education

SOFTWARE LICENSE AND YAHOO! TERMS OF SERVICE Welcome to Yahoo! Toolbar (the "Yahoo! Software"). By clicking the "I Agree" button, you agree to these software license terms (the "Software License") that supplement the Yahoo! Terms of Service ("TOS") located at http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/utos-173.html. If you disagree with any of the terms below, Yahoo! does not grant you a license to use the Yahoo! Software; click the "I Disagree" button to exit the installer.


Your registration data and certain other information about you is subject to our Privacy Policy. For more information, see our full privacy policy at http://privacy.yahoo.com/, or if you came from Yahooligans!, then see our Yahooligans! privacy policy at http://www.yahooligans.com/docs/privacy/.

Yahoo! reserves the right to update and change, from time to time, this Software License and all documents incorporated by reference. You can always find the most recent version of this Software License at http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/toolbar/tbeula/tbeula-282.html . Yahoo! may change this Software License by posting a new version without notice to you. Use of the Yahoo! Software after such change constitutes acceptance of such changes.

1. Licensed Uses and Restrictions.

By accepting the terms of this Agreement, you represent to Yahoo! Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, "Yahoo!") that you are at least 18 years old. The Yahoo! Software applications, documentation, and local computer files installed or utilized by the installer application (collectively, the "Yahoo! Software") are owned by Yahoo!, or Yahoo!'s licensors and content and data providers ("Yahoo! Licensors") and are licensed to you on a worldwide (except as limited below), non-exclusive, non-sublicenseable basis on the terms and conditions set forth herein. This Software License defines legal use of the Yahoo! Software, all updates, revisions, substitutions, and any copies of the Yahoo! Software made by or for you. All rights not expressly granted to you are reserved by Yahoo! or their respective owners.

a. YOU MAY install and personally use the Yahoo! Software and any updates provided by Yahoo! (in its sole discretion) in object code form on a personal computer owned or controlled by you and may use the Yahoo! Software for your own noncommercial use or benefit. Your license to the Yahoo! Software under this Software License continues until it is terminated by either party. You may terminate the Software License by discontinuing use of all or any of the Yahoo! Software and by destroying all your copies of the applicable Yahoo! Software. This Software License terminates automatically if you violate any term of this Software License, Yahoo! publicly posts a written notice of termination on Yahoo!'s web site, or Yahoo! sends a written notice of termination to you directly.

b. YOU MAY NOT:

(i) decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, modify, rent, lease, loan, distribute, or create derivative works (as defined by the U.S. Copyright Act) or improvements (as defined by U.S. patent law) from the Yahoo! Software or any portion thereof.

(ii) incorporate the Yahoo! Software into any computer chip or the firmware of a computing device manufactured by or for you.

(iii) use the Yahoo! Software in any unlawful manner, for any unlawful purpose, or in any manner inconsistent with TOS or this Software License.

(iv) you may not use the Yahoo! Software to operate nuclear facilities, life support or other mission critical application where human life or property may be at stake. You understand that the Yahoo! Software is not designed for such purposes and that its failure in such cases could lead to death, personal injury, or severe property or environmental damage for which yahoo! is not responsible.

(v) use, or export the Yahoo! Software in violation of applicable U.S. laws or regulations.

(vi) sell, lease, loan, distribute, transfer or sublicense the Yahoo! Software or access thereto or derive income from the use or provision of the Yahoo! Software, whether for direct commercial or monetary gain or otherwise, without Yahoo!'s prior, express, written permission.

2. Ownership and Relationship of Parties.

The Yahoo! Software is protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, international treaties and/or other proprietary rights and laws of the U.S. and other countries. You agree to abide by all applicable proprietary rights laws and other laws, as well as any additional copyright notices or restrictions contained in this Software License and in the TOS. Yahoo! and Yahoo!'s Licensors own all rights, title, and interest in and to their applicable contributions to the Yahoo! Software. This Software License grants you no right, title, or interest in any intellectual property owned or licensed by Yahoo!, including (but not limited to) the Yahoo! Software and Yahoo! trademarks, and creates no relationship between yourself and Yahoo!'s Licensors, or between you and Yahoo! other than that of Yahoo! to licensee.

The Yahoo! Software, and its components contain software licensed from Yahoo! Licensors ("Licensor Software"). The Licensor Software enables the Yahoo! Software to perform certain functions, including without limitation, access proprietary data on third party data servers. You agree that you will use the Yahoo! Software, and any data accessed through the Yahoo! Software for your own personal non-commercial use only. You agree not to assign, copy, transfer or transmit the Yahoo! Software, or any data obtained through the Yahoo! Software to any third party. Your license to use the Yahoo! Software, its components, and any third party data will terminate if you violate these restrictions. If your license terminates, you agree to cease any and all use of the Yahoo! Software, its components, and any third party data. All rights in any third party data, any third party software, and any third party data servers, including all ownership rights are reserved and remain with the respective third parties. You agree that these third parties may enforce their rights under this Agreement against you directly in their own name.

3. Support and Software Updates.

Yahoo! may elect to provide you with customer support and/or software upgrades, enhancements, or modifications for the Yahoo! Software (collectively, "Support"), in its sole discretion, and may terminate such Support at any time without notice to you. Yahoo! may change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Yahoo! Software at any time, including the availability of any Yahoo! Software feature, database, or content. Yahoo! may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Yahoo! Software or the Yahoo! web site without notice or liability.

4. Fees and Payments.

Yahoo! reserves the right to charge fees for future use of or access to the Yahoo! Software or the Yahoo! services and web sites (collectively, "Yahoo! Software Services") in Yahoo!'s sole discretion. If Yahoo! decides to charge for the Yahoo! Software Services, such charges will be disclosed to you prior.

5. Disclaimer of Warranties by Yahoo!.

USE OF THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE AND ANY DATA ACCESSED THROUGH THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE (SUCH AS STOCK QUOTES, MARKET INFORMATION, NEWS OR OTHER INFORMATION) IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THEY ARE PROVIDED "AS IS".

YAHOO!, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, AND ASSIGNS (COLLECTIVELY, "YAHOO! ENTITIES") AND YAHOO! LICENSORS DO NOT REPRESENT THAT THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE OR ANY DATA ACCESSED THEREFROM IS APPROPRIATE OR AVAILABLE FOR USE OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.

THE YAHOO! ENTITIES AND YAHOO! LICENSORS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, RELATING TO THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE AND ANY DATA ACCESSED THEREFROM, OR THE ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, COMPLETENESS, OR ADEQUACY OF THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE AND ANY DATA ACCESSED THEREFROM, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

IF THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE OR ANY DATA ACCESSED THEREFROM PROVES DEFECTIVE, YOU (AND NOT THE YAHOO! ENTITIES OR THE YAHOO! LICENSORS ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL REPAIR OR INJURY OF ANY KIND, EVEN IF THE YAHOO! ENTITIES OR YAHOO! LICENSORS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH A DEFECT OR DAMAGES. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW RESTRICTIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES SO SOME OF THESE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

6. Limitation of Liability.

THE YAHOO! ENTITIES AND YAHOO! LICENSORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR CLAIMS AND LIABILITIES OF ANY KIND ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THE USE OF THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE BY YOURSELF OR BY THIRD PARTIES, TO THE USE OR NON-USE OF ANY BROKERAGE FIRM OR DEALER, OR TO THE SALE OR PURCHASE OF ANY SECURITY, WHETHER SUCH CLAIMS AND LIABILITIES ARE BASED ON ANY LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY.

THE YAHOO! ENTITIES AND YAHOO! LICENSORS ARE NOT LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY AND ALL DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO ANY THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE, ANY DATA ACCESSED THROUGH THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE, YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE OR ACCESS THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE OR ANY DATA PROVIDED THROUGH THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE, WHETHER SUCH DAMAGE CLAIMS ARE BROUGHT UNDER ANY THEORY OF LAW OR EQUITY. DAMAGES EXCLUDED BY THIS CLAUSE INCLUDE, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THOSE FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, INJURY TO PERSON OR PROPERTY, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS OR PERSONAL INFORMATION. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO THIS RESTRICTION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

INFORMATION PROVIDED THROUGH THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE, INCLUDING STOCK QUOTES, ANALYSIS, MARKET INFORMATION, NEWS AND FINANCIAL DATA, MAY BE DELAYED, INACCURATE, OR CONTAIN ERRORS OR OMISSIONS, AND THE YAHOO! ENTITIES AND YAHOO! LICENSORS WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY WITH RESPECT THERETO. YAHOO! MAY CHANGE OR DISCONTINUE ANY ASPECT OR FEATURE OF THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE OR THE USE OF ALL OR ANY FEATURES OR TECHNOLOGY IN THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE TO YOU, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, CONTENT, HOURS OF AVAILABILITY.

7. Indemnification.

You agree to indemnify and hold the Yahoo! Entities harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party in connection with or arising out of your use of the Yahoo! Software, your violation of any terms or conditions of this Software License, your violation of applicable laws, or your violation of any rights of another person or entity.

