Search Results

Search found 18556 results on 743 pages for 'computer organization'.

Page 67/743 | < Previous Page | 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74  | Next Page >

  • Enterprise Process Maps: A Process Picture worth a Million Words

    - by raul.goycoolea
    p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }h1 { margin-top: 0.33in; margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(54, 95, 145); page-break-inside: avoid; }h1.western { font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 14pt; }h1.cjk { font-family: "DejaVu Sans"; font-size: 14pt; }h1.ctl { font-size: 14pt; } Getting Started with Business Transformations A well-known proverb states that "A picture is worth a thousand words." In relation to Business Process Management (BPM), a credible analyst might have a few questions. What if the picture was taken from some particular angle, like directly overhead? What if it was taken from only an inch away or a mile away? What if the photographer did not focus the camera correctly? Does the value of the picture depend on who is looking at it? Enterprise Process Maps are analogous in this sense of relative value. Every BPM project (holistic BPM kick-off, enterprise system implementation, Service-oriented Architecture, business process transformation, corporate performance management, etc.) should be begin with a clear understanding of the business environment, from the biggest picture representations down to the lowest level required or desired for the particular project type, scope and objectives. The Enterprise Process Map serves as an entry point for the process architecture and is defined: the single highest level of process mapping for an organization. It is constructed and evaluated during the Strategy Phase of the Business Process Management Lifecycle. (see Figure 1) Fig. 1: Business Process Management Lifecycle Many organizations view such maps as visual abstractions, constructed for the single purpose of process categorization. This, in turn, results in a lesser focus on the inherent intricacies of the Enterprise Process view, which are explored in the course of this paper. With the main focus of a large scale process documentation effort usually underlying an ERP or other system implementation, it is common for the work to be driven by the desire to "get to the details," and to the type of modeling that will derive near-term tangible results. For instance, a project in American Pharmaceutical Company X is driven by the Director of IT. With 120+ systems in place, and a lack of standardized processes across the United States, he and the VP of IT have decided to embark on a long-term ERP implementation. At the forethought of both are questions, such as: How does my application architecture map to the business? What are each application's functionalities, and where do the business processes utilize them? Where can we retire legacy systems? Well-developed BPM methodologies prescribe numerous model types to capture such information and allow for thorough analysis in these areas. Process to application maps, Event Driven Process Chains, etc. provide this level of detail and facilitate the completion of such project-specific questions. These models and such analysis are appropriately carried out at a relatively low level of process detail. (see figure 2) Fig. 2: The Level Concept, Generic Process HierarchySome of the questions remaining are ones of documentation longevity, the continuation of BPM practice in the organization, process governance and ownership, process transparency and clarity in business process objectives and strategy. The Level Concept in Brief Figure 2 shows a generic, four-level process hierarchy depicting the breakdown of a "Process Area" into progressively more detailed process classifications. The number of levels and the names of these levels are flexible, and can be fit to the standards of the organization's chosen terminology or any other chosen reference model that makes logical sense for both short and long term process description. It is at Level 1 (in this case the Process Area level), that the Enterprise Process Map is created. This map and its contained objects become the foundation for a top-down approach to subsequent mapping, object relationship development, and analysis of the organization's processes and its supporting infrastructure. Additionally, this picture serves as a communication device, at an executive level, describing the design of the business in its service to a customer. It seems, then, imperative that the process development effort, and this map, start off on the right foot. Figuring out just what that right foot is, however, is critical and trend-setting in an evolving organization. Key Considerations Enterprise Process Maps are usually not as living and breathing as other process maps. Just as it would be an extremely difficult task to change the foundation of the Sears Tower or a city plan for the entire city of Chicago, the Enterprise Process view of an organization usually remains unchanged once developed (unless, of course, an organization is at a stage where it is capable of true, high-level process innovation). Regardless, the Enterprise Process map is a key first step, and one that must be taken in a precise way. What makes this groundwork solid depends on not only the materials used to construct it (process areas), but also the layout plan and knowledge base of what will be built (the entire process architecture). It seems reasonable that care and consideration are required to create this critical high level map... but what are the important factors? Does the process modeler need to worry about how many process areas there are? About who is looking at it? Should he only use the color pink because it's his boss' favorite color? Interestingly, and perhaps surprisingly, these are all valid considerations that may just require a bit of structure. Below are Three Key Factors to consider when building an Enterprise Process Map: Company Strategic Focus Process Categorization: Customer is Core End-to-end versus Functional Processes Company Strategic Focus As mentioned above, the Enterprise Process Map is created during the Strategy Phase of the Business Process Management Lifecycle. From Oracle Business Process Management methodology for business transformation, it is apparent that business processes exist for the purpose of achieving the strategic objectives of an organization. In a prescribed, top-down approach to process development, it must be ensured that each process fulfills its objectives, and in an aggregated manner, drives fulfillment of the strategic objectives of the company, whether for particular business segments or in a broader sense. This is a crucial point, as the strategic messages of the company must therefore resound in its process maps, in particular one that spans the processes of the complete business: the Enterprise Process Map. One simple example from Company X is shown below (see figure 3). Fig. 3: Company X Enterprise Process Map In reviewing Company X's Enterprise Process Map, one can immediately begin to understand the general strategic mindset of the organization. It shows that Company X is focused on its customers, defining 10 of its process areas belonging to customer-focused categories. Additionally, the organization views these end-customer-oriented process areas as part of customer-fulfilling value chains, while support process areas do not provide as much contiguous value. However, by including both support and strategic process categorizations, it becomes apparent that all processes are considered vital to the success of the customer-oriented focus processes. Below is an example from Company Y (see figure 4). Fig. 4: Company Y Enterprise Process Map Company Y, although also a customer-oriented company, sends a differently focused message with its depiction of the Enterprise Process Map. Along the top of the map is the company's product tree, overarching the process areas, which when executed deliver the products themselves. This indicates one strategic objective of excellence in product quality. Additionally, the view represents a less linear value chain, with strong overlaps of the various process areas. Marketing and quality management are seen as a key support processes, as they span the process lifecycle. Often, companies may incorporate graphics, logos and symbols representing customers and suppliers, and other objects to truly send the strategic message to the business. Other times, Enterprise Process Maps may show high level of responsibility to organizational units, or the application types that support the process areas. It is possible that hundreds of formats and focuses can be applied to an Enterprise Process Map. What is of vital importance, however, is which formats and focuses are chosen to truly represent the direction of the company, and serve as a driver for focusing the business on the strategic objectives set forth in that