Because both are psychological illnesses, the fine line between anxiety and depression is often blurred. Thus, the Beck anxiety inventory questions are formulated to help differentiate the two conditions. By understanding the responses, one is able to accurately test the anxiety levels in individuals. These questions are simple and straight to the point.

When answering the questions, the respondent must reflect on their feelings for the past one week. Written in a conversational style, the questions in the inventory are comprehensible and easy to read. A few examples of the questions that are cited in the inventory:

1. I get a sort of frightened feeling as if something awful is about to happen…
2. I have a good sense of humour and see the funny side of things…
3. I can sit at ease and feel relaxed…
4. I get a sudden feeling of panic…
5. I look forward with enjoyment to things…

Respondents are given four choices to pick their answer from. They can tick or put an “x” in the space provided, and the answers chosen have the corresponding rating number. For example, the choices for question 1 may be:

3 – Definitely and quite severely
2 – Yes, but not too severely
1 – To a small extent, but it doesn’t concern me
0 – Not at all

Just like the questions, the answers are written in an easy to read fashion and most individuals have no problem understanding them. This is why the inventory is good for evaluating one’s anxiety levels. The ratings are then tallied and the total score will determine the anxiety level of the respondent. However, detractors of the Beck anxiety inventory are quick to critique the questions.

The first argument against the questions in the inventory is that they are too general to cover the diverse individuals that get tested for anxiety using the Beck inventory. This argument insists that human beings are more complex than the inventory’s questions allow for, and the real reasons for anxiety include attachment to labels and titles, which are not recognized by the inventory.

Another critique of the inventory questions is that they focus too much on the symptoms of anxiety instead of the mentality of the respondents. This renders the final evaluation one sided as it doesn’t represent the entire human psyche. An improvement to the inventory would be to insert more questions that examine the respondent’s take on life. Doing so will allow the evaluators to decipher the causes of the anxiety.

The final argument is that the inventory does nothing substantial for the respondents; it doesn’t give them a solution. All it does is to identify and measure the anxiety levels. Upon completion of the inventory, respondents have to find their own solutions, which is one of the greatest limitations of the inventory.

Even though the inventory has its limitations, it is a good starting point for those who suffer from anxiety problems to recognize their problems and become more conscious of their mental and emotional being. The Beck anxiety questions are a tool that can open up to further research related to anxiety testing, diagnosis and treatment of anxiety symptoms.

Author: Trevor T Mosley
Source: ezinearticles.com

London, UK, and Hickory, NC, February 12, 2002 โ€” CableNet International Ltd., the leading provider of supply chain management software and services to the global cable manufacturing industry, today announced it has closed $5m in second-round financing. The round was led by eTechnology VCT, which joins CableNet’s current top tier investors Amadeus Capital Partners, Veritas Venture Partners and Kiwi II.

โ€œThis round of funding is evidence of enormous confidence in CableNet’s potential to succeed,โ€ said Errol Damelin, CableNet CEO and founder. โ€œIn the cable manufacturing industry, billions of dollars are tied up in excess inventory, which can be eliminated through trading partner collaboration. This funding will enable us to penetrate the market quickly, bringing the benefits of collaboration to our customers.โ€

CableNet will use the capital to continue technology development and begin the broad scale rollout of the cable manufacturing industry’s first supply chain collaboration software. On January 28 2002, CableNet announced that it had been selected by General Cable (NYSE:BGC), the leading provider of wire and cable products for voice, data, video and control applications, to implement several e-Hub solutions, including Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment and a Supplier Managed Inventory (SMI) program.

โ€œThis investment reflects our belief that CableNet has emerged as the leader in developing supply chain synchronization software for the cable manufacturing industry,โ€ said Andrew Sherski, Investment Executive at eTechnology VCT. โ€œCompanies seeking to enhance business-to-business collaboration and increase overall efficiency and profitability must consider CableNet, the cable manufacturing industry’s only collaborative solution.โ€

About e-Technology VCT

eTechnology VCT is a Venture Capital trust targeting investments in early and mid-stage technology companies. http://www.etechnologyvct.com/

About Amadeus Capital Partners

Amadeus Capital was founded to invest in new technologies in the UK and continental Europe, and now manages two funds totalling ยฃ285 million. http://www.amadeuscapital.com/

About Veritas Venture Partners

Veritas Venture Partners is Israel’s most experienced venture capital firm, investing primarily in technology-based companies at the seed and very early stages of their lives.

http://www.veritasvc.com/

About Kiwi II

Kiwi II is a Euro 500 million European venture capital initiative in the fields of telecommunications, media and information technology.

