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In an increasingly data-driven world, we see the automation of jobs in almost every industry. This is a daunting prospect for some, but evidence shows that rather than taking over our jobs, new technology is forming new opportunities: Smart humans are working alongside smart machines in collaboration. But where does this leave creativity? Is it possible that machines will replace human imagination? How do data science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning fit into with the world of art? These are key questions to investigate as we adapt our company cultures to align with digitalisation and data-driven economies. To do so, let's explore examples of how creative industries are utilising data and analytics to deliver business outcomes:
The first pop song to be created using artificial intelligence (AI) was produced by Flow Machines software, a subsidiary of Sony CSL. Working towards the release of its first entirely AI album, the technology used by Sony carries out analysis of database lead sheets from a range of genres and forms melodies as a result. It doesn't take long when listening to the the AI-produced track, "Daddy's Car", to identify hints of machine learning, and there is still plenty of room for improvement in terms of producing 'human' music. That being said, machines can learn extremely quickly, and development is continuous. The augmentative element in this case is clear: A human composer is needed to turn the melodies into songs.
Can you imagine being able to predict the perfect television series? Well, Netflix did just that. Its recent series are important success stories for data and analytics. For example, "Orange is the New Black" and "House of Cards" were created by Netflix through the use of data and analytics to find the ideal combination of elements for both to be successful. In these cases, the right choice of actors and director and the best possible combination of genre elements provided the confidence for a $100 million investment on data and analytics from Netflix. This emphasises how machine learning can take the extra leap, understanding a deal of complexity that humans cannot: By using advanced data science techniques, Netflix could identify over 76,000 genre types to describe user tastes. This process that would have been extremely lengthy, if not impossible, when carried out by humans alone.
A creative function by tradition, marketing is ultimately about storytelling. More and more, marketers are leveraging data to drive outcomes and understand customer decision-making effectively. With the digital footprint that customers leave behind online, businesses can leverage this data and add analytics to learn more deeply about the behaviours and future intentions of customers. Global bank HSBC used behavioural science to help customers reach their financial goals by developing a 'nudge' app using automated messaging to save customers £800,000 between Christmas and New Year's alone. At the end of the day, data makes us better at decision-making and assists us in making sense of an increasingly complex world of customer interactions and transactions. It's critical that marketers do this to remain competitive. However, it's important to remember that human creativity is not to be disregarded: It sits alongside automation.
Data gets more complex as technology advances, capturing not only customers' transactions, but also their interactions and observations. As analysts start to delve into the data, they no longer extract only tens of variables from data, but potentially tens of thousands of variables in an attempt to understand customer behaviour at any given time. This data enables marketers to plan and form meaningful interactions.
It is essential that marketers follow the Google strategy of 'be there, be useful, be quick' to capture moments of true value. To demonstrate how organisations are adopting analytics in conjunction with automated, real-time decisioning we can look to advertising agencies who are building billboards that can achieve insight from visual analytics of video footage, to be able to deliver customised advertisements depending on the analytically identified make and model of car driving past.
Having the right content in real time is not enough: Location is also essential in understanding customer decision-making for future marketing teams. Studies reveal that geo-targeted mobile offers, based on customer environment and proximity to retailers, can provide two times more effective conversation rates. If delivered to a commuter on a particularly busy route, the conversion rates of marketing ads are even more effective.
Businesses require deep insight and need analysis of data to be delivered in real time to create moments of real value that improve a customer journey. To achieve this, organisations are coming to realise that they must adopt automation. If they fail to, marketers will simply not be able to make the massive number of decisions necessary in the marketing industry today.
Creative industries, by adopting the right combination of art and science, can get to know their customers better and remain competitive: This is done through optimising creative skillsets belonging to humans, together with the use of data and analytics, to drive outcomes.
The face of marketing in a digitalised world is constantly transforming as machine technology advances. As demonstrated by the examples in this blog post, the creative industry is using analytics and machine learning to develop existing products and services, as well as create brand new ones. Humans will still drive narrative and innovation: Data science will support heavily, providing intelligent automation at scale.
Yasmeen is a strategic business leader in the area of data and analytics consulting, named as one of the top 50 leaders and influencers for driving commercial value from data in 2017 by Information Age.
Leading the Business Analytic Consulting Practice at Teradata, Yasmeen is focused on working with global clients across industries to determine how data driven decisioning can be embedded into strategic initiatives. This includes helping organisations create actionable insights to drive business outcomes that lead to benefits valued in the multi-millions.
Yasmeen is responsible for leading more than 60 consultants across Central Europe, UK&I and Russia in delivering analytic services and solutions for competitive advantage through the use of new or untapped sources of data, alongside advanced analytical and data science techniques.
Yasmeen also holds a PhD in Data Management, Mining and Visualization, carried out at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Gene Regulation & Expression. Her work is published in several international journals and was recognised by the Sir Tim Hunt Prize for Cell Biology. Yasmeen has written regularly for Forbes and is a speaker at international conferences and events.
There's a trend in enterprise organizations where folks are starting to refer to user experience design as a "horizontal" function, but what does this mean?
In 2020, various use cases enabled by marrying 5G & IoT will become possible, ushering in a generation where there is more data & transactions than ever before.
People want control over their personal data, but are also willing to trade it away for convenience. When does the exploitation of our data become unethical? Read more!


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The Best Custom Window Shades in Orange, California 92869
If you want the best custom window shades in Orange, California with the lowest price then give us a call at 844-608-1613.
If you are looking where to find roller shades, vertical blinds, mini blinds or custom window shades, in Orange, you need to contact us.
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In addition to providing much needed privacy, window blinds can also complete the design plan of the room. Especially in small spaces where privacy may be a concern, blinds may likely be the best way to keep your private life private. Especially in areas like bedrooms and bathrooms, window blinds can be an inexpensive look that can drastically change your room. Furthermore, the blinds you install may have special light blocking capabilities, allowing rooms like bedrooms to remain dark during daylight hours, no matter how strongly the sun shines. This is a great addition for children's rooms, as young ones may need their rooms to be darkened during midday naps. The different types of window blinds include traditional roller window shades, mini blinds that are typically less than an inch in diameter, wooden or vinyl blinds that are usually two inches in diameter, pleated shades that create a unique look in any room and work to diffuse the light, and a unique combination of the two looks that allows the functionality of a mini blind and the look of a pleated shade. Before you choose a specific type of blind for your home, consider all your options and ensure that your budget will allow for the purchase of blinds for all available windows in your home.
Call Us Now 844-608-1613 Before You Pay Too Much For Your Window Treatments in Orange, California

subset: commoncrawl


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Outta my Head Costume Photo 5 of 5
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This homemade costume for women entered our 2012 Halloween Costume Contest.
A word from Belinda, the 'Outta my Head' costume creator:
I am wearing my home made costume, I had the idea years ago from seeing a headless horseman with the pumkin head. I looked on line and saw a woman with a victorian dress -... Read more »


