text:
Your letters: June 27, 2008
Remembering Tortilla Flats
Re: Jim Elwell-Martinez's June 11 letter, "Flats has a long history":
The mural is wonderful. I don't know about Tortilla Flats just being between certain streets, but, as a community, it was remembered for the fullness of people's lives, and that included where they went to the market, went dancing, listened to music or worked in the chili factory.
— Dolores Perez, Ventura
Lights down, crime up
Re: your June 25 article, "Council considers turning off the lights":
It's interesting that the Ventura City Council is so irritated at its citizenry for turning down the streetlight assessment of $10 proposed in 2003 that it would actually turn off the streetlights. If my memory serves me well, I think that assessment was turned down because the council tried to sneak through an automatic increase in the tax without future voter approval.
I wonder when it will stop trying to pull the fast ones on us?
Turn off the lights, City Council, and start paying a lot of police overtime because I guarantee the incidence of crime will increase.
— Richard A. Pillow, Ventura
Council doesn't see the light
Re: your June 25 article, "Council considers turning off the lights":
So, the city of Ventura is talking about shutting off streetlights because it feels the voters will not approve an increased lighting assessment fee. Unbelievable.
Councilman Carl Morehouse's comments in The Star say it all: "I'm frustrated and angry. If residents don't feel it's important to keep the lights on, then, by golly, let's turn off the lights. I am all in favor of that because I don't like light pollution anyway."
The sheer arrogance of his comments is stunning. Mayor Christy Weir and Councilman Neal Andrews had some equally inane remarks. Apparently, "The City with a Fee" is certainly trying hard to maintain its new image.
It is interesting to me that the City Council is forever complaining about rising crime rates and the need to provide more funding for the Police Department, yet, at the same time, it is talking about shutting off streetlights — a major crime deterrent — and closing police storefronts. I guess we only have ourselves to blame. We're the ones who re-elected these clowns back in November.
I think it's time to shut off the lights on this City Council. We need a fresh start at City Hall. Let's elect real leaders next time around by voting against all the incumbents.
— David M. Grover, Ventura
Condemning gays is wrong
Re: Ruth Weikel's June 22 commentary, "Binding teachings":
Weikel implies that the Bible verses I quoted ("What the Bible says about lobster," June 8) were taken out of context, and I wholeheartedly refute that claim. I specifically listed book and verse for each quote so that readers could look them up for themselves and see that I quoted each passage verbatim and did not take them out of context. I didn't interject my opinions or my interpretations of each quote the way that Weikel did, either.
She is more than entitled to her opinions. She owns them. But because she interprets the Bible differently from the way it is written does not necessarily make her interpretations correct. The fact that everyone has his own interpretations of what the Bible says makes the First Amendment to the Constitution that much more important and protects everyone from everyone else's religious beliefs.
Regardless, for those who believe in God, I wrote up a simple nine-point list explaining why it is wrong for us to condemn homosexuals:
1. Some people are born homosexual. It is a condition over which they have no control, like skin color or height.
2. According to scripture, God creates us. Therefore, God creates homosexuals.
3. If we regard homosexuals as flawed, then we must assume God created them flawed deliberately.
4. This would make God evil.
5. God cannot be evil.
6. Therefore, homosexuals must not be flawed.
7. If God did not create them flawed, he created them correctly.
8. God would not condemn what he created correctly.
9. Since God created homosexuals correctly and does not, therefore, condemn them, it is wrong for us to then condemn them.
Keep in mind that the Bible was written by man, and man is renowned for making mistakes.
— Chris Bower, Ventura
No healthcare for inmates
Re: Barbara Macri-Ortiz's June 25 commentary, "Wrong questions being asked about prison healthcare facility":
I failed to make my point clear ("Constitutional healthcare," June 22). I am an extremely ultraconservative person. If you're in prison, as far as I'm concerned, you don't deserve medical care, certainly not at taxpayer expense. Let someone else, like a bleeding-heart liberal, provide it — or the Red Cross. The message: Don't commit crimes that land you in prison.
Her other point about calling 911 to go to an emergency room for "quality care" is way off base. I had a medical issue arise last December. I'm a retiree with Blue Cross/Blue Shield plus Medicare. My wife called the Blue Cross 800 number to talk to a nurse. The nurse said, "Get him to an ER immediately." We went to the hospital. We waited more than four hours, and I still hadn't seen a doctor. So much for quality care.
We then just left, walked out. Since I don't have a family doctor because I don't have general medical issues and don't take medicines — I'm only 78 — I still don't know what the problem was.
What I did observe during my time in the ER was that very few "patients" spoke English. They were obviously people from another country using our healthcare system.
— William Wolny, Oxnard
Fillmore fireworks safe'
Re: Mike Lavery's June 21 Ask the Chief column, "Fireworks are prohibited in nine Ventura County cities":
Fillmore does not sell illegal fireworks. All fireworks sold at Fillmore's "safe-and-sane" booths do not go into the air or explode. "Safe-and-sane" fireworks "emit a shower of sparks" or have whistles.
Most people see illegal fireworks and assume they came from Fillmore. The ones that go into the air or explode came from out of state.
I am so sick of people blaming Fillmore for the illegal ones. There's a big difference between the two kinds.
— Mary Ann Godfrey, Fillmore
Gillette illogical
Re: your June 26 article, "T.O. approves anti-smoking ordinance":
I attended the Thousand Oaks City Council meeting Tuesday and would like to comment on the proposed ordinance that was voted on by the council.
I was profoundly disappointed in Councilman Dennis Gillette. I have known Gillette for a number of years, going back to his opposition to tying yellow ribbons supporting our troops on Thousand Oaks' trees. His absurd reasoning was, "What if Iraq's supporters wanted to tie Iraqi ribbons on our trees?"
What kind of so-called logic was that?
Gillette was the initiator of the proposed tobacco ordinance using that same lack of logic Tuesday.
Fortunately, wisdom prevailed in the form of an amendment that was added to the ordinance diluting some of its devastating effects to Thousand Oaks businesses.
Those who showed great wisdom were council members Tom Glancy, Andy Fox and Mayor Jacqui Irwin.
On behalf of my many friends who spoke in opposition to the ordinance, I offer my thanks to Fox, Glancy and Irwin.
— Russ Hopkins, Moorpark
Ditch the duck
Re: Jim Shirley's June 19 letter, "Insult to educators":
Shirley has hit the nail on the head where Bruce Tinsley's political cartoons are concerned.
I have yet to see a Tinsley cartoon that isn't sleazy and a slap at anyone or group that doesn't hew to the right-wing drivel that Tinsley espouses.
The Star would be a better publication if "Mallard Fillmore" were dropped.
— Martin Parker, Thousand Oaks
Death knell
Re: your June 18 editorial, "Historic day in California":
This editorial may be the death knell of California as we know it.
All those who gathered, decked out in all the colors of the rainbow, standing hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, celebrated the end of a natural tradition established by man and God.
All those in the splendor were alone. None had or will have any offspring of their own. Thus, they are doomed to celebrate the end of their kind.
Good riddance to them all and all those who support their belief that homosexuality is natural and good. Maybe one day The Star will celebrate the marrying of a man and a woman with a goat or a rock. Who knows? There is not right, and there is no wrong. There is just what one wants.
Congratulations to The Star, which has joined those in the gutter who wallow in the muck.
— Joe Laraneta, Westlake Village
Drill, drill, drill
Re: your June 22 editorial, "Drilling call pure politics":
It amazes me that troglodytes on The Star staff oppose drilling for oil. Troglodytes are cavemen who exist by hunting and gathering, except that, in The Star's perfect world, hunting would be severely restricted to protect endangered species and by limits on many types of ammunition, except, perhaps, rubber bullets.
California used to bristle with oil wells, and gasoline was 19.9 cents per gallon. Now, we're supposed to use plug-in hybrid autos, never you mind that 71 percent of our electric power is generated with fossil fuels — coal, oil and natural gas.
Where is the logic? We depend on diesel-powered trucks, planes and trains to bring us things.
I don't find the 13 oil rigs between Ventura and Santa Barbara so bad to look at; they are merely blips on the ocean.
We should drill, drill, drill wherever there is oil.
— Lou Gates, Westlake Village
Anyone smell a rat?
Re: the June 24 commentary and letters, "Political tobacco contribution":
My old aunt had a saying, "You can always smell a rat," and so it was with the tobacco leaves June 17.
Or was it tobacco?
Unfortunately, I must inform everyone that it was simply the election again and the Democratic paparazzi carefully carrying out another organized stunt, artificially contrived, photographed and spread all over the news outlets. At least, that would be my old aunt's take on things.
If this is how the Democrats are going to campaign this election year for the state's 19th Senate District, we'd better watch out and make sure that reported news is not misinformation. If we can't do that, then I suggest you take a whiff and try the Aunt Grace rat test.
— Ray Holm, Westlake Village
Reaping organs grim job
Re: your June 22 article, "Man works at turning death into another's life":
Unfortunately, we had the "pleasure" to meet Max Calderon of Legacy One at Northridge Hospital last September, where our 12-year-old son, Travis Hansen, lay dying of a severe brain injury. He was respectful, caring and sensitive to our family's needs in those darkest of hours, yet, carried a subtle air of professionalism that made him most trustworthy.
One cannot imagine the pain and agony a family goes through, especially with the death of one so young and innocent, yet, there was Max, with his soft-spoken, reassuring voice, helping my husband and his ex-wife face a decision they thought they'd never have to make. Travis' organs were donated to four individuals, and we hope our loss has given them and their families hope for a brighter future.
Max is no vulture. In our book, he's an angel.
— Steve & Sandy Hansen, Simi Valley
Listen up, German vets
Re: your June 15 article, "Low-level or no ties to terrorism found in probe":
I wonder if any surviving captured World War II German soldiers who were detained in the United States have any recourse against the U.S. since the were not given the chance to be heard before the courts. An example would be a German conscript who was captured on the battlefield but never fired a shot and never intended to and claimed to be a conscientious objector but had no choice but to serve.
Just a thought.
— Nicholas Yanuzzi, Thousand Oaks
Subscribe to the Ventura County Star
Need Help? Call us at 1-877-710-6182.
Monday-Friday: 6am-3pm / Saturday: 6:30am-10:30am / Sunday: 7am-11am


