to be increased. Only limited tools can be integrated and customization can be challenging.
Bottom line:
Capsule CRM gives businesses complete control over their contacts and sales. They can easily keep a tab on their customers and related information using this high-end tool. Capsule is a well built and easy to navigate. There is no long-term lock, users can upgrade and cancel as per their requirement.
10. OnePageCRM
OnepPage CRM's price starts from $11/user. It captures leads from across the web using web forms and lead clippers and tracks deals in progress. The dashboard provides a neat list of to-do task and is easy to navigate. It also has an excellent interface and extensive learning resources
The CRM doesn't have an inbuilt calendar though you can sync it with your own. It's reporting functions are limited and customization options for large-scale organizations. Moreover, there's no built-in calling.
Bottom line:
OnePage CRM is a cloud-based CRM that allows business to focus on the next step of action with a clean and systematically organized dashboard. All the important information is available in place making it easier for users to keep tab on things that matter for their business.
11) Nimble
Nimble's price starts from $9/user and it easily filters and segments contacts. The software also aids in enhancing communication and automatically adds business and contact information to the leads based on their email signature. It also allows users to track communication history and progress of various tasks and provides timely reminders. Finally, it also has excellent workflow automation.
There are no sales reporting under basic plan and no pipeline management under basic plan. It lacks email tracking functionality and doesn't offer built-in calling or third-party integration.
Bottom line:
Nimble is a social CRM that automatically creates and updates relevant information about the prospect or customer. It seamlessly syncs with all the social media channel and give the users the details they need for converting their leads.
12. Nutshell
Nutshell starts from $19/user/month. It offers extensive integration with advanced third-party apps and allows users to keep track on daily follow-ups. Nutshell offers tutorial to acquaint the users with the platform and allows users to create, search and edit contact data easily.
It also offers unlimited online storage and provides multichannel customer supports and integrates with Microsoft office, G suite and office 365.
The software has limited integrations and multi-language options and there's no email automation under basic plan. Furthermore, there's no product training under basic plan and no sales activity report.
Bottom line:
Nutshell is a simple yet impactful CRM that helps businesses in staying organized and keeps them well-informed about sales opportunities in their database. It is a fully customizable solution that has an attractive interface and is quick to set up.
13. Close.io
Close.io's price starts from $59/user and one of its biggest benefits is that it automates follow-up process. It also allows users to create custom fields and reduces data-entry. The software automatically logs calls and emails, captures contact data of customers and is built-in VOIP.
Close.io's price is high as compared to various other competitive CRM for the similar features.
Bottom line:
Close.io is a CRM designed for an inside sales rep. It improves productivity and helps sales reps in making more calls as well as emails instantly. Close.io is very flexible and can be easily tweaked. This cloud-based solution is a perfect fit for small and mid-sized organizations.
14. Copper
Copper's price starts from $19/user/month (upto 3 users only). It provides all-round view of the business and allows users to create customized reports. The software offers flexible pipeline management tool and the API is extendable via Zapier integration. Copper also works best with G-suite.
There's lack of customization and it doesn't offer enough training videos. It also lacks call integrations.
Bottom line:
Copper is a comprehensive tool that eliminates manual entries and increases efficiency. mainly focused on providing G-suite integration, It is an actionable system that allows its users to set multiple targets and gives them complete control over their progress.
15. Zendesk Sell
Zendesk Sell starts from $19/user/month. It allows users to manage and track tasks as well as activities and users can view progress against contacts. It helps sales team in assigning and managing sales quotes and allows users to analyze and measure sales metrics. It also supports mobile application.
It offers limited functionalities and no bulk email functionality. Zendesk Sell Mailchimp integration and Zapier integration. It has no sales forecasting.
Bottom line:
Zendesk Sell is an all-in-one sales solution that aids in generating, nurturing, tracking and converting leads. It provides businesses full visibility into their sales cycle. Sales teams can customize the deals pipeline and use it the way they want.
16. Sugar CRM
Sugar CRM's price starts from $40/user. The software has an innovative UI and offers wide deployment options. It allows users to instantly create and manage quotes and supports 30+ languages. The software also allows users to analyze and predict sales growth.
Learning Sugarcrm framework is slightly challenging and the framework is vast and time-consuming. There is a lack of native chat functionality and advanced workflows are not covered under basic plan.
Bottom line:
Sugar CRM is an open source platform that is used by several large-scale enterprises. It is a best-in-class solution that offers sales, marketing and supporting capabilities. Sugar CRM helps businesses in driving leads, managing vital data and streamlining sales process.
17. Freshsales
Freshsales price starts from $15 user/month and it enables projection of sales revenue. It allows users to capture leads and group them based on their engagement with the website. It also allows users to track emails for understanding who clicked and opened the email and allows users to sync email, calendar, and contact tools.
Users can store and retrieve data associated with customer contacts and accounts and view scheduled meetings and appointments in one single view.
It lacks robust reporting and has limited integration. It's advanced customization not available under basic plan and the calling feature provided through Fresh Caller app.
Bottom line:
Freshsales is a powerful system that fits right into daily workflow of various sales teams. It offers built-in phone as well as email integration and allows companies to score and rank leads. Freshsales provides a 360-degree view into customer's behavior and notifies sales teams for taking timely actions.
18. Act CRM
Act CRMs, price starts from $35/user/month. It is highly customizable and offers software-based communication tools. It can be Integrated with Excel, Outlook, MS word as well as has an added web page integration module and enables users to monitor and manage their deals. The software displays the probability to close a deal and gives users the flexibility to automate marketing related tasks,
Its Initial set up is complicated and the interface is difficult to navigate. Most of the functionalities are not intuitive and provides marketing automation feature as an add-o and the support is paid.
