Top Business Schools in US-Europe and much More

Gateway to your American dream

2005-12-26T02:51:00.000-08:00

Gateway to your American dream

December 25, 2005

Indian students spend more than a billion dollars annually on management education in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia; and the interest in foreign B-school degrees has been on the rise in line with economic prosperity in India.
American MBA programmes present students with many advantages such as a global perspective, interacting with a very diverse set of students, cultural exposure, and a curriculum taught by world-class faculty.

Most US MBA programmes differentiate themselves by admitting students with prior work experience and make extensive use of case studies. An MBA degree from the US is also a gateway for many international
students to pursue their American dream.

Selecting and applying to appropriate B-schools is a challenge and very expensive affair and potential applicants need to do their research before starting the entire process.

I interacted with many potential applicants at the World MBA Forum in India recently, and many commonly asked questions and concerns are addressed in this article.

Rankings of B-schools

Most popular rankings differ in their choice of the Top10 schools, but if carefully studied you can find that they have a common set of schools in the Top 25. These rankings can be used as guidelines for entering students, to decide for the best option among the colleges available. Prospective students do need to bear in mind that
recruiters also use these rankings to decide about the colleges to visit for campus interviews and also to negotiate pay packages. US News and World Report, BusinessWeek and the Financial Times publish the more popular business schools rankings.

While rankings provide a good starting point, students should not solely depend on the same for selection of colleges. First-hand information such as campus visits, talking to alumni, etc. is very useful in deciding the colleges to apply and eventually study.

Specialisation

The intended area of specialisation and the college's reputation on that particular area should form a very important criterion for college selection. Potential applicants should keep in mind that many students change their area of specialization mid-way through their MBA and having a school with a very good general management program is always very useful.

Location

The location of business school plays a very important role with two considerations. Firstly, for calculating your living expenses for the duration of the course and secondly, and more importantly, for your job prospects and business networking. The proximity of some business schools to certain industry domains plays a very important role in eventual placement. For example, if you want to be in financial domain, you want to be close the financial centres of the US.

Investment

The total investment should include cost of tuition for the duration of the course, living costs on a full year basis (many schools calculate for 9 months only per year), books, purchase of laptop and other study material during the course of study. Many schools do offer scholarships and partial tuition fee waivers to outstanding candidates and one should only account for them if committed in advance. Proving adequate financial resources is also a very stringent visa requirement.

There are many sources that one can look for to obtain financial assistance and a few of these are:

Global Student Loan Program: This is available to international students. For more information check out www.globalslc.com
.

MBA Loans from the GMAC: For more information visit www.salliemae.com/mbaloans
.

Personal Loans: More information is available at www.citiassist.com
.
and www.finaid.org
.

While these are good criteria to select the business schools, one needs to match his/her profile with the profile the schools are looking for. There is no right or wrong candidate and no minimum and maximum scores. Most of the schools are looking for a diverse and involved class that will eventually add value to their school, classmates and faculty. Most of the schools are scouting for well-rounded students with a good story to tell about their background and future plans.

Scores

The TOEFL score is a passing score and generally not a criterion for admission. Most of the MBA schools look at GMAT score, with a few also considering GRE in special cases. GMAT scores are only one aspect of the overall application and not the sole criteria.

A high GMAT score does not necessarily mean an automatic admission into a top business school. Similarly an average GMAT score does not rule out a good candidate from a top MBA program if he/she has all the
other aspects very well covered. Potential applicants must keep in mind that most MBA programs give their median scores and have no prescribed minimum criteria.

Apart from scores, other criteria for selection are: undergraduate grades, work experience, letters of recommendation, essays and optional interview.

Undergraduate Degree

One's undergraduate degree plays a huge role in their selection of business school and eventually their acceptance into the MBA program.
Candidates with 3-year degrees in India must clarify if the schools accept the 3-year degree and waive the 16 years of education criteria. Many schools do waive the same in case the candidates have high quality work experience, other professional degrees like CA, LLB, MCA.

Applicants with 3-year undergrad degrees and having one year of Masters are also not acceptable unless they have completed their master degree. Most of the business schools are part of a university system and these regulations are dictated more by the graduate admissions of the university and the business school have very little
role to play in the same.

As most of the undergraduate degree programs differ in marking systems, it is very important to submit a normalised undergraduate score. Most American universities have a 4.0 GPA scale and are able to
relate well to a 4.0 GPA system and if there is a fair, uniform and accepted formula to convert undergraduate percentages/scores to the 4.0 GPA system, applicants should present an attested copy to the business schools.

Work Experience

Most of the top MBA programs desire above 2 years of relevant post graduation work experience. The average work experience in top business schools is about 5 years. It is highly encouraged for potential applicants to posses relevant work experience and relate to the same in their essays/statement of purpose and in their need for an
MBA degree. Candidates with good work experience also stand a better chance of getting good campus placements.

Job Prospects

Potential applicants should check out the placement record of the school for international students and whether the school's placement office provides assistance to international students. Most international students are allowed one year of practical training and there is a special H1-B quota so far, for international students
having a graduate degree from US universities.

Contributed by: Anand Sharma MBA

Higher education in US-Europe and much More: Information about higher education in the US and European Universities..Overseas students How to get there?!

2005-12-13T23:10:00.000-08:00

More on Business Analysts

2005-12-13T22:46:00.000-08:00

More on Business Analysts ..

Business Analysts are responsible for identifying the business needs of their clients and stakeholders to help determine solutions to business problems.

The Business Analyst is responsible for requirements development and requirements management. Specifically, the Business Analyst elicits, analyzes, validates and documents business, organizational and/or operational requirements. Solutions are not predetermined by the Business Analyst, but are driven solely by the requirements of the business. Solutions often include a systems development component, but may also consist of process improvement or organizational change.

The Business Analyst is a key facilitator within an organization, acting as a bridge between the client, stakeholders and the solution team.
Business analysis is distinct from financial analysis, project management, quality assurance, organizational development, testing, training and documentation development. However, depending on an organization, an
individual Business Analyst may perform some or all of these related functions.

*************************************************************************************

Business Analyst and Systems Analyst are job titles most of us are familiar with. But do you know what an analyst is supposed to do, and do you agree with the validity of such a role? In this brief article I will take a look at what is being asked of Analysts by potential employers and whether somebody with education in Human Computer Interaction could do the job, by discussing my personal experience interviewing for one such position.

Until recently, my only knowledge of the Business Analyst was through advertisements for city jobs with salaries containing more zeros than Africa's national debt. The positions all sound very important, the introduction to a recently advertised Business Analyst position read:

'The main purpose of the role will be to design and specify innovative solutions which meet the business requirements allowing the business benefit to be attained; and to facilitate divisional communication and
awareness of the standards and quality expectations within the System Analyst teams.'

Sounds impressive, and I am sure this would impress people at parties. A long list of skills were specified for this job including:
* three years in a similar position;
* eighteen months of Life Insurance related experience;
* experience of the technical infrastructure involved in systems delivery;
* knowledge of UML and RUP;
* ideally an IT professional with proven analytical skills; and lastly,
* experience as a team leader.

That's quite a lot of stuff. But hold on, there is no mention of ethnographic skills, task analysis, mental models, user profiling, Persona and Scenario building, interviewing or other kinds of information gathering or interpretation. I was taught on my Masters degree in Human Computer Interaction that these things are important when analysing business problems, and I believed it. Perhaps, have I been conned?

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has been advertising for an IT Business Analyst:

'IT Business Analysts have the prime responsibility for articulating business requirements for technology change in the Exchange and agreeing an appropriate solution. They help set the technology framework within
which the Exchange realises its business initiatives.'

This sounds like the job for somebody like me as I do have software development experience, however, once again a list of 'essential' skills are specified including five years in a similar position; CRM;
Information Management; NCR Teradata toolset; Microsoft Server 2003; Prince Methodology, UML and RUP and so on. The advert lists over twelve essential skills. The advert also lists desirable 'Personal Qualities' the
applicant should possess, including being customer focused, analytical and thorough. This is quite typical of Business Analyst adverts, in fact the majority include these kind of personal, or 'desirable', qualities.

It strikes me as odd that a company should be looking for an analyst and declare that 'analytical' be a desirable and not an essential skill. I also find it odd that so many technical skills are essential. I hardly need to say that technical people are not the best at understanding and translating user needs: this argument has been made many times and I will not repeat it here.

After reading many such Business Analyst adverts whilst looking for a new job some time ago, I lost hope. I could not understand how to find an analyst position fitting my skills. However, with perseverance I managed to secure an interview for a Business Analyst in a company. The advertisement described a person much like myself and expressed that analytical skills and an interest in customer needs were the essential skills for the position.

Things started quite well: a meeting with HR was followed by a meeting with the manager of the London office. The manager was quite interested in my background and placed value in my HCI training. This meeting was
followed by a logic exam similar to a logic problem solving section of the GMAT. I cannot say I was impressed by this and felt rather diminished, proclaiming to everybody that would listen that I was not applying to MENSA.

After this episode I met with two Business Analysts stationed in Munich, where I would have to spend much of my time working closely with the customers. Both were very nice people, and we talked at length about the role and they felt sure I could help them better understand the needs of their customers and also with customer training. The analysts did repeatedly warn me that much of their time was spent supporting the users of the system. This stayed at the back of my mind and would make more sense later. After a further round of meetings with the manager and analysts, everybody was happy that we could work together.

And then came Christmas. Every year I visit my family in Manhattan, New York. I mentioned this to the manager of the company and I was asked to meet with a vice president in New York. This made sense as I expected
that we would be working together to discuss the various aspects of the developing software. However, at this meeting all did not go well, I found myself talking to somebody who did not want to discuss customer needs, and instead had his interest in software. I brought into our interview the issue of the software development group being physically isolated in New York from the customers who are based entirely in Munich. I wondered how often the two groups met, and how development was organised. The answer was blunt, to paraphrase: 'the groups never meet' and 'the developers do not need to meet the customer, that is your job as a Business Analyst, you provide requirements and we write the software'.

At this point I felt very uneasy; after all I do have principles. I did not resign from a well paying job to study customer centred software development for a year without having some idea that it is necessary. I decided the topic was worth discussing before reaching the point of being offered the job. I mentioned to the VP the advantages of building relationships between development and customers. I described that much time and effort can be saved, and mistakes avoided by mutual understanding through strong customer and development team relationships. My words fell on deaf ears and I realised the analyst position was clearly defined and change would probably only be made after mistakes had been made, and a customer had been made unhappy. And the position of Analyst within the company meant dealing with immediate customer issues and relaying customer requests to the development team. Our relationship ended after that meeting: I expressed my concern for the issues and they made it clear they would prefer somebody without my interests.

After this experience, I certainly believe more than ever that there is room for those with qualifications and experience of customer centred design principles in the position of Analyst. However, finding those with the power and faith to appoint these people to an analyst position will continue to be a difficult task.

Contributed by: Anand Sharma MBA

Florists

2005-12-13T09:08:00.000-08:00

Floristry or flower arranging is the art of creating bouquets and compositions from flowers, foliages, herbs, ornamental grasses and other botanical materials into floral designs; often the terms "floral design" and "floristry" are considered synonymous. A person who designs flower arrangements is known as a florist.

A notable example is ikebana. The latter term actually became an informal synonym for this type of art, nevertheless many nations have their own distinctive traditions of flower arrangement. Ikebana represents the Oriental style of floral design, which features simplicity and purity of lines and colors. In contrast, European style features mass and color richness and variety.

Floristry is most often understood as referring to the cultivation of flowers as well as their arrangement, rather than to the business of selling them. However, the floral industry is the basic drive behind floristry. Florists are people who work with flowers, generally at the retail level. Florist shops, along with telephone sales and online stores, are the main flower-only outlets, but supermarkets and garden supply stores have gotten into the business, selling flowers as one of their large range of products.

The World Wide Web has had a significant negative impact on traditional florists within the North American market; experiencing a more than 20% decline in traditional independently owned flower shops since 1998. Retail florists are slowly being overtaken by floral relay services, floral wire services and their online-only affiliate brokers. Online shopping for florist-delivered flowers is fraught with deceptive affiliates that use phony location information, fraudulent claims of free delivery and misleading markdowns to convince consumers that they are local florists who will actually deliver their orders. The U S Federal Trade Commission has been slow to respond to allegations.

Generally, a florist shop will contain a large array of flowers, often spilling out into the street, or will have a large plate glass window to display the flowers. To keep them fresh, the flowers will likely be kept in water, generally in plastic bulbs, sleeves, or other containers.

The craft of floristry involves various skills. These include selecting flowers that will look good together (based on principles of design or general instinct), knowing how to cut, treat, and arrange flowers and other stock plants so they will remain fresh as long as possible, and (as explained above) selling them, which involves knowledge of customer requirements and expectations. Knowing how to form wreaths, bouquets, and other more complicated arrangements is also important. The flowers sold in florist shops typically represent the varieties abundantly available in the season but also include blossoms flown in from around the world. Basic varieties include roses, tulips, irises, and lilies.

Fashion plays a very major role in floristry; what is considered the flower that everyone needs to have today can change very quickly.

The floral market is seasonal and is heavily influenced by the following holidays and events: Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mothers' Day, weddings and funerals. [1] These occasions make up the largest part of the business, with the sale of house plants and home decor being a much smaller, but more constant, part. Flowers for personal enjoyment as well as those selected to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, thank-you's and to send get well wishes are also a significant portion of a florist's business.

Another basic requirement of florist shops is the purchasing of flowers to replenish their stock. The flower market, like other agriculture markets, is subject to many fluctuations due to natural factors, supply and demand, and fashion. Learning how to buy in such a way as to continue to make a profit is not a simple skill.

Wreaths can be made out of many different types of flowers and plants. Typically, a florist will organize flowers by season and holiday. Most shops branch out into gift baskets, fruit, and chocolates as well as flowers and wreaths.

A name tribute ("MUM") at a funeral in EnglandFlowers have various different meanings in different cultures. The holidays and events for which flowers are used vary. Poppies are used to remember fallen soldiers only in England and the Commonwealth countries. The cultural meaning of colors also strongly affects the choice and use of flowers. People often prefer flowers that are associated with their ethnic group or country, and various colors may have special meanings of luck or death or love or other basic human traits. A flower such as a red rose might to some mean love, but to others it might be considered indecent or simply puzzling. The vastly divergent views on the color white can lead to major flower issues. White is viewed as standing for death in many Asian cultures but is considered a symbol of purity and innocence in many European and American cultures. Such differences can lead to difficult issues when a bouquet of white lilies, for example, is delivered.

The term is not to be confused with floristics.

Something about Online dating services

2005-12-13T09:05:00.000-08:00

A Net dating service, also known as online dating or internet dating, is an example of a dating system and allows individuals, couples and groups to meet online and possibly develop a social, romantic or sexual relationship. Net dating services provide un-moderated matchmaking through the use of personal computers and the Internet.

Such services generally allow people to provide personal information, then search for other individuals using criteria such as age range, gender and location. Most sites allow members to upload photos of themselves and browse the photos of others. Sites may offer additional services, such as webcasts, online chat, and message boards. Sites typically allow people to register for free but may offer services which require a monthly fee.

Many sites are broad-based, with members from a variety of backgrounds looking for different types of relationships. Other sites are more specific, based on the type of members, interests, location, or relationship desired.

Trends
U.S. residents spent $469.5 million on online dating and personals in 2004, the largest segment of “paid content” on the web, according to a study conducted by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) and comScore Networks.

At the end of November 2004, there were 844 lifestyle and dating sites, a 38 percent increase since the start of the year, according to Hitwise Inc. However, market share was increasingly being dominated by several large services, including Yahoo Personals, Match.com, American Singles, and eHarmony. eHarmony CEO Greg Forgatch noted that despite the growing number of sites catering to specific niches, "to become a major player, it still takes a large number of people."

In 2002, a Wired magazine article forecast that, "Twenty years from now, the idea that someone looking for love won’t look for it online will be silly, akin to skipping the card catalog to instead wander the stacks because 'the right books are found only by accident.' ...serendipity is the hallmark of inefficient markets, and the marketplace of love, like it or not, is becoming more efficient"[1].

Factors in online dating experience
Online dating sites operate by the same paradigms that govern all relationships, though factors specific to the nature of online communications may affect the experience.

Positive factors include:

Dating sites allow members to meet more people than they would without such sites.
People can easily browse other members’ profiles before deciding to communicate.
Members can communicate anonymously and with reduced fear or social awkwardness.
The effect of geography is mitigated and members can meet people of distant locations.
Dating sites that offer free or moderately priced services allow users to socialize with other singles in a convenient, inexpensive way.
Members can determine if there is any chemistry before pursuing the relationship in real life.
Negative factors include:

Members may misrepresent themselves, including their marital/relationship status, age, gender, physical attributes or socio-economic status.
Some members may join the site solely to view content and are not potential matches.
Men often outnumber women. On many sites, any one subscriber can contact another - but in practice, men usually send the first email. Therefore, women are overwhelmed with responses (many from 'bad apples' and 'players') while men are left sending several emails, often never to hear back from women who can be more selective given the wider choice of men.
Some dating sites may not remove 'expired' profiles, or else may be very slow to remove them, thereby falsely inflating the apparent number of potential dates.
Despite modern advances/opportunities in transportation and telecommunication --particularly, of greatest importance, email-- human psychology and behavior still give rise to issues which may pose barriers to relationship success when the two partners are separated by obstacles other than logistic ones, namely, a lack of interpersonal communication and stress, among others.
As Andrea Orr's Meeting, Mating, and Cheating notes, "The guy who was perfect in every way, except that he was 5'8" tall, could find himself out of the running just because his ideal mate had listed 5'9" as her cutoff height."

Pop culture
You've Got Mail a film in which the two main characters conduct a relationship entirely over e-mail before meeting each other.
Must Love Dogs, a 2005 film about two people trying to find love through online dating.
Napoleon Dynamite, a film which pokes fun at the concept by having a character obsessed with meeting women online.

Brand Development, Strategies

2005-12-12T04:57:00.000-08:00

Brand Development

Brand Strategies

As the Internet continues to be integrated into all facets of everyday life, it is increasingly important for business to differentiate themselves through brand strategies that exhibit clear messages and provide fulfilling user experiences. Today, a prospective customer's first exposure to your business might well come through an e-mail or web site. Worse, your competitor might be ahead of you. This medium is hectic, random and not easily controlled. A viewer's perception of an organization's identity is formed while perusing the initial pages of a web site.

In a world where first impressions are paramount, it is paramount to
have a quality web site.

As stated by brand guru Rob Frankel branding is not about getting your prospects to choose you over your competition; it's about getting your prospects to see you as the only solution to their problem.

In brand development, the web matters. Even if your customers don't
use the web to discover your enterprise, it is very likely they will
use the web to vailidate you. In today's web-centered culture, a
quality web site helps establish a perception of quality, service and
solid brand. The better your web site, the more success you will have
in running your enterprise.

Strategic Brand Assessment

The purpose of strategic brand assessment is to examine an institution in the contexts of its principal constituents and its actual and aspirational peer cohorts in order to identify its existing strengths and to discover possible new strategic directions. This Strategic Brand Assessment service is managed by Yardley Research Group in partnership with EDU Internet Strategies and Howard Design Group.

approach to strategic brand assessment (brand development) is very
different from that practiced by other companies in the field. Our
focus is on strategic and academic behaviors and attributes that
contribute to the development of a particular image of the University
rather than on graphics and media buying. (We would be much more
likely, for example, to recommend that an institution develop a
research strength in molecular genetics or offer a new graduate
program in Acute Care Nursing than we would be to recommend the
complete redesign of admission materials.)