text:
Sarah Bush
Assistant Professor
420 Gladfelter Hall
Phone: 215-204-1480
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Sarah Bush is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Temple University. Prior to starting at Temple, Dr. Bush was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the International Security Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. She received her Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University in November 2011.
Dr. Bush's research and teaching interests include international relations, democracy promotion, non-state actors in world politics, gender and human rights policy, and Middle East politics. She is currently working on a book manuscript on the evolution of democracy promotion since the end of the Cold War and what the impact of doing so has been. Other on going projects examine the effects of American democracy promotion on public attitudes in the Middle East. Dr. Bush's previous research has been published in the journal International Organization.
CV: Dr. Sarah Bush
Website: http://sites.temple.edu/sarahbush

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Latino Life
Elaine Ayala comments on Latino news, cultura y más.
Posts filtered on Tag
Undocumented, illegal, and/or alien: Let just call immigrants people
Going beyond dropping use of the word "illegal" in front of "immigrant." [Read More]
Illegal is an adjective, not a noun
Daily Beast blogger points to the inhumane use of the word to describe immigrants. [Read More]
A tribute to a purpose-filled life
Jorge "George" Abi Rached, Aug. 11, 1926 – June 6, 2011 [Read More]


text:
The Impact of Alfred Korzybski's Work on Management Science
Cwiklicki, Marek, ETC.: A Review of General Semantics
Abstract: This article discusses the influence of Alfred Korzybski, the originator of general semantics, on the field of management science and the parallels between his thought and that of H. L. Gantt and W. N. Polakov, representatives of scientific management. It shows ways in which Korzybski inspired F. J. Roethlisberger, the originator of organizational behavior, and how the elements of general semantics are reflected in the problem-solving process as used in the hoshin kanri method. The article concludes with a review of similarities between Korzybski's thought and the languagelaction perspective.
The input of a number of scientific disciplines to the development of management science is not easy to assess. At times, their impact has been heterogeneous, obliterated both by the passage of time and the growing complexity of management science. At other times, the traces of their influence remain visible, like metal intrusions in rocks, with their arrangement testifying to the actual value of the penetrations. It appears that the same is the case with the thought of Alfred Korzybski (1879-1950) and its impact on the classics of management as a science. The name of the originator of general semantics appears in commentaries and references to management, which testifies to the rich background against which this science has evolved.
This article reviews examples of impacts or references to A. Korzybski's work by six representatives of different trends in management: W. Polakov, H. Gantt, F. J. Roethlisberger, T. Winograd and F. Flores, and Shoji Shiba. The first two, representing the engineering trend in scientific management, perceived certain inadequacies in the treatment of the human factor. F. J. Roethlisberger, the originator of organizational behavior, may be considered a continuator of this position. On the other hand, T. Winograd and F. Flores represent the school of linguistic analysis of business processes. The last of the individuals mentioned above, S. Shiba, is an advocate of the hoshin kanri method and the author of a problem-solving model (the so-called VW model) in which he applied Korzybski's observations.
Korzybski and Scientific Management
In 1990, the Institute of General Semantics published Collected Works of A. Korzybski, with a foreword commenting on "The Principles of Industrial Philosophy" written by W. Polakov (1879-1937), member of the most important associations of engineers--precursors of scientific management--and a close collaborator of H. L. Gantt. Korzybski highly appreciated the paper, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), December 7-10, 1920, as well as Polakov's most important work of 1921, Mastering Power Production: The Industrial, Economic, and Social Problems Involved and Their Solution. Korzybski wrote: "This book gives an engineering, scientific--in the meantime practical--analysis of all human problems. It is a deep and practical treatise on all great questions concerning modern industrialism and so-called economic problems and is a foundation for a new scientific industrial philosophy" (Korzybski 1921).
In Manhood of Humanity, published in 1921, Alfred Korzybski wrote that, among others, the activities of Walter N. Polakov--whom he addressed as Doctor of Engineering; Industrial Counselor; Chairman of Committee on Service and Information, Fuels Section, ASME--exhibit the quality of found "human engineering," which means the inclusion of both scientific and humanistic aspects in his research. Korzybski became familiar with human engineering through Polakov's mentor, H. L. Gantt, whom he greatly respected--and bore witness to it on numerous occasions.
In Korzybski's opinion, "We are the masters of our own destinies, the responsibility is ours to correct the mistakes of our ancestors and to establish a scientific philosophy, scientifically true laws, scientifically true ethics, and a scientific sociology, which will form one unified science of man and his function in the universe, a science which I propose to call 'Human Engineering. …


text:
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls
|Important Notice
Effective immediately, the UW-River Falls College of Arts and Sciences will no longer offer the Bachelor of Applied Sciences in Law Enforcement. An alternative which may meet your needs is the Bachelor of Science in Criminology offered by the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice. Visit the web page for more information.
Our Bachelor of Applied Science in law enforcement provides a way for individuals who have associate's degrees in this area to continue their education and obtain a bachelor's degree.
Research has shown that individuals with a bachelor's degree have increased earning potential and better career opportunities. This degree is the newest of several degree completion programs offered by UWRF to meet the higher education needs of working adults throughout western Wisconsin and the Twin Cities. Market analysis predicts strong job growth among all three occupational areas.
Individuals with an associate's degree in criminal justice, law enforcement or a related field
Individuals who have made significant progress toward completing a degree from an accredited higher-education institution and have work experience in criminal justice, law enforcement or a related field
Previously obtained college credits may be applied toward your baccalaureate program.
Access to specialized labs and facilities and experienced faculty.
Pay same tuition rate regardless of where you live.
Students may be eligible for financial aid.
Gain skills in areas where jobs growth is projected.
Complete your degree in three years as a part-time student.
The curriculum includes 29-30 credits from university general education courses and 30-31 credits from core courses in criminal justice. Applicants who bring in fewer than 60 credits from a previous degree plan will need to take additional courses.
Credit will be awarded for college-level course work completed at accredited institutions. While general education credits are generally accepted from two-year colleges, this new program makes it possible for students to receive university credit for technical and work specific courses as well. For more information on how your college credits will transfer to UW-River Falls, visit the Transfer Credit Policy web page or contact the Admissions Office staff.
SOCI 200 Sociological Inquiry 3 cr.
SOCI 201 Theories of Sociology 3 cr.
SOCI 250 Introduction to Social Statistics 3 cr.
SOCI 300 Research Methods 3 cr.
SOCI 210 Social Problems
or SOCI 218 Deviant Behavior 3 cr.
SOCI 321 Power and Inequality
or SOCI 326 Sociology of Gender Roles
or SOCI 328 Perspectives on Race Relations 3 cr.
SOCI 241 Social Psychology
or SOCI 341 Sociology of Later Life
or SOCI 342 Sociology of Family 3 cr.
SOCI 411 Seminar in Culture and Community
or SOCI 421 Diversity Seminar
or SOCI 431 Seminar in Globalization
or SOCI 441 Seminar in Life Course 3 cr.
CJ 322 Criminology 3 cr.
CJ 310 Gangs in the United States
or CJ 360 White Collar Crime
or CJ 389 Race and Crime 3 cr.
All students will pay $300 per credit plus campus fees for classes, regardless of where they live. Students who meet the course load minimums for full-time or part-time status may also be eligible for financial aid. Learn more from the UWRF Financial Assistance Office.
To begin their program, students must apply for study at UWRF as an undergraduate transfer student. Apply online.
Associate degrees of Applied Science, Science or Arts in a study area related to criminal justice or law enforcement or evidence of significant progress made toward an associate's or bachelor's degree in this area
Minimum combined grade point average of 2.25 for college credits taken
Completed online application for undergraduate study and paid application fee prior to the fall or spring term
Transcripts sent directly from previous institutions to the UWRF Admissions Office
Pamela Bowen


text:
New MID 7 inch Google android 2.2 , 3.0MP Camera, SUPPORTS EXTERNAL 3G MODEM+WIFI+Two Point Touch Sc - 608938988829
|This droid MID 709 has a 7" touch screen, WiFi, video playback, Google Android 2.2 O/S, 3000 mAh rechargeable Battery, USB Port, TF-Card slot, 3.5mm Headphone socket, built in Microphone, Stereo loud speakers, Google Browser, support for video file playback, as well as Audio and picture formats.This tablet PC is taking the Internet by storm, get it while it's super hot which uses higher quality components compared to the unbranded versions. Super light weight and the ideal size for portability and usability. Be the first to show off the smarter person's tablet PC. Inside the box is everything you will need to be fully up and mobile with your deluxe customizable unlocked Internet Tablet PC. This tablet has just as many features as the some other well known tablet PCs but in a slim, compact 199 * 129 * 14 mm, 399 gram casing which is also around half the weight of all other well known tablet PCs.This Android Tablet PC has a touch screen with icon or menu drag feature and screen rotation. The screen rotation features lets you view the screen in landscape or portrait mode, dictated by which way up the unit is held in your hand, this is great for viewing larger menu lists.Internet connectivity is achieved via the 802.11 built-in WiFi. It has a high definition clear screen with a resolution of 800*480 pixels to provide a fantastic multimedia and internet experience.