Act is a high-end CRM that offers ultimate toolset for boosting the growth of a business. It provides impeccable sales and marketing features that connects businesses with lucrative opportunities. Act is solution that can be used by companies in any market.
19. Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales
Microsoft Dynamic's price is $65/user/month and is very user-friendly. It has wide spectrum of applications that supports iOS, Android and Window phone devices. Users can keep contacts updates in an organized system and it enables customization of programs as per unique sales workflow. It also allows users to automate market-related activities.
Learning the system's functionalities can be challenging and customization need expert resources. Finally the goal management and territory management not covered under basic plan.
Bottom line:
Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales is an all-in-one solution that provides integrated solutions for tracking leads, automating processes, generating sales and improving operations. It minimizes duplications and enhances efficiency by integrating with well-known applications like Outlook, Lync, Word and other Microsoft applications.
20 Apptivo
Apptivo's price starts from $8/user/month and covers major areas of business-like sales, project and invoicing. The email integration makes it easy for users to connect their email boxes renders more transparency into client engagement and enables customizations.
The mobile app has limited functionalities and doesn't have built-in calling functionality.
Bottom line:
Apptivo is a cloud-based suite that offers modules to businesses for managing contacts, leads, customer service tickets, and overall sales. It is a conglomeration of CRM features, project management tools and invoicing features for small and medium-sized businesses.
Wrapping up
Choosing a CRM is a critical decision for your small business. So, take it wisely. There are many things you need to consider while making this decision. Like the price, features, and requirements. So, I researched and covered the main points in this best CRM software list for 2019.
Discuss with your team and find out their requirement to understand what features your company requires. Based on the need analyzation of your company, explore these CRM tools and select the best fit for your organization.
Thanks blogger, Michelle Joe for your contribution. You can find her on twitter: @michellejoe524
What is White Label SEO
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, has become a necessity for businesses. Today, a majority of web traffic comes through sites like Google, Twitter, and Facebook, and it is safe to say that their algorithms and guidelines can make or break a business.
If you do not appear in search, you do not get found. And if you do not get found, you can kiss your business goodbye.
These high-stakes circumstances led some businesses to develop so-called "black label" or "black hat" SEO tactics.
Black Label Tactics
Black label tactics go against the guidelines that the large search engines have set down. For example, most search engines scan pages for certain keywords, and index them for their relevance to a certain topic.
If a user searches for "chicken masala recipe," the search engine will scrape the page for that string of text and return pages where that string frequently appears.
So, one black label technique, known as 'keyword stuffing,' involves littering a page with strings in order to boost its appearance in the search results.
Keyword stuffing
Sometimes website owners add the relevant string to their website thousands of times in a hidden text box, and sometimes they add pages and pages of irrelevant text to their website (as in the example linked above). Either way, keyword stuffing is an attempt to draw traffic by misrepresenting the site's contents.
Though this practice may induce a sort of SEO sugar rush, where your page jumps up several pages in the search results for a short period of time, search engines tend to get wise to this kind of activity, and a keyword-stuffed site has a high likelihood of getting banned from search results.
So how do you get your site noticed, while ensuring that everything that you do is above board?
White Label SEO
The SEO experts at Link Graph recognize that white label SEO involves multi-pronged approaches.
Recent developments, like Google's Accelerated Mobile Pages, the growth AI-enabled web crawlers like Applebot, and voice search like Alexa and Google Home, mean that the context in which people search the web has completely transformed in less than a decade.
Many webmasters are accustomed to search crawlers needing HTML to index their pages, but many pages today are developed with JavaScript, or with front-end JavaScript frameworks such as ReactJS.
JavaScript pages
Users, especially people on mobile sites, expect sites to be dynamic. But if the sites is developed in JavaScript, that means the SEO ranking will be low, right? Wrong!
An example of white label SEO in this instance might be testing said pages with a tool such as Fetch as Google, then adding dynamic URLs.
Because Google is able to index dynamically-generated content, a website owner is often better off integrating such content into their website, knowing it will meet both the expectations of the users and the needs of the search engine.
On one hand, this proliferation of search techniques has been advantageous for internet users overall: spam sites are more heavily regulated, and there is a higher chance of finding a site that is relevant to their search.
On the other hand, webmasters must now contend with more rules than they did before. White label SEO requires the mastery of several rulebooks, as it were, by webmasters interested in adapting to these news circumstances. What does that adaptation entail?
Search Results
For a website owner, that probably means partnering with a company with white label SEO expertise, in order to better search results, and thus better business. It may also mean re-development of some aspects of your website, and ditching some old habits and beliefs.
Change is tough, but it can also be rewarding. For anybody with the appetite to seize opportunities, white label SEO offers a path to success.
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text:
More than 500 farmers and others braved south Georgia temperatures hovering around the 100-degree mark for the recent Sunbelt Ag Expo Field Day held in Moultrie, Ga.
The annual event offers participants a preview of the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition — set for Oct. 19-21 — and an opportunity to visit one-on-one with university researchers and representatives from leading agricultural companies.
Extension specialists from the University of Georgia cotton and peanut teams gave updates on current crop conditions and their latest research efforts at the Sunbelt Expo site.
"Statewide, USDA reports that we have 1.33 million acres of cotton in Georgia this year," says Steve M. Brown, University of Georgia Extension cotton specialist. "It rained in June, and our crop got off to a real good start. We're now at a key time in terms of filling out bolls, and it's a key time for getting more rainfall. We have what appears to be a good crop, at least at this stage."