right. Process Categorization: Customer is Core In the previous two examples, processes were grouped using differing categories and techniques. Company X showed one support and three customer process categorizations using encompassing chevron objects; Customer Y achieved a less distinct categorization using a gradual color scheme. Either way, and in general, modeling of the process areas becomes even more valuable and easily understood within the context of business categorization, be it strategic or otherwise. But how one categorizes their processes is typically more complex than simply choosing object shapes and colors. Previously, it was stated that the ideal is a prescribed top-down approach to developing processes, to make certain linkages all the way back up to corporate strategy. But what about external influences? What forces push and pull corporate strategy? Industry maturity, product lifecycle, market profitability, competition, etc. can all drive the critical success factors of a particular business segment, or the company as a whole, in addition to previous corporate strategy. This may seem to be turning into a discussion of theory, but that is far from the case. In fact, in years of recent study and evolution of the way businesses operate, cross-industry and across the globe, one invariable has surfaced with such strength to make it undeniable in the game plan of any strategy fit for survival. That constant is the customer. Many of a company's critical success factors, in any business segment, relate to the customer: customer retention, satisfaction, loyalty, etc. Businesses serve customers, and so do a business's processes, mapped or unmapped. The most effective way to categorize processes is in a manner that visualizes convergence to what is core for a company. It is the value chain, beginning with the customer in mind, and ending with the fulfillment of that customer, that becomes the core or the centerpiece of the Enterprise Process Map. (See figure 5) Fig. 5: Company Z Enterprise Process Map Company Z has what may be viewed as several different perspectives or "cuts" baked into their Enterprise Process Map. It has divided its processes into three main categories (top, middle, and bottom) of Management Processes, the Core Value Chain and Supporting Processes. The Core category begins with Corporate Marketing (which contains the activities of beginning to engage customers) and ends with Customer Service Management. Within the value chain, this company has divided into the focus areas of their two primary business lines, Foods and Beverages. Does this mean that areas, such as Strategy, Information Management or Project Management are not as important as those in the Core category? No! In some cases, though, depending on the organization's understanding of high-level BPM concepts, use of category names, such as "Core," "Management" or "Support," can be a touchy subject. What is important to understand, is that no matter the nomenclature chosen, the Core processes are those that drive directly to customer value, Support processes are those which make the Core processes possible to execute, and Management Processes are those which steer and influence the Core. Some common terms for these three basic categorizations are Core, Customer Fulfillment, Customer Relationship Management, Governing, Controlling, Enabling, Support, etc. End-to-end versus Functional Processes Every high and low level of process: function, task, activity, process/work step (whatever an organization calls it), should add value to the flow of business in an organization. Suppose that within the process "Deliver package," there is a documented task titled "Stop for ice cream." It doesn't take a process expert to deduce the room for improvement. Though stopping for ice cream may create gain for the one person performing it, it likely benefits neither the organization nor, more importantly, the customer. In most cases, "Stop for ice cream" wouldn't make it past the first pass of To-Be process development. What would make the cut, however, would be a flow of tasks that, each having their own value add, build up to greater and greater levels of process objective. In this case, those tasks would combine to achieve a status of "package delivered." Figure 3 shows a simple example: Just as the package can only be delivered (outcome of the process) without first being retrieved, loaded, and the travel destination reached (outcomes of the process steps), some higher level of process "Play Practical Joke" (e.g., main process or process area) cannot be completed until a package is delivered. It seems that isolated or functionally separated processes, such as "Deliver Package" (shown in Figure 6), are necessary, but are always part of a bigger value chain. Each of these individual processes must be analyzed within the context of that value chain in order to ensure successful end-to-end process performance. For example, this company's "Create Joke Package" process could be operating flawlessly and efficiently, but if a joke is never developed, it cannot be created, so the end-to-end process breaks. Fig. 6: End to End Process Construction That being recognized, it is clear that processes must be viewed as end-to-end, customer-to-customer, and in the context of company strategy. But as can also be seen from the previous example, these vital end-to-end processes cannot be built without the functionally oriented building blocks. Without one, the other cannot be had, or at least not in a complete and organized fashion. As it turns out, but not discussed in depth here, the process modeling effort, BPM organizational development, and comprehensive coverage cannot be fully realized without a semi-functional, process-oriented approach. Then, an Enterprise Process Map should be concerned with both views, the building blocks, and access points to the business-critical end-to-end processes, which they construct. Without the functional building blocks, all streams of work needed for any business transformation would be lost mess of process disorganization. End-to-end views are essential for utilization in optimization in context, understanding customer impacts, base-lining all project phases and aligning objectives. Including both views on an Enterprise Process Map allows management to understand the functional orientation of the company's processes, while still providing access to end-to-end processes, which are most valuable to them. (See figures 7 and 8). Fig. 7: Simplified Enterprise Process Map with end-to-end Access Point The above examples show two unique ways to achieve a successful Enterprise Process Map. The first example is a simple map that shows a high level set of process areas and a separate section with the end-to-end processes of concern for the organization. This particular map is filtered to show just one vital end-to-end process for a project-specific focus. Fig. 8: Detailed Enterprise Process Map showing connected Functional Processes The second example shows a more complex arrangement and categorization of functional processes (the names of each process area has been removed). The end-to-end perspective is achieved at this level through the connections (interfaces at lower levels) between these functional process areas. An important point to note is that the organization of these two views of the Enterprise Process Map is dependent, in large part, on the orientation of its audience, and the complexity of the landscape at the highest level. If both are not apparent, the Enterprise Process Map is missing an opportunity to serve as a holistic, high-level view. Conclusion In the world of BPM, and specifically regarding Enterprise Process Maps, a picture can be worth as many words as the thought and effort that is put into it. Enterprise Process Maps alone cannot change an organization, but they serve more purposes than initially meet the eye, and therefore must be designed in a way that enables a BPM mindset, business process understanding and business transformation efforts. Every Enterprise Process Map will and should be different when looking across organizations. Its design will be driven by company strategy, a level of customer focus, and functional versus end-to-end orientations. This high-level description of the considerations of the Enterprise Process Maps is not a prescriptive "how to" guide. However, a company attempting to create one may not have the practical BPM experience to truly explore its options or impacts to the coming work of business process transformation. The biggest takeaway is that process modeling, at all levels, is a science and an art, and art is open to interpretation. It is critical that the modeler of the highest level of process mapping be a cognoscente of the message he is delivering and the factors at hand. Without sufficient focus on the design of the Enterprise Process Map, an entire BPM effort may suffer. For additional information please check: Oracle Business Process Management.

