Good character and good reputation, not always synonymous

There is a fundamental difference between having a “good” character, and having a “good” reputation. Your character is composed of many internal factors that may or may not be expressed publically. Your reputation is how the outside world perceives your character. The interrelation between these two can be very complex.

For example, for a long period of time Bernie Madoff’s financial reputation allowed him to literally steal millions of dollars from investors. He was able to maintain a public persona as a sound investment advisor, and to garner trust from his clients.

As we now know, his character was less than admirable, and it was a long time before that became evident to investors and regulatory and legal organizations.

On the other hand, actor Mel Gibson’s career has been brought to its knees by anti-Semitic rants and abuse of a female companion. His public image is such that he was recently targeted by a fundraiser for a California synagogue by implying that a donation would testify to his claims that he is not anti-Semitic. This would supposedly help repair his public image.

In fact, regardless of what may or may not be character flaws, Mel Gibson performs charitable works regularly, but quietly. His 5 million dollar donation to Mount Sinai Hospital, a Jewish medical institution, speaks to his generosity.

While Bernie Madoff’s reputation is definitely not salvageable (and rightly so), Mel Gibson should consider taking advantage of some reputation repair. Especially online, where the reach is global and immediate.

Companies such as List My Business offer ORM (Online Reputation Management) services to individuals and companies who have taken a hit from online press or posts. Unfortunately, as rich a source the internet is for information in general, it can be a vicious beast where attacks are not policed. Large forums have huge amounts of traffic, and whatever the posting it will rank highly on any search. Typing your name, or the name of your company, into Google or another such search instrument, could bring you a very bad surprise.

ORM companies such as List My Business, perform a dual task. They not only try to bump the negative postings to the bottom of the search lists (where they are virtually invisible), but they also work to improve your online image.
Your character, probably well known by your family, friends and business associates, is not what the huge audience on the internet sees. They can only know your reputation, the external exhibition of your internal character. For the world in general, that is all that exists. If that reputation is damaged, it is of huge importance that companies and individuals exercise immediate damage control by consulting a company that specializes in ORM. If your character shines like a bright light to your immediate circle, make sure your public image has been polished to mirror quality.

Choosing Medical Industrial Designs and Styles

The industrial design of medical devices represents a demanding but prized market, as innovative products break ground in new technologies, engineering and science.

Innovations in the estimated $200 billion medical products industry must improve the clinical outcomes and delivery of health care services and also satisfy the need to lower costs and eliminate errors. Industrial designers must ensure all these critical factors are reflected throughout the development process.



Deriving optimal results means that an industrial designer’s skill set must be multi-faceted, including expertise in graphics, mechanics, aesthetics, human factors, materials science and manufacturing. The development process requires critical decisions in selecting materials, developing processes and creating other highly technical assemblies. In addition, products often require systems integration, where multiple levels of user interface range from on-site use to transportation, distribution, information processing and service.

“Credible industrial designers have been taught to think on multiple levels at the same time. They should be very observant, critical in their analysis and open-minded to all inputs as part of their initial investigation,” according to Mike Paloian, President, Integrated Design Systems. “In addition, they are also expected to contribute elegant solutions to address a multitude of conflicting problems.”

Integrated Design, a veteran of the medical product market, has been recognized for many of its ground-breaking innovations in imaging equipment, rehabilitation products, surgical devices, mammography, dental devices, and countless other medical items.

Many medical devices are unique with no predecessors on which to base a concept. This provides an industrial designer with the freedom to create an iconic image of what a product should be and how it should operate. However, with the freedom comes a responsibility to ensure that a medical device responds to the technical specifications and design parameters.
The earlier that an industrial designer is engaged in project, the more influence he or she will have in defining the foundation of the product definition and the final outcome. A designer can create consensus by providing options and visions, and then turn the findings from risk assessments into design opportunities.