An issue that has surfaced recently that should concern Georgia cotton growers is that of fiber quality, says Brown.
"There have been statements in the U.S. textile industry by merchants and mills about discriminating against Georgia cotton, and that has serious implications for us. We're doing some work on that in a variety of ways, and some of that is done here at Sunbelt," he says.
In 2003, says Brown, the cotton variety DP 555 was planted for the first time on a large scale in Georgia. This past year, about one-third of the state's acres were planted in the variety, and that jumped to about two-thirds of the cotton acreage this year.
"We've done a lot of plant population studies in recent years, but none with this variety. We're looking at DP 555 this year to see if yield is influenced by reduced plant populations. We're also doing a Pix study with DP 555. It was a challenge last year to control and manage its height, and it's shaping up to be the same way this year.
"I have eight different programs looking at how to control the height of this variety. We did a pretty good job last year with at least one of our programs. It didn't have an impact on how much cotton we made. Height management is important in commercial situations, but it doesn't always mean an increase in yield," says Brown.
Extension Entomologist Phillip Roberts says the bulk of his work at the Expo revolves around boll-feeding bugs, more specifically stink bugs.
"We have several tests, and one is looking at different thresholds. Our current threshold is that we recommend treatments if 20 percent of bolls that are the diameter of a quarter are damaged. We get a lot of questions as to whether that threshold is too high, so we're looking at lower triggers.
"Everything we've done to date would suggest that 20 percent is the correct threshold. We're also looking at some general efficacy trials of various insecticides," says Roberts.
Much has been written and said recently about hard lock in cotton, he says, and the potential of using fungicides to reduce the problem. "We know that stink bugs can cause hard lock, so we're looking at the interaction between controlling stink bugs and using fungicides to see if we can understand what is truly happening there."
Extension Agronomist Glen Harris is using the Expo site to look at various foliar fertilizers and their effect on yield and lint quality.
"Foliar fertilizer is a great way to supplement a good soil-applied fertilizer program. It doesn't replace such a program, but it's a good way to top off nutrients when you might have lost them from rain, or if you were late getting in the field to side-dress," he says.
Harris says he's looking at the "big three" nutrients — nitrogen, potassium and boron. He's looking at a foliar potassium material from UAP, and he's testing Helena's CoRon, a controlled-release nitrogen. In addition, he's looking at new boron fertilizers from UAP and SQM.
"Boron is interesting," he says. "Every year, there are new boron materials — granular and liquid — with different percentages of boron. You have some with nitrogen, and some with other things in them. Every year, we've been testing them, and the good news is that I really haven't found a bad one yet. They all work pretty well," he says.
Some nutrients, explains Harris, could be affecting cotton lint quality. "We think there are some nutrients that might be affecting lint quality parameters on cotton. For example, potassium affecting strength and nitrogen affecting micronaire. We're trying to compare these different nutrients and see if we can affect lint quality. We'll run this cotton through the micro-gin at Tifton and make sure that nutrients aren't contributing to our problems with lint quality."
The University of Georgia peanut team is taking a closer look at the many peanut varieties now available to growers, says John Paulk, research technician.
"We've seen an evolution of peanut varieties," says Paulk. "If you were planting peanuts in the 1970s, chances were you planted Florunner. GK-7 came along in the 1980s, and it was another good variety. But we didn't have very many choices. In the 2004 Peanut Update, we have 12 runner varieties listed. All have different characteristics, and you probably can find one to suit your operation."
To name only a few, he says, Georgia-03L is a large-seeded runner from the University of Georgia breeding program. It's a cross between Georgia Browne and a Virginia variety. It has good resistance to tomato spotted wilt virus, and it grows early and fast, he says.
"It has a prominent main stem, similar to GK-7, making it much easier to dig," says Paulk.
Georgia-02C is another university release with some resistance to CBR, he says. "The seed size is a little larger than Georgia Green, but maturity is similar," he says.
From the University of Florida's breeding program comes the Carver and Anorden peanut varieties, says Paulk. Carver has a similar seed size to Georgia Green but is earlier maturing. Like Georgia Green, it has good resistance to tomato spotted wilt virus.
Anorden is a high-oleic oil peanut with a larger seed size than Carver but with a similar maturity.
The peanut team also will be looking this year at a new digging technique that has been commonly used in north-central Florida, says Paulk.
"The reason behind 'tenting' is to reduce the heat on the peanut itself. We've made several modifications in the digger, including removing the front coulter. As the peanuts come across the rack, they fall on these long rods in the center which hold up the middle of the bed. The sides of the bed then fold under to become the bottom of a tunnel, which suspends the peanuts 2 to 4 inches from the ground.
"We let the vines dry down, and then we harvest the peanuts. Then, we put the peanuts on a trailer and let them dry down, which gives us more uniform drying rather than leaving them in the field. This should provide us with a better seed and improved edible quality."
There are disadvantages to tenting, says Paulk. "It is not aesthetically pleasing to look at this in a field, because you don't see any peanuts. It looks like a total crop failure once they're dried. And we don't know how this will work if we have inclement weather at harvest. We'll simulate rainfall using irrigation and find out how it works. This practice also is being tried in Texas, and we're trying it on our heavier soils in Georgia."
e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Department of Food Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been a part of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences for more than 100 years instructing generations of food science and industry leaders. Housed in the recently remodeled Babcock Hall, the Department of Food Science offers students a truly unique undergraduate and graduate experience. Known for our distinguished and dedicated faculty and staff, students find the Department of Food Science a stimulating and encouraging environment to study and conduct research.
