Lady Gaga Gets Personal on 'Oprah's Next Chapter': "I Want Kids"
Posted: March 20, 2012 at 2:36 pm
If you watched Lady Gaga on "Oprahs Next Chapter" last night (March 18), than you learned a lot of interesting things about the quirky pop icon.
For one, she wants to be a mother.
I want kids, I want a soccer team," she told Oprah during the sit-down. "And I want a husband. Well, I'm being superfluous. I don't want to have one kid. I want to have a few."
Momma Monster also reflected on Whitney Houston and how her legendary performance of The Star Spangled Banner at the 1991 Super Bowl inspired her, noting how she "used to stand at the top of the staircase and sing The Star Spangled Banner every single day after school."
But the public likely wont be hearing from Momma Monster for a while, at least not until her upcoming tour.
Other than this interview, Oprah, I do not intend to speak to anyone for a very long time, she said. This is my moment for me to experience a rebirth of my own music. I have to shut it all out. The noise, it's loud. You have to cancel out the noise and remember that its your thoughts that matter.
Grab a pen and mark your calendars. Lady Gagas Born This Way Ball will kick off in Seoul, South Korea on April 27. Stephanie Long
Watch a video clip here
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Lady Gaga Gets Personal on 'Oprah's Next Chapter': "I Want Kids"
Robert Kirby presents Leadership Speak – Part 1 – Video
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Robert Kirby presents Leadership Speak - Part 1 - Video
Frost & Sullivan Highlights GreatCall's Success in Offering High-Touch Customer Service for mHealth and Communication
Posted: at 2:35 pm
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Based on its recent analysis of the Mobile Health (mHealth) market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes GreatCall with the 2011 North America Frost & Sullivan Award for Customer Service Leadership. A combination of simplicity of use and high-touch customer service will be critical for the widespread adoption of mHealth applications and services among consumers, an area in which GreatCall has excelled. With any mHealth application, timeliness of service is paramount and high-touch calls puts the users directly through to a trained customer service representative. More than any other company, GreatCall is delivering on this service, with a 100 percent guarantee that its customers will always get quick, responsive, U.S.-based, English-speaking service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
GreatCall offers highly-trained customer service operators through its health and safety services, like 5Star Urgent Response, Medication Reminders and LiveNurse, which offers access to registered nurses who can provide health advice and support, 24/7. Specialized teams of representatives are specifically trained in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) compliance to handle confidential health information.
The 5Star Urgent Response service connects callers to highly-trained Response Agents who are certified by the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch (NAED) and are trained in CPR and other emergency protocols. Agents assess a caller's situation and can dispatch the appropriate assistance whenever callers are feeling anxious, vulnerable, or experiencing a medical issue or threat to their safety.
"GreatCall relies on around-the-clock live registered nurses, emergency response agents and customer service representatives to ensure a more timely and actionable response than customers would get from an automated customer service provider," said Frost & Sullivan Senior Industry Analyst Zachary Bujnoch. "With 5Star, when a caller feels that they are in danger, immediate voice connection with an appropriately trained agent, who can conference in a member of the caller's personal support network while the situation is being addressed, can provide the emotional and physical support that is often very important in these circumstances."
GreatCall's high-quality customer service can aid the primary user, caregiver or family members. Seniors in particular have indicated that high-touch customer service has been an important factor in their engaging with an mHealth service. Caregivers and concerned family members have also indicated that GreatCall's responsive customer service gives them security and peace of mind. In addition, they can log into a secured Web site to subscribe to and set up services, view related reports, and even schedule check-in calls for high-risk family members that alerts them under specified circumstances.
"GreatCall is delighted to be recognized by Frost & Sullivan with the North American mHealth Customer Service Leadership Award. This accomplishment reinforces our commitment to deliver exceptional services and support to help our customers stay connected, healthy and safe. GreatCall is proud to be able to make a difference in people's lives with our Jitterbug phones, 5Star Urgent Response service and mobile health applications such as MedCoach," said Sue Weaver, Vice President of Customer service, GreatCall.
Although GreatCall's customer service is more expensive than automated and outsourced alternatives, a high percentage of GreatCall customers indicated that they are glad to pay a recurring monthly fee for personalized health-related customer services, especially when there are no additional charges for the high level of customer support they receive.
"As the company has grown from offering devices to services to apps, it has continuously focused on the consumer and what they will use," said Bujnoch. "GreatCall's leadership in customer service creates a compelling value proposition for a wide range of potential channel partners, including healthcare providers, community agencies and payers, as well as younger consumers who seek simple but well-designed, effective tools. For this reason GreatCall services are being developed for the iPhone and Android phone, making them available to a wider audience of consumers."
