http://www.articlesnatch.com/profile/marcashton/26430 marcashton is an author at ArticleSnatch.com Article Directory. Below are the most recent articles from marcashton. For more of articles by marcashton please use the link above. http://www.articlesnatch.com/profile/marcashton/26430 http://s4.ascdn.com/i/logo.gif en-us http://www.articlesnatch.com/profile/marcashton/26430 PHP/ http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Jaque-Fourie-----a-machine/391324 When you try and define the term ‘class’ in a professional sports person, it is extremely difficult. It’s that special something that simply puts them head and shoulders above the rest of the team or competition. This weekend, there was a class performance that I believe may define the 2008 Currie Cup – it was the performance of Jaque Fourie for the Lions against Western Province on Sunday. The requirements were simple for Western Province: - Beat the Lions by 19 points with the support of your home crowd behind you - Score 4 tries - Don’t let the Lions score enough points to give them a bonus point Let’s be honest – on paper, the Lions should have been blown away. There should have been no way they could go head to head with that Western Province side. Instead Western Province couldn’t catch a cold let alone a rugby ball and they could only manage a 14-6 win. You can say what you like about where the game was won, but I will tell you that it was won by Jaques Fourie in the Lions backline. Fourie was charged with marking backline danger-man Sireli Naqelevuki the Fijian wrecking ball.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>The author operates the Rugby Strategist ( http://rugbystrategist.blogspot.com ) and Sports Mongrel (www.sportsmongrel.iblog.co.za) blogs dealing with sports and sports management related issues. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Jaque-Fourie-----a-machine/391324 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Crystal-Springs-----resort-review-----South-Africa/391199 We chose to go up to the picturesque Crystal Spring resort in Mpumalanga for our anniversary this year. The resort is situated in the mountains about 40km out of Lydenburg and roughly a 3 and half hour drive from Johannesburg or Pretoria and the resort offered both self catering and hotel styled units. One of the things that surprised us about this particular weekend was that the things we expected to be good (game viewing etc.) wasn’t what stood out for us, but the general relaxed atmosphere and the stunning scenery won us over hands down. In terms of amenities we stayed in the self catering ‘lodges’ which sleep either 4 or 8. You have a stunning view over the mountain range and down into the valley. The units themselves are quite close together (164 of then), but you never feel like you are on top of your neighbour. The units themselves come with a fully stocked kitchen and limited DSTV. Cellphone reception is never a problem and you are close enough to either Lydenburg or Pilgrims Rest (A famous historic mining town in SA), and Graskop to be able to get food or see some historical sites.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>The Holiday Blog (www.holidayblog.iblog.co.za) is a South African managed blog aimed at discussing the travel industry as well as destination and resort reviews. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Crystal-Springs-----resort-review-----South-Africa/391199 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plum-Island-----Book-Review-----Nelson-Demille/391198 He is out of an old book, but I have discovered a brilliant new character who really appeals to me – John Corey. Corey is the creation of author Nelson Demille in the book Plum Island. As I mentioned, Plum Island is not a new book and one I picked up off the back of a bookshelf where it seemed to have been forgotten. I was truly disappointed that I hadn’t read it sooner! Corey – a New York City police officer - is on leave after taking a couple of bullets in the line of duty. While lying back sipping on some beers and enjoying the off time, Corey gets approached by the local police chief to investigate a murder of two prominent scientists from the “Plum Island” facility. Plum Island is the home to some scientific research around bugs and possibly some chemical warfare studies… While everybody is adamant that the two dead scientists have something to do with some chemical research, Corey is less convinced. And the nice thing about Corey – when he becomes unconvinced he bashes away in a most undiplomatic way making friends and enemies at will.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>The Reading Hub (www.readinghub.iblog.co.za) is a South African blog aimed providing book and DVD reviews. