Algebra Tips

Algebra is a branch of pure mathematics and forms an interesting curriculum of education in almost all schools, all over the world. In this article, I have presented some algebra tricks and algebra tips, that would be helpful to students and the rest alike. Browse through the algebra tips given below...

Algebra Tips
The algebra we study in schools is called elementary algebra, that aims to impart the basic meaning to variables and constants. I still remember my first algebra class, when the arithmetic numbers were replaced by alphabets and I was dumbfounded looking at my teacher (duh!). Algebra is broadly classified into many branches. Some other branches of algebra, which are a part of mathematics and are studied at higher levels, are linear algebra, abstract algebra, vector spaces and ring and field theories etc. In elementary algebra, numbers are replaced by letters and symbols and with the help of these letters we solve the problems. For example, if we are asked to find the area of a rectangle (A), given its length (l) and breath (b), we all know its area will be:

Area of rectangle (A)= Length (l) X Breadth (b)

Now, if you know the value of either of the two quantities, among the three variables, we can substitute the value of the two known variables and get the third one! One of the simple algebra tips! Isn't it? We need algebra because it drastically reduces the space for problem solving and lengthy problems can be solved in a few lines. Algebra finds many applications in fields of engineering, finance, economics and architecture!

The mathematical problems in algebra are expressed through algebraic equations. Algebraic equations are a combination of variables and constants. For instance, consider the equation, 3X= 9. This is a simple algebraic equation in one variable. Dividing both sides by 3, we get the solution of this equation as, X=3. Similarly, 3X + 2Y = 8, is an algebraic equation in two variables. Now, since this equation has two variables, we will require another equation with the same variables, to find the solution of this equation. Now consider,

3X + 1Y - 7Z= 8

This is an example of a linear equation in three variables. X,Y and Z are the three variables in this equation. Let's check out some other simple algebra tips! Here in this equation. X, Y and Z are the three variables, whose values can change with the constraint that the left hand side (L.H.S) of the equation must always be equal to the right hand side (R.H.S) of the equation. The numbers 3, 1 and -7 are called the coefficients of X, Y and Z respectively. The respective values of X, Y and Z, which make the L.H.S=R.H.S are called solutions of the given algebraic expression. This is so, because if we take X=3, Y= -1 and Z=0 and put in the above equation, we would get L.H.S=R.H.S.! Try it! You will get 8=8. Its as simple as that! Here, we got the solution with the help of hit and trial method. Suppose, we had to find the solution of this equation algebraically, then we would require two other linear equations in three variables.

Some important algebra tips that are the basics of algebra are as follows
  • We can add the same number on both sides of an equation. e.g., 5X - 8 = 7 is the same as 5X - 8 + 8 = 7 + 8.
  • We can subtract the same number on both sides of an equation. e.g. 2a + 4 - 5 = 6 – 5.
  • We can multiply both sides of an equation by the same (non-zero) number. e.g. (5/6)x = 7 is the same as 6 X (5/6)x = 7 X 6.
  • We can divide both sides of an equation by the same (non-zero) number. e.g. 2r = 10 is the same as (2r/2) = (10/2).
Order Of Operations- The PEDMAS Rule

There is a famous and important rule of PEDMAS, that is crucial in solving algebra problems. An important algebra tip is to understand the order of operations, that means, the series of steps you need to take while solving a mathematics problem involving squares, brackets, addition, subtraction and others. So, what is BODMAS? While working out arithmetic calculations, follow the order of operations mentioned below.

P stands for parenthesis/brackets.
E stands for exponential (squares, exponents, cubes, square roots etc.)
DM stands for division and multiplication (performed left to right)
AS stands for addition and subtraction (performed left to right)

Let's understand the rule of PEMDAS through an example,

Example - Evaluate 9 - 4 ÷ (8 - 4) x 2 + 6 using the order of operations.

Solution
Step1. 9 - 4 ÷ (8 - 4) x 2 + 6 = 9 - 4 ÷ 4 x 2 + 6 (parenthesis)
Step2. 9 - 4 ÷ 4 x 2 + 6 = 9 – 1 x 2 + 6 (Division)
Step3. 9 – 1 x 2 + 6 = 9 – 2 + 6 (Multiplication)
Step4. 9 – (-2) + 6 = 9 +4 (Addition)
Step5. 9+4 = 13

Important Algebra Formulas or Algebra Tips

Some important formulas and algebraic tips are mentioned below:

Serial Number Algebraic Formula
1 (a+b)2 = a2 + b2 + 2ab
2 (a - b)2 = a2 + b2 - 2ab
3 (a + b)3 = a3 + b3 + 3ab2 + 3a2b
4 a3 + b3 = (a + b)3 - 3a2b - 3ab2
5 (a-b)3 = a3- b3 - 3a2b + 3ab2
6 a3- b3 = (a - b)3 + 3ab(a+b)
7 (a + b + c)2 = a2 + b2 + c2 + 2(ab + bc + ca)
8 (a + b)2 + (a - b)2 = 2(a2 + b2)
9 (a2- b2) = (a - b)(a + b)
10 (a3 + b3) = (a + b)(a2 - ab+ b2)
11 (a3 - b3) = (a - b)(a2 + b2 + ab)


Learning algebra involves the understanding of the vital role of exponents and radicals. There are some major algebra tips, that can help solve various problems. Some of them are mentioned below:

Serial Number Exponential Formula
1 anam = an+m
2 (a.b)n = an. bn
3 a0 = 1
4 (am)n = amn
5 am/n = n√am
6 a-m = 1/a-m
7 (am/an )= a(m-n)


Some Interesting Algebra Tricks

Algebra is a fantastic field that can present some interesting fallacies. Read one such trick,

Algebra Trick Question#1
Take some random number. Add 3 to this number and then multiply by 2. Again add 4 to the result and divide by 2. Now, subtract the number you started with from the result. What's the answer? Whoa! It's the same number!!Now, start with any other number and apply the same trick again, you will always get the number you started with. Let's see the proof of this trick using algebra tips. Here, I have taken my original number to be 'x'. It's fun!

Select a Number Say x
Add 3 x+3
Multiply by 2 2(x+3) or 2x+6
Add 4 2x+10
Divide By 2 x+5
Subtract the original number x

Likewise, there are many other algebra tricks that you can think on your own! All it takes is some interest to play with numbers and some knowledge of algebra. So, have fun studying algebra tips and algebra tricks!

By Kundan Pandey

Middle School Math Games

Fun with math? Sounds totally unfathomable to me. However, thanks to middle school math games, the idea of studies has been revolutionized completely.

Middle School Math Games
Math is a subject which I have always been disinterested in. The reason might be 'grapes are sour' or because they took too much time and the outcome was usually unconvincing (read 'disgusting' cause they were always wrong!). Whatever be the reason, I can assure you that in our times, we never had interesting middle school math games and the monotony of solving long (I mean LOOONG!) and complicated (here too, I mean TOOO COMPLICATED!) equations, which did not have any meaning, was highly unwelcome. Let's try and make some efforts so that your and my kids do not undergo the same 'traumatic' phase and enjoy doing mathematics instead.

Classroom Conversions
Lets get started with some middle school math challenges. There are a number of games that can be played in the class, not only for learning, but also to develop a sense of competition and the desire for improvement among the students.
  1. Divide the class into three. Each team can be given a math theorem and asked to make a mini project on it. They can include the history of the theorem, some nice pictures, some interesting facts related to it and finally a few sums based on the theorem.
  2. Divide the class into three teams. One member of each team comes to the board. The teacher asks a simple sum and the first one to complete, with the correct solution, earns 2 points for his team.
  3. All the students are made to stand in their places. The teacher asks questions and the students can answer randomly. Whoever gives the correct solution first, can sit. At the end, the person who remains standing gives a treat.
While the main focus of the games must be on interactive learning through problem solving, the teacher must remember that kids are not fools and the games must be really interesting to hold their attention. More on elementary math games.

Indoor Indices
Your daughter spends her evening in the kitchen with you, instead of completing her homework. You wonder if it's 'mommy love' or is it 'algebra allergy'. Well, get her to bake a batch of binomials (Alliteration intended!). Get all the ingredients and ask her to calculate the quantity and therefore the ratio. You can ask her to calculate the price of each ingredient and in turn, the cost of making the cookies. Once you are done with it, get started with the baking. Find out if she wants to sell some of them and she can keep the profit (if she makes any) in case all her calculations are correct. Ask her to make a rough draft and get going. She learns to earn her pocket money and your job is done! Read more on fun indoor games for groups.

