Network.Programming-in.Net

Network Programming in .NET

Interviewing

Your goal in an interview Your resume and cover letter have gotten you in the door. Now is your chance to show the employer that you are the person for the job. Knock 'em dead by keeping a few simple tips in mind. The interview is where you show an employer how you will get their job done. Your resume describes what you have done. Your cover letter has provided the introduction. Based on your resume and cover letter, you have been invited to interview with several companies. Now you can communicate your ability and skills directly to potential employers. An interview is a two-way street. You can gain insight on the position and evaluate the organization to which you have applied. Simultaneously, the employer has a chance to describe the open position and to evaluate your abilities in light of that job description. It is a chance for both parties to get to know each other and to determine if there is potential for a match. Anyone can learn to interview effectively. Most people find interviewing to be a daunting prospect. Just remember, the key to a successful interview is preparation and careful listening. Interviewing is a skill, not an art. Honesty and accuracy Special note on filling out the employer's application: Be careful and accurate. Most financial institutions will do an extensive background check, including employment and salary verification. These checks will be based on the information you give on job applications that you fill out during interviews. Be accurate on all portions of the application. Pay particular attention to employment dates, salary history, education and criminal convictions. Never lie on an application. You are better served by telling the truth and explaining the circumstances. People get fired months after they start new jobs for irregularities uncovered on their applications. Often, these irregularities would not have prevented their being employed by the firm, but because the candidate lied on the application, it cost that individual the job. Honesty and accuracy are the key ingredients in filling out these forms. How to prepare yourself POLISH ·  Dress in conservative business attire, composed of a dark suit, polished shoes, white shirt or blouse, and, for men, a conservative tie. Make sure your hair is neat - get a haircut if possible. Avoid excessive jewelry, makeup, cologne or perfume. ·  Always keep two clean suits, two pressed dress shirts and polished dress shoes available at all times while interviewing. You may need to be ready to go to an interview at a moment's notice - and may have two or more interviews in two days. Be prepared. ·  Pop a breath mint before going in, do not chew gum during an interview! ·  Brush up on your table manners. Some interviews are held over lunch and are used to determine whether you are polished enough to interface with senior management or clients. PREPARATION ·  Research prospective employers - understand their business, recognize their competitors. This type of preparation will make an excellent impression. ·  Know yourself - identify your past successes, interests, skills, values and strengths. Know your resume and be able to provide examples of your selling points and skills grounded in the details of your resume. Identify why you stand out in a crowd. Determine what makes you unique among the others who are interviewing for this position. ·  Think about your short and long term goals. Prepare responses to interview questions that will advance these goals. ·  Be sure to bring a pen and pad of paper for taking notes, and extra copies of your resumes (without creases, in a legal sized envelope or a binder). ·  Go in with an enthusiastic attitude and a full night's sleep. ·  Be sure to schedule enough time for your interview. Rushing through an interview is a mistake. Most interviews last at least an hour. ·  Arrive roughly 5-10 minutes early, no later. If, for some unforeseen reason, you cannot arrive at the interview on time, call the hiring authority as soon as you realize that you will be late. Explain why you will be late and offer to reschedule. An award-winning performance ·  During the interview, sit up straight in the chair or lean forward slightly — no slouching! Keep your hands comfortably folded in your lap or loosely placed on the arms of your chair. Do not put your hands on the interviewer's desk. ·  Offer a firm but not overwhelming handshake — 2 pumps. Be sure to make direct eye contact with the interviewer but do not stare. Establish yourself as being self confident without being confrontational, cocky or aggressive. ·  Be yourself — the professional, polished version. Answer questions directly. Be confident without being arrogant. Admit to your weaknesses if they are brought up, but do not bring them up. Concentrate on your strengths. ·  Demonstrate energy, determination, enthusiasm, motivation and passion for your work. Overcome any negatives or lapses in your experience by either stressing skills that compensate for them, or by demonstrating that you learn fast. Ground your claims in your past accomplishments. Express an eagerness to learn new things as part of the reason that you are