    Read the article

  • Is Social Media The Vital Skill You Aren’t Tracking?

    - by HCM-Oracle
    By Mark Bennett - Originally featured in Talent Management Excellence The ever-increasing presence of the workforce on social media presents opportunities as well as risks for organizations. While on the one hand, we read about social media embarrassments happening to organizations, on the other we see that social media activities by workers and candidates can enhance a company’s brand and provide insight into what individuals are, or can become, influencers in the social media sphere. HR can play a key role in helping organizations make the most value out of the activities and presence of workers and candidates, while at the same time also helping to manage the risks that come with the permanence and viral nature of social media. What is Missing from Understanding Our Workforce? “If only HP knew what HP knows, we would be three-times more productive.”  Lew Platt, Former Chairman, President, CEO, Hewlett-Packard  What Lew Platt recognized was that organizations only have a partial understanding of what their workforce is capable of. This lack of understanding impacts the company in several negative ways: 1. A particular skill that the company needs to access in one part of the organization might exist somewhere else, but there is no record that the skill exists, so the need is unfulfilled. 2. As market conditions change rapidly, the company needs to know strategic options, but some options are missed entirely because the company doesn’t know that sufficient capability already exists to enable those options. 3. Employees may miss out on opportunities to demonstrate how their hidden skills could create new value to the company. Why don’t companies have that more complete picture of their workforce capabilities – that is, not know what they know? One very good explanation is that companies put most of their efforts into rating their workforce according to the jobs and roles they are filling today. This is the essence of two important talent management processes: recruiting and performance appraisals.  In recruiting, a set of requirements is put together for a job, either explicitly or indirectly through a job description. During the recruiting process, much of the attention is paid towards whether the candidate has the qualifications, the skills, the experience and the cultural fit to be successful in the role. This makes a lot of sense.  In the performance appraisal process, an employee is measured on how well they performed the functions of their role and in an effort to help the employee do even better next time, they are also measured on proficiency in the competencies that are deemed to be key in doing that job. Again, the logic is impeccable.  But in both these cases, two adages come to mind: 1. What gets measured is what gets managed. 2. You only see what you are looking for. In other words, the fact that the current roles the workforce are performing are the basis for measuring which capabilities the workforce has, makes them the only capabilities to be measured. What was initially meant to be a positive, i.e. identify what is needed to perform well and measure it, in order that it can be managed, comes with the unintended negative consequence of overshadowing the other capabilities the workforce has. This also comes with an employee engagement price, for the measurements and management of workforce capabilities is to typically focus on where the workforce comes up short. Again, it makes sense to do this, since improving a capability that appears to result in improved performance benefits, both the individual through improved performance ratings and the company through improved productivity. But this is based on the assumption that the capabilities identified and their required proficiencies are the only attributes of the individual that matter. Anything else the individual brings that results in high performance, while resulting in a desired performance outcome, often goes unrecognized or underappreciated at best. As social media begins to occupy a more important part in current and future roles in organizations, businesses must incorporate social media savvy and innovation into job descriptions and expectations. These new measures could provide insight into how well someone can use social media tools to influence communities and decision makers; keep abreast of trends in fast-moving industries; present a positive brand image for the organization around thought leadership, customer focus, social responsibility; and coordinate and collaborate with partners. These measures should demonstrate the “social capital” the individual has invested in and developed over time. Without this dimension, “short cut” methods may generate a narrow set of positive metrics that do not have real, long-lasting benefits to the organization. How Workforce Reputation Management Helps HR Harness Social Media With hundreds of petabytes of social media data flowing across Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, businesses are tapping technology solutions to effectively leverage social for HR. Workforce reputation management technology helps organizations discover, mobilize and retain talent by providing insight into the social reputation and influence of the workforce while also helping organizations monitor employee social media policy compliance and mitigate social media risk.  There are three major ways that workforce reputation management technology can play a strategic role to support HR: 1. Improve Awareness and Decisions on Talent Many organizations measure the skills and competencies that they know they need today, but are unaware of what other skills and competencies their workforce has that could be essential tomorrow. How about whether your workforce has the reputation and influence to make their skills and competencies more effective? Many organizations don’t have insight into the social media “reach” their workforce has, which is becoming more critical to business performance. These features help organizations, managers, and employees improve many talent processes and decision making, including the following: Hiring and Assignments. People and teams with higher reputations are considered more valuable and effective workers. Someone with high reputation who refers a candidate also can have high credibility as a source for hires.   Training and Development. Reputation trend analysis can impact program decisions regarding training offerings by showing how reputation and influence across the workforce changes in concert with training. Worker reputation impacts development plans and goal choices by helping the individual see which development efforts result in improved reputation and influence.   Finding Hidden Talent. Managers can discover hidden talent and skills amongst employees based on a combination of social profile information and social media reputation. Employees can improve their personal brand and accelerate their career development.  2. Talent Search and Discovery The right technology helps organizations find information on people that might otherwise be hidden. By leveraging access to candidate and worker social profiles as well as their social relationships, workforce reputation management provides companies with a more complete picture of what their knowledge, skills, and attributes are and what they can in turn access. This more complete information helps to find the right talent both outside the organization as well as the right, perhaps previously hidden talent, within the organization to fill roles and staff projects, particularly those roles and projects that are required in reaction to fast-changing opportunities and circumstances. 