Online Ordinates
There are innumerable online sites which have again, innumerable middle school math activities, games and puzzles. Games which are highly popular are listed below.
  • Comets
  • Mancala
  • Five dollar bill scrambler
  • Cows and bulls
  • Bread winner
Log on to one of them and see your son glued to the computer like a bee to its honeycomb. Though a child must be encouraged to socialize instead of living in seclusion, there must be no compromise when it comes to learning. Learn more on free online games for kids.

External Equations
The knowledge of basic mathematics is essential for using money properly. If a child is given an opportunity, he would be amused to know the relevance of math in his day-to-day activities. Tell him to calculate the expenses of a fun night out. First, he needs to make a list of all the activities he wants to enjoy during his fun evening. Then, he needs to find out the prices. Starting from movie ticket expenses and popcorn to joyrides and traveling, he has to find out all expenses including the sales tax. Check the list and hand him over the exact amount. Your child would not only learn calculations, but also the importance of calculated expenditure. However, play safe as a revolution at home is not very pleasing after all. More on solving math word problems.

A competitive atmosphere converts an otherwise mundane afternoon into a live ground full of activities. Math riddles and puzzles, memory builders and other games can activate the minds of the little geniuses in no time. The numbers they dread the most can open a whole new world of surprises for them and believe me, kids love surprises. Kudos to the makers of these exciting middle school math games!

By Suprita Biswas

Factor By Grouping

Having a tough time in learning the procedures of factor by grouping? Here are some simple steps you can follow and practice.

Factor By Grouping
Factor by grouping, in layman language, is simply defined as the grouping of terms with common factors before factoring a polynomial. A polynomial is a mathematical expression that is formed by variables and constants. The construction of such variables and constants is done by using operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and non-negative whole number exponents (constants). Before we get down to factor by grouping methods, lets see some simple examples of polynomials.

Examples of Polynomials
  • 1 – 4x
  • 5x3 - 8
  • -2.16x + 7x3 - 7/2
  • 4.7x3 + 3.1x3 + 9x
  • (x - 3)2 + 6x + 1 = x2 - 6x + 9 + 6x + 1 = (x2 + 10)
  • x2 − 4x + 7
So what is not a polynomial?
x2 − 4/x + 7xx3/2 is an example of a term which is not a polynomial. The reason behind this being that the second term (4/x) incorporates division i.e., 4x-1 and the third term (7x3/2) has a fractional index. These two conditions fail to meet one of the criteria for an expression to be a polynomial. As I have mentioned earlier, a polynomial must have 'Non-negative whole number exponents'.

Factoring Polynomials By Grouping
Here are some examples you can refer to.

Example 1:
9a3 – 15a2 + 3ba – 5b

Solution:
9a3 – 15a2 + 3ba – 5b

(Step: 1)
= (9a3 – 15a2) + (3ba – 5b)

(Step: 2)
= 3a2(3a – 5) + b(3a – 5)

(Step: 3)
= (3a – 5)(3a2 + b)

Steps:
  • In the first step, terms with common factors have been grouped
  • In the second, the greatest common factor (GCF) is removed
  • Finally, in the third step, the distributive law [ a(b + c) = ab + ac ] has been used
In the above sum, the important point to consider is that (2a – 3) is the common factor.

Example 2:
pq + 4q – 2p – 8

Solution:
pq + 4q – 2p – 8

(Step: 1)
= pq – 2p + 4q – 8

(Step: 2)
= p(q – 2) + 4(q – 2)

(Step: 3)
= (p + 4) + (q – 2)

Steps:
  • The first step was rearranging the terms of the polynomial so that two consecutive have a common factor [such as p]
  • In the second step, common factors were derived from each of the two consecutive terms
  • In the third step, the polynomial was factored by grouping the common factors
Example 3
a3 – ab2 – a2 + b3

Solution:
a3 – ab2 – a2b + b3

(Step: 1)
= a3 – a2b – ab2 + b3

(Step: 2)
= a2(a – b) – b2(a – b)

(Step: 3)
= (a2– b2) (a – b)

(Step: 4)
= (a – b) (a + b) (a – b)

(Step: 5)
= {(a + b) (a – b)2}

Steps:
  • Here, from step 1 to step 3, same procedures have been followed as those in problem 2
  • In step 4, (a2– b2) has been simplified to (a – b) (a + b)
  • In step 5, (a – b) was the common factor, so it was grouped together for the final solution.
Factoring Trinomials By Grouping
In 'factor by grouping' in a trinomial, the 'split method is used'. Here's how it goes.

All trinomials of the form (ax2 + bx + c) ['c' being a constant], whose leading co-efficient is not 1, can be simplified by factoring through the split method. First, find the product of a and c (a . c). Now, the factors of (a . c) must be added to get the center term 'b'. Put the factors with their appropriate signs (+ or –) in place of the center term. Finally, follow the method of grouping of common factors. Follow the example, to understand it better.

Example 4

4x2 + 13x + 10 [ ax2 + bx + c]

Solution:
4x2 + 13x + 10

(Step: 1)
= 4x2 + 8x + 5x + 10

(Step: 2)
= 4x(x + 2) + 5(x + 2)

(Step: 3)
= (4x + 5 ) (x + 2)

Steps:
  • In the expression, a = 4 and c = 10. So, a .c = 40. Now, factors of 40 which add up to 'b' (= 13) are 8 and 5. Thus, 8 + 5 = 13
  • The factors with their appropriate signs are put in the first step
  • In the second step, common factors were found out of each of the two consecutive terms
  • Finally in the third step, common binomial (terms) were paired.
Example 5

8x2 + 11x – 7 [ ax2 + bx + c]

Solution:
8x2 + 11x – 7

(Step: 1)
= 8x2 + 14x + (- 4x) – 7

(Step: 2)
= 8x2 + 14x – 4x – 7

(Step: 3)
= 2x(4x + 7) – 1(4x + 7)

(Step: 4)
= (4x + 7) (2x – 1)

Steps:
  • Similar to example 5, a = 8 & c = (- 7), So, a . c = (- 56). Factors of (- 56) which can add up to 11 (= b) are 14 and (- 4). So likewise, these factors were put with their respective signs
  • In the second step, the expression was further simplified [14x + (- 4x) = 14x – 4x]
  • In the third step, common factors from consecutive terms were derived
  • In the last step, the trinomial expression was factored.
Likewise, there are several examples of factoring by grouping method. Books are the best source for study tips on problem solving and also for the basic and in-depth knowledge about this subject of factor by grouping. Regular practice with different kinds of polynomials will enhance your skills and help you to master this mathematical art of simplification. This should help with your homework and in enhancing your knowledge. Always remember that in a subject like 'Mathematics', nothing works better than 'loads' of practice!

By Rajib Singha

Calculating Standard Deviation

The term standard deviation is used rarely and hence, not many of us know about it. Mentioned below is information about standard deviation in brief along with the methods of calculating standard deviation. Read on...

Calculating Standard Deviation
Standard deviation or SD, which is also referred to as root mean square, is the 'mean of the mean'. It is used to measure variation or dispersion. In simple words, it is a measure about how the statistical data is spread. Standard deviation was first implemented by Karl Pearson in 1894. Standard deviation can be of two types, namely; low standard deviation and high standard deviation. The low standard deviation indicates that the data points are close to the mean point, while the high standard deviation indicates that the data points are spread out and away from the mean point. As we have different calculators like loan calculator, mortgage calculator, etc., there are free standard deviation calculators available online which can help you in calculating standard deviation.

Calculation of Standard Deviation

Standard deviation is represented with the symbol lower case sigma. In standard deviation (Sn), average is represented by x bar and sum is represented by upper case symbol of sigma. Let's take a look at the formula for standard deviation calculation.

Sn = √ 1 / (N - 1) ∑ ( x i - x̄ ) 2
(where ∑ ranges from i = 1 to N)

Steps on Calculating Standard Deviation

Method 1: This is a manual method for calculating standard deviation.

Step 1: The first step is to calculate the mean or the average of the numbers.

Step 2: The next step is to get the deviations. In order to get the deviations, subtract the mean obtained from step 1 from all the numbers.

Step 3: Now, square the numbers (or multiply the number by itself), which are obtained as results from step 2.

Step 4: Now, add all the numbers.

Step 5: The next step is to divide this number by 1 less than the total numbers.

Step 6: The last step requires you to take the square root of this number.