About CableNet International Ltd.

Headquartered in London, UK, with offices in Hickory, NC, CableNet International Ltd. provides private supply-chain visibility and collaboration solutions to the wire and cable manufacturing industry. CableNet products feature a web-based, many-to-many architecture that enables manufacturers, distributors and suppliers to collaborate with their business partners to reduce inventory and improve customer service levels and sales. CableNet can be found on the web at http://www.cablenet.com/.

Author: Anonymous
Source: free-articles

In this article we will discuss all of the options available to you in terms for Audi Car parts. Owning a luxury vehicle like an Audi or some other as you most certainly do or perhaps are considering has so many rewards that they are not really worth going into here. We know why we love to drive these cars and nothing will stop us from continuing to do so.

Let’s say for instance the rear suspension needs to be replaced. The dealer will quote you a price based on their mark up. Let’s say that the quoted price is $1495.00. Many times one would simply bite the bullet and pull out the credit card to get start.

Thank goodness for the Internet. There are distributors all around the globe now that allow you to search through their entire inventories online and purchase products from them at the same exact price that the dealers do. So what does that mean? That means that the 300% mark up is not wiped clean. The same rear suspension will cost you about $400 bucks. Of course you still have to spend on the labor, but what a huge savings.

It’s not difficult to find the parts for your vehicle online. For your Audi, you would simply type in “Audi car parts” and see what results come back. Spend a few minutes in a few sites looking for the best prices and then just make your purchase.

We hope that this article will not only save you a lot of money, but also help you to start making more informed decisions about all of the products and services that you but, not just when dealing with your Audi and looking for Audi car parts.

Author: Mario Tome
Source: ezinearticles.com

So-called ‘tax shelters’

Actually the tax consultants suggest and create tax shelters for the rich so that most of their income is sheltered.And the results are obvious.The latest statistics shows that there are 5610 returns declaring an income of $200,000 but not being a single cent in taxes!

This looks good as the end result, but how is it achieved? Some ‘plans’ can invite trouble for you. I am providing you five suggestions which can minimize your exposure to IRS.

1. Go for some obvious distribution alternatives

If you’re making an income of $100,000 or more in a year, your risk of getting an audit has already increased.So you’ll need to check your deductions.Also it is time to consider the benefits of allocation of income.You can allocate income from a family member who is presently in a higher bracket tax to a member who is in a lower bracket.So making investments in the name of a child will transfer the income from those investments to the child.Of course you need to keep in mind the provisions of Kiddie tax rules and the connecting initials so that the tax is kept at the minimum.

If the situation demands, it is better to find your return separately.This can keep you away from the threshold of $100,000.

2. Try to keep money within the country

IRS always looks suspiciously at offshore users.So if you open an account in a tax haven country to hide some unreported income and attach to it with a foreign bank, then obviously you are inviting IRS for a tax audit.IRS is trying hard to identify these people who are using those offshore cards to evade their taxes.So get your house in order.

3. Be cautious about secret vehicles to insulate your taxes

If some consultant suggests you a secret structure which will reduce your income, then please keep away from him.Such plans are rejected in the courts very often.In addition you may be slapped with a penalty of $25,000!The courts cannot allow you to waste their limited and valuable time.

4. Keep away from family trust schemes

They are based on a presumption like if you put your assets in a business trust then they are business assets and you can make business deductions on investment deductions are out of them!All these claims are just half truths and full of lies.

5. Don’t play with business expenses

Try to be away from schemes which advise you to convert your personal expenses into business expenses for deductions from your income just by calling them business expenses!If you are in business, then you’ll need to have a profit motive which can legally allow you to legally do so.So you have to be in business in real terms.