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PowerEdge Energy Smart 4020S/4620S Rack Enclosures
Sorry, this item is not available anymore for purchase online. Please see our recommended replacement product.
Features and Design
Built-in containment
Help lower your data center expenses through efficient cold air distribution with the Dell™ PowerEdge™ Energy Smart Containment Rack Enclosure. It offers integrated containment at the rack, providing uniform cooling for IT equipment in raised floor deployments.
The Energy Smart Rack's passive cold air distribution system helps:
- Prevent computer-room AC (CRAC) over-provisioning
- Make sure cold air reaches all IT equipment
- Eliminate hot and cold air mixing
- Remove data center hot spots
As a result, Energy Smart Racks can help optimize CRAC capacity for efficient enterprises by efficiently directing the right amount of cold air directly to the IT equipment and helping optimize CRAC utilization.
Simple, cost-effective deployment
Imagine your raised floor data center without curtains or dividers, cross-aisle containment panels or even a traditional hot aisle/cold aisle containment layout at all. Energy Smart Racks enable you to:
- Install rack enclosures one at a time instead of setting up whole pods for aisle containment
- Position each rack directly above a well-ventilated tile to capture cold air directly into a controlled flow environment within the rack enclosure
- Deploy fewer racks since you can increase the density of IT equipment installed in each one
- Build out your data center without impacting facilities such as on-site fire-suppression systems
In addition, the Energy Smart Rack design uses the standard Dell rack frame in standard 42U and 48U heights (40U and 46U of useable internal space, respectively). The 600mm x 1200mm footprint fits on two standard floor tiles. No on-site assembly is required.
Optimal cold-air distribution
Supports high-density deployments
Help save space and expenses while expanding your high-density data center. Energy Smart Racks can help you:
- Decrease the number of racks needed, because efficient cold air distribution enables the installation of up to 32kW of IT equipment at 25°C in each Energy Smart Rack
- Avoid buying even numbers of racks that might sit unused in order to fill rows in cold aisle containment pods
- Forestall the expense of additional CRAC units by consuming only the air required by the IT equipment
- Prevent the need for water or refrigerant for cooling within the rack
Overall, the Energy Smart Rack's passive air management helps allow your CRAC system to move less air through the floor and directly into the racks instead of over-provisioning air into the whole room.
Infrastructure for the efficient enterprise
Cable management
Dell provides several options for cable management that can be used separately or together, depending on your specific needs.
The vertical cable manager (VCM) can be installed in the rear power distribution unit (PDU) tray of the Dell PowerEdge™ xx20 racks (or many third-party racks that use the same button-mount keyhole spacing), occupying the width of a single vertical PDU. The VCM kit also has alternate mounting holes and ships with screws to allow installation along the rear EIA-standard posts in the 750 mm wide Dell rack enclosures.
The VCM has two 18U sections, which allows you to easily place it in various locations within the PDU tray, wherever you need it, even in a 24U rack. The VCM finger spacing correlates to the rack U spacing, and the metal cover snaps into place on the fingers to contain and conceal your cables.
The horizontal crossover panels, also called lacing bars, are compliant to the EIA-310 specification and are available in two heights, 1U and 2U. They have several types of attachment point options, including mounting locations for metal cable rings, hook-and-loop straps with a twist connector and other accessories that use the rectangular twist connectors, such as claw hooks. The accessories can be mounted to either side of the crossover panel, which can be installed in the front or back of any EIA-310 compliant rack.
The metal cable rings can be installed in the PDU trays in the Dell rack or attached to the horizontal crossover panels. Six of these rings are provided with the hardware kit shipped in each Dell rack and this kit of 10 rings provides additional cable management support within the rack.
A separate kit of 10 hook-and-loop straps with twist connectors provides a quick and easy way to secure cables snugly against the sides of the rack. These straps can also be connected to the horizontal crossover panels to tightly bundle cables crossing from one side of the rack to the other.
Cooling/airflow management
Dell offers closeout filler panels, also called blanking panels, in a variety of sizes and materials to fit in the Dell PowerEdge racks as well as other EIA-310 compliant racks. Closeout filler panels are attached to the front of unused rack space and are designed to improve air flow to the installed equipment and reduce hot air recirculation to the front of the rack. Using closeout filler panels helps implement data center best practices that can lead to an important common goal: creating the coldest possible intake temperature with the highest possible volume of chilled air plus the warmest possible exhaust temperature.
Plastic closeout filler panels are available in 1U and 2U sizes and provide quick and tool-less snap-in installation for square-hole racks.
Steel closeout filler panels provide support for more types of racks, with tooled installation for square, round or threaded holes. Multiple sizes are available in 1U, 2U, 3U or 6U increments to optimize your coverage. For threaded-hole racks, hardware with #10–32 threads is provided.
|Panel Options
|Single pack
|10 pack
|100 pack
|Square hole
|Round hole
|Threaded hole
Rack fans can be mounted on the top of the Dell 4 x 20 racks to help move air through the perforated canopy. Regional models are available for 120V, 208V and 230V operation.
Additional accessories
The 1U fixed-equipment shelf provides multiple options for rail attachment in a variety of 4- and 2-post racks, supporting a loaded weight capacity of 200 pounds (90.7 kg). The heavy-duty steel shelf also includes slots to facilitate cable management and two hook-and-loop straps to secure cables.
Interconnect kits (also referred to as baying or ganging kits) allow you to connect two Dell racks of the same height. It is possible to connect racks of different depths, in addition to connecting PowerEdge xx20 racks to the previous generation of xx10 racks.
Grounding kits provide a set of wires and fasteners to bond the rack's removable components to the frame for a common ground. Dell rack enclosures offer a bonding point (or grounding stud) on each of the doors, sides and other removable components, and all bonding points on the enclosure should be connected to the rack frame. The wires provided with grounding kits are sized and labeled to fit with specific components — refer to the instructions for proper connection.
Drivers, Manuals & Support
Dell Support
From drivers and manuals to diagnostic tools and replacement parts, Dell Product Support has you covered!


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Complete roof systems
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Remote monitoring traditional power
SKF's Remote Monitoring Service makes it possible for any company with Internet access to implement a world-class predictive maintenance (PdM) program for periodic or continuous monitoring of critical machinery. This SKF solution is ideal for plants with limited staff trained in predictive maintenance techniques; operations with sites located remotely from a central facility; and original equipment manufacturers that desire to provide a value-added service to their customers.
With SKF's e-maintenance services you can view your facility's most recent condition monitoring data remotely and share that data with other pre-qualified, remote analysts, managers, engineers or consultants. Additionally, you can view relevant data at any time from inside or outside your plant, thus gaining added flexibility to increase asset efficiency and decrease maintenance costs.
SKF can manage the entire remote monitoring program for you or put together a custom infrastructure as a turnkey system for your company to operate on its own.


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Dar es Allarah wrote:I think we need a special space set aside for people undergoing the abyss. Somewhere away from families and children. And this needs to be an international inter-temple effort.
I'd really disagree. I don't think this would really be helpful except maybe in terms of cultivating delusion.
And I think its a mistake to believe that you need to separate yourself from your families and children, job, or any other sorts of "worldly engagements" in order to achieve Enlightenment; you have to do something of this to a certain degree to attain the K&C of the HGA, but that's different. It goes back precisely to what I was talking about earlier in the thread: the HGA can be achieved through efforts like this, crossing the abyss cannot.