Example

Consider the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Step 1
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15

Step 2
1 – 15 = -14
2 – 15 = -13
3 – 15 = -12
4 – 15 = -11
5 – 15 = -10

Step 3
14 * 14 = 196
13 * 13 = 169
12 * 12 = 144
11 * 11 = 121
10 * 10 = 100

Step 4
196 + 169 + 144 + 121 + 100 = 730

Step 5
730 / 4 = 182.5

Step 6
Square root of 182.5 = 13.5092561

In order to calculate population standard deviation, follow the same procedure as mentioned above except for a bit of change in step 5. Instead of dividing the number by one less than the total numbers, divide the number by the number which is the same as the total numbers used. So, the formula in this case is:

Sn = √ 1 / N ∑ ( x i - x̄ ) 2
(where ∑ ranges from i = 1 to N)

Method 2: In this method, you will have to calculate the standard deviation with the help of an excel spreadsheet.

Step 1
The first step is to open the excel spreadsheet and enter, say 10 numbers, in different cells. Make sure you start from the first cell and enter the numbers one below the other.

Step 2
Now, place the cursor on the 11th cell. From the menu bar, select the insert tab and then the function tab. After doing this, a function dialog box will appear on the screen.

Step 3
From this function category dialog box, click on statistical and then select average and press the enter button.

Step 4
After pressing the enter button, a dialog box will appear on the screen asking for the confirmation of the range. It will ask if you want to perform operation on the numbers present in the cells 1, 2,...10. For confirmation, press enter. After pressing enter, the average of the numbers will appear in the 11th cell.

Step 5
Now, place the cursor in the 12th cell. Again follow the same procedure as mentioned above and from menu bar select insert and then function.

Step 6
In the select function window, scroll down and select STDEV.

Step 7
Pressing the enter button, will open a dialog box. This dialog box will ask you to select the range. According to the calculations, you will have to select the range. After you select the range, press the enter tab. Pressing the enter button will give the standard deviation. This result will appear in the 12th cell.

Hope you must have understood how the methods mentioned above will help you in calculating standard deviation. These methods are simple to do, if you have proper inputs handy. With these formulas, you can calculate standard deviation from various data including population surveys.

By Pradnya S

Simple Interest Vs Compound Interest

Understanding the basic difference between simple interest vs compound interest is of prime importance, in order to calculate the amount you have to pay or deposit in a bank. The examples provided here will help you gain a better understanding of the fundamentals of the simple interest formula and the compound interest formula. Read on, to know more about simple interest vs compound interest.

Simple Interest Vs Compound Interest
Suppose you have borrowed a certain sum of money or an amount from a bank as a loan, then you must be interested to know what premium you have to pay as part of the loan repayment. The amount you need to pay as a repayment is generally calculated on the basis of compound interest. Mathematics has a lot of applications of simple vs compound interest. Let's discuss the concepts of simple interest and compound interest and find out the basic differences between simple interest vs compound interest.

Simple Interest
When some amount of money is borrowed, the interest is charged for the use of that money for a certain fixed period of time. When the time comes to pay the money back, the amount that was borrowed (called as the principal) and the interest are paid back. The amount on which the interest will be incurred, depends on various factors like interest rate, the principal and the time period for which the money was borrowed. Simple interest is generally used for a shorter duration of time, that means for a period of less than a year, like 40 days or 60 days.

Simple Interest Formula
The formula for calculating simple interest is as follows.

Simple Interest (S.I) = (P * R * T)/100, where,
P = principal amount (the amount that was borrowed)
R = rate of interest (for one period)
T = time duration for which the money is borrowed (number of periods)

Let us understand this formula with the help of an example.

Example: John borrows a sum of $20, 000 for a period of 4 years at 8% simple, yearly interest. Find the interest and total amount due at the end of 4 years, that John is liable to pay.

Solution: We know that, S.I = (P * R * T)/100
Now, in this case , P = $20, 000, R= 8% = (8/100) = 0.08, T = 4 years,

Putting these in the formula, we get, S.I. = (20, 000 X 0.08 X 4) = $6400

Therefore, Simple Interest = $6400 and the Total Amount Due = Principal + S.I. = $20, 000 + $6400 = $26, 400.

So, John needs to pay $26, 400 at the end of 4 years.

Compound Interest
Compound interest is calculated on the original principal plus all the interest that has been accumulated for that period. Compound interest is just like a series of simple interests, where the interest occurred is added to the original principal, which is then considered as a principal for the next month or year. The striking difference between simple interest and compound interest is that in simple interest the principal amount is always fixed but in compound interest the principal changes as the interest for subsequent months is added to it. Generally, compound interest is used to calculate the interests and rates for large period of times. In simple words, compound interest incorporates an interest on the interest of all the prior periods.

Compound Interest Formula
The formula to compute compound interest is as follows
Compound Interest (C.I) = P(1+r/n)nt, where,
P = principal amount, (either borrowed or deposited)
r = rate of interest (annual/quarterly/half yearly)
n = numbers of times the interest is compounded every year
t = number of years (period) the amount is deposited for

To understand compound interest more clearly, let's see an example.

Example: Meredith borrows an amount of $10,000 from a bank and the bank charges an interest rate of 6%, compounded quarterly. Calculate the balance after 2 years.

Solution: Using the compound interest formula, we get,
P = $1000, R= 6% = (6/100) = 0.06, n = 4 (Remember, interest is compounded quarterly) and t = 2 years.

A = 1000(1 + 0.06/4)(4)(2)
A= $1126.492 or $1126 (approximately)

So, the amount Meredith has to pay to the bank is $1610 and the compound interest incurred is,
Compound Interest = Amount (A) – Principal (P)
C.I= $1126.492 - $1000 = $126 (approximately)

You may read more on, calculating compound interest. If we compare simple interest and compound interest we will find that for the same some of money deposited at the same rate for a fixed number of time, compound interest is always greater than simple interest (except in the first year, where they are equal if the frequency of compounding is annual). This was all about simple interest vs compound interest and the basic methods to calculate both of them.

By Kundan Pandey

Inilah Para 'Pendekar' Open Source di IGOS Summit 2

ImageIGOS Summit 2 menganugerahkan penghargaan khusus kepada mereka-mereka yang ikut serta mensosialisasikan Open Source Software (OSS). Penghargaan diberikan langsung oleh Menkominfo Mohammad Nuh dan Menristek Kusmayanto Kadiman.

Ada tiga kategori yang diberikan panitia untuk penerima penghargaan ini, yakni individu, institusi serta pemimpin yang punya komitmen dalam pengembangan dan sosialisasi Open Source.

Untuk kategori individu, empat nama dipilih untuk menerima penghargaan ini. Mereka adalah R. Anton Raharja dan Nana Suryana untuk kategori pengembang OSS. Sementara untuk ketegori individu sosialisasi OSS diberikan kepada Anjar Hardiena dan Onno W. Purbo.

Penghargaan juga diberikan kepada pemimpin yang dinilai punya komitmen terhadap OSS. Mereka adalah Irwandi Yusuf (Gubernur Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam), Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X (Gubernur Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta), Gatot Hari Priowirjanto (Kabiro PKLN Depdiknas) dan I Gede Winasa (Bupati Jembrana).

Sementara institusi yang dianggap telah ikut mensosialisasikan OSS juga tak luput diberikan penghargaan. Ada total 20 institusi yang menerima penghargaan ini, dan satu diantaranya adalah PT. Agranet Multicitra Siberkom atau yang lebih dikenal sebagai www.detik.com.

Daftar institusi penerima penghargaan tersebut adalah Yayasan Nurul Fikri, Yayasan Penggerak Linux Indonesia, Yayasan Ubuntu Indonesia, Yayasan Air Putih, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), Balitbang Kesejahteraan Sosial - Departemen Sosial, Badan Pengawas Tenaga Nuklir, Gudang Linux Indonesia, InfoLinux Media Utama, Majalah Biskom, PT Agranet Multicitra Siberkom (Detik.com) dan Kelompok Linux Cewek Indonesia (Kluwek).
Sumber : detikInet

IGOS Anyar Segera Keluar

ImageRupanya software atau piranti lunak karya berbasis open source karya anak bangsa mendapat sambutan cukup baik di masyarakat. Agar tak terhenti dan merasa puas dengan hasil tersebut para pengembangannya terus melakukan inovasi-inovasi demi mengimbangi software lainnya.

Setelah lama ditunggu, tak lama lagi IGOS (Indonesia Go Open Source) versi lanjutan segera diluncurkan. Versi ini lebih kompatibel di luar format Linux dibanding pendahulunya yang hanya mampu menyokong format berbasis FAT 32.

