Shopping Product Reviews

Cool car games and online games

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I am the best and most picky player I know of all the players I have come across or been in contact with. I don’t mean to brag, I just said it for context. But, when i played ben 10 car games like Saving Sparkvile. Ben 10 vs Bakugan, the shooting based flash game I played from EA Games (publisher of games like Battle Field Bad Company 2).

Ben 10 car games are usually simple flash titles, but when it comes to Saving Sparks, they jump out at you. That is a completely different story. Ben 10 Saving Sparksvile is a single player flash title that requires brutal skill and a lot of time to waste at work or wherever you play your flash games (unless you’re on an Apple iPad, then thank Apple for not support flash) . Ben 10 Saving Sparksville is about Ben 10 racing a rock that he uses with his “car” to destroy megawatts after taking over the city and bringing the planetarium exhibit to life. You have to stop the megawatt before it reaches the hydroelectric dam and turns it on.

You must defeat Megawatt by shooting his weekly points (marked in red), you control Ben 10 using the mouse and moving the mouse up, down, left or right while dodging cars, you can also shoot fireballs by clicking on your left or mouse right. Let me start by telling you that this is one of the most broken and difficult Ben 10 flash titles to come out. When you move to aim for the red circle, Ben moves with you and as you shoot, his weather is never really clear whether you hit your target or not, and to add even more frustration, he throws the cars in a way that’s too hard to dodge. as your shoot and just where you have to shoot. The final straw is that figures sometimes appear in front of your character and that makes things harder to see and judge and dodging objects even more difficult than it needs to be.

But, Ben 10 vs Bakugan was a great flash game. my only complaint about this game is that it is very difficult for people who are not very good at video games, as it requires skill and angles. Ben 10 vs Bakugan is based on the “worms” game that was so popular in the 90s and 2000s. You can choose to play as the Bakugan character or Ben 10. You must destroy your opponent by shooting him with bows and arrows. You move your mouse up or down and when you are ready to shoot just hold right or left and grab the string and then you have to pull back and that determines how far the arrow will shoot.

If you are interested in playing ben 10 car games in a nice way, go check out this flash title, Ben 10 Saving Sparksville was not the best flash title I have ever played, but it was an enjoyable 5 minutes. On the other hand, Ben 10 vs Bakugan was a great flash title and I enjoyed spending countless hours at work playing it.

Technology

Cybercrime: easier than ever to be accused

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Generally speaking, illegal activity involving a computer can be referred to as cybercrime. With the advent of the Internet, cybercrime has skyrocketed, which is not surprising since more than a billion people use the Internet worldwide. There is no shortage of potential targets, and victims and perpetrators may be oceans apart.

The anonymity of the Internet allows for low costs and leaves few traces, and cybercriminals can be individual operators or part of larger schemes, possibly even affiliated with organized crime. Ironically, technology makes it easy to create fraudulent material online that looks identical to the Internet marketing web pages of legitimate entities.

The increase in Internet activity has brought more prosecution. Because those who commit these crimes are faceless, it is easy for law enforcement investigators to use circumstantial evidence to prosecute the wrong people.

Unified Law Enforcement Action

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a joint program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), and the National Center for White Collar Crime (NW3C), a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting law enforcement in their fight against “economic and high-tech crime.”

The IC3 is a clearinghouse for reporting cybercrimes and related civil law violations. Analysts review complaints filed with IC3 online for referral to local, state, federal, or international law enforcement or civilian agencies with jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute potential cybercrime.

increasing rates

The IC3 published its 2009 report on cybercrime in March and the findings show an explosion of illegal activity online. For example, the number of complaints filed with IC3 in 2009 increased more than 22 percent over 2008 figures. Monetary loss related to online fraud nearly doubled to about $560 million compared to $265 million last year. last year.

Online criminal complaints increased substantially in the past year, according to the report. The IC3 received 336,655 complaints in 2009, an increase of 22.3 percent over 2008. The total loss related to online fraud in 2009 was $559.7 million, up from $265 million in 2008 .

This growth has put a lot of pressure on law enforcement to “do something” about the problem. This usually means police arrest more people and prosecutors prosecute more. Increased pressure on law enforcement can lead to a “speedy trial” so that false charges are brought against innocent people.

