Owning Your Car ...

Can you imagine having the same car for 82 years?!!!

I guess it was no longer under warranty...

"How Long Have You Owned a Car?" 

Mr. Allen Swift ( Springfield , MA.) received this 1928 Rolls-Royce Picadilly P1 Roadster

From his father, brand new - as a graduation gift in 1928.

He drove it up until his death last year.....at the age of 102 !!!

He was the oldest living owner of a car from new.  Just thought you'd like to see it.

He donated it to a Springfield museum after his death. It has 170,000 miles on it, still runs like a Swiss watch, dead silent at any speed and is in perfect cosmetic condition. (82 years)

That's approximately 2000 miles per year...   

THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS ... Tulip DSouza (nee Fernandez)

The Christmas story we are told…….occurred many centuries ago

Yet it sure would not hurt-if I were to relate it once more………

For the message of Christmas is---Peace, Joy and Love

Gifts that the Good Lord sends from above!

   It tells us about……

A young maiden-so pure and trusting:

She said “Yes” to God’s Word----without hesitating.

   It tells us how a young man

Had so much love that he willingly complied with God’s plan!

   It tells us how-in the whole of Bethlehem

There was no one willing to share their room

And so, in a stable…..with hay for his cradle

The little babe Jesus was born!

While angels sang : about this good news to shepherds-

Three wise men noticed a unique and new kind of star moving up ahead-

….and so-they came: from far and wide

      To look upon this special child!

   Peace and Love – were the gifts that he brought

          A reward!?----He ne’er sought

  He showed us by example – how to be simple and humble,

  To keep on giving even if and when we feel incapable.

If only we kept the door of our hearts wide open-

The poor and the needy will find shelter within!

The secret of true contentment is to serve and to love---a hundred percent.

So let us quit distributing all those material presents----

And let us gift ourselves body and soul-

That dear friend-is a true Christian’s role.

It is also the common teaching of every belief and religion

--to always find room in our hearts and our homes

To shelter a needy person.                                 

So, as we wish one another ‘A Merry Christmas’

 Let us also remember- the Christmas message that was His…….

For although He lived and died many centuries ago

His message of Peace and Love

Is just as relevant today as it will be tomorrow…..

  

No candy and yummy goodies - no Ho!Ho! and jolly howdy!

    No Christmas polka dance or mistletoe kiss-

   The little babe Jesus brought us things that are more valuable than these -- 

    

Care for creation and spread love not litter---in all the cities!

     Let us stop misusing God given natural resources to make way for

         man- made monstrosities…..!

     let us not wait anxiously for Santa Claus to bring us that elusive gift-

   let’s become someone’s Santa Claus and gift them something with a true Christmas spirit-

          - it could be someone you know :who needs comfort and cheer

It could be someone troubled with worries who just needs- a listening ear.

It could be someone you need to forgive-or a stray annoying dog you need to let live!

It could be your child who needs you and your time

So do not neglect their needs just coz you are too busy putting up those Christmas bells                                     and chimes.

It could be your spouse who needs more than just your presence in the house!

It could be your neighbor who needs a small favor

Would you shut the door of your heart to any of these?

If you do the reason for Christ in Christmas will become meaningless

And so the reason for the season too will cease!  

This then-is my gift to you my friend-that your Christmas celebration will never end.

   May you be blessed with the Christmas gifts of Peace, Hope, Joy, Love and New Birth

  The gifts for which God became man and walked like us on this earth.

May you in return share these gifts with all your loved ones, colleagues, friends and foes!

Sharing in all your joys and woes and wishing you and yours

My gift to you is my love endless through all of the coming years……..

A MERRY CHRISTMAS and A JOYOUS NEW YEAR 2011.

Message written by Mrs.Tulip D’Souza.

New revised and edited version (16^th Dec 2010)

Original poem written in Dec 1989 as Ms.Tulip Fernandez.

Let Us Be Thankful ...

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today at least we learned a little,
and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die;
SO, LET US BE THANKFUL! ..... Buddha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev2duJejO3o&feature=player_embedded

"How Did Kashmir Get It's Name???"

An ingenious example of speech and politics occurred recently in the United Nations Assembly that made the world community smile.

A representative from India began: 
'Before beginning my speech I want to tell you something about Rishi Kashyap of Kashmir, after whom Kashmir is named.   


When he struck a rock and it brought forth water, he thought, 'What a good opportunity to have a bath.' 

He removed his clothes, put them aside on the rock and entered the water. 

When he got out and wanted to dress, his clothes had vanished. A Pakistani had stolen them.'

The Pakistani representative jumped up furiously and shouted,  'What are you talking about?   
The Pakistanis weren't there then.'

The Indian representative smiled and said,  'And now that we have made that clear' ,  I will begin my speech.