searching for a new opportunity. ·  Show that you are genuinely interested in the company. Research the company. Then make pertinent points that tie your background and interests to the company's history and direction. Always ask questions. ·  You should always have a few good questions ready to ask the interviewer. Most interviewers will ask if you have any questions at some point in the interview. If they do not, ask permission to pose a few at the end of the interview. Thoughtful, insightful questions reflect well on both your analytical and your communication skills. ·  During the closing segment of the interview, offer the interviewer a short, concise summary of your qualifications and stress your interest in the position. Thank the interviewer for taking the time to meet with you. Keep the dialogue open by asking what the next step in their interviewing process is. Tips and common mistakes ·  Answer questions honestly and completely — but be wary. There is no need to dwell on negatives. If you can, avoid mentioning them. Sell yourself on your true capabilities and qualifications without exaggerating your abilities. If you are asked a technical question that you do not know the answer to, do not bluff. If your bluff fails, your candidacy is seriously threatened. Instead, say "I don't know the answer, but if I were to venture an educated guess I would say..." ·  Never speak negatively about another person or company. ·  Your responses to questions must be succinct and informative. You do not want to give yes or no answers. Elaborate. On the other hand, try not to dominate the interview. Do not speak for more than 60 seconds without re-involving the interviewer in the dialogue. Studies show that the average attention span for an uninterrupted, lengthy answer is between 45 to 90 seconds. ·  Allow the interviewer to guide the course of your interview. Don't lose the person on the other side of the desk. Re-involving the interviewer is a technique which expands and distills the content of your conversation. Use tactical questions to make sure that your answers are geared towards your audience. Here are some sample statements to consider: "That is a quick summary of the three solutions that I provided to the Government Desk. Which one would you like me to elaborate on further?" "Is this answering your question? If not, tell me which direction you would like me to go in." "That is a quick overview of the project I manage. Would you like more details? Which do you want to hear about first? How I dealt with the users? Managed my staff? Employed technology?" ·  Use questions and statements like these to help direct your answer and keep the attention of the interviewer. These interactive conversation techniques will help you quickly determine what information the interviewer needs and wants, and will allow you to respond quickly, intelligently and with increasing focus as the interview progresses. Match your qualifications to the direction of the interviewer's questions -- point for point. Using interactive conversation techniques will eliminate tangential answers, demonstrate that you are an extremely effective communicator and allow you to stress why your experience qualifies you for this specific opportunity. ·  Do not be afraid of silence. Take a few seconds to gather your thoughts before launching into an answer. A few seconds of silence followed by a well thought out answer reflects very well on you. If you are finished answering and the interviewer does not ask another question immediately, you may ask if you should elaborate on part of your answer or just wait. Just as you may need a few seconds to phrase your answers, the hiring manager will often have to spend time gathering thoughts in order to phrase intelligent questions. ·  Emphasize the results of your work. How did your experience and labor create something positive? Reduce costs? Increase Productivity? Streamline workflow? State, clearly and concisely, your duties and responsibilities on each job, focusing on: ·  Particular problems/challenges you encountered. ·  Your solution. ·  How you implemented those solutions. ·  How you will bring the same skills to bear for a new employer. Questions you should expect PERSONAL These questions help the hiring authority determine what makes you tick. Answer thoroughly, using organic conversation techniques to determine if the direction of your answer is correct. Remember to stay positive. ·  What makes you unique? ·  Tell me about yourself. ·  What goals have you set for yourself? How are you planning to achieve them? ·  To what do you owe your present success? ·  What is your favorite hobby and tell me why? ·  What motivates you? ·  What type of work environment appeals to you most? ·  Are you willing to travel? ·  Why have you chosen this particular profession? ·  What do you like most about your current job? ·  What has been your greatest challenge? ·  What work experiences have been most valuable to you and why? ·  Tell me about a situation in which you were under tremendous pressure and how you dealt with it. ·  Give me an example of a time in your life in which you had to overcome great adversity to get the job done. ·  Tell me about your most difficult