Education is the most important building block for a strong society and for personal success. Proposition 30 on this Novembers election ballot strengthens education in California, and balances the states budget responsibly.

The founders and leaders of California knew the value of education and built a college and university system that educates more students than any other state in America. The University of California system is recognized as one of the top public universities in the world. The California State University system is the largest of its kind, and Californias Community Colleges are the largest system of higher education in the world. More than 3 million students are enrolled in Californias public institutions of higher education.

But in recent years, opportunistic politicians have shamelessly cut resources to our schools, with $20 billion in funding cuts and over 30,000 fewer teachers. Still ranked tops in total number of students, California has fallen far behind and is near the bottom when considering teaching staff expenditure per pupil. And Californias classroom sizes are among the most crowded in the U.S.

For Asian Americans, Californias decline in education is particularly alarming. Seventy percent of Asian/Pacific Islander high school graduates enroll in Californias public colleges and universities according to the California Postsecondary Education Commission. This education is the key ingredient in building a skilled workforce. In a 2004 study, the Public Policy Institute of California found that 55% of California Asian women born in the United States have at least a bachelors degree and with those degrees, a whopping 84% of these Asian American females either have jobs or are looking for them.

Shockingly, Sacramento politicians are poised to make another $6 billion in cuts to California education. This foreshadows more education losses, and double-digit tuition increases at the University of California.

Fortunately, Governor Jerry Brown is pushing Proposition 30 to offer an alternative to these disastrous cuts. Gov. Brown is taking a balanced approach of finding cost savings coupled with a temporary increase in taxes on the states highest wage earners to bring stability to Californias education system and bring fiscal responsibility to the states budget.

Prop. 30 takes these new temporary revenues and puts them in a dedicated account to be used only for public schools with an independent audit every year that is shared publicly to ensure that all funds are spent properly.

For a better educational system, for the future of our Asian American families and for the prosperity of California, AsianWeek urges a YES vote on PROP. 30.

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Asian Americans Must Vote Yes on Prop. 30

HANOVER, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

TEKsystems, a leading provider of IT staffing solutions, IT talent management expertise and IT services, today released new research showing that an overwhelming 93% of IT Professionals say that informal feedback is critical to their success while less than half (44% of IT Professionals and 49% of IT Leaders) rate feedback within their own company as excellent or good.

More than 2,000 IT Professionals and 1,500 IT Leaders were polled in September to understand the current state of performance management programs and to identify critical areas that need improvement. The full results of the survey are available from TEKsystems upon request.

Other key highlights from the survey include:

Importance of Performance Management

For performance management to be effective, clear goals, expectations and processes need to be set. IT Professionals and IT Leaders rank clarifying expectations, coaching/mentoring and aligning employee actions with strategic business objectives as the top three goals of a performance management program.

Ultimately, feedback is essential to clarifying expectations between IT Leaders and their employees. In fact, 93% of IT Professionals say regular, high-quality, informal feedback is very important to achieving success in their role 49% say it is extremely important.

The goal of performance management is to take lessons learned and use them to help an individual, or team, improve. Failing to deliver feedback more regularly than quarterly or annual reviews hinders the effectiveness of a performance management program, says TEKsystems Director, Rachel Russell. Formal reviews are very necessary, but informal feedback is more personal and can be absorbed much more easily because it tends to revolve around a specific, timely issue that deserves recognition or pause for learning and growth.

Performance Management Programs Need Improvement

Addressing poor and recognizing great performance are equally critical when improving overall employee performance. However, most IT Professionals and IT Leaders feel their organizations do not address either type of performance effectively. Only about 10% completely agree that poor performance is effectively addressed. The same percentage of respondents completely agrees that great performance is effectively addressed.

Excerpt from:
TEKsystems Survey: 93% of IT Professionals Say Informal Feedback is Critical to Success; Less Than Half Say Current ...

Clint Bowyer has quietly moved up in the points standings with 21 top-10 finishes this season.