Tigor Nauli , Kepala Pusat Penelitian Informatika LIPI mengatakan, IGOS Nusantara terbaru sudah kompatibel dengan format NTFS (New Technology File System) yang menyokong Windows Vista dan Windows XP. Sedangkan IGOS terdahulu yang diluncurkan tahun 2006 hanya mampu membaca Windows 98 yang berbasis FAT 32.

Menurutnya, layaknya software lain yang berlisensi, IGOS Nusantara 2008 mudah terkoneksi dengan berbagai perangkat semacam hardisk eksternal dan menginstalasi software devices lainnya. IGOS yang akan segera diluncurkan pun mampu menyokong perangkat tambahan dan menginstal software pendukungnya.

Tampilan IGOS yang berlatar biru dengan logo benders Merah Putih ini, telah dikembangkan cukup baik dalam mengoperasikan berbagai peralatan multimedia seperti DVD, MP4, dan lain-lain. Sistem Office-nya pun memiliki banyak fitur, fungsi serta tampilan yang lebih menggairahkan dengan lebih banyak sentuhan warna, sehingga IGOS Nusantara 2008 dijanjikan tak banyak berbeda dengan Microsoft Office.

Selain itu, open source software yang dikembangkan LIPI ini jugs melengkapi kebutuhan penggunanya dengan menambah sistem file back up dan restore, sehingga untuk meng-upgrade versi lama ke versi baru tak akan ada file yang terhapus.

IGOS Nusantara 2008 ini baru akan diluncurkan pads Mei mendatang Keterlambatan ini, menurut Tigor, disebabkan proses konfirmasi tentang adanya software yang masih dipertanyakan apakah berbasis opensource atau tidak.

"IGOS harus seluruhnya berbasis open source, sedangkan dalam IGOS 2008 ini ada software Codec, yang menstreaming video agar bisa dijalankan dalam format kecil," paparnya. Dengan adanya IGOS 2008 secara gratis diharapkan masyarakat akan tertarik dan berpikir ulang untuk menggunakan software bajakan.

Apa yang dialami IGOS pendahulu nasibnya memang sama dengan open source lain seperti Ubuntu. Walau mendapat sambutan yang cukup baik, namun kurang popular sehingga banyak kalangan yang lebih memilih software bajakan dibanding IGOS meski banyak aplikasinya yang tak kalah dengan Microsoft Windows.

Sumber : Portal CBN

Pesawat Mini Tanpa Awak Terkendali GSM/GPRS


PDF Cetak E-mail

Image"Pesawat Mini Tanpa Awak Terkendali GSM/GPRS" , karya Oka Mahendra menjadi pemenang kedua dalam "Indosat Wireless Innovation Contest” atau IWIC 2008 untuk kategori "Innovation and Beyond" (lomba membuat karya tulis mengenai konsep yang inovatif dan aplikatif).

Pesawat mini tanpa awak ini menggunakan teknologi autopilot yang memakai media komunikasi GSM. Komunikasi dilakukan dengan menggunakan CSD, GPRS, atau 3G. Pesawat memiliki feature menghindari halangan, autocharging, dan mengatasi kehilangan sinyal. Pesawat juga dilengkapi kamera (untuk realtime video streaming) dan GPS. Pesawat ini berbentuk helikopter yang dapat digunakan sebagai pengintai, pengamatan daerah tertentu, mobile datalogger, atau reportase.

(Oka Mahendra adalah peneliti Pusat Penelitian Informatika - LIPI)

Liputan Trans7 - Laptop Si Unyil edisi Robot dari Mobil Bekas

Pada tanggal 27 Juni 2009, telah diadakan syuting acara Laptop Si Unyil di P2I LIPI. Materi yang diangkat adalah pembuatan robot dari bahan bekas. Syuting dimulai dari jam 13.30 sampai jam 17.45. Narasumber (Oka Mahendra ) dan robot ”OTO” yang disiapkan sejak 4 hari sebelumnya telah siap sejak pukul 13.00. Hasil syuting ini akan ditayangkan pada hari Selasa, 30 Juni 2009, pukul 13.00 di TRANS7 .

Kru Trans7 datang pada pukul 13.15, yaitu Marliyana Fitriyah (reporter), dibantu Aris sebagai Camera Person, dan Indah. Kru datang dengan 4 orang anak perempuan yang ikut sebagai pemeran dalam acara tersebut.

Skenario yang pertama dilaksanakan adalah keempat anak perempuan bermain balapan mobil-mobilan dari bahan kertas dan kotak mie instant. Selanjutnya mereka beristirahat dan menemukan kue dan minuman di meja. Karena kecapekan, mereka kemudian mengambil makanan tersebut. Mereka tidak menyadari bahwa apa yang mereka lakukan terlihat oleh sebuah mobil-mobilan kecil yang berkamera. Seseorang (Oka Mahendra ) sedang mengamati mereka menikmati makanan dari jarak jauh melalui laptopnya, anak-anak pun ditegur oleh Oka dan ditunjukkan bahwa mobil-mobilan kecil berkamera tersebut dapat melihat mereka makan dan mobil itu dinamakan robot ”OTO”.Image

Anak-anak bersama Oka kemudian mencoba memainkan robot ”OTO” dan syuting kemudian dilanjutkan dengan membahas cara pembuatan mobil berkamera tersebut.

Pembuatan mobil berkamera tersebut adalah cukup unik, karena menggunakan beberapa komponen bekas dari mobil mainan yang sudah rusak. Mobil mainan remote yang sudah rusak dan lepas rodanya tetapi komponen elektronikanya masih bagus, dapat digabungkan dengan mobil mainan lain yang komponen elektronikanya rusak, tetapi secara mekanik masih bagus.

ImageSistem elektronika robot ”OTO” terdiri dari 6 buah board yaitu: penggerak roda, penggerak kamera, suara klakson, lampu, power supply motor, dan power supply kamera. Sistem mekanik robot terdiri dari 2 buah bagian besar, yaitu bagian penggerak roda dan penggerak kamera. Sistem programming terlihat dari pengendali yang semula berupa remote kontrol, digantikan dengan laptop. Dengan Mikrokontroler ATMega32, remote kontrol dihubungkan dengan laptop melalui USB to Serial Adapter. Gambar pada kamera dapat dilihat pada laptop dengan TV Tunner.

Sahana Singgah di Padang

Sahana Singgah di Padang PDF Cetak E-mail

ImagePAKAR teknologi informasi Onno W. Purbo menatap layar komputer di ruang kerjanya di lantai dua rumahnya di kawasan Cempaka Baru, Jakarta Pusat, Selasa malam pekan lalu. Dahi pria kelahiran Bandung ini sejenak mengernyit ketika sebuah tanda baru muncul di daerah laut pada Peta Informasi Bencana Sumatera Barat, peta daring (online) yang beralamat di http://opensource.telkomspeedy.com/map/.

Ketika dia mengecek tanda itu, informasi yang muncul adalah ”Tolong gue kecebur”. Sebagai administrator halaman situs itu, Onno pun bergegas menghapus informasi tersebut. Itulah kegiatan Onno saat ini sejak peta yang memanfaatkan Google Earth itu aktif pada Senin pekan lalu: membersihkan dan memperbarui informasi.

Peta itu menyajikan data tentang lokasi, jumlah korban, dan lokasi posko bantuan di Sumatera Barat. Siapa saja yang bisa mengakses Internet dapat membukanya dan bahkan ikut mengisi data. Tujuannya agar informasi bencana bisa terkumpul dengan cepat. Jika bisa diterapkan, ”Koordinasi tanggap darurat bisa bekerja kilat,” kata Onno.

Sebagai relawan dari Organisasi Radio Amatir Indonesia, Onno membuat aplikasi tersebut empat hari setelah lindu melanda Padang. Selain itu, ia juga memasang Sahana, sebuah program manajemen penanggulangan bencana, di alamat http://opensource.telkomspeedy.com/sisfo-bencana. Sahana adalah peranti lunak bersumber terbuka (open source) yang dikembangkan oleh para relawan Sri Lanka pada 2006, setelah negeri itu dilanda tsunami pada 2004.

Menurut Taufiq Wirahman , peneliti di Pusat Pengembangan Informatika LIPI , Bandung, saat terjadi bencana, respons biasanya kacau. Meskipun bantuan berlimpah dan relatif cepat datang, distribusinya tidak merata. ”Sahana mencoba menjawab permasalahan itu dalam praktek penanganan bencana di beberapa negara,” katanya.

Program ini pernah diterapkan di Indonesia dalam penanggulangan bencana gempa bumi di Yogyakarta pada 2006. Kata Taufiq, penerapannya tidak berjalan baik akibat sedikitnya relawan yang mengakses aplikasi ini, sehingga informasi yang terkumpul sangat minim.