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Plum-Island-----Book-Review-----Nelson-Demille/391198 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Disgraceful-South-African-football/391195 It is not often I watch South African football. I believe the standard is weak and many of the players play with a glory boy mentality instead of focusing on delivering the goods on the field. But in the last 3 weeks, I have seen 2 disgraceful tackles that have made me think I was watching a version of cage fighting rather than ‘the beautiful game’. A couple of weeks back, Maritzburg United Defender Gary Goldstone, smashed open the face of Kaizer Chiefs striker Tshepo Bulu by simply dropping his shoulder and intentionally body checking a player who had beaten him. Then this weekend Supersport United's Firku Tefera stomped on the throat of Thanda Royal Zulus, July Mahlangu. He didn't just stomp on the guy inadvertently. He jumped over him, aimed his kick and then kicked him straight in the unprotected throat. It was an absolute disgrace and in any other league, the guy would be facing criminal assault charges. South African soccer needs to clean up its act and soon. You cannot have guys literally gunning to take guys out of the game when they get beaten on the field.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: The author operates the Football Strategist ( http://footballstrategist.blogspot.com ) and Sports Mongrel (www.sportsmongrel.iblog.co.za) blogs dealing with sports and sports management related issues. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Disgraceful-South-African-football/391195 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/The-enigma-that-is-SA-football/337483 South African soccer is without a doubt one of the most enigmatic (and ultimately infuriating) setups in the world today. When one considers that “Bafana Bafana” is easily one of the best supported (financially) in the continent and we have been quite happy to splash out millions of Rands on the world’s most expensive coach, one would worry a bit that we STILL can’t deliver the goods on the field. Bear in mind that in 2 years time we are hosting the premier football tournament (the 2010 World Cup) and we aren’t even able to qualify for the African Nations Cup, then you know we are in trouble. Since winning the African Nations Cup a couple of years back, we simply seem to have lost direction. More and more money is being pumped into the domestic game and few administrators blinked twice when we announced the millions of Rands South Africa was going to pay to hire Parreira. Now a few months into his tenure he decided he had better things to do and left Bafana Bafana in the capable hands of his mate Joel Santana.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: The Sports Mongrel blog (www.sportsmongrel.iblog.co.za) is a South African blog aimed at sports and sports management / administration related topics. Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/The-enigma-that-is-SA-football/337483 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Integrity-and-trust-remain-a-marketable-asset/335049 One of the biggest assets that a company has under its control is the integrity of their brand. Yet for some reason, businesses in South Africa sometimes forget to apply any value to this aspect of their offering. A case in point today – a work colleague of mine is currently traveling in the UK and was in the British Airways terminal in London waiting for a connecting flight. Somehow in the lounge he lost his cellphone and it was picked up by an attendant less than 5 minutes after he left the lounge. The lounge manager scrolled through to the recently made calls and dialed me (I was the last spoken he had spoken to). Within minutes they had identified who the phone belonged to, located my colleague and returned the cellphone. I remember a similar incident taking place in Harrods in London about 10 years ago with my brother’s wallet. Literally minutes after losing his wallet, the floor manager had handed it in and the wallet was returned to my brother.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: Marc Ashton is the managing editor of ManufacturingHub.co.za (www.manufacturinghub.co.za) an industrial publication for the SA Food, Pharmaceutical, Chemical and Cosmetic Manufacturing industries. In his spare time he operates the Marketing Machine blog (www.marketingmachine.iblog.co.za) covering marketing related topics. Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Integrity-and-trust-remain-a-marketable-asset/335049 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/The-role-of-the-South-African-army/334956 An interesting discussion came up yesterday amongst some colleagues regarding the future role of the South African National Defence Force and the state of the army in general. The final question that came up is “What is the anticipated role of the South African army in the coming years?” Since compulsory military training was abolished in South Africa the numbers have been on the decline and the military has lost skilled engineers and soldiers to the private sector. The fact that the country has not had a major military conflict to deal with, has also contributed significantly to this decline. However when one considers South Africa, with its rampant crime, high levels of unemployment and Africa as a whole with a variety of different military conflicts, on the go the question remains – can the South African defence force be put to better use? Obviously the army and security services as a whole will for many years to come have the spectre of Apartheid that will hang over them. Citizens will feel the unease when the army comes in to support communities.