text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Dec 12, 2006
|Filing date
|Dec 9, 2003
|Priority date
|Feb 14, 2003
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Charles J. Digate, Christopher F. Herot, Tonytip Ketudat, Alexis M. Kopikis
|Original Assignee
|Convoq, Inc.
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (11), Referenced by (38), Classifications (34), Legal Events (9)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/367,617 filed Feb. 14, 2003 entitled RULES BASED REAL-TIME COMMUNICATION SYSTEM.
The present invention relates to real-time communication, and, more specifically, to a rules-based real-time communication system that facilitates conference scheduling, information distribution and communication among a plurality of users.
Various messaging communication systems have been developed and deployed over the years as computer systems have proliferated and the desire to be able to communicate efficiently for business and personal reasons has become more widespread. Most computer users employ electronic mail ("e-mail") to send and receive messages via a computer network. A number of e-mail systems have been widely used over the last decade.
Electronic mail ("e-mail") systems allow messages generated by one individual to be transmitted to one or more individuals, each identified by an associated e-mail address. E-mail systems are not real-time communication systems in that a sender of an e-mail message has no awareness of whether an intended recipient is currently online. Thus, the sender of the message does not know when the message is likely to be viewed. Consequently, an individual may transmit an e-mail message to an intended recipient and the intended recipient may not respond for hours or days if the recipient is unavailable. Thus, even in the case where an e-mail message sender seeks to obtain needed information from the recipient(s) of an e-mail message, the sender nonetheless cannot ascertain when a response will be obtained.
Moreover, the intended recipients of an e-mail are statically defined. An e-mail is directed to a particular recipient having a unique associated e-mail address, or to a predefined group of individuals, irrespective of the current, online availability of the respective recipients to respond.
As e-mail systems have become increasingly prevalent, rule-based techniques have been employed to allow for control over filing, routing and deletion of e-mails. Such existing rule-based systems have been designed to benefit users who receive large numbers of e-mails. One such rule-based e-mail system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,856 of Gross et al.
More recently, real-time messaging systems such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,344 to Goldfinger et al. have become common. In such existing systems, a server maintains a list of users that are currently online, for the purpose of enabling real-time communication sessions between such "logged on" users. In systems such as the described by Goldfinger et al., each user maintains a list of other users whose online status is of interest. The server then provides indications regarding the online status of those users of interest. Users are notified when other users identified in their respective list are online and when such individuals go offline.
While real-time messaging systems such as the well-known AOL Instant Messenger (AIMT™) of America Online, and Microsoft Messenger (MSM™) of Microsoft Corporation are widely used for personal point to point communication, they have not become generally accepted as business tools due to several shortcomings.
Specifically, in a business environment, solutions to problems often require input from multiple individuals, each of which may be knowledgeable and/or responsible in a different area. When trying to solve such multi-dimensional problems, it is often desirable to convene a real-time conference bringing together a group of persons each having such different skills or knowledge. This cannot reliably be accomplished through an e-mail system, since conventional e-mail systems do not maintain information regarding the current online status of users. Additionally, in the above-described existing real-time messaging systems, if an individual needed for a conference is not currently available, there is little that can be done via the messaging system to move ahead with the planned agenda.
For the above reasons, it would be desirable to have a real-time messaging system designed to facilitate real-time convening of conferences and other forms of business communication. Such a system should advantageously employ presence indicators to efficiently convene conferences when possible, to convene such conferences as soon as possible if it is not feasible to schedule a conference immediately, and/or to schedule a conference at a predetermined time in the future to support participation in the conference by key individuals or their stand-ins.
A rules based real-time messaging system for groups of users is disclosed, in which an availability status may be maintained in association with each user. A number of client systems are communicably coupled to a real-time messaging server via a network. The real-time messaging server applies a set of rules to the availability status of users, as well as other attributes associated with users, in order to facilitate effective real-time message passing between users. As described herein, the availability status of a user reflects what is generally referred to as the online presence of that user.
The real-time messaging server includes a number of rules and a rules engine for controlling delivery of messages to users, and for controlling how user availability is communicated among users. Rules stored in the rules database, or the rules engine itself, include various types of rules, including "when" and "if-then" type rules. Based on the rules stored on the real-time messaging server, the rules engine determines the state of relevant conditions, such as the availability status of specific users, and responds to the occurrence of relevant real-time events, such as a user logging-on or logging-off, in order to control the delivery of various messages and/or performance of resulting actions.
The disclosed system facilitates real-time group interaction by monitoring events and testing for conditions, and taking appropriate actions. Through the rules and rules engine in the real-time messaging server, the disclosed system enables users to control their availability to other users, and how they are accessed for real-time activities such as online meetings or teleconferences. As a result, the disclosed real-time messaging system is particularly suited for setting up real-time activities among key individuals. The disclosed system advantageously employs online presence indicators to conveniently convene a conference immediately when possible, to convene a conference as soon as possible if it is not feasible to convene the conference immediately, and/or to schedule a conference at a predetermined time in the future, as well as assuring the participation of needed contributors in a conference or other real-time activity. Moreover, while the disclosed system is described herein with reference to various embodiments and examples of operation in which convening a meeting is used as an example of a real-time activity or action, the real-time activities or actions provided by or in connection with the disclosed system are not limited to meetings between users, and may additionally or alternatively include chat sessions, shared whiteboards, remote presentations, audio conferences, video conferences, and/or any combination of these or other forms of communication between users.
Other features, aspects and advantages of the presently disclosed system and method will be apparent from the detailed description of the invention that follows.
The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the drawings, of which:
As shown in
Each of the server systems 14, 15 and 18, as well as the client systems 12 a, 12 b and 12 c, may be embodied as separate computer systems, each including one or more processors, together with program code memory and one or more secondary program code storage devices, a number of input/output interface devices, and operating system and application program software, as configured for a given operational environment. The communication server 18 includes Web server software including an HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol) server that manages Web page requests received over the network 20, and that delivers HTML (HyperText Mark-up Language) documents (Web pages) in response. A separate server system including Web server software, coupled to the communication server 18, may alternatively be used for this purpose. The enhanced client systems A 12 a and B 12 b include client software operable to perform functions associated with the disclosed system in cooperation with the real-time messaging server 14. The non-enhanced client system 12 c does not include specialized client software associated with the real-time messaging server 14. Instead, messages and content used to take advantage of features of the disclosed system may be loaded and processed as needed by other software on the non-enhanced client system 12 c. The embodiment of the disclosed system shown in
While in the illustrative embodiment of
The communication server 18 in the embodiment of
During operation of the disclosed system, as shown in the embodiment of
The disclosed system allows stand-ins to be substituted for group members that are unavailable. Stand-ins may be automatically selected for group members based on matches between their roles, expertise and/or preferences with respect to the requirements of a specific meeting, as well as on stand-in designations made by individual users, as represented by data stored on the real-time messaging server. For example, the disclosed system may provide selective delegation as a function of the subject matter of a given meeting. Additionally, the disclosed system provides transitivity of delegation to stand-ins between users or groups, resulting in an increased ability to quickly get a given inquiry to an appropriate user. In the preferred embodiment, the disclosed system allows a user to make express invitations to stand-ins or express selections of stand-ins to join a meeting. Such invitations and/or selections may be made via a dialog box within the graphical user interface. Specifically, the dialog box may list individuals included in a particular meeting invitation, and may allow the user (1) to select stand-ins automatically for the individuals in the list who are currently unavailable, (2) to invite all of the listed individuals to the meeting whether or not they are currently available, or (3) to invite only those individuals in the list who are currently available.
For example, an individual who is invited or selected to attend an online meeting may be unavailable because he or she is currently participating in another online meeting. At any point in time, a user of the disclosed system may have several outstanding meeting requests. In the preferred embodiment, an "alerts" window is provided within the graphical user interface to indicate (1) which meetings are in-progress, (2) which meetings are pending based on the availability of the participants, (3) and which meetings are now ready to begin. By viewing the alerts window (also called an IMbox), users of the disclosed system can track the progress of multiple online meetings. The alerts window may also serve as a general-purpose notification window for messages generated by the system or by the system users.
The disclosed system provides a number of features relating to the use of groups. First, the disclosed system permits group definitions to be shared among users. Also, temporary membership in a group may be enabled, for example to grant temporary access to data and/or specific functions associated with the group. Further, with regard to determining an appropriate stand-in, the disclosed system may operate to provide data mining for relevant skills assessment, e.g. by identifying one or more user(s) who recently published something on a given topic, or that responded to a message on the topic.
The ephemeral condition data cache 38 includes presence indications for users. Such presence indications reflect the instantaneous availability of system users. Such instantaneous availability information may, for example, be obtained through a subscription model, in which the software on the real-time messaging server subscribes to notifications from specific client systems indicating events relating to the online status of certain users. Such notifications might include event messages indicating when a user logs on or off a client system. Accordingly, the ephemeral condition data cache 38 is used to store information describing previous events. Additionally, users that are registered with the disclosed system, referred to as "subscribing users", may store information, for example in the persistent database 15, that control how their presence information is provided as availability status to other users. For example, an availability filter may be configured by a user such that the online presence of that user is made known to all users, to some other users, or to no other users. Such availability filtering may be based on the definition of a VIP ("Very Important Person") list for a user. The user entries in a VIP list store information defining how the availability of that user is made available or visible to other users. Such selective availability may be defined on a user-by-user basis, and/or on a group or global basis, and may further be defined to reflect current conditions or other factors, such as time of day, specific dates, or functional associations. Accordingly, a user may configure his or her VIP list to allow a group of other users to be aware of his or her availability only at certain times of day, and/or on certain days. Additionally, a user may specify how availability is filtered based on activities, topics, or functions. For example, a user may configure his or her account such that a group of other users can only see that user as available only for meetings regarding certain predefined topics.
The persistent database 15 includes configuration data maintained by the disclosed system reflecting user preferences and group definitions. In an embodiment in which users that are "subscribers" may define account information, the database 15 maintains account data for such subscriber users. Subscriber data may include, for example, stand-in definitions, availability filters, and/or contact lists of other subscriber users as well as non-subscriber users. The rules 32 define the actions 40 that are performed in response to the event notifications 36, ephemeral condition data cache 38, and data stored in the persistent database. The rules 32 are processed by the rules engine 30, which may be embodied in any appropriate programming language for a given implementation.
The actions 40 performed by the rules engine 30 may, for example, include actions facilitating any specific kind of real time group activity. Such real time group activities may include the convening of an online meeting or teleconference, sending email or an instant message to one or more users, routing a document, and/or other actions. The actions 40 may be simple or complex, and potentially include multi-stage actions that are performed in several distinct steps, depending on the receipt of several separate event notifications and the state of conditions stored in the ephemeral condition data cache over time.
In an alternative embodiment, the lifeline may be constructed so that all invited users are added to the lifeline in a provisional inactive state. The users may then be asked in parallel whether they accept being included in the lifeline when they become available. If the users accept, then they are activated within the lifeline. If the users reject the invitation, then they are removed from the lifeline. This alternative embodiment functions asynchronously and allows the lifeline to begin use immediately, without requiring the availability of all of the invited users.
