Collaboration Software - Building an office without walls.

Written by Mike Nielsen


Continued from page 1

There are essentially two types of collaboration software. Most collaboration software is centralized, which requires an IT infrastructure to make it usable. Setting up an IT infrastructure can be very expensive and time consuming. Collaboration software that is centralized can be very beneficial for team collaboration but it sometimes requires that all who wish to sharerepparttar collaboration documents haverepparttar 133337 same software set up on their computer. Some ofrepparttar 133338 collaboration that requiresrepparttar 133339 use of an IT infrastructure includesrepparttar 133340 following:

• Groove Network

• Microsoft Sharepoint

• Documentum

• Filenet

There is another type of collaboration software which does not requirerepparttar 133341 use of an IT infrastructure and requires very little installation time. NextPage is one example of collaboration software that doesn’t require an expensive IT infrastructure. Another advantage that NextPage has is that you can share documents with anyone; they don’t have to haverepparttar 133342 NextPage software on their machine to viewrepparttar 133343 documents that you send them. This can be useful if you are preparing a document for a client where you needrepparttar 133344 input and editions from your fellow co-workers but then want to sendrepparttar 133345 finished product to your client who isn’t usingrepparttar 133346 same software. He/she can still open uprepparttar 133347 document when they receive it and you can easily track editions torepparttar 133348 document using NextPage’s collaboration software.

As you can see, using collaboration software can be very beneficial to keeping documents you share in your office and with clients organized and up-to-date. Withrepparttar 133349 implementation of collaboration software, you can create an office without walls and without bounds with regards to productivity and organization. All that remains is for you to go get it, and get it implemented!

Mike Nielsen is a client account specialist with 10xmarketing - More Visitors. More Buyers. More Revenue. For more information about collaboration software, visit NextPage.com


Informed Consent: Ethical Considerations of RFID

Written by Dennis and Sally Bacchetta


Continued from page 1

The most disturbing aspect ofrepparttar project was Wal-Mart’s emphatic denial that they had secretly photographed their customers. They weren’t confused. They didn’t make a mistake. They chose to lie. It was only after Albrecht exposedrepparttar 133336 evidence that Wal-Mart finally admitted conductingrepparttar 133337 pilot tests in an effort to combat shoplifting and employee theft. After all,repparttar 133338 argument goes, this type of inventory shrinkage costs U.S. retailers as much as $32 billion each year. 2 Don’t feel too sorry for our friends in blue. The bill for this hefty loss is passed on to you and me).

The public was unmoved by Wal-Mart’s defense, andrepparttar 133339 project has been aborted. At least for now. Wal-Mart’s smiley face logo beliesrepparttar 133340 arrogance wrought by its success, and we will likely seerepparttar 133341 photographic “smart shelf” again. Or it will see us, anyway.

Wal-Mart is somewhat like a spoiled child, a casualty of indulgence, who is accustomed to doing quite what he wants when he wants to and rarely anything that he doesn’t. It hardly seems fair to expectrepparttar 133342 child to accept “no” when he only vaguely recognizesrepparttar 133343 word, and even less so, it’s finality

Bear in mind that RFID does not create opportunities for consumer profiling. We do. Every time we enter a store we expose ourselves to scrutiny. Every time we purchase goods or utilize a service we are assimilated, Borg-like, intorepparttar 133344 collective revenue stream. Everything costs something.

Worldwide spending on RFID is expected to top $3 billion by 2008, almost triplerepparttar 133345 market of a year ago. 3 Wal-Mart’s decree that its top 100 suppliers must be RFID compliant by 2005 toldrepparttar 133346 rest ofrepparttar 133347 world to either get onrepparttar 133348 train or get offrepparttar 133349 track. The U.S. Department of Defense has since issued a similar mandate, and falling technology prices coupled withrepparttar 133350 establishment of uniform RFID communication standards are making it easier for other industries to dorepparttar 133351 same.

The War on Drugs

It’s no longer enough to just say no torepparttar 133352 schoolyard crack jockeys. We have new enemies inrepparttar 133353 war on drugs. Our increasing reliance on chemical relief — born of a pervasive spiritual poverty as much as our aging demographic— has made us attractive to drug counterfeiters.