The Strategic Brand Assessment Process:

Yardley Group staff visit campus for approximately one week for the
initial Strategic Brand Assessment. At that time, we conduct
interviews with University officers, deans, Enrollment Management and
Admissions, University Advancement, University Relations, senior
faculty, faculty hired within the previous three years, students (new
freshmen and transfers, upperclassmen, master's students, and doctoral
students), and selected staff from various student services functions.
Separately, we conduct phone interviews with selected alumni (new,
five-years-out and twenty-five-years out), key employers of the
University's graduates, and parents of current new undergraduates and
transfers.

In the context developed by these interviews, we conduct assessments
of the University's top-level web sites (one click down from the home
page) and official printed materials from Admissions, Advancement,
University Relations, and Financial Aid. We also compare key strategic
indicators among the University and a defined institutional cohort.
Finally, we interview selected officers and deans at peer institutions
to learn their perceptions of the client institution.

Strategic Brand Assessment Results

The resulting strategic brand assessment report assesses the client
institution's brand identity (strategic imaging) among its key
constituents - faculty, staff, and administrators; current and
prospective students and their parents; alumni; employers, and other
institutions. In addition to suggesting specific actions for further
strategic brand development, the report addresses: how strategic brand
assessment (brand identity) is conveyed in official publications and
web sites; how institutional image compares with the images of peer
institutions; and how key members of the University community are
aligned around institutional strategies. The report also provides a
set of strategic recommendations on image and how to build it and
makes specific recommendations for the creation of materials and
sites. The final section of the report gives detailed suggestions
related to the distribution of materials to particular audiences.

Work is performed by a team of strategic brand assessment experts,
including the principals and design experts from Howard Design and
EDU's Internet Strategies Group.

Education Search Engine Optimization

2005-12-12T04:54:00.000-08:00

Education Search Engine Optimization

It is estimated that a #1 position in free search engines generates
10x more traffic than a #10 position. A site can roughly generate a
10% bump in traffic for each position they move up in Google's and
Yahoo's rankings. Not total traffic, but the traffic that comes from
that keyword on that search engine. Anything not on page 1 of a search
results page, generates very little traffic. A user is more likely to
try another search engine rather than tab to page 2, and beyond.
Traffic generated from search engines can be an alternative to
advertising, thus saving you hard dollars. Successful search engine
marketing has real ROI

Today, search engines have a huge impact on how the web is navigated.
Most people don't realize that a large portion of their traffic comes
from Search Engines and often that traffic does not come to the home
page, nor comes from relevant searches.

In today's constantly changing online environment, search engines are
a particularly important component of marketing and optimizing your
pages is very important. Off-line branding and cross-marketing tend to
drive visitors to a home page, but sophisticated search engines drive
people deep into your sites. If you site is designed right, you will
rank in the top 10 for important keywords. Furthermore, good site
design will allow them to easily navigate your site and find the
information they seek.

Today, search engines direct a huge portion of the web's traffic.
Search engines direct users to pages that they deem most relevant to
the search term or search phrase entered. Especially for educational
search, users will seek detailed information not found on a home page,
but deep in the site. If for search engines to find these pages, they
must be optimized, a process we call Education Search Engine
Optimization. This feeds traffic to the page that best matches the
keyword, not the home page of a web site. Today's web user in now
using four or five word keyword searches to find information. Type
"biomedical engineering graduate school" into the search box of your
favorite search engine and you'll see what we mean.

Because of this trend, the vast majority of first page views are not
your institution's home page. In fact, the vast majority of web
visitors may never see your home page, they will concentrate on
navigating your site seeking answers to their specific questions. How
are you handling these hundreds of entry points?

"Test to see if your site is search engine friendly?
Try this free service (bottom of page"

There are two elements of search engines that need to be managed. Free
Search, sometimes called Organic Search and keyword advertising. One
can pay the search engine for advertising positions on a cost per
click basis. Typically these come under the "sponsored links" section
of a page. Free search refers to the list of most relevant sites found
by the search engine matching your search request. The higher your
percentage of free search, the more effective your web marketing. If
you are not on the first page of a search results page, you are not
going to see significant traffic from that search engine, for that
search term.

EDU's Educational Search Engine Optimization service reviews your web
site's compatibility with search engines. We take your present site
design and break it down to significant and desired keywords. We then
look to make multiple entry ways to your site matching these keywords.
We know what the search engines are looking for and we know how to
design pages to get you listed in the Top 10. For the most part, this
is not a radical redesign of your web site, but a common sense
approach to maximizing your current web assets to capitalize on the
opportunities that search engines provide.

Blog Developers

2005-12-12T04:53:00.000-08:00

Blog Developers

Blog was identified as word of the year! A "blog" is an interactive
journal available 24 hours a day on the Internet. A person who creates
a blog is a "blogger," and updating a blog by writing new posts is
called "blogging."

Blogs utilize cutting-edge software that enables people with little or
no technical background to update and maintain the blog as often as
they like. Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in
chronological order with the most recent entries appears first.
(Source: Matisse's Glossary of Internet Terms)

If you have heard or read about "blogs" in the past year, there is a
good reason for that. "Blogging" is the fastest growing technology on
the Internet today, aided in part by a heavy surge of blogging during
this year's presidential election. Presidential candidates,
advertising companies, and more have begun using blogs to reach out to
a broader audience than ever before.

Traffic to blogs is skyroocketing. The Pew Internet & American Life
Project reported that blog readership increased 58 percent in 2004.
Blogs made the cover of Business Week, with "Blogs will Change Your
Business.

Your students have not only heard about blogs, they most likely have
their own. There are dozens of websites offering students the chance
to share their life with fellow bloggers. It is only a matter of time
before blogs become a standard practice at your college, university,
or program. It is a great promotional tool and a wonderful way for
parents and potential students to learn about college life first-hand.

Not only are blogs search engine friendly, but links from blogs seem
to significantly improve the search engine ranking results of linked
sites. Build a blog and link it to a program and your linked page will
benefit. Blogs create tremendous cross linking and content integration
opportunities for web developers. Examples of blog link volume

Blogs allow for a broader, candid view of a topic. Blog readers are
drawn to a more open, less formal way to learn about a subject. Blog
readers tend to follow a topic rather than look for simple answers.
Therefore blogs can be used to create a community servicing repeat
visitors. Blogs are not going to deliver compelling first impressions,
but they are going to help develop a following among interested
parties. As soon as the word spreads, so does the size of the
audience.

Blog Bytes:

Blogs enable the sharing of information in real time with many
prospects and students simultaneously.
Blogs allow visitors to submit comments on the blogger's entries,
creating an interactive recruiting experience.
Blogs are EASY to use! If you can write an E-mail, you can post a blog.
Blogs can serve as a frequently updated "Frequently Asked Questions" page.
Blogs are cutting-edge Internet technology. They are the wave of the future.
Blogs are search engine friendly and come with a built-in audience of
hundreds of thousands of current bloggers.
Example Blog: StudyAbroad's BlogAbroad project.
BlogAbroad was featured in the March 2005 edition of University
Business magazine in an article call Student Blog from Abroad
Temple News - Temple Rome student catches the blog-bug
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports: "Students' Blog Is Billed
as a 'Living, Breathing Study-Abroad Handbook".
Natalie Inger of the Penn State Collegian says "Blogs part of study
abroad experience"
For those eager to get blogging, many sites offer free or minimal cost
hosting. These include Blogger.com and Mindsay.com, but before you
charge into this new medium, there is much to consider.
EDU Internet Stategies can help you develop content, editorial
policies and business practices that can give you a marketing
advantage while covering the legality, confidentiality and political
fallout that this outspoken media provides. Blogging without a plan
can be very disruptive!

Online Marketing Analysis

2005-12-12T04:51:00.000-08:00

Online Marketing Analysis

Without Data you have no Information

Without Information you have no Knowledge

Without Knowledge you have no Wisdom

Interpret catalogs, brochures, printed material - Coordinate with web
design/outline

Interview program managers - build market strength statement,
translate to web page

Analyze/Map current communications scheme
Analyze search engine compatibility - recommend changes
Online/offline Advertising audit/review - provide recommendations
Overall Marketing campaign audit
Competitive analysis - benchmark client against average competitor or
specific set of competitors in web presence, marketing strategy,
Internet effectiveness
Traffic audit - analyze customer logs, use advanced search engine
features to check links
Overall website analysis: effectiveness toward goal, design,
navigation, compatibility.
High Level Recruiting Process Analysis

Keyword Marketing

2005-12-12T04:50:00.000-08:00

Keyword Marketing

Keyword Development and Keyword Management
The first step in marketing your website is the design of an
effective page that highlights what you want to say and offers the
information to a user in an easy to use format. The next step is to
make the site easy to find.

The use of search engines are steadily increasing as people turn to
the Internet for information. The meta tag keywords that are used in
your HTML document are searched by some of the search engines such as
Google, Inktomi or Teoma. Other search engines concentrate on the
keywords found throughout your site.

With this in mind it is necessary to effectively create keywords that
will help to get your site placed high in the rankings for the search
engine. This however is not an exact science. Keywords on their own
are NOT going to guarantee high placement within a search engine. Each
search engine has their own unique method for rank placement. Some of
them rely on keyword search and others on their own system of link
analysis as part of their algorithms technology. The keywords that you
use in the text portion of your page are searched by the search
engines but they also must be relevant to the site and content
description.

Keyword design is also an important component to online advertising.
In addition to the organic, or free search results from the major
search engines, keywords can be purchased on a cost-per-click basis to
generate traffic. Google Ad Words, Yahoo Search and FindWhat are
leading keyword advertising options.

EDU Internet Strategies can help you with the keyword design and
keyword management or your site, along with the keywords that are
relevant to your site, and we are constantly on alert for changes in
search engine technology.

Graphic Design

2005-12-12T04:49:00.000-08:00

Graphic Design

Whether a new image or a new logo is required, the graphic designers
at EDU Internet Strategies make it possible to convey your marketing
visually. We work with you, the client, to develop the best design
layouts. Our creativity is limited only by the bounds of our combined
imagination.

Our web and graphic designers are well trained in all media, and can
create compelling print as well as electronic designs; integrating
common themes, yet designing for the maximum impact the medium offers.
Past projects have included college recruitment folders, animated
graphics for web sites, brochure design, printing, and newsletters.
Our designers are professional artists, trained at Moore College of
Art and the Art Institute of Philadelphia. Additional support staff is
well versed in desktop publishing and web site design. Often our
artists will create the templates and our web site developers will
integrate the themes across sites. If you would like to see a sample
of one of our print projects please see the brochures we printed for
the Cortland Study Abroad program.

In the creation of any marketing materials, we can help your
organization save time, energy and money, along with insuring a
coordinated approach to marketing and advertising with high quality
impact. You also have the ability to graphically change your
advertising information on your website at a much faster pace than
traditional print campaigns.

Content Management

2005-12-12T04:43:00.000-08:00

Content Management

Web copywriting, Web Content Writing
Managing the content on your website is critical to the success of
your site. The text, graphics, navigation, overall look and feel, and
much more must keep up with the ever-changing expectations of your
visitors. Today's average website is redesigned every 12-18 months.
Pages should be update more often than this. With search engines,
"freshness of content" is desired. The more often your content is
updated, the more opportunities you have to be found.

EDU Internet Strategies offers a choice of solutions to help you stay
on top of these changes. EDU-IS can provide a website maintenance
package where we make the necessary changes to your web site or we can
train your staff on web site content management so you can make the
changes yourself.

We belive that content management is better done through good web site
editing rather than through automated software. There are a number of
content management systems on the market today, but systems don't
create content, writers do. We believe good content management is an
editorial process that needs professional, not systems management.

Whatever your preference, EDU Internet Strategies helps you stay on
top of your website's changing needs.

Online Marketing and Advertising Services

2005-12-12T04:42:00.000-08:00

Online Marketing and Advertising Services

EDU Internet Strategies is a full service marketing and technology
group specializing in harnessing the power of the Internet to drive
cost-effective inquiries and sales. Founded as a service arm of a
leading educational directory provider, EDU Internet Strategies has
helped businesses and universities alike.
Our staff includes web site designers, database and systems
architects, copywriters, technician, engineers and analysts who have
built powerful web enterprises both for the company and for its
clients. It is our goal to engage clients in an ongoing technological
evolution, not just single engagements. The online marketplace is
constantly changing and to stay competitive, our clients recognize
they must constantly change. We believe this change does not have to
disrupt your current business - rather enable it.

Our clients respect our technical stewardship, drawing them to
services that have practical application and return positive results.

Innovation should grow your enterprise, not overwhelm it.
Added traffic to a weak web site is not practical.
A site focused on graphics or animation won't get you found on search engines.
Without a database, your ability to measure success will be greatly limited.
At EDU Internet Strategies we work with each client individually to
develop a strategy that produces results.
As consultants we can serve as designers and developers. We can create
or modify systems and processes. We use internal staff and trusted
partners. Our areas of expertise are listed to the left.

Major Poker Tournaments

2005-12-11T10:16:00.000-08:00

Here is the list of some major tournaments in the US and Europe

North America

World Series of Poker
World Poker Tour
Professional Poker Tour
Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament

Europe

European Poker Tour (2004-)
Late Night Poker (1999-2002 only)
Poker Million (2000, 2003-)
World Heads-Up Poker Championship
World Speed Poker Open
Grand Prix de Paris (now part of the World Poker Tour)
British Open

Poker Jargon

2005-12-11T10:04:00.000-08:00

Here's the A to Z to Poker.

A
A-B-C, A-B-C-D
A sequence of the lowest cards in a lowball game. For example, the hand 8-6-3-2-A might be called an "eight-six-a-b-c".
Uncreative or predictable play. He's an a-b-c player.

ace-to-five, ace-to-six
Methods of evaluating low hands. See ace-to-five low, ace-to-six low.

aces and spaces
A hand with one pair of aces, and nothing else. Used derogatorily, especially in games such as seven-card stud, where two pair is a typical winning hand.
action

A player's turn to act. The action is on you.

A willingness to gamble. I'll give you action or There's plenty of action in this game

A bet, along with all the calls of that bet. For example, if one player makes a $5 bet and three other players call, he is said to have $5 "in action", and to have received $15 worth of action on his bet. Usually this term comes into play when figuring side pots when one or more players is all in. See table stakes.
action button

A marker similar to a kill button, on which a player places an extra forced bet. Typically in a stud game, a player is required to post an amount representing a completion of the bring-in to a full bet. For example, in a stud game with $2 and $4 betting limits and a $1 bring-in, a player with the action button must post $2; after the cards are dealt, the player with the low card must still pay the $1 bring-in, then when the betting reaches the player who posted the $2, he is required to leave it in as a raise of the bring-in (and has the option to raise further). Players in between the bring-in and the action button can just call the bring-in, but they know ahead of time that they will be raised by the action button.
action player

Euphemism for a less skillful player who bets and calls frequently with inferior hands.

add-on
In a live game, to buy more chips before you have busted. In tournament play, a single rebuy for which all players are eligible regardless of their stack size. This is usually allowed only once, at the end of the rebuy period.

advertising
To make an obvious play or expose cards in such a way as to deliberately convey an impression to your opponents about your style of play. For example, to make a bad play or bluff to give the impression that you bluff frequently (hoping opponents will then call your legitimate bets) or to show only good hands to give the impression that you rarely bluff (hoping opponents will then fold when you do).

aggressive
A player who frequently bets and raises. Compare to "passive"; see also aggression (poker), "loose", "tight".

Ainsworth
A term used in hold’em; 6 – 2 as a player’s first two cards.

air
In a lowball game, "giving air" is letting an opponent who might otherwise fold know that you intend to draw one or more cards to induce him to call.

all in
Having bet one's entire stake. See table stakes.

all blue/all pink
A flush, "blue" usually referring to black suits and "pink" to red ones. Occasionally one hears "all green" or "all purple".

Alligator blood
A tough player who plays well under pressure is said to have "alligator blood".

ammo, ammunition
Chips in play. I'm going to need more ammo for this game. Compare to "fire".

angle
A technically legal, but borderline unethical, play. For example, deliberately miscalling one's own hand to induce a fold, or placing odd amounts of chips in the pot to confuse opponents about whether you mean to call or raise. A player employing such tactics is called an "angle shooter".

Anna Kournikova
In Texas Hold 'Em, referring to a player who is dealt A-K for his or her pocket cards and never having the hand improve. This parodies Anna Kournikova in that the hand looked good, but didn’t win.

ante
Once meaning a first-round bet, now a type of forced bet before cards are dealt. See ante.

ante off
In tournament play, to force an absent player to continue paying antes, blinds, bring-ins, or other forced bets so that the contest remains fair to the other players. Go ahead and take that phone call. We'll ante you off until you get back. Also "blind off".

B
baby
A low-ranked card, usually used in lowball games. See also "spoke".

backdoor
A draw requiring two or more rounds to fill. For example, catching two consecutive cards in two rounds of Seven-card stud or Texas hold 'em to

fill a straight or flush.
A hand made other than the hand the player intended to make. I started with four hearts hoping for a flush, but I backdoored two more kings and my trips won.

back in
To enter a pot by checking and then calling someone else's open on the first betting round. Usually used in games like Jackpots, meaning to enter without openers.
To enter a pot cheaply or for free because of having posted a blind.

back into
To win a pot with a hand that would have folded to any bet. For example, two players enter a pot of draw poker, both drawing to flushes. Both miss, and check after the draw. The player with the ace-high draw "backs into" winning the pot against the player with only a king-high draw. Also to make a backdoor draw, for example, a player who starts a hand with three of a kind, but makes a runner-runner flush, can be said to back into the flush.

bad beat
An event in which a player with a high expectation of winning the pot loses. This expectation may be based on having an unusually strong hand beaten by an even stronger one, or by having an opposing player make an extremely unlikely draw. "Bad beat stories" are frequent topics of conversation at poker tables. Lou Krieger started a tradition among some players of charging $1 to listen to one. In some casinos there is a "bad beat jackpot" awarded to a player who suffers a particular beat, for example, having four of a kind beaten. See bad beat.

bank
Also called the house, the person responsible for distributing chips, keeping track of the buy-ins, and paying winners at the end of the game.

