Month: November 2018
How to Write a Letter of Reference
Have you ever been asked to write a letter of reference for a co-worker, employee or former employee? Generally, a letter of reference is used to help obtain employment, apply for higher education, or as a character reference for those seeking a government position. This is an important request, as a well-written letter can be the reason the candidate receives the offer he or she is hoping for.
In all likelihood, you wonít be asked to write a letter of reference for someone you donít know or get along with very well. But, if you have any doubts about writing a recommendation for this person, you should decline the offer and suggest they ask another person. Only write a letter for someone whom you would truly recommend.
A letter of reference doesnít need to be long and wordy. In the first few sentences, explain how you know this person (co-worker, neighbor, business acquaintance) and for how long. Mention any shared any experiences such as coaching the same basketball team, singing in the church choir or working on a project together at the office.
Think of two or three major character traits to describe this person that would be pertinent to the reason you are writing the reference. Are they honest and dependable? Do they always finish what they start? While Mike may be the best guitar player you know and can recite lyrics from songs written twenty years ago, chances are these are not reasons heíll get that job offer. Think of what you would say if you were asked to make a toast to this person during a special occasion.
A short anecdote describing how this person handled a difficult situation will make your letter stand out from the rest. Think of an incident that made you see this person in a new light. Finally, add a short statement that draws the letter to a close.
Hereís a sample letter of reference.
To Whom It May Concern:
I am pleased to write this Letter of Reference for Mike Smith. I have lived next door to Mike for ten years, and we both have served on the XYZ Neighborhood Watch Committee for the past three years.
Mike is a pleasure to work with on this committee. His drive and determination to make our neighborhood a safer place was the catalyst in getting our local government to install a traffic light at a busy intersection in our community. Once, during a power outage in rush hour, and risking life and limb, Mike took the initiative to direct traffic himself rather than risk an accident at this intersection.
Mikeís perseverance and genuine concern for his fellow citizen are perfect examples of why it is my privilege to recommend him for a position with your company. I feel confident he will be an asset to your organization and will add to your continued success.
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Originally posted 2018-03-13 00:54:00.
How To Make A Net – Work!
Many job seekers are confused about networking, and therefore doubt its effectiveness. Networking is the art of building and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships. So, like anything else, networking requires a bit of practice and finesse, but if done correctly, networking can be an invaluable part of your job search campaign.
Here are a few tips that can help develop a network that works for you:
Be Patient
Networking doesn’t happen overnight; it’s a process. Networking is not just something you can check off your job search list like “Send resume to Pfizer”.
While people may want to help you, they might not be able to do so right away.Quite simply, you may not be the first item on their agenda. So, if someone agrees to meet with you but can’t do so immediately, accept their offer graciously and patiently. Never let an opportunity to meet with someone during the course of networking slip away. Always be open to meeting!
Be Authentic and Kind
When you do meet with someone resulting from your scheduling attempts, take a sincere interest in their life, not just the information or possible assistance they can offer you. Don’t push people for their knowledge or connections and then abandon the relationship. Networking means fostering relationships. This objective cannot be achieved by one person constantly taking while the other person constantly gives information or time. Relationships are built on trust and sharing over time.
Remember, one day you might be in a reverse career position; so be considerate and respectful to all you meet. Find ways to periodically reconnect with the contacts in your network to stay up to date on their lives,and let them know that you genuinely care about what is going on with them. Also, connecting and re-connecting, take the time to let them know that their advice and counsel was heard and put to good use. Acknowledging their individual value to you and to your career. Reinforcement of the time and advice offered by those in your network will foster gratefulness, awareness of their value to you and encourage them to continue helping you and others.
Be a Conduit
Remember, the objective of networking isÖwellÖmore networking. You should be constantly adding people to your list of contacts. Always find more contacts to meet and, in turn, become a great connector yourself! Open up your network to others. Hopefully they’ll follow suit and do the same for you, keeping the cycle going. Think about those contacts who could help others in your network,then introduce them!
Be a Teacher
Keep in mind that not everyone you meet will understand what networking is or how they can help you. Many people think that the best way they can help you as a job seeker is to take your resume and pass it along to their human resources department. While their intentions are noble, their strategy won’t help you and could actually wind up being counter-productive and consequently,losing you a great job.
HR managers, like recruiters, are sometimes only motivated to take action on your resume if there is a current job opening within the organization that matches your skills. If a position is not available, they have no incentive to contact you and the connection is lost.
Rather than giving your contacts a resume, ask them if they could introduce you to a member of their company so that you can learn more about their position, industry, and organization. This way, you’ll learn more about the company, share information about yourself, and begin to build a relationship rather than ending up as just another resume lost at the bottom of the pile.