8. Government End Users.

If the Yahoo! Software and related documentation are supplied to or purchased by or on behalf of the United States Government, then the Yahoo! Software is deemed to be "commercial software" as that term is used in the Federal Acquisition Regulation system. Rights of the United States shall not exceed the minimum rights set forth in FAR 52.227- 19 for "restricted computer software". All other terms and conditions of this Software License apply.

9. Controlling Law.

This Software License and the relationship between you and Yahoo! is governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and Yahoo! agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of Santa Clara, California. The United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods does not apply to this Software License.

10. No General Waiver; Severability.

The failure of Yahoo! to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Software License shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of this Software License is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of this Software License remain in full force and effect.

11. Complete Agreement.

This Software License and the TOS constitute the entire understanding between the parties respecting use of the Yahoo! Software, superseding all prior agreements between you and Yahoo!. In the event of any conflict between the terms and conditions of this Software License and those in the TOS, the terms and conditions of this Software License will control, except to the extent that the TOS impose additional restrictions and liabilities on your actions. In the event of a conflict between the terms of this Software License and the TOS, this Software License will control to the extent of such conflict.

12. Surviving Provisions.

Sections 2, and 4 through 12, will survive any termination of this Agreement.
by.ricky

SOFTWARE LICENSE AND YAHOO! TERMS OF SERVICE Welcome to Yahoo! Toolbar (the "Yahoo! Software"). By clicking the "I Agree" button, you agree to these software license terms (the "Software License") that supplement the Yahoo! Terms of Service ("TOS") located at http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/utos-173.html. If you disagree with any of the terms below, Yahoo! does not grant you a license to use the Yahoo! Software; click the "I Disagree" button to exit the installer.

Your registration data and certain other information about you is subject to our Privacy Policy. For more information, see our full privacy policy at http://privacy.yahoo.com/, or if you came from Yahooligans!, then see our Yahooligans! privacy policy at http://www.yahooligans.com/docs/privacy/.

Yahoo! reserves the right to update and change, from time to time, this Software License and all documents incorporated by reference. You can always find the most recent version of this Software License at http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/toolbar/tbeula/tbeula-282.html . Yahoo! may change this Software License by posting a new version without notice to you. Use of the Yahoo! Software after such change constitutes acceptance of such changes.

1. Licensed Uses and Restrictions.

By accepting the terms of this Agreement, you represent to Yahoo! Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, "Yahoo!") that you are at least 18 years old. The Yahoo! Software applications, documentation, and local computer files installed or utilized by the installer application (collectively, the "Yahoo! Software") are owned by Yahoo!, or Yahoo!'s licensors and content and data providers ("Yahoo! Licensors") and are licensed to you on a worldwide (except as limited below), non-exclusive, non-sublicenseable basis on the terms and conditions set forth herein. This Software License defines legal use of the Yahoo! Software, all updates, revisions, substitutions, and any copies of the Yahoo! Software made by or for you. All rights not expressly granted to you are reserved by Yahoo! or their respective owners.

a. YOU MAY install and personally use the Yahoo! Software and any updates provided by Yahoo! (in its sole discretion) in object code form on a personal computer owned or controlled by you and may use the Yahoo! Software for your own noncommercial use or benefit. Your license to the Yahoo! Software under this Software License continues until it is terminated by either party. You may terminate the Software License by discontinuing use of all or any of the Yahoo! Software and by destroying all your copies of the applicable Yahoo! Software. This Software License terminates automatically if you violate any term of this Software License, Yahoo! publicly posts a written notice of termination on Yahoo!'s web site, or Yahoo! sends a written notice of termination to you directly.

b. YOU MAY NOT:

(i) decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, modify, rent, lease, loan, distribute, or create derivative works (as defined by the U.S. Copyright Act) or improvements (as defined by U.S. patent law) from the Yahoo! Software or any portion thereof.

(ii) incorporate the Yahoo! Software into any computer chip or the firmware of a computing device manufactured by or for you.

(iii) use the Yahoo! Software in any unlawful manner, for any unlawful purpose, or in any manner inconsistent with TOS or this Software License.

(iv) you may not use the Yahoo! Software to operate nuclear facilities, life support or other mission critical application where human life or property may be at stake. You understand that the Yahoo! Software is not designed for such purposes and that its failure in such cases could lead to death, personal injury, or severe property or environmental damage for which yahoo! is not responsible.

(v) use, or export the Yahoo! Software in violation of applicable U.S. laws or regulations.

(vi) sell, lease, loan, distribute, transfer or sublicense the Yahoo! Software or access thereto or derive income from the use or provision of the Yahoo! Software, whether for direct commercial or monetary gain or otherwise, without Yahoo!'s prior, express, written permission.

2. Ownership and Relationship of Parties.

The Yahoo! Software is protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, international treaties and/or other proprietary rights and laws of the U.S. and other countries. You agree to abide by all applicable proprietary rights laws and other laws, as well as any additional copyright notices or restrictions contained in this Software License and in the TOS. Yahoo! and Yahoo!'s Licensors own all rights, title, and interest in and to their applicable contributions to the Yahoo! Software. This Software License grants you no right, title, or interest in any intellectual property owned or licensed by Yahoo!, including (but not limited to) the Yahoo! Software and Yahoo! trademarks, and creates no relationship between yourself and Yahoo!'s Licensors, or between you and Yahoo! other than that of Yahoo! to licensee.

The Yahoo! Software, and its components contain software licensed from Yahoo! Licensors ("Licensor Software"). The Licensor Software enables the Yahoo! Software to perform certain functions, including without limitation, access proprietary data on third party data servers. You agree that you will use the Yahoo! Software, and any data accessed through the Yahoo! Software for your own personal non-commercial use only. You agree not to assign, copy, transfer or transmit the Yahoo! Software, or any data obtained through the Yahoo! Software to any third party. Your license to use the Yahoo! Software, its components, and any third party data will terminate if you violate these restrictions. If your license terminates, you agree to cease any and all use of the Yahoo! Software, its components, and any third party data. All rights in any third party data, any third party software, and any third party data servers, including all ownership rights are reserved and remain with the respective third parties. You agree that these third parties may enforce their rights under this Agreement against you directly in their own name.

3. Support and Software Updates.

Yahoo! may elect to provide you with customer support and/or software upgrades, enhancements, or modifications for the Yahoo! Software (collectively, "Support"), in its sole discretion, and may terminate such Support at any time without notice to you. Yahoo! may change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Yahoo! Software at any time, including the availability of any Yahoo! Software feature, database, or content. Yahoo! may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Yahoo! Software or the Yahoo! web site without notice or liability.

4. Fees and Payments.

Yahoo! reserves the right to charge fees for future use of or access to the Yahoo! Software or the Yahoo! services and web sites (collectively, "Yahoo! Software Services") in Yahoo!'s sole discretion. If Yahoo! decides to charge for the Yahoo! Software Services, such charges will be disclosed to you prior.

5. Disclaimer of Warranties by Yahoo!.

USE OF THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE AND ANY DATA ACCESSED THROUGH THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE (SUCH AS STOCK QUOTES, MARKET INFORMATION, NEWS OR OTHER INFORMATION) IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THEY ARE PROVIDED "AS IS".

YAHOO!, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, AND ASSIGNS (COLLECTIVELY, "YAHOO! ENTITIES") AND YAHOO! LICENSORS DO NOT REPRESENT THAT THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE OR ANY DATA ACCESSED THEREFROM IS APPROPRIATE OR AVAILABLE FOR USE OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.

THE YAHOO! ENTITIES AND YAHOO! LICENSORS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, RELATING TO THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE AND ANY DATA ACCESSED THEREFROM, OR THE ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, COMPLETENESS, OR ADEQUACY OF THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE AND ANY DATA ACCESSED THEREFROM, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

IF THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE OR ANY DATA ACCESSED THEREFROM PROVES DEFECTIVE, YOU (AND NOT THE YAHOO! ENTITIES OR THE YAHOO! LICENSORS ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL REPAIR OR INJURY OF ANY KIND, EVEN IF THE YAHOO! ENTITIES OR YAHOO! LICENSORS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH A DEFECT OR DAMAGES. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW RESTRICTIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES SO SOME OF THESE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

6. Limitation of Liability.

THE YAHOO! ENTITIES AND YAHOO! LICENSORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR CLAIMS AND LIABILITIES OF ANY KIND ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THE USE OF THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE BY YOURSELF OR BY THIRD PARTIES, TO THE USE OR NON-USE OF ANY BROKERAGE FIRM OR DEALER, OR TO THE SALE OR PURCHASE OF ANY SECURITY, WHETHER SUCH CLAIMS AND LIABILITIES ARE BASED ON ANY LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY.