Sahana memiliki berbagai fitur, seperti pendaftaran orang hilang, penanganan korban bencana, manajemen sukarelawan, manajemen organisasi donor, manajemen bantuan atau permohonan bantuan, manajemen barak pengungsi, manajemen inventaris, sistem katalog, dan peta situasi bencana. Tapi masih sedikit orang yang mengaksesnya. ”Saya perlu melatih para pemangku kepentingan,” kata Taufiq .

Onno mengatakan keberhasilan program ini sangat bergantung pada koneksi Internet melalui telepon atau satelit. Jika keduanya tidak ada, komunikasi bisa dilakukan dengan menggunakan jaringan radio. Penerima informasi, yakni posko-posko relawan yang mempunyai akses komunikasi, bisa memperbarui data.

Monica, relawan dari Perkumpulan Air Putih, telah memakai Sahana dan mengaku bisa menggalang koordinasi dalam waktu singkat. ”Koordinasi dan informasi yang akurat bisa terus diperbarui,” katanya.

Relawan dari Perkumpulan One Destination Center, Protus Tanuhandanu, terus mengembangkan aplikasi tersebut agar bisa dilihat dan bergerak secara dinamis. ”Saya sedang mencoba memakai aplikasi tambahan APRS (automatic position reporting system),” katanya.

APRS adalah protokol komunikasi digital taktis untuk pertukaran informasi di antara sejumlah besar stasiun yang meliputi suatu wilayah. Program ini berbasis frekuensi radio, tapi dapat ditampilkan sebagai komunikasi langsung (real time) di Internet. Jika APRS bisa dipasang pada program yang dikembangkan Onno, pergerakan bantuan dan kegiatan tanggap darurat bisa dilihat perubahannya per tiga menit.

Onno berpendapat, jika Sri Lanka bisa membuat manajemen bencana berbasis teknologi informasi dengan baik, seharusnya Indonesia pun bisa.

Rudy Prasetyo

Seminar Nasional Open Source Software (OSS) III dan Lomba Blog Open Source

Seminar Nasional Open Source Software (OSS) III dan Lomba Blog Open Source PDF Cetak E-mail
Friday, 23 October 2009

ImageDalam rangka turut serta dalam gerakan Indonesia, Go Open Source! (IGOS), Pusat Penelitian Informatika, Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia akan menggelar Seminar Nasional Open Source Software (OSS) pada tanggal 7 November 2009 bertempat di Hotel Jayakarta Bandung, dengan tema “Open Source untuk Semua” yang berarti, open source dapat digunakan dan dikembangkan oleh semua orang, semua kalangan, dapat diaplikasikan pada semua platform, software maupun hardware, semua device, multi vendor, dan multi language.

Pada hari yang sama juga akan dilakukan penyerahan hadiah kepada para pemenang Lomba Blog Open Source, dengan hadiah yang sangat menarik, antara lain Penghargaan Blog Terbaik untuk kategori umum dan pelajar akan mendapatkan hadiah masing-masing Rp 2.000.000, dan Penghargaan Blog kreatif akan mendapatkan Rp 1.000.000

Topik Seminar

Pengembangan Open Source

  • Software Development

  • Hardware Development

  • Migration

  • Development Kit

  • Tutorial

  • Compatibitlity

  • Usability

  • Scalability

  • Maintainability

  • Architectures and patterns

  • Techniques and processes

  • Tools and infrastructures

  • Learning System

Aplikasi Open Source

  • Commercial

  • Governance

  • Health Care

  • Security

  • Games

  • Social Network

  • Internet

  • CMS

  • Blog

  • Computer Network

  • Artificial Intelligence

Aspek Sosial Ekonomi dari Open Source

  • Policy

  • Licence

  • Historical Foundations

  • Emerging Trends

  • Public Adoption

  • Socio-cultural Dynamics

  • Business models and strategies

  • Cost, value and economic models

  • Public Survey

Sistem Operasi Open Source

  • Linux

  • BSD

  • Open Solaris

  • Free DOS

  • Web OS

  • Kernel

  • Repository

  • Pakcaging

Aplikasi Open Source pada Hardware

  • Robotic

  • Microcontroller

  • Open Processor

  • Mobile Phone

  • Programmable Logic Controller

  • Programmable Automation Controller

  • Hardware Description Language

  • Field Programmable Gate Arrays

Bidang Lain

Bidang-bidang yang berhubungan dengan Open Source tetapi belum disebutkan di atas.

Pembicara Kunci

  1. Harry Kaligis - Associate Director Business Development & Community Sun Microsystems Indonesia
    Materi: Peluang dan Tantangan Berbisnis dengan Open Source

  2. Andry Huzain - General Manager IT Detik.com
    Materi: Kemudahan Migrasi ke Open Source

Waktu dan Tempat Pelaksanaan

Sabtu, 7 November 2009, pukul 07.00-17.00 WIB
Bertempat di Hotel Jayakarta Bandung
Jl. Ir. H. Juanda 381 A, Dago, Bandung 40135

Publikasi dan Pemakalah terbaik

Makalah lengkap yang dipresentasikan oleh salah satu penulisnya dalam seminar akan dipublikasikan dalam bentuk prosiding dengan nomor ISSN. Dalam kegiatan seminar paralel akan dipilih 3 paper terbaik yang akan mendapatkan sertifikat dan hadiah dari sponsor.

Untuk selengkapnya, informasi mengenai Seminar Nasional Open Source (OSS) III dan Lomba Blog Open Source dapat anda kunjungi http://www.informatika.lipi.go.id/seminar/

Get Paid to Play Games - Is Games Testing the Perfect Job?

Getting paid to play video games sounds like a dream job, but the reality of being a games tester means long hours and demanding deadlines. Find out what working as a games tester is really like, and how to break into the industry.

It sounds like an ideal job doesn't it - getting paid to play games all day? And certainly, testing games beats a lot of other ways of earning a living, but the reality is a lot less glamorous than the title sounds.

There's a lot more to being a games tester than simply playing your favorite games all day. So what is it really like to be a games tester?

The first thing to note is that you'll need to put some serious effort and long hours. Games testers usually start work on a project once it reaches about 75% completion, and that final 25% is what developers call "crunch time" where the whole team are frantically working around the clock to meet the launch date.

The other big negative is the type of work. There's a big difference between playing your favorite game for a few hours with your friends, and testing a game. Testing tends to be extremely repetitive, and often involved playing through the same level or section again, and again in an effort to find and eradicate every last bug. In addition to that, you'll often be given games to test which you wouldn't normally choose to play. You might love playing first person shooters, but could easily be given strategy games, sports games, or puzzle games to test.

Finally, after playing games that you might not enjoy, over and over for hours, you'll need to log all those bugs and communicate them to the developers. That usually means filling out questionaires and writing reports. What, you didn't think you were going to get paid just for playing the games did you?

Well if all that hasn't put you off, and you're still keen to land a job as a games tester, you need to get your "foot in the door". Even with all the down sides, games testing is still a highly sought after job and so you need a way to compete and give yourself the best chance of being accepted. The best way to do that is by building a solid resume, and contacting the right person at each games company. Simply writing to head office rarely works, and getting those "insider contacts" really can make all the difference.

Once you do get accepted though you'll be the envy of all your friends, getting paid to play games while they work in boring office jobs! Not only that, but games testing can also be a way of breaking into the games industry and becoming a designer, artist or developer. Just be prepared to take the rough with the smooth, and put in some serious effort to work your way up the ladder!

Learn how to get paid to play games by downloading the free report : How To Become A Game Tester.

By Billy Deakin

Empower Your Organization

Margaret Fuller says "If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it." Knowledge management is a strategic shift in paradigm to enlighten sight of organization as a whole.

"All men by nature desire to know" said Aristotle. Learning, knowledge and intellectual are growth-driving factors in any organization or individual.

In 1997 Thomas Stewart popularized the term "intellectual capital," arguing that companies must learn to manage that capital if they are to succeed in today’s information economy. Stewart defined intellectual capital as the "intellectual material – knowledge, information, intellectual property, experience – that can be put to use to create wealth." Or more simply, "intellectual capital is the sum of everything everybody in a company knows that gives it a competitive edge.