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that demonstrates excellence in customer service leadership within its industry. The recipient company shows tremendous responsiveness to customer needs and continually focuses on long and short-term customer profitability goals. In addition, it utilizes flexibility in tailoring its product offerings to suit customer businesses.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
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Frost & Sullivan Highlights GreatCall's Success in Offering High-Touch Customer Service for mHealth and Communication
Best lessons from Anthony Robbins. 15 Personal development. Visit. www.coachinginvestment.com – Video
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Best lessons from Anthony Robbins. 15 Personal development. Visit. http://www.coachinginvestment.com - Video
Fitness Fortunes Personal Trainer Coaching Program Offers Added Benefits to Fitness Pros and Personal Trainers
Posted: at 2:34 pm
Fitness Fortunes Personal Trainer Coaching Program Offers Added Benefits to Fitness Pros and Personal Trainers
Fitness Fortunes, a fitness business coaching, marketing and mentoring program for personal trainers, offers new benefits for fitness pros. The blueprint for success helps personal trainers boost business.
In addition to full-length training videos which provide a proven, step-by-step blueprint for unlimited financial success in the personal training and fitness business, Fitness Fortunes now offers several special bonuses, including the Kung-fu Fitness training program, the Outdoor Fitness Trainer program and all episodes of Personal Trainer TV. The fitness business coaching and mentoring program is available for just $1 for the first month. Personal trainers and other fitness pros can sign up at http://www.fitnessfortunes.com.
The difference between a personal trainer who makes $80,000 a year and one who makes $800,000 is actually smaller than you might think. Its all about refining your approach, said John Spencer Ellis, creator of Fitness Fortunes and founder of John Spencer Ellis Enterprises, a fitness and personal development solutions company. Fitness Fortunes is designed for forward-thinking personal trainers, lifestyle coaches, fitness boot camp instructions and other fitness pros interested in taking their career and personal success to the next level with expert coaching, mentoring, and business and marketing ideas.
The only program that offers coaching and personal business assistance from John Spencer Ellis, Fitness Fortunes includes access to his complete suite of business and marketing training videos, coaching tele-classes and the Fitness Fortunes Forum. The program teaches business systems, marketing strategies, personal branding, social media, video marketing, TV and radio training, sales techniques and more.
Further, the Fitness Fortunes program teaches personal trainers how to increase their weekly clients up to 10 percent, earn three times the income in one-third of the time, make almost 30 percent more money online in the first month, charge more than 200 percent more for personal training services, develop online videos that spark long-term customer relationships, maximize social media usage and more.
About John Spencer Ellis Enterprises John Spencer Ellis Enterprises is a solutions provider for fitness and coaching professionals around the world, providing education, turn-key business programs, coaching and resources for new and advanced fitness and coaching professionals. For more information about John Spencer Ellis Enterprises or the Fitness Fortunes program and special bonuses, please visit http://www.fitnessfortunes.com/
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Fitness Fortunes Personal Trainer Coaching Program Offers Added Benefits to Fitness Pros and Personal Trainers
Changes coming to airline electronics rules?
Posted: at 2:34 pm
WASHINGTON -- The government is taking a tentative step toward making it easier for airlines to allow passengers to use personal electronic devices such as tablets, e-readers and music players during takeoffs and landings.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it is "exploring ways to bring together all of the key stakeholders involved" - including airlines, aircraft manufacturers, consumer electronics makers, and flight attendant unions - to discuss whether there are practical ways to test devices to see if they are safe for passengers to use during critical phases of flight.
Technically, FAA rules already permit any airline to test specific makes and models to determine if they generate enough power that they could interfere with sensitive cockpit radios, navigation instruments and other critical equipment. But few airlines have done that kind of extensive testing because there are so many devices, and testing them all - or even many - isn't practical.
Even if a device were tested and approved for use today, later iterations of the same machine might be different enough that they'd have to be tested again. Today's Apple iPad, for example, isn't the same as the original iPad developed three years ago.
"Can any device do this? The answer is no. All devices are not created equal. Some have more power than others," said Kevin Hiatt, chief operating officer of the industry-supported Flight Safety Foundation of Alexandria, Va.
Another concern is the "additive effects" of a planeload of 200 people using devices at once versus one passenger using a device, said Kenny Kirchoff, senior research and development engineer at the Boeing Co.
Recently manufactured planes have more shielding built into their wiring and other electronic equipment to prevent most electromagnetic interference, but planes that pre-date the early 1990s don't have nearly as much shielding, he said.
While acknowledging "this is an area of consumer interest," the FAA said in a statement that "no changes will be made until we are certain they will not impact safety and security."
Steve Lott, a spokesman for Airlines for America, a trade association for major carriers, said airlines would "work cooperatively with the FAA on any opportunities to evaluate personal electronic devices to ensure customers can use these products safely during flight."
One device that won't be included in the discussions: Cell phones, including smartphones. Another government agency - the Federal Communications Commission - already prohibits their use aloft for reasons unrelated to safety concerns. Because planes travel at hundreds of miles per hour, cellphones on airliners could skip so rapidly from cell tower to cell tower that they might interfere with the service of phone users on the ground, aviation experts said.