text:
Most Popular in:
New in R&D (page 82 of 86)
Jun 05, 2007 | 08:49 AM CDT
Aveda Teams to Promote Indigenous Development
Aveda has partnered with the United Nations Development Program and others to discuss options for indigenous development...
May 30, 2007 | 02:01 PM CDT
Fashion Group Meets on Health and Beauty
By: Nancy Jeffries
FGI addresses the Convergence of Health and Beauty...
May 04, 2007 | 09:57 AM CDT
HBA Technical Conference
By: Nancy Jeffries
HBA held its annual Mid-year Technical Conferences at New York City's Crown Plaza Hotel. Drawing on the latest scientific research in antiaging and natural beauty, findings were presented from luminaries...
May 04, 2007 | 09:16 AM CDT
Chemical Reaction: Neurocosmetics
By: Steve Herman
The skin is equipped with an effective communication and control system, and neurocosmetics, an emerging segment that explores topical treatments affecting this system, has only scratched the surface of advancing technological possibility.
Apr 17, 2007 | 04:49 PM CDT
Apr 04, 2007 | 09:09 AM CDT
BASF Discontinues Lysine Business
BASF to shut down lysine production facility; focus on more cyclically resilient portfolio, including growth areas in cosmetics...
Apr 03, 2007 | 12:45 PM CDT
Targeting Delivery to Areas of Concern
By: Nancy Jeffries
Products that increase skin elasticity, provide firming and toning, and add a smoothing effect to specific areas of the body are among the most popular being formulated today...
Apr 02, 2007 | 10:22 AM CDT
Safety First for Baby Skin Care
Consumers looking for brand offerings in the baby and child skin care market put a high priority on safety, ease of use and price.
Apr 02, 2007 | 10:05 AM CDT
The Pollution Solution
By: Nancy Jeffries
Pollutants are a decisive cause of skin problems; therefore, evolving technological advancement in antipollutants must address skin protection and pre-emptively alleviate signs of aging.
Mar 30, 2007 | 11:57 AM CDT
Chemical Called into Question
CTFA responds to activist reports regarding the level of chemical in personal care products...


text:
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (
Implementation research is the scientific study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of research findings and other evidence-based practices into routine practice, and, hence, to improve the quality and effectiveness of health services and care. This relatively new field includes the study of influences on healthcare professional and organisational behaviour.
Research continually produces new findings that can contribute to effective and efficient healthcare. However, such research cannot change outcomes unless health services and healthcare professionals adopt the findings into practice. Uneven uptake of research findings – and thus inappropriate care – occurs across settings, specialities and countries [
Implementation research is the scientific study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of research findings and other evidence-based practices into routine practice, and, hence, to improve the quality and effectiveness of health services. It includes the study of influences on healthcare professional and organisational behaviour.
Recent years have seen the rapid and continuing development of "implementation science", but this has not been accompanied by any dedicated journals. This has hampered the field in three ways. Firstly, implementation research articles are scattered across a wide range of journals, including clinical, public health, health services, and healthcare quality/safety journals. As a result, articles are often difficult to locate, and the breadth of the field is not easily understood.
Secondly, publication to date has usually been restricted to the final reporting of studies with little or no opportunity to describe the important contextual, developmental and supporting work that would allow for a better interpretation of results and enhance the likelihood of successful replication of an intervention.
Finally, paper-based journals are bound by the limitations of issue length and frequency. As an electronic journal,
Open access has four broad benefits for science and the general public. First, authors are assured that their work is disseminated to the widest possible audience, given that there are no access barriers. This is accentuated by the authors' right to freely reproduce and distribute their work; for example, by placing it on their institution's website. Second, the information available to researchers will not be limited by their library's budget; the widespread availability of articles will enhance literature searching and use [
Several types of planned thematic articles also will strengthen the field. Articles assessing the state of the science, as well as the barriers and challenges researchers face, will facilitate the development of effective solutions, such as new theories, frameworks, and research standards, approaches and methods. Other planned thematic articles will offer practical guidance and insights to implementation researchers. The series labelled "The Practice of Implementation Science" will offer practical, science-based guidance to researchers facing the need to select among available theories, frameworks, research approaches and designs, methods and other options. A planned series of articles written by implementation research users (in the policy and practice communities) will offer implementation researchers insights into the needs, values and preferences of these stakeholders. Enhancing communication between implementation researchers and implementation research users represents an important goal of the journal.
On behalf of the Editorial Board, we hope you will support us in our efforts to make
The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.