At step 46, a number of ordering attributes may be defined, that are used to control the selection of individual ones of the users within the lifeline for specific requests for activities or tasks. Such ordering attributes may indicate that users within the lifeline are to be selected randomly over sequentially received requests, or on a round robin basis. Alternatively, a specific ordering may be defined within the list, setting forth a specific order of selection to be applied to the users within the lifeline for requests processed over time, and potentially in response to the availability of users within the lifeline. The ordering defined at step 46 may be defined so that the users in the lifeline are displayed to users issuing requests designating the lifeline in a request, thus enabling a requesting user to specify the desired lifeline member for a given request. At step 47, the lifeline is distributed to some set of users, who may add the lifeline to their contact list. For example, the "product_A_tech" lifeline mentioned above might be distributed to members of the sales force responsible for selling product A. When such a sales person subsequently has a need to contact a technical support person, they can then generate a request indicating the "product_A_tech" lifeline without needing specific knowledge of the individual users within the lifeline. In the preferred embodiment, each user within the "product_A_tech" lifeline may either accept or reject such contact in real-time, for example, via a dialog box like the one described above. In this way, users are given opportunities in real-time to either accept or reject invitations to join online meetings or teleconferences.
Additionally, the disclosed system may allow for the members of the meeting group to be defined by designation of a predetermined group or lifeline. Such a predetermined group or lifeline definition may be configured by the user, or made available to specific users, or to all users on a system-wide basis. For example, in a deployment of the disclosed system by a given company, a predefined group might be defined to include the members of a senior management team for the company. Moreover, an individual user within the company may set up or configure his or her own account to include one or more named groups of users that are relevant to that user's day to day activities, such as a "project team" group including all members of that user's current project team.
At step 51, the disclosed system determines the initial members of the participant group. In the case where the request defined at step 50 includes designation of a lifeline, at step 51 the disclosed system applies the selection attribute(s) associated with the lifeline to the lifeline, and determines which specific member of lifeline is to be considered one of the members of the participant group for the request. The determination of which member of the lifeline is to be added to the participant list is potentially further responsive to current availability status of the lifeline members, depending on presence information, attributes of the request, and/or user defined availability filters.
At step 52, the disclosed system determines whether each individual within the participant group is available. The availability of each participant group member may be determined based on user defined availability filtering, and depend on the attributes associated with the request, such as who called a meeting, a meeting topic, and/or whether a participant group member is defined as a necessary attendee for a meeting. The availability of each participant group member is further determined in response to the online presence of each meeting group member, as stored in the real time messaging server.
At step 54, for any participant group members that were determined to be unavailable, the disclosed system operates to determine whether there are any acceptable stand-ins available. For example, if a given participant group member has defined a stand-in to be provided for any meeting called when that meeting group member is unavailable, and that participant group member is in fact unavailable, then the system determines whether the stand-in is currently available. Again, the availability of any stand-in may be determined using the stand-in's availability filter, and depend both on the stand-in's online presence, and/or attributes associated with the request generated at step 50. In some cases, the disclosed system may act to automatically determine alternative participant group members or stand-ins. Alternatively, the requesting user may be given the option of approving any stand-ins before they are substituted into the participant group for the requested action. Additionally, the requesting user may be given the option to designate participant group members as being non-essential to allow a meeting to convene if there is no acceptable stand-in available.
At step 55, for each stand-in that is determined to be available, the disclosed system operates to determine whether he or she agrees to be a stand-in. In the preferred embodiment, the potential stand-in is given an opportunity in real-time to make an express acceptance or rejection of the invitation to serve as a stand-in (e.g., via a dialog box within the graphical user interface) before being designated as a substitute for an unavailable group member.
At step 56, the disclosed system substitutes any available, appropriate, and agreeing stand-ins into the participant group. The appropriateness of any potential stand-in identified by the system may be determined by presenting the potential stand-in to the original user that initiated the request. For example, if the caller of the meeting finds the proposed stand-in acceptable, the caller may indicate the appropriateness of the stand-in to the system through the user interface.
At step 58, the real time group action is commenced if there are sufficient participant group members available. For example, in the case of a request for a meeting, if there are sufficient members of the requested meeting group available, and all the necessary members of the meeting group are available, including any stand-ins determined at step 56, the disclosed system operates to convene the requested meeting at step 58. As described above with reference to
The rules engine 100 is shown interfacing to a data source layer 132 through a number of object definitions 130. The object definitions 130 provide a predetermined interface to data sources such as ephemeral data, events, and one or more persistent databases contained in the data source layer 132. In addition to a relational database provided with the system for storing its own information, the data source layer 132 may also include external sources of data such as a corporate directory.
The rules engine 100 further operates to receive and process presence information and requests 116 from the instant messaging (IM) abstraction 96. The presence information received from the IM abstraction reflects the online status of one or more users with respect to one or more client systems. The requests received from the IM abstraction consist of requests for real time group activities, such as requests to convene meetings and/or send messages between users. As a result of processing the presence information and requests 116 received from the IM abstraction 96, the rules engine 100 issues the actions 114 back through the IM abstraction 96. For example, actions may include any real time group action, such as the convening of an online meeting or teleconference, and/or the passing of messages between users.
The client abstraction 96 is shown including a communication server 98 for communicating with a non-enhanced client system 12 c. An enhanced client system 12 b, is further shown in
Thus, in the case where a user may be using or associated with client software of the disclosed system, and/or client software of one or more external instant messaging systems, presence information from one or more of those clients associated with or being used by that user may be aggregated prior to application of any user configured availability filtering. Moreover, presence information may reflect use of the disclosed system or external instant messaging client software through various communication mediums, including PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) and/or telephones, as well as client software running on client computer systems.
In addition, the disclosed system may operate to use all facilities of such "external" instant messaging systems through which user presence or other information may be obtained. For example, the disclosed system may operate to send a meeting invitation to a user through an external instant messaging system. Such an invitation would include a pointer, such as a URL, to a resource such as a Web page on the real-time messaging server. When the receiving user clicks on the URL, they are able to begin participating in the real-time action, in this case an online meeting. The online meeting may be provided as content provided through the Web page indicated by the URL. Such invitations may be sent by the disclosed system to users, including users on non-enhanced client systems, as part of the process for convening an online meeting. In one embodiment, the invitation instant message is transmitted from an enhanced client system to a non-enhanced client system, by operation of the client software of the disclosed system introducing the instant message invitation into the communications between the external instant messaging client software, shown as instant messaging client 120 in
The conditions 174 may reflect the receipt of previous event notifications. For example, the conditions 174 may reflect automatically generated or user defined presence information, as well as the availability of various specific devices and/or resources that may be needed to perform an action. The conditions 174 may further reflect data stored in the disclosed system that indicates the contact preferences of a user, or the identity of a participant in a request, where that user might be designated by personal identifier, lifeline membership, location, and/or group membership. The actions 176 performed by the rules engine may include various types of communication activities, such as different types of notifications, including instant messages, e-mail and/or short message service (SMS) messages. The actions 176 performed by the disclosed system further may include convening of an online or other type of meeting, scheduling of a meeting in the future, initiating a call or conference call, routing a message between users, broadcasting a message to some or all users, contacting a stand-in for delegation purposes within a group or as part of a request, leaving a message for user, transferring a thread of control to user, and/or retracting some previously performed action.
Based on the user presence information gathered by the disclosed system, a request for real-time communications can be intelligently routed. For example, in the case where a user (referred to for purposes of explanation as the sender) needs to reach someone to ask a question, the disclosed system enables the convenient performance of the following three operations:
1. Identify a candidate recipient. This may entail looking up an expert on a topic, or a user that is assigned as the "programmer of the day", for example based on information stored in the database.
2. Select a method to contact that person, such as by sending an instant message to one or more accounts, sending a Short Message to their mobile telephone, or calling them on the telephone at the office or at home.
3. If the desired person is not available, selecting a person who the first identified recipient may have designated as a stand-in to receive communications when they are not available.
The steps above may need to be applied recursively, as part of trying alternative methods to reach a stand-in, such as calling the stand-in of a stand-in.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosed system may provide a simple, data-driven mechanism for users to specify how the above steps should be performed, such as by filling in a form in a graphical user interface with contact information and names of stand-ins. Moreover, the disclosed system provides a mechanism for organizations to define rules and operations that fit their own specific business processes.
Additionally, the disclosed system supports operations that span multiple days. For example, a sender may issue a request that a conversation take place when a specified recipient becomes available, in which the request indicates that the system should continue to wait for that recipient's availability for hours, days, or weeks. Since the system provides this service to a potentially large number of users, it provides an efficient way for the information about such requests to be stored and retrieved, since it is impractical to keep a process running in a server for each such request.
As described above, the clients employed with the presently disclosed system are configured to execute software programs operative to perform system functions in cooperation with the real-time messaging server.
1. "Engine" refers to an instance of the rules engine. In general, any action marked "Engine" may run on any instance of the rules engine 30 (see
2. "Lifeline Broker" is a special component within a rules engine, responsible for tracking user requests to meet with lifelines. It maintains these requests in a queue, and also tracks the availability of lifeline resources by communicating with a visibility server, which is a subset of the ephemeral condition data cache 38 (see
3. "LifelineSvc" refers to a Lifeline Service. This is a special instance of a rules engine, which includes a Lifeline Broker. It can thereby perform a superset of the rules and actions available to rules engines that do not contain a Lifeline Broker. In the preferred embodiment, there are many lifeline services, each maintaining a pool of lifelines, or a pool of users within a single lifeline, thereby permitting the system to scale indefinitely.
4. "MtgSvc" refers to a Meeting Service. This is a process within the Real-Time Messaging Server that provides central communications services for meetings. In the presently disclosed embodiment, each meeting is associated with a specific Meeting Service while it is actually in progress.
5. "DOM" refers to the Domain Object Model, which includes the Objects 130 (see
6. "Client" refers to a Real-Time Messaging Client 12 a–12 c (see
The presently disclosed embodiment of the rules based real-time communication system will be better understood with reference to the following illustrative examples.
An example of a useful facility that may be provided by the disclosed system is a method of scheduling a meeting when all of the participants are available, referred to here as Meet ASAP. For example, in the case where a sender, A, wants to convene a meeting of three people, himself, B, and C. A selects B and C from his list of contacts and presses a Meet button within the graphical user interface. The system checks the presence of B and C and determines that B is online but C is not, and that a stand-in for C is available. It then gives A three choices:
In the case where A chooses option 3, the system monitors the presence of A, B, and C and starts the meeting when all three are present. To support this choice, the disclosed system provides the following features in a highly scalable manner, and potentially over arbitrarily long periods of time:
The disclosed system monitors user presence through multiple instant messaging systems in two ways:
While various specific embodiments may be used, in one exemplary embodiment, two server-side processes may be used. One is the rules engine, which executes rules consisting of scripts. These rules/scripts are nearly stateless, but can use one or more associated dictionary data structures within the database containing the persistent state that a given script uses. Scripts may be stored in the database when they are inactive, along with their dictionary and metainformation about the script. A second server-side process that may be provided is a visibility server. The visibility server itself includes two elements: a raw presence server that keeps track of each user's actual online state, and a subscription service that keeps track of users that are paying attention to other users. The subscription service operates on the raw presence data and processes it to determine which users can see the presence information of which other users according to the rules processed by the rules engine. Accordingly, when a meeting request is received by the rules engine, and the meeting cannot be immediately held because of the unavailability of one or more participants, the rules engine creates a script to enable the convening of that meeting, and indicates to the visibility server that it is looking for all of the required participants for the meeting. The rules engine then goes to "sleep" with regard to that request. Whenever one of the attendees changes presence state, the visibility server sends a message to the engine, which checks whether all the required attendees are now present. If so, it executes the script, which sends a message to the user saying that the meeting may now be convened. If not, it just ignores the state change. Thus, the request from the rules engine to the visibility server consists of a script setting a bit of metadata, indicating to "wake me up when the following people are all present". This metadata persists along with the sleeping script in the database. As a result, if anything should happen to the visibility server (which resides mainly in memory), the desired subscriptions can be recreated from the metadata of the sleeping scripts in the database.