THE YAHOO! ENTITIES AND YAHOO! LICENSORS ARE NOT LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY AND ALL DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO ANY THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE, ANY DATA ACCESSED THROUGH THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE, YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE OR ACCESS THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE OR ANY DATA PROVIDED THROUGH THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE, WHETHER SUCH DAMAGE CLAIMS ARE BROUGHT UNDER ANY THEORY OF LAW OR EQUITY. DAMAGES EXCLUDED BY THIS CLAUSE INCLUDE, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THOSE FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, INJURY TO PERSON OR PROPERTY, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS OR PERSONAL INFORMATION. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO THIS RESTRICTION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

INFORMATION PROVIDED THROUGH THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE, INCLUDING STOCK QUOTES, ANALYSIS, MARKET INFORMATION, NEWS AND FINANCIAL DATA, MAY BE DELAYED, INACCURATE, OR CONTAIN ERRORS OR OMISSIONS, AND THE YAHOO! ENTITIES AND YAHOO! LICENSORS WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY WITH RESPECT THERETO. YAHOO! MAY CHANGE OR DISCONTINUE ANY ASPECT OR FEATURE OF THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE OR THE USE OF ALL OR ANY FEATURES OR TECHNOLOGY IN THE YAHOO! SOFTWARE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE TO YOU, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, CONTENT, HOURS OF AVAILABILITY.

7. Indemnification.

You agree to indemnify and hold the Yahoo! Entities harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party in connection with or arising out of your use of the Yahoo! Software, your violation of any terms or conditions of this Software License, your violation of applicable laws, or your violation of any rights of another person or entity.

8. Government End Users.

If the Yahoo! Software and related documentation are supplied to or purchased by or on behalf of the United States Government, then the Yahoo! Software is deemed to be "commercial software" as that term is used in the Federal Acquisition Regulation system. Rights of the United States shall not exceed the minimum rights set forth in FAR 52.227- 19 for "restricted computer software". All other terms and conditions of this Software License apply.

9. Controlling Law.

This Software License and the relationship between you and Yahoo! is governed by the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and Yahoo! agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of Santa Clara, California. The United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods does not apply to this Software License.

10. No General Waiver; Severability.

The failure of Yahoo! to exercise or enforce any right or provision of this Software License shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of this Software License is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of this Software License remain in full force and effect.

11. Complete Agreement.

This Software License and the TOS constitute the entire understanding between the parties respecting use of the Yahoo! Software, superseding all prior agreements between you and Yahoo!. In the event of any conflict between the terms and conditions of this Software License and those in the TOS, the terms and conditions of this Software License will control, except to the extent that the TOS impose additional restrictions and liabilities on your actions. In the event of a conflict between the terms of this Software License and the TOS, this Software License will control to the extent of such conflict.

12. Surviving Provisions.

Sections 2, and 4 through 12, will survive any termination of this Agreement.

leadership meet

PS Leadership Meets with Congress

APS Past-President Irving Zucker, President-elect Peter Wagner and President Gary Sieck in front of the Capitol Building

On July 7, 2009, APS President Gary Sieck, Past-President Irving Zucker and President-elect Peter Wagner came to Washington, DC to meet with Members of Congress to discuss federal funding for research at the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, NASA and the department of Veterans Affairs.

Drs. Sieck, Zucker and Wagner thanked Members of Congress for their support of federally funded research, particularly in the stimulus legislation passed earlier this year. While the stimulus money will fund many exciting research projects and improve infrastructure over the next two years, they also outlined concerns about what will happen to scientists when the stimulus funding expires in FY 2011. The APS leadership recommended predictable, sustainable growth in research budgets rather than the current pattern of “boom and bust” cycles, where rapid budget growth is followed by periods of flat funding. In addition to the challenges that labs have finding continuous funding sources, they explained that concerns about the sustainability of research funding may discourage young scientists from pursuing careers in academia, leading to the loss of a generation of talented researchers.

In the Senate, Drs. Sieck, Zucker and Wagner met with Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE), and staff in the offices of Senators Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Ben Nelson (D-NE). In the House of Representatives, they met with staff for Representatives Brian Bilbray (R-CA), Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and Frank Wolf (R-VA). The meetings took place at a critical point in the appropriations process, as lawmakers will consider funding levels for most government agencies and programs in the next several weeks.

APS Presidents with Senator Mike Johanns (R-

Call for Nominations for the Editorship of AJP-Heart

Call for Nominations for Arthur C. Guyton Physiology Educator of the Year Award
NIH Public Access Policy and Your Manuscript
Authors: Publish Your Name in Your Native Language
Special Call: Teaching and Learning of Professional Ethics
Special Call: Using Classic Papers to Teach Physiology
Essays on the APS Classic Papers

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my humor

Glass Mosaic Tile Art: Hanging Your Heavy Mosaic Masterpiece
by: ricky lila




Making wonderful glass mosaic tile art is easy! Let me show you how.

You’re so anxious to hang your first masterpiece that it seems like the frame store is taking forever finish the frame. Finally, they call to tell you it’s ready for pickup. Wow, they did a great job and the frame makes your mosaic look even better. You can’t wait to hang it on the wall and show it off.

It weighs a ton and you’re nervous wondering whether a 10-penny nail in flimsy drywall can hold all that weight. You wisely decide that the nail must instead go into a wall stud. The last thing you want is your heavy mosaic crashing down, popping off tesserae, breaking the custom frame, and cracking the ceramic floor tile. You find the exact spot for the nail and poke around hoping to find a stud somewhere close to that spot. Oh, no! The nearest stud is six inches to the left. If you install the nail in that stud, the mosaic won’t be centered on the wall and will look terrible. Good grief, now what? Relax. This is easy. In my eBook, we walk step-by-step through the process of adding a solid support system in the wall that’s plenty strong enough to hold your heavy magnum opus. This isn’t rocket science so don’t panic. You can do it. Yes, you can!

If your masterpiece has any size to it, it’s going to be heavy. For example, one of my projects is only 27”x32” but it weighs a whopping 24-pounds. Always be safety conscious. Never create a safety hazard. You must always ensure the support system is adequately strong enough to bear the load of your heavy mosaic.

Some artists don’t hang their pieces because they don’t want to risk a falling hazard that can harm people or damage the piece. They commonly use free standing easels made of sturdy wood, low to the floor, and well-balanced to minimize the risk of tipping. Typically, these easels are used in galleries, but some people use them in their homes. Personally, I’d rather see my mosaics on the wall. To me, they look better and make the home feel cozier. Besides, who has room for several free-standing easels throughout the house?

The complexity of the support system depends on several factors, such as the mosaic’s weight, location of the lag bolt with respect to a wall stud, and safety concerns for your children. For example, if you find that the lag bolt location is just to the side of a wall stud, you may not need an elaborate support system like the one we install in the eBook. Instead, a small piece of 2x4 attached to the side of the stud may be sufficient.

What we install in the eBook is probably the most complex support system you’ll ever need for a hanging mosaic, so once you learn that method, you should be able to install any simpler support system that you might dream up. Remember, this is easy! You can do it. The eBook walks you through each step of the process as if I’m right there in your living room with you. Relax! Don’t worry about cutting a big hole in your drywall. You’ll learn how easy it is to measure, cut the drywall, install a 2x4 support system to the existing studs, replace the drywall, patch it, and paint it--like a pro! It’s easy. You can do it. Yes, you can! Let me show you how.

Remember, making mosaic art is easy. You can do it. Yes, you can!


About The Author
Bill Enslen has created glass mosaic art and mosaic tables for 30 years. His new eBook gives you step-by-step details for creating your own mosaic masterpieces. Visit him at http://www.glassmosaictileart.com and read the free sample chapters. Let him show you just how easy it is. With Bill's help, you can do it. Yes, you can! See beautiful stained glass mosaic tabletops at http://www.glassmosaictileart.com/mosaic_table_top_furniture.html

The author invites you to visit:
http://www.rickylila.blogspot.com

Progettazione e costruzione macchine per la lavorazione del vetro
Design and construction of glass tooling machinery
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managemen sistem

SCORM and the Learning Management System (LMS)
by: Ricky Lila

i


What actually is SCORM? SCORM, Shareable Content Object Reference Model, is a standard for web-based e-learning that has been developed to define communication between client-side content and a runtime environment. In the context of this article, the client-side content would be the course launched by a student and the runtime environment would be a Learning Management System. The SCORM standard has undergone several version releases from SCORM v1.0 in 1999 to the SCORM 2004 3rd Edition in 2006. The purpose of this article is to look in a little more detail at the communication flow between the LMS and a course that is SCORM v2.1 compliant. The intention is not to review every possible communication but just the main calls. We will look at SCORM in the context of a SCORM course, i.e. a course that has been developed and built to communicate with a Learning Management System using the SCORM standard.

First of all, let me define a few terms that I will use and that you may hear in reference to SCORM courses:

• API (Application Programming Interface)

The SCORM standard has a defined API. The term API is not unique to SCORM but is a well known term in application development. The SCORM API is a documented set of messages that are sent between the course and the LMS. The message may require a response so that the sender of the message is guaranteed that the message has been received and processed appropriately.

• Manifest

The manifest is the master file for the SCORM course that contains references to all other files that make up the complete content of the course.

• Single SCO

A single SCO is the most basic and most common form of a SCORM course. All files that make up the course, regardless of the number of lessons in the course, are packaged as one SCO unit. When the course is launched within the Learning Management System, it communicates with the SCO.