Common Types of Financial Cyber ​​Crimes

Identity theft: Someone can steal your identity by using personal information such as your social security number (SSN), driver’s license number, or credit card account number to commit fraudulent transactions, such as opening bank or credit accounts, obtaining loans, or making large purchases. . The Internet can be the vehicle both for stealing personal information and for using it to commit misrepresentation and theft online. Such crimes can severely damage credit ratings.

internet tricks: The Internet can be used to commit many illegal acts that involve fraud. Emails, chat rooms, and websites are used to carry out a variety of fraudulent schemes. Fraud can be used to approach individual victims online, engage in fraudulent business activities, or deal deceptively with banks and other financial institutions.

Incomplete transactions: In any exchange of goods or services for money, the parties must act in good faith and trust each other to complete the transaction. Unfortunately, when things are purchased over the Internet, either party can get burned. The seller can keep the money and not ship the item, or the buyer can keep the item and not pay for it. Many variations on this theme take place every day in cyberspace.

Online Auction Fraud: Auction sites commonly refer to allegations of financial fraud. Auction websites hold virtual auctions for a variety of items and are extremely popular with the public. Unfortunately, fraud can occur in a number of ways, such as:

  • A seller can never ship the item to the winning bidder after payment is received.
  • A seller may ship an inferior, damaged, or imitated product
  • A buyer may submit a high bid to stop other bidders and withdraw at the last minute to make a low bid from an associate successful.
  • A seller can arrange for someone to increase bids

International cybercrime: Schemes international in scope include invitations to participate in foreign lotteries and offers of money in exchange for assistance with money transfers to the United States or to foreign accounts for supposedly charitable causes. Nigeria is often associated with these dangerous offers, specifically called 419 schemes in reference to a section of the Nigerian Penal Code.

Identity fraud – Phishing is an attempt to obtain personal information by using an email that appears to come from a trusted source, such as your bank, requesting that sensitive data be sent by return email. Phishing emails are often sent en masse.

counterfeit websites – Those with technical expertise can create professional-looking websites for fake charities designed to harvest personal information in the donation-collection process.

Guard against an overzealous accusation

With the wide variety of cybercrimes and the enormous increase in their frequency, law enforcement is under pressure to prosecute anyone suspected of cybercrime. The novelty of the methods used to commit cybercrime often means that many law enforcement entities, with little investigative experience, are not prepared to fully investigate such cases. It is in this context that mistakes are often made when determining who to charge with a given cybercrime.

Business

Cover Letter Example: For Corporate Flight Attendant

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Writing a cover letter to send with your resume can be confusing and frustrating. What should you say exactly? Are you saying too much? Are you talking only about your needs vs. the needs of the company? Oh what to do! In this “short” article, I’ll list some ideas on how to craft your cover letter. I have also provided some important links, for further assistance, especially if you still need outside help.

The essential

* Be sure to use exactly the same type of paper that you use for your resume. White on white is best, commercial paper is highly recommended, especially paper that contains 100% cotton. Cheap £20. Copy paper is a terrible idea!

* Matching business envelope {#10} accepted. Triple your copies separately; when you place the cover letter inside the envelope, make sure the letter is displayed first [when you lift the flap of the envelope up] followed by your summary. Fold it so your name and contact information is the first thing the recruiter sees. If you choose to use a kraft envelope, make sure it is no smaller than 9×12 and no larger than 10×13. Attach an attractive computer-generated label with your return address displayed appropriately. If you must write on it, PRINT your information and don’t be fanciful. Remember: you want the post office and company mailroom to be able to read what you wrote! Otherwise, significant time may be lost in the process.

* If you are sending your information via email, please make sure the job listing stipulates that attachments are okay. If not, don’t you dare send attachments! Instead, within the body of an email message you can write your cover letter [a brief introduction] and then cut and paste your summary. I can’t tell you how many files are never read when the person doesn’t do what they’re told. You can also track and email [paper] copy if an address is provided.

Beginning

* Match the header of your resume to the header of your cover letter. They can and do separate! An example header should look like this:

so and so

14 star lane

Smithville, North Carolina 27777 USA

Phone: 919-555-1212

Cell: 919-555-1213

Email: [email protected]

* Include your personal website address only if that information is valuable. If you host a site that is bizarre, inflammatory, adult-oriented, or controversial, just don’t expect any response from the company.