Be a Helper
Networking is all about reciprocity. No matter who you’re dealing with, you should always try to give more than you receive. For example, if you have information about a particular company, industry, or educational program that would be valuable to someone in your network, share it. By sharing you will help others and in turn, others will help you.
Whether you’re currently employed or job seeking is irrelevant – networking is a constant process. Obviously, you’ll be more on the receiving end of your contacts’ information when you’re on the look out for a new job. But that just means you need to work that much harder at giving information and sharing your network while happily employed.
If you’re constantly looking for ways to help people in your network achieve their goals, they’ll be much more likely to help you in return.
More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar
Originally posted 2018-03-12 16:01:00.
Efficient Variable Block Size Selection for AVC Low Bitrate Applications
ABSTRACT
The Advanced Video Coding (AVC) standard proposes the usage of Variable Block Size (VBS) motion-compensated prediction and mode decision aiming for an optimized Rate-Distortion (R-D) performance. Unlike Fixed Block Size (FBS) motion-compensated prediction, where all regions of the pictures are treated similarly in terms of temporal prediction, VBS increases the efficiency of encoding by allowing more active regions to be represented with more bits than less active ones. The main concern regarding the usage of VBS motion-compensated prediction is the dramatic increase it adds to the encoder computational requirements, which not only prevents the encoder from satisfying real-time constraints, but also makes it impractical for hardware implementation. This paper presents an efficient VBS selection scheme, which can be applied to any VBS Motion Estimation (ME) module, leading to significant reduction in its computational requirements with minor loss in the quality of the reconstructed picture. The computational requirements reduction is achieved by minimizing the number of required ME searches and simplifying the Mode Decision (MD) operation. In order to meet different applications’ demands, the proposed algorithm can be adjusted to function at any of three operating points, trading off computational requirements with R-D performance. In the paper, the algorithm is described in detail, focusing on the theoretical computational requirements savings. This theoretical analysis is then supported with simulation results performed on three benchmark video sequences with various types of motion. Keywords-H.264/AVC, motion estimation, variable block size.
Reference: Ihab Amer, Wael Badawy, Graham Jullien, Adrian Chirila-Rus, Robert Turney, and Rana Hamed, “Efficient Variable Block Size Selection for AVC Low Bitrate Applications,” IARIA on-line journals, 2010 Vol. 1&2, July 2010.
Link to the list of other Peer Journal Publications
Originally posted 2018-03-12 14:49:00.
How To Build a Duplicating Downline
Regardless the controversy that the term Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) or Network Marketing brings to mind when mentioned in a conversation, the success of such an industry cannot be denied at the moment.
The long existence of multitudes of MLM organizations is a wonderful indicator that network marketing is here to stay and flourish. As such, additional people are trying to join the bandwagon, building their own MLM .
But, a lot of people are completely misguided or misinformed resulting into the collapse of several network marketing businesses. True that it is difficult to maintain multi-level marketing that could proliferate well, but undoubtedly there is one key component for a network marketing organization’s success, and that is a duplicating downline.
Most people do not know how to build a duplicating downline, but hopefully with the tips to be presented, one may be able to gather a well generating force that almost immediately translate into a productive MLM business.
Multi-level marketing certainly entails leadership, specifically when building a downline. Since building a downline is only another designation for the recruitment process, great people management skills is important in order for the downline to operate well, and thus duplicate.
A lot of people think that network marketing is a self-generating business, but if that was the case, then no MLM organization would have had failed. Downlines certainly not duplicate on their own, even if the product being marketed is perfect. The people in the downline are to be trained and mentored well or else the business would take no direction and would lastly fall flat.
The person on top of the downline may be able to sign multitudes, but that does not guarantee duplication. Without a clear direction, the network would not expand towards success, but instead be paralyzed. The ones on top may easily put the blame on the ones at the bottom, but who recruited the people down there anyway’ Managing a multi-level marketing organization entails a lot of generosity and selflessness.
Duplicability is after all not just the expansion of people in number, but the duplication of the success throughout all the people in the downline.
It is a sad fact in human life that a lot of people think only for themselves. The people on top could think only of their success and see the ones under as nothing but machines to propagate the success. But that cannot happen in multi-level marketing.
In order for the top to succeed, the bottom should be able to succeed as well. When building a downline, one should have a mindset that allows the success to trickle downwards, and not just to remain on top.
The founder of the network marketing organization should be very conscious that what he or she was able to do, the people in the downline could do perfectly as well. There should be no secrets within the organization for the downline to duplicate.
The topline should be able to share and teach the downline the same philosophies and techniques so that the success of the top could be replicated by people in the downline.
Building a duplicating downline actually means duplicating one’s self. This means that when building a downline, one does not just inform people how to sell, rather, one influences or even infects others with one whole self, well at least just the business component of one’s self.