decision and how you went about making it. ·  Where do you think your interest in this career comes from? ·  Give me a situation in which you failed, and how you handled it. PEOPLE SKILLS These questions will be used to determine how you interact with others, both your team members and users. Show yourself as a team player who can take initiative and drive projects. ·  Have you ever supervised people? ·  What is your management style? ·  How do you interface with users? ·  How do you handle a customer or user who becomes irate? ·  What would your management say about you? ·  In this particular leadership role, what was your greatest challenge? ·  Describe the project or situation that best demonstrates your management/supervisory skills. ·  Tell me about a team project of which you are particularly proud and your contribution. ·  Have you taken/How do you take specifications from users? ·  Describe a situation where you had to work with someone who was difficult, how did you handle it? ·  Tell me about a problem you have with one of your work associates. ·  Which area of technical expertise do you feel is your strongest? ·  Describe the type of manager you prefer. ·  What are your team-player qualities? Give examples. ·  When you take on a project do you like to attack the project in a group or individually? ·  Tell me about your relationship with your previous boss. ·  How do you take direction? WORK HABITS AND ANALYTICAL SKILLS These questions will be used to determine not only your background experience and skills, but also your suitability for the discussed position. Don't be bashful. Thoroughly explain your background, experience and skills. ·  What accomplishments are you most proud of? ·  What part of the project life cycle have you worked on? ·  Describe the project or situation that best demonstrates your coding skills. ·  Describe the project or situation that best demonstrates your analytical abilities. ·  Give me an example of a problem you solved and the process you used. ·  Give me an example of an idea that has come to you and what you did with it. ·  Tell me about a project you initiated. ·  How have your educational and work experiences prepared you for this position? ·  What is your most significant accomplishment? QUESTIONS THAT SET THE STAGE FOR SELLING YOURSELF Use these questions to explore why you are the perfect candidate for the vacant spot. Match your strengths to the job requirements, point for point. ·  Why are you interested in our organization? ·  Give me an example of the most creative project that you have worked on. ·  What type of position are you seeking? ·  What makes you think you can handle this position? ·  Why should my company be interested in you? ·  What challenges are you looking for in a position? ·  What interests you about this job? DANGER QUESTIONS Be careful. The only reason to ask these questions is to determine why NOT to hire you. Make your answers as short and bland as possible. Remember not to disparage any past employers, companies or co-workers. ·  What turns you off at your current employer? ·  What pisses you off? ·  What interests you least about your current job? ·  What types of situations put you under pressure, and how do you deal with pressure? ·  What industry besides this one are you looking into? ·  With which other companies are you interviewing? EXPLAINING YOUR WORK HISTORY: Question: "Can you explain why there is an 8 month gap between Company A and Company B?", "Why were you out of work for so long?" or "Can you explain why you had 3 different employers in 5 years?" Answer: Have a sound explanation for your work history. Whether you have a gap in your employment or have held several jobs in short period of time, emphasize that you were looking for a company to settle into where you could make a long-term commitment/contribution. Stress that you are not just looking for a higher paycheck. Question:"Why are you leaving your current employer?" Answer: Focus on positive reasons for leaving. Talk about limitations in growth potential and learning at your current job. Do not dwell on negative reasons, such as not getting a raise or not getting along with your boss or co-workers. Point out that the prospective position provides the additional growth, training or responsibilities that you are seeking. WHY YOU ARE THE RIGHT CANDIDATE: Question: "Why should I hire you?" Answer: Stress the areas in your background that relate to the challenges inherent in the new position. Meet the employer's description of the position point for point with your skills and experience. Emphasize your qualifications and your dedication to success. Discuss how you will bring this to bear for the employer's company. Question: "What are your weaknesses?" or "With regards to the job description, where do you feel your weakness are?" Answer: Turn the question around and get the interviewer to disclose what he believes your weaknesses are. Use this opportunity to change the interviewer's mind. Give specific proof why the weakness does not exist or is not a factor in performing on the job. Describe strengths that compensate for any weaknesses that could affect your performance. Question: "Give me an example of how