The Department of Food Science's undergraduate program offers students valuable real-world experience and leadership skills by providing an innovative curriculum; varied club and extracurricular activities; research lab opportunities; access to a fully functional and award winning dairy plant; professional and industry contacts and experience; numerous internships and scholarships, and nearly 100% job placement. Students find career opportunities in product development, quality assurance/control, processing and engineering, technical sales, management, research, sensory analysis, and food law and regulations.
The Department of Food Science's Masters of Science and Doctor of Philosophy graduate program is world renowned and attracts students from fields such as food science, dairy science, chemistry, biochemistry, nutrition, chemical engineering, industrial engineering, microbiology and other biological sciences. The varied interests of Food Science faculty and affiliated faculty, offer graduate students extensive research opportunities in Babcock Hall and on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison; ranging from confectionery sciences to dairy sciences, from food fermentation to food engineering, and from food safety to food nutrition.


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It's that Hollywood time of the year again, and the Oscar nominations find their way into conversations everywhere.
For the past 25 years my wife, Cathy, and I have dealt with "movie month" – the period between nomination day, Jan. 9, and the Academy Award ceremony on Feb. 24 – in a special way.
We see every film nominated in the six major categories awarded, and then on red carpet night celebrate our own awards. It's not easy, and it takes some organization, but the effort has its rewards.
There are a few helpful tips to help accomplish the task.
First, you need a check-list of films you need to see. This year, 13 movies comprise the award categories for best movie, director, actress, actor, supporting actor and supporting actress.
This is a good year to try to see films featuring nominations because in previous years that number has run as high as 18 movies.
And, most of the nominated films this year are commercial releases with commercial appeal. You've probably seen three or more already. However, some, like "Amour" may require a trip to Chicago.
Also, "The Master" and "The Sessions" were recently re-released in Chicago and La Grange, respectively.
As of today, every film is still in theaters, and two of them will be available on DVD.
I've been doing this for a long time, and I think this is the first time in 28 years that all of the films have been in theaters during the weeks approaching the Oscars.
For those with an over-active occasion gene, spend a few minutes on the Internet reading about film editing. By seeing this year's 13 films, you will also be qualified to judge that category, too. The nominated films for editing are "Argo," "Lincoln," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Life of Pi," and "Zero Dark Thirty."
The last thing to do is plan your level of party for the awards night itself.
Generally, Cathy and I reserve a table at a local bistro, drop off our ballots earlier (plenty available for copying on the Internet) for delivery during the meal.
We vote two ways. First, we vote on who we think is going to win. Then we write our personal favorite, keeping them secret. We rush home after dinner, catch a little red carpet on TV, and then open our ballots when each category is awarded in Hollywood.
It's a lot of fun, you will be surprised at the great variety of films you will see, and often there is a good meal and an evocative discussion in the bargain.
Thirteen nominated films to see before Oscar night Feb. 24 include:
• Best Picture
• Best Supporting Actor – Alan Arkin
'Les Misérables'
• Best Picture
• Best Actor – Hugh Jackman
• Best Supporting Actress – Anne Hathaway
'Beasts of the Southern Wild'
(Currently available on DVD)
• Best Picture
• Best Director – Benh Zeitlin
• Best Actress – Quvenzhané Wallis
'Silver Linings Playbook'
• Best Picture
• Best Director – David O. Russell
• Best Actor – Bradley Cooper
• Best Actress – Jennifer Lawrence
• Best Supporting Actor – Robert De Niro
• Best Supporting Actress – Jackie Weaver
'Django Unchained'
• Best Picture
• Best Supporting Actor – Christoph Waltz
'Life of Pi'
• Best Picture
• Best Director – Ang Lee
• Best Picture
• Best Director – Steven Spielberg
• Best Actor – Daniel Day-Lewis
• Best Supporting Actor – Tommy Lee Jones
• Best Supporting Actress – Sally Field
'The Master'
• Best Actor – Joaquin Phoenix
• Best Supporting Actor – Phillip Seymour Hoffman
• Best Supporting Actress – Amy Adams
'Zero Dark Thirty'
• Best Picture
• Best Actress – Jessica Chastain
• Best Picture
• Best Director – Michael Haneke
• Best Actress – Emmanuelle Riva
(DVD available Feb. 5)
• Best Actor – Denzel Washington
'The Impossible'
• Best Actress – Naomi Watts
'The Sessions'
(DVD available Feb. 12)
• Best Supporting Actress – Helen Hunt
• Bob Habes lives in St. Charles with his wife, Cathy. He writes a weekly syndicated column about movies. Contact him at email@example.com.


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Welcome to the CRG Discussion Forum!Forum registration problems: Make sure you enter your email correctly and you check your spam box first. *Then* email KurtS2@gmail for help.Classified ads are not allowed on the forum.
Not bad - in fact, not bad at all. Did you bead the chromate version ? I bet if you top coated with clear it would be dynamite. Probably last forever, too. Great job - Regards,Steve
How many times do you strike your parts in the zinc bath?