DataArt Completes Mobile Banking Apps for Plastyc’s UPside Visa Customers
Posted: at 2:34 pm
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
DataArt, a custom software development firm that builds advanced solutions for select industries, today announced completion of mobile banking apps for Plastyc, which provide its UPside Visa cardholders with a complete range of banking services on-the-go. Starting today, Plastyc's mobile apps can be downloaded from both, the Android Market and the Apple app store.
UPside Visa is Plastyc's award-winning prepaid program offering a premium suite of affordable banking services tailored for the up-and-coming youth and underbanked markets. The new UPside Visa mobile apps developed for Plastyc by DataArt, allow a full range of personal banking services on a smart phone, from checking balances and reviewing transaction histories to activating a new account, signing up for direct deposit, redeeming cash back points, paying bills, transferring funds to friends and issuing paper checks.
"DataArt helped us deploy the most comprehensive mobile banking applications in the prepaid market, simultaneously on two technical platforms - Android and iOS - in record time," said Patrice Peyret, CEO of Plastyc.
"We now have extended our platform capabilities to all three major software environments: Microsoft .Net, Google Android and Apple iOS, thanks to DataArt's experienced teams," added Justin Surman, CTO of Plastyc. "We were also able to address the specific security challenges of mobile applications by leveraging DataArt's prior experience in developing software for large financial institutions."
In addition to using their UPside card anywhere Visa debit is accepted, the apps let cardholders use their smartphones to manage accounts, load funds, pay online, send paper checks, send customer service requests or redeem cash back points.
This was a remarkable project for DataArt, which required an unprecedented level of rich functionality and security technologies baked into a mobile financial app, all delivered in a very tight timeframe, said Alexei Miller, Executive Vice President of DataArt. We are grateful for Plastyc's continued trust in DataArt and for their product and architecture leadership on this project.
DataArts rapid prototyping enabled Plastyc to deliver multiple mobile banking services for its customers with superior security measures. The apps include the highest levels of security to protect account information. All local data is encrypted with the key stored on the server-side, so the cached data cant be extracted even if the device is lost. Sensitive information such as full card numbers is never stored or transmitted to the device, and all server communications are protected and servers SSL certificate thumbprint is verified to prevent any tampering attacks. The client authentication is implemented with best-in-class practices and protects applications from replay attacks. The apps require an additional password for all spending transactions. The user is logged out automatically after five minutes of inactivity.
DataArt has worked with Plastyc on a number of development projects since 2006, including the back-end systems for Plastycs iBankUp prepaid card portal and new mobile banking and payments platform.
DataArts mobile technologies team is well versed in mobile Web/HTML5 development and all modern mobile platforms including iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7 & 8, WebOS, RIM OS and Symbian. The firm has created cutting-edge mobile apps for blue-chip brands, including an auto maker, a high-fashion house, pharmaceutical companies, an airline and numerous digital media agencies.
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DataArt Completes Mobile Banking Apps for Plastyc’s UPside Visa Customers
What is GoodSemester? (Short Version) – Video
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Meet David: A Baker Online success story – Video
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SRI International releases report on costs and benefits of online learning programs
Posted: at 2:33 pm
Public release date: 20-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dina Basin dina.basin@sri.com 650-859-3845 SRI International
Menlo Park, Calif. March 20, 2012 A new SRI International report prepared for the U.S. Department of Education provides guidance to educational leaders as they work to implement successful, cost-effective online learning programs for secondary schools.
The report, Understanding the Implications of Online Learning for Educational Productivity, summarizes past research on the cost and outcomes associated with online learning programs in higher education and offers strategies for implementing such programs effectively in K-12 settings.
Educational policymakers and administrators across the country face shrinking budgets and increasing pressure to improve student performance. Many are looking at how online learning programs can benefit their students.
"In preparing this report, we really learned a great deal about the specific benefits that online learning programs are most likely to achieve, and are most ready for testing in rigorous comparative research," said Marianne Bakia, Ph.D., senior policy analyst at SRI International's Center for Technology in Learning and lead author of the report. "In addition, the report provides analytic tools for district and school administrators to evaluate claims about the cost-effectiveness of online learning courses and programs so that they can become knowledgeable consumers of online materials."
The report recommends that educators broaden access to quality online resources and experiences to increase educational opportunities for students in remote locations or in schools or districts with low-enrollment.
To improve the quality of online education, researchers recommend engaging students in active learning using research-based principles and established best practices; personalizing instruction based on students' interests, preferred pace of learning, and performance; and automating routine tasks to allow teachers to focus on complex, interactive activities in the classroom.
The report also suggests that online learning can lower education costs by making better use of teacher and student time, using home or community spaces in addition to traditional school buildings, and through the reuse and large-scale distribution of materials. Although studies have consistently found that online learning programs have reduced costs compared to traditional instruction, the report finds that online learning programs may have higher start-up costs associated with equipment and curriculum development.
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SRI International releases report on costs and benefits of online learning programs