Tyler Barrick/Getty Images

Tony Stewart's chances to repeat as Sprint Cup champion are up in smoke. Jeff Gordon will remain stuck on four career championships for yet another year. The title hunt is over for Denny Hamlin, and it never really started for either Matt Kenseth or Kevin Harvick. And Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been making more news off the track lately than he has on it.

Some of the biggest names in NASCAR have fallen out of championship contention in recent weeks. Yet with only three races to go, there is one driver who continues to lurk in the shadows, prepared to pounce if anything goes wrong with frontrunners Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski. A driver who is well known among NASCAR fans, but is rarely mentioned when talk turns to title chances.

That needs to change. Because in his first year with Michael Waltrip Racing, Clint Bowyer is proving that he is indeed one of the best in the sport. His three victories this season are impressive enough, especially for a driver who had only five career wins over his first six seasons combined. But the most important stat -- the championship-worthy stat -- is his 21 top-10 finishes. That ties him with Keselowski for the second-most top-10s this season, behind only Johnson.

That level of consistency often shows up in the point standings more than victories do. And sure enough, Bowyer is currently nestled in third place in the standings, a lengthy 26 points out of first but still close enough to have a legitimate shot at the title should something go wrong with the top two. After Johnson took over the points lead last week, he quickly proclaimed, "Anything can happen. [Keselowski and I] could both wad it up next week [in an accident] and Clint Bowyer is your champion. You never know."

Indeed, you never do; proven by the fact that Bowyer is even being mentioned as a possible champion this year. Before this season, he seemed to fall into that second-tier of drivers who are good but not great. Drivers who run near the front more often than not and make it to Victory Lane on occasion, but simply are not a factor when the championship trophy is in sight.

Bowyer has truly been in contention for the title only once. That was in 2007, his second year in the Sprint Cup Series driving for Richard Childress Racing, when he was in third place in the standings three races into the Chase before fading down the stretch. He finished fifth in the standings in 2008, then failed to make the Chase in two of the next three seasons, finishing a distant 10th in the one year he did qualify.

So Bowyer's resume simply has not been championship caliber before this season. And there was no reason to think that was going to change this year; Bowyer made the switch from RCR to Michael Waltrip Racing, an organization that had struggled with financing over the years and had never even placed a driver in the Chase. If anything, it seemed Bowyer had basically thrown away whatever slim chance he had of being a championship contender.

Sure enough, Bowyer sputtered out of the gate this season, posting only five top-10 finishes in the first dozen races. He showed some slight improvement in June and July, picking up a victory on the road course at Sonoma. Still, when the series left Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late July, Bowyer had finished in the top-10 in only half his starts, and he was in danger of not even making the Chase.

See the original post:
Cary Estes: Clint Bowyer's unexpected success puts him not far from NASCAR title

Jared Newman, PCWorld

Jared writes for PCWorld and TechHive from his remote outpost in Cincinnati. More by Jared Newman

Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 have more than just a numeral in common. Take one look at the two operating systems, and you can tell that Microsoft wants to unify Windows Phone devices, Windows 8 tablets and PCs, and its Xbox game console.

If looks aren't proof enough, consider the words of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who trumpeted the company's newfound synergy at its Build conference this week. If you want the best experience with your Windows computer, youll own a Windows Phone, he said.

But just how unified are Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8? Is this really a huge step forward in Microsoft's vision for the "three screens," or is the grand Windows ecosystem still an empty promise? Here's a close look at how Windows 8and by extension, Windows RTand Windows Phone 8 tie together, and what you can expect when using both.

In Microsoft's attempt to redefine itself, the company has rolled out a modern visual style across its products, featuring hard-edged rectangles, solid colors, monochromatic icons, and the repeated use of one classy-looking font.

Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 both invoke this modern lookformerly known as Metromost notably through live tileson their home screens.

Through these tiles you get a glimpse at photos, text messages, unread email counts, weather forecasts, and other information, all without opening their respective apps.

In both operating systems, you can customize your Start screen by pinning and resizing app tiles, and by deciding which ones should update with live information.

Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research, says that the common design elements are an advantage for users of both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.

Go here to read the rest:
Is Windows Phone 8 the secret to greater Windows success?