When building a downline, one has to transmit the psyche of the top to the bottom, the bottom should be able to act in the same way as the ones on top.The downline ultimately becomes one with their organizer or founder, they should be able to share the same dreams, anxieties and hopes so that the success that the ones on top experienced would be replicated by the ones on the bottom.
This speaks a lot about the recruitment process itself. True that is hard to enlist exact copies of the founder, but one has to carefully enjoin individuals who have the capacity to act and think in the same wavelength as the recruiter.
In this light, the leader of a network marketing organization should reflect and see how the connection with the downline, or the prospective downline is. First one has to be sure if the people in the downline could relate with the leader and vice-versa. Duplication is unachievable without proper relation. Second, the leader should act in a way that is not so alienating to the downline, otherwise they might think too highly of the leader that they might assume they would never be able to be like him or her.
Again a duplicating downline should have a duplicable top. With this in mind, building a duplicability can be ensured as well as the success of the business.
More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar
Originally posted 2018-03-12 06:11:00.
How to Get the Most out of Your Next Conference
Success in your career depends upon how well you manage your professional development. A prime source of this development comes from being a member of a professional association that relates to your career. As a member, you can attend conferences where you advance your skills and meet people who can help you.
Some people, however, treat conferences as a paid vacation. They party, they skip sessions, and they return home with little more than a stack of receipts. That costs them (or their business) money and contributes nothing to professional growth.
Hereís how to get the most out of your next conference.
1) Start With a Plan
First, make a list of your goals for attending the conference. For example, this could include the information that you want to gain, the relationships that you want to deepen, the people you want to meet, and the things that you want to buy. Also, make a list of questions that you want to have answered while youíre at the conference. This list will help you focus on your personal agenda during the conference and will maximize your chances of returning with something of value.
Then, scan through the program to select those sessions that will help you the most. These could be on topics that teach skills leading to a promotion, help open new opportunities at work, or answer important questions about your career. If many valuable sessions are scheduled at the same time, then select your first and second choices. You may find that one of the sessions has been canceled or filled (sold out).
Highlight your top priority sessions so you can sign up or arrive early. These sessions generally have such great value that they justify attending the conference, and you want to make sure that youíre there when they start.
If your boss must approve attending a conference, use your plan to justify your request. Be sure to include explanations of how the information, relationships, and participation at the conference will enhance your value to your company. Wise leaders always support someone who relates a request to the benefits that come from it.
2) Work the Plan
While at the conference keep your list of goals and questions in mind. Begin each day by checking your list and identifying those goals that you can achieve during that day. For example, some sessions may provide information that answers some of your questions.
At the end of the day review your list and check off those goals that you accomplished. If you discover new opportunities, then add them to your list of goals. And if you find yourself stuck on reaching a goal, seek out a senior member whom you can ask for advice on how to achieve it.
3) Meet People
Often the greatest benefit of attending a conference will be the relationships that you start while there. These relationships can become sources of information, friendship, and job opportunities.
Thus, make it a point to meet new people. Instead of spending all of your time with friends or colleagues, go off on your own. Join other people for meals. Sit next to them during the sessions. Start conversations while walking between sessions. And be sure to ask for a business card. Then you can add that personís contact information into your contact database.
I encourage you to introduce yourself to the speakers. They were invited to speak at the conference because of their expertise in your profession. Thus, they can become valuable resources for information, assistance, and referrals. The best time to meet speakers is right after they finish their presentation. Introduce yourself, offer a brief compliment on the presentation, and ask for a business card. Of course, if you meet them again at the conference, use this as an opportunity to talk further.
4) Apply What You Gained
When you return home, set aside an hour or so to review the notes that you took while at the conference. You may want to schedule this on your calendar before you leave for the conference.
Review your notes, identifying the main ideas. Then convert each of these ideas into an action on your list of things to do. Once you finish the list add a completion date and assign a priority. Recognize that this step converts everything that you learned, collected, and gained during the conference into tangible benefits for yourself and your company.
If you are an employee, I recommend writing a report for your management. Document the key ideas that you gained and describe how they can be applied to your work. If youíre an independent, you may still want to write such a report for yourself because this formalizes what you gained from the conference.
5) Be Grateful
When you return home, write thank you notes to the people who helped you at the conference. This simple courtesy sets you apart as an exceptional person. I especially recommend writing notes to:
1) The leaders in the association. They worked hard to organize the event.
2) Members of the staff who helped you. These people can help you get the most out of your membership.
3) The speakers. This could start relationships with experts and celebrities in your profession.
4) New friends. This makes you memorable when you meet again at the next conference.
Use a conference to immerse yourself in the society and the technology of your profession. And then apply what you gained to advance your career.
More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar
Originally posted 2018-03-12 04:16:00.