you could help my company." Answer: Describe a project where you made a significant contribution and how it effected the bottom line. Emphasize results. Show how this ability transfers from your past positions to the one being discussed during the interview. COMPENSATION NEGOTIATION: Question: "Tell me about your salary expectations." Answer: Turn the question around. Ask the interviewer to discuss the approximate pay range for the position. "Based on our discussion, what do you feel an employee with my skills is worth?" Describe your current compensation package in detail. Avoid giving a specific desired salary in the opening stages of discussion. If you give a number too high you may come across as greedy. If you give a number too low, you can lose out. Show genuine interest in the position. Inform the hiring authority that you will consider the strongest offer based on the skills you bring to the table. TOUGH TECHNICAL QUESTIONS: Question: "How do you ___________?" (You are not sure what the answer is) Advice: Never exaggerate or lie. Honesty will go a long way here. Some interviewers ask questions with no correct answer just to determine if you will try to bluff your way through them. Instead of bluffing, use this opportunity to stress your desire to learn and give examples of why you are a fast learner. If you think you know the answer, but are not positive, respond by stating: "I have never encountered that situation exactly, but if I had to give an answer based on past situations that I have encountered I would say that..." or "In this situation, I can't base the answer on my current experience. Here is how I would find the answer..." STRESS QUESTIONS: Question: "How would you improve a Yo-Yo?", "How would you sell me this pen?" or "If you were throwing a party and could invite one famous person, tell me who you would invite and why." Advice: These types of questions are meant to test your poise, measure your confidence and elicit an honest reaction to a stressful situation. Many people damage their chances of winning a position by reacting to the questions as if they were personal insults or as if the interviewer was odd or stupid. The interviewer is attempting to throw you off balance and trying to have you reveal the "real you" behind last night's rehearsed answers to six or seven stock interviewing questions. Take this opportunity to show the employer your grace under fire. An interesting answer to these questions may mean the difference between an offer and a rejection. But enough about me . . . The questions that you ask are just as critical as the responses that you give. Asking thoughtful questions demonstrates your intelligence, common sense and your interest in the position to the employer. By posing good questions to the hiring manager, you will gain additional useful information about the opportunity. Concentrate on both the broad view of the company, and on specific details about the position at hand. Focus on four areas: The Company ·  What is the history/growth of the company vs. its competition? ·  How does the company stand in comparison with its main competitors? ·  Historically, what are the effects of a recession on the company? ·  What major problems/challenges does the company face today? What is being done about it? ·  What type of training does the company offer? ·  In what ways has this organization's products and services been most successful over the years? ·  What significant changes do you foresee in the near future for the company? The Job Opportunity ·  What will be expected of me in the first 2-6 months? ·  What was the background of the last two or three employees who held this position? Where are they now? ·  What skills/attributes are most needed to get ahead in the company? ·  What new projects has this department undertaken lately? ·  How is success measured and determined? ·  What are some of the more difficult problems facing someone in this position? ·  Where can this position lead? What would be a typical career path? ·  Where is the job located? Is there any travel involved? The Interviewer ·  What is your background and how did you progress to your present position? ·  What management style/philosophy do you subscribe to? ·  Why did you decide to take a position within the company? ·  Why do you like working for the company? ·  If you could change one thing about this company what would it be? ·  How long have you been at the company? Closing ·  Do you see me as a fit for this position? ·  Do you have any concerns? ·  How do my qualifications compare with other candidates that you have interviewed? ·  What is the next step in the process? ·  Always state "I want this job!" Keeping them interested After the interview, you should send a short thank you letter to refresh the employer's memory of your candidacy and to reaffirm your interest in the position. Allow the employer five to ten days to contact you after receiving your letter. If you still have not heard anything, you should follow up with a phone call. Express your continued interest in the firm and in the position. Inquire as to whether any decisions have been made. Ask to be notified about the outcome, regardless of whether it is in your favor.