Hi Janobyte, Surface prep is THE most important factor in the outcome of the final finish with phosphate. Just like when painting a car. I will wash a part in a degreaser first, sand or glass bead it, another round of degreaser, then I will put the parts in a semi-boiling water pre bath to float off any remaining oils (rarely none at this stage) then directly to the phosphate solution that has been preheated to 180-190 degrees. After the fizzle slows or stops or if I feel there is enough deposited then I remove the parts and run them through another clean water rinse. Quickly dry and then right to the Dri-Touch oil treatment. If you have any oil on the parts then it will show as blotches. Yes, you can reuse the solution over many times until it is exhausted. I store it in a plastic container when not in use. Use a stainless steel container to heat the phosphate solution. I recommend either a copper bottom or a metal diffuser under the pot to avoid any hot spots that can lead to scale buildup at the bottom. The nice thing about a DIY is you save money and there is always that part you missed and now you can treat it at home. I use a Coleman camper burner in the shed so as not to bring the fumes in the house. I got the SS pots at a dollar store and also use stainless steel baskets to hold the small parts for the bath.Try it. I think you will be pleasantly surprised how easy it is. Mike
The Eastwood spray finishes make a car restoration look cheap, IMO.Aside from chrome, home plating for zinc and phosphates (Parkerize) is very easy and affordable for DIY.Mike
Mike - Just a quick follow up from my previous post. Attached are a couple of pictures of the springs that I used the manganese phosphate on. As you can see, the manganese solution produces a slighter darker finish.
Product came in yesterday from Palmetto , included was a page each of detailed instruction ,adding what has been tried and proven by you guys, I'm really looking forward to start this weekend with some bolts first.What also arrived yesterday were my parts from "Red Gorilla Restorations" even mailed some change back ! They look great , better than the pics. Even more important to me is another guy out there who not only can be trusted with your irreplaceable parts ,but treats them with the same detail as his own---speaks volumes. I've followed this site many years( almost since it's inception" before becoming active . I've noticed a pattern of the same people--always positive and quick to offer help. Sending my parts out to Darrell was sort of like "paying it forward" good luck in your endeavors ,use me as a reference.
I just knew there had to be a story... I like it.. and we found out what your wife thinks of you.. J/K...


text:
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EatDrinkShopCook: Bellyaching -- Losing an appetite for these food fads
At New Year's, I like to reflect on the successes and failures of the past year. Which things worked, which didn't, and what could be improved upon.
I'm not talking about my own life, of course. Ain't nobody got time for that. Rather, I like to look back on the culinary scene. Reflecting upon this year, I have to admit, I feel a bit curmudgeonly. In the past, I've typically embraced food trends, even when they've gotten cliche. Cupcakes, froyo, sliders ... as played out as they all are, I still have a soft spot in my heart (or, more appropriately, stomach) for them.
This past year, however, I find myself more annoyed than anything else. And so, instead of perusing the stack of menus on my desk with fond memories, I find myself creating a list of grievances, almost as if it were a Food Festivus.
Here then, are the top five things that I hope disappear in 2014:
PORK BELLY: We should've seen pork belly coming from a mile away. After all, when bacon took on cult status a few years ago, it seemed only natural that bigger would be better. And so, along came pork belly, giant slabs of fatty meat. Bacon on steroids. A precursor to Lipitor.
At first, pork belly was manageable, being used more as a flavoring ingredient than as the spotlight dish. But then things started to get out of hand. There are pork belly tacos, pork belly burgers, braised pork belly.
Last week, I ordered a salad that was described as having bacon in it. I thought that meant a few thin crumbles to give the salad some salt and substance. I was surprised when I was served a plateful of lettuce smothered beneath two slabs of fatty fried pork belly. Hardly the health-conscious choice I thought I was making. Don't get me wrong: pork belly is delicious. But let's face it: It's nothing more than just a giant piece of fat, and frankly, I don't think I can stomach much more of it.
FARM TO TABLE: I love my local farm. I think the weekly farm share program is fantastic, and I truly appreciate that locavorism has become a household word. With that in mind, it seems as if I should really like farm-to-table restaurants, but the truth of the matter is, I have some issues.
The first problem is that I don't really want to spend money on roasted squash or beet salad that I can so easily make at home (with the aforementioned farm share). I especially don't want to pay $15 for something that I can make for less than $2. When I go out to dinner, I want it to be something special, something that I wouldn't normally make for myself. So don't expect to ever see me ordering kale.
But even more than that, I find there's a problem with many (although certainly not all) farm-to-table restaurants, and that's a lack of cohesiveness. Many farm-to-table restaurants take on a tapas-like approach; that is, many small dishes. I love variety, but to my palate, there has to be some sort of theme going on or else my tastebuds just don't jive with it.
When you have a menu with octopus and chicken livers and organic eggs and heirloom beans and kohlrabi, I find myself thinking it's too much. Too much variation, too many choices, not enough consistency. I realize I may be alone in this argument, but I'm standing by my guns. Farm-to-table only works when there's focus.
BAKERIES WITH HALF-BAKED COFFEE: Why is it that bakeries never have good coffee? Wouldn't it be nice to wake up on a Sunday morning and be able to go someplace with rich, strong coffee and a perfect, flaky Danish? They always seem to have a press pot of lukewarm, watered-down food service coffee.
The day I find a fantastic bakery with above-average coffee, I will shout it from the rooftops. (Or at least blog about it.)
TOO MUCH SHOPPING: This time of year, I find that I have at least three different grocery lists. There's Stop & Shop for the bulk of the groceries, then Trader Joe's for specific items like nuts and cheeses, and then the butcher, fish market or Whole Foods for all of the other stuff.
I love to cook, but it really gets to be a drag when you spend your whole day schlepping around town from one store to the next. I hesitate to put this on my list, because it is, without a doubt, a "first-world problem" (to use the very accurate but highly annoying term). But I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.