As described above, the visibility server sends a message to the rules engine whenever an attendee changes state. In an alternative embodiment, the visibility server has the presence rules encoded within it, and only sends messages to the rules engine when the entire subscription becomes ready (where it is "ready" when all required attendees are available in the view of the convening user). Although this typically adds some complexity to the visibility server, network traffic is reduced.
The disclosed availability and rules-based mechanism that allows the effective delivery of real-time actions among users, such as the convening of meetings, can also be used for other real-time actions. For example, the disclosed aggregated presence information and availability filtering, together with real-time communication, can be used to route documents for revision and approval in a timely and efficient manner. As with a meeting request, a document routing form, for example filled out through a GUI on a client system, and provided to the rules engine as an event notification, can contain a list of users that are needed to review an electronic document. In the disclosed system, the routing of the document among the users in the review list may be determined in response to the presence-based availability of specific users in the list. For example, the disclosed system may operate by temporarily skipping users in the review list that are not currently available to process the document, and instead routing the document to one or more users in the review list that are determined to be currently available for the review. Additionally, if a user has been routed the document to be reviewed, and fails to route it within a predetermined time limit, the disclosed system may operate to forward to the document to another user for review that is determined to be currently available.
The disclosed system may be embodied to provide a user interface, for example through a GUI, through which a person that has reviewed a document, may expressly forward the document to a next person on the review list. The disclosed system may indicate a next person on the review list to forward the document to based on a determination that a user on the list that was previously skipped is now available. Alternatively, the disclosed system may provide an interface allowing the current reviewer to specify that the document is to be routed back to one of the previous reviewers, or even directly back to the original author. In addition, the disclosed system may be embodied such that, if a user on the review list is not currently available, the document may be routed to his or her specified stand-in user.
The disclosed system may further be embodied to effectively support sequential meeting scheduling. In general, meeting scheduling systems attempt to display people's free time, allow the meeting requester to propose a time, and then send out invitations which can be either accepted or refused. Using the disclosed system, meeting invitations, such as email or other electronic data messages, may be sent out to one user at a time, in a similar manner to that described above for document routing. Accordingly, the meeting invitation is sent to users based on their current presence-based and user configured availability. The meeting invitee user list may also optionally be processed by transmitting an invitation to users on the list based on an ordering in which those users considered or designated as the most senior, and/or that are considered or designated as the most difficult to schedule, are contacted first, with each user specifying a range of available times, and wherein a list of possible meeting times contained in the invitation becomes narrower as the invitation routing proceeds. Alternatively, the meeting invitation can be simultaneously broadcast to all users on the list with the list of times becoming narrower as users respond, potentially giving people an incentive to respond quickly.
In addition to processing requests for real-time actions such as meetings, and/or event notifications reflecting presence status or changes, the disclosed system may be embodied to process notifications of other types of events from various external systems. For example, such an external event processed by the disclosed system may reflect a specified change in a database, such as a customer exceeding a credit limit, or an alert generated by any external program, such as a customer relationship management system indicating that a customer entered a complaint. Availability filtering by the disclosed system may reflect the receipt of such notifications of external events.
Having described the above illustrative embodiments, other alternative embodiments or variations may be made. For example, it was described that a user of the disclosed system may request a meeting via a software program installed on a client computer. In an alternative embodiment, a user may invoke at least a subset of the features of the disclosed system via a standard web browser. In this alternative embodiment, the user may employ a portal accessible through a web page to communicate with a predefined lifeline. For example, the lifeline portal may be implemented as a form within the web browser interface. In this way, users may be afforded the benefits of lifelines without having to install specialized software programs on their computers. It is understood that other suitable features of the disclosed system may be made available to users via the Internet or world wide web. In addition, at least part of the functionality of the disclosed system may be made available to users via a telephone instead of a computer. For example, by using Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF—"touch tone") signals, voice recognition technology, menus (in the case of "smart" telephones), or any other suitable telephone technology, a user of the disclosed system may ascertain the presence of other system users and may convoke a meeting, such as a teleconference or a video conference. The resulting meeting may also be a meeting that took place at a different time or place via the computer.
In addition, it was described that the disclosed system may be employed to set up meetings by monitoring the online presence of each intended participant of the meeting, and by starting the meeting when a suitable subset of the meeting participants become available. In an alternative embodiment, the disclosed system may be operative to check the calendars of the intended participants as part of the process of setting up a meeting. As a result, meetings would be scheduled only at those times indicated as being free on the respective participants' calendars. For example, the participants' calendars may be implemented using Microsoft Outlook or any other suitable software application.
While the disclosed system is described herein with reference to various embodiments and examples of operation in which convening a meeting is used as an example of a real-time activity or action, the real-time activities or actions provided by or in connection with the disclosed system are not limited to meetings between users, and may additionally or alternatively include chat sessions, shared whiteboards, remote presentations, audio conferences, video conferences, and/or any combination of these or other forms of communication between users. For example, any specific type of internal or external collaboration and conferencing software, having some combination of functionalities such as those provided in Microsoft� Office Live Meeting™, which includes point-to-point telephony and videophone capability over the Internet as well as multipoint whiteboard and application sharing, may be used to partially or completely provide the real-time activities and/or actions described herein.
Those skilled in the art should readily appreciate that the programs defining the functions of the present invention can be delivered to a computer in many forms; including, but not limited to: (a) information permanently stored on non-writable storage media (e.g. read only memory devices within a computer such as ROM or CD-ROM disks readable by a computer I/O attachment); (b) information alterably stored on writable storage media (e.g. floppy disks and hard drives); or (c) information conveyed to a computer through communication media for example using baseband signaling or broadband signaling techniques, including carrier wave signaling techniques, such as over computer or telephone networks via a modem. In addition, while the invention may be embodied in computer software, the functions necessary to implement the invention may alternatively be embodied in part or in whole using hardware components such as Application Specific Integrated Circuits or other hardware, or some combination of hardware components and software.
While the invention is described through the above exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that modification to and variation of the illustrated embodiments may be made without departing from the inventive concepts herein disclosed. Therefore, while the preferred embodiments are described in connection with various illustrative data structures, one skilled in the art will recognize that the system may be embodied using a variety of specific data structures. Accordingly, the invention should not be viewed as limited except by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.
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|Insors Integrated Communications
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|Jun 8, 2006
|Digate Charles J
|System and method of initiating an on-line meeting or teleconference via a web page link or a third party application
|Feb 25, 2005
|Aug 31, 2006
|Microsoft Corporation
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|Apr 4, 2006
|Jul 26, 2007
|Qualcomm Incorporated
|System and method for forming ad-hoc location-based multicast group
|May 1, 2007
|Nov 1, 2007
|Herot Christopher F
|Web-based system and method of establishing an on-line meeting or teleconference
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|U.S. Classification
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|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Feb 9, 2004
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text:
Minster FM News
New plans for neighbourhood working
11:01am 27th February 2012
Members of City of York Council's Cabinet will consider plans to work alongside residents to improve neighbourhood working at a meeting on 6th March.
Following the government's Localism agenda, and the council's own commitment to become a Cooperative Council, the authority is proposing a series of changes to the way services are currently provided at a neighbourhood level. The aim is to work more closely with local residents helping them to shape their own areas and neighbourhoods, and developing local solutions to for the things that matter most to them.
Councillor Sonja Crisp, Cabinet member for Leisure, Culture and Social Inclusion, said:
"We are committed to improving the way we work with local communities to deliver local services that meet the needs of individual wards. However, we recognise that some areas of the city need increased resources to help tackle inequality in our communities."
Following a pilot, which took place in Acomb, Dringhouses / Woodthorpe, Holgate, Micklegate Rural West, and Westfield wards earlier this year, a number of proposals are being put forward:
- Introducing Community Contracts which will focus on residents' priorities for their area, whether around the economy, employment, community safety, or the environment and stipulate the services local communities can expect to receive. They provide data against which communities can measure service delivery and will record what is expected of local communities.
- Action Plans will help residents to hold the council to account on how it is delivering against the Community Contracts.
- Working with the CVS to develop a volunteer database and a corresponding volunteer opportunities database to link residents to the volunteering opportunities that suit them.
- Locating staff within wards, making them a 'hub' for local information so they can work more effectively with communities.
- Introducing Facebook and Twitter and regularly getting messages out into the community.
Under the proposals, the new model of Neighbourhood Working will be:
- Led by ward members.
- Be flexible to suit the needs of different wards.
- Provide for integrated partnership working at ward level.
- Recognise that some wards have greater needs than others.
- Deliver efficiency savings.
In its interim report, the Fairness Commission recommended that ward budgets are not continued in their current form. In order to provide improved scope for Ward Members to work with their communities and to shape service delivery through Community Contracts it is proposed to replace ward budgets with a new ward credits system.
This system will have four components:
- Each ward will have an allocation to use to commission local voluntary and community organisations.
- There will be a pot to support those voluntary sector organisations that provide services to more than one ward to provide services that meet the ward priorities. It means these organisations will no longer have to apply for a number of individual ward committee grants.
- It is not intended that this fund would be open to Council services such as Street Sport; however, it is proposed that in the first year only, whilst the Ward Credits pot is being established, Council services are allowed to bid.
- A "credits pot" will be created. Ward credits will be allocated to wards with the highest levels of deprivation to support delivery on the Ward priorities.
- Street Environment budgets will remain available to address environment related priorities identified within wards.
In order to create a cost-effective system it is proposed that ward committee meetings are reduced to three per annum. Ward members will be able to hold additional more informal meetings such as Councillor / Resident focus groups that they will lead themselves.
The council is also proposing to improve the way it communicates with local communities, improving the frequency of area based communication and increasing the use of web and social media to help residents gain a better understanding of what services are available locally and how they can get involved.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Khaz Modan
|Khaz Modan
|Level: 1-85
|Major settlements
Central Eastern Kingdoms
Khaz Modan, a mountainous continent,[1] is a kingdom[2][3] of the Eastern Kingdoms. It is the home of the dwarves led by the Council of Three Hammers.
The dwarven kingdom was founded after the awakened dwarves ventured out from the ancient city of Uldaman. The continent was named "Mountain of Khaz" in honor of the titan shaper Khaz'goroth.[4] The mountains here are also called the Khaz Mountains.[citation needed]
During the Second War, Khaz Modan was occupied by the Bleeding Hollow clan, who was guarding the refinement operations of the Horde.[5] Forces of Stromgarde and Kul Tiras were stationed along the northern border of Khaz Modan, fighting to keep the orcs from advancing into southern Lordaeron.[6] Danath Trollbane made a name for himself as a great leader during the final battle for the liberation of the continent.[7]
In the World of Warcraft Manual the continent of Khaz Modan is referred to as both Khaz Modan and Loch Modan.[8]
Zones (WoW)
Regions and domains in lore
- Thandol Valley (WC2)
"Khaz Modan" is also the name given to US and European servers:
It seems very likely that Khaz Modan derives its name from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth and Khazâd, what Middle-earth's Dwarves name themselves in their native language of Khuzdul, and/or the ruined dwarven city of Khazad-dûm (Moria).
- ^
- ^ The Alliance of Lordaeron
- ^ Day of the Dragon
- ^ World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1
- ^ Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness manual, Clans of the Horde, Bleeding Hollow Clan
- ^ Tol Barad (WC2 Human)
- ^ Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal manual, Legends of the Land, Danath
- ^ "The other two continents of the Eastern Kingdoms are Loch Modan in the center and Lordaeron in the north. Sometimes you will see reference to Azeroth the world, and other time you will see reference to Azeroth the continent." World of Warrcaft Manual, 104