The logic of IRS is very clear – if it identifies $100 from a person who is in 35 per cent tax bracket range, it produces $35.00.However identifying the same amount from a taxpayer in 10 per cent bracket will produce only $10.So if your income is above $100,000 then run away from so-called ‘loopholes’

Author: Chintamani Abhyankar
Source: ezinearticles.com

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.
There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.
There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial success, these processes improve the probability that good ideas will be generated and selected and that investment in developing and commercialising those ideas will not be wasted.
Quality from Quantity
The most sure fire way to produce quality work is to follow the process of prolific production:
a) Simply being prolific increases the probability that quality will emerge. Some of the most well known creative productions have occurred when the creator was at his most prolific.
b) Prolific production engages the mind in the task. This results in the mind identifying problems and subconsciously producing answers. This is called insight. Thus prolific production increases the frequency of insight, also known as Eureka or Aha!
c) Prolific production helps refine methodology, enhance competencies and optimise process, resulting in higher eventual performance.
d) Prolific production requires incremental goals and incremental goals produce more output than a “simply do you r best approach.”
These and other topics are covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com/
You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.
Kal Bishop, MBA
**********************************
You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.
Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com/

Author: Kal Bishop
Source: articleage.com

Photography has always been a somewhat ephemeral profession in the sense that there has never as far as I am aware been a true apprenticeship or need to have a professional qualification before you can call yourself or practice as ‘a photographer’. For sure, years ago to get into the business the only way was to work as an assistant to an established photographer or in the newspapers thereby completing a form of apprenticeship / internship. Most often, this kind of on the job learning was specific to a particular type of photography perhaps, architectural, fashion, wedding, photojournalism, medical or even family portraiture. Whatever field it was, it was what you generally became a specialist in. And there’s the most important part of it – you became a specialist or an expert by default.

I myself have no ‘proper professional or paper qualifications’ nor do I have any memberships to the ’so called professional bodies’ but do have almost 20 years experience as a full time working photographer earning my living solely by taking photographs. I have over that time built a strong reputation as an actors headshot photographer in London and the UK. This is because I am an expert at taking actors headshots – it’s my speciality.

However over recent years and with the introduction of brilliantly technological advanced DSLR cameras and the availability of easy to use, yet very sophisticated automatic cameras there has been a massive influx of people calling themselves photographers yet being nothing of the sort. Anyone can pick up a camera, advertise and start taking pictures and charging for their services. Is this right? I think not. How many people have had their wedding day or their prize giving ruined by under prepared and under qualified photographers. But more to the point, how many young and up and coming actors, dancers and performers are languishing in an uncomfortable limbo because of poor headshots. Unaware and not understanding why they aren’t moving forward, I’m sad to say that on many occasions it’s because their headshots are just not good enough and are in effect holding them back?

In a business where first impressions really count, an ultra competitive business of fragile confidences and easily bruised egos, where very few people are keen to help somebody out. In a business that is incredibly difficult to get ‘one rung up the ladder’, and that even ‘getting in’ to see an agent is a major hurdle to overcome. How on earth then are these, often-young talented performers going to get anywhere when the headshot they are using is hampering their chances of success without them being aware of it? When it should be making people sit up and take notice of them it’s encouraging agents and casting directors to dump their headshots in the trash and ignore them.

In a manner of speaking anybody can take a headshot, you frame it across the shoulders and simply shoot away right – wrong, there’s a bit more to it than that. What about the important technical things such as, good lighting, correct framing and cropping, correct exposure, choice of background, choice of what to wear and advice on how to pose, of where to focus and how to get that all important wow factor in your shot to make it stand out. What about the bigger implications of a poor shoot, the damage and missed opportunities that a bad headshot can have on an actor’s career.

As a busy photographer shooting actors headshots in London all of these things are second nature to me, processes I do without consciously thinking about them, things I’ve learned to do over the years and shooting thousands of actors headshots. I think that as soon as some one wants to call themselves a headshot photographer and charge for their services as a photographer then they have a duty to behave as a professional and be aware of the consequences to some of their clients of their actions.

Furthermore I’m sure nearly all of theses self-proclaimed photographers have some kind of experience with some form of image editing software such as Photoshop and often spend as much time retouching or should I say recovering an image as they do taking it. I strongly believe that it’s imperative ‘to get the shot right in the first place’ rather than have to fix all the technical mistakes at a later stage on the computer. I have to say that these things should come naturally to an experienced professional photographer, as should the decision to use a reflector or not to pick the eyes up a little or bounce some extra light into the shot. When and where to crop a picture and how to crop that shot to give extra impact for a commercial headshot as opposed to a more serious actors headshot. There are many, many attributes to a great headshot and all of these attributes must work together in harmony to produce the perfect headshot.