text:
A method for assessing the performance of a company includes: receiving financial data about the company; determining a future value of the company; decomposing the future value into a plurality of future value components, where the plurality of future value components includes an economy component that defines an implied amount of growth of the company attributable to the growth of the economy in general; and displaying at least one of the future value components.
1. A method for assessing the performance of a company, comprising:
receiving, into a computer readable memory coupled to a computer data processor, financial data about the company and an index value indicative of the economic growth for at least one industrial sector of a country relevant to the company;
determining, via logic executed by the processor, a current value and a future value which combined make up an enterprise value of the company;
decomposing, via the logic, the future value into a plurality of future value components, wherein the plurality of future value components include a future value (FV) premium component comprising the difference between the future value of the company and a sum of the economy component and an operating advantage component; and
displaying, on a display device, at least one of the future value components.
2. The method of
3. The method of
4. The method of
5. The method of
6. The method of
7. The method of
8. The method of
receiving financial data about a plurality of additional companies;
determining a current value and a future value which combined equal an enterprise value for each of the plurality of additional companies;
decomposing each future value of the plurality of additional companies into a plurality of future value components, wherein the plurality of future value components includes an economy component that defines an implied amount of growth of the company expected by the growth of at least one industrial sector of the economy relevant to the company; and
displaying at least one of the future value components for at least one of the plurality of additional companies.
9. A method for assessing the performance of a company, comprising:
receiving, into a computer readable memory coupled to a computer data processor, financial data about the company;
determining, via logic executed by the processor, a current value and a future value which combined make up an enterprise value of the company;
decomposing, via the logic, the future value into a plurality of future value components, including a future value premium component; and
displaying, on a display device, at least one of the future value components.
10. The method of
11. The method of
12. A computer-implemented method for analyzing the relative performance of a business unit of a company, the method comprising:
receiving, into a computer readable memory coupled to a computer data processor, publicly available historical financial data in an electronic readable format about a plurality of business units from a data source;
providing controls for selecting a first variable from a plurality of variables, wherein the first variable is a ratio of two independently selected variables, the first variable being associated with a first coordinate;
providing controls for selecting a second variable from the plurality of variables, wherein the second variable is a ratio of two independently selected variables, the second variable being associated with a second coordinate;
calculating, via logic executed by the computer data processor a plurality of ratios of financial performance measures based on the received financial data;
selecting a business unit from the plurality of business units and generating, via the logic, a plurality of data points based on the received data and calculated performance measures for the selected business unit; and
displaying, on a display device, the plurality of data points on a graph.
13. The computer-implemented method of
14. The computer-implemented method of
15. The computer-implemented method of
16. The computer-implemented method of
17. The computer-implemented method of
18. The computer-implemented method of
19. The computer-implemented method of
20. The computer-implemented method of
21. The computer-implemented method of
22. The computer-implemented method of
23. The computer-implemented method of
24. The computer-implemented method of
(i) an economy component that defines an implied amount of growth of the company attributable to the growth of the economy in general,
(ii) an operating advantage component that is calculated as a function of the invested capital value, and
(iii) a future value (FV) premium component comprising the difference between the future value of the company and a sum of the economy component and the operating advantage component.
This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/072,895, filed Mar. 2, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,398,240 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. The following notice applies to any software and data as described below and in the drawings hereto: Copyright© 2005, Accenture, All Rights Reserved.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to business performance management, and more particularly to a system and method for evaluating a company's performance based on the decomposition and mapping of total return to shareholders.
2. Background Information
Business performance management (BPM), also known as Enterprise performance management (EPM), relates to the execution and monitoring of the performance of various components of a company's business. BPM, sometimes referred to as the next generation of business intelligence (BI), focuses on business processes such as planning and forecasting and helps businesses discover efficient use of their business units, financial, human, and material resources. Typically, BPM systems consolidate data from various sources, and provide functions for querying and analyzing the data and putting the results into practice.
BPM enhances business processes by creating better feedback loops that allow for the continuous, real-time review of information to help identify and eliminate problems before they grow. For example, forecasting capabilities may help the company take corrective action in time to meet earnings projections. BPM may also be useful in risk analysis and predicting outcomes of merger and acquisition scenarios, as well as planning to overcome potential problems.
BPM provides key performance indicators (KPI), also know as performance metrics or variables, that help companies monitor efficiency of projects and employees against operational targets. These metrics/KPI may be used to assess the present state of the business and to prescribe a course of action. For example, BPM systems have been used to analyze: New customers acquired; Status of existing customers; Attrition of customers; Turnover generated by segments of the Customers; Outstanding balances held by segments of customers and terms of payment; Collection of bad debts within customer relationships; Demographic analysis of individuals (potential customers) applying to become customers, and the levels of approval, rejections and pending numbers; Delinquency analysis of customers behind on payments; and Profitability of customers by demographic segments and segmentation of customers by profitability. Regardless of the type of analysis a BPM system may be used for, BPM systems must acquire metric/KPI that is consistent, correct, and timely available.
Despite the great benefits many BPM systems provide, these systems are only as powerful as the metrics/KPI used to benchmark business performance. Unfortunately, there is a disconnect in traditional BPM systems between the financial performance metrics companies use in analyzing business performance and the ability to create and sustain high performance results in their execution over time. This disconnect arises because most companies take an internal approach to evaluating their business performance using performance metrics such as Earnings per Share (EPS), Return on Net Assets (RONA), Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA), Return on Investment Capital (ROIC), Economic Value Added (EVA), Cash Flow Return on Investment (CFROI), and the like. These metrics neglect the true drivers of sustainable shareholder value and instead only determine the operating performance for the current operating year. Essentially, these metrics only provide analysis of a company's current value, or the present value of the uniform perpetual earnings on assets currently held by the company.
This disconnect becomes even more apparent when analyzing companies such as biotech companies with a high percentage of future value, or the present value of company opportunities for investments in real assets that will yield more than the normal market rate of return. For example, traditional value management focuses on Net Operating Profit Less Adjusted Taxes (NOPLAT) as the only source of "Return" on Invested Capital. Because high future value firms have little or no NOPLAT, there is no accounting for the value created by these types of companies.
Companies attempt to solve this disconnect through the implementation of major new transactional systems or point solutions to specific problems, such as ERP systems and data warehouses. Although these solutions are good at tracking transactional data, they do not help a company plan for what may occur and track the key drivers to enable decision making. Point solutions are band-aides that don't address the real problem of proactively managing those aspects of business performance that contribute to sustainable shareholder value.
Other companies address the current problems with BPM by implementing a Balanced Scorecard or Executive Dashboard. Exemplary scorecards and dashboards include the Cognos® Metrics Manager and Cognos® Visualizer, provided by Cognos, Inc. of Ottawa, Canada, and the Hyperion Performance Scorecard, provided by Hyperion Solutions Corporation of Sunnyvale, Calif. These solutions attempt to capture the financial and non-financial drivers of value for the company. These solutions typically provide results that are useful and insightful. However, these solutions may not be integrated into the remaining BPM systems utilized by the company, and may not incorporate metrics reflective of the true drivers of shareholder values.
Accordingly, there is a need for software tools and information technology solutions to create an integrated capability to drive BPM strategy and value creation that accurately measures the key drivers of both current and future value from an external perspective as well as detail how these drivers interrelate.
In one aspect, a method for assessing the performance of a company is provided. The method may include receiving financial data about the company and determining a future value of the company. Next, the future value is decomposed into a plurality of future value components, where the plurality of future value components includes an economy component that defines an implied amount of growth of the company attributable to the growth of the economy in general. Finally, the method may include displaying at least one of the future value components to advise a user of the performance of the company relative to the economy in general.
In another embodiment, a computer-implemented method for analyzing the relative performance of a business unit of a company is provided. The method may include: receiving publicly available historical financial data forecast financial data in an electronic readable format about a plurality of business units from a data source and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) value indicative of the GDP for a country; calculating with a data processor a plurality of ratios of financial performance measures based on the received financial data, wherein at least one of the plurality of performance ratios comprises a decomposition of the future value of a company; selecting a business unit from the plurality of business units and generating a plurality of data points based on the received data and calculated performance measures for the selected business unit; displaying the plurality of data points on a graph; and depicting on the graph an indicia indicative of a GDP breakeven line associated with an implied amount of growth of the companies attributable to the growth of the economy in general and based on the GDP value.
These and other embodiments and aspects of the invention are described with reference to the noted Figures and the below detailed description of the preferred embodiments.
Referring now to the drawings, and initially to
The computing environment 20 may further include a hard disk drive 42 for reading from and writing to a hard disk (not shown), and an external disk drive 46 for reading from or writing to a removable external disk 48. The removable disk may be a magnetic disk for a magnetic disk driver or an optical disk such as a CD ROM for an optical disk drive. The hard disk drive 42 and external disk drive 46 are connected to the system bus 38 by a hard disk drive interface 40 and an external disk drive interface 44, respectively. The drives and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the computing environment 20. Although the exemplary environment described herein employs a hard disk and an external disk 48, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of computer readable media which can store data that is accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, random access memories, read only memories, and the like, may also be used in the exemplary operating environment.
A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk, external disk 48, ROM 30 or RAM 24, including an operating system (not shown), one or more application programs 26, other program modules (not shown), and program data 28. One such application program may include the functionality as detailed below.
A user may enter commands and/or information, as discussed below, into the computing environment 20 through input devices such as mouse 56 and keyboard 58. Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone (or other sensors), joystick, game pad, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices may be connected to the processing unit 32 through a serial port interface 54 that is coupled to the system bus 38, or may be collected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port interface 50, game port or a universal serial bus (USB). Further, information may be printed using printer 52. The printer 52, and other parallel input/output devices, may be connected to the processing unit 32 through parallel port interface 50. A monitor 36, or other type of display device, is also connected to the system bus 38 via an interface, such as a video input/output 34. In addition to the monitor 36, computing environment 20 may include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers or other audible output.
The computing environment 20 may communicate with other electronic devices such as remote computer 68. Remote computer 68 may be another computing environment such as a server, router, network PC, peer device, telephone (wired or wireless), personal digital assistant, television, or the like. Remote computer 68 may include many or all of the elements described above relative to the computing environment 20. In one embodiment, the remote computer 68 is a server coupled with a database of historical financial data for a plurality of companies. Herein, the phrase "coupled with" is defined to mean directly connected to or indirectly connected with through one or more intermediate components. Such intermediate components may include both hardware and software based components. Alternatively, or in addition, the remote computer may include accounting and/or financial software for maintaining a company's internal recording keeping.
To communicate, the computer environment 20 may operate in a networked environment using connections (wired, wireless or both wired and wireless) to one or more electronic devices.
When used in a LAN networking environment, the computing environment 20 may be connected to the LAN 64 through a network I/O 62. When used in a WAN networking environment, the computing environment 20 may include a modem 60 or other means for establishing communications over the WAN 66, The modem 60, which may be internal or external to computing environment 20, is connected to the system bus 38 via the serial port interface 54. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computing environment 20, or portions thereof, may be stored in a remote memory storage device resident on or accessible to remote computer 68. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the electronic devices may be used.
The new business performance management system and method is typically provided as software running on the processing unit 32, resident in the computer-readable medium of the storage device 42, to allow the processing unit 32 to provide the functionalities described herein. As described below, the software may be provided as a spreadsheet, for example as implemented on a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel, however one skilled in the art would realize that the software may be provided as a stand-alone software program (i.e., implemented in any suitable programming language) operating on the processing unit 32 or any operating system provided therewith, and need not utilize any additional software operating on the system. Alternatively, or in addition, the functionalities may be provided as a combination of software and one or more ASICs to provide the functionalities discussed herein.
In further embodiments, as described below, the functionalities may also be provided as a web-based application running on a browser and accessible via the Internet or other communications network. Alternatively, the functionalities disclosed herein may be incorporated into an Executive Dashboard, described above. In yet another embodiment, the functionalities disclosed herein may be provided as a benchmarking service that analyzes historical data for a plurality of companies. The historical data may reside in a remote database, or may be internal to the benchmarking service. The benchmarking service may provide industry specific data and comparative benchmarks for particular industries, or provide general benchmarks that span multiple industries. In one embodiment, the functionalities are embedded into the architecture of a BPM management system via an information hub 150.
An exemplary BPM architecture 100 is shown in
The architecture 100 may also include reference data 110 that may define various definitions, standards, and the like. For example, the company may reference certain KPI definitions 112, reporting hierarchies 114, data standards 116, and code of authorities 118. Applications 120 may also be included to provide strategic analysis in areas such as planning/modeling 122, budgeting/forecasting 124, consolidations 126, and dimensional profitability/ABC 128. Finally, reporting and analysis tools 130 may also be provided to present the analytical results to business managers via useful reports, visualizations, and the like. Traditional BPM systems may provide, for example, reporting tools for external reporting 132, internal reporting 134, and standard reporting 136. Additionally, or alternatively, tools may be provided for ad hoc database querying 138, such as OnLine Analytical Processing (OLAP) software that allows the user to quickly analyze information that has been summarized into multidimensional views and hierarchies, executive scoreboards or dashboards 140, data mining tools 142, and the like. It should be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, that the source systems 100, reference data 110, applications 120, reporting and analysis tools 140, and information hub 150 capabilities necessary for a particular company may be implementation dependent, and that exact combination of tools provided may vary greatly without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Referring to
Referring to
An exemplary methodology for target setting and business plan development 320 includes portfolio value assessment 322, set targets for key measures of accountability 324, and cascade targets to lower level metrics/organization 326 activities. As described in more detail below, the functionalities disclosed herein may find particular use in setting targets for key measures of accountability 324, for example, by aligning top down targets with shareholder expectations and ensuring the consistency of external and internal targets. Similarly, the functionalities disclosed herein are ideally suited to cascade the targets to lower level metrics 326.
Exemplary methodology activities for operations 330 include developing plans to achieve the specified targets 332, allocating resources (in terms of both capital and man-power) to achieve all business plans 334, and reviewing, challenging, and finalizing plans and forecasts 336. The functionalities disclosed herein facilitate each of these activities 332, 334, and 336 by providing a clear mapping of target values to business and operational drivers to enable bottom-up resource allocation in line with the established target values.
An exemplary methodology for monitoring performance 340 includes activities for closing and consolidating books and reporting actuals 342, monitoring key measures of business performance 344, reviewing performance with executive management 346, and developing action plans, re-allocating resources and updating forecasts. The functionalities disclosed herein facilitate performance monitoring 340 by providing a consistent system for measuring the performance of the company and a simple user interface to determine exceptions and root causes of poor performance. Coupling these functionalities with a balanced scorecard or executive dashboard, as mentioned-above, further enhance these advantages.
Finally, exemplary methodology activities for enablers 350 include establishing, analyzing, and adapting employee incentive and rewards programs 352 and policies and procedures 354, and providing an integrated IT architecture 356, such as the architecture 100 describe above in reference to
In order to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art BPM systems, the financial performance metrics used to analyze a company's business performance should take an external view of the company's current and future value. One such external performance metric is the Total Return to Shareholders (TRS), and is defined as the company's equity plus any dividends paid on the stock. TRS can be calculated for a given shareholder by adding dividends to any stock price appreciation and dividing the resultant value by the shareholder's original investment. Coupling the external metric TRS with internal metrics of performance allows the company to see exactly what drives shareholder value.
Enterprise Value (EV) 412 (EV=MV less excess cash 411) can be decomposed into Current Value 414 (CV) and Future Value 416 (FV). The CV 414 represents the current value of the company. The CV 414 is influenced by the company's Net Operating Profits Less Adjusted Taxes 418 (NOPLAT), capital 420, and WACC 410, and can be calculated by dividing the NOPLAT 418 by the WACC 410 (which is also equal to Capital 420+EP/WACC 410), such that CV 414=NOPLAT 418/WACC 410=Capital 420+EP/WACC 410. The FV 416 represents the future value of the company, or the difference between the EV 412 and the CV 414. The FV 416 is influenced by capital 420 and the WACC 410, and can be calculated by subtracting the CV 414 from the EV 412, such that FV=EV−CV. As further detail in
The data underpinning these performance metrics also have an effect on the cash flow 434 of the company. Cash flow 434 is determined by the investments 428 made in the company, any financing arrangements 430, as well as operations 432 results. The operations 432 results are influenced by the NOPLAT 418 and the capital 420. Financing arrangements 430 influence the equity 406 of the company, its debt 408, and the ability of the company to pay dividends 404. This may affect the decision of investors to make an investment 428 in the company, which may affect the NOPLAT 418, capital 420 and Mergers and Acquisitions 436 (M & A) of the company.
In the FV premium methodology 440, the first component may represent an operating advantage/disadvantage for the company. This component may define whether the company is creating or destroying value in the current period, and may be calculated, for example, by calculating a company's economic profit (EP) capitalized (EP/WACC). As described in more detail below, EP may be calculated as a company's NOPLAT less a capital charge for the company, where the capital charge may be defined as a company's invested capital times a WACC for the company, such that EP=NOPLAT−(Invested Capital*WACC). If this value is negative, the company is operating at a disadvantage and is destroying the value of capital entrusted to the company. If this value is positive, the company is operating at an advantage and has generated a premium over the value of capital that is embedded in the company's CV 414. This first component thus defines the portion of FV 416 explained by investors' expected improvement to breakeven EP.
The second component of the LV premium methodology 440 may define an implied growth of the economy in general. It should be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that this component may also define an implied growth rate for a particular market, market segment, industry, peer group, and the like. Additionally, this component may be determined using a variety of methods, each of which may be dependent on the market, market segment, etc. being analyzed. In one embodiment, the second component may represent an implied growth in the economy as determined by a terminal value calculation based on the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Typically, the terminal value of a perpetually growing firm may be defined as the Free Cash Flow of a company for the next period divided by WACC minus a terminal growth rate, or FCFt+1/(WACC−g). By substituting a breakeven NOPLAT value, or the point at which zero EP is being generated, for the Free Cash Flow of the company (FTFt+1) and the historical growth rate of the US GDP for the terminal growth rate (g), one can determine that portion of a company's FV 416 implied by the growth rate of the economy. In one embodiment, the breakeven NOPLAT may be defined as a company's invested capital times WACC, such that the portion of a company's FV 416 attributable to the implied growth of the economy may be calculated by the following equation: (Invested Capital* WACC)/(WACC−g). An exemplary growth rate for the US GDP is 3.41%, adjusted for inflation.
The third component, or the FV premium component, of the FV premium methodology 440 includes the remainder of any FV 416 not explained by the first two components, or the FV 416 of the company minus that portion of FV 416 explained by the implied growth of economy minus any FV 416 explained by an operating disadvantage. For companies operating at an advantage, the FV premium component may be defined as the FV 416 of the company minus that portion of FV 416 explained by the implied growth of economy, A positive FV premium component indicates that the company is outperforming the economy, market sector, industry, or the like, while a negative FV premium component indicates a growth rate below what is to be expected. Various visualizations incorporating the algorithms and components of the FV premium methodology 440 are described in more detail below in reference to
Alternatively, or additionally, other methodologies may be used to further analyze the FV 416 of a company. Exemplary methodologies include a SEER© methodology 442 that defines the drivers of FV 416, an asset methodology 444 that breaks down FV 416 by each company asset that drives FV 416, and an FV multiples methodology that analyzes a companies investments in the drivers of FV 416 to suggest investment strategies that may maximize FV 416. Each of these methodologies is described in more detail in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0209942 entitled "Future Value Drivers," to John J. Ballow et al., filed on Mar. 2, 2005, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Referring now to
The TEP can then be used to calculate the TRS for a given year. The TRS change for a given period can be calculated in dollars by calculating the change in TEP for the period (TEP at the end of the period minus TEP at the beginning of the period) and dividing the result by the WACC. Next, any change in debt is subtracted from the resultant value, and finally the dividends are added, such that the TEP ($)=(TEP2−TEP1)/WACC−Change in Debt+Dividends.
These calculations may also be represented as follows:
Where MV2 is the market value of equity at the end of the period, MV1 is the market value of equity at the beginning of the period and dividends are issued during the period.
Using annual TRS calculations allows a company to set target TRS values and decompose the TRS target (or shareholder expected returns) into values for Operating Capital and performance (CV), Growth (FV), and Financing. These additional values can then be further broken down, as described below. Indexing can be used to show performance in absolute and relative terms.
An exemplary TRS target worksheet using the TEP metric is shown in
From these values, the equations described above can be used to establish target values for additional performance metrics. These include targets for EV 620, EP of CV 622, FV 624, EP 626, EP of FV 628, and TEP 630. Finally, the annual TRS dollar change 632 can be calculated as a function of the TEP targets 630 to verify the calculations. These targets can then be decomposed further into targets for the drivers of each of these metrics to help the company reach these targets.
As noted above, the decomposition and mapping of the current and future value components of the total return to shareholders along with associated business processes or business components that drive those values provides valuable software tools for use in analyzing business performance and in managing the operation of those business components. As used herein, a business component may be an organizational sub-division of a company or enterprise. A business component also may be a business process within an enterprise that may be analyzed as an independent operation from a financial perspective.
In one embodiment, for example, a software tool may be provided on a laptop computer for use by a business consultant. In person-to-person interviews with a client, financial data may be input into a computer having a spreadsheet programmed to perform the calculations noted above. The spreadsheet may execute the calculations and presently generate reports on the display of the laptop for review by the consultant and client. The decomposition of shareholder value into component parts may displayed in graphical hierarchical maps that provide powerful depictions of hypothetical scenarios of the effect that drivers of business components have on current and future enterprise values.
In another embodiment, the program executing the calculations may be resident on computer-readable medium in a server in communication with a privately accessible data communication network, such as the internet or a WAN. The program may be accessed through a computer having a browser based interface to implement the same scenario identified above, or scenarios identified below.
Using the above spreadsheet or similarly programmed software tool implementing the method of this invention, one may quickly identify business component values that under perform industry benchmarks or corporate targets. The identified components may be candidates for further analysis to determine whether technology solutions may be provided to raise performance standards and enhance shareholder value. The spreadsheet or other software tool may include a library of standard technology solutions associated with each business component. Such solutions may be displayed or included in a report generated that describes the identified underperforming component and solutions that require further analysis for implementation to achieve benchmark or other target performance.
In yet another embodiment, the invention may be implemented in an enterprise as part of the business management software. A computer in communication with the financial accounting system may import financial data representative of the performance of a plurality of business components. The financial data may be manipulated to correspond with business components according to a map of business components identified as driving current or future value of shareholder returns. The financial data may then be analyzed in accordance with this invention to determine and display the expected actual shareholder return driven by the actual performance. Such data may be graphically displayed in a hierarchical map, or in the form of an executive dashboard. The actual performance financial data may be displayed along side with target values for various business component values. Colors, such as green, yellow, or red, for example, may be used to identify the relative performance, such as above, below, or greatly below target values assigned to individual business components. Additionally, acceptable tolerances for each business component target value may be established and reflected in the display. Such tools may be useful when integrated as monitoring tools into the business performance management frameworks, such as described in association with
In still another embodiment, the invention may be implemented in the form of a financial data provider. A database containing a historical store of financial data of corporation may be in communication on a publicly accessible network. For a fee, financial analysts may access such data and, using the software tools with on their own systems or on a server dedicated to this database, the financial analysts may map the components of shareholder value across broad swaths of industry segments. Also, the financial analysts may focus on a specific industry to determine industry benchmarks of component values. Those component benchmarks may be applied to generate financial report maps used for comparison purposes in making investment decisions with a specific company. Alternatively, the benchmarks may be used for comparison to identify which business components within a company are underperforming competitors, to enable business mangers to determine which business components require additional resources to maintain competitive performance levels.
In an alternative embodiment, the invention may be implemented in the form of target setting, forecasting, and budgeting tools in which targets are selected at a high level of management through a process of strategic planning to select targets based on a combination of value, such as TRS value for example, expected to be added and manageability of the candidate targets. In one embodiment, computer simulations of, inter alia, increased cash flows expected by the target strategies. These targets may then be flowed down to the various levels of management, budgets may be constructed around those target strategies, and the budgets may be consolidated and flowed upward. Alternatively, or additionally, the system may be used to increase shareholder value by improving forecasting abilities through the use of graphical representations of performance metrics of similarly situated companies in order to identify realistic value enhancing business strategies as goals for the organization. Exemplary systems of these types include those described in U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2004/0073441 A1 and 2004/0073477 A1, both to Heyns et al., the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
In still another embodiment, the invention may be implemented in a system for automatically examining a company's financial data and evaluating factors affecting the company's stock value. The system may, for example, evaluate a company's spread through that company's debt and equity costs and measure returns to investors from company growth, which may be either organic growth or growth through mergers and acquisitions. The system may also evaluate the financial data of other publicly traded companies, such as those in the same industry, and compares the various factors affecting stock value. The system may also include tools for determining the return to investors, such as a software-based application that collects receives financial data and uses this information to calculate the return to inventor through the company's spreads and growth. An exemplary systems of these types include those described in U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2005/0004832 A1, to Ostergard et al., the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Another aspect of the invention provides comprehensive performance analysis of a company's FV, and is illustrated in
The tool may also display a company's historical performance metrics and may embed interactive inputs to permit a user to select any financial metrics indicative of a company's operational and strategic planning the user wishes to view. As a default, published forecasts may be used as the starting point for the analysis. These historical metrics are dynamically tied into the powerful visualization tools to graphically depict multiple key performance measures, such as FV premium. The tool has the capability to graphically depict the performance of selected peer companies on the same chart to provide a graphical comparison of FV performance among industry peers.
As shown in
The system may include a server 712 at a financial data provider with a large data store 714 of the reported financial data and prices of publicly traded financial instruments of publicly traded companies in one embodiment. Preferably, the data store contains historical data that may be provided or sold to others. The server 712 may be connected to a publicly accessible distributed data network, such as the Internet. Communications with the processing logic 720 may occur over such a network
Processing logic 720, which may be maintained by a publicly traded company, is in communication with either the data sources 710 a-710 n, the server 712, or a combination of data sources 710 and servers 712. The processing logic 720 may be implemented as either software or hardware on a single computer or across multiple computers. The processing logic 720 may be in communication with a database 710 containing the companies' current and historical accounting and financial data. The processing logic 720 may also include modules for determining various performance metrics for a business unit associated with the company, such as an FV module 722. The business units may include any component of the company for which financial data may be segregated, such as departments, subsidiaries, product lines, geographical regions, product SKUs and the like. In one embodiment, the business units may also include similar information for a competitor of the company, such as industry peers. Optionally or alternatively, the server 712 may be maintained by private investment analysts firms that analyze publicly traded companies and provide investment recommendations for private investors or the public. In such an embodiment, conventional periodic corporate financial reports may be obtained by the processing logic 720 from those servers 712.
The processing logic 720 may be configured to determine various performance metrics and information from the financial information. Such determinations may include calculations based on the received financial information as well as selecting metrics or information included in the received financial information. Alternatively, or in addition, the processing logic may be configured to project performance metrics and information from historical information (such as databases of historical information, annual reports, and the like), user inputs 732 a-732 n, or any combination therein. In one embodiment, the processing logic 720 may be implemented as a series of modules for the individual performance metrics. Alternatively, each module may be configured to calculate multiple metrics. In the embodiment of
The processing logic 720 may also be in communication with the user interface 730. In one embodiment, the processing logic 720 may receive inputs 732 a-732 n from the user interface 730, determine various performance metrics and information for a business unit of a company based any combination of the inputs 732 a-732 n and the financial data received from the various data sources 710 a-710 n, and generate FV visualizations 734 and other visualizations 736 which may display data points, and the like, related to the performance metrics or information.
Referring now to
Referring to
In the embodiment of
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to
As described above, the tool may also include one or more additional visualizations 736 for displaying performance metrics and information, such as the performance metrics included in Table 1.0 above, associated with various business units. Preferably, the additional visualizations are provided with controls that allow the user to customize the visualization by selecting the time period and performance metrics displayed in the visualization. An exemplary additional visualization 1200 is shown in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Optionally, controls may also be provided that allow the user to toggle the information displayed between relative values 1412 a, 1412 b and absolute values 1414 a, 1414 b for each of the performance metrics. Thus, the data may be shown at scale or normalized to a ratio. Preferably, the visualization includes a plurality of data points 1406 for each business unit, where each data point 1406 corresponds to a time periods 2001, 2003, and the twelve trailing months. In the embodiment of
Referring to
Finally, another exemplary visualization 1700 for graphing of a ratio of performance metrics versus a ratio of performance metrics is shown in
Patent Citations
Non-Patent Citations
Referenced by
Legal Events
Original Image