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I have drawn a Buddha in the past but to tell you the truth that drawing was sort of bad and the coloring was, to me, horrible. That is why I decided to fill a request and make another tutorial on "how to draw a Buddha statue", step by step. I really like how this drawing came out because it represents the Buddha to the fullest. The Buddha has been an icon to natives from India as well as from other places over the world. Famous people who practice Buddhism are Tina Turner, Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Lopez, Jackie Chan, Michael Stipe, Steven Seagal, Richard Gere, The Dalai Lama, and others across the globe. I think you will enjoy drawing a Buddha because these statues are well recognize everywhere. Peace out people and like always, good luck.
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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The fragile bridge of corporate relationshipsLeadership, Relationships
The CIO had spent almost 5 years in the position thriving and surviving all the uncertainties of business and change in management. He had done well to build a reputation with business leaders with his can do attitude and ideas helped them win in their playing field. Technology vendors loved him for the fact that he was willing to experiment and deploy emerging solutions with calculated risks that brought them further business. He took on additional business responsibilities which added to his experience of a score of years. Then suddenly he quit!
Everyone wondered what happened, some guessed what had happened, confidantes knew the reason behind the presumably sudden move. It was cooking for a while within; his outwardly calm disposition did not raise any suspicion of the turmoil within. For a large part of the year prior to taking the drastic step, he continued to live with a façade which eventually impacted his persona. Something snapped inside, his professional pride hurt he found it difficult to continue. As soon as he had an option, he hastily exited inconsiderate of the adverse impact.
A difference of opinion, perceived gap in skills, and real lack of experience for a favorite project of a Board member left him in no man's land despite industry experts willingness to back him. The project was thus separated from IT and a new peer position was on-boarded. As time passed by he found himself being marginalized in some of the discussions falling off the radar with attention largely focused on the favorite project. He continued to toil until the proposed change of reporting relationship (to his peer) became the proverbial last straw and he quit!
A post-mortem would throw up many advice on what he could have done to rescue the situation and bring himself back into relevance; that anyway belongs to lessons provided from the stands when the game is on. The cardinal mistake he made was to leave in a huff with scant regard to the impact his exit had on ongoing activities, tasks, and outcomes. Pleas to reconsider his decision and later to extend his notice period were ignored with ego prominently dictating the actions. With a small step the bridge built over the years was broken.
He took up the new assignment that had triggered his bold step only to find out that culturally he was unable to fit into the new organization; unable to accept the ethos, he left within weeks without notice. These steps did not go unnoticed in the industry and quietly seeped across through the network; while no one raised the question, peers were nice to him in a diffident way with warmth of the past missing. His requests for connects towards new openings and opportunities were accepted though none made any progress towards materialization.
Young professionals today tactically make career moves based on their need for gratification, personal gain and opportunities in the market. In the build phase of their foundations they flutter around before they find their bearings and settle down. In the mid-career stage relationships are built that help climb the corporate ladder and build credibility on the task and people axis. The persona thus created aids move to level of leadership from just managing people thereby connecting the dots and strengthening the bonds that can last a lifetime.
Courting period with an enterprise starts with best behavior; why does the exit need to be the worst? If there is any bitterness towards the culture, environment, incident, team, people, anything that makes the blood pressure rise, let go as from the next day onwards they are not going to be part of daily life. It is unfortunate that some companies also behave like jilted lovers when someone senior decides to pursue alternative opportunities. The market quickly comes to terms and discounts reference checks with such companies.
The struggle of the protagonist with a few bad decisions impacted his ability to find an opportunity; when alternatives are plenty, prospective companies are not amenable to forego such indiscretions. What if he does not fit in here culturally? What if there is really something wrong with him as a person? Will he bad mouth us when he leaves? There are many what-ifs that deter an opportunity. Bridges are expected to withstand a lot of stress and natural elements; bridges of relationships too require strength from within and resilience to survive incidents and external factors.
Take care!
Why don't employees attend training programs seriously?IT training, Leadership, Soft skills
The HR manager announced a program on different people skills like: listening, reading body language, effective communication, business writing, negotiation skills, and many more. These were being conducted on every Saturday for interested participants. The enterprise had a 5-day work week and the rationale behind a weekend investment was to get the interested participants only. The curriculum was good and participation voluntary. There was no charge nor there was post course assessment or for that matter feedback on faculty.
The inaugural class had 15 participants to the surprise of those present; the expectation was that there would be at least 25-30 representing about 10% of the strength. The group was welcomed by the HR Manager for their quest to learn; the group remarked about their self-improvement focus and the journey started for the teacher and the students. The course, expected to run for 20 weekends, needed strong willpower and commitment; by week 4, the list was down to single digits and by the time the course ended, there were only 4.
Most training programs suffer from this phenomena even when the training program is not that long. On the penultimate day the trainees discover urgent work or cite exigencies to escape from the clutches of learning. The end of the program is typically seen by a few participants who were interested in learning, the totally disinterested who had nothing else to do, the HR representative to complete the loop and the trainer who has reached the end of patience and wants to get out lest s/he lose their poise and temper.
The situation is no different for even a full day learning curriculum; everyone arrives charged up for the day off from work, some look forward to enhancing their skills. As the day progresses, phone calls start interrupting the flow, an urgent mail that needs to go, and customer meetings that pop up or something fails that needs their personal attention, enough to disrupt the class. They all have genuine sounding reasons to go back to the same work that many wanted to avoid at the beginning of the day; learning takes a backseat.
Why is learning such a chore? Are people not interested in their own advancement? What makes them such shirkers when it comes to adding value to themselves? Do they believe that they know everything they need for their success as well as movement in the corporate ladder? If that was the case then everyone would excel in their roles and get promoted with regular periodicity. Learning & Development would be a dead function for most corporates (it is another matter that many play a subservient role with limited latitude to make a difference).
Training are mostly determined during the appraisal cycle based on the discussion between Manager and the staff member; there is a self-determined need based on career aspirations or skills that need to be acquired to fill a gap towards executing their work effectively. Enhancements to existing expertise to move up the ladder to a larger role or a lateral shift to another position also create the need. Soft skills and other seemingly non-essential training are scheduled with published training calendar which are then available for enrollment by everyone.
As an employee I always looked forward to training programs even if they were just to validate existing knowledge. Complementing these with aggressive reading helped me move across industries and roles with ease. As I climbed the ladder, I had the task of managing teams who needed to perform at their optimal best to keep raising the bar and enjoy associated fruits of success. The formula that worked for me mostly was to make the team responsible for their own training, not me, not HR, not the company, only themselves.
They were individually responsible for their career, growth within and outside; most found it contrary to conventional wisdom, after all isn't the Manager expected to take care of the team? Should HR be providing them all kinds of training including technical skills? Isn't the company responsible for taking care of the employees? This worked quite well for me; for those who were unable to accept this responsibility, they found themselves floundering in their positions or out of place in the rapidly changing environment and facing forced attrition.
One of my Managers' had summed it quite well: "We offer employment, we do not guarantee continued employability!"
CIOs need professional courtesy as a basic tenetCIO, IT leadership, Soft skills
This one has been a long time coming though never made it to the top; and then an event triggered the compilation of thoughts which has experiences spread across multiple incidents collated over the not too distant past. It is an interesting observation made by minions as well as leaders on success and/or position (mostly latter, read hierarchy, corner room, and trappings of power) going to the head. Does this give a person the freedom and permission to be unprofessional, rude, disrespectful, insensitive, or simply put misbehave?
- It was a high power meeting if there was one; CEOs from various group companies, corporate heads had been brought together for a common cause and objective driven by a globally respected research and consulting company. They had all assembled to listen to thought leadership that potentially could help them be the disruptor rather than be disrupted with innovation and new business models. The partner had put significant time, money and effort to ensure that the session connects with business leaders and their expectations.
Welcoming the arriving party, the CIO suddenly froze with disbelief seeing two senior ex-CIOs and now advisors to multiple entities as part of the group. Both had put in time in the industry – collectively almost 70 years – and were known to be the "go-to-persons" for any advice. Blurting out his surprise he turned to the organizing vendor CEO and made known his extreme displeasure on their presence wanting them bodily removed. Evidently he felt threatened and dispensed with civility in fear, not that he was known for good behavior.
- She was a CIO who had greatness thrust upon her by her mentor despite having no expertise nor experience; it worked well for her manager who she followed across companies as he could amplify his limited knowledge using her as a puppet to execute whatever took his fancy. Technology had given her a basic foundation on which she failed to capitalize instead focusing on managing her Godfather. Everyone speculated on her rise with oblique references to what she brought to the table and comparisons with stereotyped women of light colored hair. Vendors big and small who were unaware of the reality would attempt to reach her directly, or through current and past team mates, via all modes of communication. Unanswered emails and phone calls were the norm; she would confirm meetings scheduled by her team and then fail to turn up. It was as if there was nothing you could do to catch her attention or be part of the partner ecosystem; and if she did get there, she rarely participated beyond the first few minutes, always called away by (too often raising doubts about it being engineered?) phone call.
There was speculation and murmur that the positions these individuals (and many more whose behaviors are predictably similar) held were not gained by merit alone; in the years that ensued they had not gained enough depth to survive beyond using random buzzwords. The resultant insecurity and self-doubt made sure that they did not go into meetings alone and shied away from groups which would have exposed their ignorance and incompetence. The false bravado thus created personas that no one revered, the external connects were driven by business need.
Let's take the first case of impertinent behavior; there was no perceivable threat from thought leaders who had taken the call to exit from employment to pursue entrepreneurial journey and give their collective experience to the industry at large. For a senior person (I desist from the word leader) who was well entrenched in his role and company, what compulsions resulted in what happened? None of the participants could fathom the root cause or deep insecurities that caused the incident; after all they had rubbed shoulders not too long ago.
The lady in question shied away from all human contact with the external world simply driven by her ineptitude. As the titular head she had to fend for herself in the big bad world; her Godfather could do nothing to shield her from the barrage of requests. Soon the inevitable happened with an aura of an ignoramus surrounding her; vendors and partners belittled her whenever they discussed business opportunities with her company. People started taking bets on how long she would last without the shadow of her protector!
My coach taught me, "Leadership is a contact sport"; he also professed, "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." I more than agree now!
I need a digital vacationdigital
A popular B2C eCommerce marketplace announced that it will shut down the website and engage customers only on the mobile phone; the news had everyone wondering about the wisdom behind such a move. Various views prevailed on the trigger towards this unusual step; speculations did not stop despite press releases that outlined the rationale behind the move. Everyone watched with abated breath when D-day arrived; a few days later a small dip in traffic and revenue was reported with an optimistic view that they will bounce back.