The speed with which a product is brought to market depends on a project leader’s strengths and abilities to navigate through the numerous challenges that are encountered along the development path. “A good management team or leader must be decisive and flexible, confident and cautious, fair and tough, as well as an extremely good communicator,” Paloian counsels. “Skills in choosing the right people, evaluating options and taking responsibility are critical for maintaining a schedule within budget. A good industrial design firm can prove to be an asset within this work group.”


Choosing Industrial Designs and Styles

Industrial designers must balance style against design considerations if they are to succeed in creating a product or system that optimizes a product’s form and function.

Many industrial design firms focus on styling and the vast array of cool gadgets on the market is testimony to the outpouring of creativity. Style expresses cultural trends, technological breakthroughs, clichés and events within a decorative form, using colors, graphics, textures, etc. A product may be cool looking, but does it function effectively? Is its performance optimized so that it achieves the goals set out by the designer? Does it meet the manufacturers’ requirements for cost-effectiveness and ease of use?


Consider the difference between a chair that is “ergonomically styled” - one that looks comfortable, but is not adapted to the human shape - versus a chair that is ergonomically designed, in other words, its form reflects physical attributes and incorporates factors such as body movement and purpose.

Industrial designer Michael Paloian, President of Integrated Design, explains that good design artfully applies materials and technologies with a keen understanding of all the factors affecting the product’s purpose. “Balance, proportion, attention to detail, subtlety, and human factors are all optimized in good design,” says Paloian. During his 30-year career heading Integrated Design, he has led dozens of projects to design leading-edge products. “A product that is solely designed to function can be engineered well, but it may lack all of these traits and will not be classified as a good design.”

According to the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA), industrial design is about creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both the user and manufacturer.

Therefore, style should be but one aspect of design. Good design skillfully balances form and function based on the current state of the art and good taste. Moreover, according to Paloian, good design endows a product with characteristic features and a distinctive personality, which honestly expresses its purpose. It is devoid of current clichés, trendy colors or exaggerated features. A well-designed product stands out from the crowd because it delights the user, often providing operating features that enhance their value.

Therefore, innovation – described as a synthesis of technology and users’ experiences – is a critical aspect of good design. While innovative industrial designs require a high degree of creativity, in most cases, innovation occurs when technical advancements come together with a designer’s imagination, resulting in a new product or concept, Paloian says.

“Innovation creates products that broaden and change the boundaries between performance, usefulness and meaning,” he explains. Even a product with great functionality does not guarantee its success. Inspired design, therefore, must offer more than high quality and low cost. According to Paloian, “good industrial design confers enduring value on a product that is imbued with elegance.”

What is Desktop Virtualization ?

The field of information technology, or IT, has been witnessing advancements at a very rapid pace, with new applications and software being developed to fulfill the demands of users daily. Nowadays, users want the freedom to access their applications and systems from anywhere at any time. They even want the ability to work on multiple systems, regardless of their location; they also want this access to be secure and flawless. Luckily, all of this can be achieved through desktop virtualization.

Virtualization is the process of separating a logical operating system from the physical storage system. Virtualization offers several advantages to its users. It provides a secure, consistent and customized experience. This improves the efficiency and productivity of employees, and provides them freedom to work from anywhere. It also simplifies management as IT operations are integrated on a single infrastructure for all assets, whether they are physical or virtual. Additionally, it improves compliance as the access is centralized, and confidential data is controlled. This also ensures continuity of business.

The different models of desktop virtualization are classified into two categories: “host based desktop virtualization”, and “client-based desktop virtualization”. The basis of this classification is whether the execution of operating system is local or remote. It is not necessary to use virtual machines (VMs) in all forms of virtualization.

Host-based desktop virtualization:

In host based desktop virtualization, users access their desktops through remote display protocol. The processing is done at a data center. The clients have the liberty of using any device such as smartphones, thin clients, tablets and zero clients. This type of visualization uses three components. The first one is host-based virtual machines that are hosted in a data center. Through this, the user has the option to use the same VM or any random VM. The second component is shared hosting, which uses remote desktop services that enable users to connect to desktop applications. The third component is the host-based physical machines or blades that are located in data center and are used to run the operating system directly.


