There are 3½ weeks to go. Life, and political campaigns, can turn on a dime. But I think it just turned on a lot of dimes.

There was an October surprise, and it has all but certainly decided the race. On the left, a smug triumphalism is setting in. On the right, anger rises: the finger pointing is about to begin. In parts and pockets of the middle, we have Americans who aren't thinking about politics because they're busy trying to imagine what a modern depression would look like and wondering, for the first time ever, if it is possible that they may wind up living in their cars.

Read the rest:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122359863551021415.html

The U.S. economy has sunk into a recession and government action is critical to stem the damage, according to economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey.

"We're in the middle of a very dark tunnel," said Brian Fabbri of BNP Paribas, referring to the worsening credit crunch. "Each day we see another crack in the system."

Those cracks are quickly adding up. On average, the 52 economists surveyed now expect U.S. gross domestic product to contract in the third and fourth quarters of this year, as well as the first quarter of 2009.

This is the first time that survey forecasts for those periods have turned negative. If those predictions bear out, it would mark the first time U.S. GDP -- the total value of goods and services produced -- has contracted for three consecutive quarters in more than a half century. Economists put the odds of recession in the next 12 months at 89%, up from 60% in last month's survey.

It is a challenging scenario for the next president, as the election moves into the homestretch. Either Sen. John McCain or Sen. Barack Obama likely will face an economy in the midst of recession on Inauguration Day, even if the credit crisis begins to ease. The new administration will have to get up to speed quickly, taking over the largest government intervention since the Great Depression.

Read the rest:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122349368554816267.html

Meski awan kelabu krisis ekonomi mengancam, Dana Monter Internasional, IMF, tidak gamblang menyatakan bahwa akan terjadi resesi global. IMF hanya memprediksi, bahwa pertumbuhan ekonomi akan melambat. Persisnya negara-negara ambang industri, seperti Cina, India, Rusia dan sebagian Afrika akan sedikit terhambat pertumbuhannya. Namun hal itu cukup untuk menjamin bahwa ekonomi dunia tidak seluruhnya runtuh, dan bahkan menunjukan pertumbuhan global sebesar 3%.

Menurut IMF, Cina misalnya akan mengalami penurunan dari pertumbuhan hampir 12% pada tahun 2008 menjadi sedikit lebih dari 9% di tahun 2009. Pertumbuhan ekonomi India juga bisa melemah dari sekitar 9% menjadi hampir 7%, sedangkan di Rusia dari 8% diperkirakan akan merosot jadi 5,5%. Bahkan Afrika juga diperkirakan akan bisa mengatasi krisis ekonomi saat ini secara baik. Begitu prediksi IMF.

Para pakar IMF memperkirakan pertumbuhan ekonomi di Afrika hanya akan menurun sekitar 0,3%. Ketangguhan Afrika ini adalah karena pada dasarnya Afrika belum terintegrasi sepenuhnya dalam ekonomi dunia. Sementara Cina dan India bisa mengatasinya karena memiliki cadangan devisa yang besar. Selain itu, perdagangan dalam negeri mereka cukup kuat.

IMF melandaskan prediksinya pada kenyataan bahwa Eropa kini menghadapi krisis di sektor perbankan dan keuangan yang berawal di Amerika Serikat. Apabila di negara-negara ambang industri pertumbuhan ekonomi akan melamban, maka negara-negara maju, khususnya di Eropa akan mengalami stagnasi atau bahkan resesi. Jörg Decressin dari IMF mengatakan bahwa Jerman akan mengalami stagnasi: "Kami melihat penurunan yang jelas di Jerman yang pertumbuhan ekonominya akan pada nol persen atau sekitar itu."

Menerangkannya lebih jauh Decressin menyebutkan bahwa Jerman memang tidak ikut mengalami booming dalam bisnis properti, namun ekspornya tinggi: "Apabila pertumbuhan ekonomi dunia melemah, maka dengan sendirinya ekspor Jerman akan berkurang. Itulah alasan mengapa kami memprediksi nol persen pertumbuhan bagi Jerman."

Angin harapan bagi Jerman datangnya dari Timur dan Selatan, yakni dari negara-negara berkembang dan Rusia. Jerman memiliki produk yang dicari oleh negara2 itu. Karenanya diperkirakan, bahwa suatu saat Jerman juga akan merasakan sepoinya angin, dan akhirnya mungkin bisa mengalami pertumbuhan ekonomi sampai 2%.