Bankroll
The amount of money that a player has to wager for the duration of his or her poker career.

behind
Not currently having the best hand. I'm pretty sure my pair of jacks was behind Lou's kings, but I had other draws, so I kept playing.
Describing money in play but not visible as chips in front a player. For example, a player may announce "I've got $100 behind" while handing money to a casino employee, meaning that he intends those chips to be in play as soon as they are brought to him.

belly buster
An inside straight draw. Also called a "gutshot".

berry patch
A game with many unskilled or "live" players; a lucrative opportunity for profit.

bet
Any money wagered during the play of a hand.
More specifically, the opening bet of a betting round.
In a fixed limit game, the standard betting amount. There were six bets in the pot when I called.

betting structure
The set of specific rules for any game covering how much one may or must bet at any point in the game, including forced bets, limits, and raising cap. See betting structure.
bicycle, bicycle wheel

The hand A-2-3-4-5. See wheel.

big bet
In a fixed limit game where the limit is higher in later rounds than in early rounds, the higher amount is called a "big bet". That $10-$20 game looked good, but I only had 8 big bets in my pocket at the time.

big bet game
A game played with a no limit or pot limit betting structure.

big slick
A Texas Hold'em starting hand that consists of an Ace and King regardless of suit.

blank
A card, frequently a community card, of no apparent value. I suspected Margaret had a good draw, but the river card was a blank, so I bet again. See "brick".

blaze
A hand of five face cards that used to outrank a flush.

bleed
To lose small amounts continually, so as to add up to a large loss. I won that large pot with my kings, but then I bled it all off over the next hour.

blind
A type of forced bet. See blind.
A term applied to any action taken by a player before seeing some piece of information to which that player would normally be entitled before that action. For example, a player who would be first to act after the draw in a draw poker game might discard cards and then announce "I bet $10 blind" before looking at his replacement cards. One can similarly check blind, raise blind, etc. Also "dark" or "in the dark".

blind crowley
Folding your hand when the action to check is an option before looking at your cards. See also "crowley", "lord crowley"

blind stud
A stud poker game in which all cards are dealt face down. Was popular in California before legal rulings made traditional stud legal there.

bluff
To bet an inferior hand hoping the opponent will fold. See bluff.

bluff-catcher
On the last betting round, a hand that cannot win if the opponent is making a legitimate value bet, but that might win if the opponent's bet was a pure bluff. It looked like Jim and I were both drawing for a flush. I missed and he bet, but I figured the pair of nines I caught along the way made a bluff-catcher, so I called.

board
The set of community cards in a community card game. If another spade hits the board, I'll have to fold.
The set of face-up cards of a particular player in a stud game. Zack's board didn't look too scary, so I bet into him again.
The set of all face-up cards in a stud game. I started with a flush draw, but there were already four other diamonds showing on the board, so I folded.

boat
A full house. See also "full boat", "tight".
bobtail
An open-ender, or "outside" straight draw. Occasionally used to refer to an inside straight draw or a four-card flush draw as well.
bomb

A brick.
bone
A chip, often of small denomination.

book
Four of a kind.

both ways
Both halves of a split pot, often declared by a player who thinks he or she will win both low and high.

bottom end
The lowest of several possible straights, especially in a community card game. For example, in Texas hold 'em with the cards 5-6-7 on the board, a player holding 3-4 has the bottom end straight, while a player holding 4-8 or 8-9 has a higher straight. Also "idiot end".
bottom pair, bottom set
In a community card game, a pair (or set) made by matching the lowest-ranking board card with one (or two) in one's private hand.
box
The chip tray in front of a house dealer, and by extension, the house dealer's position at the table. You've been in the box for an hour now; don't you get a break?

boxed card
A card encountered face-up in the assembled deck during the deal, as opposed to one overturned in the act of dealing. Most house rules treat a boxed card as if it didn't exist; that is, it is placed aside and not used. Different rules cover cards exposed during the deal.

break
In a draw poker game, to discard cards that make a made hand in the hope of making a much better one. For example, a player with J-J-10-9-8 may wish to break his pair of jacks to draw for the straight, and a lowball player may break his 9-high 9-5-4-2-A to draw for the wheel.
To end a session of play. The game broke at about 3:00.

brick
A blank, though more often used in the derogatory sense of a card that is undesirable rather than merely inconsequential, such as a card of high rank or one that makes a pair in a low-hand game.

brick and mortar
A poker game played in person with real physical cards at a traditional casino. The term is meant to distinguish brick and mortar games from online poker games. Abbreviated "B&M".

bring in
To open a betting round. Gary brought it in for $5, and Kevin raised $10.

bring-in
A kind of forced bet. See bring-in.

broadway
An ace-high straight. A "broadway card" is any card that might make such a straight, namely a 10, J, Q, K, or A.

brush
A casino employee whose job it is to greet players entering the poker room, maintain the list of persons waiting to play, announce open seats, and various other duties (including brushing off tables to prepare them for new games, whence the name).

buck
A token used to mark the position of the dealer. See Buck.
bug
A wild card that can serve to fill a straight or flush, but which otherwise plays as an ace. See bug.

bullet
An ace.

A chip. See "ammo".

bully
To bluff repeatedly at all opportunities, or a player who does so. See "run over".

bum deal
A mis-deal

bump
To raise. I raised $5, and Joe bumped it to $20.

burn, burn card
To deal a card directly into the discards, often at the start of the second and subsequent rounds of a multiple-round game (for example, before giving players their draws in a draw poker game, or before the flop in a community card game). This is done for several reasons, including protecting the players against marked cards, making it easier to recover from irregularities in the deal, and others.

busted
Not complete, such as four cards to a straight that never gets the fifth card to complete it.
Out of chips.

button
A token (also called a buck) used to mark the position of the dealer. In casino games with a house dealer, a buck may still be used to mark the position of the player who acts last on that deal (which would normally be the dealer in a home game). See Buck
The player currently seated in the position marked by the button. The button raised last round, so I checked into him.

buy-in
The minimum required amount of chips to become involved in a game (or tournament). For example, a $4-$8 fixed limit game might require a player to buy at least $40 worth of chips to play. This is typically far less than an average player would expect to play with for any amount of time, but large enough that the player can play a number of hands without buying more, so the game isn't slowed down by constant chip-
buying.

buy short
To buy into a game for an amount smaller than the normal buy-in. Some casinos allow this under certain circumstances, such as after having lost a full buy-in, or if all players agree to allow it.

buy the button
A rule originating in northern California casinos in games played with blinds, in which a new player sitting down with the button to his right (who would normally be required to sit out a hand as the button passed him, then post to come in) may choose to pay the amount of both blinds for this one hand (the amount of the large blind playing as a live blind, and the amount of the small blind as dead money), play this hand, and then receive the button on the next hand as if he had been playing all along.

C
call
To match the current bet amount, maintaining one's interest in the pot. See call.

calling station
A weak player who frequently checks and calls, but rarely raises.

cap
A limit on the number of raises allowed in a betting round. Typically three or four (in addition the opening bet). In most casinos, the cap is removed if there are only two players remaining either (1) at the beginning of the betting round, or (2) at the time that what would have otherwise been the last raise is made.
Also, term for the chip, token, or object placed atop one's cards to show continued involvement with a hand.

cards speak
Describing a split-pot game, one without a declaration.
A common house rule stating that properly shown hands at showdown may be read by anyone, and need not be announced. See cards speak.

case card
The last available card of a certain description (typically a rank). The only way I can win is to catch the case king., meaning the only king remaining in the deck.

cash plays
See "money plays".

catch
To receive needed cards on a draw. I'm down 300--I can't catch anything today. or Joe caught his flush early, but I caught the boat on seventh street to beat him. Often used with an adjective to further specify, for example "catch perfect", "catch inside", "catch smooth".

catch up
To successfully complete a draw, thus defeating a player who previously had a better hand. I was sure I had Karen beat, but she caught up when that spade fell.

catch perfect
To catch the only two possible cards that will complete a hand and win the pot, usually those leading to a straight flush. Usually used in Texas Hold 'Em. Compare with "runner-runner".

cat-hop
In five-card draw, a longshot draw requiring two desired cards to make a hand, specifically drawing two cards to a straight or flush, or drawing two cards to a small pair and kicker to make a full house.

center pot
The main pot in a table stakes game where one or more players are all in.

chase
To continue to play a drawing hand over multiple betting rounds, especially one unlikely to succeed. Frank knew I made three nines on fourth street, but he chased that flush draw all the way to the river.
To continue playing with a hand that is not likely the best because one has already invested money in the pot.

check
To bet nothing. See check.