text:
Tori Spelling's New Baby's Name…
Friday, August 31st, 2012
It's a boy for Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott, and they've named this little guy Finn Davey. It's a name that fits in beautifully with the names of the rest of their big brood—they already have Liam Aaron, Stella Doreen and Hattie Margaret (who is just 10 months older than her newest sibling…yikes!).
The name Finn is Irish (perfect with the last name McDermott), and it means fair-haired. It's a name that's become relatively popular for boys, clocking in just under the top 300. It's been on the rise lately—I'm sure in no small part to the fact that Glee's leading man bears the name.
As for Davey, well, they're following the popular nickname-as-a-name trend. Davey is a derivative of David, which means beloved—and is one of the most popular names of all time, consistently ranking in the top 20 names in the U.S. It's a classic Biblical name that's been the moniker for countless notable guys. It's actually also Tori Spelling's middle name, so it's a homage to his mother.
Interestingly, this is the first baby in their family who doesn't bear a two-syllable first name, and also the first one that doesn't have an ultratraditional middle name (you really can't get much more traditional than Aaron, Doreen and Margaret). But it's clear that this family prefers short and sweet first names to go with their longer last name. And it works beautifully.
What do you think of Tori and Dean's name choice for their new baby? Would you choose this name (or any of their other kids' names) for your own baby?
Photo: Tori Spelling by s_bukley / Shutterstock.comAdd a Comment


