Jan
06
2012
When first contacting web designers about your website or online project, it’s very important to have a written brief. Without some kind of brief, it can be difficult for web designers to fully understand the project and what it entails.
Spending time writing a clear and consise brief will make your project run a lot more smoothly and quickly than without. The more detailed you can be in the brief about both graphic design and functionality of the site, the better. For example, it’s always a good idea to include in your brief any existing logos, branding colour palletes, copies of current business cards, corporate fonts to ensure the graphic designers are aware that there is already a brand identity that must be adhered to. Secondly, if the site is to be redesigned, the more guidence you can give your web designers on what style of design you like, the better chance of success you have of having design developed that you like, first time. It’s helpful to let your designers know of 3 or 4 websites you like the layout and design of and specify what it is you like about them. Perhaps the colours, whitespace, clean, uncluttered feeling or perhaps a busy site with lots of text and images. These sites generally do not have to be industry related, only seen from a graphic design point of view. Lastly, supply your web designers with 3 or 4 of your competitors websites so that they can see what you are up against.
It’s also crucial to give your potential designers a sitemap. A list of the pages that are going to be required such as Home, About Us, Our Services, Contact Us, Media Library etc.. in addition to this, any special functionality that is required such as online payments, a user registration area to access a document library perhaps, ecommerce facilites are just a few of the functionalities that may be required. Giving this kind of detail to your developers will allow them to study the project in detail.
Once your developers have a solid idea of your design and development requirements they can spend some time researching ideas for the site and if time allows research some of the latest technology on the web that could be used. Once ideas have been discussed, your web developers should be able to give you a good idea of the cost of the project and estimated timescales for design and development.
Should you wish to move ahead with the project from there, you will have a good foundation for the project and should feel confident that both parties understand the project in detail. Your web designers should be able to design and develop a first class site on-time and on-budget.
Tags: Better Chance, Brand Identity, Brief, Business Cards, Colours, Corporate Fonts, design, Design Brief, Designers, Developers, Document Library, Functionalities, Functionality, Graphic Design, Graphic Designers, Guidence, Logos, Media Library, Point Of View, Registration Area, Spending Time, Web Design, Web Designers
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Dec
25
2011
There’s now a training and accreditation body called the Wellness Council of America. It’s trying to catch the wave by establishing standards for all sides of the equation, namely the employers, the employees, the medical profession, wellness professionals and the insurance industry. This is like trying to herd cats. Most employees come to work and fail to see any benefit to them in participating in any fitness exercises or comparable activities. Indeed, many grow deeply resentful if their employer tries to push them into dressing in something sporty and getting out of breath doing something aerobic. They see this as an invasion of their privacy. If they want to be overweight or merely unfit, that’s their business and their employer is not paying them to lose weight or prepare for the next NY Marathon. Yet, perhaps surprisingly, three-quarters of all employers are now offering some type of program. We all know this enthusiasm for encouraging greater levels of activity in their employees is rewarded by lower premium rates from the insurers, but why has it become so popular?
This is where statistics hit the wall of prejudices from all the individual employees who resist being rousted out of their comfortable offices and set workplace routines. The evidence suggests that every $1 spent on a comprehensive wellness program saves about $3 in health costs. Even more interestingly from the employer’s point of view is that healthy employees tend to have better morale and work more effectively. When you add in better attendance and greater productivity, employers tend to be pleased by the outcomes. So how are employers persuading their employees to play ball (literally and metaphorically)? The answer comes in two completely different elements.
First, the program must be well-designed. This starts with an analysis of the health records of all the staff. When the employers look back through all the health claims made over as long a period as possible, it’s possible to identify the health problems most consistently affecting the loyal workers. Pleasingly, this may indicate changes to work practices to reduce the incidence of these problems. For example, if too many staff are affected by repetitive strain injuries, a simple redesign of the work may avoid the problem. This will improve the attitude of the staff who will no longer feel victimized and save money on health claims. To speed this process along, it’s often a good idea to establish employee committees to discuss workplace problems and suggest improvements to minimize injuries. Again the evidence shows directly involving the employees in changing workplace routines to make life easier and safer is highly motivating.
Second, staff have to feel motivated not just in theoretical discussions but also in participation. This relies on financial incentives. Look at bonuses for completing a course of activities, or in hitting a weight target, or being able to meet a jogging target. This can be in cash or in contributions to the health savings accounts. The more employees receive incentives, the better their active engagement. The result of the best programs is cheap health insurance rates for all active participants. The word of mouth generated by those with savings encourages the slackers. Health insurance rates will be lower if all if employers plan and reward their staff.
Tags: Accreditation Body, Attendance, Comparable Activities, Evidence Suggests That, Fitness Exercises, Health Costs, Health Insurance, Health Records, Health Wellness, Insurance Industry, Invasion, Medical Profession, Ny Marathon, Point Of View, Prejudices, Productivity, Three Quarters, Wellness Council Of America, Wellness Program, Wellness Programs
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Dec
25
2011
There are many aspects of insuring your car that may seem a bit strange and even unfair. The price formation of policies is usually conditioned by factors that an ordinary consumer may consider irrelevant yet the insurer will see a precise way to asses the risk of insuring a particular person. And of all the factors that will affect your insurance premium one of the most strange is the gender. Yes, that’s right the price of insurance will vary depending on whether you are a male or a female. Sure, it may sound sexist and discriminatory but there are real facts supporting such an approach. And if you think that male drivers are charged less because they are better while behind the wheel you’re in for a big surprise!