* Put today’s date on the cover letter.

* Please include your contact information below, which may include:

Mrs. Ellen Snow

HR Coordinator

Fly By Night Aviation, Inc.

1234 Orville-Wright Lane

Serendipity, NC 27776

* Your greeting comes next and should look like this

— Dear Ms. Snow:

Body

* Please note that your cover letter should not be long. You can say everything that needs to be said in no more than three, maybe four short paragraphs.

* Here’s a sample:

Attached you will find a copy of my summary for your review. I am interested in the corporate flight attendant position listed online at http://www.flybynight.com.

I believe that my three years of international flight experience along with my culinary experience and language skills make me the ideal candidate to serve FlyByNight’s distinguished clientele. I am currently working as an independent contractor and have flown to all major destinations in Europe, as well as the US and Canada. FlyByNight’s need for a highly experienced, skilled and reliable team player is exactly the type of position I desire.

I look forward to meeting with you in person to discuss your unique needs and how I can help FlyByNight successfully carry out its mission as the world’s best private jet operator. Do not hesitate to contact me as soon as possible; I can be reached at 919-555-1212 or by cell phone at 919-555-1213.

bye

* Sincerely,

so and so

Leave 3-4 lines of your “Sincerely” to your name. Your closing should not include other words, including Regards [too plain]Health! [too British]Love [too personal], etc. Remember, this is a business letter.

Summary, be brief and specific. Have three or four main points that you can emphasize about your strengths, particularly those points that match the points listed by the company in your job details. In this particular case, the candidate highlighted her culinary experience, languages ​​and international travel, as well as her availability. The four points were emphasized in the company’s job listing which read:

“…an international jet operator is seeking an experienced Cabin Attendant. This position involves serving our on-demand charter customers from East Coast locations to destinations in the US and abroad. Must have exceptional food service skills Current training with FACTS, FlightSafety similar training provider; French or Spanish language proficiency: a plus…

You can’t help but talk about yourself, but you can control how you talk about yourself.

No…

1. …beg for an interview.

2. …mention money or benefits. If the job listing “requires” you list your salary requirements, simply state that the salary is negotiable.

3. …bragging too much about your skills: think about what the needs of the company are, do you think they care that you received an NBAA scholarship? However, it is okay to list scholarship awards on your resume.

4. … name drop. Unless you already come highly recommended by someone they know and like. Your mentor may be well known in this industry, but not everyone’s cup of tea. However, you can use them in your reference list.

Putting it all together, this is what your cover letter might look like:

so and so

14 star lane

Smithville, North Carolina 27777 USA

Phone: 919-555-1212

Cell: 919-555-1213

Email: [email protected]

March 21, 2005

Mrs. Ellen Snow

HR Coordinator

Fly By Night Aviation, Inc.

1234 Orville-Wright Lane

Serendipity, NC 27776

Re: Corporate flight attendant opening [this is optional, but it can be helpful especially if the company has multiple openings available.]

Dear Ms. Snow:

Attached you will find a copy of my summary for your review. I am interested in the corporate flight attendant position listed online at http://www.flybynight.com.

I believe that my three years of international flight experience along with my culinary experience and language skills make me the ideal candidate to serve FlyByNight’s distinguished clientele. I am currently working as an independent contractor and have flown to all major destinations in Europe, as well as the US and Canada. FlyByNight’s need for a highly experienced, skilled and reliable team player is exactly the type of position I desire.

I look forward to meeting with you in person to discuss your unique needs and how I can help FlyByNight successfully carry out its mission as the world’s best private jet operator. Do not hesitate to contact me as soon as possible; I can be reached at 919-555-1212 or by cell phone at 919-555-1213.

Sincerely,

so and so

Home Kitchen

How to make your app successful with social media

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You may have attractive product designs and features in your app, but you’re failing to generate the level of interest you want. The success of an application depends on the download rate. The more you download, the more successful you will be. Even with all the potential to lead the market, some applications do not survive in the competition. It hires android app developers who work hard to make a great app but this app does not raise the concerns. This is because you are ignorant of your app’s marketing strategy. You should spend as much time hiring developers as you do planning a creative marketing strategy.