3. Reputation Brings Credibility Workforce reputation management technology provides a clearer picture of how candidates and workers are viewed by their peers and communities across a wide range of social reputation and influence metrics. This information is less subject to individual bias and can impact critical decision-making. Knowing the individual’s reputation and influence enables the organization to predict how well their capabilities and behaviors will have a positive effect on desired business outcomes. Many roles that have the highest impact on overall business performance are dependent on the individual’s influence and reputation. In addition, reputation and influence measures offer a very tangible source of feedback for workers, providing them with insight that helps them develop themselves and their careers and see the effectiveness of those efforts by tracking changes over time in their reputation and influence. The following are some examples of the different reputation and influence measures of the workforce that Workforce Reputation Management could gather and analyze: Generosity – How often the user reposts other’s posts. Influence – How often the user’s material is reposted by others.  Engagement – The ratio of recent posts with references (e.g. links to other posts) to the total number of posts.  Activity – How frequently the user posts. (e.g. number per day)  Impact – The size of the users’ social networks, which indicates their ability to reach unique followers, friends, or users.   Clout – The number of references and citations of the user’s material in others’ posts.  The Vital Ingredient of Workforce Reputation Management: Employee Participation “Nothing about me, without me.” Valerie Billingham, “Through the Patient’s Eyes”, Salzburg Seminar Session 356, 1998 Since data resides primarily in social media, a question arises: what manner is used to collect that data? While much of social media activity is publicly accessible (as many who wished otherwise have learned to their chagrin), the social norms of social media have developed to put some restrictions on what is acceptable behavior and by whom. Disregarding these norms risks a repercussion firestorm. One of the more recognized norms is that while individuals can follow and engage with other individual’s public social activity (e.g. Twitter updates) fairly freely, the more an organization does this unprompted and without getting permission from the individual beforehand, the more likely the organization risks a totally opposite outcome from the one desired. Instead, the organization must look for permission from the individual, which can be met with resistance. That resistance comes from not knowing how the information will be used, how it will be shared with others, and not receiving enough benefit in return for granting permission. As the quote above about patient concerns and rights succinctly states, no one likes not feeling in control of the information about themselves, or the uncertainty about where it will be used. This is well understood in consumer social media (i.e. permission-based marketing) and is applicable to workforce reputation management. However, asking permission leaves open the very real possibility that no one, or so few, will grant permission, resulting in a small set of data with little usefulness for the company. Connecting Individual Motivation to Organization Needs So what is it that makes an individual decide to grant an organization access to the data it wants? It is when the individual’s own motivations are in alignment with the organization’s objectives. In the case of workforce reputation management, when the individual is motivated by a desire for increased visibility and career growth opportunities to advertise their skills and level of influence and reputation, they are aligned with the organizations’ objectives; to fill resource needs or strategically build better awareness of what skills are present in the workforce, as well as levels of influence and reputation. Individuals can see the benefit of granting access permission to the company through multiple means. One is through simple social awareness; they begin to discover that peers who are getting more career opportunities are those who are signed up for workforce reputation management. Another is where companies take the message directly to the individual; we think you would benefit from signing up with our workforce reputation management solution. Another, more strategic approach is to make reputation management part of a larger Career Development effort by the company; providing a wide set of tools to help the workforce find ways to plan and take action to achieve their career aspirations in the organization. An effective mechanism, that facilitates connecting the visibility and career growth motivations of the workforce with the larger context of the organization’s business objectives, is to use game mechanics to help individuals transform their career goals into concrete, actionable steps, such as signing up for reputation management. This works in favor of companies looking to use workforce reputation because the workforce is more apt to see how it fits into achieving their overall career goals, as well as seeing how other participation brings additional benefits.  Once an individual has signed up with reputation management, not only have they made themselves more visible within the organization and increased their career growth opportunities, they have also enabled a tool that they can use to better understand how their actions and behaviors impact their influence and reputation. Since they will be able to see their reputation and influence measurements change over time, they will gain better insight into how reputation and influence impacts their effectiveness in a role, as well as how their behaviors and skill levels in turn affect their influence and reputation. This insight can trigger much more directed, and effective, efforts by the individual to improve their ability to perform at a higher level and become more productive. The increased sense of autonomy the individual experiences, in linking the insight they gain to the actions and behavior changes they make, greatly enhances their engagement with their role as well as their career prospects within the company. Workforce reputation management takes the wide range of disparate data about the workforce being produced across various social media platforms and transforms it into accessible, relevant, and actionable information that helps the organization achieve its desired business objectives. Social media holds untapped insights about your talent, brand and business, and workforce reputation management can help unlock them. Imagine - if you could find the hidden secrets of your businesses, how much more productive and efficient would your organization be? Mark Bennett is a Director of Product Strategy at Oracle. Mark focuses on setting the strategic vision and direction for tools that help organizations understand, shape, and leverage the capabilities of their workforce to achieve business objectives, as well as help individuals work effectively to achieve their goals and navigate their own growth. His combination of a deep technical background in software design and development, coupled with a broad knowledge of business challenges and thinking in today’s globalized, rapidly changing, technology accelerated economy, has enabled him to identify and incorporate key innovations that are central to Oracle Fusion’s unique value proposition. Mark has over the course of his career been in charge of the design, development, and strategy of Talent Management products and the design and development of cutting edge software that is better equipped to handle the increasingly complex demands of users while also remaining easy to use. Follow him @mpbennett