NEW YORK Like many men, Martin Greenfield ordered a new suit when his life was about to change: He placed his order just after he was liberated from a concentration camp.

In 1945, he left Buchenwald and arrived at a German warehouse, where Allied soldiers let Greenfield pilfer four cuts of English wool. The freed captive carried the fabric to a Prague tailor, who made a suit for Greenfield from two of the cuts, with the other two as payment.

Two years later, an uncle helped Greenfield cross the Atlantic, and a fellow Czech immigrant guided him to a job as a floor boy in a Brooklyn garment factory. Within a few years, Greenfield became a tailor, assigned to the factorys famous clients actors, athletes, politicians. By the 1970s, he had amassed enough skill and capital to buy the factory. And today, at 84, Greenfield can count among the tens of thousands of men he has dressed, three presidents, a vice president, Cabinet secretaries and countless senators and representatives.

Through the decades, Greenfield constructed made-to-measure suits that customers ordered at special sales at Brooks Brothers and Neiman Marcus stores nationwide. Such trunk shows brought him often to the capital of the country that saved his life, where he suited up many of the men who run it.

There appears to be a fourth president among his clients. In February 2011 and then again one year later, Greenfield and his two sons now his business partners made trips to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The White House logs reveal that the Greenfields visited a personal aide in the official residence. The tailor doesnt talk about any well-known client, until the client talks about him first.

By all accounts, the president doesnt focus much, if at all, on clothes. He wears the same outfits into disrepair. When asked about his suits during the 2008 campaign, Sen. Barack Obama looked inside his jacket and said he was wearing an off-the-rack suit from Burberry. For his inauguration ball, he wore a tuxedo by Hart Schaffner Marx, the storied Chicago suit maker.

Greenfields bespoke suits fit the bill for White House wear. They can range from $1,800 to $2,700, depending on fabric and features. The tailor works simply, as he always has and in a way that few competitors still do, showing up six days a week in a union shop that employs more than 100. The plant has stayed open in a rough neighborhood during bleak decades. Greenfields factory has been burglarized 11times.

On a recent visit to Greenfields office, before conversation could begin, his sons removed two framed photographs from the walls and shelves from among the signed photos of Paul Newman and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. If President Obama belongs in this gallery, the father and sons and the White House arent saying.

* * *

At Auschwitz, the prisoners were sorted by gender, and Martins 5-year-old brother, who had been hanging on him like I was a hero, went with his father. His younger sister was pulled away from his mother and other sister and sent in another direction because she had blond hair and blue eyes. When the registrars asked if anyone knew a trade, his father offered up Martin as a skilled mechanic.

Originally posted here:
Holocaust survivor tailors an American success story

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Pickie, a recent graduate of the New York TechStars program, today announced it raised $1 million in venture funding. The investment, led by DFJ Gotham Ventures with participation from Betaworks, Liberty City Ventures, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, MESA+ and angel investors including Jon Steinberg, David Tisch, and Steven Rosenblatt, represents the companys first institutional funding.

Pickie, designed for use on the iPad, is a shopping app that is part magazine, part catalog. All the products featured in Pickie are buyable, and the products and content shown are tailored to each persons interests and tastes. Each person who uses Pickie will access a unique, automatically-customized experience that takes into account their personal style, their favorite brands, and the latest trending products from across their favorite retailers and social feeds.

Social commerce is a big opportunity and there are a lot of smart folks working on figuring out how we will shop, explained Danny Schultz, a founding partner and Managing Director of DFJ Gotham. Sonia and her team are an exceptional group of people the right mix of experience, skills and deep consumer insight to crack the code. Discovery and purchasing through Pickie is easy and delightful.

We spend a lot of time at Betaworks thinking about how data might be used to inform social discovery, stated Nicholas Chirls, an investor at Betaworks. We love how the Pickie team is applying this method to commerce, and believe there is a huge opportunity to tie this to a consumer's purchasing intent.

We are thrilled to have the support of investors of the caliber of DFJ Gotham, Betaworks, and the others who participated in this round, said Sonia Sahney Nagar, Pickies co-founder and CEO.