It is published statistics that number of smartphones is increasing globally; the personal device is also becoming the primary means to access Internet, browse, check email, communicate, socialize, and do some personal and official work. Phones are also getting smarter, larger, with higher compute capacity now beginning to rival computers of a not too distant past, offer reasonable mobile storage and increasingly better cameras. Conventional wisdom says that mobile is and will remain the primary device of choice.
Then the latest hype and hoopla is around wearable technology; it all started with glasses (the kind you wear on the eyes) mimicking some of the futuristic movies of the 90s depicting humanoids with special powers. Next came fitness bands which offered alternative ways to view limited information while they monitored body vital functions; these were followed by smart watches wanting to change the way you consume information. Seesawing between screen sizes, each device competed for attention by offering notifications of all types (see Divergence is …).
Did I forget tablets which now masquerade as mini-laptops or phablets that disguise themselves as big sized phones or handy sized tablets ? Crossovers of all types have attempted to bridge a perceived gap until they either became the standard or irrelevant. Case in point as an example, laptops with touchscreens or tablets with keyboards competing for bag space. Depending on need and at times driven by corporate policy, there are cases where both have won and coexist as personal and work device.
Are we obsessed about staying connected or is technology pressurizing us into compulsive behavior for the next notification or alert. Who benefits from connected devices and alarms that keep us on our toes? Is our life changing for the better or worse with guiding forces that we no longer control? From a closed society that valued privacy we have moved to an open world where almost everyone has access to life events that we decided to share and then exercise control on who can see them forgetting that it has been cataloged for data mining!
Coming back to the Thing that could/will be the primary information creation and consumption device(s), it is quite likely and highly probable that contextually there will be separation. We will have the choice on how we would like consume; willingly or inadvertently we will be broadcasting data into the servers of service providers, marketers, and feed analytical engines through the various Things that on or off us will monitor what we are up to in our lives and the feedback mechanism will to nudge our choices subconsciously.
Information consumption shall extend beyond visual interactions to encompass auditory as well as kinaesthetic experience. I think the phone as we know it today will probably retain a large share while other form factors (may be integrated into the phone or discrete) will complete the experience. Change contextually will be driven by where we are, what we are doing, who are we with, time of the day, at work or home or leisure, traveling or stationary, and finally personal choice based on peer influence and personal comfort.
There will also be forced or chosen moments of disconnected bliss (let's call it Digital Vacation) until withdrawal symptoms give way to the craving or we time out the detached life. Extreme cases would undergo Digital detoxification camps and participate in support groups (not digitally but in person) and be monitored actively ironically by digital devices. Does this situation sound too dramatic, hypothetical or out of science fiction? Well I believe that the future is already here for some while others will catch up sooner than later.
Blessed would be a few who can at will detach themselves and have no impact on professional or personal life.
BYOD is dead, long live device independence and proliferationBYOD, Mobile Computing
The advent of smartphones started a small experiment for senior management; it has now become mainstream. Explosion of smartphones in the enterprise driven by economical choices and increasing convenience has seen Progressive IT departments adopting a controlled and open attitude towards providing access to information on the go. Solutions have evolved with app-ification of many processes and business opportunities and Cloud based offerings. BYOD is no longer a 4 letter word, it's reality for enterprises and CIOs.
Reluctant IT organizations are being pushed and forced into acceptance to define a framework on how to weave BYOD into the company fabric. Reality of yesterday which revolved around unmanaged devices, multiple platforms and form factors, and security of corporate data appear to be excuses now. While the starting point for most enterprises has been MDM or Mobile Device Management, additional solutions are equipping enterprises to create a secure and managed ecosystem for employees and partners.
The next few years will see a shift towards BYOD for most enterprises who are deploying mobility solutions of any kind. This is largely driven by the need to push information to stakeholders though newer use cases are emerging with sales force, distribution and approvals. There is also a pull exerted by various parts of the enterprise who are beginning to realize the time value of information. The challenge is not security anymore, it is managing the upsurge in expectations driven by the fact that someone has already done it somewhere in the world.
Is there a balance between complete freedom to totally restricted world? There is no formula by size or industry type or even geography that provides a generic universally acceptable answer. Each enterprise will have to find its own equilibrium depending on need and benefit; my belief is that information enabled employees are likely to take better decisions or create newer opportunities in comparison to staff that live with enforced restrictive policies. Wearables open up new opportunities for the savvy technophiles.
The world is getting bipolar with mobility divided into 2 camps – Android and iOS. Stealthily a third alternative is emerging which offers comfort of the known and familiar to IT folks: Windows! IT knows how to manage this platform while others intrusively came in from the consumer employee. I believe that this trend will be the savior for IT giving them a platform that they know how to manage. Interestingly new innovation with dual boot devices with Windows and Android are just around the corner.
Some people may ask, what about the Blackberry as a device or platform? Should we stop thinking about it? There still are remnants of this in some enterprises. Should they stay in focus? Predictions have a bad way of turning around and biting you; so if they do offer something critical that others don't (which I am not sure of unless it is specific to your business), move them off. It is easier to manage one less technology than keeping it lingering around. In the near term I don't see any merit in continuing with them.
The future belongs to an empowered enterprise where every person has information on demand available on his/her fingertips on a device of his/her choice. Ubiquitous and seamless access activated by secure channels that are MITM (Man In The Middle) and MOTB (Man On The Browser) attack proof; apps are obviating the need to create adaptive websites and compromises in user experience. Enterprises should explore a way to use Apps to provide secure transactional capabilities to employees while running off a public or private cloud.
New devices will continue to challenge IT; drive with policy which is adaptable and allows for induction of new environments. Put them to work in a lab before they start knocking on the door asking for permission to connect. Invest in tools and technology that allow you to manage the devices by exception and policy; that is easier to execute than creating an exception every time something new turns up. You will have limited time and capacity, use it wisely. Finally take a stand if it comes to a crunch; after all when things break only your neck is on the block!
Sliding IT security priorities put enterprises at riskLeadership, Security
I read somewhere about the government's intent to increase budget allocation towards fighting and creating cybersecurity awareness. The link was hidden somewhere towards the bottom of the newsletter; quickly I clicked through to read word by word the good news and realized that it was indeed true! The chart showing CAGR was quite impressive with the trend line going north; then I looked again at the Y axis to find that the investment per annum was so low that the entire news was like actually too scary to be funny.
Not too long ago when I wrote about Creating Secure & Safe Enterprise, many CIOs and CISOs wrote back with their personal experiences; most of them agreed that their realities were reflected within. Some of the interesting facts that emerged is that budgets were a challenge, but then not really a challenge when an incident occurred. With corporate focus on short-term goals and measurement of tactical performance, the biggest challenge that everyone unanimously portrayed was that of sliding priorities with security settling close to the bottom.
Why is security investment such a drag when it comes to budgeting and spending? Why do enterprises and with that I imply the CXOs who collectively represent the Management believe that they don't really need to invest in protecting their information assets which are family jewels in most cases? What creates such a lackadaisical attitude towards creating process, policy, and implementing tools that provide a secure framework to do business despite the fact that threats are increasing and businesses are losing customers, revenue and credibility!
Everyone agrees in principle that security is a must; they (the CXOs) espouse this in conferences and project themselves as the messiahs of information protection and security. When one such leader was asked pointed question on the budget allotted, he sidestepped the question deftly instead talking about how the industry needs to up the ante. The lip service that ignores the elephant in the room is beginning to hurt enterprises. The cause for such an attitude towards keeping the doors and windows open has to be deeper.
I am not that big and not an attractive target for anyone! Why would any hacker want to breach our security? Our customer data is locked up on one computer and only two people have access to it; they are both trustworthy. We don't have anything worth stealing, so why would anyone compromise our systems? We know internal threats are higher than external, we have information distributed across multiple solutions, so no one can decipher the full picture; we have locked USB, installed anti-virus and firewall, isn't that enough?
Is lack of awareness or education creating a false sense of security and complacency? Or is it a belief that such things happen to others and I am safe? Is CXO ignorance and indifference an acceptable proposition towards defining the security posture of an enterprise? When you live dangerously sooner or later an adverse incident does occur and that is when the scapegoat syndrome always ends up pointing fingers at the CIO or the CISO, and/or the service provider. Breaking this paradox is the need of the hour for enterprises.
No one wants to fall sick or die but everyone takes health and life insurance! Investments in security are like insurance to protect the business. Physical security has seen this paradigm shift with electronic tags and biometric solutions becoming the norm. With the number of threats increasing and new ones emerging, the education of CXOs is not just an imperative but an urgent need. CIOs, CISOs, Internal Audit, and Risk Committees have to own up the information protection agenda and drive it with their collective might.
Using ethical means to understand vulnerabilities and fixing them should be high in the corporate agenda towards creating a safer digital enterprise. Customers and consumers are becoming sensitive to this fact and the probability of them taking their business elsewhere is beginning to happen. A safe and secure ecosystem is required for the extended enterprise including suppliers, contractors, partners, and customers. The writing on the wall is that companies who emerge as secure digital enterprises will be winners of the future.
Where are you?
Creating safe and secure enterpriseLeadership, Security
Information and Cyber security is becoming a big topic of discussion extending beyond IT; in recent times it has definitely caught the attention of many country heads – Presidents and Prime Ministers alike. Conferences and Summits are being organized with discussions and debate around how to protect sovereign interests and secrets in many parts of the world. It is thus surprising that beyond a few industries like telecom and collectively the BFSI companies, there is very limited traction with CEOs and Boards.
Security breaches are increasingly creating adverse impact on enterprises; many high profile incidents have heightened awareness globally thereby removing the excuse of ignorance for decision makers. Thus manifestation of interest is easily discerned by the presence or absence of a security function, irrespective of whether it reports to IT or not. Recent survey by global consulting companies indicate improvement over the years though the gap is still quite large to give comfort. Why the indifference or inertia?
If we go back in time, systems were islands of information; information was exchanged between systems manually or through physical electronic media. Soon there was a way to connect multiple computers and they talked to each other within the computer room or data center. Improvements in telecom networks introduced the ability to connect distant locations though still within the enterprise. The advent of long distance data networks and the internet introduced new possibilities to connect with external stakeholders.
Standardization of data formats and published formats like EDI, XML, and integration using published APIs created new business models as well as collaboration opportunities with Extranets and Exchanges. The interconnected world also brought with it crooks, rogues, greedy and the disgruntled who wanted to disrupt business as usual and profit from enterprise loss. The industry responded with solutions to prevent intrusion, hacking, sniffing, direct and indirect attacks, attempting to create a shield around the end points and the transport layer.
IT was chastised for writing insecure programs that could be broken; they were never expected to write code that would be subject to threats from within or outside as their starting point was information islands. Remedial action demanded layers around the information while business upped the ante to demand information anywhere, anytime, for everyone. Moving from offline transactions to real-time information flow, programs were patched, retired, replaced and then left to run on uncontrolled machines thanks to BYOD.
Conventionally adopted protection technology solutions have been compromised; new vulnerabilities are being discovered every day. Patching remains the solace of the susceptible which lags the threats and their discovery. Evolution of defense strategies offers newer ways to safeguard the data but they come with a cost that is unpalatable to many enterprises. Challenge lies in non-existent to thin security budgets. Business expectation of quick and dirty solutions does not allow for adequate time to create secure solutions.