You need to make people aware of your app. The marketing strategy should be as creative as your app because it increases the interest of the consumers and improves the download rate. App marketing is of great importance whenever you want to make profit from your app. Hire iOS app developers or Android developers and design your apps in the best way. The next step should be the marketing of an application. Sometimes companies feel that developing an app is the end of their job. But really, it is the point from where they start their work. Social media marketing offers you the easiest way to promote your app. You need to generate creative content and share valuable information about your app in an engaging way.

While marketing your app on social media, you need to keep some essential things in mind which are mentioned below.

Plan a creative content strategy:

The content should be something that engages your readers with the information you are presenting. He is creative and concentrates on the technical features of his application. The best content always leaves a space to start a conversation with readers.

Don’t include too many technical terms in your content. Represent it to your consumers the way they love. Tell a story in plain language about your app. You need to design your content that encourages readers to read more and download your app.

Make an interesting video of your application:

Apart from content creation, you need to take a creative note to promote your app. Making a video is probably the best thing that will definitely improve the click-through rate. It is recommended that a 20 second long video works better than longer ones. Prepare a video that brings out the best in your mobile applications. Android and iOS app developers help a company’s marketing team design a creative video by pointing out the unique features of their app.

Some companies even prefer to release a trailer for their app before launch. It generates the necessary curiosity among people, and that drives more and more consumers to your app.

Build a fan base on social media:

Having a fan base on social media helps you in many ways. You need to make sure that your app shares a strong interest with the fans. The group you share content in must find something valuable in your post. To build a strong fan base, you can plan weekly giveaways and contests for your readers. It not only enhances your consumer network, but also enhances your brand image.

Be consistent on social media:

The most important thing in social networks is to be constant. The marketing campaign you are running should receive the same attention every time. Publish content regularly or according to your strategy and try to engage consumers more with the information. To keep your fan base interested, keep posting something about your app for your followers.

Keep steps for easy download:

The one-click option is the best to drive consumer interest towards your app. share attractive content and attach a link to it. This helps readers to directly access the application. Since content and videos raise your app concern, the link has the potential for high conversion.

Focus on the images:

Pictures describe something better than words. To improve the engagement of your consumers, try designing new images. Present your app in the best way so that your target group finds something innovative in it.

For your app to be successful, you need to market it well along with introducing the best designs and attractive features. Hire Android or iOS app developers who have experience working with different business niches. The developers also help the marketing team to create the best message that correctly defines the app. Don’t underestimate the effect of social media. It provides you an option to create awareness about your app.

Digital Marketing

Business SEO Services Reporting Expectations

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While an entire library of books has been written on search engine optimization, a single article cannot do the subject justice. However, some basic SEO reporting tools can help website owners improve their overall results by doing a better job with their individually chosen keywords, rankings, and how they stack up against their competitors.

Search engine optimization providers have a host of SEO reporting tools at their disposal, so improving your search rankings can be achieved affordably, quickly and easily, if you have the desire and know-how. appropriate at your disposal. Choosing a search engine optimization consulting firm will go a long way toward “getting found, generating more leads, and ultimately converting those leads into customers.” Search engines are a great source of traffic to your website, that is if your site is optimized with the right keywords, continually upgrading a static site to an integrated system using current SEO reporting tools. Google AdWords, Advanced Web Ranking, Search Engine Commando Pro, Raven, and Web Position are all SEO reporting software that can help improve keyword functionality, but it takes someone with experience to use them wisely.

The Foundation: keywords

Because consumers are tired of conventional advertising, the constant barrage of “buy this” or “try that” messages, they have embraced searching for information about products or services on the Internet. Search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, MSN, etc.) rely on keywords to find sites that include the keywords you’re looking for. Your website is designed to target certain keywords. The service or person who originally put together your site used specific keywords in the beginning. SEO has gotten a lot more sophisticated in recent years, and therefore your site is most likely out of date. SEO reporting tools that are used to target your site for improved search engine ranking should be designed appropriately. Page titles, headers, on-page text, inbound links, and other factors play an important role in getting your website to the top of the SEO page rankings. Your goal should be to “own” the first few listings, if not the entire first page of search results.