text:
Nov 16 2011
Which Basset Would You Rather Have?
First of all, I promise this isn't Dog Week.
I think.
Never mind, yes it is.
This is typical Walter: Huge paws (getting huger by the day), huge ears (you can't see this, but they're cascading down the sofa to the floor below), plaintive expression, eager/desperate eyes.
Walter is this:
Love me? I'm here. Pet me? I need love. Hold me? My paws are big. Hold them? I need reassurance. Hug me? Nurture me? Love me? Pretty please?
This is typical Charlie: Supine, eternally. Lazy, always. Taking up half the couch, unabashedly. Indecent. Grody.
Charlie is this:
Can you guys hold it down a little? A man can't get a second of sleep around this joint. Someone put a piece of bacon in my mouth. Can you guys hold it down? I'm hot. Come fan me. Put a pillow under my head. Bring me sausage. Hold it down. I want brisket.
If you had to choose, which Basset would you rather have in your house:
One who's constantly in need of affirmation and attention?
Or one who has a sense of entitlement and won't budge?
I'm a little undecided at the moment.
607 Comments and 45 Replies
Ebba On Thursday, December 8 at 9:38 pm
Cindy On Sunday, December 11 at 11:29 pm
hmmm….so hard to choose since I have both types of bassetts at my house! My Maggie is a D.I.V.A. like no one before her! My Marley is the sweetest little pea in the pod! She just wants attention all day long. I love that you love your dogs like I love mine. They are my family and well, to be honest, there are days I'd choose them easily over my "real" family! Except for Maggie when she is throwing down a "queen of the house" challenge to me. Marley? Always. Always. Always.
Jenn On Friday, January 6 at 2:38 pm
We have one of each too! Harvey is our 3 yrs old Basset whom, when asked to move over so that someone else can sit on the couch, is only able to open his eyes enough to look up and say 'your going to have to move me yourself.' Once Harvey is pushed over a scooch, Benson, our other Basset (2 yrs old), then gets up from wherever he is sleeping to come lay down in the 2 inch gap between Harvey and the person trying to sit on the couch. Which means Benson ends up on your lap becuase of course he wants you to pet him. We love our Bassets too!
Beth E. On Saturday, January 21 at 11:14 pm
I have one of each of these types. Sugar (my rescued basset) is more like Walter. She needs reassurance and love constantly. In return, she never fails to bring me a toy when she's happy. Maisie, whom I've had since she was 9 weeks, is more of a Charlie. She is a true Diva. She assumes that eveyone is here to love on and cater to her. I wouldnt trade either of them for the world. I'm a happy momma.
darlene On Friday, February 3 at 8:25 pm
Honestly, I can't even believe you GOT another Bassett. Charlie is king and should have always been the only Bassett in the family.
S On Wednesday, February 8 at 10:31 am
Both because I have two that are exactly like what you describe and I couldn't imagine life without either one!
Hannah On Saturday, March 10 at 7:42 am
Ruger, our Basset, is Walter. Lol. A complete handful!!