Sometimes I daydream about what life must have been like when you had just one market to choose from and how simpler life must have been. (But then, of course, I'd miss out on Thai-spiced cashews and imported cheeses, so really, I'm the only one to blame in this picture.)
HUGE PORTIONS: Can we please just stop with the muffins as big as a baby's head, and the five-egg omelets, and the sandwiches loaded with a half-pound of deli meat?
I love to eat, but it's gotten out of hand. Wouldn't it be nice to walk into a restaurant and not feel guilty about leaving food on your plate? Better yet, wouldn't it be awesome if prices shrank along with portion size? It's as if someone on high dictated that the average restaurant meal must be three times the size of what you'd normally eat at home. (I have to give a shout-out here to Home on the Range in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport. This is the only breakfast place I've found where you actually can walk away without feeling like you need to take a late-morning nap caused by food overload.)
It's the start of a new year, and with it, a fresh start for the culinary tables to turn. Looking forward, one can only hope that the best food trends stay while others -- like weak coffee and pork belly -- join Jell-O salad and spray cheese in the annals of history.


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Study shows UH Hilo College of Pharmacy stimulates economy Statewide
UH Hilo Home > News and Events > UH Hilo Press Releases
Date: Thursday, February 5, 2009
Contact: Alyson Kakugawa-Leong, (808) 974-7642
For Immediate Release
By the time its inaugural class graduates in 2011, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo College of Pharmacy (CoP) will stimulate more than $50.2 million per year in economic activity in the State. The College will support an additional $15 million in earnings by that time, according to a study by a UH Hilo economist.
"If growth continues as planned, our data shows the College of Pharmacy will more than double its current output, making it a significant growth pole within the University as well as within the State," said Dr. David Hammes, UH Hilo professor of economics.
Hammes conducted an analysis of the current and projected economic impact of the CoP. The data was based on the period between 2008 through 2012.
"I am pleased to see tangible evidence of residents of the Big Island strengthening the economy and showcasing our academic and research capabilities, and I congratulate a far-seeing University administration, specifically Chancellor Rose Tseng, as well as the Board of Regents for their support of this effort to build a professional College of Pharmacy in our State," said U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye.
CoP is bringing in $4.2 million revenue from tuition for the 2008-2009 academic year, Hammes found in his study. These are tuition dollars that would not come to Hawaiʻi without this program because UH Hilo is the only school in the Pacific basin that offers a doctorate in pharmacy, or Pharm.D., Hammes pointed out.
"Building a college that educates pharmacists in Hawaiʻi owes a great deal to the leadership of Chancellor Rose Tseng and Dr. Jerry Johnson," said Dr. David McClain, president of the 10-campus University of Hawaiʻi System. "Their vision and its execution represent yet another channel via which the University is a positive force in the economy of our State."
The College attracts students and family from out-of-state who would otherwise not be here, Hammes said.
"CoP keeps students in-state who would leave to attend Pharm. D. programs elsewhere. It's also interesting and important to note that wage and salary costs associated with the 27 new faculty and staff jobs currently State-funded within the College are significantly more than funded by the new tuition revenues alone," Hammes added.
But beyond tuition revenues, students, faculty and staff are responsible for injecting $7.7 million into the local economy this year through increased spending by visitors, attracting grant and research funds, and on spending for living expenses. Hammes found that direct expenditures of $12 million result in a total increase of $22.8 million in increased demand for final goods and services within the State and supports 274 new jobs Statewide. These impacts will grow as the College expands, Hammes said.
"The College of Pharmacy facilitates economic development by training health care professionals, conducting research, and forming collaborative partnerships," noted U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaiʻi. "The economic benefits of the College of Pharmacy will continue to increase as enrollment, research, and collaborative efforts grow and develop further."
Hammes said most of this increased economic activity can be expected to be in Hawai'i County, though CoP has a presence Statewide. Some of the expenditures would be made in the other counties by way of visitor expenditures and research spending.
"I am a big fan of Dean Pezzuto and the College of Pharmacy," said Hawaiʻi Mayor Billy Kenoi. "I truly believe it will have a significant, positive long-term educational and economic impact on our community."
Every dollar generated by the program is new, and not at the expense of other university or State program, Hammes said. In addition, each dollar used by the State in salary and wages for CoP attracts a new $3.38 from outside sources, including tuition revenue, student and visitor spending. If the College grows as planned, this figure will be $4.04 by 2012 and will level out to $3.58, Hammes said.
"Another way to measure the impact is by measuring the increase in new output per 'State' dollar, including the direct and indirect, or multiplier, effects," Hammes explained. "This figure is close to $9 for every $1 of State wage and salary funding."
When the College has completed its growth arc and reaches its steady-state number of approximately 350 students in 2011-2012, Hammes projects:
•Tuition revenues will more than double to $9.6 million, assuming no change in Board of Regents-approved tuition rates.
•Statewide earnings induced over this four-year trajectory will rise from $6.9 million to $15.3 million.
•New job creation across all industries Statewide, including housing, food, utilities, transportation, personal services, etc., will rise from 274 to 610.
•Demand for final goods and services within the State will increase from $22.8 million to $50.2 million.
Hammes said that through time, the College will attract more external funding through increased research funding, continuing education and conference activity that may take place anywhere in the State, bringing in out-of-state funds.
"These activities take time to get up and running, but the College certainly has the expertise to accomplish that," Hammes said.
CoP seated its inaugural class in Fall 2007. Current plans call for the addition of 90 students per year for a total of four classes. The College has grown from a staff of about 15 to 32. Over the next few years, plans call for reaching a total staff of about 70.