When and if an actor gets that perfect headshot then they are generally much more confident about their career prospects. They will feel as though they are moving forward especially if they find themselves getting to the audition stage, having a chance to prove their acting ability at an audition rather than simply banging their heads against a brick wall with no forward motion. They’ll feel encouraged to apply for more roles and even feel as though they have a better chance of securing an Agent.

A great headshot has a wide-ranging effect on the psyche and the prospects of an actor in particular on the younger / inexperienced person. Therefore it’s crucial to get things right, give good advice and encourage them to express themselves in front of the camera.

This is the essence of being a professional headshot photographer.

Author: Nick Gregan
Source: ezinearticles.com

Tampa, FL November 12, 2003 โ€” Pilgrim Software, Inc., a global leader in Enterprise Quality and Compliance Management solutions, today announced that the Biomedical Services Division of the American Red Cross has selected Pilgrim Software’s SmartCAPA and SmartAudit solutions for enterprise-wide deployment. The Red Cross is the largest supplier of blood and blood products in

North America.

SmartCAPA and SmartAudit are fully integrated components of Pilgrim’s Web-based SmartSolve suite of Enterprise Quality and Compliance Management solutions. SmartSolve is built on the Microsoft.Net platform. SmartCAPA helps regulated organizations effectively manage corrective and preventive actions related to quality and compliance issues. SmartAudit helps organizations identify potential problem areas by managing internal, external and third-party quality audits and audit data.

โ€œAfter an extensive evaluation of the available solutions in the market, a dedicated evaluation team determined that Pilgrim’s SmartSolve system was the best solution for our newly designed comprehensive CAPA and internal audit programs,โ€ said Brian McCormack, Senior Director of American Red Cross. โ€œSmartSolve is a powerful system which will bring the latest technology in house for our quest to improve operational efficiency while improving quality.โ€

The Red Cross will use the integrated system to capture problem reports that impact the Safety, Quality, Identity, Potency, and Purity of American Red Cross blood products and other biomedical activities at the Red Cross field offices and Biomedical Services Headquarters.

Because the safety of the national blood supply is such a critical issue, Blood Services organizations are highly regulated by the FDA. Failure to meet FDA requirements often result in warning letters and consent decrees, which can have a significant financial impact on an organization.

โ€œPilgrim’s SmartCAPA and SmartAudit solutions will play an important role in our Continuous Improvement Program,โ€œ said Jeffrey Modell, a Senior Director in Biomedical Information Technology Systems at the American Red Cross. โ€œBy providing us with a centralized Web-based solution for identifying, tracking and resolving quality-related issues, Pilgrim’s CAPA and audit system will help us ensure that we meet the highest standards of quality.โ€

About American Red Cross Biomedical Services

The American Red Cross is dedicated to saving lives, easing suffering and restoring hope at home and around the world. Currently operating on a budget of $2.7 billion, the Red Cross annually mobilizes relief to the victims of more than 67,000 disasters nationwide. The American Red Cross provides nearly half of the nation’s blood supply to patients in 3,000 hospitals nationwide. Call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE today to schedule your lifesaving donation or to sponsor a blood drive.

About Pilgrim Software, Inc.

Pilgrim Software, Inc. is a leading provider of Enterprise Quality and Compliance Management solutions for global regulated organizations. Pilgrim helps organizations manage industry and regulatory compliance, reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction. By providing live connections to multiple sites, suppliers and customers, Pilgrim enables organizations to centrally manage all of their worldwide quality operations โ€” providing real-time visibility tied to fast action. The results are a lean, performance-driven enterprise that can respond to change with speed and power.

Author: Anonymous
Source: free-articles

Disaster recovery refers to the process, procedures and policies that relate to preparation for recovery and continuation of critical technology infrastructure to any organization and a disaster be it human-induced or natural. Disaster recovery should include resumption of the entire IT infrastructure, communications, applications, hardware and data. With the rising importance of IT for the continuance of critical functions in a business and the transition to a ceaseless economy, protection of organizational data and the entire IT infrastructure in the event of a disaster has become a visible business priority for many nowadays. Disaster recovery backup software comes in handy when securing data from unknown disasters.