Yes, it’s a fact that you can get a different premium just because of your gender. But before you start calling in the court for a discrimination case take a look at the facts that drive the insurance companies to act so strange. First of all you have to understand that insurance companies are crazy about assessing the risk they take upon themselves when insuring someone. They will use any awkward factor that will allow them to predict how it is likely for a person to file an insurance claim. And while the place of residence, education and marital status may seem logic from that perspective the gender of the driver isn’t something rational from the customer’s point of view. Yet, the statistics state otherwise and insurance companies are happy to use them in order to support their approach.
According to statistics female drivers file less claims then male drivers. And not because there are more men on the road in general. In relative terms the percentage of women filing claims is less compared to men. Moreover, female drivers tend to end in far less serious accidents, causing less damage and implying less costs to cover. Because of that the insurance companies usually charge female drivers with lower auto insurance rates than men. Of course, this doesn’t mean that all female drivers are good on the road and don’t cause any trouble. There are always good and bad drivers no matter the gender, age, social status and place of residence. However, the general trend is as described above and insurance companies take in consideration every aspect of the statistics that allows them to handle their risks.
If you are a male driver and find yourself offended by such a trend in auto insurance price formation there’s only one solution available – shopping around. There are many companies out there with different statistics concerning their customers, so there is a chance to find a company that has as many accidents with female drivers involved as men. Still, the best thing to really set your mind to is having a good auto insurance policy. Does it really matter who is paying more or less? The really important thing is that your policy would be adequate to your personal needs and priced as competitively as possible.
Tags: Accidents, Asses, Auto Insurance Rates, Discrimination Case, Female Drivers, Insurance Claim, Insurance Companies, Insurance Premium, Insurer, Logic, Male Drivers, Marital Status, Perspective, Point Of View, Price Formation, Related Insurance, Relative Terms, Residence Education, State Insurance, Wheel
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Feb
08
2011
The Quran was first revealed in Arabic. It still remains in its original form and believers say that God has made his concern to preserve the Quran in its original form. The word ‘Islam’ comes from Arabic word ‘salama’ meaning peace, purity, submission and obedience. Islam in a religious point of view means submitting yourselves to the will of God.
The beauty and essence of Holy Quran is enhanced by the fact that it is written in a language that is as graceful as Arabic. Arabic is a great dialect and has a unique calligraphy and that makes the Arabic Quran more and more intriguing to read. The Quran in any other language may at times miss the essence of what the writer wants to say. This is the main reason why many people still believe in reciting the Quran in Arabic although there are many translations for the book that are available. Not only people following the Quran do so but also people who do their research and study work on religion prefer studying the Quran in its most pristine form. There is a certain kind of rhythm that is associated with Quran and it only comes while reading it in Arabic and no other language.
All pronunciations, intonations and caesuras that were used by Prophet Muhammad must be used in a very effective way while reciting the Holy Quran in Arabic. The feel that you get while reciting the Quran in Arabic is very unique and peaceful and you will not attain that state of mind while reciting the Holy Quran in any other language. Learning of Quran in its elementary form is more satisfying than doing it any other language. Reciting Quran with expert tutors (Quran Hafiz) can be more understanding and knowledgeable.
There are many online websites and software’s that are dedicated to the work of teaching people Quran in its primary form that is in Arabic. You can buy such websites membership or use the software’s they provide. However these ways can only give you rudimentary knowledge about the Holy Quran. Arabic Quran is a very deep subject if taken as a field of research and scholars are still trying to understand the hidden meaning of phrases that are used in the Quran.
Tags: Arabic Quran, Arabic Word, Caesuras, Calligraphy, Dialect, Expert Tutors, Hafiz, Holy Quran, Intonations, Learning Arabic, Obedience, Point Of View, Prophet Muhammad, Purity, Reciting Quran, Religious Point, Rhythm, Rudimentary Knowledge, Translations, Word Islam
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Dec
07
2010
Definition of foreword, introduction, and preface OK, let’s get started. Easy enough to say, but what do we start with? What comes first, a foreword, an introduction, or a preface? The best way to approach the subject is to look at what they do.
A foreword, if we follow the generally accepted definition in publishing, is an introduction to a book by someone other than the author. It comes right after the Table of Contents, and the pages are numbered with lower-case Roman numerals, e.g., i, ii, iii, etc., rather than the Arabic numerals used for the text of the book.
Ideally, it’s written by an expert on the subject of the book who says that the author did a good job writing about the subject. The foreword generally speaks well of the author.
A foreword, as the spelling indicates, is a word that comes before. It’s not a forward, which is a direction, or a foreward, which is a misspelling.
A preface is usually written by the author of a book and often gives an overview of how the book came to be written, its intended purpose, and to what extent it covers the topic. It may come before or after the foreword, but it usually comes after and follows the same page numbering system. The preface may also include acknowledgements.
An introduction is also written by the author (or, sometimes, the editor). It’s an essay that sets up the full topic of a book. It states what the author’s point of view is and may indicate what the reader’s point of view should be. After reading the introduction to find out what’s in the book, the reader can decide whether or not to read it. Since it’s part of the text, the pages are numbered with the same numbering system as the text.
Tags: Arabic Numerals, Case Roman Numerals, Extent, Foreward, Good Job, Lower Case, Misspelling, Page Numbering System, Point Of View, Preface, Spelling, Table Of Contents, Technical Writing Definition
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