Counterfeit drugs are sub-potent or inert imposter pills that are channeled intorepparttar 133354 prescription drug pipeline and sold as legitimate medication. The World Health Organization estimates that in less-developed countries as many as half of all prescription drugs dispensed are counterfeit. 4 The economic cost to defrauded and dying consumers is staggering. And it is almost meaningless compared torepparttar 133355 emotional cost.

In February 2004repparttar 133356 U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Counterfeit Drug Task Force released its report “Combating Counterfeit Drugs”. FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan directedrepparttar 133357 group’s six month review of America’s prescription drug channels.

Its conclusion? The supply of prescription drugs inrepparttar 133358 United States is overwhelmingly safe. The FDA’s complex system of regulatory oversight insures that with rare exception,repparttar 133359 pills we pop have been manufactured torepparttar 133360 highest standards of purity and potency, distributed safely and dispensed asrepparttar 133361 doctor ordered.

However, later inrepparttar 133362 same report McClellan warns that drug counterfeiters are better organized and more technologically sophisticated than ever before. According to McClellan,repparttar 133363 FDA’s current system can not meetrepparttar 133364 evolving challenges ofrepparttar 133365 new century, and he recommends full-scale implementation of RFID technology by 2006. 5

Without question, RFID is a more formidable guardian than our present paper-based drug audit system. The savviest saboteur will find RFID tags extremely difficult to counterfeit and almost impossible to do so at a profit. EPCs afford flawless accountability, which is a distinct impediment to illegal diversions and substitutions. And no doubt every overworked, carpal tunnel-strained pharmacist would welcome RFID’s promise of tighter inventory and simplified service.

Does this justifyrepparttar 133366 enormous expense of a complete system overhaul? Dorepparttar 133367 benefits outweighrepparttar 133368 privacy concerns? Are you comfortable enlisting RFID inrepparttar 133369 battle against drug terrorism?

Before you decide, consider this: The FDA may incorporate “at least two types of anti-counterfeiting technologies intorepparttar 133370 packaging and labeling of all drugs, atrepparttar 133371 point of manufacture, with at least one of those technologies being covert (i.e., not made public, and requiring special equipment or knowledge for detection)...” 6

“Not made public, and requiring special equipment or knowledge for detection”. Hmm... so, RFID tags can be hidden in our prescriptions without our knowledge or consent... and we will be unable to detect or remove them.

Consider, too, that companies inrepparttar 133372 U.S., Canada, Sweden and Denmark have developed electronic blister packs that monitor pill removal and automatically notifyrepparttar 133373 physician’s computer when a patient has dispensed (or neglected to dispense)repparttar 133374 medication as scheduled. 7

Here's a better idea. The FDA should explain how concealing information from me about my prescriptions makesrepparttar 133375 world a safer place. And then they can explain how spying on your medicine cabinet — and tattling to your doctor — thwarts drug counterfeiting.

The FDA’s prime directive is to protect and advancerepparttar 133376 public health. They have done this remarkably well for over 140 years at an annual cost to taxpayers of only about $3 per person. 8 When evaluating any policy changerepparttar 133377 FDA must always preserve that which is most fundamental to its success — indeed, its very existence —repparttar 133378 public trust. RFID may prove vital forrepparttar 133379 continued integrity of our prescription drug pipeline, but never more vital thanrepparttar 133380 continued integrity ofrepparttar 133381 FDA.

RFID is in its spring. These tiny chips, sown by science and nourished richly by corporate support, will burgeon beyond imagination, penetrating our lives likerepparttar 133382 roots of a willow. This isrepparttar 133383 time for discourse. This isrepparttar 133384 time to shore our boundaries. If we cederepparttar 133385 opportunity to deliberate, we accept surveillance as a norm. Our indifference will do nothing to stem its growth.

Endnotes 1. www.foebud.com 2. www.retailindustry.about.com 3. Jennifer Maselli, “ABI:RFID Market Poised for Growth,” RFID Journal July 18,2003. 4. www.who.int/en/ 5. www.fda.gov/oc/initiative/counterfeit/report02_04.html 6. www.fda.gov/oc/initiative/counterfeit/report02_04.html 7. www.idtechex.com 8. www.fda.gov

Copyright ©2005 by Dennis and Sally Bacchetta. All rights reserved.

Dennis Bacchetta is a Marketing Professional who writes on a variety of topics, including emerging technologies.

Sally Bacchetta is an award-winning sales trainer and freelance writer.

Contact her at sb14580@yahoo.com or visit her website at www.sallybacchetta.com.


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