GFI recently released a free backup software service aimed at home users. It is a complete backup software solution for the security of data. The GFI Backup Home Edition enables users to sync up data with remote locations such as FTP servers. New users need not to worry about this backup software as it is entirely wizard-driven. This software compresses data using the common ZIP standard and this makes it easy to retrieve your backup anywhere, anytime. This is because majority of modern operating systems support ZIP files. Security is also assured with the GFI backup software as it offers support to the 256-bit AES encryption.

When using disaster recovery backup software, network auditing software also comes in handy. It is a vital security tool providing IT administrators with an excellent approach to the security of networks. The software offers a precise view of the entire subnets and network. This makes it easy to spot any discrepancies. In addition, it enables timely action for protection against open vulnerability. Network auditing is a tool that has come in handy in the correction of vulnerability in networks.

Network management and security is vital to smooth operations of the networking system which is an important asset for any organization. The best way to control and attend to corporate networks is by use of network auditing and backup software. Network audits confirm the device configuration and topology that exists. In addition, any vulnerabilities that may be found are listed. A detailed network audit also identifies the vulnerability that impacts on the performance of the network negatively thus hampering its operations. The network auditing software also reveals components and devices that require replacement. Without correct network auditing software, organizations may face small problems which may amount to unmanageable large problems.

Any network is open to particular vulnerabilities that can amount to failure in network connectivity, incompliance of a device or subnet, data theft and virus attacks via unprotected ports. Network auditing software allows network users to scan the entire ports and network for detection, assessment and correcting of security vulnerability. The GFI LANguard, a premiere network auditing software for both medium and small businesses addresses various network auditing needs of customers. Have a full view of your network by using this software, maintain network security and ensure a compliant, efficient and fast business operating environment. For whichever data you regard as important, ensure you have a backup; backup software will be of great help. Backups are vital parts of data protection and recovery. You will never know the importance of disaster recovery backup software until a disaster hits you hard. Avoid this by embracing the use of backup software to set up a backup for all your data.

Author: Samuel J Brown
Source: ezinearticles.com

Peter worked hard. Damned hard. All day he toiled to sell blueberry muffins. And they were special muffins with forty blubberies each. But he only sold so many. Everyday, he’d fight a losing battle just to sell them all. At the end of the day, they weren’t fresh anymore and people didn’t want stale muffins. Then one day Peter doubled his profit. Yeah, just like that. He changed what he said and he sold twice as much.
“How much are those muffins, mate?” his customers would ask. “$3 for two,” he’d say. And they’d buy two instead of one.
Simple, huh?
It’s called bundling. We used to sell the Brain Audit for $xxx and PsychoBranding for $xxx. When someone bought the Brain Audit, we’d try to sell them PsychoBranding. Some customers bought and some didn’t. Then one day we used Peter’s combo technique. We sold both the products, the Brain Audit and PsychoBranding as PsychoCombo.
Boom! Our sales went through the roof. We were taking home twice as much money, and at the same time giving the client more value — more information. More ways to increase their profits.
McDonald’s does it all the time. We experience it all the time. Yet we never do it all the time.
Why ever not?

Author: Sean D’Souza
Source: articleage.com

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.
There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.
There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial success, these processes improve the probability that good ideas will be generated and selected and that investment in developing and commercialising those ideas will not be wasted.
Decision Makers
Direct access to decision makers is positively correlated to motivation. The quicker people can get feedback, the quicker they can see the idea implemented, the quicker they can see reward, the more likely they are to address problems, seek solutions and generate ideas.
This is why networking is big and also the fact that, many people rely on personal contacts to achieve their goals. The idea is that through networking or personal contacts, the individual has a greater chance of talking directly with the decision maker and getting an immediate, valuable response.
The chance of getting a valuable job is much greater if you can have a conversation with the person likely to hire you than to simply send him or her an email. Similarly, the chance of successfully finding venture capital increases if you can talk to the “person with the money,” a reason many ventures get funding form family or friends.
These and other topics are covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com/
You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.
Kal Bishop, MBA
**********************************
You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author’s name and site URL are retained.
Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com/

Author: Kal Bishop
Source: articleage.com