    Read the article

  • Simplify CASE in VB.net code

    - by StealthRT
    Hey all, i am looking here to see if anyone would have a better way to acomplish this task below in less code. Select Case mainMenu.theNumOpened Case 1 Me.Text = "NBMsg1" Me.SetDesktopLocation(My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, 5) Case 2 Me.Text = "NBMsg2" Dim hwnd As IntPtr = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg1") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, Me.Height + 10, 0, 0, 1) Me.SetDesktopLocation(My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, 5) Case 3 Me.Text = "NBMsg3" Dim hwnd As IntPtr = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg2") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, Me.Height + 10, 0, 0, 1) hwnd = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg1") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, (Me.Height * 2) + 15, 0, 0, 1) Me.SetDesktopLocation(My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, 5) Case 4 Me.Text = "NBMsg4" Dim hwnd As IntPtr = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg3") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, Me.Height + 10, 0, 0, 1) hwnd = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg2") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, (Me.Height * 2) + 15, 0, 0, 1) hwnd = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg1") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, (Me.Height * 3) + 20, 0, 0, 1) Me.SetDesktopLocation(My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, 5) Case 5 Me.Text = "NBMsg5" Dim hwnd As IntPtr = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg4") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, Me.Height + 10, 0, 0, 1) hwnd = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg3") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, (Me.Height * 2) + 15, 0, 0, 1) hwnd = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg2") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, (Me.Height * 3) + 20, 0, 0, 1) hwnd = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg1") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, (Me.Height * 4) + 25, 0, 0, 1) Me.SetDesktopLocation(My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, 5) Case 6 Me.Text = "NBMsg6" Dim hwnd As IntPtr = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg5") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, Me.Height + 10, 0, 0, 1) hwnd = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg4") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, (Me.Height * 2) + 15, 0, 0, 1) hwnd = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg3") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, (Me.Height * 3) + 20, 0, 0, 1) hwnd = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg2") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, (Me.Height * 4) + 25, 0, 0, 1) hwnd = FindWindow(vbNullString, "NBMsg1") SetWindowPos(hwnd, 0, My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, (Me.Height * 5) + 30, 0, 0, 1) Me.SetDesktopLocation(My.Computer.Screen.WorkingArea.Width - 302, 5) Case Else Me.Close() Me.Dispose() End Select What it does is pass to it now many windows are currently already opened. So if one then of course it goes to case 1. If there are 2 opened then it moves the oldest down and puts the newest on top. etc etc. I have set it so that a max of 6 boxes can only be opened at one time. If anyone knows how i could also "slide" them down (kinda like an effect of jQuery) then that would also be, well awesome to know! :o) Any help/suggestions would be great! :o) David

    Read the article

  • Shall i learn Assembly Language or C, to Understand how "real programming" works?