• Multiple SCO

A multiple SCO is where a group of files within the course can be treated as an individual SCO but packaged together with other SCOs to comprise one course. For example, the files that comprise each lesson of a SCORM course can be grouped together so that each lesson is a SCO in its own right and all the SCOs will comprise the one course.

Course Installation

For the course to be available in the Learning Management System, the SCORM package needs to be installed on the system. The method of installation will vary from LMS to LMS but will typically go through the following steps:

1. The manifest file will be located and interpreted.

2. The course identified in the manifest will be created in the Learning Management System and the course properties will be populated with the values defined in the manifest. These properties may include course name, creator, etc.

3. The lessons of the course will be created in the LMS and the lesson properties will be populated with the values defined in the manifest. Lesson properties would include information such as the path to the lesson file, passing grade, etc.

The Learning Management System should provide a facility to overwrite an already existing SCORM course so that if updates are made to the existing course, an installation will deploy those changes.

Course Communication

Initialization

When the course is launched within its run time environment, which for our purposes is the LMS, it will detect the existence of the API and attempt to make initial communication with the Learning Management System. This is a one-time handshake to ensure that communication has been established. The SCORM course is responsible for locating the API in the child browser session that it has launched in from the parent. The API is typically deployed using JavaScript. The API call that the course uses to do this is the LMSInitialize call. When the Learning Management System receives this API message call from the course, the LMS will initialize and respond to inform the course that communication has been established. An object model has been created in memory and the properties have been initialized to default values.

Intermediary Course Communication

Once the course has been launched and initialized with the LMS, the interaction between the two is determined by the course. It will use LMSGetValue and LMSSetValue API message calls to retrieve or populate data in the object model. Bear in mind that the object model exists in memory and has not been sent to the Learning Management System.

When the course needs to write the data so it exists in the database, it will send the API message LMSCommit. The LMSCommit will be received by the Learning Management System and the data stored to the LMS. The course developer will determine when an LMSCommit is required and it will be sent to the LMS when the event is activated. This could be at the end of each lesson or it could be at the end of the course.

The LMSCommit is an optional message and does not require a response from the Learning Management System.

Finalization

When the course is completed, it will send an LMSFinish API message to the LMS. This may be triggered by an event in the course that activates the LMSFinish or it may be on the Unload event of the HTML page when the user closes the browser. The LMSFinish indicates to the LMS that the user has ended the course and any further communication between the two will be rejected. The LMSFinish also initiates the Learning Management System to store any data that has been populated in the object model and complete the unloading of the course.

The key difference between the LMSCommit and LMSFinish API message calls is that the latter will prevent further communication with the course.

The LMSFinish is a mandatory message and does not require a response from the LMS.

Learning Management System Considerations

When the LMSFinish is received by the LMS, there are several scenarios that may need to be taken into account. Some of these may be the product of errors in course development but are scenarios that have been experienced in interfacing with a SCORM compliant course:

1. The SCORM course may indicate the student has failed a lesson but the score passed from the SCO may be greater than the lesson passing grade that was installed from the manifest.

2. The SCORM course may indicate a lesson status for the user and pass the score of the lesson but there has been no passing grade defined for the lesson.

3. It would be advantageous for the Learning Management System to provide API message logging so that a communication history may be recreated for debugging or historical purposes. Consideration should be given to the following:

a. Method of storage, whether it is stored in a database or out to a file.

b. Is logging on all the time or is there a switch to turn logging on or off? (There will be some overhead when logging is switched on, as opposed to being off.)

c. If logging is to file, is there a log file for each course, each user, or one large SCORM log file?

d. How is log data purged? When logging is stored in the database, how often is the table purged? Can the data be deleted or does it need to be archived? If logging is to a file, does the file build in size until it is manually renewed or does the logging mechanism have a trigger that automatically generates a new file? (If the file is left to grow too big, it becomes very impractical to open it in a text editor.)

Conclusions

SCORM has a proven track record in the web based e-learning world and is the accepted standard in the industry. Reputable LMS vendors should support your SCORM course out of the box. The SCORM 2004 version has added much more control and sequencing at a more granular level than SCORM v1.2 however those differences are significant enough to cause the user base to be slower in adopting the SCORM 2004 version.


About The Author
Stuart Campbell is Director of Software Development for SyberWorks, Inc. (http://www.syberworks.com), a privately-held supplier of e-Learning software and training. A native of the United Kingdom, he had previously served as a Principle Software Engineer, Senior Consultant, Senior Software Engineer, and Development Specialist for companies such as Brooks Automation Inc., Digital Equipment, and Honeywell Control Systems. His areas of expertise include Visual Studio.NET, C#, VB.NET, VB6, VBScript, XML, COBOL, WindowsXP, Windows2000, WindowsNT, VAX/VMS, UNIX, Oracle, SQLServer, Oracle Rdb, Oracle DBMS, and Agile Modeling Methodology.

The SyberWorks Learning Management System/Learning Content Management System

SyberWorks Training Center (STC) is a Web-based Learning Management System (LMS)/Learning Content Management System (LCMS) that provides complete solutions for managing and tracking all types of training at your organization — from e-Learning courses to traditional classroom training and self-paced study programs. The STC includes extensive testing and assessment tools, reporting, management, communication and collaboration tools, and quality control capabilities — all in one integrated database application that is highly scalable to precisely meet your organization’s needs. The SyberWorks Training Center LMS/LCMS can be purchased as an enterprise license or hosted application.

About SyberWorks, Inc.

SyberWorks, Inc. (http://www.syberworks.com) is a leader in the custom e-Learning Solutions and Learning Management System/Learning Content Management System (LMS/LCMS) industries for Fortune 1000 corporations, law enforcement, healthcare, and other industries. Located in Waltham, Massachusetts, the company serves the multi-billion-dollar e-Learning market. Since 1995, SyberWorks has developed and delivered unique and economical solutions to create, manage, measure, and improve e-Learning programs at companies and organizations in the United States, Canada, Europe, and around the world.

The author invites you to visit:
http://www.syberworks.com

my chemical romance

Foto Konser ‘My Chemical Romance’ di Jakarta
Oleh egi88 56 Komentar
Kategori: Ada Acara
Tags: band, konser, live, Sing a song..
Wa kecewa gabisa nonton MCR di Jakarta tadi malam (31jan08) tapi buat ilangin rasa kecewa wa dah temuin oleh oleh foto mereka yang sedang beraksi tadi malam…
[foto diabadikan oleh : PM] Click to Enlarge
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120183732901.jpg 12018373280.jpg 12018372570.jpg
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My Chemical Romance Live in Jakarta
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Well.. keren banget khan..

Clear Your Acne - Naturally!

Most people who suffer from acne go out and spend good money on common over-the-counter acne treatment products. The truth is, most of these products are full of chemicals that can actually slow down the healing of acne, and irritate your skin, causing farther breakouts.

When an acne product has 20 ingredients listed on it, it can be hard to know if one of those ingredients is actually stopping you from having success. It can be even harder when you can’t pronounce the ingredient, much less know what it is and how it is going to affect your skin. Most mainstream acne treatments are not only much more expensive than common household items, but they also don’t always work as well either. With that in mind, I will list some basic household items that can work wonders on clearing up your skin.

Baking soda ? A very cheap cooking ingredient that most people have in their homes already, baking soda can be used as a great scrub. The purpose of a scrub is to exfoliate the skin, removing dead skin that can eventually clog pores and lead to acne spots. To start off, you’ll want to mix a small amount of baking soda with some water for form a paste. Baking soda is very effective as a scrub, so you want to be sure to be extra careful when applying it to your face. Gently massage the paste into your skin for ten to fifteen seconds. Then rinse the baking soda off, and pat your face dry with a clean towel.

Apple Cider Vinegar ? Though most people that use vinegar to treat acne use the apple cider form of vinegar, you can also use plain old regular vinegar. Regardless of which type you use, vinegar can be very helpful with it comes to clearing up acne. It can kill off acne causing bacteria, balance your skin’s pH, and absorb extra oil on your skin.

Starting with clean, dry skin, apply diluted vinegar (eight parts water to one part vinegar) directly to your skin with a cotton ball, and leave it on. If you want, you can also use a stronger vinegar solution (say, 2 or 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar), and apply it directly to problem areas, rinsing it off after ten minutes.

Lemon or lime juice can also be substituted for vinegar. Both of these juices are rich in citric acid, and can exfoliate your skin very well, halting the growth of acne spots, as well as fading previous, non-active acne quicker.

Egg Whites ? Rich in protein, egg whites can be used as a mask to heal and rebuild your skin. It can also help to absorb excess oil from your skin. To start off, crack an egg, removing the yolk so that just the egg whites are left behind. Beat these egg whites, and apply them directly to your face. Let it sit for fifteen minutes, and then rinse the egg off.

Oatmeal ? As odd as it may seem, oatmeal can absorb unwanted oil and draw out impurities which reside deep in your skin. Cook some plain oatmeal like you would for consumption. Let it cool off, and rub it over your clean skin. Let it sit for a while, like you would a mask, and then rinse off. If you do this on a regular basis, you should begin to start noticing results soon.