text:
No, Really: 'Bullying' Report Filed After HS Football Blowout
The wussification of youth sports in America continues.
Friday night, the Aledo Bearcats jackstomped the Western Hills Cougars in a 91-0 blowout. The Bearcats were no strangers to one-sided slobber-knockers, this year alone beating teams by an average of 58 points.
One Western Hills parent was so shaken by the final score that he filed an official bullying report with the school district. Texas law requires Aledo's principal to launch a full investigation and submit a written report.
Bearcats coach Tim Buchanan is no Genghis Khan of the gridiron: he has told several media outlets that he's somewhat embarrassed by his team's serial shellacking. "I don't like it," he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I sit there the whole third and fourth quarter and try to think how I can keep us from scoring."
The opposing coach doesn't blame Buchanan either. "I think the game was handled fine," Western Hills' John Naylor said. "They're No. 1 for a reason, and I know coach Buchanan… We just ran into a buzzsaw."
The parent who filed the bullying charge should be visited by Child Protective Services. He is raising a psychological invertebrate who will be dangerously unprepared for adult life.
There's an entire chapter in my new ebook on the ridiculous current definition of "bullying". While school administrators are dealing with hurt feelings from a lost football game, real bullies are actually given cover to be worse.


text:
Tokyo (Dec 9, 2016) – Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) today announced that its POTENZA S001L Run-Flat Technology (RFT) tires and TURANZA T005 RFT tires will be the standard tire mounted on the LEXUS LC500/LC500h, new luxury coupé slated to launch in 2017.
POTENZA S001L RFT and TURANZA T005 RFT tires were designed exclusively by Bridgestone for the LEXUS LC500/LC500h in order to achieve the superior driving performance of the vehicle. The tires give the driver reliable control and also ensure a luxury ride. RFT tires also can help reduce the total weight of a vehicle because they eliminate the need for a spare tire, as RFT tires from Bridgestone can travel up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) at up to 80km (50miles) per hour to safety after a puncture or loss of pressure. The POTENZA S001 RFT and TURANZA T005 RFT tires help realize the key concept of the LEXUS LC500/LC500h, "Even sharper, More refined."
Through the widespread use of RFT tires, Bridgestone aims to contribute to the realization of a safe and stable mobile society while reducing the overall environmental impact.
Bridgestone RFT tires are engineered to go up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) to safety after a puncture or a loss of pressure.
About Bridgestone Corporation:
Bridgestone Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is the world's largest tire and rubber company. In addition to tires for use in a wide variety of applications, it also manufactures a broad range of diversified products, which include industrial rubber and chemical products and sporting goods. Its products are sold in over 150 nations and territories around the world.
BSEMEA Media information: Colin Hensley: +32 475 97 63 07 email@example.com