A casino chip.
check out
To fold, in turn, even though there is no bet facing the player. In some games this is considered a breach of etiquette equivalent to folding out of turn. In others it is permitted, but frowned upon.
check-raise
To check, and then raise someone else's open. See check-raise.
cheese
A poor hand. Throw that piece of cheese in the muck and move on to the next hand.
chip
A token representing money used for betting.
chip along
To bet or call the minimum required to stay in, often done with little or no reflection. See also "white check".
chip declare
A method of declaring intent to play high or low in a split-pot game with declaration (see declaration).
chip dumping
A form of collusion that happens during tournaments, especially in the early rounds. Two or more players decide to go all-in early. The winner gets a large amount of chips, which increases the player's chance of cashing. The winnings are then split among the colluders.
chip race
In tournament play, the act of removing all the small chips from play by dealing random cards to players holding odd chips, and awarding a proportional number of larger chips to the highest-ranking cards. See chip race.
chip up
To exchange lower-denomination chips for higher-denomination chips. In tournament play, the term means to remove all the small chips from play by rounding up any odd small chips to the nearest large denomination, rather than using a chip race.
chop
To split a pot because of a tie, split-pot game, or player agreement.
To play a game for a short time and cash out; see "hit and run".
A request made by a player to a dealer after toking a large-denomination chip that he wishes the dealer to make change.
To chop blinds.
chop blinds
An agreement between neighboring players having posted blinds that if all other players fold to them, they will each retrieve their respective blind amounts and discard their hands rather than playing out the hand. This is done to avoid excessive charges by the casino for small pots. It is generally frowned upon by casinos, so it usually takes the form of the small blind folding, and then the player with the large blind refunding the small blind amount while the dealer isn't looking. Agreement must be made ahead of time.
closed
Describing a betting round, the condition that no player is eligible to raise, either because the last raise was called by all players, or because the cap was reached.
Describing a poker game, one in which each player's cards are concealed from all opponents. See closed.
cockroach
Euphemism for a player who frequently raises the pot in a blatant attempt to steal the antes or blinds.
coffeehouse
To make annoying smalltalk during a game, to make comments about a hand in progress, or to make deceptive comments about one's own play.
cold
Consecutive, as in I caught three cold spades for the flush.
Unlucky, as in I've been cold all week.
cold call
To call an amount that represents a sum of bets or raises by more than one player. Alice opened for $10, Bob raised another $20, and Charlie cold called the $30.
cold deck
A deck previously arranged to produce a specific outcome, then surreptitiously switched into the game. Called "cold" because such a deck switched in during play will not have been warmed by the dealer's hands. I can't believe Jim got those four kings the same time I got four sixes--it was like being cold-decked. Also "ice".
collusion
A form of cheating involving cooperation among two or more players. See collusion.
color change, color up
To exchange small-denomination chips for larger ones.
combo, combination game
A casino table at which multiple forms of poker are played in rotation.
come bet, on the come
A bet or raise made with a drawing hand, building the pot in anticipation of filling the draw. Usually a weak "gambler's" play, but occasionally correct with a very good draw and large pot or as a semi-bluff.
community card
A card dealt face-up to the center of the table (not to any one player's hand), which can be used in some way by multiple players according to specific game rules. See community card, community card game.
completion
To raise a small bet up to the amount of what would be a normal-sized bet. For example, in a $2/$4 stud game with $1 bring-in, a player after the bring-in may raise it to $2, completing what would otherwise be a sub-minimum bet up to the normal minimum. Also in limit games, if one player raises all in for less than the normally required minimum, a later player might complete the raise to the normal minimum (depending on house rules; see table stakes).
connectors
Two or more cards of consecutive rank.
countdown
Especially in lowball, two hands very nearly tied that must be compared in detail to determine a winner, for example, 8-6-5-3-2 versus 8-6-5-3-A.
The act of counting the cards that remain in the stub after all cards have been dealt, done by a dealer to ensure that a complete deck is being used.
counterfeit
Most often used in community card games, a card appearing on the board that doesn't change the value of one's own hand, but that makes it much more likely for an opponent to tie or beat you, often because it duplicates what was previously a valuable card in your hand. Also "duplicate". See counterfeit.
cow
A player with whom one is sharing a buy-in, with the intent to split the result after play. To "go cow" is to make such an arrangement.
cowboy
A king. And he's flopped a pair of cowboys
crack
To beat a better hand, mostly heard in reference to the best Hold em hole cards, AA. eg "My Aces were cracked again"
crossfire
See "whipsaw".
crowley
Folding your hand when the action to check is an option. "You could have checked, why did you pull a crowley." See also "blind crowley", "lord crowley"
crying call
A call made reluctantly on the last betting round with the expectation of losing (but with some remote hope of catching a bluff).
cut
Take some of the cards off the top of a deck and move them to the bottom.
cutoff
The seat immediately to the right of the dealer button. Also "pone".
[edit]
D
dark
Describing an action taken before receiving information to which the player would normally be entitled. I'm drawing three, and I check in the dark. See "blind".
dead blind
A blind that is not "live", in that the player posting it does not have the option to raise if other players just call. Rarely used.
dead button
A dealer button placed in a position where there is no player. This occurs in some casinos when the player who would otherwise be entitled to the button leaves the game (other casinos move the button forward to the next player). This occurs frequently during poker tournaments, due to player elimination.
dead hand
A player's hand that is not entitled to participate in the deal for some reason, such as having been fouled by touching another player's cards, being found to contain the wrong number of cards, being dealt to a player who did not make the appropriate forced bets, etc.
dead man's hand
A dead man's hand is the famous hand Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was shot and killed in 1877, consisting of a pair of aces and a pair of eights of the black suits (spades and clubs); but often refers to any two pairs of aces and eights.
dead money
Money placed into a pot that does not represent equal bets and calls by active players in the pot. This can be the earlier bets of players who have folded, or money placed in the pot before the deal.
By extension, it is used as a derogatory term for money put in play by unskilled players who are legally eligible, but unlikely, to win it back. Can also refer to the player: Let's play that stud game--Joe and Diane are dead money.
deadwood
The muck.
deal
To distribute cards to players in accordance with the rules of the game being played.
A single instance of a game of poker, begun by shuffling the cards and ending with the award of a pot. Also called a "hand" (though both terms are ambiguous).
An agreement to split tournament prize money differently from the announced payouts.
See "business".
dealer
The person dealing the cards, or the person who assumes that role for the purposes of betting order in a game, even though someone else might be physically dealing. In the latter case, that player is often marked with a button, and may be called "the button".
dealer's choice
A version of poker in which the deal passes each game and each dealer can choose, or invent, a new poker game each hand.
declare
To verbally indicate an action or intention; see declaration.
decloak
To raise after having sandbagged for a time (making it clear that you were, in fact, sandbagging). See "in the bushes".
deep
Describing a large amount of money, either in play or having been lost. How deep are you? (meaning "How much money do you have", in anticipation of making a very large bet). I won that large pot, but I'm in much deeper than that.
defense
Playing to minimize investment or loss rather than maximize a win; for example, with a drawing hand that is risky but that you think should call an opponent's bet, you might make a smaller "defensive bet" yourself that you think your opponent will just call, rather than checking and calling a larger bet, or showing weakness.
Occasionally calling with weak hands to discourage opponents from bullying, especially when in the blinds.
See Defense
deuce
A 2-spot card.
Any of various related uses of the number two, such as a $2 limit game, a $2 chip, etc.
deuce-to-seven
A method of evaluating low hands. See Deuce-to-seven lowball.
discard
To take a previously dealt card out of play. The set of all discards for a deal is called the "muck" or the "deadwood".
dog
Underdog; that is, a player with a smaller chance to win than another specified player. Frequently used when the exact odds are expressed. Harry might have been bluffing, but if he really had the king, my hand was a 4-to-1 dog, so I folded.
dominated hand
A hand that is extremely unlikely to win against another specific hand, even though it may not be a poor hand in its own right. Most commonly used in Texas hold 'em. A hand like A-Q, for example, is a good hand in general but is dominated by A-K, because whenever the former makes a good hand, the latter is likely to make a better one. A hand like 7-8 is a poor hand in general, but is not dominated by A-K because it makes different kinds of hands.
donation
A call made by a player who fully expects to lose; made either out of boredom or irrational optimism.
donk, donkey
Epithet for an inexperienced, unskilled, or foolish poker player. I played that hand like a donkey.
donk (verb)
To play a hand poorly. I donked off 15 bucks on that last hand.
door card
In a stud game, a player's first face-up card. Patty paired her door card on fifth street and raised, so I put her on trips.
Window card.
double-ace flush
Under unconventional rules, a flush with one or more wild cards in which they play as aces, even if an ace is already present. See Double ace flush.
double-board, double-flop
Any of several community card game variants (usually Texas hold 'em) in which two separate boards of community cards are dealt simultaneously, with the pot split between the winning hands using each board.
double-draw
Any of several Draw poker games in which the draw phase and subsequent betting round are repeated twice.
double gutter, double belly buster
In games involving six or more cards, a draw to a straight that can be filled by two ranks, but that is not an open-ender. For example, K-J-10-9-7, which can become a straight with any Q or 8.
double through, double up
In a big bet game, to bet all of one's chips on one hand against a single opponent (who has an equal or larger stack) and win, thereby doubling your stack. I was losing a bit, but then I doubled through Sarah to put me in good shape.
downcard
A card that is dealt facedown.
down to the felt
All in, or having lost all of one's money. Refers to the green felt surface of a poker table no longer obscured by chips.
drag light
To pull chips away from the pot to indicate that you don't have enough money to cover the bet. If you win, the amount is ignored. If you lose, you must cover the amount from your pocket.
draw
Draw poker.
To replace one or more cards in one's hand with new ones from the deck stub, as in draw poker.
The act of staying in a hand in hopes of improving, usually to a straight or flush--on a draw.
A drawing hand.
drawing hand
In any game, an incomplete hand which is not likely to win unless future cards, received by whatever means the game specifies, improve it. For example, having four club-suited cards but no pair in a stud game, hoping that one of the cards to come will be a fifth club, making a flush. See draw.
drawing dead
Playing a drawing hand that will lose even if successful (a state of affairs usually only discovered after the fact). I caught the jack to make my straight, but Rob had a full house all along, so I was drawing dead.
drawing live
Not drawing dead; that is, drawing to a hand that will win if successful.
drawing thin
Not drawing completely dead, but chasing a draw in the face of poor odds. Example: a player who will only win by catching 1 or 2 specific cards is said to be drawing thin.
drink pot
A pot won by a player with the agreement that drinks will be bought from the proceeds. See "pot".
drop
To fold.
Money charged by the casino for providing its services, often dropped through a slot in the table into a strong box. See "rake".
To drop ones cards to the felt to indicate that one is in or out of a game like guts.
dry pot
A side pot with no money. Created when a player goes all in and is called by more than one opponent, but not raised. Bluffing into a dry pot is a play that cannot possibly earn a profit, so doing so is considered foolish. It may also be unethical, because it serves to protect the all-in player at the expense of the bettor and the other players, and so is a form of collusion.
dump, dumped
To lose a large quantity of ones stack to another player on a particular hand or set of hands in short succession. I dumped half my stack to John after he cracked my Kings.
duplicate
To counterfeit, especially when the counterfeiting card matches one already present in the one's hand.
[edit]
E
early position
In a betting round with multiple players involved, those who bet first are said to be in early position. See position.
equity
One's mathematically expected income from the current deal, calculated by multiplying the amount of money in the pot by one's probability of winning. For example, if the pot currently contains $100, and you estimate that you have a one in four chance of winning it, then your equity in the pot in $25. Compare to "expected value".
expectation
Expected value.
One's typical win rate for a particular game, ignoring variance. That is, how much one expects to win (or lose) per hour or per hand over the long run.
expected value, EV
In probability theory, the overall expected payoff of a particular event, calculated by multiplying the probability of each possible outcome by the payoff from each. For example, if there are two possible outcomes from an event (say, flipping a coin), one of which pays $2 and the other of which pays nothing, your EV for the event is $1 (in the long run, if this event happened many times, you would average $1 per event). In poker, one generally associates an EV with a particular action. One's EV from calling a bet, for example, is the sum of all possible outcomes from calling the bet multiplied by the probability of each. Note that since a bet costs money to make, the payoff of some outcomes--and therefore the EV itself--may be negative.
exposed card
A card whose face has been deliberately or accidentally revealed to players normally not entitled to that information during the play of the game. Various games have different rules about how to handle this irregularity. Compare "boxed card".
[edit]
F
family pot
A deal in which every (or almost every) seated player called the first opening bet.
fast
Aggressive. I was afraid of too many chasers, so I played my trips fast.
feeder
In a casino setting, a second or third table playing the same game as a "main" table, and from which players move to the main game as players there leave. Also called a "must-move table."
fence-hopper
See "hop the fence".
fifth street
The last card dealt to the board in community card games. Less common than river.
The fifth card dealt to each player in stud poker.
fill, fill up
To successfully draw to a hand that needs one card to complete it, by getting the last card of a straight, flush, or full house. Jerry made his flush when I was betting my kings up, but I filled on seventh street to catch up.
fire
To make the opening bet of a round, following the same analogy by which chips are called "ammo". I called Ken's bet on fourth with a draw, but I bricked, and when he fired again I had to fold. or I think Randy suspected my earlier bet was a bluff, but when I fired a second shot he let it go.
fish
An unskilled player, or an otherwise skilled player playing carelessly.
To risk money on a long-shot bet
fish hooks
Pair of jacks
five of a kind
A hand possible only in games with wild cards, defeating all other hands, comprising five cards of equal rank. See five of a kind.
fixed limit, flat limit
A betting structure in which a player never chooses the amount to bet, only whether to bet a fixed amount or not. See fixed limit.
flash
To show the bottom card of the deck while shuffling.
flat call
A call, in a situation where one might be expected to raise. Normally I raise with jacks, but with three limpers ahead of me I decided to flat call.
floorman, floorperson
A casino employee whose duties include adjudicating player disputes, keeping games filled and balanced, and managing dealers and other personnel. Players may shout "floor!" to call for a floorperson to resolve a dispute, to ask for a table or seat change, or to ask for some other casino service.
flop
In a community card game, the first set of community cards dealt, and the betting round that follows. In Texas hold 'em and Omaha hold'em in particular, this involves a set of three community cards dealt before the game's second betting round. The verb flop is to catch something on the flop.
flop game
Community card game.
flush
A hand comprising five cards of the same suit. See flush.
fold
To relinquish one's cards, forfeiting any further interest in the pot for this deal. See fold.
forced bet
Money that a player is required to place into the pot by the rules of the game. The three common forms are antes, blinds, and bring-ins.
forced-move
In a casino where more than one table is playing the same game with thesame betting structure, one of the tables may be designated the "main" table,and will be kept full by requiring a player to move from one of the feeder tables to fill any vacancies. Players will generally be informed that their table is a "forced-move" table to be used in this way before they agree to play there. Also "must-move".
forward motion
A house rule of some casinos states that if a player in turn picks up chips from his stack and moves his hand toward the pot ("forward motion with chips in hand"), this constitutes a commitment to bet (or call), and the player may not withdraw his hand to check or fold. Such a player still has the choice of whether to call or raise.
foul hand
A hand that is ruled unplayable because of an irregularity, such as being found with too many or two few cards, having been mixed with cards of other players or the muck, having fallen off the table, etc. Compare "dead hand".
four-flush
Four cards of the same suit. A non-standard poker hand in some games, an incomplete drawing hand in most. See "bobtail", "four-straight".
four of a kind, fours
A hand containing four cards of equal rank. See four of a kind.
four-straight
Four cards in rank sequence; either an open-ender or one-ender. A non-standard poker hand in some games, an incomplete drawing hand in most. See "bobtail", "four-flush".
fourth street
The fourth card dealt to the board in community card games. Less common than turn.
The fourth card dealt to each player in stud.
fox hunt
After a hand is over, a fox hunt means to reveal the next card that would have come up. If the next card would have been the final card, such as in a community card game with a fixed number of cards, this is called rabbit hunting. Such activity is usually prohibited in most casinos.
free card
A card dealt to one's hand (or to the board of community cards) after a betting round in which no player opened. One is thereby being given a chance to improve one's hand without having to pay anything. I wasn't sure my hand was good, but I bet so I wouldn't give a free card to Bill's flush draw.
freeroll
A situation in which a player is guaranteed to at least break even and may possibly profit. Common in split-pot games. See freeroll.
A tournament with no entry fee. Sometimes offered as a casino promotion, or as a reward for earlier play.
freezeout
A winner-take-all tournament. That is, a game in which play continues until one player has all the chips.
full, full boat, full hand, full house
A hand with three cards of one rank and two of a second rank. The term "full hand" seems to have been the original, but today "full house" is standard. See full house, "boat", "tight".
full bet rule
In some casinos, the rule that a player must wager the full amount required in order for his action to constitute a raise. For example, in a game with a $4 fixed limit, a player facing an opening bet of $4 who wagers $7 is deemed to have flat called, because $8 is required to raise. The alternative is the "half bet rule".
[edit]
G
garbage
The muck.
A worthless hand.
gretzky
In games like Texas hold 'em to have pocket 9's. A reference to hockey player Wayne Gretzky's number 99.
grinder
A player who earns a living by making small profits over a long period of consistent, conservative play. See "rock".
guts, guts to open
A game with no opening hand requirement; that is, where the only requirement to open the betting is "guts", or courage.
Any of several poker variants where pots accumulate over several hands until a single player wins. See guts.
gutshot
An inside straight draw.
gypsy
To enter the pot cheaply by just calling the blind rather than raising. Also "limp".
[edit]
H
half bet rule
In some casinos, the rule that placing chips equal to or greater than half the normal bet amount beyond the amount required to call constitutes a commitment to raise the normal amount. For example, in a game with a $4 fixed limit, a player facing a $4 opening bet who places $6 in the pot is deemed to have raised, and must complete his bet to $8. The alternative is the "full bet rule".
half kill
A kill for less than double the normal limits. For example, a $6 game may have a kill for $9 rather than the usual $12.
half-pot limit
A betting structure resembling pot limit, but which allows maximum raises of half the amount in the pot rather than the full amount.
hammer
To bet and raise aggressively. Nora kept hammering, so I folded.
"Having the hammer" is being in last position, especially head up. You've got the hammer; I check to you.
A "hammer lock" refers to a player with an almost 100% chance of winning the pot.
In Texas Hold'em, The Hammer refers to a starting hand consisting of a 7-2 offsuit.
hand
The set of cards played by one player.
A single instance of a game of poker, begun by shuffling the cards and ending with the award of a pot. Also called a "deal" (though both terms are ambiguous).
hand for hand
In tournament play, the act of equalizing the number of hands played at two or more tables by waiting for slower tables to finish each hand before beginning the next hand on every table. This is usually done to ensure an accurate finishing order to distribute prize money.
hard
Aggressive and uncompromising, said of one's play. Jim played me hard all night; I could never get a break.
Chips, as opposed to paper money. I gave the floorman $100 for $50 hard and $50 soft.
head up, heads up
Playing against a single opponent. After Lori folded, Frank and I were head up for the rest of the hand.
here kitty kitty
A conspicuously small bet made with a very powerful hand in the hope of getting a call from one or more opponents who would otherwise fold to a normal-sized bet.
high, high hand
The best hand using traditional poker hand values, as opposed to lowball. Used especially in high-low split games.
high card
A no pair hand, ranked according to its highest-ranking cards.
To defeat another player by virtue of high-ranking cards, especially kickers.
To randomly select a player for some purpose by having each draw one card, the highest of which is selected (for example, to decide who deals first). When all the players get here, we'll high card for the button. Often high card by suit is used for this purpose.
high-low, high-low split
Any of several games in which the pot is divided between the player with the best conventional poker hand and the best lowball hand.
high society
Large-denomination chips. Also "society".
$10,000 worth of chips. "Give me three stacks of high society."
hit and run
To play for a short time, make money, and leave. Also called "chopping" a game.
hog, hogger
To win all of the pot in a split-pot game, for example, by having both the best high hand and best low hand simultaneously. Also called "scooping" the pot.
hole, hole card
Face-down cards. I think Willy has two more queens in the hole.
A seat, often preceded by a number relative to the button. Sara opened from the 2-hole.
Hollywood
Overt acting to deceive other players. Karl had a big smile when he bet, but it seemed too Hollywood to me, so I called anyway.
home game
A game played at a private venue (usually the home of one of the players), as opposed to a casino.
hop the fence
The enter the pot with a cold call.
horse
A player financially backed by someone else. I lost today, but Larry was my horse in the stud game, and he won big.
H.O.R.S.E.
A combination game with five games played in rotation: Texas hold 'em, Omaha hold'em, razz, seven-card stud, and eight-or-better seven-card stud high-low. Other combinations of the letters are often seen as well: S.H.O.E., H.O.E., etc.
hunt
Looking further into the deck after the hand is over to see what cards would have come next (see also: fox hunt, rabbit hunt).
[edit]
I
ice
A cold deck.
idiot end, ignorant end
The bottom end of a straight.
immortal
Unbeatable; often said of a hand that a player knows cannot be beaten under the circumstances of play. See also "lock", "nuts".
implied odds
Similar to pot odds, but including future bets one can reasonably expect to win. I only had 3-to-1 pot odds for a 5-to-1 draw, but I knew if I made it I'd get two extra bets from Jim, so I called for the implied odds.
improve
To achieve a better hand than one currently holds by adding or exchanging cards as provided in the rules of the game being played. I didn't think Paula was bluffing, so I decided not to call unless I improved on the draw.
inside, inside straight
A draw to a straight with a single missing rank in the interior, for example, 8-9-J-Q, seeking a 10. Sometimes used to describe a one-end straight, which is mathematically equivalent. Also "belly buster", "gutshot". Compare "bobtail", "open-ender".
insurance
A "business" deal in which players agree to split or reduce a pot (roughly in proportion to the chances of each of them winning) with more cards to come rather than playing out the hand, or else a deal where one player makes a side bet against himself with a third party to hedge against a large loss. This is usually done when one player is all in.
in the bushes, in the weeds
A player sandbagging is said to be "in the bushes" during the time he is quietly checking and calling while others bet aggressively. He will eventually "decloak".
in the middle
In a game with multiple blinds, an incoming player may sometimes be allowed to post the blinds "in the middle" (that is, out of their normal order) rather than having to wait for them to pass.
A player being whipsawed is said to be "in the middle".
in the money
To place high enough in a tournament to get prize money.
in turn
A player, or an action, is said to be in turn if that player is expected to act next under the rules. Jerry said "check" while he was in turn, so he's not allowed to raise.
irregular declaration
An action taken by a player in turn that is not a straightforward declaration of intent, but that is reasonably interpreted as an action by other players, such as rapping the table to signify "check", or pointing a thumb up to signify "raise". House rules or dealer discretion may determine when such actions are meaningful and/or binding.
irregularity
Any of a number of abnormal conditions in play, such as unexpectedly exposed cards, that may call for corrective action. See irregularities.
isolation
To play aggressively in order to drive out all but one specific opponent who you believe to be weak. I reraised to isolate Diane because she's been playing junk all day.
[edit]
J
jack it up
To raise.
jackpot
A game of "jackpot poker" or "jackpots", which is a variant of five-card draw with an ante from each player, no blinds, and an opening requirement of a pair of jacks or better.
A large pool of money collected by the house and awarded for some rare occurrence, typically a bad beat.
jam
To open or raise the maximum amount allowed.
juice
Money collected by the house. See also "rake".
[edit]
K
Kansas City low
Deuce-to-seven lowball.
keep (a bettor) honest
To call a final bet while not expecting to win, for the primary purpose of discouraging future bluffs.
kicker
A card not directly involved in evaluating a hand, but that may be used for breaking ties. See kicker. Also "side card".
A non-paired card kept before the draw in draw poker in hope of pairing it.
kill, kill pot
An occasional hand played at double the usual stakes at an agreed-upon time; often when a player wins two hands in a row, or when a player scoops in a split-pot game. The "lucky" player is often required to post an extra blind for double the usual blind amount. See also "half-kill".
The custom of dealing one card face down to the side for each card dealt face up as community in community games. The cards dealt face down (not to any players) are out of play (have been killed) and ensure that the deck is not stacked.
kitty
A pool of money built by collecting small amounts from certain pots, often used to buy refreshments, cards, and so on. The home-game equivalent of a rake.
[edit]
L
laydown
A tough choice to fold a good hand in anticipation of superior opposition.
limit
The minimum or maximum amount of a bet.
limp in
To enter a pot by simply calling instead of raising.
live
Still raisable. A live bet is one which a player can raise even if they've already bet and everyone else has made a call, typically because the player posted a blind.
loose
A player who plays many hands, often including those that are of lesser value. Compare to "tight"; see also "aggressive", "passive".
lord crowley
Folding your hand out of turn when the action to check is an option. see also "blind crowley", "crowley"
low
The lowest card by rank.
The low half of the pot in a high-low split.
[edit]
M
maniac
A loose and aggressive player. A player who bets constantly and plays many inferior hands.
match the pot
To put in an amount equal to all the chips in the pot.
misdeal
A deal which is ruined for some reason and must be redealt.
move in
In a no-limit game, to "move in" or to "go all in" means to bet one's entire stake on the hand in play. See table stakes.
muck
To fold.
To discard one's hand without revealing the cards. Often done after winning without a showdown or at a showdown when a better hand has already been revealed.
The discard pile.
[edit]
N
natural card
A card that isn’t wild or otherwise modified by the game rules. In some houses, a natural hand beats an equivalent hand that uses wild cards, though this is not generally the case.
no-limit
A betting structure where players may wager as much as they like.
nuts, the
The best possible hand given the cards on the board.
[edit]
O
offsuit
Cards that are not of the same suit. Example: the Ace of Clubs and the King of Spades is Ace-King Offsuit
open
To bet first.
openers
The cards held by a player in a game of "jackpots" entitling him to open the pot. "Splitting openers" refers to holding onto one of your openers after discarding it to prove you had the necessary cards to open should you win the pot.
option
An optional bet or draw, such as getting an extra card facedown for 50 cents or raising on the big blind when checked all the way around.
out of pocket
A game which gives the players the ability to add more money to their stack in the middle of a hand. See table stakes.
outs
Cards remaining in the deck that can improve one's hand.
outside straight
A draw to a straight with a single missing rank in the exterior, for example, 10-J-Q-K, seeking an ace or a 9. Also "open-end straight", "two-way straight draw".
overcard
A community card with a higher rank than a player's pocket pair.
over the top
re-raising a player's raise, as in, "I opened the pot from early position, the button popped me back, but I came over the top all in and shut him out."
[edit]
P
paint
The face cards, Jacks, Queens, and Kings, in a deck. In Texas hold'em, a flop can be said to be "all paint" if it consists of only these cards.
pair
Two of the same cards in a given hand.
passive
An opponent who rarely raises. Compare to "aggressive"; see also "loose", "tight".
pat
Already complete. A hand is a pat hand when, say, a straight comes on the first five cards in Texas hold'em.
pocket pair
In Community card or Stud poker, when two of a player's private cards make a pair.
poker face
A blank face that does not reveal anything about the cards being held. Often used metaphorically outside the world of poker.
pooted
Cards that are not of the same suit. This is the antonym of the term "suited", and is primarily used in the game of Texas Hold'em.
position bet
A bet that is made more due to the strength of the bettor's position than the strength of the bettor's cards.
post
To make the required small or big blind bet in Texas Hold 'em or other games played with blinds rather than antes
post dead
To post a bet amount equal to the small and the big blind combined (the amount of the large blind playing as a live blind, and the amount of the small blind as dead money). In games played with blinds, a player who steps away from the table and misses his turn for the blinds must either post dead or wait for the big blind to re-enter the game.
post-oak bluff
To bluff with a very small bet, in the hope that it will be perceived as a here-kitty-kitty bet.
pot
The already-bet money or chips that players in the hand can win.
To agree with a group of other players that the next pot-winner will pay for something, typically drinks or refreshments. Joe, let's pot for the next round.
pot limit
A limit where the maximum amount one can bet is the amount in the pot.
pot odds
The size of the pot in comparison to the bet. Example: in Hold 'em, the pot contains $100, Joe bets $10, and Ed ponders a call. Ed is getting pot odds of $110:$10, or 11:1
presto!
In Texas Hold 'em, a pair of 5's in the hole.
proposition player, prop
A player that gets paid an hourly rate to start poker games or to help them stay active. Prop players play with their own money, which distinguishes them from shills, who play with the casino's money.
protect
To put an object on one's cards to prevent them from being mucked.
push
To put yourself all-in.
[edit]
Q
quads
Four of a kind.
quarter
To win a quarter of a pot, usually by tying the low or high hand of a high-low split game. Generally, this is an unwanted outcome, as it seldom wins enough money to cover the amount bet during the hand.
[edit]
R
rabbit hunt
After a hand is over, a rabbit hunt means to reveal the last card that would have come up in a community card game with a fixed number of cards. Such activity is usually prohibited in casinos.
rack
1. A collection of 100 chips of the same denomination, usually arranged in 5 stacks in a plastic tray.
2. A plastic tray used for storing a rack of chips.
rags
Worthless (or apparently worthless) cards. Most often refers to small cards in high-hand games, while high cards in low games are more often called bricks.
rail
The rail is the sideline at a poker table - the (often imaginary) rail separating spectators from the field of play. Watching from the rail means watching a poker game as a spectator. People on the rail are sometimes called railbirds.
rainbow
Three or four cards of different suits, especially said of a Flop.
raise
To put in more money than the existing bet.
The amount raised.
rake
A fee taken by the house.
ram and jam
To aggressively bet, raise, and reraise on a draw to a strong hand. Similar to a come bet but a bit more aggressive.
rebuy
An amount of chips purchased after the buy-in.
redeal
To deal a hand again, possibly after a misdeal.
reraise
Raise after one has been raised. Also called "coming over the top."
ring game
A non-tournament poker game played for stakes, as in a casino or a serious home game.
river
The fifth card dealt in communal card games such as Texas hold 'em. The verb river is to catch a winning card on the river
rob rob
Refers to the starting hand of 4-7, either suited or unsuited.
rock
A passive and tight player. The rock barely plays any hands at all. Aces and kings he loves, though. And when he gets them, he knows exactly how to play them. He is a good reader of the game who risks very few unexpected, big losses. He knows when his aces have been cracked.
rockets
A pair of aces as your hole cards.
rolled-up trips
In seven-card stud, three of a kind dealt in the first three cards.
rounder
A gambler who makes their living entirely at cards. Rounding used to be illegal in the United States due to gaming laws, however many states have eased these and allowed "home" poker games to take place.
runner
A tournament entrant, a contestant.
runner-runner
a hand made by hitting two consecutive cards on the Turn and River. See also, "Backdoor", and "Bad Beat"
rush
a player who has won several big pots is said to be on a rush (example: Sue wins three hands out of five).
[edit]
S
sailboats
Often referred in a Hold'em game as having a pocket pair of fours
sandbag
To play your hand slowly to gain an advantage in a tournament with a timed blinds structure. Sandbagging can also refer to wasting time before checking in a hand to lure opponents into thinking you have a poor hand. See sandbagging.
satellite
A tournament in which the prize is a free entrance to another (larger) tournament.
scoop
In high-low split games, to win both the high and the low half of the pot.
semi-bluff
A large bet on a drawing hand. A strategy used because of its dual purpose of both possibly winning the pot immediately by forcing your opponents to fold, but still having the potential to win if you are called and subsequently make your hand. See "draw".
set
Three of a kind with two of the cards in the player's hole cards and the third card in the community cards. Often confused with "trips".
showdown
When the cards are revealed at the end of the game. Also used outside poker to mean facing up to an opponent.
side pot
A separate pot created to deal with the situation of one player going "all in". See table stakes.
slow play
A strategy whereby good cards are played conservatively, with hopes that other players will keep playing the hand and build a larger pot.
slow roll
To expose only part of one's hand at the showdown with the intent of deceiving an opponent as to the actual strength of one's hand. Usually done by someone with a winning hand by first exposing a card or cards, waiting for a reaction from an opponent, and then exposing the remaining cards to show the winning hand. Considered distasteful and very poor etiquette. Also can refer to simply waiting to expose one's winning hand until after all other players have shown theirs.
speeding
To play very loose with no identifiable pattern, or to bluff frequently. Also known as speeding around.
spike
When a flop is spread out, if the first card revealed is the card an underdog needs, they spike that card. More loosely, if any of the flop cards help you, then you spike it. I had Q9 to my opponent's pocket jacks, but I spiked a queen on the flop to take the lead.
splash the pot
To throw one's chips in the pot in a disorderly fashion. Not typically allowed, because the dealer can't tell how much has been bet.
split
One share of a multi-way pot, such as the high hand in a high-low game.
spread
The range between a table's minimum and maximum bets.
stack
A collection of 20 chips of the same denomination, usually arranged in an orderly column.
stakes
The definition of the amount one buys in for and can bet. For example, a "low stakes" game might be a $10 buy-in with a $1 maximum raise.
stand pat
In draw poker, playing the original hand using no draws, either as a bluff or in the belief it is the best hand.
steal
In poker, the term steal is often used as merely a synonym for bluff, but there is a more specific use of the term. See Steal
steam
Act of playing recklessly when one is frustrated. Same as tilt.
steel wheel
A-2-3-4-5 of five consecutive cards of a single suit. Also known as a lock-lock in Omaha High/Low Split. It is the best possible hand in that game.
stop 'n go
When a player bets into another player who has previously raised or otherwise shown aggression. Example: On the flop, Bill bets into Tom, Tom raises, and Bill just calls. On the turn, Bill bets into Tom again. Bill has just pulled a stop 'n go.
straight
Hand of five consecutive cards which are not all the same suit.
straight flush
Hand of five consecutive cards of a single suit. The highest of these is the royal flush, or 10 through Ace of one suit.
strategy card
A wallet sized card that is commonly used to help with poker strategies in online and casino games.
string bet
To call with one motion and raise with another. Not typically allowed.
stuck
Having lost money. I'm stuck $300 right now.
stud
A card placed upwards in Stud poker; also, that form of poker itself.
suck out
To draw a winning hand despite poor odds.
suited
Cards that are of the same suit
super satellite
A multi-table tournament in which the prize is a free entrance to a satellite tournament or a tournament in which all the top finishers gain entrance to a larger tournament.
sweat
To sweat someone is to watch them play from the rail, in order to lend your support.
[edit]
T
table stakes
A rule that states that only money on the table at the beginning of a hand is playable, and that a player may not retrieve money from his or her wallet or purse during the play of a hand. This rule prevents abuse of all-in protection. See table stakes for further explanation.
tell
A motion or statement that gives away information on one's cards. See tell.
throwing a party
A player who is playing like a fool and gambling all of their money away.
three of a kind
Three cards of the same rank.
tight
A player who rarely calls. Compare to "loose"; see also "aggressive", "passive".
tilt
To make reckless betting decisions as a result of frustration. Players showing this behavior are often said to be on tilt. See tilt (poker).
tourettes
To be dealt AK suited, only to see the remainder of the cards fail to give a hand any better than Ace High. Mark was always suffering from tourettes.
trips
Three of a kind with two of the cards in the community cards and the remaining card in the player's hole cards. Often confused with "set".
turn
The fourth card dealt in communal card games such as Texas hold 'em.