Traditionally intellectual capital has been a measured headcount of degreed personnel on staff as in 22 PhD’s or 97 Java programmers. In the new world of cross-company and cross-functional creative teams, this measure is insufficient. To capture intellectual capital, and its contribution to the bottom line of the organization, a more sophisticated approach is needed. Intellectual capital can be supplemented from outside the organization in the form of suppliers (e.g. consultants, outsource providers, software providers) and customers (e.g. joint teams to build a new service for the customer) and alliance partners (e.g. joint venture to develop a new service or product). If your organization believes in intellectual capital inside then probably you are looking for making it more learning organization.

Learning organization is defined as one that looks for meaningful solutions and then internalizes those solutions so that they continue to grow, develop, and remain successful. Learning organizations incorporate ideas from many sources and involve a variety of people in problem solving, information sharing, and celebrating success. This learning involves employees at all levels and occurs through shared insights and knowledge that builds on past experiences. Topic areas: Governance, Staff Development and Organizational Capacity, Accountability and Evaluation.

David Garvin described a learning organization as an organization that is "skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights."

It is important to understand knowledge in actual terms so as to gain its importance & benefits in organization. Knowledge is a Process. It is dynamic, personal and distinctly different from data (discrete, unstructured symbols) and information (a medium for explicit communication). Since the dynamic properties of knowledge are in focus, the notion Individual Competence can be used as a fair synonym.

Knowledge can be explicit or tacit. Explicit knowledge includes anything that can be documented, archived and codified such as trademarks, business plans, marketing research, customer lists, PowerPoint presentations, email messages, databases. Tacit knowledge includes – know-how. The challenge is how to recognize, generate, share and manage tacit knowledge. It is possible to convert tacit knowledge into an explicit form or to share it by promoting human interaction through ‘socialization’ – some of which can take place online.

The knowledge management process must have an overarching business context; otherwise it is doomed to failure. Keeping KM focused to organization, organization can ripe following benefits taking care of KM & intellectual capital.

1. KM enables organization to foster innovation through flow of ideas;
2. With KM, organization can improve customer services and enhance relationships;
3. Once you are through with knowledge of market & your own capacity to produce, organization can boost revenues by getting products and services to market faster;
4. Improve employee retention rates by recognizing the value of employees’ knowledge and rewarding them for it;
5. Make decisions faster and closer to the point of action;
6. Overcome internal and external barriers and
7. Reduce product development time.

Now question arises is how to incorporate KM inside your organization? Here are some activities proposed in one of the article written by Dr David J Skyrme.

1. Creation of knowledge databases - best practices, expert directories, market intelligence etc.
2. Effective information management - gathering, filtering, classifying, storing, etc.
3. Incorporation of knowledge into business processes e.g. through the use of help screens in computer procedures or access to experts from icons
4. Development of knowledge centers - focal points for knowledge skills and facilitating knowledge flow
5. Reuse of knowledge at customer support centers e.g. via case-based reasoning
6. Introduction of collaborative technologies, especially Intranets or groupware, for rapid information access
7. Knowledge webs - networks of experts who collaborate across and beyond an organization’s functional and geographic boundaries
8. Augmentation of decision support processes, such as through expert systems or group decision support systems.
9. In fact, any activity that uses and applies knowledge can benefit from the disciplines of knowledge management, and that covers most managerial and professional activities

However technologies like Internet, Intranet, Groupware, Intelligent agents, Mapping tools and Document management can be used to trap knowledge forever.

Industry experts have proposed some golden concepts & realities to implement KM in real meaning. Generally organization has so many myths for KM. But here is a reality.

1. KM is not only learning but it must have a business focus.
2. KM is not a single process in your organization to implement, it is a totally shift in strategic paradigm.
3. KM is not only to capture knowledge from people but it creates environments for people to create, leverage and share knowledge.
4. Don't push KM otherwise it fails. Active learning and experimentation are required. There is no such thing as a finished requirement specification. Solutions evolve and adapt.
5. KM requires top management involvement. It is not only limited to efforts of HR and IT. IT helps only up to the information exchange but cannot drive change itself.
6. Successful implementation depends, as always, on giving appropriate focus to the non-technical factors such as human factors, organizational processes and culture, the multi-disciplinary skills of hybrid teams and managers.

Epictetus says, "It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows." However knowledge is a multiplier in terms of improvement in organization when it is shared. So it is least valuable "how much do you know?" in organization but it is crucial "how much do you share what you know"? Because sharing knowledge helps to correct your knowledge simultaneously it spreads correct knowledge too.

By Jay C

Bill Gates – A story of Success

William H. Gates is chairperson and chief software architect of Microsoft Corporation, the worldwide leader in software services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing.

Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955 in a family having rich business, political and community service background. His great-grandfather was a state legislator and a mayor, his grandfather was vice president of national bank and his father was a lawyer.

Bill strongly believes in hard work. He believes that if you are intelligent and know how to apply your intelligence, you can achieve anything. From childhood Bill was ambitious, intelligent and competitive. These qualities helped him to attain top position in the profession he chose. In school, he had an excellent record in mathematics and science. Still he was getting very bored in school and his parents knew it, so they always tried to feed him with more information to keep him busy. Bill’s parents came to know their son's intelligence and decided to enroll him in a private school, known for its intense academic environment. It was a very important decision in Bill Gate's life where he was first introduced to a computer. Bill Gates and his friends were very much interested in computer and formed "Programmers Group" in late 1968. Being in this group, they found a new way to apply their computer skill in university of Washington. In the next year, they got their first opportunity in Information Sciences Inc. in which they were selected as programmers. ISI (Information Sciences Inc.) agreed to give them royalties whenever it made money from any of the group’s program. As a result of the business deal signed with Information Sciences Inc., the group also became a legal business.

Bill Gates and his close friend Allen started new company of their own, Traf-O-Data. They developed a small computer to measure traffic flow. From this project they earned around $20,000. The era of Traf-O-Data came to an end when Gates left the college. In 1973, he left home for Harvard University. He didn’t know what to do, so he enrolled his name for pre-law. He took the standard freshman courses with the exception of signing up for one of Harvard's toughest mathematics courses. He did well over there, but he couldn’t find it interesting too. He spent many long nights in front of the school's computer and the next day asleep in class. After leaving school, he almost lost himself from the world of computers. Gates and his friend Paul Allen remained in close contact even though they were away from school. They would often discuss new ideas for future projects and the possibility of starting a business one fine day. At the end of Bill's first year, Allen came close to him so that they could follow some of their ideas. That summer they got job in Honeywell. Allen kept on pushing Bill for opening a new software company.

Within a year, Bill Gates dropped out from Harvard. Then he formed Microsoft. Microsoft's vision is "A computer on every desk and Microsoft software on every computer". Bill is a visionary person and works very hard to achieve his vision. His belief in high intelligence and hard work has put him where he is today. He does not believe in mere luck or God’s grace, but just hard work and competitiveness. Bill’s Microsoft is good competition for other software companies and he will continue to stomp out the competition until he dies. He likes to play the game of Risk and the game of world domination. His beliefs are so powerful, which have helped him increase his wealth and his monopoly in the industry.
Bill Gates is not a greedy person. In fact, he is quite giving person when it comes to computers, internet and any kind of funding. Some years back, he visited Chicago's Einstein Elementary School and announced grants benefiting Chicago's schools and museums where he donated a total of $110,000, a bunch of computers, and provided internet connectivity to number of schools. Secondly, Bill Gates donated 38 million dollars for the building of a computer institute at Stanford University. Gates plans to give away 95% of all his earnings when he is old and gray.

By Ravi Kumar Paluri

Knowledge Management : An Outlook

Minds are limited.
Minds hate confusion.
Minds are insecure.
Minds don't change.
Minds lose focus.

- Jack Trout

Information and communication technologies are one set of major forces that has moved knowledge management front and center. Nonaka and Takeuchi introduced different forms of knowledge first time expanded in The Knowledge – Creating Company article in Harvard Business Review in 1995.

Basically there are two forms of knowledge – Tacit and Explicit knowledge. If individual can express fairly using language and forms of communication then it forms explicit knowledge. If individual is unable to articulate and thereby convert into information is considered as tacit knowledge. Transfer of tacit knowledge can be achieved either by converting it into explicit knowledge ant later sharing it or by using approaches in which it is never made explicit.

Knowledge is an intellectual property or asset. Knowledge, knowledge management and innovation are major issues for which companies are taking serious steps. Some of the major themes in knowledge management are:

1. The use of GroupWare
2. Intranets
3. Organizational learning
4. Knowledge organizations
5. Leveraging intellectual capital

Rather than talking much on technologies part, let’s wonder about how to facilitate knowledge source in organization.