Client-based desktop virtualization:

In client-based desktop virtualization, the users access their desktops through local hardware. Unlike host-based virtualization, this option does not give users the freedom to use devices such as smartphones, thin clients and zero clients. This type of visualization uses OS streaming and client-based virtual machines. Through OS streaming, the OS runs on the local hardware and a remote disk image is booted throughout the network. The local hardware used is fat-client with all features of a desktop computer other than a hard drive. The client-based virtual machines run on a completely-operational PC and are managed by syncing the disk image with a server on a regular basis.

The Benefits of Cloud Computing for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

The concept of cloud computing has taken the IT industry by storm. Today, every company is getting into online business, or e-commerce, and this has led to the need for a dependable and cost-effective way to access data from anywhere. Cloud computing offers a reliable solution.

In simple words, cloud computing technology refers to hosting data and services over the Internet at a data centre. Once you have hosted your services, you don’t have to worry about managing servers, backup and storage resources. You will be able to access data and services 24/7 at a lower cost. When cloud computing services were launched, people had doubts about the reliability, but today more and more people are availing this service. They find it the best and cost effective way to fulfil business needs where IT is involved.

Data is vital for every organization, small or big. Effectively managing data and the ability to access information quickly is of utmost importance. Big companies generally have an IT division, but small and medium scale companies find it difficult to maintain an IT department. Cloud computing companies can help in these cases, saving the cost of buying servers, storage resources and dedicated IT professionals.

Easy to access:

One of the main advantage of cloud computing software is that it allows you to access data services from anywhere in the world. As people travel to different parts of the world for business purposes, they can find easy to access data and services through a cloud.

Easy sharing:

Another important feature of a cloud computing service is that it allows the effortless sharing of data, without having to use email.  Security setting can easily be changed to ensure safe transfer of files.

Effective way to solve backup problems:

For the most part, small and medium business generally doesn’t have enough backup options and find it difficult to retrieve data in case of a system crash. Cloud computing is the perfect solution for retrieving data since it is all stored on remote servers, which have several back up facilities.

Reduces IT cost:

IT has become an indispensable part of business whether it is big, small or medium, but the high IT costs are growing concern for business unit. Cloud Computing services help to reduce IT cost to a reasonable level as the data and services like email and other office applications can be stored and run from a remote location.

How to Select the right IT support services company

Information technology plays a vital role in the success of any business. Today we are in a position where nothing could really go forward without the help IT and communication technology. The IT operations are heart of a business as they connect business to the customers. So you need to get things correct here to prevent it from negatively affective your business’s productivity and growth. Choosing an It Support Services Company for your business looks simple, but it isn’t!
Finding the perfect IT support services company:
Since there are too many It Support Services Companies around, it’s difficult to pick one that suits us well. Before selecting an IT support company for your business, remember the following points.
Communication:
Though there’s so much development and progress in the information technology, there’s every chance for an IT setup to encounter problems or even fail completely. This is where you need your IT support provider to respond quickly and offer a solution. So, before selecting an IT solution company, make sure they offer 24/7 professional support.
Experience:
As a business owner, you really don’t want to get into the hands of the inexperienced companies or companies with less knowledge. Any problem to the IT infrastructure or setup directly causes huge losses to your business. So a well experienced company with certified IT professionals should be your choice.
Investment:
A company which charges high amount doesn’t necessarily be the best company. In fact, you could find many IT support services companies which offer professional IT solutions at affordable costs. Normally the IT support companies charge their clients either by hourly or monthly plan types. It’s wise to go for a monthly plan than paying per hour.
All in one IT supports services:
Always look for a company that offers services in multiple domains such as IT, communication, network security etc. If there’s a problem with computers in your office, or the computer network, the IT support company should be able to solve it.
Backups and data protection:
Go for the companies which offer effective data backup solutions. In an event of software or a hardware failure, you really don’t want all of your data to get erased permanently.
 Flexibility:
When your business is growing at a rapid pace, you need to keep up with the continuously increasing IT operations demand. The IT support service company you have chosen should be able to provide services according to the increasing technological demands.