text:
Nebraska Farm Real Estate
2016-2017 Preliminary Farm Real Estate Report
The Cornhusker Economics for March 15, 2017, Trends in Nebraska Farmland Markets: Declining Agricultural Land Values and Rental Rates, includes a discussion on agland real estate, breakdown of real estate rates by district, and tables of average farmland value and land rental rates by district. The author is Jim Jansen, Nebraska Extension agricultural systems economist.
2015-2016 Preliminary Farm Real Estate Report
Preliminary findings from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln 2016 Nebraska Farm Real Estate Market Survey indicate that as of Feb. 1, 2016, the weighted average farmland value declined by about 4 percent over the prior 12-month period to $3,135 per acre. This decline marks the second consecutive year of lower weighted average farmland values in Nebraska. Read More»
Past Reports
2014-2015 Farm Real Estate Report
Subscribe to notifications of new Nebraska Farm Real Estate Reports
- Farmland Leasing Checklist
- Frequently Asked Questions - Farmland Leases
- Farm Lease Calculator - Updated March 13, 2015 (Excel® file)
- Flex Cash Lease Calculator (Excel® file)
- Flexible Cash Leasing of Cropland
- Farm Lease Types and Options for Renegotiation or Termination
- Q&A: What Happens with a Loss of Operating Credit and Loan Subordination
- Cash Leasing with Integrity
- Rental Agreement Lease Forms (free to download - PDF format)
Related Information
- Agricultural Real Estate and The Property Tax Dilemma (presented to ASFMRA, February 2011, Updated 4/11)
- Irrigation Cost Analysis
IRRIGCOST (Excel file)
- Irrigation Fact Sheet
- Lincoln Metropolitan Area Future
- Nebraska Appraisers (Real Estate) by County
- Nebraska Livestock Friendly Counties
Related Articles
2017 Farm Real Estate Report Details Price Decline June 30, 2017
NE Farm Real Estate Values Down 3 Percent from 2015; Cash Rents Also Down August 5, 2016
So You've Inherited a Farm — Now What? April 6, 2016
A new series of Extension farm management programs, "So You've Inherited a Farm — Now What?" continues in mid-April with important information to help you understand and manage this new investment. Whether you grew up on the farm or visited for holidays, as new owners you will want to familiarize yourself with what it means to own it.
Ag Land Lease Considerations for 2015 January 9, 2015
During uncertain financial times such as these, tension can develop between landlords and tenants who become unsure as to whether their lease arrangement is fair. The best way to build mutual trust through these periods is to develop a clear two-way channel of communication and put any understandings in a written lease.