Picnic Spots

Shivthar Ghal( Dasbodh Was Written Here ) Sahyadri is one of the toughest mountains in the world. You can enjoy it's beauty in various places. Shivthar Ghal is one of such places. It is comparatively a small and rare place but must be seen and especially in the rainy season. It is a place where Samarth Ramdas had written 'Dasbodh'- his famous manuscript. You must be amazing about this place and why Ramdas Swami had chosen this place, for his holy book but you never know it until you enter a small hall where Ramdas Swami used to sit, pray and write. Shivthar Ghal is an area of silent beauty consists of lush green views of trees, mountains, a big waterfall and a river. Its a place where you can enjoy the clam and quite nature and really concentrate. It took almost 12 years to complete Dasbodh as Ramdas Swami dictated it and Kalyan Swami wrote it down. Now a days, the place is maintained by Shri Samarth Seva Mandal' and 'Sundarmath Seva samiti'. Shivthar Ghal is a place worth to visit and enjoy the quite beauty of the nature and remember the famous saint in Maharashtra - Saint Ramdas and his Dasbodh. Distance - 90KM Bus: Regular buses from Swargate.   Raigad( The Capital of Swaraj ) Raigad was the capital of Marathas, famous for Shivaji's coronation and his monument. Shivaji passed away here in 1680. His statue and other monuments on the fort are very pretty. The fort is almost 2900 feet high but really very difficult to climb. The fort was named as capital because of its toughness and difficult nature. The first main place on the fort is the main door - 'Maha Darawaja'. After the main door, Ganga sagar and some remains of the palace can be seen. Hirkani Buruj can also be seen and one don't believe the heroic deeds of Hirkani (she came down the fort bare footed at night from this point). The famous 'Takmak Tok' or place for life punishment - is on the north side. Its thrilling to stand near Takmak Tok which is always with full of breeze. One can see the ammunition store here. The market place on the fort is worth to watch and history lovers spends time here recalling the great warrior. The statue of 'Shivaji Maharaj' is situated at the center of the fort. The Samadhi of Maharaj is also very beautiful and one can remember Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his contribution and full dedication to Swaraj. The other places to visit on the fort are Jagdishwar Temple, Koli Lake, Shirkai Temple etc. The view of 'Lingana' is also wonderful. Raigad is very famous fort for the trekkers as Raigad - Torana - Raigad trek is very popular and tough one. But for normal people, 'Rope way' is the source available. Truly, a wonderful place where the Maharaj and his Swaraj can be remembered.  Distance - 135KM Bus: Regular buses from Swargate.   

GOOGLE THINKING ON GMESSENGER?

        Google could be interested in 'Mundu', an Instant Messaging Platform, created by the firm 'Geodesic Information Systems' --based on Mumbai, India--.             Google could develop its own IM application, based on Mundu, and integrate it with GMail, Orkut and the search engine. 'Mundu' has been tested with thousands of people (you can try 'IndiaTimes Messenger', a client based on Mundu), and it interoperates with AIM, ICQ, MSN and 'Yahoo! Messenger'.            Meanwhile, the domain 'gmessenger.com' was acquired anonymously through 'Domains by Proxy' on May 24th.  