U
under the gun
The playing position to the direct left of the blinds in Texas hold 'em or Omaha . The player who is under the gun must act first on the first round of betting.

upcard
A card that is dealt faceup.

up the ante
Increase the stake. Also commonly used outside the context of poker.

V
value bet
A bet made for the purpose of increasing the size of the pot, and which the player wants his opponents to call. This is in contrast to a bluff or a protection bet (though some bets may have a combination of these motives).

W
weak ace
an ace with a low kicker (e.g. three).

wheel
A 5-high straight.

whipsaw
When a player is caught in the middle between two raisers and must call each bet because of the pot odds.

wild card
a card designated by the dealer before dealing (for instance all sevens) that may be used as any of the 52 cards to fill a hand. In some cases, wildcards can also be used to make five of a kind, a hand that is not possible using the standard 52-card deck. See also "bug".
wired pair
In Community card or Stud poker, when two of a player's private cards make a pair. Also called a "pocket pair."

X- NONE SO FAR

Y- VIRGIN

Z - TO BE INVENTED

SO THATS ALL ABOUT POKER..THE LATEST ONLINE CRAZE...HAPPY GAMING FOLKS..
GO HIT THE JACKPOT...OUTSMART OTHERS!

Online games - Poker Strategy

2005-12-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

How to win the jackpot?!

Hand strength

Once a player has mastered the rank of hands, it is more important to realize their relative strength at a poker table. Approximately half the five-card hands in any given game will be less than a pair of twos, but only about one-fourth of five-card hands in the long run will be better than a pair of Aces. A full house is such a good hand that it is far more likely to be the best hand on the table than a 7 high (the lowest possible hand) is to be the lowest hand at a given table.

One mistake made by many beginners is to bet hands that are unlikely to win in the showdown, hoping that they will eventually improve. In the long run, this is a losing strategy against experienced players. For example, in draw poker, any hand less than a pair should generally be folded at the earliest opportunity. In other games, such as Texas Hold 'Em where only two cards are dealt before the betting round, unmatched combinations of low cards are unlikely to result in a winning hand.

Improvement and pot odds

Athough improvement is possible with virtually every hand, most beginners forget that players with better hands may also improve their hands on the draw, and that in the long run the player with the better hand before a draw is likely to have the better hand after the draw as well. Generally, if you have reason to believe that your opponent has a better hand than you at any given point of a betting round, the appropriate action is to fold. However, if the money in the pot is large compared to the bet required to stay in (the "pot odds"), a call is possible. This is particularly the case when a player is attempting to fill a straight or flush. However, the approximate odds of filling an outside straight on the next draw is about 6-1, and the odds of similarly filling a flush is about 5-1. As such, calling is not recommended if the money that could be won gives a lesser payout on the bet.

One bet made by beginners that rarely pays off is to fill an "inside straight" - a straight with one of the middle cards missing. The odds against filling such a straight on a single draw are roughly 13-1 against and should not be considered unless the pot odds are particularly good.

Bluffing

Beginners, even talented beginners, see bluffing as a way to "buy" the pot. However, bluffing seldom works against poor players (who tend to overestimate the strength of their hand to begin with) and does not work for long against expert players if a player bluffs too frequently. Although all players should bluff occasionally to make their large bets on good hands look less credible, consistent and constant bluffing generally leads to large losses.

In large games it is difficult to bluff because of the high chance that someone has a good hand. It is also more sensible for your opponents to call than fold if the pot is large unless they are sure their hand is dead. Paying $10 to call with $100 in the pot is good value for anyone with more than a 10% chance of winning.

Position play

Generally, players who have to bet first need stronger hands to open the betting than players who bet later. This is because the raw odds of a better hand being on the table increase based on the number of players who have not had the opportunity to bet. For example, in a six-player game of draw poker, it is recommended that a player check in the first betting position unless they have at least a pair of aces. However, the last player to bet (the dealer) may open the betting if no-one else has spoken with as little as a pair of twos. One expert Hold 'Em player recommends folding if you are the first player to the left of the blind unless you have the strength to raise.

Poker

2005-12-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

Poker Mania!

Poker is a card game, the most popular of a class of games called vying games, in which players with fully or partially concealed cards make wagers into a central pot, which is awarded to the remaining player or players with the best combination of cards. Poker can also refer to video poker which is a single-player game seen in casinos much like a slot machine.

The poker room at the Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, NJ.In order to play, one must learn the basic rules and procedures of the game, the values of the various combinations of cards (see hand), and the rules about betting limits (see betting). Some knowledge of the equipment used to play (see poker equipment) is useful. There are also many variants of poker, loosely categorized as draw poker, stud poker, community card poker (a.k.a. "widow game"), and miscellaneous poker games. The most commonly played games of the first three categories are five-card draw, seven-card stud, and Texas hold 'em, respectively; each being a common starting point for learning games of the type. Dealer's choice is a way to play poker where the dealer chooses what type of poker to play.Game play

Royal Flush in heartsThe game of poker is played in hundreds of variations, but the following overview of game play applies to most of them.

Depending on the game rules, one or more players may be required to place an initial amount of money into the pot before the cards are dealt. These are called forced bets and come in three forms: antes, blinds, and bring-ins.

Like most card games, the dealer shuffles the deck of cards. The deck is then cut, and the appropriate number of cards are dealt face-down to the players. In a casino a "house" dealer handles the cards for each hand, but a button (any small item used as a marker, also called a buck) is rotated among the players to determine the order of dealing and betting in certain games. In a home game, the right to deal the cards typically rotates among the players clockwise, but a button may still be used.

After the initial deal, the first of what may be several betting rounds begins. Between rounds, the players' hands develop in some way, often by being dealt additional cards or replacing cards previously dealt. During a round of betting, there will always be a current bet amount, which is the total amount of money bet in this round by the player who bet last in this round. To keep better track of this, it is conventional for players to not place their bets directly into the pot (called splashing the pot), but rather place them in front of themselves toward the pot, until the betting round is over. When the round is over, the bets are then gathered into the pot.

After the first betting round is completed (every participating player having called an equal amount), there may be more rounds in which more cards are dealt in various ways, followed by further rounds of betting (into the same central pot). At any time during the first or subsequent betting rounds, if one player makes a bet and all other players fold, the deal ends immediately, the single remaining player is awarded the pot, no cards are shown, no more rounds are dealt, and the next deal begins. This is what makes it possible to bluff.

At the end of the last betting round, if more than one player remains, there is a showdown in which the players reveal their previously hidden cards and evaluate their hands. The player with the best hand according to the poker variant being played wins the pot.

Computer players

The game of poker (or at least most of the variants) is considered to be computationally intractable. However, methods are being developed to at least approximate perfect strategy from the game theory perspective in the heads-up (two player) game, and increasingly good systems are being created for the multi-player or ring game. Perfect strategy has multiple meanings in this context. From a game-theoretic optimal point of view, a perfect strategy is a minimax one that cannot expect to lose to any other player's strategy; however, optimal strategy can vary in the presence of sub-optimal players who have weaknesses that can be exploited. In this case, a perfect strategy would be one that correctly or closely models those weaknesses and takes advantage of them to make a profit. Some of these systems are based on Bayes theorem, Nash equilibrium, Monte Carlo simulation, and Neural networks. A large amount of the research is being done at the University of Alberta by the GAMES group led by Jonathan Schaeffer who developed Poki and PsOpt.

A major part of the skill of live poker games, however, is guessing at the strength of a player's hand by identifying tells made by other players, while concealing one's own, unlike, for example, chess, where all information about the game's current state is public. As a computer would not make any tells, playing against a computer would fundamentally change the nature of the game far more than in games like chess.

Although you cannot read a computer opponent, playing against computer opponents can still help you sharpen your skills by learning how to count outs and play the percentages. With the advancing technology of artificial intelligence, computer players can be created to incorporate bluffs and other human-like decisions.

Poker is a microcosm of all we admire and disdain about capitalism and democracy. It can be rough-hewn or polished, warm or cold, charitable and caring or hard and impersonal. It is fickle and elusive, but ultimately it is fair, and right, and just. — Lou Krieger

If you can't spot the sucker within the first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker. — common poker saying, as spoken by Matt Damon in Rounders; originally attributed to Amarillo Slim

Whether he likes it or not, a man's character is stripped bare at the poker table; if the other players read him better than he does, he has only himself to blame. Unless he is both able and prepared to see himself as others do, flaws and all, he will be a loser in cards, as in life. — Anthony Holden (from Big Deal)

There are few things that are so unpardonably neglected in our country as poker... Why, I have known clergymen, good men, kindhearted, liberal, sincere, and all that, who did not know the meaning of a 'flush'. It is enough to make one ashamed of one's species. — Mark Twain

Nobody is always a winner, and anybody who says he is, is either a liar or doesn't play poker. — Amarillo Slim

They anticipate losing when they sit down and I try my darnedest not to disappoint one of them. — Amarillo Slim

Poker is a game of people... It's not the hand I hold, it's the people that I play with. — Amarillo Slim

Hold em is to stud what chess is to checkers. — Johnny Moss

The guy who invented poker was bright, but the guy who invented the chip was a genius. — Big Julie

Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died. — Steven Wright

Cards are war, in disguise of a sport. — Charles Lamb, Essays of Elia (1832)

Poker is a godless game, full of random pain. — Andy Bloch

You call this one and it's all over, baby. — Scotty Nguyen, during the 1998 World Series of Poker. Down to him and one other player, he said this to his opponent who called, and it was all over.

Mae West: Is poker a game of chance? W.C. Fields: Not the way I play it. — My Little Chickadee

Google Adsense

2005-12-11T08:04:00.000-08:00

Google Revolutionises E-Commerce

AdSense is an advertising program run by Google. Website owners can enroll in this program to enable text and image advertisements on their sites. These ads are administered by Google and generate revenue on a per-click basis. Google utilizes its search technology to serve ads based on website content, the user's geographical location, and other factors. Those wanting to advertise with Google's targeted ad system may sign up through AdWords. AdSense has become a popular method of placing advertising on a website because the ads are less intrusive than most banners, and the content of the ads is often relevant to the website.

It currently uses JavaScript code to incorporate the advertisements into a participating site. If it is included on a site which has not yet been crawled by the Mediabot, it will temporarily display advertisements for charitable causes known as public service announcements (PSAs). (Note that the Mediabot is a separate crawler from the Googlebot that maintains Google's search index.)

Many sites use AdSense to monetize their content and some webmasters work hard to maximize their own AdSense income. They do this in three ways:

They use a wide range of traffic generating techniques including but not limited to online advertising.
They build valuable content on their sites; content which attracts AdSense ads and which pay out the most when they get clicked.
They use copy on their websites that encourage clicks on Ads. Note that Google prohibits people from using phrases like "Click on my AdSense ads" to increase click rates. Phrases accepted are "Sponsored Links" and "Advertisements".
The source of all AdSense income is the AdWords program which in turn has a complex pricing model based on a Vickrey second price auction, in that it commands an advertiser to submit a sealed bid (not observable by competitors). Additionally, for any given click received, advertisers only pay one bid increment above the second-highest bid.

AdSense for feeds

In May 2005, Google unveiled AdSense for feeds, a version of AdSense than runs on RSS and Atom feeds that have more than 100 active subscribers. According to the Google Blog, "advertisers have their ads placed in the most appropriate feed articles; publishers are paid for their original content; readers see relevant advertising — and in the long run, more quality feeds to choose from".

Affiliate Marketing

2005-12-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

another marketing revolution in the making or is it just the hype??

Affiliate Marketing is a popular method of promoting web businesses in which an affiliate is rewarded for every visitor, subscriber and/or customer provided through his efforts. It is a modern variation of the practice of paying finder's-fees for the introduction of new clients to a business. Compensation may be made based on a certain value for each visit (Pay-per-click), registrant (Pay-per-lead), or a commission for each customer or sale (Pay-per-Sale).

The most attractive aspect of affiliate marketing, from the merchant's viewpoint, is that no payment is due to an affiliate until results are realized.

Some e-commerce sites, such as Amazon.com run their own affiliate programs while other e-commerce vendors use third party services provided by intermediaries like Commission Junction, ClickBank and/or LinkShare to track traffic or sales that are referred from affiliates. Some businesses owe much of their growth and success to this marketing technique.

Merchants who are considering adding an affiliate strategy to their online sales channel should research the different technological solutions available to them. Some types of affiliate management solutions include: standalone software, hosted services, shopping carts with affiliate features, and third party affiliate networks.

In its early days many internet users held negative opinions of affiliate marketing due to the tendency of affiliates to use spam to promote the programs in which they were enrolled. As affiliate marketing has matured many affiliate merchants have refined their terms and conditions to prohibit affiliates from spamming.

Currently there is much debate around the affiliate practice of Spamdexing and many affiliates have converted from sending email spam to creating large volumes of autogenerated webpages each devoted to different niche keywords as a way of SEOing their sites with the search engines. This is sometimes referred to as spamming the search engine results.

Business Analysts

2005-12-11T07:53:00.000-08:00

General Definition of Business Analyst

A Business Analyst is responsible for identifying the business needs of their clients and stakeholders to help determine solutions to business problems. They typically have a high degree of industry experience and perform a liaison function to software developers or other service providers.

What does a Business Analyst do?
A Business Analyst is someone who applies analytical skills to high-level Business requests to determine what the business wants/needs and if these requests or requirements are consistent and not in contradiction with each other. The emphasis in the role is to understand the requirements from the business perspective and translate them into ability statements, smaller sub-requirements, functions, tasks, etc. that are used by the Project Manager in a Work Breakdown Structure. The analysis may consist of several areas such as Business/subject Knowledge, IT capabilities, feasibilities, costs, relevance, data, and dependencies across other business or project areas.

What skills and knowledge does the Business Analyst need?
Business Subject knowledge: The BA should have some background knowledge of the subject to make the requirements gathering efficient, although it is not always a must and depends highly on the complexity of the project. This kind of investigation is also known as Domain Analysis.

IT Capabilities: understanding of what systems can and cannot do.

Feasibility: analysis around the feasibility of requirements in terms of effort, time, costs.

Relevance: requirements must serve a purpose otherwise they are not real requirements and hence must be de-scoped.

Data: this area is very broad and it can be described as collecting data requirements, what data do we currently have and need to be carried over into the new systems or analysis around what can be achieved with a new system by projecting previous figures of a successful project on the business.

The above mentioned analysis requires knowledge of the System Development Life Cycle, otherwise the BA would not be able to play the different roles during a Project. In short terms, the SDLC contains well-defined phases which are executed by the project team: a business idea or request, feasibility (business case), planning (Business requirements, Functional requirements), deliver (Coding, execution of activities), Test (testing, test cases, pilot), implementation (roll out of the idea or request), close out (documentation, post implementation review). This is also known as Project Methodology.

The BA will provide different services during the SDLC: assisting with the Business case, high level feasibility, gathering of the requirements, reviewing the design and test cases, processing change requests and trace the requirements during implementation (traceability matrix). Also there are many Project Methodologies such as RAD, SDM, Rational Rose etc.

Techniques that the Business analysts use to gather and document requirements include UML, process flows, use cases, interview skills, workshop facilitation, investigation of current state (existing systems and/or processes) etc.

Skills required to support the Business analysis include communication skills, understanding of a variety of technologies and platforms (client, server and mainframe), ERD’s and relational database concepts, Object-Oriented technologies (Rational Rose, OOA, OOD, OOP), and Project SDLC.