Tea Tree Oil ? TTO is a commonly used all-natural household antiseptic, which you can pick up at most drugstores or supermarkets. You can apply TTO directly to acne spots to kill bacteria, or, if you strongly dilute it with another oil (such as jojoba oil), over your entire face. Tea tree gel can be easier to apply than the oil, and many are made for applying over large areas of skin, so they aren’t quite as strong as straight TTO and do not need to be diluted.

Pantothenic Acid (Also known as Vit. B5) ? Pantothenic acid can be taken in large quantities for the benefit of acne reduction. B5 works by helping your body to metabolize fats which would otherwise be later turned into sebum (oil) and excreted through the skin. Small amounts of B5 won’t help though, and it has to be taken several times a day.

To help with acne, you will need to take 2.5 grams of pantothenic acid (the powder form is much easier to take), 4 times per day, for a total of 10 grams per day.

Aloe Vera ? Aloe Vera has been used for many years in kitchens for topical application to burns. Another benefit of aloe is that it can prevent scaring, fade marks and help heal acne spots.

You now have an idea of some basic household items you can use on your skin, that work better than many OTC acne products, and are much cheaper to use. Since we have only really covered basic acne treatments, you can always take this to another level and take all natural, internal acne treatments.

This sums up our basic list of natural alternatives for chemical based acne treatment products. You can take this a step farther by attacking your acne from the inside out. Acne has been shown numerous times to be very closely affected by the digestive system, so keeping your entire digestive system working as smooth as possible can help reduce acne. I will help give you a basic idea of some all natural products you can take to help clear up acne.

Cucumber, lemon and carrot juice, brewer’s yeast, and active charcoal pills are all capable of helping the digestive system function normally. Since the digestive system is closely related with the health of the skin, they should help reduce acne breakouts. Flax seed can also be wonderful for helping your skin heal faster.

my work life

What Will Telework Change and What Kind of Future Will it Bring?
Today and Tomorrow in the Leading Telework Country

(Presented at Fourth International Telework Workshop Tokyo, Japan - September 3, 1999)Once upon a time, life was simpler.

Virtually all "office work" was done where it belonged - in the office, of
course.

Certainly, people took work home in a briefcase from time to time and
commandeered the kitchen table after the dinner dishes were cleared. They
caught up on their mail (translated: went through a manila folder full of
papers), reviewed their upcoming schedule (translated: flipped the pages of
their appointment book), and perhaps reviewed the budget (translated:
spread out a spreadsheet, i.e., a green-tinted, doublewide, multi-column
piece of paper). If they were really ambitious, they drafted a few memos or
a report (translated: filled up a few pages of a legal pad with handwriting
that, with luck, was decipherable by a trusted secretary).

That trusted secretary might have handed our "home worker" his (and it
almost always was a "he") phone messages (translated: a stack of pink
"While You Were Out" slips) before he left for the day, but this was mostly
for curiosity. There was no reason to try to deal with those messages;
nobody was in the office in the evening, and if you tried to return a call,
the phone would just ring, and ring, and ring.


How Soon We Forget...

That little scenario from the Dark Ages actually is not as ancient as we
might think. It was, in fact, a fairly accurate description of the
situation in the early 1980s. "Voice mail" was just barely coming onto the
scene, a few IBM personal computers were starting to appear, and Visicalc
was the spreadsheet software of choice for a select few.

How does this compare with corporate life today?

There are, by various estimates, somewhere between 9 and 15 million
salaried corporate telecommuters in the United States who spend at least
one day per week working at home during normal work hours.

A computer is no longer something that fills a big, air-conditioned,
double-locked room; it is something that most people carry in their
briefcase, if not their pocket.

After decades when parents dutifully relocated to new cities at the drop of
a hat, and missed countless birthday parties or cut short family vacations,
today's workers are renegotiating the "work comes first" rules or rejecting
them entirely.

The concept of a "regular, full-time, permanent employee" is almost
extinct. Instead, the work force is populated with an ever-changing mix of
workers in odd categories such as "flexworkers," "job-sharers," "free
agents," "9/80 compressed week workers," and others.

The word "mail" is almost always preceded by "voice" or "e."

And, anyone who spends most or all of the work week stationed in his or her
office with four floor-to-ceiling walls and has a dedicated secretary
stationed outside is either among a handful of senior executives or utterly
out of touch with the work force and work place of the late 1990s.

In short, we have seen dramatic, unprecedented, and (to some) unsettling
changes in the nature of work, workers and the work place itself. Like it
or not, the "good old days" are long gone.

The good news is that the new workplace has, in most cases, created changes
that are for the better. The less good (but not bad) news is that many of
our work-place systems, policies, and practices have not kept pace with
these changes. This article will refer to some of the trends we're seeing
today, while focusing on one change in particular, and suggest some
implications for compensation and benefits professionals to consider.


Changing Work and Workers vs. Changing Workplaces

The before-and-after contrasts noted above run the spectrum from technology
and office design, to work schedules and HR practices. We have seen, and
continue to see, overwhelming changes in what people do, who those people
are, and where they do their work.

It is this last change in work location itself that seems to me to be the
most profound. It's one thing to change from a paper spreadsheet to an
Excel spreadsheet, or to change from a full-time, predominantly male work
force to a much more diverse one. But, it is significantly different to
consider changes in the "office" part of office work that we have taken for
granted.

In fact, the deconstruction of the term "office work" is at the heart of
many changes we are seeing. This results from the explosion of hardware,
software and telecommunications technologies that are shaking up the
workplace of the last 300 years.

This is the first time in the history of the workplace that we can separate
activity from location. In the Agricultural Age, we had no choice but to
bring all the workers to the workplace; that's where the dirt was. In the
Industrial Age, we had no choice but to bring all the workers to the
workplace; that's where the machinery and assembly lines were. But now that
we're in the Information Age, we do have the option of separating what
people do from where they do it.

As we begin to do this, it is essential to consider some of the obvious
(and less obvious) implications for HR issues in general, and compensation
and benefits concerns in particular.


It's the Same - But Different

When an employee starts telecommuting (which in most cases means working at
home one to three days a week), the only thing that changes is the work
location. Pay, benefits, employment status and all other company and
regulatory protections and entitlements are unchanged.

Some employers have tried to use the shift to telecommuting to justify a
shift from employee to independent contractor status for telecommuters
which, in most cases, is done to avoid benefits costs and coverage. The
IRS, not surprisingly, has taken a dim view of this change. Though the
whole issue of employee vs. independent contractor status is under
legislative review, employers should tread carefully when contemplating
this shift from the world of the W-2 to the 1099.


FLSA Doesn't Go Away

There is no reason why a non-exempt employee cannot telecommute, as long as
all existing requirements for work hours, time recording, etc., are met, as
they would be if the person were in the office full-time. Some employers
argue that the work hours and schedule for a telecommuter at home can't be
monitored and verified as they are in the office. That's true, but it's
also true for the thousands, if not millions, of non-exempt workers (e.g.,
installers, service reps, health care aides, and more) who worked away from
the workplace long before the word "telecommuting" came into our
vocabularies.


Are We Paying for Presence or Product?

This is the million-dollar question: are exempt employees paid for the
hours they put in or the work they turn out? And, if they're able to do
what would have taken a full day in the office in less time working at
home, who "owns" those extra hours? The essence of telecommuting is that
the results count much more than the activity that led to the results. It
really doesn't make much difference, for most jobs, when you start and stop
work, or how many lunches you miss.

This thorny issue leads to all kinds of interesting and complex discussions
often bordering on philosophical debates. As with many telecommuting
issues, the attempt to resolve these questions, as they apply away from the
office, inevitably leads to some long-overdue discussions about these same
issues in the office.


Is It Time to Revisit Piece Rates?

One way out of this dilemma is to consider an updated approach to piece
rates, or more broadly, pay-for-performance plans. Even though most
telecommuters don't work in unit-measure jobs that lend themselves to
tracking hourly or even daily output, there are still possibilities for
measuring and rewarding extra effort.

The reason this is relevant to telecommuting more so than in the office, is
that it is generally easier to do office work via telecommuting than in the
office. The old joke is that "the hospital is a terrible place to get
well," and an updated version is that "the office is a terrible place to do
office work." The gains in output, quality and multi-tasking that are
common for telecommuters are almost always due to being in an environment
that is more conducive to concentration, with fewer distractions and
interruptions. If the results are markedly better than what we've come to
expect in the office, might it not be wise to ask whether the compensation
should reflect that change?


How Broad is the "Compensation" Package?

Almost all employers provide almost all the "tools" for telecommuting - the
computer, the phone lines, the software, the office supplies, and so on.
Far fewer provide furniture, but a growing number are offering a one-time
stipend for home-office set-up costs. For example, several of my clients
have written checks for $500 to $1500 (often grossed-up) to cover the costs
of anything from buying a desk and chair to putting a fresh coat of paint
on the spare-bedroom-turned-home-office walls. Ongoing household expenses
(heating, cooling, electricity) and commuting expenses are not covered,
however.