Basics Managing IT Projects -By Glaser, John

To minimize the likelihood of IT project failure, it's important to focus on five foundations of sound project management: * Roles * Committees * Charters * Plans * Status reporting So you've developed an IT strategy and assessed the potential value of the proposed projects to support it. Chances are, this point is when you're most nervous-when it's time to let the IT projects begin. You have good reason to be anxious. After all, the rate of failure of IT projects is surprisingly high. It is estimated that one-third of all IT projects are cancelled before completion and only 10 percent achieve their original plan. For the remainder, budget and schedule overruns approach 100 percent and the functionality delivered is less than half of what was originally anticipated, according to Dennis Severance and Jacque Passino, authors of Making I/T Work: An Executive's Guide to Implementing Information Technology Systems. What can be done to reduce the risk of failure? One key area to pay attention to is project management. Even though the basics of project management may not seem very exciting, without mastering these areas you're likely to have your projects wind up in significant distress. What Is Project Management? Project management is a set of management disciplines and practices that, if executed well, raise the likelihood that a project will deliver the desired results. Project management has several objectives: * Describe the scope and intended results of the project * Identify accountability for the successful completion of the project and associated project tasks * Define the processes for making project-related decisions * Identify the project's tasks and task sequence and interdependencies * Determine the resource and time requirements of the project * Ensure appropriate communication with relevant stakeholders regarding project status and issues Different kinds of projects require different types of management strategies. For example, projects that are pilots or experiments require less formal oversight (and are not helped by large amounts of formal oversight) than large, multiyear, multimillion dollar undertakings. Similarly, projects shared by more than one organization have different decision-making structures than projects that involve several departments within one organization. There is no one way to manage projects. But all projects benefit greatly from having a well-defined approach to five areas: * Roles * Committees * Charters * Plans * Status reporting What Are the Core Project Roles? Several roles must be filled to effectively manage projects. Business sponsor. The business sponsor is the individual who holds overall accountability for the project. The sponsor should represent the area of the organization that is the major recipient of the value of performance improvement that the project intends to deliver. For example, a project that involves the implementation of a new claims processing system should have the CFO as the business sponsor. A project that affects a very large portion of the organization may have the CEO as the business sponsor. The business sponsor has several duties: * Secure funding and needed business resources (for example, the commitment of people's time to work on the project) * Assume final decision-making and sign-off accountability for project scope, resources, and approaches to resolving project problems * Promote the project internally and externally and obtain buy-in from key constituents * Help define deliverables, objectives, scope, and success criteria * Help remove business obstacles to project timeline and deliverables * Chair the project steering committee Business owner. Business owners generally have day-to-day responsibility for running a function or a department. A project may need several business owners. For example, the success of a new patient-accounting system may depend on processes that occur in registration and scheduling, and thus the director of outpatient clinics and the director of the admitting department would need to be business owners. Also, adequate physician documentation of the care provided would be a primary focus of the project. Thus, the medical group administrator would be a business owner involved in the project, too. Business owners have several responsibilities: * Represent their department or function at project steering committee and project team meetings * Secure and coordinate necessary business and departmental resources * Remove business obstacles to project timeline and deliverables as appropriate Project manager. The project manager does just that-manages the project. This person provides the day-to-day direction-setting, conflict resolution, and communication needed by the project team. The project manager can be an IT person or a person from the business office. Project managers have several responsibilities: * Identify and obtain needed resources * Deliver the project on time, on budget, and according to specification * Communicate progress with sponsors, stakeholders, and team members * Ensure that diligent risk monitoring is in place and appropriate risk-mitigation plans are in concert with the magnitude of risk * Identify and manage the resolution of issues and problems * Maintain the project plan * Manage the project scope The project manager works closely with the business owners and business sponsor in performing these tasks. They collaboratively set meeting agendas, manage the meetings, track project progress, communicate project status, escalate issues as appropriate, and resolve deviations and issues related to the project plan. What about Project Committees? Two committees are required to provide project guidance and management. Project steering committee. The project steering committee provides overall guidance and management oversight of the project. The steering committee has the authority to resolve changes in scope that affect the budget, milestones, and deliverables. The committee is expected to resolve issues and address risks that cannot be handled by the project team. The committee also manages communications with the leadership of the organization and the project team. The business sponsor chairs this committee. The steering committee should comprise representatives of the major areas of the organization the project will affect, and whose efforts are necessary if the project is to succeed. Using the previous example, a steering committee overseeing the implementation of a new patient-accounting system might include the director of outpatient clinics, the director of admitting, and the medical group administrator. Project team. The team may not be called a committee but it will meet regularly and does have responsibilities. The project manager chairs the project team. The team has several responsibilities: * Manage the performance of the project work * Resolve day-to-day project issues * Manage and allocate resources required to do the work * Work with the steering committee and business owners, as necessary, to resolve problems, communicate the status of the project, and