Also the BA needs to have the ability to assemble, analyze and evaluate data and to be able to make appropriate and well-reasoned recommendations and decisions to support the Business stakeholders and the Project team.

Other activities and skills:
Provide guidance to stakeholders on devising effective and efficient approaches to achieve the project objectives
Identify and resolve issues
Manage the risks
Liaise with other project areas to coordinate interdependencies and resolve issues
Liaise with various business units to gather requirements and resolve issues
Improve business processes
Gather and define business requirements
Analyze and map processes (current state/future state)
Analyze data
Produce high quality documentation (version control)
Report status and issues to Project Manager(s)

What are the Deliverables that a BA produce?
(The What): The Business requirements specification which defines what the business wants (mostly ability statements without any reference to systems or functions or design because this is irrelevant to the requirement. In case it’s relevant it is a functional requirement). Example: The ability to provide Customers with a charge out option for their contracts.

(The How):
The Functional requirements describes what the system, process or product/service must do in order to full fill the business requirement. Note that the Business requirement often can be broken up into sub-business requirements and many functional requirements. An example that follows from previous business requirement example: The button “Charge Out” must populate field “Charge Out amount” with a calculated pay out charge for the remainder of the contract. Non Functional requirements refer to the performance, scalability and security requirements.

Reports: The reporting requirements (Purpose of the report, justification of the report, the report attributes and columns, runtime parameters)

Traceability Matrix: A cross matrix that traces the original requirement back to the end result (function, product or task), if the end result has been achieved or not which reasons, any change requests on the requirement and the date of the implementation.

How to become a BA?
The BA role is one of those occupations you cannot apply for unless you have some experience in related roles. Often Software developers follow the career path of Software developer, Functional analyst, Systems analyst, and Technical Business analyst to become Business Analyst. Business analysts often grow further into other roles as Project manager or consultant.

A BA does not always work in IT related projects, for example could be working on marketing proposition projects or in consultancy tasks.

A few consulting companies provide BA training courses and there are some consulting books (UML, workshop facilitating, consultancy, communication skills) on the market. Some helpful text books are: UML for the IT Business Analyst: A Practical Guide to Object-Oriented Requirements Gathering by Howard Podeswa, Writing Effective Use Cases by Alistair Cockburn and Discovering Real Business Requirements for Software Project Success by Robin F. Goldsmith. Unfortunately most of the books describe the functional requirements gathered and specification process in full detail without clarifying the Business requirements gathering and specification process.

BAs work in different industries such as Finance, Banking, Insurance, Telco, Utilities, etc. It is common that BAs switch between industries. The Business Domain subject areas are workflow, billing, mediation, provisioning, customer relationship etc. The Telco industry has mapped these functional areas in their eTOM (Telecommunications Operational Map) model.

GooGle MaPS

2005-12-11T07:45:00.000-08:00

Another Kool product from google..to make life easy for people!

Google Maps is the conventional name of a free, web map server application and technology provided by Google at http://maps.google.com and as part of Google Local. It offers draggable street map and satellite images for the whole world, as well as a route planner and business locator for the U.S., Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, China, the UK and Ireland (city centres only). Since October 6, 2005, Google Maps is part of Google Local, though the core technology is still called Google Maps.

It is similar to but not the same as Google Earth, a standalone Windows program that offers enhanced globe-viewing features but is not easy to link to or integrate in web pages.

Development

Google Maps was first announced on the Google Blog on February 8, 2005. It originally only supported users of Internet Explorer and Mozilla web browsers, but support for Opera and Safari was added on February 25, 2005. It was in beta for 6 months before becoming part of Google Local on October 6, 2005.

Like other Google web applications, a large amount of JavaScript was used to create Google Maps. As the user drags the map, the grid squares are downloaded from the server and displayed to the user. When a user searches for a business, the location is pin-pointed with a red pin, which is actually a transparent PNG placed over the map. The technique of providing greater user-interactivity by performing asynchronous network requests with Javascript and XML has recently become known as AJAX.

Features

Google Maps features a draggable map that can be zoomed in to show detailed street information. The user can control the map with the mouse or the arrow keys to move to the desired location. To allow for quick movement, the "+" and "-" keys can be used to control the zoom level. Users may enter an address, intersection or general area to quickly find it on the map.

Search results can be restricted to a certain area, thanks to Google Local. For example, someone can enter a query such as "Waffles in Ottawa" to find restaurants serving waffles near the city. This can be used to find a wide variety of businesses, such as theatres, restaurants or hotels.

Like many other map services, Google Maps allows for the creation of driving directions. It gives the user a step by step list of how to get to their destination, along with an estimate of the time required to reach it and the distance between the two locations.

The "link to this page" link on each Google Maps map puts a long URL on the clipboard which contains the latitude and longitude. The latitude and longitude can be used as input to NASA World Wind or TerraServer-USA, which in some cases has higher resolution imagery.

In late April 2005, Google added a Ride Finder feature to its maps, in which a person could locate a cab or shuttle in a major city in real-time. The person would have to hit the Update Position bar to find the vehicle's new location.

As of June 2005, Google Maps features road maps for the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

In mid July 2005, Google began Google Maps and Google Local services for Japan, including road maps.

In July 2005, in honor of the thirty-sixth anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing, Google Moon [2] was launched, which featured a draggable map and satellite imagery of the Moon's surface, created with data from NASA satellite imagery. A full zoom-in will humourously make the Moon's surface resemble cheese.

Satellite images

Screenshot of Google Maps (satellite) showing Candlestick Park in San Francisco, CAIn early April 2005, an alternate view was activated to show satellite imagery of the area displayed. Google is also one of the first satellite imagery services that can overlay directions above the satellite image [3].

By June 2005, high-resolution (full-zoom) images were available for most urban areas in Canada and the United States -- including Hawaii and Alaska). Google has high-resolution pictures of parts of: France, Iceland, Italy, Iraq, Japan, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Kuwait, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and many other countries. Some areas are obscured for security reasons, like the United States Capitol, White House and other government facilities in Washington, D.C.. However, other well-known government installations are visible, such as Area 51 in the Nevada desert.

Since June 17, 2005 Google Maps is making more and more areas available in high resolution satellite imagery, including many areas and major cities of Europe.

Lower-resolution satellite imagery is available for the entire planet, except for the North and South Poles.

Not all the images are from satellites -- some urban images are aerial photographs taken from high-altitude aircraft.

Hybrid

On July 22, 2005, Google released a "hybrid" view of their Google Maps. This hybrid view combines the map and satellite view - essentially, overlaying the illustrated map and street names on the real-world satellite views. This makes it much easier to find routes, as it combines the benefits of both views. Together with this change, the satellite image data was converted from plate carrée to Mercator projection, which makes for a less distorted image in the temperate climes latitudes.

Extensibility and customization

The downloadable Google Earth allows customized use of Google Maps, with e.g. map images with town and street names overlaying satellite images.

As the Google Maps code is almost entirely JavaScript and XML, some end-users have reverse-engineered the tool and produced client-side scripts and server-side hooks which allow a user or website to introduce expanded or customized features into the Google Maps interface.

Using the core engine and the map/satellite images hosted by Google, such tools can introduce custom location icons, location coordinates and metadata, and even custom map image sources into the Google Maps interface. Some of the more well-known of these "Google Maps Hacks" include tools such as the locations of Craigslist rental properties, Seattle 911 calls, or Chicago crime data. The script-insertion tool Greasemonkey provides a large number of client-side scripts to customize Google Maps data, and the mygmaps.com website provides an interface for easily adding your own set of locations and viewing them on Google Maps.

In late June 2005, Google released Google Maps API, exposing nearly the entire interface to customization. With a Google Maps API key, the API is free for use on any site that is free to the public. The introduction of the API has accelerated the development of new Google Maps-based applications, including a multi-player online game, Tripods.

Popularity -increasing by the day!

With the introduction of an easily pannable and searchable mapping and satellite imagery tool, Google's mapping engine prompted a surge of interest in satellite imagery. Sites such as Google Sightseeing and Google Globetrotting were established which feature satellite images of interesting natural and man-made landmarks, including such novelties as "large type" writing visible in the imagery, as well as famous stadiums and unique earth formations.

Combined with photo sharing websites such as Flickr, a phenomenon called "memory maps" emerged. Using copies of the Keyhole satellite photos of their home towns or other favorite places, the users take advantage of image annotation features to provide personal histories and information regarding particular points of the area.

Make money using your website -MBA Tips

2005-12-09T00:25:00.000-08:00

Make money using your website

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you have a website and you are not involved in any of the thousands of affiliate programs available on the Internet, you are loosing great opportunities to make some extra income. As in the case of some top affiliate marketers this extra income might even transform into thousands of dollars. Affiliate program is one of the most effective methods of producing sales second only to direct mail. According to Forrester Research, a marketing research company, in this year 21% of all online sales will be generated from affiliate sites promoting affiliate products. If you do your homework right, you too can earn handsomely from the correct use of affiliate programs.

What is an affiliate program?

The concept of affiliate program is based on the age-old business practice of referral service. This is quite common in many industries. An attorney, for example, gets a certain percent of commission if he refers a client to another lawyer.

Back in 1996 Amazon.com started the first widespread use of referral service on the Internet. If a client comes to Amazon.com and buy a product using a link provided by Amazon, from a website which signed affiliate partnership agreement, that site receives 10 to 15% commission from the sale. The Amazon Affiliate Program became so successful that it prompted others to follow the suit. Today, affiliate programs became ubiquitous on the Internet making them one of the primary methods of online marketing of products and services. Affiliate Program can be defined as Internet marketing system where a company allows and helps third party websites, called affiliates to post link and refer clients in return for a predetermined flat-fee or percentage-based commission.

Benefits of affiliate programs.

Affiliate Programs became so popular because as a partnership it’s a win-win situation for both the program owner and the affiliates.

Benefits for program owners include:

Increase Sales

The primary reason for most of the companies to adopt an affiliate program is the possibility of boosting sales. In fact, proper implementation of a quality affiliate program is capable of increasing sales dramatically.

Free promotion

A successful affiliate program can easily become the largest traffic generator for the company website. Many websites receive major portion of their visitors from their affiliate links. To find suitable websites with required content in order to run a banner or link campaign is time consuming and require large resources; affiliate programs in comparison can resolve this issue often with a far smaller investment.

Increase search engine ranking

Search engines, Google in particular, calculate link popularity as one of the main factors in their ranking algorithm. Backward links from affiliate sites certainly help improving this.

Branding

Thanks to its affiliate program Amazon.com banner links can be seen on numerous websites. Popularity of Amazon.com among the newcomers to Internet proves that Amazon.com was successful in creating its online brand name. No doubt, omnipresent visibility of their logo on the affiliate sites definitely had a huge impact on the brand recognition of the Amazon. Offline companies had to spend billions of dollars of advertisement money to get similar results!

How about the affiliates? What are the benefits they get from an affiliate relationship?

No product or service to carry

Online business with your own product or service might be rewarding, but it requires substantial investment from your part. With carefully chosen affiliate programs you can have your online business without the requirement of having your own products.

The investment is low as all you need is a website.

No need to have a merchant account

Since you don’t carry your own products or services you do not have to go through the hassle of having a merchant account to cater your clients. Your affiliate program owner will do everything. All you have to do is supply clients through your designated link.

Possibility of residual income

Many programs pay you a commission from the sales made to the customers generated from affiliates, who have signed up as an affiliate following your link. This kind of affiliate system is called 2-tier system. Visitor tracking system allows affiliate programs to pay you a commission when same visitor from your website makes repeat purchase. Some affiliate programs that promote monthly or yearly subscription services pay a commission each month as long as customer referred by you stays subscribed. Complement you website with added products and services If your site is dedicated to certain products or services, there must be other stuffs that go well together with your own products. It’s a good idea to seek out viable affiliate products of these items and promote through your site. Your visitors will love this and this will help building loyalty among your visitors.

Have new contents for your site

many affiliate programs supply you with valuable marketing materials. Some of these materials can be nice addition to your site content bringing further value to your website.

Various Affiliate programs

There are two ways of running an affiliate program: The company owns and handles the program itself, using certain software.

The company uses third party administered affiliate programs. The reasons why many companies prefer to hand over management of their affiliate programs include technical aspects, cost factor and human factors.

– Companies do not have to spend money on developing, running and updating the software.

– Proven technology allows companies to concentrate on their job of selling their products and services.

– Many prospective affiliates prefer third party managed programs, because they rightfully ponder, in this case the program owners have less chance to cheat their affiliates.

Find below a list of some leading third party affiliate program administrators:

Commission Juction

Click Bank

However, this does not mean that you should avoid company run affiliate programs. On the contrary, some of the most successful and best affiliate programs are run by the owners.

If you find an affiliate program that suits your requirement and you feel that the company is a reputable one, by any means you should give it a try!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nowshade Kabir is the founder, primary developer and present CEO of Rusbiz.com. A Ph. D. in Information Technology, he has wide experience in Business Consulting, International Trade and Web Marketing. Rusbiz is a Global B2B Emarketplace with solutions to start and run online business. You can contact him at mailto:nowshade[at]rusbiz.com, http://ezine.rusbiz.com , http://www.rusbiz.com , http://ezine.rusbiz.com/newsletters/newsletter21.htm

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

How to start a successful Business

2005-12-09T00:22:00.000-08:00

How to start a business

3 Essential Elements of Operating a Successful Business
By Michael Brassil

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to live your dream? A good place to start would be to recognize that there are three elements, and only three elements, that separate success from failure. If you exercise one of the elements, you might just be successful. Two and you will probably succeed. Three, and you can practically guarantee your success.

What are they? They are deceptively simple, and deep down inside you know what they are. But to purposefully write them down and use them as guides in selecting your dream business will make all the difference in the world. As you go through this exercise, you will dramatically build on your chances of success. Nowhere will it count more than right here, deciding how many of the three essential elements will qualify you to realize your dream.

1. Find a need!

Is there a market niche for your particular product or service? Does the world, or even your community, need what you have to offer? Only by sampling and testing will you be able to determine this with any degree of certainty, but we will be covering this as we go along in greater detail. The most important aspect would be to determine a Unique Selling Proposition for your product or service. Too many business owners are just trying to be me-too companies. You cannot be just like the next guy and expect to prosper in this volatile economy.

One of the most important things I learned from my Dad was, there are really only two things to consider, and next to them everything else is minor. Those two things are: (1) What do you really want? And just as, and perhaps even more important, (2) Are you willing to do whatever it takes to achieve it?

What do you really, really want from this endeavor? What is your ultimate goal? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to achieve this goal? Instead of looking for a business based on how much money you can earn up-front, select a business based on your love for that endeavor. The most successful and fulfilled people are individuals who are following a dream or vision of their own. They are not just out trying to make a buck.

What opportunities can you act upon? Woolworth saw a need for small inexpensive items and opened the chain of stores that grossed billions. Wrigley started giving gum away as a bonus, and seized the chance to expand worldwide.

You must create a uniqueness to your product or service. What can you offer that no one else can offer? Is it a better warranty, improved customer service, more technical support, faster shipping, or lower price? Think of something that will set you apart from your competitors and describe in detail exactly what it is.

2. Be good at what you do.

Are you as good as, or better than, the next guy when it comes to producing/marketing your product or service? This element requires an honest self-assessment. "What are my abilities?" To determine your abilities you must take an honest inventory of yourself. Examine every possibility and be sure to include strengths and weaknesses. Will your strong points be able to let you overcome your deficits?

3. Have true passion for the business.

If there is one element you absolutely cannot do without, it is passion. Passion is an irresistible attitudinal energy that generates power. Do you have a passion for working with your particular product or service? Notice, I didn't say "do you like what you want to do?" There are too many competitors out there who are ready, willing and able to "eat your lunch" when it comes to competing with you. They may have found the same niche that you have found. They may like what they do as much as you do. But what separates the winners from the losers is passion.

What are you really passionate about? If your answer is, "I'm passionate about making a lot of money." That is not the right answer. Making a lot of money is consequence of engaging in a successful activity where you remain motivated long enough to be successful. The key to creating passion is to find and do what it is that you truly love. Passion is the laser-like focusing of our creative life force. We do not create passion. (Don't confuse passion with being a workaholic. Workaholism devours while passion amplifies.)

So there they are, the three key elements to having a successful small business.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael (Mike) Brassil is author of "The Only Business Start-Up Guide Your Will Ever Need." Download two chapters -- Starting a New Business and The Home Working Revolution -- at: http://www.ImpactGuide.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Salaries and superstars!!

2005-12-09T00:20:00.000-08:00

The Business of Software!

Imagine having a small software dev team -- less than 30 developers. I see two ways to handle salaries: one is the transparent approach, similar to Joel's plan for FogCreek, where each salary depends on the developer's experience, knowledge, position and other (relatively) objective parameters; the other is the "oblique" approach, where you pay a developer the amount he asked for, and the salaries are not to be discussed between the employees.

Although the latter is the norm where I live (except perhaps at the top-level companies with international shareholders), I certainly prefer the first one. However, what to do when you get a chance to hire one of those elusive beings known as "superprogrammers" or "superstar developers" (and whose very existence has been discussed to death on this forum), and his salary requirements threaten to disrupt your compensation plan? Specifically, if he asks for a salary which he well might be worth, but is much higher than the senior developers level in the existing team.

If I really want to hire him, and he doesn't budge about the salary, the options are a) modify the compensation plan in order to accomodate his request, which has the side effect of greatly increasing the total payroll, and b) give him the requested salary but tell everyone else that he gets the same as them, which will certainly make some bad blood if they found out the truth (even if it doesn't make him feel and act superior to them, which is a whole another problem).

I know that an option is just to flatly refuse the request and watch his back happily going to a (better-funded) competitor, but let's forget that option for the sake of discussion.

I guess I'm just looking for some opinions. Berislav Lopac
Thursday, December 01, 2005
This situation is precisely why salary compensation should be confidential.

I never will understand the desire for salary data to be "open source". Your salary is a large part due to your negotiation skills and the proven value you bring to the team.

Why should anyone reward others for being poor negotiators or not trumpting their value they have brought?

Salary data in aggregate is available from a variety of sources both governmental and private, so frankly if someone doesn't do their homework or lacks the confidence to ask for what their worth I find myself not feeling much compassion for them.

On the other side if an employer consistently hard bargains and pays below the market rate they're going to lose out on good talent and also the talent they have suckered into the job will eventually get a large raise from a competitor and leave.

So my advice is to keep salaries secret, keep them within the market rate, and don't be afraid to pay over market rate for someone who is "worth it". Such is the concept our world leading economy is based on. Eric Wise
Thursday, December 01, 2005
"I never will understand the desire for salary data to be "open source". "

Because this information comes out anyways. It's the same reason flat rate pricing is more popular then haggling. Some people are just poor negotiators. There is nothing more demoralizing then knowing that because an inferior programmer is better bartering then you that he is over there making $10k more then you. When salaries are out in the open, money is less of an issue for everyone. Especially if you base it on years of experience/education and don't let people "Barter" to get a higher grade. Phil
Thursday, December 01, 2005
But you CAN'T base it on years experience/education. Two people with 10 years experience and similar education are unlikely to be worth the same, and paying them the same is a real disservice to the one that is worth more.

You also can't lie about it, that is not an option.

Therefore it has to be confidential. If it gets out, then it will hopefully only affect those that were unprofessional and nosy enough to find out.