Meski begitu pertumbuhan Jerman ini diperkirakan baru bisa terjadi mulai pertengahan tahun depan. Saat ini, seandainya Jerman bisa mencapai pertumbuhan 0%, maka itu sudah merupakan hal yang positif, karena situasi sebenarnya jauh lebih sulit daripada landasan yang digunakan IMF itu. (ek)

Sumber: Deutsche Welle

http://www.kabarindonesia.com/berita.php?pil=10&dn=20081010085303

You will need an Endicia account and have their Dazzle software installed. Dazzle with Endicia does not necessary explain in layman's terms how to email postage and it's defiantly not an automated task with that works with your other software applications but it is possible. One reason USPS doesn't really want you doing this is because the shipping post office is graded on a scale of 100 the on-time percentage of delivery for parcels and upgraded options. You might send someone a label via E-Mail on Monday, but your customer might not send it till Friday, causing the Post Master to feel a small deduction in his percentage if the process is repeated over and over.

Anyways, it's pretty easy to do.

Step 1: You will need to download adobe reader and install the full version. You also need Dazzle from Endicia installed as stated above. This version doesn't cost you a dime but might take in upwards of 10 minutes to download and install. Restart your PC. Doing so will allow your computer to set adobe as a valid "printer" when you go to print postage and is necessary in the below steps.

Step 2: After you've installed, open up Endicia Dazzle software and the layout that you wish to send return postage etc with.

Step 3: Fill out the address and return address accordingly. Usually I type our company name in both the return address section and the mailing address section. We can usually be accurate with the weight, but if it's not, USPS might return it to the return address and the postage is wasted and still needs to be sent out. When you put your address in both of these fields, if for some reason something goes wrong, USPS has no option but to "return to sender" and it will eventually make it back to your facility/home.

(When you double click on the senders address a menu comes up. Here you highlight the entire address, press CTR-C and it will auto populate the shipping address. USPS has no option but to send it back to you even if the party you're emailing over packs for the next earthquake)

Step 4: When you have the label, weight (adjusted by double clicking on the postage section on the label) and method, you're ready to export to PDF file so you can email the file. You will need to set up the postage to print to PDF Adobe Reader. Click on FILE>Printer Setup> and change the default from your thermal/laser/inkjet printer to AdobePDF Creator. Select this option in printer drop down menu and click ok.

Step 5: Time to "print". Click on the print Icon in the upper left of the application and it should open adobe, create the file automatically and then (for me at least) opens up Outlook with the file already attached. I enter in the customers email and a quick message and you're done! EASY!

Remember to remind them to send it out ASAP so you don't get a call from your Post Master or it gets delayed. Faxing labels doesn't work because it throws the bar code off and 3D scan postage at the top off and cant be used by USPS. Very rarely, faxing a copy might make it's way to the lost and found never to be seen again. Also remember to change your layout back to your default!

I am no different to you or the next person, I am normal though many say that I am not.  For some reason people see me as different, people call me things like courageous and brave, words I do not understand. I am just me and I live to the best of my ability.

A couple of years a go my therapist and I had a heated discussion, she kept on trying to make me see the reality of my life and I kept on trying to get her to see that dissecting each thing was pointless, that the whole is fine.  In the end she decided to try and prove something to me and told me to do a list of all the things that I had experienced in my life till that point.  I agreed to do it for the sole reason that I was going to prove to her that it really didn't matter.  

So the list which I wrote was as follows in no particular order...

• Witness to abuse
• Beaten
• Burnt
• Strangled
• Sexual Abused by 4 different men
• Emotional Abused
• Abandonment
• Attempted Rape x 2
• Crazed cocaine addict not hearing the word No
• 6 years with a drug addict as partner
• Adults abusing drugs in front of me from young age
• Death of close family and friends x 4
• Death of father x 1
• Homeless and street sleeping
• Stalked by known rapist
• Burglary
• Knife Attacks
• Starvation
• Threatened with death of family and self
• Bomb scares
• Independent from age 14

When I took the list to her she looked over it with a sense of accomplishment, her grin could've turned glass into shards.  She then looked up after reading it a couple of times and asked me if I now saw what she saw.  (she added the last two as well)

I remember standing next to her looking down at the list I had written lying in her hands.  I looked then at her and said that I understood what she was trying to do but, no, I didn't agree. She wasn't happy at all for she was trying to prove to me that I had had more than my fair share of trauma, that most people don't go through half of the things I had, that life wasn't meant to be like what I had experienced. 