Consider this logical extension of those expense policies: what if the
employer gave telecommuters a catalog of home-office "supplies" in the
broadest sense - everything from furniture and filing cabinets to scanners
and stereo systems? Since we know that telecommuters sometimes have their
own furniture or computers, or have unequal needs for extra phone lines or
new rugs or paint jobs, why not give them dollar-based credits toward
purchases from a wide range of products and services?

This is like incentive and recognition programs in which employees earn
credits that can be used to order from a catalog. Instead of trying to come
up with the single best uniform policy or equipment package that fits
everyone (and thus by definition, probably fits no one perfectly), it may
make more sense to let the employee, not the employer, do the choosing.


Should We Rethink Vacation Pay?

As long as we're opening up the issue of broader compensation packages,
let's go as far as to challenge one of the most sacred tenets of benefits:
service-related vacation allotments. The original intent of paid vacation
was to reward loyal workers for their longevity, and to give them a break
>from what had been the demanding and tiring existence in the factory era.

As more work shifted from the factory to the office, we of course retained
the vacation benefit and even enriched it. Over time, most employers have
begun to grant more vacation time for less service time. But if the
intention of paid vacation is to give workers a respite from the workplace
(in this case, the office), what happens when the worker telecommutes and
might not need to get away from the office in the same way?

Paid vacation is an escape not only from the stresses and strains of the
work itself, but also from the commute to and from work and the pure
aggravation of working in a noisy, interruption-driven work environment.
Telecommuters working at home a few days a week spend less time in (and
getting to and from) that environment, so perhaps they don't need quite as
much time away from it.

This may not be the most popular suggestion. Perhaps the only thing more
sacred than the paid vacation is the number-one rule of benefits
administration: it's almost impossible to take back a benefit that you have
already given. Perhaps the best approach then would not be a unilateral
takeback, but a subtle shift to the cafeteria model that has been adopted
for other benefits, in recognition of the diverse makeup and needs of the
work force. Let's say, for example, that telecommuters were given the
option of trading up to 25 percent of their vacation allotment for cash,
near-cash, or non-cash benefits. Many would probably jump at the
opportunity, and those who did not could still get their three weeks after
five years.


Carbon Paper to Copiers - Offices to "Officing"

In the late 1930s, Chester Carlson began showing his new invention called
"xerography" to business executives. Rudimentary as it was, there was no
doubt he had found a way to make extra copies of an original without
resorting to messy carbon paper. Yet, in many cases he was met with the
response, "Why do we need it? We have carbon paper."

The need to have copies did not go away; Carlson was simply trying to offer
another way to generate those copies. Similarly, not all the technological
wonders of this decade, coupled with the employee-driven shift to a
workplace that better balances work and personal needs, eliminate the need
for the office. It will be a long, long time before our downtowns become
ghost towns because everyone is working at home. In fact, it probably will
never happen. What will happen, however, is a subtler shift; our focus will
change from the office as a place, to "officing" as an activity. We will
worry less about where people do their work and more about how much they
do, and how well they do it.

How much work is done and how well it is done are among the concerns of the
compensation and benefits profession. The changes and possibilities
outlined in this article are only suggestive of the kinds of changes that
will follow as offices are decentralize and, in some cases, have employees
working and living under the same roof.




Gil E. Gordon
Gil Gordon Associates
Monmouth Junction, New Jersey USA
Copyright (C) 1999, Gil Gordon Associates. All Rights Reserved
For more information, visit www.gilgordon.com.

A. INTRODUCTION

It is a great honor for me to be here with you today. As some of you may know, this is my third visit to Tokyo to talk about telework. Each time that I come here, I think how silly it is for me to fly on an airplane for almost fourteen hours so I can talk about "working at a distance."

However, if I did not make that airplane trip, I would have to do this presentation by sitting in a videoconferencing room near my home. It is much more enjoyable to come here in person - you have better beer, nicer people, and prettier flowers everywhere.

Much of our discussion about telework is about technology. As you know, we have made very impressive improvements in the technology for telework - but I hope there will never be a kind of technology that replaces our ability to drink a cold beer, relax with friends, or smell a fragrant flower.

Perhaps those are the only things that we cannot do today, or very soon in the future, with the technology we have. We may not be able to drink beer at a distance, but we can certainly do almost any kind of work at a distance. My presentation today will be about some of these technologies, but more important, about what they mean for how we work, where we live, and how we will move into the next century.

Most of my comments will be about telework in general around the world, but I will also discuss some of the specific situations in the US. Many people believe that the US is the "leading telework country," and in many ways it is. However, in the US we do not have all the answers, we have certainly made our mistakes, and therefore we should be viewed only as ONE model, but not THE ONLY model for the future.

B. THREE MISTAKES WE HAVE MADE IN TELEWORK

It is certainly important to look ahead at the future of telework. Before we do, I think it is just as important to look back at the recent history of telework. A famous US historian once said that if we do not learn from the mistakes of the past, we are condemned to repeat them. There is absolutely no need for us to make the same mistakes again with telework - once was enough.

We have had much success with telework in the US and around the world. But we have also had some problems. Here are the three most serious mistakes we have made, in my opinion:

1. Too Much Emphasis on the Role of Technology:
Many people think that telework is relatively new - that it began sometime around the early 1990's, and that it is a product of the explosive growth of personal computers. This is exactly the same as a teenager thinking that he or she was the first to rebel against their parents - that nobody before them had the same experiences.

Telework in various forms can be traced back to the late 1960's. I have heard stories of companies that had employees working at home doing a job that has been mostly forgotten by today's workforce. They were using IBM keypunch machines to produce those old-fashioned data-entry cards that were used before magnetic tape or diskettes.

In fact, we could even say that a salesman who traveled around the city to visit customers was a teleworker - he did not spend much time in his own office, and he did not have direct supervision by his manager. And we have certainly had salesman doing this work for many years - at least 100 years, in fact.

The reason why many people think that telework is much newer is because they think telework did not, and could not, happen without the personal computer as we know it today. Early personal computers were invented in the middle 1970's, but it was not until the first IBM PC was produced in 1981 that they started to become popular in business. Laptop computers as we know them today were introduced in the middle to late 1980's, and since then we have seen continuing improvements in the features, size, and convenience of laptops.

It is easy to understand, therefore, why people think telework did not happen until these laptops became widely available, and until modem access from home was possible at speeds of 9600 bits per second or faster. This is absolutely incorrect, in my opinion.

The fundamental idea behind telework is to decentralize the office - that is, to move away from the idea that we must bring all the workers to one single location so they can all work together at the same time. That was the way we did it in the agricultural economy, and in the industrial economy. We had no choice because we had to move the workers to the soil of the farm, and to the machines of the factory. However, as we move more into an information-based economy, we no longer need to rely exclusively on this kind of centralized office.

It is very easy to become fascinated with all the excellent and exciting new technologies we have today, and to think about how easy telework can be with hand-held computers, cell phones, ISDN lines, and more. But if we let ourselves think about telework only in terms of technology, we miss the most important point: it is often less expensive, more efficient, and better for both employees and customers if we can decentralize the office.

This does not mean we are going to have everyone working at home or in telework centers, and it does not mean we will make all our office buildings empty. As I will say later in this speech, the key factor in good telework is to use it selectively and appropriately to decentralize the office. The technology is definitely important - without it, we simply could not have as many mobile workers as we do today. But I can tell you that the companies, and the countries, that defined telework in terms of technology alone do not have long-term success. The technology is the tool that helps telework, but it is not the main reason why we have telework today.

2. Not Enough Emphasis on the Role of Corporate Culture:
The second mistake we made is that we did not pay attention to the effects of telework on the entire organization.

The best way to explain this is to think about a car. Imagine that you decided to remove the engine that came with the car, and replace it with a much more powerful engine because you wanted to drive faster. The new engine affects all the other parts of the car: you would need to change the steering and the brakes because of the added weight of the engine, you would have to install a new battery because it would take more electricity to start the engine, and you might even have to adjust the headlights because the heavier new engine would make the front of the car lower and the headlights would now be shining in the wrong place, and so on.

The same thing happens when we install telework in an organization. Any organization - whether it has ten employees or ten thousand employees - is a system with many connected parts, just like the car. Also, an organization has what we call a "culture" - that is, the set of habits and patterns of how people work together and how things get done. Installing a faster engine in the car might make it drive faster, but it might also be harder to steer and harder to stop. Installing telework might make the organization "drive faster" but it also affects the flow of work from department to department, the way people communicate with each other, and much more.

The car with the faster engine might drive faster, but in a short time perhaps the tires will wear out, the springs and shock absorbers will become weaker, the brakes will become unsafe, and other unanticipated changes will occur. The only way to prevent these problems is to have a team of experts work together to analyze the likely effects of the new engine. The engineer might know about the engine's power, but we need a brake specialist to tell us about how the brakes will be affected, a tire specialist to tell us what kind of new tires we need, and so on.

Successful telework requires the same kind of team effort. In many organizations, telework has been planned and implemented by only the Information Technology (IT) staff, or by only the Facilities and Real Estate staff, or by only the Human Resources staff. Each of these, and others, is important - but no one of them can manage telework alone.