    - by Daniel Upton
    Hello, World.. I'm a web developer mostly working in Ruby and C#.. I wanna learn a low level language so i dont look like an ass infront of my (computer science expert) boss. Ive heard a lot of purist buzz about how assembly language is the only way to learn how computers actually work, but on the other hand C would probably be more useful as a language rather than just for theory. So my question is.. Would Learning C teach me enough computer science theory / low level programming to not look like a common dandy (complete tool)? Thanks! Daniel

    Read the article

  • Learning networking fundamentals

    - by bplus
    Not having a CS degree has left large holes in my programming related knowledge. In particular I'd really like to learn some of the computer networking stuff I would have got in a good CS degree. The problem I really have is "not knowing what I don't know". So far I know I don't know anything about the following (as far as computer networks are concearned) -sockets -ports -internet protocol (the whole IP stack I keep hearing about). Can anyone add more to the list? Can anyone suggest a project (writing a toy web server?) Thanks in advance

    Read the article

  • Resources/Teaching ideas to teach computers to kids

    - by Shravan
    A small initiative from my work place plans to teach very basic computers to not so fortunate kids. I was looking for some very basic topics/resources. These kids are very young and have not seen/worked with a computer before. The fun factor should not be lost and hence I don't want it to be rigorous, just plain, what is computer, keyboard, mouse, browser, where to look for what (google.com) and so on. Has any-one done this sort of thing before, if yes, could you point me to some resources.

    Read the article

  • [MISC GEEKERY] Support for Some Versions of Windows is Ending

    - by Matthew Guay
    Are you sticking with your older version of Windows instead of upgrading to Windows 7?  There’s no problem with that, but here’s a quick reminder to make sure you’re running the latest service pack to stay protected. Microsoft offers security updates and more throughout the lifetime of a version of Windows, and periodically they roll all the latest updates and improvements together into a service pack.  After a while, only computers running the latest service pack will still get updates to keep them safe. Recently, Microsoft has been warning that support is ending for Windows XP with Service Pack 2 and the release version of Windows Vista.  When support ends, you will not receive any new security updates for Windows.  You can continue to use your computer the same as before, but it may not be as secure and if new security issues are discovered they will not be updated. However, it’s easy to stay supported: simply install XP Service Pack 3 or Vista Service Pack 2, depending on your computer.  Here’s how to do that: Windows XP To install Windows XP Service Pack 3, you can either check Windows Update for updates, or simply download it from Microsoft at this link: Download XP Service Pack 3 Run the download (or if you’re updating from Windows Update the installer will automatically launch), and proceed just as you normally would when installing a program.  Your computer will have to reboot during the install, so make sure you’ve saved all your work and closed other programs before installing.   To check what service pack your computer is running, click Start, then right-click on the My Computer button and choose Properties. This will show you what version and service pack of Windows you are running, and in this screenshot we see this computer has be updated to Service Pack 3. Please Note:  The version of XP shipped with Windows XP Mode in Windows 7 comes preconfigured with Service Pack 3, and does not need updated.  Additionally, if your computer is running the 64 bit version of Windows XP, then Service Pack 2 is the latest service pack for your computer, and it is still supported. Windows Vista If your computer is running Windows Vista, you can install Service Pack 2 to stay up to date and supported.  Simply check Windows Update for Service Pack 2 if you haven’t installed it yet, or download the installer for your computer from the link below: 32 bit: Vista Service Pack 2 32-bit 64 bit: Vista Service Pack 2 64-bit Run the installer, and simply set it up as a normal program installation.  Do note that your computer will reboot during the installation, so make sure to save your work and close other programs before installing. To see what service pack your computer is running, click the Start orb, then right-click on the Computer button and select Properties. This will show what service pack and edition of Windows Vista your computer is running right at the top of the page. Conclusion Microsoft makes it easy to keep using your computer safely and securely even if you choose to keep using your older version of Windows.  By installing the latest service pack, you will make sure that your computer will be supported for years to come.  Windows 7 users, you don’t need to worry; no service has been released for it yet.  Stay tuned, and we’ll let you know when any new service packs are available. www.microsoft.com/EOS – End of Support Information from Microsoft Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Remove Optional and Probably Unnecessary Windows Vista ComponentsRequesting Hotfixes from Microsoft the Easy WayUnderstanding Windows Vista Aero Glass RequirementsAdd Network Support to Windows Live MovieMakerCustomize the Manufacturer Support Info in Windows 7 or Vista TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 PCmover Professional OutSync will Sync Photos of your Friends on Facebook and Outlook Windows 7 Easter Theme YoWindoW, a real time weather screensaver Optimize your computer the Microsoft way Stormpulse provides slick, real time weather data Geek Parents – Did you try Parental Controls in Windows 7?