In conversation with a few CXOs, they expected regulators to enforce spends on security; according to one, spends will stay muted unless it is mandated. Another had instructed his CISO to find low cost or open source solutions; alternatively to selectively deploy security for specified endpoints or applications leaving the rest protected with basic anti-virus. To him no evidence of leakage implied that all systems are well protected; head in the ground appears a good way of declaring enterprise information assets secure.
It is contingent upon senior enterprise leaders, CXOs and Boards to take up the cause and demonstrate leadership starting with visible endorsement of security for all information assets. Risk Committees are at risk should a breach become high profile with loss of credibility and customers losing trust. Recovery from such incidents can be long and painful consuming higher budgets and efforts than planned interventions; and when something does go wrong, necks roll. There are many examples of breaches claiming CIOs and CEOs tainting their illustrious careers.
It is up to IT organizations to include security by design into every new system they plan to build or buy. New technologies do offer opportunities to create secure solutions and they do not necessarily come from current industry leaders in solutions or security. The world is connecting in a way never imagined before. Collaboration has extended beyond B2B, B2C, C2C, E2C, C2C, to M2M, and new paradigms are created every day. Reality is the innovation wheel is spinning faster and faster, where are you in the game?
Someone had quipped "You cannot do today's job with yesterday's tools and expect to be in business tomorrow." And I agree, do you?
A discussion with the CEO on server and storage sizingLeadership, Servers, Storage
It was time to refresh the data center with existing infrastructure completing its lifecycle; some of the equipment was end of life with no support available, the rest needed replacement to ensure that the company stays current with technology. The IT team gathered all the data and statistics on usage to arrive at new configurations that will serve them for the next 3-4 years. All interested vendors contributed to the technology evaluation with differentiated solutions promoting esoteric features that normally don't matter.
The team assimilated the information overload with judicious sifting that created a clear picture aligning the need to the offerings. It was a fair comparison where technology took precedence over comfort with any specific vendor or technology. To be doubly sure, the team reached out to peers and seniors across the industry to validate the recommendation. After a few iterations, all of it came through as good to go. To conclude the exercise, a presentation was prepared for the CEO who would needed to approve the budget and bless the project.
The CEO was known to be a technophile who kept the CIO and the rest of IT on their toes; he was well read, well connected and at times deep dived into finer details that most techies would find hard to hold a conversation. He was the force behind the company adopting IT in the way they did, spending judiciously and yet remaining current with industry evolution; recent times had seen a slowdown in investments and it was time to play catch-up. D-day arrived and the CIO along with the team was ready to present.
Why have you chosen the configuration that you present? What are my options with engineered systems or for that matter Public Cloud? Why do I need to invest in 50 TB of storage upfront; how can I stagger the deployment? Why have you chosen 12 core processors over 16 core? Why not 1.2 TB disks or SATA drives which offer higher capacity? Why is the number of VMs so low per physical box? Where is your Cloud strategy? The discussion went on for an hour with the CEO throwing question after question at the team.
The team could field only some and ran out of answers after some time; they promised to rework the solution with clarifications sought and inputs given. They were not expecting the kind of questions asked, they had prepared the business case based on transaction volume, new systems underway and planned, business growth and new initiatives that the business had planned over the next few years. It was as if the tables had turned on them with the CEO going technical while they had focused on business outcomes.
Is this a reality for large number of CIOs or just an exception to the rule where CEOs and CXOs rarely get into technology discussions citing ignorance and the fact that they find technology unfathomable ? Scanning the horizon I find that this breed of techno savvy CXOs is beginning to grow; they may not be able to differentiate between SAS and NL-SAS drives or size storage based on IOPS, they do understand basics that matter and are able to hold their own based on reasonable understanding of technology; all thanks to tech going mainstream media.
This world is antonymous to the world I wrote about last week (My CFO thinks he knows technology). There are people who know technology and use their expertise where it matters and there is a breed who thinks who know and want to show off in various forums. The first engage and challenge you to find better solutions, the other group ends up being a pain with their pseudo expertise. It takes little effort to see through the façade of the latter who can derail the best of hard work by seeding random thoughts of doubt.
Having worked with both camps, I found that opportunities can be created with the technophiles to engage and innovate depending on your risk appetite and ability by staying updated with finer nuances of technology. This may sound contradictory to the well beaten drum that CIOs need to move away from technology to business; my view is that CIOs cannot leave their foundations for purportedly greener pastures; they need to stay grounded in their domain while learning the newer skills and moving forth.
After all if the CFO does not know about IRR, NPV or ROA (Return on Assets), s/he will become a liability to the organization!
My CFO thinks he knows technologyLeadership, Technology
After a weeklong discussion on the new business opportunity that clearly defined the process and the strategy, the CMO thanked the IT team and the CIO for their active participation. Then he said something that resulted in pin drop silence and uneasy calm: I think the solution should be ready within a week from now? You know in college we used to write code and release programs in a few days. The CIO decided to clarify different reality for enterprise solutions that require a bit longer for time measured in weeks and months.
The CIO had invited the CFO to the IT meeting to interact with the team; every month he used to call some of the business leaders to give the team differing perspectives of how they contributed to the business and made a difference. In an endeavor to show off his technical prowess, the CFO asked about the storage environment: why don't you use the NAS for the ERP? SAN is expensive; you should know how to economize! I have been involved in many technology projects and want to help you to choose most optimum solutions!
I had the privilege of working with many CEOs who were tech savvy and challenged me to find new ways to use existing investments as well as keep scanning for new technologies which could be disruptive in the future. The joy of working with such CEOs multiplied the not just my enthusiasm but also kept my teams motivated to put in their best to keep us ahead of the curve. This obviously created a culture of tech adoption that infected the rest of the CXOs to create an enterprise that enjoyed the benefits that IT can bring to the business.
Life gets interesting when some of the CXOs think they know technology better than IT professionals just because they worked in a tech company or studied a programming language in their school. Above are just 2 samples of such dialogues which keep the CIOs challenged and humored at the same time. They would make a great compendium to keep the IT fraternity smiling for a long time; the question that keeps raising its head is how to address such "know IT all" and "been there, done that" situations without creating a scene.
In conversations with many CIOs sharing experiences a few strategies emerged which had worked for most of them. To begin with the general consensus was to humor them by letting them speak out their heart and then keep doing what is in best interest of the project, team and the company. They need a platform to voice their knowledge which makes them feel better about themselves; most are happy doing just that in a harmless way without realizing that their wisdom is no longer relevant to the current technology realities.
The balance select minority of self-professed and declared IT experts who really believe that they know, unaware of when to stop are a challenge that needs handling with care. In positions of influence or power, they can be seriously disruptive to progress. This elite group wants to stay involved, sit through review meetings, add value to discussions with vendors, and get into minute details of deep technology that is best left to the techies. The group had no silver bullet though everyone had faced and managed such individuals in their careers.
Some CIOs had escalated such incidents where possible to the CEO or the Board to get them off their backs. Another avenue appeared to be to get an external third party or consultant on board to provide an expert view to counter the often antiquated, incorrect or incomplete knowledge. For the rest it was about the adverse impact on their deliverables which they were unable to control. So they struggled with shifting goalposts and changing timelines driven by the inane and absurd; they just had to grin and bear it.
One CIO had decided to take on such a CXO head-on and not accept the nonsense; he corrected the CXO in meetings and gave alternative and at times contrary views which almost every time put the CXO in an embarrassing and compromised situation. Unable to withstand the humility of the situation, the CXO confronted the CIO: Why do you keep countering everything I say as if I know nothing? You make me feel like a chump! What makes you so right all the time as if you know everything? Stop doing this else…
The CIO moved on to newer pastures leaving the company to the mercy of half-baked buzzword laden CXO.
CIO's jobs is so easy!CIO, Leadership
They had a new CIO and the IT team was wondering how he would be; the earlier CIO was a self-professed workaholic. A bachelor staying few blocks away, he would land up at the office during his morning jog. He would stay on until the morning review meeting with the team running over every activity of the previous day which they had to record in a time sheet. His need to know everything and micromanage every activity obsessively; the team feared his scrutiny. So when the new CIO was announced, everyone was apprehensive, can it get worse?
The new guy came on board with his reputation preceding him as a celebrated CIO with much published success. Many of the team members had heard him in a few events and seminars though did not know his personality or working style. His demeanor was friendly and approachable which portrayed a pleasant personality. IT vendors spoke highly of his professional expertise and no nonsense way of working; he was tough with them and yet appreciated their contribution. This confused the IT team especially his direct reports.
The team of seven who ran the IT organization were coincidentally all of the same experience levels though across domains and technologies. Some old and some new, they had a tolerable coexistence with occasional professional conflicts resulting from overlapping responsibilities and dependencies on their individual success. Respective teams ran an efficient shop which the organization was proud of, with early adoption of many technologies. Their only challenge was an unfriendly image of IT which was growing rapidly.
The CIO met with the team collectively and individually within the first week to note their challenges and opportunities, aspirations and setbacks, and to understand the organization and team culture. He looked at their modus operandi, reports they created for internal review, processes and practices they had imbibed; he was quite happy to see their diligence and dedication towards work. He also found that some negativity was attributable to the earlier leader's high technology orientation and disconnect with the business which rubbed off onto the team.
Soon they settled down into a comfortable rhythm, back to the grind, except that they noticed a subtle shift in the way business interacted with them. It was as if suddenly the enterprise had discovered some of the good qualities of the team that got beaten up every so often for operational failures, some of which had nothing to do with IT. Enjoying their new found status, the team gave it back in kind with positive collaboration towards solving business problems or finding new opportunities to win in the cutthroat industry.
Few in the IT team who were hired by the earlier CIO missed the daily morning grilling and technology sessions; they craved the micromanagement, instructions on how to do, prioritization of their activities; for them the regimented way had comfort, it took away the pain of thinking. They associated the new hands-off approach and delegation with lack of technical prowess and acumen; they saw the CIO attend business meetings, seminars, events, and take lead as the spokesperson for the industry which was in conflict to their benchmark of what a CIO should be.
They seeded thoughts across the IT team on the frivolous nature of their new leader and his style of operation; grudgingly granting the fact that business had begun to love technology and investments had gone up, these were anyway expected. For them success was despite the CIOs interventions and not because of what he did. The majority disagreed though had stray thoughts on what is indeed the role of the CIO and the complexity of the job which seemed to change dramatically with the new person. He appeared to have so much of free time!
I recently met with one of the seven who had taken on the role of the CIO stepping into the shoes of his highly successful boss. He was one of the persons close to the earlier CIO though not critical of the new one; he acknowledged the complexity of the role and the balancing act that it demanded from internal stakeholders expectations, team dynamics and its management, vendor ecosystem that needed periodic attention and finally the orchestration of all the components to keep everyone together aligned to the vision of the company's future.
Few months into the role, he was struggling with the balance tilting frequently, the bar raised high; he was enjoying the challenge. He had finally found the answer to the question, what is the role of the CIO!