In many cases we have failed to recognize this kind of integrated, connected aspect of telework, and we have also failed to recognize that the very culture of an organization changes when we start to change some of its parts. The very best telework programs I have seen are the ones that involve a lot of planning to consider these cultural changes, and also anticipate what else in the organization must change for telework to succeed in the long term.

3. Tendency to Take Tiny Steps Instead of Big Leaps Forward:
The third mistake in telework implementation is the tendency to create programs that are too small to be useful. I said this when I was here before and it is still true today: a very small pilot program with five or ten teleworkers is not very valuable. It is better than doing nothing, but five people in an organization of five thousand, or more, is an insignificant number. Whether those five teleworkers succeed OR fail, it is almost impossible to make any generalizations from the experience.

In my opinion, the only justification for a very small trial is when there is a question about the suitability of technology to support telework. In that case it is certainly advisable to start with only a few people so you can find the correct technical solution, instead of spending a lot of money on technology that might not be sufficient. However, even in these cases I believe we should plan for very rapid expansion once the technical questions have been answered.

I see no reason why organizations cannot begin with a program with at least 25 teleworkers, and 50 is even better. A smaller number does not provide a good test, and a smaller number sends a signal to the organization that "we are really not that serious about telework."

It was probably appropriate to have a pilot program with five or ten teleworkers in 1985, or even in 1990. Any programs that began with a small number like that anytime after 1990 had a very hard time becoming successful. It takes almost as much effort to do the planning for a program of five people as it does for 25 people. We have been much too tentative and much too cautious in our trial programs, in my opinion.

C. MY ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT LIKELY TELEWORK GROWTH

Each of us has some assumptions, or things we believe to be true, about telework. These assumptions affect our predictions about telework, just as our assumptions about any subject affect what we think will happen.

Let me tell you my assumptions about telework growth, because it is important for you to understand what affects my viewpoint:

1. Telework Will Never Be Everywhere:
In the early days of telework, we knew that some employers would adopt it earlier than other employers. This is what happens with any innovation. Many people believed that it would just be a matter of time before every employer started using telework, in the same way that all employers offer paid vacation time, insurance, and other benefits that apply to everyone.

The separation between employers that understand and use telework, and the employers that still fight against it, is becoming bigger. There are many reasons why some employers may never use telework except for just a few people. The main reason is the continued "mental block" that executives and managers have about telework.

I turned 50 years old earlier this year, so now I suppose I am qualified to make statements with great authority and wisdom. One of these statements is that dumb managers and dumb organizations very rarely get smarter unless they are under tremendous pressure to change, and cannot see any other alternative. Our lives are too short for us to worry about improving the situation of dumb employers. They will eventually begin to slow down and eventually fade away into the history books.

Meanwhile, the smart managers and smart employers will do much better. They will struggle with the need to make change - but in the end they WILL make the change they need to survive, including the use of telework. Therefore, I suggest that we should put our efforts into helping the smart employers get smarter and become more successful. Otherwise, we will become old and gray and tired from trying to help people and organizations that refuse to change.

2. We Have Too Much Technology, Not Too Little:
The technology for telework is very good and continues to get better. This does not mean it is perfect, or that it is always the right price. But the best news is that we have plenty of technology - hardware, software, and telecommunications - to allow telework to be effective.

I have seen many of my US clients having a difficult time trying to select from among this big list of technology. There are too many laptops, too many kinds of remote-access solutions, and too many kinds of applications software. What is needed is a way to create packages of tested solutions for various kinds of telework situations.

Let me explain why this is important. Imagine that you are getting ready to go on a vacation or a business trip, and you start to gather everything you want to take. You go into the bathroom and get your toothbrush, your toothpaste, your razor or your cosmetics, and all the other items you need. If you are like me, you almost always forget at least one thing that you need - and you find out about this at 11 o'clock at night when all the stores are closed.

What if you could go into a store and buy a pre-packaged kit that contained exactly enough of each item for the number of days of your trip? For example, you could get a three-day kit for a man, or a five-day kit for a woman, and so on. You would probably be willing to pay a small amount extra for the convenience of having everything together.

This is what we need for telework. The problem is not with the type or amount of technology - the problem is that we rarely have it collected in the right package.

3. Workers Will Stop Thinking About Telework and Will Start Expecting It:
In the early stage of telework in a company, a few people think to themselves, "Wouldn't it be nice if I could telework!" Later, a few more people will ask their managers, "Can I telework two days a week?" Later, a few more people will ask their managers, "Would you prefer that I telework on Tuesday or Thursday this week?" And finally, people applying for jobs will routinely ask during the interview, "You DO allow your employees to telework, don't you?"

I have described a progression from people thinking about it, to cautiously asking about it, to assuming it is available, to expecting it as a condition of employment. We have not reached that end point yet, but I don't think it is far away. Many smart employers will implement telework because it makes good business sense to do so - but many more will implement telework because their current and future employees will simply assume that it is available.

D. SIX EFFECTS OF CONTINUED GROWTH IN TELEWORK

I have been involved in the telework field since 1982, and at least two times a month I am asked to make estimates about the future growth of telework. So, that is 24 times a year for 17 years, or a total of at least 408 estimates I have made about the future number of teleworkers. If I have been lucky, I think that perhaps 10 of those estimates were correct - but I don't know which ones they were.

My consulting business does not include any statistical market research, so when I make these estimates I rely on the research done by people who are in that business. Every time I see their numbers I get more confused. One thing is clear, however: the number of teleworkers has continued to increase by approximately 10% to 15% each year in the US and in many other countries. This means that today in the US we have approximately ten million teleworkers - and this number is much more conservative than some other estimates you might hear.

There are other people at this conference who can probably give you more accurate estimates. I would rather discuss the implications of this growth, because I am convinced that the growth WILL continue. Here is what that means for all of us:

1. Nobody Can Stop It:
Telework is not a temporary fad. We will never return to the time when almost everybody works in the office all the time. We have opened the door to the possibilities of telework, we have clearly shown its benefits, and it would be foolish to try to eliminate it. As I have said many times before, this does not mean that everyone will be a teleworker. It means instead that telework will become normal, expected, and just as routine as seeing a computer in an office or a teenager wearing headphones. We now have enough momentum behind telework that we will never go back to doing all the office work in the office.

2. The World Will Adapt to Telework - Not the Reverse:
When women started to be employed in professional-level jobs in the US in large numbers, the women had to do all the changing and adjusting to a man's world. They wore clothes that looked like a man's business suit, they had to use all the bad language the men did, and they had to tolerate all the stupid business practices and habits the men had tolerated for years. Today, things are different: women can dress like women, not like men. Men who use a lot of bad language around women can be fired, and their employers can receive a lawsuit. And, fortunately, women have been responsible for creating many changes in business practices that were long overdue.

The same things happened with teleworkers. In the beginning, and even today, teleworkers had to be very careful about their work schedule, to be sure they were able to be in the office to attend meetings. Today, most of those meetings are done by audio or video conference calls. In the beginning, teleworkers had to figure out how to carry home a heavy desktop PC. Today, most of them can easily carry a laptop anywhere they go. In the beginning, teleworkers had to struggle with modem connections that were too slow to be of much value. Today, most teleworkers can easily get some kind of broadband, high-speed connection to the home.

These trends will continue - including some of the hidden problems. Even though women are much more accepted today in the business world in the US and elsewhere, there are still many cases where the women feel treated unfairly. And even though telework is more widely accepted today, there are still many cases where teleworkers must listen to the jokes from their co-workers about how the teleworkers stay home and watch television and drink beer. Slowly but surely, all of this will change.

3. The Telecommunications Industry Will Go Crazy:
I just told you that most teleworkers in the US can get some kind of broadband connection to their homes. This is true, but it is the result of more than ten years of slow progress. In the US as in Japan and most other countries, the telephone network was designed for business calls to occur in offices, and for personal calls to occur in homes. It has been virtually impossible for the carriers to change their networks quickly enough to satisfy the demand for high-speed access. In the US, the telecommunications carriers are perceived as following, not leading, the telework trend. This is starting to change as they expand their digital networks, and as competitive carriers become more powerful. Japan is ahead of the US in some ways because of your plans for developing a nationwide digital network - although the cost of using that network here will probably be higher than in the US.

To make things worse, many teleworkers live - or would like to live - in suburban or rural areas where it is even harder to get high-speed service. The carriers cannot afford to invest in digital networks in areas where the population density is low. That is why cable telephony, satellite telephone, and various forms of wireless transmission are becoming so popular.

Teleworkers want bandwidth like a child wants candy: no matter how much they have, they always want more. It will be at least five years in the US before most teleworkers will be able to have the high-speed access they want, where they want it. We may never see the time when every teleworker has all the access they want.

4. Managers Will Adapt or Become Useless:
I told you before that I just turned 50 years old. This means that I am no longer a young person with new ideas - I am now in the category of the old-fashioned people. Managers my age and older continue to have a difficult time adjusting to telework - although I have seen many managers in their 50's and 60's doing very well with teleworkers.

Managers at age 50 and older, as well as many in their 40's, have been trained and expected to be very close supervisors - to watch what their people are doing almost every minute. This does not mean they can't change, or don't want to change. It means that it will be a challenge for them to change because they have had at least 20 years of experience managing the other way.