text:
|Page: 1 of 1
|Sort By:
Silverbell is a floating castle generally called as Houseboat .It comprises of well furnished luxury rooms and upto date communication amenities as well as 24x7 services.Property is located in a serene and refreshing location of Nigeen Lake.
Find great deals on quality hotels & resorts in Jammu and Kashmir India, or indulge at one of our luxury resorts. Take advantage of the many amenities that can be included with your stay such as in-room internet access, wifi, room service, fitness center, pool, hot tub, steam room, and shuttle services to and from the airport. Browse our hotels and resorts in Jammu and Kashmir India and plan your Jammu and Kashmir India vacation today!


text: We would like to thank Juliet and the staff at Star*Crossed Weddings for making our day both special and memorable. We had a situation where our personal photographer was not able to attend and we were in a difficult situation but Juliet comforted us and was able to find a photographer in a matter of minutes. Again thank you for the memories and the wonderful service you provided. Sincerely Coby & Jessii.


text:
Viewers: in countries Watching now:
In this series on productivity, author Jess Stratton takes you through the latest tools that will help you run your business and life more efficiently. Each installment covers a particular feature or technique in a different online tool, such as Google Apps, Skype, YouTube, Mint.com, Etsy, and more. Learn about topics ranging from recording and publishing video chats to managing your finances online.
Hi there, I'm Jess Stratton, and welcome to Monday Productivity Pointers. In an earlier edition of Monday Productivity, I showed you how you can use smart mailboxes in your Mac mail client to aggregate and view all your mail that meets certain criteria in one place. Well today we're going to extend that functionality to finder in Mac. So that you can aggregate all sorts of folders in one place called a Smart Folder. Now why would you want to do this? Well for one, you may have photos in various folders all over the place on your Mac.
You can aggregate them all into one smart folder. So whenever you want to look at all your folders, you only have to go to one place to see all your photos. You can do the same thing with music. That's actually what I do on my Mac at home. So let's get started, and I'll show you how to set up your own smart folders. The first thing we need to do is to decide what things we're going to create our smart folders for. I'm going to create two. The first one I want is just a way to identify all the active files and folders that I'm working on in whatever current projects I'm working on right now.
Now remember, they could be anywhere on my Mac, in a Google drive folder, in a documents folder, in a sub-folder, it doesn't matter. I'm going to use a combination of smart folders and labels to get these things identified. Now, you may have seen on a Mac, if you right click a file, you can color code it with a label. Well, the first thing we're going to do is change the text of these labels so that we can clearly identify what we're labeling. I'm going to select Finder at the top left hand side of the Mac and choose Preferences. Go to the Labels tab, and here's where I can change the names of these.
For example, the red label, I'm going to change that to be active. Now the second smart folder I'm going to make is all my photos. So I'll take this purple color and rename that to Photos. When I'm all done, I can close out of it and now I'm ready to start labeling my different items. So if I use my expense reports all the time, I'm going to right-click that file and label it as Active. You'll see that all the other ones are still labeled the same color name except Photos and Active, which we changed.
It gets flagged with the red color. And now I can go through and flag any photo or any active project that I'm working on. You can even do it with subfolders. For example, here's this logos plus story folder that I use all the time. So I'm going to flag that as an active folder. There's an Images file. Now you'll notice that this is kind of buried. But I'm going to flag this as being photos. So now that I flagged that folder and I flagged some active things, let's start creating our smart folders.
We do that by choosing File from the top Finder menu. And choosing New Smart Folder. The first thing we need to do is type in our search criteria for that smart folder. I can do that by choosing my labels that I created. Now there's other things that you can use smart folders for but right now we're just aggregating our active folders and our photos. So I'm going to start typing label is active. Now you'll notice that it immediately found all the files that I've labeled as active.
So now I'm going to chose the Save button. I could click this plus if I wanted to add more criteria to it. For example, there is all sorts of things I can create smart folders out of. When it was last opened? When it was last modified? I could create a new smart folder of all files that have been modified in the past two weeks. This would be a good one to create if you're constantly scrambling to find files on your computer. But right now I'm going to keep it as just active files. So I'll click the Save button.
And now I need to give it a name. I'll just call this one Active, because that's what it is. It's going to save this smart folder in my saved searches. And I want to add it to my side bar. I don't have to, but it's very useful, so I'm going to leave this checked. That's going to put it in this favorites over here, as soon as I click Save, here's my active view. So anytime I open up finder, and I'm working anywhere in my computer, if I want to quickly find all the active folders that I'm using, I can come down here, and here they are.
Lets do that one more time with my photos. I'm going to come back up to the Finder's Menu, Choose New Smart Folder. I can add any criteria that I want, but in this case I'm going to type Label. This time I'm going to type photos. So here's where it's aggregated all the photos that I've labeled on my computer. This is also useful if you have photos in mapped drives and things like that. And I'll click the Save button, I'll call it photos. I still want to add it to the side bar. I can click Save and here it is.
So now I've got two smart folders that are going to be very useful to me. So go through in your computer, see what kind of files you find yourself always going to and always spending lots of time clicking through various subfolders to get to. And make them a smart folder.
Find answers to the most frequently asked questions about Monday Productivity Pointers .
Here are the FAQs that matched your search "" :
Sorry, there are no matches for your search "" —to search again, type in another word or phrase and click search.
Access exercise files from a button right under the course name.
Search within course videos and transcripts, and jump right to the results.
Remove icons showing you already watched videos if you want to start over.
Make the video wide, narrow, full-screen, or pop the player out of the page into its own window.
Click on text in the transcript to jump to that spot in the video. As the video plays, the relevant spot in the transcript will be highlighted.


text:
Clint Bradley Didier
Position: TE
Height: 6-5 Weight: 240 lbs.
Born: April 4, 1959 in Pasco, WA
High School: Connell
College: Portland St.
Drafted by the Washington Redskins in the 12th round (314th overall) of the 1981 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 18 (5099th overall since 1950)
Like this page? Sponsor it for $10. Your message will replace this ad.


text:
Elon, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Lucas Troutman scored 19 points and brought down nine rebounds as the Elon Phoenix defeated The Citadel Bulldogs 74-65 in a Southern Conference matchup at Alumni Gym.
Jack Isenbarger scored 15 points for the Phoenix (9-8, 2-1 SoCon). Sebastian Koch chipped in 14 points while Austin Hamilton had six assists.
Matt Van Scyoc led the Bulldogs (4-14, 0-3) with 16 points. Brian White scored 13 points with eight rebounds as Quinton Marshall added 11 points and Ashton Moore chipped in 10 and five assists. This is the sixth straight loss for The Citadel.
Elon made 45.2 percent of its shots from the floor including 6-of-18 from 3- point range in the first half. The Phoenix took a 36-29 lead into the intermission. The Citadel shot an impressive 57.1 percent from the floor but had 10 fewer field goal attempts than Elon.
The Phoenix struggled in the second half by only making 35.5 percent of their shots from the field but were helped by going 13-of-18 from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs made 45.5 percent of their field goal tries but were unable to close the gap.
The home team took advantage of The Citadel's mistakes by outscoring the Bulldogs 19-3 on points off turnovers.
© 2015 Ramar Communications |
Site Map |
Terms Of Use |
Privacy Statement |
Copyright & Trademark Notice |
EEO Report |
FCC Public Files |
Closed Captioning |


text:
A Field Museum researcher said the cold snap may push some birds to shelter in odd places to survive.
Get our daily Chicago news and alerts!
Terms of Use |Privacy Policy
Thank you for signing up!
Would you like to sign up for additional newsletters?
Thank you for signing up for additional newsletters.