My only explanation was...

Why must I sit here and think that my life is so bad? Why must I sit here and think that I have experienced things that should upset me? Why should I believe that I have been through more than other people?

Sure I have been through all of those things but I have always had the one thing, the one thing that no one could ever take away no matter how hard they tried. I've had choice.  Each time something came my way I fought it within myself, I chose to take the lessons, to find the lessons and to keep them close.  I chose not to let all those experiences cripple me, though sometimes the fight for that was far harder than words could belie.  I chose and still choose every step of the way how I react to things, how I get through them and how they change me. "I" was in control of ME!

The therapist sat there for a moment and then asked me to pause.  She then told me something that I had never considered... she said that my greatest defence and survival instinct is positivity, above all others I had that. 

I thought about it for a moment and then reluctantly agreed, she then asked me what I had learned through the whole process of writing it out in list form.

• What I have learned is that sometimes in life you get thrown challenges to overcome
• How you react in those moments counts far more than you could ever imagine long term.
• How you overcome them is up to you, either you stay in that "moment" or you take what you can from it and move on to the next challenge.
• Human instinct is like an animal, we adapt to the changing weather and we survive.
• That dissecting your life into little bits can make it feel far more than it ever really was when it was whole
• Over analysing the bad in things only brings more sadness and depression.  Analysing the good things and lessons brings light
• I would never write that list again for all of the above reasons.

Life has thrown me a few curve balls but then so has it to you, some bigger, some smaller.  I am no more braver than you are, no more courageous than the next person, we are who we are.

What will be will be, I now take the punches because I can. I take them on the chin and I learn to duck, not quack. I analyse the good things and I try to grow through and from them, the lessons. 

Negativity brings you nothing but heartache and pain.

Positivity is a daily choice that becomes in time human nature

Human nature is survival

How you survive is up to you...

outlook @office -> itunes @office -> ipod touch -> itunes @home -> outlook @home -> google calendar -> outlook @office

>_<'

An hour or so later, the meeting organizer sent him a follow-up e-mail asking if he was in fact coming to the meeting and if he had any agenda items to add on. He responded that yes, he would attend, and that the organizer should see that when the viewed the entry for the meeting in their Calendar.

Despite him seeing "Accepted on" in his Calendar entry, the organizer saw "None" as his attendance reply status in their Calendar entry. My colleague didn't think this behavior was correct and believed he found a bug in Outlook (or in Exchange).

I explained via e-mail that this was in fact the expected behavior and that it makes sense if you think about it from the standpoint of receiving an old school invitation in the mail with an RSVP requested, but not required.

Let's go through this step by step, assuming simple Accept or Decline (no Tentative):

What about the meeting organizer being flooded with Accepted and Declined messages? I mentioned to my colleague that Outlook includes an option to automatically process blank meeting responses as shown in the screenshot below. The automatic processing is done by the Outlook mailbox sniffer. He countered that this should be automatic, as that option isn't selected by default, an organizer should just check the entry in their Calendar and that a meeting with 100 attendees could potentially generate 100 responses.

Again, this makes sense if you think about it in a more traditional sense. Most organizers won't invite 100 people to a meeting; they may invite a dozen people or so at the most. They will also likely want to see a notification that the person has accepted or declined the invitation right in their Inbox rather than having to periodically check their Calendar to see who will be attending the meeting. Advanced users can utilize the Outlook option indicated above if they like.

Hopefully this clears up what appears to be an oddity in this behavior!

The blackberries were the hardest part, but that's not saying much. Wish I didn't have to delete and recreate each BB account on the BES to make them work after moving mailboxes. I wonder if I can move mailboxes to a different server without having to change the MAPI profile? Would be nice to be able to have one BES server using one BES profile, but serving multiple Exchange servers? *noted*

Exchange over RPC was pretty bloody easy. On the repaired server I had already installed the latest SP's and Hotfixes so RPC over HTTP was auto-configured this time. All I had to do was disable anonymous access and require SSL and the remote clients started syncing again, even tho their mailboxes had moved to a different server. It was a good moment. :)

Filters can be a curse.