Keyword criticalities fall into two categories, selection and prioritization. You should take a careful look at the keywords used on your site and whether they are relevant. Begin this exercise by creating a list of keywords that you would like to use. This can be a group exercise with staff or with an SEO agent. Specific attention should be paid to relevance, evaluating the competitiveness of keywords and the level of authority your site displays relative to your competitors. All of this can be achieved through comprehensive keyword selection and prioritization.

keyword selection

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when selecting keywords. Do keywords/keyword terms appear a lot in searches? Are the intended keywords relevant to your products or services? What is relative competition? If a search for your keywords does not generate significant volume, you should remove them from your selections.

keyword prioritization

There are two considerations when you choose to prioritize your selected keywords and keyword phrases. First, do they show a clear competitive advantage over their competitors?

Second, will using those keywords/phrases improve profitability?

This is the beginning of an organized approach to SEO. Books have been written on the subject that could fill a library. Your SEO service provider is ready with SEO reporting tools that can improve your search results.

Relationship

A winning strategy for the Mexican train dominoes

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I know that Mexican Train is a friendly game, often played with family and friends, and that winning is not critical or very important. That is important is the social aspect of the game: talking, laughing and having fun.

Having said that, I also know that there are people who would really like to get better at this game. Especially if the friendly people you play with are winning more often than you are and you’re starting to get angsty and depressed about it.

Winning the game of Mexican Train Dominoes is not as difficult as you think. There are some simple tips that can have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the game. Whether you’re a beginning player, an intermediate player, or an advanced player, you’ll still benefit from these strategic tips.

Mexican Train has many rule variations that are used around the world, however most of my strategy advice applies to all of the most popular rulesets and I have noted in the text where strategy may vary for different rules.

Arrange your dominoes in the best possible train

Of course, each hand begins by “dealing” a number of dominoes to each player. Depending on how many people are playing, this number can range from 7 or 8 to 15 or so. The actual number is not relevant. But it is very important to arrange your dominoes in the best possible train before you start playing.

Once you or anyone else has played the starting double, build a train out of the remaining dominoes that starts with the same pip value as the starting double, and connect as many dominoes as possible to that train.

To really calculate the best possible way to arrange a player’s dominoes, one would need to consider every domino that has been played so far and do a bit of math to calculate the probabilities. The best play at any point in the game depends on what has been played up to that point. Since this is not realistic, I prefer to “approximate” the best train using these 3 basic rules:

  1. The train with more dominoes is better.
  2. Given 2 trains of equal length, the train with the most points is the best.
  3. Given 2 trains of equal length and the same point value, the better train has dominoes with higher point value placed as far forward on the train as possible.

Play your spares first whenever possible

Playing a spare is your first order of business. If there is no possible game from the spares, then play from your train.

If you have spares, play from the end of your train whenever possible

This is very important! Your first option is to play with your spares, but your second option is to play from the end (caboose) of your train. You will find many occasions where you play from the end of your train, and suddenly one of the spares can fit on the end. This has the same effect as touching a spare.

Be on the lookout for opportunities to change your caboose

If the last domino in your train is a 10-4, and one of your spares is 10-2, and you can play on an opponent’s marked train (when I say “marked train”, I mean a train of players that is open for anyone to play), or on the Mexican train, play the 10-4 and move the 10-2 to the end of your train. If someone leaves before you, you have saved 2 points. This is so commonplace that over the course of an entire game, you’ll likely save yourself dozens of points.

If you have spares, and the Mexican (or community) train hasn’t started, and one of your spares (or its caboose) can start it, then start it!

The Mexican (or Community) Train is the most common place to unload your spare parts. You can’t do that if it hasn’t started yet. So, given the choice to play on a penny from the opponents, or start the Mexican train, start the Mexican train. But this is only if you have spare parts to play with. If all your dominoes are on your train, then you don’t need the Mexican train, so don’t start it.

Know when to play on your own marked train vs. another train when you have the option.

Sometimes you will be faced with the choice of playing dominoes on your own marked train, OR on another player’s marked train, or on the Mexican Train. You don’t want to play on your own train, thus taking away your penny, unless you have another dominoes that you can play on your own train.

For example, suppose you only have one domino left, the double 6, your train is marked (there is a penny on it), and it is your turn. You can’t play double-6 so you have to draw. Ties at 10-8. Let’s say the end of your own train is a 10 and the end of the Mexican Train is a 10. So you have a choice. You can play 10-8 on your own train (taking away your penny) or on the Mexican train.

The correct choice is to play the 10-8 on the Mexican Train, not alone. This will keep your own train marked and available to the other players, thus improving the chance that you will play the double 6 and get out.