"It's heartening to know of the positive influence we have on the finances of the State during these tenuous economic times," said Dr. John Pezzuto, dean of CoP. "More importantly, however, our continuous growth means we can concentrate on another matter of utmost importance, which is improving the condition of healthcare in Hawaiʻi and throughout the entire Pacific region."
Chancellor Tseng said the school fulfills a longstanding need in the Pacific, and an exceptional faculty has attracted top students from around the globe.
"We are justifiably proud of the success of our College of Pharmacy, and we thank both Senator Daniel Inouye and the State Legislature for their continued support," she said. "The need for pharmacists is ongoing, which makes the UH Hilo College of Pharmacy an excellent investment both in and for Hawai'i."
Hammes has taught at UH Hilo for 21 years and has conducted economic research in a number of areas, including a historical analysis on the formation of the U.S. Federal Reserve. In 2003, he was awarded the Regents' Medal for Excellence in Teaching.
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The Massachusetts economy was in free fall in 2002, shedding thousands of jobs each month as the collapse of the technology bubble severely damaged the state's most important industry. In just a year, the state unemployment rate had nearly doubled, with tens of thousands of more jobs in jeopardy.
Into this shattering recession — from which the state has yet to fully recover — rode Mitt Romney, fresh from saving the troubled Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and promising another turnaround for Massachusetts if elected governor.
His business experience would cure the state's recession, he said, and a "lifetime in the private sector" had taught him how to create jobs. He styled himself as a "CEO governor" who would use corporate connections to help restore prosperity.
The extent of his success is in dispute in the presidential campaign, highlighted Tuesday by Governor Deval Patrick's attack at the Democratic National Convention on Romney's record.
In many ways, Romney inherited a state economy in 2003 similar to the one that President Obama found on entering the White House in 2009, one marked by deep recession, huge job losses, and a widening budget deficit. And like Obama, Romney struggled mightily, delivering at best a modest recovery dictated less by his political leadership than by sprawling global forces beyond his control.
Like Obama, Romney could also point to an economy that was much improved from the worst of the recession. But, as with the US economy today, progress was slow, painstaking, and for many, disappointing.
Romney's campaign defends his economic stewardship as governor, saying he turned deficit into surplus, held the line on taxes, and left office with fewer unemployed than today.
A review of the record shows that at the end of his term, Romney could claim a small net jobs gain and a lower unemployment rate, but the pace of job growth significantly lagged the nation's, and only a huge outflow of Massachusetts workers to faster-growing states kept the unemployment rate from climbing higher.
It is not quite the image of a turnaround painted by Romney's presidential campaign.
In a statement, Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said the former Massachusetts governor added "tens of thousands of new jobs," lowered the unemployment rate, and balanced the budget every year without borrowing or raising taxes.
"His sound management and fiscally responsible leadership resulted in a state credit rating upgrade and economic prosperity in the Commonwealth that has not been seen since he left office," he said.
But Romney's handling of the Massachusetts economy was more complicated than the unemployment rate or state credit rating would indicate. His budgetary and economic decisions offer insight into his personal and political priorities. There were unexpected foes, victories, and lost opportunities.
A bubble burstRomney took office in 2003, during one of the state's deepest recessions since World War II. More than 200,000 jobs disappeared in Massachusetts after the dot-com bubble burst — more than the 143,000 jobs the state lost during the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009.
At the time, no one could foresee how deep the damage would go or how long it would take for the state to regain its economic footing.
"It was clear the state was having significant difficulties and that what had been a boom period had come to an end," said Eric A. Kriss, a former Bain Capital colleague of Romney who later became the state's chief fiscal officer. "As you dip into the details, you are amazed and astounded and depressed all at the same time."
Kriss and a coterie of aides holed up in a State House office and pored over the balance sheets shortly after Romney's election. Kriss quickly discovered the annual budget was dangerously out of balance and likely to yield a budget gap of $3 billion in the coming fiscal year.
Romney spent much of his first two years in office focusing on the budget crisis. He succeeded in closing the shortfall without raising the sales or income taxes — a notable accomplishment. Yet his approach triggered criticism.
Romney largely balanced the budget by cutting state aid to cities and towns, many of which responded by raising property taxes. In his first two years in office, Romney presided over a 15 percent cut in spending on unrestricted aid to cities and towns; he also cut more than 4 percent of funding for local schools.
Largely as a result, the average local property tax bill jumped more than $700 a year, or about 24 percent, to $3,962 from $3,206. By the end of Romney's term, the combined state and local tax burden in Massachusetts grew to 10.6 percent of income from 10 percent, according to the Taxpayers Foundation, a Washington think tank.
Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-funded research group, said the magnitude of the deficit required cuts in local aid, which he called a fair, if not dynamic, strategy deployed by most governors in times of crisis.
"In broad strokes, he did pretty much what every other governor has done — he raised revenues and cut spending," Widmer said. "It's probably the right thing to do, to have a balanced approach."
Romney also took on natural allies in the business community when he undertook an effort to change the tax code by closing what he called loopholes. It was controversial, but Romney said the rules allowed many companies to avoid paying taxes when the state could hardly afford it. Some banks, for example, avoided taxes by sheltering holdings in real estate investment trusts.
Business leaders opposed the effort, viewing it as a tax increase. One revision, for example, required large retailers to pay sales taxes on the printing costs of direct mail promotional advertising, which increased their taxes by about $15 million annually.
Romney supporters, such as David Tuerck, executive director of the Beacon Hill Institute, a conservative think tank, said the strategy was ill-conceived and at odds with efforts to change Massachusetts' reputation for high business costs.