Download: http://gallery.live.com

The new Business and Careers Institute in Sydney is set to help Australian workers improve productivity and achieve more in less time.

Launched this month by experienced trainers Valerie Khoo and Paul Neale, the Business and Careers Institute is a training centre dedicated to “making technology simple” and offers short courses in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook and more.

“This is responding to the real need for computer software courses that are fun and interesting,” said Valerie. “This demand has increased over the past couple of years as the technological ‘gap' has widened for many people.

“A generation ago, you were someone who knew how to touch type - or not. These days, you have people in the workplace who range from being able to use software to perform complex economic modelling, and others who barely know how to open a file.”

Valerie said most people barely use a fraction of the functions in everyday computer applications like Word, Excel and Outlook. “Many people complain about becoming a slave to technology,” said Valerie. “But when you know how to use it properly, technology can set you free. It can help you do you work in half the time, which can lead to better career prospects and performance.

“Our courses show that technology can be simple to understand when you have dynamic presenters who can cater to whatever level you’re at.” The Business and Careers Institute in Sydney offers courses from beginners to advanced levels.

Apart from being a self-confessed tech evangelist, Valerie is also author of five books and founded the successful Sydney Writers’ Centre, also in Milsons Point. “I’m passionate about creating fun and enjoyable learning environments,” said Valerie. “I’ve partnered with a very talented trainer and IT guru, Paul Neale.” Paul is also a popular presenter at the University of Sydney’s Centre of Continuing Education.

Students learn on a state of the art computer network in training premises that has been custom-designed to be interactive and creative. Valerie added: “I’m so excited to launch the Business and Careers Institute. It’s going to be a wonderful hub for the business community and for anyone who wants to get the most out of technology.”

For more information:
Valerie Khoo, (02) 9929 9237
courses@bcinstitute.com.au
www.bcinstitute.com.au

1. Open calendar app
2. Click on menu key
3. Click on options
4. Set Wireless Synchronization to off
5. Exit calendar
6. Wait a minute or so
7. Open calendar
8. Click on menu key
9. Click on options
10. Set Wireless Synchronization to on
11. Exit calendar
Wireless calendar synchronization should start.  It might take a while to complete but synching should start almost immediately.

In the course of routine surveillance, Fitch Ratings downgrades Dayton City School District, Ohio's approximately $225 million unlimited and $5 million limited tax general obligation bonds to 'A-', from 'A'. The Rating Outlook is Stable.  Read more...

Error Code: 0X8004010F when downloading the OAB.

Hope this helps.

De acordo com a empresa americana de consultoria  Basex, a sobrecarga de informação é um problema crescente dentro das empresas. Interrupções desnecessárias e o tempo que se leva para retomar o ritmo de trabalho, custam à economia americana aproximadamente US$650 bilhões de dólares por ano. As empresas precisam utilizar novas soluções como as da ActionBase para se tornarem competitivas.

[brightcove vid=1659860998&exp=452319854&w=300&h=225]

Gerenciamentos estratégicos e táticos, tomadas de decisões;
Tarefas que ultrapassam a fronteira da organização, projetos que mudam de estrutura e de participantes ao longo do seu desenvolvimento, processos que requerem um acompanhamento de auditoria de comprometimento e ações para demonstrar gerenciamento e cumprimento de regras, processos delicados como suspeitas de fraude ou um novo risco

1. A ActionBase oferece um sistema de gerenciamento de processos humanos desenhado para gerenciar procesos colaborativos que normalmente utilizam como ferramenta o email, documentos e planilhas do excel. O sistema é totalmente integrado ao ambiente do Microsoft Office de forma que seus usuários possam desfrutar de um ambiente de trabalho sinérgico e  familiar. O sistema oferece ao proprietário do processo uma visão completa e geral de todo o processo conforme sua evolução.