Play mercilessly!

If the Mexican train is stuck, that is, no one is playing on it and you have no spare parts, then don’t play on the Mexican train from the end of your train. You want it to stay stuck so the other players can’t play on it either.

If you have the option of playing a domino on one of two opponents’ marked trains, choose the opponent with the most dominoes to play.

If you do No you have spares, so you’re just playing your train, and the end of your train would fit into an opponent’s marked train, don’t play it. Why take off an opponent?

If you’re playing by the rules that say doubles No they have to be covered, here’s another tip: play doubles as soon as possible, even from your train.

You should play a double as soon as possible. Playing a double from the middle of your train does not destroy the integrity of your train. It just reduces the total point of your hand. When someone else leads, you don’t want to be caught with a double in your hand that you could have played earlier in the hand.

Conclusion

There is certainly luck involved in Mexican Train, but luck tends to even out over time, and everyone gets their fair share of good and bad luck.

So while my strategy tips won’t guarantee a win every time, they do promise to improve your game, and most likely improve it to the point where you win more often than your opponents.

Health Fitness

Book Review: Breaking Down, Being Healthy in Mind, A 250-Pound Weight Loss Story

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I recently finished two of this author’s eBooks: Breaking Bad Outstanding Behavior From An Abusive ParentBreakpoint 1, and Understand the manifestation, create a vision and hold on tight, Outstanding Book 1. The author, Jason Criddle, is a product of mixed race and broken home. His father, a black man, beat him severely when he was young, and when Jason was nine years old, his father left him and his white mother to fend for him.

I was impressed with this author’s writing style, as well as his open candor about his childhood and insights into his eventual success. Therefore, I just had to read this book as well. But the main reason I sought out this particular weight loss read is the personal journey I have experienced with obesity.

I was a slender young man, an active high school athlete and well muscled – “lean and bad” while in the Marine Corps. However, about fifteen years ago I realized that I had gained 3 to 5 pounds. annually for the past twenty-five years. When he was in the Corps he weighed 185 pounds. Since then, the highest water mark for me was 308 pounds. I felt terrible, it hurt to sit with that big belly in the middle, and every one of my joints ached when I walked. So, I’ve been looking for diets that will get me back to my optimal weight.

Slim Fast and other supplements did not help. Atkins, liquids and other diets didn’t help. I’ve read a few books that have helped me to some degree… books on quinoa, healthy slushies, juices, Paleolithic diet, even hypnosis and self-affirmations, all have helped. But I needed to find something that was all-encompassing, something that touched all aspects of life. I found it on breaking. Our author has presented us with a change of life, a change of life and a new method of thinking. It’s not just about diets, and in fact, this is not a diet book. It’s all about staying active, eating smart at the right intervals, and thinking positively.

I am proud to say that I have lost 21 pounds, down to 287, about a pound or two in each of the last three months. That is, in fact, the best way to lose weight, slowly but steadily. If you tend to gain weight over the holidays and need to start a healthier lifestyle, of course this isn’t the answer to everything, but it’s certainly a start and it’s an inspiring read!

Legal Law

Competitive intelligence is an essential component for better decision making in law firms

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Important law firm decisions should never be made in a vacuum. Instead, they must be armed with an abundance of the correct information in hand. For many law firm decisions, “the right information” means competitive intelligence.

Competitive intelligence is defined as a systematic and ethical program to collect, analyze, and manage information about the external business environment, information that can affect all plans, decisions, and operations of a law firm.

Competitive intelligence can be information about organizations – as your customers, potential customers and adversaries. It can be information about other law firms – as collaborators, opposing lawyers or even potential merger partners. It may be information about particular legal needs industries or markets.

Competitive intelligence can also be information about people – such as the people you will meet at a presentation, in the boardroom, in the courtroom (such as opposing counsel or an expert witness), or in a hiring interview.

In any of these scenarios, the knowledge of companies and people is power.

When collecting competitive intelligence, there is a wrong way and a right way to do it. The wrong path is typified by hackers like Lisbeth Salander in The girl with the dragon tattoo. As much as we enjoy the book and the movie, and want Lisbeth to succeed, we cannot tolerate her tactics. This type of corporate espionage is good entertainment, but bad and unethical business.