About Pickie

Started in 2012 by Sonia Sahney Nagar, formerly of Amazon, and two technical founders Abhijit Rao and Ryan Weber, Pickie provides users with a a unique, automatically-customized shopping application that takes into account their personal style, their favorite brands, and the latest trending products from across their favorite retailers and social feeds.

About DFJ Gotham Ventures

DFJ Gotham Ventures (www.dfjgotham.com) invests in technology companies that are revolutionizing their industries. DFJ Gotham partners with extraordinary teams of entrepreneurs to build strong and successful businesses that make a huge impact in their markets. DFJ Gotham takes pride in being an active partner, leveraging its experience, knowledge and relationships to provide substantial value to its portfolio companies. DFJ Gotham Ventures is proud to have backed such category leaders as Massive (acquired by MSFT), XOsoft (acquired by CA), Ingenio (acquired by AT&T), Pivot (acquired by the CME Group), Single Platform (acquired by Constant Contact), Drop.io (acquired by FaceBook), and Mimeo.com, among many others. For more information, please visit http://www.dfjgotham.com.

Go here to read the rest:
Pickie Raises $1 Million to Fuel Expansion, Following Success at TechStars Spring Demo Day

31 October 2012 Last updated at 12:00 ET By Kevin Peachey Personal finance reporter, BBC News

Technological advances have again influenced the toy industry's top picks for success this Christmas.

A hand-held tablet computer for youngsters and a dance mat that can be connected to a digital music player are among those tipped for success.

They appear in the Toy Retailers Association annual Dream Toys parade.

While some battery-free toys have been highlighted, a separate campaign has offered an alternative list for traditional toys.

The cheapest toy on the Dream Toys list is a Barbie for older children called Monster High Ghouls Rule Dolls, which has a recommended price of 22.99.

The most expensive is the LeapPad 2 - a child-friendly tablet computer - which has a recommended price of 89.99.

"We continue to see technology being woven into toys to add extra dimensions to the play experience - whether this is the use of apps, interactivity, touch screens or integrated multi-functions such as e-readers and cameras," said Gary Grant, chairman of the Dream Toys selection panel.

The list also includes Nerf guns, that fire foam darts, toys with links to films such as the Web Shooting Spiderman, and new versions of older toys such as the Cabbage Patch Kids doll.

The majority of the toys in the top 13 picks require batteries or need to be charged up.

Link:
Hi-tech toys tipped for success

Coral Gables, FL (PRWEB) October 28, 2012

Woodys Way has helped people all over the world achieve lasting success by helping them identify very clearly what they are deeply passionate about and to align their lives with that so that they can make the right life decisions and achieve enduring success. Implemented by Woody Lippincott in workshops and in private one-on-one sessions, Woodys Way has worked with universities, private wealth management firms and small business owners. Now, due to increasing demand, Woodys Way will now provide services to HR departments, in order to help maximize their employees focus, motivation, productivity and happiness.

Woodys Way is launching this expansion with a workshop for over twenty HR department heads at the Wayne Huizenga School of Business at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL on November 2, 2012. The event is nearly sold out.

The expansion of Woodys Way into the HR arena was driven by numerous inquiries from HR departments. They talked, we listened and responded, stated Woody Lippincott, founder and CEO of Woodys Way. Woodys Way is excited to be a part of the HR community and we are very encouraged by the level of interest we have received from both national and multinational companies.

We are thrilled to be a part of Woodys Way because it has so much to offer, from the top levels to leadership to every level of employee. Your facilitation of the process was fantastic and I look forward to seeing the impact on my leadership team to establish deliverables, said Worth Carson Ph.D.

Find your passion, live your purpose, love your life. That's what Woody Lippincott does. Considered a catalyst of personal success through his use of Woodys Way, a highly sought after process that allows people to find and fulfill their true passions.

The result is the ability to make the right life decisions and achieve lasting and deeply satisfying personal success.