The bad news is that the pressure to change the style of supervision for telework will be a hard adjustment for many managers. The good news is that they will become better managers if they do. The experience of managing at a distance makes them better managers of people in the office as well. In other words, the manager who can learn how to manage teleworkers will automatically become a better managers of employees who don't telework.

It will be a difficult decision for middle-aged managers, but it is the same kind of decision those managers have to make about using a PC. If they learn, they will succeed; if they don't want to learn or cannot learn, they will no longer be valuable managers.

5. Fewer Workers - More Business Owners:
Japan is just like the rest of the world: every developed country is in the middle of explosive growth in small businesses and entrepreneurs. When I was preparing to graduate from university in 1972, we business school students all fought with each other to obtain job interviews with the very large companies that came to recruit us. The only people who went into their own start-up businesses were the ones not good enough to get a big corporate job. Today, the situation is exactly the opposite: many large US companies are having great difficulty attracting college graduates - they all want to work in a small start-up company, and preferably one with "dot com" in its name.

Telework most often refers to corporate employees working at home or elsewhere away from the office - but that is only one form of telework. The same technology and the same worker values that create interest in corporate telework are creating interest in the "SOHO" (Small Office Home Office) kind of work. Give a smart person a cell phone, a laptop, and a fax machine, and he or she is in business immediately. The growth in these SOHO kinds of work will grow as fast, if not faster, than corporate telework.

6. Very Little Will Change in Transportation Patterns:
I wish I could be more positive about this last prediction, but the facts force me to tell you the truth. As you know, one of the benefits of telework that has always been discussed is the ability to reduce the daily commuting problems and the air pollution that come with them. We know that teleworkers drive their cars less - that is for certain. But we also know that the overall pattern of traffic congestion is so bad in almost every city, that it would take an enormous amount of telework to make a difference.

For the last fifty years, the US, most of Europe, and to a certain extent Japan, have built societies that encourage and reward suburban living. The automobile companies have been very successful in convincing us that we cannot live without having our own car, or cars. One of the newest and most controversial political topics in the US today is "suburban sprawl" and the problems of almost unlimited growth and development.

I am trying to say that the problems that create much of our traffic and pollution go far beyond the daily commuting to work. I still believe that telework definitely can help remove some cars from the road and some pollution from air, but I am not convinced that doing so will have much of an effect overall.

If this is the bad news, I believe there are two other transportation-related effects of telework that could be very good news. The first is about employment for people with disabilities - most of whom are able to do very good work but simply cannot get to the workplace every day. It is a shame to see how few disabled people have actually been employed as teleworkers, but I am hopeful this will change. Part of our new thinking about mobility and transportation must be that we separate mobility from ability - they are not the same. We waste a lot of talent when we fail to find creative ways to employ people with disabilities. Telework is certainly one of those methods.

Second, there has been much talk over the years about the role of telework in regional development, and the revitalization of communities or large areas where unemployment is high. Japan is an excellent example - but not the only example - of a country where too many people are squeezed into too little space. The main reason so many people live in the Tokyo-Osaka-Yokohama region is because of the concentration of jobs here.

As we approach the next century, I think it is finally time that we realize we can bring work and employment to people in other areas, instead of forcing them to move to where the jobs are traditionally located. Many of our problems with transportation and pollution are related to this pattern of squeezing too many people into small areas. Japan, and other countries, should be able to use technology to bring jobs, education, government services, entertainment and much more to areas that need a fresh start in this new century.

E. THE STRANGE FUTURE OF TELEWORK IN THE US

The US is a country where everyone knows what style of underwear our President wears, people living in cities buy huge sport-utility vehicles to drive in congested traffic, and McDonalds had to pay millions of dollars in a lawsuit because their coffee was too hot. In a country like this, you can imagine that the future of telework will be just as strange.

Many people around the world look at the US as the best example of telework in use. This is probably true in many ways, but not in all ways. I have seen excellent examples of various kinds of telework in almost every other country where telework is being used. The advantage we have in the US is the number of employers and number of teleworkers involved, and the amount of noise we make about our own accomplishments. I suggest that you always be skeptical about what you hear from the US about telework; many of the things we do are correct, but we also make our share of mistakes.

Let us examine what the next five years of telework in the US will look like. I have only three predictions to make:

1. Say Goodbye to "Telework":
I hope that we will stop, or reduce very much, the use of the words telework or telecommuting. These are words that have been very useful to describe a change in the workplace, but I hope that the change will be successful enough so we do not need these special words any longer.

There is an excellent book called "The Underground Guide to Telecommuting," and it contains this quotation: "Work is something you do, not someplace you go." I have been using that quotation since the book was published in 1995. It is the best explanation of how we must change our thinking about work and the workplace. The words telework and telecommuting are words of transition - just like the words "horseless carriage" were used to describe the first automobiles. People didn't know what a "car" was, but they could easily understand the idea of a carriage pulled by a horse - but without the horse.

The most important indication of the wide acceptance of telework will be our ability to simply talk about work - no matter where it is done.

2. Office Work Will Become the Strange Activity:
In 1982 when I started my business, there were very few teleworkers. A person who teleworked was seen as something strange or unusual. Going to the office every day was normal and expected, so anyone who did "office work" away from the office was very different and strange. We may not accomplish this in the next five years, but I hope we can have a new definition of what is "strange" - the office worker who goes to the office five days a week will become the unusual one.

Once again, I must emphasize that everyone will not be a teleworker, and even those who do telework won't do it full-time. The change I am discussing here is that the concept of telework will become almost universally understood and accepted as normal in the workplace.

3. Personal and Family Life Will Improve:
It is no secret that we have many problems in our society in the US. When our children are taking guns to school, using drugs, and acting rudely, these are signs of some deep and serious problems. These problems have many causes, but one of them is simply the fact that parents are spending less time with their children. It is difficult to be a parent, and it almost impossible to be a good parent if you don't see your children except for a few minutes each day.

I wish I could tell you that more telework would solve all these problems. That would be wonderful, but it is unrealistic. However, I do believe that if telework allows parents to spend even a little more time with their children of all ages, it MUST be an improvement. I am not suggesting that we return to the 1950's when the father worked and the mother stayed home with the children all the time; that situation had its own problems. I am suggesting instead that if we make it easy for both fathers and mothers to be in the home a few more hours each day, their children will have better lives.

Similarly, we can look for telework to help improve the quality of life for the employees themselves, whether or not they are mothers and fathers. For many people, the worst part of the work day is getting TO work. It is costly, difficult, stressful, and in some cases unsafe. It always makes me very happy to hear teleworkers describe how much their lives have improved even if they commute two less days each week. Smart employers will realize the benefit of this change.

F. THREE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO MAKE TELEWORK BETTER

We all look for simple solutions to complex problems. You will be hearing a lot at this conference about the complex issues involved in telework. I am going to try to make your life simpler by making three simple suggestions about things you can do to help the growth of telework, starting next week:

1. Do It - Talk About It - Make It Work:
I am always amazed to hear about so many people who are trying to promote telework, but don't do it themselves. This is like a fat person trying to sell a dieting pill - nobody would believe them. Even if your employer doesn't have a formal telework program, find a way to telework one day a week for a month. That is only four days, but it is a good start.

If you are already teleworking or just getting started, find a way to talk about it with your friends, neighbors, and co-workers. You don't have to be like a noisy salesman or a person standing on a street corner in New York City selling imitation Rolex watches. But you should believe in what you do, and be willing to help others understand telework and get excited about it.

Last, if you know of co-workers who have tried telework and have had problems, you can be their consultant. Help them find a solution to the problems and you will create another telework success.

2. Look For Small Cracks - Not Big Doors:
Pretend that you are a small ant trying to get into a house to find some food. You don't need to find the front door; you can just crawl through a small crack and get inside. Many people make the mistake of looking only for the big door into a company to start or expand telework. It is often much more successful to find a little crack, or a small opportunity, to get started. Once you get through that little crack in the wall, you have a chance to make a change.

This does not mean you should give up on your efforts to start a big project. If you have the choice, it is always better to try for that big accomplishment all at once. But sometimes, the reality is that you can only find the small crack - and that is how you must begin.
3. Remind People About Other "Bad Ideas":
Whenever somebody tells you that telework is a bad idea that will never work, remind them about the history of the telephone, the Xerox machine, and the PC. I like to remind people that:

* When the telephone was first offered to businesses, they said, "Why do we need it - we have messenger boys to carry messages."
* When the first photocopy machine was invented, the man who invented it was told, "Why do we need it - we have carbon paper to make copies."
* When the first personal computers were invented, and it was suggested that they would be used in business and at home, Ken Olsen (the founder and president of Digital Equipment Corporation) said, "Why would anyone want to have their own computer?"

Telework is not a "bad idea." It is a different idea about working, and it is an idea whose time has arrived. You are all here today because you understand why telework works, and how important it can be. I encourage you to be the leaders in helping others see the benefits of telework, and show how it can help our businesses, our communities, our families, and our workers.

Thank you very much.