Five Ways to Ensure Your Users Still Get Along ... BA Times

Organizations, like nations, have unique cultures integral to their identity. Also like nations, this culture is dynamic, constantly needing to adapt to new challenges while being held together by a common purpose. Over the years, there has been a growing awareness that given the intense competition for resources both human and otherwise, a capable workforce in a stable organizational culture is more than a static, though invaluable, asset. It is an investment, which like any other, needs to be nurtured and kept healthy for the organization to grow. This requires it to keep responding to changes in its environment while maintaining a bedrock of shared values. Even so, when it is time for new systems to be designed or adapted, very often it is this culture that is first to be affected.


More info ... tap here ...

Social Media Mastery

Help for one of two kinds of people:
- one, those who want to earn an extra income
- two, those who have a primary business that they love BUT want to take it to the next level

http://newbisinessopportunity.info/SocialMedia-MasteryLanding.htm

Goa - Portuguese music - the good life ...

.. what more would you want?

For those of you who do not know ... Portugal had colonized Goa, a small state along India's west coast, right until 1961.

Portuguese influence is very much prevalent amongst the local Goans.

Enjoy this video post
...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3mzbQI9biw&feature=related

Process Automation - A Business Overview.

Process Automation through BPM-n-SOA

View more presentations from Computants Inc - http://www.computants.org/ .

Let's Build A Smarter Planet ...

>>>

Today, the world is connected economically, socially and technologically and systems need to get 'smart' to emerge from this downturn, and thrive!

What does it mean "to be Smart"???

Computing power is now available on phones, cameras, roadways, power lines, etc. And these instruments are being interconnected through the internet.

Computing power and analysis available, turns data into intelligence, using this data makes people-n-processes Intelligent (smarter)!

"Smart" is how people, businesses, governments and systems ([wo]man-made or otherwise) interact!

Each interaction should better, more efficient and productive. As these systems become "smart", progress should be a natural outcome!

Let's get smart and begin the process, contact:

Dominic Fernandez

Skype: dom.fernandez

BPM ... Business Process Mangement???

Business Process Management should be a holistic, systematic methodology of streamlining tasks and activities in order to complete tasks that deliver value and increase revenue.

This methodology identifies how an organization should coordinate it's personnel, processes, information and technology, AND should be continuously looking for improvement - generating value, raising quality of work, and enabling the organization to be more efficient, effective, AND capable of responding to CHANGE!

Standardization of rules that extend to Suppliers, Customers, etc. is key to successful Process Management.

In today's global economy, business is constantly seeking ways to improve performance, react to changing market demands whilst trying to achieve it's own goals - this results in a number of projects that make it look as though "the business is in the business of creating and managing these projects - rather than providing products and/or services!


BPM is the term used to  refer to Process Modeling, Process Re-Engineering, Enterprise Application Integration, or Work-Grouup Systems and Workflow.



BPM involves the usage of tools (usually software) and technology that help develop-n-manage business processes, end to end (model-implement&measure-re-visit&manage)

Is BPM for Everyone??? ... YES!
It helps organizations / businesses understand their processes, analyze them (for improvement), AND implement them. Re-visiting, that is, reviewing them again (managing), is another important aspect.

There are industry Frameworks and benchmarks that help small-to-medium businesses starting out on this venture.

BPM is successful when an organization's leaders have a good understanding of their goals and technology available, AND management is willing to change is culture (way of operations - internal & external)

Risks and Rewards
BPM needs cultural and organizational changes that must be made to support this initiative. Where once-upon-a-time there were "nn" number of people who managed "nn" processes (start-to-finish), NOW a group is involved in successfully managing those "nn" processes!

The Benefit is that BPM brings about a new look and approach to managing an organization's processes and enables proactive and continuous improvement!

BPM enables an organization to automate, execute, manage, and monitor their processes in real-time.

Although Information Technology plays an important part, Process Management should empower business users to maintain, control and monitor the organization's Processes!

Helping Governments "Provide" In Today's Constantly Changing World.

According to an IBM study, nations, regions and people will be affected by:

·        Changing demographics;

·        Accelerating Globalization;

·        Rising environmental concerns;

·        Evolving societal relationships

·        Growing threats to social stability and order; and

·        Growing impact of technology;

The current status of the global economy has accelerated the need
for governments to respond to the above factors.

Governments are required to develop new capabilities requiring
a new level of collaboration that envisages enhanced
communication and connectedness amongst
government offices, and their agencies / organizations.

Collaboration and constant-connectedness can be implemented
cost-effectively, by implementing dynamic business processes using

Business Process Management (BPM), along with
Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).

Combining software capabilities, legacy systems and enhanced
collaboration between IT and line-of-business, Governments can
optimize processes by reviewing and re-defining their current
methods of operation.

