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Federal Employees: Draft 2008 Salary Tables and Related Information |
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Topic: Business |
11:17 am EST, Dec 26, 2007 |
The 2008 pay rates will become effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2008 (January 6, 2008) if no further action is taken by Congress.
Federal Employees: Draft 2008 Salary Tables and Related Information |
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The Strongest Year for U.S. IPOs Since 2000 |
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Topic: Business |
11:16 am EST, Dec 26, 2007 |
The 2007 IPO market has had the highest volume and largest proceeds since 2000, with 231 offerings raising $53 billion as of Dec. 17. The IPO market's performance was driven by Chinese companies and some blockbuster U.S. technology deals. VMware is now the fourth-most-valuable software company in the world, behind Microsoft, Oracle and SAP.
The Strongest Year for U.S. IPOs Since 2000 |
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Time Management for Creative People |
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Topic: Business |
10:31 am EST, Dec 21, 2007 |
Concentration is essential for creative work - certain stages of the creative process require single-minded focus on the task in hand. When we’re really in the zone, we experience ‘creative flow’ - the ‘almost automatic, effortless, yet highly focused state of consciousness’ that psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has identified as characteristic of high- level creative performance. Interruptions, multi-tasking and the anxiety that comes from trying to juggle multiple commitments - these are in danger of eroding the focused concentration that is vital for your creativity. If you’re worried about the effect of all those interruptions, frustrations and distractions on your creative work, this e-book is for you. Over the next seven chapters I will offer you some principles and practical methods for maintaining your creative focus under pressure, and for managing the stream of information and demands so that it informs and stimulates your creativity instead of drowning it out. And that means being organised.
Time Management for Creative People |
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Confessions of a Car Salesman |
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Topic: Business |
10:31 am EST, Dec 21, 2007 |
What really goes on in the back rooms of car dealerships across America? What does the car salesman do when he leaves you sitting in a sales office and goes to talk with his boss? What are the tricks salespeople use to increase their profit and how can consumers protect themselves from overpaying? These were the questions we, the editors at Edmunds.com, wanted to answer for our readers. But how could they really know that our information was accurate and up-to-date? Finally, we came up with the idea of hiring an investigative reporter to work in the industry and experience, firsthand, the life of a car salesman.
Confessions of a Car Salesman |
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You Won’t Find Me in My Office, I’m Working |
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Topic: Business |
7:23 am EST, Dec 19, 2007 |
We need white space to think blue thoughts. Mr. Judkins spends his day moving around the agency’s offices, which are in a converted elementary school. The former gym, now filled with couches and tables, is a good place for creative thought, he said. The “rocket sculpture,” an abstract piece in a central hallway that has a bench inside it, is a favored spot when he doesn’t mind colleagues stopping to chat. There are hidden corners and crannies where no one can interrupt (best for writing). What Mr. Judkins is doing is looking for “white space,” a term creeping into the language of work to describe a place where the actual work gets done. Desks suffice for answering phones and filing forms, but when it comes to the creative or introspective aspects of a job, desks can be uninspiring at best, or formidable obstacles at worst. So we leave those desks. Because we can. We take our laptops and seek shelter (and WiFi) either elsewhere in the building, as Mr. Judkins does, or farther away in libraries and bookstores. The term “white space” implies a place set apart, physically and mentally. It is not only used by graphic artists to describe the empty space in a layout, but also by time managers to explain the minutes frittered away between appointments on office calendars. Andy Hines, who studies the future of work at the Washington office of Social Technologies, a global consulting firm, said white space is “what we are looking for when we have thinking to do.”
You Won’t Find Me in My Office, I’m Working |
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Management f-Laws: the common sins of management |
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Topic: Business |
10:50 am EST, Dec 15, 2007 |
Find out the uncomfortable truths about how organizations really work, what's wrong with the way we design and manage businesses, what makes managers tick... and how we can make things work better. f-LAWS (or flaws) are truths about organizations that we might wish to deny or ignore - simple and more reliable guides to managers' everyday behaviour than the complex truths proposed by scientists, economists, sociologists, politicians and philosophers.
Management f-Laws: the common sins of management |
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Toyota Calls Robotics a Key Business |
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Topic: Business |
7:11 am EST, Dec 11, 2007 |
Speaking of mediocre violinists ... Compared to a virtuoso, its rendition was a trifle stilted and, well, robotic. But Toyota's new robot plays a pretty solid "Pomp and Circumstance" on the violin. The five-foot-tall all-white robot, shown Thursday, used its mechanical fingers to press the strings correctly and bowed with its other arm, coordinating the movements well.
Toyota Calls Robotics a Key Business |
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A Subpar Plan to Save Subprime Borrowers |
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Topic: Business |
11:02 pm EST, Dec 10, 2007 |
Paulson talked about the importance of preventing foreclosures now but concluded, "Under the worst conditions, you would be . . . going through a modification or a refinancing program. But we'll have five years to deal with it." And there you have it, folks. That's been the problem all along. We are in this predicament because homeowners were told not to worry about their ridiculously low interest rates because they could refinance later before the rates reset. Or they were delusional in thinking they could afford future rate increases if they couldn't refinance. Don't worry. Be happy. Well, people aren't happy now.
A Subpar Plan to Save Subprime Borrowers |
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