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: Marc Ashton is the managing editor of ManufacturingHub.co.za (www.manufacturinghub.co.za) an industrial publication for the SA Food, Pharmaceutical, Chemical and Cosmetic Manufacturing industries. In his spare time he operates the African Trade Hub blog ( http://africantradehub.bundublog.com/ ) Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/The-role-of-the-South-African-army/334956 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Starting-is-the-hardest-part/334950 As with most things in life – starting is the hardest part to taking the decision to build an investment portfolio. We literally do live in the age of instant gratification and young people are so insistent on being rich, flashy and successful at a young age that they only start looking at investment way too late. Logic doesn’t seem to work for the majority of the population. You could sit a group of 100 young people down in a room and show them how if they invested R100 a month into something, they would have a nice nest egg when they get older. Almost everybody would agree, almost everyone would say they really should do something about it and probably only 1 or 2 people would actually start it. I can’t explain it the way the human brain works but I guess by plugging away with the concept of trying to educate people, you might get through to 1 or 2 people and hopefully make some small difference.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: The Liquid Trader blog (www.liquidtrader.iblog.co.za) is a blog aimed at traders and investors and details some of the thoughts and ramblings of an average day trader. Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Starting-is-the-hardest-part/334950 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/The-Red-Dahlia/334949 Lynda La Plante is not a regular author for me to read but my wife finished reading it and recommended I give it a shot. I normally steer clear of British authors and I’ll admit to more than a little trepidation at reading this title. To say I was impressed was probably an understatement. Basically the story revolves around an extremely brutal murder of a young girl. The investigators have no leads and when the killer starts taunting them with details of a similar murder case that went unsolved in the US about 40 years earlier the police begin to lose hope that they will ever solve this case. As the killer adds another body to the score, the police become increasingly despondent and the stress begins to show. Having not read a previous La Plante book I believe the main character Anna Travis was featured previously and had a relationship with her commanding officer – this theme is continued in this book. Suddenly the case cracks open with a tip and they identify the killer. Unfortunately the harder they press for evidence the more obvious it becomes how hard the killer has concentrated on covering his tracks.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: The Reading Hub (www.readinghub.iblog.co.za) is a South African blog providing book and DVD reviews Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/The-Red-Dahlia/334949 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Participation-vs--performance-in-South-African-sports-leagues/334724 Participation and performance are the 2 critical factors that dominate the overall running of sports leagues. On one hand you have people who believe that sports leagues should be as open as possible for everybody to participation, on the other hand there is the belief that top leagues should pit the top players against eachother on a week in and week out basis. Finding the balance here is a challenge that faces sports administrators. Much of the success of the Australian cricket and New Zealand rugby set ups has been attributed to the very strong domestic leagues. The domestic Australian cricket setup pits a handful of the strongest players in the country against one another on a strength vs. strength basis. South Africa is renowned for its large and cumbersome ‘professional’ player base in sports like cricket and rugby. We have a large number of ‘contracted’ players playing soccer, rugby and cricket and you only need to see what a large percentage of players are foreign based to see what we settle for such mediocrity in our leagues – people see playing professional sport in South Africa as an easy career option.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: The Sports Mongrel blog (www.sportsmongrel.iblog.co.za) is a South African blog detailing sports and sports management related topics and views. Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Participation-vs--performance-in-South-African-sports-leagues/334724 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Lemon-Blossom-Guest-House---Accommodation-review/334717 If you are looking for accommodation in Potchefstroom for a sports side or a weekend stay, then look no further than the Lemon Blossom Guest House. The venue is able to hold about 100 people and is ideal if you are traveling to Potchefstroom for a sports event and need affordable quality accommodation. Apparently one of Australian hockey teams elected to stay there for the week they were playing in Potch so quality isn’t an issue. The beds are comfortable and warm and there is a DSTV movie and sports package on offer. You are situated less than 5 minutes from the Mooi Rivier Mall and ‘The Bult’ where all the major bars, pubs and clubs such as Bourbon Street are. Another 5 minutes and you are at the university main campus. Our rate was R160 per person per night sharing and included a massive bacon and eggs breakfast, tea, coffee and fruit juices. The breakfasts were also of a great quality – sometimes you get these very oily bacon and egg mash-ups that leave you feeling a little tender. These breakfasts were spot on and we ate our fill and then some!** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: The Holiday Blog (www.holidayblog.iblog.co.za) is a South African blog providing travel news and destination reviews for global travelers. Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Lemon-Blossom-Guest-House---Accommodation-review/334717 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/The-problem-with-Potch/334716 Potch University Hockey provides an interesting dilemma for inland hockey in South Africa at the moment and decisions taken here have the capacity to make or break hockey the club game in the region. In a nutshell Potch hockey has an international level coach, some of the best training facilities in the game, plenty of sponsors money to equip their setup and some of the best young players in the game. For a low profile sport like hockey you have a breeding ground for top players to eat, live, breathe and sleep hockey… the only problem is that they have nobody to play against… A decision was taken to include them in the South Gauteng hockey league outside of the “elite” premier league (Effectively a reserve league). The end result is they play against reserve league opposition, win the league and then when they ask to be promoted, hockey’s provincial administrators step in and say it will be detrimental to Southern Gauteng hockey to let a team from outside the province be promoted.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: The Sports Mongrel blog (www.sportsmongrel.iblog.co.za) is a South African blog detailing sports and sports management related topics and views. Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/The-problem-with-Potch/334716 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Next-generation-of-games/334208 The video game development, marketing and distribution industry moves so fast that it often leaves observers wondering ‘where to next?’…. Video and PC games have come along way in a relatively short space of time. Gaming consoles such as the Nintendo Wii, the X-Box and the PS3 have revolutionized the way that users interact with the software. The rapid development and deployment of broadband solutions have meant that thousands of home users across the world are able to interact in virtual worlds. As the hardware progresses, the graphics get sharper, faster and smoother until users can no longer tell whether they are watching a high definition movie or playing a game. With all these rapid developments taking place, industry pundits are trying to find out where the industry is headed. Will it be increased Artificial Intelligence? How about crossovers between virtual worlds? Will user interfaces change to put users “in” the game? While I believe that all of the above will see some development and evolution, I believe that a major aspect that will change will not so much be the technology as the industry. Software these days is becoming increasingly interchangeable and compatible.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: The Gamers Hub (www.gamershub.iblog.co.za) is a South African blog aimed at the video and PC gaming industry. In conjunction with the IT Geeks (www.itgeeks.iblog.co.za) and Content Management System (www.cmsblog.iblog.co.za) blogs the site provides news on IT related topics. Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Next-generation-of-games/334208 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Artificial-Intelligence-in-marketing/334180 I’ll be honest – I had never really given much thought to AI applications in marketing before today. Which is a bit silly considering it is one of those professions that already makes use of the technology! The Google algorithms that decide which Google ads to serve on your site based on the site content and your cookie history is a perfect example of why marketing lends itself to AI technology. The main idea behind marketing is to make sure your product, branding or service is seen by the right people at the right time – delivering your ads to a targeted customer as and when they are looking for it would be the holy grail of marketing. This first generation of targeted ad delivery is invariably only the starting point. One can imagine a time in the not too distant future where each enquiry for a particular product or service will be recorded, the data mined and service providers then acting on data from a centralized database and dispatching their marketing material literally seconds after you’ve made your query.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: Marc Ashton is Managing Editor of ManufacturingHub.co.za (www.manufacturinghub.co.za) an industrial online publication. In his spare time he operates the Marketing Machine (www.marketingmachine.iblog.co.za) and Artificial Intelligence (www.aiblog.iblog.co.za) blogs. Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Artificial-Intelligence-in-marketing/334180 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Ingwelala-Private-Game-reserve---Destination-review/333988 Ingwelala is a private game reserve that backs onto the world renowned Kruger National Park. Basically a combination of 4 private game reserves allowing movement of wildlife from the Kruger and the private reserves, guests are treated to world class game viewing. Ingwelala is a bunch of free standing self catering units in an unfenced camp – you literally could find a lion or leopard walking passed your door. And quite often you do! In the evening when the fires come out and the Hyena smell the meat cooking you will find them circling your camp to take something off the fire. They normally scatter when the torches pick them out but there are few more thrilling African bush experiences than sitting around a fire, sipping a brandy and coke and being aware of being watched by 5 to 10 pairs of eyes. Game viewing is normally quite good and there is no shortage of elephant sightings. One of the things I love about Ingwelala is the game spotting diary they run on their website.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: The Holiday Blog (www.holidayblog.iblog.co.za) is a South African blog providing worldwide travel reviews, tips and destinations for the global traveler to consider! Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Ingwelala-Private-Game-reserve---Destination-review/333988 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Age-groups-in-sports/333715 The subject of age groups in schools sports came up again this week and it stimulated some really healthy debate on the subject of “fast tracking” school kids into 1st teams early. There are no black and white answers here and coaches seem to be split right down the middle. On one hand you have coaches who would prefer to see the best young talent advanced into senior sides as soon as they are technically competent. Consider Theo Walcott at Arsenal. He was elevated to the 1st team and then the English national team at the age of 17. This is a pretty big jump when you consider that the rest of his mates are only just finishing up school. The other side of the fence sees coaches who are adamant that their kids must move progressively through the age ranks. If the child is a great 16 year old then he should be allowed to dominate and learn his game at the 16 year old level.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: The Sports Mongrel blog (www.sportsmongrel.iblog.co.za) is aimed at providing news on Sports, Sports Management and coaching related issues Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Age-groups-in-sports/333715 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Why-are-the-Boks-playing-in-half-full-stadiums-/333712 Last week in Bloemfontein the World Cup Winning Springbok rugby side played in front of a half full stadium. This weekend they take on the Welsh again at Loftus Park and once again there are about 13000 unsold tickets. What’s going on?! Obviously the quality of the opposition is a big negative. Irrespective of whether the Welsh won the Six Nations or not – they’re simply not good enough to draw the crowds. There is so much good rugby on the go at the moment that spectators are spoilt for choice – the idea of watching a rusty, somewhat experimental Bok rugby side take on an average international outfit holds zero appeal to me. I’m pretty sure I am not the only one. The other major aspect counting against them is general economics. You only have to open a newspaper or surf the internet to see that the global economy is slowing down … FAST! Unfortunately this is going to create more downstream problems for sport unless some of the game administrators think on their feet.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: The Betting Hub (www.bettinghub.iblog.co.za) is a South African blog providing gambling tips and strategies as well as sports betting picks, news and information. For sports and other associated information please visit the Sports Mongrel blog (www.sportsmongrel.iblog.co.za) Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Why-are-the-Boks-playing-in-half-full-stadiums-/333712 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Wellness-programmes-in-Call-Centres/333565 Call centres have attracted a lot of interest from wellness type service providers around issues such as ergonomics, stress, sensory wellness and movement. The theory being that because of the high stress nature of the job, these candidates would be ideal for wellness intervention to improve their productivity and ultimately their performance. This is an area we play in and we’ve noticed more and more service providers coming into the market with such offerings. Ask any of these new service providers where they are going to target for potential customers and nearly all of them say Call centre / BPO centres first. Yet for all of these service providers and the talk about how much work there is out there, for people in this space, the work doesn’t seem to be coming. I have heard the pitches, we all harp on about the same thing – improve your wellness offering and your staff will stay longer and you will see a return on investment because you are not having to constantly train new staff….** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: Marc Ashton runs Rival Industrial (www.rival.co.za) , a Corporate Wellness, Industrial Research, Publishing and Design company. In his spare time he operates the Call Centre Blog (www.callcentre.iblog.co.za) and the Cellular Hub (www.cellularhub.iblog.co.za) Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Wellness-programmes-in-Call-Centres/333565 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Funding-your-SME---cut-the-BS/333561 In blunt language – this article is going to be a rant and 90% of people thinking about financing their small businesses should probably not read it because it is almost definitely going to deflate their aspirations. Right – got the disclaimer out the way. One of the regular questions we get asked is: “The banks won’t lend me any money and I NEED money to get my business off the ground – it’s so unfair! Who else can lend me money?!” Yawn – snap out of it! If they didn’t want to lend you money it’s probably for a very good reason. It is amazing that so few people will ever tell you WHY the banks declined to dish out money. Normal reasons for the banks not giving you funding include: - Poor personal financial situation. If you can’t manage your own finances how can they trust you to manage their money? - Over ambitious business plan - Insufficient experience or excessive risk in going with you Come people – let’s be realistic.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: Marc Ashton is managing editor of ManufacturingHub.co.za (www.manufacturinghub.co.za) an industrial publication. In his spare time he operates the Bad Entrepreneur ( http://badentrepreneur.bundublog.com/ ) and Marketing Machine (www.marketingmachine.iblog.co.za) blogs Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Funding-your-SME---cut-the-BS/333561 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Championship-Manager-2006-hints/332891 I am an avid Championship Manager fan. Love the 2006 version of the game but haven’t yet played the newest version. One of my biggest frustrations I found for the first couple of times I played it was that you would take over one of the top sides, clean out some of the deadwood and invariably find yourself out of a job shortly after you had taken over. It truly sucks when your grandiose schemes for revamping the club of your choice don’t even get a fair chance to see out half a season or so. My logic was then that I should try and get into one of the first division sides and see if I could build a decent squad here but I found it irritating that I couldn’t establish any real consistency here and I didn’t ever have the budget to go after any of the big name guys. Some of the “bargain” big name players I found that slotted in quite well were: - Diego – the Brazilian midfielder from Porto.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: The Gamers Hub (www.gamershub.iblog.co.za) is a South African blog providing news and information on computer and video games, gaming strategies and the gaming industry as a whole Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Championship-Manager-2006-hints/332891 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Teachers-and-kids-homework/332462 This article is specifically aimed at the teachers out there. It’s time for a good hard look at yourselves, because the level of irritation that parents are experiencing around homework is a problem that belongs at your door. How many of you have actually done the homework you set for your kids to do at home? I can bet that a very large number of you simply pull off the worksheets out of the file from the previous year, bash off your 10 – 30 copies of it and then send it home with the kids. After all – if it was good enough last year then surely it is good enough this year? It’s not! On more than one occasion we have had parents complain to us about homework that literally cannot be done simply because nobody bothered to check whether the material made sense. Personally we have experienced it ourselves: - You send home “word searches” where 30% of the words aren’t in the word search. How is the child supposed to get any confidence when they search fruitlessly for half an hour when they can’t find the words?** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: RemSpecED (www.remspeced.co.za) is a South African Remedial & Special Education resource for parents, teachers and therapists. Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Teachers-and-kids-homework/332462 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/How-to-lose-a-customer-in-1-second/332453 In general I’m a pretty nice guy and I’m relatively receptive to picking up the odd commercial unsolicited commercial e-mail and having a quick read over what it has to say. But when some dork “sales executive” sends me a 3MB file with their latest catalogue – then I get a little grumpy. Yes a broadband connection is a friggin wonderful thing and it lets you move big files around but seriously this is just straight abuse of your employers system. You are not a “Sales Executive” when you send off a hundred e-mails a day with a 3MB attachments – you are a “Business Destruction Executive” and if somebody is paying you to wreck the image of his small business then somebody needs their head checked… Are you as SME owners aware of what your staff actually get up to during the day? Are you aware that by having an employee bashing off an e-mail of this nature they are: A) Breaking local electronic communications laws which makes you liable B) Costing your company money ploughing through your bandwidth C) Doing irreparable damage to your business reputation These are people you are PAYING to do all of this?** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: Marc Ashton is managing editor of ManufacturingHub.co.za (www.manufacturinghub.co.za) an industrial publication. In his spare time he operates the Bad Entrepreneur ( http://badentrepreneur.bundublog.com/ ) and Marketing Machine (www.marketingmachine.iblog.co.za) blogs Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/How-to-lose-a-customer-in-1-second/332453 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/AI-and-Trend-Analysis-in-the-supply-chain/331954 The supply chain is one of the areas where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already in use. Materials Requirements Planning (MRP) and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) are supposed to create “smart supply chains” – but just how “smart” are they? Any of our readers who have worked in or worked with factories will probably agree – many companies talk about how smart and efficient their supply chains are but how often do you get there and find that bottle necks and stock shortages still occur? A possible reason for this is that the right people are not being fed the right information at the right time. Why when they have all of this technology and spent all this money should this be the case? My guess is that the person is only receiving the information ONCE it is a problem rather than BEFORE it is a problem.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: Marc Ashton runs ManufacturingHub.co.za (www.manufacturinghub.co.za) an industrial publication aimed at the South African Food, Pharmaceutical, Chemical and Cosmetic Manufacturing industries. In his spare time he operates the Artificial Intelligence blog (www.aiblog.iblog.co.za) a blog dealing with concepts around AI. Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/AI-and-Trend-Analysis-in-the-supply-chain/331954 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Investing-culture/331953 When I was 15 I brought my dad the racing sheet from the newspaper and asked him to teach me about horseracing. I told him that if he could teach me how to gamble I would be able to make some “real” money for us. He laughed and in return handed me the share prices from the JSE and said “THAT is how to make real money”. From that day we learnt how to play the market, the different types of instruments and investments and learnt to do it quite well. Well enough that by the time I was 24 I had enough capital to start my own business. South Africans don’t really have a culture of savings or investment. We are so dependant on spending everything we have that we don’t realise how simple it can be to accumulate a little bit of real wealth. I see a lot of guys in their early 20’s who blow everything they have on any luxuries they can afford, but few of them ever have any spare cash when they need it.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: The Liquid Trader blog (www.liquidtrader.iblog.co.za) is a South African blog aimed at traders and investors. Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Investing-culture/331953 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Untargeted-Entrepreneurs/331948 I was struck this week about how untargeted small business entrepreneurs are. We never learn from what our bigger competitors do right and we subsequently flounder around in the hope that we’re actually going to get some new business. Instead of setting out with a specific goal of a potential prospect we are going to engage in any given week, we sit back, fire off some “marketing material” to a couple hundred people and sit back waiting for something to come in. We’re then equally puzzled when we get bugger all back and we convince ourselves that if we repeat the formula a couple of times then SURELY it MUST work… Sound familiar? I do it all the time and I’ll bet I’m not the only one. But the message was reinforced to me again this week. A potential client had a very specific need and something only a few platforms could provide. We chatted briefly – I explained that I would be able to offer exactly what they needed and presto – client signed up and money in the bank.** End Summary**<p>About the Author:<br>About the author: Marc Ashton runs ManufacturingHub.co.za (www.manufacturinghub.co.za) an industrial publication aimed at the South African Food, Pharmaceutical, Chemical and Cosmetic Manufacturing industries. In his spare time he operates the Bad Entrepreneur blog ( http://badentrepreneur.bundublog.com/ ) – a blog aimed at the less than perfect Entrepreneur Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Untargeted-Entrepreneurs/331948