    Read the article

  • substitution of someaddress.com on local desktop computer

    - by dev
    Here is VDS server with ip(for example 105.123.123.123) with working apache service. And there is a desktop computer with linux on board(but really I presume there is no difference). I need to type on web browser address like someaddress.com and to see website situated at my server. My /etc/hosts: 127.0.0.1 localhost 105.123.123.123 someaddress.com 105.123.123.123 www.someaddress.com But it doesn't work. I see real someaddress.com website. What can be wrong. It will be great if you help me with that. P.S. Why I need this. There is one project with fixed links(like someaddress.com/inf). And I need to test it.

    Read the article

  • Speed improvements for Perl's chameneos-redux in the Computer Language Benchmarks Game

    - by Robert P
    Ever looked at the Computer Language Benchmarks Game (formerly known as the Great Language Shootout)? Perl has some pretty healthy competition there at the moment. It also occurs to me that there's probably some places that Perl's scores could be improved. The biggest one is in the chameneos-redux script right now—the Perl version runs the worst out of any language: 1,626 times slower than the C baseline solution! There are some restrictions on how the programs can be made and optimized, and there is Perl's interpreted runtime penalty, but 1,626 times? There's got to be something that can get the runtime of this program way down. Taking a look at the source code and the challenge, how can the speed be improved?

    Read the article

  • Speed improvements for Perl's chameneos-redux script in the Computer Language Benchmarks Game

    - by Robert P
    Ever looked at the Computer Language Benchmarks Game, (formerly known as the Great Language Shootout)? Perl has some pretty healthy competition there at the moment. It also occurs to me that there's probably some places that Perl's scores could be improved. The biggest one is in the chameneos-redux script right now - the Perl version runs the worst out of any language : 1,626 times slower than the C baseline solution! There are some restrictions on how the programs can be made and optimized, and there is Perl's interpreted runtime penalty, but 1,626 times? There's got to be something that can get the runtime of this program way down. Taking a look at the source code and the challenge, what do you think could be done to reduce this runtime speed?

    Read the article

  • Laws of Computer Science and Programming

    - by Jonas
    We have Amdahl's law that basically states that if your program is 10% sequential you can get a maximum 10x performance boost by parallelizing your application. Another one is Wadler's law which states that In any language design, the total time spent discussing a feature in this list is proportional to two raised to the power of its position. 0. Semantics 1. Syntax 2. Lexical syntax 3. Lexical syntax of comments My question is this: What are the most important (or at least significant / funny but true / sad but true) laws of Computer Science and programming? I want named laws, and not random theorems, So an answer should look something like Surname's (law|theorem|conjecture|corollary...) Please state the law in your answer, and not only a link. Edit: The name of the law does not need to contain it's inventors surname. But I do want to know who stated (and perhaps proved) the law

    Read the article

  • Computer Vision application(+web interface) for face detection and recognition from database

    - by Kush
    My project is a computer vision java application which should implement the following : A web interface through which the form entry+images(for example a student data) will be stored into a database(Mysql) & images into directory common to my java application. Then the data & images can be retrieved from my java Gui application and I can perform the following operations of image processing through OpenCV. Actually,I want to run the face detection on images retrieved and discard the false entries(no proper face). Also the application user/admin can search an image based on text search(By Id) or By another reference image using face recognition. I am well familiar with Java but the problem is that I need a guidance on how to organise it in a stepwise manner(links appreciated).OpenCv,Php and mySql are really messy.I know doing the openCV stuff within java is real overhead but i really want to do it.But If there is any suggestion to do it elseway please guide me.So any kind of help is a ray of hope for me. Thanks.

    Read the article

  • I want the "default printer name" on the client's computer to print the Crystal ReportViewer Content

    - by indira prasad
    I want the "default printer name" on the client's computer to print the Crystal ReportViewer Content My Code : printDocument = new System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument(); int nCopy = printDocument.PrinterSettings.Copies; int sPage = printDocument.PrinterSettings.FromPage; int ePage = printDocument.PrinterSettings.ToPage; string PrinterName = printDocument.PrinterSettings.PrinterName; rpt = (ReportDocument)Session["Report"]; rpt.PrintOptions.PrinterName = PrinterName; rpt.PrintToPrinter(nCopy, false, sPage, ePage); It is working fine locally but when I host the Application in IIS, that printer name it is taking default 'Microsoft XPS Document Writer' . thanks in advance.

    Read the article

  • this operation has been canceled due to restrictions in effect on this computer

    - by Dan
    I have this HUGELY irritating problem on Windows 7 (x64). Whenever I click on ANY link (that exists on a Word document, excel or Outlook), I get an alert box with the message: "This operation has been canceled due to restrictions in effect on this computer" I have been scouring my settings and the internet for a solution, but to no avail. Has anybody else encounted this problem? It even happens when I click anchors in word documents i.e. I can't even click on an entry in a Table of Contents to go to the appropriate page - I get this same error then. Is this a Windows 7 thing? Anyway to turn this off?

