Wednesday, January 23, 2008

How to Move to a New Apartment

Moving to a new apartment is always fun and exciting adventure but at the same time we have to do lots of work-not to mention very stressful. When I am moving the Miami apartment I experienced by the same problem. Here are some suggestions that might make your transition a little easier.
  • Get boxes from grocery stores rather than buying them. Don't forget about the value of large plastic trash bags - just be careful not to throw them out!! And also choose boxes in sizes that will be easy for one person to carry, just in case you find yourself moving most of it on your own.
  • Start the moving process as soon as you can find time to. The more dispensable items you can pack as early on as possible, the less you'll have to worry about when it gets down to the wire.
  • Keep the breakable items (dishes, knick-knacks, pictures, et cetera) in old newspaper, towels, bed sheets, even clothing.
  • And label your boxes as you pack - kitchen, living room, bath, etc. Also make a list of contents on each box, to make it easier to find certain things when unpacking. And also label in breakable items.
  • After packing your belongings take the decision of hiring movers. Before you select the movers ask their secure policies.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Bridge The Generation Gap

One of the thoughts that go through any team member’s head while forming a team would be the composition of the team members age in a team. Does the team need any experienced, say old guy, or it can happen by all the young guns. But who is this generation Y? Does any team really have to have them? Each generation can feel that the other is all messed up in one way or another and that things would be better if they were done as they should be. Next, mutual respect, teamwork, and flexibility are quickly replaced with rice bowls, stovepipes, and cold shoulders. When you get down to basics, the generation gaps aren’t that wide.

Everyone wants to be able to trust the people they work with, no one really likes change when they think they’re going to lose from it, everyone likes feedback and everyone wants to learn. Even when differences become apparent roadblocks, teams should embrace them. That diversity can be the catalyst for true growth and for expanding into new horizons! To break down the generational barriers and get down to team basics, try these strategies.

Play some team building games. Any simple one can do - building a structure from playing cards, an office scavenger hunt like games can quickly break down barriers, engage people toward a common purpose, and lighten the atmosphere. Take time at each team meeting to spotlight a team member and get to know that person as a person - where they are from, what their hobbies are, and what they liked to do when they were young. Team members will quickly find out how much they have in common vs. how much they think they are different. Do a Freaky fun day! Take a day and let team workers switch roles and responsibilities so they get a comprehensive view of what the other deals with. A decent walk in another’s shoes will usually help with clarity!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Local Government Of The United States

There are 87,000 local governments, including 3,034 counties, 19,498 municipalities, 16,500 townships, 13,500 school districts, and 35,000 other special districts, which deal with issues, like fire protection. To a greater extent than on the federal or state level, the local governments directly serve the needs of the people, providing everything from police and fire protection to sanitary codes, health regulations, education, public transportation, and housing.
About 28% of the people live in cities of 100,000 or more population.
City governments are chartered by states, and their charters detail the objectives and powers of the municipal government. But in many respects the cities function independently of the states. For most big cities, however, cooperation with both state and federal organizations is essential to meeting the needs of their residents.
Types of city governments vary widely across the nation. However, almost all have some kind of central council, elected by the voters, and an executive officer, assisted by various department heads, to manage the city's affairs.
There are three general types of city government: the mayor-council, the commission, and the council-manager. These are the pure forms; many cities have developed a combination of two or three of them.
Mayor-Council. This is the oldest form of city government in the United States and, until the beginning of the 20th century, was used by nearly all American cities. Its structure is similar to that of the state and national governments, with an elected mayor as chief of the executive branch and an elected council that represents the various neighborhoods forming the legislative branch. The mayor appoints heads of city departments and other officials, sometimes with the approval of the council. He or she has the power of veto over ordinances — the laws of the city — and frequently is responsible for preparing the city's budget. The council passes city ordinances, sets the tax rate on property, and apportions money among the various city departments. As cities have grown, council seats have usually come to represent more than a single neighborhood. (Ex. Tampa, Florida has used a Mayor-Council system of government since 1983.)
The Commission. This combines both the legislative and executive functions in one group of officials, usually three or more in number, elected citywide. Each commissioner supervises the work of one or more city departments. One is named chairperson of the body and is often called the mayor, although his or her power is equivalent to that of the other commissioners.
Council-Manager. The city manager is a response to the increasing complexity of urban problems, which require management expertise not often possessed by elected public officials. The answer has been to entrust most of the executive powers, including law enforcement and provision of services, to a highly trained and experienced professional city manager.
The city manager plan has been adopted by a growing number of cities. Under this plan, a small, elected council makes the city ordinances and sets policy, but hires a paid administrator, also called a city manager, to carry out its decisions. The manager draws up the city budget and supervises most of the departments. Usually, there is no set term; the manager serves as long as the council is satisfied with his or her work
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Tuesday, January 8, 2008