text: godaddy 99 cents Archive 19 Nov 2017 Godaddy 99 cent coupon domain active and latest in November 2017 By CouponEzine Godaddy Coupon Codes 0 Comment Godaddy 99 cent coupon domain active and latest Godaddy 99 cent coupon is for .COM domains active and latest. Almost was checked and they're working well on latest in this year. This list below will be updated frequently, day by day. Don't know the expiry date. So that you should hurry up to get yours now! Read More


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CARMARTHENSHIRE PENCADER GRAMMAR SCHOOL EALRY 1903 CARDthis is a genuine vintage postcard TITLE: Pencader Grammar School TYPE: printed early postcard with an undivided back DESCRIPTION: Shows a view of the school PUBLISHERS DETAILS: none given POSTAL USAGE: The card has been posted in 1903 CONDITION : good. Grubby to both sides corner knocks crease to bottom right corner tip and rough top edge. this is a vintage item NOT a repro or reprint of any kind. PAYMENT BY PAY PAL ONLY I SHIP WORLDWIDE UK POSTAGE 0.80p for up to three items Insurance (SPECIAL DELIVERY or RECORDED DELIVERY)added on request EUROPE POSTAGE £1.20 up to 3 items Insurance added on request for sales under £46.00 REST OF WORLD POSTAGE £2.00 for up to 3 items Insurance added on request for sales under £46.00. ***** PLEASE NOTE *****
£4.95 insured postage (International Signed For) will be added automatically to a final total of over £46.00.Contact me if you do not want insurance. THANKS FOR LOOKING!


text:
German Psychiatrist Pleaded that Father Hullermann Be Kept Away from Children. In 2010 He Still Worked with Children/
RedTracker| The psychiatrist treating a priest of sexually abusing boys states that he repeatedly advised the German archdiocese led by the future Pope Benedict XVI, that the priest should not be allowed to work with children. via NYTimes
"I said, 'For God's sake, he desperately has to be kept away from working with children,'" the psychiatrist Werner Huth said in an interview Thursday. "I was very unhappy about the entire story." Dr. Huth said he was concerned enough that he set three conditions for treating the priest, Peter Hullermann: that he stay away from young people and alcohol and be supervised by another priest at all times.
Dr. Huth said he issued the warnings — explicit, both written and oral — before the future pope, then Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger, left Germany for the Vatican in 1982. In 1980, following abuse complaints from parents in Essen that the priest did not deny, Archbishop Ratzinger approved a decision to move the priest to Munich for therapy.
Despite the psychiatrist's warnings, Father Hullermann was allowed to return to parish work almost immediately after his therapy began, interacting with children as well as adults. He was promptly accused of molesting other boys and was convicted in 1986 of sexual abuse in Bavaria.
Benedict's then-deputy, Gerhard Gruber says that the Archbishop had no knowledge of events.The psychiatrist says he doesn't know what Benedict knew and didn't know. He never spoke with the Archbishop directly.
Even after his conviction in 1986, Father Hullermann, now 62, continued working with altar boys for many years. He was suspended just this past Monday for ignoring a 2008 church order not to work with youths.
Read on: Psychiatrist Says Church Was Warned About Priest via NYTimes


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Hermosa Beach is a popular vacation spot on the beachfront of Los Angeles, California. With a population of over 19,000, hundreds of tourists flock there on a yearly basis to escape the cold clutches of fall and winter. With an average temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit, you can easily tell why the beach gained so much popularity.
Besides the gorgeous weather, there are many attractions and restaurants to experience in Hermosa Beach. Together, let's go on a journey exploring the beauty and culture of California. We'll show you the best hotels to stay at as well as how to get there. So what are we doing waiting around? Let's go!
Main Attractions in Hermosa Beach
Hermosa Beach Pier
Built in 1904, it was the first pier built at Hermosa Beach making it quite a historic landmark for those history buffs out there. It was also featured in the popular film La La Land. The pier was twice built and is now the perfect place for Californians and tourists alike to have family gatherings and picnics. Not to mention, it now offers public bathrooms and a location for the Los Angeles Lifeguard Service.
Hennessey's Tavern
Hennessey's Tavern is one of Hermosa Beach's most exclusive restaurant. Starting out as a small chain by the 1970's by Paul Hennessey until it erupted around Los Angeles and Las Vegas due to its high demand and popularity. Not only does the restaurant owner promise the ultimate dining experience but also an end to any and all gimmicks other restaurants may offer to overcompensate for their poor food and service. With light music and the smell of freshly baked food in the air, Hennessy Tavern is a must go for any visitors to the Hermosa Beach area.
The Strand
The Strand is the runs along the shore of California and consist of Hermosa Beach and Torrance Beach and parts of Santa Monica. This "strand" is home to many shopping centers as well as flowing with tourists that hope to grab the perfect beach tan before heading back home to their chaotic work week. Flowing with music and activities, the Strand is the perfect way to end your Hermosa Beach vacation.
Other Things to Do in Hermosa Beach
The Comedy and Magic Club
This is a favorite spot for local residents. Stop in for a night of laughter, alcohol, and entertainment. Plus, you never know what famous faces you may end up seeing, Jay Leno is a regular at The Comedy and Magic Club.
Valley Park
Visiting with children? The Valley Park is a great place that the whole family can enjoy. Simply take in the scenery, enjoy a picnic lunch, or let your kids run wild in the playground. Depending on the time of year of your visit, you may even get to see one of the live performing arts events.
The Farmer's Market
Farmer's Markets are very popular in California and Hermosa Beach is no exception. Pick up some locally grown produce, cheeses, and specialty foods or simply walk around and take in the sites. The market is open every Wednesday from 11 am to 4 pm year round.
The Lighthouse Cafe
A favorite of the locals, the Lighthouse Cafe is truly one of a kind. Any night of the week, you can enjoy live music of every genre and type. Grab a drink and a bite to eat, sit back, and enjoy the tunes.
Saint Rocke
This is one of the most unique locations in Hermosa Beach. Originally constructed as a bank in the 1920's, Saint Rocke is now one of the best live music venues in town. They are open every night of the week and offer $5 happy hour drinks.
Where to Stay in Hermosa Beach
Beach House Hotel Hermosa Beach
If you are looking for a luxury, beachfront hotel experience, look no further than the Beach House Hotel. This hotel provides gorgeous ocean views, valet parking, and free continental breakfast. This hotel is perfect for family vacations or romantic getaways.
Hampton Inn & Suites Hermosa Beach
The Hampton Inn and Suites is an affordable option for families. This hotel still provides beachfront views, free internet access, and breakfast is included. This is a basic hotel that will meet most everyone's needs.
Hotel Hermosa
This beautiful hotel is located within walking distance of the beach. The decor is stunning in this newly renovated hotel. The Hotel Hermosa is perfect for romantic couple's weekend. Watch the sunset over the beach right from the comfort of your own hotel room.
Grandview Inn
The Grandview Inn is ideal for those looking for a boutique hotel experience. This small hotel is located just steps from the beach. The rooms are modern and tastefully decorated. This hotel features free parking for guests, free WiFi, and a cozy beachfront location.
How to Get to Hermosa Beach
If you're flying into LAX, the most scenic route is to drive west on the Imperial Highway to the ocean and turn left once you reach the end. Enjoy the sights as you drive south through Manhattan beach and finally to Hermosa Beach.
If you're looking for a quicker route, take I-405 and exit at Artesia Blvd, drive west to the Pacific Coast Highway and turn south. Once you turn right at Pier Ave. you'll reach Hermosa Beach.
Unfortunately, this ends our sightseeing tour of Hermosa Beach in California. I do hope you enjoyed yourself. We explored so much, from the luxurious hotels to local restaurants that serve the most delicious meals. Wait…You still haven't booked your flight? Come on! The beach isn't getting any fuller while you sit around at home and wait.
I do hope we managed to answer any questions you have about Hermosa Beach. If you've had an excellent experience here or think we missed anything feel free to comment below!