"Knowledge Management is the broad process of locating, organizing, transferring, and using the information and expertise within an organization. The overall knowledge management process is supported by four key enablers: leadership, culture, technology, and measurement." - American Productivity and Quality Center

Factors facilitating Knowledge Foundation

Curiosity
Interest in knowing or practicing anything. Find out level of employee’s curiosity about the external environment in contrast to the internal environment. Both learning are necessary. Even establish curiosity level high among intra and inter department.

Scanning Essential
Information gathering about conditions and practices outside the unit. Be aware of environment. As earlier said, grow up with curiosity levels.

Learning
Performance comes from learning. Till you accept errors and learn from mistakes, it will be difficult to stop mistake happening again. Guidance and training should be continuous forces to be applied. Even apply Quality circles and group meetings techniques to spread learning in organization. Learning portals sound great and meaningful to spread knowledge. Spend on it, its worthwhile to spend on learning.

Measure
Spent time on defining and measuring key factors when venturing into new areas. Quantify every new idea to get clear picture. Discuss on metrics as a learning activity.

Never shy to experiment
Make environment free to experiment. Motivate people to do so. Repeating again same words – support for trying new things; cultivate curiosity about how things work in staff.

For innovation, ability to play with things is required. Lets accept failure. Failure is key to success. Agreed. Don’t punish for loss or failure.

Change policies (if you have any rigid and old one) or structures. Cultivate learning opportunities and culture.

Open up everything
Open communication within organization. Access to information or knowledge should be easy. Share problems or errors. Every debate or conflict should be discussed.

Diversity
Don’t stick to one theory. Variety of methods and systems should be put into practices.

N – Advocates
KM is not for one level employee. New ideas and methods should be advances by all employees from any level. Let ideas flow from bottom level too.

Leadership
For every team a great leader is required. Leaders coherent vision and implement it in right way. Leader should frequently interact with members.

Knowledge management (Karl M. Wiig) in organizations must be considered from three perspectives with different horizons and purposes:

1. Business Perspective -- focusing on why, where, and to what extent the organization must invest in or exploit knowledge. Strategies, products and services, alliances, acquisitions, or divestments should be considered from knowledge-related points of view.

2. Management Perspective -- focusing on determining, organizing, directing, facilitating, and monitoring knowledge-related practices and activities required to achieve the desired business strategies and objectives.

3. Hands-on Operational Perspective -- focusing on applying the expertise to conduct explicit knowledge-related work and tasks.

Implementing KM in organization is 20 % of technology and 80 % management tasks. Transformation of knowledge is not with technology but human itself. Handy has a similar concept in his ‘wheel of learning.’ The wheel consists of four quadrants: questions, ideas, tests, and reflection. In other simple terms, KM should be running on wheel of learning.

Technology can not control mind. While talking on Knowledge Management, Managing minds of organization is key subject. Organizational learning is base of KM. Other aspect is team learning - the process of aligning and developing the capacity of a team to create the results its members truly desire. It builds on the discipline of developing shared vision. It also builds on personal mastery, for talented teams are made up of talented individuals.

Finally – Jump Out of Frame!

Picasso had a collection of masterpieces in his home. They were hung slightly crooked, and visitors couldn't resist the temptation to straighten them. But Picasso felt that when a painting was straight, the observer focused on the frame around it. When the frame was crooked, the beauty of the image jumped out. It's the same with knowledge. Instead of trying to put boundaries around it, we should be letting it jump out of its frame.
By Jay C

Small Business Management Software

To streamline business management, you need the right tools. Oracle’s NetLedger helps make managing a small business easier and stress-free.

Small Business Management Software
By Linda Orlando

Managing Small Businesses, One Byte At a Time
The Internet has become a complex marketplace of ideas, products, and services. If you don’t know the detailed ins and outs of integral online business processes such as accounting, e-commerce, reporting, order processing, and customer support, you may want to check out NetLedger, a powerful small business software application from Oracle, the industry leader in business database technology.

A Powerful, Popular Web-Based Solution
Many websites devoted to business management seem to be clusters of various third-party services slapped together into one package. Others are simply well disguised portals to more expensive, sometimes esoteric services. But one popular business management service used widely today was clearly built from the ground up with the primary objective of providing businesses with tools to leverage the Web for business success, and it just keeps getting better.

The Oracle Small Business Suite, powered by NetLedger, is a Web-based application that provides multi-user capability, online collaborations, access to your accounting system from any location via the Internet, and seamless connections to employees, customers, and suppliers. Because the suite is Internet-based, it is automatically compatible with different operating systems. You don’t need to pay for hardware or software, and upgrades and backups are managed for you. It integrates complete front-office and back-office application functionality, thereby allowing companies to run their entire enterprise on a single hosted service. Although it is simple to learn, it is secure, reliable, and scalable to grow as your business grows.

NetLedger Makes Their Small Business Service Sweeter
Because of its Oracle Small Business Suite, NetLedger reigns as the leading provider of integrated customer relationship management (CRM) application services, and now the company has boldly entered an even more impressive frontier. In September 2004, NetLedger announced the launch of NetCRM, built on the CRM functionality found in the Oracle Small Business Suite. NetCRM is the first online CRM application that automates the entire sales process, from marketing to lead generation, to prospect management, to sales orders and support.

In addition, NetCRM adds important new features not found in any other online CRM solution. Customizable "Dashboards," unique to NetCRM, highlight key information related to the roles of individual users within an enterprise. Graphical snapshots provide sales personnel and management with performance comparisons, and saved searches highlight the latest results of marketing campaigns. Shortcuts and quick searches keep customer information readily available, and reminders within a Dashboard make it easy to keep track of problems that must be solved and tasks that must be completed.

Selling is made easier and forecasting more accurate by NetCRM’s integrated lead capturing and order processing capabilities, which allow businesses to track sales as they actually occur. An online form captures each lead, sends a personalized e-mail auto reply, and then routes the lead to the correct person for follow-up within your sales pipeline according to customizable territory assignment rules.

Sales representatives create sales quotes or orders within NetCRM by selecting from product or service catalogs, and then sales managers receive notification on their Dashboards when sales orders require approval before closing. This close monitoring of sales transactions helps provide managers and executives with a complete and accurate view of current and future forecasts.

Because NetCRM seamlessly integrates purchase history, you can create tailored campaigns to target specific customer segments of your market. End-to-end campaign management includes system-provided templates, e-mail campaign creation and distribution, and results measurement and analysis—all in one application. With this terrific customer intelligence built in, NetCRM allows businesses to deliver the right message in marketing campaigns much more effectively, since marketing efforts are personalized with customers’ names and information they have proven their interest in. After the campaign is executed, NetCRM tracks the results and provides accurate cost-of-acquisition statistics for the entire sales cycle.

NetCRM’s knowledge management technology, NetAnswers, can provide huge cost savings and increase service capabilities by allowing customers to search an online database for answers to their questions without calling customer support. Companies can track frequently asked questions, standard problem resolutions, and known issues, and organize information into different levels of topics and solutions based on individual experience as well as collective knowledge.

NetCRM also provides a complete compliment of task management tools, partner relationship management features, XML server-to-server integration capabilities, various configurable user security levels, complete document management functionality, and intranet content publishing capabilities. Its numerous powerful features far outperform those provided by competing CRM products.

For more information about NetLedger and NetCRM, visit www.oracle.com. If you have been searching for a solution to automate processes from presale to post-sale support and everything in between, NetCRM may just be the most versatile and economical match for your needs.

By Buzzle Staff and Agencies

The Best Keylogger Programs Need to be Sneaky

An article on keylogger programs.

For the best keylogger programs to have any amount of effectiveness at the job that they’re created to do, they really should operate without being noticed, and this is no other key factor in using such a tool that holds more importance in performing any computer activity monitoring with any amount of success. It just seems obvious that this should be basic common sense, however you may be quite surprised upon discovering just how many software programs of this type seem to utterly miss this entire factor completely. These programs tend to make themselves highly visible to all by using the unfamiliar icons that appear on the desktop screen and other kinds of tell-tale indications.

Such software tools are certainly not the best keylogger programs available by any stretch of the imagination. For instance, let’s imagine that you are, say, perhaps keeping a watchful eye upon a certain family member’s addicting habit of wasting away many hours losing tons of money on some internet gambling websites. This person has asked for your aid in keeping a close eye on him, so you set out to secretly spy on the house computer. Now, if he realizes he’s being put under surveillance on the computer, just what do you suppose he’ll have in mind to do?