County Vs. Municipal Government In US

All the states are divided into counties (referred to as boroughs in Alaska and parishes in Louisiana) though only a portion of Alaska is so divided. Connecticut and Rhode Island have completely eliminated county government, and Massachusetts has partially eliminated it. These can exist both for the implementation of the state government's policies, and also as local governments in there own right. The locality that houses the county’s main offices is known as the county seat. Municipalities are generally formally incorporated entities in built-up areas. They usually operate with a degree of autonomy.
Both types of government often operate in the same area, albeit with different responsibilities. Generally in heavily urbanized areas the city government will have considerable powers, with the county government conversely having relatively few (or even none).
Unlike in some other countries, both types of government often have powers to tax both local residents and businesses and to incur public debt. In some areas this means the power to raise a local income tax. County governments in some states also have the ability to add a percentage to the state sales tax. In California, Proposition 13, a 1978 amendment to the state constitution, strictly limits the taxation power of municipalities. Responsibilities of county governments generally include local highway maintenance as well as the provision of refuse collection and recycling facilities in unincorporated areas. Municipal governments are usually responsible for public safety (policing and the fire department).In most states county and municipal governments exists side-by-side. There are exceptions to this, however; in Virginia, for example, a number of major urban areas exist as independent cities, which exist outside the county framework; similarly, some states have merged city and county governments for some of their biggest cities (examples of this are Carson City in Nevada and San Francisco in California). In Connecticut, Rhode Island, and parts of Massachusetts, counties exist only to designate boundaries for such state-level functions as park districts (Connecticut) or judicial offices (Massachusetts). In areas lacking an incorporated municipal government, the county government is generally responsible for providing all services.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

GNSS Augmentation

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is the standard generic term for satellite navigation systems that provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage. A GNSS allows small electronic receivers to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude) to within a few meters using time signals transmitted along a line of sight by radio from satellites. Receivers on the ground with a fixed position can also be used to calculate the precise time as a reference for scientific experiments.
As of 2007, the United States NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS) is the only fully operational GNSS. The Russian GLONASS is a GNSS in the process of being restored to full operation. The European Union's Galileo positioning system is a next generation GNSS in the initial deployment phase, scheduled to be operational in 2010. China has indicated it may expand its regional Beidou navigation system into a global system. India's IRNSS, a next generation GNSS is in developmental phase and is scheduled to be operational around 2012.
GNSS Augmentation involves using external information, often integrated into the calculation process, to improve the accuracy, availability, or reliability of the satellite navigation signal. There are many such systems in place and they are generally named or described based on how the GNSS sensor receives the information. Some systems transmit additional information about sources of error (such as clock drift, ephemeris, or ionosphere delay), others provide direct measurements of how much the signal was off in the past, while a third group provide additional navigational or vehicle information to be integrated in the calculation process.
Examples of augmentation systems include the Wide Area Augmentation System, the European Geo-stationary Navigation Overlay Service, the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System, Differential GPS, and Inertial Navigation Systems.