Finding Targeted Leads
The objective of multi-level marketing (MLM) is to sell the product or service and to encourage the client to become an independent distributor, who then sells the service or product as well. Leads are vital for any business to grow, and in order for the business owner to have the greatest success, the leads must be curious enough in the business opportunity to have expressed an interest. The prospects that have expressed an interest in becoming distributors are known as Targeted MLM Leads.
To find targeted MLM leads, business owners must first have ample knowledge of their target market. Are they self-starters? Do they have the commitment necessary to be part of a network? Business owners must also understand the product or service, the company mission statement, and its goals and objectives well enough to offer a good sales presentation. Delivering a presentation, however compelling, to someone that has not shown interest in the product, service, or business opportunity is a waste of time and resources.
Business owners can acquire targeted MLM leads from various sources. The most convenient sources are the companies that compile and sell lead lists. The business owner, however, should be careful when choosing a lead list source, as some may be fraudulent. Some targeted MLM leads are identified through telephone interviews or direct mail response. Business owners can also obtain targeted leads from promotional give-away programs that have high traffic. Usually a person will fill out a simple survey to claim the promotional item, and the business owner can then use the survey to assess whether he or she will be a quality lead.
For more information, please join our live seminar
Originally posted 2018-03-11 21:03:00.
First Film, Games and Mobile Business Network starts in Germany
The International business network gafimo.net –
the mobile, film, games network launches today in
germany. Matthias Pieper, 23, CEO of gafimo.net
is on the move to find as many professionals from
the mobile content, film and games-development
branches as possible to bring them together. “It
is clear that these industries have to work
together in the future” Pieper says. He knows,
what he¥s talking about: after years of working
on the games workforce (giga, etc.) he has
studied film production and often finds himself
between the branches. “Those people are working
on the same topics, using similiar software,
storytellingtools, and so on” he says, “but
hardly know each other and therefore can¥t be of
help to one another”. Also Pieper believes that
since the devices of games, mobile and film are
merging (playstations, PCs, etc) there has to be
a business-network to combine these industries.
More info’s and free registrations (restricted to
pros) please join our live seminar
Originally posted 2018-03-11 19:23:00.
Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR): A State-of-the-Art Review
Abstract:
Automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) is the extraction of vehicle license plate information from an image or a sequence of images. The extracted information can be used with or without a database in many applications, such as electronic payment systems (toll payment, parking fee payment), and freeway and arterial monitoring systems for traffic surveillance. The ALPR uses either a color, black and white, or infrared camera to take images. The quality of the acquired images is a major factor in the success of the ALPR. ALPR as a real-life application has to quickly and successfully process license plates under different environmental conditions, such as indoors, outdoors, day or night time. It should also be generalized to process license plates from different nations, provinces, or states. These plates usually contain different colors, are written in different languages, and use different fonts; some plates may have a single color background and others have background images. The license plates can be partially occluded by dirt, lighting, and towing accessories on the car. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art techniques for ALPR. We categorize different ALPR techniques according to the features they used for each stage, and compare them in terms of pros, cons, recognition accuracy, and processing speed. Future forecasts of ALPR are given at the end.
Published in:
Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, IEEE Transactions on (Volume:23 , Issue: 2 )
- Page(s):
- 311 – 325
- ISSN :
- 1051-8215
- INSPEC Accession Number:
- 13270696
- DOI:
- 10.1109/TCSVT.2012.2203741
- Date of Publication :
- 07 June 2012
- Date of Current Version :
- 01 February 2013
- Issue Date :
- Feb. 2013
- Sponsored by :
- IEEE Circuits and Systems Society
- Publisher:
- IEEE
- Download the paper here Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR): A State-of-the-Art Review
Link to the list of other Peer Journal Publications
Reference: Shan Du; Ibrahim, M.; Shehata, M.; Badawy, W., “Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR): A State-of-the-Art Review,” IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, vol.23, no.2, pp.311,325, Feb. 2013.
Originally posted 2018-03-11 07:19:00.
On-Chip Electrical Field Sensing For Lab-On-A-Chip Applications
Authors: Yehya H. Ghallab, and Wael Badawy
Abstract: This paper presents a novel CMOS electric field sensor, termed as a Differential Electric Field Sensitive Field Effect Transistor (DeFET). It’s based on a standard 0.18μm CMOS technology. The DeFET shows a sensitivity of 76 μA/V/μm. Also, the DefET’s theory of operation is presented and discussed. Both the experimental and simulation results confirm the DeFET’s theory of operation is presented.
Link to the paper
Link to download the ECS Trans.-2006-Badawy-1-15
Link to the list of other Peer Journal Publications
Reference: Yehya H. Ghallab, and Wael Badawy, “On-chip Electrical Field Sensing for Lab-on-a-chip applications“, ElectroChemical Transaction, 1, (28) 1 (2006), pp. 1-15.
Originally posted 2018-03-10 23:40:00.