It is much worse to have your best programmers feeling bad about not getting paid more than people doing half their work, than it is to have lousy programmers whining about not getting as much as the next guy with the same years under their belt. Anon and anon
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Phil wrote: "There is nothing more demoralizing then knowing that because an inferior programmer is better bartering then you that he is over there making $10k more then you."

I agree, but the key word is "inferior" not "less experience." Sharing knowledge of salaries does not help this situation. It brings focus to a sensitive topic which adversely affects everyone.

I have been in many jobs where salary information was expressly expected to remain confidential (especially among developers), and it did stay that way among the professionals. You knew you could find out if you did some digging or asked your friend on the administrative staff (they know all the salaries by the way), but you didn't.

Knowing other peoples' salaries can only be a weight OFF the mind in bureaucracies like the government where they have given up on the commercial business model. It always creates a weight ON the mind in a negotiated system that encourages superstars due to the inherent innacuracy of the way people judge merit. If it is supposed to be confidential but you find out, then the weight on your mind is your own fault.

Your negotiating skills are also a measure of what you could get elsewhere, so they are a valid factor in how much you get paid where you are. Anon and anon
Thursday, December 01, 2005
> and the salaries are not to be discussed between the employees.

That will never happen. People will figure it out. Your employees need to know that perform

If you find a good developer and they perform well pay them very well. Don't wait for them to ask for a raise or have some magic formula with years of experience. Good developers code because it is there passion. Pay them enough that they don't have to worry about the money an having to negotiate for a raise. Besides you are better off having 2 great developers at 1.5 times or more over the market rate then you are with 10 so-so's at the average salary. Bill Rushmore
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Before I submitted I forgot one thing to add:
If you have the super programmer why are you worried about the others being jealous of the pay? Fire them, you don't need them! Bill Rushmore
Thursday, December 01, 2005
If you are lying to your developers about how much their coworkers are being paid or even if you have some policy to prohibit employees from discussing their salary, then you are pretty far along the path of having a dysfunctional work environment. If this superdeveloper is smart enough he won't go to work for you anyway.

Of the better employers that I have had, that is the ones who could and did hire the better developers, none would prohibit discussion of salary information and one even went as far as posting salaries. argon
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Negotiating a salary as an individual is the American Way. If you are bummed out because the 'lesser' dev makes more money, maybe you should reconsider how important those 'bartering' skills really are. Remember how much the sales guy gets paid? Betcha he can't code a lick. Sassy
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Bottom line is that it ALWAYS benefits employees to have an idea of other's salaries because they can measure where to begin negotiating (or when to leave to go somewhere else). What's wrong with that? I'm not saying you should know every person's salary in your company (though really when you think about it, how does it hurt anyone?), but salary surveys are a good thing.

And salaries aren't necessarily about how good you are, don't fool yourself. I'm sure everyone knows tons of morons in positions of authority (or plain old grunts) raking in huge amounts of dough who have YET to provide any tangible metric of their "goodness". It's about *perceived* value. The best way to negotiate your salary is to see what someone else is making, see how a particular company perceives that person, and negotiate from there. Of course negotiation, company bankroll all come into play, but at the bottom is perception of value, not actual value. Whether the two are the same fluctuates wildly from person-to-person, or company-to-company. Crimson
Thursday, December 01, 2005
*One* of the reasons that baseball players, etc. make so much money is that they are organized, and everyone knows what everyone else makes.

Another is that they have agents, who know how to negotiate, and who have a personal stake in making sure that their clients are compensated fairly.

I'm not sure how to apply this to programmers, but I'd be interested to hear others' ideas. BillT
Thursday, December 01, 2005
OP: I'm not really sure what you're getting at.

Fundamentally, the reason the company has employees is that they bring value. If this prospect provides value to the company that far outweighs what others in his "salary band" do, and he's affordable, then business sense would seem to indicate that you should throw the salary guidelines out the door and hire the guy.

That's why people get raises that are out of band: they demonstrate performance well beyond their peers and are compensated for it (well, if they bitch loudly enough :-) lw
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Between the two extremes presented here, I think there's room for a middle ground. Publish a salary range for new hires. Everyone should starts off at the same salary (give or take a few thousand). Also make public "how to get a raise" to the extent that people who work harder, contribute more, or are more necessary, get bigger raises. How much of a raise they have earned should remain private.

Consequently, if Joe chooses to work 40 hours a week and does the bare minimum, he earns the base wage. If Jim works 70 hours a week, volunteers ideas, initiates and completes projects on his own that benefits the company, can substitute for others and plans to continue doing all this, Jim deserves more than the base, but it's none of Joe's business exactly how much more Jim is actually getting.

We don't practice that approach where I'm working, but it seems to work fairly well elsewhere. The one gotcha is that you want to make sure Jim doesn't suddenly start slacking off as soon as he gets the raise, but with a superprogrammer who truely enjoys what he does, that's not much of a risk. Anonymous Coward
Thursday, December 01, 2005
"If you are bummed out because the 'lesser' dev makes more money, maybe you should reconsider how important those 'bartering' skills really are."

Telling that to employees doesn't help the situation, even if it's true. A programmer who feels underpaid will usually seek to leave rather than stay and negotiate. The result is the employER loses good programmmers because of the employEE's lesser negotiating ability. --
Thursday, December 01, 2005
And in reply to BillT's question, people have proposed forming a programmer's union for exactly that reason. In some parts of the world and in some industries, the benefits of unionizing outweigh the risks.

Unforuntately, until software development becomes a formal software engineering process (with licenses, required courses of study, certifcation exams and everything), most programmers in the United States would loose out if they were to unionize, simply because of cheap labor elsewhere.

Basketball players (and other professional athletes) get what they get because there simply is no other competition; the Italian league has a lot of good players, but the players there don't bring in anywhere near the kind of revenue NBA players do. Anonymous Coward
Thursday, December 01, 2005
"Telling that to employees doesn't help the situation, even if it's true. A programmer who feels underpaid will usually seek to leave rather than stay and negotiate. The result is the employER loses good programmmers because of the employEE's lesser negotiating ability."

Such is the way of a free market, no? Maybe next time the employer will decide to pay better, or the employee will decide to ask for more money. In the end it comes down to the individuals involved, and the decisions they decide to make. Sassy
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Note that there are models of unionization which don't have everyone earning the same.

Sports, also the theatrical, broadcast, and motion picture guilds.

They set basic minimums, and also provide a retirement and health insurance framework for their members.

So it's not just "Since your a Systems Analyst III(3) with 51 months of seniority, you will make exactly $7,548.57 a month" even with unions.

And there have been plenty of times when I would have been glad to have a shop steward to run to! dot for this one (for sure this time)
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Sure quality will be out, but as the economist Lord Keynes said, "In the long run, we shall all be dead."

So waiting 20 years for fast talkers to get their retribution and the quiet smart guys to get their rewards may not work well, especially since the wise guys sometimes never get in trouble, and sometimes the smart guys never get their rewards. dot for this one (for sure this time)
Thursday, December 01, 2005
I think there's a difference between having well demarcated ranges of salaries based on criteria (3-5 years' experience gets X-Y range, etc) and having an "open" system where you post everyone's salary on a public web page (because according to the open plan, even outsiders who may apply for your company should know everyone's salaries).

One reason not to openly divulge everyone's salary is because for many people how much money they make is a private matter tied up with all sorts of psychological/sociological factors. By distributing this info without their approval, you are outing a (imagine your mother-in-law either bragging or denigrating your salary at a family affair).

Yes, in most workplace most people know the approximate status/income of an individual in the group, but it's because a person actually wanted others to know their status (by wearing more stylish clothes, using a more techie cellphone, talking about their Tahiti vacation, etc).

Plus: negotiation skills are important in life so people should be compensated for them. A person who is too aggressive or too docile in negotiation isn't going to work well at a design meeting either. YaYaYa
Thursday, December 01, 2005
In my opinion, either of the positions are a bit idealistic; that's why I pointed to their disadvantages and wanted to start a discussion on the topic. Apparently I succeeded. :) Berislav Lopac
Thursday, December 01, 2005
The idea of basing salary simply on years of experience is REALLY LAME. Some people can learn and do next to nothing for years on end.

Also the idea that salaray-negotiation techniques should be rewarded does not follow at all. It's the performance on the job that should be rewarded. If design-room negotiation techniques are an important performance criteria then they should feature in salary decisions. MB
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Bill's answer was great ... just fire the others ... too funny and yet what everyone implies.

I can tell you that I would not care if I made half or less than a superstar. I would love the opportunity to work with such a person. I put up with a lot of stuff from smart people. We had a sysadmin who was like this. No one liked him. The guy was much smarter than everyone else. I don't know if he or I made more than each other but I certainly put up with his attitude to learn from him. The others just felt he was obstreperous.

imho, good programmers will be not care that the superstar is making so much more than them. They'll be glad he is there and try and learn as much as they can. imho no better way to keep smart people than to hire even smarter people.

I don't see how you'll keep the guy though. No good person works for money alone for too long. If he is so much better than all the other developers it could drive him nuts. by money alone
Thursday, December 01, 2005
"Also the idea that salaray-negotiation techniques should be rewarded does not follow at all. It's the performance on the job that should be rewarded. If design-room negotiation techniques are an important performance criteria then they should feature in salary decisions."

How exactly then does one negotiate a salary?

It is a hallmark of the free market that a product or service is worth exactly what somewhat is willing to pay for it. Works for houses, cars, milk, shoes, and cola, so why not people too?

If you don't feel you are getting what you're worth, renegotiate or find a new job, but please don't whine that the guy next to you gets more money. He obviously knows something you dont - i.e. how to get more money :-) Sassy
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Yep, being able to negotiate a salary is undoubtedly a useful skill to have.

But I believe that in an ideal world (or an ideal company) people would be given salaries based on the value of the work they do. Ideally there would be no need to negotiate for a pay-rise, it should simply be given to those that are worth it.

Giving the good-negotiator who can't program a pay-rise over the good-developer who can't negotiate doesn't really help the profitability of a development team. It just encourages the good-negotiators to negotiate more and work less, and the good-developers who can't negotiate to look for a better job somewhere else.

I've negotiated a better salary on several occasions in the past, but I resented having to do it. I know a lot of good people who excel in their jobs, but that are underpaid because it's simply not in their nature to ask for more.

I am British... maybe there's a cultural difference here! MB
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Point taken, but I typically try not to get too involved in discussions which depend on the existance of an ideal world, because, at least in my limited experience, the world we live in is far from ideal. Sassy
Thursday, December 01, 2005
If everyone was paid the prevailing market rate, the OP's situation wouldn't be an issue. The problem is that the existing workers are underpaid. If they were paid fairly they wouldn't be jealous of the new guy getting a lot more because he wouldn't be getting a lot more. Art Wilkins
Thursday, December 01, 2005
"flatly refuse the request and watch his back happily going to a (better-funded) competitor"

Google is happy to be that competitor. Art Wilkins
Thursday, December 01, 2005
"it has to be confidential"

You guys must work at companies with really incompetant workers if every single programmer hasn't already hacked into accounting and downloaded the pay rates for everyone at the company.

Everyplace I have ever worked, all the developers had all that information. Thinking that that sort of info is confidential to competant programmers is just silly. Art Wilkins
Thursday, December 01, 2005
"I'm not sure how to apply this to programmers"

Superprogrammers often have agents. Art Wilkins
Thursday, December 01, 2005
"until software development becomes a formal software engineering process (with licenses, required courses of study, certifcation exams and everything), most programmers in the United States would loose out if they were to unionize"

The same goes for actors - we need to regulate them and require certification before they be allowed to act or organize labor. Art Wilkins
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Most large companies have salary "bands" so you know Software Engineer II for example makes $60-80K and a III makes 90-110K. Everybody with the same job function has to make roughly the same because you can't estimate or budget it otherwise. Superstars who deserve more shouldn't be doing monkey work alongside the losers anyway, instead you give them a more important job (like lead engineer) and that's how they make more. If an Engineer II wants more money, he needs to be selected for and take on the responsibilities of an Engineer III and he'll get more. Jack
Thursday, December 01, 2005
:)

Ok, that was a glib answer on my part. I don't think the Screen Actors' Guild was created explicitly to negotiate a minimal set of benefits for all actors. In fact, I believe you need to have a speaking role in at least five separate productions to qualify (but I could be wrong). SAG is in fact a sort of monopoly - they will picket and protest and generally make life miserable for any large scale production that does not employ SAG carded actors - just like construction workers.

I don't think programmers should go down that same path because of the very real risk of outsourcing and public backlash (software is already bad enough as it is, now I've gotta pay union wages for it?) However, if a programmers' union were to offer qualifying exams and reasonably guarantee competance, employers would see such union members as less of a risk than err... Joe Schmoe who's been hacking on his computer in his parents' basement. You and I know that MSCEs are worth the paper they're printed on, yet employers still ask for them. Anonymous Coward
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Dude, if you get Professional Engineer status as a requirement, then Engineers will be held personally financially liable if they sign off on any software that includes defects. Therefore, no more shoddy software - software will be rigorously tested and proven correct before release. Say goodbye to the $50 Word processor. Say hello to the $500,000 word processor. Art Wilkins
Friday, December 02, 2005
"Joe Schmoe who's been hacking on his computer in his parents' basement."

Actually, I'd prefer to hire Joe. Sounds like he's self-motivated, compentant, able to work without supervision, and would work for peanuts. Ask him to give us a call. Art Wilkins
Friday, December 02, 2005
As a follow up to some of the later comments...

I was always pretty bad at negotiations, but I just learnt how to "put on the mask", and become the person who could do it.

Once you get to a certain level of savings, you gain the comfort of not having to work immediately, which gives you a whole new perspective on these things.

I have also been very lucky, in that I have worked on some great projects, at some great places, which has certainly helped me along the way. Nemesis
Friday, December 02, 2005
A few thoughts that come to mind:

Companies with policies that make disclosing your salary a firing offense probably do this to spare themselves from having to explain why Jane, who was hired at $50K in 2000, is now making $58K, while Jim was hired fresh out of college this year at $60K. This leads to excess turnover once people realize the only path to a significant raise leads to a new job.

One thing that Joel has written about at length is the difficulty of quantifying a team member's contributions to the company. So beyond gross pay bands of "Junior Dev", "Senior Dev", "Project Leader", etc., it's very difficult to determine exactly how much someone is "worth" to the company. So rather than reduce compensation to a matter of negotiating skill, better to set fair and open salary levels for those low-granularity bands. Jesse Smith
Friday, December 02, 2005

GMAT tutor

2005-12-09T00:07:00.000-08:00

Courtesy: GMATTutor.com!

GMATTutor.com is the best website with independent advice that will help you ace your GMAT and get into the business school of your choice.

If you're new to GMATTutor.com, check out our Game Plan. This is a guideline for preparing for your exam that has been proven to produce results. It's efficient and best of all, inexpensive. You'll also want to be sure to read our Best Books list.

You'll also want to be sure to check out some other special features of our site:
Special Reports - GMATTutor.com rips the lid off the GMAT and reveals some of the test's hottest secrets!

Math Basics - Be sure to work through these exercises several times before taking your test. You'll be glad you did.

Idiom List - One of the toughest parts of the Sentence Correction questions is knowing what the correct idioms are. Click here for an extensive list of the ones most commonly used on the GMAT.

Tips & Tricks - A grab-bag of all sorts of tips. Heed these and your test will be a lot less painful.

FAQ - The most frequently asked questions about the Graduate Management Aptitude Test. Go here first if you're in a quandary or, if you simply don't know what a quandary is.

Facts about GMAT/FAQs

2005-12-09T00:05:00.000-08:00

GMAT Quick Facts/FAQs

Q: When GMAT® volume increases or decreases, can I expect to see a change in application volume?
A: A change in test-taking volume may or may not result in an immediate change in application volume. First, the incidence of repeat test taking has increased with the advent of computer-adaptive testing, so a change in the number of tests taken does not necessarily indicate that more or fewer people are taking the test. Second, scores are good for five years and not all test takers apply immediately after taking the test. Also, not all test takers intend to pursue MBA programs—the GMAT® exam is also required for various other business programs. A recent study showed that approximately 20% of GMAT® test scores are submitted to nonbusiness programs.

Q: Is repeat testing increasing? What types of gains can test takers expect?
A: A recent study showed that approximately 21% of GMAT® exams are taken by individuals who take the test more than one time in a given year. Within the mean score range for the GMAT® Total score, 500 to 540, approximately 28% of tests are taken by repeat testers. Great care is taken to match test takers on multiple demographic variables so as to minimize the possibility of mismatching test administrations.

Most repeat test takers test two or three times within a year. Very few test more often than that. GMAC® has a policy to prevent excessive repeat test taking. Test takers can take the GMAT® exam as many as five times within a 12-month period.

The average gain between the first test and the second test is about 30 points on the GMAT® Total score. The amount of gain varies depending on the amount of preparation undertaken by students prior to initial testing, among other things. Not all repeat test taking results in an increase—scores can also go down when the GMAT® exam is taken more than once.

Q: On the preadmission report, the test taker's raw score is presented along with a percentile. How is this percentile computed?
A: The percentile is based on three years' worth of GMAT® scores, which is used to balance out random fluctuations. When a test administration older than five years is pulled, new percentiles are not computed—the test takers' scores are presented relative to the tests taken three years prior to the date of the administration. When a test taker requests an additional score report (ASR), his or her GMAT® scores are presented relative to the current three years of tests. For instance, if a test taker took the GMAT® exam in 1998 and requested an ASR in 2002, the percentiles presented on the ASR would have been for the tests taken during the time period January 1998 through December 2000, whereas on the original preadmission report the percentiles would have been presented relative to tests taken during the time period January 1995 through December 1997.

Q: How reliable is the GMAT® exam? Do scores vary a lot from test to retest?
A: The standard error of measurement of the GMAT® Total score is 29 points—meaning that the test taker's true GMAT® Total score is within 29 points (above or below) of the score he or she received on the test. Thus, test takers with GMAT® Total scores of 580 and 600 may not be materially different in terms of their performance on the GMAT® exam. This is why GMAC® does not recommend the use of hard cutoff scores. The average reliability for the GMAT® Total score is 0.92 (1.00 is the highest possible reliability coefficient).

Q: How valid is the GMAT® exam? Does it actually predict the academic achievement of MBA students?
A: The predictive validity of the GMAT® exam has been established by analyzing the statistical relationship between GMAT® scores and first-year (or midprogram) grade point average. Analyses of the relationship between a combination of three of the GMAT® variables—Verbal, Quantitative, and AWA—and first-year (or midprogram) grade point average have been conducted at numerous schools since the inception of the GMAT® exam. The average (represented by the median) statistical relationship is +0.41 out of a possible 1.00. When undergraduate grade point average was added to the three GMAT® variables the predictive power increased to +0.47. Thus, a combination of the GMAT® variables does contribute to the prediction of how well candidates for admission might perform academically in an MBA program. Other variables such as motivation and time spent studying or otherwise engaged in learning also contribute greatly to student achievement. The GMAT® exam is an extremely useful predictive tool, yet it is only one of many tools that are necessary to make a good admissions decision.

Q: How can I keep track of candidates? We keep a file of the preadmission reports, but there must be another way.
A: Management school rosters are sent to your school on a monthly basis and quarterly rosters are sent on a quarterly basis. These rosters facilitate record-keeping by providing the test scores as well as the (self-reported) demographic information for all of the individuals that have sent score to your institution within a month or a quarter. The rosters can help to capture patterns in score sending—month over month, quarter over quarter—and can aid in the tracking of score-sending patterns year over year.