A highly acclaimed and very successful trial lawyer, Woody has dedicated his life to helping people in many ways. Whether through his legal representation or unselfish contributions in the community, his giving of himself was seemingly unlimited, until a few years ago.

While trying a multimillion dollar case he hit a proverbial wall and realized that he finally needed to make some changes. This was the beginning of Woodys Way and his discovery the life-changing benefits of truly embracing your passions. Facing overwhelming demand, he decided to take Woodys Way public.

While motivational speakers all encourage people to achieve their goals, Woody Lippincott has a slightly different perspective. Though he knows that goals are invaluable, he has found that the value and efficacy of goals is directly related to how clear one is about their passions.

Excerpt from:
Woody’s Way Expands To Support Human Resources Departments

Today, a male online dater shares his strategy that work. Women can learn from this too. Heres his letter:

I had an absolute blast with online dating, meeting many great people from different backgrounds. Some didnt work out, some became short-term relationships and one became my bride-to-be and mother of our child.

Im average in every way, in my early 30s, not in shape. Im educated and have a decent job. So two big complaints about online dating: gold diggers and superficial people. These didnt happen to me.

Also, women get a ton more messages than men. So, men, you need to make any message you send stand out. I worked hard to get a good first-message template, which Id copy and paste to every message I sent, modifying to make it personal.

My message had humour and some personal information, but not too personal (e.g. so you have something to talk about later).

Some wont agree, but my next tip is to carpet bomb that is, message lots of people. Almost everyone lies in their profile, so dont be too selective. Also message someone that doesnt seem so appealing, so you can learn more. She might turn out to be the one for you!

For every five to 10 messages Id send, I would get one response, and one date out of every five responses.

I sent out hundreds of messages, went on a number of first dates, some of which turned into second, third and more dates.

I found that many women Id date were doing similar things, and dating different people several times a week.

You need to toughen up and not expect fireworks with every person you meet. And you will be rejected sometimes, maybe even a lot of the time. I went on a number of first dates I thought went great, only to find myself avoided afterward.

The rest is here:
A male online dater shares his tips for success

by Dr. Susan G. Weinberger

The American writer, George Matthew Adams once observed that "many moments of personal success and fulfillment in an individuals life come about through encouragement from someone else." No doubt you can remember those who impacted your life when you were young, during the school years, involvement in community activities, at your first job and perhaps, the job you hold now.

Whether the support came informally or through a deliberate, formal program, helping you personally or professionally, there is no doubt that others can be easily identified who influenced and shaped your future. Those were or are your mentors.

Typically informal mentoring programs do not have a structure, time limit, or support from a sponsoring business or other organization. How often the mentor and protg meet is up to them. There are no entrance requirements.

Formal mentoring programs are long-term. They have minimum requirements including selection of participants, training, support and frequency of meetings between mentor and mentee.

Establishing an internal mentoring program is not a new idea. In fact, a front page article in the Harvard Business Review in 1978 declared, "everyone who makes it has a mentor." Until recently, however, business has been less involved in establishing formal mentoring programs for employees, focusing more on internal coaching.

It is easy to get confused about the differences between coaching and mentoring. The purpose and expected outcome of each is distinctly different; although at times, some overlap exists. For example, coaching, which provides specific feedback, can be used within mentoring. But as Lorraine Stomski, senior vice president of Aon Consulting, explained, mentoring is more holistic than coaching in that it develops the whole individual through guidance, coaching and development opportunities.

An employee serving as the "coach" assists another colleague known as the protg in order to improve their job performance. Often the purpose is to work with the protg toward the goal of climbing the ladder of success and get ahead.

Some companies even offer reverse coaching. That is, a senior employee who has, perhaps been in the company for several decades is coached by a newer, junior employee in areas such as computers and advanced technology. Research informs that these kinds of formal coaching efforts improve career success and employee morale and retention.

Mentoring, on the other hand, is far more personal and friendship-based, offering non-judgmental support as a positive role model and focusing on a mentees longer term personal development. The mentor makes suggestions. The relationship is neither formally evaluated nor connected to job advancement but rather to personal improvement.

Read more:
Employee mentoring and coaching: What is the difference?