assess potential changes in scope, timeline, or budget. Project team members can be business owners and/or their staff and IT managers and/or their staff. What Is a Project Charter? The project charter is a document that describes the purpose, scope, objectives, costs, and schedule for the project. The document also discusses the roles and responsibilities of the individuals and functions that need to contribute to the project. The project charter serves three basic objectives: * Ensure, during the development of the charter, that project goals, planning assumptions, or potentially ambiguous objectives are discussed and resolved * Help to keep participants from developing different understandings of the project's staff needs, timeline, and/or cost * Enable the project leadership to communicate with the organization, as necessary, about the project The project charter includes: * Project description, goals, and objectives * Project requirements (including business needs, scope, and limitations) * Project resource requirements * Roles of team members and the composition of the steering committee and project team * Milestones and deliverables * Project risks and strategies for addressing risk * Processes for making project decisions * Plans for communicating project status What Is in the Project Plan? The project charter provides an overview of the project. The project plan provides the details of tasks, phases, timelines, and resources needed by task and phase. The project plan is the tool used by the project team during the day-to-day management of the project. The project plan has several components: * Project phases and tasks * The sequence of phases and tasks * Interdependencies between phases and tasks * The duration of phases and tasks * Staff and other resources needed by task and phase Several software tools are available to assist project managers in developing project plans. These tools enable the project manager to develop the plan as described above, prepare plan charts and resource use by task and phase, and model the impact on the plan if timelines or resource availability change. What about the Project Status Report? The project status report documents and communicates the status of the project. The report is generally prepared monthly and distributed to project participants and stakeholders. It often forms the basis of discussion at steering committee meetings. The status report typically covers recent accomplishments and decisions, work in progress, upcoming milestones, and issues that require resolution. It often uses a color scheme to provide an overall picture of the status of a project. For example, green = task or phase proceeding well, yellow = task or phase facing a timeline or other problem, and red = task or phase in trouble and requires attention. When a status report has a plethora of tasks and phases that are tagged with red, the project is experiencing significant difficulty. On the other hand, a sea of green indicates that the project is going well. The preparation, distribution, and discussion of the project status report are part of an overall project communication plan. Other components of the communications plan might include quarterly project presentations at meetings of the organization's department heads, articles about the project in the organization's internal newsletter, and presentations at specific leadership forums (for example, medical staff, the board, and the executive committee). Project Management Considerations Managing projects requires skill, discipline, and experience. The track record and reputation of the project manager is key. When a project manager has demonstrated success over the course of many projects, then the project plan and assessment of status are likely to be sound. When the project manager is a novice or has an uneven track record, the plan and status reports may require greater scrutiny. Regardless of the project manager's track record, several additional cues can indicate a project is off to a good start or is in good shape: Message clarity. The plan charter is clear and explicit. Fuzzy objectives and vague understandings of resource needs indicate that the plan needs further discussion and development. Leadership buy-in. The leadership of the departments and functions who will be affected by the plan or who need to devote resources to the plan have reviewed the charter and plan, had their concerns addressed, and have publicly committed to performing the work needed in the plan. Reasonable timelines. The project timelines have been reviewed by multiple parties for reasonableness, and these timelines have taken into consideration factors that will influence the plan (e.g., key staff on vacation), and the relative uncertainty that might exist for certain phases or tasks. For example, if it is not clear how a specific task will be performed, that task timeline should have some "slack" built into it. Detailed resource commitment. Commitments for the project's resources have been secured, the budget has been approved, and staff needed by the plan can be named-and their managers have taken steps to free up the time needed by the plan. Specific accountability. The accountabilities for the plan and for each plan phase and task are explicit. Risk recognition. The charter has thoroughly assessed the project risks and developed thoughtful approaches to addressing the risks. Such risks include unproven IT, deterioration in the organization's financial condition, and turnover of project staff. Room for uncertainties. The project incorporates a reasonable amount of contingency for inevitable problems and current uncertainties. In general, projects should add 10 percent to the timeline and 10 percent to the budget to reflect the time and cost of inevitable problems. For very complex projects, it is not unusual to see 20 to 25 percent of the budget and schedule being labeled "unknown" or "unclear." Problem recognition. The discussion of project status is candid about the problems (after all, all projects encounter problems). The discussants have also done the homework that leads to thoughtful approaches to resolving problems. Reasonable noise. The organizational "noise," or complaints about change or distress about delay, is appropriate given the magnitude of the project. All projects generate noise, but the noise level should seem reasonable. In fairness, defining this criterion for your organization may be difficult, because different people can have different interpretations of a situation's reasonableness. Project surprises are few. All projects face unpleasant surprises. However, a project in trouble will present a seemingly never-ending series of surprises. Back to Basics Managing projects is difficult and a lot of work. No approach can lead to 100 percent project success all of the time. That said, paying attention to basics, such as managing project-related roles, committees, charters, plans, and status reporting, is key. Following these project management disciplines can greatly improve the odds of success and reduce organizational apprehension and nervousness.