text:
July 13th 2008 1:43 pm
1. Lots of bags for organization-ing
2. Ankle wrap
3. Ear plugs for avoiding those pesky press conferences
4. USB headset for on-the-fly podcasting
5. Good ol' lappy
6. Umbrella
7. Drum sticks + practice pad
8. Mandolin -- why not?
9. Lots of paper for that retro vibe
10. Card reader, SD cards and jump drives
11. Batteries!
12. Pens and pencils
13. Business cards, held tightly in a Destroy All Developers! case
14. Rock Band party pass and broken bluetooth headset (for looking like a tool, or fitting in, at the concert)
Not pictured: DS, World Ends with You, Power Strip o' stuff, self-esteem
Pictured but unimportant: The most sexiest collection of t-shirts imaginable.
Sexy brown laptop, sexy brown wireless mouse, sexy headset, adorable Chocolate cell, useful battery charger, a mini Halo 3 ghost and too cool X3F stickers.
1. Crisis Core PSP with Buster Sword and Chocobo charms attached. Contains Crisis Core UMD.
2. Black DS Lite containing Final Fantasy Tactics A2
3. iPod Touch with Sennheiser inner-ear headphones
4. MacBook Pro
5. iPhone 3G
6. Sennheiser USB headset
7. World Traveller Travel Adapter kit for Apple products
8. Nikon D40x 10mpx camera
From top left to bottom right: mini-dvdrw's, videocamera, Eee, digital camera, power cables for laptops, (next row) Zen w/ earbuds, voice recorder w/ tapes (I know, old-school), spare memory card, spare battery for videocamera, cables for transferring video (next row) crackberry, emergency crackberry charger, wireless usb mouse, VAIO SZ780 with built-in EVDO (custom, and my baby), spare battery for VAIO, spare batteries for mouse/voice recorder/digital camera/crackberry charging.
Not pictured: water, energy bars, small tripod, messenger bag this fits in, comfy shoes, coffee for late nights.
1. Macbook Pro (running OS X 10.5.2 so I can play Diablo II)
2. USB headset for recording podcasts
3. iPod with voice recorder
4. Awesome wooden business card holder (fun at parties!)
5. Business card wallet with super secret industry contacts
6. LG ENV 2 mobile phone
7. Tiny 2GB flash drive on Halo 3 keychain
8. Micro SD Card adapters
9. USB SD Card reader
10. Noise canceling headphones (an absolute must for late night blogging)
11. Spiffy wireless notebook mouse (essential for Diablo II)
12. Battery charger with batteries
13. 360 Memory Unit with Gamertag (you never know)
14. EyeTV video capture device with remote control
15. Distribution amplifier (for video capture)
16. Notepad filled with hard hitting interview questions
Not pictured: Camera used to take picture, disarming good looks.
I'm traveling light this year. 1. Trusty Dell laptop, recently excercised 2. Digital audio recorder, an interviewer's best friend 3. 9MP Digital camera, complete with WiFi 4. Red/Black DS Lite 5. Elite Beat Agents headphones (which are far too short) 6. Worms 2 for the DS 7. Soldering wire and duck tape (because you never know)
I'm going old school. [Ed. - No school like the old school.]
1. Battery charger, because you can never have enough battery power.
2. USB stick, recycled from another PR event.
3. Old but trusty 12" Powerbook.
4. lucky Hearthstone charm
5. Journalist's notebook (with Sega pen!)
6. Tape recorder
7. DS games: World Ends With You (which will definitely be on roaming mode the whole time), Mario Kart, EBA, Advance Wars
8. Phat Blue DS
9. Aviator Playing Cards, good for all kinds of things
10. 80gb video iPod with Song Summoner waiting for me to test on the plane.
11. iPhone for app testing/communicating all week
12. MS Lifechat headset for various podcasting opportunities
Not pictured: Canon PowerShot A520, about a mile of various cabling, and the case this is all supposed to fit in.
I feel ready now. Wait, I'll probably need clothes, too.
© 2015 AOL Inc.
All rights reserved. Reprints and Permissions Privacy Policy Terms of Use Trademarks AOL A-Z Help Advertise with Us


text:
What does กทธ. mean in Thai?
This page is about the meanings of the acronym/abbreviation/shorthand กทธ. in the International field in general and in the Thai terminology in particular.
Find a translation for กทธ. in other languages:
Select another language:
Discuss this กทธ. abbreviation with the community:
Use the citation below to add this abbreviation to your bibliography:
"กทธ.." Abbreviations.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2015. Web. 2 Aug. 2015. <http://www.abbreviations.com/term/513067>.


text:
Our View: Emergency system under attack
Rutherford County's 9-1-1 emergency system is being sabotaged.
The saboteurs are not terrorists or agents of some foreign enemy state, but ordinary thieves many of whom are likely to be our fellow county residents.
These thieves are stealing county road signs at a rate approaching 400 a year.
Sabotage may be a bit of an overstatement for this criminal activity, yet the effect is similar.
A vital governmental operation directly affecting public health and safety is being threatened.
The 9-1-1 emergency system cannot function effectively without having road name signs in place throughout the county to guide emergency responders to fire, accident, medical emergency and crime scenes.
We understand that Rutherford County Sheriff's deputies are, in most cases, equipped with global positioning devices in vehicles, as are EMS ambulances.
However, technology can be fickle and does have a tendency to work when we don't need it and not work when we really do need it.
Therefore, a good set of eyes can be the best source of making sure that an emergency is responded in an efficient manner.
Precious moments are lost when responders must search for a road due to a missing name sign sometimes leading to tragic consequences, including loss of life and property.
We have to ask ourselves just why do people want to steal road name signs?
The most probable reason is for money gained through selling the signs for scrap metal.
Another reason may be as a lark to get some souvenir to hang on their bedroom or den wall.
Whatever the motive, stealing road name signs is a criminal act that endangers the public. It is also costly to taxpayers, as the county spends nearly $40,000 a year replacing stolen and vandalized road signs.
The theft of road name signs must be stopped. Everyone must become more vigilant in spotting and reporting suspicious activity along county roads. Parents need to teach their children that stealing road name signs for souvenirs is not cool.
Area scrap collectors and recyclers must refuse to do business with people trying to sell road name signs and report those people to law enforcement.
And, finally, the criminal justice system must also vigorously prosecute anyone caught stealing signs.
By Matthew Clark, for the Editorial Board.
The Daily Courier Editorial Board consists of community members Jerry Brewer, Kyle Bingham, Tom Padgett, Cliff Strassenburg and Dr. Shermaine Surratt. They serve along with Daily Courier Editor Matthew Clark and Publisher Jake Volcsko.


text:
Passing intellectual challenges
We'll say one thing for our governor. There are not many situations he doesn't mind stepping out and putting delivering his unique spin.
The latest came this week that after he got good-naturedly jabbed on a counterpunch while in Henderson. As a winter storm approached the Old North State, McCrory's press conference of warning back in Raleigh included this gem: "Don't put on your stupid hat."
While speaking or acting freely can cause a politician's foot in mouth disease from which he'll never overcome, we think there's a couple of positives from which we all can learn.
The obvious is there's a time and place for everything, and freewheeling does have consequences. We don't endorse carte blanche. To wit, McCrory will always have a tough time swallowing that plate of cookies from last summer.
But the mind is a reservoir we can choose to unleash and go with, or it can be a place as closed and hollowed as the coldest and darkest cave. We have been created with intellectual abilities that are beyond even the most brilliant of our imaginations.
And we are uniquely human; translated, we can step in a mud hole and foul up who knows what quickly.
Sometimes, we turn loose a bit and see what happens. Always, we must be prepared to deal with the consequences.
There is a growing sense within us from childhood, the earliest days, to live and to conquer. And for each of us, time marches along, and we grow at a pace with which we are comfortable. The boundaries are occasionally pushed, growth happens, and we also learn from mistakes and realize new boundaries.
When the weather turns frightful, our experience or lack thereof adjusts what happens to us next. McCrory's warning was with a sense of humor and truth, cutting to the chase.
Still, many among us chose to see if we could, perhaps like a 2-year-old climbing onto a high couch, make it just a bit farther. We tested, and many were unharmed and others had cold walks or waits in the snow.
Our hope for all our friends and neighbors is a safe passing of this latest brush with Mother Nature, and we hope a good score in this area of our intellectual testing.


text:
View from the Bleachers
This weekly blog is humor writer Tim Jones' personal search for signs of intelligent life in the universe and his neighborhood. He's still searching. See what he discovered this week.
Posts filtered on Tag
Little Caesars Pizza sues Ancient Rome for brand infringement
In this tumultuous economy, America's leading consumer brands have come up with a bold new strategy to replace sagging revenues: Filing multi-million dollar lawsuits for brand infringement. Recently it was reported that America's leading cereal manufacturer, Kellogg's is suing a Californian non-profit organization, the Maya Archeology Initiative, claiming the nonprofit's use of a toucan in […] [Read More]


text:
Series: BioLogos Basics (8 entries)
So what is BioLogos? Well it all began with a scientist and a book.
The Resource Finder has powerful filtering features — check out the tutorial to learn more.
So what is BioLogos? Well it all began with a scientist and a book.
In common English usage, "theory" means something like "guess" or "hunch". In science, however, a theory is an idea that has stood the test of time.
Though the fossil record does not include every plant and animal that ever lived, it provides substantial evidence for the common descent of life via evolution. The fossil record is a remarkable gift for the study of nature.
The word evolution can be used in many ways, but in biology, it means descent with modification. In other words, small modifications occur at the genetic level (i.e. in DNA) when a new generation descends from its parents. Over many generations these modifications can result in significant differences from the ancestral population.
The more research that is done on DNA, the more evidence we find that all life is related.
Sometimes when I am studying evolution, I take a step back and worship my Lord because I am so in awe.
A college student raised as a young-earth creationist shares his story of coming to understand and appreciate God's evolving creation.
Is evolution driven mainly by random genetic variation, or are there other factors at play? Michael Burdett reviews the scientific debate.
A short guide to where BioLogos fits in the origins debate.
President Haarsma reflects on our big interview with Bill Nye, and explains how it relates to our mission.
The biggest science stories of the week are reviewed.
I became such an expert in young-earth creationist theology and science that it turned into a wrecking ball for my faith.
My childhood in the evangelical church gave me the toolkit that led me to eventually accept the evidence for evolution, and marvel at the God who created it all.
BioLogos president Deb Haarsma responds to Ken Ham's recent comments about Hugh Ross, and pleads for a more gracious conversation between Christians on issues of faith and science.
The 1930 showdown between evolutionist Schmucker and creationist Rimmer generated a lot of heat but shed very little light on the real issues behind the debate.
Recent high-school graduate Jacob shares about his journey from young-earth creationism to evolutionary creationism, and how his faith was challenged and strengthened along the way.
Written by BioLogos Fellow of Biology Dennis Venema, this series of posts is intended as a basic introduction to the science of evolution for non-specialists.
The new Gallup survey shows in broad strokes the challenge we face. But more nuanced surveys find that only 8% of Americans are convinced creationists whose beliefs are dear to them, and only 4% are convinced atheistic evolutionists whose beliefs are dear to them. The vast majority of Americans are not sure of their position and are open to a conversation.