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SKF retrofits compressor to save refinery
€15 000 000
The challenge
Along with exposure to harsh gases, the production-critical compressor had to endure continuous operation. And with no back-up unit online, the MTBF rate it was experiencing – less than six months – was unacceptable.
The SKF solutionSKF worked with the refinery to engineer a custom bearing solution consisting of high-nitrogen, stainless steel rings, ceramic rolling elements, and machined brass cages. SKF then helped the refinery's maintenance team install the bearings in the compressor.
The resultThe SKF engineered bearing solution has so far reportedly multiplied the service life of the compressor six-fold, extending MTBF from 3 800 hours to more than 23 000 hours.
This service life extension increased the reliability and availability of the refining process, significantly reducing sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions caused by flaring. Currently the unit is still in service, and the refinery reports that the overall financial benefit from the extended service life is in excess of €15 million!


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Why I went: The transition to an Asian-focused global economy is an important factor to consider for my future. I sought to prepare myself by gaining exposure through a short experience beginning with Singapore.
On living in another country: The mere experience of being in another country in another region was the best part. Sharing classes with Singaporean students helped our group learn about different cultures while collaborating on projects. Outside of class, we were fortunate enough to also meet and experience people of very diverse backgrounds.
My inspiration at UB: Paul Yong helped guide me to Singapore. I've known him for several years and every group he has taken to Singapore has only gotten better. His dedication to his students and the quality of the Singapore program is unmatched.
How study abroad influenced my future: My Singapore experience reinforced my reasoning for pursuing a career focusing on Asia, especially China. Being that Singapore is an international trade and finance hub, I realized the importance of Chinese and China in the future economy. Immediately after graduation in 2010, I went to Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, to learn Mandarin. I worked at a communications consultancy for two years afterward, finally returning to New York City in 2012.
A global focus: Whatever they decide to pursue, UB students should realize that their future endeavors are no longer contained within U.S. borders. Study abroad programs are truly invaluable experiences that will open eyes and expose students to ideas, people and cultures that will only further their understanding of the world. I believe UB study abroad programs help add a perspective to students' lives that will help better shape their choices, with the world in mind.
Why do study abroad?: Studying abroad with UB allows many students to take their first step toward their understanding of another part of the world. The mix of education and fun gives students a well-rounded experience that, I feel, they'll keep with them for the rest of their lives.