These solutions should help Government
(departments, agencies and offices) to:

·          Realize greater efficiency and cost-savings through automation

·          Provide real-time information of processes ... enabling action

·          Respond quickly to the ever-changing legislative and
        regulatory requirements

Conforming to the SOA-architectural style, in regards to IT configuration
and implementation of services, enables business agility and optimization
through the sharing and reusing of services (processes).

Objectives in this endeavor, for Governments, should be:

·          Improve administrative services (processes) through
        “re-design” and optimization

·          Automate manual processes - enabling reduction in errors

·          Accelerate design, development and implementation of processes

·          Provide end-users with the right information, at the right time
        … enabling action

·          Improve documentation, in keeping with compliance requirements

·          Create business process models that help innovation

Return-on-Investment, and Time-to-Value assessments,
for any given BPM initiative should be carried out.

This can be done through a consultative workshop that
leverages expertise in the Government sector
and technology experts. This should enhance the potential for success.

More information …. Call 1.519.702.0311
.................................… Skype: dom.fernandez
.................................... dscf(at)Computants(dot)org

Business Process Management???

Business Process Management (BPM) is a methodology that helps improve an organization’s ability to model, assemble, deploy, and mange Processes. Success is dependant some key characteristics and has a close relationship with service-oriented architecture (SOA)

It involves identifying a business need for a solution, and is enabled by modeling, simulating, monitoring and managing the efficiency of this solution. Having, and USING tools that help discover, analyze, modify and manage these business processes enables continuous improvement – it is an iterative process that looks for improvements and adaptability as the needs of the business change.

Once a Model is generated, simulation for best / worst case scenarios help determine the best path to a greater return on investment (ROI). Simulating different scenarios, refining and monitoring results allows for flexibility and a better understanding of the impact of process improvements, before implementing them in a production environment, enables a huge cost-saving.

BPM should be business-driven – one designed and analyzed by a business analyst and key business stake-holders, namely line-of-business managers.

Information Technology is a critical partner that needs to do the technical work of integrating the solution with the technology-infrastructure it has! In effect, IT-personnel need to work with business-stakeholders and refine processes for deployment. IT would be responsible for installing and configuring the solution.

BPM is associated with the life cycle of a business process and involves identifying and improving processes that deliver business capability, to deploying and managing the process when it is operational.

Often, managing process performance is forgotten, after implementation!

To manage a business-process, one must have visibility into process performance. When a process does not meet goals/requirements, it is time to get back into the life cycle and identify the cause, AND look for improvement.

BPM Success is characterized by:

• How easy it is to modify a solution, without massive effort … choices made today should not limit the choices that need to be made in the future.
• Decisions are made constantly, and influenced by various factors – Business needs to have a dynamic policy that can harness and manage changes on the fly.
• Flexibility by way of sharing information, eliminating duplication and silos of ‘departmental’ information … enables efficiencies and business insight across the organization.
• IT should have the tools that can assemble solutions based on reusable assets, minimal coding, integrated testing and deployment capability. Solutions are required PRONTO! Or else, the opportunity is lost.
• Striking a right balance between Line-of-Business/Subject-Matter-Expert and IT is paramount! LOB writes the specification for the solution and IT ensures that it is tested, deployed and implemented.

In effect, LOB facilitates defining business processes and seeing the business results (in real time), are in-sync … resulting in better business insight.

Cloud Computing ...???

Have you heard about Cloud Computing ... it is supposed to be "the-buzz," and organizations are investing in it!

What is it??? How are organizations hoping to use it? ...

Cloud Computing is computing that is done in the "cloud" - a metaphor for Internet.

Applications, business and otherwise, are provided to users via the Internet, using SaaS (software as a service), Web 2.0 and other virtual technologies.

Data that is needed, to be accessed and/or stored, can be accessed / stored either on the App-provider's servers and/or Virtually ... in effect remote computing on the Web.

Cloud Computing concepts trace-back to 1960s. In the 90's ATM networks were referred to as "clouds", and their diagrams used cloud-symbols to represent them, that is, the Internet. Thus “cloud” simply means the Internet. 

Cloud Computing helps organizations subscribe to an online service using a per use model ... thereby reducing capital costs, and making computing as a variable-cost that can be managed, according to needs!

However, although Cloud Computing provides the potential for replacing capital investments and leveraging the internet ... not having control over enterprise data and resources has implications,  security and governance being the key issues!

The Ant And The Grass-Hopper ...

Really a class analogy..

Story ... as it has been told!

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.

Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

Version by Media (India), Politicians, Activists ..... ..... REPRODUCED

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.

Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter .

Mayawati states this as `injustice' done on Minorities.

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) .

Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for 'Bengal Bandh' in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism

Against Grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.

Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, it's home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it ' A Triumph of Justice'.

Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice '.

CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '

Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later...

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley, 100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India,

..AND

As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the grasshoppers, India is still a developing country…!!!

" There is an OPPORTUNITY called LIFE... ",_