The ethical collection of competitive intelligence complies with all applicable laws, both national and international. It is obtained from legitimate online and print sources, both in public and subscription databases. When obtained through interviews (either with staff and customers of the target competitor or as general field research), the ethics interviewer reveals both his identity and the purpose of the interview in advance.

Before beginning any competitive research project, it is essential that you have a plan. Thanks to the Internet, there is an almost unlimited amount of resources. You can waste a lot of time and money searching for all of them. Knowing your goals for a particular research project can help you focus your resources on the most likely, valid, and reliable sources for your purpose.

Competitive intelligence on companies, competitors and adversaries

Some sources of competitive intelligence about companies, competitors, and adversaries are paid, and some are free to the public. Due to the nature of their work, many law firms and law librarians already have access to many of the paid resources. These include products offered by industry giants LexisNexis and Thomson West.

For industry research, competitive intelligence professionals also like to use a product called Profound, offered by MarketReserch.com. They offer a wide range of reports for purchase. A full report can be expensive, but if you know exactly what you’re looking for, you can request just a part of a report for a lower fee.

And don’t forget it. Many of these paid resources are available for you to use for free at your local public library.

Free company research resources include llrx.com and the Zimmerman Research Guide. In its database, Zimmerman’s provides links to both company information and company personnel. Both sites are great places to start if you’re trying to get an overview of the type of research out there.

Justia.com’s Virtual Chase product offers business research as well as city and county law resources. You can find company information at Hoovers, Yahoo! Finance, Google Finance, Nexis company information, and Valuation Resources.com.

A lot of good research is available on Google. We all know how to do a Google search, but there are much more refined searches and results available through Google’s advanced general search page. Google Scholar and Google Advanced Scholar Search offer useful results that have been ‘purged’ of casual results.

Court and government sites, especially the Secretary of State’s office, include public records and a lot of useful information. If you want to know where a company is headed, check out the US Patent and Trademark Office database.

Competitive Intelligence Profiles

When preparing to meet with a potential client, lawyers often ask marketers or librarians to prepare a client profile. Too often this is done just hours before the scheduled meeting, and we have to rush it.

Even with very little lead time, you’d be surprised how much information you can get just by visiting and mining the lead’s website. You should also look for company pages or signatures on social networking sites.

When you have a little more time to prepare, such as a proposal or the resulting beauty pageant, you can dig deeper into the client’s background. Good sources for public companies include SEC filings. Good sources for private companies include the Dun and Bradstreet reports.

A good profile addresses some or all (depending on your time and research skills) of these categories:

  • Fast facts
  • company overview
  • business segments
  • products and services
  • business partners
  • Board of Directors
  • key executives
  • key developments
  • customer representative
  • Legal issues and litigation
  • rentals
  • case studies
  • patent information
  • marketing strategy
  • Competitors
  • Sources
  • news articles

Armed with this kind of information, your lawyers and law firm are well equipped to make good decisions about how to approach a potential client (or anyone else) and how to make a good impression once contact is made.

Competitive intelligence about people

Sometimes information is needed about an individual rather than a company. This person could be a customer, prospective client, competitor, opposing attorney, prospective employee, or potential merger partner. When you know something about the person you are meeting with, you can plan accordingly.

Sometimes you need other types of information about people. For example, you may need to locate a former employee or a potential witness. When such a person has gone ‘out’ electronically, they may not have much to go on. This is where creativity comes into play.

In one such case, a former executive had been gone from a company for five years. He had a common name, which made the search even more difficult. Someone remembered him saying that he wanted to take over his family’s farm. By using the farm subsidy database and narrowing the search by general geographic area and the man’s age, we were able to locate him for our client.

Another reason to search for people is to acquire their contact information for use in a marketing database. Good sources of contact information include telephone directories, professional directories, and professional licensing agencies (if you know a person’s profession). Online sources include a search on Yahoo! People.

Many of the business and general resources mentioned in the “company” research section of this article work just as well for individuals.

Competitive intelligence experts often use a site called Jigsaw, owned by Salesforce. It’s a database of business-to-business contracts populated by marketers and salespeople from across the country. By contributing their contacts, users gain access to the database. Includes 30 million contacts. It’s an especially good source for contact information for people below the usual C-level executives listed in most directories.