First Look at Longhorn

A First Look at Longhorn by Wei-Meng Lee -- Longhorn is still in pre-beta, but we've got the goods on it. Wei-Meng Lee, author of Windows XP Unwired, gives you a guided tour through the new-generation operating system's interface and features.

can you work in a company. ?

Can one imagine working for the following company?



It has a little over 500 employees with the following statistics :




29 have been accused of spouse abuse.




7 have been arrested for fraud.




19 have more than three criminal cases pending against them .



117 have been charged and are being investigated for Murder, Rape, Assault, Extortion and Robbery.





71 cannot get credit or loans due to bad credit histories.




21 are current defendants on various lawsuits..




84 have been involved in offenses and have paid fines.




Can you guess what mighty Organization this is?

Google custom search

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The technology behind Google's great results

As a Google user, you're familiar with the speed and accuracy of a Google search. How exactly does Google manage to find the right results for every query as quickly as it does? The heart of Google's search technology is PigeonRank™, a system for ranking web pages developed by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University.

Building upon the breakthrough work of B. F. Skinner, Page and Brin reasoned that low cost pigeon clusters (PCs) could be used to compute the relative value of web pages faster than human editors or machine-based algorithms. And while Google has dozens of engineers working to improve every aspect of our service on a daily basis, PigeonRank continues to provide the basis for all of our web search tools.

Why Google's patented PigeonRank™ works so well

PigeonRank's success relies primarily on the superior trainability of the domestic pigeon (Columba livia) and its unique capacity to recognize objects regardless of spatial orientation. The common gray pigeon can easily distinguish among items displaying only the minutest differences, an ability that enables it to select relevant web sites from among thousands of similar pages.

By collecting flocks of pigeons in dense clusters, Google is able to process search queries at speeds superior to traditional search engines, which typically rely on birds of prey, brooding hens or slow-moving waterfowl to do their relevance rankings.

When a search query is submitted to Google, it is routed to a data coop where monitors flash result pages at blazing speeds. When a relevant result is observed by one of the pigeons in the cluster, it strikes a rubber-coated steel bar with its beak, which assigns the page a PigeonRank value of one. For each peck, the PigeonRank increases. Those pages receiving the most pecks, are returned at the top of the user's results page with the other results displayed in pecking order.

Integrity
Google's pigeon-driven methods make tampering with our results extremely difficult. While some unscrupulous websites have tried to boost their ranking by including images on their pages of bread crumbs, bird seed and parrots posing seductively in resplendent plumage, Google's PigeonRank technology cannot be deceived by these techniques. A Google search is an easy, honest and objective way to find high-quality websites with information relevant to your search.