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The McGraw-Hill family of publications is no stranger to mixing enterprise and media content, having developed many successful mergings for aviation and construction but with relatively limited media play for enterprise content from its Standard and Poor's division. That's changing now with the announcement of the new Company Insight Center being launched under McGraw-Hill's BusinessWeek brand. The Company Insight Center provides corporate data, news, financials, charts transactions, executive salaries and other key data from the Standard and Poor's Capital IQ database for public companies. A profile on the new BW service compares favorably with a similar one from popular services like Yahoo! Finance, with more details on analysis of executives and less emphasis on real-time information. It's a good tool that's been well integrated into the BW portal, with lots of thought given to usability and information design.
But is it enough to ease the slow slide of BW as a destination for business information seekers? Rich data is touted as a solution to add depth and "stickiness" to business media sites, but unlike other market sectors such as aviation and construction rich financial content has been available from a wide variety of sources online for more than a decade. BusinessWeek provides excellent content, thoughtful in-depth analysis and a widening set of weblogs and podcasts, so the enhanced rich data from Capital IQ will certainly be an effective complement to their core content. However, the style of BW online is still somewhat reflective compared to sites such as Forbes that have positioned their content to appeal to a younger, blog-centric audience more aggressively than BW. It's not necessarily that BW misses beats so much as they sometimes miss the pulse of what makes today's real-time oriented online users tick. So although rich data can be a welcome addition to a business information Web site it's important to make sure that it's data that will help to expand an audience as much as maintain relationships with existing loyal site visitors. Build up your rich data assets, to be sure, but make sure that you understand how they're going to add depth and breadth to your audience for advertisers as well.


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Watching: The Fades
Ever since I was little I've been a fan of BBC shows, and I love supernatural themed series. So when I discovered this BBC series on Amazon Prime I just had to check it out.
A teenager, named Paul, starts having apocalyptic dreams, then soon after he begins to see spirits of the dead, known as 'The Fades'. They can't be seen by other (normal) humans, they can only be seen by "Angelics", like Paul.
The Fades, because they have not moved on to the after life, become vengeful toward the human race. They are starting to gain the ability to touch things within the real world. The Angelics are trying to stop the Fades from coming back into the world, where they want to destroy the human race.
Note of interest: The actor who plays Paul is in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot.
My Thoughts:
Sometimes it feels a little 'slow', but I don't find it boring. Basically, it seems very story oriented, get to know the characters, etc. So if you're really into fast paced action, this might be a little off putting for you. But if you enjoy storytelling, the supernatural, and BBC shows, this is a series you might want to check out.
Deliveries Kamagra Oral Jelly are conducted almost round the clock but. Next Day Delivery it is convenient not to everyone and therefore to solve to you.


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Government Shutdown
The Anti-Deficiency Act (enacted in 1870 as part of the legislative appropriations bill), 31 U.S.C. 1341-42; 1511-1519, provides that no department or government official can make payments, or obligate the U.S. government by contract, in excess of congressional appropriations (with criminal penalties for violations). The Act enforces Congress' constitutional authority over the public purse and triggers government shutdowns when appropriations lapse. The longest shutdown was 21 days in FY 1996 and, more recently, there was a 16-day shutdown in FY 2014.
Click here for Federal Agency Shutdown Contingency Plans
Click here for Status of Appropriations for FY 2017
Background and Resources:
- CRFB (2017): Everything You Should Know About Government Shutdowns
- CRS (2016): Funding Gaps and Government Shutdowns
- CRS (2015): Funding Gaps and Government Shutdowns
- CRS (2015): The FY 2014 Government Shutdown Economic Effects
- Office of Management and Budget: Impacts and Costs of the FY 2014 Government Shutdown
- CRS (2014): Causes and Effects of Government Shutdown
- CRS (2013): Federal Funding Gaps A Brief Overview
- CRS (2013): Government Shutdown Operations of the Department of Defense During a Lapse in Appropriations
- CRS (2012): Government Procurement in Times of Fiscal Uncertainty


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Post content about Law and Compliance in Australia and you will be listed here to receive requests for offers.
|Accounting regulations
|Corporation Act 2001 and Corporation regulations 2001.
|Contract and Property Law
|Contract law, Property Laws
|Customs Law
|Customs Act
|Consumer Law
|Trade Practices Act 1974
|Labour Law
|Workplace Relation Act 1996
|the High Court
|The highest jurisdiction. Resolution of cases of particular federal importance (constitutionality of laws, resolution of appeals)
|the Federal Court of Australia
|Federal Court. Family, administrative, and commercial disputes, bankruptcy, copyright, discrimination, etc.
|the Family Court of Australia
|Jurisdiction for family affairs.
|the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia
|Second federal chamber. This court shares jurisdiction with the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Court of Australia. Family, administrative, and commercial disputes, bankruptcy, copyright, discrimination, etc.
Any Comments About This Content? Report It to Us.
Australia: A Snapshot for US Businesses
Brief guide to Australia's legal system, foreign investment, business entities, grants, taxation and employment regulations, for overseas businesses interested in establishing operations in Australia.
Australia and China sign Agricultural Agreement
Australia and China have signed a new agreement covering agricultural science, technology, two-way investment and trade
Information Technology Copyright Issues
Common questions and answers regarding the standing of computer software in Australian copyright law.
Issues of State Sovereign & State Entities in Intl Arbitrat.
Globalization and international trade have increased the number of international commercial arbitrations where the investor and state instrumentality are parties and bilateral investment treaties (BITs) between countries exist.
Australia Labeling and Marking Requirements
U.S. suppliers should be aware of Australia's rules and procedures regulating the packaging, labeling, ingredients, marketing, sale, general weights, and measures of specific products.
Australia is a signatory to the GATT/WTO Standards Code. Use of quality standards, such as the IS0 9000 series, is common and increasing.
Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards of Australia
This report has been prepared by the Office of Agricultural Affairs, USDA/Foreign Agricultural Service in Canberra, Australia for U.S. exporters of domestic food and agricultural products.
With bribery scandals still fresh on our minds, Ian Murray encourages exporters to ask the tough questions to ensure they keep on the straight and narrow.
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Part of USDA, the United States
U.S. Commercial Service Australia
U.S. Department of Commerce, Australia
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Itc/Ip Lawyers & Tm Attorneys, Australia
Australian Institute of Export
International Trade Training, Australia
Business Law In Global Context, Canada


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The Blind Leading the Mind – Forming a New Reality. There are changes you'd like to make in your life. You've immersed in seminars, read books and listened to the "gurus," but the change still seems to be elusive. How can that be? Join Joe today and discover why. You'll also learn an actionable process you can use to […]
Author Archive | Joe Hammer
Google Glass – Lunacy or Major Convenience?
Okay, so there's been a lot of scuttlebutt about Google Glass – the new glasses with built-in data management. It's all been a little vague to me, so I decided to do a little research last night before I went to sleep. I have a nasty habit of cracking open the notebook for some (more…)
Are You Dripping on Your New Clients?
It's called Drip Marketing – a communication process where a progressive business provides (or "drips") a pre-assembled, pre-determined number of messages to customers or prospects over a specific time period. These messages can take the form of a combination (more…)
7 Tips to Boost Business
Here are 7 tips to deliver more juice to your business the rest of the year… put em to use. 1. The Pareto Principle (also known as the 80/20 rule) indicates that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the cause. Applied to business, that means 20% of your clients are providing 80% of […]
Logo Design 101ish
From Joe Hammer's "Brand Bullshit – Beyond the Logo" A logo is a graphic rendition of your company's identity. It should be comprised of a unique font style (no standard issue fonts), signature color palette, and often an icon or symbol. Some logos are known only by their (more…)
What's Your Archetype?
Carl Jung's Archetypes – Which one are you? Psychologist Carl Jung discovered four distinct archetypes we experience as we process through our stages of life. The word Archetype comes from the root Greek words, archein, which means "original or old" and typos, which means, "pattern, model or type." (more…)
Advertising Scents
I live in Arizona; HOT Arizona… And I also enjoy riding the bike (the Harley kind of bike)… When cruising the streets on a 100+ degree day (Yeah, it's a dry heat) I'm exposed to a plethora of scents; some good, some not so good.. From the greasy aroma of a fast food restaurant to the […]
Flaky Facebook Fertilizer
Is it me or are people's Facebook updates increasingly becoming as worthless as Facebook stock? I'm not on Facebook much, but when I do drop in, I'm amazed at the number of "status updates" providing little if any redeeming aspects to one's quality of life. (more…)
No More Tan Lines?
I'm sure you've seen the cute Coppertone girl who has been around for decades. She's depicted in the company logo – an adorable little pig-tailed blond, along with a playful dog tugging on her swimsuit bottom and exposing her obvious tan line. (more…)
Peeling Back The Obvious Truth
There's a Dunn-Edwards paint store a couple miles from my crib. It's a great place, nestled right there on Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard – a pretty busy street here in Scottsdale. However, there's a serious problem looking over this establishment… (more…)