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IMAX 3D: Born to be Wild—for schools
Category: Educational IMAX film
Selected dates and times only
Follow orphaned orang-utans and elephants, and meet the extraordinary people who care for these incredible animals.
From Early Years to Key Stage 4 and beyond, the National Science and Media Museum provides stunning opportunities to learn about the principles of light and sound and the science behind photography, film and television.
Inspire your class with our exciting interactive science shows, workshops and galleries, experience a documentary in our spectacular IMAX cinema, or explore our learning resources.


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Craving a juicy burger, an enormous Brooklyn-style bagel oozing cream cheese, or Californian cuisine? Consult TheFork's selection of the best American-style restaurants your city has to offer! So whether you're craving pancakes dripping with good old Aunt Jemima, a chocolate milkshake, or a New York cheesecake, look no further, you're almost home!
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Maison Blanche - Bondues1920 Avenue du Général de Gaulle 59910 Bondues 1.65km
Average price €17.00
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HIV/AIDS country profile 2011: Belarus
WHO/Europe produces country profiles on the HIV/AIDS-related situation in each Member State of the WHO European Region. Different sources are used to produce the country profiles, including annual reporting mechanisms to which national stakeholders contribute. The last update of the country profiles took place in May 2013.


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Syedna Taher Fakhruddin TUS presides over Khatmul Quran majlis after wafat of Syedna Qutbduddin RA on 4th Rajab al Asab 1437H and prays Sadaqallah Doa. Presented with English Translation.
On the solemn occasion of Syedna Khuzaima Qutbuddin RA Urus Mubarak, we present this a selection of memorable photos of Syedna Qutbuddin RA. These photos offer a fleeting glimpse of Syedna Qutbuddin, the audio features selected abyaat from the salaam composed by Shehzadi Dr. Tahera Baisaheba.
On the solemn occasion of Syedna Khuzaima Qutbuddin RA Urus Mubarak, we present this video of Marsiya narrating the events after wafaat along with selection of photos from that time. These photos offer a recollective window into the inexpressible loss and grief that overwhelmed Mumineen when the calamitous news of Syedna Qutbuddin's wafaat shook us to our core.
"...It is because of the sacrifice and shahaadat of Syedna Qutbuddin Shaheed that during this time of the Imam's seclusion, the kalimat-ush-shahaadat endures and the Da'wat of the Imam continues to exist. And indeed, it will continue to exist either until the Imam's zuhoor or till Qiyamat." Read "The Two Portions of Rehmat – Imam Husain & Syedna Qutbuddin Shaheed" by Shehzada Dr Aziz Bhaisaheb Qutbuddin.
"In the bayaan Syedna Qutbuddin RA highlighted the parallel between the shahaadat of Imam Husain in Karbala and the shahaadat of his Dai Syedna Qutbuddin Shaheed RA in Ahmedabad. Just as we remember Imam Husain SA in Aashura, so we remember Syedna Qutbuddin Shaheed RA and pray his shahaadat on his Urus."
This is a brief biographical article of the 34th Dai al-Mutlaq Syedna Ismail Badruddin bin Mulla Raj RA highlighting his lineage, and his early life and tarbiyat. It also touches briefly upon just one of the many glorious aspects of his 20-year Dai-ship: his shaan in ilm of Aale Mohammad, his priceless contribution to Dawat learning, and his shafaqat upon talabat ul ilm.
Syedna Khuzaima Qutbuddin RA was a beacon of light. It is befitting that Syedna Qutbuddin's roza, as Syedna Fakhruddin TUS said, "shines for the people of the sky as the stars shine for those on earth." To contribute, please click here. Mumineen participate in the khidmat of niyaaz and also contribute regularly to join in the sawaab of Mazaar-e-Qutbi Niyaaz. If you would like to participate, click here.
Bihamdillah Imamat namaz and majalis are conducted all over the world by the raza mubarak of Syedna Taher Fakhruddin TUS. To find out more about majalis and events near you, and to connect with your local mas'ul and other mumineen click here.
Recognising the unique challenges of the time where Mumineen cannot always travel to be with Syedna Fakhruddin TUS personally, bethak via videoconferencing will be arranged on a weekly basis for Mumineen who wish to have an audience with Syedna TUS. For further details, click here.
A selection of ideas from the PhD thesis about Islamic finance submitted to the University of Manchester by Shehzada Dr Abdeali Bhaisaheb Saifuddin. His PhD was completed in 2003 with the raza and doa mubarak of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin RA
24 December 2016
17 September 2016
28 May 2016
27 May 2016
25 September 2014


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(Yes, I'm aware that that archaic thermostat under the shelf is about the most hideous thing, but it's one "architectural element" of ye ol' house that we just have to live with around here. My goal in general is to distract from it with other stuff.)
(Here's my info: 1.5" circle punch, arranged in 6 circles x 11 circles columns/rows, cut particle board to 13"x23", marked first circle center 1.5" in from the top and 1.5" in from the side of the particle board, spaced each dot 2" away thereafter. All of this is from memory, so please double-check the math before you take my word for it.)
Added a small glue dot at each mark and glued the circles down.
Covered the whole thing with weights while it dried. (Encyclopedias. Remember those? Blast from the past, I know.)
And there it sits. Paint chip art.
Have you used paint chips for anything innovative? I'd love to hear/see!
p.s. I used and recommend this spray adhesive to attach the rice paper to my board:
{shared A Vision to Remember, Be Different Act Normal, Finding Fabulous, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Funky Junk Interiors, House of Hepworths, I Heart Naptime, Lovely Crafty Home, Nifty Thrifty Things, Or So She Says, Positively Splendid, Serenity Now, Shabby Nest, Six Sisters' Stuff, The 36th Avenue, WhipperBerry, and other links found here}