If you know the location of a person, you can search local and regional media for mentions of their names and activities. Social networks such as Martindale Hubbell, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, Twitter and YouTube are also good resources. So are blog searches. Social media includes contact information, but also extends your inquiry with less formal “chat” about people, their activities, and the companies they work for.

When collecting information about people, you want to use a wide variety of sources, and you want to be very careful to validate any information you find before acting on it. There is a lot of misinformation out there. There are also privacy concerns.

Today, information about companies and individuals is widely available. In fact, you could easily draw all the data. The trick is to focus your search in light of your business goals. With this information in hand, you are well positioned to make good decisions about the future of your law firm and your work.

This article is based on a January article. 10 2012 presentation to the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Legal Making Association by Wanda McDavid and Judy Goater of Access Information, a Denver-based firm that provides competitive intelligence for law firms across the country.

Lifestyle Fashion

Is watching “Bachelor/Bachelorette” an education on “What is a narcissistic emotional abuser?”

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Some of the shows on ABC “The Bachelor” and ABC “The Bachelorette” appear to be acceptable curriculum material for a psychology class teaching personality disorders. Whether it’s Ashley Ebert’s encounter on ABC’s 2011 “The Bachelorette” or 2012 ABC’s “The Bachelor” where Jake Flajnik met his significant other, viewers are getting insights into what a narcissistic emotional abuser is. .

A contestant who made a statement on the 2011 season of “The Bachelorette” as “I’d rather swim in a pool full of piss than…” behind the back of the woman he was competing with for attention. be easily identified as cold and insensitive. Many other descriptors are certainly applicable.

There is no difference compared to the 2012 season with Ben Flajnik when one of the contestants on national television refers to a fellow contestant as a stripper and home wrecker without any evidence to support the claim. This same contestant exhibited cold, callous demeanor rather than empathy when making comments like “Who’s got the rose?” or in a different situation, “How did that taste come out of your mouth?”

Is the excuse of not receiving a manual on how to react or respond in a highly emotional situation acceptable? Season after season, faithful watchers of ABC’s “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” have seen dozens of highly stressed and emotional contestants without these contestants displaying cold and insensitive behavior.

Statistically, if the prevalence rate of narcissistic personality disorder is 4%, or one in twenty-five, is it mathematically correct to say that every season we might suspect that there is a contestant exhibiting narcissistic symptoms and therefore might become a a narcissistic emotional abuser?

It seems that both of the ABC shows mentioned above have hit the mark. The drama created by narcissistic personality disorder is entertaining if that is the kind of entertainment the viewer is looking for.

However, is this safe for “The Bachelorette” or “The Bachelor?” In case the narcissist is chosen and when negotiations and compromises within healthy relationships are required, what happens then?

The same poison of coldness and callousness of heart that took place behind the back of “The Bachelorette” and “The Bachelor” will be hit head-on by the unexpected. The dangerous twist is how calculated and calibrated the narcissist is with his coldness and callousness.

“The Bachelorette” and “The Bachelor” will no longer be confused by wondering who they should believe when others inform them of the narcissist’s behaviors. They will now be confused firsthand by the conflicting messages given by the narcissist in everyday life.

One moment the unexpected will be carried to the heights of emotional bliss and the next moment it will be plunged into the depths of human pain. If “The Bachelorette” or “The Bachelor” have increased financial success in their lives, there will be a game in that realm as well.

Viewers of ABC’s “The Bachelorette” and “The Bachelor” are being entertained. They are also being educated on the behaviors of a narcissistic emotional abuser.

Right before the eyes of the viewer and the contestant the games of a narcissistic emotional abuser are being played. The narcissist’s behaviors are nonsense, leaving everyone with negative feelings of disbelief and anxiety in their stomachs.

As a viewer of ABC’s “The Bachelor” or “The Bachelorette,” would you rather be entertained with or without being educated about what a narcissistic emotional abuser is?

If you choose to be entertained without the drama and emotional pain created by narcissistic emotional abusers, perhaps a simple psychological test that identifies people with personality disorders could be implemented in the selection process for future contestants on ABC’s “The Bachelor.” and “The Bachelorette.”

So you could experience positive emotions while enjoying watching the love feelings between two human beings evolve. Positive feelings that come with the hope that two humans have found lasting love.

After all, isn’t that why you choose to watch a show titled “The Bachelor” or “The Bachelorette”?