text: Heat the groundnut oil over a moderate heat in a large casserole dish. Sweat the onions, ginger, garlic, chilli and a tablespoon of the soy sauce for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken and French beans and reduce the heat a little. Cover with stock and add half of the basil leaves. Simmer for 10-12 minutes until the chicken is completely cooked and the juices run clear when a skewer is inserted. Then add the rest of the soy sauce. Spoon into serving bowls and garnish with black pepper and the remaining basil leaves. For top tips on protecting you and your family when preparing raw meat and poultry, visit Food Safety in the Home and view the full Food safety at home video. Textingredients Email recipe details Print recipe


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Can anyone please suggest me how to improve my writing skills for the gre ?
First you should come up with do'S and dont's of analytical writing then read few models
Practice typing :)
You can discuss topics when you're free.sit in front of the mirror and act as if your debating with your reflection. Argue both points. Do it very often when you're not in public. You don't exactly have to go about gre essays you can find topics on your own. For example is abortion wrong? Or why is development of a country measured in gdp when there are so many factors? Or simple issues like should all students undergo drug testing to reduce the usage of addiction and stuff like that. I do whenever I'm alone so that people don't think I'm mental
A friend of mine printed the essay topics and just discussed them with everyone all the time
A teacher urged me to write many essays and find some scripts that could apply to many topics


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The small business baking industry, according to Hoover's Inc., brings in about $3 Billion a year in revenue. Most notably, the designer cupcake trend seems to be in full swing, sparking shows like "Cupcake Wars" that offer a $10,000 prize for competing bakers. If you've been thinking about starting your own cake or cupcake business, there are some things to consider:
1. Where Will You Bake?
From Home: The beauty of starting a cake business is that you can work from home, but working from home will limit your potential output, so unless you have a full-on Viking kitchen with a giant oven, small orders might be all you can handle (which is fine!). This step by step guide from Chron suggests you first check with your Department of Health and Chamber of Commerce about licenses and restrictions, because like any food service business, you'll need to have a brief inspection to ensure you're cooking in sanitary conditions. Some restrictions include separating personal food items from baking ingredients and some even restrict household pets!
Commercial Kitchen: If you want to avoid the hassle of creating a potential war-zone in your kitchen, and bypass some of the inspection requirements, you can rent a commercial kitchen for all your baking needs. This will increase your costs a bit with rental fees, but it might make your life easier, especially if you have a dozen cakes to cook before the weekend.
2. Type of Cake
You don't have to do it all! Try and find your niche, be it wedding cakes, birthday cakes, cupcakes, bundt cakes, or cheesecakes. Think of it from your customer's perspective, if you're looking to buy a wedding cake would you buy it from a company who specializes in cheesecakes or one that specializes in wedding cakes? Some entrepreneurs worry that narrowing their focus will cost them potential customers, but it's quite the opposite.
3. Put it in Ink!
Starting your own business can be hectic and overwhelming for any entrepreneur, no matter how experienced. It doesn't have to be. The best way to avoid getting lost in the clutter of day-to-day activities is writing our a business plan that includes your mission statement, finances, pricing, and short and long term goals. It'll serve as a reference and an outline, and it's also an essential part of acquiring loans and other financial assistance. If you don't know how to write a business plan, don't sweat it, it's not that complicated and there are plenty of resources online, like this one from the Small Business Association.
4. How Will People Find You?
Time to find some hungry customers. It goes without saying that you need a website, and with new resources like Wix.com, anyone can create a professional looking website without breaking the bank.
Next, make your cake business visible on Google Maps with this simple guide so anyone who needs a cake can find you in a snap.
Take advantage of social media sites like Yelp, Facebook, and Instagram for some cost-effective advertising. Keep in mind these sites rely heavily on user feedback and testimonials, so place customer satisfaction at the top of your priorities.
5. Business Name
Sometimes the best form of advertising is a catchy, cute, memorable name that people just love to talk about. Here's a list of cake and cupcake business names we found:
RooneyGirl BakeShop
Layer Cake Bakery
Main Street Cakes
Karess's Kreations
Assal Pastry
Sugar Beak Bakery
French's Bakery
Just A Bite Cake Pops
Angel Maid Bakery
Creative Cakery
Half Baked Co
Cake Sensations
Crave Dessert Company
Takes the Cake
Fantasy Frostings
Aunt Joy's Cakes
ConfeXion Cupcakes
Baker Cakemaker
Ruby Bakery
DoLy's Delectables
Creme Caramel
Big Man Bakes
Frosted Cupcakery
Hotcakes Bakes
Cake House
Dolce Isola
The Confection Co-op
Superfine Bakery
Scratch Baked Goods
'Cake' interest over time:
The truth is, naming a business can be frustrating and downright time consuming…
Your company name is important, there's no doubt about that, but it's really something you need to 'get out of the way' so you can focus on the nuts and bolts of the business. So the question is…
"How do these companies get such good names?"
One option is hiring a 'boutique' branding agency to handle this critical step, and this does NOT come cheap. Some of these branding agencies charge as much as $100,000 for a brand that SELLS tons of product…
Does it work?
Of course it does, but for a small business with a careful eye on its cash flow, dumping tens of thousands of dollars for a swanky agency to sit back in their plush offices and promise you the next Google could spell disaster.
This is what they WANT you to think:
"Our branding agency charges a lot because what we do is incredibly difficult."
It couldn't be further from the truth, and the truth is that there are a core set of branding principles that can be reliably and affordably applied to ANY branding effort…
…and Branditory has done it for thousands of businesses, for every industry imaginable, in over 20 different countries, for just $97…
You name it, we've named it. The names we come up with are just as good (we think a little better) as anything a high priced agency could provide.
This unbeatable price comes with unlimited revisions and optional logo design for just $70.
Don't believe it?
Take a look at their satisfied customers


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Happy first day of fall! As the seasons transition here in Toronto, I'm finding myself in my very own transition period, trying to adjust to move from the academic world that has been my life for the past several years to find what the next path will be for me.
Right now, much of my life is consumed by my knitwear design work and dyeing for Long Dog Yarn. I still don't feel that I've quite fallen into a routine and am still trying to figure out a way to balance both sides of this yarny business that I love that works best for me and my goals for the business.
I've really felt that the knitwear side of things has been dragging behind what I had hoped. Part of that is due to an exciting reason, having two wholesale orders for my yarn that have left me with less knitting time than I would prefer. While my design time has suffered, it means you can go squish Long Dog Yarns in person at Knit1 in Chicago and at the McKinney Knittery in McKinney, Texas.
And the other reason my design is dragging? Well, it seems to be a bit of a lack of knitting mojo. Starting and stopping ideas without really completing anything. My knitting has just been missing that spark a bit. But I'm hopeful that it's starting to come back. These past couple of weeks, I'm finally starting to feel that inspiration that drives me through the design process, with several ideas all rumbling about my head ready to get out. What a lovely coincidence that it lines up with prime knitting season.