Q: How can I keep track of competitors?
A: Annually, your school is sent a multiple score report. This report lists the top 25 programs (based on volume) that receive scores from your candidates. It also indicates the number of scores that were sent to your program only.

Q: How can I know which factors are most predictive of academic success in my program?
A: Conduct a validity study. Validity studies are offered at no cost to schools that use the GMAT® exam. The study helps to validate current admissions processes and provides current and valid statistical ammunition to use when you have challenges regarding admissions criteria. See Validity Study Quick Facts/FAQs for details.

Graduate Management Admission Test® and GMAT® are registered trademarks of the Graduate Management Admission Council®. All rights reserved.

Strategy for Choosing, Visiting & Applying to MBA Programs

2005-12-08T23:56:00.000-08:00

Strategy for Choosing, Visiting & Applying to MBA Programs

If you already know where you want to apply, click here to get your chances of admission.

As an MBA applicant, you are facing the daunting task of trying to decide where to apply to business school. This critical decision is made more difficult by the competitiveness of the programs and the number of options available. Go4BSchool can help you through each step of the business school application process...

Below we offer a strategy for deciding where to apply.

To compile a list of colleges to apply to, click on the steps below for details.

Contract All | Expand All
Step 1: Select an Initial Pool of MBA Programs

As early as possible, select a pool of 12-15 business schools based on their various attributes: location, size, prestige, competitiveness, specialty, and other such factors. Gather information about each of the schools you are considering. Each business school's website is a great place to start, but you should also consider outside sources such as our Business School Profiles page, U.S. News & World Report, and Business Week. Starting with a large pool of business schools enables you to later eliminate those that no longer fit your preferences and still end up with a handful of schools to apply to.

Step 2: Find Out Where You Stand

Using your first GMAT score, a predicted GMAT score, or a GMAT score from a practice test, find out your chances of admission at the MBA programs you are currently considering. For most people, the GMAT is the only admissions variable that you can change in the short-term. Knowing your percentage chances of admission will help you decide if you need to retest or consider a more suitable range of business schools. You will also be able to determine how your background and current experience match the admissions standards of top MBA programs.

Step 3: Research Your Choices in Depth

Research the colleges in your pool, so you can evaluate them based on your preferences and eliminate those that do not fit your criteria. To expedite your research, view our Business School Profiles page for vital information and statistics. Again, also utilize the schools' websites and outside sources. At this stage, you may also want to speak with recent alumni and/or current students about each business school you are currently considering.

Step 4: Visit Your Choices

Visiting business schools is beneficial for a number of reasons. First, it allows you to sit in on a class, chat with current students, and meet some of the admissions staff. Most importantly, it allows you to get a feel for the school's atmosphere — something that can only be done in person.

If you plan to visit a business school, contact the admissions office in advance to let them know you are coming. They should be able to schedule you in a class. You may also be able to interview while you are on campus.

Go4BSchool Hint: Even if classes are not in session and you are unable to interview, you should still check in with the admissions office, take a campus tour, and pick up any information they have to offer. They may note your visit in your file, which shows the admissions committee that you are truly interested in the school. Some B-school applications also ask you whether you have visited the campus; being able to say 'yes' shows a higher level of interest in the school and can only help your chances of admission.

Step 5: Obtain Final Chances of Admission

If you decide to retake the GMAT, we recommend obtaining your revised chances of admission based on your new scores. Remember, we are so confident that our predictions are accurate that we offer a full-money back guarantee. We will refund your money for any business schools that we do not predict accurately. Click here to get your chances of admission.

Step 6: Make Final Decisions

Make final decisions about where to apply. Since the top MBA programs are extremely competitive, we recommend that you apply to as many schools as possible without compromising the quality of your applications. Click here to get your chances of admission.

Go4BSchool.com Hint: If you are dead set on attending a business school next year, you should apply to a range of schools including at least one or two "safety" schools where you have at least an 80% chance of getting in.

Step 7: Prepare to Apply

Although you may picture yourself sitting down and digging right into the applications, there is some preparatory work you can do that will help down the road. By preparing yourself and getting organized before you actually start to fill out applications, you will experience fewer bumps in the road and your applications are likely to be stronger. Click here to learn about the application. Good luck!

Business School Surveys - United Kingdom

2005-12-08T23:54:00.000-08:00

Business School Surveys -- United Kingdom

United Kingdom
Admissions Surveys
Academics Surveys
Employment Prospects
Quality of Life Surveys
Social Life Surveys

Decide which B School to apply

2005-12-08T23:50:00.000-08:00

Courtesy:go4businessschool.com

Deciding Where to Apply

Choosing MBA Programs
Once you have decided whether you want to attend a full-time, part-time, or executive MBA program and have selected a pool of programs to consider, you should begin to research the schools and narrow down your choices. Go4BSchool specializes in helping full-time business school applicants make informed decisions. We can provide you with your percentage chances of admission to help you decide where to apply.

Contract All | Expand All

Assess Your Preferences

Some business school applicants simply consider the top ranked programs regardless of how well the program fits their needs. Other applicants look for programs that are strong in the functional area in which they are interested such as finance or marketing. The important thing to remember is that not all business schools are alike, so do not fall into the misconception of thinking that the top programs are all similar. Take Harvard GSB and the Tuck School at Dartmouth for example. Harvard is known for its case study method, notorious for its cut-throat competitive environment, located in an urban setting, and has a class size of approximately 700 students. On the other hand, Tuck is known for its collaborative environment, is located in a remote, small town, and has a class size of approximately 200 students. Other schools such as Northwestern's Kellogg School are known for their marketing focus, just as University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School is known for its strong finance focus. Do not let the rankings blind you from choosing a school that meets your needs. We urge you to find out what makes each school unique and choose the programs that best fit your preferences, needs, and future plans. Matching your preferences and background to complementary programs should also give you the best chance of getting in.

When choosing MBA programs to apply to be sure to consider factors such as:

Reputation
Location
Size
Teaching Methods
Specialty
Curriculum
Career Services
Alumni Network
We recommend making an initial list of 10 to 15 colleges for further consideration. Then, based on your research, eliminate those that do not meet your preferences and apply to the ones that do. Note that some business schools allow you to interview prior to submitting your application. Interviewing and visiting the campus are excellent ways to determine whether or not you want to apply to a particular business school.

How Many MBA Programs Should You Apply to?

Find out your chances to get into a top B School

2005-12-08T23:44:00.000-08:00

Courtesy: go4businessschool.com

Sample ChancesR™ Report

The sample above reflects results from an order received in September 2004. This applicant was probably surprised to find out that she had a better chance of getting into Harvard and Wharton than she did Kellogg and Chicago GSB. The reason is that her background, work and life achievements, and level of extracurricular involvement more closely matched particular criteria that Harvard and Wharton value than those of Kellogg and Chicago. Go4BSchool.com can help you decide which of the top business schools to apply to by finding those that best match your background and achievements.

Our admissions specialists are knowledgeable experts who have attended many of these elite programs including Ivy League and our services have been featured in top media such as Reader's Digest, The Chicago Tribune, and NBC News in Los Angeles. Go4BSchool.com gives you what you are looking for: your chances of admission at each of the MBA programs you interested in.

We offer a full money back guarantee for the accuracy of services. What are you waiting for, find out where you can get in!

Click here to get your chances of admission at the nation's top MBA programs.

Top 10 B Schools outside the US

2005-12-08T23:41:00.000-08:00

1 Queens
2 IMD
3 INSEAD
4 ESADE
5 London Business School
6 Western Ontario
7 IESE
8 HEC - Paris
9 Toronto
10 HEC - Montreal

The Top 30 B Schools in the US

2005-12-08T23:39:00.000-08:00

1 Northwestern
2 Chicago
3 Pennsylvania
4 Stanford
5 Harvard
6 Michigan
7 Cornell
8 Columbia
9 MIT
10 Dartmouth
11 Duke
12 Virginia
13 NYU
14 UCLA
15 Carnegie Mellon
16 UNC Chapel-Hill
17 UC Berkeley
18 Indiana
19 Texas - Austin
20 Emory
21 Purdue
22 Yale
23 Washington U.
24 Notre Dame
25 Georgetown
26 Babson
27 Southern California
28 Maryland
29 Rochester
30 Vanderbilt

Best Asian B Shools-Alphabetical wise

2005-12-08T23:36:00.000-08:00

Schools Listed By Name

School
A
Asian Institute of Management (Philippines)
B
B. K. School of Business Management (Gujarat University, India)
Bharathidasan Institute of Management (India)
Birla Institute of Technology and Science (India)
Brisbane Graduate School of Business (Queensland University of Technology, Australia)
C
China Europe International Business School (China)
Chinese University of Hong Kong
City University of Hong Kong
College of Business Administration (Seoul National University)
College of Business Administration (University of the Philippines)
College of Commerce (National Cheng-chi University, Taiwan)
College of Economics and Management (Chungnam National University, South Korea)
College of Graduate Study in Management (Khon Kaen University, Thailand)
College of Management (National Taiwan University of Science & Technology)
D
E
F
Faculty of Business and Accountancy (University of Malaya)
Faculty of Commerce (Hitotsubashi University, Japan)
G
Graduate School of Business (Curtin University of Technology, Australia)
Graduate School of Business (De La Salle University, Philippines)
Graduate School of Business (Ritsumeikan University, Japan)
Graduate School of Business (University of Technology Sydney)
Graduate School of Management (International University of Japan)
Graduate School of Management (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)
Graduate School of Management (University of Adelaide, Australia)
Graduate School of Management (University of Queensland, Australia)
H
I
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
Institute of Business Administration (University of Dhaka)
International Graduate School of Management (University of South Australia)
International Management Institute (India)
J
K
L
Lahore University of Management Sciences (Pakistan)
M
Macquarie Graduate School of Management (Australia)
Mahanakorn University of Technology (Thailand)
Malaysian Graduate School of Management (Universiti Putra Malaysia)
Melbourne Business School
Monash Mount Eliza Business School (Australia)
N
Nanyang Business School (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (India)
NUS Business School (National University of Singapore)
O
P
Q
R
S
Sasin Graduate Institute of Business and Administration (Chulalongkorn University, Thailand)
School of Business and Administration (Open University of Hong Kong)
School of International Politics, Economics and Business (Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan)
School of Management (Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand)
School of Management (Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay)
School of Management (RMIT University, Australia)
Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (Pakistan)
T
T. A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal (India)
U
Universiti Sains Malaysia School of Management
University of Hong Kong School of Business
University of Waikato Management School (New Zealand)
v
W
Waseda University Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies (Japan)

X-None

Y-None

Z-None

Best B Schools in Australia

2005-12-08T23:33:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the Best B Schools downunder

RANK School

4 Melbourne Business School
15 Macquarie Graduate School of Management (Australia)
16 Monash Mount Eliza Business School (Australia)
22 Graduate School of Management (University of Queensland, Australia)
26 School of Management (RMIT University, Australia)
27 Graduate School of Business (University of Technology Sydney)
30 Brisbane Graduate School of Business (Queensland University of Technology, Australia)
31 Graduate School of Management (University of Adelaide, Australia)
33 Graduate School of Business (Curtin University of Technology, Australia)
40 International Graduate School of Management (University of South Australia)

Rank School
1 Melbourne Business School
8 Macquarie Graduate School of Management (Australia)
11 Monash Mount Eliza Business School (Australia)
17 Brisbane Graduate School of Business (Queensland University of Technology, Australia)
19 University of Queensland, Australia (Graduate School of Management)
22 University of Adelaide, Australia (Graduate School of Management)
25 Curtin University of Technology, Australia (Graduate School of Business)
29 University of Technology Sydney (Graduate School of Business)
37 University of South Australia (International Graduate School of Management)
38 RMIT University, Australia (School of Management)

Best Part-Time MBA's
Rank School
1 Melbourne Business School
6 Monash Mount Eliza Business School (Australia)
8 Macquarie Graduate School of Management (Australia)
12 Brisbane Graduate School of Business (Queensland University of Technology, Australia)
15 University of Queensland, Australia (Graduate School of Management)
16 University of Technology Sydney (Graduate School of Business)
17 Curtin University of Technology, Australia (Graduate School of Business)
19 University of Adelaide, Australia (Graduate School of Management)
25 RMIT University, Australia (School of Management)
27 University of South Australia (International Graduate School of Management)

Best Executive MBA's
Rank School
9 Monash Mount Eliza Business School (Australia)
14 School of Management (RMIT University, Australia)

Best Distance MBA's
Rank School
2 Curtin University of Technology, Australia (Graduate School of Business)
3 Brisbane Graduate School of Business (Queensland University of Technology, Australia)
5 University of South Australia (International Graduate School of Management)

Best Business Schools in Asia

2005-12-08T23:30:00.000-08:00

Asia's Best MBA Schools
Rank School Average Rating

1 Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad 3.74
2 NUS Business School (National University of Singapore) 3.71
3 Asian Institute of Management (Philippines) 3.59
4 Melbourne Business School 3.56
5 Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore 3.29
6 College of Business Administration (Seoul National University) 3.28
7 Sasin Graduate Institute of Business and Administration (Chulalongkorn University, Thailand) 3.22
8 Chinese University of Hong Kong 3.13
9 Nanyang Business School (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) 3.04
10 Graduate School of Management (International University of Japan) 2.91
11 University of Hong Kong School of Business 2.84
12 Waseda University Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies (Japan) 2.82
13 China Europe International Business School (China) 2.81
14 School of Management (Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand) 2.80
15 Macquarie Graduate School of Management (Australia) 2.74
16 Monash Mount Eliza Business School (Australia) 2.71
17 College of Commerce (National Cheng-chi University, Taiwan)2.64
18 Graduate School of Management (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) 2.62
19 Faculty of Commerce (Hitotsubashi University, Japan) 2.61
20 School of Management (Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay) 2.53
21 City University of Hong Kong 2.46
22 Graduate School of Management (University of Queensland, Australia) 2.45
23 Lahore University of Management Sciences (Pakistan) 2.44
24 College of Business Administration (University of the Philippines) 2.38
25 College of Management (National Taiwan University of Science & Technology) 2.38
26 School of Management (RMIT University, Australia) 2.37
27 Graduate School of Business (University of Technology Sydney) 2.29
28 Birla Institute of Technology and Science (India) 2.21
29 Graduate School of Business (De La Salle University, Philippines) 2.21
30 Brisbane Graduate School of Business (Queensland University of Technology, Australia) 2.19
31 Graduate School of Management (University of Adelaide, Australia) 2.19
32 Faculty of Business and Accountancy (University of Malaya) 2.19
33 Graduate School of Business (Curtin University of Technology, Australia) 2.18
34 T. A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal (India) 2.17
35 Institute of Business Administration (University of Dhaka) 2.16
36 School of International Politics, Economics and Business (Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan) 2.16
37 Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (India) 2.13
38 International Management Institute (India) 2.04
39 University of Waikato Management School (New Zealand) 1.95
40 International Graduate School of Management (University of South Australia) 1.92
41 Bharathidasan Institute of Management (India) 1.90
42 Malaysian Graduate School of Management (Universiti Putra Malaysia) 1.89
43 Universiti Sains Malaysia School of Management 1.88
44 College of Economics and Management (Chungnam National University, South Korea) 1.88
45 Graduate School of Business (Ritsumeikan University, Japan) 1.78
46 Mahanakorn University of Technology (Thailand) 1.73
47 School of Business and Administration (Open University of Hong Kong) 1.70
48 B. K. School of Business Management (Gujarat University, India) 1.60
49 College of Graduate Study in Management (Khon Kaen University, Thailand) 1.59
50 Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (Pakistan) 1.57

Visa Documentation for the US and UK

2005-12-07T01:12:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks!

I get a lot of enquiries about all the documentation that is required to apply for a Visa to travel to the US or UK.
So I am in the process of collating all the info and put it online..
thats it for now...
cheers!

Top Business Schools in the US

2005-12-05T23:59:00.000-08:00

Some of the world renowed Top B Schools in the US:

1. Kellogg School of Management
www.kellogg.northwestern.edu

Located in Chicago, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management topped 2004's Business Week rankings of the best MBA programs in the world. The Kellogg School graduates and recruiters cite our talented students as a key factor in the excellent quality of our MBA program. They represent a diversity of work experience, interests, talents, and cultural and ethnic backgrounds. They are distinguished by their intellectual acumen and strong spirit of involvement.

Courses offered:
Programs of study include: Full-time MBA Programs; Part-time MBA Programs; Executive MBA Programs; Medicine Management - MD-MBA Program; Master of Management & Manufacturing Program; Juris Doctor (JD) MBA program; Doctoral Programs; Executive Education.

Upcoming Events & Calendar

Full-time MBA Info Session, Paris - 12/05/05
Full-time MBA Info Session, London - 12/07/05
Part-time MBA Info Session - 12/17/05
Biotechnology & Healthcare Conference - 01/14/06
EMBA Info Session (Evanston) - 01/21/06
Women's Business Association Conference - 01/25/06

2. Havard Business School
http://www.hbs.edu

One of the top B Schools in the US.

Founded in 1908, Harvard Business School is nearly as old as the concept of management education itself—and in less than a century, the School has produced leaders and ideas that have shaped the practice of management in vital organizations of every kind around the globe.
For nearly a century, the faculty have drawn on their passion for teaching, their experience in working with organizations worldwide, and the insights gained from their research to educate generations of leaders who have shaped the practice of business in every industry and in every country around the world.

Famous for the following 'case method'teaching methodology ,
other key aspects include:

1.Pioneering Research
2.Closeness to Practice
3.Interantional Scope
4.Exceptional Resources
5.A Vital Residential Community
6.Alumni

3. The Wharton School of Business of University of Pennsylvania
www.wharton.upenn.edu/
The Academic Courses offered:

Undergraduate Program

MBA Program

MBA Program for Executives

Doctoral Programs

Executive Programs

Interdisciplinary Programs

Certificate Programs

Summer Programs

News and Events @ Wharton

news: Wharton School Establishes Shanghai Representative Office

news: Wharton School Adds Undergraduate Secondary Concentration in Retailing

news: Wharton School Celebrates 25 Years of the Leadership Education and Development Program

news: Wharton School Announces Establishment of Murrel J. Ades Endowed Professorship

news: Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Awards 2005 North America Announced

news: Wharton and NYU Stern Launch Joint Initiative on Benefits of Undergraduate Business Education

news: Professor Eric Bradlow named the K.P. Chao Professor

news: Wharton School Receives $2.5 Million from Leon Lowenstein Foundation

event: 32nd Annual Whitney M. Young Conference (December 1-4, 2005)

event: Wharton Leadership Lecture: General Peter Pace, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (December 6, 2005)

4. University of Tennessee Senior Executive MBA
www.utk.edu/

Courses Offered:
Senior Executive MBA, Physician EMBA Program, an Aerospace EMBA Program, a Professional MBA Program, and a Full-Time, Daytime MBA Program

...to be updated...Tech,Arts courses..
keep coming here for more folks!!

Information about higher education in the US and European Universities..Overseas students How to get there?!

2005-12-05T23:29:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends,

Just thought I should put up something to that would prove helpful all those overseas students who are interested in the US or European Universities for Higher Studies.
So you know now where to go if you have questions or (even answers) about the above...feel free to write,tell,yell,blog what you have in mind...its for YOU!!

The blogger
Sipher;)