Obviously, he’d most likely head on over to a friend’s house and use the computer there to satiate his addictive behavioral needs. Take this concept and apply it to your specific situation. Do you understand why you must have a keylogger tool do its duties with absolute stealth? It’s for this reason that the best keylogger programs would do their work under the cloak of invisibility in order to get the work they’re supposed to do be accomplished properly while remaining completely invisible and unseen. It needs to run completely on automatic and begin recording everything, stashing it all into secretly hidden data folders which then get e-mailed to you.

We've searched the web for the best keylogger software available and brought you our top 3! To find out what they are head over to keylogger downloads by clicking here.

By Lewis Waller

Stealth Computer Monitoring Should Remain Invisible

A short article on stealth computer monitoring.

Stealth computer monitoring software programs can be simple to locate, however not all of them are created equal in doing the task they were created to do. It would be great if these were actually all just as good at doing the job as each other is, however the fact of the matter is that some programs are simply far better than others. To make matters worse, many of them seem to be missing something highly important that could create the situation that all efforts to using such software programs would be in vain as a result. Can you figure out what this all-important factor may be? In a word, stealth… they lack the ability to stay invisible from the awareness of those who’s computer activities you may need to monitor, most usually by using icon symbols on the desktop screen and other such ways, which blatantly alert others to the software’s existence on the hard drive.

In order for stealth computer monitoring to be effective, those who use the computer being monitored need to be kept unaware of such software programs even being present on the computer. If they come to realize that any of their computer activities are being put under surveillance or being recorded, then they will act as though they are being watched. Let’s use an illustration for better clarity on this... let’s imagine that you’re the head of a large company with many employees, and you’ve found out that one or more members of your staff are "fixing" company monetary accounts in their favor. What would then be the best course of action?

You’d simply utilize stealth computer monitoring software which keeps itself invisible from view and hidden from anyone’s awareness if you want to catch the doer of misdeeds red handed in the act, then you will have the solid proof that you’d need for any confrontation to be fruitful. This is the reason that these software tools need to work with invisibility… simply due to the fact that if you know you’re being watched, you will invariably do things differently.

Want to find out what the best available keylogger software is? We've reviewed our favorites over at our keylogger downloads website by clicking here.

By Lewis Waller

Manage Costs, Boost Bottom Line and Save Time with Offshore Product Development

Offshore Product Development needs a bright business thoughts, strong approach, inventive practices and in-depth market information. Various product development companies and ISVs vendors also start-ups the smartest outsourced product development approach that free their precious resources which in turn can be intended towards the more crucial business activities in product innovation marketplace.

Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) are always looking for advanced technology plans and new product initiatives to tackle client problems and target appropriate business of their broad range. Most of the vendors allow companies to hold managed control and dramatically reduce product development and maintenance cost associated with offshore product development project by incorporating with expert professional’s.

Offshore product development project must have the following:

-Dedicated product development team with both communicational abilities and high motivation, able to understand the customer business objective.
-Complete testing team- both automated and manual.
-Proven product development proficiency across a broad range of sectors & technologies
-Capability to respond to solve customer needs & technical faults in a very short time
-Competitive cost structure which enables customers to attain better ROI.
-Customers can choose particular skill sets for their offshore product development project.
-Highly managed and careful project management model of every customers

To maintain pace with the competitors in product development, the software product development company must to be well prepared with technology, software’s and highly skilled professionals. It is not sufficient to be strong in the development of a software product application.

Ampere Software Private Limited is an expert offshore product development company with development center in India. They provide offshore dedicated team for software product development, web development, custom application development, and software product engineering services. Team that under control and passionate to achieve their clients goal. Please call at US/Canada Toll Free: +1-800-315-0433 or Mobile: +91-9811905564.

For more information on outsourcing software product development, custom software development services, and Software testing services.
By nitin chauhan

Software to Monitor Computer Activities must be Invisible

An article about keylogger software and how it needs to be invincible.

If you’re in the need to use software to monitor computer activities, then you really need to be sure that the software doesn’t make it known to the whole world that such a program exists on the hard drive at all… simple common sense, correct? However the odd thing about many computer monitoring software programs is that they very often totally neglect the one huge factor of recording computer activities. Having these programs in use, there’d be an obvious icon for the program on the desktop screen, the programs name being in the list of programs as well, shouting out to anyone and everyone that all computer activities are being watched and recorded.

Now, wouldn’t you think that would be counterproductive? Let’s imagine for a bit that you wished to keep a watchful eye on your child’s online activities, seeing that he doesn’t go visiting any websites with adult material on them. If you want to truly know what your child is going to be doing on the computer while you aren’t watching over his shoulder, you’ll need to be certain that your child won’t be aware that any software to monitor computer activities exists on the hard drive, or he’ll realize that he’s being put under surveillance and will hold off on his adult website surfing until a time when he’s on his friend’s computer at another time.

It would be a similar situation if you are running a business and you need to keep abreast of your staff’s activities, making certain that they’re actually working and not wasting away your paid hours on some internet casino websites, or perhaps "fixing" accounts and tipping the books for ill-gotten monetary gains. Committing such acts are solid grounds for dismissal, but only if you can supply cold, hard proof… that is, if you want to avoid a wrongful dismissal law suit. For this reason, you’ll need the right software to monitor computer activities with stealth and operate discretely so that none would be the wiser to the computer being under surveillance.

Want to find out what the best available keylogger software is? We've reviewed our
favorites over at our keylogger downloads website by clicking here.

By Lewis Waller

Computer Monitoring Spy Software should Work Unseen

A short article about computer monitoring spy software (keyloggers).

When choosing computer monitoring spy software, you’ll need to be quite sure that it will do its work invisibly, silently and totally without anyone being aware that it even exists on your hard drive. Not every program of this nature does, but they actually leave little tell-tale signs that they are present - such as little software icon symbols in the task bar or system tray, for instance. This just screams out to anyone who uses that particular computer that they and all of their computer activities are under surveillance and being recorded. That would just simply be counterproductive to the primary function of this type of software program, and those that do such needs to be steered clear away from.

It’s simply a well known fact that when someone realizes that they’re being observed, they act very differently. Let’s imagine that you need to keep a scrutinizing eye on a very flirtatious spouse who likes to wander online, for example. You couldn’t conduct a very successful confrontation solely based upon mere suspicions alone… you’d need concrete proof of misdeeds. Will your sneaky partner engage in any flirting online if it’s obvious to that person that all computer activities performed will be under observation by a computer monitoring spy software program? How would you acquire any hard and solid evidence to base a successful confrontation on if that happened to be the situation?

The absolutely best kind of computer monitoring spy software does all of its work in a covert manner. It starts running automatically just as soon as your computer does, so there isn’t any need for icon symbols to be present. It would quietly record all computer activities, online or off line, and stash them all away within secret file folders that lay hidden and invisible to all, then it would send this data off to an e-mail address of yours every so often, which you could then simply access from any computer on Earth, whether at work, at home, at a trendy internet cafĂ©, or even from on your cell phone.

We've searched the web for the best keylogger software available and brought you
our top 3! To find out what they are head over to keylogger downloads by clicking here.

By Lewis Waller

Monitor Employee Computer Activity with Stealth and Invisibility

An article about monitoring employee activities.

If you have the need to monitor employee computer activity, you need to be certain that everyone is oblivious to the fact that all of your computers under observation by any software programs.

Many computer monitoring programs often completely neglect to remember this all-important factor and as a result, they all end up becoming quite counterproductive to their main function. Often we might see software icons that shout to everyone seeing that their computer activities are under observation and being recorded, or maybe there are the little tiny symbols blinking there in the system tray or the task bar. Why do they do this? If you feel the need to have an eye on your employee’s doings at work, you have to do it with stealth.

For instance, perhaps you might be suspicious of a staff member altering the accounts data in their favor, or perhaps just wasting away your paid time gambling on an online casino website.

This is clearly grounds for immediate dismissal, yes, although you just can’t up and fire someone even out of a need to protect your business merely on the grounds of suspicion, if you’d rather not get caught up in a law suit and be charged with wrongful dismissal. You’ll definitely need to have concrete proof of any crimes against your business before you can successfully confront any staff members and perhaps fire them. This is the reason that if you hope to monitor employee computer activity, you’ll need to be sure to do so with absolute invisibility.

The best possible software to use in order to monitor employee computer activity secretly must begin operating automatically right from when the computer’s power gets switched on, so there’s absolutely no need for software icons of any kind. All activities recorded must be stowed away into invisible folders and periodically sent off discretely to your e-mail address… from there you could peruse through the files from any computer you like at your leisure.

Head over to Our Keylogger Downloads Website to find out which keylogger software is best for you - we've reviewed our top 3 favorites!

By Lewis Waller

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