"It impacted the state's competitiveness negatively," Tuerck said. "Higher taxes discourage corporations from investing in the state and creating jobs."
Romney also increased government fees on a host of services, from marriage licenses to property deeds, raising another $375 million annually.
Kriss argued that many fees had not been adjusted for inflation in decades. And, he said, closing loopholes affected a relatively small number of companies that were eluding the original intent of the tax laws.
"It was not in any way a tax increase," he said. "It was a clarification of what you could do and what you couldn't do."
'Second to none'
On the campaign trail in 2002, Romney promised a jobs program "second to none in the history of the state," pledging to use his corporate connections to lure chief executives across America to Massachusetts.
The results fell far short of the promise. During Romney's four years in office, the state added a net 31,000 jobs, a growth rate of about 1 percent, compared to 5 percent nationally during the same period. State unemployment fell to 4.7 percent from a peak of 6 percent but remained above the US average, then 4.4 percent.
Meanwhile, as the state's recovery lagged other parts of the country, a net 233,000 people — 3.5 percent of the population — left the state, many seeking jobs elsewhere.
"He was going to be the number one sales person," said Brian Gilmore, spokesman for Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the state's largest business advocacy group. "I don't think that turned out successfully."
As with balancing the budget, Romney took a conventional approach to economic development, moving to reduce some business regulations and using taxpayer money, in the form of incentive programs, to try to stimulate job growth.
Widmer said Romney undertook few initiatives that could have fundamentally altered the economic equation, such as policies aimed at lowering electricity costs, which are among the highest in the nation.
Widmer pointed to William Weld, another Republican governor who took office during a recession and overhauled the state's worker's compensation system. It took a decade for the changes to take full effect, but worker's compensation costs for businesses plunged by two-thirds and helped make the state more competitive.
Romney did not have the patience for tackling issues that might only pay off in the long term, Widmer said.
"His economic record was uninspired," Widmer said. "They never developed an economic strategy nor implemented a coherent set of initiatives that would improve the state's business climate."
Others chafed at Romney's frequent out-of-state trips as he tested the waters for his first presidential run.
Despite his pledge to be the state's top salesman, he tried to woo Republican Party conservatives by bashing the state's liberal politics and emphasizing its generous unemployment benefits — raising a red flag to companies interested in relocating here.
"I was very shocked to hear our governor on the road basically saying Massachusetts is a terrible place to do business," said David Begelfer, CEO of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.
David A. Tibbetts, a director of economic development under two Republican governors, Weld and A. Paul Cellucci, said Romney seemed more concerned with presidential ambitions than local economic development.
Tibbetts cited an effort by local business officials to get Romney's administration to use federal funds to build an interchange on Interstate 93 to open land for development. Tibbetts said Romney showed little interest.
"People had very high hopes for him as governor. He's extremely bright, talented, and involved in business. In the end, he showed no loyalty to the state he was elected to run."
Romney was able to claim some successes, including the expansions of a Swiss dental implant maker, Straumann Group, in Andover and pharmaceutical companies Merck & Co. of Whitehouse Station, N.J., in Boston and Novartis AG of Switzerland in Cambridge.
One of his biggest wins came near the end of his term in 2006, when Massachusetts won a bidding war with other states, convincing the pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb to build a $750 million plant at the former Fort Devens.
Romney cited the victory at a press conference, saying the state had offered $60 million in incentives to the company to build its plant in Massachusetts, where it would eventually employ as many as 550 workers. But records show the state required Bristol-Myers Squibb to hire only 350 workers to receive the tax breaks.
And less than two months after Romney left office, MassDevelopment, a quasipublic development agency led by a Romney appointee, finalized an agreement reducing Bristol-Myers Squibb's property taxes by about $35 million over 20 years, bringing total incentives to about $100 million.
The deal provided one of the biggest tax-incentive packages in state history. And it meant the state would ultimately pay about $250,000 for each of the 400 jobs at the plant today.
"That's a little bit hard to justify," said Northeastern University law professor Peter Enrich. "The reason these companies come to Massachusetts is there's already a critical mass of companies in the biotech area here, and there has been for 20 to 30 years."
Ads versus reality
In June, six days after a dismal US jobs report, Romney's campaign introduced a new 30-second TV advertisement.
"As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney had the best jobs record in a decade," a voice intones over images of the State House and Romney visiting various employers and talking with workers. "From day one as president Mitt Romney's strong leadership will make all the difference on jobs."
Romney has invoked the image of a turnaround expert again and again, portraying himself as a leader ready to confront budget and jobs woes. Yet the ad is at odds with reality: Massachusetts experienced an anemic recovery, generating just enough job growth for Romney to claim he left Massachusetts better than he found it.
The economic situations faced by Romney and Obama appear remarkably similar. The recessions they inherited damaged economic foundations, necessitating long, slow recoveries. In each of the downturns, job losses totaled about 6 percent of employment.
Their first year in office was marked by steep job losses, the subsequent years by disappointing job growth.
Both sought increases in taxes and other revenues to help close budget deficits, and both used government money — albeit on a vastly different scale — to try to stimulate job growth.
Paul Watanabe, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, described Romney as an effective manager who has gone to great lengths to show he was capable of saving Massachusetts' economy and can rescue the nation from its doldrums and Obama's policies.
Yet Romney is more like his opponent than he will admit, Watanabe said, right down to his campaign theme, "Believe in America."
"Interestingly enough, it's a variation of 'hope and change.'"Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse@
globe.com. Michael Rezendes can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com. Brian C. Mooney of the Globe staff contributed to this report.