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OS Types and Functions
By Black Cluster
Yeah, yeah! I felt so bored today and since I have some time to waste, I decided to write this tutorial about the OSs and their functions, absolutely for newbies. Many of my friends have been sinking in the sea of computer in general and been asking, what is the OS? How they operate? etc.
Operating System Definition
First off, we have to define the Operating System. The Operating System is a seat of specialist programs that acts as an interface between a user and the computer hardware components. The OS manages the operations and resources of the computer to present a better performance {Resource allocator}. Its main purpose is to provide a user-friendly environment in which the user can execute programs and interact with components more easily and efficiently.
Not-really Smart Tips:
1.Without OS computers worth nothing. Never ever think to buy a computer without an operating system.
2.The primary goal for an OS is a convenience for user.
3.The OS is ONLY the core software component of your computer.
Before commencing to identify the various functions of the OS, we have to identify what kinds of OSs are available? How we can recognize them? And Why they vary?
Operating System Types:
After reading this section you will be able to categorize operating systems into neat categories, and readily identify what each OS is for. There are many kinds of operating systems; however, they usually fall into four broad categories. They are distinguished from one another by nature of interaction between the user and the OS and the purpose that they intend to serve.
1-Real-time Operating System {RTOS}.
2-Single-task, Single user Operating System.
3-Single user, Multitasking Operating System.
4-Multi-user Operating System.
1- Real-time Operating System {RTOS}
This OS is used specifically to control instruments, machineries, industrial systems and scientific instruments. They have very little user-interface capabilities. One of the most remarkable aspects of an RTOS is the management of the resources of the computer so that a particular operation executes in the same amount of time every time it occurs. Thats the main reason of using this OS in the industries as the prices time is really a big matter.
Real-time operating system, in turn, is further broken up into two categories:
a.Hard real-time OS: This OS fully guarantee critical tasks will be completed in a given amount of time. This type accepts new critical commands from an external device, in this case, it is common that it will suspend the execution of other less critical commands, so if a process completes correctly but takes longer than its given amount of time, the process fails.
b.Soft real-time OS: This type is by far less restrictive than the Hard type. This type prioritizes tasks into critical and non-critical. The non-critical tasks are bounded to give the critical tasks enough time to be performed; however these bounds are as severe as in the Hard type. Compared to the Hard type, if a process completes correctly but takes longer than its given amount of time, the results may still useful.
Well, I would like to add that finding details about on these systems can be relatively hard, however some manufacturers like QNX offer more insight into these kinds of OSs .
I guess, you figured out that this type of OS is not for home usage.
2-Single-task, single-user Operating Systems
This is another kind of OS. As the name implies this OS is designed to manage to manage so that one user can perform one single task at a time. A proof-of-concept OS is MS-DOS.
3-Single-user, multitasking Operating Systems
This is the most famous OS and some times called Desktop OS. It is the OS that most people use at home and office. Most people have got this OS installed on their PCs or laptops. Good examples are, Linux SuSE, Slackware, Windows XP, Windows 5.0, MacOS.
In this OS you may perform many tasks at the same time. For instance, writing an email while downloading a file or listening to your favorite music bands.
4-Multi-user Operating System
This OS can let many and different users to take the advantage of the resources of the computer simultaneously. It is usually used on servers to let many users use the same set of programs and to effectively share resources. Before letting user commencing to use and work on the OS, the OS makes sure that the requirements of different users are balanced, and each program they are using has a sufficient and separate resources so that in case of one user failure wont effect the other users.
Examples: VMS, Unix, and mainframe OSs like MVS.
Important Note: Please dont mix up between multi-user and single-user operating systems. People usually use the term multi-users for any OS that support the creation of different users like Win2000, WinXP, this is very wrong. Even though, these OSs can handle thousands of user but they are not truly multi-user OS, the ONLY functional user is the System Administrator. The remote user logins and the programs being run by them are actually being run by the Administrative user.
Now we are done with the first phase, recognizing the different types of Operating Systems and categorizing them.
Operating System Functions
This part is the most interesting part, we will go through the functions of the OS, how they load and how they manage the hardware and level of interaction between the OS and the hardware. Not to mention folks, we will firstly go through the initial processes of loading the OS.
Loading Phase
Hit the power button, wait few minutes, Oh! The OS loaded so quickly. But wait a minute what happened inside? What makes the OS loads?
A set of pre-saved instructions in the Read Only Memory {ROM} is firstly loaded. These instructions examine the hardware and its compatibility and check if there is any failure or not {this software is referred to as firmware}. This first movement or action is called Power-On Self Test {POST}. The main propose of POST is to check CPU, RAM, and BIOS and other parts for errors and if any occur, the systems stops without displaying any error message.
After the completion of the POST process, the firmware starts to activate disk drives, and finds the bootstrap loader in order to load the OS into the memory. {bootstrap: is a small piece of program that loads the OS into the memory and allows the OS to commence operations. Usually the interrupt 19H}
It also sets up the division in the main memory {RAM} that will hold the operating system and the other set of data.
Now moving to the functions. We can list the functions of the OS as follows:
1- Central Processing Unit Management.
2- Memory Management
3- User Interface
4- Backing Storages
5- Running Application
6- Input/Output Management
Lets talk about each one of them briefly. Not to mention, there are other functions but not as critical as the listed, however I will be mentioning some of them at the end of this tutorial. Some say that OSs most do more than merely the stuff we are talking about.
1-Central Processing Unit {CPU} Management
Lets consider a little scenario, imagine that every program that run takes as much share as it needs from the CPU, this would inevitably lead to complete anarchy. The allocation of CPU would be allocated unfairly and in a way that would lead to a system breakdown.
The first function of the OS is to police the allocation of resources among deferent applications. Also the OS ensures that each process gets enough share of the processors time share to function perfectly and properly. This is what we call allocating CPUs time share. This allocation is fully controlled by a small program called Scheduler. The work done by the Scheduler is either a Process or Thread.
A process is an application in the running state, and this application is controlled by the user, other applications or the OS itself. For instance, when we are navigating through you LAN network, many application run in conjunction with your navigator. With any evidence they even exist. So as a conclusion, the processor is rather controlling a Process not an application.
Thread is similar to Process, in that both represent a single sequence of instructions executed in parallel with other sequence, either by time slicing or multiprocessing. Threads allow processes to split itself into two or more simultaneously running processes or tasks.
Definition: Interrupt, Is a CPU event that is triggered by some external device.
The OS is really smart that it can set priorities to each process, thats to say, which process is more crucial than the other. I know that you would say that all the programs are important and I would say Yeah thats right!. But in some cases some programs needs the immediate CPUs response to some action that cant ignored and need to be handled immediately {We call this Interrupts}. To this extension, the OS will either prioritize the Interrupts to Masked or Non-maskable interrupts {NMIs}. For those interrupts that are not really critical and can wait until the more important process is executed, they will be Masked {Suspended}, the CPU will ignore them until the current process is done. And there are some interrupts that are very important that they cant be ignored such as memory faults or error conditions, those interrupts will prioritized as Non-maskable interrupts.
As we know that we can do many things at the same time, surfing the internet, listening to the music, downloading and writing, all this at the same time. But here you need to know that the CPU, no matter how fast it is, can handle only do one thing at a time. But wait a minute, How come?!?! The OS arranges the execution of the applications so that you believe that everything is happening at the same time, and to do this the processor switches between the processes thousands of times a second. This swapping happens without the direct user interference. This process gives each process enough CPU cycles to accomplish its task properly.
So, how the processor keep track with the processes when switching from on to another:
1- Unique ID number for each process
2- The priority of the process
3- Pointer to the maximum and the minimum amounts of the memory needed for the process.
4- The information about the I/O devices needed by the process.
5- A list of the files opened by the process.
6- Register Contents
7- States of various flags and switches
8- Pointers to the location in the program and its data where processing last occurred.
In case of poorly designed OS and too many applications are running already the system will start to use the majority of its available cycles to switch between the applications rather than actually running them, this problem is called Thrashing. In sometime is necessary to intervene to end some process. Some OSs are designed to support Multithreading which allow different parts of a program to run concurrently.
2-Memory Management
Every program need to be loaded into the computers memory in order to be processed.
The OSs Scheduler makes sure that the following points are met.
1- Each process has enough memory storage to function properly.
2- All memory types are being used in the most proper way and no wasted spaces are tackling them.
3- Allocating the storage being generated by the users programs.
4- Loading the important parts the program need to be loaded before processing and then unloading them when they are no longer needed.
First off, the OS sets u memory boundaries for the software and the other applications. After that the applications begin to load in pre-determined block sizes of memories. If the block size is 2 kilobytes, then every process that is loaded will be given a chunk of memory that is a multiple of 2 kilobytes in size. Applications will be loaded in these fixed block sizes, with the blocks starting and ending on boundaries established by words of 4 or 8 bytes. Well what is point of all that? These processes will the application wont be loaded into the top of another application.
You might as yourself what if we got all memories occupied? It is possible to extent the memory you have, this can be expensive however. We can do a trick to overcome this problem at no cost; this technique is called Virtual Memory Management. It is possible to move the information from RAM to your HDD {Hard Disk Drive}, however this technique might cause some delays in processing the information that it holds {Slower than the RAM}.
Now to our last point in the Memory Management. Types of memory in a computer system are:
1- High-Speed cache: You always hear the word that always accompany the CPU {Full-cache, Dual-cache ..etc}. High-speed cache is the fastest memory type in the computer system, and it is a small fast memory available to the CPU. This memory has controllers that predict what information the CPU will need next and put it on the main memory in order to speed up the overall system performance.
2- Main Memory: Also known as RAM {Random Access Memory}, this is measured by megabytes; it plays a key role in speeding up the overall performance of the computer.
3- Secondary Memory: Kind of magnetic storage that keeps the information, applications and data available to be used at anytime {Virtual RAM}.
Balancing the available memory with the amount needed by the programs is one of the most crucial and critical functions of the OS.
3- User Interface
It is usually wrongly understood that the GUI {Graphical User Interface} is exactly the same of OS. Thats wrong, the user interface is set of programs that sits above the OS itself and is the main form of communication between the user and the computer.
In some systems the only method of communication between the user and the system is the command line {Command Driven}. A good example is MS-DOS, where you write your commands in a command driven environment.
Unix is by far similar but has something additional called Shells that presents a user interface that is more flexible and more powerful than the Standard text-based interface.
The most recent improvements in the User Interface {UI} is in the field of Graphical User Interface {GUI}. The first two models were Apples Macintosh and MS Windows. All the operations are compromised and processed at the kernel of the OS. Thus, the GUI lies right above the OS. The GUI is basically WIMP {Window, Icon, Mouse and Pointer} environment where you can execute programs and application with mouse clicks instead of using the less-flexible command driven environment.
4-Backing Storage
The reading and writing of data to a backing device is an important function of the OS. The OS controls the allocation of spaces on these devices. As we know that OS watches and supervises the data transmission between every part of the computer. For instance, between the backing storage devices such as magnetic desk or DLTs and tape drives and memory and deals with requests from spaces on them.
This function is extremely good since it would allow us to write into external devices to back up our sensitive data, Disaster Recovery. Imagine how bad would be data lose, the data that is collected in about one year is gone or corrupted. This would be really a disaster. Thanks to this function with backing data is no longer in danger.
Backing storage uses either direct or serial access methods. Direct access means that particular files can be found without the need to read through all of the data, as with serial access. Data may be stored on (or written to) CD-Rom, FDD (both direct access), or magnetic tape (serial access).
5-Running Applications
The OS supervises and coordinate the loading and the unloading of the applications from and into the memory, and closely coordinate the execution of the commands.
The management of the applications is really important, imagine that every program is loading and occupying as much as it wants from the memory. This is normal as every program would compete to gain the attention of the CPU. Here the OS ensures that each application is getting enough resources to function properly.
If the application is running in an unstable environment, they will function improperly and a lot of errors will occur as the interface with the hardware would be faulty. The OS offers a stable environment in which applications can run properly, thats why an OS can run on different types of computers.
6-Input/Output {I/O} Management
Every program on run required some hardware resources, like a word file requires resources like keyboard a mouse to interact with. The OS controls the allocation of Input and Output devices. Exactly like in the previous functions the OS ensures that every program has enough resources to function properly.
The OS has no built-in programs that control the Hardware on the Motherboard; the OS make use of small special programs called Driver. The driver functions as the translator between the electrical signals of the Hardware subsystems and the high-level programming language of the OS. But Why Drivers are separate from the OS? So in the future we can add new functions to the drivers without the pain of modifying the whole OS. I think it is a reasonable factor not to add drivers to the OS.
At its simplest level, managing input and output is largely a matter of managing queues and buffers, which are special storage places the handle the stream of bits from devices, like mouse and keyboard and transfer them to the CPU for processing.
Recent OS are really fixable in dealing with hardware. For instance, Win XP, or Linux SuSE can accommodate with thousands of different hardware types {Modems, printers, disk drives.. ect}
Final thoughts
For more information about what this tutorial is covering please visit the links that I cited. And if you should have any queries shot me a PM, and I will be happy to answer any.
Remember what I offered is really not enough if you are looking for full-coverage article about the OSs, please do use Google for further information.
Thanks for reading.
5-Some articles from our own curriculum and magazines.
Find attached a PDF file format copy


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