    Read the article

  • linux user login/logout log for computer restriction

    - by Cedric
    Hi ! I would like to know how to log the login and logout of a user. I know it's possible to use the command "last". But this command is based on a file that has a r/w permission for the user, hence the possibility to change these data. I would like to log these data over two months. Why would I like to do that ? In fact, I would like to prevent a normal user to use a computer more than an hour a day - except week-ends, and 10 hours in total a week. Cedric System used : kubuntu, Programming language : bash script

    Read the article

  • use dll from remote computer

    - by maraheem
    i have two computer PC1 and PC2 in PC1 i have a .Net C# dll file that provides operations on sql server database. my question is - "how can i use this dll file on PC2 through VBScript within Outlook 2003". I tried this same task on PC1 and i succeeded using the CreateObject("dllfilename.classname") method of VBScript within outlook 2003. but now i want to use that dll file on PC2. is there any efficient way by which i can use that dll on PC2 without having to copy dll on PC2.

    Read the article

  • run two apache servers on one computer

    - by harry_T
    I would like to run two XAMPP apache servers and mysql on one Windows computer. My first idea was to run one under directory XAMPP, the other under XAMPP_B. Why you ask? I have two applications that have to be in the "root" directory of localhost. Both servers do not have to be active at same time, so I don't think I will have any conflicts I will have to modify my.cnf in mySQL httpd.conf, apache_start and maybe other config files as well. Or maybe someone can suggest a better way...

    Read the article

  • iPhone - Browsing iPhone files through computer

    - by quano
    I want to be able to send files from an iPhone app to a computer. What would be the easiest way of doing this? I've made simple server client programs before, but in those, the client has always needed to connect to the server before being able to receive messages from it. There is an app for the iPhone called iSimulate, where you put a server on a Mac (the iPhone simulator), and then you use the iSimulate app of an iTouch or iPhone to send touch events to the server. This app does not require you to type in an ip-address. Instead it presents a list of available computers that have this server up and running. How exactly is this being done? Can a server broadcast a message over a network, w/o anyone being connected to the server? How does that work? How does a client listen for that broadcast? Here's a video of the app I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3Qpd1ycZh4

    Read the article

  • Restarting service from a client computer without rights

    - by Jason
    I have already created the program to restart a SQL database but it only works if the client has the rights. This is going to be done on a local network from a client computer when they can't get a person that has the password on the phone. Any thoughts I'm currently using the servicecontroller to start and stop database. When I don't have the rights I get a access denied error, or This operation might require other privileges. Not sure if impersonation would work since I don't have the userid and password.

    Read the article

  • Multi-platform development from one computer

    - by iama
    I am planning to build a new development computer for both Windows & Linux platforms. On Windows, my development would be primarily in .NET/C#/IIS/MSSQL Server. On Linux—preferably Ubuntu—my development would be in Ruby and Python. I am thinking of buying a laptop with Windows 7 pre-installed with 4GB RAM, Intel Core 2 Duo, and 320 GB HD; running 2 VMs for both Windows and Linux development with the host OS as my work station. Of course, I would be running DBs and web servers on the respective platforms. Is this a typical setup? My only concern is running two VMs side by side. Not sure if this configuration would be optimal. Alternative would be to do my Windows development on the host Windows 7 OS. What are your thoughts?

    Read the article

  • Linux / C++: Get the IP Address of local computer

    - by BlaM
    This Question is almost the same as the previously asked Get the IP Address of local computer-Question. However I need to find the IP address(es) of a Linux Machine. So: How do I - programmatically in C++ - detect the IP addresses of the linux server my application is running on. The servers will have at least two IP addresses and I need a specific one (the one in a given network (the public one)). I'm sure there is a simple function to do that - but where? [EDIT] To make things a bit clearer: The server will obviously have the "localhost": 127.0.0.1 The server will have an internal (management) IP address: 172.16.x.x The server will have an external (public) IP address: 80.190.x.x I need to find the external IP address to bind my application to it. Obviously I can also bind to INADDR_ANY (and actually that's what I do at the moment). I would prefer to detect the public address, though.

    Read the article

  • Math/numerical formula every computer programmer should know

    - by aaa
    This is a follow-up question to What should every programmer know and Is mathematics necessary. So the question is, as a computer programmer, what is the most important/useful mathematical or numerical formula that you use? By Formula I mean anything that involves less obvious manipulations, whenever binomial coefficients or bit hacks. I work with multidimensional arrays and various matrix representations. So for me most commonly used formulas are: A(i,j,k,..) = a[i + j*Dim0 + k*Dim0*Dim1 + ... to map indexes to one dimension ( which is basic address calculation which many people do not seem to know). And triangular number T(i) = (i*i + i)/2 which is related to binomial coefficients, used to calculate address in triangular matrixes and many other things. What is your workhorse formula that you think programmer should know?

    Read the article

  • Display Computer Info on C# Web Application

    - by Gene
    I want to build a page for end users to visit (in our MPLS Network) and it show the following information in regards to them: Computer Name OS Disk Space Memory IP Address Active Directory User Name Password Expiration Time (As defined by Global Policy) Maybe a few other things such as Trend Micro Office current version vs. their version, # of MS Updates needed (we utilize WSUS), and a few other things in the future. My question is how would I pull this information from the user when they visit the page? What is the proper function for this? Anyone have examples they wish to share for me to learn by if possible? Thanks so much in advance, Gene

    Read the article

< Previous Page | 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74  | Next Page >