O O sistema da ActionBase pode ser facilmente customizado para gerenciar qualquer tipo de processo em sua organização onde os pricipais elementos são:

a. Follow up e monitoramento

b. Visibilidade e transparência

c. Armazenamento central para informações relacionadas ao processo

d.Cumprimento das normas e regulamentes do ambiente de negócios

6. Abaixo alguns exemplos de processos implementados com o sistema da ActionBase em empresas de diversos segmentos:

a. Regulamentações de Segurança e Saúde

b. Auditoria e Controles internos

c. Detecção de Fraudes

d. Decisões de diretorias e Gerentes

e. Governança de TI

f. Joint ventures

7. Os serviços da ActionBase podem ser oferecidos no modo de hospedagem In House ou hospedagem remota o que permite uma impmentação rápida para início das operações possibilitando em seguida a transferência do serviço para dentro da rede da empresa quando for necessário.

===

*(Se você considerar que precisa pagar por uma conexão de internet entre outras variáveis necessárias para se enviar um email. Sempre há um custo envolvido)

Unity 4 Humanity, Inc.’s (U4H) The Engine That Can has teamed up with Microsoft® to deliver fast, secure, ultra-reliable email, direct to your Outlook® Inbox. With a new, built-in connection to the world’s most popular Email client, Unity 4 Humanity, Inc. makes Email easier and more convenient than ever before. Choose the plan that’s best for you based on how you and/or your company use Email. Consolidate and keep track of all of your Email accounts.  Our Personalized Email solutions provide everything you need to stay organized including calendar, address book, and task management tools. You can create a unique, recognizable Email address that uses your domain name ("you@yourdomainname.com"). With the right account, you can create multiple Email addresses for your domain name. Customers, business partners, employees, and other recipients immediately recognize the origin of your incoming messages when you use your Email address associated with your business domain name.

Generic FREE Email services like "@msn.com," "@hotmail.com" and "@yahoo.com" domains lack professionalism. With many free Email accounts, users share their email domains (e.g., "@hotmail.com," "@msn.com," or ".yahoo.com") with millions of other users, making it difficult to create a truly unique “Email Identity” for you and/or your business.  Users of MSN Free Hotmail, Yahoo!Mail, etc. are frequently pestered with unwanted advertisements. Ad placement is one of the main reasons these providers can offer their services for free. Many free Email networks are prone to attacks by phishers, pharmers, hackers, crackers and other cyber crooks who attempt to steal sensitive information or plant email worms, Trojan Horses and other malware. Another problem is you might lose your account if you do not use it within a certain time. Sure, that is not a big deal if you use it only for casual, occasional contacts however, if you use this Email address for important things such as registering at Web sites, it can be a hassle.  It can be difficult to get an Email address that is easy to use or remember. Due to the high volume of users, the risk of selecting a free Email address that is already taken is high.  Some of these free Email accounts may include unwanted advertising insertions in your outgoing email. Do you really want to be advertising an Email provider's promotions when you are applying for a job, registering a complaint, or communicating with friends? When you use these free Email accounts, you share your Internet domains with millions of other users and risk having your email address blocked by recipients that block entire domains from their inboxes.

Starting at $1.04 per month, U4H’s robust and richly personalized Email Account Solutions help ensure your address is not mistakenly blocked. You are unlikely to be blocked unless you actually distribute spam or make your communication unwanted. All of Unity 4 Humanity’s Email accounts offered in The Engine That Can are 100% ad-free and include generous disk space, Webmail access, and state-of-the-art anti-spam and anti-phishing technology. Our personalized Email addresses allow you build a distinctive, unique Web presence for yourself or your business. A personalized email account shields you from potential spam barrages that free account users often face. Be in control of your Email and Marketing, build a unique “Email Identity” and choose the personalized Email Solution that works for you.

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or look at all of U4H's Domain Services at TheEngineThatCan.com

E.g.

You have two custom outlook fields, LOUDisplay and LOUSN.

LOUDisplay needs to be populated with the logged on users "DisplayName" and LOUSN needs to be populated with the logged on users Sirname. One other peice was that the population should only occur once, when the item is created.

Code:

Function Item_Open()
If Item.Size = "0" Then
Set objsys = CreateObject("ADSystemInfo")
objUser = objsys.username
Set ADUser = GetObject("LDAP://"&objUser)
StrDisplayName = ADUser.displayName
StrSN = ADUser.SN
Item.UserProperties("LOUDisplay") = StrDisplayName
Item.UserProperties("LOUSN") = StrSN
Else
End If
End Function

The above code is just an example, the specifics would depend upon the design of the form.

Hope this helps.